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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16070-8.txt b/16070-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..124679b --- /dev/null +++ b/16070-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18315 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present +Power, by John S. C. Abbott + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present Power + + +Author: John S. C. Abbott + + + +Release Date: June 15, 2005 [eBook #16070] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA; ITS RISE +AND PRESENT POWER*** + + +E-text prepared by Curtis Weyant, David King, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team from page images generously made +available by the Making of America Collection of the University of +Michigan Library (http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/) + + + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through the Making of + America Collection of the University of Michigan Library. See + http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/ + + + + + +The Monarchies of Continental Europe + +THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA; ITS RISE AND PRESENT POWER + +by + +JOHN S. C. ABBOTT + +New York; +Published by Mason Brothers, +Cincinnati: Rickey, Mallory & Co. +Stereotyped by +Thomas B. Smith, +82 & 84 Beekman St. +Printed By +C. A. Alvord. +15 Vandewater St. + +1859 + + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +The studies of the author of this work, for the last ten years, in +writing the "History of Napoleon Bonaparte," and "The French Revolution +of 1789," have necessarily made him quite familiar with the monarchies +of Europe. He has met with so much that was strange and romantic in +their career, that he has been interested to undertake, as it were, a +_biography_ of the Monarchies of Continental Europe--their birth, +education, exploits, progress and present condition. He has commenced +with Austria. + +There are abundant materials for this work. The Life of Austria embraces +all that is wild and wonderful in history; her early struggles for +aggrandizement--the fierce strife with the Turks, as wave after wave of +Moslem invasion rolled up the Danube--the long conflicts and bloody +persecutions of the Reformation--the thirty years' religious war--the +meteoric career of Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII. shooting athwart +the lurid storms of battle--the intrigues of Popes--the enormous pride, +power and encroachments of Louis XIV.--the warfare of the Spanish +succession and the Polish dismemberment--all these events combine in a +sublime tragedy which fiction may in vain attempt to parallel. + +It is affecting to observe in the history of Germany, through what woes +humanity has passed in attaining even its present position of +civilization. It is to be hoped that the human family may never again +suffer what it has already endured. We shall be indeed insane if we do +not gain some wisdom from the struggles and the calamities of those who +have gone before us. The narrative of the career of the Austrian Empire, +must, by contrast, excite emotions of gratitude in every American bosom. +Our lines have fallen to us in pleasant places; we have a goodly +heritage. + +It is the author's intention soon to issue, as the second of this +series, the History of the Empire of Russia. + +JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. + +Brunswick, Maine, 1859. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER I. +RHODOLPH OF HAPSBURG. +From 1232 to 1291. + +Hawk's Castle.--Albert, Count of Hapsburg.--Rhodolph of Hapsburg.--His +Marriage and Estates.--Excommunication and its Results.--His Principles +of Honor.--A Confederacy of Barons.--Their Route.--Rhodolph's Election +as Emperor of Germany.--The Bishop's Warning.--Dissatisfaction at the +Result of the Election.--Advantages accruing from the Possession of an +interesting Family.--Conquest.--Ottocar acknowledges the Emperor; yet +breaks his Oath of Allegiance.--Gathering Clouds.--Wonderful +Escape.--Victory of Rhodolph.--His Reforms. Page 17 + + +CHAPTER II. +REIGNS OF ALBERT I., FREDERIC, ALBERT AND OTHO. +From 1291 to 1347. + +Anecdotes of Rhodolph.--His Desire for the Election of his Son.--His +Death.--Albert.--His Unpopularity.--Conspiracy of the Nobles.--Their +Defeat.--Adolphus of Nassau chosen Emperor.--Albert's Conspiracy.-- +Deposition of Adolphus and Election of Albert.--Death of Adolphus.--The +Pope Defied.--Annexation of Bohemia.--Assassination of Albert.--Avenging +Fury.--The Hermit's Direction.--Frederic the Handsome.--Election of +Henry, Count of Luxemburg.--His Death.--Election of Louis of +Bavaria.--Capture of Frederic.--Remarkable Confidence toward a +Prisoner.--Death of Frederic.--An early Engagement.--Death of +Louis.--Accession of Albert. Page 34 + + +CHAPTER III. +RHODOLPH II., ALBERT IV. AND ALBERT V. +From 1389 to 1437. + +Rhodolph II.--Marriage of John to Margaret.--Intriguing for the +Tyrol.--Death of Rhodolph.--Accession of Power to Austria.--Dividing the +Empire.--Delight of the Emperor Charles.--Leopold.--His Ambition and +successes.--Hedwige, Queen of Poland.--"The Course of true Love never +did run smooth."--Unhappy Marriage of Hedwige.--Heroism of Arnold of +Winkelreid.--Death of Leopold.--Death of Albert IV.--Accession Of Albert +V.--Attempts of Sigismond to bequeath to Albert V. Hungary and Bohemia. +Page 48 + + +CHAPTER IV. +ALBERT, LADISLAUS AND FREDERIC. +From 1440 to 1489. + +Increasing Honors of Albert V.--Encroachments of the Turks.--The +Christians Routed.--Terror of the Hungarians.--Death of Albert.-- +Magnanimous Conduct of Albert of Bavaria.--Internal Troubles.--Precocity +of Ladislaus.--Fortifications Raised by the Turks.--John Capistrun.-- +Rescue of Belgrade.--The Turks Dispersed.--Exultation over the +Victory.--Death of Hunniades.--Jealousy of Ladislaus.--His +Death.--Brotherly Quarrels.--Devastations by the Turks.--Invasion of +Austria.--Repeal of the Compromise.--The Emperor a Fugitive. Page 68 + + +CHAPTER V. +THE EMPERORS FREDERIC II. AND MAXIMILIAN I. +From 1477 to 1500. + +Wanderings of the Emperor Frederic.--Proposed Alliance with the Duke of +Burgundy.--Mutual Distrust.--Marriage of Mary.--The Age of +Chivalry.--The Motive inducing the Lord of Praunstein to Declare +War.--Death of Frederic II.--The Emperor's Secret.--Designs of the +Turks.--Death of Mahomet II.--First Establishment of Standing +Armies.--Use of Gunpowder.--Energy of Maximilian.--French +Aggressions.--The League to Expel the French.--Disappointments of +Maximilian.--Bribing the Pope.--Invasion of Italy.--Capture and +Recapture.--The Chevalier de Bayard. Page 77 + + +CHAPTER VI. +MAXIMILIAN I. +From 1500 to 1519. + +Base Treachery of the Swiss Soldiers.--Perfidy of Ferdinand of +Arragon.--Appeals by Superstition.--Coalition with Spain.--The League of +Cambray.--Infamy of the Pope.--The King's Apology.--Failure of the +Plot.--Germany Aroused.--Confidence of Maximilian.--Longings for the +Pontifical Chair.--Maximilian Bribed.--Leo X.--Dawning Prosperity.-- +Matrimonial Projects.--Commencement of the War of Reformation.--Sickness +of Maximilian.--His Last Directions.--His Death.--The Standard by which +his Character is to be Judged. Page 91 + + +CHAPTER VII. +CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION. +From 1519 to 1581. + +Charles V. of Spain.--His Election as Emperor of Germany.--His +Coronation.--The First Constitution.--Progress of the Reformation.--The +Pope's Bull against Luther.--His Contempt for his Holiness.--The Diet at +Worms.--Frederic's Objection to the Condemnation of Luther by the +Diet.--He obtains for Luther the Right of Defense.--Luther's triumphal +March to the Tribunal.--Charles urged to Violate his Safe Conduct.-- +Luther's Patmos.--Marriage of Sister Catharine Bora to Luther.--Terrible +Insurrection.--The Holy League.--The Protest of Spires.--Confession of +Augsburg.--The Two Confessions.--Compulsory Measures. Page 106 + + +CHAPTER VIII. +CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION. +From 1531 to 1552. + +Determination to crush Protestantism.--Incursion of the Turks.--Valor of +the Protestants.--Preparations for renewed Hostilities.--Augmentation of +the Protestant Forces.--The Council of Trent.--Mutual Consternation.-- +Defeat of the Protestant Army.--Unlooked-for Succor.--Revolt in the +Emperor's Army.--The Fluctuations of Fortune.--Ignoble Revenge.--Capture +of Wittemberg.--Protestantism apparently crushed.--Plot against +Charles.--Maurice of Saxony.--A Change of Scene.--The Biter Bit--The +Emperor humbled.--His Flight.--His determined Will. Page 121 + + +CHAPTER IX. +CHARLES V. AND THE TURKISH WARS. +From 1552 to 1555. + +The Treaty of Passau.--The Emperor yields.--His continued Reverses.--The +Toleration Compromise.--Mutual Dissatisfaction.--Remarkable Despondency +of the Emperor Charles.--His Address to the Convention at Brussels.-- +The Convent of St. Justus.--Charles returns to Spain.--His Convent +Life.--The Mock Burial.--His Death.--His Traits of Character.--The +King's Compliment to Titian.--The Condition of Austria.--Rapid Advance +of the Turks.--Reasons for the Inaction of the Christians.--The Sultan's +Method of Overcoming Difficulties.--The little Fortress of Guntz.--What +it accomplished. Page 186 + + +CHAPTER X. +FERDINAND I.--HIS WARS AND INTRIGUES. +From 1555 to 1562. + +John of Tapoli.--The Instability of Compacts.--The Sultan's Demands.--A +Reign of War.--Powers and Duties of the Monarchs of Bohemia.--The +Diet.--The King's Desire to crush Protestantism.--The Entrance to +Prague.--Terror of the Inhabitants.--The King's Conditions.--The Bloody +Diet.--Disciplinary Measures.--The establishment of the Order of +Jesuits.--Abdication of Charles V. in Favor of Ferdinand.--Power of the +Pope.--Paul IV.--A quiet but powerful Blow.--The Progress of the +Reformers.--Attempts to reconcile the Protestants.--The unsuccessful +Assembly. Page 151 + + +CHAPTER XI. +DEATH OF FERDINAND I.--ACCESSION OF MAXIMILIAN II. +From 1562 to 1576. + +The Council of Trent.--Spread of the Reformation.--Ferdinand's Attempt +to influence the Pope.--His Arguments against Celibacy.--Stubbornness of +the Pope.--Maximilian II.--Displeasure of Ferdinand.--Motives for not +abjuring the Catholic Faith.--Religious Strife in Europe.--Maximilian's +Address to Charles IX.--Mutual Toleration.--Romantic Pastime of +War.--Heroism of Nicholas, Count of Zeini.--Accession of Power to +Austria.--Accession of Rhodolph III.--Death of Maximilian. Page 166 + + +CHAPTER XII. +CHARACTER OF MAXIMILIAN.--SUCCESSION OF RHODOLPH III. +From 1576 to 1604. + +Character of Maximilian.--His Accomplishments.--His Wife.--Fate of his +Children.--Rhodolph III.--The Liberty of Worship.--Means of +Emancipation.--Rhodolph's Attempts against Protestantism.--Declaration +of a higher Law.--Theological Differences.--The Confederacy at +Heilbrun.--The Gregorian Calendar.--Intolerance in Bohemia.--The Trap of +the Monks.--Invasion of the Turks.--Their Defeat.--Coalition with +Sigismond.--Sale of Transylvania.--Rule of Basta.--The Empire captured +and recaptured.--Devastation of the Country.--Treatment of Stephen +Botskoi. Page 182 + + +CHAPTER XIII. +RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS. +From 1604 to 1609. + +Botskoi's Manifesto.--Horrible Suffering in Transylvania.--Character of +Botskoi.--Confidence of the Protestants.--Superstition of Rholdoph.--His +Mystic Studies.--Acquirements of Matthias.--Schemes of Matthias.--His +increasing power.--Treaty with the Turks.--Demands on Rhodolph.--The +Compromise.--Perfidy of Matthias.--The Margravite.--Fillisbustering.-- +The People's Diet.--A Hint to Royalty.--The Bloodless Triumph.--Demands +of the Germans.--Address of the Prince of Anhalt to the King. Page 198 + + +CHAPTER XIV. +RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS. +From 1609 to 1612. + +Difficulties as to the Succession.--Hostility of Henry IV. to the House +of Austria.--Assassination of Henry IV.--Similarity in Sully's and +Napoleon's Plans.--Exultation of the Catholics.--The Brother's +Compact.--How Rhodolph kept it.--Seizure of Prague.--Rhodolph a +Prisoner.--The King's Abdication.--Conditions Attached to the +Crown.--Rage of Rhodolph.--Matthias Elected King.--The Emperor's +Residence.--Rejoicings of The Protestants.--Reply of the Ambassadors.-- +The Nuremberg Diet.--The Unkindest cut of all.--Rhodolph's Humiliation +and Death. Page 213 + + +CHAPTER XV. +MATTHIAS. +From 1612 to 1619. + +Matthias Elected Emperor of Germany.--His Despotic Character.--His Plans +Thwarted.--Mulheim.--Gathering Clouds.--Family Intrigue.--Coronation of +Ferdinand.--His Bigotry.--Henry, Count of Thurn.--Convention at +Prague.--The King's Reply.--The Die Cast.--Amusing Defense of an +Outrage.--Ferdinand's Manifesto.--Seizure of Cardinal Klesis.--The +King's Rage.--Retreat of the King's Troops.--Humiliation of +Ferdinand.--The Difficulties Deferred.--Death of Matthias. Page 229 + + +CHAPTER XVI. +FERDINAND II. +From 1619 to 1621. + +Possessions of the Emperor.--Power of the Protestants of Bohemia.-- +General Spirit of Insurrection.--Anxiety of Ferdinand.--Insurrection led +by Count Thurn.--Unpopularity of the Emperor.--Affecting Declaration of +the Emperor.--Insurrection in Vienna.--The Arrival of Succor.--Ferdinand +Seeks the Imperial Throne.--Repudiated by Bohemia.--The Palatinate.-- +Frederic Offered the Crown of Bohemia.--Frederic Crowned.--Revolt in +Hungary.--Desperate Condition of the Emperor.--Catholic League.--The +Calvinists and the Puritans.--Duplicity of the Emperor.--Foreign +Combinations.--Truce between the Catholics and the Protestants.--The +Attack upon Bohemia.--Battle of the White Mountain. Page 245 + + +CHAPTER XVII. +FERDINAND II. +From 1621 to 1629. + +Pusillanimity of Frederic.--Intreaties of the Citizens of +Prague.--Shameful Flight of Frederic.--Vengeance Inflicted upon +Bohemia.--Protestantism and Civil Freedom.--Vast Power of the +Emperor.--Alarm of Europe.--James I.--Treaty of Marriage for the Prince +of Wales.--Cardinal Richelieu.--New League of the Protestants.-- +Desolating War.--Defeat of the King of Denmark.--Energy of +Wallenstein.--Triumph of Ferdinand.--New Acts of Intolerance.-- +Severities in Bohemia.--Desolation of the Kingdom.--Dissatisfaction of +the Duke of Bavaria.--Meeting of the Catholic Princes.--The Emperor +Humbled. Page 261 + + +CHAPTER XVIII. +FERDINAND II. AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. +From 1629 to 1632. + +Vexation of Ferdinand.--Gustavus Adolphus.--Address to the Nobles of +Sweden.--March of Gustavus.--Appeal to the Protestants.--Magdeburg joins +Gustavus.--Destruction of the City.--Consternation of the +Protestants.--Exultation of the Catholics.--The Elector of Saxony Driven +from His Domains.--Battle of Leipsic.--The Swedes penetrate +Bohemia.--Freedom of Conscience Established.--Death of Tilly.--The +Retirement of Wallenstein.--The Command Resumed by Wallenstein.--Capture +of Prague.--Encounter between Wallenstein and Gustavus.--Battle of +Lutzen.--Death of Gustavus. Page 279 + + +CHAPTER XIX. +FERDINAND II., FERDINAND III. AND LEOPOLD I. +From 1632 to 1662. + +Character of Gustavus Adolphus.--Exultation of the +Imperialists.--Disgrace of Wallenstein.--He offers to Surrender to the +Swedish General.--His Assassination.--Ferdinand's son Elected as his +Successor.--Death of Ferdinand.--Close of the War.--Abdication of +Christina.--Charles Gustavus.--Preparations for War.--Death of Ferdinand +III.--Leopold Elected Emperor.--Hostilities Renewed.--Death of Charles +Gustavus.--Diet Convened.--Invasion of the Turks. Page 295 + + +CHAPTER XX. +LEOPOLD I. +From 1662 to 1697. + +Invasion of the Turks.--A Treaty Concluded.--Possessions of +Leopold.--Invasion of the French.--League of Augsburg.--Devastation of +the Palatinate.--Invasion of Hungary.--Emerio Tekeli.--Union of Emerio +Tekeli with the Turks.--Leopold Applies to Sobieski.--He Immediately +Marches to his Aid.--The Turks Conquered.--Sobieski's Triumphal +Receptions.--Meanness of Leopold.--Revenge upon Hungary.--Peace +Concluded.--Contest for Spain. Page 311 + + +CHAPTER XXI. +LEOPOLD I. AND THE SPANISH SUCCESSION +From 1697 to 1710. + +The Spanish Succession.--The Impotence of Charles II.--Appeal to the +Pope.--His Decision.--Death of Charles II.--Accession of Philip +V.--Indignation of Austria.--The Outbreak of War.--Charles III. +Crowned.--Insurrection in Hungary.--Defection of Bavaria.--The Battle of +Blenheim.--Death of Leopold I.--Eleonora.--Accession of Joseph +I.--Charles XII. of Sweden.--Charles III. of Spain.--Battle of +Malplaquet.--Charles at Barcelona.--Charles at Madrid. 328 + + +CHAPTER XXII. +JOSEPH I. AND CHARLES VI. +From 1710 to 1717. + +Perplexities in Madrid.--Flight of Charles.--Retreat of the Austrian +Army.--Stanhope's Division cut off.--Capture of Stanhope.--Staremberg +assailed.--Retreat to Barcelona.--Attempt to pacify Hungary.--The +Hungarian Diet.--Baronial crowning of Ragotsky.--Renewal of the +Hungarian War.--Enterprise of Herbeville.--The Hungarians +crushed.--Lenity of Joseph.--Death of Joseph.--Accession of Charles +VI.--His career in Spain.--Capture of Barcelona.--The Siege.--The +Rescue.--Character of Charles.--Cloisters of Montserrat.--Increased +Efforts for the Spanish Crown.--Charles Crowned Emperor of Austria and +Hungary.--Bohemia.--Deplorable Condition of Louis XIV. Page 845 + + +CHAPTER XXIII. +CHARLES VI. +From 1716 to 1727. + +Heroic Decision of Eugene.--Battle of Belgrade.--Utter Rout of the +Turks.--Possessions of Charles VI.--The Elector of Hanover succeeds to +the English Throne.--Preparations for War.--State of Italy.--Philip V. +of Spain.--Diplomatic Agitations.--Palace of St. Ildefonso.--Order of +the Golden Fleece.--Rejection of Maria Anne.--Contest for the Rock of +Gibraltar.--Dismissal of Rippeeda.--Treaty of Vienna.--Peace Concluded. +Page 362 + + +CHAPTER XXIV. +CHARLES VI. AND THE POLISH WAR. +From 1727 to 1735. + +Cardinal Fleury.--The Emperor of Austria urges the Pragmatic +Sanction.--He promises his two Daughters to the two Sons of the Queen of +Spain.--France, England and Spain unite against Austria.--Charles VI. +issues Orders to Prepare for War.--His Perplexities.--Secret Overtures +to England.--The Crown of Poland.--Meeting of the Polish Congress.-- +Stanislaus goes to Poland.--Augustus III. crowned.--War.--Charles sends +an Army to Lombardy.--Difficulties of Prince Eugene.--Charles's +Displeasure with England.--Letter to Count Kinsky.--Hostilities Renewed. +Page 878 + + +CHAPTER XXV. +CHARLES VI. AND THE TURKISH WAR RENEWED. +From 1735 to 1739. + +Anxiety of Austrian Office-holders.--Maria Theresa.--The Duke of +Lorraine.--Distraction of the Emperor.--Tuscany assigned to the Duke of +Lorraine.--Death of Eugene.--Rising Greatness of Russia.--New War with +the Turks.--Condition of the Army.--Commencement of Hostilities--Capture +of Nissa.--Inefficient Campaign.--Disgrace of Seckendorf.--The Duke of +Lorraine placed in Command.--Siege of Orsova.--Belgrade besieged by the +Turks.--The third Campaign.--Battle of Crotzka.--Defeat of the +Austrians.--Consternation in Vienna.--Barbarism of the Turks.--The +Surrender of Belgrade. + + +CHAPTER XXVI. +MARIA THERESA. +From 1739 to 1741. + +Anguish of the King.--Letter to the Queen of Russia.--The Imperial +Circular.--Deplorable Condition of Austria.--Death of Charles +VI.--Accession of Maria Theresa.--Vigorous Measures of the Queen.--Claim +of the Duke of Bavaria.--Responses from the Courts.--Coldness of the +French Court.--Frederic of Prussia.--His Invasion of Silesia.--March of +the Austrians.--Battle of Molnitz.--Firmness of Maria Theresa.--Proposed +Division of Plunder.--Villainy of Frederic.--Interview with the +King.--Character of Frederic.--Commencement of the General Invasion. +Page 411 + + +CHAPTER XXVII. +MARIA THERESA. +From 1741 to 1743. + +Character of Francis, Duke of Lorraine.--Policy of European +Courts.--Plan of the Allies.--Siege of Prague.--Desperate Condition of +the Queen--Her Coronation in Hungary.--Enthusiasm of the Barons.--Speech +of Maria Theresa.--Peace with Frederic of Prussia.--His +Duplicity.--Military Movement of the Duke of Lorraine.--Battle of +Chazleau.--Second Treaty with Frederic.--Despondency of the Duke of +Bavaria.--March of Mallebois.--Extraordinary Retreat of +Belleisle.--Recovery of Prague by the Queen. Page 427 + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. +MARIA THERESA. +From 1743 to 1748. + +Prosperous Aspect of Austrian Affairs.--Capture of Egea.--Vast Extent of +Austria.--Dispute with Sardinia.--Marriage of Charles of Lorraine with +the Queen's Sister.--Invasion of Alsace.--Frederic overruns +Bohemia.--Bohemia recovered by Prince Charles.--Death of the Emperor +Charles VII.--Venality of the old Monarchies.--Battle of +Hohenfriedberg.--Sir Thomas Robinson's Interview with Maria +Theresa.--Hungarian Enthusiasm.--The Duke of Lorraine Elected +Emperor.--Continuation of the War.--Treaty of Peace.--Indignation of +Maria Theresa. Page 444 + + +CHAPTER XXIX. +MARIA THERESA. +From 1748 to 1759. + +Treaty of Peace.--Dissatisfaction of Maria Theresa.--Preparation for +War.--Rupture between England and Austria.--Maria Theresa.--Alliance +with France.--Influence of Marchioness of Pompadour.--Bitter Reproaches +between Austria And England.--Commencement of the Seven Years' War.-- +Energy of Frederic of Prussia.--Sanguinary Battles.--Vicissitudes of +War.--Desperate Situation of Frederic.--Elation of Maria Theresa.--Her +Ambitious Plans.--Awful Defeat of the Prussians at Berlin. Page 461 + + +CHAPTER XXX. +MARIA THERESA. +From 1759 to 1780. + +Desolations of War.--Disasters of Prussia.--Despondency of Frederic.-- +Death of the Empress Elizabeth.--Accession of Paul III.--Assassination +of Paul III.--Accession Of Catharine.--Discomfiture of the Austrians.-- +Treaty of Peace.--Election of Joseph to the Throne of the Empire.--Death +of Francis.--Character of Francis.--Anecdotes.--Energy of Maria +Theresa.--Poniatowski.--Partition of Poland.--Maria Theresa as a +Mother.--War with Bavaria.--Peace.--Death of Maria Theresa.--Family of +the Empress.--Accession of Joseph II.--His Character. Page 478 + + +CHAPTER XXXI. +JOSEPH II. AND LEOPOLD II. +From 1780 to 1792. + +Accession of Joseph II.--His Plans of Reform.--Pius VI.--Emancipation of +the Serfs.--Joseph's Visit to his Sister, Maria Antoinette.--Ambitious +Designs.--The Imperial Sleigh Ride.--Barges on the Dneister.--Excursion +to the Crimea.--War with Turkey.--Defeat of the Austrians.--Great +Successes.--Death of Joseph.--His Character.--Accession of Leopold +II.--His Efforts to confirm Despotism.--The French Revolution.--European +Coalition.--Death of Leopold.--His Profligacy.--Accession of Francis +II.--Present Extent and Power of Austria.--Its Army.--Policy of the +Government. Page 493 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +RHODOLPH OF HAPSBURG. + +From 1232 to 1291. + +Hawk's Castle.--Albert, Count of Hapsburg.--Rhodolph of Hapsburg.--His +Marriage and Estates.--Excommunication and its Results.--His Principles +of Honor.--A Confederacy of Barons.--Their Route.--Rhodolph's Election +as Emperor of Germany.--The Bishop's Warning.--Dissatisfaction at the +Result of the Election.--Advantages Accruing from the Possession of an +Interesting Family.--Conquest.--Ottocar Acknowledges the Emperor; yet +breaks his Oath of Allegiance.--Gathering Clouds.--Wonderful +Escape.--Victory of Rhodolph.--His Reforms. + + +In the small canton of Aargau, in Switzerland, on a rocky bluff of the +Wulpelsberg, there still remains an old baronial castle, called +Hapsburg, or Hawk's Castle. It was reared in the eleventh century, and +was occupied by a succession of warlike barons, who have left nothing to +distinguish themselves from the feudal lords whose castles, at that +period, frowned upon almost every eminence of Europe. In the year 1232 +this castle was occupied by Albert, fourth Count of Hapsburg. He had +acquired some little reputation for military prowess, the only +reputation any one could acquire in that dark age, and became ambitious +of winning new laurels in the war with the infidels in the holy land. +Religious fanaticism and military ambition were then the two great +powers which ruled the human soul. + +With the usual display of semi-barbaric pomp, Albert made arrangements +to leave his castle to engage in the perilous holy war against the +Saracens, from which few ever returned. A few years were employed in the +necessary preparations. At the sound of the bugle the portcullis was +raised, the drawbridge spanned the moat, and Albert, at the head of +thirty steel-clad warriors, with nodding plumes, and banners unfurled, +emerged from the castle, and proceeded to the neighboring convent of +Mari. His wife, Hedwige, and their three sons, Rhodolph, Albert and +Hartman, accompanied him to the chapel where the ecclesiastics awaited +his arrival. A multitude of vassals crowded around to witness the +imposing ceremonies of the church, as the banners were blessed, and the +knights, after having received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, were +commended to the protection of God. Albert felt the solemnity of the +hour, and in solemn tones gave his farewell address to his children. + +"My sons," said the steel-clad warrior, "cultivate truth and piety; give +no ear to evil counselors, never engage in unnecessary war, but when you +are involved in war be strong and brave. Love peace even better than +your own personal interests. Remember that the counts of Hapsburg did +not attain their heights of reputation and glory by fraud, insolence or +selfishness, but by courage and devotion to the public weal. As long as +you follow their footsteps, you will not only retain, but augment, the +possessions and dignities of your illustrious ancestors." + +The tears and sobs of his wife and family interrupted him while he +uttered these parting words. The bugles then sounded. The knights +mounted their horses; the clatter of hoofs was heard, and the glittering +cavalcade soon disappeared in the forest. Albert had left his ancestral +castle, never to return. He had but just arrived in Palestine, when he +was taken sick at Askalon, and died in the year 1240. + +Rhodolph, his eldest son, was twenty-two years of age at the time of his +father's death. Frederic II., one of the most renowned monarchs of the +middle ages, was then Emperor of that conglomeration of heterogeneous +States called Germany. Each of these States had its own independent +ruler and laws, but they were all held together by a common bond for +mutual protection, and some one illustrious sovereign was chosen as +Emperor of Germany, to preside over their common affairs. The Emperor of +Germany, having influence over all these States, was consequently, in +position, the great man of the age. + +Albert, Count of Hapsburg, had been one of the favorite captains of +Frederic II. in the numerous wars which desolated Europe in that dark +age. He was often at court, and the emperor even condescended to present +his son Rhodolph at the font for baptism. As the child grew, he was +trained to all athletic feats, riding ungovernable horses, throwing the +javelin, wrestling, running, and fencing. He early gave indications of +surprising mental and bodily vigor, and, at an age when most lads are +considered merely children, he accompanied his father to the camp and to +the court. Upon the death of his father, Rhodolph inherited the +ancestral castle, and the moderate possessions of a Swiss baron. He was +surrounded by barons of far greater wealth and power than himself, and +his proud spirit was roused, in disregard of his father's counsels, to +aggrandize his fortunes by force of arms, the only way then by which +wealth and power could be attained. He exhausted his revenues by +maintaining a princely establishment, organized a well-selected band of +his vassals into a military corps, which he drilled to a state of +perfect discipline, and then commenced a series of incursions upon his +neighbors. From some feeble barons he won territory, thus extending his +domains; from others he extorted money, thus enabling him to reward his +troops, and to add to their number by engaging fearless spirits in his +service wherever he could find them. + +In the year 1245, Rhodolph strengthened himself still more by an +advantageous marriage with Gertrude, the beautiful daughter of the Count +of Hohenberg. With his bride he received as her dowry the castle of +Oeltingen, and very considerable territorial possessions. Thus in five +years Rhodolph, by that species of robbery which was then called heroic +adventure, and by a fortunate marriage, had more than doubled his +hereditary inheritance. The charms of his bride, and the care of his +estates seem for a few years to have arrested the progress of his +ambition; for we can find no further notice of him among the ancient +chronicles for eight years. But, with almost all men, love is an +ephemeral passion, which is eventually vanquished by other powers of the +soul. Ambition slumbered for a little time, but was soon roused anew, +invigorated by repose. + +In 1253 we find Rhodolph heading a foray of steel-clad knights, with +their banded followers, in a midnight attack upon the city of Basle. +They break over all the defenses, sweep all opposition before them, and +in the fury of the fight, either by accident or as a necessity of war, +sacrilegiously set fire to a nunnery. For this crime Rhodolph was +excommunicated by the pope. Excommunication was then no farce. There +were few who dared to serve a prince upon whom the denunciations of the +Church had fallen. It was a stunning blow, from which few men could +recover. Rhodolph, instead of sinking in despair, endeavored, by new +acts of obedience and devotion to the Church, to obtain the revocation +of the sentence. + +In the region now called Prussia, there was then a barbaric pagan race, +against whom the pope had published a crusade. Into this war the +excommunicated Rhodolph plunged with all the impetuosity of his nature; +he resolved to work out absolution, by converting, with all the potency +of fire and sword, the barbarians to the Church. His penitence and zeal +seem to have been accepted, for we soon find him on good terms again +with the pope. He now sought to have a hand in every quarrel, far and +near. Wherever the sounds of war are raised, the shout of Rhodolph is +heard urging to the strife. In every hot and fiery foray, the steed of +Rhodolph is rearing and plunging, and his saber strokes fall in ringing +blows upon cuirass and helmet. He efficiently aided the city of +Strasbourg in their war against their bishop, and received from them in +gratitude extensive territories, while at the same time they reared a +monument to his name, portions of which still exist. His younger brother +died, leaving an only daughter, Anne, with a large inheritance. +Rhodolph, as her guardian, came into possession of the counties of +Kyburg, Lentzburg and Baden, and other scattered domains. + +This rapidly-increasing wealth and power, did but increase his energy +and his spirit of encroachment. And yet he adopted principles of honor +which were far from common in that age of barbaric violence. He would +never stoop to ordinary robbery, or harass peasants and helpless +travelers, as was constantly done by the turbulent barons around him. +His warfare was against the castle, never against the cottage. He met in +arms the panoplied knight, never the timid and crouching peasant. He +swept the roads of the banditti by which they were infested, and often +espoused the cause of citizens and freemen against the turbulent barons +and haughty prelates. He thus gained a wide-spread reputation for +justice, as well as for prowess, and the name of Rhodolph of Hapsburg +was ascending fast into renown. Every post of authority then required +the agency of a military arm. The feeble cantons would seek the +protection of a powerful chief; the citizens of a wealthy town, ever +liable to be robbed by bishop or baron, looked around for some warrior +who had invincible troops at his command for their protection. Thus +Rhodolph of Hapsburg was chosen chief of the mountaineers of Uri, +Schweitz and Underwalden; and all their trained bands were ready, when +his bugle note echoed through their defiles, to follow him +unquestioning, and to do his bidding. The citizens of Zurich chose +Rhodolph of Hapsburg as their prefect or mayor; and whenever his banner +was unfurled in their streets, all the troops of the city were at his +command. + +The neighboring barons, alarmed at this rapid aggrandizement of +Rhodolph, formed an alliance to crush him. The mountaineers heard his +bugle call, and rushed to his aid. Zurich opened her gates, and her +marshaled troops hastened to his banner. From Hapsburg, and Rheinfelden, +and Suabia, and Brisgau, and we know not how many other of the +territorial possessions of the count, the vassals rushed to the aid of +their lord. They met in one of the valleys of Zurich. The battle was +short, and the confederated barons were put to utter flight. Some took +refuge in the strong castle of Balder, upon a rocky cliff washed by the +Albis. Rhodolph selected thirty horsemen and thirty footmen. + +"Will you follow me," said he, "in an enterprise where the honor will be +equal to the peril?" + +A universal shout of assent was the response. Concealing the footmen in +a thicket, he, at the head of thirty horsemen, rode boldly to the gates +of the castle, bidding defiance, with all the utterances and +gesticulations of contempt, to the whole garrison. Those on the +ramparts, stung by the insult, rushed out to chastise so impudent a +challenge. The footmen rose from their ambush, and assailants and +assailed rushed pell mell in at the open gates of the castle. The +garrison were cut down or taken captive, and the fortress demolished. +Another party had fled to the castle of Uttleberg. By an ingenious +stratagem, this castle was also taken. Success succeeded success with +such rapidity, that the confederate barons, struck with consternation, +exclaimed, + +"All opposition is fruitless. Rhodolph of Hapsburg is invincible." + +They consequently dissolved the alliance, and sought peace on terms +which vastly augmented the power of the conqueror. + +Basle now incurred the displeasure of Rhodolph. He led his armies to the +gates of the city, and extorted satisfaction. The Bishop of Basle, a +haughty prelate of great military power, and who could summon many +barons to his aid, ventured to make arrogant demands of this warrior +flushed with victory. The palace and vast possessions of the bishop were +upon the other side of the unbridged Rhine, and the bishop imagined that +he could easily prevent the passage of the river. But Rhodolph speedily +constructed a bridge of boats, put to flight the troops which opposed +his passage, drove the peasants of the bishop everywhere before him, and +burned their cottages and their fields of grain. The bishop, appalled, +sued for a truce, that they might negotiate terms of peace. Rhodolph +consented, and encamped his followers. + +He was asleep in his tent, when a messenger entered at midnight, awoke +him, and informed him that he was elected Emperor of Germany. The +previous emperor, Richard, had died two years before, and after an +interregnum of two years of almost unparalleled anarchy, the electors +had just met, and, almost to their own surprise, through the +fluctuations and combinations of political intrigue, had chosen Rhodolph +of Hapsburg as his successor. Rhodolph himself was so much astonished at +the announcement, that for some time he could not be persuaded that the +intelligence was correct. + +To wage war against the Emperor of Germany, who could lead almost +countless thousands into the field, was a very different affair from +measuring strength with the comparatively feeble Count of Hapsburg. The +news of his election flew rapidly. Basle threw open her gates, and the +citizens, with illuminations, shouts, and the ringing of bells, greeted +the new emperor. The bishop was so chagrined at the elevation of his +foe, that he smote his forehead, and, looking to heaven, profanely said, + +"Great God, take care of your throne, or Rhodolph of Hapsburg will take +it from you!" + +Rhodolph was now fifty-five years of age. Alphonso, King of Castile, and +Ottocar, King of Bohemia, had both been candidates for the imperial +crown. Exasperated by the unexpected election of Rhodolph, they both +refused to acknowledge his election, and sent ambassadors with rich +presents to the pope to win him also to their side. Rhodolph, justly +appreciating the power of the pope, sent him a letter couched in those +terms which would be most palatable to the pontiff. + +"Turning all my thoughts to Him," he wrote, "under whose authority we +live, and placing all my expectations on you alone, I fall down before +the feet of your Holiness, beseeching you, with the most earnest +supplication, to favor me with your accustomed kindness in my present +undertaking; and that you will deign, by your mediation with the Most +High, to support my cause. That I may be enabled to perform what is most +acceptable to God and to His holy Church, may it graciously please your +Holiness to crown me with the imperial diadem; for I trust I am both +able and willing to undertake and accomplish whatever you and the holy +Church shall think proper to impose upon me." + +Gregory X. was a humane and sagacious man, influenced by a profound zeal +for the peace of Europe and the propagation of the Christian faith. +Gregory received the ambassadors of Rhodolph graciously, extorted from +them whatever concessions he desired on the part of the emperor, and +pledged his support. + +Ottocar, King of Bohemia, still remained firm, and even malignant, in +his hostility, utterly refusing to recognize the emperor, or to perform +any of those acts of fealty which were his due. He declared the +electoral diet to have been illegally convened, and the election to have +been the result of fraud, and that a man who had been excommunicated for +burning a convent, was totally unfit to wear the imperial crown. The +diet met at Augsburg, and irritated by the contumacy of Ottocar, sent a +command to him to recognize the authority of the emperor, pronouncing +upon him the ban of the empire should he refuse. Ottocar dismissed the +ambassadors with defiance and contempt from his palace at Prague, +saying, + +"Tell Rhodolph that he may rule over the territories of the empire, but +he shall have no dominion over mine. It is a disgrace to Germany, that a +petty count of Hapsburg should have been preferred to so many powerful +sovereigns." + +War, and a fearful one, was now inevitable. Ottocar was a veteran +soldier, a man of great intrepidity and energy, and his pride was +thoroughly roused. By a long series of aggressions he had become the +most powerful prince in Europe, and he could lead the most powerful +armies into the field. His dominions extended from the confines of +Bavaria to Raab in Hungary, and from the Adriatic to the shores of the +Baltic. The hereditary domains of the Count of Hapsburg were +comparatively insignificant, and were remotely situated at the foot of +the Alps, spreading through the defiles of Alsace and Suabia. As +emperor, Rhodolph could call the armies of the Germanic princes into the +field; but these princes moved reluctantly, unless roused by some +question of great moment to them all. And when these heterogeneous +troops of the empire were assembled, there was but a slender bond of +union between them. + +But Rhodolph possessed mental resources equal to the emergence. As +cautious as he was bold, as sagacious in council as he was impetuous in +action, he calmly, and with great foresight and deliberation, prepared +for the strife. To a monarch in such a time of need, a family of brave +sons and beautiful daughters, is an inestimable blessing. Rhodolph +secured the Duke of Sclavonia by making him the happy husband of one of +his daughters. His son Albert married Elizabeth, daughter of the Count +of Tyrol, and thus that powerful and noble family was secured. Henry of +Bavaria he intimidated, and by force of arms compelled him to lead his +troops to the standard of the emperor; and then, to secure his fidelity, +gave his daughter Hedwige to Henry's son Otho, in marriage, promising to +his daughter as a dowry a portion of Austria, which was then a feeble +duchy upon the Danube, but little larger than the State of +Massachusetts. + +Ottocar was but little aware of the tremendous energies of the foe he +had aroused. Regarding Rhodolph almost with contempt, he had by no means +made the arrangements which his peril demanded, and was in consternation +when he heard that Rhodolph, in alliance with Henry of Bavaria, had +already entered Austria, taken possession of several fortresses, and, at +the head of a force of a thousand horsemen, was carrying all before him, +and was triumphantly marching upon Vienna. Rhodolph had so admirably +matured his plans, that his advance seemed rather a festive journey than +a contested conquest. With the utmost haste Ottocar urged his troops +down through the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, hoping to save the +capital. But Rhodolph was at Vienna before him, where he was joined by +others of his allies, who were to meet him at that rendezvous. Vienna, +the capital, was a fortress of great strength. Upon this frontier post +Charlemagne had established a strong body of troops under a commander +who was called a margrave; and for some centuries this city, commanding +the Danube, had been deemed one of the strongest defenses of the empire +against Mohammedan invasion. Vienna, unable to resist, capitulated. The +army of Ottocar had been so driven in their long and difficult march, +that, exhausted and perishing for want of provisions, they began to +mutiny. The pope had excommunicated Ottocar, and the terrors of the +curse of the pope, were driving captains and nobles from his service. +The proud spirit of Ottocar, after a terrible struggle, was utterly +crushed, and he humbly sued for peace. The terms were hard for a haughty +spirit to bear. The conquered king was compelled to renounce all claim +to Austria and several other adjoining provinces, Styria, Carinthia, +Carniola and Windischmark; to take the oath of allegiance to the +emperor, and publicly to do him homage as his vassal lord. To cement +this compulsory friendship, Rhodolph, who was rich in daughters, having +six to proffer as bribes, gave one, with an abundant dowry in silver, to +a son of Ottocar. + +The day was appointed for the king, in the presence of the whole army, +to do homage to the emperor as his liege lord. It was the 25th of +November, 1276. With a large escort of Bohemian nobles, Ottocar crossed +the Danube, and was received by the emperor in the presence of many of +the leading princes of the empire. The whole army was drawn up to +witness the spectacle. With a dejected countenance, and with +indications, which he could not conceal, of a crushed and broken spirit, +Ottocar renounced these valuable provinces, and kneeling before the +emperor, performed the humiliating ceremony of feudal homage. The pope +in consequence withdrew his sentence of excommunication, and Ottocar +returned to his mutilated kingdom, a humbler and a wiser man. + +Rhodolph now took possession of the adjacent provinces which had been +ceded to him, and, uniting them, placed them under the government of +Louis of Bavaria, son of his firm ally Henry, the King of Bavaria. +Bavaria bounded Austria on the west, and thus the father and the son +would be in easy coöperation. He then established his three Sons, +Albert, Hartmann, and Rhodolph, in different parts of these provinces, +and, with his queen, fixed his residence at Vienna. + +Such was the nucleus of the Austrian empire, and such the commencement +of the powerful monarchy which for so many generations has exerted so +important a control over the affairs of Europe. Ottocar, however, though +he left Rhodolph with the strongest protestations of friendship, +returned to Prague consumed by the most torturing fires of humiliation +and chagrin. His wife, a haughty woman, who was incapable of listening +to the voice of judgment when her passions were inflamed, could not +conceive it possible that a petty count of Hapsburg could vanquish her +renowned husband in the field. And when she heard that Ottocar had +actually done fealty to Rhodolph, and had surrendered to him valuable +provinces of the kingdom, no bridle could be put upon her woman's +tongue. She almost stung her husband to madness with taunts and +reproaches. + +Thus influenced by the pride of his queen, Cunegunda, Ottocar violated +his oath, refused to execute the treaty, imprisoned in a convent the +daughter whom Rhodolph had given to his son, and sent a defiant and +insulting letter to the emperor. Rhodolph returned a dignified answer +and prepared for war. Ottocar, now better understanding the power of his +foe, made the most formidable preparations for the strife, and soon took +the field with an army which he supposed would certainly triumph over +any force which Rhodolph could raise. He even succeeded in drawing Henry +of Bavaria into an alliance; and many of the German princes, whom he +could not win to his standard, he bribed to neutrality. Numerous +chieftains, lured to his camp by confidence of victory, crowded around +him with their followers, from Poland, Bulgaria, Pomerania, Magdeburg, +and from the barbaric shores of the Baltic. Many of the fierce nobles of +Hungary had also joined the standard of Ottocar. + +Thus suddenly clouds gathered around Rhodolph, and many of his friends +despaired of his cause. He appealed to the princes of the German empire, +and but few responded to his call. His sons-in-law, the Electors of +Palatine and of Saxony, ventured not to aid him in an emergence when +defeat seemed almost certain, and where all who shared in the defeat +would be utterly ruined. In June, 1275, Ottocar marched from Prague, met +his allies at the appointed rendezvous, and threading the defiles of the +Bohemian mountains, approached the frontiers of Austria. Rhodolph was +seriously alarmed, for it was evident that the chances of war were +against him. He could not conceal the restlessness and agitation of his +spirit as he impatiently awaited the arrival of troops whom he summoned, +but who disappointed his hopes. + +"I have not one," he sadly exclaimed, "in whom I can confide, or on +whose advice I can depend." + +The citizens of Vienna perceiving that Rhodolph was abandoned by his +German allies, and that they could present no effectual resistance to so +powerful an army as was approaching, and terrified in view of a siege, +and the capture of the city by storm, urged a capitulation, and even +begged permission to choose a new sovereign, that they might not be +involved in the ruin impending over Rhodolph. This address roused +Rhodolph from his despondency, and inspired him with the energies of +despair. He had succeeded in obtaining a few troops from his provinces +in Switzerland. The Bishop of Basle, who had now become his confessor, +came to his aid, at the head of a hundred horsemen, and a body of expert +slingers. Rhodolph, though earnestly advised not to undertake a battle +with such desperate odds, marched from Vienna to meet the foe. + +Rapidly traversing the southern banks of the Danube to Hamburg, he +crossed the river and advanced to Marcheck, on the banks of the Morava. +He was joined by some troops from Styria and Carinthia, and by a strong +force led by the King of Hungary. Emboldened by these accessions, though +still far inferior in strength to Ottocar, he pressed on till the two +armies faced each other on the plains of Murchfield. It was the 26th of +August, 1278. + +At this moment some traitors deserting the camp of Ottocar, repaired to +the camp of Rhodolph and proposed to assassinate the Bohemian king. +Rhodolph spurned the infamous offer, and embraced the opportunity of +seeking terms of reconciliation by apprising Ottocar of his danger. But +the king, confident in his own strength, and despising the weakness of +Rhodolph, deemed the story a fabrication and refused to listen to any +overtures. Without delay he drew up his army in the form of a crescent, +so as almost to envelop the feeble band before him, and made a +simultaneous attack upon the center and upon both flanks. A terrific +battle ensued, in which one party fought, animated by undoubting +confidence, and the other impelled by despair. The strife was long and +bloody. The tide of victory repeatedly ebbed and flowed. Ottocar had +offered a large reward to any of his followers who would bring to him +Rhodolph, dead or alive. + +A number of knights of great strength and bravery, confederated to +achieve this feat. It was a point of honor to be effected at every +hazard. Disregarding all the other perils of the battle, they watched +their opportunity, and then in a united swoop, on their steel-clad +chargers, fell upon the emperor. His feeble guard was instantly cut +down. Rhodolph was a man of herculean power, and he fought like a lion +at bay. One after another of his assailants he struck from his horse, +when a Thuringian knight, of almost fabulous stature and strength, +thrust his spear through the horse of the emperor, and both steed and +rider fell to the ground. Rhodolph, encumbered by his heavy coat of +mail, and entangled in the housings of his saddle, was unable to rise. +He crouched upon the ground, holding his helmet over him, while saber +strokes and pike thrusts rang upon cuirass and buckler like blows upon +an anvil. A corps of reserve spurred to his aid, and the emperor was +rescued, and the bold assailants who had penetrated the very center of +his army were slain. + +The tide of victory now set strongly in favor of Rhodolph, for "the race +is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." The troops of +Bohemia were soon everywhere put to rout. The ground was covered with +the dead. Ottocar, astounded at his discomfiture, and perhaps fearing +the tongue of his wife more than the sabers of his foes, turned his back +upon his flying army, and spurred his horse into the thickest of his +pursuers. He was soon dismounted and slain. Fourteen thousand of his +troops perished on that disastrous day. The body of Ottocar, mutilated +with seventeen wounds, was carried to Vienna, and, after being exposed +to the people, was buried with regal honors. + +Rhodolph, vastly enriched by the plunder of the camp, and having no +enemy to encounter, took possession of Moravia, and triumphantly marched +into Bohemia. All was consternation there. The queen Cunegunda, who had +brought these disasters upon the kingdom, had no influence. Her only son +was but eight years of age. The turbulent nobles, jealous of each other, +had no recognized leader. The queen, humiliated and despairing, implored +the clemency of the conqueror, and offered to place her infant son and +the kingdom of Bohemia under his protection. Rhodolph was generous in +this hour of victory. As the result of arbitration, it was agreed that +he should hold Moravia for five years, that its revenues might indemnify +him for the expenses of the war. The young prince, Wenceslaus, was +acknowledged king, and during his minority the regency was assigned to +Otho, margrave or military commander of Brundenburg. Then ensued some +politic matrimonial alliances. Wenceslaus, the boy king, was affianced +to Judith, one of the daughters of Rhodolph. The princess Agnes, +daughter of Cunegunda, was to become the bride of Rhodolph's second son. +These matters being all satisfactorily settled, Rhodolph returned in +triumph to Vienna. + +The emperor now devoted his energies to the consolidation of these +Austrian provinces. They were four in number, Austria, Styria, Carinthia +and Carniola. All united, they made but a feeble kingdom, for they did +not equal, in extent of territory, several of the States of the American +Union. Each of these provinces had its independent government, and its +local laws and customs. They were held together by the simple bond of an +arbitrary monarch, who claimed, and exercised as he could, supreme +control over them all. Under his wise and energetic administration, the +affairs of the wide-spread empire were prosperous, and his own Austria +advanced rapidly in order, civilization and power. The numerous nobles, +turbulent, unprincipled and essentially robbers, had been in the habit +of issuing from their castles at the head of banditti bands, and +ravaging the country with incessant incursions. It required great +boldness in Rhodolph to brave the wrath of these united nobles. He did +it fearlessly, issuing the decree that there should be no fortresses in +his States which were not necessary for the public defense. The whole +country was spotted with castles, apparently impregnable in all the +strength of stone and iron, the secure refuge of high-born nobles. In +one year seventy of these turreted bulwarks of oppression were torn +down; and twenty-nine of the highest nobles, who had ventured upon +insurrection, were put to death. An earnest petition was presented to +him in behalf of the condemned insurgents. + +"Do not," said the king, "interfere in favor of robbers; they are not +nobles, but accursed robbers, who oppress the poor, and break the public +peace. True nobility is faithful and just, offends no one, and commits +no injury." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +REIGNS OF ALBERT I, FREDERIC, ALBERT AND OTHO. + +From 1291 to 1347. + +Anecdotes Of Rhodolph.--His Desire For The Election Of His Son.--His +Death.--Albert.--His Unpopularity.--Conspiracy Of The Nobles.--Their +Defeat.--Adolphus Of Nassau Chosen Emperor.--Albert's Conspiracy.-- +Deposition Of Adolphus And Election Of Albert.--Death Of Adolphus.--The +Pope Defied.--Annexation Of Bohemia.--Assassination Of Albert.--Avenging +Fury.--The Hermit's Direction.--Frederic The Handsome.--Election Of +Henry, Count Of Luxemburg.--His Death.--Election Of Louis Of +Bavaria.--Capture Of Frederic.--Remarkable Confidence Toward a +Prisoner.--Death Of Frederic.--An Early Engagement.--Death Of +Louis.--Accession Of Albert. + + +Rhodolph of Hapsburg was one of the most remarkable men of his own or of +any age, and many anecdotes illustrative of his character, and of the +rude times in which he lived, have been transmitted to us. The +Thuringian knight who speared the emperor's horse in the bloody fight of +Murchfield, was rescued by Rhodolph from those who would cut him down. + +"I have witnessed," said the emperor, "his intrepidity, and never could +forgive myself if so courageous a knight should be put to death." + +During the war with Ottocar, on one occasion the army were nearly +perishing of thirst. A flagon of water was brought to him. He declined +it, saying, + +"I can not drink alone, nor can I divide so small a quantity among all. +I do not thirst for myself, but for the whole army." + +By earnest endeavor he obtained the perfect control of his passions, +naturally very violent. "I have often," said he, "repented of being +passionate, but never of being mild and humane." + +One of his captains expressed dissatisfaction at a rich gift the emperor +made to a literary man who presented him a manuscript describing the +wars of the Romans. + +"My good friend," Rhodolph replied, "be contented that men of learning +praise our actions, and thereby inspire us with additional courage in +war. I wish I could employ more time in reading, and could expend some +of that money on learned men which I must throw away on so many +illiterate knights." + +One cold morning at Metz, in the year 1288, he walked out dressed as +usual in the plainest garb. He strolled into a baker's shop, as if to +warm himself. The baker's termagant wife said to him, all unconscious +who he was, + +"Soldiers have no business to come into poor women's houses." + +"True," the emperor replied, "but do not be angry, my good woman; I am +an old soldier who have spent all my fortune in the service of that +rascal Rhodolph, and he suffers me to want, notwithstanding all his fine +promises." + +"Good enough for you," said the woman; "a man who will serve such a +fellow, who is laying waste the whole earth, deserves nothing better." + +She then, in her spite, threw a pail of water on the fire, which, +filling the room with smoke and ashes, drove the emperor into the +street. + +Rhodolph, having returned to his lodgings, sent a rich present to the +old woman, from the emperor who had warmed himself at her fire that +morning, and at the dinner-table told the story with great glee to his +companions. The woman, terrified, hastened to the emperor to implore +mercy. He ordered her to be admitted to the dining-room, and promised to +forgive her if she would repeat to the company all her abusive epithets, +not omitting one. She did it faithfully, to the infinite merriment of +the festive group. + +So far as we can now judge, and making due allowance for the darkness of +the age in which he lived, Rhodolph appears to have been, in the latter +part of his life, a sincere, if not an enlightened Christian. He was +devout in prayer, and punctual in attending the services of the Church. +The humble and faithful ministers of religion he esteemed and protected, +while he was ever ready to chastise the insolence of those haughty +prelates who disgraced their religious professions by arrogance and +splendor. + +At last the infirmities of age pressed heavily upon him. When +seventy-three years old, knowing that he could not have much longer to +live, he assembled the congress of electors at Frankfort, and urged them +to choose his then only surviving son Albert as his successor on the +imperial throne. The diet, however, refused to choose a successor until +after the death of the emperor. Rhodolph was bitterly disappointed, for +he understood this postponement as a positive refusal to gratify him in +this respect. Saddened in spirit, and feeble in body, he undertook a +journey, by slow stages, to his hereditary dominions in Switzerland. He +then returned to Austria, where he died on the 15th of July, 1291, in +the seventy-third year of his age. + +Albert, who resided at Vienna, succeeded his father in authority over +the Austrian and Swiss provinces. But he was a man stern, unconciliating +and domineering. The nobles hated him, and hoped to drive him back to +the Swiss cantons from which his father had come. One great occasion of +discontent was, that he employed about his person, and in important +posts, Swiss instead of Austrian nobles. They demanded the dismission of +these foreign favorites, which so exasperated Albert that he clung to +them still more tenaciously and exclusively. + +The nobles now organized a very formidable conspiracy, and offered to +neighboring powers, as bribes for their aid, portions of Austria. +Austria proper was divided by the river Ens into two parts called Upper +and Lower Austria. Lower Austria was offered to Bohemia; Styria to the +Duke of Bavaria; Upper Austria to the Archbishop of Saltzburg; Carniola +to the Counts of Guntz; and thus all the provinces were portioned out to +the conquerors. At the same time the citizens of Vienna, provoked by the +haughtiness of Albert, rose in insurrection. With the energy which +characterized his father, Albert met these emergencies. Summoning +immediately an army from Switzerland, he shut up all the avenues to the +city, which was not in the slightest degree prepared for a siege, and +speedily starved the inhabitants into submission. Punishing severely the +insurgents, he strengthened his post at Vienna, and confirmed his power. +Then, marching rapidly upon the nobles, before they had time to receive +that foreign aid which had been secretly promised them, and securing all +the important fortresses, which were now not many in number, he so +overawed them, and so vigilantly watched every movement, that there was +no opportunity to rise and combine. The Styrian nobles, being remote, +made an effort at insurrection. Albert, though it was in the depth of +winter, plowed through the snows of the mountains, and plunging +unexpectedly among them, routed them with great slaughter. + +While he was thus conquering discontent by the sword, and silencing +murmurs beneath the tramp of iron hoofs, the diet was assembling at +Frankfort to choose a new chief for the Germanic empire. Albert was +confident of being raised to the vacant dignity. The splendor of his +talents all admitted. Four of the electors were closely allied to him by +marriage, and he arrogantly felt that he was almost entitled to the +office as the son of his renowned father. But the electors feared his +ambitious and despotic disposition, and chose Adolphus of Nassau to +succeed to the imperial throne. + +Albert was mortified and enraged by this disappointment, and expressed +his determination to oppose the election; but the troubles in his own +domains prevented him from putting this threat into immediate execution. +His better judgment soon taught him the policy of acquiescing in the +election, and he sullenly received the investiture of his fiefs from the +hands of the Emperor Adolphus. Still Albert, struggling against +unpopularity and continued insurrection, kept his eye fixed eagerly upon +the imperial crown. With great tact he conspired to form a confederacy +for the deposition of Adolphus. + +Wenceslaus, the young King of Bohemia, was now of age, and preparations +were made for his coronation with great splendor at Prague. Four of the +electors were present on this occasion, which was in June, 1297. Albert +conferred with them respecting his plans, and secured their coöperation. +The electors more willingly lent their aid since they were exceedingly +displeased with some of the measures of Adolphus for the aggrandizement +of his own family. Albert with secrecy and vigor pushed his plans, and +when the diet met the same year at Metz, a long list of grievances was +drawn up against Adolphus. He was summoned to answer to these charges. +The proud emperor refused to appear before the bar of the diet as a +culprit. The diet then deposed Adolphus and elected Albert II. to the +imperial throne, on the 23d of June, 1298. + +The two rival emperors made vigorous preparations to settle the dispute +with the sword, and the German States arrayed themselves, some on one +side and some on the other. The two armies met at Gelheim on the 2d of +July, led by the rival sovereigns. In the thickest of the fight Adolphus +spurred his horse through the opposing ranks, bearing down all +opposition, till he faced Albert, who was issuing orders and animating +his troops by voice and gesture. + +"Yield," shouted Adolphus, aiming a saber stroke at the head of his foe, +"your life and your crown." + +"Let God decide," Albert replied, as he parried the blow, and thrust his +lance into the unprotected face of Adolphus. At that moment the horse of +Adolphus fell, and he himself was instantly slain. Albert remained the +decisive victor on this bloody field. The diet of electors was again +summoned, and he was now chosen unanimously emperor. He was soon crowned +with great splendor at Aix-la-Chapelle. + +Still Albert sat on an uneasy throne. The pope, indignant that the +electors should presume to depose one emperor and choose another without +his consent, refused to confirm the election of Albert, and loudly +inveighed him as the murderer of Adolphus. Albert, with characteristic +impulsiveness, declared that he was emperor by choice of the electors +and not by ratification of the pope, and defiantly spurned the +opposition of the pontiff. Considering himself firmly seated on the +throne, he refused to pay the bribes of tolls, privileges, territories, +etc., which he had so freely offered to the electors. Thus exasperated, +the electors, the pope, and the King of Bohemia, conspired to drive +Albert from the throne. Their secret plans were so well laid, and they +were so secure of success, that the Elector of Mentz tauntingly and +boastingly said to Albert, "I need only sound my hunting-horn and a new +emperor will appear." + +Albert, however, succeeded by sagacity and energy, in dispelling this +storm which for a time threatened his entire destruction. By making +concessions to the pope, he finally won him to cordial friendship, and +by the sword vanquishing some and intimidating others, he broke up the +league. His most formidable foe was his brother-in-law, Wenceslaus, King +of Bohemia. Albert's sister, Judith, the wife of Wenceslaus, had for +some years prevented a rupture between them, but she now being dead, +both monarchs decided to refer their difficulties to the arbitration of +the sword. While their armies were marching, Wenceslaus was suddenly +taken sick and died, in June, 1305. His son, but seventeen years of age, +weak in body and in mind, at once yielded to all the demands of his +imperial uncle. Hardly a year, however, had elapsed ere this young +prince, Wenceslaus III., was assassinated, leaving no issue. + +Albert immediately resolved to transfer the crown of Bohemia to his own +family, and thus to annex the powerful kingdom of Bohemia to his own +limited Austrian territories. Bohemia added to the Austrian provinces, +would constitute quite a noble kingdom. The crown was considered +elective, though in fact the eldest son was almost always chosen during +the lifetime of his father. The death of Wenceslaus, childless, opened +the throne to other claimants. No one could more imperiously demand the +scepter than Albert. He did demand it for his son Rhodolph in tones +which were heard and obeyed. The States assembled at Prague on the 1st +of April, 1306. Albert, surrounded by a magnificent retinue, conducted +his son to Prague, and to confirm his authority married him to the widow +of Wenceslaus, a second wife. Rhodolph also, about a year before, had +buried Blanche, his first wife. Albert was exceedingly elated, for the +acquisition of Bohemia was an accession to the power of his family which +doubled their territory, and more than doubled their wealth and +resources. + +A mild government would have conciliated the Bohemians, but such a +course was not consonant with the character of the imperious and +despotic Albert. He urged his son to measures of arbitrary power which +exasperated the nobles, and led to a speedy revolt against his +authority. Rhodolph and the nobles were soon in the field with their +contending armies, when Rhodolph suddenly died from the fatigues of the +camp, aged but twenty-two years, having held the throne of Bohemia less +than a year. + +Albert, grievously disappointed, now demanded that his second son, +Frederic, should receive the crown. As soon as his name was mentioned to +the States, the assembly with great unanimity exclaimed, "We will not +again have an Austrian king." This led to a tumult. Swords were drawn, +and two of the partisans of Albert were slain. Henry, Duke of Carinthia, +was then almost unanimously chosen king. But the haughty Albert was not +to be thus easily thwarted in his plans. He declared that his son +Frederic was King of Bohemia, and raising an army, he exerted all the +influence and military power which his position as emperor gave him, to +enforce his claim. + +But affairs in Switzerland for a season arrested the attention of +Albert, and diverted his armies from the invasion of Bohemia. +Switzerland was then divided into small sovereignties, of various names, +there being no less than fifty counts, one hundred and fifty barons, and +one thousand noble families. Both Rhodolph and Albert had greatly +increased, by annexation, the territory and the power of the house of +Hapsburg. By purchase, intimidation, war, and diplomacy, Albert had for +some time been making such rapid encroachments, that a general +insurrection was secretly planned to resist his power. All Switzerland +seemed to unite as with one accord. Albert was rejoiced at this +insurrection, for, confident of superior power, he doubted not his +ability speedily to quell it, and it would afford him the most favorable +pretext for still greater aggrandizement. Albert hastened to his domain +at Hapsburg, where he was assassinated by conspirators led by his own +nephew, whom he was defrauding of his estates. + +Frederic and Leopold, the two oldest surviving sons of Albert, avenged +their father's death by pursuing the conspirators until they all +suffered the penalty of their crimes. With ferocity characteristic of +the age, they punished mercilessly the families and adherents of the +assassins. Their castles were demolished, their estates confiscated, +their domestics and men at arms massacred, and their wives and children +driven out into the world to beg or to starve. Sixty-three of the +retainers of Lord Balne, one of the conspirators, though entirely +innocent of the crime, and solemnly protesting their unconsciousness of +any plot, were beheaded in one day. Though but four persons took part in +the assassination, and it was not known that any others were implicated +in the deed, it is estimated that more than a thousand persons suffered +death through the fury of the avengers. Agnes, one of the daughters of +Albert, endeavored with her own hands to strangle the infant child of +the Lord of Eschenback, when the soldiers, moved by its piteous cries, +with difficulty rescued it from her hands. + +Elizabeth, the widow of Albert, with her implacable fanatic daughter +Agnes, erected a magnificent convent on the spot at Königsburg, where +the emperor was assassinated, and there in cloistered gloom they passed +the remainder of their lives. It was an age of superstition, and yet +there were some who comprehended and appreciated the pure morality of +the gospel of Christ. + +"Woman," said an aged hermit to Agnes, "God is not served by shedding +innocent blood, and by rearing convents from the plunder of families. He +is served by compassion only, and by the forgiveness of injuries." + +Frederic, Albert's oldest son, now assumed the government of the +Austrian provinces. From his uncommon personal attractions he was called +Frederic the Handsome. His character was in conformity with his person, +for to the most chivalrous bravery he added the most feminine amiability +and mildness. He was a candidate for the imperial throne, and would +probably have been elected but for the unpopularity of his despotic +father. The diet met, and on the 27th of November, 1308, the choice fell +unanimously upon Henry, Count of Luxemburg. + +This election deprived Frederic of his hopes of uniting Bohemia to +Austria, for the new emperor placed his son John upon the Bohemian +throne, and was prepared to maintain him there by all the power of the +empire. In accomplishing this, there was a short conflict with Henry of +Carinthia, but he was speedily driven out of the kingdom. + +Frederic, however, found a little solace in his disappointment, by +attaching to Austria the dominions he had wrested from the lords he had +beheaded as assassins of his father. In the midst of these scenes of +ambition, intrigue and violence, the Emperor Henry fell sick and died, +in the fifty-second year of his age. This unexpected event opened again +to Frederic the prospect of the imperial crown, and all his friends, in +the now very numerous branches of the family, spared neither money nor +the arts of diplomacy in the endeavor to secure the coveted dignity for +him. A year elapsed after the death of Henry before the diet was +assembled. During that time all the German States were in intense +agitation canvassing the claims of the several candidates. The prize of +an imperial crown was one which many grasped at, and every little court +was agitated by the question. The day of election, October 9th, 1314, +arrived. There were two hostile parties in the field, one in favor of +Frederic of Austria, the other in favor of Louis of Bavaria. The two +parties met in different cities, the Austrians at Saxenhausen, and the +Bavarians at Frankfort. There were, however, but four electors at +Saxenhausen, while there were five at Frankfort, the ancient place of +election. Each party unanimously chose its candidate. Louis, of Bavaria, +receiving five votes, while Frederic received but four, was +unquestionably the legitimate emperor. Most of the imperial cities +acknowledged him. Frankfort sung his triumph, and he was crowned with +all the ancient ceremonials of pomp at Aix-la-Chapelle. + +But Frederic and his party were not ready to yield, and all over Germany +there was the mustering of armies. For two years the hostile forces were +marching and countermarching with the usual vicissitudes of war. The +tide of devastation and blood swept now over one State, and now over +another, until at length the two armies met, in all their concentrated +strength, at Muhldorf, near Munich, for a decisive battle. Louis of +Bavaria rode proudly at the head of thirty thousand foot, and fifteen +hundred steel-clad horsemen. Frederic of Austria, the handsomest man of +his age, towering above all his retinue, was ostentatiously arrayed in +the most splendid armor art could furnish, emblazoned with the Austrian +eagle, and his helmet was surmounted by a crown of gold. + +As he thus led the ranks of twenty-two thousand footmen, and seven +thousand horse, all eyes followed him, and all hearts throbbed with +confidence of victory. From early dawn, till night darkened the field, +the horrid strife raged. In those days gunpowder was unknown, and the +ringing of battle-axes on helmet and cuirass, the strokes of sabers and +the clash of spears, shouts of onset, and the shrieks of the wounded, as +sixty thousand men fought hand to hand on one small field, rose like the +clamor from battling demons in the infernal world. Hour after hour of +carnage passed, and still no one could tell on whose banners victory +would alight. The gloom of night was darkening over the exhausted +combatants, when the winding of the bugle was heard in the rear of the +Austrians, and a band of four hundred Bavarian horsemen came plunging +down an eminence into the disordered ranks of Frederic. The hour of +dismay, which decides a battle, had come. A scene of awful carnage +ensued as the routed Austrians, fleeing in every direction, were pursued +and massacred. Frederic himself was struck from his horse, and as he +fell, stunned by the blow, he was captured, disarmed and carried to the +presence of his rival Louis. + +The spirit of Frederic was crushed by the awful, the irretrievable +defeat, and he appeared before his conqueror speechless in the extremity +of his woe. Louis had the pride of magnanimity and endeavored to console +his captive. + +"The battle is not lost by your fault," said he. "The Bavarians have +experienced to their cost that you are a valiant prince; but Providence +has decided the battle. Though I am happy to see you as my guest, I +sympathize with you in your sorrow, and will do what I can to alleviate +it." + +For three years the unhappy Frederic remained a prisoner of Louis of +Bavaria, held in close confinement in the castle at Trausnitz. At the +end of that time the emperor, alarmed at the efforts which the friends +of Frederic were making to combine several Powers to take up arms for +his relief, visited his prisoner, and in a personal interview proposed +terms of reconciliation. The terms, under the circumstances, were +considered generous, but a proud spirit needed the discipline of three +years' imprisonment before it could yield to such demands. + +It was the 13th of March, 1325, when this singular interview between +Louis the emperor, and Frederic his captive, took place at Trausnitz. +Frederic promised upon oath that in exchange for his freedom he would +renounce all claim to the imperial throne; restore all the districts and +castles he had wrested from the empire; give up all the documents +relative to his election as emperor; join with all his family influence +to support Louis against any and every adversary, and give his daughter +in marriage to Stephen the son of Louis. He also promised that in case +he should fail in the fulfillment of any one of these stipulations, he +would return to his captivity. + +Frederic fully intended a faithful compliance with these requisitions. +But no sooner was he liberated than his fiery brother Leopold, who +presided over the Swiss estates, and who was a man of great capacity and +military energy, refused peremptorily to fulfill the articles which +related to him, and made vigorous preparations to urge the war which he +had already, with many allies, commenced against the Emperor Louis. The +pope also, who had become inimical to Louis, declared that Frederic was +absolved from the agreement at Trausnitz, as it was extorted by force, +and, with all the authority of the head of the Church, exhorted Frederic +to reassert his claim to the imperial crown. + +Amidst such scenes of fraud and violence, it is refreshing to record an +act of real honor. Frederic, notwithstanding the entreaties of the pope +and the remonstrances of his friends, declared that, be the consequences +what they might, he never would violate his pledge; and finding that he +could not fulfill the articles of the agreement, he returned to Bavaria +and surrendered himself a prisoner to the emperor. It is seldom that +history has the privilege of recording so noble an act. Louis of Bavaria +fortunately had a soul capable of appreciating the magnanimity of his +captive. He received him with courtesy and with almost fraternal +kindness. In the words of a contemporary historian, "They ate at the +same table and slept in the same bed;" and, most extraordinary of all, +when Louis was subsequently called to a distant part of his dominions to +quell an insurrection, he intrusted the government of Bavaria, during +his absence, to Frederic. + +Frederic's impetuous and ungovernable brother Leopold, was unwearied in +his endeavors to combine armies against the emperor, and war raged +without cessation. At length Louis, harassed by these endless +insurrections and coalitions against him, and admiring the magnanimity +of Frederic, entered into a new alliance, offering terms exceedingly +honorable on his part. He agreed that he and Frederic should rule +conjointly as emperors of Germany, in perfect equality of power and +dignity, alternately taking the precedence. + +With this arrangement Leopold was satisfied, but unfortunately, just at +that time, his impetuous spirit, exhausted by disappointment and +chagrin, yielded to death. He died at Strasbourg on the 28th of +February, 1326. The pope and several of the electors refused to accede +to this arrangement, and thus the hopes of the unhappy Frederic were +again blighted, for Louis, who had consented to this accommodation for +the sake of peace, was not willing to enforce it through the tumult of +war. Frederic was, however, liberated from captivity, and he returned to +Austria a dejected, broken-hearted man. He pined away for a few months +in languor, being rarely known to smile, and died at the castle of +Gullenstein on the 13th of January, 1330. His widow, Isabella, the +daughter of the King of Arragon, became blind from excessive grief, and +soon followed her husband to the tomb. + +As Frederic left no son, the Austrian dominions fell to his two +brothers, Albert III. and Otho. Albert, by marriage, added the valuable +county of Ferret in Alsace to the dominions of the house of Austria. The +two brothers reigned with such wonderful harmony, that no indications +can be seen of separate administrations. They renounced all claim to the +imperial throne, notwithstanding the efforts of the pope to the +contrary, and thus secured friendship with the Emperor Louis. There were +now three prominent families dominant in Germany. Around these great +families, who had gradually, by marriage and military encroachments, +attained their supremacy, the others of all degrees rallied as vassals, +seeking protection and contributing strength. The house of Bavaria, +reigning over that powerful kingdom and in possession of the imperial +throne, ranked first. Then came the house of Luxembourg, possessing the +wide-spread and opulent realms of Bohemia. The house of Austria had now +vast possessions, but these were widely scattered; some provinces on the +banks of the Danube and others in Switzerland, spreading through the +defiles of the Alps. + +John of Bohemia was an overbearing man, and feeling quite impregnable in +his northern realms beyond the mountains, assumed such a dictatorial air +as to rouse the ire of the princes of Austria and Bavaria. These two +houses consequently entered into an intimate alliance for mutual +security. The Duke of Carinthia, who was uncle to Albert and Otho, died, +leaving only a daughter, Margaret. This dukedom, about the size of the +State of Massachusetts, a wild and mountainous region, was deemed very +important as the key to Italy. John of Bohemia, anxious to obtain it, +had engaged the hand of Margaret for his son, then but eight years of +age. It was a question in dispute whether the dukedom could descend to a +female, and Albert and Otho claimed it as the heirs of their uncle. +Louis, the emperor, supported the claims of Austria, and thus Carinthia +became attached to this growing power. + +John, enraged, formed a confederacy with the kings of Hungary and +Poland, and some minor princes, and invaded Austria. For some time they +swept all opposition before them. But the Austrian troops and those of +the empire checked them at Landau. Here they entered into an agreement +without a battle, by which Austria was permitted to retain Carinthia, +she making important concessions to Bohemia. In February, 1339, Otho +died, and Albert was invested with the sole administration of affairs. +The old King of Bohemia possessed vehemence of character which neither +age nor the total blindness with which he had become afflicted could +repress. He traversed the empire, and even went to France, organizing a +powerful confederacy against the emperor. The pope, Clement VI., who had +always been inimical to Louis of Bavaria, influenced by John of Bohemia, +deposed and excommunicated Louis, and ordered a new meeting of the diet +of electors, which chose Charles, eldest son of the Bohemian monarch, +and heir to that crown, emperor. + +The deposed Louis fought bravely for the crown thus torn from his brow. +Albert of Austria aided him with all his energies. Their united armies, +threading the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, penetrated the very +heart of the kingdom, when, in the midst of success, the deposed Emperor +Louis fell dead from a stroke of apoplexy, in the year 1347. This event +left Charles of Bohemia in undisputed possession of the imperial crown. +Albert immediately recognized his claim, effected reconciliation, and +becoming the friend and the ally of the emperor, pressed on cautiously +but securely, year after year, in his policy of annexation. But storms +of war incessantly howled around his domains until he died, a crippled +paralytic, on the 16th of August, 1358. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +RHODOLPH II., ALBERT IV. AND ALBERT V. + +From 1339 to 1437. + +Rhodolph II.--Marriage of John to Margaret.--Intriguing for the +Tyrol.--Death of Rhodolph.--Accession of Power to Austria.--Dividing the +Empire.--Delight of the Emperor Charles.--Leopold.--His Ambition and +Successes.--Hedwige, Queen of Poland.--"The Course of true Love never +did run smooth."--Unhappy Marriage of Hedwige.--Heroism of Arnold of +Winkelreid.--Death of Leopold.--Death of Albert IV.--Accession of Albert +V.--Attempts of Sigismond to bequeath to Albert V. Hungary and Bohemia. + + +Rhodolph II., the eldest son of Albert III., when but nineteen years of +age succeeded his father in the government of the Austrian States. He +had been very thoroughly educated in all the civil and military +knowledge of the times. He was closely allied with the Emperor Charles +IV. of Bohemia, having married his daughter Catherine. His character and +manhood had been very early developed. When he was in his seventeenth +year his father had found it necessary to visit his Swiss estates, then +embroiled in the fiercest war, and had left him in charge of the +Austrian provinces. He soon after was intrusted with the whole care of +the Hapsburg dominions in Switzerland. In this responsible post he +developed wonderful administrative skill, encouraging industry, +repressing disorder, and by constructing roads and bridges, opening +facilities for intercourse and trade. + +Upon the death of his father, Rhodolph removed to Vienna, and being now +the monarch of powerful realms on the Danube and among the Alps, he +established a court rivaling the most magnificent establishments of the +age. + +Just west of Austria and south of Bavaria was the magnificent dukedom of +Tyrol, containing some sixteen thousand square miles, or about twice the +size of the State of Massachusetts. It was a country almost unrivaled in +the grandeur of its scenery, and contained nearly a million of +inhabitants. This State, lying equally convenient to both Austria and +Bavaria, by both of these kingdoms had for many years been regarded with +a wistful eye. The manner in which Austria secured the prize is a story +well worth telling, as illustrative of the intrigues of those times. + +It will be remembered that John, the arrogant King of Bohemia, engaged +for his son the hand of Margaret, the only daughter of the Duke of +Carinthia. Tyrol also was one of the possessions of this powerful duke. +Henry, having no son, had obtained from the emperor a decree that these +possessions should descend, in default of male issue, to his daughter. +But for this decision the sovereignty of these States would descend to +the male heirs, Albert and Otho of Austria, nephews of Henry. They of +course disputed the legality of the decree, and, aided by the Emperor +Louis of Bavaria, obtained Carinthia, relinquishing for a time their +claim to Tyrol. The emperor hoped to secure that golden prize for his +hereditary estates of Bavaria. + +When John, the son of the King of Bohemia, was but seventeen years of +age, and a puny, weakly child, he was hurriedly married to Margaret, +then twenty-two. Margaret, a sanguine, energetic woman, despised her +baby husband, and he, very naturally, impotently hated her. She at +length fled from him, and escaping from Bohemia, threw herself under the +protection of Louis. The emperor joyfully welcomed her to his court, and +promised to grant her a divorce, by virtue of his imperial power, if she +would marry his son Louis. The compliant princess readily acceded to +this plan, and the divorce was announced and the nuptials solemnized in +February, 1342. + +The King of Bohemia was as much exasperated as the King of Bavaria was +elated by this event, for the one felt that he had lost the Tyrol, and +the other that he had gained it. It was this successful intrigue which +cost Louis of Bavaria his imperial crown; for the blood of the King of +Bohemia was roused. Burning with vengeance, he traversed Europe almost +with the zeal and eloquence of Peter the Hermit, to organize a coalition +against the emperor, and succeeded in inducing the pope, always hostile +to Louis, to depose and excommunicate him. This marriage was also +declared by the pope unlawful, and the son, Meinhard, eventually born to +them, was branded as illegitimate. + +While matters were in this state, as years glided on, Rhodolph succeeded +in winning the favor of the pontiff, and induced him to legitimate +Meinhard, that this young heir of Tyrol might marry the Austrian +princess Margaret, sister of Rhodolph. Meinhard and his wife Margaret +ere long died, leaving Margaret of Tyrol, a widow in advancing years, +with no direct heirs. By the marriage contract of her son Meinhard with +Margaret of Austria, she promised that should there be failure of issue, +Tyrol should revert to Austria. On the other hand, Bavaria claimed the +territory in virtue of the marriage of Margaret with Louis of Bavaria. + +Rhodolph was so apprehensive that Bavaria might make an immediate move +to obtain the coveted territory by force of arms, that he hastened +across the mountains, though in the depth of winter, obtained from +Margaret an immediate possession of Tyrol, and persuaded her to +accompany him, an honored guest, to his capital, which he had +embellished with unusual splendor for her entertainment. + +Rhodolph had married the daughter of Charles, King of Bohemia, the +emperor, but unfortunately at this juncture, Rhodolph, united with the +kings of Hungary and Poland, was at war with the Bavarian king. +Catherine his wife, however, undertook to effect a reconciliation +between her husband and her father. She secured an interview between +them, and the emperor, the hereditary rival of his powerful neighbor the +King of Bavaria, confirmed Margaret's gift, invested Rhodolph with the +Tyrol, and pledged the arm of the empire to maintain this settlement. +Thus Austria gained Tyrol, the country of romance and of song, +interesting, perhaps, above all other portions of Europe in its natural +scenery, and invaluable from its location as the gateway of Italy. +Bavaria made a show of armed opposition to this magnificent accession to +the power of Austria, but soon found it in vain to assail Rhodolph +sustained by Margaret of Tyrol, and by the energies of the empire. + +Rhodolph was an antiquarian of eccentric character, ever poring over +musty records and hunting up decayed titles. He was fond of attaching to +his signature the names of all the innumerable offices he held over the +conglomerated States of his realm. He was Rhodolph, Margrave of Baden, +Vicar of Upper Bavaria, Lord of Hapsburg, Arch Huntsman of the Empire, +Archduke Palatine, etc., etc. His ostentation provoked even the jealousy +of his father, the emperor, and he was ordered to lay aside these +numerous titles and the arrogant armorial bearings he was attaching to +his seals. His desire to aggrandize his family burned with a quenchless +flame. Hoping to extend his influence in Italy, he negotiated a +matrimonial alliance for his brother with an Italian princess. As he +crossed the Alps to attend the nuptials, he was seized with an +inflammatory fever, and died the 27th of July, 1365, but twenty-six +years of age, and leaving no issue. + +His brother Albert, a young man but seventeen years of age, succeeded +Rhodolph. Just as he assumed the government, Margaret of Tyrol died, and +the King of Bavaria, thinking this a favorable moment to renew his +claims for the Tyrol, vigorously invaded the country with a strong army. +Albert immediately applied to the emperor for assistance. Three years +were employed in fightings and diplomacy, when Bavaria, in consideration +of a large sum of money and sundry other concessions, renounced all +pretensions to Tyrol, and left the rich prize henceforth undisputed in +the hands of Austria. Thus the diminutive margrave of Austria, which was +at first but a mere military post on the Danube, had grown by rapid +accretions in one century to be almost equal in extent of territory to +the kingdoms of Bavaria and of Bohemia. This grandeur, instead of +satisfying the Austrian princes, did but increase their ambition. + +The Austrian territories, though widely scattered, were declared, both +by family compact and by imperial decree, to be indivisible. Albert had +a brother, Leopold, two years younger than himself, of exceedingly +restless and ambitious spirit, while Albert was inactive, and a lover of +ease and repose. Leopold was sent to Switzerland, and intrusted with the +administration of those provinces. But his imperious spirit so dominated +over his elder but pliant brother, that he extorted from him a compact, +by which the realm was divided, Albert remaining in possession of the +Austrian provinces of the Danube, and Leopold having exclusive dominion +over those in Switzerland; while the magnificent new acquisition, the +Tyrol, lying between the two countries, bounding Switzerland on the +east, and Austria on the west, was shared between them. + +Nothing can more clearly show the moderate qualities of Albert than that +he should have assented to such a plan. He did, however, with easy good +nature, assent to it, and the two brothers applied to the Emperor +Charles to ratify the division by his imperial sanction. Charles, who +for some time had been very jealous of the rapid encroachments of +Austria, rubbed his hands with delight. + +"We have long," said he, "labored in vain to humble the house of +Austria, and now the dukes of Austria have humbled themselves." + +Leopold the First inherited all the ambition and energy of the house of +Hapsburg, and was ever watching with an eagle eye to extend his +dominions, and to magnify his power. By money, war, and diplomacy, in a +few years he obtained Friburg and the little town of Basle; attached to +his dominions the counties of Feldkirch, Pludenz, Surgans and the +Rienthal, which he wrested from the feeble counts who held them, and +obtained the baillages of Upper and Lower Suabia, and the towns of +Augsburg and Gingen. But a bitter disappointment was now encountered by +this ambitious prince. + +Louis, the renowned King of Hungary and Poland, had two daughters, Maria +and Hedwige, but no sons. To Maria he promised the crown of Hungary as +her portion, and among the many claimants for her hand, and the +glittering crown she held in it, Sigismond, son of the Emperor Charles, +King of Bohemia, received the prize. Leopold, whose heart throbbed in +view of so splendid an alliance, was overjoyed when he secured the +pledge of the hand of Hedwige, with the crown of Poland, for William, +his eldest son. Hedwige was one of the most beautiful and accomplished +princesses of the age. William was also a young man of great elegance of +person, and of such rare fascination of character, that he had acquired +the epithet of William the Delightful. His chivalrous bearing had been +trained and polished amidst the splendors of his uncle's court of +Vienna. Hedwige, as the affianced bride of William, was invited from the +more barbaric pomp of the Hungarian court, to improve her education by +the aid of the refinements of Vienna. William and Hedwige no sooner met +than they loved one another, as young hearts, even in the palace, will +sometimes love, as well as in the cottage. In brilliant festivities and +moonlight excursions the young lovers passed a few happy months, when +Hedwige was called home by the final sickness of her father. Louis died, +and Hedwige was immediately crowned Queen of Poland, receiving the most +enthusiastic greetings of her subjects. + +Bordering on Poland there was a grand duchy of immense extent, +Lithuania, embracing sixty thousand square miles. The Grand Duke +Jaghellon was a burly Northman, not more than half civilized, whose +character was as jagged as his name. This pagan proposed to the Polish +nobles that he should marry Hedwige, and thus unite the grand duchy of +Lithuania with the kingdom of Poland; promising in that event to +renounce paganism, and embrace Christianity. The beautiful and +accomplished Hedwige was horror-struck at the proposal, and declared +that never would she marry any one but William. + +But the Polish nobles, dazzled by the prospect of this magnificent +accession to the kingdom of Poland, and the bishops, even more powerful +than the nobles, elated with the vision of such an acquisition for the +Church, resolved that the young and fatherless maiden, who had no one to +defend her cause, should yield, and that she should become the bride of +Jaghellon. They declared that it was ridiculous to think that the +interests of a mighty kingdom, and the enlargement of the Church, were +to yield to the caprices of a love-sick girl. + +In the meantime William, all unconscious of the disappointment which +awaited him, was hastening to Cracow, with a splendid retinue, and the +richest presents Austrian art could fabricate, to receive his bride. The +nobles, however, a semi-barbaric set of men, surrounded him upon his +arrival, refused to allow him any interview with Hedwige, threatened him +with personal violence, and drove him out of the kingdom. Poor Hedwige +was in anguish. She wept, vowed deathless fidelity to William, and +expressed utter detestation of the pagan duke, until, at last, worn out +and broken-hearted, she, in despair, surrendered herself into the arms +of Jaghellon. Jaghellon was baptized by the name of Ladislaus, and +Lithuania was annexed to Poland. + +The loss of the crown of Poland was to Leopold a grievous affliction; at +the same time his armies, engaged in sundry measures of aggrandizement, +encountered serious reverses. Leopold, the father of William, by these +events was plunged into the deepest dejection. No effort of his friends +could lift the weight of his gloom. In a retired apartment of one of his +castles he sat silent and woful, apparently incapacitated for any +exertion whatever, either bodily or mental. The affairs of his realm +were neglected, and his bailiffs and feudal chiefs, left with +irresponsible power, were guilty of such acts of extortion and tyranny, +that, in the province of Suabia the barons combined, and a fierce +insurrection broke out. Forty important towns united in the confederacy, +and secured the co-operation of Strasburg, Mentz and other large cities +on the Rhine. Other of the Swiss provinces were on the eve of joining +this alarming confederacy against Leopold, their Austrian ruler. As +Vienna for some generations had been the seat of the Hapsburg family, +from whence governors were sent to these provinces of Helvetia, as +Switzerland was then called, the Swiss began to regard their rulers as +foreigners, and even Leopold found it necessary to strengthen himself +with Austrian troops. + +This formidable league roused Leopold from his torpor, and he awoke like +the waking of the lion. He was immediately on the march with four +thousand horsemen, and fourteen hundred foot, while all through the +defiles of the Alps bugle blasts echoed, summoning detachments from +various cantons under their bold barons, to hasten to the aid of the +insurgents. On the evening of the 9th of July, 1396, the glittering host +of Leopold appeared on an eminence overlooking the city of Sempach and +the beautiful lake on whose border it stands. The horses were fatigued +by their long and hurried march, and the crags and ravines, covered with +forest, were impracticable for the evolutions of cavalry. The impetuous +Leopold, impatient of delay, resolved upon an immediate attack, +notwithstanding the exhaustion of his troops, and though a few hours of +delay would bring strong reinforcements to his camp. He dismounted his +horsemen, and formed his whole force in solid phalanx. It was an +imposing spectacle, as six thousand men, covered from head to foot with +blazing armor, presenting a front of shields like a wall of burnished +steel, bristling with innumerable pikes and spears, moved with slow, +majestic tread down upon the city. + +The confederate Swiss, conscious that the hour of vengeance had come, in +which they must conquer or be miserably slain, marched forth to meet the +foe, emboldened only by despair. But few of the confederates were in +armor. They were furnished with such weapons as men grasp when despotism +rouses them to insurrection, rusty battle-axes, pikes and halberts, and +two-handed swords, which their ancestors, in descending into the grave, +had left behind them. They drew up in the form of a solid wedge, to +pierce the thick concentric wall of steel, apparently as impenetrable as +the cliffs of the mountains. Thus the two bodies silently and sternly +approached each other. It was a terrific hour; for every man knew that +one or the other of those hosts must perish utterly. For some time the +battle raged, while the confederates could make no impression whatever +upon their steel-clad foes, and sixty of them fell pierced by spears +before one of their assailants had been even wounded. + +Despair was fast settling upon their hearts, when Arnold of Winkelreid, +a knight of Underwalden, rushed from the ranks of the confederates, +exclaiming-- + +"I will open a passage into the line; protect, dear countrymen, my wife +and children." + +He threw himself upon the bristling spears. A score pierced his body; +grasping them with the tenacity of death, he bore them to the earth as +he fell. His comrades, emulating his spirit of self-sacrifice, rushed +over his bleeding body, and forced their way through the gate thus +opened into the line. The whole unwieldy mass was thrown into confusion. +The steel-clad warriors, exhausted before the battle commenced, and +encumbered with their heavy armor, could but feebly resist their nimble +assailants, who outnumbering them and over-powering them, cut them down +in fearful havoc. It soon became a general slaughter, and not less than +two thousand of the followers of Leopold were stretched lifeless upon +the ground. Many were taken prisoners, and a few, mounting their horses, +effected an escape among the wild glens of the Alps. + +In this awful hour Leopold developed magnanimity and heroism worthy of +his name. Before the battle commenced, his friends urged him to take +care of his own person. + +"God forbid," said he, "that I should endeavor to save my own life and +leave you to die! I will share your fate, and, with you, will either +conquer or perish." + +When all was in confusion, and his followers were falling like autumn +leaves around him, he was urged to put spurs to his horse, and, +accompanied by his body-guard, to escape. + +"I would rather die honorably," said Leopold, "than live with dishonor." + +Just at this moment his standard-bearer was struck down by a rush of the +confederates. As he fell he cried out, "Help, Austria, help!" Leopold +frantically sprang to his aid, grasped the banner from his dying hand, +and waving it, plunged into the midst of the foe, with saber strokes +hewing a path before him. He was soon lost in the tumult and the carnage +of the battle. His body was afterward found, covered with wounds, in the +midst of heaps of the dead. + +Thus perished the ambitious and turbulent Leopold the 1st, after a +stormy and unhappy life of thirty-six years, and a reign of constant +encroachment and war of twenty years. Life to him was a dark and somber +tempest. Ever dissatisfied with what he had attained, and grasping at +more, he could never enjoy the present, and he finally died that death +of violence to which his ambition had consigned so many thousands. +Leopold, the second son of the duke, who was but fifteen years of age, +succeeded his father, in the dominion of the Swiss estates; and after a +desultory warfare of a few months, was successful in negotiating a +peace, or rather an armed truce, with the successful insurgents. + +In the meantime, Albert, at Vienna, apparently happy in being relieved +of all care of the Swiss provinces, was devoting himself to the arts of +peace. He reared new buildings, encouraged learning, repressed all +disorders, and cultivated friendly relations with the neighboring +powers. His life was as a summer's day--serene and bright. He and his +family were happy, and his realms in prosperity. He died at his rural +residence at Laxendorf, two miles out from Vienna, on the 29th of +August, 1395. All Austria mourned his death. Thousands gathered at his +burial, exclaiming, "We have lost our friend, our father!" He was a +studious, peace-loving, warm-hearted man, devoted to his family and his +friends, fond of books and the society of the learned, and enjoying the +cultivation of his garden with his own hands. He left, at his death, an +only son, Albert, sixteen years of age. + +William, the eldest son of Leopold, had been brought up in the court of +Vienna. He was a young man of fascinating character and easily won all +hearts. After his bitter disappointment in Poland he returned to Vienna, +and now, upon the death of his uncle Albert, he claimed the reins of +government as the oldest member of the family. His cousin Albert, of +course, resisted this claim, demanding that he himself should enter upon +the post which his father had occupied. A violent dissension ensued +which resulted in an agreement that they should administer the +government of the Austrian States, jointly, during their lives, and that +then the government should be vested in the eldest surviving member of +the family. + +Having effected this arrangement, quite to the satisfaction of both +parties, Albert, who inherited much of the studious thoughtful turn of +mind of his father, set out on a pilgrimage to the holy land, leaving +the government during his absence in the hands of William. After +wanderings and adventures so full of romance as to entitle him to the +appellation of the "Wonder of the World," he returned to Vienna. He +married a daughter of the Duke of Holland, and settled down to a monkish +life. He entered a monastery of Carthusian monks, and took an active +part in all their discipline and devotions. No one was more punctual +than he at matins and vespers, or more devout in confessions, prayers, +genuflexions and the divine service in the choir. Regarding himself as +one of the fraternity, he called himself brother Albert, and left +William untrammeled in the cares of state. His life was short, for he +died the 14th of September, 1404, in the twenty-seventh year of his age, +leaving a son Albert, seven years old. William, who married a daughter +of the King of Naples, survived him but two years, when he died +childless. + +A boy nine years old now claimed the inheritance of the Austrian +estates; but the haughty dukes of the Swiss branch of the house were not +disposed to yield to his claims. Leopold II., who after the battle of +Sempach succeeded his father in the Swiss estates, assumed the +guardianship of Albert, and the administration of Austria, till the +young duke should be of age. But Leopold had two brothers who also +inherited their father's energy and ambition. Ernest ruled over Styria, +Carinthia and Carniola. Frederic governed the Tyrol. + +Leopold II. repaired to Vienna to assume the administration; his two +brothers claimed the right of sharing it with him. Confusion, strife and +anarchy ensued. Ernest, a very determined and violent man, succeeded in +compelling his brother to give him a share of the government, and in the +midst of incessant quarrels, which often led to bloody conflicts, each +of the two brothers strove to wrest as much as possible from Austria +before young Albert should be of age. The nobles availed themselves of +this anarchy to renew their expeditions of plunder. Unhappy Austria for +several years was a scene of devastation and misery. In the year 1411, +Leopold II. died without issue. The young Albert had now attained is +fifteenth year. + +The emperor declared Albert of age, and he assumed the government as +Albert V. His subjects, weary of disorder and of the strife of the +nobles, welcomed him with enthusiasm. With sagacity and self-denial +above his years, the young prince devoted himself to business, +relinquishing all pursuits of pleasure. Fortunately, during his minority +he had honorable and able teachers who stored his mind with useful +knowledge, and fortified him with principles of integrity. The change +from the most desolating anarchy to prosperity and peace was almost +instantaneous. Albert had the judgment to surround himself with able +advisers. Salutary laws were enacted; justice impartially administered; +the country was swept of the banditti which infested it, and while all +the States around were involved in the miseries of war, the song of the +contented husbandman, and the music of the artisan's tools were heard +through the fields and in the towns of happy Austria. + +Sigismond, second son of the Emperor Charles IV., King of Bohemia, was +now emperor. It will be remembered that by marrying Mary, the eldest +daughter of Louis, King of Hungary and Poland, he received Hungary as +the dower of his bride. By intrigue he also succeeded in deposing his +effeminate and dissolute brother, Wenceslaus, from the throne of +Bohemia, and succeeded, by a new election, in placing the crown upon his +own brow. Thus Sigismond wielded a three-fold scepter. He was Emperor of +Germany, and King of Hungary and of Bohemia. + +Albert married the only daughter of Sigismond, and a very strong +affection sprung up between the imperial father and his son-in-law. They +often visited each other, and cooperated very cordially in measures of +state. The wife of Sigismond was a worthless woman, described by an +Austrian historian as "one who believed in neither God, angel nor devil; +neither in heaven nor hell." Sigismond had set his heart upon +bequeathing to Albert the crowns of both Hungary and Bohemia, which +magnificent accessions to the Austrian domains would elevate that power +to be one of the first in Europe. But Barbara, his queen, wished to +convey these crowns to the son of the pagan Jaghellon, who had received +the crown of Poland as the dowry of his reluctant bride, Hedwige. +Sigismond, provoked by her intrigues for the accomplishment of this +object, and detesting her for her licentiousness, put her under arrest. +Sigismond was sixty-three years of age, in very feeble health, and daily +expecting to die. + +He summoned a general convention of the nobles of Hungary and Bohemia to +meet him at Znaim in Moravia, near the frontiers of Austria, and sent +for Albert and his daughter to hasten to that place. The infirm emperor, +traveling by slow stages, succeeded in reaching Znaim. He immediately +summoned the nobles to his presence, and introducing to them Albert and +Elizabeth, thus affectingly addressed them: + +"Loving friends, you know that since the commencement of my reign I have +employed my utmost exertions to maintain public tranquillity. Now, as I +am about to die, my last act must be consistent with my former actions. +At this moment my only anxiety arises from a desire to prevent +dissension and bloodshed after my decease. It is praiseworthy in a +prince to govern well; but it is not less praiseworthy to provide a +successor who shall govern better than himself. This fame I now seek, +not from ambition, but from love to my subjects. You all know Albert, +Duke of Austria, to whom in preference to all other princes I gave my +daughter in marriage, and whom I adopted as my son. You know that he +possesses experience and every virtue becoming a prince. He found +Austria in a state of disorder, and he has restored it to tranquillity. +He is now of an age in which judgment and experience attain their +perfection, and he is sovereign of Austria, which, lying between Hungary +and Bohemia, forms a connecting link between the two kingdoms. + +"I recommend him to you as my successor. I leave you a king, pious, +honorable, wise and brave. I give him my kingdom, or rather I give him +to my kingdoms, to whom I can give or wish nothing better. Truly you +belong to him in consideration of his wife, the hereditary princess of +Hungary and Bohemia. Again I repeat that I do not act thus solely from +love to Albert and my daughter, but from a desire in my last moments to +promote the true welfare of my people. Happy are those who are subject +to Albert. I am confident he is no less beloved by you than by me, and +that even without my exhortations you would unanimously give him your +votes. But I beseech you by these tears, comfort my soul, which is +departing to God, by confirming my choice and fulfilling my will." + +The emperor was so overcome with emotion that he could with difficulty +pronounce these last words. All were deeply moved; some wept aloud; +others, seizing the hand of the emperor and bathing it in tears, vowed +allegiance to Albert, and declared that while he lived they would +recognize no other sovereign. + +The very next day, November, 1437, Sigismond died. Albert and Elizabeth +accompanied his remains to Hungary. The Hungarian diet of barons +unanimously ratified the wishes of the late king in accepting Albert as +his successor. He then hastened to Bohemia, and, notwithstanding a few +outbursts of disaffection, was received with great demonstrations of joy +by the citizens of Prague, and was crowned in the cathedral. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ALBERT, LADISLAUS AND FREDERIC. + +From 1440 to 1489. + +Increasing Honors of Albert V.--Encroachments of the Turks.--The +Christians Routed.--Terror of the Hungarians.--Death of +Albert.--Magnanimous Conduct of Albert of Bavaria.--Internal +Troubles.--Precocity of Ladislaus.--Fortifications raised by the +Turks.--John Capistrun.--Rescue of Belgrade.--The Turks +dispersed.--Exultation over the Victory.--Death of Hunniades.--Jealousy +of Ladislaus.--His Death.--Brotherly Quarrels.--Devastations by the +Turks.--Invasion of Austria.--Repeal of the Compromise.--The Emperor a +Fugitive. + + +The kingdom of Bohemia thus attached to the duchies of Austria contained +a population of some three millions, and embraced twenty thousand square +miles of territory, being about three times as large as the State of +Massachusetts. Hungary was a still more magnificent realm in extent of +territory, being nearly five times as large as Bohemia, but inhabited by +about the same number of people, widely dispersed. In addition to this +sudden and vast accession of power, Albert was chosen Emperor of +Germany. This distinguished sovereign displayed as much wisdom and +address in administering the affairs of the empire, as in governing his +own kingdoms. + +The Turks were at this time becoming the terror of Christendom. +Originating in a small tribe between the Caspian Sea and the Euxine, +they had with bloody cimeters overrun all Asia Minor, and, crossing the +Hellespont, had intrenched themselves firmly on the shores of Europe. +Crowding on in victorious hosts, armed with the most terrible +fanaticism, they had already obtained possession of Bulgaria, Servia, +and Bosnia, eastern dependencies of Hungary, and all Europe was +trembling in view of their prowess, their ferocity and their apparently +exhaustless legions. + +Sigismond, beholding the crescent of the Moslem floating over the +castles of eastern Hungary, became alarmed for the kingdom, and sent +ambassadors from court to court to form a crusade against the invaders. +He was eminently successful, and an army of one hundred thousand men was +soon collected, composed of the flower of the European nobility. The +republics of Venice and Genoa united to supply a fleet. With this +powerful armament Sigismond, in person, commenced his march to +Constantinople, which city the Turks were besieging, to meet the fleet +there. The Turkish sultan himself gathered his troops and advanced to +meet Sigismond. The Christian troops were utterly routed, and nearly all +put to the sword. The emperor with difficulty escaped. In the confusion +of the awful scene of carnage he threw himself unperceived into a small +boat, and paddling down the Danube, as its flood swept through an almost +uninhabited wilderness, he reached the Black Sea, where he was so +fortunate as to find a portion of the fleet, and thus, by a long +circuit, he eventually reached his home. + +Bajazet, the sultan, returned exultant from this great victory, and +resumed the siege of Constantinople, which ere long fell into the hands +of the Turks. Amurath, who was sultan at the time of the death of +Sigismond, thought the moment propitious for extending his conquests. He +immediately, with his legions, overran Servia, a principality nearly the +size of the State of Virginia, and containing a million of inhabitants. +George, Prince of Servia, retreating before the merciless followers of +the false prophet, threw himself with a strong garrison into the +fortress of Semendria, and sent an imploring message to Albert for +assistance. Servia was separated from Hungary only by the Danube, and it +was a matter of infinite moment to Albert that the Turk should not get +possession of that province, from which he could make constant forays +into Hungary. + +Albert hastily collected an army and marched to the banks of the Danube +just in time to witness the capture of Semendria and the massacre of its +garrison. All Hungary was now in terror. The Turks in overwhelming +numbers were firmly intrenched upon the banks of the Danube, and were +preparing to cross the river and to supplant the cross with the crescent +on all the plains of Hungary. The Hungarian nobles, in crowds, flocked +to the standard of Albert, who made herculean exertions to meet and roll +back the threatened tide of invasion. Exhausted by unremitting toil, he +was taken sick and suddenly died, on a small island of the Danube, on +the 17th of October, 1439, in the forty-third year of his age. The death +of such a prince, heroic and magnanimous, loving the arts of peace, and +yet capable of wielding the energies of war, was an apparent calamity to +Europe. + +Albert left two daughters, but his queen Elizabeth was expecting, in a +few months, to give birth to another child. Every thing was thus +involved in confusion, and for a time intrigue and violence ran riot. +There were many diverse parties, the rush of armed bands, skirmishes and +battles, and all the great matters of state were involved in an +inextricable labyrinth of confusion. The queen gave birth to a son, who +was baptized by the name of Ladislaus. Elizabeth, anxious to secure the +crown of Hungary for her infant, had him solemnly crowned at Alba Regia, +by the Archbishop of Gran when the child was but four months old. + +But a powerful party arose, opposed to the claims of the infant, and +strove by force of arms to place upon the throne Uladislaus, King of +Poland and Lithuania, and son of the pagan Jaghellon and the unhappy +Hedwige. For two years war between the rival parties desolated the +kingdom, when Elizabeth died. Uladislaus now redoubled his endeavors, +and finally succeeded in driving the unconscious infant from his +hereditary domain, and established himself firmly on the throne of +Hungary. + +The infant prince was taken to Bohemia. There also he encountered +violent opposition. "A child," said his opponents, "can not govern. It +will be long before Ladislaus will be capable of assuming the reins of +government. Let us choose another sovereign, and when Ladislaus has +attained the age of twenty-four we shall see whether he deserves the +crown." + +This very sensible advice was adopted, and thirteen electors were +appointed to choose a sovereign. Their choice fell upon Albert of +Bavaria. But he, with a spirit of magnanimity very rare in that age, +declared that the crown, of right, belonged to Ladislaus, and that he +would not take it from him. They then chose Frederic, Duke of Styria, +who, upon the death of Albert, had been chosen emperor. Frederic, +incited by the example of Albert, also declined, saying, "I will not rob +my relation of his right." But anxious for the peace of the empire, he +recommended that they should choose some illustrious Bohemian, to whom +they should intrust the regency until Ladislaus became of age, offering +himself to assume the guardianship of the young prince. + +This judicious advice was accepted, and the Bohemian nobles chose the +infant Ladislaus their king. They, however, appointed two regents +instead of one. The regents quarreled and headed two hostile parties. +Anarchy and civil war desolated the kingdom, with fluctuations of +success and discomfiture attending the movements of either party. Thus +several years of violence and blood passed on. One of the regents, +George Podiebrad, drove his opponent from the realm and assumed regal +authority. To legitimate its usurped power he summoned a diet at +Pilgram, in 1447, and submitted the following question: + +"Is it advantageous to the kingdom that Ladislaus should retain the +crown, or would it not be more beneficial to choose a monarch acquainted +with our language and customs, and inspired with love of our country?" + +Warm opposition to this measure arose, and the nobles voted themselves +loyal to Ladislaus. While these events were passing in Bohemia, scenes +of similar violence were transpiring in Hungary. After a long series of +convulsions, and Uladislaus, the Polish king, who had attained the crown +of Hungary, having been slain in a battle with the Turks, a diet of +Hungarian nobles was assembled and they also declared the young +Ladislaus to be their king. They consequently wrote to the Emperor +Frederic, Duke of Styria, who had assumed the guardianship of the +prince, requesting that he might be sent to Hungary. Ladislaus +Posthumous, so-called in consequence of his birth after the death of his +father, was then but six years of age. + +The Austrian States were also in a condition of similar confusion, rival +aspirants grasping at power, feuds agitating every province, and all +moderate men anxious for that repose which could only be found by +uniting in the claims of Ladislaus for the crown. Thus Austria, Bohemia +and Hungary, so singularly and harmoniously united under Albert V., so +suddenly dissevered and scattered by the death of Albert, were now, +after years of turmoil, all reuniting under the child Ladislaus. + +Frederic, however, the faithful guardian of the young prince, was +devoting the utmost care to his education, and refused to accede to the +urgent and reiterated requests to send the young monarch to his realms. +When Ladislaus was about ten years of age the Emperor Frederic visited +the pope at Rome, and took Ladislaus in his glittering suite. The +precocious child here astonished the learned men of the court, by +delivering an oration in Latin before the consistory, and by giving many +other indications of originality and vigor of mind far above his years. +The pope became much attached to the youthful sovereign of three such +important realms, and as Frederic was about to visit Naples, Ladislaus +remained a guest in the imperial palace. + +Deputies from the three nations repaired to Rome to urge the pope to +restore to them their young sovereign. Failing in this, they endeavored +to induce Ladislaus to escape with them. This plan also was discovered +and foiled. The nobles were much irritated by these disappointments, and +they resolved to rescue him by force of arms. All over Hungary, Bohemia +and Austria there was a general rising of the nobles, nationalities +being merged in the common cause, and all hearts united and throbbing +with a common desire. An army of sixteen thousand men was raised. +Frederic, alarmed by these formidable preparations for war, surrendered +Ladislaus and he was conveyed in triumph to Vienna. A numerous +assemblage of the nobles of the three nations was convened, and it was +settled that the young king, during his minority, should remain at +Vienna, under the care of his maternal uncle, Count Cilli, who, in the +meantime, was to administer the government of Austria. George Podiebrad +was intrusted with the regency of Bohemia; and John Hunniades was +appointed regent of Hungary. + +Ladislaus was now thirteen years of age. The most learned men of the age +were appointed as his teachers, and he pursued his studies with great +vigor. Count Cilli, however, an ambitious and able man, soon gained +almost unlimited control over the mind of his young ward, and became so +arrogant and dictatorial, filling every important office with his own +especial friends, and removing those who displeased him, that general +discontent was excited and conspiracy was formed against him. Cilli was +driven from Vienna with insults and threats, and the conspirators placed +the regency in the hands of a select number of their adherents. + +While affairs were in this condition, John Hunniades, as regent, was +administering the government of Hungary with great vigor and sagacity. +He was acquiring so much renown that Count Cilli regarded him with a +very jealous eye, and excited the suspicions of the young king that +Hunniades was seeking for himself the sovereignty of Hungary. Cilli +endeavored to lure Hunniades to Vienna, that he might seize his person, +but the sagacious warrior was too wily to be thus entrapped. + +The Turks were now in the full tide of victory. They had conquered +Constantinople, fortified both sides of the Bosporus and the Hellespont, +overrun Greece and planted themselves firmly and impregnably on the +shores of Europe. Mahomet II. was sultan, succeeding his father Amurath. +He raised an army of two hundred thousand men, who were all inspired +with that intense fanatic ferocity with which the Moslem then regarded +the Christian. Marching resistlessly through Bulgaria and Servia, he +contemplated the immediate conquest of Hungary, the bulwark of Europe. +He advanced to the banks of the Danube and laid siege to Belgrade, a +very important and strongly fortified town at the point where the Save +enters the great central river of eastern Europe. + +Such an army, flushed with victory and inspired with all the energies of +fanaticism, appalled the European powers. Ladislaus was but a boy, +studious and scholarly in his tastes, having developed but little +physical energy and no executive vigor. He was very handsome, very +refined in his tastes and courteous in his address, and he cultivated +with great care the golden ringlets which clustered around his +shoulders. At the time of this fearful invasion Ladislaus was on a visit +to Buda, one of the capitals of Hungary, on the Danube, but about three +hundred miles above Belgrade. The young monarch, with his favorite, +Cilli, fled ingloriously to Vienna, leaving Hunniades to breast as he +could the Turkish hosts. But Hunniades was, fortunately, equal to the +emergence. + +A Franciscan monk, John Capistrun, endowed with the eloquence of Peter +the Hermit, traversed Germany, displaying the cross and rousing +Christians to defend Europe from the infidels. He soon collected a +motley mass of forty thousand men, rustics, priests, students, soldiers, +unarmed, undisciplined, a rabble rout, who followed him to the +rendezvous where Hunniades had succeeded in collecting a large force of +the bold barons and steel-clad warriors of Hungary. The experienced +chief gladly received this heterogeneous mass, and soon armed them, +brought them into the ranks and subjected them to the severe discipline +of military drill. + +At the head of this band, which was inspired with zeal equal to that of +the Turk, the brave Hunniades, in a fleet of boats, descended the +Danube. The river in front of Belgrade was covered with the flotilla of +the Turks. The wall in many places was broken down, and at other points +in the wall they had obtained a foothold, and the crescent was proudly +unfurled to the breeze. The feeble garrison, worn out with toil and +perishing with famine, were in the last stages of despair. Hunniades +came down upon the Turkish flotilla like an inundation; both parties +fought with almost unprecedented ferocity, but the Christians drove +every thing before them, sinking, dispersing, and capturing the boats, +which were by no means prepared for so sudden and terrible an assault. +The immense reinforcement, with arms and provisions, thus entered the +city, and securing the navigation of the Danube and the Save, opened the +way for continued supplies. The immense hosts of the Mohammedans now +girdled the city in a semicircle on the land side. Their tents, +gorgeously embellished and surmounted with the crescent, glittered in +the rays of the sun as far as the eye could extend. Squadrons of +steel-clad horsemen swept the field, while bands of the besiegers +pressed the city without intermission, night and day. + +Mohammed, irritated by this unexpected accession of strength to the +besieged, in his passion ordered an immediate and simultaneous attack +upon the town by his whole force. The battle was long and bloody, both +parties struggling with utter desperation. The Turks were repulsed. +After one of the longest continuous conflicts recorded in history, +lasting all one night, and all the following day until the going down of +the sun, the Turks, leaving thirty thousand of their dead beneath the +ramparts of the city, and taking with them the sultan desperately +wounded, struck their tents in the darkness of the night and retreated. + +Great was the exultation in Hungary, in Germany and all over Europe. But +this joy was speedily clouded by the intelligence that Hunniades, the +deliverer of Europe from Moslem invasion, exhausted with toil, had been +seized by a fever and had died. It is said that the young King Ladislaus +rejoiced in his death, for he was greatly annoyed in having a subject +attain such a degree of splendor as to cast his own name into +insignificance. Hunniades left two sons, Ladislaus and Matthias. The +king and Cilli manifested the meanest jealousy in reference to these +young men, and fearful that the renown of their father, which had +inspired pride and gratitude in every Hungarian heart, might give them +power, they did every thing they could to humiliate and depress them. +The king lured them both to Buda, where he perfidiously beheaded the +eldest, Ladislaus, for wounding Cilli, in defending himself from an +attack which the implacable count had made upon him, and he also threw +the younger son, Matthias, into a prison. + +The widow of Hunniades, the heroic mother of these children, with a +spirit worthy of the wife of her renowned husband, called the nobles to +her aid. They rallied in great numbers, roused to indignation. The +inglorious king, terrified by the storm he had raised, released +Matthias, and fled from Buda to Vienna, pursued by the execrations and +menaces of the Hungarians. + +He soon after repaired to Prague, in Bohemia, to solemnize his marriage +with Magdalen, daughter of Charles VII., King of France. He had just +reached the city, and was making preparations for his marriage in +unusual splendor, when he was attacked by a malignant disease, supposed +to be the plague, and died after a sickness of but thirty-six hours. The +unhappy king, who, through the stormy scenes of his short life, had +developed no grandeur of soul, was oppressed with the awfulness of +passing to the final judgment. In the ordinances of the Church he sought +to find solace for a sinful and a troubled spirit. Having received the +sacrament of the Lord's Supper, with dying lips he commenced repeating +the Lord's prayer. He had just uttered the words "deliver us from evil," +when his spirit took its flight to the judgment seat of Christ. + +Frederic, the emperor, Duke of Styria, was now the oldest lineal +descendant of Rhodolph of Hapsburg, founder of the house of Austria. The +imperial dignity had now degenerated into almost an empty title. The +Germanic empire consisted of a few large sovereignties and a +conglomeration of petty dukedoms, principalities, and States of various +names, very loosely held together, in their heterogeneous and +independent rulers and governments, by one nominal sovereign upon whom +the jealous States were willing to confer but little real power. A +writer at that time, Æneas Sylvius, addressing the Germans, says: + +"Although you acknowledge the emperor for your king and master, he +possesses but a precarious sovereignty; he has no power; you only obey +him when you choose; and you are seldom inclined to obey. You are all +desirous to be free; neither the princes nor the States render to him +what is due. He has no revenue, no treasure. Hence you are involved in +endless contests and daily wars. Hence also rapine, murder, +conflagrations, and a thousand evils which arise from divided +authority." + +Upon the death of Ladislaus there was a great rush and grasping for the +vacant thrones of Bohemia and Hungary, and for possession of the rich +dukedoms of Austria. After a long conflict the Austrian estates were +divided into three portions. Frederic, the emperor, took Upper Austria; +his brother Albert, who had succeeded to the Swiss estates, took Lower +Austria; Sigismond, Albert's nephew, a man of great energy of character, +took Carinthia. The three occupied the palace in Vienna in joint +residence. + +The energetic regent, George Podiebrad, by adroit diplomacy succeeded, +after an arduous contest, in obtaining the election by the Bohemian +nobles to the throne of Bohemia. The very day he was chosen he was +inaugurated at Prague, and though rival candidates united with the pope +to depose him, he maintained his position against them all. + +Frederic, the emperor, had been quite sanguine in the hopes of obtaining +the crown of Bohemia. Bitterly disappointed there, he at first made a +show of hostile resistance; but thinking better of the matter, he +concluded to acquiesce in the elevation of Podiebrad, to secure amicable +relations with him, and to seek his aid in promotion of his efforts to +obtain the crown of Hungary. Here again the emperor failed. The nobles +assembled in great strength at Buda, and elected unanimously Matthias, +the only surviving son of the heroic Hunniades, whose memory was +embalmed in the hearts of all the Hungarians. The boy then, for he was +but a boy, and was styled contemptuously by the disappointed Frederic +the boy king, entered into an alliance with Podiebrad for mutual +protection, and engaged the hand of his daughter in marriage. Thus was +the great kingdom of Austria, but recently so powerful in the union of +all the Austrian States with Bohemia and Hungary, again divided and +disintegrated. The emperor, in his vexation, foolishly sent an army of +five thousand men into Hungary, insanely hoping to take the crown by +force of arms, but he was soon compelled to relinquish the hopeless +enterprise. + +And now Frederic and Albert began to quarrel at Vienna. The emperor was +arrogant and domineering. Albert was irritable and jealous. First came +angry words; then the enlisting of partisans, and then all the miseries +of fierce and determined civil war. The capital was divided into hostile +factions, and the whole country was ravaged by the sweep of armies. The +populace of Vienna, espousing the cause of Albert, rose in insurrection, +pillaged the houses of the adherents of Frederic, drove Frederic, with +his wife and infant child, into the citadel, and invested the fortress. +Albert placed himself at the head of the insurgents and conducted the +siege. The emperor, though he had but two hundred men in the garrison, +held out valiantly. But famine would soon have compelled him to +capitulate, had not the King of Bohemia, with a force of thirteen +thousand men, marched to his aid. Podiebrad relieved the emperor, and +secured a verbal reconciliation between the two angry brothers, which +lasted until the Bohemian forces had returned to their country, when the +feud burst out anew and with increased violence. The emperor procured +the ban of the empire against his brother, and the pope excommunicated +him. Still Albert fought fiercely, and the strife raged without +intermission until Albert suddenly died on the 4th of December, 1463. + +The Turks, who, during all these years, had been making predatory +excursions along the frontiers of Hungary, now, in three strong bands of +ten thousand each, overran Servia and Bosnia, and spread their +devastations even into the heart of Illyria, as far as the metropolitan +city of Laybach. The ravages of fire and sword marked their progress. +They burnt every village, every solitary cottage, and the inhabitants +were indiscriminately slain. Frederic, the emperor, a man of but little +energy, was at his country residence at Lintz, apparently more anxious, +writes a contemporary, "to shield his plants from frost, than to defend +his domains against these barbarians." + +The bold barons of Carniola, however, rallied their vassals, raised an +army of twenty thousand men, and drove the Turks back to the Bosphorus. +But the invaders, during their unimpeded march, had slain six thousand +Christians, and they carried back with them eight thousand captives. + +Again, a few years after, the Turks, with a still larger army, rushed +through the defiles of the Illyrian mountains, upon the plains of +Carinthia. Their march was like the flow of volcanic fire. They left +behind them utter desolation, smouldering hearth-stones and fields +crimsoned with blood. At length they retired of their own accord, +dragging after them twenty thousand captives. During a period of +twenty-seven years, under the imbecile reign of Frederic, the very heart +of Europe was twelve times scourged by the inroads of these savages. No +tongue can tell the woes which were inflicted upon humanity. Existence, +to the masses of the people, in that day, must indeed have been a curse. +Ground to the very lowest depths of poverty by the exactions of +ecclesiastics and nobles, in rags, starving, with no social or +intellectual joys, they might indeed have envied the beasts of the +field. + +The conduct of Frederic seems to be marked with increasing treachery and +perfidy. Jealous of the growing power of George Podiebrad, he instigated +Matthias, King of Hungary, to make war upon Bohemia, promising Matthias +the Bohemian crown. Infamously the King of Hungary accepted the bribe, +and raising a powerful army, invaded Bohemia, to wrest the crown from +his father-in-law. His armies were pressing on so victoriously, in +conjunction with those of Frederic, that the emperor was now alarmed +lest Matthias, uniting the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, should become +too powerful. He therefore not only abandoned him, but stirred up an +insurrection among the Hungarian nobles, which compelled Matthias to +abandon Bohemia and return home. + +Matthias, having quelled the insurrection, was so enraged with the +emperor, that he declared war against him, and immediately invaded +Austria. The emperor was now so distrusted that he could not find a +single ally. Austria alone, was no match for Hungary. Matthias overran +all Lower Austria, took all the fortresses upon the Danube, and invested +Vienna. The emperor fled in dismay to Lintz, and was obliged to purchase +an ignominious peace by an immense sum of money, all of which was of +course to be extorted by taxes on the miserable and starving peasantry. + +Poland, Bohemia and the Turks, now all pounced upon Hungary, and +Frederic, deeming this a providential indication that Hungary could not +enforce the fulfillment of the treaty, refused to pay the money. +Matthias, greatly exasperated, made the best terms he could with Poland, +and again led his armies in Austria. For four years the warfare raged +fiercely, when all Lower Austria, including the capital, was in the +hands of Matthias, and the emperor was driven from his hereditary +domains; and, accompanied by a few followers, he wandered a fugitive +from city to city, from convent to convent, seeking aid from all, but +finding none. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE EMPERORS FREDERIC II. AND MAXIMILIAN I. + +From 1477 to 1500. + +Wanderings of the Emperor Frederic.--Proposed Alliance with the Duke of +Burgundy.--Mutual Distrust.--Marriage of Mary.--The Age of +Chivalry.--The Motive inducing the Lord of Praunstein to declare +War.--Death of Frederic II.--The Emperor's Secret.--Designs of the +Turks.--Death of Mahomet II.--First Establishment of standing +Armies.--Use of Gunpowder.--Energy of Maximilian.--French +Aggressions.--The League to expel the French.--Disappointments of +Maximilian.--Bribing the Pope.--Invasion of Italy.--Capture and +Recapture.--The Chevalier De Bayard. + + +Adversity only developed more fully the weak and ignoble character of +Frederic. He wandered about, recognized Emperor of Germany, but a +fugitive from his own Austrian estates, occasionally encountering pity, +but never sympathy or respect. Matthias professed his readiness to +surrender Austria back to Frederic so soon as he would fulfill the +treaty by paying the stipulated money. Frederic was accompanied in his +wanderings by his son Maximilian, a remarkably elegant lad, fourteen +years of age. They came to the court of the powerful Duke of Burgundy. +The dukedom extended over wide realms, populous and opulent, and the +duke had the power of a sovereign but not the regal title. He was +ambitious of elevating his dukedom into a kingdom and of being crowned +king; and he agreed to give his only daughter and heiress, Mary, a +beautiful and accomplished girl, to the emperor's son Maximilian, if +Frederic would confer upon his estates the regal dignity and crown him +king. The bargain was made, and Maximilian and Mary both were delighted, +for they regarded each other with all the warmth of young lovers. Mary, +heiress to the dukedom of Burgundy, was a prize which any monarch might +covet; and half the princes of Europe were striving for her hand. + +But now came a new difficulty. Neither the emperor nor duke had the +slightest confidence in each other. The King of France, who had hoped to +obtain the hand of Mary for his son the dauphin, caused the suspicion to +be whispered into the ear of Frederic that the Duke of Burgundy sought +the kingly crown only as the first step to the imperial crown; and that +so soon as the dukedom was elevated into a kingdom, Charles, the Duke of +Burgundy, would avail himself of his increased power, to dethrone +Frederic and grasp the crown of Germany. This was probably all true. +Charles, fully understanding the perfidious nature of Frederic, did not +dare to solemnize the marriage until he first should be crowned. +Frederic, on the other hand, did not dare to crown the duke until the +marriage was solemnized, for he had no confidence that the duke, after +having attained the regal dignity, would fulfill his pledge. + +Charles was for hurrying the coronation, Frederic for pushing the +marriage. A magnificent throne was erected in the cathedral at Treves, +and preparations were making on the grandest scale for the coronation +solemnities, when Frederic, who did not like to tell the duke plumply to +his face that he was fearful of being cheated, extricated himself from +his embarrassment by feigning important business which called him +suddenly to Cologne. A scene of petty and disgraceful intrigues ensued +between the exasperated duke and emperor, and there were the marching +and the countermarching of hostile bands and the usual miseries of war, +until the death of Duke Charles at the battle of Nancy on the 5th of +January, 1477. + +The King of France now made a desperate endeavor to obtain the hand of +Mary for his son. One of the novel acts of this imperial courtship, was +to send an army into Burgundy, which wrested a large portion of Mary's +dominions from her, which the king, Louis XI., refused to surrender +unless Mary would marry his son. Many of her nobles urged the claims of +France. But love in the heart of Mary was stronger than political +expediency, and more persuasive than the entreaties of her nobles. To +relieve herself from importunity, she was hurriedly married, three +months after the death of her father, by proxy to Maximilian. + +In August the young prince, but eighteen years of age, with a splendid +retinue, made his public entry into Ghent. His commanding person and the +elegance of his manners, attracted universal admiration. His subjects +rallied with enthusiasm around him, and, guided by his prowess, in a +continued warfare of five years, drove the invading French from their +territories. But death, the goal to which every one tends, was suddenly +and unexpectedly reached by Mary. She died the 7th of August, 1479, +leaving two infant children, Philip and Margaret. + +The Emperor Frederic also succeeded, by diplomatic cunning, in convening +the diet of electors and choosing Maximilian as his successor to the +imperial throne. Frederic and Maximilian now united in the endeavor to +recover Austria from the King of Hungary. The German princes, however, +notwithstanding the summons of the emperor, refused to take any part in +the private quarrels of Austria, and thus the battle would have to be +fought between the troops of Maximilian and of Matthias. Maximilian +prudently decided that it would be better to purchase the redemption of +the territory with money than with blood. The affair was in negotiation +when Matthias was taken sick and died the 15th of July, 1490. He left no +heir, and the Hungarian nobles chose Ladislaus, King of Bohemia, to +succeed him. Maximilian had been confident of obtaining the crown of +Hungary. Exasperated by the disappointment, he relinquished all idea of +purchasing his patrimonial estates, but making a sudden rush with his +troops upon the Hungarians, he drove them out of Austria, and pursued +them far over the frontiers of Hungary. Ladislaus, the new King of +Hungary, now listened to terms of peace. A singular treaty was made. The +Bohemian king was to retain the crown of Hungary, officiating as +reigning monarch, while Maximilian was to have the _title_ of King of +Hungary. Ladislaus relinquished all claim to the Austrian territories, +and paid a large sum of money as indemnity for the war. + +Thus Austria again comes into independent existence, to watch amidst the +tumult and strife of Europe for opportunities to enlarge her territories +and increase her power. Maximilian was a prince, energetic and brave, +who would not allow any opportunity to escape him. In those dark days of +violence and of blood, every petty quarrel was settled by the sword. All +over Germany the clash of steel against steel was ever resounding. Not +only kings and dukes engaged in wars, but the most insignificant baron +would gather his few retainers around him and declare formal war against +the occupant of the adjacent castle. The spirit of chivalry, so called, +was so rampant that private individuals would send a challenge to the +emperor. Contemporary writers record many curious specimens of these +declarations of war. The Lord of Praunstein declared war against the +city of Frankfort, because a young lady of that city refused to dance +with his uncle at a ball. + +Frederic was now suffering from the infirmities of age. Surrendering the +administration of affairs, both in Austria and over the estates of the +empire, to Maximilian, he retired, with his wife and three young +daughters, to Lintz, where he devoted himself, at the close of his long +and turbulent reign, to the peaceful pursuits of rural life. A cancerous +affection of the leg rendered it necessary for him to submit to the +amputation of the limb. He submitted to the painful operation with the +greatest fortitude, and taking up his severed limb, with his accustomed +phlegm remarked to those standing by, + +"What difference is there between an emperor and a peasant? Or rather, +is not a sound peasant better than a sick emperor? Yet I hope to enjoy +the greatest good which can happen to man--a happy exit from this +transitory life." + +The shock of a second amputation, which from the vitiated state of his +blood seemed necessary, was too great for his enfeebled frame to bear. +He died August 19th, 1493, seventy-eight years of age, and after a reign +of fifty-three years. He was what would be called, in these days, an +ultra temperance man, never drinking even wine, and expressing ever the +strongest abhorrence of alcoholic drinks, calling them the parent of all +vices. He seems to have anticipated the future greatness of Austria; for +he had imprinted upon all his books, engraved upon his plate and carved +into the walls of his palace a mysterious species of anagram composed of +the five vowels, A, E, I, O, U. + +The significance of this great secret no one could obtain from him. It +of course excited great curiosity, as it everywhere met the eye of the +public. After his death the riddle was solved by finding among his +papers the following interpretation-- + +_Austri Est Imperare Orbi Universo._ + +Austria Is To govern The world Universal. + +Maximilian, in the prime of manhood, energetic, ambitious, and invested +with the imperial dignity, now assumed the government of the Austrian +States. The prospect of greatness was brilliant before Maximilian. The +crowns of Bohemia and Hungary were united in the person of Ladislaus, +who was without children. As Maximilian already enjoyed the title of +King of Hungary, no one enjoyed so good a chance as he of securing both +of those crowns so soon as they should fall from the brow of Ladislaus. + +Europe was still trembling before the threatening cimeter of the Turk. +Mahomet II., having annihilated the Greek empire, and consolidated his +vast power, and checked in his career by the warlike barons of Hungary, +now cast a lustful eye across the Adriatic to the shores of Italy. He +crossed the sea, landed a powerful army and established twenty thousand +men, strongly garrisoned, at Otranto, and supplied with provisions for a +year. All Italy was in consternation, for a passage was now open +directly from Turkey to Naples and Rome. Mahomet boasted that he would +soon feed his horse on the altar of St. Peter's. The pope, Sextus IV., +in dismay, was about abandoning Rome, and as there was no hope of +uniting the discordant States of Italy in any effectual resistance, it +seemed inevitable that Italy, like Greece, would soon become a Turkish +province. And where then could it be hoped that the ravages of the Turks +would be arrested? + +In this crisis, so alarming, Providence interposed, and the sudden death +of Mahomet, in the vigor of his pride and ambition, averted the danger. +Bajazet II. succeeded to the Moslem throne, an indolent and imbecile +sultan. Insurrection in his own dominions exhausted all his feeble +energies. The Neapolitans, encouraged, raised an army, recovered +Otranto, and drove the Turks out of Italy. Troubles in the Turkish +dominions now gave Christendom a short respite, as all the strength of +the sultan was required to subjugate insurgent Circassia and Egypt. + +Though the Emperor of Germany was esteemed the first sovereign in +Europe, and, on state occasions, was served by kings and electors, he +had in reality but little power. The kings who formed his retinue on +occasions of ceremonial pomp, were often vastly his superiors in wealth +and power. Frequently he possessed no territory of his own, not even a +castle, but depended upon the uncertain aids reluctantly granted by the +diet. + +Gunpowder was now coming into use as one of the most efficient engines +of destruction, and was working great changes in the science of war. It +became necessary to have troops drilled to the use of cannon and +muskets. The baron could no longer summon his vassals, at the moment, to +abandon the plow, and seize pike and saber for battle, where the strong +arm only was needed. Disciplined troops were needed, who could sweep the +field with well-aimed bullets, and crumble walls with shot and shells. +This led to the establishment of standing armies, and gave the great +powers an immense advantage over their weaker neighbors. The invention +of printing, also, which began to be operative about the middle of the +fifteenth century, rapidly changed, by the diffusion of intelligence, +the state of society, hitherto so barbarous. The learned men of Greece, +driven from their country by the Turkish invasion, were scattered over +Europe, and contributed not a little to the extension of the love of +letters. The discovery of the mariner's compass and improvements in +nautical astronomy, also opened new sources of knowledge and of wealth, +and the human mind all over Europe commenced a new start in the career +of civilization. Men of letters began to share in those honors which +heretofore had belonged exclusively to men of war; and the arts of peace +began to claim consideration with those who had been accustomed to +respect only the science of destruction. + +Maximilian was at Innspruck when he received intelligence of the death +of his father. He commenced his reign with an act of rigor which was +characteristic of his whole career. A horde of Turks had penetrated +Styria and Carniola, laying every thing waste before them as far as +Carniola. Maximilian, sounding the alarm, inspired his countrymen with +the same energy which animated his own breast. Fifteen thousand men +rallied at the blast of his bugles. Instead of intrusting the command of +them to his generals, he placed himself at their head, and made so +fierce an onset upon the invaders, that they precipitately fled. +Maximilian returned at the head of his troops triumphant to Vienna, +where he was received with acclamations such as had seldom resounded in +the metropolis. He was hailed as the deliverer of his country, and at +once rose to the highest position in the esteem and affection of the +Austrians. + +Maximilian had encountered innumerable difficulties in Burgundy, and was +not unwilling to escape from the vexations and cares of that distant +dukedom, by surrendering its government to his son Philip, who was now +sixteen years of age, and whom the Burgundians claimed to be their ruler +as the heir of Mary. The Swiss estates were also sundered from Austrian +dominion, and, uniting with the Swiss confederacy, were no longer +subject to the house of Hapsburg. Thus Maximilian had the Austrian +estates upon the Danube only, as the nucleus of the empire he was +ambitious of establishing. + +Conscious of his power, and rejoicing in the imperial title, he had no +idea of playing an obscure part on the conspicuous stage of European +affairs. With an eagle eye he watched the condition of the empire, and +no less eagerly did he fix his eye upon the movements of those great +southern powers, now becoming consolidated into kingdoms and empires, +and marshaling armies which threatened again to bring all Europe under a +dominion as wide and despotic as that of Rome. + +Charles VIII., King of France, crossed the Alps with an army of +twenty-two thousand men, in the highest state of discipline, and armed +with all the modern enginery of war. With ease he subjugated Tuscany, +and in a triumphant march through Pisa and Siena, entered Rome as a +conqueror. It was the 31st of December, 1394, when Charles, by +torchlight, at the head of his exultant troops, entered the eternal +city. The pope threw himself into the castle of St. Angelo, but was soon +compelled to capitulate and to resign all his fortresses to the +conqueror. Charles then continued his march to Naples, which he reached +on the 22d of February. He overran and subjugated the whole kingdom, +and, having consolidated his conquest, entered Naples on a white steed, +beneath imperial banners, and arrogantly assumed the title of King of +Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem. Alphonso, King of Naples, in despair, +abdicated in favor of his son, Ferdinand; and Ferdinand, unable to +oppose any effectual resistance, abandoned his kingdom to the conqueror, +and fled to the island of Ischia. + +These alarming aggressions on the part of France, already very powerful, +excited general consternation throughout Europe. Maximilian, as emperor, +was highly incensed, and roused all his energies to check the progress +of so dangerous a rival. The Austrian States alone could by no means +cope with the kingdom of France. Maximilian sent agents to the pope, to +the Dukes of Milan and Florence, and to the King of Arragon, and formed +a secret league to expel the French from Italy, and restore Ferdinand to +Naples. It was understood that the strength of France was such, that +this enterprise could only be achieved through a long war, and that the +allies must continue united to prevent France, when once expelled from +Italy, from renewing her aggressions. The league was to continue +twenty-two years. The pope was to furnish six thousand men, and the +other Italian States twelve thousand. Maximilian promised to furnish +nine thousand. Venice granted the troops of the emperor a free passage +through her dominions. + +These important first steps being thus taken secretly and securely, the +emperor summoned a diet of Germany to enlist the States of the empire in +the enterprise. This was the most difficult task, and yet nothing could +be accomplished without the coöperation of Germany. But the Germanic +States, loosely held together, jealous of each other, each grasping +solely at its own aggrandizement, reluctantly delegating any power to +the emperor, were slow to promise coöperation in any general enterprise, +and having promised, were still slower to perform. The emperor had no +power to enforce the fulfillment of agreements, and could only +supplicate. During the long reign of Frederic the imperial dignity had +lapsed more and more into an empty title; and Maximilian had an arduous +task before him in securing even respectful attention to his demands. He +was fully aware of the difficulties, and made arrangements accordingly. + +The memorable diet was summoned at Worms, on the 26th of May, 1496. The +emperor had succeeded, by great exertion, in assembling a more numerous +concourse of the princes and nobles of the empire than had ever met on a +similar occasion. He presided in person, and in a long and earnest +address endeavored to rouse the empire to a sense of its own dignity and +its own high mission as the regulator of the affairs of Europe. He spoke +earnestly of their duty to combine and chastise the insolence of the +Turks; but waiving that for the present moment, he unfolded to them the +danger to which Europe was immediately and imminently exposed by the +encroachments of France. To add to the force of his words, he introduced +ambassadors from the King of Naples, who informed the assembly of the +conquests of the French, of their haughty bearing, and implored the aid +of the diet to repel the invaders. The Duke of Milan was then presented, +and, as a member of the empire, he implored as a favor and claimed as a +right, the armies of the empire for the salvation of his duchy. And then +the legate of the pope, in the robes of the Church, and speaking in the +name of the Holy Father to his children, pathetically described the +indignities to which the pope had been exposed, driven from his palace, +bombarded in the fortress to which he had retreated, compelled to +capitulate and leave his kingdom in the hands of the enemy; he +expatiated upon the impiety of the French troops, the sacrilegious +horrors of which they had been guilty, and in tones of eloquence hardly +surpassed by Peter the Hermit, strove to rouse them to a crusade for the +rescue of the pope and his sacred possessions. + +Maximilian had now exhausted all his powers of persuasion. He had done +apparently enough to rouse every heart to intensest action. But the diet +listened coldly to all these appeals, and then in substance replied, + +"We admit the necessity of checking the incursions of the Turks; we +admit that it is important to check the progress of the French. But our +first duty is to secure peace in Germany. The States of the empire are +embroiled in incessant wars with each other. All attempts to prevent +these private wars between the States of the empire have hitherto +failed. Before we can vote money and men for any foreign enterprise +whatever, we must secure internal tranquillity. This can only be done by +establishing a supreme tribunal, supported by a power which can enforce +its decisions." + +These views were so manifestly judicious, that Maximilian assented to +them, and, anxious to lose no time in raising troops to expel the French +from Italy, he set immediately about the organization of an imperial +tribunal to regulate the internal affairs of the empire. A court was +created called the Imperial Chamber. It was composed of a president and +sixteen judges, half of whom were taken from the army, and half from the +class of scholars. To secure impartiality, the judges held their office +for life. A majority of suffrages decided a question and in case of a +tie, the president gave a casting vote. The emperor reserved the right +of deciding certain questions himself. This court gradually became one +of the most important and salutary institutions of the German empire. + +By the 7th of August these important measures were arranged. Maximilian +had made great concessions of his imperial dignity in transferring so +much of his nominal power to the Imperial Chamber, and he was now +sanguine that the States would vote him the supplies which were needed +to expel the French from Italy, or, in more honest words, to win for the +empire in Italy that ascendency which France had attained. But bitter +indeed was his disappointment. After long deliberation and vexatious +delays, the diet voted a ridiculous sum, less than one hundred and fifty +thousand dollars, to raise an army "sufficient to check the progress of +the French." One third of this sum Maximilian was to raise from his +Austrian States; the remaining two thirds he was permitted to obtain by +a loan. Four years were to be allowed for raising the money, and the +emperor, as a condition for the reception of even this miserable boon, +was required to pledge his word of honor that at the expiration of the +four years he would raise no more. And even these hundred and fifty +thousand dollars were to be intrusted to seven treasurers, to be +administered according to their discretion. One only of these treasurers +was to be chosen by the emperor, and the other six by the diet. + +Deeply chagrined by this result, Maximilian was able to raise only three +thousand men, instead of the nine thousand which he had promised the +league. Charles VIII., informed of the formidable coalition combining +against him, and not aware of the feeble resources of the emperor, +apprehensive that the armies of Germany, marching down and uniting with +the roused States of Italy, might cut off his retreat and overwhelm him, +decided that the "better part of courage is discretion;" and he +accordingly abandoned his conquests, recrossed the Apennines, fought his +backward path through Italy, and returned to France. He, however, left +behind him six thousand men strongly intrenched, to await his return +with a new and more powerful armament. + +Maximilian now resolved chivalrously to throw himself into Italy, and +endeavor to rouse the Italians themselves to resist the threatened +invasion, trusting that the diet of Germany, when they should see him +struggling against the hosts of France, would send troops to his aid. +With five hundred horse, and about a thousand foot soldiers, he crossed +the Alps. Here he learned that for some unknown reason Charles had +postponed his expedition. Recoiling from the ridicule attending a +quixotic and useless adventure, he hunted around for some time to find +some heroic achievement which would redeem his name from reproach, when, +thwarted in every thing, he returned to Austria, chagrined and +humiliated. + +Thus frustrated in all his attempts to gain ascendency in Italy, +Maximilian turned his eyes to the Swiss estates of the house of +Hapsburg, now sundered from the Austrian territories. He made a vigorous +effort, first by diplomacy, then by force of arms, to regain them. Here +again he was frustrated, and was compelled to enter into a capitulation +by which he acknowledged the independence of the Helvetic States, and +their permanent severance from Austrian jurisdiction. + +In April, 1498, Charles VIII. died, and Louis XII. succeeded him on the +throne of France. Louis immediately made preparations for a new invasion +of Italy. In those miserable days of violence and blood, almost any +prince was ready to embark in war under anybody's banner, where there +was the least prospect of personal aggrandizement. The question of right +or wrong, seemed seldom to enter any one's mind. Louis fixed his eyes +upon the duchy of Milan as the richest and most available prize within +his grasp. Conscious that he would meet with much opposition, he looked +around for allies. + +"If you will aid me," he said to Pope Alexander VI., "I will assist you +in your war against the Duke of Romagna. I will give your son, Caesar +Borgia,[1] a pension of two thousand dollars a year, will confer upon +him an important command in my army, and will procure for him a marriage +with a princess of the royal house of Navarre." + +[Footnote 1: Cæsar Borgia, who has filled the world with the renown of +his infamy, was the illegitimate son of Alexander VI., and of a Roman +lady named Yanozza.] + +The holy father could not resist this bribe, and eagerly joined the +robber king in his foray. To Venice Louis said-- + +"If you will unite with me, I will assist you in annexing to your +domains the city of Cremona, and the Ghiaradadda." Lured by such hopes +of plunder, Venice was as eager as the pope to take a share in the +piratic expedition. Louis then sent to the court of Turin, and offered +them large sums of money and increased territory, if they would allow +him a free passage across the Alps. Turin bowed obsequiously, and +grasped at the easy bargain. To Florence he said, "If you raise a hand +to assist the Duke of Milan, I will crush you. If you remain quiet, I +will leave you unharmed." Florence, overawed, remained as meek as a +lamb. The diplomacy being thus successfully closed, an army of +twenty-two thousand men was put in vigorous motion in July, 1499. They +crossed the Alps, fought a few battles, in which, with overpowering +numbers, they easily conquered their opposers, and in twenty days were +in possession of Milan. The Duke Ludovico with difficulty escaped. With +a few followers he threaded the defiles of the Tyrolese mountains, and +hastened to Innspruck, the capital of Tyrol, where Maximilian then was, +to whom he conveyed the first tidings of his disaster. Louis XII. +followed after his triumphant army, and on the 6th of October made a +triumphal entry into the captured city, and was inaugurated Duke of +Milan. + +Maximilian promised assistance, but could raise neither money nor men. +Ludovico, however, succeeded in hiring fifteen hundred Burgundian +horsemen, and eight thousand Swiss mercenaries--for in those ages of +ignorance and crime all men were ready, for pay, to fight in any +cause--and emerging from the mountains upon the plains of Milan, found +all his former subjects disgusted with the French, and eager to rally +under his banners. His army increased at every step. He fell fiercely +upon the invaders, routed them everywhere, drove them from the duchy, +and recovered his country and his capital as rapidly as he had lost +them. One fortress only the French maintained. The intrepid Chevalier De +Bayard, _the knight without fear and without reproach_, threw himself +into the citadel of Novarra, and held out against all the efforts of +Ludovico, awaiting the succor which he was sure would come from his +powerful sovereign the King of France. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MAXIMILIAN I. + +From 1500 to 1519. + +Base Treachery of the Swiss Soldiers.--Perfidy of Ferdinand of +Arragon.--Appeals by Superstition.--Coalition with Spain.--The League of +Cambray.--Infamy of the Pope.--The Kings's Apology.--Failure of the +Plot.--Germany Aroused.--Confidence of Maximilian.--Longings for the +Pontifical Chair.--Maximilian Bribed.--Leo X.--Dawning Prosperity.-- +Matrimonial Projects.--Commencement of the War of Reformation.--Sickness +of Maximilian.--His Last Directions.--His Death.--The Standard by which +his Character is to be Judged. + + +Louis XII., stung by the disgrace of his speedy expulsion from Milan, +immediately raised another army of five thousand horse and fifteen +thousand foot to recover his lost plunder. He also sent to Switzerland +to hire troops, and without difficulty engaged ten thousand men to meet, +on the plains of Milan, the six thousand of their brethren whom Ludovico +had hired, to hew each other to pieces for the miserable pittance of a +few pennies a day. But Louis XII. was as great in diplomacy as in war. +He sent secret emissaries to the Swiss in the camp of Ludovico, offering +them larger wages if they would abandon the service of Ludovico and +return home. They promptly closed the bargain, unfurled the banner of +mutiny, and informed the Duke of Milan that they could not, in +conscience, fight against their own brethren. The duke was in despair. +He plead even with tears that they would not abandon him. All was in +vain. They not only commenced their march home, but basely betrayed the +duke to the French. He was taken prisoner by Louis, carried to France +and for five years was kept in rigorous confinement in the strong +fortresses of the kingdom. Afterward, through the intercession of +Maximilian, he was allowed a little more freedom. He was, however, kept +in captivity until he died in the year 1510. Ludovico merits no +commiseration. He was as perfidious and unprincipled as any of his +assailants could be. + +The reconquest of Milan by Louis, and the capture of Ludovico, alarmed +Maximilian and roused him to new efforts. He again summoned the States +of the empire and implored their coöperation to resist the aggressions +of France. But he was as unsuccessful as in his previous endeavors. +Louis watched anxiously the movements of the German diet, and finding +that he had nothing to fear from the troops of the empire, having +secured the investiture of Milan, prepared for the invasion of Naples. +The venal pope was easily bought over. Even Ferdinand, the King of +Arragon, was induced to loan his connivance to a plan for robbing a near +relative of his crown, by the promise of sharing in the spoil. A treaty +of partition was entered into by the two robber kings, by which +Ferdinand of Arragon was to receive Calabria and Apulia, and the King of +France the remaining States of the Neapolitan kingdom. The pope was +confidentially informed of this secret plot, which was arranged at +Grenada, and promised the plunderers his benediction, in consideration +of the abundant reward promised to him. + +The doom of the King of Naples was now sealed. All unconscious that his +own relative, Ferdinand of Arragon, was conspiring against him, he +appealed to Ferdinand for aid against the King of France. The perfidious +king considered this as quite a providential interposition in his favor. +He affected great zeal for the King of Naples, sent a powerful army into +his kingdom, and stationed his troops in the important fortresses. The +infamous fraud was now accomplished. Frederic of Naples, to his dismay, +found that he had been placing his empire in the hands of his enemies +instead of friends; at the same time the troops of Louis arrived at +Rome, where they were cordially received; and the pope immediately, on +the 25th of June, 1501, issued a bull deposing Frederic from his +kingdom, and, by virtue of that spiritual authority which he derived +from the Apostle Peter, invested Louis and Ferdinand with the dominions +of Frederic. Few men are more to be commiserated than a crownless king. +Frederic, in his despair, threw himself upon the clemency of Louis. He +was taken to France and was there fed and clothed by the royal bounty. + +Maximilian impatiently watched the events from his home in Austria, and +burned with the desire to take a more active part in these stirring +scenes. Despairing, however, to rouse the German States to any effectual +intervention in the affairs of southern Europe, he now endeavored to +rouse the enthusiasm of the German nobles against the Turks. In this, by +appealing to superstition, he was somewhat successful. He addressed the +following circular letter to the German States: + +"A stone, weighing two hundred pounds, recently fell from heaven, near +the army under my command in Upper Alsace, and I caused it, as a fatal +warning from God to men, to be hung up in the neighboring church of +Encisheim. In vain I myself explained to all Christian kings the +signification of this mysterious stone. The Almighty punished the +neglect of this warning with a dreadful scourge, from which thousands +have suffered death, or pains worse than death. But since this +punishment of the abominable sins of men has produced no effect, God has +imprinted in a miraculous manner the sign of the cross, and the +instruments of our Lord's passion in dark and bloody colors, on the +bodies and garments of thousands. The appearance of these signs in +Germany, in particular, does not indeed denote that the Germans have +been peculiarly distinguished in guilt, but rather that they should set +the example to the rest of the world, by being the first to undertake a +crusade against the infidels." + +For a time Maximilian seemed quite encouraged, for quite a wave of +religious enthusiasm seemed to roll over Europe. All the energies of the +pope were apparently enlisted, and he raised, through all the domains of +the Church, large sums of money for the holy enterprise of driving the +invading infidels out of Europe. England and France both proffered their +co-operation, and England, opening her inexhaustible purse, presented a +subsidy of ten thousand pounds. The German nobles rallied in large +numbers under the banner of the cross. But disappointment seemed to be +the doom of the emperor. The King of France sent no aid. The pope, +iniquitously squandered all the money he had raised upon his infamous, +dissolute son, Cæsar Borgia. And the emperor himself was drawn into a +war with Bavaria, to settle the right of succession between two rival +claimants. The settlement of the question devolved upon Maximilian as +emperor, and his dignity was involved in securing respect for his +decision. Thus the whole gorgeous plan of a war against the Turks, such +as Europe had never beheld, vanished into thin air, and Maximilian was +found at the head of fourteen thousand infantry, and twelve thousand +horse, engaged in a quarrel in the heart of Germany. In this war +Maximilian was successful, and he rewarded himself by annexing to +Austria several small provinces, the sum total of which quite enlarged +his small domains. + +By this time the kings of France and Spain were fiercely fighting over +their conquest of Naples and Sicily, each striving to grasp the lion's +share. Maximilian thought his interests would be promoted by aiding the +Spaniards, and he accordingly sent three thousand men to Trieste, where +they embarked, and sailing down the Adriatic, united with the Spanish +troops. The French were driven out of Italy. There then ensued, for +several years, wars and intrigues in which France, Spain, Italy and +Austria were involved; all alike selfish and grasping. Armies were ever +moving to and fro, and the people of Europe, by the victories of kings +and nobles, were kept in a condition of misery. No one seemed ever to +think of their rights or their happiness. + +Various circumstances had exasperated Maximilian very much against the +Venetians. All the powers of Europe were then ready to combine against +any other power whatever, if there was a chance of obtaining any share +in the division of the plunder. Maximilian found no difficulty in +secretly forming one of the most formidable leagues history had then +recorded, the celebrated league of Cambray. No sympathy need be wasted +upon the Venetians, the victims of this coalition, for they had rendered +themselves universally detestable by their arrogance, rapacity, perfidy +and pride. France joined the coalition, and, in view of her power, was +to receive a lion's share of the prey--the provinces of Brescia, +Bergamo, Cremona, and the Ghiradadda. The King of Arragon was to send +ships and troops, and receive his pay in the maritime towns on the +shores of the Adriatic. The pope, Julius II., the most grasping, +perfidious and selfish of them all, demanded Ravenna, Cervia, Faenza, +Rimini, Immola and Cesena. His exorbitant claims were assented to, as it +was infinitely important that the piratic expedition should be +sanctioned by the blessing of the Church. Maximilian was to receive, in +addition to some territories which Venice had wrested from him, +Roveredo, Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Trevigi, and the Friuli. As Maximilian +was bound by a truce with Venice, and as in those days of chivalry some +little regard was to be paid to one's word of honor, Maximilian was only +to march at the summons of the pope, which no true son of the Church, +under any circumstances, was at liberty to disobey. Sundry other minor +dukes and princes were engaged in the plot, who were also to receive a +proportionate share of the spoil. + +After these arrangements were all completed, the holy father, with +characteristic infamy, made private overtures to the Venetians, +revealing to them the whole plot, and offering to withdraw from the +confederacy and thwart all its plans, if Venice would pay more as the +reward of perfidy than Rome could hope to acquire by force of arms. The +haughty republic rejected the infamous proposal, and prepared for a +desperate defense. + +All the powers of the confederacy were now collecting their troops. But +Maximilian was dependent upon the German diet for his ability to fulfill +his part of the contract. He assembled the diet at Worms on the 21st of +April, 1509, presented to them the plan of the league, and solicited +their support. The diet refused to cooperate, and hardly affecting even +the forms of respect, couched its refusal in terms of stinging rebuke. + +"We are tired," they said, "of these innumerable calls for troops and +money. We can not support the burden of these frequent diets, involving +the expense of long journeys, and we are weary of expeditions and wars. +If the emperor enters into treaties with France and the pope without +consulting us, it is his concern and not ours, and we are not bound to +aid him to fulfill his agreement. And even if we were to vote the +succors which are now asked of us, we should only be involved in +embarrassment and disgrace, as we have been by the previous enterprises +of the emperor." + +Such, in brief, was the response of the diet. It drew from the emperor a +long defense of his conduct, which he called an "Apology," and which is +considered one of the most curious and characteristic documents of those +days. He made no attempt to conceal his vexation, but assailed them in +strong language of reproach. + +"I have concluded a treaty with my allies," he wrote, "in conformity to +the dictates of conscience and duty, and for the honor, glory and +happiness of the empire and of Christendom. The negotiation could not be +postponed, and if I had convoked a diet to demand the advice of the +States, the treaty would never have been concluded. I was under the +necessity of concealing the project of the combined powers, that we +might fall on the Venetians at once and unexpectedly, which could not +have been effected in the midst of public deliberations and endless +discussions; and I have, I trust, clearly proved, both in my public and +my private communications, the advantage which is likely to result from +this union. If the aids hitherto granted by diets have produced nothing +but disgrace and dishonor, I am not to blame, but the States who acted +so scandalously in granting their succors with so much reluctance and +delay. As for myself, I have, on the contrary, exposed my treasure, my +countries, my subjects and my life, while the generality of the German +States have remained in dishonorable tranquillity at home. I have more +reason to complain of you than you of me; for you have constantly +refused me your approbation and assistance; and even when you have +granted succors, you have rendered them fruitless by the scantiness and +tardiness of your supplies, and compelled me to dissipate my own +revenues, and injure my own subjects." + +Of course these bitter recriminations accomplished nothing in changing +the action of the diet, and Maximilian was thrown upon the Austrian +States alone for supplies. Louis of France, at the head of seventeen +thousand troops, crossed the Alps. The pope fulminated a bull of +excommunication against the Venetians, and sent an army of ten thousand +men. The Duke of Ferrara and the Marquis of Mantua sent their +contingents. Maximilian, by great exertions, sent a few battalions +through the mountains of the Tyrol, and was preparing to follow with +stronger forces. Province after province fell before the resistless +invaders, and Venice would have fallen irretrievably had not the +conquerors began to quarrel among themselves. The pope, in secret +treaty, was endeavoring to secure his private interests, regardless of +the interests of the allies. Louis, from some pique, withdrew his +forces, and abandoned Maximilian in the hour of peril, and the emperor, +shackled by want of money, and having but a feeble force, was quite +unable to make progress alone against the Venetian troops. + +It does not seem to be the will of Providence that the plots of +unprincipled men, even against men as bad as themselves, should be more +than transiently prosperous. Maximilian, thus again utterly thwarted in +one of his most magnificent plans, covered with disgrace, and irritated +almost beyond endurance, after attempting in vain to negotiate a truce +with the Venetians, was compelled to retreat across the Alps, inveighing +bitterly against the perfidious refusal to fulfill a perfidious +agreement. + +The holy father, Julius II., outwitted all his accomplices. He secured +from Venice very valuable accessions of territory, and then, recalling +his ecclesiastical denunciations, united with Venice to drive the +_barbarians_, as he affectionately called his French and German allies, +out of Italy. Maximilian returned to Austria as in a funeral march, +ventured to summon another diet, told them how shamefully he had been +treated by France, Venice and the pope, and again implored them to do +something to help him. Perseverance is surely the most efficient of +virtues. Incredible as it may seem, the emperor now obtained some little +success. The diet, indignant at the conduct of the pope, and alarmed at +so formidable a union as that between the papal States and Venice, voted +a succor of six thousand infantry and eighteen hundred horse. This +encouraged the emperor, and forgetting his quarrel with Louis XII. of +France, in the stronger passion of personal aggrandizement which +influenced him, he entered into another alliance with Louis against the +pope and Venice, and then made a still stronger and a religious appeal +to Germany for aid. A certain class of politicians in all countries and +in all ages, have occasionally expressed great solicitude for the +reputation of religion. + +"The power and government of the pope," the emperor proclaimed, "which +ought to be an example to the faithful, present, on the contrary, +nothing but trouble and disorder. The enormous sums daily extorted from +Germany, are perverted to the purposes of luxury or worldly views, +instead of being employed for the service of God, or against the +infidels. As Emperor of Germany, as advocate and protector of the +Christian Church, it is my duty to examine into such irregularities, and +exert all my efforts for the glory of God and the advantage of the +empire; and as there is an evident necessity to reëstablish due order +and decency, both in the ecclesiastical and temporal state, I have +resolved to call a general council, without which nothing permanent can +be effected." + +It is said that Maximilian was now so confident of success, that he had +decided to divide Italy between himself and France. He was to take +Venice and the States of the Church, and France was to have the rest. +Pope Julius was to be deposed, and to be succeeded by Pope Maximilian. +The following letter from Maximilian to his daughter, reveals his +ambitious views at the time. It is dated the 18th of September, 1511. + +"To-morrow I shall send the Bishop of Guzk to the pope at Rome, to +conclude an agreement with him that I may be appointed his coadjutor, +and on his death succeed to the papacy, and become a priest, and +afterwards a saint, that you may be bound to worship me, of which I +shall be very proud. I have written on this subject to the King of +Arragon, intreating him to favor my undertaking, and he has promised me +his assistance, provided I resign my imperial crown to my grandson +Charles, which I am very ready to do. The people and nobles of Rome have +offered to support me against the French and Spanish party. They can +muster twenty thousand combatants, and have sent me word that they are +inclined to favor my scheme of being pope, and will not consent to have +either a Frenchman, a Spaniard or a Venetian. + +"I have already began to sound the cardinals, and, for that purpose, two +or three hundred thousand ducats would be of great service to me, as +their partiality to me is very great. The King of Arragon has ordered +his ambassadors to assure me that he will command the Spanish cardinals +to favor my pretensions to the papacy. I intreat you to keep this matter +secret for the present, though I am afraid it will soon be known, for it +is impossible to carry on a business secretly for which it is necessary +to gain over so many persons, and to have so much money. Adieu. Written +with the hand of your dear father Maximilian, future pope. The pope's +fever has increased, and he can not live long." + +It is painful to follow out the windings of intrigue and the labyrinths +of guile, where selfishness seemed to actuate every heart, and where all +alike seem destitute of any principle of Christian integrity. Bad as the +world is now, and selfish as political aspirants are now, humanity has +made immense progress since that dark age of superstition, fraud and +violence. After many victories and many defeats, after innumerable +fluctuations of guile, Maximilian accepted a bribe, and withdrew his +forces, and the King of France was summoned home by the invasion of his +own territories by the King of Arragon and Henry VIII. of England, who, +for a suitable consideration, had been induced to join Venice and the +pope. At the end of this long campaign of diplomacy, perfidy and blood, +in which misery had rioted through ten thousand cottages, whose +inhabitants the warriors regarded no more than the occupants of the +ant-hills they trampled beneath their feet, it was found that no one had +gained any thing but toil and disappointment. + +On the 21st of February, 1513, Pope Julius II. died, and the cardinals, +rejecting all the overtures of the emperor, elected John of Medici pope, +who assumed the name of Leo X. The new pontiff was but thirty-six years +of age, a man of brilliant talents, and devoted to the pursuit of +letters. Inspired by boundless ambition, he wished to signalize his +reign by the magnificence of his court and the grandeur of his +achievements. + +Thus far nothing but disaster seemed to attend the enterprises of +Maximilian; but now the tide suddenly turned and rolled in upon him +billows of prosperity. It will be remembered that Maximilian married, +for his first wife, Mary, the daughter of the Duke of Burgundy. Their +son Philip married Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, whose +marriage, uniting the kingdoms of Castile and Arragon, created the +splendid kingdom of Spain. Philip died young, leaving a son, Charles, +and Joanna, an insane wife, to watch his grave through weary years of +woe. Upon the death of Ferdinand, in January, 1516, Charles, the +grandson of Maximilian, became undisputed heir to the whole monarchy of +Spain; then, perhaps, the grandest power in Europe, including Naples, +Sicily and Navarre. This magnificent inheritance, coming so directly +into the family, and into the line of succession, invested Maximilian +and the house of Austria with new dignity. + +It was now an object of intense solicitude with Maximilian, to secure +the reversion of the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, which were both upon +the brow of Ladislaus, to his own family. With this object in view, and +to render assurance doubly sure, he succeeded in negotiating a marriage +between two children of Ladislaus, a son and a daughter, and two of his +own grand-children. This was a far pleasanter mode of acquiring +territory and family aggrandizement than by the sword. In celebration of +the betrothals, Ladislaus and his brother Sigismond, King of Poland, +visited Vienna, where Ladislaus was so delighted with the magnificent +hospitality of his reception, that he even urged upon the emperor, who +was then a widower, fifty-eight years of age, that he should marry +another of his daughters, though she had but attained her thirteenth +year. The emperor declined the honor, jocularly remarking-- + +"There is no method more pleasant to kill an old man, than to marry him +to a young bride." + +The German empire was then divided into ten districts, or circles, as +they were then called, each of which was responsible for the maintenance +of peace among its own members. These districts were, Austria, Burgundy, +the Upper Rhine, the Lower Rhine, Franconia, Bavaria, Suabia, +Westphalia, Upper Saxony and Lower Saxony. The affairs of each district +were to be regulated by a court of a few nobles, called a diet. The +emperor devoted especial attention to the improvement of his own estate +of Austria, which he subdivided into two districts, and these into still +smaller districts. Over all, for the settlement of all important points +of dispute, he established a tribunal called the Aulic Council, which +subsequently exerted a powerful influence over the affairs of Austria. + +One more final effort Maximilian made to rouse Germany to combine to +drive the Turks out of Europe. Though the benighted masses looked up +with much reverence to the pontiff, the princes and the nobles regarded +him only as a _power_, wielding, in addition to the military arm, the +potent energies of superstition. A diet was convened. The pope's legate +appeared, and sustained the eloquent appeal of the emperor with the +paternal commands of the holy father. But the press was now becoming a +power in Europe, diffusing intelligence and giving freedom to thought +and expression. The diet, after listening patiently to the arguments of +the emperor and the requests of the pontiff, dryly replied-- + +"We think that Christianity has more to fear from the pope than from the +Turks. Much as we may dread the ravages of the infidel, they can hardly +drain Christendom more effectually than it is now drained by the +exactions of the Church." + +It was at Augsburg in July, 1518, that the diet ventured thus boldly to +speak. This was one year after Luther had nailed upon the church door in +Wittemberg, his ninety-five propositions, which had roused all Germany +to scrutinize the abominable corruptions of the papal church. This bold +language of the diet, influenced by the still bolder language of the +intrepid monk, alarmed Leo X., and on the 7th of August he issued his +summons commanding Luther to repair to Rome to answer for heresy. +Maximilian, who had been foiled in his own attempt to attain the chair +of St. Peter, who had seen so much of the infamous career of Julius and +Alexander, as to lose all his reverence for the sacred character of the +popes, and who regarded Leo X. merely as a successful rival who had +thwarted his own plans, espoused, with cautious development, but with +true interest, the cause of the reformer. And now came the great war of +the Reformation, agitating Germany in every quarter, and rousing the +lethargic intellect of the nations as nothing else could rouse it. +Maximilian, with characteristic fickleness, or rather, with +characteristic pliancy before every breeze of self-interest, was now on +the one side, now on the other, and now, nobody knew where, until his +career was terminated by sudden and fatal sickness. + +The emperor was at Innspruck, all overwhelmed with his cares and his +plans of ambition, when he was seized with a slight fever. Hoping to be +benefited by a change of air, he set out to travel by slow stages to one +of his castles among the mountains of Upper Austria. The disease, +however, rapidly increased, and it was soon evident that death was +approaching. The peculiarities of his character were never more +strikingly developed than in these last solemn hours. Being told by his +physicians that he had not long to live and that he must now prepare for +the final judgment, he calmly replied, "I have long ago made that +preparation. Had I not done so, it would be too late now." + +For four years he had been conscious of declining health, and had always +carried with him, wherever he traveled, an oaken coffin, with his shroud +and other requisites for his funeral. With very minute directions he +settled all his worldly affairs, and gave the most particular +instructions respecting his funeral. Changing his linen, he strictly +enjoined that his shirt should not be removed after his death, for his +fastidious modesty was shocked by the idea of the exposure of his body, +even after the soul had taken its flight. + +He ordered his hair, after his death, to be cut off, all his teeth to be +extracted, pounded to powder and publicly burned in the chapel of his +palace. For one day his remains were to be exposed to the public, as a +lesson of mortality. They were then to be placed in a sack filled with +quicklime. The sack was to be enveloped in folds of silk and satin, and +then placed in the oaken coffin which had been so long awaiting his +remains. The coffin was then to be deposited under the altar of the +chapel of his palace at Neustadt, in such a position that the +officiating priest should ever trample over his head and heart. The king +expressed the hope that this humiliation of his body would, in some +degree, be accepted by the Deity in atonement for the sins of his soul. +How universal the instinct that sin needs an atonement! + +Having finished these directions the emperor observed that some of his +attendants were in tears. "Do you weep," said he, "because you see a +mortal die? Such tears become women rather than men." The emperor was +now dying. As the ecclesiastics repeated the prayers of the Church, the +emperor gave the responses until his voice failed, and then continued to +give tokens of recognition and of faith, by making the sign of the +cross. At three o'clock in the morning of the 11th of January, 1519, the +Emperor Maximilian breathed his last. He was then in the sixtieth year +of his age. + +Maximilian is justly considered one of the most renowned of the +descendants of Rhodolph of Hapsburg. It is saying but little for his +moral integrity, to affirm that he was one of the best of the rulers of +his age. According to his ideas of religion, he was a religious man. +According to his ideas of honesty and of honor, he was both an honest +and an honorable man. According to his idea of what is called _moral +conduct_, he was irreproachable, being addicted to no _ungenteel_ vices, +or any sins which would be condemned by his associates. His ambition was +not to secure for himself ease or luxury, but to extend his imperial +power, and to aggrandize his family. For these objects he passed his +life, ever tossed upon the billows of toil and trouble. In industry and +perseverance, he has rarely been surpassed. + +Notwithstanding the innumerable interruptions and cares attendant upon +his station, he still found time, one can hardly imagine when, to become +a proficient in all the learning of the day. He wrote and spoke four +languages readily, Latin, French, German and Italian. Few men have +possessed more persuasive powers of eloquence. All the arts and sciences +he warmly patronized, and men of letters of every class found in him a +protector. But history must truthfully declare that there was no perfidy +of which he would not be guilty, and no meanness to which he would not +stoop, if he could only extend his hereditary domains and add to his +family renown. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION. + +From 1519 to 1531. + +Charles V. of Spain.--His Election as Emperor of Germany.--His +Coronation.--The first Constitution.--Progress of the Reformation.--The +Pope's Bull against Luther.--His Contempt for his Holiness.--The Diet at +Worms.--Frederic's Objection to the Condemnation of Luther by the +Diet.--He obtains for Luther the Right of Defense.--Luther's triumphal +March to the Tribunal.--Charles urged to violate his Safe Conduct.-- +Luther's Patmos.--Marriage of Sister Catharine Bora to Luther.--Terrible +Insurrection.--The Holy League.--The Protest of Spires.--Confession of +Augsburg.--The two Confessions.--Compulsory Measures. + + +Charles V. of Spain, as the nearest male heir, inherited from Maximilian +the Austrian States. He was the grandson of the late emperor, son of +Philip and of Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and was born +on the 24th of February, 1500. He had been carefully educated in the +learning and accomplishments of the age, and particularly in the arts of +war. At the death of his grandfather, Ferdinand, Charles, though but +sixteen years of age, assumed the title of King of Spain, and though +strongly opposed for a time, he grasped firmly and held securely the +reins of government. + +Joanna, his mother, was legally the sovereign, both by the laws of +united Castile and Arragon, and by the testaments of Isabella and +Ferdinand. But she was insane, and was sunk in such depths of melancholy +as to be almost unconscious of the scenes which were transpiring around +her. Two years had elapsed between the accession of Charles V. to the +throne of Spain and the death of his grandfather, Maximilian. The young +king, with wonderful energy of character, had, during that time, +established himself very firmly on the throne. Upon the death of +Maximilian many claimants rose for the imperial throne. Henry VIII. of +England and Francis of France, were prominent among the competitors. For +six months all the arts of diplomacy were exhausted by the various +candidates, and Charles of Spain won the prize. On the 28th of June, +1519, he was unanimously elected Emperor of Germany. The youthful +sovereign, who was but nineteen years of age, was at Barcelona when he +received the first intelligence of his election. He had sufficient +strength of character to avoid the slightest appearance of exultation, +but received the announcement with dignity and gravity far above his +years. + +The Spaniards were exceedingly excited and alarmed by the news. They +feared that their young sovereign, of whom they had already begun to be +proud, would leave Spain to establish his court in the German empire, +and they should thus be left, as a distant province, to the government +of a viceroy. The king was consequently flooded with petitions, from all +parts of his dominions, not to accept the imperial crown. But Charles +was as ambitious as his grandfather, Maximilian, whose foresight and +maneuvering had set in train those influences which had elevated him to +the imperial dignity. + +Soon a solemn embassy arrived, and, with the customary pomp, proffered +to Charles the crown which so many had coveted. Charles accepted the +office, and made immediate preparations, notwithstanding the increasing +clamor of his subjects, to go to Germany for his coronation. Intrusting +the government of Spain during his absence to officers in whom he +reposed confidence, he embarked on shipboard, and landing first at Dover +in England, made a visit of four days to Henry VIII. He then continued +his voyage to the Netherlands; proceeding thence to Aix-la-Chapelle, he +was crowned on the 20th of October, 1520, with magnificence far +surpassing that of any of his predecessors. Thus Charles V., when but +twenty years of age, was the King of Spain and the crowned Emperor of +Germany. It is a great mistake to suppose that youthful precocity is one +of the innovations of modern times. + +In the changes of the political kaleidoscope, Austria had now become a +part of Spain, or rather a prince of Austrian descent, a lineal heir of +the house of Hapsburg, had inherited the dominion of Spain, the most +extensive monarchy, in its continental domains and its colonial +possessions, then upon the globe. The Germanic confederation at this +time made a decided step in advance. Hitherto the emperors, when +crowned, had made a sort of verbal promise to administer the government +in accordance with the laws and customs of the several states. They +were, however, apprehensive that the new emperor, availing himself of +the vast power which he possessed independently of the imperial crown, +might, by gradual encroachments, defraud them of their rights. A sort of +constitution was accordingly drawn up, consisting of thirty-six +articles, defining quite minutely the laws, customs and privileges of +the empire, which constitution Charles was required to sign before his +coronation. + +Charles presided in person over his first diet which he had convened at +Worms on the 6th of January, 1521. The theological and political war of +the Reformation was now agitating all Germany, and raging with the +utmost violence. Luther had torn the vail from the corruptions of +papacy, and was exhibiting to astonished Europe the enormous aggression +and the unbridled licentiousness of pontifical power. Letter succeeded +letter, and pamphlet pamphlet, and they fell upon the decaying hierarchy +like shot and shell upon the walls of a fortress already crumbling and +tottering through age. + +On the 15th of July, 1520, three months before the coronation of Charles +V., the pope issued his world-renowned bull against the intrepid monk. +He condemned Luther as a heretic, forbade the reading of his writings, +excommunicated him if he did not retract within sixty days, and all +princes and states were commanded, under pain of incurring the same +censure, to seize his person and punish him and his adherents. Many were +overawed by these menaces of the holy father, who held the keys of +heaven and of hell. The fate of Luther was considered sealed. His works +were publicly burned in several cities. + +Luther, undaunted, replied with blow for blow. He declared the pope to +be antichrist, renounced all obedience to him, detailed with scathing +severity the conduct of corrupt pontiffs, and called upon the whole +nation to renounce all allegiance to the scandalous court of Rome. To +cap the climax of his contempt and defiance, he, on the 10th of +December, 1520, not two months after the crowning of Charles V., led his +admiring followers, the professors and students of the university of +Wittemberg, in procession to the eastern gate of the city, where, in the +presence of a vast concourse, he committed the papal bull to the flames, +exclaiming, in the words of Ezekiel, "Because thou hast troubled the +Holy One of God, let eternal fire consume thee." This dauntless spirit +of the reformer inspired his disciples throughout Germany with new +courage, and in many other cities the pope's bull of excommunication was +burned with expressions of indignation and contempt. + +Such was the state of this great religious controversy when Charles V. +held his first diet at Worms. The pope, wielding all the energies of +religious fanaticism, and with immense temporal revenues at his +disposal, with ecclesiastics, officers of his spiritual court, scattered +all over Europe, who exercised almost a supernatural power over the +minds of the benighted masses, was still perhaps the most formidable +power in Europe. The new emperor, with immense schemes of ambition +opening before his youthful and ardent mind, and with no principles of +heartfelt piety to incline him to seek and love the truth, as a matter +of course sought the favor of the imperial pontiff, and was not at all +disposed to espouse the cause of the obscure monk. + +Charles, therefore, received courteously the legates of the pontiff at +the diet, gave them a friendly hearing as they inveighed against the +heresy of Luther, and proposed that the diet should also condemn the +reformer. Fortunately for Luther he was a subject of the electorate of +Saxony, and neither pope nor emperor could touch him but through the +elector. Frederic, the Duke of Saxony, one of the electors of the +empire, governed a territory of nearly fifteen thousand square miles, +more than twice as large as the State of Massachusetts, and containing +nearly three millions of inhabitants. The duchy has since passed through +many changes and dismemberments, but in the early part of the sixteenth +century the Elector of Saxony was one of the most powerful princes of +the German empire. Frederic was not disposed to surrender his subject +untried and uncondemned to the discipline of the Roman pontiff. He +accordingly objected to this summary condemnation of Luther, and +declared that before judgment was pronounced, the accused should be +heard in his own defense. Charles, who was by no means aware how +extensively the opinions of Luther had been circulated and received, was +surprised to find many nobles, each emboldened by the rest, rise in the +diet and denounce, in terms of ever-increasing severity, the exactions +and the arrogance of the court of Rome. + +Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the pope's legates, the emperor +found it necessary to yield to the demands of the diet, and to allow +Luther the privilege of being heard, though he avowed to the friends of +the pope that Luther should not be permitted to make any defense, but +should only have an opportunity to confess his heresy and implore +forgiveness. Worms, where the diet was in session, on the west banks of +the Rhine, was not within the territories of the Elector of Saxony, and +consequently the emperor, in sending a summons to Luther to present +himself before the diet, sent, also, a safe conduct. With alacrity the +bold reformer obeyed the summons. From Wittemberg, where Luther was both +professor in the university and also pastor of a church, to Worms, was a +distance of nearly three hundred miles. But the journey of the reformer, +through all of this long road was almost like a triumphal procession. +Crowds gathered everywhere to behold the man who had dared to bid +defiance to the terrors of that spiritual power before which the +haughtiest monarchs had trembled. The people had read the writings of +Luther, and justly regarded him as the advocate of civil and religious +liberty. The nobles, who had often been humiliated by the arrogance of +the pontiff, admired a man who was bringing a new power into the field +for their disenthrallment. + +When Luther had arrived within three miles of Worms, accompanied by a +few friends and the imperial herald who had summoned him, he was met by +a procession of two thousand persons, who had come from the city to form +his escort. Some friends in the city sent him a warning that he could +not rely upon the protection of his _safe conduct_, that he would +probably be perfidiously arrested, and they intreated him to retire +immediately again to Saxony. Luther made the memorable reply, + +"I will go to Worms, if as many devils meet me there as there are tiles +upon the roofs of the houses." + +The emperor was astonished to find that greater crowds were assembled, +and greater enthusiasm was displayed in witnessing the entrance of the +monk of Wittemberg, than had greeted the imperial entrance to the city. + +It was indeed an august assemblage before which Luther was arrayed. The +emperor himself presided, sustained by his brother, the Archduke +Ferdinand. Six electors, twenty-four dukes, seven margraves, thirty +bishops and prelates, and an uncounted number of princes, counts, lords +and ambassadors filled the spacious hall. It was the 18th of April, +1521. His speech, fearless, dignified, eloquent, unanswerable, occupied +two hours. He closed with the noble words, + +"Let me be refuted and convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or +by the clearest arguments; otherwise I can not and will not recant; for +it is neither safe nor expedient to act against conscience. Here I take +my stand. I can do no otherwise, so help me God, Amen." + +In this sublime moral conflict Luther came off the undisputed conqueror. +The legates of the pope, exasperated at his triumph, intreated the +emperor to arrest him, in defiance of his word of honor pledged for his +safety. Charles rejected the infamous proposal with disdain. Still he +was greatly annoyed at so serious a schism in the Church, which +threatened to alienate from him the patronage of the pope. It was +evident that Luther was too strongly intrenched in the hearts of the +Germans, for the youthful emperor, whose crown was not yet warm upon his +brow, and who was almost a stranger in Germany, to undertake to crush +him. To appease the pope he drew up an apologetic declaration, in which +he said, in terms which do not honor his memory, + +"Descended as I am from the Christian emperors of Germany, the Catholic +kings of Spain, and from the archdukes of Austria and the Dukes of +Burgundy, all of whom have preserved, to the last moment of their lives, +their fidelity to the Church, and have always been the defenders and +protectors of the Catholic faith, its decrees, ceremonies and usages, I +have been, am still, and will ever be devoted to those Christian +doctrines, and the constitution of the Church which they have left to me +as a sacred inheritance. And as it is evident that a simple monk has +advanced opinions contrary to the sentiments of all Christians, past and +present, I am firmly determined to wipe away the reproach which a +toleration of such errors would cast on Germany, and to employ all my +powers and resources, my body, my blood, my life, and even my soul, in +checking the progress of this sacrilegious doctrine. I will not, +therefore, permit Luther to enter into any further explanation, and will +instantly dismiss and afterward treat him as a heretic. But I can not +violate my safe conduct, but will cause him to be conducted safely back +to Wittemberg." + +The emperor now attempted to accomplish by intrigue that which he could +not attain by authority of force. He held a private interview with the +reformer, and endeavored, by all those arts at the disposal of an +emperor, to influence Luther to a recantation. Failing utterly in this, +he delayed further operations for a month, until many of the diet, +including the Elector of Saxony and other powerful friends of Luther, +had retired. He then, having carefully retained those who would be +obsequious to his will, caused a decree to be enacted, as if it were the +unanimous sentiment of the diet, that Luther was a heretic; confirmed +the sentence of the pope, and pronounced the ban of the empire against +all who should countenance or protect him. + +But Luther, on the 26th of May, had left Worms on his return to +Wittemberg. When he had passed over about half the distance, his friend +and admirer, Frederic of Saxony, conscious of the imminent peril which +hung over the intrepid monk, sent a troop of masked horsemen who seized +him and conveyed him to the castle of Wartburg, where Frederic kept him +safely concealed for nine months, not allowing even his friends to know +the place of his concealment. Luther, acquiescing in the prudence of +this measure, called this retreat his Patmos, and devoted himself most +assiduously to the study of the Scriptures, and commenced his most +admirable translation of the Bible into the German language, a work +which has contributed vastly more than all others to disseminate the +principles of the Reformation throughout Germany. + +It will be remembered that Maximilian's son Ferdinand, who was brother +to Charles V., had married Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, King of Hungary +and Bohemia. Disturbances in Spain rendered it necessary for the emperor +to leave Germany, and for eight years his attention was almost +constantly occupied by wars and intrigues in southern Europe. Ferdinand +was invested with the government of the Austrian States. In the year +1521, Leo X. died, and Adrian, who seems to have been truly a +conscientious Christian man, assumed the tiara. He saw the deep +corruptions of the Church, confessed them openly, mourned over them and +declared that the Church needed a thorough reformation. + +This admission, of course, wonderfully strengthened the Lutheran party. +The diet, meeting soon after, drew up a list of a hundred grievances, +which they intreated the pope to reform, declaring that Germany could no +longer endure them. They declared that Luther had opened the eyes of the +people to these corruptions, and that they would not suffer the edicts +of the diet of Worms to be enforced. Ferdinand of Austria, entering into +the views of his brother, was anxious to arrest the progress of the new +ideas, now spreading with great rapidity, and he entered--instructed by +a legate, Campegio, from the pope--into an engagement with the Duke of +Bavaria, and most of the German bishops, to carry the edict of Worms +into effect. + +Frederic, the Elector of Saxony, died in 1525, but he was succeeded by +his brother John the Constant, who cordially embraced and publicly +avowed the doctrines of the Reformation; and Luther, in July of this +year, gave the last signal proof of his entire emancipation from the +superstitions of the papacy by marrying Catharine Bora, a noble lady +who, having espoused his views, had left the nunnery where she had been +an inmate. It is impossible for one now to conceive the impression which +was produced in Catholic Europe by the marriage of a priest and a nun. + +Many of the German princes now followed the example of John of Saxony, +and openly avowed their faith in the Lutheran doctrines. In the Austrian +States, notwithstanding all Ferdinand's efforts to the contrary, the new +faith steadily spread, commanding the assent of the most virtuous and +the most intelligent. Many of the nobles avowed themselves Lutherans, as +did even some of the professors in the university at Vienna. The vital +questions at issue, taking hold, as they did, of the deepest emotions of +the soul and the daily habits of life, roused the general mind to the +most intense activity. The bitterest hostility sprung up between the two +parties, and many persons, without piety and without judgment, threw off +the superstitions of the papacy, only to adopt other superstitions +equally revolting. The sect of Anabaptists rose, abjuring all civil as +well as all religious authority, claiming to be the elect of God, +advocating a community of goods and of wives, and discarding all +restraint. They roused the ignorant peasantry, and easily showed them +that they were suffering as much injustice from feudal lords as from +papal bishops. It was the breaking out of the French Revolution on a +small scale. Germany was desolated by infuriate bands, demolishing alike +the castles of the nobles and the palaces of the bishops, and sparing +neither age nor sex in their indiscriminate slaughter. + +The insurrection was so terrible, that both Lutherans and papists united +to quell it; and so fierce were these fanatics, that a hundred thousand +perished on fields of blood before the rebellion was quelled. These +outrages were, of course, by the Catholics regarded as the legitimate +results of the new doctrines, and it surely can not be denied that they +sprung from them. The fire which glows on the hearth may consume the +dwelling. But Luther and his friends assailed the Anabaptists with every +weapon they could wield. The Catholics formed powerful combinations to +arrest the spread of evangelical views. The reformers organized +combinations equally powerful to diffuse those opinions, which they were +sure involved the welfare of the world. + +Charles V., having somewhat allayed the troubles which harassed him in +southern Europe, now turned his attention to Germany, and resolved, with +a strong hand, to suppress the religious agitation. In a letter to the +German States he very peremptorily announced his determination, +declaring that he would exterminate the errors of Luther, exhorting +them, to resist all attacks against the ancient usages of the Church, +and expressing to each of the Catholic princes his earnest approval of +their conduct. + +Germany was now threatened with civil war. The Catholics demanded the +enforcement of the edict of Worms. The reformers demanded perfect +toleration--that every man should enjoy freedom of opinion and of +worship. A new war in Italy perhaps prevented this appeal to arms, as +Charles V. found himself involved in new difficulties which engrossed +all his energies. Ferdinand found the Austrian States so divided by this +controversy, that it became necessary for him to assume some degree of +impartiality, and to submit to something like toleration. A new pope, +Clement VII., succeeded the short reign of Adrian, and all the ambition, +intrigue and corruption which had hitherto marked the course of the +court of Rome, resumed their sway. The pope formed the celebrated Holy +League to arrest the progress of the new opinions; and this led all the +princes of the empire, who had espoused the Lutheran doctrines, more +openly and cordially to combine in self-defense. In every country in +Europe the doctrines of the reformer spread rapidly, and the papal +throne was shaken to its base. + +Charles V., whose arms were successful in southern Europe, and whose +power was daily increasing, was still very desirous of restoring quiet +to Europe by reëstablishing the supremacy of the papal Church, and +crushing out dissent. He accordingly convened another diet at Spires, +the capital of Rhenish Bavaria, on the 15th of March, 1529. As the +emperor was detained in Italy, his brother Ferdinand presided. The diet +was of course divided, but the majority passed very stringent +resolutions against the Reformation. It was enacted that the edict of +Worms should be enforced; that the mass should be reëstablished wherever +it had been abolished; and that preachers should promulgate no new +doctrines. The minority entered their protest. They urged that the mass +had been clearly proved to be contrary to the Word of God; that the +Scriptures were the only certain rule of life; and declared their +resolution to maintain the truths of the Old and New Testaments, +regardless of traditions. This _Protest_ was sustained by powerful +names--John, Elector of Saxony; George, Margrave of Brandenburg; two +Dukes of Brunswick; the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel; the Prince of Anhalt, +and fourteen imperial cities, to which were soon added ten more. Nothing +can more decisively show than this the wonderful progress which the +Reformation in so short a time had made. From this Protest the reformers +received the name of Protestants, which they have since retained. + +The emperor, flushed with success, now resolved, with new energy, to +assail the principles of the Reformation. Leaving Spain he went to +Italy, and met the pope, Clement VII., at Bologna, in February, 1530. +The pope and the emperor held many long and private interviews. What +they said no one knows. But Charles V., who was eminently a sagacious +man, became convinced that the difficulty had become far too serious to +be easily healed, that men of such power had embraced the Lutheran +doctrines that it was expedient to change the tone of menace into one of +respect and conciliation. He accordingly issued a call for another diet +to meet in April, 1530, at the city of Augsburg in Bavaria. + +"I have convened," he wrote, "this assembly to consider the difference +of opinion on the subject of religion. It is my intention to hear both +parties with candor and charity, to examine their respective arguments, +to correct and reform what requires to be corrected and reformed, that +the truth being known, and harmony established, there may, in future, be +only one pure and simple faith, and, as all are disciples of the same +Jesus, all may form one and the same Church." + +These fair words, however, only excited the suspicions of the +Protestants, which suspicions subsequent events proved to be well +founded. The emperor entered Augsburg in great state, and immediately +assumed a dictatorial air, requiring the diet to attend high mass with +him, and to take part in the procession of the host. + +"I will rather," said the Marquis of Brandenburg to the emperor, +"instantly offer my head to the executioner, than renounce the gospel +and approve idolatry. Christ did not institute the sacrament of the +Lord's Supper to be carried in pomp through the streets, nor to be +adored by the people. He said, 'Take, eat;' but never said, 'Put this +sacrament into a vase, carry it publicly in triumph, and let the people +prostrate themselves before it.'" + +The Protestants, availing themselves of the emperor's declaration that +it was his intention to hear the sentiments of all, drew up a confession +of their faith, which they presented to the emperor in German and in +Latin. This celebrated creed is known in history as the _Confession of +Augsburg_. The emperor was quite embarrassed by this document, as he was +well aware of the argumentative powers of the reformers, and feared that +the document, attaining celebrity, and being read eagerly all over the +empire, would only multiply converts to their views. At first he refused +to allow it to be read. But finding that this only created commotion +which would add celebrity to the confession, he adjourned the diet to a +small chapel where but two hundred could be convened. When the +Chancellor of Saxony rose to read the confession, the emperor commanded +that he should read the Latin copy, a language which but few of the +Germans understood. + +"Sire," said the chancellor, "we are now on German ground. I trust that +your majesty will not order the apology of our faith, which ought to be +made as public as possible, to be read in a language not understood by +the Germans." + +The emperor was compelled to yield to so reasonable a request. The +adjacent apartments, and the court-yard of the palace, were all filled +with an eager crowd. The chancellor read the creed in a voice so clear +and loud that the whole multitude could hear. The emperor was very +uneasy, and at the close of the reading, which occupied two hours, took +both the Latin and the German copies, and requested that the confession +should not be published without his consent. Luther and Melancthon drew +up this celebrated document. Melancthon was an exceedingly mild and +amiable man, and such a lover of peace that he would perhaps do a little +violence to his own conscience in the attempt to conciliate those from +whom he was constrained to differ. Luther, on the contrary, was a man of +great force, decision and fearlessness, who would speak the truth in the +plainest terms, without softening a phrase to conciliate either friend +or foe. The Confession of Augsburg being the joint production of both +Melancthon and Luther, did not _exactly_ suit either. It was a little +too uncompromising for Melancthon, a little too pliant and yielding for +Luther. Melancthon soon after took the confession and changed it to +bring it into more entire accordance with his spirit. Hence a division +which, in oblivion of its origin, has continued to the present day. +Those who adhered to the original document which was presented to the +emperor, were called Lutherans; those who adopted the confession as +softened by Melancthon, were called German Reformed. + +The emperor now threw off the mask, and carrying with him the majority +of the diet, issued a decree of intolerance and menace, in which he +declared that all the ceremonies, doctrines and usages of the papal +church, without exception, were to be reëstablished, married priests +deposed, suppressed convents restored, and every innovation, of whatever +kind, to be revoked. All who opposed this decree were to be exposed to +the ban of the empire, with all its pains and penalties. + +This was indeed an appalling measure. Recantation or war was the only +alternative. Charles, being still much occupied by the affairs of his +vast kingdom of Spain, with all its ambitions and wars, needed a +coadjutor in the government of Germany, as serious trouble was evidently +near at hand. He therefore proposed the election of his brother +Ferdinand as coadjutor with him in administering the affairs of Germany. +Ferdinand, who had recently united to the Austrian territories the +crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, was consequently chosen, on the 5th of +January, 1531, King of the Romans. Charles was determined to enforce his +decrees, and both parties now prepared for war. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION. + +From 1531 to 1552. + +Determination to crush Protestantism.--Incursion of the Turks.--Valor of +the Protestants.--Preparations for renewed Hostilities.--Augmentation of +the Protestant Forces.--The Council of Trent.--Mutual Consternation.-- +Defeat of the Protestant Army.--Unlooked for Succor.--Revolt in the +Emperor's Army.--The Fluctuations of Fortune.--Ignoble Revenge.--Capture +of Wittemberg.--Protestantism Apparently Crushed.--Plot against +Charles.--Maurice of Saxony.--A Change of Scene.--The Biter Bit.--The +Emperor humbled.--His Flight.--His determined Will. + + +The intolerant decrees of the diet of Augsburg, and the evident +determination of the emperor unrelentingly to enforce them, spread the +greatest alarm among the Protestants. They immediately assembled at +Smalkalde in December, 1530, and entered into a league for mutual +protection. The emperor was resolved to crush the Protestants. The +Protestants were resolved not to be crushed. The sword of the Catholics +was drawn for the assault--the sword of the reformers for defense. Civil +war was just bursting forth in all its horrors, when the Turks, with an +army three hundred thousand strong, like ravening wolves rushed into +Hungary. This danger was appalling. The Turks in their bloody march had, +as yet, encountered no effectual resistance; though they had experienced +temporary checks, their progress had been on the whole resistless, and +wherever they had planted their feet they had established themselves +firmly. Originating as a small tribe on the shores of the Caspian, they +had spread over all Asia Minor, had crossed the Bosphorus, captured +Constantinople, and had brought all Greece under their sway. They were +still pressing on, flushed with victory. Christian Europe was trembling +before them. And now an army of three hundred thousand had crossed the +Danube, sweeping all opposition before them, and were spreading terror +and destruction through Hungary. The capture of that immense kingdom +seemed to leave all Europe defenseless. + +The emperor and his Catholic friends were fearfully alarmed. Here was a +danger more to be dreaded than even the doctrines of Luther. All the +energies of Christendom were requisite to repel this invasion. The +emperor was compelled to appeal to the Protestant princes to coöperate +in this great emergence. But they had more to fear from the fiery +persecution of the papal church than from the cimeter of the infidel, +and they refused any coöperation with the emperor so long as the menaces +of the Augsburg decrees were suspended over them. The emperor wished the +Protestants to help him drive out the Turks, that then, relieved from +that danger, he might turn all his energies against the Protestants. + +After various negotiations it was agreed, as a temporary arrangement, +that there should be a truce of the Catholic persecution until another +general council should be called, and that until then the Protestants +should be allowed freedom of conscience and of worship. The German +States now turned their whole force against the Turks. The Protestants +contributed to the war with energy which amazed the Catholics. They even +trebled the contingents which they had agreed to furnish, and marched to +the assault with the greatest intrepidity. The Turks were driven from +Hungary, and then the emperor, in violation of his pledge, recommenced +proceeding against the Protestants. But it was the worst moment the +infatuated emperor could have selected. The Protestants, already armed +and marshaled, were not at all disposed to lie down to be trodden upon +by their foes. They renewed their confederacy, drove the emperor's +Austrian troops out of the territories of Wirtemberg, which they had +seized, and restored the duchy to the Protestant duke, Ulric. Civil war +had now commenced. But the Protestants were strong, determined, and had +proved their valor in the recent war with the Turks. The more moderate +of the papal party, foreseeing a strife which might be interminable, +interposed, and succeeded in effecting a compromise which again secured +transient peace. + +Charles, however, had not yet abandoned his design to compel the +Protestants to return to the papal church. He was merely temporizing +till he could bring such an array of the papal powers against the +reformers that they could present no successful resistance. With this +intention he entered into a secret treaty with the powerful King of +France, in which Francis agreed to concentrate all the forces of his +kingdom to crush the Lutheran doctrines. He then succeeded in concluding +a truce with the Turks for five years. He was now prepared to act with +decision against the reformed religion. + +But while Charles had been marshaling his party the Protestants had been +rapidly increasing. Eloquent preachers, able writers, had everywhere +proclaimed the corruptions of the papacy and urged a pure gospel. These +corruptions were so palpable that they could not bear the light. The +most intelligent and conscientious, all over Europe, were rapidly +embracing the new doctrines. These new doctrines embraced and involved +principles of civil as well as religious liberty. The Bible is the most +formidable book which was ever penned against aristocratic usurpation. +God is the universal Father. All men are brothers. The despots of that +day regarded the controversy as one which, in the end, involved the +stability of their thrones. "Give us light," the Protestants said. "Give +us darkness," responded the papacy, "or the submissive masses will rise +and overthrow despotic thrones as well as idolatrous altars." + +Several of the ablest and most powerful of the bishops who, in that day +of darkness, had been groping in the dark, now that light had come into +the world, rejoiced in that light, and enthusiastically espoused the +truth. The emperor was quite appalled when he learned that the +Archbishop of Cologne, who was also one of the electors of the empire, +had joined the reformers; for, in addition to the vast influence of his +name, this conversion gave the Protestants a majority in the electoral +diet, so many of the German princes had already adopted the opinions of +Luther. The Protestants, encouraged by the rapidity with which their +doctrines were spreading, were not at all disposed to humble themselves +before their opponents, but with their hands upon the hilts of their +swords, declared that they would not bow their necks to intolerance. + +It was indeed a formidable power which the emperor was now about to +marshal against the Protestants. He had France, Spain, all the roused +energies of the pope and his extended dominions, and all the Catholic +States of the empire. But Protestantism, which had overrun Germany, had +pervaded Switzerland and France, and was daily on the increase. The pope +and the more zealous papists were impatient and indignant that the +emperor did not press his measures with more vigor. But the sagacious +Charles more clearly saw the difficulties to be surmounted than they +did, and while no less determined in his resolves, was more prudent and +wary in his measures. + +With the consent of the pope he summoned a general council to meet at +Trent on the confines of his own Austrian territories, where he could +easily have every thing under his own control. He did every thing in his +power, in the meantime to promote division among the Protestants, by +trying to enter into private negotiations with the Protestant princes. +He had the effrontery to urge the Protestants to send their divines to +the council of Trent, and agreed to abide by its decisions, even when +that council was summoned by the pope, and was to be so organized as to +secure an overwhelming majority to the papists. The Protestants, of +course, rejected so silly a proposition, and refused to recognize the +decrees of such a council as of any binding authority. + +In preparation for enforcing the decrees which he intended to have +enacted by the council of Trent, Charles obtained from the pope thirteen +thousand troops, and five hundred thousand ducats (one million one +hundred thousand dollars). He raised one army in the Low Countries to +march upon Germany. He gathered another army in his hereditary States of +Austria. His brother Ferdinand, as King of Hungary and Bohemia, raised a +large army in each of those dominions. The King of France mustered his +legions, and boasted of the condign punishment to which he would consign +the heretics. The pope issued a decree offering the entire pardon of all +sins to those who should engage in this holy war for the extirpation of +the doctrines of the reformers. + +The Protestants were for a moment in consternation in view of the +gatherings of so portentous a storm. The emperor, by false professions +and affected clemency, had so deceived them that they were quite +unprepared for so formidable an attack. They soon, however, saw that +their only salvation depended upon a vigorous defense, and they +marshaled their forces for war. With promptness and energy which even +astonished themselves, they speedily raised an army which, on the +junction of its several corps, amounted to eighty thousand men. In its +intelligence, valor, discipline and equipments, it was probably the best +army which had ever been assembled in the States of Germany. Resolutely +they marched under Schartlin, one of the most experienced generals of +the age, toward Ratisbon, where the emperor was holding a diet. + +Charles V. was as much alarmed by this unexpected apparition, as the +Protestants had been alarmed by the preparations of the emperor. He had +supposed that his force was so resistless that the Protestants would see +at once the hopelessness of resistance, and would yield without a +struggle. The emperor had a guard of but eight thousand troops at +Ratisbon. The Duke of Bavaria, in whose dominions he was, was wavering, +and the papal troops had not commenced their march. But there was not a +moment to be lost. The emperor himself might be surrounded and taken +captive. He retired precipitately about thirty miles south to the strong +fortress of Landshut, where he could hold out until he received succor +from his Austrian territories, which were very near, and also from the +pope. + +Charles soon received powerful reinforcements from Austria, from the +pope, and from his Spanish kingdom. With these he marched some forty +miles west to Ingolstadt and intrenched himself beneath its massive +walls. Here he waited for further reinforcements, and then commencing +the offensive, marched up the Danube, taking possession of the cities on +either bank. And now the marshaled forces of the emperor began to crowd +the Protestants on all sides. The army became bewildered, and instead of +keeping together, separated to repel the attack at different points. +This caused the ruin of the Protestant army. The dissevered fragments +were speedily dispersed. The emperor triumphantly entered the Protestant +cities of Ulm and Augsburg, Strasbourg and Frankfort, compelled them to +accept humiliating conditions, to surrender their artillery and military +stores, and to pay enormous fines. The Archbishop of Cologne was deposed +from his dignities. The emperor had thrown his foes upon the ground and +bound them. + +All the Protestant princes but two were vanquished, the Elector of +Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse. It was evident that they must soon +yield to the overwhelming force of the emperor. It was a day of +disaster, in which no gleam of light seemed to dawn upon the Protestant +cause. But in that gloomy hour we see again the illustration of that +sentiment, that "the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to +the strong." Unthinking infidelity says sarcastically, "Providence +always helps the heavy battalions." But Providence often brings to the +discomfited, in their despair, reinforcements all unlooked for. + +There were in the army of Ferdinand, gathered from the Austrian +territories by the force of military conscription, many troops more or +less influenced by the reformed religion. They were dissatisfied with +this warfare against their brothers, and their dissatisfaction increased +to murmurs and then to revolt. Thus encouraged, the Protestant nobles in +Bohemia rose against Ferdinand their king, and the victorious Ferdinand +suddenly found his strong battalions melting away, and his banners on +the retreat. + +The other powers of Europe began to look with alarm upon the vast +ascendency which Charles V. was attaining over Europe. His exacting and +aggressive spirit assumed a more menacing aspect than the doctrines of +Luther. The King of France, Francis I., with the characteristic perfidy +of the times, meeting cunning with cunning, formed a secret league +against his ally, combining, in that league, the English ministry who +governed during the minority of Edward VI., and also the coöperation of +the illustrious Gustavus Vasa, the powerful King of Sweden, who was then +strongly inclined to that faith of the reformers which he afterwards +openly avowed. Even the pope, who had always felt a little jealous of +the power of the emperor, thought that as the Protestants were now put +down it might be well to check the ambition of Charles V. a little, and +he accordingly ordered all his troops to return to Italy. The holy +father, Paul III., even sent money to the Protestant Elector of Saxony, +to enable him to resist the emperor, and sent ambassadors to the Turks, +to induce them to break the truce and make war upon Christendom, that +the emperor might be thus embarrassed. + +Charles thus found himself, in the midst of his victories, suddenly at a +stand. He could no longer carry on offensive operations, but was +compelled to prepare for defense against the attacks with which he was +threatened on every side. + +Again, the kaleidoscope of political combination received a jar, and all +was changed. The King of France died. This so embarrassed the affairs of +the confederation which Francis had organized with so much toil and +care, that Charles availed himself of it to make a sudden and vigorous +march against the Elector of Saxony. He entered his territories with an +army of thirty-three thousand men, and swept all opposition before him. +In a final and desperate battle the troops of the elector were cut to +pieces, and the elector himself, surrounded on all sides, sorely wounded +in the face and covered with blood, was taken prisoner. Charles +disgraced his character by the exhibition of a very ignoble spirit of +revenge. The captive elector, as he was led into the presence of his +conqueror, said-- + +"Most powerful and gracious emperor, the fortune of war has now rendered +me your prisoner, and I hope to be treated--" + +Here the emperor indignantly interrupted him, saying-- + +"I am _now_ your gracious emperor! Lately you could only vouchsafe me +the title of Charles of Ghent!" + +Then turning abruptly upon his heel, he consigned his prisoner to the +custody of one of the Spanish generals. The emperor marched immediately +to Wittemberg, which was distant but a few miles. It was a well +fortified town, and was resolutely defended by Isabella, the wife of the +elector. The emperor, maddened by the resistance, summoned a court +martial, and sentenced the elector to instant death unless he ordered +the surrender of the fortress. He at first refused, and prepared to die. +But the tears of his wife and his family conquered his resolution, and +the city was surrendered. The emperor took from his captive the +electoral dignity, and extorted from him the most cruel concessions as +the ransom for his life. Without a murmur he surrendered wealth, power +and rank, but neither entreaties nor menaces could induce him in a +single point to abjure his Christian faith. + +Charles now entered Wittemberg in triumph. The great reformer had just +died. The emperor visited the grave of Luther, and when urged to +dishonor his remains, replied-- + +"I war not with the dead, but with the living. Let him repose in peace; +he is already before his Judge." + +The Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, now the only member of the Protestant +league remaining in arms, was in a condition utterly hopeless, and was +compelled to make an unconditional submission. + +The landgrave, ruined in fortune, and crushed in spirit, was led a +captive into the imperial camp at Halle, in Saxony, the 19th of June, +1547. He knelt before the throne, and made an humble confession of his +crime in resisting the emperor; he resigned himself and all his +dominions to the clemency of his sovereign. As he rose to kiss the hand +of the emperor, Charles turned contemptuously from him and ordered him +to be conveyed to one of the apartments of the palace as a prisoner. +Most ignobly the emperor led his two illustrious captives, the Elector +of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, as captives from city to +city, exhibiting them as proofs of his triumph, and as a warning to all +others to avoid their fate. Very strong jealousies had now sprung up +between the emperor and the pope, and they could not cooperate. The +emperor, consequently, undertook to settle the religious differences +himself. He caused twenty-six articles to be drawn up as the basis of +pacification, which he wished both the Catholics and the Protestants to +sign. The pope was indignant, and the Catholics were disgusted with this +interference of the emperor in the faith of the Church, a matter which +in their view belonged exclusively to the pope and the councils which he +might convene. + +The emperor, however, resolutely persevered in the endeavor to compel +the Protestants to subscribe to his articles, and punished severely +those who refused to do so. In his Burgundian provinces he endeavored to +establish the inquisition, that all heresy might be nipped in the bud. +In his zeal he quite outstripped the pope. As Julius III. had now +ascended the pontifical throne, Charles, fearful that he might be too +liberal in his policy towards the reformers, and might make too many +concessions, extorted from him the promise that he would not introduce +any reformation in the Church without consulting him and obtaining his +consent. Thus the pope himself became but one of the dependents of +Charles V., and all the corruptions of the Church were sustained by the +imperial arm. He then, through the submissive pope, summoned a council +of Catholic divines to meet at Trent. He had arranged in his own mind +the decrees which they were to issue, and had entered into a treaty with +the new King of France, Henry II., by which the French monarch agreed, +with all the military force of his kingdom, to maintain the decrees of +the council of Trent, whatever they might be. + +The emperor had now apparently attained all his ends. He had crushed the +Protestant league, vanquished the Protestant princes, subjected the pope +to his will, arranged religious matters according to his views, and had +now assembled a subservient council to ratify and confirm all he had +done. But with this success he had become arrogant, implacable and +cruel. His friends had become alienated and his enemies exasperated. +Even the most rigorous Catholics were alarmed at his assumptions, and +the pope was humiliated by his haughty bearing. + +Charles assembled a diet of the States of the empire at Augsburg, the +26th of July, 1550. He entered the city with the pomp and the pride of a +conqueror, and with such an array of military force as to awe the States +into compliance with his wishes. He then demanded of all the States of +the empire an agreement that they would enforce, in all their dominions +the decrees of the council of Trent, which council was soon to be +convened. There is sublimity in the energy with which this monarch +moved, step by step, toward the accomplishment of his plans. He seemed +to leave no chance for failure. The members of the diet were as +obsequious as spaniels to their imperious master, and watched his +countenance to learn when they were to say yes, and when no. + +In one thing only he failed. He wished to have his son Philip elected as +his successor on the imperial throne. His brother Ferdinand opposed him +in this ambitious plan, and thus emboldened the diet to declare that +while the emperor was living it was illegal to choose his successor, as +it tended to render the imperial crown hereditary. The emperor, +sagacious as he was domineering, waived the prosecution of his plan for +the present, preparing to resume it when he had punished and paralyzed +those who opposed. + +The emperor had deposed Frederic the Elector of Saxony, and placed over +his dominions, Maurice, a nephew of the deposed elector. Maurice had +married a daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel. He was a man of +commanding abilities, and as shrewd, sagacious and ambitious as the +emperor himself. He had been strongly inclined to the Lutheran +doctrines, but had been bought over to espouse the cause of Charles V. +by the brilliant offer of the territories of Saxony. Maurice, as he saw +blow after blow falling upon his former friends; one prince after +another ejected from his estates, Protestantism crushed, and finally his +own uncle and his wife's father led about to grace the triumph of the +conqueror; as he saw the vast power to which the emperor had attained, +and that the liberties of the German empire were in entire subjection to +his will, his pride was wounded, his patriotism aroused, and his +Protestant sympathies revived. Maurice, meeting Charles V. on the field +of intrigue, was Greek meeting Greek. + +Maurice now began with great guile and profound sagacity to plot against +the despotic emperor. Two circumstances essentially aided him. Charles +coveted the dukedoms of Parma and Placentia in Italy, and the Duke +Ottavia had been deposed. He rallied his subjects and succeeded in +uniting France on his side, for Henry II. was alarmed at the +encroachments the emperor was making in Italy. A very fierce war +instantly blazed forth, the Duke of Parma and Henry II. on one side, the +pope and the emperor on the other. At the same time the Turks, under the +leadership of the Sultan Solyman himself, were organizing a formidable +force for the invasion of Hungary, which invasion would require all the +energies of Ferdinand, with all the forces he could raise in Austria, +Hungary and Bohemia to repel. + +Next to Hungary and Bohemia, Saxony was perhaps the most powerful State +of the Germanic confederacy. The emperor placed full reliance upon +Maurice, and the Protestants in their despair would have thought of him +as the very last to come to their aid; for he had marched vigorously in +the armies of the emperor to crush the Protestants, and was occupying +the territories of their most able and steadfast friend. Secretly, +Maurice made proposals to all the leading Protestant princes of the +empire, and having made every thing ready for an outbreak, he entered +into a treaty with the King of France, who promised large subsidies and +an efficient military force. + +Maurice conducted these intrigues with such consummate skill that the +emperor had not the slightest suspicion of the storm which was +gathering. Every thing being matured, early in April, 1552, Maurice +suddenly appeared before the gates of Augsburg with an army of +twenty-five thousand men. At the same time he issued a declaration that +he had taken up arms to prevent the destruction of the Protestant +religion, to defend the liberties of Germany which the emperor had +infringed, and to rescue his relatives from their long and unjust +imprisonment. The King of France and other princes issued similar +declarations. The smothered disaffection with the emperor instantly +blazed forth all over the German empire. The cause of Maurice was +extremely popular. The Protestants in a mass, and many others, flocked +to his standard. As by magic and in a day, all was changed. The imperial +towns Augsburg, Nuremberg and others, threw open their gates joyfully to +Maurice. Whole provinces rushed to his standard. He was everywhere +received as the guardian of civil and religious liberty. The ejected +Protestant rulers and magistrates were reinstated, the Protestant +churches opened, the Protestant preachers restored. In one month the +Protestant party was predominant in the German empire, and the Catholic +party either neutral or secretly favoring one who was humbling that +haughty emperor whom even the Catholics had begun to fear. The prelates +who were assembling at Trent, alarmed by so sudden and astounding a +revolution, dissolved the assembly and hastened to their homes. + +The emperor was at Innspruck seated in his arm chair, with his limbs +bandaged in flannel, enfeebled and suffering from a severe attack of the +gout, when the intelligence of this sudden and overwhelming reverse +reached him. He was astonished and utterly confounded. In weakness and +pain, unable to leave his couch, with his treasury exhausted, his armies +widely scattered, and so pressed by their foes that they could not be +concentrated from their wide dispersion, there was nothing left for him +but to endeavor to beguile Maurice into a truce. But Maurice was as much +at home in all the arts of cunning as the emperor, and instead of being +beguiled, contrived to entrap his antagonist. This was a new and a very +salutary experience for Charles. It is a very novel sensation for a +successful rogue to be the dupe of roguery. + +Maurice pressed on, his army gathering force at every step. He entered +the Tyrol, swept through all its valleys, took possession of all its +castles and its sublime fastnesses, and the blasts of his bugles +reverberated among the cliffs of the Alps, ever sounding the charge and +announcing victory, never signaling a defeat. The emperor was reduced to +the terrible humiliation of saving himself from capture only by flight. +The emperor could hardly credit his senses when told that his conquering +foes were within two days' march of Innspruck, and that a squadron of +horse might at any hour appear and cut off his retreat. It was in the +night when these appalling tidings were brought to him. The tortures of +the gout would not allow him to mount on horseback, neither could he +bear the jolting in a carriage over the rough roads. It was a dark and +stormy night, the 20th of May, 1552. The rain fell in torrents, and the +wind howled through the fir-trees and around the crags of the Alps. Some +attendants wrapped the monarch in blankets, took him out into the +court-yard of the palace, and placed him in a litter. Attendants led the +way with lanterns, and thus, through the inundated and storm-swept +defiles of the mountains, they fled with their helpless sovereign +through the long hours of the tempestuous night, not daring to stop one +moment lest they should hear behind them the clatter of the iron hoofs +of their pursuers. What a change for one short month to produce! What a +comment upon earthly grandeur! It is well for man in the hour of most +exultant prosperity to be humble. He knows not how soon he may fall. +Instructive indeed is the apostrophe of Cardinal Wolsey, illustrated as +the truth he utters is by almost every page of history: + + "This is the state of man; to-day he puts forth + The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms, + The third day comes a frost, a killing frost; + And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely + His greatness is a ripening--nips his root, + And then he falls as I do." + +The fugitive emperor did not venture to stop for refreshment or repose +until he had reached the strong town of Villach in Carinthia, nearly one +hundred and fifty miles west of Innspruck. The troops of Maurice soon +entered the city which the emperor had abandoned, and the imperial +palace was surrendered to pillage. Heroic courage, indomitable +perseverance always commands respect. These are great and noble +qualities, though they may be exerted in a bad cause. The will of +Charles was unconquerable. In these hours of disaster, tortured with +pain, driven from his palace, deserted by his allies, impoverished, and +borne upon his litter in humiliating flight before his foes, he was just +as determined to enforce his plans as in the most brilliant hour of +victory. + +He sent his brother Ferdinand and other ambassadors to Passau to meet +Maurice, and mediate for a settlement of the difficulties. Maurice now +had no need of diplomacy. His demands were simple and reasonable. They +were, that the emperor should liberate his father-in-law from captivity, +tolerate the Protestant religion, and grant to the German States their +accustomed liberty. But the emperor would not yield a single point. +Though his brother Ferdinand urged him to yield, though his Catholic +ambassadors intreated him to yield, though they declared that if he did +not they should be compelled to abandon his cause and make the best +terms for themselves with the conqueror that they could, still nothing +could bend his inflexible will, and the armies, after the lull of a few +days, were again in motion. The despotism of the emperor we abhor; but +his indomitable perseverance and unconquerable energy are worthy of all +admiration and imitation. Had they but been exerted in a good cause! + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CHARLES V. AND THE TURKISH WARS. + +From 1552 to 1555. + +The Treaty of Passau.--The Emperor yields.--His continued Reverses.--The +Toleration Compromise.--Mutual Dissatisfation.--Remarkable Despondency +of the Emperor Charles.--His Address to the Convention at Brussels.--The +Convent of St. Justus.--Charles returns to Spain.--His Convent +Life.--The mock Burial.--His Death.--His Traits of Character.--The +King's Compliment to Titian.--The Condition of Austria.--Rapid Advance +of the Turks.--Reasons for the Inaction of the Christians.--The Sultan's +Method of overcoming Difficulties.--The little Fortress of Guntz.--What +it accomplished. + + +The Turks, animated by this civil war which was raging in Germany, were +pressing their march upon Hungary with great vigor, and the troops of +Ferdinand were retiring discomfited before the invader. Henry of France +and the Duke of Parma were also achieving victories in Italy endangering +the whole power of the emperor over those States. Ferdinand, appalled by +the prospect of the loss of Hungary, imploringly besought the emperor to +listen to terms of reconciliation. The Catholic princes, terrified in +view of the progress of the infidel, foreseeing the entire subjection of +Europe to the arms of the Moslem unless Christendom could combine in +self-defense, joined their voices with that of Ferdinand so earnestly +and in such impassioned tones, that the emperor finally, though very +reluctantly, gave his assent to the celebrated treaty of Passau, on the +2d of August, 1552. By this pacification the captives were released, +freedom of conscience and of worship was established, and the Protestant +troops, being disbanded, were at liberty to enter into the service of +Ferdinand to repel the Turks. Within six months a diet was to be +assembled to attempt an amicable adjustment of all civil and religious +difficulties. + +The intrepid Maurice immediately marched, accompanied by many of the +Protestant princes, and at the head of a powerful army, to repel the +Mohammedan armies. Charles, relieved from his German troubles, gathered +his strength to wreak revenge upon the King of France. But fortune +seemed to have deserted him. Defeat and disgrace accompanied his march. +Having penetrated the French province of Lorraine, he laid siege to +Metz. After losing thirty thousand men beneath its walls, he was +compelled, in the depth of winter, to raise the siege and retreat. His +armies were everywhere routed; the Turks menaced the shores of Italy; +the pope became his inveterate enemy, and joined France against him. +Maurice was struck by a bullet, and fell on the field of battle. The +electorate of Saxony passed into the hands of Augustus, a brother of +Maurice, while the former elector, Ferdinand, who shortly after died, +received some slight indemnification. + +Such was the state of affairs when the promised diet was summoned at +Passau. It met on the 5th of February, 1555. The emperor was confined +with the gout at Brussels, and his brother Ferdinand presided. It was a +propitious hour for the Protestants. Charles was sick, dejected and in +adversity. The better portion of the Catholics were disgusted with the +intolerance of the emperor, intolerance which even the more +conscientious popes could not countenance. Ferdinand was fully aware +that he could not defend his own kingdom of Hungary from the Turks +without the intervention of Protestant arms. He was, therefore, warmly +in favor of conciliation. + +The world was not yet sufficiently enlightened to comprehend the beauty +of a true toleration, entire freedom of conscience and of worship. After +long and very exciting debates--after being again and again at the point +of grasping their arms anew--they finally agreed that the Protestants +should enjoy the free exercise of their religion wherever Protestantism +had been established and recognized by the Confession of Augsburg. That +in all other places Protestant princes might prohibit the Catholic +religion in their States, and Catholic princes prohibit the Protestant +religion. But in each case the ejected party was at liberty to sell +their property and move without molestation to some State where their +religion was dominant. In the free cities of the empire, where both +religions were established, both were to be tolerated. + +Thus far, and no further, had the spirit of toleration made progress in +the middle of the sixteenth century. + +Such was the basis of the pacification. Neither party was satisfied. +Each felt that it had surrendered far too much to the other; and there +was subsequently much disagreement respecting the interpretation of some +of the most important articles. The pope, Paul IV., was indignant that +such toleration had been granted to the Protestants, and threatened the +emperor and his brother Ferdinand of Austria with excommunication if +they did not declare these decrees null and void throughout their +dominions. At the same time he entered into correspondence with Henry +II. of France to form a new holy league for the defense of the papal +church against the inroads of heresy. + +And now occurred one of the most extraordinary events which history has +recorded. Charles V., who had been the most enterprising and ambitious +prince in Europe, and the most insatiable in his thirst for power, +became the victim of the most extreme despondency. Harassed by the +perplexities which pressed in upon him from his widely-extended realms, +annoyed by the undutiful and haughty conduct of his son, who was +endeavoring to wrest authority from his father by taking advantage of +all his misfortunes, and perhaps inheriting a melancholy temperament +from his mother, who died in the glooms of insanity, and, more than all, +mortified and wounded by so sudden and so vast a reverse of fortune, in +which all his plans seemed to have failed--thus oppressed, humbled, he +retired in disgust to his room, indulged in the most fretful temper, +admitted none but his sister and a few confidential servants to his +presence, and so entirely neglected all business as to pass nine months +without signing a single paper. + +While the emperor was in this melancholy state, his insane mother, who +had lingered for years in delirious gloom, died on the 4th of April, +1555. It will be remembered that Charles had inherited valuable estates +in the Low Countries from his marriage with the daughter of the Duke of +Burgundy. Having resolved to abdicate all his power and titles in favor +of his son, he convened the States of the Low Countries at Brussels on +the 25th of October, 1555. Charles was then but fifty-five years of age, +and should have been in the strength of vigorous manhood. But he was +prematurely old, worn down with care, toil and disappointment. He +attended the assembly accompanied by his son Philip. Tottering beneath +infirmities, he leaned upon the shoulders of a friend for support, and +addressed the assembly in a long and somewhat boastful speech, +enumerating all the acts of his administration, his endeavors, his long +and weary journeys, his sleepless care, his wars, and, above all, his +victories. In conclusion he said: + +"While my health enabled me to perform my duty, I cheerfully bore the +burden; but as my constitution is now broken by an incurable distemper, +and my infirmities admonish me to retire, the happiness of my people +affects me more than the ambition of reigning. Instead of a decrepid old +man, tottering on the brink of the grave, I transfer your allegiance to +a sovereign in the prime of life, vigilant, sagacious, active and +enterprising. With respect to myself, if I have committed any error in +the course of a long administration, forgive and impute it to my +weakness, not to my intention. I shall ever retain a grateful sense of +your fidelity and attachment, and your welfare shall be the great object +of my prayers to Almighty God, to whom I now consecrate the remainder of +my days." + +Then turning to his son Philip, he said: + +"And you, my son, let the grateful recollection of this day redouble +your care and affection for your people. Other sovereigns may rejoice in +having given birth to their sons and in leaving their States to them +after their death. But I am anxious to enjoy, during my life, the double +satisfaction of feeling that you are indebted to me both for your birth +and power. Few monarchs will follow my example, and in the lapse of ages +I have scarcely found one whom I myself would imitate. The resolution, +therefore, which I have taken, and which I now carry into execution, +will be justified only by your proving yourself worthy of it. And you +will alone render yourself worthy of the extraordinary confidence which +I now repose in you by a zealous protection of your religion, and by +maintaining the purity of the Catholic faith, and by governing with +justice and moderation. And may you, if ever you are desirous of +retiring like myself to the tranquillity of private life, enjoy the +inexpressible happiness of having such a son, that you may resign your +crown to him with the same satisfaction as I now deliver mine to you." + +The emperor was here entirely overcome by emotion, and embracing Philip, +sank exhausted into his chair. The affecting scene moved all the +audience to tears. Soon after this, with the same formalities the +emperor resigned the crown of Spain to his son, reserving to himself, of +all his dignities and vast revenues, only a pension of about twenty +thousand dollars a year. For some months he remained in the Low +Countries, and then returned to Spain to seek an asylum in a convent +there. + +When in the pride of his power he once, while journeying in Spain, came +upon the convent of St. Justus in Estramadura, situated in a lovely +vale, secluded from all the bustle of life. The massive pile was +embosomed among the hills; forests spread widely around, and a beautiful +rivulet murmured by its walls. As the emperor gazed upon the enchanting +scene of solitude and silence he exclaimed, "Behold a lovely retreat for +another Diocletian!" + +The picture of the convent of St. Justus had ever remained in his mind, +and perhaps had influenced him, when overwhelmed with care, to seek its +peaceful retirement. Embarking in a ship for Spain, he landed at Loredo +on the 28th of September, 1556. As soon as his feet touched the soil of +his native land he prostrated himself to the earth, kissed the ground, +and said, + +"Naked came I into the world, and naked I return to thee, thou common +mother of mankind. To thee I dedicate my body, as the only return I can +make for all the benefits conferred on me." + +Then kneeling, and holding the crucifix before him, with tears streaming +from his eyes, and all unmindful of the attendants who were around, he +breathed a fervent prayer of gratitude for the past, and commended +himself to God for the future. By slow and easy stages, as he was very +infirm, he journeyed to the vale of Estramadura, near Placentia, and +entered upon his silent, monastic life. + +His apartments consisted of six small cells. The stone walls were +whitewashed, and the rooms furnished with the utmost frugality. Within +the walls of the convent, and communicating with the chapel, there was a +small garden, which the emperor had tastefully arranged with shrubbery +and flowers. Here Charles passed the brief remainder of his days. He +amused himself with laboring in the garden with his own hands. He +regularly attended worship in the chapel twice every day, and took part +in the service, manifestly with the greatest sincerity and devotion. + +The emperor had not a cultivated mind, and was not fond of either +literary or scientific pursuits. To beguile the hours he amused himself +with tools, carving toys for children, and ingenious puppets and +automata to astonish the peasants. For a time he was very happy in his +new employment. After so stormy a life, the perfect repose and freedom +from care which he enjoyed in the convent, seemed to him the perfection +of bliss. But soon the novelty wore away, and his constitutional +despondency returned with accumulated power. + +His dejection now assumed the form of religious melancholy. He began to +devote every moment of his time to devotional reading and prayer, +esteeming all amusements and all employments sinful which interfered +with his spiritual exercises. He expressed to the Bishop of Toledo his +determination to devote, for the rest of his days, every moment to the +service of God. With the utmost scrupulousness he carried out this plan. +He practiced rigid fasts, and conformed to all the austerity of convent +discipline. He renounced his pension, and sitting at the abstemious +table with the monks, declined seeing any other company than that of the +world-renouncing priests and friars around him. He scourged himself with +the most cruel severity, till his back was lacerated with the whip. He +whole soul seemed to crave suffering, in expiation for his sins. His +ingenuity was tasked to devise new methods of mortification and +humiliation. Ambition had ever been the ruling passion of his soul, and +now he was ambitious to suffer more, and to abuse himself more than any +other mortal had ever done. + +Goaded by this impulse, he at last devised the scheme of solemnising his +own funeral. All the melancholy arrangements for his burial were made; +the coffin provided; the emperor reclined upon his bed as dead; he was +wrapped in his shroud, and placed in his coffin. The monks, and all the +inmates of the convent attended in mourning; the bells tolled; requiems +were chanted by the choir; the funeral service was read, and then the +emperor, as if dead, was placed in the tomb of the chapel, and the +congregation retired. The monarch, after remaining some time in his +coffin to impress himself with the sense of what it is to die, and be +buried, rose from his tomb, kneeled before the altar for some time in +worship, and then returned to his cell to pass the night in deep +meditation and prayer. + +The shock and the chill of this solemn scene were too much for the old +monarch's feeble frame and weakened mind. He was seized with a fever, +and in a few days breathed his last, in the 59th year of his age. He had +spent a little over three years in the convent. The life of Charles V. +was a sad one. Through all his days he was consumed by unsatisfied +ambition, and he seldom enjoyed an hour of contentment. To his son he +said-- + +"I leave you a heavy burden; for, since my shoulders have borne it, I +have not passed one day exempt from disquietude." + +Indeed it would seem that there could have been but little happiness for +anybody in those dark days of feudal oppression and of incessant wars. +Ambition, intrigue, duplicity, reigned over the lives of princes and +nobles, while the masses of the people were ever trampled down by +oppressive lords and contending armies. Europe was a field of fire and +blood. The cimeter of the Turk spared neither mother, maiden nor babe. +Cities and villages were mercilessly burned, cottages set in flames, +fields of grain destroyed, and whole populations carried into slavery, +where they miserably died. And the ravages of Christian warfare, duke +against duke, baron against baron, king against king, were hardly less +cruel and desolating. Balls from opposing batteries regard not the +helpless ones in their range. Charging squadrons must trample down with +iron hoof all who are in their way. The wail of misery rose from every +portion of Europe. The world has surely made some progress since that +day. + +There was but very little that was loveable in the character of Charles, +and he seems to have had but very few friends. So intense and earnest +was he in the prosecution of the plans of grandeur which engrossed his +soul, that he was seldom known to smile. He had many of the attributes +of greatness, indomitable energy and perseverance, untiring industry, +comprehensive grasp of thought and capability of superintending the +minutest details. He had, also, a certain fanatic conscientiousness +about him, like that which actuated Saul of Tarsus, when, holding the +garments of those who stoned the martyr, he "verily thought that he was +doing God service." + +Many anecdotes are told illustrative of certain estimable traits in his +character. When a boy, like other boys, he was not fond of study, and +being very self-willed, he would not yield to the entreaties of his +tutors. He consequently had but an imperfect education, which may in +part account for his excessive illiberality, and for many of his +stupendous follies. The mind, enlarged by liberal culture, is ever +tolerant. He afterwards regretted exceedingly this neglect of his early +studies. At Genoa, on some public occasion, he was addressed in a Latin +oration, not one word of which he understood. + +"I now feel," he said, "the justice of my preceptor Adrian's +remonstrances, who frequently used to predict that I should be punished +for the thoughtlessness of my youth." + +He was fond of the society of learned men, and treated them with great +respect. Some of the nobles complained that the emperor treated the +celebrated historian, Guicciardini, with much more respect than he did +them. He replied-- + +"I can, by a word, create a hundred nobles; but God alone can create a +Guicciardini." + +He greatly admired the genius of Titian, and considered him one of the +most resplendent ornaments of his empire. He knew full well that Titian +would be remembered long after thousands of the proudest grandees of his +empire had sunk into oblivion. He loved to go into the studio of the +illustrious painter, and watch the creations of beauty as they rose +beneath his pencil. One day Titian accidentally dropped his brush. The +emperor picked it up, and, presenting it to the artist, said +gracefully-- + +"Titian is worthy of being served by an emperor." + +Charles V. never, apparently, inspired the glow of affection, or an +emotion of enthusiasm in any bosom. He accomplished some reforms in the +German empire, and the only interest his name now excites is the +interest necessarily involved in the sublime drama of his long and +eventful reign. + +It is now necessary to retrace our steps for a few years, that we may +note the vicissitudes of Austria, while the empire was passing through +the scenes we have narrated. + +Ferdinand I., the brother of Charles V., who was left alone in the +government of Austria, was the second son of Philip the Handsome and +Joanna of Spain. His birth was illustrious, the Emperor Maximilian being +his paternal grandfather, and Ferdinand and Isabella being his +grandparents on his mother's side. He was born in Spain, March 10, 1503, +and received a respectable education. His manners were courteous and +winning, and he was so much more popular than Charles as quite to excite +the jealousy of his imperious and imperial spirit. Charles, upon +attaining the throne, ceded to his brother the Austrian territories, +which then consisted of four small provinces, Austria, Styria, Carinthia +and Carniola, with the Tyrol. + +Ferdinand married Ann, princess of Hungary and Bohemia. The death of his +wife's brother Louis made her the heiress of those two crowns, and thus +secured to Ferdinand the magnificent dowry of the kingdoms of Hungary +and Bohemia. But possession of the scepter of those realms was by no +means a sinecure. The Turkish power, which had been for many years +increasing with the most alarming rapidity and had now acquired +appalling strength, kept Hungary, and even the Austrian States, in +constant and terrible alarm. + +The Turks, sweeping over Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Syria, all Asia Minor, +crossing the straits and inundating Greece, fierce and semi-savage, with +just civilization enough to organize and guide with skill their +wolf-like ferocity, were now pressing Europe in Spain, in Italy, and +were crowding, in wave after wave of invasion, up the valley of the +Danube. They had created a navy which was able to cope with the most +powerful fleets of Europe, and island after island of the Mediterranean +was yielding to their sway. + +In 1520, Solyman, called the Magnificent, overran Bosnia, and advancing +to the Danube, besieged and captured Belgrade, which strong fortress was +considered the only reliable barrier against his encroachments. At the +same time his fleet took possession of the island of Rhodes. After some +slight reverses, which the Turks considered merely embarrassments, they +resumed their aggressions, and Solyman, in 1525, again crossing the +Danube, entered Hungary with an army of two hundred thousand men. Louis, +who was then King of Hungary, brother of the wife of Ferdinand, was able +to raise an army of but thirty thousand to meet him. With more courage +than discretion, leading this feeble band, he advanced to resist the +foe. They met on the plains of Mohatz. The Turks made short work of it. +In a few hours, with their cimeters they hewed down nearly the whole +Christian army. The remnant escaped as lambs from wolves. The king, in +his heavy armor, spurred his horse into a stream to cross in his flight. +In attempting to ascend the bank, the noble charger, who had borne his +master bravely through the flood, fell back upon his rider, and the dead +body of the king was afterward picked up by the Turks, covered with the +mud of the morass. All Hungary would now have fallen into the hands of +the Turks had not Solyman been recalled by a rebellion in one of his own +provinces. + +It was this event which placed the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary on the +brow of Ferdinand, and by annexing those two kingdoms to the Austrian +States, elevated Austria to be one of the first powers in Europe. +Ferdinand, thus strengthened sent ambassadors to Constantinople to +demand the restitution of Belgrade and other important towns which the +Turks still held in Hungary. + +"Belgrade!" exclaimed the haughty sultan, when he heard the demand. "Go +tell your master that I am collecting troops and preparing for my +expedition. I will suspend at my neck the keys of my Hungarian +fortresses, and will bring them to that plain of Mohatz where Louis, by +the aid of Providence, found defeat and a grave. Let Ferdinand meet and +conquer me, and take them, after severing my head from my body! But if I +find him not there, I will seek him at Buda or follow him to Vienna." + +Soon after this Solyman crossed the Danube with three hundred thousand +men, and advancing to Mohatz, encamped for several days upon the plain, +with all possible display or Oriental pomp and magnificence. Thus +proudly he threw down the gauntlet of defiance. But there was no +champion there to take it up. Striking his tents, and spreading his +banners to the breeze, in unimpeded march he ascended the Danube two +hundred miles from Belgrade to the city of Pest. And here his martial +bands made hill and vale reverberate the bugle blasts of victory. Pest, +the ancient capital of Hungary, rich in all the wealth of those days, +with a population of some sixty thousand, was situated on the left bank +of the river. Upon the opposite shore, connected by a fine bridge three +quarters of a mile in width, was the beautiful and opulent city of Buda. +In possession of these two maritime towns, then perhaps the most +important in Hungary, the Turks rioted for a few days in luxury and all +abominable outrage and indulgence, and then, leaving a strong garrison +to hold the fortresses, they continued their march. Pressing +resistlessly onward some hundred miles further, taking all the towns by +the way, on both sides of the Danube, they came to the city of Raab. + +It seems incredible that there could have been such an unobstructed +march of the Turks, through the very heart of Hungary. But the Emperor +Charles V. was at that time in Italy, all engrossed in the fiercest +warfare there. Throughout the German empire the Catholics and the +Protestants were engaged in a conflict which absorbed all other +thoughts. And the Protestants resolutely refused to assist in repelling +the Turks while the sword of Catholic vengeance was suspended over them. +From Raab the invading army advanced some hundred miles further to the +very walls of Vienna. Ferdinand, conscious of his inability to meet the +foe in the open field, was concentrating all his available strength to +defend his capital. + +At Cremnitz the Turks met with the first serious show of resistance. The +fortress was strong, and the garrison, inspired by the indomitable +energy and courage of their commandant, Nicholas, Count of Salm, for a +month repelled every assault of the foe. Day after day and night after +night the incessant bombardment continued; the walls were crumbed by the +storm of shot; column after column of the Turks rushed to the assault, +but all in vain. The sultan, disappointed and enraged, made one last +desperate effort, but his strong columns, thined, mangled and bleeding, +were compelled to retire in utter discomfiture. + +Winter was now approaching. Reinforcements were also hastening from +Vienna, from Bohemia, and from other parts of the German empire. +Solyman, having devastated the country around him, and being all +unprepared for the storms of winter, was compelled to retire. He struck +his tents, and slowly and sullenly descended the Danube, wreaking +diabolical vengeance upon the helpless peasants, killing, burning and +destroying. Leaving a strong garrison to hold what remained of Buda and +Pest, he carried thousands with him into captivity, where, after years +of woe, they passed into the grave. + + "'Tis terrible to rouse the lion, + Dreadful to cross the tiger's path; + But the most terrible of terrors, + Is man himself in his wild wrath." + +Solyman spent two years in making preparation for another march to +Vienna, resolved to wipe out the disgrace of his last defeat by +capturing all the Austrian States, and of then spreading the terror of +his arms far and wide through the empire of Germany. The energy with +which he acted may be inferred from one well authenticated anecdote +illustrative of his character. He had ordered a bridge to be constructed +across the Drave. The engineer who had been sent to accomplish the task, +after a careful survey, reported that a bridge could not be constructed +at that point. Solyman sent him a linen cord with this message: + +"The sultan, thy master, commands thee, without consideration of the +difficulties, to complete the bridge over the Drave. If thou doest it +not, on his arrival he will have thee strangled with this cord." + +With a large army, thoroughly drilled, and equipped with all the +enginery of war, the sultan commenced his campaign. His force was so +stupendous and so incumbered with the necessary baggage and heavy +artillery, that it required a march of sixty days to pass from +Constantinople to Belgrade. Ferdinand, in inexpressible alarm, sent +ambassadors to Solyman, hoping to avert the storm by conciliation and +concessions. This indication of weakness but increased the arrogance of +the Turk. + +He embarked his artillery on the Danube in a flotilla of three thousand +vessels. Then crossing the Save, which at Belgrade flows into the +Danube, he left the great central river of Europe on his right, and +marching almost due west through Sclavonia, approached the frontiers of +Styria, one of the most important provinces of the Austrian kingdom, by +the shortest route. Still it was a long march of some two hundred miles. +Among the defiles of the Illyrian mountains, through which he was +compelled to pass in his advance to Vienna, he came upon the little +fortress of Guntz, garrisoned only by eight hundred men. Solyman +expected to sweep this slight annoyance away as he would brush a fly +from his face. He sent his advance guard to demolish the impudent +obstacle; then, surprised by the resistance, he pushed forward a few +more battalions; then, enraged at the unexpected strength developed, he +ordered to the attack what he deemed an overwhelming force; and then, in +astonishment and fury, impelled against the fortress the combined +strength of his whole army. But the little crag stood, like a rock +opposing the flooding tide. The waves of war rolled on and dashed +against impenetrable and immovable granite, and were scattered back in +bloody spray. The fortress commanded the pass, and swept it clean with +an unintermitted storm of shot and balls. For twenty-eight days the +fortress resisted the whole force of the Turkish army, and prevented it +from advancing a mile. This check gave the terrified inhabitants of +Vienna, and of the surrounding region, time to unite for the defense of +the capital. The Protestants and the Catholics having settled their +difficulties by the pacification of Ratisbon, as we have before +narrated, combined all their energies; the pope sent his choicest +troops; all the ardent young men of the German empire, from the ocean to +the Alps, rushed to the banners of the cross, and one hundred and thirty +thousand men, including thirty thousand mounted horsemen, were speedily +gathered within and around the walls of Vienna. + +Thus thwarted in his plans, Solyman found himself compelled to retreat +ingloriously, by the same path through which he had advanced. Thus +Christendom was relieved of this terrible menace. Though the Turks were +still in possession of Hungary, the allied troops of the empire +strangely dispersed without attempting to regain the kingdom from their +domination. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +FERDINAND I.--HIS WARS AND INTRIGUES. + +From 1555 To 1562. + +John Of Tapoli.--The Instability Of Compacts.--The Sultans's Demands.--A +Reign Of War.--Powers And Duties Of The Monarchs Of Bohemia.--The +Diet.--The King's Desire To Crush Protestantism.--The Entrance To +Prague.--Terror Of The Inhabitants.--The King's Conditions.--The Bloody +Diet.--Disciplinary Measures.--The Establishment Of The Order Of +Jesuits.--abdication Of Charles V. In Favor Of Ferdinand.--Power Of The +Pope.--Paul IV.--A Quiet But Powerful Blow.--The Progress Of The +Reformers.--Attempts To Reconcile The Protestants--The Unsuccessful +Assembly. + + +During all the wars with the Turks, a Transylvanian count, John of +Tapoli, was disputing Ferdinand's right to the throne of Hungary and +claiming it for himself. He even entered into negotiations with the +Turks, and coöperated with Solyman in his invasion of Hungary, having +the promise of the sultan that he should be appointed king of the realm +as soon as it was brought in subjection to Turkey. The Turks had now +possession of Hungary, and the sultan invested John of Tapoli with the +sovereignty of the kingdom, in the presence of a brilliant assemblage of +the officers of his army and of the Hungarian nobles. + +The last discomfiture and retreat of Solyman encouraged Ferdinand to +redoubled exertions to reconquer Hungary from the combined forces of the +Turks and his Transylvanian rival. Several years passed away in +desultory, indecisive warfare, while John held his throne as tributary +king to the sultan. At last Ferdinand, finding that he could not resist +their united strength, and John becoming annoyed by the exactions of his +Turkish master, they agreed to a compromise, by which John, who was +aged, childless and infirm, was to remain king of all that part of +Hungary which he held until he died; and the whole kingdom was then to +revert to Ferdinand and his heirs--But it was agreed that should John +marry and have a son, that son should be viceroy, or, as the title then +was, _univode_, of his father's hereditary domain of _Transylvania_, +having no control over any portion of Hungary proper. + +Somewhat to the disappointment of Ferdinand, the old monarch immediately +married a young bride. A son was born to them, and in fourteen days +after his birth the father died of a stroke of apoplexy. The child was +entitled to the viceroyship of Transylvania, while all the rest of +Hungary was to pass unincumbered to Ferdinand. But Isabella, the +ambitious young mother, who had married the decrepit monarch that she +might enjoy wealth and station, had no intention that her babe should be +less of a king than his father was. She was the daughter of Sigismond, +King of Poland, and relying upon the support of her regal father she +claimed the crown of Hungary for her boy, in defiance of the solemn +compact. In that age of chivalry a young and beautiful woman could +easily find defenders whatever might be her claims. Isabella soon +rallied around her banner many Hungarian nobles, and a large number of +adventurous knights from Poland. + +Under her influence a large party of nobles met, chose the babe their +king, and crowned him, under the name of Stephen, with a great display +of military and religious pomp. They then conveyed him and his mother to +the strong castle of Buda and dispatched an embassy to the sultan at +Constantinople, avowing homage to him, as their feudal lord, and +imploring his immediate and vigorous support. + +Ferdinand, thus defrauded, and conscious of his inability to rescue the +crown from the united forces of the Hungarian partisans of Stephen, and +from the Turks, condescended also to send a message to the sultan, +offering to hold the crown as his fief and to pay to the Porte the same +tribute which John had paid, if the sultan would support his claim. The +imperious Turk, knowing that he could depose the baby king at his +pleasure, insultingly rejected the proposals which Ferdinand had +humiliated himself in advancing. He returned in answer, that he +demanded, as the price of peace, not only that Ferdinand should renounce +all claim whatever to the crown of Hungary, but that he should also +acknowledge the Austrian territories as under vassalage to the Turkish +empire, and pay tribute accordingly. + +Ferdinand, at the same time that he sent his embassy to Constantinople, +without waiting for a reply dispatched an army into Hungary, which +reached Buda and besieged Isabella and her son in the citadel. + +He pressed the siege with such vigor that Isabella must have surrendered +had not an army of Turks come to her rescue. The Austrian troops were +defeated and dispersed. The sultan himself soon followed with a still +larger army, took possession of the city, secured the person of the +queen and the infant prince, and placed a garrison of ten thousand +janissaries in the citadel. The Turkish troops spread in all directions, +establishing themselves in towns, castles, fortresses, and setting at +defiance all Ferdinand's efforts to dislodge them. These events occurred +during the reign of the Emperor Charles V. The resources of Ferdinand +had become so exhausted that he was compelled, while affairs were in +this state, in the year 1545, ten years before the abdication of the +emperor, to implore of Solyman a suspension of arms. + +The haughty sultan reluctantly consented to a truce of five years upon +condition that Ferdinand would pay him an annual tribute of about sixty +thousand dollars, and become feudatory of the Porte. To these +humiliating conditions Ferdinand felt compelled to assent. Solyman, thus +relieved from any trouble on the part of Ferdinand, compelled the queen +to renounce to himself all right which either she or her son had to the +throne. And now for many years we have nothing but a weary record of +intrigues, assassinations, wars and woes. Miserable Hungary was but a +field of blood. There were three parties, Ferdinand, Stephen and +Solyman, all alike ready to be guilty of any inhumanity or to perpetrate +any perfidy in the accomplishment of their plans. Ferdinand with his +armies held one portion of Hungary, Solyman another, and Stephen, with +his strong partisans another. Bombardment succeeded bombardment; cities +and provinces were now overrun by one set of troops and now by another; +the billows of war surged to and fro incessantly, and the wail of the +widow and the cry of the orphan ascended by day and by night to the ear +of God. + +In 1556 the Turks again invested Stephen with the government of that +large portion of Hungary which they held, including Transylvania. +Ferdinand still was in possession of several important fortresses, and +of several of the western districts of Hungary bordering on the Austrian +States. Isabella, annoyed by her subjection to the Turks, made +propositions to Ferdinand for a reconciliation, and a truce was agreed +upon which gave the land rest for a few years. + +While these storms were sweeping over Hungary, events of scarcely less +importance were transpiring in Bohemia. This kingdom was an elective +monarchy, and usually upon the death of a king the fiercest strife +ensued as to who should be his successor. The elected monarch, on +receiving the crown, was obliged to recognize the sovereignty of the +people as having chosen him for their ruler, and he promised to govern +according to the ancient constitution of the kingdom. The monarch, +however, generally found no difficulty in surrounding himself with such +strong supporters as to secure the election of his son or heir, and +frequently he had his successor chosen before his death. Thus the +monarchy, though nominally elective, was in its practical operation +essentially hereditary. + +The authority of the crown was quite limited. The monarch was only +intrusted with so much power as the proud nobles were willing to +surrender to one of their number whom they appointed chief, whose +superiority they reluctantly acknowledged, and against whom they were +very frequently involved in wars. In those days the _people_ had hardly +a recognized existence. The nobles met in a congress called a diet, and +authorized their elected chief, the king, to impose taxes, raise troops, +declare war and institute laws according to their will. These diets were +differently composed under different reigns, and privileged cities were +sometimes authorized to send deputies whom they selected from the most +illustrious of their citizens. The king usually convoked the diets; but +in those stormy times of feuds, conspiracies and wars, there was hardly +any general rule. The nobles, displeased at some act of the king, would +themselves, through some one or more of their number, summon a diet and +organize resistance. The numbers attending such an irregular body were +of course very various. There appear to have been diets of the empire +composed of not more than half a dozen individuals, and others where as +many hundreds were assembled. Sometimes the meetings were peaceful, and +again tumultuous with the clashing of arms. + +In Bohemia the conflict between the Catholics and the reformers had +raged with peculiar acrimony, and the reformers in that kingdom had +become a very numerous and influential body. Ferdinand was anxious to +check the progress of the Reformation, and he exerted all the power he +could command to defend and maintain Catholic supremacy. For ten years +Ferdinand was absent from Bohemia, all his energies being absorbed by +the Hungarian war. He was anxious to weaken the power of the nobles in +Bohemia. There was ever, in those days, either an open or a smothered +conflict between the king and the nobles, the monarch striving to grasp +more power, the nobles striving to keep him in subjection to them. +Ferdinand attempted to disarm the nobles by sending for all the +artillery of the kingdom, professing that he needed it to carry on his +war with the Turks. But the wary nobles held on to their artillery. He +then was guilty of the folly of hunting up some old exploded compacts, +in virtue of which he declared that Bohemia was not an elective but a +hereditary monarchy, and that he, as hereditary sovereign, held the +throne for himself and his heirs. + +This announcement spread a flame of indignation through all the castles +of Bohemia. The nobles rallied, called a diet, passed strong +resolutions, organized an army, and adopted measures for vigorous +resistance. But Ferdinand was prepared for all these demonstrations. His +Hungarian truce enabled him to march a strong army on Bohemia. The party +in power has always numerous supporters from those who, being in office, +will lose their dignities by revolution. The king summoned all the well +affected to repair to his standards, threatening condign punishment to +all who did not give this proof of loyalty. Nobles and knights in great +numbers flocked to his encampment. With menacing steps his battalions +strode on, and triumphantly entered Prague, the capital city, situated +in the very heart of the kingdom. + +The indignation in the city was great, but the king was too strong to be +resisted, and he speedily quelled all movements of tumult. Prague, +situated upon the steep and craggy banks of the Moldau, spanning the +stream, and with its antique dwellings rising tier above tier upon the +heights, is one of the most grand and imposing capitals of Europe. About +one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants crowd its narrow streets and +massive edifices. Castles, fortresses, somber convents and the Gothic +palaces of the old Bohemian monarchs, occupying every picturesque +locality, as gray with age as the eternal crags upon which they stand, +and exhibiting every fantastic variety of architecture, present an +almost unrivaled aspect of beauty and of grandeur. The Palace on the +Hill alone is larger than the imperial palace at Vienna, containing over +four hundred apartments, some of them being rooms of magnificent +dimensions. The cathedral within the precincts of this palace occupied +more than one hundred and fifty years in its erection. + +Ferdinand, with the iron energy and determined will of an enraged, +successful despot, stationed his troops at the gates, the bridges and at +every commanding position, and thus took military possession of the +city. The inhabitants, overawed and helpless, were in a state of terror. +The emperor summoned six hundred of the most influential of the citizens +to his palace, including all who possessed rank or office or wealth. +Tremblingly they came. As soon as they had entered, the gates were +closed and guarded, and they were all made prisoners. The king then, +seated upon his throne, in his royal robes, and with his armed officers +around him, ordered the captives like culprits to be led before him. +Sternly he charged them with treason, and demanded what excuse they had +to offer. They were powerless, and their only hope was in +self-abasement. One, speaking in the name of the rest, said: + +"We will not presume to enter into any defense of our conduct with our +king and master. We cast ourselves upon his royal mercy." + +They then all simultaneously threw themselves upon their knees, +imploring his pardon. The king allowed them to remain for some time in +that posture, that he might enjoy their humiliation. He then ordered his +officers to conduct them into the hall of justice, and detain them there +until he had decided respecting their punishment. For some hours they +were kept in this state of suspense. He then informed them, that out of +his great clemency he had decided to pardon them on the following +conditions. + +They were to surrender all their constitutional privileges, whatever +they were, into the hands of the king, and be satisfied with whatever +privileges he might condescend to confer upon them. They were to bring +all their artillery, muskets and ammunition to the palace, and surrender +them to his officers; all the revenues of the city, together with a tax +upon malt and beer, were to be paid into his hands for his disposal, and +all their vassals, and their property of every kind, they were to resign +to the king and to his heirs, whom they were to acknowledge as the +_hereditary_ successors to the throne of Bohemia. Upon these conditions +the king promised to spare the rebellious city, and to pardon all the +offenders, excepting a few of the most prominent, whom he was determined +to punish with such severity as to prove an effectual warning to all +others. + +The prisoners were terrified into the immediate ratification of these +hard terms. They were then all released, excepting forty, who were +reserved for more rigorous punishment. In the same manner the king sent +a summons to all the towns of the kingdom; and by the same terrors the +same terms were extorted. All the rural nobles, who had manifested a +spirit of resistance, were also summoned before a court of justice for +trial. Some fled the kingdom. Their estates were confiscated to +Ferdinand, and they were sentenced to death should they ever return. +Many others were deprived of their possessions. Twenty-six were thrown +into prison, and two condemned to public execution. + +The king, having thus struck all the discontented with terror, summoned +a diet to meet in his palace at Prague. They met the 22d of August, +1547. A vast assemblage was convened, as no one who was summoned dared +to stay away. The king, wishing to give an intimation to the diet of +what they were to expect should they oppose his wishes, commenced the +session by publicly hanging four of the most illustrious of his +captives. One of these, high judge of the kingdom, was in the seventieth +year of his age. The Bloody Diet, as it has since been called, was +opened, and Ferdinand found all as pliant as he could wish. The royal +discipline had effected wonders. The slightest intimation of Ferdinand +was accepted with eagerness. + +The execrable tyrant wished to impress the whole kingdom with a salutary +dread of incurring his paternal displeasure. He brought out the forty +prisoners who still remained in their dungeons. Eight of the most +distinguished men of the kingdom were led to three of the principal +cities, in each of which, in the public square, they were ignominiously +and cruelly whipped on the bare back. Before each flagellation the +executioner proclaimed-- + +"These men are punished because they are traitors, and because they +excited the people against their _hereditary_ master." + +They then, with eight others, their property being confiscated, in utter +beggary, were driven as vagabonds from the kingdom. The rest, after +being impoverished by fines, were restored to liberty. Ferdinand adopted +vigorous measures to establish his despotic power. Considering the +Protestant religion as peculiarly hostile to despotism, in the +encouragement it afforded to education, to the elevation of the masses, +and to the diffusion of those principles of fraternal equality which +Christ enjoined; and considering the Catholic religion as the great +bulwark of kingly power, by the intolerance of the Church teaching the +benighted multitudes subjection to civil intolerance, Ferdinand, with +unceasing vigilance, and with melancholy success, endeavored to +eradicate the Lutheran doctrines from the kingdom. He established the +most rigorous censorship of the press, and would allow no foreign work, +unexamined, to enter the realm. He established in Bohemia the fanatic +order of the Jesuits, and intrusted to them the education of the young. + +It is often impossible to reconcile the inconsistencies of the human +heart. Ferdinand, while guilty of such atrocities, affected, on some +points, the most scrupulous punctilios of honor. The clearly-defined +privileges which had been promised the Protestants, he would not +infringe in the least. They were permitted to give their children +Protestant teachers, and to conduct worship in their own way. He +effected his object of changing Bohemia from an elective to a hereditary +monarchy, and thus there was established in Bohemia the renowned +doctrine of regal legitimacy; of the _divine right_ of kings to govern. +With such a bloody hand was the doctrine of the sovereignty, not of the +_people_, but of the _nobles_, overthrown in Bohemia. The nobles are not +much to be commiserated, for they trampled upon the people as +mercilessly as the king did upon them. It is merely another illustration +of the old and melancholy story of the strong devouring the weak: the +owl takes the wren; the eagle the owl. + +Bohemia, thus brought in subjection to a single mind, and shackled in +its spirit of free enterprise, began rapidly to exhibit symptoms of +decline and decay. It was a great revolution, accomplished by cunning +and energy, and maintained by the terrors of confiscation, exile and +death. + +The Emperor Charles V., it will be remembered, had attempted in vain to +obtain the reversion of the imperial crown for his son Philip at his own +death. The crown of Spain was his hereditary possession, and that he +could transmit to his son. But the crown of the empire was elective. +Charles V. was so anxious to secure the imperial dignity for his son, +that he retained the crown of the empire for some months after +abdicating that of Spain, still hoping to influence the electors in +their choice. But there were so many obstacles in the way of the +recognition of the young Philip as emperor, that Charles, anxious to +retain the dignity in the family, reluctantly yielded to the intrigues +of his brother Ferdinand, who had now become so powerful that he could +perhaps triumph over any little irregularity in the succession and +silence murmurs. + +Consequently, Charles, nine months after the abdication of the thrones +of the Low Countries and of Spain, tried the experiment of abdicating +the _elective_ crown of the empire in favor of Ferdinand. It was in many +respects such an act as if the President of the United States should +abdicate in favor of some one of his own choice. The emperor had, +however, a semblance of right to place the scepter in the hands of whom +he would during his lifetime. But, upon the death of the emperor, would +his appointee still hold his power, or would the crown at that moment be +considered as falling from his brow? It was the 7th of August, 1556, +when the emperor abdicated the throne of the empire in behalf of his +brother Ferdinand. It was a new event in history, without a precedent, +and the matter was long and earnestly discussed throughout the German +States. Notwithstanding all Ferdinand's energy, sagacity and despotic +power, two years elapsed before he could secure the acknowledgment of +his title, by the German States, and obtain a proclamation of his +imperial state. + +The pope had thus far had such an amazing control over the conscience, +or rather the superstition of Europe, that the choice of the electors +was ever subject to the ratification of the holy father. It was +necessary for the emperor elect to journey to Rome, and be personally +crowned by the hands of the pope, before he could be considered in legal +possession of the imperial title and of a right to the occupancy of the +throne. Julius II., under peculiar circumstances, allowed Maximilian to +assume the title of _emperor elect_ while he postponed his visit to Rome +for coronation; but the want of the papal sanction, by the imposition of +the crown upon his brow by those _sacred hands_, thwarted Maximilian in +some of his most fondly-cherished measures. + +Paul IV. was now pontiff, an old man, jealous of his prerogatives, +intolerant in the extreme, and cherishing the most exorbitant sense of +his spiritual power. He execrated the Protestants, and was indignant +with Ferdinand that he had shown them any mercy at all. But Ferdinand, +conscious of the importance of a papal coronation, sent a very +obsequious embassy to Rome, announcing his appointment as emperor, and +imploring the benediction of the holy father and the reception of the +crown from his hands. The haughty and disdainful reply of the pope was +characteristic of the times and of the man. It was in brief, as follows: + +"The Emperor Charles has behaved like a madman; and his acts are no more +to be respected than the ravings of insanity. Charles V. received the +imperial crown from the head of the Church; in abdicating, that crown +could only return to the sacred hands which conferred it. The nomination +of Ferdinand as his successor we pronounce to be null and void. The +alleged ratification of the electors is a mockery, dishonored and +vitiated as it is by the votes of electors polluted with heresy. We +therefore command Ferdinand to relinquish all claim to the imperial +crown." + +The irascible old pontiff, buried beneath the senseless pomps of the +Vatican, was not at all aware of the change which Protestant preaching +and writing had effected in the public mind of Germany. Italy was still +slumbering in the gloom of the dark ages; but light was beginning to +dawn upon the hills of the empire. One half of the population of the +German empire would rally only the more enthusiastically around +Ferdinand, if he would repel all papal assumptions with defiance and +contempt. Ferdinand was the wiser and the better informed man of the +two. He conducted with dignity and firmness which make us almost forget +his crimes. A diet was summoned, and it was quietly decreed that a +_papal coronation was no longer necessary_. That one short line was the +heaviest blow the papal throne had yet received. From it, it never +recovered and never can recover. + +Paul IV. was astounded at such effrontery, and as soon as he had +recovered a little from his astonishment, alarmed in view of such a +declaration of independence, he took counsel of discretion, and +humiliating as it was, made advances for a reconciliation. Ferdinand was +also anxious to be on good terms with the pope. While negotiations were +pending, Paul died, his death being perhaps hastened by chagrin. Pius +IV. succeeded him, and pressed still more earnestly overtures for +reconciliation Ferdinand, through his ambassador, expressed his +willingness to pledge the accustomed _devotion_ and _reverence_ to the +head of the Church, omitting the word _obedience_. But the pope was +anxious, above all things, to have that emphatic word _obey_ introduced +into the ritual of subjection, and after employing all the arts of +diplomacy and cajolery, carried his point. Ferdinand, with duplicity +which was not honorable, let the word remain, saying that it was not his +act, but that of his ambassador. The pope affected satisfaction with the +formal acknowledgment of his power, while Ferdinand ever after refused +to recognize his authority. Thus terminated the long dependence, running +through ages of darkness and delusion, of the German emperors upon the +Roman see. + +Ferdinand did not trouble himself to receive the crown from the pope, +and since his day the emperors of Germany have no longer been exposed to +the expense and the trouble of a journey to Rome for their coronation. +Though Ferdinand was strongly attached to the tenets of the papal +church, and would gladly have eradicated Protestantism from his domains, +he was compelled to treat the Protestants with some degree of +consideration, as he needed the aid of their arms in the wars in which +he was incessantly involved with the Turks. He even made great efforts +to introduce some measure of conciliation which should reconcile the two +parties, and thus reunite his realms under one system of doctrine and of +worship. + +Still Protestantism was making rapid strides all over Europe. It had +become the dominant religion in Denmark and Sweden, and, by the +accession of Elizabeth to the throne of England, was firmly established +in that important kingdom. In France also the reformed religion had made +extensive inroads, gathering to its defense many of the noblest spirits, +in rank and intellect, in the realm. The terrors of the inquisition had +thus far prevented the truth from making much progress in Spain and +Portugal. + +With the idea of promoting reconciliation, Ferdinand adopted a measure +which contributed greatly to his popularity with the Protestants. He +united with France and Spain in urging Pius IV., a mild and pliant +pontiff, to convene a council in Germany to heal the religious feud. He +drew up a memorial, which was published and widely scattered, declaring +that the Protestants had become far too powerful to be treated with +outrage or contempt; that there were undeniable wrongs in the Church +which needed to be reformed; and that no harm could accrue from +permitting the clergy to marry, and to administer both bread and wine to +the communicants in the Lord's Supper. It was a doctrine of the Church +of Rome, that the laity could receive the bread only; the wine was +reserved for the officiating priest. + +This memorial of Ferdinand, drawn up with much distinctness and great +force of argument, was very grateful to the Protestants, but very +displeasing to the court of Rome. These conflicts raged for several +years without any decisive results. The efforts of Ferdinand to please +both parties, as usual, pleased neither. By the Protestants he was +regarded as a persecutor and intolerant; while the Catholics accused him +of lukewarmness, of conniving at heresy and of dishonoring the Church by +demanding of her concessions derogatory to her authority and her +dignity. + +Ferdinand, finding that the Church clung with deathly tenacity to its +corruptions, assumed himself quite the attitude of a reformer. A +memorable council had been assembled at Trent on the 15th of January, +1562. Ferdinand urged the council to exhort the pope to examine if there +was not room for some reform in his own person, state or court. +"Because," said he, "the only true method to obtain authority for the +reformation of others, is to begin by amending oneself." He commented +upon the manifest impropriety of scandalous indulgences: of selling the +sacred offices of the Church to the highest bidder, regardless of +character; of extorting fees for the administration of the sacrament of +the Lord's Supper; of offering prayers and performing the services of +public devotion in a language which the people could not understand; and +other similar and most palpable abuses. Even the kings of France and +Spain united with the emperor in these remonstrances. + +It is difficult now to conceive of the astonishment and indignation with +which the pope and his adherents received these very reasonable +suggestions, coming not from the Protestants but from the most staunch +advocates of the papacy. The see of Rome, corrupt to its very core, +would yield nothing. The more senseless and abominable any of its +corruptions were, the more tenaciously did pope and cardinals cling to +them. At last the emperor, in despair of seeing any thing accomplished, +requested that the assembly might be dissolved, saying, "Nothing good +can be expected, even if it continue its sittings for a hundred years." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +DEATH OF FERDINAND I.--ACCESSION OF MAXIMILIAN II. + +From 1562 to 1576. + +The Council of Trent.--Spread of the Reformation.--Ferdinand's Attempt +to Influence the Pope.--His Arguments against Celibacy.--Stubbornness of +the Pope.--Maximilian II.--Displeasure of Ferdinand.--Motives for not +Abjuring the Catholic Faith.--Religious Strife in Europe.--Maximilian's +Address to Charles IX.--Mutual Toleration.--Romantic Pastime of +War.--Heroism of Nicholas, Count Of Zrini.--Accession of Power to +Austria.--Accession of Rhodolph III.--Death of Maximilian. + + +This celebrated council of Trent, which was called with the hope that by +a spirit of concession and reform the religious dissensions which +agitated Europe might be adjusted, declared, in the very bravado of +papal intolerance, the very worst abuses of the Church to be essential +articles of faith, which could only be renounced at the peril of eternal +condemnation, and thus presented an insuperable barrier to any +reconciliation between the Catholics and the Protestants. Ferdinand was +disappointed, and yet did not venture to break with the pope by +withholding his assent from the decrees which were enacted. + +The Lutheran doctrines had spread widely through Ferdinand's hereditary +States of Austria. Several of the professors in the university at Vienna +had embraced those views; and quite a number of the most powerful and +opulent of the territorial lords even maintained Protestant chaplains at +their castles. The majority of the inhabitants of the Austrian States +had, in the course of a few years, become Protestants. Though Ferdinand +did every thing he dared to do to check their progress, forbidding the +circulation of Luther's translation of the Bible, and throwing all the +obstacles he could in the way of Protestant worship, he was compelled to +grant them very considerable toleration, and to overlook the infraction +of his decrees, that he might secure their aid to repel the Turks. +Providence seemed to overrule the Moslem invasion for the protection of +the Protestant faith. Notwithstanding all the efforts of Ferdinand, the +reformers gained ground in Austria as in other parts of Germany. + +The two articles upon which the Protestants at this time placed most +stress were the right of the clergy to marry and the administration of +the communion under both kinds, as it was called; that is, that the +communicants should partake of both the bread and the wine. Ferdinand, +having failed entirely in inducing the council to submit to any reform, +opened direct communication with the pope to obtain for his subjects +indulgence in respect to these two articles. In advocacy of this measure +he wrote: + +"In Bohemia no persuasion, no argument, no violence, not even arms and +war, have succeeded in abolishing the use of the cup as well as the +bread in the sacrament. In fact the Church itself permitted it, although +the popes revoked it by a breach of the conditions on which it was +granted. In the other States, Hungary, Austria, Silesia, Styria, +Carinthia, Carniola, Bavaria and other parts of Germany, many desire +with ardor the same indulgence. If this concession is granted they may +be reunited to the Church, but if refused they will be driven into the +party of the Protestants. So many of the priests have been degraded by +their diocesans for administering the sacrament in both kinds, that the +country is almost deprived of priests. Hence children die or grow up to +maturity without baptism; and men and women, of all ages and of all +ranks, live like the brutes, in the grossest ignorance of God and of +religion." + +In reference to the marriage of the clergy he wrote: "If a permission to +the clergy to marry can not 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 be justly asked whether +such concessions would not be far preferable to tolerating, as has +unfortunately been done, fornication and concubinage? I can not avoid +adding, what is a common observation, that priests who live in +concubinage are guilty of greater sin than those who are married; for +the last only transgress a law which is capable of being changed, +whereas the first sin against a divine law, which is capable of neither +change nor dispensation." + +The pope, pressed with all the importunity which Ferdinand could urge, +reluctantly consented to the administration of the cup to the laity, but +resolutely refused to tolerate the marriage of the clergy. Ferdinand was +excessively annoyed by the stubbornness of the court of Rome in its +refusal to submit to the most reasonable reform, thus rendering it +impossible for him to allay the religious dissensions which were still +spreading and increasing in acrimony. His disappointment was so great +that it is said to have thrown him into the fever of which he died on +the 25th of July, 1564. + +For several ages the archdukes of Austria had been endeavoring to unite +the Austrian States with Hungary and Bohemia under one monarchy. The +union had been temporarily effected once or twice, but Ferdinand +accomplished the permanent union, and may thus be considered as the +founder of the Austrian monarchy essentially as it now exists. As +Archduke of Austria, he inherited the Austrian duchies. By his marriage +with Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, King of Hungary and Bohemia, he +secured those crowns, which he made hereditary in his family. He left +three sons. The eldest, Maximilian, inherited the archduchy of Austria +and the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, of course inheriting, with +Hungary, prospective war with the Turks. The second son, Ferdinand, had, +as his legacy, the government and the revenues of the Tyrol. The third +son, Charles, received Styria. There were nine daughters left, three of +whom took the vail and the rest formed illustrious marriages. + +Ferdinand appears to have been a sincere Catholic, though he saw the +great corruptions of the Church and earnestly desired reform. As he +advanced in years he became more tolerant and gentle, and had his wise +counsels been pursued Europe would have escaped inexpressible woes. +Still he clung to the Church, unwisely seeking unity of faith and +discipline, which can hardly be attained in this world, rather than +toleration with allowed diversity. + +Maximilian II. was thirty-seven years of age on his accession to the +throne. Although he was educated in the court of Spain, which was the +most bigoted and intolerant in Europe, yet he developed a character +remarkable for mildness, affability and tolerance. He was indebted for +these attractive traits to his tutor, a man of enlarged and cultivated +mind, and who had, like most men of his character at that time, a strong +leaning towards Protestantism. These principles took so firm a hold of +his youthful mind that they could never be eradicated. As he advanced in +life he became more and more interested in the Protestant faith. He +received a clergyman of the reformed religion as his chaplain and +private secretary, and partook of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, +from his hands, in both kinds. Even while remaining in the Spanish court +he entered into a correspondence with several of the most influential +advocates of the Protestant faith. Returning to Austria from Spain, he +attended public worship in the chapels of the Protestants, and communed +with them in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. When some of his +friends warned him that by pursuing such a course he could never hope to +obtain the imperial crown of Germany, he replied: + +"I will sacrifice all worldly interests for the sake of my salvation." + +His father, the Emperor Ferdinand, was so much displeased with his son's +advocacy of the Protestant faith, that after many angry remonstrances he +threatened to disinherit him if he did not renounce all connection with +the reformers. But Maximilian, true to his conscience, would not allow +the apprehension of the loss of a crown to induce him to swerve from his +faith. Fully expecting to be thus cast off and banished from the +kingdom, he wrote to the Protestant elector Palatine: + +"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." + +The Catholics of course looked with apprehension to the accession of +Maximilian to the throne, while the Protestants anticipated the event +with great hope. There were, however, many considerations of vast moment +influencing Maximilian not to separate himself, in form, from the +Catholic church. Philip, his cousin, King of Spain, was childless, and +should he die without issue, Ferdinand would inherit that magnificent +throne, which he could not hope to ascend, as an avowed Protestant, +without a long and bloody war. It had been the most earnest dying +injunction of his father that he should not abjure the Catholic faith. +His wife was a very zealous Catholic, as was also each one of his +brothers. There were very many who remained in the Catholic church whose +sympathies were with the reformers--who hoped to promote reformation in +the Church without leaving it. Influenced by such considerations, +Maximilian made a public confession of the Catholic faith, received his +father's confessor, and maintained, in his court, the usages of the +papal church. He was, however, the kind friend of the Protestants, ever +seeking to shield them from persecution, claiming for them a liberal +toleration, and seeking, in all ways, to promote fraternal religious +feeling throughout his domains. + +The prudence of Maximilian wonderfully allayed the bitterness of +religious strife in Germany, while other portions of Europe were +desolated with the fiercest warfare between the Catholics and +Protestants. In France, in particular, the conflict raged with merciless +fury. It was on August 24th, 1572, but a few years after Maximilian +ascended the throne, when the Catholics of France perpetrated the +Massacre of St. Bartholomew, perhaps the most atrocious crime recorded +in history. The Catholics and Protestants in France were nearly equally +divided in numbers, wealth and rank. The papal party, finding it +impossible to crush their foes by force of arms, resolved to exterminate +them by a simultaneous massacre. They feigned toleration and +reconciliation. The court of Paris invited all the leading Protestants +of the kingdom to the metropolis to celebrate the nuptials of Henry, the +young King of Navarre, with Margaret, sister of Charles IX., the +reigning monarch. Secret orders were dispatched all over the kingdom, +for the conspirators, secretly armed, at a given signal, by midnight, to +rise upon the Protestants, men, women and children, and utterly +exterminate them. "Let not one remain alive," said the King of France, +"to tell the story." + +The deed was nearly accomplished. The king himself, from a window of the +Louvre, fired upon his Protestant subjects, as they fled in dismay +through the streets. In a few hours eighty thousand of the Protestants +were mangled corpses. Protestantism in France has never recovered from +this blow. Maximilian openly expressed his execration of this deed, +though the pope ordered Te Deums to be chanted at Rome in exultation +over the crime. Not long after this horrible slaughter, Charles IX. died +in mental torment. Henry of Valois, brother of the deceased king, +succeeded to the throne. He was at that time King of Poland. Returning +to France, through Vienna, he had an interview with Maximilian, who +addressed him in those memorable words which have often been quoted to +the honor of the Austrian sovereign: + +"There is no crime greater in princes," said Maximilian, "than to +tyrannize over the consciences of their subjects. By shedding the blood +of heretics, far from honoring the common Father of all, they incur the +divine vengeance; and while they aspire, by such means, to crowns in +heaven, they justly expose themselves to the loss of their earthly +kingdoms." + +Under the peaceful and humane reign of Ferdinand, Germany was kept in a +general state of tranquillity, while storms of war and woe were sweeping +over almost all other parts of Europe. During all his reign, Maximilian +II. was unwearied in his endeavors to promote harmony between the two +great religious parties, by trying, on the one hand, to induce the pope +to make reasonable concessions, and, on the other hand, to induce the +Protestants to moderate their demands. His first great endeavor was to +induce the pope to consent to the marriage of the clergy. In this he +failed entirely. He then tried to form a basis of mutual agreement, upon +which the two parties could unite. His father had attempted this plan, +and found it utterly impracticable. Maximilian attempted it, with just +as little success. It has been attempted a thousand times since, and has +always failed. Good men are ever rising who mourn the divisions in the +Christian Church, and strive to form some plan of union, where all true +Christians can meet and fraternize, and forget their minor differences. +Alas! for poor human nature, there is but little prospect that this plan +can ever be accomplished. There will be always those who can not +discriminate between essential and non-essential differences of opinion. +Maximilian at last fell back simply upon the doctrine of a liberal +toleration, and in maintaining this he was eminently successful. + +At one time the Turks were crowding him very hard in Hungary. A special +effort was requisite to raise troops to repel them. Maximilian summoned +a diet, and appealed to the assembled nobles for supplies of men and +money. In Austria proper, Protestantism was now in the decided +ascendency. The nobles took advantage of the emperor's wants to reply-- + +"We are ready to march to the assistance of our sovereign, to repel the +Turks from Hungary, if the Jesuits are first expelled from our +territories." + +The answer of the king was characteristic of his policy and of his +career. "I have convened you," he said, "to give me contributions, not +remonstrances. I wish you to help me expel the Turks, not the Jesuits." + +From many a prince this reply would have excited exasperation. But +Maximilian had established such a character for impartiality and +probity, that the rebuke was received with applause rather than with +murmurs, and the Protestants, with affectionate zeal, rallied around his +standard. So great was the influence of the king, that toleration, as +one of the virtues of the court, became the fashion, and the Catholics +and Protestants vied with each other in the manifestation of mutual +forbearance and good will. They met on equal terms in the palace of the +monarch, shared alike in his confidence and his favors, and cooperated +cordially in the festivities of the banqueting room, and in the toils of +the camp. We love to dwell upon the first beautiful specimen of +toleration which the world has seen in any court. It is the more +beautiful, and the more wonderful, as having occurred in a dark age of +bigotry, intolerance and persecution. And let us be sufficiently candid +to confess, that it was professedly a Roman Catholic monarch, a member +of the papal church, to whom the world is indebted for this first +recognition of true mental freedom. It can not be denied that Maximilian +II. was in advance of the avowed Protestants of his day. + +Pope Pius V. was a bigot, inflexible, overbearing; and he determined, +with a bloody hand, to crush all dissent. From his throne in the Vatican +he cast an eagle eye to Germany, and was alarmed and indignant at the +innovations which Maximilian was permitting. In all haste he dispatched +a legate to remonstrate strongly against such liberality. Maximilian +received the legate, Cardinal Commendon, with courtesy, but for a time +firmly refused to change his policy in obedience to the exactions of the +pope. The pope brought to bear upon him all the influence of the Spanish +court. He was threatened with war by all the papal forces, sustained by +the then immense power of the Spanish monarchy. For a time Maximilian +was in great perplexity, and finally yielded to the pope so far as to +promise not to permit any further innovations than those which he had +already allowed, and not to extend his principles of toleration into any +of his States where they had not as yet been introduced. Thus, while he +did not retract any concessions he had made, he promised to stop where +he was, and proceed no further. + +Maximilian was so deeply impressed with the calamities of war, that he +even sent an embassy to the Turks, offering to continue to pay the +tribute which they had exacted of his father, as the price of a +continued armistice. But Solyman, having made large preparations for the +renewed invasion of Hungary, and sanguine of success, haughtily rejected +the offer, and renewed hostilities. + +Nearly all of the eastern and southern portions of Hungary were already +in the hands of the Turks. Maximilian held a few important towns and +strong fortresses on the western frontier. Not feeling strong enough to +attempt to repel the Turks from the portion they already held, he +strengthened his garrisons, and raising an army of eighty thousand men, +of which he assumed the command, he entered Hungary and marched down the +Danube about sixty miles to Raab, to await the foe and act on the +defensive. Solyman rendezvoused an immense army at Belgrade, and +commenced his march up the Danube. + +"Old as I am," said he to his troops, "I am determined to chastise the +house of Austria, or to perish in the attempt beneath the walls of +Vienna." + +It was beautiful spring weather, and the swelling buds and hourly +increasing verdure, decorated the fields with loveliness. For several +days the Turks marched along the right bank of the Danube, through green +fields, and beneath a sunny sky, encountering no foe. War seemed but as +the pastime of a festive day, as gay banners floated in the breeze, +groups of horsemen, gorgeously caparisoned, pranced along, and the +turbaned multitude, in brilliant uniform, with jokes, and laughter and +songs, leisurely ascended the majestic stream. A fleet of boats filled +the whole body of the river, impelled by sails when the wind favored, +or, when the winds were adverse, driven by the strong arms of the rowers +against the gentle tide. Each night the white tents were spread, and a +city for a hundred thousand inhabitants rose as by magic, with its +grassy streets, its squares, its busy population, its music, its +splendor, blazing in all the regalia of war. As by magic the city rose +in the rays of the declining sun. As by magic it disappeared in the +early dawn of the morning, and the mighty hosts moved on. + +A few days thus passed, when Solyman approached the fortified town of +Zigeth, near the confluence of the Drave and the Danube. Nicholas, Count +of Zrini, was intrusted with the defense of this place, and he fulfilled +his trust with heroism and valor which has immortalized both his name +and the fortress which he defended. Zrini had a garrison of but three +thousand men. An army of nearly a hundred thousand were marching upon +him. Zrini collected his troops, and took a solemn oath, in the presence +of all, that, true to God, to his Christian faith, and his country, he +never would surrender the town to the Turks, but with his life. He then +required each soldier individually to take the same oath to his captain. +All the captains then, in the presence of the assembled troops, took the +same oath to him. + +The Turks soon arrived and commenced an unceasing bombardment day and +night. The little garrison vigorously responded. The besieged made +frequent sallies, spiking the guns of the besiegers, and again retiring +behind their works. But their overpowering foes advanced, inch by inch, +till they got possession of what was called the "old city." The besieged +retiring to the "new city," resumed the defense with unabated ardor. The +storm of war raged incessantly for many days, and the new city was +reduced to a smoldering heap of fire and ashes. The Turks, with +incredible labor, raised immense mounds of earth and stone, on the +summits of which they planted their batteries, where they could throw +their shot, with unobstructed aim, into every part of the city. Roads +were constructed across the marsh, and the swarming multitudes, in +defiance of all the efforts of the heroic little garrison, filled up the +ditch, and were just on the rush to take the place by a general assault, +when Zrini abandoned the new city to flames, and threw himself into the +citadel. His force was now reduced to about a thousand men. Day after +day the storm of war blazed with demoniac fury around the citadel. Mines +were dug, and, as by volcanic explosions, bastions, with men and guns, +were blown high into the air. The indomitable Hungarians made many +sallies, cutting down the gunners and spiking the guns, but they were +always driven back with heavy loss. Repeated demands for capitulation +were sent in and as repeatedly rejected. For a week seven assaults were +made daily upon the citadel by the Turks, but they were always repulsed. +At length the outer citadel was entirely demolished. Then the heroic +band retired to the inner works. They were now without ammunition or +provisions, and the Turks, exasperated by such a defense, were almost +gnashing their teeth with rage. The old sultan, Solyman, actually died +from the intensity of his vexation and wrath. The death of the sultan +was concealed from the Turkish troops, and a general assault was +arranged upon the inner works. The hour had now come when they must +surrender or die, for the citadel was all battered into a pile of +smoldering ruins, and there were no ramparts capable of checking the +progress of the foe. Zrini assembled his little band, now counting but +six hundred, and said, + +"Remember your oath. We must die in the flames, or perish with hunger, +or go forth to meet the foe. Let us die like men. Follow me, and do as I +do." + +They made a simultaneous rush from their defenses into the thickest of +the enemy. For a few moments there was a scene of wildest uproar and +confusion, and the brave defenders were all silent in death. The Turks +with shouts of triumph now rushed into the citadel. But Zrini had fired +trains leading to the subterranean vaults of powder, and when the ruins +were covered with the conquerors, a sullen roar ran beneath the ground +and the whole citadel, men, horses, rocks and artillery were thrown into +the air, and fell a commingled mass of ruin, fire and blood. A more +heroic defense history has not recorded. Twenty thousand Turks perished +in this siege. The body of Zrini was found in the midst of the mangled +dead. His head was cut off and, affixed to a pole, was raised as a +trophy before the tent of the deceased sultan. + +The death of Solyman, and the delay which this desperate siege had +caused, embarrassed all the plans of the invaders, and they resolved +upon a retreat. The troops were consequently withdrawn from Hungary, and +returned to Constantinople. + +Maximilian, behind his intrenchments at Raab, did not dare to march to +the succor of the beleaguered garrison, for overpowering numbers would +immediately have destroyed him had he appeared in the open field. But +upon the withdrawal of the Turks he disbanded his army, after having +replenished his garrisons, and returned to Vienna. Selim succeeded +Solyman, and Maximilian sent an embassy to Constantinople to offer terms +of peace. At the same time, to add weight to his negotiations, he +collected a large army, and made the most vigorous preparations for the +prosecution of the war. + +Selim, just commencing his reign, anxious to consolidate his power, and +embarrassed by insurrection in his own realms, was glad to conclude an +armistice on terms highly favorable to Maximilian. John Sigismond, who +had been crowned by the Turks, as their tributary King of Hungary, was +to retain Transylvania. The Turks were to hold the country generally +between Transylvania and the river Teiss, while Ferdinand was to have +the remainder, extending many hundred miles from the Teiss to Austria. +The Prince of Transylvania was compelled, though very reluctantly, to +assent to this treaty. He engaged not to assume the title of King of +Hungary, except in correspondence with the Turks. The emperor promised +him one of his nieces in marriage, and in return it was agreed that +should John Sigismond die without male issue, Transylvania should revert +to the crown of Hungary. + +Soon after this treaty, John Sigismond died, before his marriage with +the emperor's niece, and Transylvania was again united to Hungary and +came under the sway of Maximilian. This event formed quite an accession +to the power of the Austrian monarch, as he now held all of Hungary save +the southern and central portion where the Turks had garrisoned the +fortresses. The pope, the King of Spain, and the Venetians, now sent +united ambassadors to the emperor urging him to summon the armies of the +empire and drive the Turks entirely out of Hungary. Cardinal Commendon +assured the emperor, in the name of the holy father of the Church, that +it was no sin to violate any compact with the infidel. Maximilian nobly +replied, + +"The faith of treaties ought to be considered as inviolable, and a +Christian can never be justified in breaking an oath." + +Maximilian never enjoyed vigorous health, and being anxious to secure +the tranquillity of his extended realms after his death, he had his +eldest son, Rhodolph, in a diet at Presburg, crowned King of Hungary. +Rhodolph at once entered upon the government of his realm as viceroy +during the life of his father. Thus he would have all the reins of +government in his hands, and, at the death of the emperor, there would +be no apparent change. + +It will be remembered that Ferdinand had, by violence and treachery, +wrested from the Bohemians the privilege of electing their sovereign, +and had thus converted Bohemia into an hereditary monarchy. Maximilian, +with characteristic prudence, wished to maintain the hereditary right +thus established, while at the same time he wished to avoid wounding the +prejudices of those who had surrendered the right of suffrage only to +fraud and the sword. He accordingly convoked a diet at Prague. The +nobles were assembled in large numbers, and the occasion was invested +with unusual solemnity. The emperor himself introduced to them his son, +and recommended him to them as their future sovereign. The nobles were +much gratified by so unexpected a concession, and with enthusiasm +accepted their new king. The emperor had thus wisely secured for his son +the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. + +Having succeeded in these two important measures, Maximilian set about +the more difficult enterprise of securing for his son his succession +upon the imperial throne. This was a difficult matter in the strong +rivalry which then existed between the Catholics and the Protestants. +With caution and conciliation, encountering and overturning innumerable +obstacles, Maximilian proceeded, until having, as he supposed, a fair +chance of success, he summoned the diet of electors at Ratisbon. But +here new difficulties arose. The Protestants were jealous of their +constantly imperiled privileges, and wished to surround them with +additional safeguards. The Catholics, on the contrary, stimulated by the +court of Rome, wished to withdraw the toleration already granted, and to +pursue the Protestant faith with new rigor. The meeting of the diet was +long and stormy, and again they were upon the point of a violent +dissolution. But the wisdom, moderation and perseverance of Maximilian +finally prevailed, and his success was entire. Rhodolph III. was +unanimously chosen to succeed him upon the imperial throne, and was +crowned at Ratisbon on the 1st of November, 1575. + +Poland was strictly an elective monarchy. The tumultuous nobles had +established a law prohibiting the election of a successor during the +lifetime of the monarch. Their last king had been the reckless, +chivalrous Henry, Duke of Anjou, brother of Charles IX. of France. +Charles IX. having died without issue, Henry succeeded him upon the +throne of France, and abdicated the crown of the semi-barbaric wilds of +Poland. The nobles were about to assemble for the election. There were +many influential candidates. Maximilian was anxious to obtain the crown +for his son Ernest. Much to the surprise of Maximilian, he himself was +chosen king. Protestantism had gained the ascendency in Poland, and a +large majority of the nobles united upon Maximilian. The electors +honored both themselves and the emperor in assigning, as the reason for +their choice, that the emperor had conciliated the contending factions +of the Christian world, and had acquired more glory by his pacific +policy than other princes had acquired in the exploits of war. + +There were curious conditions at that time assigned to the occupancy of +the throne of Poland. The elected monarch, before receiving the crown, +was required to give his pledge that he would reside two years +uninterruptedly in the kingdom, and that then he would not leave without +the consent of the nobles. He was also required to construct four +fortresses at his own expense, and to pay all the debts of the last +monarch, however heavy they might be, including the arrears of the +troops. He was also to maintain a sort of guard of honor, consisting of +ten thousand Polish horsemen. + +In addition to the embarrassment which these conditions presented, there +were many indications of jealousy on the part of other powers, in view +of the wonderful aggrandizement of Austria. Encouraged by the emperor's +delay and by the hostility of other powers, a minority of the nobles +chose Stephen Bathori, a Transylvanian prince, King of Poland; and to +strengthen his title, married him to Anne, sister to Sigismond Augustus, +the King of Poland who preceded the Duke of Anjou. Maximilian thus +aroused, signed the articles of agreement, and the two rival monarchs +prepared for war. The kingdoms of Europe were arraying themselves, some +on the one side and some on the other, and there was the prospect of a +long, desperate and bloody strife, when death stilled the tumult. + +Maximilian had long been declining. On the 12th of October, 1576, he +breathed his last at Ratisbon. He apparently died the death of the +Christian, tranquilly surrendering his spirit to his Saviour. He died in +the fiftieth year of his age and the twelfth of his reign. He had lived, +for those dark days, eminently the life of the righteous, and his end +was peace. + + "So fades the summer cloud away, + So sinks the gale when storms are o'er + So gently shuts the eye of day, + So dies a wave along the shore." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CHARACTER OF MAXIMILIAN II.--SUCCESSION OF RHODOLPH III. + +From 1576 to 1604. + +Character of Maximilian.--His Accomplishments.--His Wife.--Fate of his +Children.--Rhodolph III.--The Liberty of Worship.--Means of +Emancipation.--Rhodolph's Attempts against Protestantism.--Declaration +of a higher Law.--Theological Differences.--The Confederacy at +Heilbrun.--The Gregorian Calendar.--Intolerance in Bohemia.--The Trap of +the Monks.--Invasion of the Turks.--Their Defeat.--Coalition with +Sigismond.--Sale of Transylvania.--Rule of Basta.--The Empire captured +and recaptured.--Devastation of the Country.--Treatment of Stephen +Botskoi. + + +It is indeed refreshing, in the midst of the long list of selfish and +ambitious sovereigns who have disgraced the thrones of Europe, to meet +with such a prince as Maximilian, a gentleman, a philosopher, a +philanthropist and a Christian. Henry of Valois, on his return from +Poland to France, visited Maximilian at Vienna. Henry was considered one +of the most polished men of his age. He remarked in his palace at Paris +that in all his travels he had never met a more accomplished gentleman +than the Emperor Maximilian. Similar is the testimony of all his +contemporaries. With all alike, at all times, and under all +circumstances, he was courteous and affable. His amiability shone as +conspicuously at home as abroad, and he was invariably the kind husband, +the tender father, the indulgent master and the faithful friend. + +In early life he had vigorously prosecuted his studies, and thus +possessed the invaluable blessing of a highly cultivated mind. Fond of +the languages, he not only wrote and conversed in the Latin tongue with +fluency and elegance, but was quite at home in all the languages of his +extensive domains. Notwithstanding the immense cares devolving upon the +ruler of so extended an empire, he appropriated a portion of time every +day to devotional reading and prayer; and his hours were methodically +arranged for business, recreation and repose. The most humble subject +found easy access to his person, and always obtained a patient hearing. +When he was chosen King of Poland, some ambassadors from Bohemia +voluntarily went to Poland to testify to the virtues of their king. It +was a heartfelt tribute, such as few sovereigns have ever received. + +"We Bohemians," said they, "are as happy under his government as if he +were our father. Our privileges, laws, rights, liberties and usages are +protected and defended. Not less just than wise, he confers the offices +and dignities of the kingdom only on natives of rank, and is not +influenced by favor 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 a miracle is, the prudence and impartiality of his +conduct toward 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." + +Not an act of injustice sullied his reign, and during his administration +nearly all Germany, with the exception of Hungary, enjoyed almost +uninterrupted tranquillity. Catholics and Protestants unite in his +praises, and have conferred upon him the surname of the Delight of +Mankind. His wife Mary was the daughter of Charles V. She was an +accomplished, exemplary woman, entirely devoted to the Catholic faith. +For this devotion, notwithstanding the tolerant spirit of her husband, +she was warmly extolled by the Catholics. Gregory XIII. called her the +firm column of the Catholic faith, and Pius V. pronounced her worthy of +being worshiped. After the death of her husband she returned to Spain, +to the bigoted court of her bigoted brother Philip. Upon reaching Madrid +she developed the spirit which dishonored her, in expressing great joy +that she was once more in a country where no heretic was tolerated. Soon +after she entered a nunnery where she remained seven years until her +death. + +It is interesting briefly to trace out the history of the children of +this royal family. It certainly will not tend to make one any more +discontented to move in a humbler sphere. Maximilian left three +daughters and five sons. + +Anne, the eldest daughter, was engaged to her cousin, Don Carlos, only +son of her uncle Philip, King of Spain. As he was consequently heir to +the Spanish throne, this was a brilliant match. History thus records the +person and character of Don Carlos. He was sickly and one of his legs +was shorter than the other. His temper was not only violent, but +furious, breaking over all restraints, and the malignant passions were +those alone which governed him. He always slept with two naked swords +under his pillow, two loaded pistols, and several loaded guns, with a +chest of fire-arms at the side of his bed. He formed a conspiracy to +murder his father. He was arrested and imprisoned. Choking with rage, he +called for a fire, and threw himself into the flames, hoping to +suffocate himself. Being rescued, he attempted to starve himself. +Failing in this, he tried to choke himself by swallowing a diamond. He +threw off his clothes, and went naked and barefoot on the stone floor, +hoping to engender some fatal disease. For eleven days he took no food +but ice. At length the wretched man died, and thus Anne lost her lover. +But Philip, the father of Don Carlos, and own uncle of Anne, concluded +to take her for himself. She lived a few years as Queen of Spain, and +died four years after the death of her father, Maximilian. + +Elizabeth, the second daughter, was beautiful. At sixteen years of age +she married Charles IX., King of France, who was then twenty years old. +Charles IX. ascended the throne when but ten years of age, under the +regency of his infamous mother, Catherine de Medici, perhaps the most +demoniac female earth has known. Under her tutelage, her boy, equally +impotent in body and in mind, became as pitiable a creature as ever +disgraced a throne. The only energy he ever showed was in shooting the +Protestants from a window of the Louvre in the horrible Massacre of St. +Bartholomew, which he planned at the instigation of his fiend-like +mother. A few wretched years the youthful queen lived with the monster, +when his death released her from that bondage. She then returned to +Vienna, a young and childless widow, but twenty years of age. She built +and endowed the splendid monastery of St. Mary de Angelis, and having +seen enough of the pomp of the world, shut herself up from the world in +the imprisonment of its cloisters, where she recounted her beads for +nineteen years, until she died in 1592. + +Margaret, the youngest daughter, after her father's death, accompanied +her mother to Spain. Her sister Anne soon after died, and Philip II., +her morose and debauched husband, having already buried four wives, and +no one can tell how many guilty favorites, sought the hand of his young +and fresh niece. But Margaret wisely preferred the gloom of the cloister +to the Babylonish glare of the palace. She rejected the polluted and +withered hand, and in solitude and silence, as a hooded nun, she +remained immured in her cell for fifty-seven years. Then her pure spirit +passed from a joyless life on earth, we trust, to a happy home in +heaven. + +Rhodolph, the eldest son, succeeded his father, and in the subsequent +pages we shall record his career. + +Ernest, the second son, was a mild, bashful young man, of a temperament +so singularly melancholy that he was rarely known to smile. His brother +Rhodolph gave him the appointment of Governor of Hungary. He passed +quietly down the stream of time until he was forty-two years of age, +when he died of the stone, a disease which had long tortured him with +excruciating pangs. + +Matthias, the third son, became a restless, turbulent man, whose deeds +we shall have occasion to record in connection with his brother +Rhodolph, whom he sternly and successfully opposed. + +Maximilian, the fourth son, when thirty years of age was elected King of +Poland. An opposition party chose John, son of the King of Sweden. The +rival candidates appealed to the cruel arbitration of the sword. In a +decisive battle Maximilian's troops were defeated, and he was taken +prisoner. He was only released upon his giving the pledge that he +renounced all his right to the throne. He rambled about, now governing a +province, and now fighting the Turks, until he died unmarried, sixty +years of age. + +Albert, the youngest son, was destined to the Church. He was sent to +Spain, and under the patronage of his royal uncle he soon rose to +exalted ecclesiastical dignities. He, however, eventually renounced +these for more alluring temporal honors. Surrendering his cardinal's +hat, and archiepiscopal robes, he espoused Isabella, daughter of Philip, +and from the governorship of Portugal was promoted to the sovereignty of +the Netherlands. Here he encountered only opposition and war. After a +stormy and unsuccessful life, in which he was thwarted in all his plans, +he died childless. + +From this digression let us return to Rhodolph III., the heir to the +titles and the sovereignties of his father the emperor. It was indeed a +splendid inheritance which fell to his lot. He was the sole possessor of +the archduchy of Austria, King of Bohemia and of Hungary, and Emperor of +Germany. He was but twenty-five years of age when he entered upon the +undisputed possession of all these dignities. His natural disposition +was mild and amiable, his education had been carefully attended to, his +moral character was good, a rare virtue in those days, and he had +already evinced much industry, energy and talents for business. His +father had left the finances and the internal administration of all his +realms in good condition; his moderation had greatly mitigated the +religious animosities which disturbed other portions of Europe, and all +obstacles to a peaceful and prosperous reign seemed to have been +removed. + +But all these prospects were blighted by the religious bigotry which had +gained a firm hold of the mind of the young emperor. When he was but +twelve years of age he was sent to Madrid to be educated. Philip II., of +Spain, Rhodolph's uncle, had an only daughter, and no son, and there +seemed to be no prospect that his queen would give birth to another +child. Philip consequently thought of adopting Rhodolph as his successor +to the Spanish throne, and of marrying him to his daughter. In the court +of Spain where the Jesuits held supreme sway, and where Rhodolph was +intrusted to their guidance, the superstitious sentiments which he had +imbibed from his mother were still more deeply rooted. The Jesuits found +Rhodolph a docile pupil; and never on earth have there been found a set +of men who, more thoroughly than the Jesuits, have understood the art of +educating the mind to subjection. Rhodolph was instructed in all the +petty arts of intrigue and dissimulation, and was brought into entire +subserviency to the Spanish court. Thus educated, Rhodolph received the +crown. + +He commenced his reign with the desperate resolve to crush out +Protestantism, either by force or guile, and to bring back his realms to +the papal church. Even the toleration of Maximilian, in those dark days, +did not allow freedom of worship to any but the nobles. The wealthy and +emancipated citizens of Vienna, and other royal cities, could not +establish a church of their own; they could only, under protection of +the nobles, attend the churches which the nobles sustained. In other +words, the people were slaves, who were hardly thought of in any state +arrangements. The nobles were merely the slaveholders. As there was not +difference of color to mark the difference between the slaveholder and +the slaves or vassals, many in the cities, who had in various ways +achieved their emancipation, had become wealthy and instructed, and were +slowly claiming some few rights. The country nobles could assemble their +vassals in the churches where they had obtained toleration. In some few +cases some of the citizens of the large towns, who had obtained +emancipation from some feudal oppressions, had certain defined political +privileges granted them. But, in general, the nobles or slaveholders, +some having more, and some having less wealth and power, were all whom +even Maximilian thought of including in his acts of toleration. A +learned man in the universities, or a wealthy man in the walks of +commerce, was compelled to find shelter under the protection of some +powerful noble. There were nobles of all ranks, from the dukes, who +could bring twenty thousand armed men into the field, down to the most +petty, impoverished baron, who had perhaps not half a dozen vassals. + +Rhodolph's first measure was to prevent the _burghers_, as they were +called, who were those who had in various ways obtained emancipation +from vassal service, and in the large cities had acquired energy, wealth +and an air of independence, from attending Protestant worship. The +nobles were very jealous of their privileges, and were prompt to combine +whenever they thought them infringed. Fearful of rousing the nobles, +Rhodolph issued a decree, confirming the toleration which his father had +granted the nobles, but forbidding the burghers from attending +Protestant worship. This was very adroitly done, as it did not interfere +with the vassals of the rural nobles on their estates; and these +burghers were freed men, over whom the nobles could claim no authority. +At the same time Rhodolph silenced three of the most eloquent and +influential of the Protestant ministers, under the plea that they +assailed the Catholic church with too much virulence; and he also +forbade any one thenceforward to officiate as a Protestant clergyman +without a license from him. These were very decisive acts, and yet very +adroit ones, as they did not directly interfere with any of the +immunities of the nobles. + +The Protestants were, however, much alarmed by these measures, as +indicative of the intolerant policy of the new king. The preachers met +together to consult. They corresponded with foreign universities +respecting the proper course to pursue; and the Protestant nobles met to +confer upon the posture of affairs. As the result of their conferences, +they issued a remonstrance, declaring that they could not yield to such +an infringement of the rights of conscience, and that "they were bound +to obey God rather than man." + +Rhodolph was pleased with this resistance, as it afforded him some +excuse for striking a still heavier blow. He declared the remonstrants +guilty of rebellion. As a punishment, he banished several Protestant +ministers, and utterly forbade the exercise of any Protestant worship +whatever, in any of the royal towns, including Vienna itself. He +communicated with the leading Catholics in the Church and in the State, +urging them to act with energy, concert and unanimity. He removed the +Protestants from office, and supplied their places with Catholics. He +forbade any license to preach or academical degree, or professorship in +the universities from being conferred upon any one who did not sign the +formulary of the Catholic faith. He ordered a new catechism to be drawn +up for universal use in the schools, that there should be no more +Protestant education of children; he allowed no town to choose any +officer without his approbation, and he refused to ratify any choice +which did not fall upon a Catholic. No person was to be admitted to the +rights of burghership, until he had taken an oath of submission to the +Catholic priesthood. These high-handed measures led to the outbreak of a +few insurrections, which the emperor crushed with iron rigor. In the +course of a few years, by the vigorous and unrelenting prosecution of +these measures, Rhodolph gave the Catholics the ascendency in all his +realms. + +While the Catholics were all united, the Protestants were shamefully +divided upon the most trivial points of discipline, or upon abstruse +questions in philosophy above the reach of mortal minds. It was as true +then, as in the days of our Saviour, that "the children of this world +are wiser in their generation than the children of light." Henry IV., of +France, who had not then embraced the Catholic faith, was anxious to +unite the two great parties of Lutherans and Calvinists, who were as +hostile to each other as they were to the Catholics. He sent an +ambassador to Germany to urge their union. He entreated them to call a +general synod, suggesting, that as they differed only on the single +point of the Lord's Supper, it would be easy for them to form some basis +of fraternal and harmonious action. + +The Catholic church received the doctrine, so called, of +_transubstantiation_; that is, the bread and wine, used in the Lord's +Supper, is converted into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ, +that it is no longer bread and wine, but real flesh and blood; and none +the less so, because it does not appear such to our senses. Luther +renounced the doctrine of transubstantiation, and adopted, in its stead, +what he called _consubstantiation_; that is, that after the consecration +of the elements, the body and blood of Christ are substantially _present +with_ (cum et sub,) with and under, the substance of the bread and wine. +Calvin taught that the bread and wine represented the real body and +blood of Christ, and that the body and blood were _spiritually present_ +in the sacrament. It is a deplorable exhibition of the weakness of good +men, that the Lutherans and the Calvinists should have wasted their +energies in contending together upon such a point. But we moderns have +no right to boast. Precisely the same spirit is manifested now, and +denominations differ and strive together upon questions which the human +mind can never settle. The spirit which then animated the two parties +may be inferred from the reply of the Lutherans. + +"The partisans of Calvin," they wrote, "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 +explanations of the Scriptures, and adopted so many blasphemies, that +the question of the Lord's Supper, far from being the principal, has +become the least point of difference. An outward 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. These considerations induced us to insert into the formulary of +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 tolerated under pretense 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 +conformable." + +They, in conclusion, very politely informed King Henry IV. himself, that +if he wished to unite with them, he must sign their creed. This was +sincerity, honesty, but it was the sincerity and honesty of minds but +partially disinthralled from the bigotry of the dark ages. While the +Protestants were thus unhappily disunited, the pope coöperated with the +emperor, and wheeled all his mighty forces into the line to recover the +ground which the papal church had lost. Several of the more enlightened +of the Protestant princes, seeing all their efforts paralyzed by +disunion, endeavored to heal the schism. But the Lutheran leaders would +not listen to the Calvinists, nor the Calvinists to the Lutherans, and +the masses, as usual, blindly followed their leaders. + +Several of the Calvinist princes and nobles, the Lutherans refusing to +meet with them, united in a confederacy at Heilbrun, and drew up a long +list of grievances, declaring that, until they were redressed, they +should withhold the succors which the emperor had solicited to repel the +Turks. Most of these grievances were very serious, sufficiently so to +rouse men to almost any desperation of resistance. But it would be +amusing, were it not humiliating, to find among them the complaint that +the pope had changed the calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian. + +By the Julian calendar, or Old Style as it was called, the solar year +was estimated at three hundred and sixty-five days and six hours; but it +exceeds this by about eleven minutes. As no allowance was made for these +minutes, which amount to a day in about one hundred and thirty years, +the current year had, in process of ages, advanced ten days beyond the +real time. Thus the vernal equinox, which really took place on the 10th +of March, was assigned in the calendar to the 21st. To rectify this +important error the New Style, or Gregorian calendar, was introduced, so +called from Pope Gregory XII. Ten days were dropped after the 4th of +October, 1582, and the 5th was called the 15th. This reform of the +calendar, correct and necessary as it was, was for a long time adopted +only by the Catholic princes, so hostile were the Protestants to any +thing whatever which originated from the pope. In their list of +grievances they mentioned this most salutary reform as one, stating that +the pope and the Jesuits presumed even to change the order of times and +years. + +This confederacy of the Calvinists, unaided by the Lutherans, +accomplished nothing; but still, as year after year the disaffection +increased, their numbers gradually increased also, until, on the 12th of +February, 1603, at Heidelberg they entered into quite a formidable +alliance, offensive and defensive. + +Rhodolph, encouraged by success, pressed his measure of intolerance with +renovated vigor. Having quite effectually abolished the Protestant +worship in the States of Austria, he turned his attention to Bohemia, +where, under the mild government of his father, the Protestants had +enjoyed a degree of liberty of conscience hardly known in any other part +of Europe. The realm was startled by the promulgation of a decree +forbidding both Calvinists and Lutherans from holding any meetings for +divine worship, and declaring them incapacitated from holding any +official employment whatever. At the same time he abolished all their +schools, and either closed all their churches, or placed in them +Catholic preachers. These same decrees were also promulgated and these +same measures adopted in Hungary. And still the Protestants, insanely +quarreling among themselves upon the most abstruse points of theological +philosophy, chose rather to be devoured piecemeal by their great enemy +than to combine in self-defense. + +The emperor now turned from his own dominions of Austria, Hungary and +Bohemia, where he reigned in undisputed sway, to other States of the +empire, which were governed by their own independent rulers and laws, +and where the power of the emperor was shadowy and limited. He began +with the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, in a Prussian province on the Lower +Rhine; sent an army there, took possession of the town, expelled the +Protestants from the magistracy, driving some of them into exile, +inflicting heavy fines upon others, and abolishing entirely the exercise +of the Protestant religion. + +He then turned to Donauworth, an important city of Bavaria, upon the +Upper Danube. This was a Protestant city, having within its walls but +few Catholics. There was in the city one Catholic religious +establishment, a Benedictine abbey. The friars enjoyed unlimited freedom +of conscience and worship within their own walls, but were not permitted +to occupy the streets with their processions, performing the forms and +ceremonies of the Catholic church. The Catholics, encouraged by the +emperor, sent out a procession from the walls of the abbey, with +torches, banners, relics and all the pageants of Catholic worship. The +magistrates stopped the procession, took away their banners and sent +them back to the abbey, and then suffered the procession to proceed. +Soon after the friars got up another procession on a funeral occasion. +The magistrates, apprehensive that this was a trap to excite them to +some opposition which would render it plausible for the emperor to +interfere, suffered the procession to proceed unmolested. In a few days +the monks repeated the experiment. The populace had now become excited, +and there were threats of violence. The magistrates, fearful of the +consequences, did every thing in their power to soothe the people, and +urged them, by earnest proclamation, to abstain from all tumult. For +some time the procession, displaying all the hated pomp of papal +worship, paraded the streets undisturbed. But at length the populace +became ungovernable, attacked the monks, demolished their pageants and +pelted them with mire back into the convent. + +This was enough. The emperor published the ban of the empire, and sent +the Duke of Bavaria with an army to execute the decree. Resistance was +hopeless. The troops took possession of the town, abolished the +Protestant religion, and delivered the churches to the Catholics. + +The Protestants now saw that there was no hope for them but in union. +Thus driven together by an outward pressure which was every day growing +more menacing and severe, the chiefs of the Protestant party met at +Aschhausen and established a confederacy to continue for ten years. Thus +united, they drew up a list of grievances, and sent an embassy to +present their demands to the emperor. And now came a very serious turn +in the fortunes of Rhodolph. Notwithstanding the armistice which had +been concluded with the Turks by Rhodolph, a predatory warfare continued +to rage along the borders. Neither the emperor nor the sultan, had they +wished it, could prevent fiery spirits, garrisoned in fortresses +frowning at each other, from meeting occasionally in hostile encounter. +And both parties were willing that their soldiers should have enough to +do to keep up their courage and their warlike spirit. Aggression +succeeding aggression, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, +the sultan at last, in a moment of exasperation, resolved to break the +truce. + +A large army of Turks invaded Croatia, took several fortresses, and +marching up the valley of the Save, were opening before them a route +into the heart of the Austrian States. The emperor hastily gathered an +army to oppose them. They met before Siseck, at the confluence of the +Kulpa and the Save. The Turks were totally defeated, with the loss of +twelve thousand men. Exasperated by the defeat, the sultan roused his +energies anew, and war again raged in all its horrors. The advantage was +with the Turks, and they gradually forced their way up the valley of the +Danube, taking fortress after fortress, till they were in possession of +the important town of Raab, within a hundred miles of Vienna. + +Sigismond, the waivode or governor of Transylvania, an energetic, +high-spirited man, had, by his arms, brought the provinces of Wallachia +and Moldavia under subjection to him. Having attained such power, he was +galled at the idea of holding his government under the protection of the +Turks. He accordingly abandoned the sultan, and entered into a coalition +with the emperor. The united armies fell furiously upon the Turks, and +drove them back to Constantinople. + +The sultan, himself a man of exceedingly ferocious character, was +thoroughly aroused by this disgrace. He raised an immense army, placed +himself at its head, and in 1596 again invaded Hungary. He drove the +Austrians everywhere before him, and but for the lateness of the season +would have bombarded Vienna. Sigismond, in the hour of victory, sold +Transylvania to Rhodolph for the governorship of some provinces in +Silesia, and a large annual pension. There was some fighting before the +question was fully settled in favor of the emperor, and then he placed +the purchased and the conquered province under the government of the +imperial general Basta. + +The rule of Basta was so despotic that the Transylvanians rose in +revolt, and under an intrepid chief, Moses Tzekeli, appealed to the +Turks for aid. The Turks were rejoiced again to find the Christians +divided, and hastened to avail themselves of the coöperation of the +disaffected. The Austrians were driven from Transylvania, and the Turks +aided in crowning Tzekeli Prince of Transylvania, under the protection +of the Porte. The Austrians, however, soon returned in greater force, +killed Tzekeli in the confusion of battle, and reconquered the country. +During all this time wretched Hungary was ravaged with incessant wars +between the Turks and Austrians. Army after army swept to and fro over +the smoldering cities and desolated plains. Neither party gained any +decisive advantage, while Hungary was exposed to misery which no pen can +describe. Cities were bombarded, now by the Austrians and now by the +Turks, villages were burned, harvests trodden down, every thing eatable +was consumed. Outrages were perpetrated upon the helpless population by +the ferocious Turks which can not be told. + +The Hungarians lost all confidence in Rhodolph. The bigoted emperor was +so much engaged in the attempt to extirpate what he called heresy from +his realms, that he neglected to send armies sufficiently strong to +protect Hungary from these ravages. He could have done this without much +difficulty; but absorbed in his hostility to Protestantism, he merely +sent sufficient troops to Hungary to keep the country in a constant +state of warfare. He filled every important governmental post in Hungary +with Catholics and foreigners. To all the complaints of the Hungarians +he turned a deaf ear; and his own Austrian troops frequently rivaled the +Turks in devastation and pillage. At the same time he issued the most +intolerant edicts, depriving the Protestants of all their rights, and +endeavoring to force the Roman Catholic religion upon the community. + +He allowed, and even encouraged, his rapacious generals to insult and +defraud the Protestant Hungarian nobles, seizing their castles, +confiscating their estates and driving them into exile. This oppression +at last became unendurable. The people were driven to despair. One of +the most illustrious nobles of Hungary, a magnate of great wealth and +distinction, Stephen Botskoi, repaired to Prague to inform the emperor +of the deplorable state of Hungary and to seek redress. He was treated +with the utmost indignity; was detained for hours in the ante-chamber of +the emperor, where he encountered the most cutting insults from the +minions of the court. The indignation of the high-spirited noble was +roused to the highest pitch. And when, on his return to Hungary, he +found his estates plundered and devastated by order of the imperial +governor, he was all ready to head an insurrection. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS. + +From 1604 to 1609. + +Botskoi's Manifesto.--Horrible Suffering in Transylvania.--Character of +Botskoi.--Confidence of the Protestants.--Superstition of Rhodolph.--His +Mystic Studies.--Acquirements of Matthias.--Schemes of Matthias.--His +Increasing Power.--Treaty with the Turks.--Demands on Rhodolph.--The +Compromise.--Perfidy of Matthias.--The Margravite.--Filibustering.--The +People's Diet.--A Hint to Royalty.--The Bloodless Triumph.--Demands of +the Germans.--Address of the Prince of Anhalt to the King. + + +Stephen Botskoi issued a spirited manifesto to his countrymen, urging +them to seek by force of arms that redress which they could obtain in no +other way. The Hungarians flocked in crowds to his standard. Many +soldiers deserted from the service of the emperor and joined the +insurrection. Botskoi soon found himself in possession of a force +sufficiently powerful to meet the Austrian troops in the field. The two +hostile armies soon met in the vicinity of Cassau. The imperial troops +were defeated with great slaughter, and the city of Cassau fell into the +hands of Botskoi; soon his victorious troops took several other +important fortresses. The inhabitants of Transylvania, encouraged by the +success of Botskoi, and detesting the imperial rule, also in great +numbers crowded his ranks and intreated him to march into Transylvania. +He promptly obeyed their summons. The misery of the Transylvanians was, +if possible, still greater than that of the Hungarians. Their country +presented but a wide expanse of ruin and starvation. Every aspect of +comfort and industry was obliterated. The famishing inhabitants were +compelled to use the most disgusting animals for food; and when these +were gone, in many cases they went to the grave-yard, in the frenzied +torments of hunger, and devoured the decaying bodies of the dead. +Pestilence followed in the train of these woes, and the land was filled +with the dying and the dead. + +The Turks marched to the aid of Botskoi to expel the Austrians. Even the +sway of the Mussulman was preferable to that of the bigoted Rhodolph. +Hungary, Transylvania and Turkey united, and the detested Austrians were +driven out of Transylvania, and Botskoi, at the head of his victorious +army, and hailed by thousands as the deliverer of Transylvania, was +inaugurated prince of the province. He then returned to Hungary, where +an immense Turkish army received him, in the plains of Rahoz, with regal +honors. Here a throne was erected. The banners of the majestic host +fluttered in the breeze, and musical bands filled the air with their +triumphal strains as the regal diadem was placed upon the brow of +Botskoi, and he was proclaimed King of Hungary. The Sultan Achment sent, +with his congratulations to the victorious noble, a saber of exquisite +temper and finish, and a gorgeous standard. The grand vizier himself +placed the royal diadem upon his brow. + +Botskoi was a nobleman in every sense of the word. He thought it best +publicly to accept these honors in gratitude to the sultan for his +friendship and aid, and also to encourage and embolden the Hungarians to +retain what they had already acquired. He knew that there were bloody +battles still before them, for the emperor would doubtless redouble his +efforts to regain his Hungarian possessions. At the same time Botskoi, +in the spirit of true patriotism, was not willing even to appear to have +usurped the government through the energies of the sword. He therefore +declared that he should not claim the crown unless he should be freely +elected by the nobles; and that he accepted these honors simply as +tokens of the confidence of the allied army, and as a means of +strengthening their power to resist the emperor. + +The campaign was now urged with great vigor, and nearly all of Hungary +was conquered. Such was the first great disaster which the intolerance +and folly of Rhodolph brought upon him. The Turks and the Hungarians +were now good friends, cordially coöperating. A few more battles would +place them in possession of the whole of Hungary, and then, in their +alliance they could defy all the power of the emperor, and penetrate +even the very heart of his hereditary dominions of Austria. Rhodolph, in +this sudden peril, knew not where to look for aid. The Protestants, who +constituted one half of the physical force, not only of Bohemia and of +the Austrian States, but of all Germany, had been insulted and oppressed +beyond all hope of reconciliation. They dreaded the papal emperor more +than the Mohammedan sultan. They were ready to hail Botskoi as their +deliverer from intolerable despotism, and to swell the ranks of his +army. Botskoi was a Protestant, and the sympathies of the Protestants +all over Germany were with him. Elated by his advance, the Protestants +withheld all contributions from the emperor, and began to form +combinations in favor of the Protestant chief. Rhodolph was astonished +at this sudden reverse, and quite in dismay. He had no resource but to +implore the aid of the Spanish court. + +Rhodolph was as superstitious as he was bigoted and cruel. Through the +mysteries of alchymy he had been taught to believe that his life would +be endangered by one of his own blood. The idea haunted him by night and +by day; he was to be assassinated, and by a near relative. He was afraid +to marry lest his own child might prove his destined murderer. He was +afraid to have his brothers marry lest it might be a nephew who was to +perpetrate the deed. He did not dare to attend church, or to appear any +where in public without taking the greatest precautions against any +possibility of attack. The galleries of his palace were so arranged with +windows in the roof, that he could pass from one apartment to another +sheltered by impenetrable walls. + +This terror, which pursued him every hour, palsied his energies; and +while the Turks were drawing nearer to his capital, and Hungary had +broken from his sway, and insurrection was breaking out in all parts of +his dominions, he secluded himself in the most retired apartments of his +palace at Prague, haunted by visions of terror, as miserable himself as +he had already made millions of his subjects. He devoted himself to the +study of the mystic sciences of astrology and alchymy. He became +irritable, morose, and melancholy even to madness. Foreign ambassadors +could not get admission to his presence. His religion, consisting +entirely in ecclesiastical rituals and papal dogmas, not in Christian +morals, could not dissuade him from the most degrading sensual vice. +Low-born mistresses, whom he was continually changing, became his only +companions, and thus sunk in sin, shame and misery, he virtually +abandoned his ruined realms to their fate. + +Rhodolph had received the empire from the hands of his noble father in a +state of the very highest prosperity. In thirty years, by shameful +misgovernment, he had carried it to the brink of ruin. Rhodolph's third +brother, Matthias, was now forty-nine years of age. He had been educated +by the illustrious Busbequias, whose mind had been liberalized by study +in the most celebrated universities of Flanders, France and Italy. His +teacher had passed many years as an ambassador in the court of the +sultan, and thus had been able to give his pupil a very intimate +acquaintance with the resources, the military tactics, the manners and +customs of the Turks. He excelled in military exercises, and was +passionately devoted to the art of war. In all respects he was the +reverse of his brother--energetic, frank, impulsive. The two brothers, +so dissimilar, had no ideas in common, and were always involved in +bickerings. + +The Netherlands had risen in revolt against the infamous Philip II. of +Spain. They chose the intrepid and warlike Matthias as their leader. +With alacrity he assumed the perilous post. The rivalry of the chiefs +thwarted his plans, and he resigned his post and returned to Austria, +where his brother, the emperor, refused even to see him, probably +fearing assassination. Matthias took up his residence at Lintz, where he +lived for some time in obscurity and penury. His imperial brother would +neither give him help nor employment. The restless prince fretted like a +tiger in his cage. + +In 1595 Rhodolph's second brother, Ernest, died childless, and thus +Matthias became heir presumptive to the crown of Austria. From that time +Rhodolph made a change, and intrusted him with high offices. Still the +brothers were no nearer to each other in affection. Rhodolph dreaded the +ambition and was jealous of the rising power of his brother. He no +longer dared to treat him ignominiously, lest his brother should be +provoked to some desperate act of retaliation. On the other hand, +Matthias despised the weakness and superstition of Rhodolph. The +increasing troubles in the realm and the utter inefficiency of Rhodolph, +convinced Matthias that the day was near when he must thrust Rhodolph +from the throne he disgraced, and take his seat upon it, or the splendid +hereditary domains which had descended to them from their ancestors +would pass from their hands forever. + +With this object in view, he did all he could to conciliate the +Catholics, while he attempted to secure the Protestants by promising to +return to the principles of toleration established by his father, +Maximilian. Matthias rapidly increased in popularity, and as rapidly +Rhodolph was sinking into disgrace. Catholics and Protestants saw alike +that the ruin of Austria was impending, and that apparently there was no +hope but in the deposition of Rhodolph and the enthronement of Matthias. + +It was not difficult to accomplish this revolution, and yet it required +energy, secrecy and an extended combination. Even the weakest reigning +monarch has power in his hands which can only be wrested from him by +both strength and skill. Matthias first gained over to his plan his +younger brother, Maximilian, and two of his cousins, princes of the +Styrian line. They entered into a secret agreement, by which they +declared that in consequence of the incapacity of Rhodolph, he was to be +considered as deposed by the will of Providence, and that Matthias was +entitled to the sovereignty as head of the house of Austria. Matthias +then gained, by the varied arts of diplomatic bargaining, the promised +support of several other princes. He purchased the coöperation of +Botskoi by surrendering to him the whole of Transylvania, and all of +Hungary to the river Theiss, which, including Transylvania, constitutes +one half of the majestic kingdom. Matthias agreed to grant general +toleration to all Protestants, both Lutherans and Calvinists, and also +to render them equally eligible with the Catholics to all offices of +emolument and honor. Both parties then agreed to unite against the Turks +if they refused to accede to honorable terms of peace. The sultan, +conscious that such a union would be more than he could successfully +oppose, listened to the conditions of peace when they afterwards made +them, as he had never condescended to listen before. It is indicative of +the power which the Turks had at that day attained, that a truce with +the sultan for twenty years, allowing each party to retain possession of +the territories which they then held, was purchased by paying a sum +outright, amounting to two hundred thousand dollars. The annual tribute, +however, was no longer to be paid, and thus Christendom was released +from the degradation of vassalage to the Turk. + +Rhodolph, who had long looked with a suspicious eye upon Matthias, +watching him very narrowly, began now to see indications of the plot. He +therefore, aided by the counsel and the energy of the King of Spain, who +was implacable in his hostility to Matthias, resolved to make his cousin +Ferdinand, a Styrian prince, his heir to succeed him upon the throne. He +conferred upon Ferdinand exalted dignities; appointed him to preside in +his stead at a diet at Ratisbon, and issued a proclamation full of most +bitter recriminations against Matthias. + +Matters had now come to such a pass that Matthias was compelled either +to bow in humble submission to his brother, or by force of arms to +execute his purposes. With such an alternative he was not a man long to +delay his decision. Still he advanced in his plans, though firmly, with +great circumspection. To gain the Protestants was to gain one half of +the physical power of united Austria, and more than one half of its +energy and intelligence. He appointed a rendezvous for his troops at +Znaim in Moravia, and while Rhodolph was timidly secluding himself in +his palace at Prague, Matthias left Vienna with ten thousand men, and +marched to meet them. He was received by the troops assembled at Znaim +with enthusiasm. Having thus collected an army of twenty-five thousand +men, he entered Bohemia. On the 10th of May, 1608, he reached Craslau, +within sixty miles of Prague. Great multitudes now crowded around him +and openly espoused his cause. He now declared openly and to all, that +it was his intention to depose his brother and claim for himself the +government of Hungary, Austria and Bohemia. + +He then urged his battalions onward, and pressed with rapid march +towards Prague. Rhodolph was now roused to some degree of energy. He +summoned all his supporters to rally around him. It was a late hour for +such a call, but the Catholic nobles generally, all over the kingdom, +were instantly in motion. Many Protestant nobles also attended the +assembly, hoping to extort from the emperor some measures of toleration. +The emperor was so frightened that he was ready to promise almost any +thing. He even crept from his secluded apartments and presided over the +meeting in person. The Protestant nobles drew up a paper demanding the +same toleration which Maximilian had granted, with the additional +permission to build churches and to have their own burying-grounds. With +this paper, to which five or six hundred signatures were attached, they +went to the palace, demanded admission to the emperor, and required him +immediately to give his assent to them. It was not necessary for them to +add any threat, for the emperor knew that there was an Austrian and +Hungarian army within a few hours' march. + +While matters were in this state, commissioners from Matthias arrived to +inform the king that he must cede the crown to his brother and retire +into the Tyrol. The emperor, in terror, inquired, "What shall I do?" The +Protestants demanded an immediate declaration, either that he would or +would not grant their request. His friends told him that resistance was +unavailing, and that he must come to an accommodation. Still the emperor +had now thirty-six thousand troops in and around Prague. They were, +however, inspired with no enthusiasm for his person, and it was quite +doubtful whether they would fight. A few skirmishes took place between +the advance guards with such results as to increase Rhodolph's alarm. + +He consequently sent envoys to his brother. They met at Liebau, and +after a negotiation of four days they made a partial compromise, by +which Rhodolph ceded to Matthias, without reservation, Hungary, Austria +and Moravia. Matthias was also declared to be the successor to the crown +of Bohemia should Rhodolph die without issue male, and Matthias was +immediately to assume the title of "appointed King of Bohemia." The +crown and scepter of Hungary were surrendered to Matthias. He received +them with great pomp at the head of his army, and then leading his +triumphant battalions out of Bohemia, he returned to Vienna and entered +the city with all the military parade of a returning conqueror. + +Matthias had now gained his great object, but he was not at all inclined +to fulfill his promises. He assembled the nobles of Austria, to receive +from them their oaths of allegiance. But the Protestants, taught caution +by long experience, wished first to see the decree of toleration which +he had promised. Many of the Protestants, at a distance from the +capital, not waiting for the issuing of the decree, but relying upon his +promise, reëstablished their worship, and the Lord of Inzendorf threw +open his chapel to the citizens of the town. But Matthias was now +disposed to play the despot. He arrested the Lord of Inzendorf, and +closed his church. He demanded of all the lords, Protestant as well as +Catholic, an unconditional oath of allegiance, giving vague promises, +that perhaps at some future time he would promulgate a decree of +toleration, but declaring that he was not bound to do so, on the +miserable quibble that, as he had received from Rhodolph a hereditary +title, he was not bound to grant any thing but what he had received. + +The Protestants were alarmed and exasperated. They grasped their arms; +they retired in a body from Vienna to Hern; threw garrisons and +provisions into several important fortresses; ordered a levy of every +fifth man; sent to Hungary and Moravia to rally their friends there, and +with amazing energy and celerity formed a league for the defense of +their faith. Matthias was now alarmed. He had not anticipated such +energetic action, and he hastened to Presburg, the capital of Hungary, +to secure, if possible, a firm seat upon the throne. A large force of +richly caparisoned troops followed him, and he entered the capital with +splendor, which he hoped would dazzle the Hungarians. The regal crown +and regalia, studded with priceless jewels, which belonged to Hungary, +he took with him, with great parade. Hungary had been deprived of these +treasures, which were the pride of the nation, for seventy years. But +the Protestant nobles were not to be cajoled with such tinsel. They +remained firm in their demands, and refused to accept him as their +sovereign until the promised toleration was granted. Their claims were +very distinct and intelligible, demanding full toleration for both +Calvinists and Lutherans, and equal eligibility for Protestants with +Catholics, to all governmental offices; none but native Hungarians were +to be placed in office; the king was to reside in Hungary, and when +necessarily absent, was to intrust the government to a regent, chosen +jointly by the king and the nobles; Jesuits were not to be admitted into +the kingdom; no foreign troops were to be admitted, unless there was war +with the Turks, and the king was not to declare war without the consent +of the nobles. + +Matthias was very reluctant to sign such conditions, for he was very +jealous of his newly-acquired power as a sovereign. But a refusal would +have exposed him to a civil war, with such forces arrayed against him as +to render the result at least doubtful. The Austrian States were already +in open insurrection. The emissaries of Rhodolph were busy, fanning the +flames of discontent, and making great promises to those who would +restore Rhodolph to the throne. Intolerant and odious as Rhodolph had +been, his great reverses excited sympathy, and many were disposed to +regard Matthias but as a usurper. Thus influenced, Matthias not only +signed all the conditions, but was also constrained to carry them, into +immediate execution. These conditions being fulfilled, the nobles met on +the 19th of November, 1606, and elected Matthias king, and inaugurated +him with the customary forms. + +Matthias now returned to Vienna, to quell the insurrection in the +Austrian States. The two countries were so entirely independent of each +other, though now under the same ruler, that he had no fear that his +Hungarian subjects would interfere at all in the internal administration +of Austria. Matthias was resolved to make up for the concessions he had +granted the Hungarians, by ruling with more despotic sway in Austria. +The pope proffered him his aid. The powerful bishops of Passau and +Vienna assured him of efficient support, and encouraged the adoption of +energetic measures. Thus strengthened Matthias, who was so pliant and +humble in Hungary, assumed the most haughty airs of the sovereign in +Austria. He peremptorily ordered the Protestants to be silent, and to +cease their murmurings, or he would visit them with the most exemplary +punishment. + +North-east of the duchy of Austria, and lying between the kingdoms of +Hungary and Bohemia, was the province of Moravia. This territory was +about the size of the State of Massachusetts, and its chief noble, or +governor, held the title of margrave, or marquis. Hence the province, +which belonged to the Austrian empire, was called the margraviate of +Moravia. It contained a population of a little over a million. The +nobles of Moravia immediately made common cause with those of Austria, +for they knew that they must share the same fate. Matthias was again +alarmed, and brought to terms. On the 16th of March, 1609, he signed a +capitulation, which restored to all the Austrian provinces all the +toleration which they had enjoyed under Maximilian II. The nobles then, +of all the States of Austria, took the oath of allegiance to Matthias. + +The ambitious monarch, having thus for succeeded, looked with a covetous +eye towards Transylvania. That majestic province, on the eastern borders +of Hungary, being three times the size of Massachusetts, and containing +a population of about two millions, would prove a splendid addition to +the Hungarian kingdom. While Matthias was secretly encouraging what in +modern times and republican parlance is called a filibustering +expedition, for the sake of annexing Transylvania to the area of +Hungary, a new object of ambition, and one still more alluring, opened +before him. + +The Protestants in Bohemia were quite excited when they heard of the +great privileges which their brethren in Hungary, and in the Austrian +provinces had extorted from Matthias. This rendered them more restless +under the intolerable burdens imposed upon them. Soon after the armies +of Matthias had withdrawn from Bohemia, Rhodolph, according to his +promise, summoned a diet to deliberate upon the state of affairs. The +Protestants, who despised Rhodolph, attended the diet, resolved to +demand reform, and, if necessary, to seek it by force of arms. They at +once assumed a bold front, and refused to discuss any civil affairs +whatever, until the freedom of religious worship, which they had enjoyed +under Maximilian, was restored to them. But Rhodolph, infatuated, and +under the baleful influence of the Jesuits, refused to listen to their +appeal. + +Matthias, informed of this state of affairs, saw that there was a fine +opportunity for him to place himself at the head of the Protestants, who +constituted not only a majority in Bohemia, but were also a majority in +the diet. He therefore sent his emissaries among them to encourage them +with assurances of his sympathy and aid. The diet which Rhodolph had +summoned, separated without coming to other result than rousing +thoroughly the spirit of the Protestants. They boldly called another +diet to meet in May, in the city of Prague itself, under the very shadow +of the palace of Rhodolph, and sent deputies to Matthias, and to the +Protestant princes generally of the German empire, soliciting their +support. Rhodolph issued a proclamation forbidding them to meet. +Regardless of this injunction they met, at the appointed time and place, +opened the meeting with imposing ceremonies, and made quiet preparation +to repel force with force. These preparations were so effectually made +that upon an alarm being given that the troops of Rhodolph were +approaching to disperse the assembly, in less than an hour twelve +hundred mounted knights and more than ten thousand foot soldiers +surrounded their hall as a guard. + +This was a very broad hint to the emperor, and it surprisingly +enlightened him. He began to bow and to apologize, and to asserverate +upon his word of honor that he meant to do what was right, and from +denunciations, he passed by a single step to cajolery and fawning. It +was, however, only his intention to gain time till he could secure the +coöperation of the pope, and other Catholic princes. The Protestants, +however, were not to be thus deluded. As unmindful of his protestations +as they had been of his menaces, they proceeded resolutely in +establishing an energetic organization for the defense of their civil +and religious rights. They decreed the levying of an army, and appointed +three of the most distinguished nobles as generals. The decree was +hardly passed before it was carried into execution, and an army of three +thousand foot soldiers, and two thousand horsemen was assembled as by +magic, and their numbers were daily increasing. + +Rhodolph, still cloistered in his palace, looked with amazement upon +this rising storm. He had no longer energy for any decisive action. With +mulish obstinacy he would concede nothing, neither had he force of +character to marshal any decisive resistance. But at last he saw that +the hand of Matthias was also in the movement; that his ambitious, +unrelenting brother was cooperating with his foes, and would inevitably +hurl him from the throne of Bohemia, as he had already done from the +kingdom of Hungary and from the dukedom of Austria. He was +panic-stricken by this sudden revelation, and in the utmost haste issued +a decree, dated July 5th, 1609, granting to the Protestants full +toleration of religious worship, and every other right they had +demanded. The despotic old king became all of a sudden as docile and +pliant as a child. He assured his faithful and well-beloved Protestant +subjects that they might worship God in their own chapels without any +molestation; that they might build churches that they might establish +schools for their children; that their clergy might meet in +ecclesiastical councils; that they might choose chiefs, who should be +confirmed by the sovereign, to watch over their religious privileges and +to guard against any infringement of this edict; and finally, all +ordinances contrary to this act of free and full toleration, which might +hereafter be issued, either by the present sovereign or any of his +successors, were declared null and void. + +The Protestants behaved nobly in this hour of bloodless triumph. Their +demands were reasonable and honorable, and they sought no infringement +whatever of the rights of others. Their brethren of Silesia had aided +them in this great achievement. The duchy of Silesia was then dependent +upon Bohemia, and was just north of Moldavia. It contained a population +of about a million and a half, scattered over a territory of about +fifteen thousand square miles. The Protestants demanded that the +Silesians should share in the decree. "Most certainly," replied the +amiable Rhodolph. An act of general amnesty for all political offenses +was then passed, and peace was restored to Germany. + +Never was more forcibly seen, than on this occasion, the power of the +higher classes over the masses of the people. In fact, popular tumults, +disgraceful mobs, are almost invariably excited by the higher classes, +who push the mob on while they themselves keep in the background. It was +now for the interest of the leaders, both Catholic and Protestant, that +there should be peace, and the populace immediately imbibed that spirit. +The Protestant chapel stood by the side of the Romish cathedral, and the +congregations mingled freely in courtesy and kindness, as they passed to +and from their places of worship. Mutual forbearance and good will +seemed at once to be restored. And now the several cities of the German +empire, where religious freedom had been crushed by the emperor, began +to throng his palace with remonstrants and demands. They, united, +resolved at every hazard to attain the privileges which their brethren +in Bohemia and Austria had secured. The Prince of Anhalt, an able and +intrepid man, was dispatched to Prague with a list of grievances. In +very plain language he inveighed against the government of the emperor, +and demanded for Donauworth and other cities of the German empire, the +civil and religious freedom of which Rhodolph had deprived them; +declaring, without any softening of expression, that if the emperor did +not peacefully grant their requests, they would seek redress by force of +arms. The humiliated and dishonored emperor tried to pacify the prince +by vague promises and honeyed words, to which the prince replied in +language which at once informed the emperor that the time for dalliance +had passed. + +"I fear," said the Prince of Anhalt, in words which sovereigns are not +accustomed to hear, "that this answer will rather tend to prolong the +dispute than to tranquillize the united princes. I am bound in duty to +represent to your imperial majesty the dangerous flame which I now see +bursting forth in Germany. Your counselors are ill adapted to extinguish +this rising flame--those counselors 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 consideration +yourself, intreating you to recollect the example of Julius Cæsar, 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." + +This last remark threw the emperor into a paroxysm of terror. He had +long been trembling from the apprehension of assassination. This +allusion to Julius Cæsar he considered an intimation that his hour was +at hand. His terror was so great that Prince Anhalt had to assure him, +again and again, that he intended no such menace, and that he was not +aware that any conspiracy was thought of any where, for his death. The +emperor was, however, so alarmed that he promised any thing and every +thing. He doubtless intended to fulfill his promise, but subsequent +troubles arose which absorbed all his remaining feeble energies, and +obliterated past engagements from his mind. + +Matthias was watching all the events with the intensest eagerness, as +affording a brilliant prospect to him, to obtain the crown of Bohemia, +and the scepter of the empire. This ambition consumed his days and his +nights, verifying the adage, "uneasy lies the head which wears a crown." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS. + +From 1609 to 1612. + +Difficulties as to the Succession.--Hostility of Henry IV. to the House +of Austria.--Assassination of Henry IV.--Similarity in Sully's and +Napoleon's Plans.--Exultation of the Catholics.--The Brothers' +Compact.--How Rhodolph Kept It.--Seizure of Prague.--Rhodolph a +Prisoner.--The King's Abdication.--Conditions Attached to the +Crown.--Rage of Rhodolph.--Matthias Elected King.--The Emperor's +Residence.--Rejoicings of the Protestants.--Reply of the +Ambassadors.--The Nuremburg Diet.--The Unkindest Cut of All.--Rhodolph's +Humiliation And Death. + + +And now suddenly arose another question which threatened to involve all +Europe in war. The Duke of Cleves, Juliers, and Berg died without issue. +This splendid duchy, or rather combination of duchies, spread over a +territory of several thousand square miles, and was inhabited by over a +million of inhabitants. There were many claimants to the succession, and +the question was so singularly intricate and involved, that there were +many who seemed to have an equal right to the possession. The emperor, +by virtue of his imperial authority, issued an edict, putting the +territory in sequestration, till the question should be decided by the +proper tribunals, and, in the meantime, placing the territory in the +hands of one of his own family as administrator. + +This act, together with the known wishes of Spain to prevent so +important a region, lying near the Netherlands, from falling into the +hands of the Protestants, immediately changed the character of the +dispute into a religious contest, and, as by magic, all Europe wheeled +into line on the one side or the other, Every other question was lost +sight of, in the all-absorbing one, Shall the duchy fall into the hands +of the Protestants or the Catholics? + +Henry IV. of France zealously espoused the cause of the Protestants. He +was very hostile to the house of Austria for the assistance it had lent +to that celebrated league which for so many years had deluged France in +blood, and kept Henry IV. from the throne; and he was particularly +anxious to humble that proud power. Though Henry IV., after fighting for +many years the battles of Protestantism, had, from motives of policy, +avowed the Romish faith, he could never forget his mother's +instructions, his early predilections and his old friends and +supporters, the Protestants; and his sympathies were always with them. +Henry IV., as sagacious and energetic as he was ambitious, saw that he +could never expect a more favorable moment to strike the house of +Austria than the one then presented. The Emperor Rhodolph was weak, and +universally unpopular, not only with his own subjects, but throughout +Germany. The Protestants were all inimical to him, and he was involved +in desperate antagonism with his energetic brother Matthias. Still he +was a formidable foe, as, in a war involving religious questions, he +could rally around him all the Catholic powers of Europe. + +Henry IV., preparatory to pouring his troops into the German empire, +entered into secret negotiations with England, Denmark, Switzerland, +Venice, whom he easily purchased with offers of plunder, and with the +Protestant princes of minor power on the continent. There were not a +few, indifferent upon religious matters, who were ready to engage in any +enterprise which would humble Spain and Austria. Henry collected a large +force on the frontiers of Germany, and, with ample materials of war, was +prepared, at a given signal, to burst into the territory of the empire. + +The Catholics watched these movements with alarm, and began also to +organize. Rhodolph, who, from his position as emperor, should have been +their leader, was a wretched hypochondriac, trembling before imaginary +terrors, a prey to the most gloomy superstitions, and still concealed in +the secret chambers of his palace. He was a burden to his party, and was +regarded by them with contempt. Matthias was watching him, as the tiger +watches its prey. To human eyes it would appear that the destiny of the +house of Austria was sealed. Just at that critical point, one of those +unexpected events occurred, which so often rise to thwart the deepest +laid schemes of man. + +On the 14th of May, 1610, Henry IV. left the Louvre in his carriage to +visit his prime minister, the illustrious Sully, who was sick. The city +was thronged with the multitudes assembled to witness the triumphant +entry of the queen, who had just been crowned. It was a beautiful spring +morning, and the king sat in his carriage with several of his nobles, +the windows of his carriage being drawn up. Just as the carriage was +turning up from the rue St. Honore into the rue Ferronnerie, the passage +was found blocked up by two carts. The moment the carriage stopped, a +man sprung from the crowd upon one of the spokes of the wheel, and +grasping a part of the coach with his right hand, with his left plunged +a dagger to the hilt into the heart of Henry IV. Instantly withdrawing +it, he repeated the blow, and with nervous strength again penetrated the +heart. The king dropped dead into the arms of his friends, the blood +gushing from the wound and from his mouth. The wretched assassin, a +fanatic monk, Francis Ravaillac, was immediately seized by the guard. +With difficulty they protected him from being torn in pieces by the +populace. He was reserved for a more terrible fate, and was subsequently +put to death by the most frightful tortures human ingenuity could +devise. + +The poniard of the assassin changed the fate of Europe. Henry IV. had +formed one of the grandest plans which ever entered the human mind. +Though it is not at all probable that he could have executed it, the +attempt, with the immense means he had at his disposal, and with his +energy as a warrior and diplomatist, would doubtless have entirely +altered the aspect of human affairs. There was very much in his plan to +secure the approval of all those enlightened men who were mourning over +the incessant and cruel wars with which Europe was ever desolated. His +intention was to reconstruct Europe into fifteen States, as nearly +uniform in size and power as possible. These States were, according to +their own choice, to be monarchical or republican, and were to be +associated on a plan somewhat resembling that of the United States of +North America. In each State the majority were to decide which religion, +whether Protestant or Catholic, should be established. The Catholics +were all to leave the Protestant States, and assemble in their own. In +like manner the Protestants were to abandon the Catholic kingdoms. This +was the very highest point to which the spirit of toleration had then +attained. All Pagans and Mohammedans were to be driven out of Europe +into Asia. A civil tribunal was to be organized to settle all national +difficulties, so that there should be no more war. There was to be a +standing army belonging to the confederacy, to preserve the peace, and +enforce its decrees, consisting of two hundred and seventy thousand +infantry, fifty thousand cavalry, two hundred cannon, and one hundred +and twenty ships of war. + +This plan was by no means so chimerical as at first glance it might seem +to be. The sagacious Sully examined it in all its details, and gave it +his cordial support. The coöperation of two or three of the leading +powers would have invested the plan with sufficient moral and physical +support to render its success even probable. But the single poniard of +the monk Ravaillac arrested it all. + +The Emperor Napoleon I. had formed essentially the same plan, with the +same humane desire to put an end to interminable wars; but he had +adopted far nobler principles of toleration. "One of my great plans," +said he at St. Helena, "was the rejoining, the concentration of those +same geographical nations which have been disunited and parcelled out by +revolution and policy. There are dispersed in Europe upwards of thirty +millions of French, fifteen millions of Spaniards, fifteen millions of +Italians, and thirty millions of Germans. It was my intention to +incorporate these several people each into one nation. It would have +been a noble thing to have advanced into posterity with such a train, +and attended by the blessings of future ages. I felt myself worthy of +this glory. + +"After this summary simplification, it would have been possible to +indulge the chimera of the _beau ideal_ of civilization. In this state +of things there would have been some chance of establishing in every +country a unity of codes, of principles, of opinions, of sentiments, +views and interests. Then perhaps, by the help of the universal +diffusion of knowledge, one might have thought of attempting in the +great human family the application of the American Congress, or the +Amphictyons of Greece. What a perspective of power, grandeur, happiness +and prosperity would thus have appeared. + +"The concentration of thirty or forty millions of Frenchmen was +completed and perfected. That of fifteen millions of Spaniards was +nearly accomplished. Because I did not subdue the Spaniards, it will +henceforth be argued that they were invincible, for nothing is more +common than to convert accident into principle. But the fact is that +they were actually conquered, and, at the very moment when they escaped +me, the Cortes of Cadiz were secretly in treaty with me. They were not +delivered either by their own resistance or by the efforts of the +English, but by the reverses which I sustained at different points, and, +above all, by the error I committed in transferring my whole forces to +the distance of three thousand miles from them. Had it not been for +this, the Spanish government would have been shortly consolidated, the +public mind would have been tranquilized, and hostile parties would have +been rallied together. Three or four years would have restored the +Spaniards to profound peace and brilliant prosperity. They would have +become a compact nation, and I should have well deserved their +gratitude, for I should have saved them from the tyranny by which they +are now oppressed, and the terrible agitations which await them. + +"With regard to the fifteen millions of Italians, their concentration +was already far advanced; it only wanted maturity. The people were daily +becoming more firmly established in the unity of principles and +legislation, and also in the unity of thought and feeling--that certain +and infallible cement of human thought and concentration. The union of +Piedmont to France, and the junction of Parma, Tuscany and Rome, were, +in my mind, only temporary measures, intended merely to guarantee and +promote the national education of the Italians. The portions of Italy +that were united to France, though that union might have been regarded +as the result of invasion on our part, were, in spite of their Italian +patriotism, the very places that continued most attached to us. + +"All the south of Europe, therefore, would soon have been rendered +compact in point of locality, views, opinions, sentiments and interests. +In this state of things, what would have been the weight of all the +nations of the North? What human efforts could have broken through so +strong a barrier? The concentration of the Germans must have been +effected more gradually, and therefore I had done no more than simplify +their monstrous complication. Not that they were unprepared for +concentralization; on the contrary, they were too well prepared for it, +and they might have blindly risen in reaction against us before they had +comprehended our designs. How happens it that no German prince has yet +formed a just notion of the spirit of his nation, and turned it to good +account? Certainly if Heaven had made me a prince of Germany, amid the +critical events of our times I should infallibly have governed the +thirty millions of Germans combined; and, from what I know of them, I +think I may venture to affirm that if they had once elected and +proclaimed me they would not have forsaken me, and I should never have +been at St. Helena. + +"At all events," the emperor continued, after a moment's pause, "this +concentration will be brought about sooner or later by the very force of +events. The impulse is given, and I think that since my fall and the +destruction of my system, no grand equilibrium can possibly be +established in Europe except by the concentration and confederation of +the principal nations. The sovereign who in the first great conflict +shall sincerely embrace the cause of the people, will find himself at +the head of Europe, and may attempt whatever he pleases." + +Thus similar were the plans of these two most illustrious men. But from +this digression let us return to the affairs of Austria. With the death +of Henry IV., fell the stupendous plan which his genius conceived, and +which his genius alone could execute. The Protestants, all over Europe, +regarded his death as a terrible blow. Still they did not despair of +securing the contested duchy for a Protestant prince. The fall of Henry +IV. raised from the Catholics a shout of exultation, and they redoubled +their zeal. + +The various princes of the house of Austria, brothers, uncles, cousins, +holding important posts all over the empire, were much alarmed in view +of the peril to which the family ascending was exposed by the feebleness +of Rhodolph. They held a private family conference, and decided that the +interests of all required that there should be reconciliation between +Matthias and Rhodolph; or that, in their divided state, they would fall +victims to their numerous foes. The brothers agreed to an outward +reconciliation; but there was not the slightest mitigation of the rancor +which filled their hearts. Matthias, however, consented to acknowledge +the superiority of his brother, the emperor, to honor him as the head of +the family, and to hold his possessions as fiefs of Rhodolph intrusted +to him by favor. Rhodolph, while hating Matthias, and watching for an +opportunity to crush him, promised to regard him hereafter as a brother +and a friend. + +And now Rhodolph developed unexpected energy, mingled with treachery and +disgraceful duplicity. He secretly and treacherously invited the +Archduke Leopold, who was also Bishop of Passau and Strasbourg, and one +of the most bigoted of the warrior ecclesiastics of the papal church, to +invade, with an army of sixteen thousand men, Rhodolph's own kingdom of +Bohemia, under the plea that the wages of the soldiers had not been +paid. It was his object, by thus introducing an army of Roman Catholics +into his kingdom, and betraying into their hands several strong +fortresses, then to place himself at their head, rally the Catholics of +Bohemia around him, annul all the edicts of toleration, crush the +Protestants, and then to march to the punishment of Matthias. + +The troops, in accordance with their treacherous plan, burst into Upper +Austria, where the emperor had provided that there should be no force to +oppose them. They spread themselves over the country, robbing the +Protestants and destroying their property with the most wanton cruelty. +Crossing the Danube they continued their march and entered Bohemia. +Still Rhodolph kept quiet in his palace, sending no force to oppose, but +on the contrary contriving that towns and fortresses, left defenseless, +should fall easily into their hands. Bohemia was in a terrible state of +agitation. Wherever the invading army appeared, it wreaked dire +vengeance upon the Protestants. The leaders of the Protestants hurriedly +ran together, and, suspicious of treachery, sent an earnest appeal to +the king. + +The infamous emperor, not yet ready to lay aside the vail, called Heaven +to witness that the irruption was made without his knowledge, and +advised vigorous measures to repel the foe, while he carefully thwarted +the execution of any such measures. At the same time he issued a +proclamation to Leopold, commanding him to retire. Leopold understood +all this beforehand, and smiling, pressed on. Aided by the treason of +the king, they reached Prague, seized one of the gates, massacred the +guard, and took possession of the capital. The emperor now came forward +and disclosed his plans. The foreign troops, holding Prague and many +other of the most important towns and fortresses in the kingdom, took +the oath of allegiance to Rhodolph as their sovereign, and he placed in +their hands five pieces of heavy artillery, which were planted in +battery on an eminence which commanded the town. A part of Bohemia +rallied around the king in support of these atrocious measures. + +But all the Protestants, and all who had any sympathy with the +Protestants, were exasperated to the highest pitch. They immediately +dispatched messengers to Matthias and to their friends in Moravia, +imploring aid. Matthias immediately started eight thousand Hungarians on +the march. As they entered Bohemia with rapid steps and pushed their way +toward Prague they were joined every hour by Protestant levies pouring +in from all quarters. So rapidly did their ranks increase that Leopold's +troops, not daring to await their arrival, in a panic, fled by night. +They were pursued on their retreat, attacked, and put to flight with the +loss of two thousand men. The ecclesiastical duke, in shame and +confusion, slunk away to his episcopal castle of Passau. + +The contemptible Rhodolph now first proposed terms of reconciliation, +and then implored the clemency of his indignant conquerors. They turned +from the overtures of the perjured monarch with disdain, burst into the +city of Prague, surrounded every avenue to the palace, and took Rhodolph +a prisoner. Soon Matthias arrived, mounted in regal splendor, at the +head of a gorgeous retinue. The army received him with thunders of +acclaim. Rhodolph, a captive in his palace, heard the explosion of +artillery, the ringing of bells and the shouts of the populace, +welcoming his dreaded and detested rival to the capital. It was the 20th +of March, 1611. The nobles commanded Rhodolph to summon a diet. The +humiliated, degraded, helpless emperor knew full well what this +signified, but dared not disobey. He summoned a diet. It was immediately +convened. Rhodolph sent in a message, saying, + +"Since, on account of my advanced age, I am no longer capable of +supporting the weight of government, I hereby abdicate the throne, and +earnestly desire that my brother Matthias may be crowned without delay." + +The diet were disposed very promptly to gratify the king in his +expressed wishes. But there arose some very formidable difficulties. The +German princes, who were attached to the cause which Rhodolph had so +cordially espoused, and who foresaw that his fall threatened the +ascendency of Protestantism throughout the empire, sent their +ambassadors to the Bohemian nobles with the menace of the vengeance of +the empire, if they proceeded to the deposition of Rhodolph and to the +inauguration of Matthias, whom they stigmatized as an usurper. This +unexpected interposition reanimated the hopes of Rhodolph, and he +instantly found such renovation of youth and strength as to feel quite +able to bear the burden of the crown a little longer; and consequently, +notwithstanding his abdication, through his friends, all the most +accomplished mechanism of diplomacy, with its menaces, its bribes, and +its artifice were employed to thwart the movements of Matthias and his +friends. + +There was still another very great difficulty. Matthias was very +ambitious, and wished to be a sovereign, with sovereign power. He was +very reluctant to surrender the least portion of those prerogatives +which his regal ancestors had grasped. But the nobles deemed this a +favorable opportunity to regain their lost power. They were disposed to +make a hard bargain with Matthias. They demanded--1st, that the throne +should no longer be hereditary, but elective; 2d, that the nobles should +be permitted to meet in a diet, or congress, to deliberate upon public +affairs whenever and wherever they pleased; 3d, that all financial and +military affairs should be left in their hands; 4th, that although the +king might appoint all the great officers of state, they might remove +any of them at pleasure; 5th, that it should be the privilege of the +nobles to form all foreign alliances; 6th, that they were to be +empowered to form an armed force by their own authority. + +Matthias hesitated in giving his assent to such demands, which seemed to +reduce him to a cipher, conferring upon him only the shadow of a crown. +Rhodolph, however, who was eager to make any concessions, had his agents +busy through the diet, with assurances that the emperor would grant all +these concessions. But Rhodolph had fallen too low to rise again. The +diet spurned all his offers, and chose Matthias, though he postponed his +decision upon these articles until he could convene a future and more +general diet. Rhodolph had eagerly caught at the hope of regaining his +crown. As his messengers returned to him in the palace with the tidings +of their defeat, he was overwhelmed with indignation, shame and despair. +In a paroxysm of agony he threw up his window, and looking out upon the +city, exclaimed, + +"O 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 upon thee and all Bohemia." + +The 23d of May was appointed for the coronation. The nobles drew up a +paper, which they required Rhodolph to sign, absolving his subjects from +their oath of allegiance to him. The degraded king writhed in helpless +indignation, for he was a captive. With the foolish petulance of a +spoiled child, as he affixed his signature in almost an illegible +scrawl, he dashed blots of ink upon the paper, and then, tearing the pen +to pieces, threw it upon the floor, and trampled it beneath his feet. + +It was still apprehended that the adherents of Rhodolph might make some +armed demonstration in his favor. As a precaution against this, the city +was filled with troops, the gates closed, and carefully guarded. The +nobles met in the great hall of the palace. It was called a meeting of +the States, for it included the higher nobles, the higher clergy, and a +few citizens, as representatives of certain privileged cities. The +forced abdication of Rhodolph was first read. It was as follows:-- + +"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 conditions, 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 increased in riches +and splendor. We accordingly, in virtue of this present voluntary +resignation, and after due reflection, do, from this day, release our +subjects from all duty and obligation." + +Matthias was then chosen king, in accordance with all the ancient +customs of the hereditary monarchy of Bohemia. The States immediately +proceeded to his coronation. Every effort was made to dazzle the +multitude with the splendors of the coronation, and to throw a halo of +glory around the event, not merely as the accession of a new monarch to +the throne, but as the introduction of a great reform in reinstating the +nation in its pristine rights. + +While the capital was resounding with these rejoicings, Rhodolph had +retired to a villa at some distance from the city, in a secluded glen +among the mountains, that he might close his ears against the hateful +sounds. The next day Matthias, fraternally or maliciously, for it is not +easy to judge which motive actuated him, sent a stinging message of +assumed gratitude to his brother, thanking him for relinquishing in his +brother's favor his throne and his palaces, and expressing the hope that +they might still live together in fraternal confidence and affection. + +Matthias and the States consulted their own honor rather than Rhodolph's +merits, in treating him with great magnanimity. Though Rhodolph had +lost, one by one, all his own hereditary or acquired territories, +Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, he still retained the imperial crown of +Germany. This gave him rank and certain official honors, with but little +real power. The emperor, who was also a powerful sovereign in his own +right, could marshal his own forces to establish his decrees. But the +emperor, who had no treasury or army of his own, was powerless indeed. + +The emperor was permitted to occupy one of the palaces at Prague. He +received an annual pension of nearly a million of dollars; and the +territories and revenues of four lordships were conferred upon him. +Matthias having consolidated his government, and appointed the great +officers of his kingdom, left Prague without having any interview with +his brother, and returned to his central capital at Vienna, where he +married Anne, daughter of his uncle Ferdinand of Tyrol. + +The Protestants all over the German empire hailed these events with +public rejoicing. Rhodolph had been their implacable foe. He was now +disarmed and incapable of doing them any serious injury. Matthias was +professedly their friend, had been placed in power mainly as their +sovereign, and was now invested with such power, as sovereign of the +collected realms of Austria, that he could effectually protect them from +persecution. This success emboldened them to unite in a strong, +wide-spread confederacy for the protection of their rights. The +Protestant nobles and princes, with the most distinguished of their +clergy from all parts of the German empire, held a congress at +Rothenburg. This great assembly, in the number, splendor and dignity of +its attendants, vied with regal diets. Many of the most illustrious +princes of the empire were there in person, with imposing retinues. The +emperor and Matthias both deemed it expedient to send ambassadors to the +meeting. The congress at Rothenburg was one of the most memorable +movements of the Protestant party. They drew up minute regulations for +the government of their confederacy, established a system of taxation +among themselves, made efficient arrangements for the levying of troops, +established arsenals and magazines, and strongly garrisoned a fortress, +to be the nucleus of their gathering should they at any time be +compelled to appeal to arms. + +Rhodolph, through his ambassadors, appeared before this resplendent +assembly the mean and miserable sycophant he ever was in days of +disaster. He was so silly as to try to win them again to his cause. He +coaxed and made the most liberal promises, but all in vain. Their reply +was indignant and decisive, yet dignified. + +"We have too long," they replied, "been duped by specious and deceitful +promises. We now demand actions, not words. Let the emperor show us by +the acts of his administration that his spirit is changed, and then, and +then only, can we confide in him." + +Matthias was still apprehensive that the emperor might rally the +Catholic forces of Germany, and in union with the pope and the +formidable power of the Spanish court, make an attempt to recover his +Bohemian throne. It was manifest that with any energy of character, +Rhodolph might combine Catholic Europe, and inundate the plains of +Germany with blood. While it was very important, therefore, that +Matthias should do every thing he could to avoid exasperating the +Catholics, it was essential to his cause that he should rally around him +the sympathies of the Protestants. + +The ambassadors of Matthias respectfully announced to the congress the +events which had transpired in Bohemia in the transference of the crown, +and solicited the support of the congress. The Protestant princes +received this communication with satisfaction, promised their support in +case it should be needed, and, conscious of the danger of provoking +Rhodolph to any desperate efforts to rouse the Catholics, recommended +that he should be treated with brotherly kindness, and, at the same +time, watched with a vigilant eye. + +Rhodolph, disappointed here, summoned an electoral meeting of the +empire, to be held at Nuremburg on the 14th of December, 1711. He hoped +that a majority of the electors would be his friends. Before this body +he presented a very pathetic account of his grievances, delineating in +most melancholy colors the sorrows which attend fallen grandeur. He +detailed his privations and necessities, the straits to which he was +reduced by poverty, his utter inability to maintain a state befitting +the imperial dignity, and implored them, with the eloquence of a +Neapolitan mendicant, to grant him a suitable establishment, and not to +abandon him, in his old age, to penury and dishonor. + +The reply of the electors to the dispirited, degraded, downtrodden old +monarch was the unkindest cut of all. Much as Rhodolph is to be +execrated and despised, one can hardly refrain from an emotion of +sympathy in view of this new blow which fell upon him. A deputation sent +from the electoral college met him in his palace at Prague. Mercilessly +they recapitulated most of the complaints which the Protestants had +brought against him, declined rendering him any pecuniary relief, and +requested him to nominate some one to be chosen as his successor on the +imperial throne. + +"The emperor," said the delegation in conclusion, "is himself the +principal author of his own distresses and misfortunes. The contempt +into which he has fallen and the disgrace which, through him, is +reflected upon the empire, is derived from his own indolence and his +obstinacy in following perverse counsels. He might have escaped all +these calamities if, instead of resigning himself to corrupt and +interested ministers, he had followed the salutary counsels of the +electors." + +They closed this overwhelming announcement by demanding the immediate +assembling of a diet to elect an emperor to succeed him on the throne of +Germany. Rhodolph, not yet quite sufficiently humiliated to officiate as +his own executioner, though he promised to summon a diet, evaded the +fulfillment of his promise. The electors, not disposed to dally with him +at all, called the assembly by their own authority to meet on the 31st +of May. + +This seemed to be the finishing blow. Rhodolph, now sixty years of age, +enfeebled and emaciated by disease and melancholy, threw himself upon +his bed to die. Death, so often invoked in vain by the miserable, came +to his aid. He welcomed its approach. To those around his bed he +remarked, + +"When a youth, I experienced the most exquisite pleasure in returning +from Spain to my native country. 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!" + +In the tomb let him be forgotten. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +MATTHIAS. + +From 1612 to 1619. + +Matthias Elected Emperor of Germany.--His despotic Character.--His Plans +thwarted.--Mulheim.--Gathering Clouds.--Family Intrigue.--Coronation of +Ferdinand.--His Bigotry.--Henry, Count of Thurn.--Convention at +Prague.--The King's Reply.--The Die cast.--Amusing Defense of an +Outrage.--Ferdinand's Manifesto.--Seizure of Cardinal Kleses.--The +King's Rage.--Retreat of the King's Troops.--Humiliation of +Ferdinand.--The Difficulties referred.--Death of Matthias. + + +Upon the death of Rhodolph, Matthias promptly offered himself as a +candidate for the imperial crown. But the Catholics, suspicious of +Matthias, in consequence of his connection with the Protestants, +centered upon the Archduke Albert, sovereign of the Netherlands, as +their candidate. Many of the Protestants, also, jealous of the vast +power Matthias was attaining, and not having full confidence in his +integrity, offered their suffrages to Maximilian, the younger brother of +Matthias. But notwithstanding this want of unanimity, political intrigue +removed all difficulties and Matthias was unanimously elected Emperor of +Germany. + +The new emperor was a man of renown. His wonderful achievements had +arrested the attention of Europe, and it was expected that in his hands +the administration of the empire would be conducted with almost +unprecedented skill and vigor. But clouds and storms immediately began +to lower around the throne. Matthias had no spirit of toleration in his +heart, and every tolerant act he had assented to, had been extorted from +him. He was, by nature, a despot, and most reluctantly, for the sake of +grasping the reins of power, he had relinquished a few of the royal +prerogatives. He had thus far evaded many of the claims which had been +made upon him, and which he had partially promised to grant, and now, +being both king and emperor, he was disposed to grasp all power, both +secular and religious, which he could attain. + +Matthias's first endeavor was to recover Transylvania. This province had +fallen into the hands of Gabriel Bethlehem, who was under the protection +of the Turks. Matthias, thinking that a war with the infidel would be +popular, summoned a diet and solicited succors to drive the Turks from +Moldavia and Wallachia, where they had recently established themselves. +The Protestants, however, presented a list of grievances which they +wished to have redressed before they listened to his request. The +Catholics, on the other hand, presented a list of their grievances, +which consisted, mainly, in privileges granted the Protestants, which +they also demanded to have redressed before they could vote any supplies +to the emperor. These demands were so diametrically hostile to each +other, that there could be no reconciliation. After an angry debate the +diet broke up in confusion, having accomplished nothing. + +Matthias, disappointed in this endeavor, now applied to the several +States of his widely extended Austrian domains--to his own subjects. A +general assembly was convened at Lintz. Matthias proposed his plans, +urging the impolicy of allowing the Turks to retain the conquered +provinces, and to remain in the ascendency in Transylvania. But here +again Matthias was disappointed. The Bohemian Protestants were indignant +in view of some restrictions upon their worship, imposed by the emperor +to please the Catholics. The Hungarians, weary of the miseries of war, +were disposed on any terms to seek peace with the Turks. The Austrians +had already expended an immense amount of blood and money on the +battle-fields of Hungary, and urged the emperor to send an ambassador to +treat for peace. Matthias was excessively annoyed in being thus thwarted +in all his plans. + +Just at this time a Turkish envoy arrived at Vienna, proposing a truce +for twenty years. The Turks had never before condescended to send an +embassage to a Christian power. This afforded Matthias an honorable +pretext for abandoning his warlike plan, and the truce was agreed to. + +The incessant conflict between the Catholics and Protestants allowed +Germany no repose. A sincere toleration, such as existed during the +reign of Maximilian I., established fraternal feelings between the +contending parties. But it required ages of suffering and peculiar +combination of circumstances, to lead the king and the nobles to a +cordial consent to that toleration. But the bigotry of Rhodolph and the +trickery of Matthias, had so exasperated the parties, and rendered them +so suspicious of each other, that the emperor, even had he been so +disposed, could not, but by very slow and gradual steps, have secured +reconciliation. Rhodolph had put what was called the ban of the empire +upon the Protestant city of Aix-la-Chapelle, removing the Protestants +from the magistracy, and banishing their chiefs from the city. When +Rhodolph was sinking into disgrace and had lost his power, the +Protestants, being in the majority, took up arms, reflected their +magistracy, and expelled the Jesuits from the city. The Catholics now +appealed to Matthias, and he insanely revived the ban against the +Protestants, and commissioned Albert, Archduke of Cologne, a bigoted +Catholic, to march with an army to Aix-la-Chapelle and enforce its +execution. + +Opposite Cologne, on the Rhine, the Protestants, in the days of bitter +persecution, had established the town of Mulheim. Several of the +neighboring Protestant princes defended with their arms the refugees who +settled there from all parts of Germany. The town was strongly +fortified, and here the Protestants, with arms in their hands, +maintained perfect freedom of religious worship. The city grew rapidly +and became one of the most important fortresses upon the river. The +Catholics, jealous of its growing power, appealed to the emperor. He +issued a decree ordering the Protestants to demolish every fortification +of the place within thirty days; and to put up no more buildings +whatever. + +These decrees were both enforced by the aid of a Spanish army of thirty +thousand men, which, having executed the ban, descended the river and +captured several others of the most important of the Protestant towns. +Of course all Germany was in a ferment. Everywhere was heard the +clashing of arms, and every thing indicated the immediate outburst of +civil war. Matthias was in great perplexity, and his health rapidly +failed beneath the burden of care and sorrow. All the thoughts of +Matthias were now turned to the retaining of the triple crown of +Bohemia, Hungary and the empire, in the family. Matthias was old, sick +and childless. Maximilian, his next brother, was fifty-nine years of age +and unmarried. The next brother, Albert, was fifty-eight, and without +children. Neither of the brothers could consequently receive the crowns +with any hope of retaining them in the family. Matthias turned to his +cousin Ferdinand, head of the Styrian branch of the family, as the +nearest relative who was likely to continue the succession. In +accordance with the custom which had grown up, Matthias wished to +nominate his successor, and have him recognized and crowned before his +death, so that immediately upon his death the new sovereign, already +crowned, could enter upon the government without any interregnum. + +The brothers, appreciating the importance of retaining the crown in the +family, and conscious that all the united influence they then possessed +was essential to securing that result, assented to the plan, and +coöperated in the nomination of Ferdinand. All the arts of diplomatic +intrigue were called into requisition to attain these important ends. +The Bohemian crown was now electoral; and it was necessary to persuade +the electors to choose Ferdinand, one of the most intolerant Catholics +who ever swayed a scepter. The crown of Hungary was nominally +hereditary. But the turbulent nobles, ever armed, and strong in their +fortresses, would accept no monarch whom they did not approve. To secure +also the electoral vote for Emperor of Germany, while parties were so +divided and so bitterly hostile to each other, required the most adroit +application of bribes and menaces. + +Matthias made his first movement in Bohemia. Having adopted previous +measures to gain the support of the principal nobles, he summoned a diet +at Prague, which he attended in person, accompanied by Ferdinand. In a +brief speech he thus addressed them. + +"As I and my brothers," said the king, "are without children, I deem it +necessary, for the advantage of Bohemia, and to prevent future 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." + +Some of the leading Protestants opposed this, on the ground of the known +intolerance of Ferdinand. But the majority, either won over by the arts +of Matthias, or dreading civil war, accepted Ferdinand. He was crowned +on the 10th of June, 1616, he promising not to interfere with the +government during the lifetime of Matthias. The emperor now turned to +Hungary, and, by the adoption of the same measures, secured the same +results. The nobles accepted Ferdinand, and he was solemnly crowned at +Presburg. + +Ferdinand was Archduke of Styria, a province of Austria embracing a +little more than eight thousand square miles, being about the size of +the State of Massachusetts, and containing about a million of +inhabitants. He was educated by the Jesuits after the strictest manner +of their religion. He became so thoroughly imbued with the spirit of his +monastic education, that he was anxious to assume the cowl of the monk, +and enter the order of the Jesuits. His devotion to the papal church +assumed the aspect of the most inflexible intolerance towards all +dissent. In the administration of the government of his own duchy, he +had given free swing to his bigotry. Marshaling his troops, he had +driven all the Protestant preachers from his domains. He had made a +pilgrimage to Rome, to receive the benediction of the pope, and another +to Loretto, where, prostrating himself before the miraculous image, he +vowed never to cease his exertions until he had extirpated all heresy +from his territories. He often declared that he would beg his bread from +door to door, submit to every insult, to every calamity, sacrifice even +life itself, rather than suffer the true Church to be injured. Ferdinand +was no time-server--no hypocrite. He was a genuine bigot, sincere and +conscientious. Animated by this spirit, although two thirds of the +inhabitants of Styria were Protestants, he banished all their preachers, +professors and schoolmasters; closed their churches, seminaries and +schools; even tore down the churches and school-houses; multiplied papal +institutions, and called in teachers and preachers from other States. + +Matthias and Ferdinand now seemed jointly to reign, and the Protestants +were soon alarmed by indications that a new spirit was animating the +councils of the sovereign. The most inflexible Catholics were received +as the friends and advisers of the king. The Jesuits loudly exulted, +declaring that heresy was no longer to be tolerated. Banishments and +confiscations were talked of, and the alarm of the Protestants became +intense and universal: they looked forward to the commencement of the +reign of Ferdinand with terror. + +As was to be expected, such wrongs and perils called out an avenger. +Matthew Henry, Count of Thurn, was one of the most illustrious and +wealthy of the Bohemian nobles. He had long been a warm advocate of the +doctrines of the Reformation; and having, in the wars with the Turks, +acquired a great reputation for military capacity and courage, and being +also a man of great powers of eloquence, and of exceedingly popular +manners, he had become quite the idol of the Protestant party. He had +zealously opposed the election of Ferdinand to the throne of Bohemia, +and had thus increased that jealousy and dislike with which both +Matthias and Ferdinand had previously regarded so formidable an +opponent. He was, in consequence, very summarily deprived of some very +important dignities. This roused his impetuous spirit, and caused the +Protestants more confidingly to rally around him as a martyr to their +cause. + +The Count of Thurn, as prudent as he was bold, as deliberate as he was +energetic, aware of the fearful hazard of entering into hostilities with +the sovereign who was at the same time king of all the Austrian realms, +and Emperor of Germany, conferred with the leading Protestant princes, +and organized a confederacy so strong that all the energies of the +empire could with difficulty crush it. They were not disposed to make +any aggressive movements, but to defend their rights if assailed. The +inhabitants of a town in the vicinity of Prague began to erect a church +for Protestant worship. The Roman Catholic bishop, who presided over +that diocese, forbade them to proceed. They plead a royal edict, which +authorized them to erect the church, and continued their work, +regardless of the prohibition. Count Thurn encouraged them to persevere, +promising them ample support. The bishop appealed to the Emperor +Matthias. He also issued his prohibition; but aware of the strength of +the Protestants, did not venture to attempt to enforce it by arms. +Ferdinand, however, was not disposed to yield to this spirit, and by his +influence obtained an order, demanding the immediate surrender of the +church to the Catholics, or its entire demolition. The bishop attempted +its destruction by an armed force, but the Protestants defended their +property, and sent a committee to Matthias, petitioning for a revocation +of the mandate. These deputies were seized and imprisoned by the king, +and an imperial force was sent to the town, Brunau, to take possession +of the church. From so small a beginning rose the Thirty Years' War. + +Count Thurn immediately summoned a convention of six delegates from each +of the districts, called circles in Bohemia. The delegates met at Prague +on the 16th of March, 1618. An immense concourse of Protestants from all +parts of the surrounding country accompanied the delegates to the +capital. Count Thurn was a man of surpassing eloquence, and seemed to +control at will all the passions of the human heart. In the boldest +strains of eloquence he addressed the assembly, and roused them to the +most enthusiastic resolve to defend at all hazards their civil and +religious rights. They unanimously passed a resolve that the demolition +of the church and the suspension of the Protestant worship were +violations of the royal edict, and they drew up a petition to the +emperor demanding the redress of this grievance, and the liberation of +the imprisoned deputies from Brunau. The meeting then adjourned, to be +reassembled soon to hear the reply of the emperor. + +As the delegates and the multitudes who accompanied them returned to +their homes, they spread everywhere the impression produced upon their +minds by the glowing eloquence of Count Thurn. The Protestant mind was +roused to the highest pitch by the truthful representation, that the +court had adopted a deliberate plan for the utter extirpation of +Protestant worship throughout Bohemia, and that foreign troops were to +be brought in to execute this decree. These convictions were +strengthened and the alarm increased by the defiant reply which Matthias +sent back from his palace in Vienna to his Bohemian subjects. He accused +the delegates of treason and of circulating false and slanderous +reports, and declared that they should be punished according to their +deserts. He forbade them to meet again, or to interfere in any way with +the affairs of Brunau, stating that at his leisure he would repair to +Prague and attend to the business himself. + +The king could not have framed an answer better calculated to exasperate +the people, and rouse them to the most determined resistance. Count +Thurn, regardless of the prohibition, called the delegates together and +read to them the answer, which the king had not addressed to them but to +the council of regency. He then addressed them again in those +impassioned strains which he had ever at command, and roused them almost +to fury against those Catholic lords who had dictated this answer to the +king and obtained his signature. + +The next day the nobles met again. They came to the place of meeting +thoroughly armed and surrounded by their retainers, prepared to repel +force by force. Count Thurn now wished to lead them to some act of +hostility so decisive that they would be irrecoverably committed. The +king's council of regency was then assembled in the palace of Prague. +The regency consisted of seven Catholics and three Protestants. For some +unknown reason the Protestant lords were not present on this occasion. +Three of the members of the regency, Slavata and Martinetz and the +burgrave of Prague, were peculiarly obnoxious on account of the +implacable spirit with which they had ever persecuted the reformers. +These lords were the especial friends of Ferdinand and had great +influence with Matthias, and it was not doubted that they had framed the +answer which the emperor had returned. Incited by Count Thurn, several +of the most resolute of the delegates, led by the count, proceeded to +the palace, and burst into the room where the regency was in session. + +Their leader, addressing Slavata, Martinetz, and Diepold, the burgrave, +said, "Our business is with you. We wish to know if you are responsible +for the answer returned to us by the king." + +"That," one of them replied, "is a secret of state which we are not +bound to reveal." + +"Let us follow," exclaimed the Protestant chief, "the ancient custom of +Bohemia, and hurl them from the window." + +They were in a room in the tower of the castle, and it was eighty feet +to the water of the moat. The Catholic lords were instantly seized, +dragged to the window and thrust out. Almost incredible as it may seem, +the water and the mud of the moat so broke their fall, that neither of +them was killed. They all recovered from the effects of their fall. +Having performed this deed, Count Thurn and his companions returned to +the delegates, informed them of what they had done, and urged them that +the only hope of safety now, for any Protestant, was for all to unite in +open and desperate resistance. Then mounting his horse, and protected by +a strong body-guard, he rode through the streets of Prague, stopping at +every corner to harangue the Protestant populace. The city was thronged +on the occasion by Protestants from all parts of the kingdom. + +"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 to +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." + +He was everywhere greeted with shouts of enthusiasm, and the whole +Protestant population were united as one man in the cause. Even many of +the moderate Catholics, disgusted with the despotism of the newly +elected king, which embraced civil as well as religious affairs, joined +the Protestants, for they feared the loss of their civil rights more +than they dreaded the inroads of heresy. + +With amazing celerity they now organized to repel the force which they +knew that the emperor would immediately send to crush them. Within three +days their plans were all matured and an organization effected which +made the king tremble in his palace. Count Thurn was appointed their +commander, an executive committee of thirty very efficient men was +chosen, which committee immediately issued orders for the levy of troops +all over the kingdom. Envoys were sent to Moravia, Silesia, Lusatia, and +Hungary, and to the Protestants all over the German empire. The +Archbishop of Prague was expelled from the city, and the Jesuits were +also banished. They then issued a proclamation in defense of their +conduct, which they sent to the king with a firm but respectful letter. + +One can not but be amused in reading their defense of the outrage +against the council of regency. "We have thrown from the windows," they +said, "the two ministers who have been the enemies of the State, +together with their creature and flatterer, in conformity with an +ancient custom prevalent throughout all Bohemia, as well as in the +capital. This custom is justified by the example of Jezebel in holy +Writ, who was thrown from a window for persecuting the people of God; +and it was common among the Romans, and all other nations of antiquity, +who hurled the disturbers of the public peace from rocks and +precipices." + +Matthias had very reluctantly sent his insulting and defiant answer to +the reasonable complaints of the Protestants, and he was thunderstruck +in contemplating the storm which had thus been raised--a storm which +apparently no human wisdom could now allay. There are no energies so +potent as those which are aroused by religious convictions. Matthias +well knew the ascendency of the Protestants all over Bohemia, and that +their spirit, once thoroughly aroused, could not be easily quelled by +any opposing force he could array. He was also aware that Ferdinand was +thoroughly detested by the Protestant leaders, and that it was by no +means improbable that this revolt would thwart all his plans in securing +his succession. + +As the Protestants had not renounced their allegiance, Matthias was +strongly disposed to measures of conciliation, and several of the most +influential, yet fair-minded Catholics supported him in these views. The +Protestants were too numerous to be annihilated, and too strong in their +desperation to be crushed. But Ferdinand, guided by the Jesuits, was +implacable. He issued a manifesto, which was but a transcript of his own +soul, and which is really sublime in the sincerity and fervor of its +intolerance. + +"All attempts," said he, "to bring to reason a people whom God has +struck with judicial blindness will be in vain. Since the introduction +of heresy into Bohemia, we have seen nothing but tumults, disobedience +and rebellion. While the Catholics and the sovereign have displayed only +lenity and moderation, these sects have become stronger, more violent +and more insolent; having gained all their objects in religious affairs, +they turn their arms against the civil government, and attack the +supreme authority under the pretense of conscience; not content with +confederating themselves against their sovereign, they have usurped the +power of taxation, and have made alliances with foreign States, +particularly 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 outrages against his ministers, and the usurpation of the +regal revenues, no object remains for their vengeance and rapacity 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 +incessantly 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, and they have only the alternative of +a war by which they may regain their power, or a peace which is far more +dishonorable and dangerous than war. If successful, the forfeited +property of the rebels will defray the expense of their armaments; if +the event of hostilities be unfortunate, they can only lose, with honor, +and with arms in their hands, the rights and prerogatives which are and +will be wrested from them with shame and dishonor. 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." + +Matthias endeavored to unite his own peace policy with the energetic +warlike measures urged by Ferdinand. He attempted to overawe by a great +demonstration of physical force, while at the same time he made very +pacific proposals. Applying to Spain for aid, the Spanish court sent him +eight thousand troops from the Netherlands; he also raised, in his own +dominions, ten thousand men. Having assembled this force he sent word to +the Protestants, that if they would disband their force he would do the +same, and that he would confirm the royal edict and give full security +for the maintenance of their civil and religious privileges. The +Protestants refused to disband, knowing that they could place no +reliance upon the word of the unstable monarch who was crowded by the +rising power of the energetic Ferdinand. The ambitious naturally +deserted the court of the sovereign whose days were declining, to enlist +in the service of one who was just entering upon the kingly power. + +Ferdinand was enraged at what he considered the pusillanimity of the +king. Maximilian, the younger brother of Matthias, cordially espoused +the cause of Ferdinand. Cardinal Kleses, a Catholic of commanding +influence and of enlightened, liberal views, was the counselor of the +king. Ferdinand and Maximilian resolved that he should no longer have +access to the ear of the pliant monarch, but he could be removed from +the court only by violence. With an armed band they entered the palace +at Vienna, seized the cardinal in the midst of the court, stripped him +of his robes, hurried him into a carriage, and conveyed him to a strong +castle in the midst of the mountains of the Tyrol, where they held him a +close prisoner. The emperor was at the time confined to his bed with the +gout. As soon as they had sent off the cardinal, Ferdinand and +Maximilian repaired to the royal chamber, informed the emperor of what +they had done, and attempted to justify the deed on the plea that the +cardinal was a weak and wicked minister whose policy would certainly +divide and ruin the house of Austria. + +The emperor was in his bed as he received this insulting announcement of +a still more insulting outrage. For a moment he was speechless with +rage. But he was old, sick and powerless. This act revealed to him that +the scepter had fallen from his hands. In a paroxysm of excitement, to +prevent himself from speaking he thrust the bed-clothes into his mouth, +nearly suffocating himself. Resistance was in vain. He feared that +should he manifest any, he also might be torn from his palace, a +captive, to share the prison of the cardinal. In sullen indignation he +submitted to the outrage. + +Ferdinand and Maximilian now pursued their energetic measures of +hostility unopposed. They immediately put the army in motion to invade +Bohemia, and boasted that the Protestants should soon be punished with +severity which would teach them a lesson they would never forget. But +the Protestants were on the alert. Every town in the kingdom had joined +in the confederacy, and in a few weeks Count Thurn found himself at the +head of ten thousand men inspired with the most determined spirit. The +Silesians and Lusatians marched to help them, and the Protestant league +of Germany sent them timely supplies. The troops of Ferdinand found +opponents in every pass and in every defile, and in their endeavor to +force their way through the fastnesses of the mountains, were frequently +driven back with great loss. At length the troops of Ferdinand, defeated +at every point, were compelled to retreat in shame back to Austria, +leaving all Bohemia in the hands of the Protestants. + +Ferdinand was now in trouble and disgrace. His plans had signally +failed. The Protestants all over Germany were in arms, and their spirits +roused to the highest pitch; many of the moderate Catholics refused to +march against them, declaring that the Protestants were right in +resisting such oppression. They feared Ferdinand, and were apprehensive +that his despotic temper, commencing with religious intolerance, would +terminate in civil tyranny. It was evident to all that the Protestants +could not be put down by force of arms, and even Ferdinand was so +intensely humiliated that he was constrained to assent to the proposal +which Matthias made to refer their difficulty to arbitration. Four +princes were selected as the referees--the Electors of Mentz, Bavaria, +Saxony and Palatine. They were to meet at Egra the 14th of April, 1619. + +But Matthias, the victim of disappointment and grief, was now rapidly +approaching his end. The palace at Vienna was shrouded in gloom, and no +smiles were seen there, and no sounds of joy were heard in those regal +saloons. The wife of Matthias, whom he tenderly loved, oppressed by the +humiliation and anguish which she saw her husband enduring, died of a +broken heart. Matthias was inconsolable under this irretrievable loss. +Lying upon his bed tortured with the pain of the gout, sinking under +incurable disease, with no pleasant memories of the past to cheer him, +with disgrace and disaster accumulating, and with no bright hopes beyond +the grave, he loathed life and dreaded death. The emperor in his palace +was perhaps the most pitiable object which could be found in all his +realms. He tossed upon his pillow, the victim of remorse and despair, +now condemning himself for his cruel treatment of his brother Rhodolph, +now inveighing bitterly against the inhumanity and arrogance of +Ferdinand and Maximilian. On the 20th of March, 1619, the despairing +spirit of the emperor passed away to the tribunal of the "King of kings +and the Lord of lords." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +FERDINAND II. + +From 1619 to 1621. + +Possessions of the Emperor.--Power of the Protestants of +Bohemia.--General Spirit of Insurrection.--Anxiety of Ferdinand.-- +Insurrection led by Count Thurn.--Unpopularity of the Emperor.-- +Affecting Declaration of the Emperor.--Insurrection in Vienna.--The +Arrival of Succor.--Ferdinand seeks the imperial Throne.--Repudiated by +Bohemia.--The Palatinate.--Frederic offered the Crown of Bohemia.-- +Frederic crowned.--Revolt in Hungary.--Desperate Condition of the +Emperor.--Catholic League.--The Calvinists and the Puritans.--Duplicity +of the Emperor.--Foreign Combinations.--Truce between the Catholics and +the Protestants.--The Attack upon Bohemia.--Battle of the White +Mountain. + + +Ferdinand, who now ascended the throne by right of the coronation he had +already received, was in the prime of life, being but forty-one years of +age, and was in possession of a rare accumulation of dignities. He was +Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, Duke of Styria, +Carinthia and Carniola, and held joint possession, with his two +brothers, of the spacious territory of the Tyrol. Thus all these +wide-spread and powerful territories, with different languages, +different laws, and diverse manners and customs, were united under the +Austrian monarchy, which was now undeniably one of the leading powers of +Europe. In addition to all these titles and possessions, he was a +prominent candidate for the imperial crown of Germany. To secure this +additional dignity he could rely upon his own family influence, which +was very powerful, and also upon the aid of the Spanish monarchy. When +we contemplate his accession in this light, he appears as one of the +most powerful monarchs who ever ascended a throne. + +But there is another side to the picture. The spirit of rebellion +against his authority had spread through nearly all his territories, and +he had neither State nor kingdom where his power seemed stable. In +whatever direction he turned his eyes, he saw either the gleam of +hostile arms or the people in a tumult just ready to combine against +him. + +The Protestants of Bohemia had much to encourage them. All the kingdom, +excepting one fortress, was in their possession. All the Protestants of +the German empire had espoused their cause. The Silesians, Lusatians and +Moravians were in open revolt. The Hungarian Protestants, animated by +the success of the Bohemians, were eager to follow their example and +throw off the yoke of Ferdinand. With iron tyranny he had silenced every +Protestant voice in the Styrian provinces, and had crushed every +semblance of religious liberty. But the successful example of the +Bohemians had roused the Styrians, and they also were on the eve of +making a bold move in defense of their rights. Even in Austria itself, +and beneath the very shadow of the palaces of Vienna, conspiracies were +rife, and insurrection was only checked by the presence of the army +which had been driven out of Bohemia. + +Even Ferdinand could not be blind to the difficulties which were +accumulating upon him, and to the precarious tenure of his power. He saw +the necessity of persevering in the attempt at conciliation which he had +so reluctantly commenced. And yet, with strange infatuation, he proposed +an accommodation in a manner which was deemed insulting, and which +tended only to exasperate. The very day of his accession to the throne, +he sent a commission to Prague, to propose a truce; but, instead of +conferring with the Protestant leaders, he seemed to treat them with +intentional contempt, by addressing his proposal to that very council of +regency which had become so obnoxious. The Protestants, justly regarding +this as an indication of the implacable state of his mind, and conscious +that the proposed truce would only enable him more effectually to rally +his forces, made no reply whatever to his proposals. Ferdinand, +perceiving that he had made a great mistake, and that he had not rightly +appreciated the spirit of his foes, humbled himself a little more, and +made still another attempt at conciliation. But the Protestants had now +resolved that Ferdinand should never be King of Bohemia. It had become +an established tenet of the Catholic church that it is not necessary to +keep faith with heretics. Whatever solemn promises Ferdinand might make, +the pope would absolve him from all sin in violating them. + +Count Thurn, with sixteen thousand men, marched into Moravia. The people +rose simultaneously to greet him. He entered Brunn, the capital, in +triumph. The revolution was immediate and entire. They abolished the +Austrian government, established the Protestant worship, and organized a +new government similar to that which they had instituted in Bohemia. +Crossing the frontier, Count Thurn boldly entered Austria and, meeting +no foe capable of retarding his steps, he pushed vigorously on even to +the very gates of Vienna. As he had no heavy artillery capable of +battering down the walls, and as he knew that he had many partisans +within the walls of the city, he took possession of the suburbs, +blockaded the town, and waited for the slow operation of a siege, hoping +thus to be able to take the capital and the person of the sovereign +without bloodshed. + +Ferdinand had brought such trouble upon the country, that he was now +almost as unpopular with the Catholics as with the Protestants, and all +his appeals to them for aid were of but little avail. The sudden +approach of Count Thurn had amazed and discomfited him, and he knew not +in what direction to look for aid. Cooped up in his capital, he could +hold no communication with foreign powers, and his own subjects +manifested no disposition to come to his rescue. The evidences of +popular discontent, even in the city, were every hour becoming more +manifest, and the unhappy sovereign was in hourly expectation of an +insurrection in the streets. + +The surrender of Vienna involved the loss of Austria. With the loss of +Austria vanished all hopes of the imperial crown. Bohemia, Austria, and +the German scepter gone, Hungary would soon follow; and then, his own +Styrian territories, sustained and aided by their successful neighbors, +would speedily discard his sway. Ferdinand saw it all clearly, and was +in an agony of despair. He has confided to his confessor the emotions +which, in those terrible hours, agitated his soul. It is affecting to +read the declaration, indicative as it is that the most cruel and +perfidious man may be sincere and even conscientious in his cruelty and +crime. To his Jesuitical confessor, Bartholomew Valerius, he said, + +"I have reflected 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 implore that help from God which I +can not 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, Thou knowest that I seek Thy honor, not my own. If it be Thy +will, that, in this extremity, I should be overcome by thy enemies, and +be made the sport and contempt of the world, I will drink of the bitter +cup. Thy will be done.' I had hardly spoken these words before I was +inspired with new hope, and felt a full conviction that God would +frustrate the designs of my enemies." + +Nerved by such a spirit, Ferdinand was prepared to endure all things +rather than yield the slightest point. Hour after hour his situation +became more desperate, and still he remained inflexible. Balls from the +batteries of Count Thurn struck even the walls of his palace; murmurs +filled the streets, and menaces rose to his ears from beneath his +windows. "Let us put his evil counselors to the sword," the disaffected +exclaimed; "shut him up in a convent; and educate his children in the +Protestant religion." + +At length the crisis had apparently arrived. Insurrection was organized. +Clamorous bands surged through the streets, and there was a state of +tumult which no police force could quell. A band of armed men burst into +the palace, forced their way into the presence of Ferdinand, and +demanded the surrender of the city. At that moment, when Ferdinand might +well have been in despair, the unexpected sound of trumpets was heard in +the streets, and the tramp of a squadron of cavalry. The king was as +much amazed as were the insurgents. The deputies, not knowing what it +meant, in great alarm retreated from the palace. The squadron swept the +streets, and surrounded the palace. They had been sent to the city by +the general who had command of the Austrian forces, and, arriving at +full speed, had entered unexpectedly at the only gate which the +besiegers had not guarded. + +Their arrival, as if by heavenly commission, and the tidings they +brought of other succor near at hand, reanimated the king and his +partisans, and instantly the whole aspect of things within the city was +changed. Six hundred students in the Roman Catholic institutions of the +city flew to arms, and organized themselves as a body-guard of the king. +All the zealous Catholics formed themselves into military bands, and +this encouraged that numerous neutral party, always existing in such +seasons of uncertainty, ready to join those who shall prove to be the +strongest. The Protestants fled from the city, and sought protection +under the banners of Count Thurn. + +In the meantime the Catholics in Bohemia, taking advantage of the +absence of Count Thurn with his troops, had surrounded Prague, and were +demanding its capitulation. This rendered it necessary for the Bohemian +army immediately to strike their tents and return to Bohemia. Never was +there a more sudden and perfect deliverance. It was, however, +deliverance only from the momentary peril. The great elements of +discontent and conflict remained unchanged. + +It was very evident that the difficulties which Ferdinand had to +encounter in his Austrian dominions, were so immense that he could not +hope to surmount them without foreign aid. He consequently deemed it a +matter important above all others to secure the imperial throne. Without +this strength the loss of all his Austrian possessions was inevitable. +With the influence and the power which the crown of Germany would confer +upon him he could hope to gain all. Ferdinand immediately left Vienna +and visited the most influential of the German princes to secure their +support for his election. The Catholics all over Germany, alarmed by the +vigor and energy which had been displayed by the Protestants, laid aside +their several preferences, and gradually all united upon Ferdinand. The +Protestants, foolishly allowing their Lutheran and Calvinistic +differences to disunite them, could not agree in their candidate. +Consequently Ferdinand was elected, and immediately crowned emperor, the +9th of September, 1619. + +The Bohemians, however, remained firm in their resolve to repudiate him +utterly as their king. They summoned a diet of the States of Bohemia, +Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia to meet at Prague. Delegates also attended +the diet from Upper and Lower Austria, as also many nobles from distant +Hungary. The diet drew up a very formidable list of grievances, and +declared, in view of them, that Ferdinand had forfeited all right to the +crown of Bohemia, and that consequently it was their duty, in accordance +with the ancient usages, to proceed to the election of a sovereign. The +Catholics were now so entirely in the minority in Bohemia that the +Protestants held the undisputed control. They first chose the Elector of +Saxony. He, conscious that he could maintain his post only by a long and +uncertain war, declined the perilous dignity. They then with great +unanimity elected Frederic, the Elector of Palatine. + +The Palatinate was a territory bordering on Bohemia, of over four +thousand square miles, and contained nearly seven hundred thousand +inhabitants. The elector, Frederic V., was thus a prince of no small +power in his own right. He had married a daughter of James I. of +England, and had many powerful relatives. Frederic was an affable, +accomplished, kind-hearted man, quite ambitious, and with but little +force of character. He was much pleased at the idea of being elevated to +the dignity of a king, and was yet not a little appalled in +contemplating the dangers which it was manifest he must encounter. His +mother, with maternal solicitude, trembling for her son, intreated him +not to accept the perilous crown. His father-in-law, James, remonstrated +against it, sternly declaring that he would never patronize subjects in +rebellion against their sovereign, that he would never acknowledge +Frederic's title as king, or render him, under any circumstances, either +sympathy or support. On the other hand the members of the Protestant +league urged his acceptance; his uncles united strongly with them in +recommending it, and above all, his fascinating wife, whom he dotingly +loved, and who, delighted at the idea of being a queen, threw herself +into his arms, and plead in those persuasive tones which the pliant +heart of Frederic could not resist. The Protestant clergy, also, in a +strong delegation waited upon him, and intreated him in the name of that +Providence which had apparently proffered to him the crown, to accept it +in fidelity to himself, to his country and to the true religion. + +The trembling hand and the tearful eye with which Frederic accepted the +crown, proved his incapacity to bear the burden in those stormy days. +Placing the government of the Palatinate in the hands of the Duke of +Deux Ponts, he repaired, with his family, to Prague. A rejoicing +multitude met him at several leagues from the capital, and escorted him +to the city with an unwonted display of popular enthusiasm. He was +crowned with splendor such as Bohemia had never witnessed before. + +For a time the Bohemians surrendered themselves to the most extravagant +joy. Frederic was exceedingly amiable, and just the prince to win, in +calm and sunny days, the enthusiastic admiration of his subjects. They +were highly gratified in having the King of Bohemia dwell in his own +capital at Prague, a privilege and honor which they had seldom enjoyed. +Many of the German princes acknowledged Frederic's title, as did also +Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Vienna. The revolution in Bohemia was +apparently consummated, and to the ordinary observer no cloud could be +seen darkening the horizon. + +The Bohemians were strengthened in their sense of security by a similar +revolution which was taking place in Hungary. As soon as Ferdinand left +Vienna, to seek the crown of Germany, the Protestants of Hungary threw +off their allegiance to Austria, and rallied around the banners of their +bold, indomitable leader, Gabriel Bethlehem. They fell upon the imperial +forces with resistless fury and speedily dispersed them. Having captured +several of the most important fortresses, and having many troops to +spare, Gabriel Bethlehem sent eighteen thousand men into Moravia to aid +Count Thurn to disperse the imperial forces there. He then marched +triumphantly to Presburg, the renowned capital of Hungary, within thirty +miles of Vienna, where he was received by the majority of the +inhabitants with open arms. He took possession of the sacred crown and +of the crown jewels, called an assembly of the nobles from the various +States of Hungary and Transylvania, and united them in a firm band +against Ferdinand. He now marched up the banks of the Danube into +Austria. Count Thurn advanced from Moravia to meet him. The junction of +their forces placed the two leaders in command of sixty thousand men. +They followed along the left bank of the majestic Danube until they +arrived opposite Vienna. Here they found eighteen thousand troops posted +to oppose. After a short conflict, the imperial troops retreated from +behind their intrenchments across the river, and blew up the bridge. + +In such a deplorable condition did the Emperor Ferdinand find his +affairs, as he returned from Germany to Austria. He was apparently in a +desperate position, and no human sagacity could foresee how he could +retrieve his fallen fortunes. Apparently, could his despotic arm then +have been broken, Europe might have been spared many years of war and +woe. But the designs of Providence are inscrutable. Again there was +apparently almost miraculous interposition. The imperial troops were +rapidly concentrated in the vicinity of Vienna, to prevent the passage +of the broad, deep and rapid river by the allied army. A strong force +was dispatched down the right bank of the Danube, which attacked and +dispersed a force left to protect the communication with Hungary. The +season was far advanced, and it was intensely cold in those northern +latitudes. The allied army had been collected so suddenly, that no +suitable provision had been made for feeding so vast a host. Famine +added its terrors to the cold blasts which menacingly swept the plains, +and as there was imminent danger that the imperial army might cut off +entirely the communication of the allies with Hungary, Gabriel Bethlehem +decided to relinquish the enterprise of taking Vienna, and retired +unimpeded to Presburg. Almost every fortress in Hungary was now in the +possession of the Hungarians, and Ferdinand, though his capital was +released, saw that Hungary as well as Bohemia had escaped from his +hands. At Presburg Gabriel was, with imposing ceremonies, proclaimed +King of Hungary, and a decree of proscription and banishment was issued +against all the adherents of Ferdinand. + +Germany was now divided into two great leagues, the Catholic and the +Protestant. Though nominally religious parties, they were political as +well as religious, and subject to all the fluctuations and corruptions +attending such combinations. The Protestant league, composed of princes +of every degree of dignity, who came from all parts of Germany, proudly +mounted and armed, and attended by armed retainers, from a few score to +many hundreds or even thousands, met at Nuremburg. It was one of the +most influential and imposing assemblages which had ever gathered in +Europe. The Catholics, with no less display of pomp and power, for their +league embraced many of the haughtiest sovereigns in Europe, met at +Wurtzburg. There were, of course, not a few who were entirely +indifferent as to the religious questions involved, and who were +Catholics or Protestants, in subserviency to the dictates of interest or +ambition. Both parties contended with the arts of diplomacy as well as +with those of war. The Spanish court was preparing a powerful armament +to send from the Netherlands to the help of Ferdinand. The Protestants +sent an army to Ulm to watch their movements, and to cut them off. + +Ferdinand was as energetic as he had previously proved himself +inflexible and persevering. In person he visited Munich, the capital of +Bavaria, that he might more warmly interest in his favor Maximilian, the +illustrious and warlike duke. The emperor made him brilliant promises, +and secured his cordial coöperation. The Duke of Bavaria, and the +Elector of the Palatinate, were neighbors and rivals; and the emperor +offered Maximilian the spoils of the Palatinate, if they should be +successful in their warfare against the newly elected Bohemian king. +Maximilian, thus persuaded, placed all his force at the disposal of the +emperor. + +The Elector of Saxony was a Lutheran; the Elector Palatine a Calvinist. +The Lutherans believed, that after the consecration of the bread and +wine at the sacramental table, the body and blood of Christ were +spiritually present with that bread and wine. This doctrine, which they +called _consubstantiation_, they adopted in antagonism to the papal +doctrine of _transubstantiation_, which was that the bread and wine were +actually transformed into, and became the real body and blood of Christ. + +The difference between the Calvinists and the Lutherans, as we have +before mentioned, was that, while the former considered the bread and +wine in the sacraments as _representing_ the body and the blood of +Christ, the latter considered the body and the blood as spiritually +present in the consecrated elements. This trivial difference divided +brethren who were agreed upon all the great points of Christian faith, +duty and obligation. It is melancholy, and yet instructive to observe, +through the course of history, how large a proportion of the energies of +Christians have been absorbed in contentions against each other upon +shadowy points of doctrine, while a world has been perishing in +wickedness. The most efficient men in the Church on earth, have had +about one half of their energies paralyzed by contentions with their own +Christian brethren. It is so now. The most energetic men, in pleading +the cause of Christ, are often assailed even more unrelentingly by +brethren who differ with them upon some small point of doctrine, than by +a hostile world. + +Human nature, even when partially sanctified, is frail indeed. The +Elector of Saxony was perhaps a good man, but he was a weak one. He was +a zealous Lutheran, and was shocked that a Calvinist, a man who held the +destructive error that the bread and wine only _represented_ the body +and the blood of Christ, should be raised to the throne of Bohemia, and +thus become the leader of the Protestant party. The Elector of Saxony +and the Elector of the Palatine had also been naturally rivals, as +neighbors, and possessors of about equal rank and power. Though the +Calvinists, to conciliate the Lutherans, had offered the throne to the +Elector of Saxony, and he had declined it, as too perilous a post for +him to occupy, still he was weakly jealous of his rival who had assumed +that post, and was thus elevated above him to the kingly dignity. + +Ferdinand understood all this, and shrewdly availed himself of it. He +plied the elector with arguments and promises, assuring him that the +points in dispute were political merely and not religious; that he had +no intention of opposing the Protestant religion, and that if the +elector would abandon the Protestant league, he would reward him with a +large accession of territory. It seems incredible that the Elector of +Saxony could have been influenced by such representations. But so it +was. Averring that he could not in conscience uphold a man who did not +embrace the vital doctrine of the spiritual presence, he abandoned his +Protestant brethren, and drew with him the Landgrave of Hesse, and +several other Lutheran princes. This was a very serious defection, which +disheartened the Protestants as much as it encouraged Ferdinand. + +The wily emperor having succeeded so admirably with the Protestant +elector, now turned to the Roman Catholic court of France--that infamous +court, still crimsoned with the blood of the St. Bartholomew massacre. +Then, with diplomatic tergiversation, he represented that the conflict +was not a political one, but purely religious, involving the interests +of the Church. He urged that the peace of France and of Europe required +that the Protestant heresy should be utterly effaced; and he provoked +the resentment of the court by showing how much aid the Protestants in +Europe had ever received from the Palatinate family. Here again he was +completely successful, and the young king, Louis XIII., who was +controlled by his bigoted yet powerful minister, the Duke of Luines, +cordially espoused his cause. + +Spain, intolerant, despotic, hating Protestantism with perfect hatred, +was eager with its aid. A well furnished army of twenty-four thousand +men was sent from the Netherlands, and also a large sum of money was +placed in the treasury of Ferdinand. Even the British monarch, +notwithstanding the clamors of the nation, was maneuvered into +neutrality. And most surprising of all, Ferdinand was successful in +securing a truce with Gabriel Bethlehem, which, though it conferred +peace upon Hungary, deprived the Bohemians of their powerful support. + +The Protestants were strong in their combination; but still it was a +power of fearful strength now arrayed against them. It was evident that +Europe was on the eve of a long and terrible struggle. The two forces +began to assemble. The Protestants rendezvoused at Ulm, under the +command of the Margrave of Anspach. The Catholic troops, from their wide +dispersion, were concentrating at Guntzburg, to be led by the Duke of +Bavaria. The attention of all Europe was arrested by these immense +gatherings. All hearts were oppressed with solicitude, for the parties +were very equally matched, and results of most momentous importance were +dependent upon the issue. + +In this state of affairs the Protestant league, which extended through +Europe, entered into a truce with the Catholic league, which also +extended through Europe, that they should both withdraw from the +contest, leaving Ferdinand and the Bohemians to settle the dispute as +they best could. This seemed very much to narrow the field of strife, +but the measure, in its practical results, was far more favorable to +Ferdinand than to the Bohemians. The emperor thus disembarrassed, by +important concessions, and by menaces, brought the Protestants of Lower +Austria into submission. The masses, overawed by a show of power which +they could not resist, yielded; the few who refused to bow in homage to +the emperor were punished as guilty of treason. + +Ferdinand, by these cautious steps, was now prepared to concentrate his +energies upon Bohemia. He first attacked the dependent provinces of +Bohemia, one by one, sending an army of twenty-five thousand men to take +them unprepared. Having subjected all of Upper Austria to his sway, with +fifty thousand men he entered Bohemia. Their march was energetic and +sanguinary. With such an overpowering force they took fortress after +fortress, scaling ramparts, mercilessly cutting down garrisons, +plundering and burning towns, and massacreing the inhabitants. Neither +sex nor age was spared, and a brutal soldiery gratified their passions +in the perpetration of indescribable horrors. Even the Duke of Bavaria +was shocked at such barbarities, and entered his remonstrances against +them. Many large towns, terrified by the atrocities perpetrated upon +those who resisted the imperial arms, threw open their gates, hoping +thus, by submission, to appease the vengeance of the conqueror. + +Frederic was a weak man, not at all capable of encountering such a +storm, and the Bohemians had consequently no one to rally and to guide +them with efficiency. His situation was now alarming in the extreme. He +was abandoned by the Protestant league, hemmed in on every side by the +imperial troops, and his hereditary domains of the Palatinate were +overrun by twenty thousand Spaniards. His subjects, alarmed at his utter +inefficiency, and terrified by the calamities which were falling, like +avalanche after avalanche upon them, became dissatisfied with him, and +despairing respecting their own fate. He was a Calvinist, and the +Lutherans had never warmly received him. The impotent monarch, instead +of establishing himself in the affections of his subjects, by vigorously +driving the invaders from his realms, with almost inconceivable +silliness endeavored to win their popularity by balls and smiles, +pleasant words and masquerades. In fact, Frederic, by his utter +inefficiency, was a foe more to be dreaded by Bohemia than Ferdinand. + +The armies of the emperor pressed on, throwing the whole kingdom into a +state of consternation and dismay. The army of Frederic, which dared not +emerge from its intrenchments at Pritznitz, about fifty miles south of +Prague, consisted of but twenty-two thousand men, poorly armed, badly +clothed, wretchedly supplied with military stores, and almost in a state +of mutiny from arrears of pay. The generals were in perplexity and +disagreement. Some, in the recklessness of despair, were for marching to +meet the foe and to risk a battle; others were for avoiding a conflict, +and thus protracting the war till the severity of winter should drive +their enemies from the field, when they would have some time to prepare +for another year's campaign. These difficulties led Frederic to apply +for a truce. But Ferdinand was too wise to lose by wasting time in +negotiations, vantage ground he had already gained. He refused to listen +to any word except the unequivocal declaration that Frederic +relinquished all right to the crown. Pressing his forces onward, he +drove the Bohemians from behind their ramparts at Pritznitz, and pursued +them down the Moldau even to the walls of Prague. + +Upon a magnificent eminence called the White Mountain, which commanded +the city and its most important approaches, the disheartened army of +Frederic stopped in its flight, and made its last stand. The enemy were +in hot pursuit. The Bohemians in breathless haste began to throw up +intrenchments along the ravines, and to plant their batteries on the +hills, when the banners of Ferdinand were seen approaching. The emperor +was too energetic a warrior to allow his panic-stricken foes time to +regain their courage. Without an hour's delay he urged his victorious +columns to the charge. The Bohemians fought desperately, with far more +spirit than could have been expected. But they were overpowered by +numbers, and in one short hour the army of Frederic was annihilated. +Four thousand were left dead upon the field, one thousand were drowned +in the frantic attempt to swim the Moldau, and the rest were either +dispersed as fugitives over hill and valley or taken captive. The +victory of the emperor was complete, the hopes of Frederic crushed, and +the fate of Bohemia sealed. + +The contemptible Frederic, while this fierce battle was raging beneath +the very walls of his capital, instead of placing himself at the head of +his troops, was in the heart of the city, in the banqueting-hall of his +palace, bowing and smiling and feasting his friends. The Prince of +Anhalt, who was in command of the Bohemian army, had sent a most urgent +message to the king, intreating him to dispatch immediately to his aid +all the troops in the city, and especially to repair himself to the camp +to encourage the troops by his presence. Frederic was at the table when +he received this message, and sent word back that he could not come +until after dinner. As soon as the combat commenced, another still more +urgent message was sent, to which he returned the same reply. _After +dinner_ he mounted his horse and rode to the gate which led to the White +Mountain. The thunders of the terrible battle filled the air; the whole +city was in the wildest state of terror and confusion; the gates barred +and barricaded. Even the king could not get out. He climbed one of the +towers of the wall and looked out upon the gory field, strewn with +corpses, where his army _had been_, but was no more. He returned hastily +to his palace, and met there the Prince of Anhalt, who, with a few +fugitives, had succeeded in entering the city by one of the gates. + +The city now could not defend itself for an hour. The batteries of +Ferdinand were beginning to play upon the walls, when Frederic sent out +a flag of truce soliciting a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four +hours, that they might negotiate respecting peace. The peremptory reply +returned was, that there should not be truce for a single moment, unless +Frederic would renounce all pretension to the crown of Bohemia. With +such a renunciation truce would be granted for eight hours. Frederic +acceded to the demand, and the noise of war was hushed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +FERDINAND II. + +From 1621 to 1629. + +Pusillanimity of Frederic.--Intreaties of the Citizens of +Prague.--Shameful Flight of Frederic.--Vengeance Inflicted Upon +Bohemia.--Protestantism and Civil Freedom.--Vast Power of the +Emperor.--Alarm of Europe.--James I.--Treaty of Marriage for the Prince +of Wales.--Cardinal Richelieu.--New League of the Protestants.-- +Desolating War.--Defeat of the King of Denmark.--Energy of +Wallenstein.--Triumph of Ferdinand.--New Acts of Intolerance.-- +Severities in Bohemia.--Desolation of the Kingdom.--Dissatisfaction of +the Duke of Bavaria.--Meeting of the Catholic Princes.--The Emperor +Humbled. + + +The citizens of Prague were indignant at the pusillanimity of Frederic. +In a body they repaired to the palace and tried to rouse his feeble +spirits. They urged him to adopt a manly resistance, and offered to +mount the ramparts and beat off the foe until succor could arrive. But +Frederic told them that he had resolved to leave Prague, that he should +escape during the darkness of the night, and advised them to capitulate +on the most favorable terms they could obtain. The inhabitants of the +city were in despair. They knew that they had nothing to hope from the +clemency of the conqueror, and that there was no salvation for them from +irretrievable ruin but in the most desperate warfare. Even now, though +the enemy was at their gates, their situation was by no means hopeless +with a leader of any energy. + +"We have still," they urged, "sufficient strength to withstand a siege. +The city is not invested on every side, and reinforcements can enter by +some of the gates. We have ample means in the city to support all the +troops which can be assembled within its walls. The soldiers who have +escaped from the disastrous battle need but to see the Bohemian banners +again unfurled and to hear the blast of the bugle, to return to their +ranks. Eight thousand troops are within a few hours' march of us. There +is another strong band in the rear of the enemy, prepared to cut off +their communications. Several strong fortresses, filled with arms and +ammunition, are still in our possession, and the Bohemians, animated by +the remembrance of the heroic deeds of their ancestors, are eager to +retrieve their fortunes." + +Had Frederic possessed a tithe of the perseverance and energy of +Ferdinand, with these resources he might soon have arrested the steps of +the conqueror. Never was the characteristic remark of Napoleon to Ney +better verified, that "an army of deer led by a lion is better than an +army of lions led by a deer." Frederic was panic-stricken for fear he +might fall into the hands of Ferdinand, from whom he well knew that he +was to expect no mercy. With ignominious haste, abandoning every thing, +even the coronation regalia, at midnight, surrounded by a few friends, +he stole out at one of the gates of the city, and putting spurs to his +horse, allowed himself no rest until he was safe within the walls of +Berlin, two hundred miles from Prague. + +The despairing citizens, thus deserted by their sovereign, and with a +victorious foe at their very walls, had no alternative but to throw open +their gates and submit to the mercy of the conqueror. The next day the +whole imperial army, under the Duke of Bavaria, with floating banners +and exultant music, entered the streets of the capital, and took +possession of the palaces. The tyrant Ferdinand was as vengeful and +venomous as he was vigorous and unyielding. The city was immediately +disarmed, and the government intrusted to a vigorous Roman Catholic +prince, Charles of Lichtenstein. A strong garrison was left in the city +to crush, with a bloody hand, any indications of insurrection, and then +the Duke of Bavaria returned with most of his army to Munich, his +capital, tottering beneath the burden of plunder. + +There was a moment's lull before the tempest of imperial wrath burst +upon doomed Bohemia. Ferdinand seemed to deliberate, and gather his +strength, that he might strike a blow which would be felt forever. He +did strike such a blow--one which has been remembered for two hundred +years, and which will not be forgotten for ages to come--one which +doomed parents and children to weary years of vagabondage, penury and +woe which must have made life a burden. + +On the night of the 21st of January, three months after the +capitulation, and when the inhabitants of Prague had begun to hope that +there might, after all, be some mercy in the bosom of Ferdinand, forty +of the leading citizens of the place were simultaneously arrested. They +were torn from their families and thrown into dungeons where they were +kept in terrific suspense for four months. They were then brought before +an imperial commission and condemned as guilty of high treason. All +their property was confiscated, nothing whatever being left for their +helpless families. Twenty-three were immediately executed upon the +scaffold, and all the rest were either consigned to life-long +imprisonment, or driven into banishment. Twenty-seven other nobles, who +had escaped from the kingdom, were declared traitors. Their castles were +seized, their property confiscated and presented as rewards to Roman +Catholic nobles who were the friends of Ferdinand. An order was then +issued for all the nobles and landholders throughout the kingdom to send +in a confession of whatever aid they had rendered, or encouragement they +had given to the insurrection. And the most terrible vengeance was +threatened against any one who should afterward be proved guilty of any +act whatever of which he had not made confession. The consternation +which this decree excited was so great, that not only was every one +anxious to confess the slightest act which could be construed as +unfriendly to the emperor, but many, in their terror, were driven to +accuse themselves of guilt, who had taken no share in the movement. +Seven hundred nobles, and the whole body of Protestant landholders, +placed their names on the list of those who confessed guilt and implored +pardon. + +The fiend-like emperor, then, in the mockery of mercy, declared that in +view of his great clemency and their humble confession, he would spare +their forfeited lives, and would only punish them by depriving them of +their estates. He took their mansions, their estates, their property, +and turned them adrift upon the world, with their wives and their +children, fugitives and penniless. Thus between one and two thousand of +the most ancient and noble families of the kingdom were rendered +houseless and utterly beggared. Their friends, involved with them in the +same woe, could render no assistance. They were denounced as traitors; +no one dared befriend them, and their possessions were given to those +who had rallied beneath the banners of the emperor. "To the victors +belong the spoils." No pen can describe the ruin of these ancient +families. No imagination can follow them in their steps of starvation +and despair, until death came to their relief. + +Ferdinand considered Protestantism and rebellion as synonymous terms. +And well he might, for Protestantism has ever been arrayed as firmly +against civil as against religious despotism. The doctrines of the +reformers, from the days of Luther and Calvin, have always been +associated with political liberty. Ferdinand was determined to crush +Protestantism. The punishment of the Elector Palatine was to be a signal +and an appalling warning to all who in future should think of disputing +the imperial sway. The elector himself, having renounced the throne, had +escaped beyond the emperor's reach. But Ferdinand took possession of his +ancestral territories and divided them among his Roman Catholic allies. +The electoral vote which he held in the diet of the empire, Ferdinand +transferred to the Duke of Bavaria, thus reducing the Protestant vote to +two, and securing an additional Catholic suffrage. The ban of the empire +was also published against the Prince of Anhalt, the Count of Hohenloe, +and the Duke Jaegendorf, who had been supporters of Frederic. This ban +of the empire deprived them of their territories, of their rank, and of +their possessions. + +The Protestants throughout the empire were terrified by these fierce +acts of vengeance, and were fearful of sharing the same fate. They now +regretted bitterly that they had disbanded their organization. They +dared not make any move against the emperor, who was flushed with pride +and power, lest he should pounce at once upon them. The emperor +consequently marched unimpeded in his stern chastisements. Frederic was +thus deserted entirely by the Protestant union; and his father-in-law, +James of England, in accordance with his threat, refused to lend him any +aid. Various most heroic efforts were made by a few intrepid nobles but +one after another they were crushed by the iron hand of the emperor. + +Ferdinand, having thus triumphed over all his foes, and having divided +their domains among his own followers, called a meeting of the electors +who were devoted to his cause, at Ratisbon, on the 25th of February, +1623, to confirm what he had done. In every portion of the empire, where +the arm of the emperor could reach them, the Protestants were receiving +heavy blows. They were now thoroughly alarmed and aroused. The Catholics +all over Europe were renewing their league; all the Catholic powers were +banded together, and Protestantism seemed on the eve of being destroyed +by the sword of persecution. + +Other parts of Europe also began to look with alarm upon the vast power +acquired by Austria. There was but little of conciliation in the +character of Ferdinand, and his unbounded success, while it rendered him +more haughty, excited also the jealousy of the neighboring powers. In +Lower Saxony, nearly all the nobles and men of influence were +Protestants. The principal portion of the ecclesiastical property was in +their hands. It was very evident that unless the despotism of Ferdinand +was checked, he would soon wrest from them their titles and possessions, +and none the less readily because he had succeeded in bribing the +Elector of Saxony to remain neutral while he tore the crown of Bohemia +from the Elector of the Palatine, and despoiled him of his wide-spread +ancestral territories. + +James I. of England had been negotiating a marriage of his son, the +Prince of Wales, subsequently Charles I., with the daughter of the King +of Spain. This would have been, in that day, a brilliant match for his +son; and as the Spanish monarch was a member of the house of Austria, +and a coöperator with his cousin, the Emperor Ferdinand, in all his +measures in Germany, it was an additional reason why James should not +interfere in defense of his son-in-law, Frederic of the Palatine. But +now this match was broken off by the influence of the haughty English +minister Buckingham, who had the complete control of the feeble mind of +the British monarch. A treaty of marriage was soon concluded between the +Prince of Wales and Henrietta, a princess of France. There was +hereditary hostility between France and Spain, and both England and +France were now quite willing to humble the house of Austria. The nobles +of Lower Saxony availed themselves of this new turn in the posture of +affairs, and obtained promises of aid from them both, and, through their +intercession, aid also from Denmark and Sweden. + +Richelieu, the imperious French minister, was embarrassed by two +antagonistic passions. He was eager to humble the house of Austria; and +this he could only do by lending aid to the Protestants. On the other +hand, it was the great object of his ambition to restore the royal +authority to unlimited power, and this he could only accomplish by +aiding the house of Austria to crush the Protestants, whose love of +freedom all despots have abhorred. Impelled by these conflicting +passions, he did all in his power to extirpate Protestantism from +France, while he omitted neither lures nor intrigues to urge the +Protestants in Germany to rise against the despotism of Austria. +Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden, was personally inimical to Ferdinand, in +consequence of injuries he had received at his hands. Christian IV. of +Denmark was cousin to Elizabeth, the mother of Frederic, and, in +addition to this interest in the conflict which relationship gave him, +he was also trembling lest some of his own possessions should soon be +wrested from him by the all-grasping emperor. A year was employed, the +year 1624, in innumerable secret intrigues, and plans of combination, +for a general rising of the Protestant powers. It was necessary that the +utmost secrecy should be observed in forming the coalition, and that all +should be ready, at the same moment, to cooperate against a foe so able, +so determined and so powerful. + +Matters being thus essentially arranged, the States of Lower Saxony, who +were to take the lead, held a meeting at Segeberg on the 25th of March, +1625. They formed a league for the preservation of their religion and +liberties, settled the amount of money and men which each of the +contracting parties was to furnish, and chose Christian IV., King of +Denmark, their leader. The emperor had for some time suspected that a +confederacy was in the process of formation, and had kept a watchful eye +upon every movement. The vail was now laid aside, and Christian IV. +issued a proclamation, stating the reasons why they had taken up arms +against the emperor. This was the signal for a blaze of war, which +wrapped all northern Europe in a wide conflagration. Victory ebbed and +flowed. Bohemia, Hungary, Denmark, Austria--all the States of the +empire, were swept and devastated by pursuing and retreating armies. But +gradually the emperor gained. First he overwhelmed all opposition in +Lower Saxony, and riveting anew the shackles of despotism, rewarded his +followers with the spoils of the vanquished. Then he silenced every +murmur in Austria, so that no foe dared lift up the voice or peep. Then +he poured his legions into Hungary, swept back the tide of victory which +had been following the Hungarian banners, and struck blow after blow, +until Gabriel Bethlehem was compelled to cry for peace and mercy. +Bohemia, previously disarmed and impoverished, was speedily struck down. + +And now the emperor turned his energies against the panic-stricken King +of Denmark. He pursued him from fortress to fortress; attacked him in +the open field, and beat him; attacked him behind his intrenchments, and +drove him from them through the valleys, and over the hills, across +rivers, and into forests; bombarded his cities, plundered his provinces, +shot down his subjects, till the king, reduced almost to the last +extremity, implored peace. The emperor repelled his advances with scorn, +demanding conditions of debasement more to be dreaded than death. The +King of Denmark fled to the isles of the Baltic. Ferdinand took +possession of the shores of this northern sea, and immediately commenced +with vigor creating a fleet, that he might have sea as well as land +forces, that he might pursue the Danish monarch over the water, and that +he might more effectually punish Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. He had +determined to dethrone this monarch, and to transfer the crown of Sweden +to Sigismond, his brother-in-law, King of Poland, who was almost as +zealous a Roman Catholic as was the emperor himself. + +He drove the two Dukes of Mecklenburg from their territory, and gave the +rich and beautiful duchy, extending along the south-eastern shore of the +Baltic, to his renowned general, Wallenstein. This fierce, ambitious +warrior was made generalissimo of all the imperial troops by land, and +admiral of the Baltic sea. Ferdinand took possession of all the ports, +from the mouth of the Keil, to Kolberg, at the mouth of the Persante. +Wismar, on the magnificent bay bearing the same name, was made the great +naval depot; and, by building, buying, hiring and robbing, the emperor +soon collected quite a formidable fleet. The immense duchy of Pomerania +was just north-east of Mecklenburg, extending along the eastern shore of +the Baltic sea some hundred and eighty miles, and about sixty miles in +breadth. Though the duke had in no way displeased Ferdinand, the emperor +grasped the magnificent duchy, and held it by the power of his +resistless armies. Crossing a narrow arm of the sea, he took the rich +and populous islands of Rugen and Usedom, and laid siege to the city of +Stralsund, which almost commanded the Baltic sea. + +The kings of Sweden and Denmark, appalled by the rapid strides of the +imperial general, united all their strength to resist him. They threw a +strong garrison into Stralsund, and sent the fleets of both kingdoms to +aid in repelling the attack, and succeeded in baffling all the attempts +of Wallenstein, and finally in driving him off, though he had boasted +that "he would reduce Stralsund, even if it were bound to heaven with +chains of adamant." Though frustrated in this attempt, the armies of +Ferdinand had swept along so resistlessly, that the King of Denmark was +ready to make almost any sacrifice for peace. A congress was accordingly +held at Lubec in May, 1629, when peace was made; Ferdinand retaining a +large portion of his conquests, and the King of Denmark engaging no +longer to interfere in the affairs of the empire. + +Ferdinand was now triumphant over all his foes. The Protestants +throughout the empire were crushed, and all their allies vanquished. He +now deemed himself omnipotent, and with wild ambition contemplated the +utter extirpation of Protestantism, and the subjugation of nearly all of +Europe to his sway. He formed the most intimate alliance with the branch +of his house ruling over Spain, hoping that thus the house of Austria +might be the arbiter of the fate of Europe. The condition of Europe at +that time was peculiarly favorable for the designs of the emperor. +Charles I. of England was struggling against that Parliament which soon +deprived him both of his crown and his head. France was agitated, from +the Rhine to the Pyrenees, by civil war, the Catholics striving to +exterminate the Protestants. Insurrections in Turkey absorbed all the +energies of the Ottoman court, leaving them no time to think of +interfering with the affairs of Europe. The King of Denmark was +humiliated and prostrate. Sweden was too far distant and too feeble to +excite alarm. Sigismond of Poland was in intimate alliance with the +emperor. Gabriel Bethlehem of Hungary was languishing on a bed of +disease and pain, and only asked permission to die in peace. + +The first step which the emperor now took was to revoke all the +concessions which had been granted to the Protestants. In Upper Austria, +where he felt especially strong, he abolished the Protestant worship +utterly. In Lower Austria he was slightly embarrassed by engagements +which he had so solemnly made, and dared not trample upon them without +some little show of moderation. First he prohibited the circulation of +all Protestant books; he then annulled all baptisms and marriages +performed by Protestants; then all Protestants were excluded from +holding any civil or military office; then he issued a decree that all +the children, without exception, should be educated by Catholic priests, +and that every individual should attend Catholic worship. Thus coil by +coil he wound around his subjects the chain of unrelenting intolerance. + +In Bohemia he was especially severe, apparently delighting to punish +those who had made a struggle for civil and religious liberty. Every +school teacher, university professor and Christian minister, was ejected +from office, and their places in schools, universities and churches were +supplied by Catholic monks. No person was allowed to exercise any +mechanical trade whatever, unless he professed the Roman Catholic faith. +A very severe fine was inflicted upon any one who should be detected +worshiping at any time, even in family prayer, according to the +doctrines and customs of the Protestant church. Protestant marriages +were pronounced illegal, their children illegitimate, their wills +invalid. The Protestant poor were driven from the hospitals and the +alms-houses. No Protestant was allowed to reside in the capital city of +Prague, but, whatever his wealth or rank, he was driven ignominiously +from the metropolis. + +In the smaller towns and remote provinces of the kingdom, a military +force, accompanied by Jesuits and Capuchin friars, sought out the +Protestants, and they were exposed to every conceivable insult and +indignity. Their houses were pillaged, their wives and children +surrendered to all the outrages of a cruel soldiery; many were +massacred; many, hunted like wild beasts, were driven into the forest; +many were put to the torture, and as their bones were crushed and +quivering nerves were torn, they were required to give in their adhesion +to the Catholic faith. The persecution to which the Bohemians were +subjected has perhaps never been exceeded in severity. + +While Bohemia was writhing beneath these woes, the emperor, to secure +the succession, repaired in regal pomp to Prague, and crowned his son +King of Bohemia. He then issued a decree abolishing the right which the +Bohemians had claimed, to elect their king, forbade the use of the +Bohemian language in the court and in all public transactions, and +annulled all past edicts of toleration. He proclaimed that no religion +but the Roman Catholic should henceforth be tolerated in Bohemia, and +that all who did not immediately return to the bosom of the Church +should be banished from the kingdom. This cruel edict drove into +banishment thirty thousand families. These Protestant families composed +the best portion of the community, including the most illustrious in +rank, the most intelligent, the most industrious and the most virtuous, +No State could meet with such a loss without feeling it deeply, and +Bohemia has never yet recovered from the blow. One of the Bohemian +historians, himself a Roman Catholic, thus describes the change which +persecution wrought in Bohemia: + +"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 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. + +"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. Their courage lay +buried in the White Mountain. Individuals still possessed personal +valor, military ardor 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 is only mentioned, and the Moldau forgotten. + +"The Bohemian language, which had been used in all the courts of +justice, and which was in high estimation 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 greater part of the +schools were conducted by Jesuits and other monkish orders, and nothing +taught therein but bad Latin. + +"It can not 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 +traveled 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. They thus endeavored to extinguish the ancient literature of the +country, labored to persuade the students that before the introduction +of their order into Bohemia nothing but ignorance prevailed, and +carefully concealed the learned labors and even the names of our +ancestors." + +Ferdinand, having thus bound Bohemia hand and foot, and having +accomplished all his purpose in that kingdom, now endeavored, by +cautious but very decisive steps, to expel Protestant doctrines from all +parts of the German empire. Decree succeeded decree, depriving +Protestants of their rights and conferring upon the Roman Catholics +wealth and station. He had a powerful and triumphant standing army at +his control, under the energetic and bigoted Wallenstein, ready and able +to enforce his ordinances. No Protestant prince dared to make any show +of resistance. All the church property was torn from the Protestants, +and this vast sum, together with the confiscated territories of those +Protestant princes or nobles who had ventured to resist the emperor, +placed at his disposal a large fund from which to reward his followers. +The emperor kept, however, a large portion of the spoils in his own +hands for the enriching of his own family. + +This state of things soon alarmed even the Catholics. The emperor was +growing too powerful, and his power was bearing profusely its natural +fruit of pride and arrogance. The army was insolent, trampling alike +upon friend and foe. As there was no longer any war, the army had become +merely the sword of the emperor to maintain his despotism. Wallenstein +had become so essential to the emperor, and possessed such power at the +head of the army, that he assumed all the air and state of a sovereign, +and insulted the highest nobles and the most powerful bishops by his +assumptions of superiority. The electors of the empire perceiving that +the emperor was centralizing power in his own hands, and that they would +soon become merely provincial governors, compelled to obey his laws and +subject to his appointment and removal, began to whisper to each other +their alarm. + +The Duke of Bavaria was one of the most powerful princes of the German +empire. He had been the rival of Count Wallenstein, and was now +exceedingly annoyed by the arrogance of this haughty military chief. +Wallenstein was the emperor's right arm of strength. Inflamed by as +intense an ambition as ever burned in a human bosom, every thought and +energy was devoted to self-aggrandizement. He had been educated a +Protestant, but abandoned those views for the Catholic faith which +opened a more alluring field to ambition. Sacrificing the passions of +youth he married a widow, infirm and of advanced age, but of great +wealth. The death of his wrinkled bride soon left him the vast property +without incumbrance. He then entered into a matrimonial alliance which +favored his political prospects, marrying Isabella, the daughter of +Count Harruch, who was one of the emperor's greatest favorites. + +When Ferdinand's fortunes were at a low ebb, and he knew not in which +way to find either money or an army, Wallenstein offered to raise fifty +thousand men at his own expense, to pay their wages, supply them with +arms and all the munitions of war, and to call upon the emperor for no +pecuniary assistance whatever, if the emperor would allow him to retain +the plunder he could extort from the conquered. Upon this majestic scale +Wallenstein planned to act the part of a highwayman. Ferdinand's +necessities were so great that he gladly availed himself of this +infamous offer. Wallenstein made money by the bargain. Wherever he +marched he compelled the people to support his army, and to support it +luxuriously. The emperor had now constituted him admiral of the Baltic +fleet, and had conferred upon him the title of duke, with the splendid +duchy of Mecklenburg, and the principality of Sagan in Silesia. His +overbearing conduct and his enormous extortions--he having, in seven +years, wrested from the German princes more than four hundred million of +dollars--excited a general feeling of discontent, in which the powerful +Duke of Bavaria took the lead. + +Envy is a stronger passion than political religion. Zealous as the Duke +of Bavaria had been in the cause of the papal church, he now forgot that +church in his zeal to abase an arrogant and insulting rival. Richelieu, +the prime minister of France, was eagerly watching for opportunities to +humiliate the house of Austria, and he, with alacrity, met the advances +of the Duke of Bavaria, and conspired with him to form a Catholic +league, to check the ambition of Wallenstein, and to arrest the enormous +strides of the emperor. With this object in view, a large number of the +most powerful Catholic princes met at Heidelberg, in March, 1629, and +passed resolutions soliciting Ferdinand to summon a diet of the German +empire to take into consideration the evils occasioned by the army of +Wallenstein, and to propose a remedy. The emperor had, in his arrogance, +commanded the princes of the various States in the departments of Suabia +and Franconia, to disband their troops. To this demand they returned the +bold and spirited reply, + +"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, ecclesiastical or secular, _demand it +who will_." + +The emperor did not venture to disregard the request for him to summon a +diet. Indeed he was anxious, on his own account, to convene the +electors, for he wished to secure the election of his son to the throne +of the empire, and he needed succors to aid him in the ambitious wars +which he was waging in various and distant parts of Europe. The diet was +assembled at Ratisbon: the emperor presided in person. As he had +important favors to solicit, he assumed a very conciliatory tone. He +expressed his regret that the troops had been guilty of such disorders, +and promised immediate redress. He then, supposing that his promise +would be an ample satisfaction, very graciously solicited of them the +succession of the imperial throne for his son, and supplies for his +army. + +But the electors were not at all in a pliant mood. Some were resolved +that, at all hazards, the imperial army, which threatened Germany, +should be reduced, and that Wallenstein should be dismissed from the +command. Others were equally determined that the crown of the empire +should not descend to the son of Ferdinand. The Duke of Bavaria headed +the party who would debase Wallenstein; and Cardinal Richelieu, with all +the potent influences of intrigue and bribery at the command of the +French court, was the soul of the party resolved to wrest the crown of +the empire from the house of Austria. Richelieu sent two of the most +accomplished diplomatists France could furnish, as ambassadors to the +diet, who, while maintaining, as far as possible, the guise of +friendship, were to do every thing in their power to thwart the election +of Ferdinand's son. These were supplied with inexhaustible means for the +purchase of votes, and were authorized to make any promises, however +extravagant, which should be deemed essential for the attainment of +their object. + +Ferdinand, long accustomed to have his own way, was not anticipating any +serious resistance. He was therefore amazed and confounded, when the +diet returned to him, instead of their humble submission and +congratulations, a long, detailed, emphatic remonstrance against the +enormities perpetrated by the imperial army, and demanding the immediate +reduction of the army, now one hundred and fifty thousand strong, and +the dismission of Wallenstein, before they could proceed to any other +business whatever. This bold stand animated the Protestant princes of +the empire, and they began to be clamorous for their rights. Some of the +Catholics even espoused their cause, warning Ferdinand that, unless he +granted the Protestants some degree of toleration, they would seek +redress by joining the enemies of the empire. + +It would have been impossible to frame three demands more obnoxious to +the emperor. To crush the Protestants had absorbed the energies of his +life; and now that they were utterly prostrate, to lift them up and +place them on their feet again, was an idea he could not endure. The +imperial army had been his supple tool. By its instrumentality he had +gained all his power, and by its energies alone he retained that power. +To disband the army was to leave himself defenseless. Wallenstein had +been every thing to the emperor, and Ferdinand still needed the support +of his inflexible and unscrupulous energies. Wallenstein was in the +cabinet of the emperor advising him in this hour of perplexity. His +counsel was characteristic of his impetuous, headlong spirit. He advised +the emperor to pour his army into the territory of the Duke of Bavaria; +chastise him and all his associates for their insolence, and thus +overawe the rest. But the Duke of Bavaria was in favor of electing the +emperor's son as his successor on the throne of the empire; and +Ferdinand's heart was fixed upon this object. + +"Dismiss Wallenstein, and reduce the army," said the Duke of Bavaria, +"and the Catholic electors will vote for your son; grant the required +toleration to the Protestants, and they will vote for him likewise." + +The emperor yielded, deciding in his own mind, aided by the Jesuitical +suggestions of a monk, that he could afterwards recall Wallenstein, and +assemble anew his dispersed battalions. He dismissed sixteen thousand of +his best cavalry; suspended some of the most obnoxious edicts against +the Protestants, and _implored_ Wallenstein to resign his post. The +emperor was terribly afraid that this proud general would refuse, and +would lead the army to mutiny. The emperor accordingly accompanied his +request with every expression of gratitude and regret, and assured the +general of his continued favor. Wallenstein, well aware that the +disgrace would be but temporary, quietly yielded. He dismissed the +envoys of the emperor with presents, wrote a very submissive letter, +and, with much ostentation of obedience, retired to private life. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +FERDINAND II. AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. + +From 1629 to 1632. + +Vexation of Ferdinand.--Gustavus Adolphus.--Address to the nobles of +Sweden.--March of Gustavus.--Appeal to the Protestants.--Magdeburg joins +Gustavus.--Destruction of the city.--Consternation of the Protestants.-- +Exultation of the Catholics.--The Elector of Saxony driven from his +domains.--Battle of Leipsig.--The Swedes penetrate Bohemia.--Freedom of +conscience established.--Death of Tilly.--The Retirement of +Wallenstein.--The command resumed by Wallenstein.--Capture of +Prague.--Encounter between Wallenstein and Gustavus.--Battle of +Lutzen.--Death of Gustavus. + + +The hand of France was conspicuous in wresting all these sacrifices from +the emperor, and was then still more conspicuous in thwarting his plans +for the election of his son. The ambassadors of Richelieu, with +diplomatic adroitness, urged upon the diet the Duke of Bavaria as +candidate for the imperial crown. This tempting offer silenced the duke, +and he could make no more efforts for the emperor. The Protestants +greatly preferred the duke to any one of the race of the bigoted +Ferdinand. The emperor was excessively chagrined by this aspect of +affairs, and abruptly dissolved the diet. He felt that he had been duped +by France; that a cunning monk, Richelieu's ambassador, had outwitted +him. In his vexation he exclaimed, "A Capuchin friar has disarmed me +with his rosary, and covered six electoral caps with his cowl." + +The emperor was meditating vengeance--the recall of Wallenstein, the +reconstruction of the army, the annulling of the edict of toleration, +the march of an invading force into the territories of the Duke of +Bavaria, and the chastisement of all, Catholics as well as Protestants, +who had aided in thwarting his plans--when suddenly a new enemy +appeared. Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, reigning over his remote +realms on the western shores of the Baltic, though a zealous Protestant, +was regarded by Ferdinand as a foe too distant and too feeble to be +either respected or feared. But Gustavus, a man of exalted abilities, +and of vast energy, was watching with intense interest the despotic +strides of the emperor. In his endeavors to mediate in behalf of the +Protestants of Germany, he had encountered repeated insults on the part +of Ferdinand. The imperial troops were now approaching his own kingdom. +They had driven Christian IV., King of Denmark, from his continental +territories on the eastern shore of the Baltic, had already taken +possession of several of the islands, and were constructing a fleet +which threatened the command of that important sea. Gustavus was +alarmed, and roused himself to assume the championship of the civil and +religious liberties of Europe. He conferred with all the leading +Protestant princes, formed alliances, secured funds, stationed troops to +protect his own frontiers, and then, assembling the States of his +kingdom, entailed the succession of the crown on his only child +Christiana, explained to them his plans of war against the emperor, and +concluded a dignified and truly pathetic harangue with the following +words. + +"The enterprise in which I am about to engage is not one dictated by the +love of conquest or by personal ambition. Our honor, our religion and +our independence are imperiled. I am to encounter great dangers, and may +fall upon the field of battle. If it be God's will that I should die in +the defense of liberty, of my country and of mankind, I cheerfully +surrender myself to the sacrifice. It is my duty as a sovereign to obey +the King of kings without murmuring, and to resign the power I have +received from His hands whenever it shall suit His all-wise purposes. I +shall yield up my last breath with the firm persuasion that Providence +will support my subjects because they are faithful and virtuous, and +that my ministers, generals and senators will punctually discharge their +duty to my child because they love justice, respect me, and feel for +their country." + +The king himself was affected as he uttered these words, and tears +moistened the eyes of many of the stern warriors who surrounded him. +With general acclaim they approved of his plan, voted him all the +succors he required, and enthusiastically offered their own fortunes and +lives to his service. Gustavus assembled a fleet at Elfsnaben, crossed +the Baltic sea, and in June, 1630, landed thirty thousand troops in +Pomerania, which Wallenstein had overrun. The imperial army, unprepared +for such an assault, fled before the Swedish king. Marching rapidly, +Gustavus took Stettin, the capital of the duchy, situated at the mouth +of the Oder, and commanding that stream. Driving the imperial troops +everywhere before him from Pomerania, and pursuing them into the +adjoining Mark of Brandenburg, he took possession of a large part of +that territory. He issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of Germany, +recapitulating the arbitrary and despotic acts of the emperor, and +calling upon all Protestants to aid in an enterprise, in the success of +which the very existence of Protestantism in Germany seemed to be +involved. But so utterly had the emperor crushed the spirits of the +Protestants by his fiend-like severity, that but few ventured to respond +to his appeal. The rulers, however, of many of the Protestant States met +at Leipsic, and without venturing to espouse the cause of Gustavus, and +without even alluding to his invasion, they addressed a letter to the +emperor demanding a redress of grievances, and informing him that they +had decided to establish a permanent council for the direction of their +own affairs, and to raise an army of forty thousand men for their own +protection. + +Most of these events had occurred while the emperor, with Wallenstein, +was at Ratisbon, intriguing to secure the succession of the imperial +crown for his son. They both looked upon the march of the King of Sweden +into the heart of Germany as the fool-hardy act of a mad adventurer. The +courtiers ridiculed his transient conquests, saying, "Gustavus Adolphus +is a king of snow. Like a snowball he will melt in a southern clime." +Wallenstein was particularly contemptuous. "I will whip him back to his +country," said he, "like a truant school-boy, with rods." Ferdinand was +for a time deceived by these representations, and was by no means aware +of the real peril which threatened him. The diet which the emperor had +assembled made a proclamation of war against Gustavus, but adopted no +measures of energy adequate to the occasion. The emperor sent a silly +message to Gustavus that if he did not retire immediately from Germany +he would attack him with his whole force. To this folly Gustavus +returned a contemptuous reply. + +A few of the minor Protestant princes now ventured to take arms and join +the standard of Gustavus. The important city of Magdeburg, in Saxony, on +the Elbe, espoused his cause. This city, with its bastions and outworks +completely commanding the Elbe, formed one of the strongest fortresses +of Europe. It contained, exclusive of its strong garrison, thirty +thousand inhabitants. It was now evident to Ferdinand that vigorous +action was called for. He could not, consistently with his dignity, +recall Wallenstein in the same breath with which he had dismissed him. +He accordingly concentrated his troops and placed them under the command +of Count Tilly. The imperial troops were dispatched to Magdeburg. They +surrounded the doomed city, assailed it furiously, and proclaimed their +intention of making it a signal mark of imperial vengeance. +Notwithstanding the utmost efforts of Gustavus to hasten to their +relief, he was foiled in his endeavors, and the town was carried by +assault on the 10th of May. Never, perhaps, did earth witness a more +cruel exhibition of the horrors of war. The soul sickens in the +contemplation of outrages so fiend-like. We prefer to give the narrative +of these deeds, which it is the duty of history to record, in the +language of another. + +"All the horrors ever exercised against a captured place were repeated +and almost surpassed, on this dreadful event, which, notwithstanding all +the subsequent disorders and the lapse 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 compassion +from the fury of the licentious soldiery. No retreat was sufficiently +secure to escape their rapacity and vengeance; 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 of the imperial officers, recoiling +from this terrible scene, flew to Count Tilly and supplicated him to put +a stop to the carnage. 'Stay yet an hour,' was his barbarous reply; 'let +the soldier have some compensation for his dangers and fatigues.' + +"The troops, left to themselves, after sating their passions, and almost +exhausting their cruelty in three hours of pillage and massacre, 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 who were forced +by the flames from their hiding-places, experienced a more dreadful +fate. Numbers were driven into the Elbe, others massacred 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 colors to +depict all the horrors of the scene. In less than ten hours the most +rich, the most flourishing and the most populous town in 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 more than thirty +thousand inhabitants. + +"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 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 refuge 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 +even though 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 comparing the assault of Magdeburg to the sack of Troy +and of Jerusalem." + +This terrible display of vengeance struck the Protestants with +consternation. The extreme Catholic party were exultant, and their +chiefs met in a general assembly and passed resolutions approving the +course of the emperor and pledging him their support. Ferdinand was much +encouraged by this change in his favor, and declared his intention of +silencing all Protestant voices. He recalled an army of twenty-four +thousand men from Italy. They crossed the Alps, and, as they marched +through the frontier States of the empire, they spread devastation and +ruin through all the Protestant territories, exacting enormous +contributions, compelling the Protestant princes, on oath, to renounce +the Protestant league, and to unite with the Catholic confederacy +against the King of Sweden. + +In the meantime, Gustavus pressed forward into the duchy of Mecklenburg, +driving the imperial troops before him. Tilly retired into the territory +of the Elector of Saxony, robbing, burning and destroying everywhere. +Uniting his force with the army from Italy he ravaged the country, +resistlessly advancing even to Leipsic, and capturing the city. The +elector, quite unable to cope with so powerful a foe, retired with his +troops to the Swedish camp, where he entered into an offensive and +defensive alliance with Gustavus. The Swedish army, thus reinforced, +hastened to the relief of Leipsic, and arrived before its walls the very +day on which the city surrendered. + +Tilly, with the pride of a conqueror, advanced to meet them. The two +armies, about equal in numbers, and commanded by their renowned +captains, met but a few miles from the city. Neither of the commanders +had ever before suffered a defeat. It was a duel, in which one or the +other must fall. Every soldier in the ranks felt the sublimity of the +hour. For some time there was marching and countermarching--the planting +of batteries, and the gathering of squadrons and solid columns, each one +hesitating to strike the first blow. At last the signal was given by the +discharge of three pieces of cannon from one of the batteries of Tilly. +Instantly a thunder peal rolled along the extended lines from wing to +wing. The awful work of death was begun. Hour after hour the fierce and +bloody fight continued, as the surges of victory and defeat swept to and +fro upon the plain. But the ever uncertain fortune of battle decided in +favor of the Swedes. As the darkness of evening came prematurely on, +deepened by the clouds of smoke which canopied the field, the +imperialists were everywhere flying in dismay. Tilly, having been struck +by three balls, was conveyed from the field in excruciating pain to a +retreat in Halle. Seven thousand of his troops lay dead upon the field. +Five thousand were taken prisoners. All the imperial artillery and +baggage fell into the hands of the conqueror. The rest of the army was +so dispersed that but two thousand could be rallied under the imperial +banners. + +Gustavus, thus triumphant, dispatched a portion of his army, under the +Elector of Saxony, to rescue Bohemia from the tyrant grasp of the +emperor. Gustavus himself, with another portion, marched in various +directions to cut off the resources of the enemy and to combine the +scattered parts of the Protestant confederacy. His progress was like the +tranquil march of a sovereign in his own dominions, greeted by the +enthusiasm of his subjects. He descended the Maine to the Rhine, and +then ascending the Rhine, took every fortress from Maine to Strasbourg. +While Gustavus was thus extending his conquests through the very heart +of Germany, the Elector of Saxony reclaimed all of Bohemia from the +imperial arms. Prague itself capitulated to the Saxon troops. Count +Thurn led the Saxon troops in triumph over the same bridge which he, but +a few months before, had traversed a fugitive. He found, impaled upon +the bridge, the shriveled heads of twelve of his companions, which he +enveloped in black satin and buried with funeral honors. + +The Protestants of Bohemia rose enthusiastically to greet their +deliverers. Their churches, schools and universities were reëstablished. +Their preachers resumed their functions. Many returned from exile and +rejoiced in the restoration of their confiscated property. The Elector +of Saxony retaliated upon the Catholics the cruel wrongs which they had +inflicted upon the Protestants. Their castles were plundered, their +nobles driven into exile, and the conquerors loaded themselves with the +spoils of the vanquished. + +But Ferdinand, as firm and inexorable in adversity as in prosperity, +bowed not before disaster. He roused the Catholics to a sense of their +danger, organized new coalitions, raised new armies. Tilly, with +recruited forces, was urged on to arrest the march of the conqueror. +Burning under the sense of shame for his defeat at Leipsic, he placed +himself at the head of his veterans, fell, struck by a musket-ball, and +died, after a few days of intense suffering, at the age of +seventy-three. The vast Austrian empire, composed of so many +heterogeneous States, bound together only by the iron energy of +Ferdinand, seemed now upon the eve of its dissolution. The Protestants, +who composed in most of the States a majority, were cordially rallying +beneath the banners of Gustavus. They had been in a state of despair. +They now rose in exalted hope. Many of the minor princes who had been +nominally Catholics, but whose Christian creeds were merely political +dogmas, threw themselves into the arms of Gustavus. Even the Elector of +Bavaria was so helpless in his isolation, that, champion as he had been +of the Catholic party, there seemed to be no salvation for him but in +abandoning the cause of Ferdinand. Gustavus was now, with a victorious +army, in the heart of Germany. He was in possession of the whole western +country from the Baltic to the frontiers of France, and apparently a +majority of the population were in sympathy with him. + +Ferdinand at first resolved, in this dire extremity, to assume himself +the command of his armies, and in person to enter the field. This was +heroic madness, and his friends soon convinced him of the folly of one +so inexperienced in the arts of war undertaking to cope with Gustavus +Adolphus, now the most experienced and renowned captain in Europe. He +then thought of appointing his son, the Archduke Ferdinand, +commander-in-chief. But Ferdinand was but twenty-three years of age, and +though a young man of decided abilities, was by no means able to +encounter on the field the skill and heroism of the Swedish warrior. In +this extremity, Ferdinand was compelled to turn his eyes to his +discarded general Wallenstein. + +This extraordinary man, in renouncing, at the command of his sovereign, +his military supremacy, retired with boundless wealth, and assumed a +style of living surpassing even regal splendor. His gorgeous palace at +Prague was patrolled by sentinels. A body-guard of fifty halberdiers, in +sumptuous uniform, ever waited in his ante-chamber. Twelve nobles +attended his person, and four gentlemen ushers introduced to his +presence those whom he condescended to favor with an audience. Sixty +pages, taken from the most illustrious families, embellished his courts. +His steward was a baron of the highest rank; and even the chamberlain of +the emperor had left Ferdinand's court, that he might serve in the more +princely palace of this haughty subject. A hundred guests dined daily at +his table. His gardens and parks were embellished with more than +oriental magnificence. Even his stables were furnished with marble +mangers, and supplied with water from an ever-living fountain. Upon his +journeys he was accompanied by a suite of twelve coaches of state and +fifty carriages. A large retinue of wagons conveyed his plate and +equipage. Fifty mounted grooms followed with fifty led horses richly +caparisoned. (Coxe's "House of Austria," ii., 254.) + +Wallenstein watched the difficulties gathering around the emperor with +satisfaction which he could not easily disguise. Though intensely eager +to be restored to the command of the armies, he affected an air of great +indifference, and when the emperor suggested his restoration, he very +adroitly played the coquette. The emperor at first proposed that his +son, the Archduke Ferdinand, should nominally have the command, while +Wallenstein should be his executive and advisory general. "I would not +serve," said the impious captain, "as second in command under God +Himself." + +After long negotiation, Wallenstein, with well-feigned reluctance, +consented to relinquish for a few weeks the sweets of private life, and +to recruit an army, and bring it under suitable discipline. He, however, +limited the time of his command to three months. With his boundless +wealth and amazing energy, he immediately set all springs in motion. +Adventurers from all parts of Europe, lured by the splendor of his past +achievements, crowded his ranks. In addition to his own vast opulence, +the pope and the court of Spain opened freely to him their purses. As by +magic he was in a few weeks at the head of forty thousand men. In +companies, regiments and battalions they were incessantly drilled, and +by the close of three months this splendid army, thoroughly furnished, +and in the highest state of discipline, was presented to the emperor. +Every step he had taken had convinced, and was intended to convince +Ferdinand that his salvation depended upon the energies of Wallenstein. +Gustavus was now, in the full tide of victory, marching from the Rhine +to the Danube, threatening to press his conquests even to Vienna. +Ferdinand was compelled to assume the attitude of a suppliant, and to +implore his proud general to accept the command of which he had so +recently been deprived. Wallenstein exacted terms so humiliating as in +reality to divest the emperor of his imperial power. He was to be +declared generalissimo of all the forces of the empire, and to be +invested with unlimited authority. The emperor pledged himself that +neither he nor his son would ever enter the camp. Wallenstein was to +appoint all his officers, distribute all rewards, and the emperor was +not allowed to grant either a pardon or a safe-conduct without the +confirmation of Wallenstein. The general was to levy what contribution +he pleased upon the vanquished enemy, confiscate property, and no peace +or truce was to be made with the enemy without his consent. Finally, he +was to receive, either from the spoils of the enemy, or from the +hereditary States of the empire, princely remuneration for his services. + +Armed with such enormous power, Wallenstein consented to place himself +at the head of the army. He marched to Prague, and without difficulty +took the city. Gradually he drove the Saxon troops from all their +fortresses in Bohemia. Then advancing to Bavaria, he effected a junction +with Bavarian troops, and found himself sufficiently strong to attempt +to arrest the march of Gustavus. The imperial force now amounted to +sixty thousand men. Wallenstein was so sanguine of success, that he +boasted that in a few days he would decide the question, whether +Gustavus Adolphus or Wallenstein was to be master of the world. The +Swedish king was at Nuremberg with but twenty thousand men, when he +heard of the approach of the imperial army, three times outnumbering his +own. Disdaining to retreat, he threw up redoubts, and prepared for a +desperate defense. As Wallenstein brought up his heavy battalions, he +was so much overawed by the military genius which Gustavus had displayed +in his strong intrenchments, and by the bold front which the Swedes +presented, that notwithstanding his boast, he did not dare to hazard an +attack. He accordingly threw up intrenchments opposite the works of the +Swedes, and there the two armies remained, looking each other in the +face for eight weeks, neither daring to withdraw from behind their +intrenchments, and each hoping to starve the other party out. Gustavus +did every thing in his power to provoke Wallenstein to the attack, but +the wary general, notwithstanding the importunities of his officers, and +the clamors of his soldiers, refused to risk an engagement. Both parties +were all the time strengthening their intrenchments and gathering +reinforcements. + +At last Gustavus resolved upon an attack. He led his troops against the +intrenchments of Wallenstein, which resembled a fortress rather than a +camp. The Swedes clambered over the intrenchments, and assailed the +imperialists with as much valor and energy as mortals ever exhibited. +They were, however, with equal fury repelled, and after a long conflict +were compelled to retire again behind their fortifications with the loss +of three thousand of their best troops. For another fortnight the two +armies remained watching each other, and then Gustavus, leaving a strong +garrison in Nuremberg, slowly and defiantly retired. Wallenstein stood +so much in fear of the tactics of Gustavus that he did not even venture +to molest his retreat. During this singular struggle of patient +endurance, both armies suffered fearfully from sickness and famine. In +the city of Nuremberg ten thousand perished. Gustavus buried twenty +thousand of his men beneath his intrenchments. And in the imperial army, +after the retreat of Gustavus, but thirty thousand troops were left to +answer the roll-call. + +Wallenstein claimed, and with justice, the merit of having arrested the +steps of Gustavus, though he could not boast of any very chivalrous +exploits. After various maneuvering, and desolating marches, the two +armies, with large reinforcements, met at Lutzen, about thirty miles +from Leipsic. It was in the edge of the evening when they arrived within +sight of each other's banners. Both parties passed an anxious night, +preparing for the decisive battle which the dawn of the morning would +usher in. + +Wallenstein was fearfully alarmed. He had not willingly met his dreaded +antagonist, and would now gladly escape the issues of battle. He called +a council of war, and even suggested a retreat. But it was decided that +such an attempt in the night, and while watched by so able and vigilant +a foe, would probably involve the army in irretrievable ruin, besides +exposing his own name to deep disgrace. The imperial troops, thirty +thousand strong, quite outnumbered the army of Gustavus, and the +officers of Wallenstein unanimously advised to give battle. Wallenstein +was a superstitious man and deeply devoted to astrological science. He +consulted his astrologers, and they declared the stars to be +unpropitious to Gustavus. This at once decided him. He resolved, +however, to act on the defensive, and through the night employed the +energies of his army in throwing up intrenchments. In the earliest dawn +of the morning mass was celebrated throughout the whole camp, and +Wallenstein on horseback rode along behind the redoubts, urging his +troops, by every consideration, to fight valiantly for their emperor and +their religion. + +The morning was dark and lowering, and such an impenetrable fog +enveloped the armies that they were not visible to each other. It was +near noon ere the fog arose, and the two armies, in the full blaze of an +unclouded sun, gazed, awe-stricken, upon each other. The imperial troops +and the Swedish troops were alike renowned; and Gustavus Adolphus and +Wallenstein were, by universal admission, the two ablest captains in +Europe. Neither force could even affect to despise the other. The scene +unfolded, as the vapor swept away, was one which even war has seldom +presented. The vast plain of Lutzen extended many miles, almost as +smooth, level and treeless as a western prairie. Through the center of +this plain ran a nearly straight and wide road. On one side of this +road, in long line, extending one or two miles, was the army of +Wallenstein. His whole front was protected by a ditch and redoubts +bristling with bayonets. Behind these intrenchments his army was +extended; the numerous and well-mounted cavalry at the wings, the +artillery, in ponderous batteries, at the center, with here and there +solid squares of infantry to meet the rush of the assailing columns. On +the other side of the road, and within musket-shot, were drawn up in a +parallel line the troops of Gustavus. He had interspersed along his +double line bands of cavalry, with artillery and platoons of musketeers, +that he might be prepared from any point to make or repel assault. The +whole host stood reverently, with uncovered heads, as a public prayer +was offered. The Psalm which Watts has so majestically versified was +read-- + + "God is the refuge of his saints, + When storms of dark distress invade; + Ere we can offer our complaints, + Behold him present with his aid. + + "Let mountains from their seats be hurled + Down to the deep, and buried there, + Convulsions shake the solid world; + Our faith shall never yield to fear." + +From twenty thousand voices the solemn hymn arose and floated over the +field--celestial songs, to be succeeded by demoniac clangor. Both +parties appealed to the God of battle; both parties seemed to feel that +their cause was just. Alas for man! + +Gustavus now ordered the attack. A solid column emerged from his ranks, +crossed the road, in breathless silence approached the trenches, while +both armies looked on. They were received with a volcanic sheet of flame +which prostrated half of them bleeding upon the sod. Gustavus ordered +column after column to follow on to support the assailants, and to +pierce the enemy's center. In his zeal he threw himself from his horse, +seized a pike, and rushed to head the attack. Wallenstein energetically +ordered up cavalry and artillery to strengthen the point so fiercely +assailed. And now the storm of war blazed along the whole lines. A +sulphureous canopy settled down over the contending hosts, and +thunderings, shrieks, clangor as of Pandemonium, filled the air. The +king, as reckless of life as if he had been the meanest soldier, rushed +to every spot where the battle raged the fiercest. Learning that his +troops upon the left were yielding to the imperial fire, he mounted his +horse and was galloping across the field swept by the storm of war, when +a bullet struck his arm and shattered the bone. Almost at the same +moment another bullet struck his breast, and he fell mortally wounded +from his horse, exclaiming, "My God! my God!" + +The command now devolved upon the Duke of Saxe Weimar. The horse of +Gustavus, galloping along the lines, conveyed to the whole army the +dispiriting intelligence that their beloved chieftain had fallen. The +duke spread the report that he was not killed, but taken prisoner, and +summoned all to the rescue. This roused the Swedes to superhuman +exertions. They rushed over the ramparts, driving the infantry back upon +the cavalry, and the whole imperial line was thrown into confusion. Just +at that moment, when both parties were in the extreme of exhaustion, +when the Swedes were shouting victory and the imperialists were flying +in dismay, General Pappenheim, with eight fresh regiments of imperial +cavalry, came galloping upon the field. This seemed at once to restore +the battle to the imperialists, and the Swedes were apparently undone. +But just then a chance bullet struck Pappenheim and he fell, mortally +wounded, from his horse. The cry ran through the imperial ranks, +"Pappenheim is killed and the battle is lost." No further efforts of +Wallenstein were of any avail to arrest the confusion. His whole host +turned and fled. Fortunately for them, the darkness of the approaching +night, and a dense fog settling upon the plain, concealed them from +their pursuers. During the night the imperialists retired, and in the +morning the Swedes found themselves in possession of the field with no +foe in sight. But the Swedes had no heart to exult over their victory. +The loss of their beloved king was a greater calamity than any defeat +could have been. His mangled body was found, covered with blood, in the +midst of heaps of the slain, and so much mutilated with the tramplings +of cavalry as to be with difficulty recognized. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +FERDINAND II., FERDINAND III. AND LEOPOLD I + +From 1632 to 1662. + +Character of Gustavus Adolphus.--Exultation of the Imperialists.-- +Disgrace of Wallenstein.--He Offers to Surrender to the Swedish +General.--His Assassination.--Ferdinand's Son Elected as his +Successor.--Death of Ferdinand.--Close of the War.--Abdication of +Christina.--Charles Gustavus.--Preparations for War.--Death Of Ferdinand +III.--Leopold Elected Emperor.--Hostilities Renewed.--Death of Charles +Gustavus.--Diet Convened.--Invasion of the Turks. + + +The battle of Lutzen was fought on the 16th of November, 1632. It is +generally estimated that the imperial troops were forty thousand, while +there were but twenty-seven thousand in the Swedish army. Gustavus was +then thirty-eight years of age. A plain stone still marks the spot where +he fell. A few poplars surround it, and it has become a shrine visited +by strangers from all parts of the world. Traces of his blood are still +shown in the town-house of Lutzen, where his body was transported from +the fatal field. The buff waistcoat he wore in the engagement, pierced +by the bullet which took his life, is preserved as a trophy in the +arsenal at Vienna. + +Both as a monarch and a man, this illustrious sovereign stands in the +highest ranks. He possessed the peculiar power of winning the ardent +attachment of all who approached him. Every soldier in the army was +devoted to him, for he shared all their toils and perils. "Cities," he +said, "are not taken by keeping in tents; as scholars, in the absence of +the master, shut their books, so my troops, without my presence, would +slacken their blows." + +In very many traits of character he resembled Napoleon, combining in his +genius the highest attributes of the statesman and the soldier. Like +Napoleon he was a predestinarian, believing himself the child of +Providence, raised for the accomplishment of great purposes, and that +the decrees of his destiny no foresight could thwart. When urged to +spare his person in the peril of battle, he replied, + +"My hour is written in heaven, and can not be reversed." + +Frederic, the unhappy Elector of the Palatine, and King of Bohemia, who +had been driven from his realms by Ferdinand, and who, for some years, +had been wandering from court to court in Europe, seeking an asylum, was +waiting at Mentz, trusting that the success of the armies of Gustavus +would soon restore him to his throne. The death of the king shattered +all his hopes. Disappointment and chagrin threw him into a fever of +which he died, in the thirty-ninth year of his age. The death of +Gustavus was considered by the Catholics such a singular interposition +of Providence in their behalf, that, regardless of the disaster of +Lutzen, they surrendered themselves to the most enthusiastic joy. Even +in Spain bells were rung, and the streets of Madrid blazed with bonfires +and illuminations. At Vienna it was regarded as a victory, and _Te +Deums_ were chanted in the cathedral. Ferdinand, however, conducted with +a decorum which should be recorded to his honor. He expressed the +fullest appreciation of the grand qualities of his opponent, and in +graceful words regretted his untimely death. When the bloody waistcoat, +perforated by the bullet, was shown him, he turned from it with +utterances of sadness and regret. Even if this were all feigned, it +shows a sense of external propriety worthy of record. + +It was the genius of Gustavus alone which had held together the +Protestant confederacy. No more aid of any efficiency could be +anticipated from Sweden. Christina, the daughter and heiress of +Gustavus, was in her seventh year. The crown was claimed by her cousin +Ladislaus, the King of Poland, and this disputed succession threatened +the kingdom with the calamities of civil war. The Senate of Sweden in +this emergence conducted with great prudence. That they might secure an +honorable peace they presented a bold front of war. A council of regency +was appointed, abundant succors in men and money voted, and the +Chancellor Oxenstiern, a man of commanding civil and military talents, +was intrusted with the sole conduct of the war. The Senate declared the +young queen the legitimate successor to the throne, and forbade all +allusion to the claims of Ladislaus, under the penalty of high treason. + +Oxenstiern proved himself worthy to be the successor of Gustavus. He +vigorously renewed alliances with the German princes, and endeavored to +follow out the able plans sketched by the departed monarch. Wallenstein, +humiliated by his defeat, had fallen back into Bohemia, and now, with +moderation strangely inconsistent with his previous career, urged the +emperor to conciliate the Protestants by publishing a decree of general +amnesty, and by proposing peace on favorable terms. But the iron will of +Ferdinand was inflexible. In heart, exulting that his most formidable +foe was removed, he resolved with unrelenting vigor to prosecute the +war. The storm of battle raged anew; and to the surprise of Ferdinand, +Oxenstiern moved forward with strides of victory as signal as those of +his illustrious predecessor. Wallenstein meanly attempted to throw the +blame of the disaster at Lutzen upon the alleged cowardice of his +officers. Seventeen of them he hanged, and consigned fifty others to +infamy by inscribing their names upon the gallows. + +So haughty a man could not but have many enemies at court. They +combined, and easily persuaded Ferdinand, who had also been insulted by +his arrogance, again to degrade him. Wallenstein, informed of their +machinations, endeavored to rally the army to a mutiny in his favor. +Ferdinand, alarmed by this intelligence, which even threatened his own +dethronement, immediately dismissed Wallenstein from the command, and +dispatched officers from Vienna to seize his person, dead or alive. This +roused Wallenstein to desperation. Having secured the coöperation of his +leading officers, he dispatched envoys to the Swedish camp, offering to +surrender important fortresses to Oxenstiern, and to join him against +the emperor. It was an atrocious act of treason, and so marvellous in +its aspect, that Oxenstiern regarded it as mere duplicity on the part of +Wallenstein, intended to lead him into a trap. He therefore dismissed +the envoy, rejecting the offer. His officers now abandoned him, and +Gallas, who was appointed as his successor, took command of the army. + +With a few devoted adherents, and one regiment of troops, he took refuge +in the strong fortress of Egra, hoping to maintain himself there until +he could enter into some arrangement with the Swedes. The officers +around him, whom he had elevated and enriched by his iniquitous bounty, +entered into a conspiracy to purchase the favor of the emperor by the +assassination of their doomed general. It was a very difficult +enterprise, and one which exposed the conspirators to the most imminent +peril. + +On the 25th of February, 1634, the conspirators gave a magnificent +entertainment in the castle. They sat long at the table, wine flowed +freely, and as the darkness of night enveloped the castle, fourteen men, +armed to the teeth, rushed into the banqueting hall from two opposite +doors, and fell upon the friends of Wallenstein. Though thus taken by +surprise, they fought fiercely, and killed several of their assailants +before they were cut down. They all, however, were soon dispatched. The +conspirators, fifty in number, then ascended the stairs of the castle to +the chamber of Wallenstein. They cut down the sentinel at his door, and +broke into the room. Wallenstein had retired to his bed, but alarmed by +the clamor, he arose, and was standing at the window in his shirt, +shouting from it to the soldiers for assistance. + +"Are you," exclaimed one of the conspirators, "the traitor who is going +to deliver the imperial troops to the enemy, and tear the crown from the +head of the emperor?" + +Wallenstein was perfectly helpless. He looked around, and deigned no +reply. "You must die," continued the conspirator, advancing with his +halberd. Wallenstein, in silence, opened his arms to receive the blow. +The sharp blade pierced his body, and he fell dead upon the floor. The +alarm now spread through the town. The soldiers seized their arms, and +flocked to avenge their general. But the leading friends of Wallenstein +were slain; and the other officers easily satisfied the fickle soldiery +that their general was a traitor, and with rather a languid cry of "Long +live Ferdinand," they returned to duty. + +Two of the leading assassins hastened to Vienna to inform the emperor of +the deed they had perpetrated. It was welcome intelligence to Ferdinand, +and he finished the work they had thus commenced by hanging and +beheading the adherents of Wallenstein without mercy. The assassins were +abundantly rewarded. The emperor still prosecuted the war with +perseverance, which no disasters could check. Gradually the imperial +arms gained the ascendency. The Protestant princes became divided and +jealous of each other. The emperor succeeded in detaching from the +alliance, and negotiating a separate peace with the powerful Electors of +Saxony and Brandenburg. He then assembled a diet at Ratisbon on the 15th +of September, 1639, and without much difficulty secured the election of +his son Ferdinand to succeed him on the imperial throne. The emperor +presided at this diet in person. He was overjoyed in the attainment of +this great object of his ambition. He was now fifty-nine years of age, +in very feeble health, and quite worn out by a life of incessant anxiety +and toil. He returned to Vienna, and in four months, on the 15th of +February, 1637, breathed his last. + +For eighteen years Germany had now been distracted by war. The +contending parties were so exasperated against each other, that no human +wisdom could, at once, allay the strife. The new king and emperor, +Ferdinand III., wished for peace, but he could not obtain it on terms +which he thought honorable to the memory of his father. The Swedish army +was still in Germany, aided by the Protestant princes of the empire, and +especially by the armies and the treasury of France. The thunders of +battle were daily heard, and the paths of these hostile bands were ever +marked by smoldering ruins and blood. Vials of woe were emptied, +unsurpassed in apocalyptic vision. In the siege of Brisac, the wretched +inhabitants were reduced to such a condition of starvation, that a guard +was stationed at the burying ground to prevent them from devouring the +putrid carcasses of the dead. + +For eleven years history gives us nothing but a dismal record of weary +marches, sieges, battles, bombardments, conflagrations, and all the +unimaginable brutalities and miseries of war. The war had now raged for +thirty years. Hundreds of thousands of lives had been lost. Millions of +property had been destroyed, and other millions squandered in the arts +of destruction. Nearly all Europe had been drawn into this vortex of +fury and misery. All parties were now weary. And yet seven years of +negotiation had been employed before they could consent to meet to +consult upon a general peace. At length congresses of the belligerent +powers were assembled in two important towns of Westphalia, Osnabruck +and Munster. Ridiculous disputes upon etiquette rendered this division +of the congress necessary. The ministers of _electors_ enjoyed the title +of _excellency_. The ministers of _princes_ claimed the same title. +Months were employed in settling that question. Then a difficulty arose +as to the seats at table, who were entitled to the positions of honor. +After long debate, this point was settled by having a large round table +made, to which there could be no head and no foot. + +For four years the great questions of European policy were discussed by +this assembly. The all-important treaty, known in history as the peace +of Westphalia, and which established the general condition of Europe for +one hundred and fifty years, was signed on the 24th of October, 1648. +The contracting parties included all the great and nearly all the minor +powers of Europe. The articles of this renowned treaty are vastly too +voluminous to be recorded here. The family of Frederic received back the +Palatinate of which he had been deprived. The Protestants were restored +to nearly all the rights which they had enjoyed under the beneficent +reign of Maximilian II. The princes of the German empire, kings, dukes, +electors, marquises, princes, of whatever name, pledged themselves not +to oppress those of their subjects who differed from them in religious +faith. The pope protested against this toleration, but his protest was +disregarded. The German empire lost its unity, and became a +conglomeration of three hundred independent sovereignties. Each petty +prince or duke, though possessing but a few square miles of territory, +was recognized as a sovereign power, entitled to its court, its army, +and its foreign alliances. The emperor thus lost much of that power +which he had inherited from his ancestors; as those princes, whom he had +previously regarded as vassals, now shared with him sovereign dignity. + +Ferdinand III., however, weary of the war which for so many years had +allowed him not an hour of repose, gladly acceded to these terms of +peace, and in good faith employed himself in carrying out the terms of +the treaty. After the exchange of ratifications another congress was +assembled at Nuremburg to settle some of the minute details, which +continued in session two years, when at length, in 1651, the armies were +disbanded, and Germany was released from the presence of a foreign foe. + +Internal peace being thus secured, Ferdinand was anxious, before his +death, to secure the succession of the imperial crown to his son who +bore his own name. He accordingly assembled a meeting of the electors at +Prague, and by the free use of bribes and diplomatic intrigue, obtained +their engagement to support his son. He accomplished his purpose, and +Ferdinand, quite to the astonishment of Germany, was chosen unanimously, +King of the Romans--the title assumed by the emperor elect. In June, +1653, the young prince was crowned at Ratisbon. The joy of his father, +however, was of short duration. In one year from that time the +small-pox, in its most loathsome form, seized the prince, and after a +few days of anguish he died. His father was almost inconsolable with +grief. As soon as he had partially recovered from the blow, he brought +forward his second son, Leopold, and with but little difficulty secured +for him the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, but was disappointed in his +attempts to secure the suffrages of the German electors. + +With energy, moderation and sagacity, the peacefully disposed Ferdinand +so administered the government as to allay for seven years all the +menaces of war which were continually arising. For so long a period had +Germany been devastated by this most direful of earthly calamities, +which is indeed the accumulation of all conceivable woes, ever leading +in its train pestilence and famine, that peace seemed to the people a +heavenly boon. The fields were again cultivated, the cities and villages +repaired, and comfort began again gradually to make its appearance in +homes long desolate. It is one of the deepest mysteries of the divine +government that the destinies of millions should be so entirely placed +in the hands of a single man. Had Ferdinand II. been an enlightened, +good man, millions would have been saved from life-long ruin and misery. + +One pert young king, in the search of glory, kindled again the lurid +flames of war. Christina, Queen of Sweden, daughter of Gustavus +Adolphus, influenced by romantic dreams, abdicated the throne and +retired to the seclusion of the cloister. Her cousin, Charles Gustavus, +succeeded her. He thought it a fine thing to play the soldier, and to +win renown by consigning the homes of thousands to blood and misery. He +was a king, and the power was in his hands. Merely to gratify this +fiend-like ambition, he laid claim to the crown of Poland, and raised an +army for the invasion of that kingdom. A portion of Poland was then in a +state of insurrection, the Ukraine Cossacks having risen against John +Cassimar, the king. Charles Gustavus thought that this presented him an +opportunity to obtain celebrity as a warrior, with but little danger of +failure. He marched into the doomed country, leaving behind him a wake +of fire and blood. Cities and villages were burned; the soil was +drenched with the blood of fathers and sons, his bugle blasts were +echoed by the agonizing groans of widows and orphans, until at last, in +an awful battle of three days, under the walls of Warsaw, the Polish +army, struggling in self-defense, was cut to pieces, and Charles +Gustavus was crowned a conqueror. Elated by this infernal deed, the most +infernal which mortal man can commit, he began to look around to decide +in what direction to extend his conquests. + +Ferdinand III., anxious as he was to preserve peace, could not but look +with alarm upon the movements which now threatened the States of the +empire. It was necessary to present a barrier to the inroads of such a +ruffian. He accordingly assembled a diet at Frankfort and demanded +succors to oppose the threatened invasion on the north. He raised an +army, entered into an alliance with the defeated and prostrate, yet +still struggling Poles, and was just commencing his march, when he was +seized with sudden illness and died, on the 3d of March, 1657. Ferdinand +was a good man. He was not responsible for the wars which desolated the +empire during the first years of his reign, for he was doing every thing +in his power to bring those wars to a close. His administration was a +blessing to millions. Just before his death he said, and with truth +which no one will controvert, "During my whole reign no one can reproach +me with a single act which I knew to be unjust." Happy is the monarch +who can go into the presence of the King of kings with such a +conscience. + +The death of the emperor was caused by a singular accident. He was not +very well, and was lying upon a couch in one of the chambers of his +palace. He had an infant son, but a few weeks old, lying in a cradle in +the nursery. A fire broke out in the apartment of the young prince. The +whole palace was instantly in clamor and confusion. Some attendants +seized the cradle of the young prince, and rushed with it to the chamber +of the emperor. In their haste and terror they struck the cradle with +such violence against the wall that it was broken to pieces and the +child fell, screaming, upon the floor. The cry of fire, the tumult, the +bursting into the room, the dashing of the cradle and the shrieks of the +child, so shocked the debilitated king that he died within an hour. + +Leopold was but eighteen years of age when he succeeded to the +sovereignty of all the Austrian dominions, including the crowns of +Hungary and Bohemia. It was the first great object of his ambition to +secure the imperial throne also, which his father had failed to obtain +for him. Louis XIV. was now the youthful sovereign of France. He, +through his ambitious and able minister, Mazarin, did every thing in his +power to thwart the endeavors of Ferdinand, and to obtain the brilliant +prize for himself. The King of Sweden united with the French court in +the endeavor to abase the pride of the house of Austria. But +notwithstanding all their efforts, Leopold carried his point, and was +unanimously elected emperor, and crowned on the 31st of July, 1657. The +princes of the empire, however, greatly strengthened in their +independence by the articles of the peace of Westphalia, increasingly +jealous of their rights, attached forty-five conditions to their +acceptance of Leopold as emperor. Thus, notwithstanding the imperial +title, Leopold had as little power over the States of the empire as the +President of the United States has over the internal concerns of Maine +or Louisiana. In all such cases there is ever a conflict between two +parties, the one seeking the centralization of power, and the other +advocating its dispersion into various distant central points. + +The flames of war which Charles Gustavus had kindled were still blazing. +Leopold continued the alliance which his father had formed with the +Poles, and sent an army of sixteen thousand men into Poland, hoping to +cut off the retreat of Charles Gustavus, and take him and all his army +prisoners. But the Swedish monarch was as sagacious and energetic as he +was unscrupulous and ambitious. Both parties formed alliances. State +after State was drawn into the conflict. The flame spread like a +conflagration. Fleets met in deadly conflict on the Baltic, and +crimsoned its waves with blood. The thunders of war were soon again +echoing over all the plains of northern and western Germany--and all +this because a proud, unprincipled young man, who chanced to be a king, +wished to be called a _hero_. + +He accomplished his object. Through burning homes and bleeding hearts +and crushed hopes he marched to his renown. The forces of the empire +were allied with Denmark and Poland against him. With skill and energy +which can hardly find a parallel in the tales of romance, he baffled all +the combinations of his foes. Energy is a noble quality, and we may +admire its exhibition even though we detest the cause which has called +it forth. The Swedish fleet had been sunk by the Danes, and Charles +Gustavus was driven from the waters of the Baltic. With a few transports +he secretly conveyed an army across the Cattegat to the northern coast +of Jutland, marched rapidly down those inhospitable shores until he came +to the narrow strait, called the Little Belt, which separates Jutland +from the large island of Fyen. He crossed this strait on the ice, +dispersed a corps of Danes posted to arrest him, traversed the island, +exposed to all the storms of mid-winter, some sixty miles to its eastern +shore. A series of islands, with intervening straits clogged with ice, +bridged by a long and circuitous way his passage across the Great Belt. +A march of ten miles across the hummocks, rising and falling with the +tides, landed him upon the almost pathless snows of Langeland. Crossing +that dreary waste diagonally some dozen miles to another arm of the sea +ten miles wide, which the ices of a winter of almost unprecedented +severity had also bridged, pushing boldly on, with a recklessness which +nothing but success redeems from stupendous infatuation, he crossed this +fragile surface, which any storm might crumble beneath his feet, and +landed upon the western coast of Laaland. A march of thirty-five miles +over a treeless, shelterless and almost uninhabited expanse, brought him +to the eastern shore. Easily crossing a narrow strait about a mile in +width, he plunged into the forests of the island of Falster. A dreary +march of twenty-seven miles conducted him to the last remaining arm of +the sea which separated him from Zealand. This strait, from twelve to +fifteen miles in breadth, was also closed by ice. Charles Gustavus led +his hardy soldiers across it, and then, with accelerated steps, pressed +on some sixty miles to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. In sixteen +days after landing in Jutland, his troops were encamped in Zealand +before the gates of the capital. + +The King of Denmark was appalled at such a sudden apparition. His allies +were too remote to render him any assistance. Never dreaming of such an +attack, his capital was quite defenseless in that quarter. Overwhelmed +with terror and despondency, he was compelled to submit to such terms as +the conqueror might dictate. The conqueror was inexorable in his +demands. Sweden was aggrandized, and Denmark humiliated. + +Leopold was greatly chagrined by this sudden prostration of his faithful +ally. In the midst of these scenes of ambition and of conquest, the +"king of terrors" came with his summons to Charles Gustavus. The passage +of this blood-stained warrior to the world of spirits reminds us of the +sublime vision of Isaiah when the King of Babylon sank into the grave: + +"Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming; it +stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it +hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they +shall speak and say unto thee, + +"'Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy +pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols; the worm +is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from +heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the +ground which didst weaken the nations!' + +"They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee, +saying, 'Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, and didst shake +kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities +thereof, that opened not the house of his prisoners?'" + +The death of Charles Gustavus was the signal for the strife of war to +cease, and the belligerent nations soon came to terms of accommodation. +But scarcely was peace proclaimed ere new troubles arose in Hungary. The +barbarian Turks, with their head-quarters at Constantinople, lived in a +state of continual anarchy. The cimeter was their only law. The palace +of the sultan was the scene of incessant assassinations. Nothing ever +prevented them from assailing their neighbors but incessant quarrels +among themselves. The life of the Turkish empire was composed of bloody +insurrections at home, and still more bloody wars abroad. Mahomet IV. +was now sultan. He was but twenty years of age. A quarrel for ascendency +among the beauties of his harem had involved the empire in a civil war. +The sultan, after a long conflict, crushed the insurrection with a +blood-red hand. Having restored internal tranquillity, he prepared as +usual for foreign war. By intrigue and the force of arms they took +possession of most of the fortresses of Transylvania, and crossing the +frontier, entered Hungary, and laid siege to Great Wardein. + +Leopold immediately dispatched ten thousand men to succor the besieged +town and to garrison other important fortresses. His succors arrived too +late. Great Wardein fell into the hands of the Turks, and they commenced +their merciless ravages. Hungary was in a wretched condition. The king, +residing in Vienna, was merely a nominal sovereign. Chosen by nobles +proud of their independence, and jealous of each other and of their +feudal rights, they were unwilling to delegate to the sovereign any +efficient power. They would crown him with great splendor of gold and +jewelry, and crowd his court in their magnificent display, but they +would not grant him the prerogative to make war or peace, to levy taxes, +or to exercise any other of the peculiar attributes of sovereignty. The +king, with all his sounding titles and gorgeous parade, was in reality +but the chairman of a committee of nobles. The real power was with the +Hungarian diet. + +This diet, or congress, was a peculiar body. Originally it consisted of +the whole body of nobles, who assembled annually on horseback on the +vast plain of Rakoz, near Buda. Eighty thousand nobles, many of them +with powerful revenues, were frequently convened at these tumultuous +gatherings. The people were thought to have no rights which a noble was +bound to respect. They lived in hovels, hardly superior to those which a +humane farmer now prepares for his swine. The only function they +fulfilled was, by a life of exhausting toil and suffering, to raise the +funds which the nobles expended in their wars and their pleasure; and to +march to the field of blood when summoned by the bugle. In fact history +has hardly condescended to allude to the people. We have minutely +detailed the intrigues and the conflicts of kings and nobles, when +generation after generation of the masses of the people have passed +away, as little thought of as billows upon the beach. + +These immense gatherings of the nobles were found to be so unwieldy, and +so inconvenient for the transaction of any efficient business, that +Sigismond, at the commencement of the fifteenth century, introduced a +limited kind of representation. The bishops, who stood first in wealth, +power and rank, and the highest dukes, attended in person. The nobles of +less exalted rank sent their delegates, and the assembly, much +diminished in number, was transferred from the open plain to the city of +Presburg. The diet, at the time of which we write, was assembled once in +three years, and at such other times as the sovereign thought it +necessary to convene it. The diet controlled the king, unless he chanced +to be a man of such commanding character, that by moral power he could +bring the diet to his feet. A clause had been inserted in the coronation +oath, that the nobles, without guilt, could oppose the authority of the +king, whenever he transgressed their privileges; it was also declared +that no foreign troops could be introduced into the kingdom without the +consent of the diet. + +Under such a government, it was inevitable that the king should be +involved in a continued conflict with the nobles. The nobles wished for +aid to repel the Turks; and yet they were unwilling that an Austrian +army should be introduced into Hungary, lest it should enable the king +to enlarge those prerogatives which he was ever seeking to extend, and +which they were ever endeavoring to curtail. + +Leopold convened the diet at Presburg. They had a stormy session. +Leopold had commenced some persecution of the Protestants in the States +of Austria. This excited the alarm of the Protestant nobles of Hungary; +and they had reason to dread the intolerance of the Roman Catholics, +more than the cimeter of the Turk. They openly accused Leopold of +commencing persecution, and declared that it was his intention to reduce +Hungary to the state to which Ferdinand II. had reduced Bohemia. They +met all the suggestions of Leopold, for decisive action, with so many +provisos and precautions, that nothing could be done. It is dangerous to +surrender one's arms to a highway robber, or one whom we fear may prove +such, even if he does promise with them to aid in repelling a foe. The +Catholics and the Protestants became involved in altercation, and the +diet was abruptly dissolved. + +The Turks eagerly watched their movements, and, encouraged by these +dissensions, soon burst into Hungary with an army of one hundred +thousand men. They crossed the Drave at Esseg, and, ascending the valley +of the Danube, directly north one hundred and fifty miles, crossed that +stream unopposed at Buda. Still ascending the stream, which here flows +from the west, they spread devastation everywhere around them, until +they arrived nearly within sight of the steeples of Vienna. The capital +was in consternation. To add to their terror and their peril, the +emperor was dangerously sick of the small-pox, a disease which had so +often proved fatal to members of the royal family. One of the imperial +generals, near Presburg, in a strong position, held the invading army in +check a few days. The ministry, in their consternation, appealed to all +the powers of Christendom to hasten to the rescue of the cross, now so +seriously imperiled by the crescent. Forces flowed in, which for a time +arrested the further advance of the Moslem banners, and afforded time to +prepare for more efficient action. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LEOPOLD I. + +From 1662 to 1697. + +Invasion of the Turks.--A Treaty concluded.--Possessions of Leopold.-- +Invasion of the French.--League of Augsburg.--Devastation of the +Palatinate.--Invasion of Hungary.--Emeric Tekeli.--Union of Emeric +Tekeli with the Turks.--Leopold applies to Sobieski.--He immediately +marches to his Aid.--The Turks conquered.--Sobieski's triumphal +Receptions.--Meanness of Leopold.--Revenge upon Hungary.--Peace +concluded.--Contest for Spain. + + +While Europe was rousing itself to repel this invasion of the Turks, the +grand vizier, leaving garrisons in the strong fortresses of the Danube, +withdrew the remainder of his army to prepare for a still more +formidable invasion the ensuing year. Most of the European powers seemed +disposed to render the emperor some aid. The pope transmitted to him +about two hundred thousand dollars. France sent a detachment of six +thousand men. Spain, Venice, Genoa, Tuscany and Mantua, forwarded +important contributions of money and military stores. Early in the +summer the Turks, in a powerful and well provided army, commenced their +march anew. Ascending the valley of the Save, where they encountered no +opposition, they traversed Styria, that they might penetrate to the seat +of war through a defenseless frontier. The troops assembled by Leopold, +sixty thousand in number, under the renowned Prince Montecuculi, +stationed themselves in a very strong position at St. Gothard, behind +the river Raab, which flows into the Danube about one hundred miles +below Vienna. Here they threw up their intrenchments and prepared to +resist the progress of the invader. + +The Turks soon arrived and spread themselves out in military array upon +the opposite side of the narrow but rapid stream. As the hostile armies +were preparing for an engagement, a young Turk, magnificently mounted, +and in gorgeous uniform, having crossed the stream with a party of +cavalry, rode in advance of the troop, upon the plain, and in the spirit +of ancient chivalry challenged any Christian knight to meet him in +single combat. The Chevalier of Lorraine accepted the challenge, and +rode forth to the encounter. Both armies looked silently on to witness +the issue of the duel. It was of but a few moments' duration. Lorraine, +warding off every blow of his antagonist, soon passed his sword through +the body of the Turk, and he fell dead from his horse. The victor +returned to the Christian camp, leading in triumph the splendid steed of +his antagonist. + +And now the signal was given for the general battle. The Turks +impetuously crossing the narrow stream, assailed the Christian camp in +all directions, with their characteristic physical bravery, the most +common, cheap and vulgar of all earthly virtues. A few months of +military discipline will make fearless soldiers of the most ignominious +wretches who can be raked from the gutters of Christian or heathen +lands. The battle was waged with intense fierceness on both sides, and +was long continued with varying success. At last the Turks were routed +on every portion of the field, and leaving nearly twenty thousand of +their number either dead upon the plain or drowned in the Raab, they +commenced a precipitate flight. + +Leopold was, for many reasons, very anxious for peace, and immediately +proposed terms very favorable to the Turks. The sultan was so +disheartened by this signal reverse that he readily listened to the +propositions of the emperor, and within nine days after the battle of +St. Gothard, to the astonishment of all Europe, a truce was concluded +for twenty years. The Hungarians were much displeased with the terms of +this treaty; for in the first place, it was contrary to the laws of the +kingdom for the king to make peace without the consent of the diet, and +in the second place, the conditions he offered the Turks were +humiliating to the Hungarians. Leopold confirmed to the Turks their +ascendency in Transylvania, and allowed them to retain Great Wardein, +and two other important fortresses in Hungary. It was with no little +difficulty that the emperor persuaded the diet to ratify these terms. + +Leopold is to be considered under the twofold light of sovereign of +Austria and Emperor of Germany. We have seen that his power as emperor +was quite limited. His power as sovereign of Austria, also varied +greatly in the different States of his widely extended realms. In the +Austrian duchies proper, upon the Danube, of which he was, by long +hereditary descent, archduke, his sway was almost omnipotent. In Bohemia +he was powerful, though much less so than in Austria, and it was +necessary for him to move with caution there, and not to disturb the +ancient usages of the realm lest he should excite insurrection. In +Hungary, where the laws and customs were entirely different, Leopold +held merely a nominal, hardly a recognized sway. The bold Hungarian +barons, always steel-clad and mounted for war, in their tumultuous +diets, governed the kingdom. There were other remote duchies and +principalities, too feeble to stand by themselves, and ever changing +masters, as they were conquered or sought the protection of other +powers, which, under the reign of Leopold, were portions of wide +extended Austria. Another large and vastly important accession was now +made to his realms. The Tyrol, which, in its natural features, may be +considered but an extension of Switzerland, is a territory of about one +hundred miles square, traversed through its whole extent by the Alps. +Lying just south of Austria it is the key to Italy, opening through its +defiles a passage to the sunny plains of the Peninsula; and through +those fastnesses, guarded by frowning castles, no foe could force his +way, into the valleys of the Tyrol. The most sublime road in Europe is +that over Mount Brenner, along the banks of the Adige. This province had +long been in the hands of members of the Austrian family. + +On the 15th of June, 1665, Sigismond Francis, Duke of Tyrol, and cousin +of Leopold, died, leaving no issue, and the province escheated with its +million of inhabitants to Leopold, as the next heir. This brought a +large accession of revenue and of military force, to the kingdom. +Austria was now the leading power in Europe, and Leopold, in rank and +position, the most illustrious sovereign. Louis XIV. had recently +married Maria Theresa, eldest daughter of Philip IV., King of Spain. +Philip, who was anxious to retain the crown of Spain in his own family, +extorted from Maria Theresa, and from her husband, Louis XIV., the +renunciation of all right of succession, in favor of his second +daughter, Margaret, whom he betrothed to Leopold. Philip died in +September, 1665, leaving these two daughters, one of whom was married to +the King of France, and leaving also an infant son, who succeeded to the +throne under the regency of his mother, Ann, daughter of Ferdinand III., +of Austria. Margaret was then too young to be married, but in a year +from this time, in September, 1666, her nuptials were celebrated with +great splendor at Madrid. The ambitious French monarch, taking advantage +of the minority of the King of Spain, and of the feeble regency, and in +defiance of the solemn renunciation made at his marriage, resolved to +annex the Spanish provinces of the Low Countries to France, and invaded +the kingdom, leading himself an army of thirty thousand men. The Spanish +court immediately appealed to Leopold for assistance. But Leopold was so +embarrassed by troubles in Hungary, and by discontents in the empire +that he could render no efficient aid. England, however, and other +powers of Europe, jealous of the aggrandizement of Louis XIV. combined, +and compelled him to abandon a large portion of the Netherlands, though +he still retained several fortresses. The ambition of Louis XIV. was +inflamed, not checked by this reverse, and all Europe was involved again +in bloody wars. The aggressions of France, and the devastations of +Tarenne in the Palatinate, roused Germany to listen to the appeals of +Leopold, and the empire declared war against France. Months of +desolating war rolled on, decisive of no results, except universal +misery. The fierce conflict continued with unintermitted fury until +1679, when the haughty monarch of France, who was as sagacious in +diplomacy as he was able in war, by bribes and threats succeeded in +detaching one after another from the coalition against him, until +Leopold, deserted by nearly all his allies, was also compelled to accede +to peace. + +France, under Louis XIV., was now the dominant power in Europe. Every +court seemed to be agitated by the intrigues of this haughty sovereign, +and one becomes weary of describing the incessant fluctuations of the +warfare. The arrogance of Louis, his unblushing perfidy and his +insulting assumptions of superiority over all other powers, exasperated +the emperor to the highest pitch. But the French monarch, by secret +missions and abounding bribes, kept Hungary in continued commotion, and +excited such jealousy in the different States of the empire, that +Leopold was compelled to submit in silent indignation to wrongs almost +too grievous for human nature to bear. + +At length Leopold succeeded in organizing another coalition to resist +the aggressions of Louis XIV. The Prince of Orange, the King of Sweden +and the Elector of Brandenburg were the principal parties united with +the emperor in this confederacy, which was concluded, under the name of +the "League of Augsburg," on the 21st of June, 1686. An army of sixty +thousand men was immediately raised. From all parts of Germany troops +were now hurrying towards the Rhine. Louis, alarmed, retired from the +Palatinate, which he had overrun, and, to place a barrier between +himself and his foes, ordered the utter devastation of the unhappy +country. The diabolical order was executed by Turenne. The whole of the +Palatinate was surrendered to pillage and conflagration. The elector, +from the towers of his castle at Mannheim, saw at one time two cities +and twenty-five villages in flames. He had no force sufficient to +warrant him to leave the walls of his fortress to oppose the foe. He +was, however, so moved to despair by the sight, that he sent a challenge +to Turenne to meet him in single combat. Turenne, by command of the +king, declined accepting the challenge. More than forty large towns, +besides innumerable villages, were given up to the flames. It was +mid-winter. The fields were covered with snow, and swept by freezing +blasts. The wretched inhabitants, parents and children, driven into the +bleak plains without food or clothing or shelter, perished miserably by +thousands. The devastation of the Palatinate is one of the most cruel +deeds which war has ever perpetrated. For these woes, which no +imagination can gauge, Louis XIV. is responsible. He has escaped any +adequate earthly penalty for the crime, but the instinctive sense of +justice implanted in every breast, demands that he should not escape the +retributions of a righteous God. "After death cometh the judgment." + +This horrible deed roused Germany. All Europe now combined against +France, except Portugal, Russia and a few of the Italian States. The +tide now turned in favor of the house of Austria. Germany was so alarmed +by the arrogance of France, that, to strengthen the power of the +emperor, the diet with almost perfect unanimity elected his son Joseph, +though a lad but eleven years of age, to succeed to the imperial throne. +Indeed, Leopold presented his son in a manner which seemed to claim the +crown for him as his hereditary right, and the diet did not resist that +claim. France, rich and powerful, with marvelous energy breasted her +host of foes. All Europe was in a blaze. The war raged on the ocean, +over the marshes of Holland, along the banks of the Rhine, upon the +plains of Italy, through the defiles of the Alps and far away on the +steppes of Hungary and the shores of the Euxine. To all these points the +emperor was compelled to send his troops. Year after year of carnage and +woe rolled on, during which hardly a happy family could be found in all +Europe. + + "Man's inhumanity to man + Made countless millions mourn." + +At last all parties became weary of the war, and none of the powers +having gained any thing of any importance by these long years of crime +and misery, for which Louis XIV., as the aggressor, is mainly +responsible, peace was signed on the 30th of October, 1697. One +important thing, indeed, had been accomplished. The rapacious Louis XIV. +had been checked in his career of spoliation. But his insatiate ambition +was by no means subdued. He desired peace only that he might more +successfully prosecute his plans of aggrandizement. He soon, by his +system of robbery, involved Europe again in war. Perhaps no man has ever +lived who has caused more bloody deaths and more wide-spread destruction +of human happiness than Louis XIV. We wonder not that in the French +Revolution an exasperated people should have rifled his sepulcher and +spurned his skull over the pavements as a foot-ball. + +Leopold, during the progress of these wars, by the aid of the armies +which the empire furnished him, recovered all of Hungary and +Transylvania, driving the Turks beyond the Danube. But the proud +Hungarian nobles were about as much opposed to the rule of the Austrian +king as to that of the Turkish sultan. The Protestants gained but little +by the change, for the Mohammedan was about as tolerant as the papist. +They all suspected Leopold of the design of establishing over them +despotic power, and they formed a secret confederacy for their own +protection. Leopold, released from his warfare against France and the +Turks, was now anxious to consolidate his power in Hungary, and justly +regarding the Roman Catholic religion as the great bulwark against +liberty, encouraged the Catholics to persecute the Protestants. + +Leopold took advantage of this conspiracy to march an army into Hungary, +and attacking the discontented nobles, who had raised an army, he +crushed them with terrible severity. No mercy was shown. He exhausted +the energies of confiscation, exile and the scaffold upon his foes; and +then, having intimidated all so that no one dared to murmur, declared +the monarchy of Hungary no longer elective but hereditary, like that of +Bohemia. He even had the assurance to summon a diet of the nobles to +confirm this decree which defrauded them of their time-honored rights. +The nobles who were summoned, terrified, instead of obeying, fled into +Transylvania. The despot then issued an insulting and menacing +proclamation, declaring that the power he exercised he received from +God, and calling upon all to manifest implicit submission under peril of +his vengeance. He then extorted a large contribution of money from the +kingdom, and quartered upon the inhabitants thirty thousand troops to +awe them into subjection. + +This proclamation was immediately followed by another, changing the +whole form of government of the kingdom, and establishing an unlimited +despotism. He then moved vigorously for the extirpation of the +Protestant religion. The Protestant pastors were silenced; courts were +instituted for the suppression of heresy; two hundred and fifty +Protestant ministers were sentenced to be burned at the stake, and then, +as an act of extraordinary clemency, on the part of the despot, their +punishment was commuted to hard labor in the galleys for life. All the +nameless horrors of inquisitorial cruelty desolated the land. + +Catholics and Protestants were alike driven to despair by these civil +and religious outrages. They combined, and were aided both by France and +Turkey; not that France and Turkey loved justice and humanity, but they +hated the house of Austria, and wished to weaken its power, that they +might enrich themselves by the spoils. A noble chief, Emeric Tekeli, who +had fled from Hungary to Poland, and who hated Austria as Hannibal hated +Rome, was invested with the command of the Hungarian patriots. Victory +followed his standard, until the emperor, threatened with entire +expulsion from the kingdom, offered to reëstablish the ancient laws +which he had abrogated, and to restore to the Hungarians all those civil +and religious privileges of which he had so ruthlessly defrauded them. + +But the Hungarians were no longer to be deceived by his perfidious +promises. They continued the war; and the sultan sent an army of two +hundred thousand men to cooperate with Tekeli. The emperor, unable to +meet so formidable an army, abandoned his garrisons, and, retiring from +the distant parts of the kingdom, concentrated his troops at Presburg. +But with all his efforts, he was able to raise an army of only forty +thousand men. The Duke of Lorraine, who was intrusted with the command +of the imperial troops, was compelled to retreat precipitately before +outnumbering foes, and he fled upon the Danube, pursued by the combined +Hungarians and Turks, until he found refuge within the walls of Vienna. +The city was quite unprepared for resistance, its fortifications being +dilapidated, and its garrison feeble. Universal consternation seized the +inhabitants. All along the valley of the Danube the population fled in +terror before the advance of the Turks. Leopold, with his family, at +midnight, departed ingloriously from the city, to seek a distant refuge. +The citizens followed the example of their sovereign, and all the roads +leading westward and northward from the city were crowded with +fugitives, in carriages, on horseback and on foot, and with all kinds of +vehicles laden with the treasures of the metropolis. The churches were +filled with the sick and the aged, pathetically imploring the protection +of Heaven. + +The Duke of Lorraine conducted with great energy, repairing the +dilapidated fortifications, stationing in posts of peril the veteran +troops, and marshaling the citizens and the students to coöperate with +the garrison. On the 14th of July, 1682, the banners of the advance +guard of the Turkish army were seen from the walls of Vienna. Soon the +whole mighty host, like an inundation, came surging on, and, surrounding +the city, invested it on all sides. The terrific assault from +innumerable batteries immediately commenced. The besieged were soon +reduced to the last extremity for want of provisions, and famine and +pestilence rioting within the walls, destroyed more than the shot of the +enemy. The suburbs were destroyed, the principal outworks taken, several +breaches were battered in the walls, and the terrified inhabitants were +hourly in expectation that the city would be taken by storm. There can +not be, this side of the world of woe, any thing more terrible than such +an event. + +The emperor, in his terror, had dispatched envoys all over Germany to +rally troops for the defense of Vienna and the empire. He himself had +hastened to Poland, where, with frantic intreaties, he pressed the king, +the renowned John Sobieski, whose very name was a terror, to rush to his +relief. Sobieski left orders for a powerful army immediately to commence +their march. But, without waiting for their comparatively slow +movements, he placed himself at the head of three thousand Polish +horsemen, and, without incumbering himself with luggage, like the sweep +of the whirlwind traversed Silesia and Moravia, and reached Tulen, on +the banks of the Danube, about twenty miles above Vienna. He had been +told by the emperor that here he would find an army awaiting him, and a +bridge constructed, by which he could cross the stream. But, to his +bitter disappointment, he found no army, and the bridge unfinished. +Indignantly he exclaimed, + +"What does the emperor mean? Does he think me a mere adventurer? I left +my own army that I might take command of his. It is not for myself that +I fight, but for him." + +Notwithstanding this disappointment, he called into requisition all his +energies to meet the crisis. The bridge was pushed forward to its +completion. The loitering German troops were hurried on to the +rendezvous. After a few days the Polish troops, by forced marches, +arrived, and Sobieski found himself at the head of sixty thousand men, +experienced soldiers, and well supplied with all the munitions of war. +On the 11th of September the inhabitants of the city were overjoyed, in +descrying from the towers of the city, in the distance, the approaching +banners of the Polish and German army. Sobieski ascended an elevation, +and long and carefully scrutinized the position of the besieging host. +He then calmly remarked, + +"The grand vizier has selected a bad position. I understand him. He is +ignorant of the arts of war, and yet thinks that he has military genius. +It will be so easy to conquer him, that we shall obtain no honor from +the victory." + +Early the next morning, the 12th of September, the Polish and German +troops rushed to the assault, with such amazing impetuosity, and guided +by such military skill, that the Turks were swept before them as by a +torrent. The army of the grand vizier, seized by a panic, fled so +precipitately, that they left baggage, tents, ammunition and provisions +behind. The garrison emerged from the city, and coöperated with the +victors, and booty of indescribable value fell into their hands. As +Sobieski took possession of the abandoned camp, stored with all the +wealth and luxuries of the East, he wrote, in a tone of pleasantry to +his wife, + +"The grand vizier has left me his heir, and I inherit millions of +ducats. When I return home I shall not be met with the reproach of the +Tartar wives, 'You are not a man, because you have come back without +booty.'" + +The inhabitants of Vienna flocked out from the city to greet the king as +an angel deliverer sent from heaven. The next morning the gates of the +city were thrown open, the streets were garlanded with flowers, and the +King of Poland had a triumphal reception in the streets of the +metropolis. The enthusiasm and gratitude of the people passed all +ordinary bounds. The bells rang their merriest peals; files of maidens +lined his path, and acclamations, bursting from the heart, greeted him +every step of his way. They called him their father and deliverer. They +struggled to kiss his feet and even to touch his garments. With +difficulty he pressed through the grateful crowd to the cathedral, where +he prostrated himself before the altar, and returned thanks to God for +the signal victory. As he returned, after a public dinner, to his camp, +he said, "This is the happiest day of my life." + +Two days after this, Leopold returned, trembling and humiliated to his +capital. He was received in silence, and with undisguised contempt. His +mortification was intense, and he could not endure to hear the praises +which were everywhere lavished upon Sobieski. Jealousy rankled in his +heart, and he vented his spite upon all around him. It was necessary +that he should have an interview with the heroic king who had so nobly +come to his rescue. But instead of meeting him with a warm and grateful +heart, he began to study the punctilios of etiquette, that the dreaded +interview might be rendered as cold and formal as possible. + +Sobieski was merely an elective monarch. Leopold was a hereditary king +and an emperor. Leopold even expressed some doubt whether it were +consistent with his exalted dignity to grant the Polish king the honor +of an audience. He inquired whether an _elected monarch_ had ever been +admitted to the presence of an _emperor_; and if so, with what forms, in +the present case, the king should be received. The Duke of Lorraine, of +whom he made the inquiry, disgusted with the mean spirit of the emperor, +nobly replied, "With open arms." + +But the soulless Leopold had every movement punctiliously arranged +according to the dictates of his ignoble spirit. The Polish and Austrian +armies were drawn up in opposite lines upon the plain before the city. +At a concerted signal the emperor and the king emerged from their +respective ranks, and rode out upon the open plain to meet each other. +Sobieski, a man of splendid bearing, magnificently mounted, and dressed +in the brilliant uniform of a Polish warrior, attracted all eyes and the +admiration of all hearts. His war steed pranced proudly as if conscious +of the royal burden he bore, and of the victories he had achieved. +Leopold was an ungainly man at the best. Conscious of his inability to +vie with the hero, in his personal presence, he affected the utmost +simplicity of dress and equipage. Humiliated also by the cold reception +he had met and by the consciousness of extreme unpopularity in both +armies, he was embarrassed and deject. The contrast was very striking, +adding to the renown of Sobieski, and sinking Leopold still deeper in +contempt. + +The two sovereigns advanced, formally saluted each other with bows, +dismounted and embraced. A few cold words were exchanged, when they +again embraced and remounted to review the troops. But Sobieski, frank, +cordial, impulsive, was so disgusted with this reception, so different +from what he had a right to expect, that he excused himself, and rode to +his tent, leaving his chancellor Zaluski to accompany the emperor on the +review. As Leopold rode along the lines he was received in contemptuous +silence, and he returned to his palace in Vienna, tortured by wounded +pride and chagrin. + +The treasure abandoned by the Turks was so abundant that five days were +spent in gathering it up. The victorious army then commenced the pursuit +of the retreating foe. About one hundred and fifty miles below Vienna, +where the majestic Danube turns suddenly from its eastern course and +flows toward the south, is situated the imperial city of Gran. Upon a +high precipitous rock, overlooking both the town and the river, there +had stood for centuries one of the most imposing fortresses which mortal +hands have ever reared. For seventy years this post had been in the +hands of the Turks, and strongly garrisoned by four thousand troops, had +bid defiance to every assault. Here the thinned and bleeding battalions +of the grand vizier sought refuge. Sobieski and the Duke of Lorraine, +flushed with victory, hurled their masses upon the disheartened foe, and +the Turks were routed with enormous slaughter. Seven thousand gory +corpses of the dead strewed the plain. Many thousands were driven into +the river and drowned. The fortress was taken, sword in hand; and the +remnant of the Moslem army, in utter discomfiture, fled down the Danube, +hardly resting, by night or by day, till they were safe behind the +ramparts of Belgrade. + +Both the German and the Polish troops were disgusted with Leopold. +Having reconquered Hungary for the emperor, they were not disposed to +remain longer in his service. Most of the German auxiliaries, +disbanding, returned to their own countries. Sobieski, declaring that he +was willing to fight against the Turks, but not against Tekeli and his +Christian confederates, led back his troops to Poland. The Duke of +Lorraine was now left with the Austrian troops to struggle against +Tekeli with the Hungarian patriots. The Turks, exasperated by the +defeat, accused Tekeli of being the cause. By stratagem he was seized +and sent in chains to Constantinople. The chief who succeeded him turned +traitor and joined the imperialists. The cause of the patriots was +ruined. Victory now kept pace with the march of the Duke of Lorraine. +The Turks were driven from all their fortresses, and Leopold again had +Hungary at his feet. His vengeance was such as might have been expected +from such a man. + +Far away, in the wilds of northern Hungary, at the base of the +Carpathian, mountains, on the river Tarcza, one of the tributaries of +the Theiss, is the strongly fortified town of Eperies. At this remote +spot the diabolical emperor established his revolutionary tribunal, as +if he thought that the shrieks of his victims, there echoing through the +savage defiles of the mountains, could not awaken the horror of +civilized Europe. His armed bands scoured the country and transported to +Eperies every individual, man, woman and child, who was even suspected +of sympathizing with the insurgents. There was hardly a man of wealth or +influence in the kingdom who was not dragged before this horrible +tribunal, composed of ignorant, brutal, sanguinary officers of the king. +Their summary trial, without any forms of justice, was an awful tragedy. +They were thrown into dungeons; their property confiscated; they were +exposed to the most direful tortures which human ingenuity could devise, +to extort confession and to compel them to criminate friends. By scores +they were daily consigned to the scaffold. Thirty executioners, with +their assistants, found constant employment in beheading the condemned. +In the middle of the town, the scaffold was raised for this butchery. +The spot is still called "The Bloody Theater of Eperies." + +Leopold, having thus glutted his vengeance, defiantly convoked a diet +and crowned his son Joseph, a boy twelve years of age, as King of +Hungary, practically saying to the nobles, "Dispute his hereditary right +now, if you dare." The emperor had been too often instructed in the +vicissitudes of war to feel that even in this hour of triumph he was +perfectly safe. He knew that other days might come; that other foes +might rise; and that Hungary could never forget the rights of which she +had been defrauded. He therefore exhausted all the arts of threats and +bribes to induce the diet to pass a decree that the crown was no longer +elective but hereditary. It is marvelous that in such an hour there +could have been any energy left to resist his will. But with all his +terrors he could only extort from the diet their consent that the +succession to the crown should be confirmed in the males, but that upon +the extinction of the _male_ line the crown, instead of being hereditary +in the female line, should revert to the nation, who should again confer +it by the right of election. + +Leopold reluctantly yielded to this, as the most he could then hope to +accomplish. The emperor, elated by success, assumed such imperious airs +as to repel from him all his former allies. For several years Hungary +was but a battle field where Austrians and Turks met in incessant and +bloody conflicts. But Leopold, in possession of all the fortresses, +succeeded in repelling each successive invasion. + +Both parties became weary of war. In November, 1697, negotiations were +opened at Carlovitz, and a truce was concluded for twenty-five years. +The Turks abandoned both Hungary and Transylvania, and these two +important provinces became more firmly than ever before, integral +portions of the Austrian empire. By the peace of Carlovitz the sultan +lost one half of his possessions in Europe. Austria, in the grandeur of +her territory, was never more powerful than at this hour: extending +across the whole breadth of Europe, from the valley of the Rhine to the +Euxine sea, and from the Carpathian mountains to the plains of Italy. A +more heterogeneous conglomeration of States never existed, consisting of +kingdoms, archduchies, duchies, principalities, counties, margraves, +landgraves and imperial cities, nearly all with their hereditary rulers +subordinate to the emperor, and with their local customs and laws. + +Leopold, though a weak and bad man, in addition to all this power, +swayed also the imperial scepter over all the States of Germany. Though +his empire over all was frail, and his vast dominions were liable at any +moment to crumble to pieces, he still was not content with consolidating +the realms he held, but was anxiously grasping for more. Spain was the +prize now to be won. Louis XIV., with the concentrated energies of the +French kingdom, was claiming it by virtue of his marriage with the +eldest daughter of the deceased monarch, notwithstanding his solemn +renunciation of all right at his marriage in favor of the second +daughter. Leopold, as the husband of the second daughter, claimed the +crown, in the event, then impending, of the death of the imbecile and +childless king. This quarrel agitated Europe to its center, and deluged +her fields with blood. If the _elective_ franchise is at times the +source of agitation, the law of _hereditary_ succession most certainly +does not always confer tranquillity and peace. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +LEOPOLD I. AND THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. + +From 1697 to 1710. + +The Spanish Succession.--The Impotence of Charles II.--Appeal to the +Pope.--His Decision.--Death of Charles II.--Accession of Philip +V.--Indignation of Austria.--The outbreak of War.--Charles III. +crowned.--Insurrection in Hungary.--Defection of Bavaria.--The Battle of +Blenheim.--Death of Leopold I.--Eleonora.--Accession of Joseph +I.--Charles XII. of Sweden.--Charles III. in Spain.--Battle of +Malplaquet.--Charles at Barcelona.--Charles at Madrid. + + +Charles II., King of Spain, was one of the most impotent of men, in both +body and mind. The law of hereditary descent had placed this semi-idiot +upon the throne of Spain to control the destinies of twenty millions of +people. The same law, in the event of his death without heirs, would +carry the crown across the Pyrenees to a little boy in the palace of +Versailles, or two thousand miles, to the banks of the Danube, to +another little boy in the gardens of Vienna. Louis XIV. claimed the +Spanish scepter in behalf of his wife, the Spanish princess Maria +Theresa, and her son. Leopold claimed it in behalf of his deceased wife, +Margaret, and her child. For many years before the death of Philip II. +the envoys of France and Austria crowded the court of Spain, employing +all the arts of intrigue and bribery to forward the interests of their +several sovereigns. The different courts of Europe espoused the claims +of the one party or the other, accordingly as their interests would be +promoted by the aggrandizement of the house of Bourbon or the house of +Hapsburg. + +Louis XIV. prepared to strike a sudden blow by gathering an army of one +hundred thousand men in his fortresses near the Spanish frontier, in +establishing immense magazines of military stores, and in filling the +adjacent harbors with ships of war. The sagacious French monarch had +secured the coöperation of the pope, and of some of the most influential +Jesuits who surrounded the sick and dying monarch. Charles II. had long +been harassed by the importunities of both parties that he should give +the influence of his voice in the decision. Tortured by the incessant +vacillations of his own mind, he was at last influenced, by the +suggestions of his spiritual advisers, to refer the question to the +pope. He accordingly sent an embassage to the pontiff with a letter +soliciting counsel. + +"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, 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 God. We are anxious +to act rightly, and we have recourse to your holiness, as to an +infallible guide, intreating you to consult with the cardinals and +divines, and, after having attentively examined the testaments of our +ancestors, to decide according to the rules of right and equity." + +Pope Innocent XII. was already prepared for this appeal, and was engaged +to act as the agent of the French court. The hoary-headed pontiff, with +one foot in the grave, affected the character of great honesty and +impartiality. He required forty days to examine the important case, and +to seek divine assistance. He then returned the following answer, +admirably adapted to influence a weak and superstitious prince: + +"Being myself," he wrote, "in a situation similar to that of his +Catholic majesty, the King of Spain, on the point of appearing at the +judgment-seat of Christ, and rendering an account to the sovereign +pastor of the flock which has been intrusted to my care, I am bound to +give such advice as will not reproach my conscience on the day of +judgment. Your majesty ought not to put the interests of the house of +Austria in competition with those of eternity. Neither should you be +ignorant that the French claimants are the rightful heirs of the crown, +and no member of the Austrian family has the smallest legitimate +pretension. It is therefore 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 succession of the +Spanish monarchy to the French claimants." + +Charles, as fickle as the wind, still remained undecided, and his +anxieties preying upon his feeble frame, already exhausted by disease, +caused him rapidly to decline. He was now confined to his chamber and +his bed, and his death was hourly expected. He hated the French, and all +his sympathies were with Austria. Some priests entered his chamber, +professedly to perform the pompous and sepulchral service of the church +of Rome for the dying. In this hour of languor, and in the prospect of +immediate death, they assailed the imbecile monarch with all the terrors +of superstition. They depicted the responsibility which he would incur +should he entail on the kingdom the woes of a disputed succession; they +assured him that he could not, without unpardonable guilt, reject the +decision of the holy father of the Church; and growing more eager and +excited, they denounced upon him the vengeance of Almighty God, if he +did not bequeath the crown, now falling from his brow, to the Bourbons +of France. + +The dying, half-delirious king, appalled by the terrors of eternal +damnation, yielded helplessly to their demands. A will was already +prepared awaiting his signature. With a hand trembling in death, the +king attached to it his name; but as he did so, he burst into tears, +exclaiming, "I am already nothing." It was supposed that he could then +survive but a few hours. Contrary to all expectation he revived, and +expressed the keenest indignation and anguish that he had been thus +beguiled to decide against Austria, and in favor of France. He even sent +a courier to the emperor, announcing his determination to decide in +favor of the Austrian claimant. The flickering flame of life, thus +revived for a moment, glimmered again in the socket and expired. The +wretched king died the 1st of November, 1699, in the fortieth year of +his age, and the thirty-sixth of his reign. + +On the day of his death a council of State was convened, and the will, +the very existence of which was generally unknown, was read. It declared +the Dauphin of France, son of the Spanish princess Maria Theresa, to be +the successor to all the Spanish dominions; and required all subjects +and vassals of Spain to acknowledge him. The Austrian party were +astounded at this revelation. The French party were prepared to receive +it without any surprise. The son of Maria Theresa was dead, and the +crown consequently passed to her grandson Philip. Louis XIV. immediately +acknowledged his title, when he was proclaimed king, and took quiet +possession of the throne of Spain on the 24th of November, 1700, as +Philip V. + +It was by such fraud that the Bourbons of France attained the succession +to the Spanish crown; a fraud as palpable as was ever committed; for +Maria Theresa had renounced all her rights to the throne; this +renunciation had been confirmed by the will of her father Philip IV., +sanctioned by the Cortes of Spain, and solemnly ratified by her husband, +Louis XIV. Such is "legitimacy--the divine right of kings." All the +great powers of Europe, excepting the emperor, promptly acknowledged the +title of Philip V. + +Leopold, enraged beyond measure, dispatched envoys to rouse the empire, +and made the most formidable preparations for war. A force of eighty +thousand men was soon assembled. The war commenced in Italy. Leopold +sent down his German troops through the defiles of the Tyrol, and, in +the valley of the Adige, they encountered the combined armies of France, +Spain and Italy. Prince Eugene, who had already acquired great renown in +the wars against the Turks, though by birth a French noble, had long +been in the Austrian service, and led the Austrian troops. William, of +England, jealous of the encroachments of Louis XIV., and leading with +him the States of Holland, formed an alliance with Austria. This was +pretty equally dividing the military power of Europe, and a war of +course ensued, almost unparalleled in its sanguinary ferocity. The +English nation supported the monarch; the House of Lords, in an address +to the king, declared that "his majesty, his subjects and his 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 reason." +Forty thousand sailors and forty thousand land troops were promptly +voted for the war. + +William died on the 16th of March, in consequence of a fall from his +horse, and was succeeded by Anne, daughter of James II. She was, +however, but nominally the sovereign. The infamously renowned Duke of +Marlborough became the real monarch, and with great skill and energy +prosecuted the eleven years' war which ensued, which is known in history +as the War of the Spanish Succession. For many months the conflict raged +with the usual fluctuations, the Austrian forces being commanded on the +Rhine by the Duke of Marlborough, and in Italy by Prince Eugene. +Portugal soon joined the Austrian alliance, and Philip V. and the French +becoming unpopular in Spain, a small party rose there, advocating the +claims of the house of Austria. Thus supported, Leopold, at Vienna, +declared his son Charles King of Spain, and crowned him as such in +Vienna. By the aid of the English fleet he passed from Holland to +England, and thence to Lisbon, where a powerful army was assembled to +invade Spain, wrest the crown from Philip, and place it upon the brow of +Charles III. + +And now Leopold began to reap the bitter consequences of his atrocious +conduct in Hungary. The Hungarian nobles embraced this opportunity, when +the imperial armies were fully engaged, to rise in a new and formidable +invasion. Francis Ragotsky, a Transylvanian prince, led in the heroic +enterprise. He was of one of the noblest and wealthiest families of the +realm, and was goaded to action by the bitterest wrongs. His grandfather +and uncle had been beheaded; his father robbed of his property and his +rank; his cousin doomed to perpetual imprisonment; his father-in-law +proscribed, and his mother driven into exile. The French court +immediately opened a secret correspondence with Ragotsky, promising him +large supplies of men and money, and encouraging him with hopes of the +coöperation of the Turks. Ragotsky secretly assembled a band of +determined followers, in the savage solitudes of the Carpathian +mountains, and suddenly descended into the plains of Hungary, at the +head of his wild followers, calling upon his countrymen to rise and +shake off the yoke of the detested Austrian. Adherents rapidly gathered +around his standard; several fortresses fell into his hands, and he soon +found himself at the head of twenty thousand well armed troops. The +flame of insurrection spread, with electric rapidity, through all +Hungary and Transylvania. + +The tyrant Leopold, as he heard these unexpected tidings, was struck +with consternation. He sent all the troops he could collect to oppose +the patriots, but they could make no impression upon an indignant nation +in arms. He then, in his panic, attempted negotiation. But the +Hungarians demanded terms both reasonable and honorable, and to neither +of these could the emperor possibly submit. They required that the +monarchy should no longer be hereditary, but elective, according to +immemorial usage; that the Hungarians should have the right to resist +_illegal_ power without the charge of treason; that foreign officers and +garrisons should be removed from the kingdom; that the Protestants +should be reëstablished in the free exercise of their religion, and that +their confiscated estates should be restored. The despot could not +listen for one moment to requirements so just; and appalled by the +advance of the patriots toward Vienna, he recalled the troops from +Italy. + +About the same time the Duke of Bavaria, disgusted with the arrogance +and the despotism of Leopold, renounced allegiance to the emperor, +entered into an alliance with the French, and at the head of forty +thousand troops, French and Bavarians, commenced the invasion of Austria +from the west. Both Eugene and Marlborough hastened to the rescue of the +emperor. Combining their forces, with awful slaughter they mowed down +the French and Bavarians at Blenheim, and then overran all Bavaria. The +elector fled with the mutilated remnants of his army to France. The +conquerors seized all the fortresses, all the guns and ammunition; +disbanded the Bavarian troops, took possession of the revenues of the +kingdom, and assigned to the heart-broken wife of the duke a humble +residence in the dismantled capital of the duchy. + +The signal victory of Blenheim enabled Leopold to concentrate his +energies upon Hungary. It was now winter, and the belligerents, during +these stormy months, were active in making preparations for the campaign +of the spring. But Leopold's hour was now tolled. That summons came +which prince and peasant must alike obey, and the emperor, after a few +months of languor and pain, on the 5th of May, 1705, passed away to that +tribunal where each must answer for every deed done in the body. He was +sixty-five years of age, and had occupied the throne forty-six years. +This is the longest reign recorded in the Austrian annals, excepting +that of Frederic III. + +The reign of Leopold was eventful and woeful. It was almost one +continued scene of carnage. In his character there was a singular +blending of the good and the bad. In what is usually called moral +character he was irreproachable. He was a faithful husband, a kind +father, and had no taste for any sensual pleasures. In his natural +disposition he was melancholy, and so exceedingly reserved, that he +lived in his palace almost the life of a recluse. Though he was called +the most learned prince of his age, a Jesuitical education had so +poisoned and debauched his mind, that while perpetrating the most +grievous crimes of perfidy and cruelty, he seemed sincerely to feel that +he was doing God service. His persecution of the Protestants was +persistent, relentless and horrible; while at the same time he was +scrupulous in his devotions, never allowing the cares of business to +interfere with the prescribed duties of the Church. _The Church_, the +human church of popes, cardinals, bishops and priests, was his guide, +not the _divine Bible_. Hence his darkness of mind and his crimes. Pope +Innocent XI. deemed him worthy of canonization. But an indignant world +must in justice inscribe upon his tomb, "Tyrant and Persecutor." + +He was three times married; first, to Margaret, daughter of Philip IV. +of Spain; again, to Claudia, daughter of Ferdinand of Tyrol; and a third +time, to Eleonora, daughter of Philip, Elector Palatine. The character +and history of his third wife are peculiarly illustrative of the kind of +religion inculcated in that day, and of the beautiful spirit of piety +often exemplified in the midst of melancholy errors. + +In the castle of her father, Eleonora was taught, by priests and nuns, +that God was only acceptably worshiped by self-sacrifice and +mortification. The devout child longed for the love of God more than for +any thing else. Guided by the teachings of those who, however sincere, +certainly misunderstood the spirit of the gospel, she deprived herself +of every innocent gratification, and practiced upon her fragile frame +all the severities of an anchorite. She had been taught that celibacy +was a virtue peculiarly acceptable to God, and resolutely declined all +solicitations for her hand. + +The emperor, after the death of his first wife, sought Eleonora as his +bride. It was the most brilliant match Europe could offer. Eleonora, +from religious scruples, rejected the offer, notwithstanding all the +importunities of her parents, who could not feel reconciled to the loss +of so splendid an alliance. The devout maiden, in the conflict, exposed +herself, bonnet-less, to sun and wind, that she might render herself +unattractive, tanned, sun burnt, and freckled, so that the emperor might +not desire her. She succeeded in repelling the suit, and the emperor +married Claudia of the Tyrol. The court of the Elector Palatine was +brilliant in opulence and gayety. Eleonora was compelled to mingle with +the festive throng in the scenes of pomp and splendor; but her thoughts, +her affections, were elsewhere, and all the vanities of princely life +had no influence in leading her heart from God. She passed several +hours, every day, in devotional reading and prayer. She kept a very +careful register of her thoughts and actions, scrutinizing and +condemning with unsparing severity every questionable emotion. Every +sick bed of the poor peasants around, she visited with sympathy and as a +tender nurse. She groped her way into the glooms of prison dungeons to +convey solace to the prisoner. She wrought ornaments for the Church, and +toiled, even to weariness and exhaustion, in making garments for the +poor. + +Claudia in three years died, and the emperor again was left a widower. +Again he applied for the hand of Eleonora. Her spiritual advisers now +urged that it was clearly the will of God that she should fill the first +throne of the universe, as the patroness and protectress of the Catholic +church. For such an object she would have been willing to sweep the +streets or to die in a dungeon. Yielding to these persuasions she +married the emperor, and was conveyed, as in a triumphal march, to the +gorgeous palaces of Vienna. But her character and her mode of life were +not changed. Though she sat at the imperial table, which was loaded with +every conceivable luxury, she condemned herself to fare as humble and +abstemious as could be found in the hut of the most impoverished +peasant. It was needful for her at times to appear in the rich garb of +an empress, but to prevent any possible indulgence of pride, she had her +bracelets and jewelry so arranged with sharp brads as to keep her in +continued suffering by the laceration of the flesh. + +She was, notwithstanding these austerities, which she practiced with the +utmost secrecy, indefatigable in the discharge of her duties as a wife +and an empress. She often attended the opera with the emperor, but +always took with her the Psalms of David, bound to resemble the books of +the performance, and while the tragic or the comic scenes of the stage +were transpiring before her, she was studying the devout lyrics of the +Psalmist of Israel. She translated all the Psalms into German verse; and +also translated from the French, and had printed for the benefit of her +subjects, a devotional work entitled, "Pious Reflections for every Day +of the Month." During the last sickness of her husband she watched with +unwearied assiduity at his bed-side, shrinking from no amount of +exhaustion or toil, She survived her husband fifteen years, devoting all +this time to austerities, self-mortification and deeds of charity. She +died in 1720; and at her express request was buried without any parade, +and with no other inscription upon her tomb than-- + + ELEONORA, + + A POOR SINNER, + + Died, January 17, 1720. + +Joseph, the eldest son of Leopold, was twenty-five years of age when, by +the death of his father, he was called to the throne as both king and +emperor. He immediately and cordially coöperated with the alliance his +father had formed, and pressed the war against France, Spain and Italy. +Louis XIV. was not a man, however, to be disheartened by disaster. +Though thousands of his choicest troops had found a grave at Blenheim, +he immediately collected another army of one hundred and sixty thousand +men, and pushed them forward to the seat of war on the Rhine and the +Danube. Marlborough and Eugene led Austrian forces to the field still +more powerful. The whole summer was spent in marches, countermarches and +bloody battles on both sides of the Rhine. Winter came, and its storms +and snows drove the exhausted, bleeding combatants from the bleak plains +to shelter and the fireside. All Europe, through the winter months, +resounded with preparations for another campaign. There was hardly a +petty prince on the continent who was not drawn into the strife--to +decide whether Philip of Bourbon or Charles of Hapsburg, was entitled by +hereditary descent to the throne of Spain. + +And now suddenly Charles XII. of Sweden burst in upon the scene, like a +meteor amidst the stars of midnight. A more bloody apparition never +emerged from the sulphureous canopy of war. Having perfect contempt for +all enervating pleasures, with an iron frame and the abstemious habits +of a Spartan, he rushed through a career which has excited the wonder of +the world. He joined the Austrian party; struck down Denmark at a blow; +penetrated Russia in mid-winter, driving the Russian troops before him +as dogs scatter wolves; pressed on triumphantly to Poland, through an +interminable series of battles; drove the king from the country, and +placed a new sovereign of his own selection upon the throne; and then, +proudly assuming to hold the balance between the rival powers of France +and Austria, made demands of Joseph I., as if the emperor were but the +vassal of the King of Sweden. France and Austria were alike anxious to +gain the coöperation of this energetic arm. + +Early in May, 1706, the armies of Austria and France, each about seventy +thousand strong, met in the Netherlands. Marlborough led the allied +Austrian troops; the Duke of Bavaria was in command of the French. The +French were again routed, almost as disastrously as at Blenheim, losing +thirteen thousand men and fifty pieces of artillery. On the Rhine and in +Italy the French arms were also in disgrace. Throughout the summer +battle succeeded battle, and siege followed siege. When the snows of +another winter whitened the plains of Europe, the armies again retired +to winter quarters, the Austrian party having made very decided progress +as the result of the campaign. Marlborough was in possession of most of +the Netherlands, and was threatening France with invasion. Eugene had +driven the French out of Italy, and had brought many of the Italian +provinces under the dominion of Austria. + +In Spain, also, the warfare was fiercely raging. Charles III., who had +been crowned in Vienna King of Spain, and who, as we have mentioned, had +been conveyed to Lisbon by a British fleet, joined by the King of +Portugal, and at the head of an allied army, marched towards the +frontiers of Spain. The Spaniards, though they disliked the French, +hated virulently the English and the Dutch, both of whom they considered +heretics. Their national pride was roused in seeing England, Holland and +Portugal marching upon them to place over Spain an Austrian king. The +populace rose, and after a few sanguinary conflicts drove the invaders +from their borders. December's storms separated the two armies, +compelling them to seek winter quarters, with only the frontier line +between them. It was in one of the campaigns of this war, in 1704, that +the English took the rock of Gibraltar, which they have held from that +day till this. + +The British people began to remonstrate bitterly against this boundless +expenditure of blood and treasure merely to remove a Bourbon prince, and +place a Hapsburg prince upon the throne of Spain. Both were alike +despotic in character, and Europe had as much to fear from the +aggressions of the house of Austria as from the ambition of the King of +France. The Emperor Joseph was very apprehensive that the English court +might be induced to withdraw from the alliance, and fearing that they +might sacrifice, as the price of accommodation, his conquests in Italy, +he privately concluded with France a treaty of neutrality for Italy. +This secured to him what he had already acquired there, and saved France +and Spain from the danger of losing any more Italian States. + +Though the allies were indignant, and remonstrated against this +transaction, they did not see fit to abandon the war. Immense +preparations were made to invade France from the Netherlands and from +Piedmont, in the opening of the spring of 1707. Both efforts were only +successful in spreading far and wide conflagration and blood. The +invaders were driven from the kingdom with heavy loss. The campaign in +Spain, this year, was also exceedingly disastrous to the Austrian arms. +The heterogeneous army of Charles III., composed of Germans, English, +Dutch, Portuguese, and a few Spanish refugees, were routed, and with the +loss of thirteen thousand men were driven from the kingdom. Joseph, +however, who stood in great dread of so terrible an enemy as Charles +XII., succeeded in purchasing his neutrality, and this fiery warrior +marched off with his battalions, forty-three thousand strong, to drive +Peter I. from the throne of Russia. + +Joseph I., with exhausted resources, and embarrassed by the claims of so +wide-spread a war, was able to do but little for the subjugation of +Hungary. As the campaign of 1708 opened, two immense armies, each about +eighty thousand strong, were maneuvering near Brussels. After a long +series of marches and combinations a general engagement ensued, in which +the Austrian party, under Marlborough and Eugene, were decisively +triumphant. The French were routed with the loss of fifteen thousand in +killed, wounded and prisoners. During the whole summer the war raged +throughout the Low Countries with unabated violence. In Spain, Austria +was not able to make any progress against Philip and his forces. + +Another winter came, and again the wearied combatants, all of whom had +received about as many blows as they had given, sought repose. The +winter was passed in fruitless negotiations, and as soon as the buds of +another spring began to swell, the thunders of war were again pealing +over nearly all the hills and valleys of Europe. The Austrian party had +resolved, by a gigantic effort, to send an army of one hundred thousand +men to the gates of Paris, there to dictate terms to the French monarch. +On the 11th of September, 1709, the Austrian force, eighty thousand +strong, with eighty pieces of cannon, encountered the French, seventy +thousand in number, with eighty pieces of cannon, on the field of +Malplaquet. The bloodiest battle of the Spanish succession was then +fought. The Austrian party, guided by Marlborough and Eugene, justly +claimed the victory, as they held the field. But they lost twenty +thousand in killed and wounded, and took neither prisoners nor guns. The +loss of the French was but ten thousand. All this slaughter seemed to be +accomplishing nothing. Philip still stood firm upon the Spanish throne, +and Charles could scarcely gain the slightest foothold in the kingdom +which he claimed. On the side of the Rhine and of Italy, though blood +flowed like water, nothing was accomplished; the plan of invading France +had totally failed, and again the combatants were compelled to retire to +winter quarters. + +For nine years this bloody war had now desolated Europe. It is not easy +to defend the cause of Austria and her allies in this cruel conflict. +The Spaniards undeniably preferred Philip as their king. Louis XIV. had +repeatedly expressed his readiness to withdraw entirely from the +conflict. But the Austrian allies demanded that he should either by +force or persuasion remove Philip from Spain, and place the kingdom in +the hands of the Austrian prince. But Philip was now an independent +sovereign who for ten years had occupied the throne. He was resolved not +to abdicate, and his subjects were resolved to support him. Louis XIV. +said that he could not wage warfare against his own grandson. The +wretched old monarch, now feeble, childless, and woe crushed, whose soul +was already crimsoned with the blood of countless thousands, was so +dispirited by defeat, and so weary of the war, that though he still +refused to send his armies against his grandson, he even offered to pay +a monthly subsidy of two hundred thousand dollars (one million livres) +to the allied Austrian party, to be employed in the expulsion of Philip, +if they would cease to make war upon him. Even to these terms, after +blood had been flowing in torrents for ten years, Austria, England and +Holland would not accede. "If I must fight either Austria and her +allies," said Louis XIV., "or the Spaniards, led by their king, my own +grandson, I prefer to fight the Austrians." + +The returning sun of the summer of 1710, found the hostile armies again +in the field. The allies of Austria, early in April, hoping to surprise +the French, assembled, ninety thousand in number, on the Flemish +frontiers of France, trusting that by an unexpected attack they might +break down the fortresses which had hitherto impeded their way. But the +French were on the alert to resist them, and the whole summer was again +expended in fruitless battles. These fierce conflicts so concentrated +the energies of war in the Netherlands, that but little was attempted in +the way of invading Spain. The Spanish nobles rallied around Philip, +melted their plate to replenish his treasury, and led their vassals to +fight his battles. The ecclesiastics, as a body, supported his cause. +Philip was a zealous Catholic, and the priests considered him as the +defender of the Church, while they had no confidence in Charles of +Austria, whose cause was advocated by heretical England and Holland. + +Charles III. was now in Catalonia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. +He had landed at Barcelona, with a strong force of English and Germans. +He was a man of but little character, and his military operations were +conducted entirely by the English general Stanhope and the German +general Staremberg. The English general was haughty and domineering; the +German proud and stubborn. They were in a continued quarrel contesting +the preeminence. The two rival monarchs, with forces about equal, met in +Catalonia a few miles from Saragossa, on the 24th of July, 1710. Though +the inefficient Charles was very reluctant to hazard a battle, the +generals insisted upon it. The Spaniards were speedily and totally +routed. Philip fled with a small body-guard to Lerida. His array was +thoroughly dispersed. The conquerors pressed on toward Madrid, crossed +the Ebro at Saragossa, where they again encountered, but a short +distance from the city, an army strongly posted upon some heights. +Philip was already there. The conflict was short but bloody, and the +generals of Charles were again victorious. Philip, with a disheartened +remnant of his troops, retreated to Madrid. The generals dragged the +timid and reluctant Charles on to Madrid, where they arrived on the 28th +of September. There was no force at the capital to oppose them. They +were received, however, by the citizens of the metropolis as foreign +conquerors. Charles rode through the deserted streets, meeting only with +sullen silence. A few who were hired to shout, were pelted, by the +populace, with mud, as traitors to their lawful king. None flocked to +his standard. Nobles, clergy, populace, all alike stood aloof from him. +Charles and his generals were embarrassed and perplexed. They could not +compel the nation to receive the Austrian king. + +Philip, in the meantime, who had much energy and popularity of +character, was rapidly retrieving his losses, and troops were flocking +to his camp from all parts of Spain. He established his court at +Yalladolid, about one hundred and fifty miles north-east from Madrid. +His troops, dispersed by the two disastrous battles, were reassembled at +Lerida. The peasants rose in large numbers and joined them, and cut off +all communication between Charles at Madrid and his ships at Barcelona. +The Spanish grandees sent urgent messages to France for succors. General +Yendome, at the head of three thousand horse, swept through the defiles +of the Pyrenees, and, with exultant music and waving banners, joined +Philip at Valladolid. Universal enthusiasm was excited. Soon thirty +thousand infantry entered the camp, and then took positions on the +Tagus, where they could cut off any reinforcements which might attempt +to march from Portugal to aid the invaders. + +Charles was apparently in a desperate situation. Famine and consequent +sickness were in his camp. His army was daily dwindling away. He was +emphatically in an enemy's country. Not a soldier could stray from the +ranks without danger of assassination. He had taken Madrid, and Madrid +was his prison. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +JOSEPH I. AND CHARLES VI. + +From 1710 to 1717. + +Perplexities in Madrid.--Flight of Charles.--Retreat of the Austrian +Army.--Stanhope's Division Cut Off.--Capture of Stanhope.--Staremberg +Assailed.--Retreat to Barcelona.--Attempt to Pacify Hungary.--The +Hungarian Diet.--Baronial Crowning of Kagotsky.--Renewal of the +Hungarian War.--Enterprise of Herbeville.--The Hungarians +Crushed.--Lenity of Joseph.--Death of Joseph.--Accession of Charles +VI.--His Career in Spain.--Capture of Barcelona.--The Siege.--The +Rescue.--Character of Charles.--Cloisters of Montserrat.--Increased +Efforts for the Spanish Crown.--Charles Crowned Emperor of Austria and +Hungary.--Bohemia.--Deplorable Condition of Louis XIV. + + +Generals Stanhope and Staremberg, who managed the affairs of Charles, +with but little respect for his judgment, and none for his +administrative qualities, were in great perplexity respecting the course +to be pursued. Some recommended the transference of the court from +Madrid to Saragossa, where they would be nearer to their supplies. +Others urged removal to Barcelona, where they would be under the +protection of the British fleet. It was necessary to watch over Charles +with the utmost care, as he was in constant danger of assassination. +While in this state of uncertainty, tidings reached Madrid that the Duke +of Noailles was on the march, with fifteen thousand men, to cut off the +retreat of the Austrians, and at the same time Philip was advancing with +a powerful army from Valladolid. This intelligence rendered instant +action necessary. The Austrian party precipitately evacuated Madrid, +followed by the execrations of the people. As soon as the last +battalions had left the city, the ringing of bells, the firing of +artillery, and the shouts of the people, announced the popular +exultation in view of the departure of Charles, and the cordial greeting +they were giving to his rival Philip. The complications of politics are +very curious. The British government was here, through years of war and +blood, endeavoring to drive from his throne the acknowledged King of +Spain. In less than a hundred years we find this same government again +deluging Europe in blood, to reseat upon the throne the miserable +Ferdinand, the lineal descendant of this Bourbon prince. + +Charles put spurs to his horse, and accompanied by a glittering +cavalcade of two thousand cavaliers, galloped over the mountains to +Barcelona. His army, under the leadership of his efficient English +general, followed rapidly but cautiously on, hoping to press through the +defiles of the mountains which separated them from Arragon before their +passage could be obstructed by the foe. The troops were chagrined and +dispirited; the generals in that state of ill humor which want of +success generally engenders. The roads were bad, provisions scarce, the +inhabitants of the country bitterly hostile. It was the middle of +November, and cold blasts swept through the mountains. Staremberg led +the van, and Stanhope, with four thousand English troops, occupied the +post of peril in a retreat, the rear. As the people of the country would +furnish them with no supplies, the pillage of towns and villages became +a necessity; but it none the less added to the exasperation of the +Spaniards. + +A hurried march of about eighty miles brought the troops to the banks of +the Tagus. As General Staremberg, at the head of the advance guard, +pressed eagerly on, he left Stanhope at quite a distance behind. They +encamped for a night, the advance at Cifuentes, the rear at Brihuega. +The hostility of the natives was such that almost all communication was +cut off between the two sections of the army. In the confusion of the +hasty retreat, and as no enemy was apprehended in that portion of the +way, the importance of hourly communication was forgotten. In the +morning, as Stanhope put his troops again in motion, he was surprised +and alarmed in seeing upon the hills before him the banners of an +opposing host, far outnumbering his own, and strongly intrenched. The +Earl of Stanhope at once appreciated the nearly utter hopelessness of +his position. He was cut off from the rest of the army, had no +artillery, but little ammunition, and was almost entirely destitute of +provision. Still he scorned to surrender. He threw his troops behind a +stone wall, and vigorously commenced fortifying his position, hoping to +be able to hold out until Staremberg, hearing of his situation, should +come to his release. + +During the whole day he beat back the assaults of the Spanish army. In +the meantime Staremberg was pressing on to Barcelona. In the evening of +that day he heard of the peril of his rear guard. His troops were +exhausted; the night of pitchy blackness, and the miry roads, cut to +pieces by the heavy artillery and baggage wagons, were horrible. Through +the night he made preparations to turn back to aid his beleaguered +friends. It was, however, midday before he could collect his scattered +troops, from their straggling march, and commence retracing his steps. +In a few hours the low sun of a November day sunk below the hills. The +troops, overtaken by darkness, stumbling through the gloom, and +apprehensive of a midnight attack, rested upon their arms, waiting, +through the weary hours, for the dawn of the morning. The second day +came, and the weary troops toiled through the mire, while Stanhope, from +behind his slight parapet, baffled all the efforts of his foes. + +The third morning dawned. Staremberg was within some fifteen miles of +Briehuga. Stanhope had now exhausted all his ammunition. The inhabitants +of the town rose against him and attacked him in the rear, while the foe +pressed him in front. A large number of his troops had already fallen, +and no longer resistance was possible. Stanhope and the remnant of his +band were taken captive and conducted into the town of Briehuga. +Staremberg, unaware of the surrender, pushed on until he came within a +league of Briehuga. Anxiously he threw up signals, but could obtain no +response. His fears of the worst were soon confirmed by seeing the +Spanish army, in brilliant battle array, approaching to assail him. +Philip himself was there to animate them by his presence; and the heroic +French general, the Duke of Vendome, a descendant of Henry IV., led the +charging columns. + +Though the troops of Staremberg were inferior in number to those of the +Spanish monarch, and greatly fatigued by their forced marches, a retreat +at that moment, in the face of so active an enemy, was not to be thought +of. The battle immediately commenced, with its rushing squadrons and its +thunder peals. The Spaniards, sanguine of success, and inspired with the +intensest hatred of their _heretical_ foes, charged with irresistible +fury. The left wing of Staremberg was speedily cut to pieces, and the +baggage taken. The center and the right maintained their ground until +night came to their protection. Staremberg's army was now reduced to +nine thousand. His horses were either slain or worn out by fatigue. He +was consequently compelled to abandon all his artillery and most of his +baggage, as he again commenced a rapid retreat towards Barcelona. The +enemy pressed him every step of the way. But with great heroism and +military skill he baffled their endeavors to destroy him, and after one +of the most arduous marches on record, reached Barcelona with a feeble +remnant of but seven thousand men, ragged, emaciated and bleeding. +Behind the walls of this fortified city, and protected by the fleet of +England, they found repose. + +We must now turn back a few years, to trace the progress of events in +Hungary and Austria. Joseph, the emperor, had sufficient intelligence to +understand that the rebellious and anarchical state of Hungary was owing +to the cruelty and intolerance of his father. He saw, also, that there +could be no hope of permanent tranquillity but in paying some respect to +the aspirations for civil and religious liberty. The troubles in Hungary +distracted his attention, exhausted the energies of his troops, and +deprived him of a large portion of his political and military power. He +now resolved to try the effect of concessions. The opportunity was +propitious, as he could throw upon his father the blame of all past +decrees. He accordingly sent a messenger to the Hungarian nobles with +the declaration that during his father's lifetime he had never +interfered in the government, and that consequently he was in no respect +responsible for the persecution of which they complained. And he +promised, on the honor of a king, that instead of attempting the +enforcement of those rigorous decrees, he would faithfully fulfill all +the articles he had sworn to observe at his coronation; and that he +accordingly summoned a diet for the redress of their grievances and the +confirmation of all their ancient privileges. As proof of his sincerity, +he dismissed those ministers who had advised the intolerant decrees +enacted by Leopold, and appointed in their place men of more mild and +lenient character. + +But the Hungarians, deeming themselves now in a position to enforce +their claims by the energies of their army, feared to trust to the +promises of a court so often perjured. Without openly renouncing +allegiance to Austria, and declaring independence, they, through +Ragotsky, summoned a diet to meet at Stetzim, where their session would +be protected by the Hungarian army. There was a large gathering of all +the first nobility of the realm. A spacious tent was spread for the +imposing assembly, and the army encircled it as with a sheltering +embrace. The session was opened with prayer and the administration of +the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Will the time ever come when the +members of the United States Congress will meet as Christian brethren, +at the table of our Saviour, as they commence their annual deliberations +for the welfare of this republic? The nobles formed a confederacy for +the government of the country. The legislative power was committed to a +senate of twenty-four nobles. Ragotsky was chosen military chief, with +the title of Dux, or leader. Four of the most illustrious nobles raised +Ragotsky upon a buckler on their shoulders, when he took the oath of +fidelity to the government thus provisionally established, and then +administered the oath to his confederates. They all bound themselves +solemnly not to conclude any peace with the emperor, until their ancient +rights, both civil and religious, were fully restored. + +In reply to the advances made by the emperor, they returned the very +reasonable and moderate demands that their chief, Ragotsky, should be +reinstated in his ancestral realms of Transylvania, that the claim of +_hereditary_ sovereignty should be relinquished, and that there should +be the restoration of those ancient civil and religious immunities of +which Leopold had defrauded them. Upon these conditions they promised to +recognize Joseph as their sovereign during his lifetime; claiming at his +death their time-honored right of choosing his successor. Joseph would +not listen for one moment to these terms, and the war was renewed with +fury. + +The Hungarian patriots had seventy-five thousand men under arms. The +spirit of the whole nation was with them, and the Austrian troops were +driven from almost every fortress in the kingdom. The affairs of Joseph +seemed to be almost desperate, his armies struggling against +overpowering foes all over Europe, from the remotest borders of +Transylvania to the frontiers of Portugal. The vicissitudes of war are +proverbial. An energetic, sagacious general, Herbeville, with great +military sagacity, and aided by a peculiar series of fortunate events, +marched down the valley of the Danube to Buda; crossed the stream to +Pesth; pushed boldly on through the heart of Hungary to Great Waradin, +forced the defiles of the mountains, and entered Transylvania. Through a +series of brilliant victories he took fortress after fortress, until he +subjugated the whole of Transylvania, and brought it again into +subjection to the Austrian crown. This was in November, 1705. + +But the Hungarians, instead of being intimidated by the success of the +imperial arms, summoned another diet. It was held in the open field in +accordance with ancient custom, and was thronged by thousands from all +parts of the kingdom. With great enthusiasm and public acclaim the +resolution was passed that Joseph was a tyrant and a usurper, animated +by the hereditary despotism of the Austrian family. This truthful +utterance roused anew the ire of the emperor. He resolved upon a +desperate effort to bring Hungary into subjection. Leaving his English +and Dutch allies to meet the brunt of the battle on the Rhine and in the +Netherlands, he recalled his best troops, and made forced levies in +Austria until he had created an army sufficiently strong, as he thought, +to sweep down all opposition. These troops he placed under the most +experienced generals, and sent them into Hungary in the summer of 1708. +France, weakened by repeated defeats, could send the Hungarians no aid, +and the imperial troops, through bloody battles, victoriously traversed +the kingdom. Everywhere the Hungarians were routed and dispersed, until +no semblance of an army was left to oppose the victors. It seems that +life in those days, to the masses of the people, swept incessantly by +these fiery surges of war, could only have been a scene, from the cradle +to the grave, of blood and agony. For two years this dismal storm of +battle howled over all the Hungarian plains, and then the kingdom, like +a victim exhausted, prostrate and bleeding, was taken captive and firmly +bound. + +Ragotsky, denounced with the penalty of high treason, escaped to Poland. +The emperor, anxious no longer to exasperate, proposed measures of +unusual moderation. He assembled a convention; promised a general +amnesty for all political offenses, the restitution of confiscated +property, the liberation of prisoners, and the confirmation of all the +rights which he had promised at his coronation. Some important points +were not touched upon; others were passed over in vague and general +terms. The Hungarians, helpless as a babe, had nothing to do but to +submit, whatever the terms might be. They were surprised at the +unprecedented lenity of the conqueror, and the treaty of peace and +subjection was signed in January, 1711. + +In three months after the signing of this treaty, Joseph I. died of the +small-pox, in his palace of Vienna. He was but thirty-three years of +age. For a sovereign educated from the cradle to despotic rule, and +instructed by one of the most bigoted of fathers, he was an unusually +good man, and must be regarded as one of the best sovereigns who have +swayed the scepter of Austrian despotism. + +The law of hereditary descent is frequently involved in great +embarrassment. Leopold, to obviate disputes which he foresaw were likely +to arise, had assigned Hungary, Bohemia, and his other hereditary +estates, to Joseph. To Charles he had assigned the vast Spanish +inheritance. In case Joseph should die without male issue he had decreed +that the crown of the Austrian dominions should also pass to Charles. In +case Charles should also die without issue male, the crown should then +revert to the daughters of Joseph in preference to those of Charles. +Joseph left no son. He had two daughters, the eldest of whom was but +twelve years of age. Charles, who was now in Barcelona, claiming the +crown of Spain as Charles III., had no Spanish blood in his veins. He +was the son of Leopold, and of his third wife, the devout and lovely +Eleonora, daughter of the Elector Palatine. He was now but twenty-eight +years of age. For ten years he had been struggling for the crown which +his father Leopold had claimed, as succeeding to the rights of his first +wife Margaret, daughter of Philip IV. + +Charles was a genteel, accomplished young man of eighteen when he left +his father's palace at Vienna, for England, where a British fleet was to +convey him to Portugal, and, by the energy of its fleet and army, place +him upon the throne of Spain. He was received at Portsmouth in England, +when he landed from Holland, with much parade, and was conducted by the +Dukes of Maryborough and Somerset to Windsor castle, where he had an +interview with Queen Anne. His appearance at that time is thus described +by his partial chroniclers: + +"The court was very splendid and much thronged. The queen's behavior +toward him was very noble and obliging. The young king charmed all who +were present. He had a gravity beyond his age, tempered with much +modesty. His behavior in all points was so exact, that there was not a +circumstance in his whole deportment which was liable to censure. He +paid an extraordinary respect to the queen, and yet maintained a due +greatness in it. He had the art of seeming well pleased with every +thing, without so much as smiling once all the while he was at court, +which was only three days. He spoke but little, and all he said was +judicious and obliging." + +Young Charles was engaged to the daughter of the King of Portugal; but +the young lady died just before his arrival at Lisbon. As he had never +seen the infanta, his grief could not have been very deep, however great +his disappointment might have been. He made several attempts to +penetrate Spain by the Portuguese frontier, but being repelled in every +effort, by the troops of Philip, he again embarked, and with twelve +thousand troops in an English fleet, sailed around the Peninsula, +entered the Mediterranean and landed on the shores of Catalonia, where +he had been led to believe that the inhabitants in a body would rally +around him. But he was bitterly disappointed. The Earl of Peterborough, +who was intrusted with the command of this expedition, in a letter home +gave free utterance to his disappointment and chagrin. + +"Instead of ten thousand men, and in arms," he wrote, "to cover our +landing and strengthen our camp, we found only so many higglers and +sutlers flocking into it. Instead of finding Barcelona in a weak +condition, and ready to surrender upon the first appearance of our +troops, we found a strong garrison to oppose us, and a hostile army +almost equal to our own." + +In this dilemma a council of war was held, and though many were in favor +of abandoning the enterprise and returning to Portugal, it was at last +determined, through the urgency of Charles, to remain and lay siege to +the city. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, was then the principal +sea-port of the Spanish peninsula on the Mediterranean. It contained a +population of about one hundred and forty thousand. It was strongly +fortified. West of the city there was a mountain called Montjoy, upon +which there was a strong fort which commanded the harbor and the town. +After a short siege this fort was taken by storm, and the city was then +forced to surrender. + +Philip soon advanced with an army of French and Spaniards to retake the +city. The English fleet had retired. Twenty-eight French ships of war +blockaded the harbor, which they could not enter, as it was commanded by +the guns of Montjoy. The siege was very desperate both in the assault +and the defense. The young king, Charles, was in the most imminent +danger of falling into the bands of his foes. There was no possibility +of escape, and it seemed inevitable that the city must either surrender, +or be taken by storm. The French and Spanish army numbered twenty +thousand men. They first attempted to storm Montjoy, but were repulsed +with great slaughter. They then besieged it, and by regular approaches +compelled its capitulation in three weeks. + +This noble resistance enabled the troops in the city greatly to multiply +and increase their defenses. They thus succeeded in protracting the +siege of the town five weeks longer. Every day the beleagured troops +from the crumbling ramparts watched the blue expanse of the +Mediterranean, hoping to see the sails of an English fleet coming to +their rescue. Two breaches were already effected in the walls. The +garrison, reduced to two thousand, and exhausted by superhuman exertions +by day and by night, were almost in the last stages of despair, when, in +the distant horizon, the long looked-for fleet appeared. The French +ships, by no means able to cope with such a force, spread their sails, +and sought safety in flight. + +The English fleet, amounting to fifty sail of the line, and transporting +a large number of land troops, triumphantly entered the harbor on the +3rd of May, 1708. The fresh soldiers were speedily landed, and marched +to the ramparts and the breaches. This strong reinforcement annihilated +the hopes of the besiegers. Apprehensive of an immediate sally, they +retreated with such precipitation that they left behind them in the +hospitals their sick and wounded; they also abandoned their heavy +artillery, and an immense quantity of military stores. + +Whatever energy Charles might have shown during the siege, all seemed +now to evaporate. When the shot of the foe were crumbling the walls of +Barcelona, he was in danger of the terrible doom of being taken a +captive, which would have been the annihilation of all his hopes. +Despair nerved him to effort. But now his person was no longer in +danger; and his natural inefficiency and dilatoriness returned. +Notwithstanding the urgent intreaties of the Earl of Peterborough to +pursue the foe, he insisted upon first making a pilgrimage to the shrine +of the holy Virgin at Montserrat, twenty-four miles from Barcelona. + +This curious monastery consists of but a succession of cloisters or +hermitages hewn out of the solid rock. They are only accessible by steps +as steep as a ladder, which are also hewn upon the face of the almost +precipitous mountain. The highest of these cells, and which are occupied +by the youngest monks, are at an elevation of three or four thousand +feet above the level of the Mediterranean. Soon after Charles's +pilgrimage to Montserrat, he made a triumphal march to Madrid, entered +the city, and caused himself to be proclaimed king under the title of +Charles III. But Philip soon came upon him with such force that he was +compelled to retreat back to Barcelona. Again, in 1710, he succeeded in +reaching Madrid, and, as we have described, he was driven back, with +accumulated disaster, to Catalonia. + +Three months after this defeat, when his affairs in Spain were assuming +the gloomiest aspect, a courier arrived at Barcelona, and informed him +that his brother Joseph was dead; that he had already been proclaimed +King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria; and that it was a +matter of the most urgent necessity that he should immediately return to +Germany. Charles immediately embarked at Barcelona, and landed near +Genoa on the 27th of September. Rapidly pressing on through the Italian +States, he entered Milan on the 16th of October, where he was greeted +with the joyful intelligence that a diet had been convened under the +influence of Prince Eugene, and that by its unanimous vote he was +invested with the imperial throne. He immediately proceeded through the +Tyrol to Frankfort, where he was crowned on the 22d of December. He was +now more than ever determined that the diadem of Spain should be added +to the other crowns which had been placed upon his brow. + +In the incessant wars which for centuries had been waged between the +princes and States of Germany and the emperor, the States had acquired +virtually a constitution, which they called a capitulation. When Charles +was crowned as Charles VI., he was obliged to promise that he would +never assemble a diet or council without convening all the princes and +States of the empire; that he would never wage war, or conclude peace, +or enter into alliance with any nation without the consent of the +States; that he would not, of his own authority, put any prince under +the ban of the empire; that confiscated territory should never be +conferred upon any members of his own family, and that no successor to +the imperial crown should be chosen during his lifetime, unless absence +from Germany or the infirmities of age rendered him incapable of +administering the affairs of the empire. + +The emperor, invested with the imperial crown, hastened to Vienna, and, +with unexpected energy, entered upon the administration of the +complicated interests of his widespread realms. After passing a few +weeks in Vienna, he repaired to Prague, where, in May, he was, with much +pomp, crowned King of Hungary. He then returned to Vienna, and prepared +to press with new vigor the war of the Spanish succession. + +Louis XIV. was now suffering the earthly retribution for his ill-spent +life. The finances of the realm were in a state of hopeless +embarrassment; famine was filling the kingdom with misery; his armies +were everywhere defeated; the imprecations of a beggared people were +rising around his throne; his palace was the scene of incessant feuds +and intrigues. His children were dead; he was old, infirm, sick, the +victim of insupportable melancholy--utterly weary of life, and yet +awfully afraid to die. France, in the person of Louis XIV., who could +justly say, "I am the State," was humbled. + +The accession of Charles to the throne of the empire, and to that of +Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, while at the same time he claimed +sovereignty over the vast realms of the Spanish kingdom, invested him +with such enormous power, that England, which had combined Europe +against the colossal growth of France, having humbled that power, was +disposed to form a combination against Austria. There was in consequence +an immediate relaxation of hostilities just at the time when the French +batteries on the frontiers were battered down, and when the allied army +had apparently an unobstructed way opened to the gates of Paris. In this +state of affairs the British ministry pressed negotiations for peace. +The preliminaries were settled in London on the 8th of October, 1711. By +this treaty Louis XIV. agreed to make such a change in the law of +hereditary descent, as to render it impossible for any king to wear at +the same time the crowns of France and of Spain, and made various other +important concessions. + +Charles, whose ambition was roused by his sudden and unexpected +elevation, exerted all his energies to thwart the progress of +negotiations, and bitterly complained that the allies were dishonorably +deserting the cause which they had espoused. The emperor dispatched +circular letters to all the courts of Europe, and sent Prince Eugene as +a special ambassador to London, to influence Queen Anne, if possible, to +persevere in the grand alliance. But he was entirely unsuccessful. The +Duke of Marlborough was disgraced, and dismissed from office. The peace +party rendered Eugene so unpopular that he was insulted in the streets +of London. The Austrian party in England was utterly defeated, and a +congress was appointed to meet at Utrecht to settle the terms of peace. +But Charles was now so powerful that he resolved to prosecute the war +even though abandoned by England. He accordingly sent an ambassador to +Utrecht to embarrass the proceedings as much as possible, and, in case +the grand alliance should be broken up, to secure as many powers as +possible in fidelity to Austria. + +The States of the Netherlands were still warmly with Austria, as they +dreaded so formidable a power as France directly upon their frontier. +The other minor powers of the alliance were also rather inclined to +remain with Austria. The war continued while the terms of peace were +under discussion. England, however, entered into a private understanding +with France, and the Duke of Ormond, who had succeeded Marlborough, +received secret orders not to take part in any battle or siege. The +developments, upon fields of battle, of this dishonorable arrangement, +caused great indignation on the part of the allies. The British forces +withdrew, and the French armies, taking advantage of the great +embarrassments thus caused, were again gaining the ascendency. Portugal +soon followed the example of England and abandoned the alliance. The +Duke of Savoy was the next to leave. The alliance was evidently +crumbling to pieces, and on the 11th of April, 1713, all the +belligerents, excepting the emperor, signed the treaty of peace. Philip +of Spain also acceded to the same articles. + +Charles was very indignant in being thus abandoned; and unduly +estimating his strength, resolved alone, with the resources which the +empire afforded him, to prosecute the war against France and Spain. +Having nothing to fear from a Spanish invasion, he for a time +relinquished his attempts upon Spain, and concentrating his armies upon +the Rhine, prepared for a desperate onset upon France. For two years the +war raged between Austria and France with war's usual vicissitudes of +defeat and victory on either side. It was soon evident that the +combatants were too equally matched for either party to hope to gain any +decisive advantage over the other. On the 7th of September, 1714, France +and Austria agreed to sheathe the sword. The war had raged for fourteen +years, with an expenditure of blood and treasure, and an accumulation of +misery which never can be gauged. Every party had lost fourfold more +than it had gained. "A war," says Marshal Villers, "which had desolated +the greater part of Europe, was concluded almost on the very terms which +might have been procured at the commencement of hostilities." + +By this treaty of peace, which was signed at Baden, in Switzerland, the +States of the Netherlands were left in the hands of Austria; and also +the Italian States of Naples, Milan, Mantua and Sardinia. The thunders +of artillery had hardly ceased to reverberate over the marshes of +Holland and along the banks of the Rhine, ere the "blast of war's loud +organ" and the tramp of charging squadrons were heard rising anew from +the distant mountains of Sclavonia. The Turks, in violation of their +treaty of peace, were again on the march, ascending the Danube along its +southern banks, through the defiles of the Sclavonian mountains. In a +motley mass of one hundred and fifty thousand men they had passed +Belgrade, crossed the Save, and were approaching Peterwarden. + +Eugene was instantly dispatched with an efficient, compact army, +disciplined by twelve years of warfare, to resist the Moslem invaders. +The hostile battalions met at Karlowitz, but a few miles from +Peterwarden, on the 5th of August, 1716. The tempest blazed with +terrific fury for a few hours, when the Turkish host turned and fled. +Thirty thousand of their number, including the grand vizier who led the +host, were left dead upon the field. In their utter discomfiture they +abandoned two hundred and fifty pieces of heavy artillery, and baggage, +tents and military stores to an immense amount. Fifty Turkish banners +embellished the camp of the victors. + +And now Eugene led his triumphant troops, sixty thousand in number, down +the river to lay siege to Belgrade. This fortress, which the labor of +ages had strengthened, was garrisoned by thirty thousand troops, and was +deemed almost impregnable. Eugene invested the place and commenced the +slow and tedious operations of a siege. The sultan immediately +dispatched an army of two hundred thousand men to the relief of his +beleaguered fortress. The Turks, arriving at the scene of action, did +not venture an assault upon their intrenched foes, but intrenched +themselves on heights, outside of the besieging camp, in a semicircle +extending from the Danube to the Save. They thus shut up the besiegers +in the miasmatic marshes which surrounded the city, cut off their +supplies of provisions, and from their advancing batteries threw shot +into the Austrian camp. "A man," said Napoleon, "is not a soldier." The +Turks had two hundred thousand _men_ in their camp, raw recruits. Eugene +had sixty thousand veteran _soldiers_. He decided to drive off the Turks +who annoyed him. It was necessary for him to detach twenty thousand to +hold in check the garrison of Belgrade, who might sally to the relief of +their companions. This left him but forty thousand troops with whom to +assail two hundred thousand strongly intrenched. He did not hesitate in +the undertaking. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +CHARLES VI. + +From 1716 to 1727. + +Heroic Decision of Eugene.--Battle of Belgrade.--Utter Rout of the +Turks.--Possessions of Charles VI.--The Elector of Hanover Succeeds to +the English Throne.--Preparations for War.--State of Italy.--Philip V. +of Spain.--Diplomatic Agitations.--Palace of St. Ildefonso.--Order of +the Golden Fleece.--Rejection of Maria Anne.--Contest for the Rock of +Gibraltar.--Dismissal of Ripperda.--Treaty of Vienna.--Peace Concluded. + + +The enterprise upon which Eugene had resolved was bold in the extreme. +It could only be accomplished by consummate bravery aided by equal +military skill. The foe they were to attack were five to one, and were +protected by well-constructed redoubts, armed with the most formidable +batteries. They were also abundantly supplied with cavalry, and the +Turkish cavalry were esteemed the finest horsemen in the world. There +was but one circumstance in favor of Eugene. The Turks did not dream +that he would have the audacity to march from the protection of his +intrenchments and assail them behind their own strong ramparts. There +was consequently but little difficulty in effecting a surprise. + +All the arrangements were made with the utmost precision and secrecy for +a midnight attack. The favorable hour came. The sun went down in clouds, +and a night of Egyptian darkness enveloped the armies. The glimmer of +innumerable camp-fires only pointed out the position of the foe, without +throwing any illumination upon the field. Eugene visited all the posts +of the army, ordered abundant refreshment to be distributed to the +troops, addressed them in encouraging words, to impress upon them the +importance of the enterprise, and minutely assigned to each battalion, +regiment, brigade and division its duty, that there might be no +confusion. The whole plan was carefully arranged in all its details and +in all its grand combination. As the bells of Belgrade tolled the hour +of twelve at midnight, three bombs, simultaneously discharged, put the +whole Austrian army in rapid and noiseless motion. + +A dense fog had now descended, through which they could with difficulty +discern the twinkling lights of the Turkish camp. Rapidly they traversed +the intervening space, and in dense, solid columns, rushed over the +ramparts of the foe. Bombs, cannon, musketry, bayonets, cavalry, all +were employed, amidst the thunderings and the lightnings of that +midnight storm of war, in the work of destruction. The Turks, roused +from their slumber, amazed, bewildered, fought for a short time with +maniacal fury, often pouring volleys of bullets into the bosoms of their +friends, and with bloody cimeters smiting indiscriminately on the right +hand and the left, till, in the midst of a scene of confusion and horror +which no imagination can conceive, they broke and fled. Two hundred +thousand men, lighted only by the flash of guns which mowed their ranks, +with thousands of panic-stricken cavalry trampling over them, while the +crash of musketry, the explosions of artillery, the shouts of the +assailants and the fugitives, and the shrieks of the dying, blended in a +roar more appalling than heaven's heaviest thunders, presented a scene +which has few parallels even in the horrid annals of war. + +The morning dawned upon a field of blood and death. The victory of the +Austrians was most decisive. The flower of the Turkish army was cut to +pieces, and the remnant was utterly dispersed. The Turkish camp, with +all its abundant booty of tents, provisions, ammunition and artillery, +fell into the hands of the conqueror. So signal was the victory, that +the disheartened Turks made no attempt to retrieve their loss. Belgrade +was surrendered to the Austrians, and the sultan implored peace. The +articles were signed in Passarovitz, a small town of Servia, in July, +1718. By this treaty the emperor added Belgrade to his dominions, and +also a large part of Wallachia and Servia. + +Austria and Spain were still in heart at war, as the emperor claimed the +crown of Spain, and was only delaying active hostilities until he could +dispose of his more immediate foes. Charles, soon after the death of his +cousin, the Portuguese princess, with whom he had formed a matrimonial +engagement, married Elizabeth Christina, a princess of Brunswick. The +imperial family now consisted of three daughters, Maria Theresa, Maria +Anne and Maria Amelia. It will be remembered that by the family compact +established by Leopold, the succession was entailed upon Charles in +preference to the daughters of Joseph, in case Joseph should die without +male issue. But should Charles die without male issue, the crown was to +revert to the daughters of Joseph in preference to those of Charles. The +emperor, having three daughters and no sons, with natural parental +partiality, but unjustly, and with great want of magnanimity, was +anxious to deprive the daughters of Joseph of their rights, that he +might secure the crown for his own daughters. He accordingly issued a +decree reversing this contract, and settling the right of succession +first upon his daughters, should he die without sons, then upon the +daughters of Joseph, one of whom had married the Elector of Saxony and +the other the Elector of Bavaria. After them he declared his sister, who +had married the King of Portugal, and then his other sisters, the +daughters of Leopold, to be in the line of succession. This new law of +succession Charles issued under the name of the Pragmatic Sanction. He +compelled his nieces, the daughters of Joseph, to give their assent to +this Sanction, and then, for the remainder of his reign, made the +greatest efforts to induce all the powers of Europe to acknowledge its +validity. + +Charles VI. was now, as to the extent of territory over which he reigned +and the population subject to his sway, decidedly the most powerful +monarch in Christendom. Three hundred princes of the German empire +acknowledged him as their elected sovereign. By hereditary right he +claimed dominion over Bohemia, Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, Servia, +Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the Tyrol, and all the rich and populous +States of the Netherlands. Naples, Sicily, Mantua and Milan in Italy, +also recognized his sovereignty. To enlightened reason nothing can seem +more absurd than that one man, of very moderate capacities, luxuriating +in his palace at Vienna, should pretend to hold dominion over so many +millions so widely dispersed. But the progress of the world towards +intelligent liberty has been very slow. When we contrast the +constitution of the United States with such a political condition, all +our evils and difficulties dwindle to utter insignificance. + +Still the power of the emperor was in many respects apparent rather than +real. Each of these States had its own customs and laws. The nobles were +tumultuary, and ever ready, if their privileges were infringed, to rise +in insurrection. Military force alone could hold these turbulent realms +in awe; and the old feudal servitude which crushed the millions, was but +another name for anarchy. The peace establishment of the emperor +amounted to one hundred thousand men, and every one of these was +necessary simply to garrison his fortresses. The enormous expense of the +support of such an army, with all the outlays for the materiel of war, +the cavalry, and the structure of vast fortresses, exhausted the +revenues of a kingdom in which the masses of the people were so +miserably poor that they were scarcely elevated above the beasts of the +field, and where the finances had long been in almost irreparable +disorder. The years of peace, however, were very few. War, a maelstrom +which ingulfs uncounted millions, seems to have been the normal state of +Germany. But the treasury of Charles was so constantly drained that he +could never, even in his greatest straits, raise more than one hundred +and sixty thousand men; and he was often compelled to call upon the aid +of a foreign purse to meet the expense which that number involved. +Within a hundred years the nations have made vast strides in wealth, and +in the consequent ability to throw away millions in war. + +Charles VI. commenced his reign with intense devotion to business. He +resolved to be an illustrious emperor, vigorously superintending all the +interests of the empire, legislative, judicial and executive. For a few +weeks he was busy night and day, buried in a hopeless mass of diplomatic +papers. But he soon became weary of this, and leaving all the ordinary +affairs of the State in the hands of agents, amused himself with his +violin and in chasing rabbits. As more serious employment, he gave +pompous receptions, and enveloped himself in imperial ceremony and the +most approved courtly etiquette. He still, however, insisted upon giving +his approval to all measures adopted by his ministers, before they were +carried into execution. But as he was too busy with his entertainments, +his music and the chase, to devote much time to the dry details of +government, papers were accumulating in a mountainous heap in his +cabinet, and the most important business was neglected. + +Charles XII. was now King of Sweden; Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia; +George I., King of England; and the shameful regency had succeeded, in +France, the reign of Louis XIV. For eighteen years a bloody war had been +sweeping the plains of Poland, Russia and Sweden. Thousands had been +torn to pieces by the enginery of war, and trampled beneath iron hoofs. +Millions of women and children had been impoverished, beggared, and +turned out houseless into the fields to moan and starve and die. The +claims of humanity must ever yield to the requisitions of war. This +fierce battle of eighteen years was fought to decide which of three men, +Peter of Russia, Charles of Sweden, or Augustus of Poland, should have +the right to exact tribute from Livonia. This province was a vast +pasture on the Baltic, containing about seventeen thousand square miles, +and inhabited by about five hundred thousand poor herdsmen and tillers +of the soil. + +Peter the Great was in the end victorious in this long conflict; and +having attached large portions of Sweden to his territory, with a navy +upon the Baltic, and a disciplined army, began to be regarded as a +European power, and was quite disposed to make his voice heard in the +diplomacy of Europe. Queen Anne having died, leaving no children, the +law of hereditary descent carried the crown of England to Germany, and +placed it upon the brow of the Elector of Hanover, who, as grandson of +James I., was the nearest heir, but who could not speak a word of +English, who knew nothing of constitutional law, and who was about as +well qualified to govern England as a Patagonian or Esquimaux would have +been. But obedience to this law of hereditary descent was a political +necessity. There were thousands of able men in England who could have +administered the government with honor to themselves and to the country. +But it is said in reply that the people of England, as a body, were not +then, and probably are not even now, sufficiently enlightened to be +intrusted with the choice of their own rulers. Respect for the +ballot-box is one of the last and highest attainments of civilization. +Recent developments in our own land have led many to fear that barbarism +is gaining upon the people. If the _ballot-box_ be overturned, the +_cartridge-box_ must take its place. The great battle we have to fight +is the battle against popular ignorance. The great army we are to +support is the army of teachers in the schools and in the pulpit, +elevating the mind to the highest possible intelligence, and guiding the +heart by the pure spirit of the gospel. + +The emperor was so crowded with affairs of immediate urgency, and it was +so evident that he could not drive Philip from the throne, now that he +was recognized by all Europe, that he postponed the attempt for a +season, while he still adopted the title of King of Spain. His troops +had hardly returned from the brilliant campaign of Belgrade, ere the +emperor saw a cloud gathering in the north, which excited his most +serious apprehension. Russia and Sweden, irritated by some of the acts +of the emperor, formed an alliance for the invasion of the German +empire. The fierce warriors of the north, led by such captains as +Charles XII. and Peter the Great, were foes not to be despised. This +threatened invasion not only alarmed the emperor, but alarmed George I. +of England, as his electorate of Hanover was imperiled; and also excited +the fears of Augustus, the Elector of Saxony, who had regained the +throne of Poland. England and Poland consequently united with the +emperor, and formidable preparations were in progress for a terrible +war, when one single chance bullet, upon the field of Pultowa, struck +Charles XII., as he was looking over the parapet, and dispersed this +cloud which threatened the desolation of all Europe. + +Austria was now the preponderating power in degenerate Italy. Even those +States which were not in subjection to the emperor, were overawed by his +imperious spirit. Genoa was nominally independent. The Genoese arrested +one of the imperial officers for some violation of the laws of the +republic. The emperor sent an army to the gates of the city, threatening +it with bombardment and utter destruction. They were thus compelled +immediately to liberate the officer, to pay a fine of three hundred +thousand dollars, and to send a senator to Vienna with humble +expressions of contrition, and to implore pardon. + +The kingdom of Sardinia was at this time the most powerful State in +Italy, if we except those united Italian States which now composed an +integral part of the Austrian empire. Victor Asmedeus, the energetic +king, had a small but vigorous army, and held himself ready, with this +army, for a suitable remuneration, to engage in the service of any +sovereign, without asking any troublesome questions as to the +righteousness of the expedition in which he was to serve. The Sardinian +king was growing rich, and consequently ambitious. He wished to rise +from the rank of a secondary to that of a primary power in Europe. There +was but one direction in which he could hope to extend his territories, +and that was by pressing into Lombardy. He had made the remark, which +was repeated to the emperor, "I must acquire Lombardy piece by piece, as +I eat an artichoke." Charles, consequently, watched Victor with a +suspicious eye. + +The four great powers of middle and southern Europe were Austria, +England, France, and Spain. All the other minor States, innumerable in +name as well as number, were compelled to take refuge, openly or +secretly, beneath one or another of these great monarchies. + +In France, the Duke of Orleans, the regent during the minority of Louis +XV., whose court, in the enormous expenditures of vice, exhausted the +yearly earnings of a population of twenty millions, was anxious to unite +the Bourbon' branches of France and Spain in more intimate alliance. He +accordingly affianced the young sovereign of France to Mary Anne, +daughter of Philip V. of Spain. At the same time he married his own +daughter to the king's oldest son, the Prince of Asturias, who was heir +to the throne. Mary Anne, to whom the young king was affianced, was only +four years of age. + +The personal history of the monarchs of Europe is, almost without +exception, a melancholy history. By their ambition and their wars they +whelmed the cottages in misery, and by a righteous retribution misery +also inundated the palace. Philip V. became the victim of the most +insupportable melancholy. Earth had no joy which could lift the cloud of +gloom from his soul. For months he was never known to smile. Imprisoning +himself in his palace he refused to see any company, and left all the +cares of government in the hands of his wife, Elizabeth Farnese. + +Germany was still agitated by the great religious contest between the +Catholics and the Protestants, which divided the empire into two nearly +equal parties, bitterly hostile to each other. Various fruitless +attempts had been made to bring the parties together, into _unity of +faith_, by compromise. Neither party were reconciled to cordial +_toleration_, free and full, in which alone harmony can be obtained. In +all the States of the empire the Catholics and the Protestants were +coming continually into collision. Charles, though a very decided +Catholic, was not disposed to persecute the Protestants, as most of his +predecessors had done, for he feared to rouse them to despair. + +England, France, Austria and Spain, were now involved in an inextricable +maze of diplomacy. Congresses were assembled and dissolved; treaties +made and violated; alliances formed and broken. Weary of the conflict of +arms, they were engaged in the more harmless squabbles of intrigue, each +seeking its own aggrandizement. Philip V., who had fought so many bloody +battles to acquire the crown of Spain, now, disgusted with the cares +which that crown involved, overwhelmed with melancholy, and trembling in +view of the final judgment of God, suddenly abdicated the throne in +favor of his son Louis, and took a solemn oath that he would never +resume it again. This event, which surprised Europe, took place on the +10th of February, 1724. Philip retired to St. Ildefonso. + +The celebrated palace of St. Ildefonso, which became the retreat of the +monarch, was about forty miles north of Madrid, in an elevated ravine +among the mountains of Gaudarruma. It was an enormous pile, nearly four +thousand feet above the level of the sea, and reared by the Spanish +monarchs at an expense exceeding thirty millions of dollars. The palace, +two stories high, and occupying three sides of a square, presents a +front five hundred and thirty feet in length. In this front alone there +are, upon each story, twelve gorgeous apartments in a suite. The +interior is decorated in the richest style of art, with frescoed +ceilings, and splendid mirrors, and tesselated floors of variegated +marble. The furniture was embellishcd with gorgeous carvings, and +enriched with marble, jasper and verd-antique. The galleries were filled +with the most costly productions of the chisel and the pencil. The +spacious garden, spread out before the palace, was cultivated with the +utmost care, and ornamented with fountains surpassing even those of +Versailles. + +To this magnificent retreat Philip V. retired with his imperious, +ambitious wife. She was the step-mother of his son who had succeeded to +the throne. For a long time, by the vigor of her mind, she had dominated +over her husband, and had in reality been the sovereign of Spain. In the +magnificent palace of St. Ildefonso, she was by no means inclined to +relinquish her power. Gathering a brilliant court around her, she still +issued her decrees, and exerted a powerful influence over the kingdom. +The young Louis, who was but a boy, was not disposed to engage in a +quarrel with his mother, and for a time submitted to this interference; +but gradually he was roused by his adherents, to emancipate himself from +these shackles, and to assume the authority of a sovereign. This led to +very serious trouble. The abdicated king, in his moping melancholy, was +entirely in subjection to his wife. There were now two rival courts. +Parties were organizing. Some were for deposing the son; others for +imprisoning the father. The kingdom was on the eve of a civil war, when +death kindly came to settle the difficulty. + +The young King Louis, but eighteen years of age, after a nominal reign +of but eight months, was seized with that awful scourge the small-pox, +and, after a few days of suffering and delirium, was consigned to the +tomb. Philip, notwithstanding his vow, was constrained by his wife to +resume the crown, she probably promising to relieve him of all care. +Such are the vicissitudes of a hereditary government. Elizabeth, with +woman's spirit, now commanded the emperor to renounce the title of King +of Spain, which he still claimed. Charles, with the spirit of an +emperor, declared that he would do no such thing. + +There was another serious source of difficulty between the two monarchs, +which has descended, generation after generation, to our own time, and +to this day is only settled by each party quietly persisting in his own +claim. + +In the year 1430 Philip III., Duke of Burgundy, instituted a new order +of knighthood for the protection of the Catholic church, to be called +the order of the Golden Fleece. But twenty-four members were to be +admitted, and Philip himself was the grand master. Annual meetings were +held to fill vacancies. Charles V., as grand master, increased the +number of knights to fifty-one. After his death, as the Burgundian +provinces and the Netherlands passed under the dominion of Spain, the +Spanish monarchs exercised the office of grand master, and conferred the +dignity, which was now regarded the highest order of knighthood in +Europe, according to their pleasure. But Charles VI., now in admitted +possession of the Netherlands, by virtue of that possession claimed the +office of grand master of the Golden Fleece. Philip also claimed it as +the inheritance of the kings of Spain. The dispute has never been +settled. Both parties still claim it, and the order is still conferred +both at Vienna and Madrid. + +Other powers interfered, in the endeavor to promote reconciliation +between the hostile courts, but, as usual, only increased the acrimony +of the two parties. The young Spanish princess Mary Anne, who was +affianced to the Dauphin of France, was sent to Paris for her education, +and that she might become familiar with the etiquette of a court over +which she was to preside as queen. For a time she was treated with great +attention, and child as she was, received all the homage which the +courtiers were accustomed to pay to the Queen of France. But amidst the +intrigues of the times a change arose, and it was deemed a matter of +state policy to marry the boy-king to another princess. The French court +consequently rejected Maria Anne and sent her back to Spain, and married +Louis, then but fifteen years of age, to Maria Lebrinsky, daughter of +the King of Poland. The rejected child was too young fully to appreciate +the mortification. Her parents, however, felt the insult most keenly. +The whole Spanish court was roused to resent it as a national outrage. +The queen was so indignant that she tore from her arm a bracelet which +she wore, containing a portrait of Louis XV., and dashing it upon the +floor, trampled it beneath her feet. Even the king was roused from his +gloom by the humiliation of his child, and declared that no amount of +blood could atone for such an indignity. + +Under the influence of this exasperation, the queen resolved to seek +reconciliation with Austria, that all friendly relations might be +abandoned with France, and that Spain and Austria might be brought into +intimate alliance to operate against their common foe. A renowned +Spanish diplomatist, the Baron of Ripperda, had been for some time a +secret agent of the queen at the court of Vienna, watching the progress +of events there. He resided in the suburbs under a fictitious name, and +eluding the vigilance of the ministry, had held by night several secret +interviews with the emperor, proposing to him, in the name of the queen, +plans of reconciliation. Letters were immediately dispatched to Ripperda +urging him to come to an accommodation with the emperor upon almost any +terms. + +A treaty was soon concluded, early in the spring of 1725. The emperor +renounced all claim to the Spanish crown, entered into an alliance, both +offensive and defensive, with Philip, and promised to aid, both with men +and money, to help recover Gibraltar from the English, which fortress +they had held since they seized upon it in the war of the Spanish +succession. In consideration of these great concessions Philip agreed to +recognize the right of the emperor to the Netherlands and to his +acquisitions in Italy. He opened all the ports of Spain to the subjects +of the emperor, and pledged himself to support the Pragmatic Sanction, +which wrested the crown of Austria from the daughters of Joseph, and +transmitted it to the daughters of Charles. It was this last clause +which influenced the emperor, for his whole heart was set upon the +accomplishment of this important result, and he was willing to make +almost any sacrifice to attain it. There were also some secret articles +attached which have never been divulged. + +The immediate demand of Spain for the surrender of the rock of Gibraltar +was the signal for all Europe to marshal itself for war--a war which +threatened the destruction of hundreds of thousands of lives, millions +of property, and which was sure to spread far and wide over populous +cities and extended provinces, carnage, conflagration, and unspeakable +woe. The question was, whether England or Spain should have possession +of a rock seven miles long and one mile broad, which was supposed, but +very erroneously, to command the Mediterranean. To the rest of Europe it +was hardly a matter of the slightest moment whether the flag of England +or Spain waved over those granite cliffs. It seems incredible that +beings endowed with reason could be guilty of such madness. + +England, with great vigor, immediately rallied on her side France, +Hanover, Holland, Denmark and Sweden. On the other side were Spain, +Austria, Russia, Prussia and a large number of the minor States of +Germany. Many months were occupied in consolidating these coalitions, +and in raising the armies and gathering the materials for the war. + +In the meantime Ripperda, having so successfully, as he supposed, +concluded his negotiations at Vienna, in a high state of exultation +commenced his journey back to Spain. Passing down through the Tyrol and +traversing Italy he embarked at Genoa and landed at Barcelona. Here he +boasted loudly of what he had accomplished. + +"Spain and the emperor now united," he said, "will give the law to +Europe. The emperor has one hundred and fifty thousand troops under +arms, and in six months can bring as many more into the field. France +shall be pillaged. George I. shall be driven both from his German and +his British territories." + +From Barcelona Ripperda traveled rapidly to Madrid, where he was +received with almost regal honors by the queen, who was now in reality +the sovereign. She immediately appointed him Secretary of State, and +transferred to him the reins of government which she had taken from the +unresisting hands of her moping husband. Thus Ripperda became, in all +but title, the King of Spain. He was a weak man, of just those traits of +character which would make him a haughty woman's favorite. He was so +elated with this success, became so insufferably vain, and assumed such +imperious airs as to disgust all parties. He made the most extravagant +promises of the subsidies the emperor was to furnish, and of the powers +which were to combine to trample England and France beneath their feet. +It was soon seen that these promises were merely the vain-glorious +boasts of his own heated brain. Even the imperial ambassador at Madrid +was so repelled by his arrogance, that he avoided as far as possible all +social and even diplomatic intercourse with him. There was a general +combination of the courtiers to crush the favorite. The queen, who, with +all her ambition, had a good share of sagacity, soon saw the mistake she +had made, and in four months after Ripperda's return to Madrid, he was +dismissed in disgrace. + +A general storm of contempt and indignation pursued the discarded +minister. His rage was now inflamed as much as his vanity had been. +Fearful of arrest and imprisonment, and burning with that spirit of +revenge which is ever strongest in weakest minds, he took refuge in the +house of the British ambassador, Mr. Stanhope. Hostilities had not yet +commenced. Indeed there had been no declaration of war, and diplomatic +relations still continued undisturbed. Each party was acting secretly, +and watching the movements of the other with a jealous eye. + +Ripperda sought protection beneath the flag of England, and with the +characteristic ignominy of deserters and traitors, endeavored to +ingratiate himself with his new friends by disclosing all the secrets of +his negotiations at Vienna. Under these circumstances full confidence +can not be placed in his declarations, for he had already proved himself +to be quite unscrupulous in regard to truth. The indignant queen sent an +armed force, arrested the duke in the house of the British ambassador, +and sent him, in close imprisonment, to the castle of Segovia. He, +however, soon escaped from there and fled to England, where he +reiterated his declarations respecting the secret articles of the treaty +of Vienna. The most important of these declarations was, that Spain and +the emperor had agreed to drive George I. from England and to place the +Pretender, who had still many adherents, upon the British throne. It was +also asserted that marriage contracts were entered into which, by +uniting the daughters of the emperor with the sons of the Spanish +monarch, would eventually place the crowns of Austria and Spain upon the +same brow. The thought of such a vast accumulation of power in the hands +of any one monarch, alarmed all the rest of Europe. Both Spain and the +emperor denied many of the statements made by Ripperda. But as _truth_ +has not been esteemed a diplomatic virtue, and as both Ripperda and the +sovereigns he had served were equally tempted to falsehood, and were +equally destitute of any character for truth, it is not easy to decide +which party to believe. + +England and France took occasion, through these disclosures, to rouse +the alarm of Europe. So much apprehension was excited in Prussia, +Bavaria, and with other princes of the empire, who were appalled at the +thought of having another Spanish prince upon the imperial throne, that +the emperor sent ambassadors to these courts to appease their anxiety, +and issued a public declaration denying that any such marriages were in +contemplation; while at the same time he was promising the Queen of +Spain these marriages, to secure her support. England and France accuse +the emperor of deliberate, persistent, unblushing falsehood. + +The emperor seems now to have become involved in an inextricable maze of +prevarication and duplicity, striving in one court to accomplish +purposes which in other courts he was denying that he wished to +accomplish. His embarrassment at length became so great, the greater +part of Europe being roused and jealous, that he was compelled to +abandon Spain, and reluctantly to sign a treaty of amity with France and +England. A general armistice was agreed upon for seven years. The King +of Spain, thus abandoned by the emperor, was also compelled to smother +his indignation and to roll back his artillery into the arsenals. Thus +this black cloud of war, which threatened all Europe with desolation, +was apparently dispelled. This treaty, which seemed to restore peace to +Europe, was signed in June, 1727. It was, however, a hollow peace. The +spirit of ambition and aggression animated every court; and each one was +ready, in defiance of treaties and in defiance of the misery of the +world, again to unsheath the sword as soon as any opportunity should +offer for the increase of territory or power. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +CHARLES VI. AND THE POLISH WAR. + +From 1727 to 1735. + +Cardinal Fleury.--The Emperor of Austria Urges the Pragmatic Sanction.-- +He Promises His Two Daughters to the Two Sons of the Queen of +Spain.--France, England and Spain Unite Against Austria.--Charles VI. +Issues Orders to Prepare for War.--His Perplexities.--Secret Overtures +to England.--The Crown of Poland.--Meeting of the Polish Congress.-- +Stanislaus Goes to Poland.--Augustus III. Crowned.--War.--Charles Sends +an Army to Lombardy.--Difficulties of Prince Eugene.--Charles's +Displeasure with England.--Letter to Count Kinsky.--Hostilities Renewed. + + +The young King of France, Louis XV., from amidst the orgies of his court +which rivaled Babylon in corruption, was now seventeen years of age, and +was beginning to shake off the trammels of guardianship and to take some +ambitious part in government. The infamous regent, the Duke of Orleans, +died suddenly of apoplexy in 1723. Gradually the king's preceptor, +Fleury, obtained the entire ascendency over the mind of his pupil, and +became the chief director of affairs. He saw the policy of reuniting the +Bourbons of France and Spain for the support of each other. The policy +was consequently adopted of cultivating friendly relations between the +two kingdoms. Cardinal Fleury was much disposed to thwart the plans of +the emperor. A congress of the leading powers had been assembled at +Soissons in June, 1728, to settle some diplomatic questions. The +favorite object of the emperor now was, to obtain from the European +powers the formal guarantee to support his decree of succession which +conveyed the crown of Austria to his daughters, in preference to those +of his brother Joseph. + +The emperor urged the Pragmatic Sanction strongly upon the congress, as +the basis upon which he would enter into friendly relations with all the +powers. Fleury opposed it, and with such influence over the other +plenipotentiaries as to secure its rejection. The emperor was much +irritated, and intimated war. France and England retorted defiance. +Spain was becoming alienated from the emperor, who had abandoned her +cause, and was again entering into alliance with France. The emperor had +promised his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, to Carlos, son of the Queen +of Spain, and a second daughter to the next son, Philip. These were as +brilliant matches as an ambitious mother could desire. But while the +emperor was making secret and solemn promises to the Queen of Spain, +that these marriages should be consummated, which would secure to the +son of the queen the Austrian, as well as the Spanish crown, he was +declaring to the courts of Europe that he had no such plans in +contemplation. + +The Spanish queen, at length, annoyed, and goaded on by France and +England, sent an ambassador to Vienna, and demanded of the emperor a +written promise that Maria Theresa was to be the bride of Carlos. The +emperor was now brought to the end of his intrigues. He had been careful +heretofore to give only verbal promises, through his ministers. After +his reiterated public denials that any such alliance was anticipated, he +did not dare commit himself by giving the required document. An +apologetic, equivocal answer was returned which so roused the ire of the +queen, that, breaking off from Austria, she at once entered into a +treaty of cordial union with England and France. + +It will readily be seen that all these wars and intrigues had but little +reference to the welfare of the masses of the people. They were hardly +more thought of than the cattle and the poultry. The only purpose they +served was, by unintermitted toil, to raise the wealth which supported +the castle and the palace, and to march to the field to fight battles, +in which they had no earthly interest. The written history of Europe is +only the history of kings and nobles--their ambitions, intrigues and +war. The unwritten history of the dumb, toiling millions, defrauded of +their rights, doomed to poverty and ignorance, is only recorded in the +book of God's remembrance. When that page shall be read, every ear that +hears it will tingle. + +The frail connection between Austria and Spain was now terminated. +England, France and Spain entered into an alliance to make vigorous war +against Charles VI. if he manifested any hostility to any of the +articles of the treaty into which they had entered. The Queen of Spain, +in her spite, forbade the subjects of the emperor from trading at all +with Spain, and granted to her new allies the exclusive right to the +Spanish trade. She went so far in her reconciliation with England as to +assure the king that he was quite welcome to retain the rock of +Gibraltar which he held with so tenacious a grasp. + +In this treaty, with studied neglect, even the name of the emperor was +not mentioned; and yet the allies, as if to provoke a quarrel, sent +Charles VI. a copy, peremptorily demanding assent to the treaty without +his having taken any part whatever in the negotiation. + +This insulting demand fell like a bomb-shell in the palace at Vienna. +Emperor, ministers, courtiers, all were aroused to a frenzy of +indignation. "So insulting a message," said Count Zinzendorf, "is +unparalleled, even in the annals of savages." The emperor condescended +to make no reply, but very spiritedly issued orders to all parts of the +empire, for his troops to hold themselves in readiness for war. + +And yet Charles was overwhelmed with anxiety, and was almost in despair. +It was a terrible humiliation for the emperor to be compelled to submit, +unavenged, to such an insult. But how could the emperor alone, venture +to meet in battle England, France, Spain and all the other powers whom +three such kingdoms could, either by persuasion or compulsion, bring +into their alliance? He pleaded with his natural allies. Russia had not +been insulted, and was unwilling to engage in so distant a war. Prussia +had no hope of gaining any thing, and declined the contest. Sardinia +sent a polite message to the emperor that it was more for her interest +to enter into an alliance with her nearer neighbors, France, Spain and +England, and that she had accordingly done so. The treasury of Charles +was exhausted; his States were impoverished by constant and desolating +wars. And his troops manifested but little zeal to enter the field +against so fearful a superiority of force. The emperor, tortured almost +beyond endurance by chagrin, was yet compelled to submit. + +The allies were quite willing to provoke a war with the emperor; but as +he received their insults so meekly, and made no movement against them, +they were rather disposed to march against him. Spain wanted Parma and +Tuscany, but France was not willing to have Spain make so great an +accession to her Italian power. France wished to extend her area north, +through the States of the Netherlands. But England was unwilling to see +the French power thus aggrandized. England had her aspirations, to which +both France and Spain were opposed. Thus the allies operated as a check +upon each other. + +The emperor found some little consolation in this growing disunion, and +did all in his power to foment it. Wishing to humble the Bourbons of +France and Spain, he made secret overtures to England. The offers of the +emperor were of such a nature, that England eagerly accepted them, +returned to friendly relations with the emperor, and, to his extreme +joy, pledged herself to support the Pragmatic Sanction. + +It seems to have been the great object of the emperor's life to secure +the crown of Austria for his daughters. It was an exceedingly +disgraceful act. There was no single respectable reason to be brought +forward why his daughters should crowd from the throne the daughters of +his elder deceased brother, the Emperor Joseph. Charles was so aware of +the gross injustice of the deed, and that the ordinary integrity of +humanity would rise against him, that he felt the necessity of +exhausting all the arts of diplomacy to secure for his daughters the +pledged support of the surrounding thrones. He had now by intrigues of +many years obtained the guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction from Russia, +Prussia, Holland, Spain and England. France still refused her pledge, as +did also many of the minor States of the empire. The emperor, encouraged +by the success he had thus far met with, pushed his efforts with renewed +vigor, and in January, 1732, exulted that he had gained the guarantee of +the Pragmatic Sanction from all the Germanic body, with the exception of +Bavaria, Palatine and Saxony. + +And now a new difficulty arose to embroil Europe in trouble. When +Charles XII., like a thunderbolt of war, burst upon Poland, he drove +Augustus II. from the throne, and placed upon it Stanislaus Leczinski, a +Polish noble, whom he had picked up by the way, and whose heroic +character secured the admiration of this semi-insane monarch. Augustus, +utterly crushed, was compelled by his eccentric victor to send the crown +jewels and the archives, with a letter of congratulation, to Stanislaus. +This was in the year 1706. Three years after this, in 1709, Charles XII. +suffered a memorable defeat at Pultowa. Augustus II., then at the head +of an army, regained his kingdom, and Stanislaus fled in disguise. After +numerous adventures and fearful afflictions, the court of France offered +him a retreat in Wissembourg in Alsace. Here the ex-king remained for +six years, when his beautiful daughter Mary was selected to take the +place of the rejected Mary of Spain, as the wife of the young dauphin, +Louis XV. + +In the year 1733 Augustus II. died. In anticipation of this event +Austria had been very busy, hoping to secure the elective crown of +Poland for the son of Augustus who had inherited his father's name, and +who had promised to support the Pragmatic Sanction. France was equally +busy in the endeavor to place the scepter of Poland in the hand of +Stanislaus, father of the queen. From the time of the marriage of his +daughter with Louis XV., Stanislaus received a handsome pension from the +French treasury, maintained a court of regal splendor, and received all +the honors due to a sovereign. All the energies of the French court were +now aroused to secure the crown for Stanislaus. Russia, Prussia and +Austria were in natural sympathy. They wished to secure the alliance of +Poland, and were also both anxious to destroy the republican principle +of _electing_ rulers, and to introduce hereditary descent of the crown +in all the kingdoms of Europe. But an election by the nobles was now +indispensable, and the rival powers were, with all the arts known in +courts, pushing the claims of their several candidates. It was an +important question, for upon it depended whether warlike Poland was to +be the ally of the Austrian or of the French party. Poland was also +becoming quite republican in its tendencies, and had adopted a +constitution which greatly limited the power of the crown. Augustus +would be but a tool in the hands of Russia, Prussia and Austria, and +would cooperate with them in crushing the spirit of liberty in Poland. +These three great northern powers became so roused upon the subject, +that they put their troops in motion, threatening to exclude Stanislaus +by force. + +This language of menace and display of arms roused France. The king, +while inundating Poland with agents, and lavishing the treasure of +France in bribes to secure the election of Stanislaus, assumed an air of +virtuous indignation in view of the interference of the Austrian party, +and declared that no foreign power should interfere in any way with the +freedom of the election. This led the emperor to issue a +counter-memorial inveighing against the intermeddling of France. + +In the midst of these turmoils the congress of Polish nobles met to +choose their king. It was immediately apparent that there was a very +powerful party organized in favor of Stanislaus. The emperor was for +marching directly into the kingdom with an army which he had already +assembled in Silesia for this purpose, and with the bayonet make up for +any deficiency which his party might want in votes. Though Prussia +demurred, he put his troops in motion, and the imperial and Russian +ambassadors at Warsaw informed the marshal of the diet that Catharine, +who was now Empress of Russia, and Charles, had decided to exclude +Stanislaus from Poland by force. + +These threats produced their natural effect upon the bold warrior barons +of Poland. Exasperated rather than intimidated, they assembled, many +thousands in number, on the great plain of Wola, but a few miles from +Warsaw, and with great unanimity chose Stanislaus their king. This was +the 12th of September, 1733. Stanislaus, anticipating the result, had +left France in disguise, accompanied by a single attendant, to undertake +the bold enterprise of traversing the heart of Germany, eluding all the +vigilance of the emperor, and of entering Poland notwithstanding all the +efforts of Austria, Russia and Prussia to keep him away. It was a very +hazardous adventure, for his arrest would have proved his ruin. Though +he encountered innumerable dangers, with marvelous sagacity and heroism +he succeeded, and reached Warsaw on the 9th of September, just three +days before the election. In regal splendor he rode, as soon as informed +of his election, to the tented field where the nobles were convened. He +was received with the clashing of weapons, the explosions of artillery, +and the acclamations of thousands. + +But the Poles were not sufficiently enlightened fully to comprehend the +virtue and the sacredness of the ballot-box. The Russian army was now +hastening to the gates of Warsaw. The small minority of Polish nobles +opposed to the election of Stanislaus seceded from the diet, mounted +their horses, crossed the Vistula, and joined the invading array to make +war upon the sovereign whom the majority had chosen. The retribution for +such folly and wickedness has come. There is no longer any Poland. They +who despise the authority of the ballot-box inevitably usher in the +bayonets of despotism. Under the protection of this army the minority +held another diet at Kamien (on the 5th of October), a village just +outside the suburbs of Warsaw, and chose as the sovereign of Poland +Augustus, son of the deceased king. The minority, aided by the Russian +and imperial armies, were too strong for the majority. They took +possession of Warsaw, and crowned their candidate king, with the title +of Augustus III. Stanislaus, pressed by an overpowering force, retreated +to Dantzic, at the mouth of the Vistula, about two hundred miles from +Warsaw. Here he was surrounded by the Russian troops and held in close +siege, while Augustus III. took possession of Poland. France could do +nothing. A weary march of more than a thousand miles separated Paris +from Warsaw, and the French troops would be compelled to fight their way +through the very heart of the German empire, and at the end of the +journey to meet the united armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Poland +under her king, now in possession of all the fortresses. + +Though Louis XV. could make no effectual resistance, it was not in human +nature but that he should seek revenge. When shepherds quarrel, they +kill each other's flocks. When kings quarrel, they kill the poor +peasants in each other's territories, and burn their homes. France +succeeded in enlisting in her behalf Spain and Sardinia. Austria and +Russia were upon the other side. Prussia, jealous of the emperor's +greatness, declined any active participation. Most of the other powers +of Europe also remained neutral. France had now no hope of placing +Stanislaus upon the throne; she only sought revenge, determined to +humble the house of Austria. The mercenary King of Sardinia, Charles +Emanuel, was willing to serve the one who would pay the most. He first +offered himself to the emperor, but upon terms too exorbitant to be +accepted. France and Spain immediately offered him terms even more +advantageous than those he had demanded of the emperor. The contract was +settled, and the Sardinian army marched into the allied camp. + +The King of Sardinia, who was as ready to employ guile as force in +warfare, so thoroughly deceived the emperor as to lead him to believe +that he had accepted the emperor's terms, and that Sardinia was to be +allied with Austria, even when the whole contract was settled with +France and Spain, and the plan of the campaign was matured. So utterly +was the emperor deluded by a fraud so contemptible, in the view of every +honorable mind, that he sent great convoys of grain, and a large supply +of shot, shells and artillery from the arsenals of Milan into the +Sardinian camp. Charles Emanuel, dead to all sense of magnanimity, +rubbed his hands with delight in the successful perpetration of such +fraud, exclaiming, "_An virtus an dolos, quis ab hoste requirat_." + +So cunningly was this stratagem carried on, that the emperor was not +undeceived until his own artillery, which he had sent to Charles +Emanuel, were thundering at the gates of the city of Milan, and the shot +and shells which he had so unsuspectingly furnished were mowing down the +imperial troops. So sudden was the attack, so unprepared was Austrian +Lombardy to meet it, that in twelve weeks the Sardinian troops overran +the whole territory, seized every city and magazine, with all their +treasures, leaving the fortress of Mantua alone in the possession of the +imperial troops. It was the policy of Louis XV. to attack Austria in the +remote portions of her widely-extended dominions, and to cut off +province by province. He also made special and successful efforts to +detach the interests of the German empire from those of Austria, so that +the princes of the empire might claim neutrality. It was against the +possessions of Charles VI., not against the independent States of the +empire, that Louis XV. urged war. + +The storms of winter were now at hand, and both parties were compelled +to abandon the field until spring. But during the winter every nerve was +strained by the combatants in preparation for the strife which the +returning sun would introduce. The emperor established strong defenses +along the banks of the Rhine to prevent the passage of the French; he +also sent agents to all the princes of the empire to enlist them in his +cause, and succeeded, notwithstanding the remonstrances of many who +claimed neutrality, in obtaining a vote from a diet which he assembled, +for a large sum of money, and for an army of one hundred and twenty +thousand men. + +The loss of Lombardy troubled Charles exceedingly, for it threatened the +loss of all his Italian possessions. Notwithstanding the severity of the +winter he sent to Mantua all the troops he could raise from his +hereditary domains; and ordered every possible effort to be made to be +prepared to undertake the offensive in the spring, and to drive the +Sardinians from Lombardy. In the beginning of May the emperor had +assembled within and around Mantua, sixty thousand men, under the +command of Count Merci. The hostile forces soon met, and battle after +battle thundered over the Italian plains. On the 29th of June the two +armies encountered each other in the vicinity of Parma, in such numbers +as to give promise of a decisive battle. For ten hours the demoniac +storm raged unintermitted. Ten thousand of the dead covered the ground. +Neither party had taken a single standard or a single prisoner, an event +almost unparalleled in the history of battles. From the utter exhaustion +of both parties the strife ceased. The Sardinians and French, mangled +and bleeding, retired within the walls of Parma. The Austrians, equally +bruised and bloody, having lost their leader, retired to Reggio. Three +hundred and forty of the Austrian officers were either killed or +wounded. + +The King of Sardinia was absent during this engagement, having gone to +Turin to visit his wife, who was sick. The morning after the battle, +however, he joined the army, and succeeded in cutting off an Austrian +division of twelve hundred men, whom he took prisoners. Both parties now +waited for a time to heal their wounds, repair their shattered weapons, +get rested and receive reinforcements. Ten thousand poor peasants, who +had not the slightest interest in the quarrel, had now met with a bloody +death, and other thousands were now to be brought forward and offered as +victims on this altar of kingly ambition. By the middle of July they +were again prepared to take the field. Both parties struggled with +almost superhuman energies in the work of mutual destruction; villages +were burned, cities stormed, fields crimsoned with blood and strewn with +the slain, while no decisive advantage was gained. In the desperation of +the strife the hostile battalions were hurled against each other until +the beginning of January. They waded morasses, slept in drenching +storms, and were swept by freezing blasts. Sickness entered the camp, +and was even more fatal than the bullet of the foe. Thousands moaned and +died in their misery, upon pallets of straw, where no sister, wife or +mother could soothe the dying anguish. Another winter only afforded the +combatants opportunity to nurse their strength that they might deal +still heavier blows in another campaign. + +While the imperial troops were struggling against Sardinia and France on +the plains of Lombardy, a Spanish squadron landed a strong military +force of French and Spaniards upon the peninsula of southern Italy, and +meeting with no force sufficiently powerful to oppose them, speedily +overran Naples and Sicily. The Spanish troops silenced the forts which +defended the city of Naples, and taking the garrison prisoners, entered +the metropolis in triumphal array, greeted by the acclamations of the +populace, who hated the Austrians. After many battles, in which +thousands were slain, the Austrians were driven out of all the +Neapolitan States, and Carlos, the oldest son of Philip V. of Spain, was +crowned King of Naples, with the title of Charles III. The island of +Sicily was speedily subjugated and also attached to the Neapolitan +crown. + +These losses the emperor felt most keenly. Upon the Rhine he had made +great preparations, strengthening fortresses and collecting troops, +which he placed under the command of his veteran general, Prince Eugene. +He was quite sanguine that here he would be abundantly able to repel the +assaults of his foes. But here again he was doomed to bitter +disappointment. The emperor found a vast disproportion between promise +and performance. The diet had voted him one hundred and twenty thousand +troops; they furnished twelve thousand. They voted abundant supplies; +they furnished almost none at all. + +The campaign opened the 9th of April, 1734, the French crossing the +Rhine near Truerbuch, in three strong columns, notwithstanding all the +efforts of the Austrians to resist them. Prince Eugene, by birth a +Frenchman, reluctantly assumed the command. He had remonstrated with the +emperor against any forcible interference in the Polish election, +assuring him that he would thus expose himself, almost without allies, +to all the power of France. Eugene did not hesitate openly to express +his disapprobation of the war. "I can take no interest in this war," he +said; "the question at issue is not important enough to authorize the +death of a chicken." + +Eugene, upon his arrival from Vienna, at the Austrian camp, found but +twenty-five thousand men. They were composed of a motley assemblage from +different States, undisciplined, unaccustomed to act together and with +no confidence in each other. The commanders of the various corps were +quarreling for the precedence in rank, and there was no unity or +subordination in the army. They were retreating before the French, who, +in numbers, in discipline, and in the materiel of war, were vastly in +the superiority. Eugene saw at once that it would be folly to risk a +battle, and that all he could hope to accomplish was to throw such +embarrassments as he might in the path of the victors. + +The young officers, ignorant, impetuous and reckless, were for giving +battle, which would inevitably have resulted in the destruction of the +army. They were so vexed by the wise caution of Eugene, which they +regarded as pusillanimity, that they complained to the emperor that the +veteran general was in his dotage, that he was broken both in body and +mind, and quite unfit to command the army. These representations induced +the emperor to send a spy to watch the conduct of Eugene. Though deeply +wounded by these suspicions, the experienced general could not be +provoked to hazard an engagement. He retreated from post to post, merely +checking the progress of the enemy, till the campaign was over, and the +ice and snow of a German winter drove all to winter quarters. + +While recruiting for the campaign of 1735, Prince Eugene wrote a series +of most earnest letters to his confidential agent in London, which +letters were laid before George II., urging England to come to the help +of the emperor in his great extremity. Though George was eager to put +the fleet and army of England in motion, the British cabinet wisely +refused to plunge the nation into war for such a cause, and the emperor +was left to reap the bitter fruit of his despotism and folly. The +emperor endeavored to frighten England by saying that he was reduced to +such an extremity that if the British cabinet did not give him aid, he +should be compelled to seek peace by giving his daughter, with Austria +in her hand as her dowry, to Carlos, now King of Naples and heir +apparent to the crown of Spain. He well knew that to prevent such an +acquisition of power on the part of the Spanish monarch, who was also in +intimate alliance with France, England would be ready to expend any +amount of blood and treasure. + +Charles VI. waited with great impatience to see the result of this +menace, hardly doubting that it would bring England immediately to +terms. Bitter was his disappointment and his despair when he received +from the court of St. James the calm reply, that England could not +possibly take a part in this war, and that in view of the great +embarrassments in which the emperor was involved, England would take no +offense in case of the marriage of the emperor's second daughter to +Carlos. England then advised the emperor to make peace by surrendering +the Netherlands. + +The emperor was now greatly enraged, and inveighed bitterly against +England as guilty of the grossest perfidy. He declared that England had +been as deeply interested as he was in excluding Stanislaus from the +throne of Poland; that it was more important for England than for +Austria to curb the exorbitant power of France; that in every step he +had taken against Stanislaus, he had consulted England, and had acted in +accordance with her counsel; that England was reaping the benefit of +having the father-in-law of the French king expelled from the Polish +throne; that England had solemnly promised to support him in these +measures, and now having derived all the advantage, basely abandoned +him. There were bitter charges, and it has never been denied that they +were mainly true. The emperor, in his indignation, threatened to tell +the whole story to the _people_ of England. It is strange that the +emperor had found out that there were _people_ in England. In no other +part of Europe was there any thing but _nobles_ and _peasants_. + +In this extraordinary letter, addressed to Count Kinsky, the imperial +ambassador in London, the emperor wrote: + +"On the death of Augustus II., King of Poland, my first care was to +communicate to the King of England the principles on which I acted. I +followed, in every instance, his advice.... England has never failed to +give me promises, both before and since the commencement of the war, but +instead of fulfilling those promises, she has even favored my +enemies.... Let the king know that I never will consent to the plan of +pacification now in agitation; that I had rather suffer the worst of +extremities than accede to such disadvantageous proposals, and that even +if I should not be able to prevent them, I will justify my honor and my +dignity, by publishing a circumstantial account of all the transaction, +together with all the documents which I have now in possession.... If +these representations fail, means must be taken to publish and circulate +throughout England our answer to the proposal of good offices which was +not made till after the expiration of nine months. Should the court of +London proceed so far as to make such propositions of peace as are +supposed to be in agitation, you will not delay a moment to circulate +throughout England a memorial, containing a recapitulation of all +negotiations which have taken place since 1710, together with the +authentic documents, detailing my just complaints, and reclaiming, in +the most solemn manner, the execution of the guaranties." + +One more effort the emperor made, and it was indeed a desperate one. He +dispatched a secret agent, an English Roman Catholic, by the name of +Strickland, to London, to endeavor to overthrow the ministry and bring +in a cabinet in favor of him. In this, of course, he failed entirely. +Nothing now remained for him but to submit, with the best grace he +could, to the terms exacted by his foes. In the general pacification +great interests were at stake, and all the leading powers of Europe +demanded a voice in the proceedings. For many months the negotiations +were protracted. England and France became involved in an angry dispute. +Each power was endeavoring to grasp all it could, while at the same time +it was striving to check the rapacity of every other power. There was a +general armistice while these negotiations were pending. It was, +however, found exceedingly difficult to reconcile all conflicting +interests. New parties were formed; new combinations entered into, and +all parties began to aim for a renewal of the strife. England, +exasperated against France, in menace made an imposing display of her +fleet and navy. The emperor was delighted, and, trusting to gain new +allies, exerted his skill of diplomacy to involve the contracting +parties in confusion and discord. + +Thus encouraged, the emperor refused to accede to the terms demanded. He +was required to give up the Netherlands, and all his foreign +possessions, and to retire to his hereditary dominions. "What a severe +sentence," exclaimed Count Zinzendorf, the emperor's ambassador, "have +you passed on the emperor. No malefactor was ever carried with so hard a +doom to the gibbet." + +The armies again took the field. Eugene, again, though with great +reluctance, assumed the command of the imperial forces. France had +assembled one hundred thousand men upon the Rhine. Eugene had but thirty +thousand men to meet them. He assured the emperor that with such a force +he could not successfully carry on the war. Jealous of his reputation, +he said, sadly, "to find myself in the same condition as last year, will +be only exposing myself to the censure of the world, which judges by +appearance, as if I were less capable, in my old age, to support the +reputation of my former successes." With consummate generalship, this +small force held the whole French army in check. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +CHARLES VI. AND THE TURKISH WAR RENEWED. + +From 1735 to 1730. + +Anxiety Of Austrian Office-Holders.--Maria Theresa.--The Duke Of +Lorraine.--Distraction Of The Emperor.--Tuscany Assigned To The Duke Of +Lorraine.--Death Of Eugene.--Rising Greatness Of Russia.--New War With +The Turks.--Condition Of The Army.--Commencement Of Hostilities.-- +Capture Of Nissa.--Inefficient Campaign.--Disgrace Of Seckendorf.--The +Duke Of Lorraine Placed In Command.--Siege Of Orsova.--Belgrade Besieged +By The Turks.--The Third Campaign.--Battle Of Crotzka.--Defeat Of The +Austrians.--Consternation In Vienna.--Barbarism Of The Turks.--The +Surrender Of Belgrade. + + +The emperor being quite unable, either on the Rhine or in Italy, +successfully to compete with his foes, received blow after blow, which +exceedingly disheartened him. His affairs were in a desperate condition, +and, to add to his grief, dissensions filled his cabinet; his +counsellors mutually accusing each other of being the cause of the +impending ruin. The Italian possessions of the emperor had been thronged +with Austrian nobles, filling all the posts of office and of honor, and +receiving rich salaries. A change of administration, in the transference +of these States to the dominion of Spain and Sardinia, "reformed" all +these Austrian office-holders out of their places, and conferred these +posts upon Spaniards and Sardinians. The ejected Austrian nobles crowded +the court of the emperor, with the most passionate importunities that he +would enter into a separate accommodation with Spain, and secure the +restoration of the Italian provinces by giving his eldest daughter, +Maria Theresa, to the Spanish prince, Carlos. This would seem to be a +very simple arrangement, especially since the Queen of Spain so +earnestly desired this match, that she was willing to make almost any +sacrifice for its accomplishment. But there was an inseparable obstacle +in the way of any such arrangement. + +Maria Theresa had just attained her eighteenth year. She was a young +lady of extraordinary force of character, and of an imperial spirit; and +she had not the slightest idea of having her person disposed of as a +mere make-weight in the diplomacy of Europe. She knew that the crown of +Austria was soon to be hers; she understood the weakness of her father, +and was well aware that she was far more capable of wearing that crown +than he had ever been; and she was already far more disposed to take the +reins of government from her father's hand, than she was to submit +herself to his control. With such a character, and such anticipations, +she had become passionately attached to the young Duke of Lorraine, who +was eight years her senior, and who had for some years been one of the +most brilliant ornaments of her father's court. + +The duchy of Lorraine was one of the most extensive and opulent of the +minor States of the German empire. Admirably situated upon the Rhine and +the Meuse, and extending to the sea, it embraced over ten thousand +square miles, and contained a population of over a million and a half. +The duke, Francis Stephen, was the heir of an illustrious line, whose +lineage could be traced for many centuries. Germany, France and Spain, +united, had not sufficient power to induce Maria Theresa to reject +Francis Stephen, the grandson of her father's sister, the playmate of +her childhood, and now her devoted lover, heroic and fascinating, for +the Spanish Carlos, of whom she knew little, and for whom she cared +less. Ambition also powerfully operated on the very peculiar mind of +Maria Theresa. She had much of the exacting spirit of Elizabeth, +England's maiden queen, and was emulous of supremacy which no one would +share. She, in her own right, was to inherit the crown of Austria, and +Francis Stephen, high-born and noble as he was, and her recognized +husband, would still be her subject. She could confer upon him dignity +and power, retaining a supremacy which even he could never reach. + +The emperor was fully aware of the attachment of his daughter to +Francis, of her inflexible character; and even when pretending to +negotiate for her marriage with Carlos, he was conscious that it was all +a mere pretense, and that the union could never be effected. The British +minister at Vienna saw very clearly the true state of affairs, and when +the emperor was endeavoring to intimidate England by the menace that he +would unite the crowns of Spain and Austria by uniting Maria and Carlos, +the minister wrote to his home government as follows: + +"Maria Theresa is a princess of the highest spirit; her father's losses +are her own. She reasons already; she enters into affairs; she admires +his virtues, but condemns his mismanagement; and is of a temper so +formed for rule and ambition, as to look upon him as little more than +her administrator. Notwithstanding this lofty humor by day, she sighs +and pines all night for her Duke of Lorraine. If she sleeps, it is only +to dream of him; if she wakes, it is but to talk of him to the lady in +waiting; so that there is no more probability of her forgetting the very +individual government, and the very individual husband which she thinks +herself born to, than of her forgiving the authors of her losing +either." + +The empress was cordially coöperating with her daughter. The emperor was +in a state of utter distraction. His affairs were fast going to ruin; he +was harassed by counter intreaties; he knew not which way to turn, or +what to do. Insupportable gloom oppressed his spirit. Pale and haggard, +he wandered through the rooms of his palace, the image of woe. At night +he tossed sleepless upon his bed, moaning in anguish which he then did +not attempt to conceal, and giving free utterance to all the mental +tortures which were goading him to madness. The queen became seriously +alarmed lest his reason should break down beneath such a weight of woe. +It was clear that neither reason nor life could long withstand such a +struggle. + +Thus in despair, the emperor made proposals for a secret and separate +accommodation with France. Louis XV. promptly listened, and offered +terms, appallingly definite, and cruel enough to extort the last drop of +blood from the emperor's sinking heart. "Give me," said the French king, +"the duchy of Lorraine, and I will withdraw my armies, and leave Austria +to make the best terms she can with Spain." + +How could the emperor wrest from his prospective son-in-law his +magnificent ancestral inheritance? The duke could not hold his realms +for an hour against the armies of France, should the emperor consent to +their surrender; and conscious of the desperation to which the emperor +was driven, and of his helplessness, he was himself plunged into the +deepest dismay and anguish. He held an interview with the British +minister to see if it were not possible that England might interpose her +aid in his behalf. In frantic grief he lost his self control, and, +throwing himself into a chair, pressed his brow convulsively, and +exclaimed, "Great God! will not England help me? Has not his majesty +with his own lips, over and over again, promised to stand by me?" + +The French armies were advancing; shot and shell were falling upon +village and city; fortress after fortress was surrendering. "Give me +Lorraine," repeated Louis XV., persistently, "or I will take all +Austria." There was no alternative but for the emperor to drink to the +dregs the bitter cup which his own hand had mingled. He surrendered +Lorraine to France. He, however, succeeded in obtaining some slight +compensation for the defrauded duke. The French court allowed him a +pension of ninety thousand dollars a year, until the death of the aged +Duke of Tuscany, who was the last of the Medici line, promising that +then Tuscany, one of the most important duchies of central Italy, should +pass into the hands of Francis. Should Sardinia offer any opposition, +the King of France promised to unite with the emperor in maintaining +Francis in his possession by force of arms. Peace was thus obtained with +France. Peace was then made with Spain and Sardinia, by surrendering to +Spain Naples and Sicily, and to Sardinia most of the other Austrian +provinces in Italy. Thus scourged and despoiled, the emperor, a humbled, +woe-stricken man, retreated to the seclusion of his palace. + +While these affairs were in progress, Francis Stephen derived very +considerable solace by his marriage with Maria Theresa. Their nuptials +took place at Vienna on the 12th of February, 1736. The emperor made the +consent of the duke to the cession of Lorraine to France, a condition of +the marriage. As the duke struggled against the surrender of his +paternal domains, Cartenstein, the emperor's confidential minister, +insultingly said to him, "Monseigneur, point de cession, point +d'archiduchesse." _My lord, no cession, no archduchess._ Fortunately for +Francis, in about a year after his marriage the Duke of Tuscany died, +and Francis, with his bride, hastened to his new home in the palaces of +Leghorn. Though the duke mourned bitterly over the loss of his ancestral +domains, Tuscany was no mean inheritance. The duke was absolute monarch +of the duchy, which contained about eight thousand square miles and a +population of a million. The revenues of the archduchy were some four +millions of dollars. The army consisted of six thousand troops. + +Two months after the marriage of Maria Theresa, Prince Eugene died +quietly in his bed at the age of seventy-three. He had passed his whole +lifetime riding over fields of battle swept by bullets and plowed by +shot. He had always exposed his own person with utter recklessness, +leading the charge, and being the first to enter the breach or climb the +rampart. Though often wounded, he escaped all these perils, and breathed +his last in peace upon his pillow in Vienna. + +His funeral was attended with regal honors. For three days the corpse +lay in state, with the coat of mail, the helmet and the gauntlets which +the warrior had worn in so many fierce battles, suspended over his +lifeless remains. His heart was sent in an urn to be deposited in the +royal tomb where his ancestors slumbered. His embalmed body was interred +in the metropolitan church in Vienna. The emperor and all the court +attended the funeral, and his remains were borne to the grave with +honors rarely conferred upon any but crowned heads. + +The Ottoman power had now passed its culminating point, and was +evidently on the wane. The Russian empire was beginning to arrest the +attention of Europe, and was ambitious of making its voice heard in the +diplomacy of the European monarchies. Being destitute of any sea coast, +it was excluded from all commercial intercourse with foreign nations, +and in its cold, northern realm, "leaning," as Napoleon once said, +"against the North Pole," seemed to be shut up to barbarism. It had been +a leading object of the ambition of Peter the Great to secure a maritime +port for his kingdom. He at first attempted a naval depot on his extreme +southern border, at the mouth of the Don, on the sea of Azof. This would +open to him the commerce of the Mediterranean through the Azof, the +Euxine and the Marmora. But the assailing Turks drove him from these +shores, and he was compelled to surrender the fortresses he had +commenced to their arms. He then turned to his western frontier, and, +with an incredible expenditure of money and sacrifice of life, reared +upon the marshes of the Baltic the imperial city of St. Petersburg. +Peter I. died in 1725, leaving the crown to his wife Catharine. She, +however, survived him but two years, when she died, in 1727, leaving two +daughters. The crown then passed to the grandson of Peter I., a boy of +thirteen. In three years he died of the small-pox. Anna, the daughter of +the oldest brother of Peter I., now ascended the throne, and reigned, +through her favorites, with relentless rigor. + +It was one of the first objects of Anna's ambition to secure a harbor +for maritime commerce in the more sunny climes of southern Europe. St. +Petersburg, far away upon the frozen shores of the Baltic, where the +harbor was shut up with ice for five months in the year, presented but a +cheerless prospect for the formation of a merchant marine. She +accordingly revived the original project of Peter the Great, and waged +war with the Turks to recover the lost province on the shores of the +Euxine. Russia had been mainly instrumental in placing Augustus II. on +the throne of Poland; Anna was consequently sure of his sympathy and +coöperation. She also sent to Austria to secure the alliance of the +emperor. Charles VI., though his army was in a state of decay and his +treasury empty, eagerly embarked in the enterprise. He was in a +continued state of apprehension from the threatened invasion of the +Turks. He hoped also, aided by the powerful arm of Russia, to be able to +gain territories in the east which would afford some compensation for +his enormous losses in the south and in the west. + +While negotiations were pending, the Russian armies were already on the +march. They took Azof after a siege of but a fortnight, and then overran +and took possession of the whole Crimea, driving the Turks before them. +Charles VI. was a very scrupulous Roman Catholic, and was animated to +the strife by the declaration of his confessor that it was his duty, as +a Christian prince, to aid in extirpating the enemies of the Church of +Christ. The Turks were greatly alarmed by these successes of the +Russians, and by the formidable preparations of the other powers allied +against them. + +The emperor hoped that fortune, so long adverse, was now turning in his +favor. He collected a large force on the frontiers of Turkey, and +intrusted the command to General Seckendorf. The general hastened into +Hungary to the rendezvous of the troops. He found the army in a +deplorable condition. The treasury being exhausted, they were but poorly +supplied with the necessaries of war, and the generals and contractors +had contrived to appropriate to themselves most of the funds which had +been furnished. The general wrote to the emperor, presenting a +lamentable picture of the destitution of the army. + +"I can not," he said, "consistently with my duty to God and the emperor, +conceal the miserable condition of the barracks and the hospitals. The +troops, crowded together without sufficient bedding to cover them, are a +prey to innumerable disorders, and are exposed to the rain, and other +inclemencies of the weather, from the dilapidated state of the caserns, +the roofs of which are in perpetual danger of being overthrown by the +wind. All the frontier fortresses, and even Belgrade, are incapable of +the smallest resistance, as well from the dilapidated state of the +fortifications as from a total want of artillery, ammunition and other +requisites. The naval armament is in a state of irreparable disorder. +Some companies of my regiment of Belgrade are thrust into holes where a +man would not put even his favorite hounds; and I can not see the +situation of these miserable and half-starved wretches without tears. +These melancholy circumstances portend the loss of these fine kingdoms +with the same rapidity as that of the States of Italy." + +The bold Commander-in-chief also declared that many of the generals were +so utterly incapable of discharging their duties, that nothing could be +anticipated, under their guidance, but defeat and ruin. He complained +that the governors of those distant provinces, quite neglecting the +responsibilities of their offices, were spending their time in hunting +and other trivial amusements. These remonstrances roused the emperor, +and decisive reforms were undertaken. The main plan of the campaign was +for the Russians, who were already on the shores of the Black sea, to +press on to the mouth of the Danube, and then to march up the stream. +The Austrians were to follow down the Danube to the Turkish province of +Wallachia, and then, marching through the heart of that province, either +effect a junction with the Russians, or inclose the Turks between the +two armies. At the same time a large Austrian force, marching through +Bosnia and Servia, and driving the Turks out, were to take military +possession of those countries and join the main army in its union on the +lower Danube. + +Matters being thus arranged, General Seckendorf took the command of the +Austrian troops, with the assurance that he should be furnished with one +hundred and twenty-six thousand men, provided with all the implements of +war, and that he should receive a monthly remittance of one million two +hundred thousand dollars for the pay of the troops. The emperor, +however, found it much easier to make promises than to fulfill them. The +month of August had already arrived and Seckendorf, notwithstanding his +most strenuous exertions, had assembled at Belgrade but thirty thousand +infantry and fifteen thousand cavalry. The Turks, with extraordinary +energy, had raised a much more formidable and a better equipped army. +Just as Seckendorf was commencing his march, having minutely arranged +all the stages of the campaign, to his surprise and indignation he +received orders to leave the valley of the Danube and march directly +south about one hundred and fifty miles into the heart of Servia, and +lay siege to the fortress of Nissa. The whole plan of the campaign was +thus frustrated. Magazines, at great expense, had been established, and +arrangements made for floating the heavy baggage down the stream. Now +the troops were to march through morasses and over mountains, without +suitable baggage wagons, and with no means of supplying themselves with +provisions in so hostile and inhospitable a country. + +But the command of the emperor was not to be disobeyed. For twenty-eight +days they toiled along, encountering innumerable impediments, many +perishing by the way, until they arrived, in a state of extreme +exhaustion and destitution, before the walls of Nissa. Fortunately the +city was entirely unprepared for an attack, which had not been at all +anticipated, and the garrison speedily surrendered. Here Seckendorf, +having dispatched parties to seize the neighboring fortress, and the +passes of the mountains, waited for further orders from Vienna. The army +were so dissatisfied with their position and their hardships, that they +at last almost rose in mutiny, and Seckendorf, having accomplished +nothing of any moment, was compelled to retrace his steps to the banks +of the Danube, where he arrived on the 16th of October. Thus the +campaign was a total failure. + +Bitter complaints were uttered both by the army and the nation. The +emperor, with the characteristic injustice of an ignoble mind, +attributed the unfortunate campaign to the incapacity of Seckendorf, +whose judicious plans he had so ruthlessly thwarted. The heroic general +was immediately disgraced and recalled, and the command of the army +given to General Philippi. The friends of General Seckendorf, aware of +his peril, urged him to seek safety in flight. But he, emboldened by +conscious innocence, obeyed the imperial commands and repaired to +Vienna. Seckendorf was a Protestant. His appointment to the supreme +command gave great offense to the Catholics, and the priests, from their +pulpits, inveighed loudly against him as a heretic, whom God could not +bless. They arraigned his appointment as impious, and declared that, in +consequence, nothing was to be expected but divine indignation. +Immediately upon his arrival in Vienna the emperor ordered his arrest. A +strong guard was placed over him, in his own house, and articles of +impeachment were drawn up against him. His doom was sealed. Every +misadventure was attributed to negligence, cupidity or treachery. He +could offer no defense which would be of any avail, for he was not +permitted to exhibit the orders he had received from the emperor, lest +the emperor himself should be proved guilty of those disasters which he +was thus dishonorably endeavoring to throw upon another. The unhappy +Seckendorf, thus made the victim of the faults of others, was condemned +to the dungeon. He was sent to imprisonment in the castle of Glatz, +where he lingered in captivity for many years until the death of the +emperor. + +Charles now, in accordance with the clamor of the priests, removed all +Protestants from command in the army and supplied their places with +Catholics. The Duke of Lorraine, who had recently married Maria Theresa, +was appointed generalissimo. But as the duke was young, inexperienced in +war, and, as yet, had displayed none of that peculiar talent requisite +for the guidance of armies, the emperor placed next to him, as the +acting commander, Marshal Konigsegg. The emperor also gave orders that +every important movement should be directed by a council of war, and +that in case of a tie the casting vote should be given, not by the Duke +of Lorraine, but by the veteran commander Konigsegg. The duke was an +exceedingly amiable man, of very courtly manners and winning address. He +was scholarly in his tastes, and not at all fond of the hardships of +war, with its exposure, fatigue and butchery. Though a man of perhaps +more than ordinary intellectual power, he was easily depressed by +adversity, and not calculated to brave the fierce storms of disaster. + +Early in March the Turks opened the campaign by sending an army of +twenty thousand men to besiege Orsova, an important fortress on an +island of the Danube, about one hundred miles below Belgrade. They +planted their batteries upon both the northern and the southern banks of +the Danube, and opened a storm of shot and shell upon the fortress. The +Duke of Lorraine hastened to the relief of the important post, which +quite commanded that portion of the stream. The imperial troops pressed +on until they arrived within a few miles of the fortress. The Turks +marched to meet them, and plunged into their camp with great fierceness. +After a short but desperate conflict, the Turks were repulsed, and +retreating in a panic, they broke up their camp before the walls of +Orsova and retired. + +This slight success, after so many disasters, caused immense exultation. +The Duke of Lorraine was lauded as one of the greatest generals of the +age. The pulpits rang with his praises, and it was announced that now, +that the troops were placed under a true child of the Church, Providence +might be expected to smile. Soon, however, the imperial army, while +incautiously passing through a defile, was assailed by a strong force of +the Turks, and compelled to retreat, having lost three thousand men. The +Turks resumed the siege of Orsova; and the Duke of Lorraine, quite +disheartened, returned to Vienna, leaving the command of the army to +Konigsegg. The Turks soon captured the fortress, and then, ascending the +river, drove the imperial troops before them to Belgrade. The Turks +invested the city, and the beleaguered troops were rapidly swept away by +famine and pestilence. The imperial cavalry, crossing the Save, rapidly +continued their retreat. Konigsegg was now recalled in disgrace, as +incapable of conducting the war, and the command was given to General +Kevenhuller. He was equally unsuccessful in resisting the foe; and, +after a series of indecisive battles, the storms of November drove both +parties to winter quarters, and another campaign was finished. The +Russians had also fought some fierce battles; but their campaign was as +ineffective as that of the Austrians. + +The court of Vienna was now in a state of utter confusion. There was no +leading mind to assume any authority, and there was irremediable +discordance of counsel. The Duke of Lorraine was in hopeless disgrace; +even the emperor assenting to the universal cry against him. In a state +almost of distraction the emperor exclaimed, "Is the fortune of my +empire departed with Eugene?" The disgraceful retreat to Belgrade seemed +to haunt him day and night; and he repeated again and again to himself, +as he paced the floor of his apartment, "that unfortunate, that fatal +retreat." Disasters had been so rapidly accumulating upon him, that he +feared for every thing. He expressed the greatest anxiety lest his +daughter, Maria Theresa, who was to succeed him upon the throne, might +be intercepted, in the case of his sudden death, from returning to +Austria, and excluded from the throne. The emperor was in a state of +mind nearly bordering upon insanity. + +At length the sun of another spring returned, the spring of 1739, and +the recruited armies were prepared again to take the field. The emperor +placed a new commander, Marshal Wallis, in command of the Austrian +troops. He was a man of ability, but overbearing and morose, being +described by a contemporary as one who hated everybody, and who was +hated by everybody in return. Fifty miles north of Belgrade, on the +south bank of the Danube, is the fortified town of Peterwardein, so +called as the rendezvous where Peter the Hermit marshaled the soldiers +of the first crusade. This fortress had long been esteemed one of the +strongest of the Austrian empire. It was appointed as the rendezvous of +the imperial troops, and all the energies of the now exhausted empire +were expended in gathering there as large a force as possible. But, +notwithstanding the utmost efforts, in May but thirty thousand men were +assembled, and these but very poorly provided with the costly +necessaries of war. Another auxiliary force of ten thousand men was +collected at Temeswar, a strong fortress twenty-five miles north of +Peterwardein. With these forces Wallis was making preparations to +attempt to recover Orsova from the Turks, when he received positive +orders to engage the enemy with his whole force on the first +opportunity. + +The army marched down the banks of the river, conveying its baggage and +heavy artillery in a flotilla to Belgrade, where it arrived on the 11th +of June. Here they were informed that the Turkish army was about twenty +miles below on the river at Crotzka. The imperial army was immediately +pressed forward, in accordance with the emperor's orders, to attack the +foe. The Turks were strongly posted, and far exceeded the Austrians in +number. At five o'clock on the morning of the 21st of July the battle +commenced, and blazed fiercely through all the hours of the day until +the sun went down. Seven thousand Austrians were then dead upon the +plain. The Turks were preparing to renew the conflict in the morning, +when Wallis ordered a retreat, which was securely effected during the +darkness of the night. On the ensuing day the Turks pursued them to the +walls of Belgrade, and, driving them across the river, opened the fire +of their batteries upon the city. The Turks commenced the siege in form, +and were so powerful, that Wallis could do nothing to retard their +operations. A breach was ere long made in one of the bastions; an +assault was hourly expected which the garrison was in no condition to +repel. Wallis sent word to the emperor that the surrender of Belgrade +was inevitable; that it was necessary immediately to retreat to +Peterwardein, and that the Turks, flushed with victory, might soon be at +the gates of Vienna. + +Great was the consternation which pervaded the court and the capital +upon the reception of these tidings. The ministers all began to +criminate each other. The general voice clamored for peace upon almost +any terms. The emperor alone remained firm. He dispatched another +officer, General Schmettan, to hasten with all expedition to the +imperial camp, and prevent, if possible, the impending disaster. He +earnestly pressed the hand of the general as he took his leave, and +said-- + +"Use the utmost diligence to arrive before the retreat of the army; +assume the defense of Belgrade, and save it, if not too late, from +falling into the hands of the enemy." + +The energy of Schmettan arrested the retreat of Wallis, and revived the +desponding hopes of the garrison of Belgrade. Bastion after bastion was +recovered. The Turks were driven back from the advance posts they had +occupied. A new spirit animated the whole Austrian army, and from the +depths of despair they were rising to sanguine hopes of victory, when +the stunning news arrived that the emperor had sent an envoy to the +Turkish camp, and had obtained peace by the surrender of Belgrade. Count +Neuperg having received full powers from the emperor to treat, very +imprudently entered the camp of the barbaric Turk, without requiring any +hostages for his safety. The barbarians, regardless of the flag of +truce, and of all the rules of civilized warfare, arrested Count +Neuperg, and put him under guard. He was then conducted into the +presence of the grand vizier, who was arrayed in state, surrounded by +his bashaws. The grand vizier haughtily demanded the terms Neuperg was +authorized to offer. + +"The emperor, my master," said Neuperg, "has intrusted me with full +powers to negotiate a peace, and is willing, for the sake of peace, to +cede the province of Wallachia to Turkey provided the fortress of Orsova +be dismantled." + +The grand vizier rose, came forward, and deliberately spit in the face +of the Count Neuperg, and exclaimed, + +"Infidel dog! thou provest thyself a spy, with all thy powers. Since +thou hast brought no letter from the Vizier Wallis, and hast concealed +his offer to surrender Belgrade, thou shalt be sent to Constantinople to +receive the punishment thou deservest." + +Count Neuperg, after this insult, was conducted into close confinement. +The French ambassador, Villeneuve, now arrived. He had adopted the +precaution of obtaining hostages before intrusting himself in the hands +of the Turks. The grand vizier would not listen to any terms of +accommodation but upon the basis of the surrender of Belgrade. The Turks +carried their point in every thing. The emperor surrendered Belgrade, +relinquished to them Orsova, agreed to demolish all the fortresses of +his own province of Media, and ceded to Turkey Servia and various other +contiguous districts. It was a humiliating treaty for Austria. Already +despoiled in Italy and on the Rhine, the emperor was now compelled to +abandon to the Turks extensive territories and important fortresses upon +the lower Danube. + +General Schmettan, totally unconscious of these proceedings, was +conducting the defense of Belgrade with great vigor and with great +success, when he was astounded by the arrival of a courier in his camp, +presenting to him the following laconic note from Count Neuperg: + +"Peace was signed this morning between the emperor, our master, and the +Porte. Let hostilities cease, therefore, on the receipt of this. In half +an hour I shall follow, and announce the particulars myself." + +General Schmettan could hardly repress his indignation, and, when Count +Neuperg arrived, intreated that the surrender of Belgrade might be +postponed until the terms had been sent to the emperor for his +ratification. But Neuperg would listen to no such suggestions, and, +indignant that any obstacle should be thrown in the way of the +fulfillment of the treaty, menacingly said, + +"If you choose to disobey the orders of the emperor, and to delay the +execution of the article relative to Belgrade, I will instantly dispatch +a courier to Vienna, and charge you with all the misfortunes which may +result. I had great difficulty in diverting the grand vizier from the +demand of Sirmia, Sclavonia and the bannat of Temeswar; and when I have +dispatched a courier, I will return into the Turkish camp and protest +against this violation of the treaty." + +General Schmettan was compelled to yield. Eight hundred janissaries took +possession of one of the gates of the city; and the Turkish officers +rode triumphantly into the streets, waving before them in defiance the +banners they had taken at Crotzka. The new fortifications were blown up, +and the imperial army, in grief and shame, retired up the river to +Peterwardein. They had hardly evacuated the city ere Count Neuperg, to +his inexpressible mortification, received a letter from the emperor +stating that nothing could reconcile him to the idea of surrendering +Belgrade but the conviction that its defense was utterly hopeless; but +that learning that this was by no means the case, he intreated him on no +account to think of the surrender of the city. To add to the chagrin of +the count, he also ascertained, at the same time, that the Turks were in +such a deplorable condition that they were just on the point of +retreating, and would gladly have purchased peace at almost any +sacrifice. A little more diplomatic skill might have wrested from the +Turks even a larger extent of territory than the emperor had so +foolishly surrendered to them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +MARIA THERESA. + +From 1739 to 1741. + +Anguish of the King.--Letter to the Queen of Russia.--The imperial +Circular.--Deplorable Condition of Austria.--Death of Charles +VI.--Accession of Maria Theresa.--Vigorous Measures of the Queen.--Claim +of the Duke of Bavaria.--Responses from the Courts.--Coldness of the +French Court.--Frederic of Russia.--His Invasion of Silesia.--March of +the Austrians.--Battle of Molnitz.--Firmness of Maria Theresa.--Proposed +Division of Plunder.--Villainy of Frederic.--Interview with the +King.--Character of Frederic.--Commencement of the General Invasion. + + +Every intelligent man in Austria felt degraded by the peace which had +been made with the Turks. The tidings were received throughout the ranks +of the army with a general outburst of grief and indignation. The troops +intreated their officers to lead them against the foe, declaring that +they would speedily drive the Turks from Belgrade, which had been so +ignominiously surrendered. The populace of Vienna rose in insurrection, +and would have torn down the houses of the ministers who had recommended +the peace but for the interposition of the military. The emperor was +almost beside himself with anguish. He could not appease the clamors of +the nation. He was also in alliance with Russia, and knew not how to +meet the reproaches of the court of St. Petersburg for having so +needlessly surrendered the most important fortress on the Turkish +frontier. In an interview which he held with the Russian ambassador his +embarrassment was painful to witness. To the Queen of Russia he wrote in +terms expressive of the extreme agony of his mind, and, with +characteristic want of magnanimity cast the blame of the very measures +he had ordered upon the agents who had merely executed his will. + +"While I am writing this letter," he said, "to your imperial majesty, my +heart is filled with the most excessive grief. I was much less touched +with the advantages gained by the enemy and the news of the siege of +Belgrade, than with the advice I have received concerning the shameful +preliminary articles concluded by Count Neuperg. + +"The history of past ages exhibits no vestiges of such an event. I was +on the point of preventing the fatal and too hasty execution of these +preliminaries, when I heard that they were already partly executed, even +before the design had been communicated to me. Thus I see my hands tied +by those who ought to glory in obeying me. All who have approached me +since that fatal day, are so many witnesses of the excess of my grief. +Although I have many times experienced adversity, I never was so much +afflicted as by this event. Your majesty has a right to complain of some +who ought to have obeyed my orders; but I had no part in what they have +done. Though all the forces of the Ottoman empire were turned against me +I was not disheartened, but still did all in my power for the common +cause. I shall not, however, fail to perform in due time what avenging +justice requires. In this dismal series of misfortunes I have still one +comfort left, which is that the fault can not be thrown upon me. It lies +entirely on such of my officers as ratified the disgraceful +preliminaries without my knowledge, against my consent, and even +contrary to my express orders." + +This apologetic letter was followed by a circular to all the imperial +ambassadors in the various courts of Europe, which circular was filled +with the bitterest denunciation of Count Neuperg and Marshal Wallis. It +declared that the emperor was not in any way implicated in the shameful +surrender of Belgrade. The marshal and the count, thus assailed and held +up to the scorn and execration of Europe, ventured to reply that they +had strictly conformed to their instructions. The common sense of the +community taught them that, in so rigorous and punctilious a court as +that of Vienna, no agent of the emperor would dare to act contrary to +his received instructions. Thus the infamous attempts of Charles to +brand his officers with ignominy did but rebound upon himself. The +almost universal voice condemned the emperor and acquitted the +plenipotentiaries. + +While the emperor was thus filling all the courts of Europe with his +clamor against Count Neuperg, declaring that he had exceeded his powers +and that he deserved to be hung, he at the same time, with almost +idiotic fatuity, sent the same Count Neuperg back to the Turkish camp to +settle some items which yet required adjustment. This proved, to every +mind, the insincerity of Charles. The Russians, thus forsaken by +Austria, also made peace with the Turks. They consented to demolish +their fortress of Azof, to relinquish all pretensions to the right of +navigating the Black sea, and to allow a vast extent of territory upon +its northern shores to remain an uninhabited desert, as a barrier +between Russia and Turkey. The treaty being definitively settled, both +Marshal Wallis and Count Neuperg were arrested and sent to prison, where +they were detained until the death of Charles VI. + +Care and sorrow were now hurrying the emperor to the grave. Wan and +haggard he moved about his palace, mourning his doom, and complaining +that it was his destiny to be disappointed in every cherished plan of +his life. All his affairs were in inextricable confusion, and his empire +seemed crumbling to decay. A cotemporary writer thus describes the +situation of the court and the nation: + +"Every thing in this court is running into the last confusion and ruin; +where there are as visible signs of folly and madness, as ever were +inflicted upon a people whom Heaven is determined to destroy, no less by +domestic divisions, than by the more public calamities of repeated +defeats, defenselessness, poverty and plagues." + +Early in October, 1740, the emperor, restless, and feverish in body and +mind, repaired to one of his country palaces a few miles distant from +Vienna. The season was prematurely cold and gloomy, with frost and +storms of sleet. In consequence of a chill the enfeebled monarch was +seized with an attack of the gout, which was followed by a very severe +fit of the colic. The night of the 10th of October he writhed in pain +upon his bed, while repeated vomitings weakened his already exhausted +frame. The next day he was conveyed to Vienna, but in such extreme +debility that he fainted several times in his carriage by the way. +Almost in a state of insensibility he was carried to the retired palace +of La Favourite in the vicinity of Vienna, and placed in his bed. It was +soon evident that his stormy life was now drawing near to its close. +Patiently he bore his severe sufferings, and as his physicians were +unable to agree respecting the nature of his disease, he said to them, +calmly, + +"Cease your disputes. I shall soon be dead. You can then open my body +and ascertain the cause of my death." + +Priests were admitted to his chamber who performed the last offices of +the Church for the dying. With perfect composure, he made all the +arrangements relative to the succession to the throne. One after another +the members of his family were introduced, and he affectionately bade +them adieu, giving to each appropriate words of counsel. To his +daughter, Maria Theresa, who was not present, and who was to succeed +him, he sent his earnest blessing. With the Duke of Lorraine, her +husband, he had a private interview of two hours. On the 20th of +October, 1740, at two o'clock in the morning, he died, in the +fifty-sixth year of his age, and the thirtieth of his reign. Weary of +the world, he willingly retired to the anticipated repose of the grave. + + "To die,--to sleep;-- + To sleep! perchance to dream;--ay, there's the rub; + For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, + When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, + Must give us pause." + +By the death of Charles VI. the male line of the house of Hapsburg +became extinct, after having continued in uninterrupted succession for +over four hundred years. His eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, who now +succeeded to the crown of Austria, was twenty-four years of age. Her +figure was tall, graceful and commanding. Her features were beautiful, +and her smile sweet and winning. She was born to command, combining in +her character woman's power of fascination with man's energy. Though so +far advanced in pregnancy that she was not permitted to see her dying +father, the very day after his death she so rallied her energies as to +give an audience to the minister of state, and to assume the government +with that marvelous vigor which characterized her whole reign. + +Seldom has a kingdom been in a more deplorable condition than was +Austria on the morning when the scepter passed into the hands of Maria +Theresa. There were not forty thousand dollars in the treasury; the +state was enormously in debt; the whole army did not amount to more than +thirty thousand men, widely dispersed, clamoring for want of pay, and +almost entirely destitute of the materials for war. The vintage had been +cut off by the frost, producing great distress in the country. There was +a famine in Vienna, and many were starving for want of food. The +peasants, in the neighborhood of the metropolis, were rising in +insurrection, ravaging the fields in search of game; while rumors were +industriously circulated that the government was dissolved, that the +succession was disputed, and that the Duke of Bavaria was on the march, +with an army, to claim the crown. The distant provinces were anxious to +shake off the Austrian yoke. Bohemia was agitated; and the restless +barons of Hungary were upon the point of grasping their arms, and, under +the protection of Turkey, of claiming their ancestral hereditary rights. +Notwithstanding the untiring endeavors of the emperor to obtain the +assent of Europe to the Pragmatic Sanction, many influential courts +refused to recognize the right of Maria Theresa to the crown. The +ministers were desponding, irresolute and incapable. Maria Theresa was +young, quite inexperienced and in delicate health, being upon the eve of +her confinement. The English ambassador, describing the state of affairs +in Vienna as they appeared to him at this time, wrote: + +"To the ministers, the Turks seem to be already in Hungary; the +Hungarians in insurrection; the Bohemians in open revolt; the Duke of +Bavaria, with his army, at the gates of Vienna; and France the soul of +all these movements. The ministers were not only in despair, but that +despair even was not capable of rousing them to any desperate +exertions." + +Maria Theresa immediately dispatched couriers to inform the northern +powers of her accession to the crown, and troops were forwarded to the +frontiers to prevent any hostile invasion from Bavaria. The Duke of +Bavaria claimed the Austrian crown in virtue of the will of Ferdinand +I., which, he affirmed, devised the crown to his daughters and their +descendants in case of the failure of the male line. As the male line +was now extinct, by this decree the scepter would pass to the Duke of +Bavaria. Charles VI. had foreseen this claim, and endeavored to set it +aside by the declaration that the clause referred to in the will of +Ferdinand I. had reference to _legitimate heirs_, not _male_ merely, and +that, consequently, it did not set aside female descendants. In proof of +this, Maria Theresa had the will exhibited to all the leading officers +of state, and to the foreign ambassadors. It appeared that _legitimate +heirs_ was the phrase. And now the question hinged upon the point, +whether females were _legitimate heirs_. In some kingdoms of Europe they +were; in others they were not. In Austria the custom had been variable. +Here was a nicely-balanced question, sufficiently momentous to divide +Europe, and which might put all the armies of the continent in motion. +There were also other claimants for the crown, but none who could +present so plausible a plea as that of the Duke of Bavaria. + +Maria Theresa now waited with great anxiety for the reply she should +receive from the foreign powers whom she had notified of her accession. +The Duke of Bavaria was equally active and solicitous, and it was quite +uncertain whose claim would be supported by the surrounding courts. The +first response came from Prussia. The king sent his congratulations, and +acknowledged the title of Maria Theresa. This was followed by a letter +from Augustus of Poland, containing the same friendly recognition. +Russia then sent in assurances of cordial support. The King of England +returned a friendly answer, promising coöperation. All this was +cheering. But France was then the great power on the continent, and +could carry with her one half of Europe in almost any cause. The +response was looked for from France with great anxiety. Day after day, +week after week passed, and no response came. At length the French +Secretary of State gave a cautious and merely verbal declaration of the +friendly disposition of the French court. Cardinal Fleury, the +illustrious French Secretary of State, was cold, formal and excessively +polite. Maria Theresa at once inferred that France withheld her +acknowledgment, merely waiting for a favorable opportunity to recognize +the claims of the Duke of Bavaria. + +While matters were in this state, to the surprise of all, Frederic, King +of Prussia, drew his sword, and demanded large and indefinite portions +of Austria to be annexed to his territories. Disdaining all appeal to +any documentary evidence, and scorning to reply to any questionings as +to his right, he demanded vast provinces, as a highwayman demands one's +purse, with the pistol at his breast. This fiery young prince, +inheriting the most magnificent army in Europe, considering its +discipline and equipments, was determined to display his gallantry as a +fighter, with Europe for the arena. As he was looking about to find some +suitable foe against which he could hurl his seventy-five thousand men, +the defenseless yet large and opulent duchy of Silesia presented itself +as a glittering prize worth the claiming by a royal highwayman. + +The Austrian province of Silesia bordered a portion of Prussia. "While +treacherously professing friendship with the court of Vienna, with great +secrecy and sagacity Frederic assembled a large force of his best troops +in the vicinity of Berlin, and in mid-winter, when the snow lay deep +upon the plains, made a sudden rush into Silesia, and, crushing at a +blow all opposition, took possession of the whole duchy. Having +accomplished this feat, he still pretended great friendship for Maria +Theresa, and sent an ambassador to inform her that he was afraid that +some of the foreign powers, now conspiring against her, might seize the +duchy, and thus wrest it from her; that he had accordingly taken it to +hold it in safety; and that since it was so very important, for the +tranquillity of his kingdom, that Silesia should not fall into the hands +of an enemy, he hoped that Maria Theresa would allow him to retain the +duchy as an indemnity for the expense he had been at in taking it." + +This most extraordinary and impertinent message was accompanied by a +threat. The ambassador of the Prussian king, a man haughty and +semi-barbaric in his demeanor, gave his message in a private interview +with the queen's husband, Francis, the Duke of Lorraine. In conclusion, +the ambassador added, "No one is more firm in his resolutions than the +King of Prussia. He must and will take Silesia. If not secured by the +immediate cession of that province, his troops and money will be offered +to the Duke of Bavaria." + +"Go tell your master," the Duke of Lorraine replied with dignity, "that +while he has a single soldier in Silesia, we will rather perish than +enter into any discussion. If he will evacuate the duchy, we will treat +with him at Berlin. For my part, not for the imperial crown, nor even +for the whole world, will I sacrifice one inch of the queen's lawful +possessions." + +While these negotiations were pending, the king himself made an +ostentatious entry into Silesia. The majority of the Silesians were +Protestants. The King of Prussia, who had discarded religion of all +kinds, had of course discarded that of Rome, and was thus nominally a +Protestant. The Protestants, who had suffered so much from the +persecutions of the Catholic church, had less to fear from the +infidelity of Berlin than from the fanaticism of Rome. Frederic was +consequently generally received with rejoicings. The duchy of Silesia +was indeed a desirable prize. Spreading over a region of more than +fifteen thousand square miles, and containing a population of more than +a million and a half, it presented to its feudal lord an ample revenue +and the means of raising a large army. Breslau, the capital of the +duchy, upon the Oder, contained a population of over eighty thousand. +Built upon several islands of that beautiful stream, its situation was +attractive, while in its palaces and its ornamental squares, it vied +with the finest capitals of Europe. + +Frederic entered the city in triumph in January, 1741. The small +Austrian garrison, consisting of but three thousand men, retired before +him into Moravia. The Prussian monarch took possession of the revenues +of the duchy, organized the government under his own officers, +garrisoned the fortresses and returned to Berlin. Maria Theresa appealed +to friendly courts for aid. Most of them were lavish in promises, but +she waited in vain for any fulfillment. Neither money, arms nor men were +sent to her. Maria Theresa, thus abandoned and thrown upon her own +unaided energies, collected a small army in Moravia, on the confines of +Silesia, and intrusted the command to Count Neuperg, whom she liberated +from the prison to which her father had so unjustly consigned him. But +it was mid-winter. The roads were almost impassable. The treasury of the +Austrian court was so empty that but meager supplies could be provided +for the troops. A ridge of mountains, whose defiles were blocked up with +snow, spread between Silesia and Moravia. + +It was not until the close of March that Marshal Neuperg was able to +force his way through these defiles and enter Silesia. The Prussians, +not aware of their danger, were reposing in their cantonments. Neuperg +hoped to take them by surprise and cut them off in detail. Indeed +Frederic, who, by chance, was at Jagerndorf inspecting a fortress, was +nearly surrounded by a party of Austrian hussars, and very narrowly +escaped capture. The ground was still covered with snow as the Austrian +troops toiled painfully through the mountains to penetrate the Silesian +plains. Frederic rapidly concentrated his scattered troops to meet the +foe. The warlike character of the Prussian king was as yet undeveloped, +and Neuperg, unconscious of the tremendous energies he was to encounter, +and supposing that the Prussian garrisons would fly in dismay before +him, was giving his troops, after their exhausting march, a few days of +repose in the Vicinity of Molnitz. + +On the 8th of April there was a thick fall of snow, filling the air and +covering the fields. Frederic availed himself of the storm, which +curtained him from all observation, to urge forward his troops, that he +might overwhelm the Austrians by a fierce surprise. While Neuperg was +thus resting, all unconscious of danger, twenty-seven battalions, +consisting of sixteen thousand men, and twenty-nine squadrons of horse, +amounting to six thousand, were, in the smothering snow, taking their +positions for battle. On the morning of the 10th the snow ceased to +fall, the clouds broke, and the sun came out clear and bright, when +Neuperg saw that another and a far more fearful storm had gathered, and +that its thunderbolts were about to be hurled into the midst of his +camp. + +The Prussian batteries opened their fire, spreading death through the +ranks of the Austrians, even while they were hastily forming in line of +battle. Still the Austrian veterans, accustomed to all the vicissitudes +of war, undismayed, rapidly threw themselves into columns and rushed +upon the foe. Fiercely the battle raged hour after hour until the middle +of the afternoon, when the field was covered with the dead and crimsoned +with blood. The Austrians, having lost three thousand in slain and two +thousand in prisoners, retired in confusion, surrendering the field, +with several guns and banners, to the victors. This memorable battle +gave Silesia to Prussia, and opened the war of the Austrian succession. + +The Duke of Lorraine was greatly alarmed by the threatening attitude +which affairs now assumed. It was evident that France, Prussia, Bavaria +and many other powers were combining against Austria, to rob her of her +provinces, and perhaps to dismember the kingdom entirely. Not a single +court as yet had manifested any disposition to assist Maria Theresa. +England urged the Austrian court to buy the peace of Prussia at almost +any price. Francis, Duke of Lorraine, was earnestly for yielding, and +intreated his wife to surrender a part for the sake of retaining the +rest. "We had better," he said, "surrender Silesia to Prussia, and thus +purchase peace with Frederic, than meet the chances of so general a war +as now threatens Austria." + +But Maria Theresa was as imperial in character and as indomitable in +spirit as Frederic of Prussia. With indignation she rejected all such +counsel, declaring that she would never cede one inch of her territories +to any claimant, and that, even if her allies all abandoned her, she +would throw herself upon her subjects and upon her armies, and perish, +if need be, in defense of the integrity of Austria. + +Frederic now established his court and cabinet at the camp of Molnitz. +Couriers were ever coming and going. Envoys from France and Bavaria were +in constant secret conference with him. France, jealous of the power of +Austria, was plotting its dismemberment, even while protesting +friendship. Bavaria was willing to unite with Prussia in seizing the +empire and in dividing the spoil. These courts seemed to lay no claim to +any higher morality than that of ordinary highwaymen. The doom of Maria +Theresa was apparently sealed. Austria was to be plundered. Other +parties now began to rush in with their claims, that they might share in +the booty. Philip V. of Spain put in his claim for the Austrian crown as +the lineal descendant of the Emperor Charles V. Augustus, King of +Poland, urged the right of his wife Maria, eldest daughter of Joseph. +And even Charles Emanuel, King of Sardinia, hunted up an obsolete claim, +through the line of the second daughter of Philip II. + +At the camp of Molnitz the plan was matured of giving Bohemia and Upper +Austria to the Duke of Bavaria. Frederic of Prussia was to receive Upper +Silesia and Glatz. Augustus of Poland was to annex to his kingdom +Moravia and Upper Silesia. Lombardy was assigned to Spain. Sardinia was +to receive some compensation not yet fully decided upon. The whole +transaction was a piece of as unmitigated villainy as ever transpired. +One can not but feel a little sympathy for Austria which had thus fallen +among thieves, and was stripped and bleeding. Our sympathies are, +however, somewhat alleviated by the reflection that Austria was just as +eager as any of the other powers for any such piratic expedition, and +that, soon after, she united with Russia and Prussia in plundering +Poland. And when Poland was dismembered by a trio of regal robbers, she +only incurred the same doom which she was now eager to inflict upon +Austria. When pirates and robbers plunder each other, the victims are +not entitled to much sympathy. To the masses of the people it made but +little difference whether their life's blood was wrung from them by +Russian, Prussian or Austrian despots. Under whatever rule they lived, +they were alike doomed to toil as beasts of burden in the field, or to +perish amidst the hardships and the carnage of the camp. + +These plans were all revealed to Maria Theresa, and with such a +combination of foes so powerful, it seemed as if no earthly wisdom could +avert her doom. But her lofty spirit remained unyielding, and she +refused all offers of accommodation based upon the surrender of any +portion of her territories. England endeavored to induce Frederic to +consent to take the duchy of Glogau alone, suggesting that thus his +Prussian majesty had it in his power to conclude an honorable peace, and +to show his magnanimity by restoring tranquillity to Europe. + +"At the beginning of the war," Frederic replied, "I might perhaps have +been contented with this proposal. At present I must have four duchies. +But do not," he exclaimed, impatiently, "talk to me of _magnanimity_. A +prince must consult his own interests. I am not averse to peace; but I +want four duchies, and I will have them." + +Frederic of Prussia was no hypocrite. He was a highway robber and did +not profess to be any thing else. His power was such that instead of +demanding of the helpless traveler his watch, he could demand of +powerful nations their revenues. If they did not yield to his demands he +shot them down without compunction, and left them in their blood. The +British minister ventured to ask what four duchies Frederic intended to +take. No reply could be obtained to this question. By the four duchies +he simply meant that he intended to extend the area of Prussia over +every inch of territory he could possibly acquire, either by fair means +or by foul. + +England, alarmed by these combinations, which it was evident that France +was sagaciously forming and guiding, and from the successful prosecution +of which plans it was certain that France would secure some immense +accession of power, granted to Austria a subsidy of one million five +hundred thousand dollars, to aid her in repelling her foes. Still the +danger from the grand confederacy became so imminent, that the Duke of +Lorraine and all the Austrian ministry united with the British +ambassador, in entreating Maria Theresa to try to break up the +confederacy and purchase peace with Prussia by offering Frederic the +duchy of Glogau. With extreme reluctance the queen at length yielded to +these importunities, and consented that an envoy should take the +proposal to the Prussian camp at Molnitz. As the envoy was about to +leave he expressed some apprehension that the Prussian king might reject +the proffer. + +"I wish he may reject it," exclaimed the queen, passionately. "It would +be a relief to my conscience. God only knows how I can answer to my +subjects for the cession of the duchy, having sworn to them never to +alienate any part of our country." + +Mr. Robinson, the British ambassador, as mediator, took these terms to +the Prussian camp. In the endeavor to make as good a bargain as +possible, he was first to offer Austrian Guelderland. If that failed he +was then to offer Limburg, a province of the Netherlands, containing +sixteen hundred square miles, and if this was not accepted, he was +authorized, as the ultimatum, to consent to the cession of the duchy of +Glogau. The Prussian king received the ambassadors, on the 5th of +August, in a large tent, in his camp at Molanitz. The king was a blunt, +uncourtly man, and the interview was attended with none of the amenities +of polished life. After a few desultory remarks, the British ambassador +opened the business by saying that he was authorized by the Queen of +Austria to offer, as the basis of peace, the cession to Prussia of +Austrian Guelderland. + +"What a beggarly offer," exclaimed the king. "This is extremely +impertinent. What! nothing but a paltry town for all my just pretensions +in Silesia!" + +In this tirade of passion, either affected or real, he continued for +some time. Mr. Robinson waited patiently until this outburst was +exhausted, and then hesitatingly remarked that the queen was so anxious +to secure the peace of Europe, that if tranquillity could not be +restored on other terms she was even willing to cede to Prussia, in +addition, the province of Limburg. + +"Indeed!" said the ill-bred, clownish king, contemptuously. "And how can +the queen think of violating her solemn oath which renders every inch of +the Low Countries inalienable. I have no desire to obtain distant +territory which will be useless to me; much less do I wish to expend +money in new fortification. Neither the French nor the Dutch have +offended me; and I do not wish to offend them, by acquiring territory in +the vicinity of their realms. If I should accept Limburg, what security +could I have that I should be permitted to retain it?" + +The ambassador replied, "England, Russia and Saxony, will give their +guaranty." + +"Guaranties," rejoined the king, sneeringly. "Who, in these times, pays +any regard to pledges? Have not both England and France pledged +themselves to support the Pragmatic Sanction? Why do they not keep their +promises? The conduct of these powers is ridiculous. They only do what +is for their own interests. As for me, I am at the head of an invincible +army. I want Silesia. I have taken it, and I intend to keep it. What +kind of a reputation should I have if I should abandon the first +enterprise of my reign? No! I will sooner be crushed with my whole army, +than renounce my rights in Silesia. Let those who want peace grant me my +demands. If they prefer to fight again, they can do so, and again be +beaten." + +Mr. Robinson ventured to offer a few soothing words to calm the +ferocious brute, and then proposed to give to him Glogau, a small but +rich duchy of about six hundred square miles, near the frontiers of +Prussia. + +Frederic rose in a rage, and with loud voice and threatening gestures, +exclaimed, + +"If the queen does not, within six weeks, yield to my demands, I will +double them. Return with this answer to Vienna. They who want peace with +me, will not oppose my wishes. I am sick of ultimatums; I will hear no +more of them. I demand Silesia. This is my final answer. I will give no +other." + +Then turning upon his heel, with an air of towering indignation, he +retired behind the inner curtain of his tent. Such was the man to whom +Providence, in its inscrutable wisdom, had assigned a throne, and a +highly disciplined army of seventy-five thousand men. To northern Europe +he proved an awful scourge, inflicting woes, which no tongue can +adequately tell. + +And now the storm of war seemed to commence in earnest. The Duke of +Bavaria issued a manifesto, declaring his right to the whole Austrian +inheritance, and pronouncing Maria Theresa a usurper. He immediately +marched an army into one of the provinces of Austria. At the same time, +two French armies were preparing to cross the Rhine to cooperate with +the Bavarian troops. The King of Prussia was also on the march, +extending his conquests. Still Maria Theresa remained inflexible, +refusing to purchase peace with Prussia by the surrender of Silesia. + +"The resolution of the queen is taken," she said. "If the House of +Austria must perish, it is indifferent whether it perishes by an Elector +of Bavaria, or by an Elector of Brandenburg." + +While these all important matters were under discussion, the queen, on +the 13th of March, gave birth to a son, the Archduke Joseph. This event +strengthened the queen's resolution, to preserve, not only for herself, +but for her son and heir, the Austrian empire in its integrity. From her +infancy she had imbibed the most exalted ideas of the dignity and +grandeur of the house of Hapsburg. She had also been taught that her +inheritance was a solemn trust which she was religiously bound to +preserve. Thus religious principle, family pride and maternal love all +now combined to increase the inflexibility of a will which by nature was +indomitable. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +MARIA THERESA. + +From 1741 to 1743. + +Character of Francis, Duke of Lorraine.--Policy of European +Courts.--Plan of the Allies.--Siege of Prague.--Desperate Condition of +the Queen.--Her Coronation in Hungary.--Enthusiasm of the Barons.-- +Speech of Maria Theresa.--Peace with Frederic of Prussia.--His +Duplicity.--Military Movement of the Duke of Lorraine.--Battle of +Chazleau.--Second Treaty with Frederic.--Despondency of the Duke of +Bavaria.--March of Mallebois.--Extraordinary Retreat of +Belleisle.--Recovery of Prague by the Queen. + + +Maria Theresa, as imperial in spirit as in position, was unwilling to +share the crown, even with her husband. Francis officiated as her chief +minister, giving audience to foreign ambassadors, and attending to many +of the details of government, yet he had but little influence in the +direction of affairs. Though a very handsome man, of polished address, +and well cultivated understanding, he was not a man of either brilliant +or commanding intellect. Maria Theresa, as a woman, could not aspire to +the imperial throne; but all the energies of her ambitious nature were +roused to secure that dignity for her husband. Francis was very anxious +to secure for himself the electoral vote of Prussia, and he, +consequently, was accused of being willing to cede Austrian territory to +Frederic to purchase his support. This deprived him of all influence +whenever he avowed sentiments contrary to those of the queen. + +England, jealous of the vast continental power of France, was anxious to +strengthen Austria, as a means of holding France in check. Seldom, in +any of these courts, was the question of right or wrong considered, in +any transaction. Each court sought only its own aggrandizement and the +humiliation of its foes. The British cabinet, now, with very +considerable zeal, espoused the cause of Maria Theresa. Pamphlets were +circulated to rouse the enthusiasm of the nation, by depicting the +wrongs of a young and beautiful queen, so unchivalrously assailed by +bearded monarchs in overwhelming combination. The national ardor was +thus easily kindled. On the 8th of August the King of England, in an +animated speech from the throne, urged Parliament to support Maria +Theresa, thus to maintain the _balance of power_ in Europe. One million +five hundred thousand dollars were immediately voted, with strong +resolutions in favor of the queen. The Austrian ambassador, in +transmitting this money and these resolutions to the queen, urged that +no sacrifice should be made to purchase peace with Prussia; affirming +that the king, the Parliament, and the people of England were all roused +to enthusiasm in behalf of Austria; and that England would spend its +last penny, and shed its last drop of blood, in defense of the cause of +Maria Theresa. This encouraged the queen exceedingly, for she was +sanguine that Holland, the natural ally of England, would follow the +example of that nation. She also cherished strong hopes that Russia +might come to her aid. + +It was the plan of France to rob Maria Theresa of all her possessions +excepting Hungary, to which distant kingdom she was to be driven, and +where she was to be left undisturbed to defend herself as she best could +against the Turks. Thus the confederates would have, to divide among +themselves, the States of the Netherlands, the kingdom of Bohemia, the +Tyrol, the duchies of Austria, Silesia, Moravia, Carinthia, Servia and +various other duchies opulent and populous, over which the vast empire +of Austria had extended its sway. + +The French armies crossed the Rhine and united with the Bavarian troops. +The combined battalions marched, sweeping all opposition before them, to +Lintz, the capital of upper Austria. This city, containing about thirty +thousand inhabitants, is within a hundred miles of Vienna, and is one of +the most beautiful in Germany. Here, with much military and civic pomp, +the Duke of Bavaria was inaugurated Archduke of the Austrian duchies. A +detachment of the army was then dispatched down the river to Polten, +within twenty-four miles of Vienna; from whence a summons was sent to +the capital to surrender. At the same time a powerful army turned its +steps north, and pressing on a hundred and fifty miles, over the +mountains and through the plains of Bohemia, laid siege to Prague, which +was filled with magazines, and weakly garrisoned. Frederic, now in +possession of all Silesia, was leading his troops to cooperate with +those of France and Bavaria. + +The cause of Maria Theresa was now, to human vision, desperate. Immense +armies were invading her realms. Prague was invested; Vienna threatened +with immediate siege; her treasury was empty; her little army defeated +and scattered; she was abandoned by her allies, and nothing seemed to +remain for her but to submit to her conquerors. Hungary still clung +firmly to the queen, and she had been crowned at Presburg with boundless +enthusiasm. An eyewitness has thus described this scene:-- + +"The coronation was magnificent. The queen was all charm. She rode +gallantly up the Royal Mount, a hillock in the vicinity of Presburg, +which the new sovereign ascends on horseback, and waving a drawn sword, +defied the four corners of the world, in a manner to show that she had +no occasion for that weapon to conquer all who saw her. The antiquated +crown received new graces from her head; and the old tattered robe of +St. Stephen became her as well as her own rich habit, if diamonds, +pearls and all sorts of precious stones can be called clothes," + +She had but recently risen from the bed of confinement and the delicacy +of her appearance added to her attractions. A table was spread for a +public entertainment, around which all the dignitaries of the realm were +assembled--dukes who could lead thousands of troops into the field, bold +barons, with their bronzed followers, whose iron sinews had been +toughened in innumerable wars. It was a warm summer day, and the cheek +of the youthful queen glowed with the warmth and with the excitement of +the hour. Her beautiful hair fell in ringlets upon her shoulders and +over her full bosom. She sat at the head of the table all queenly in +loveliness, and imperial in character. The bold, high-spirited nobles, +who surrounded her, could appreciate her position, assailed by half the +monarchies of Europe, and left alone to combat them all. Their +chivalrous enthusiasm was thus aroused. + +The statesmen of Vienna had endeavored to dissuade the queen from making +any appeal to the Hungarians. When Charles VI. made an effort to secure +their assent to the Pragmatic Sanction, the war-worn barons replied +haughtily, "We are accustomed to be governed by men, not by women." The +ministers at Vienna feared, therefore, that the very sight of the queen, +youthful, frail and powerless, would stir these barons to immediate +insurrection, and that they would scorn such a sovereign to guide them +in the fierce wars which her crown involved. But Maria Theresa better +understood human nature. She believed that the same barons, who would +resist the demands of the Emperor Charles VI., would rally with +enthusiasm around a defenseless woman, appealing to them for aid. The +cordiality and ever-increasing glow of ardor with which she was greeted +at the coronation and at the dinner encouraged her hopes. + +She summoned all the nobles to meet her in the great hall of the castle. +The hall was crowded with as brilliant an assemblage of rank and power +as Hungary could furnish. The queen entered, accompanied by her retinue. +She was dressed in deep mourning, in the Hungarian costume, with the +crown of St. Stephen upon her brow, and the regal cimiter at her side. +With a majestic step she traversed the apartment, and ascended the +platform or tribune from whence the Kings of Hungary were accustomed to +address their congregated lords. All eyes were fixed upon her, and the +most solemn silence pervaded the assemblage. + +The Latin language was then, in Hungary, the language of diplomacy and +of the court. All the records of the kingdom were preserved in that +language, and no one spoke, in the deliberations of the diet, but in the +majestic tongue of ancient Rome. The queen, after a pause of a few +moments, during which she carefully scanned the assemblage, addressing +them in Latin, said:-- + +"The disastrous situation of our affairs has moved us to lay before our +dear and faithful States of Hungary, the recent invasion of Austria, the +danger now impending over this kingdom, and a proposal for the +consideration of a remedy. The very existence of the kingdom of Hungary, +of our own person, of our children and our crown, is now at stake. +Forsaken by all, we place our sole resource in the fidelity, arms and +long tried valor of the Hungarians; exhorting you, the states and +orders, to deliberate without delay in this extreme danger, on the most +effectual measures for the security of our person, of our children and +of our crown, and to carry them into immediate execution. In regard to +ourself, the faithful states and orders of Hungary shall experience our +hearty coöperation in all things which may promote the pristine +happiness of this ancient kingdom, and the honor of the people." + +(Some may feel interested in reading this speech in the original Latin, +as it is now found recorded in the archives of Hungary. It is as +follows: + +"Allocutio Reginæ Hungariæ Mariæ Theresiæ, anno 1741. Afflictus rerum +nostrarum status nos movit, ut fidelibus perchari regni Hungariæ +statibus de hostili provinciæ nostræ hereditariæ, Austriæ invasione, et +imminente regno huic periculo, adeoque de considerando remedio +propositionem scrïpto facíamus. Agitur de regno Hungarïa, de persona +nostrâ, prolibus nostris, et coronâ, ab omnibus derelictï, unice ad +inclytorum statuum fidelitatem, arma, et Hungarorum priscam virtutem +confugimus, ímpense hortantes, velint status et ordines in hoc maximo +periculo de securitate personæ nostræ, prolium, coronæ, et regni quanto +ocius consulere, et ea in effectum etiam deducere. Quantum ex parte +nostra est, quæcunque pro pristina regni hujus felicïtate, et gentis +decore forent, in iis omnibus benignitatem et clementiam nostram regiam +fideles status et ordines regni experturi sunt.") + +The response was instantaneous and emphatic. A thousand warriors drew +their sabers half out of their scabbards, and then thrust them back to +the hilt, with a clangor like the clash of swords on the field of +battle. Then with one voice they shouted, "Moriamur pro nostra rege, +Maria Theresa"--_We will die for our sovereign, Maria Theresa_. + +The queen, until now, had preserved a perfectly calm and composed +demeanor. But this outburst of enthusiasm overpowered her, and +forgetting the queen, she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes and burst +into a flood of tears. No manly heart could stand this unmoved. Every +eye was moistened, every heart throbbed with admiration and devotion, +and a scene of indescribable enthusiasm ensued. Hungary was now +effectually roused, and Maria Theresa was queen of all hearts. Every +noble was ready to march his vassals and to open his purse at her +bidding. All through the wide extended realm, the enthusiasm rolled like +an inundation. The remote tribes on the banks of the Save, the Theiss, +the Drave, and the lower Danube flocked to her standards. They came, +semi-savage bands, in uncouth garb, and speaking unintelligible +tongues--Croats, Pandours, Sclavonians, Warusdinians and Tolpaches. +Germany was astounded at the spectacle of these wild, fierce men, +apparently as tameless and as fearless as wolves. The enthusiasm spread +rapidly all over the States of Austria. The young men, and especially +the students in the universities, espoused the cause of the queen with +deathless fervor. Vienna was strongly fortified, all hands engaging in +the work. So wonderful was this movement, that the allies were alarmed. +They had already become involved in quarrels about the division of the +anticipated booty. + +Frederic of Prussia was the first to implore peace. The Elector of +Bavaria was a rival sovereign, and Frederic preferred seeing Austria in +the hands of the queen, rather than in the hands of the elector. He was, +therefore, anxious to withdraw from the confederacy, and to oppose the +allies. The queen, as anxious as Frederic to come to an accommodation, +sent an ambassador to ascertain his terms. In laconic phrase, +characteristic of this singular man, he returned the following answer:-- + +"All lower Silesia; the river Neiss for the boundary. The town of Neiss +as well as Glatz. Beyond the Oder the ancient limits to continue between +the duchies of Brieg and Oppelon. Breslau for us. The affairs of +religion in _statu quo_. No dependence on Bohemia; a cession forever. In +return we will proceed no further. We will besiege Neiss for form. The +commandant shall surrender and depart. We will pass quietly into winter +quarters, and the Austrian army may go where they will. Let the whole be +concluded in twelve days." + +These terms were assented to. The king promised never to ask any further +territory from the queen, and not to act offensively against the queen +or any of her allies. Though the queen placed not the slightest +confidence in the integrity of the Prussian monarch, she rejoiced in +this treaty, which enabled her to turn all her attention to her other +foes. The allies were now in possession of nearly all of Bohemia and +were menacing Prague. + +The Duke of Lorraine hastened with sixty thousand men to the relief of +the capital. He had arrived within nine miles of the city, when he +learned, to his extreme chagrin, that the preceding night Prague had +been taken by surprise. That very day the Elector of Bavaria made a +triumphal entry into the town, and was soon crowned King of Bohemia. And +now the electoral diet of Germany met, and, to the extreme +disappointment of Maria Theresa, chose, as Emperor of Germany, instead +of her husband, the Elector of Bavaria, whom they also acknowledged King +of Bohemia. He received the imperial crown at Frankfort on the 12th of +February, 1742, with the title of Charles VII. + +The Duke of Lorraine having been thus thwarted in his plan of relieving +Prague, and not being prepared to assail the allied army in possession +of the citadel, and behind the ramparts of the city, detached a part of +his army to keep the enemy in check, and sent General Kevenhuller, with +thirty thousand men, to invade and take possession of Bavaria, now +nearly emptied of its troops. By very sagacious movements the general +soon became master of all the defiles of the Bavarian mountains. He then +pressed forward, overcoming all opposition, and in triumph entered +Munich, the capital of Bavaria, the very day Charles was chosen emperor. +Thus the elector, as he received the imperial crown, dropped his own +hereditary estates from his hand. + +This triumph of the queen's arms alarmed Frederic of Prussia. He reposed +as little confidence in the honesty of the Austrian court as they +reposed in him. He was afraid that the queen, thus victorious, would +march her triumphant battalions into Silesia and regain the lost duchy. +He consequently, in total disregard of his treaty, and without troubling +himself to make any declaration of war, resumed hostilities. He entered +into a treaty with his old rival, the Elector of Bavaria, now King of +Bohemia, and Emperor of Germany. Receiving from the emperor large +accessions of territory, Frederic devoted his purse and array to the +allies. His armies were immediately in motion. They overran Moravia, and +were soon in possession of all of its most important fortresses. All the +energies of Frederic were consecrated to any cause in which he enlisted. +He was indefatigable in his activity. With no sense of dishonor in +violating a solemn treaty, with no sense of shame in conspiring with +banded despots against a youthful queen, of whose youth, and feebleness +and feminine nature they wished to take advantage that they might rob +her of her possessions, Frederic rode from camp to camp, from capital to +capital, to infuse new vigor into the alliance. He visited the Elector +of Saxony at Dresden, then galloped to Prague, then returned through +Moravia, and placed himself at the head of his army. Marching vigorously +onward, he entered upper Austria. His hussars spread terror in all +directions, even to the gates of Vienna. + +The Hungarian troops pressed forward in defense of the queen. Wide +leagues of country were desolated by war, as all over Germany the +hostile battalions swept to and fro. The Duke of Lorraine hastened from +Moravia for the defense of Vienna, while detached portions of the +Austrian army were on the rapid march, in all directions, to join him. +On the 16th of May, 1742, the Austrian army, under the Duke of Lorraine, +and the Prussian army under Frederic, encountered each other, in about +equal numbers, at Chazleau. Equal in numbers, equal in skill, equal in +bravery, they fought with equal success. After several hours of awful +carnage, fourteen thousand corpses strewed the ground. Seven thousand +were Austrians, seven thousand Prussians. The Duke of Lorraine retired +first, leaving a thousand prisoners, eighteen pieces of artillery and +two standards, with the foe; but he took with him, captured from the +Prussians, a thousand prisoners, fourteen cannon, and two standards. As +the duke left Frederic in possession of the field, it was considered a +Prussian victory. But it was a victory decisive of no results, as each +party was alike crippled. Frederic was much disappointed. He had +anticipated the annihilation of the Austrian army, and a triumphant +march to Vienna, where, in the palaces of the Austrian kings, he +intended to dictate terms to the prostrate monarchy. + +The queen had effectually checked his progress, new levies were crowding +to her aid, and it was in vain for Frederic, with his diminished and +exhausted regiments, to undertake an assault upon the ramparts of +Vienna. Again he proposed terms of peace. He demanded all of upper as +well as lower Silesia, and the county of Glatz, containing nearly seven +hundred square miles, and a population of a little over sixty thousand. +Maria Theresa, crowded by her other enemies, was exceedingly anxious to +detach a foe so powerful and active, and she accordingly assented to the +hard terms. This new treaty was signed at Breslau, on the 11th of June, +and was soon ratified by both sovereigns. The Elector of Saxony was also +included in this treaty and retired from the contest. + +The withdrawal of these forces seemed to turn the tide of battle in +favor of the Austrians. The troops from Hungary fought with the most +romantic devotion. A band of Croats in the night swam across a river, +with their sabers in their mouths, and climbing on each other's +shoulders, scaled the walls of the fortress of Piseck, and made the +garrison prisoners of war. The Austrians, dispersing the allied French +and Bavarians in many successful skirmishes, advanced to the walls of +Prague. With seventy thousand men, the Duke of Lorraine commenced the +siege of this capital, so renowned in the melancholy annals of war. The +sympathies of Europe began to turn in favor of Maria Theresa. It became +a general impression, that the preservation of the Austrian monarchy was +essential to hold France in check, which colossal power seemed to +threaten the liberties of Europe. The cabinet of England was especially +animated by this sentiment, and a change in the ministry being effected, +the court of St. James sent assurances to Vienna of their readiness to +support the queen with the whole power of the British empire. Large +supplies of men and money were immediately voted. Sixteen thousand men +were landed in Flanders to cooperate with the Austrian troops. Holland, +instigated by the example of England, granted Maria Theresa a subsidy of +eight hundred and forty thousand florins. The new Queen of Russia, also, +Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, adopted measures highly +favorable to Austria. + +In Italy affairs took a singular turn in favor of the Austrian queen. +The King of Sardinia, ever ready to embark his troops in any enterprise +which gave him promise of booty, alarmed by the grasping ambition of +France and Spain, who were ever seizing the lion's share in all plunder, +seeing that he could not hope for much advantage in his alliance with +them, proposed to the queen that if she would cede to him certain of the +Milanese provinces, he would march his troops into her camp. This was a +great gain for Maria Theresa. The Sardinian troops guarding the passes +of the Alps, shut out the French, during the whole campaign, from +entering Italy. At the same time the Sardinian king, with another +portion of his army, aided by the Austrian troops, overran the whole +duchy of Modena, and drove out the Spaniards. The English fleet in the +Mediterranean cooperated in this important measure. By the threat of a +bombardment they compelled the King of Naples to withdraw from the +French and Spanish alliance. Thus Austria again planted her foot in +Italy. This extraordinary and unanticipated success created the utmost +joy and exultation in Vienna. The despondency of the French court was +correspondingly great. A few months had totally changed the aspect of +affairs. The allied troops were rapidly melting away, with none to fill +up the dwindling ranks. The proud army which had swept over Germany, +defying all opposition, was now cooped up within the walls of Prague, +beleaguered by a foe whom victory had rendered sanguine. The new +emperor, claiming the crown of Austria, had lost his own territory of +Bavaria; and the capital of Bohemia, where he had so recently been +enthroned, was hourly in peril of falling into the hands of his foes. + +Under these circumstances the hopes of the Duke of Bavaria sank rapidly +into despair. The hour of disaster revealed a meanness of spirit which +prosperity had not developed. He sued for peace, writing a dishonorable +and cringing letter, in which he protested that he was not to blame for +the war, but that the whole guilt rested upon the French court, which +had inveigled him to present his claim and commence hostilities. Maria +Theresa made no other reply to this humiliating epistle than to publish +it, and give it a wide circulation throughout Europe. Cardinal Fleury, +the French minister of state, indignant at this breach of confidence, +sent to the cabinet of Vienna a remonstrance and a counter statement. +This paper also the queen gave to the public. + +Marshal Belleisle was in command of the French and Bavarian troops, +which were besieged in Prague. The force rapidly gathering around him +was such as to render retreat impossible. The city was unprepared for a +siege, and famine soon began to stare the citizens and garrison in the +face. The marshal, reduced to the last extremity, offered to evacuate +the city and march out of Bohemia, if he could be permitted to retire +unmolested, with arms, artillery and baggage. The Duke of Lorraine, to +avoid a battle which would be rendered sanguinary through despair, was +ready and even anxious to assent to these terms. His leading generals +were of the same opinion, as they wished to avoid a needless effusion of +blood. + +The offered terms of capitulation were sent to Maria Theresa. She +rejected them with disdain. She displayed a revengeful spirit, natural, +perhaps, under the circumstances, but which reflects but little honor +upon her character. + +"I will not," she replied, in the presence of the whole court; "I will +not grant any capitulation to the French army. I will listen to no +terms, to no proposition from Cardinal Fleury. I am astonished that he +should come to me now with proposals for peace; _he_ who endeavored to +excite all the princes of Germany to crush me. I have acted with too +much condescension to the court of France. Compelled by the necessities +of my situation I debased my royal dignity by writing to the cardinal in +terms which would have softened the most obdurate rock. He insolently +rejected my entreaties; and the only answer I obtained was that his most +Christian majesty had contracted engagements which he could not violate. +I can prove, by documents now in my possession, that the French +endeavored to excite sedition even in the heart of my dominions; that +they attempted to overturn the fundamental laws of the empire, and to +set all Germany in a flame. I will transmit these proofs to posterity as +a warning to the empire." + +The ambition of Maria Theresa was now greatly roused. She resolved to +retain the whole of Bavaria which she had taken from the elector. The +duchy of Lorraine, which had been wrested from her husband, was +immediately to be invaded and restored to the empire. The dominions +which had been torn from her father in Italy were to be reannexed to the +Austrian crown, and Alsace upon the Rhine was to be reclaimed. Thus, far +from being now satisfied with the possessions she had inherited from her +father, her whole soul was roused, in these hours of triumph, to conquer +vast accessions for her domains. She dreamed only of conquest, and in +her elation parceled out the dominions of France and Bavaria as +liberally and as unscrupulously as they had divided among themselves the +domain of the house of Austria. + +The French, alarmed, made a great effort to relieve Prague. An army, +which on its march was increased to sixty thousand men, was sent six +hundred miles to cross rivers, to penetrate defiles of mountains crowded +with hostile troops, that they might rescue Prague and its garrison from +the besiegers. With consummate skill and energy this critical movement +was directed by General Mallebois. The garrison of the city were in a +state of great distress. The trenches were open and the siege was pushed +with great vigilance. All within the walls of the beleaguered city were +reduced to extreme suffering. Horse flesh was considered a delicacy +which was reserved for the sick. The French made sally after sally to +spike the guns which were battering down the walls. As Mallebois, with +his powerful reënforcement, drew near, their courage rose. The Duke of +Lorraine became increasingly anxious to secure the capitulation before +the arrival of the army of relief, and proposed a conference to decide +upon terms, which should be transmitted for approval to the courts of +Vienna and of Paris. But the imperious Austrian queen, as soon as she +heard of this movement, quite regardless of the feelings of her husband, +whom she censured as severely as she would any corporal in the army, +issued orders prohibiting, peremptorily, any such conference. + +"I will not suffer," she said "any council to be held in the army. From +Vienna alone are orders to be received. I disavow and forbid all such +proceedings, _let the blame fall where it may_." + +She knew full well that it was her husband who had proposed this plan; +and he knew, and all Austria knew, that it was the Duke of Lorraine who +was thus severely and publicly reprimanded. But the husband of Maria +Theresa was often reminded that he was but the subject of the queen. So +peremptory a mandate admitted of no compromise. The Austrians plied +their batteries with new vigor, the wan and skeleton soldiers fought +perseveringly at their embrasures; and the battalions of Mallebois, by +forced marches, pressed on through the mountains of Bohemia, to the +eventful arena. A division of the Austrian army was dispatched to the +passes of Satz and Caden, which it would be necessary for the French to +thread, in approaching Prague. The troops of Mallebois, when they +arrived at these defiles, were so exhausted by their long and forced +marches, that they were incapable of forcing their way against the +opposition they encountered in the passes of the mountains. After a +severe struggle, Mallebois was compelled to relinquish the design of +relieving Prague, and storms of snow beginning to incumber his path, he +retired across the Danube, and throwing up an intrenched camp, +established himself in winter quarters. The Austrian division, thus +successful, returned to Prague, and the blockade was resumed. There +seemed to be now no hope for the French, and their unconditional +surrender was hourly expected. Affairs were in this state, when Europe +was astounded by the report that the French general, Belleisle, with a +force of eleven thousand foot and three thousand horse, had effected his +escape from the battered walls of the city and was in successful +retreat. + +It was the depth of winter. The ground was covered with snow, and +freezing blasts swept the fields. The besiegers were compelled to +retreat to the protection of their huts. Taking advantage of a cold and +stormy night, Belleisle formed his whole force into a single column, +and, leaving behind him his sick and wounded, and every unnecessary +incumbrance, marched noiselessly but rapidly from one of the gates of +the city. He took with him but thirty cannon and provisions for twelve +days. It was a heroic but an awful retreat. The army, already exhausted +and emaciate by famine, toiled on over morasses, through forests, over +mountains, facing frost and wind and snow, and occasionally fighting +their way against their foes, until on the twelfth day they reached Egra +on the frontiers of Bavaria, about one hundred and twenty miles east +from Prague. + +Their sufferings were fearful: They had nothing to eat but frozen bread, +and at night they sought repose, tentless, and upon the drifted snow. +The whole distance was strewed with the bodies of the dead. Each morning +mounds of frozen corpses indicated the places of the night's bivouac. +Twelve hundred perished during this dreadful march. Of those who +survived, many, at Egra, were obliged to undergo the amputation of their +frozen limbs. General Belleisle himself, during the whole retreat, was +suffering from such a severe attack of rheumatism, that he was unable +either to walk or ride. His mind, however, was full of vigor and his +energies unabated. Carried in a sedan chair he reconnoitred the way, +pointed out the roads, visited every part of the extended line of march, +encouraged the fainting troops, and superintended all the minutest +details of the retreat. "Notwithstanding the losses of his army," it is +recorded, "he had the satisfaction of preserving the flower of the +French forces, of saving every cannon which bore the arms of his master, +and of not leaving the smallest trophy to grace the triumph of the +enemy." + +In the citadel of Prague, Belleisle had left six thousand troops, to +prevent the eager pursuit of the Austrians. The Prince Sobcuitz, now in +command of the besieging force, mortified and irritated by the escape, +sent a summons to the garrison demanding its immediate and unconditional +surrender. Chevert, the gallant commander, replied to the officer who +brought the summons,-- + +"Tell the prince that if he will not grant me the honors of war, I will +set fire to the four corners of Prague, and bury myself under its +ruins." + +The destruction of Prague, with all its treasures of architecture and +art, was too serious a calamity to be hazarded. Chevert was permitted to +retire with the honors of war, and with his division he soon rejoined +the army at Egra. Maria Theresa was exceedingly chagrined by the escape +of the French, and in the seclusion of her palace she gave vent to the +bitterness of her anguish. In public, however, she assumed an attitude +of triumph and great exultation in view of the recovery of Prague. She +celebrated the event by magnificent entertainments. In imitation of the +Olympic games, she established chariot races, in which ladies alone were +the competitors, and even condescended herself, with her sister, to +enter the lists. + +All Bohemia, excepting Egra, was now reclaimed. Early in the spring +Maria Theresa visited Prague, where, on the 12th of May, 1743, with +great splendor she was crowned Queen of Bohemia. General Belleisle, +leaving a small garrison at Egra, with the remnant of his force crossed +the Rhine and returned to France. He had entered Germany a few months +before, a conqueror at the head of forty thousand men. He retired a +fugitive with eight thousand men in his train, ragged, emaciate and +mutilated. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +MARIA THERESA. + +From 1743 to 1748. + +Prosperous Aspect of Austrian Affairs.--Capture of Egra.--Vast Extent of +Austria.--Dispute with Sardinia.--Marriage of Charles of Lorraine with +The Queen's Sister.--Invasion of Alsace.--Frederic Overruns Bohemia.-- +Bohemia Recovered by Prince Charles.--Death of the Emperor Charles +VII.--Venality of the Old Monarchies.--Battle of Hohenfriedberg.--Sir +Thomas Robinson's Interview with Maria Theresa.--Hungarian +Enthusiasm.--The Duke of Lorraine Elected Emperor.--Continuation of the +War.--Treaty of Peace.--Indignation of Maria Theresa. + + +The cause of Maria Theresa, at the commencement of the year 1743, was +triumphant all over her widely extended domains. Russia was cordial in +friendship. Holland, in token of hostility to France, sent the queen an +efficient loan of six thousand men, thoroughly equipped for the field. +The King of Sardinia, grateful for his share in the plunder of the +French and Spanish provinces in Italy, and conscious that he could +retain those spoils only by the aid of Austria, sent to the queen, in +addition to the coöperation of his armies, a gift of a million of +dollars. England, also, still anxious to check the growth of France, +continued her subsidy of a million and a half, and also with both fleet +and army contributed very efficient military aid. The whole force of +Austria was now turned against France. The French were speedily driven +from Bavaria; and Munich, the capital, fell into the hands of the +Austrians. The emperor, in extreme dejection, unable to present any +front of resistance, sent to the queen entreating a treaty of +neutrality, offering to withdraw all claims to the Austrian succession, +and consenting to leave his Bavarian realm in the hands of Maria Theresa +until a general peace. The emperor, thus humiliated and stripped of all +his territories, retired to Frankfort. + +On the 7th of September Egra was captured, and the queen was placed in +possession of all her hereditary domains. The wonderful firmness and +energy which she had displayed, and the consummate wisdom with which she +had conceived and executed her measures, excited the admiration of +Europe. In Vienna, and throughout all the States of Austria, her +popularity was unbounded. After the battle of Dettingen, in which her +troops gained a decisive victory, as the queen was returning to Vienna +from a water excursion, she found the banks of the Danube, for nine +miles, crowded with her rejoicing subjects. In triumph she was escorted +into the capital, greeted by every demonstration of the most +enthusiastic joy. + +Austria and England were now prepared to mature their plans for the +dismemberment of France. The commissioners met at Hanau, a small +fortified town, a few miles east of Frankfort. They met, however, only +to quarrel fiercely. Austrian and English pride clashed in instant +collision. Lord Stair, imperious and irritable, regarded the Austrians +as outside barbarians whom England was feeding, clothing and protecting. +The Austrian officers regarded the English as remote islanders from whom +they had hired money and men. The Austrians were amazed at the impudence +of the English in assuming the direction of affairs. The British +officers were equally astounded that the Austrians should presume to +take the lead. No plan of coöperation could be agreed upon, and the +conference broke up in confusion, + +The queen, whose heart was still fixed upon the elevation of her husband +to the throne of the empire, was anxious to depose the emperor. But +England was no more willing to see Austria dominant over Europe than to +see France thus powerful. Maria Theresa was now in possession of all her +vast ancestral domains, and England judged that it would endanger the +balance of power to place upon the brow of her husband the imperial +crown. The British cabinet consequently espoused the cause of the +Elector of Bavaria, and entered into a private arrangement with him, +agreeing to acknowledge him as emperor, and to give him an annual +pension that he might suitably support the dignity of his station. The +wealth of England seems to have been inexhaustible, for half the +monarchs of Europe have, at one time or other, been fed and clothed from +her treasury. George II. contracted to pay the emperor, within forty +days, three hundred thousand dollars, and to do all in his power to +constrain the queen of Austria to acknowledge his title. + +Maria Theresa had promised the King of Sardinia large accessions of +territory in Italy, as the price for his coöperation. But now, having +acquired those Italian territories, she was exceedingly reluctant to +part with any one of them, and very dishonorably evaded, by every +possible pretense, the fulfillment of her agreement. The queen +considered herself now so strong that she was not anxious to preserve +the alliance of Sardinia. She thought her Italian possessions secure, +even in case of the defection of the Sardinian king. Sardinia appealed +to England, as one of the allies, to interpose for the execution of the +treaty. To the remonstrance of England the queen peevishly replied, + +"It is the policy of England to lead me from one sacrifice to another. I +am expected to expose my troops for no other end than voluntarily to +strip myself of my possessions. Should the cession of the Italian +provinces, which the King of Sardinia claims, be extorted from me, what +remains in Italy will not be worth defending, and the only alternative +left is that of being stripped either by England or France." + +While the queen was not willing to give as much as she had agreed to +bestow, the greedy King of Sardinia was grasping at more than she had +promised. At last the king, in a rage threatened, that if she did not +immediately comply with his demands, he would unite with France and +Spain and the emperor against Austria. This angry menace brought the +queen to terms, and articles of agreement satisfactory to Sardinia were +signed. During the whole of this summer of 1743, though large armies +were continually in motion, and there were many sanguinary battles, and +all the arts of peace were destroyed, and conflagration, death and woe +were sent to ten thousand homes, nothing effectual was accomplished by +either party. The strife did not cease until winter drove the weary +combatants to their retreats. + +For the protection of the Austrian possessions against the French and +Spanish, the queen agreed to maintain in Italy an army of thirty +thousand men, to be placed under the command of the King of Sardinia, +who was to add to them an army of forty-five thousand. England, with +characteristic prodigality, voted a million of dollars annually, to aid +in the payment of these troops. It was the object of England, to prevent +France from strengthening herself by Italian possessions. The cabinet of +St. James took such an interest in this treaty that, to secure its +enactment, one million five hundred thousand dollars were paid down, in +addition to the annual subsidy. England also agreed to maintain a strong +squadron in the Mediterranean to coöperate with Sardinia and Austria. + +Amidst these scenes of war, the usual dramas of domestic life moved on. +Prince Charles of Lorraine, had long been ardently attached to Mary +Anne, younger sister of Maria Theresa. The young prince had greatly +signalized himself on the field of battle. Their nuptials were attended +in Vienna with great splendor and rejoicings. It was a union of loving +hearts. Charles was appointed to the government of the Austrian +Netherlands. One short and happy year passed away, when Mary Anne, in +the sorrows of child-birth, breathed her last. + +The winter was passed by all parties in making the most vigorous +preparations for a new campaign. England and France were now thoroughly +aroused, and bitterly irritated against each other. Hitherto they had +acted as auxiliaries for other parties. Now they summoned all their +energies, and became principals in the conflict. France issued a formal +declaration of war against England and Austria, raised an army of one +hundred thousand men, and the debauched king himself, Louis XV., left +his _Pare Aux Cerfs_ and placed himself at the head of the army. Marshal +Saxe was the active commander. He was provided with a train of artillery +superior to any which had ever before appeared on any field. Entering +the Netherlands he swept all opposition before him. + +The French department of Alsace, upon the Rhine, embraced over forty +thousand square miles of territory, and contained a population of about +a million. While Marshal Saxe was ravaging the Netherlands, an Austrian +army, sixty thousand strong, crossed the Rhine, like a torrent burst +into Alsace, and spread equal ravages through the cities and villages of +France. Bombardment echoed to bombardment; conflagration blazed in +response to conflagration; and the shrieks of the widow, and the moans +of the orphan which rose from the marshes of Burgundy, were reechoed in +an undying wail along the valleys of the Rhine. + +The King of France, alarmed by the progress which the Austrians were +making in his own territories, ordered thirty thousand troops, from the +army in the Netherlands, to be dispatched to the protection of Alsace. +Again the tide was turning against Maria Theresa. She had become so +arrogant and exacting, that she had excited the displeasure of nearly +all the empire. She persistently refused to acknowledge the emperor, +who, beyond all dispute, was legally elected; she treated the diet +contemptuously; she did not disguise her determination to hold Bavaria +by the right of conquest, and to annex it to Austria; she had compelled +the Bavarians to take the oath of allegiance to her; she was avowedly +meditating gigantic projects in the conquest of France and Italy; and it +was very evident that she was maturing her plans for the reconquest of +Silesia. Such inordinate ambition alarmed all the neighboring courts. +Frederic of Prussia was particularly alarmed lest he should lose +Silesia. With his accustomed energy he again drew his sword against the +queen, and became the soul of a new confederacy which combined many of +the princes of the empire whom the haughty queen had treated with so +much indignity. In this new league, formed by Frederic, the Elector +Palatine and the King of Sweden were brought into the field against +Maria Theresa. All this was effected with the utmost secrecy, and the +queen had no intimation of her danger until the troops were in motion. +Frederic published a manifesto in which he declared that he took up arms +"to restore to the German empire its liberty, to the emperor his +dignity, and to Europe repose." + +With his strong army he burst into Bohemia, now drained of its troops to +meet the war in the Netherlands and on the Rhine. With a lion's tread, +brushing all opposition away, he advanced to Prague. The capital was +compelled to surrender, and the garrison of fifteen thousand troops +became prisoners of war. Nearly all the fortresses of the kingdom fell +into his hands. Establishing garrisons at Tabor, Budweiss, Frauenberg, +and other important posts, he then made an irruption into Bavaria, +scattered the Austrian troops in all directions, entered Munich in +triumph, and reinstated the emperor in the possession of his capital and +his duchy. Such are the fortunes of war. The queen heard these tidings +of accumulated disaster in dismay. In a few weeks of a summer's +campaign, when she supposed that Europe was almost a suppliant at her +feet, she found herself deprived of the Netherlands, of the whole +kingdom of Bohemia, the brightest jewel in her crown, and of the +electorate of Bavaria. + +But the resolution and energy of the queen remained indomitable. Maria +Theresa and Frederic were fairly pitted against each other. It was Greek +meeting Greek. The queen immediately recalled the army from Alsace, and +in person repaired to Presburg, where she summoned a diet of the +Hungarian nobles. In accordance with an ancient custom, a blood-red flag +waved from all the castles in the kingdom, summoning the people to a +levy _en masse_, or, as it was then called, to a general insurrection. +An army of nearly eighty thousand men was almost instantly raised. A +cotemporary historian, speaking of this event, says: + +"This amazing unanimity of a people so divided amongst themselves as the +Hungarians, especially in point of religion, could only be effected by +the address of Maria Theresa, who seemed to possess one part of the +character of Elizabeth of England, that of making every man about her a +hero." + +Prince Charles re-crossed the Rhine, and, by a vigorous march through +Suabia, returned to Bohemia. By surprise, with a vastly superior force, +he assailed the fortresses garrisoned by the Prussian troops, gradually +took one after another, and ere long drove the Prussians, with vast +slaughter, out of the whole kingdom. Though disaster, in this campaign, +followed the banners of Maria Theresa in the Netherlands and in Italy, +she forgot those reverses in exultation at the discomfiture of her great +rival Frederic. She had recovered Bohemia, and was now sanguine that she +soon would regain Silesia, the loss of which province ever weighed +heavily upon her heart. But in her character woman's weakness was allied +with woman's determination. She imagined that she could rouse the +chivalry of her allies as easily as that of the Hungarian barons, and +that foreign courts, forgetful of their own grasping ambition, would +place themselves as pliant instruments in her hands. + +In this posture of affairs, the hand of Providence was again interposed, +in an event which removed from the path of the queen a serious obstacle, +and opened to her aspiring mind new visions of grandeur. The Emperor +Charles VII., an amiable man, of moderate abilities, was quite crushed +in spirit by the calamities accumulating upon him. Though he had +regained his capital, he was in hourly peril of being driven from it +again. Anguish so preyed upon his mind, that, pale and wan, he was +thrown upon a sick bed. While in this state he was very injudiciously +informed of a great defeat which his troops had encountered. It was a +death-blow to the emperor. He moaned, turned over in his bed, and died, +on the 20th of January, 1745. + +The imperial crown was thus thrown down among the combatants, and a +scramble ensued for its possession such as Europe had never witnessed +before. Every court was agitated, and the combinations of intrigue were +as innumerable as were the aspirants for the crown. The spring of 1745 +opened with clouds of war darkening every quarter of the horizon. +England opened the campaign in Italy and the Netherlands, her whole +object now being to humble France. Maria Theresa remained uncompromising +in her disposition to relinquish nothing and to grasp every thing. The +cabinet of England, with far higher views of policy, were anxious to +detach some of the numerous foes combined against Austria; but it was +almost impossible to induce the queen to make the slightest abatement of +her desires. She had set her heart upon annexing all of Bavaria to her +realms. That immense duchy, now a kingdom, was about the size of the +State of South Carolina, containing over thirty thousand square miles. +Its population amounted to about four millions. The death of the Emperor +Charles VII., who was Elector of Bavaria, transmitted the sovereignty of +this realm to his son, Maximilian Joseph. + +Maximilian was anxious to withdraw from the strife. He agreed to +renounce all claim to the Austrian succession, to acknowledge the +validity of the queen's title, to dismiss the auxiliary troops, and to +give his electoral vote to the Duke of Lorraine for emperor. But so +eager was the queen to grasp the Bavarian dominions, that it was with +the utmost difficulty that England could induce her to accede even to +these terms. + +It is humiliating to record the readiness of these old monarchies to +sell themselves and their armies to any cause which would pay the price +demanded. For seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars England purchased +the alliance of Poland, and her army of thirty thousand men. Before the +treaty was formally ratified, the Emperor Charles VII. died, and there +were indications that Bavaria would withdraw from the French alliance. +This alarmed the French ministry, and they immediately offered Poland a +larger sum than England had proffered, to send her army to the French +camp. The bargain was on the point of being settled, when England and +Austria again rushed in, and whispered in the ear of Augustus that they +intended to chastise the King of Prussia thoroughly, and that if Poland +would help them, Poland should be rewarded with generous slices of the +Prussian territory. This was a resistless bribe, and the Polish banners +were borne in the train of the Austrian alliance. + +The Duke of Lorraine was much annoyed by the imperial assumption of his +wife. She was anxious to secure for him the crown of Germany, as adding +to her power and grandeur. But Francis was still more anxious to attain +that dignity, as his position in the court, as merely the docile subject +of his wife, the queen, was exceedingly humiliating. The spring of 1745 +found all parties prepared for the renewal of the fight. The drama was +opened by the terrible battle of Fontenoy in the Netherlands. On the +11th of May eighty thousand French met the Austrian allied army of fifty +thousand. After a few hours of terrific slaughter the allies retreated, +leaving the French in possession of the field. In Italy, also, the tide +of war set against the queen. The French and Spaniards poured an army of +seventy thousand men over the Alps into Italy. The queen, even with the +aid of Sardinia, had no force capable of resisting them. The allies +swept the country. The King of Sardinia was driven behind the walls of +his capital. In this one short campaign Tortona, Placentia, Parma, +Pavia, Cazale and Aste were wrested from the Austrians, and the citadels +of Alexandria and Milan were blockaded. + +The queen had weakened her armies both in the Netherlands and Italy that +she might accumulate a force sufficient to recover Silesia, and to crush, +if possible, her great antagonist Frederic. Maria Theresa was greatly +elated by her success in driving the Prussians from Bavaria, and +Frederic was mortified and irritated by this first defeat of his arms. +Thus animated, the one by hope, the other by vengeance, Maria and +Frederic gathered all their resources for a trial of strength on the +plains of Silesia. France, fully occupied in the Netherlands and in +Italy, could render Frederic no assistance. His prospects began to look +dark. War had made sad ravages in his army, and he found much difficulty +in filling up his wasted battalions. His treasury was exhausted. Still +the indomitable monarch indulged in no emotions of dejection. + +Each party was fully aware of the vigilance and energy of its +antagonist. Their forces were early in the field. The month of April was +passed in stratagems and skirmishes, each endeavoring in vain to obtain +some advantage over the other in position or combinations. Early in May +there was a pretty severe conflict, in which the Prussians gained the +advantage. They feigned, however, dejection and alarm, and apparently +commenced a retreat. The Austrians, emboldened by this subterfuge, +pursued them with indiscreet haste. Prince Charles pressed the retiring +hosts, and followed closely after them through the passes of the +mountains to Landshut and Friedburg. Frederic fled as if in a panic, +throwing no obstacle in the path of his pursuers, seeming only anxious +to gain the ramparts of Breslau. Suddenly the Prussians turned--the +whole army being concentrated in columns of enormous strength. They had +chosen their ground and their hour. It was before the break of day on +the 3d of June, among the hills of Hohenfriedberg. The Austrians were +taken utterly by surprise. For seven hours they repelled the impetuous +onset of their foes. But when four thousand of their number were mangled +corpses, seven thousand captives in the hands of the enemy, seventy-six +standards and sixty-six pieces of artillery wrested from them, the +broken bands of the Austrians turned and fled, pursued and incessantly +pelted by Frederic through the defiles of the mountains back to Bohemia. +The Austrians found no rest till they had escaped beyond the +Riesengeberg, and placed the waves of the Elbe between themselves and +their pursuers. The Prussians followed to the opposite bank, and there +the two armies remained for three months looking each other in the face. + +Frederic, having gained so signal a victory, again proposed peace. +England, exceedingly desirous to detach from the allies so energetic a +foe, urged the queen, in the strongest terms, to accede to the +overtures. The queen, however, never dismayed by adversity, still +adhered to her resolve to reconquer Silesia. The English cabinet, +finding Maria Theresa deaf to all their remonstrances and entreaties, +endeavored to intimidate her by the threat of withdrawing their +subsidies. + +The English ambassador, Sir Thomas Robinson, with this object in view, +demanded an audience with the queen. The interview, as he has recorded +it, is worthy of preservation. + +"England," said the ambassador to the queen, "has this year furnished +five million, three hundred and ninety-three thousand seven hundred and +sixty-five dollars. The nation is not in a condition to maintain a +superiority over the allies in the Netherlands, Italy and Silesia. It +is, therefore, indispensable to diminish the force of the enemy. France +can not be detached from the alliance. Prussia can be and must be. This +concession England expects from Austria. What is to be done must be done +immediately. The King of Prussia can not be driven from Bohemia this +campaign. By making peace with him, and thus securing his voluntary +withdrawal, your majesty can send troops to the Netherlands, and check +the rapid progress of the French, who now threaten the very existence of +England and Holland. If they fall, Austria must inevitably fall also. If +peace can be, made with Prussia France can be checked, and the Duke of +Lorraine can be chosen emperor." + +"I feel exceedingly grateful," the queen replied, "to the king and the +English nation, and am ready to show it in every way in my power. Upon +this matter I will consult my ministers and acquaint you with my answer. +But whatever may be the decision, I can not spare a man from the +neighborhood of the King of Prussia. In peace, as well as in war, I need +them all for the defense of my person and family." + +"It is affirmed," Sir Thomas Robinson replied, "that seventy thousand +men are employed against Prussia. From such a force enough might be +spared to render efficient aid in Italy and in the Netherlands." + +"I can not spare a man," the queen abruptly replied. + +Sir Thomas was a little touched, and with some spirit rejoined, "If your +majesty can not spare her troops for the general cause, England will +soon find it necessary to withdraw her armies also, to be employed at +home." + +This was a home thrust, and the queen felt it, and replied, "But why may +we not as well detach France from the alliance, as Prussia?" + +"Because Prussia," was the reply, "can be more easily induced to accede +to peace, by allowing her to retain what she now has, than France can be +induced to yield, by surrendering, as she must, large portions of her +present acquisitions." + +"I must have an opportunity," Maria Theresa continued, "to strike +Prussia another blow. Prince Charles has still enough men to give +battle." + +"But should he be the victor in the battle," Sir Thomas replied, +"Silesia is not conquered. And if the battle be lost, your majesty is +well nigh ruined." + +"If I had determined," said the queen, "to make peace with Frederic +to-morrow, I would give him battle to-night. But why in such a hurry? +Why this interruption of operations which are by no means to be +despaired of? Give me only to October, and then you may do as you +please." + +"October will close this campaign," was the answer. "Our affairs are +going so disastrously, that unless we can detach Prussia, by that time +France and Prussia will be able to dictate terms to which we shall be +compelled to accede." + +"That might be true," the queen replied, tartly, "if I were to waste my +time, as you are urging me to do, in marching my troops from Bohemia to +the Rhine, and from the Rhine to the Netherlands. But as for my troops, +I have not a single general who would condescend to command such merely +_machinery_ armies. As for the Duke of Lorraine, and my brother, Prince +Charles, they shall not thus degrade themselves. The great duke is not +so ambitious of an empty honor, much less to enjoy it under the +patronage of Prussia. You speak of the imperial dignity! Is it +compatible with the loss of Silesia? Great God! give me only till +October. I shall then at least be able to secure better conditions." + +The English ambassador now ventured, in guarded phrase, but very +decisively, to inform the queen that unless she could accede to these +views, England would be constrained to withdraw her assistance, and, +making the best terms she could for herself with the enemy, leave +Austria to fight her own battles; and that England requested an +immediate and a specific answer. Even this serious menace did not move +the inflexible will of the queen. She, with much calmness, replied, + +"It is that I might, with the utmost promptness, attend to this +business, that I have given you so expeditious an audience, and that I +have summoned my council to meet so early. I see, however, very clearly, +that whatever may be my decisions, they will have but little influence +upon measures which are to be adopted elsewhere." + +The queen convened her council, and then informed England, in most +courteous phrase, that she could not accede to the proposition. The +British cabinet immediately entered into a private arrangement with +Prussia, guaranteeing to Frederic the possession of Silesia, in +consideration of Prussia's agreement not to molest England's Hanoverian +possessions. + +Maria Theresa was exceedingly indignant when she became acquainted with +this treaty. She sent peremptory orders to Prince Charles to prosecute +hostilities with the utmost vigor, and with great energy dispatched +reënforcements to his camp. The Hungarians, with their accustomed +enthusiasm, flocked to the aid of the queen; and Frederic, pressed by +superior numbers, retreated from Bohemia back to Silesia, pursued and +pelted in his turn by the artillery of Prince Charles. But Frederic soon +turned upon his foes, who almost surrounded him with double his own +number of men. His army was compact and in the highest state of +discipline. A scene of terrible carnage ensued, in which the Austrians, +having lost four thousand in killed and two thousand taken prisoners, +were utterly routed and scattered. The proud victor, gathering up his +weakened battalions, one fourth of whom had been either killed or +wounded in this short, fierce storm of war, continued his retreat +unmolested. + +While Maria Theresa, with such almost superhuman inflexibility, was +pressing her own plans, the electoral diet of Germany was assembled at +Frankfort, and Francis, Duke of Lorraine, was chosen emperor, with the +title of Francis I. The queen was at Frankfort when the diet had +assembled, and was plying all her energies in favor of her husband, +while awaiting, with intense solicitude, the result of the election. +When the choice was announced to her, she stepped out upon the balcony +of the palace, and was the first to shout, "Long live the emperor, +Francis I." The immense concourse assembled in the streets caught and +reëchoed the cry. This result was exceedingly gratifying to the queen; +she regarded it as a noble triumph, adding to the power and the luster +of her house. + +The duke, now the emperor, was at Heidelberg, with an army of sixty +thousand men. The queen hastened to him with her congratulations. The +emperor, no longer a submissive subject, received his queenly spouse +with great dignity at the head of his army. The whole host was drawn up +in two lines, and the queen rode between, bowing to the regiments on the +right hand and the left, with majesty and grace which all admired. + +Though the queen's treasury was so exhausted that she had been compelled +to melt the church plate to pay her troops, she was now so elated that, +regardless of the storms of winter, she resolved to send an army to +Berlin, to chastise Frederic in his own capital, and there recover long +lost Silesia. But Frederic was not thus to be caught napping. Informed +of the plan, he succeeded in surprising the Austrian army, and dispersed +them after the slaughter of five thousand men. The queen's troops, who +had entered Silesia, were thus driven pell-mell back to Bohemia. The +Prussian king then invaded Saxony, driving all before him. He took +possession of the whole electorate, and entered Dresden, its capital, in +triumph. This was a terrible defeat for the queen. Though she had often +said that she would part with her last garment before she would consent +to the surrender of Silesia, she felt now compelled to yield. Accepting +the proffered mediation of England, on the 25th of December, 1745, she +signed the treaty of Dresden, by which she left Silesia in the hands of +Frederic. He agreed to withdraw his troops from Saxony, and to +acknowledge the imperial title of Francis I. + +England, in consequence of rebellion at home, had been compelled to +withdraw her troops from the Netherlands; and France, advancing with +great vigor, took fortress after fortress, until nearly all of the Low +Countries had fallen into her hands. In Italy, however, the Austrians +were successful, and Maria Theresa, having dispatched thirty thousand +troops to their aid, cherished sanguine hopes that she might recover +Milan and Naples. All the belligerent powers, excepting Maria Theresa, +weary of the long war, were anxious for peace. She, however, still +clung, with deathless tenacity, to her determination to recover Silesia, +and to win provinces in Italy. England and France were equally desirous +to sheathe the sword. France could only attack England in the +Netherlands; England could only assail France in her marine. They were +both successful. France drove England from the continent; England drove +France from the ocean. + +Notwithstanding the most earnest endeavors of the allies, Maria Theresa +refused to listen to any terms of peace, and succeeded in preventing the +other powers from coming to any accommodation. All parties, +consequently, prepared for another campaign. Prussia entered into an +alliance with Austria, by which she agreed to furnish her with thirty +thousand troops. The queen made gigantic efforts to drive the French +from the Netherlands. England and Holland voted an army of forty +thousand each. The queen furnished sixty thousand; making an army of one +hundred and forty thousand to operate in the Netherlands. At the same +time the queen sent sixty thousand men to Italy, to be joined by +forty-five thousand Sardinians. All the energies of the English fleet +were also combined with these formidable preparations. Though never +before during the war had such forces been brought into the field, the +campaign was quite disastrous to Austria and her allies. Many bloody +battles were fought, and many thousands perished in agony; but nothing +of any importance was gained by either party. When winter separated the +combatants, they retired exhausted and bleeding. + +Again France made overtures for a general pacification, on terms which +were eminently honorable. England was disposed to listen to those terms. +But the queen had not yet accomplished her purposes, and she succeeded +in securing the rejection of the proposals. Again the belligerents +gathered their resources, with still increasing vigor, for another +campaign. The British cabinet seemed now to be out of all patience with +Maria Theresa. They accused her of not supplying the contingents she had +promised, they threatened to withhold their subsidies, many bitter +recriminations passed, but still the queen, undismayed by the +contentions, urged forward her preparations for the new campaign, till +she was thunderstruck with the tidings that the preliminaries of peace +were already signed by England, France and Holland. + +Maria Theresa received the first formal notification of the terms agreed +to by the three contracting powers, from the English minister, Sir +Thomas Robinson, who urged her concurrence in the treaty. The indignant +queen could not refrain from giving free vent to her displeasure. +Listening for a moment impatiently to his words, she overwhelmed him +with a torrent of reproaches. + +"You, sir," she exclaimed, "who had such a share in the sacrifice of +Silesia; you, who contributed more than any one in procuring the +cessions to Sardinia, do you still think to persuade me? No! I am +neither a child nor a fool! If you will have an instant peace, make it. +I can negotiate for myself. Why am I always to be excluded from +transacting my own business? My enemies will give me better conditions +than my friends. Place me where I was in Italy before the war; but _your +King of Sardinia_ must have all, without one thought for me. This treaty +was not made for me, but for him, for him singly. Great God, how have I +been used by that court! There is _your King of Prussia_! Indeed these +circumstances tear open too many old wounds and create too many new +ones. Agree to such a treaty as this!" she exclaimed indignantly. "No, +no, I will rather lose my head." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +MARIA THERESA. + +From 1748 to 1759. + +Treaty of Peace.--Dissatisfaction of Maria Theresa.--Preparation for +War.--Rupture between England and Austria.--Maria Theresa.--Alliance +with France.--Influence of Marchioness of Pompadour.--Bitter Reproaches +Between Austria and England.--Commencement of the Seven Years' +War.--Energy of Frederic of Prussia.--Sanguinary Battles.--Vicissitudes +of War.--Desperate Situation of Frederic.--Elation of Maria Theresa.-- +Her Ambitious Plans.--Awful Defeat of the Prussians at Berlin. + + +Notwithstanding the bitter opposition of Maria Theresa to peace, the +definitive treaty was signed at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 18th of October, +1748, by France, England and Holland. Spain and Sardinia soon also gave +in their adhesion. The queen, finding it impossible to resist the +determination of the other powers, at length reluctantly yielded, and +accepted the terms, which they were ready unitedly to enforce should she +refuse to accede to them. By this treaty all the contracting powers gave +their assent to the Pragmatic Sanction. The queen was required to +surrender her conquests in Italy, and to confirm her cessions of Silesia +to Prussia. Thus terminated this long and cruel war. Though at the +commencement the queen was threatened with utter destruction, and she +had come out from the contests with signal honor, retaining all her vast +possessions, excepting Silesia and the Italian provinces, still she +could not repress her chagrin. Her complaints were loud and reiterated. +When the British minister requested an audience to congratulate her upon +the return of peace, she snappishly replied, + +"A visit of condolence would be more proper, under these circumstances, +than one of congratulation. The British minister will oblige me by +making no allusion whatever to so disagreeable a topic." + +The queen was not only well aware that this peace could not long +continue, but was fully resolved that it should not be permanent. Her +great rival, Frederic, had wrested from her Silesia, and she was +determined that there should be no stable peace until she had regained +it. With wonderful energy she availed herself of this short respite in +replenishing her treasury and in recruiting her armies. Frederic himself +has recorded the masculine vigor with which she prepared herself for the +renewal of war. + +"Maria Theresa," he says, "in the secrecy of her cabinet, arranged those +great projects which she afterwards carried into execution. She +introduced an order and economy into the finances unknown to her +ancestors; and her revenues far exceeded those of her father, even when +he was master of Naples, Parma, Silesia and Servia. Having learned the +necessity of introducing into her army a better discipline, she annually +formed camps in the provinces, which she visited herself that she might +animate the troops by her presence and bounty. She established a +military academy at Vienna, and collected the most skillful professors +of all the sciences and exercises which tend to elucidate or improve the +art of war. By these institutions the army acquired, under Maria +Theresa, such a degree of perfection as it had never attained under any +of her predecessors; and a woman accomplished designs worthy of a great +man." + +The queen immediately organized a standing army of one hundred and eight +thousand men, who were brought under the highest state of discipline, +and were encamped in such positions that they could, at any day, be +concentrated ready for combined action. The one great object which now +seemed to engross her mind was the recovery of Silesia. It was, of +course, a subject not to be spoken of openly; but in secret conference +with her ministers she unfolded her plans and sought counsel. Her +intense devotion to political affairs, united to a mind of great +activity and native strength, soon placed her above her ministers in +intelligence and sagacity; and conscious of superior powers, she leaned +less upon them, and relied upon her own resources. With a judgment thus +matured she became convinced of the incapacity of her cabinet, and with +great skill in the discernment of character, chose Count Kaunitz, who +was then her ambassador at Paris, prime minister. Kaunitz, son of the +governor of Moravia, had given signal proof of his diplomatic abilities, +in Rome and in Paris. For nearly forty years he remained at the head of +foreign affairs, and, in conjunction with the queen, administered the +government of Austria. + +Policy had for some time allied Austria and England, but there had never +been any real friendship between the two cabinets. The high tone of +superiority ever assumed by the court of St. James, its offensive +declaration that the arm of England alone had saved the house of Austria +from utter ruin, and the imperious demand for corresponding gratitude, +annoyed and exasperated the proud court of Vienna. The British cabinet +were frequently remonstrated with against the assumption of such airs, +and the employment of language so haughty in their diplomatic +intercourse. But the British government has never been celebrated for +courtesy in its intercourse with weaker powers. The chancellor Kaunitz +entreated them, in their communications, to respect the sex and temper +of the queen, and not to irritate her by demeanor so overbearing. The +emperor himself entered a remonstrance against the discourtesy which +characterized their intercourse. Even the queen, unwilling to break off +friendly relations with her unpolished allies, complained to the British +ambassador of the arrogant style of the English documents. + +"They do not," said the queen, "disturb me, but they give great offense +to others, and endanger the amity existing between the two nations. I +would wish that more courtesy might mark our intercourse." + +But the amenities of polished life, the rude islanders despised. The +British ambassador at Vienna, Sir Robert Keith, a gentlemanly man, was +often mortified at the messages he was compelled to communicate to the +queen. Occasionally the messages were couched in terms so peremptory and +offensive that he could not summon resolution to deliver them, and thus +he more than once incurred the censure of the king and cabinet, for his +sense of propriety and delicacy. These remonstrances were all +unavailing, and at length the Austrian cabinet began to reply with equal +rancor. + +This state of things led the Austrian cabinet to turn to France, and +seek the establishment of friendly relations with that court. Louis XV., +the most miserable of debauchees, was nominally king. His mistress, +Jeanette Poisson, who was as thoroughly polluted as her regal paramour, +governed the monarch, and through him France. The king had ennobled her +with the title of Marchioness of Pompadour. Her power was so boundless +and indisputable that the most illustrious ladies of the French court +were happy to serve as her waiting women. Whenever she walked out, one +of the highest nobles of the realm accompanied her as her attendant, +obsequiously bearing her shawl upon his arm, to spread it over her +shoulders in case it should be needed. Ambassadors and ministers she +summoned before her, assuming that air of royalty which she had +purchased with her merchantable charms. Voltaire, Diderot, Montesquieu, +waited in her ante-chambers, and implored her patronage. The haughty +mistress became even weary of their adulation. + +"Not only," said she one day, to the Abbé de Bernis, "have I all the +nobility at my feet, but even my lap-dog is weary of their fawning." + +With many apologies for requiring of the high-minded Maria Theresa a +sacrifice, Kaunitz suggested to her the expediency of cultivating the +friendship of Pompadour. Silesia was engraved upon the heart of the +queen, and she was prepared to do any thing which could aid her in the +reconquest of that duchy. She stooped so low as to write a letter with +her own hand to the marchioness, addressing her as "our dear friend and +cousin." + +This was a new triumph for Pompadour, and it delighted her beyond +measure. To have the most illustrious sovereign of Europe, combining in +her person the titles of Queen of Austria and Empress of Germany, +solicit her friendship and her good offices, so excited the vanity of +the mistress, that she became immediately the warm friend of Maria +Theresa, and her all powerful advocate in the court of Versailles. +England was now becoming embroiled with France in reference to the +possessions upon the St. Lawrence and Ohio in North America. In case of +war, France would immediately make an attack upon Hanover. England was +anxious to secure the Austrian alliance, that the armies of the queen +might aid in the protection of Hanover. But Austria, being now in secret +conference with France, was very reserved. England coaxed and +threatened, but could get no definite or satisfactory answer. Quite +enraged, the British cabinet sent a final declaration that, "should the +empress decline fulfilling the conditions required, the king can not +take any measures in coöperation with Austria, and the present system of +European policy must be dissolved." + +The reply of the empress queen develops the feelings of irritation and +bitterness which at that time existed between the two cabinets of +Austria and England. + +"The queen," Maria Theresa replied, "has never had the satisfaction of +seeing England do justice to her principles. If the army of Austria were +merely the hired soldiers of England, the British cabinet could not more +decisively assume the control of their movements than it now does, by +requiring their removal from the center of Austria, for the defense of +England and Hanover. We are reproached with the great efforts England +has made in behalf of the house of Austria. But to these efforts England +owes its present greatness. If Austria has derived useful succors from +England, she has purchased those succors with the blood and ruin of her +subjects; while England has been opening to herself new sources of +wealth and power. We regret the necessity of uttering these truths in +reply to unjust and unceasing reproaches. Could any consideration +diminish our gratitude towards England, it would be thus diminished by +her constant endeavor to represent the aid she has furnished us as +entirely gratuitous, when this aid has always been and always will be +dictated by her own interests." + +Such goading as this brought back a roar. The British envoy was ordered +to demand an explicit and categorical reply to the following questions: + +1. If the French attack Hanover, will the queen render England +assistance? + +2. What number of troops will she send; and how soon will they be in +motion to join the British and Hanoverian troops? + +The Austrian minister, Kaunitz, evaded a reply, coldly answering, "Our +ultimatum has been given. The queen deems those declarations as ample as +can be expected in the present posture of affairs; nor can she give any +further reply till England shall have more fully explained her +intentions." + +Thus repulsed, England turned to Prussia, and sought alliance with the +most inveterate enemy of Austria. Frederic, fearing an assault from +united Russia and Austria, eagerly entered into friendly relations with +England, and on the 16th of January, 1756, entered into a treaty with +the cabinet of Great Britain for the defense of Hanover. + +Maria Theresa was quite delighted with this arrangement, for affairs +were moving much to her satisfaction at Versailles. Her "dear friend and +cousin" Jeanette Poisson, had dismissed all the ministers who were +unfriendly to Austria, and had replaced them with her own creatures who +were in favor of the Austrian alliance. A double motive influenced the +Marchioness of Pompadour. Her vanity was gratified by the advances of +Maria Theresa, and revenge roused her soul against Frederic of Prussia, +who had indulged in a cutting witticism upon her position and character. + +The marchioness, with one of her favorites, Cardinal Bernis, met the +Austrian ambassador in one of the private apartments of the palace of +the Luxembourg, and arranged the plan of the alliance between France and +Austria. Maria Theresa, without the knowledge of her ministers, or even +of her husband the emperor, privately conducted these negotiations with +the Marchioness du Pompadour. M. Kaunitz was the agent employed by the +queen in this transaction. Louis XV., sunk in the lowest depths of +debauchery, consented to any arrangements his mistress might propose. +But when the treaty was all matured it became necessary to present it to +the Council of State. The queen, knowing how astounded her husband would +be to learn what she had been doing, and aware of the shock it would +give the ministry to think of an alliance with France, pretended to +entire ignorance of the measures she had been so energetically +prosecuting. + +In very guarded and apologetic phrase, Kaunitz introduced the delicate +subject. The announcement of the unexpected alliance with France struck +all with astonishment and indignation. Francis, vehemently moved, rose, +and smiting the table with his hand, exclaimed, "Such an alliance is +unnatural and impracticable--it never shall take place." The empress, by +nods and winks, encouraged her minister, and he went on detailing the +great advantages to result from the French alliance. Maria Theresa +listened with great attention to his arguments, and was apparently +convinced by them. She then gave her approbation so decisively as to +silence all debate. She said that such a treaty was so manifestly for +the interest of Austria, that she was fearful that France would not +accede to it. Since she knew that the matter was already arranged and +settled with the French court, this was a downright lie, though the +queen probably regarded it as a venial fib, or as diplomacy. + +Thus curiously England and Austria had changed their allies. George II. +and Frederic II., from being rancorous foes became friends, and Maria +Theresa and Louis XV. unfurled their flags together. England was +indignant with Austria for the French alliance, Austria was indignant +with England for the Prussian alliance. Each accused the other of being +the first to abandon the ancient treaty. As the British ambassador +reproached the queen with this abandonment, she replied, + +"I have not abandoned the old system, but Great Britain has abandoned me +and that system, by concluding the Prussian treaty, the first +intelligence of which struck me like a fit of apoplexy. I and the King +of Prussia are incompatible. No consideration on earth shall induce me +to enter into any engagement to which he is a party. Why should you be +surprised if, following your example in concluding a treaty with +Prussia, I should enter into an engagement with France?" + +"I have but two enemies," Maria Theresa said again, "whom I have to +dread--the King of Prussia and the Turks. And while I and the Empress of +Russia continue on the same good terms as now subsist between us, we +shall, I trust, be able to convince Europe that we are in a condition to +defend ourselves against those adversaries, however formidable." + +The queen still kept her eye anxiously fixed upon Silesia, and in secret +combination with the Empress of Russia made preparation for a sudden +invasion. With as much secrecy as was possible, large armies were +congregated in the vicinity of Prague, while Russia was cautiously +concentrating her troops upon the frontiers of Livonia. But Frederic was +on the alert, and immediately demanded of the empress queen the +significance of these military movements. + +"In the present crisis," the queen replied, "I deem it necessary to take +measures for the security of myself and my allies, which tend to the +prejudice of no one." + +So vague an answer was of course unsatisfactory, and the haughty +Prussian king reiterated his demand in very imperious tones. + +"I wish," said he, "for an immediate and categorical answer, not +delivered in an oracular style, ambiguous and inconclusive, respecting +the armaments in Bohemia, and I demand a positive assurance that the +queen will not attack me either during this or the following year." + +The answer returned by the queen to this demand was equally +unsatisfactory with the first, and the energetic Prussian monarch, +wasting no more words, instantly invaded Saxony with a powerful army, +overran the duchy, and took possession of Dresden, its capital. Then +wheeling his troops, with twenty-four thousand men he marched boldly +into Bohemia. The queen dispatched an army of forty thousand to meet +him. The fierce encounter took place at Lowositz, near the banks of the +Elbe. The military genius of Frederic prevailed, and the Austrians were +repulsed, though the slaughter was about equal on each side, six +thousand men, three thousand upon each side, being left in their blood. +Frederic took possession of Saxony as a conquered province. Seventeen +thousand soldiers, whom he made prisoners, he forced into his own +service. Eighty pieces of cannon were added to his artillery train, and +the revenues of Saxony replenished his purse. + +The anger of Maria Theresa, at this humiliation of her ally, was roused +to the highest pitch, and she spent the winter in the most vigorous +preparations for the campaign of the spring. She took advantage of +religious fanaticism, and represented, through all the Catholic courts +of Europe, that there was a league of the two heretical powers, England +and Prussia, against the faithful children of the Church. Jeanette +Poisson, Marchioness of Pompadour, who now controlled the destinies of +France, raised, for the service of Maria Theresa, an army of one hundred +and five thousand men, paid all the expenses of ten thousand Bavarian +troops, and promised the queen an annual subsidy of twelve millions of +imperial florins. The emperor, regarding the invasion of Saxony as an +insult to the empire, roused the States of Germany to coöperate with the +queen. Europe was again ablaze with war. + +It was indeed a fearful combination now prepared to make a rush upon the +King of Prussia. France had assembled eighty thousand men on the Rhine. +The Swedes were rallying in great numbers on the frontiers of Pomerania. +The Russians had concentrated an army sixty thousand strong on the +borders of Livonia. And the Queen of Austria had one hundred and fifty +thousand men on the march, through Hungary and Bohemia, to the frontiers +of Silesia. Frederic, with an eagle eye, was watching all these +movements, and was employing all his amazing energies to meet the +crisis. He resolved to have the advantage of striking the first blow, +and adopted the bold measure of marching directly into the heart of the +Austrian States. To deceive the allies he pretended to be very much +frightened, and by breaking down bridges and establishing fortresses +seemed intent upon merely presenting a desperate defense behind his +ramparts. + +Suddenly, in three strong, dense columns, Frederic burst into Bohemia +and advanced, with rapid and resistless strides, towards Prague. The +unprepared Austrian bands were driven before these impetuous assailants +as chaff is dispersed by the whirlwind. With great precipitation the +Austrian troops, from all quarters, fled to the city of Prague and +rallied beneath its walls. Seventy thousand men were soon collected, +strongly intrenched behind ramparts, thrown up outside of the city, from +which ramparts, in case of disaster, they could retire behind the walls +and into the citadel. + +The king, with his army, came rushing on like the sweep of the tornado, +and plunged, as a thunderbolt of war, into the camp of the Austrians. +For a few hours the battle blazed as if it were a strife of demons--hell +in high carnival. Eighteen thousand Prussians were mowed down by the +Austrian batteries, before the fierce assailants could scale the +ramparts. Then, with cimeter and bayonet, they took a bloody revenge. +Eight thousand Austrians were speedily weltering in blood. The shriek of +the battle penetrated all the dwellings in Prague, appalling every ear, +like a wail from the world of woe. The routed Austrians, leaving nine +thousand prisoners, in the hands of Frederic, rushed through the gates +into the city, while a storm of shot from the batteries on the walls +drove back the pursuing Prussians. + +Prague, with the broken army thus driven within its walls, now contained +one hundred thousand inhabitants. The city was totally unprepared for a +siege. All supplies of food being cut off, the inhabitants were soon +reduced to extreme suffering. The queen was exceedingly anxious that the +city should hold out until she could hasten to its relief. She succeeded +in sending a message to the besieged army, by a captain of grenadiers, +who contrived to evade the vigilance of the besiegers and to gain +entrance to the city. + +"I am concerned," said the empress, "that so many generals, with so +considerable a force, must remain besieged in Prague, but I augur +favorably for the event. I can not too strongly impress upon your minds +that the troops will incur everlasting disgrace should they not effect +what the French in the last war performed with far inferior numbers. The +honor of the whole nation, as well as that of the imperial aims, is +interested in their present behavior. The security of Bohemia, of my +other hereditary dominions, and of the German empire itself, depends on +a gallant defense and the preservation of Prague. + +"The army under the command of Marshal Daun is daily strengthening, and +will soon be in a condition to raise the siege. The French are +approaching with all diligence. The Swedes are marching to my +assistance. In a short space of time affairs will, under divine +Providence, wear a better aspect." + +The scene in Prague was awful. Famine strode through all the streets, +covering the pavements with the emaciate corpses of the dead. An +incessant bombardment was kept up from the Prussian batteries, and shot +and shell were falling incessantly, by day and by night, in every +portion of the city. Conflagrations were continually blazing; there was +no possible place of safety; shells exploded in parlors, in chambers, in +cellars, tearing limb from limb, and burying the mutilated dead beneath +the ruins of their dwellings. The booming of the cannon, from the +distant batteries, was answered by the thunder of the guns from the +citadel and the walls, and blended with all this uproar rose the +uninterrupted shrieks of the wounded and the dying. The cannonade from +the Prussian batteries was so destructive, that in a few days one +quarter of the entire city was demolished. + +Count Daun, with sixty thousand men, was soon advancing rapidly towards +Prague. Frederic, leaving a small force to continue the blockade of the +city, marched with the remainder of his troops to assail the Austrian +general. They soon met, and fought for some hours as fiercely as mortals +can fight. The slaughter on both sides was awful. At length the fortune +of war turned in favor of the Austrians, though they laid down nine +thousand husbands, fathers, sons, in bloody death, as the price of the +victory. Frederic was almost frantic with grief and rage as he saw his +proud battalions melting away before the batteries of the foe. Six times +his cavalry charged with the utmost impetuosity, and six times they were +as fiercely repulsed. Frederic was finally compelled to withdraw, +leaving fourteen thousand of his troops either slain or prisoners. +Twenty-two Prussian standards and forty-three pieces of artillery were +taken by the Austrians. + +The tidings of this victory elated Maria Theresa almost to delirium. +Feasts were given, medals struck, presents given, and the whole empire +blazed with illuminations, and rang with all the voices of joy. The +queen even condescended to call in person upon the Countess Daun to +congratulate her upon the great victory attained by her husband. She +instituted, on the occasion, a new military order of merit, called the +order of Maria Theresa. Count Daun and his most illustrious officers +were honored with the first positions in this new order of knighthood. + +The Prussians were compelled to raise the siege of Prague, and to +retreat with precipitation. Bohemia was speedily evacuated by the +Prussian troops. The queen was now determined to crush Frederic +entirely, so that he might never rise again. His kingdom was to be taken +from him, carved up, and apportioned out between Austria, Sweden, Poland +and Russia. + +The Prussians retreated, in a broken band of but twenty-five thousand +men, into the heart of Silesia, to Breslau, its beautiful and strongly +fortified capital. This city, situated upon the Oder, at its junction +with the Ohlau, contained a population of nearly eighty thousand. The +fugitive troops sought refuge behind its walls, protected as they were +by batteries of the heaviest artillery. The Austrians, strengthened by +the French, with an army now amounting to ninety thousand, followed +closely on, and with their siege artillery commenced the cannonade of +the city. An awful scene of carnage ensued, in which the Austrians lost +eight thousand men and the Prussians five thousand, when the remnant of +the Prussian garrison, retreating by night through a remote gate, left +the city in the hands of the Austrians. + +It was now mid-winter. But the iron-nerved Frederic, undismayed by these +terrible reverses, collected the scattered fragments of his army, and, +finding himself at the head of thirty thousand men, advanced to Breslau +in the desperate attempt to regain his capital. His force was so +inconsiderable as to excite the ridicule of the Austrians. Upon the +approach of Frederic, Prince Charles, disdaining to hide behind the +ramparts of the city on the defensive, against a foe thus insulting him +with inferior numbers, marched to meet the Prussians. The interview +between Prince Charles and Frederic was short but very decisive, lasting +only from the hour of dinner to the going down of a December's sun. The +twilight of the wintry day had not yet come when seven thousand +Austrians were lying mangled in death on the blood-stained snow. Twenty +thousand were made prisoners. All the baggage of the Austrian army, the +military chest, one hundred and thirty-four pieces of cannon, and +fifty-nine standards fell into the hands of the victors. For this +victory Frederic paid the price of five thousand lives; but _life_ to +the poor Prussian soldier must have been a joyless scene, and death must +have been a relief. + +Frederic now, with triumphant banners, approached the city. It +immediately capitulated, surrendering nearly eighteen thousand soldiers, +six hundred and eighty-six officers and thirteen generals as prisoners +of war. In this one storm of battle, protracted through but a few days, +Maria Theresa lost fifty thousand men. Frederic then turned upon the +Russians, and drove them out of Silesia. The same doom awaited the +Swedes, and they fled precipitately to winter quarters behind the cannon +of Stralsund. Thus terminated the memorable campaign of 1757, the most +memorable of the Seven Years' War. The Austrian army was almost +annihilated; but the spirit of the strife was not subdued in any breast. + +The returning sun of spring was but the harbinger of new woes for +war-stricken Europe. England, being essentially a maritime power, could +render Frederic but little assistance in troops; but the cabinet of St. +James was lavish in voting money. Encouraged by the vigor Frederic had +shown, the British cabinet, with enthusiasm, voted him an annual subsidy +of three million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. + +Austria was so exhausted in means and in men, that notwithstanding the +most herculean efforts of the queen, it was not until April of the year +1758 that she was able to concentrate fifty thousand men in the field, +with the expensive equipments which war demands. Frederic, aided by the +gold of England, was early on the move, and had already opened the +campaign by the invasion of Moravia, and by besieging Olmutz. + +The summer was passed in a series of incessant battles, sweeping all +over Germany, with the usual vicissitudes of war. In the great battle of +Hockkirchen Frederic encountered a woful defeat. The battle took place +on the 14th of October, and lasted five hours. Eight thousand Austrians +and nine thousand Prussians were stretched lifeless upon the plain. +Frederic was at last compelled to retreat, abandoning his tents, his +baggage, one hundred and one cannon, and thirty standards. Nearly every +Prussian general was wounded. The king himself was grazed by a ball; his +horse was shot from under him, and two pages were killed at his side. + +Again Vienna blazed with illuminations and rang with rejoicing, and the +queen liberally dispensed her gifts and her congratulations. Still +nothing effectual was accomplished by all this enormous expenditure of +treasure, this carnage and woe; and again the exhausted combatants +retired to seek shelter from the storms of winter. Thus terminated the +third year of this cruel and wasting war. + +The spring of 1759 opened brightly for Maria Theresa. Her army, flushed +by the victory of the last autumn, was in high health and spirits. All +the allies of Austria redoubled their exertions; and the Catholic States +of Germany with religious zeal rallied against the two heretical +kingdoms of Prussia and England. The armies of France, Austria, Sweden +and Russia were now marching upon Prussia, and it seemed impossible that +the king could withstand such adversaries. More fiercely than ever the +storm of war raged. Frederic, at the head of forty thousand men, early +in June met eighty thousand Russians and Austrians upon the banks of the +Oder, near Frankfort. For seven hours the action lasted, and the allies +were routed with enormous slaughter; but the king, pursuing his victory +too far with his exhausted troops, was turned upon by the foe, and was +routed himself in turn, with the slaughter of one half of his whole +army. Twenty-four thousand of the allies and twenty thousand Prussians +perished on that bloody day. + +Frederic exposed his person with the utmost recklessness. Two horses +were shot beneath him; several musket balls pierced his clothes; he was +slightly wounded, and was rescued from the foe only by the almost +superhuman exertions of his hussars. In the darkness of the night the +Prussians secured their retreat. + +We have mentioned that at first Frederic seemed to have gained the +victory. So sanguine was he then of success that he dispatched a courier +from the field, with the following billet to the queen at Berlin:-- + +"We have driven the enemy from their intrenchments; in two hours expect +to hear of a glorious victory." + +Hardly two hours had elapsed ere another courier was sent to the queen +with the following appalling message:-- + +"Remove from Berlin with the royal family. Let the archives be carried +to Potsdam, and the capital make conditions with the enemy." + +In this terrible battle the enemy lost so fearfully that no effort was +made to pursue Frederic. Disaster never disheartened the Prussian king. +It seemed but to rouse anew his energies. With amazing vigor he rallied +his scattered forces, and called in reënforcements. The gold of England +was at his disposal; he dismantled distant fortresses and brought their +cannon into the field, and in a few days was at the head of twenty-eight +thousand men, beneath the walls of his capital, ready again to face the +foe. + +The thunderings of battle continued week after week, in unintermitted +roar throughout nearly all of Germany. Winter again came. Frederic had +suffered awfully during the campaign, but was still unsubdued. The +warfare was protracted even into the middle of the winter. The soldiers, +in the fields, wading through snow a foot deep, suffered more from +famine, frost and sickness than from the bullet of the foe. In the +Austrian army four thousand died, in sixteen days of December, from the +inclemency of the weather. Thus terminated the campaign of 1759. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +MARIA THERESA. + +From 1759 to 1780. + +Desolations of War.--Disasters of Prussia.--Despondency of Frederic.-- +Death of the Empress Elizabeth.--Accession of Paul III.--Assassination +of Paul III.--Accession of Catharine.--Discomfiture of the Austrians.-- +Treaty of Peace.--Election of Joseph to the Throne of the Empire.--Death +of Francis.--Character of Francis.--Anecdotes.--Energy of Maria +Theresa.--Poniatowski.--Partition of Poland.--Maria Theresa as a +Mother.--War With Bavaria.--Peace.--Death of Maria Theresa.--Family of +the Empress.--Accession of Joseph II.--His Character. + + +The spring of 1760 found all parties eager for the renewal of the +strife, but none more so than Maria Theresa. The King of Prussia was, +however, in a deplorable condition. The veteran army, in which he had +taken so much pride, was now annihilated. With despotic power he had +assembled a new army; but it was composed of peasants, raw recruits, but +poorly prepared to encounter the horrors of war. The allies were +marching against him with two hundred and fifty thousand men. Frederic, +with his utmost efforts, could muster but seventy-five thousand, who, to +use his own language, "were half peasants, half deserters from the +enemy, soldiers no longer fit for service, but only for show." + +Month after month passed away, during which the whole of Prussia +presented the aspect of one wide field of battle. Frederic fought with +the energies of desperation. Villages were everywhere blazing, squadrons +charging, and the thunders of an incessant cannonade deafened the ear by +night and by day. On the whole the campaign terminated in favor of +Frederic; the allies being thwarted in all their endeavors to crush him. +In one battle Maria Theresa lost twenty thousand men. + +During the ensuing winter all the continental powers were again +preparing for the resumption of hostilities in the spring, when the +British people, weary of the enormous expenditures of the war, began to +be clamorous for peace. The French treasury was also utterly exhausted. +France made overtures to England for a cessation of hostilities; and +these two powers, with peaceful overtures, addressed Maria Theresa. The +queen, though fully resolved to prosecute the war until she should +attain her object, thought it not prudent to reject outright such +proposals, but consented to the assembling of a congress at Augsburg. +Hostilities were not suspended during the meeting of the congress, and +the Austrian queen was sanguine in the hope of being speedily able to +crush her Prussian rival. Every general in the field had experienced +such terrible disasters, and the fortune of war seemed so fickle, now +lighting upon one banner and now upon another, that all parties were +wary, practicing the extreme of caution, and disposed rather to act upon +the defensive. Though not a single pitched battle was fought, the +allies, outnumbering the Prussians, three to one, continually gained +fortresses, intrenchments and positions, until the spirit even of +Frederic was broken by calamities, and he yielded to despair. He no +longer hoped to be able to preserve his empire, but proudly resolved to +bury himself beneath its ruins. His despondency could not be concealed +from his army, and his bravest troops declared that they could fight no +longer. + +Maria Theresa was elated beyond measure. England was withdrawing from +Prussia. Frederic was utterly exhausted both as to money and men; one +campaign more would finish the work, and Prussia would lie helpless at +the feet of Maria Theresa, and her most sanguine anticipations would be +realized. But the deepest laid plans of man are often thwarted by +apparently the most trivial events. One single individual chanced to be +taken sick and die. That individual was Elizabeth, the Empress of +Russia. On the 5th of January, 1762, she was lying upon her bed an +emaciate suffering woman, gasping in death. The departure of her last +breath changed the fate of Europe. + +Paul III., her nephew, who succeeded the empress, detested Maria +Theresa, and often inveighed bitterly against her haughtiness and her +ambition. On the contrary, he admired the King of Prussia. He had +visited the court of Berlin, where he had been received with marked +attention; and Frederic was his model of a hero. He had watched with +enthusiastic admiration the fortitude and military prowess of the +Prussian king, and had even sent to him many messages of sympathy, and +had communicated to him secrets of the cabinet and their plans of +operation. Now, enthroned as Emperor of Russia, without reserve he +avowed his attachment to Frederic, and ordered his troops to abstain +from hostilities, and to quit the Austrian army. At the same time he +sent a minister to Berlin to conclude an alliance with the hero he so +greatly admired. He even asked for himself a position in the Prussian +army as lieutenant under Frederic. + +The Swedish court was so intimately allied with that of St. Petersburg, +that the cabinet of Stockholm also withdrew from the Austrian alliance, +and thus Maria Theresa, at a blow, lost two of her most efficient +allies. The King of Prussia rose immediately from his despondency, and +the whole kingdom shared in his exultation and his joy. The Prussian +troops, in conjunction with the Russians, were now superior to the +Austrians, and were prepared to assume the offensive. But again +Providence interposed. A conspiracy was formed against the Russian +emperor, headed by his wife whom he had treated with great brutality, +and Paul III. lost both his crown and his life, in July 1762, after a +reign of less than six months. + +Catharine II., wife of Paul III., with a bloody hand took the crown from +the brow of her murdered husband and placed it upon her own head. She +immediately dissolved the Prussian alliance, declared Frederic an enemy +to the Prussian name, and ordered her troops, in coöperation with those +of Austria, to resume hostilities against Frederic. It was an +instantaneous change, confounding all the projects of man. The energetic +Prussian king, before the Russian troops had time so to change their +positions as to coöperate with the Austrians, assailed the troops of +Maria Theresa with such impetuosity as to drive them out of Silesia. +Pursuing his advantage Frederic overran Saxony, and then turning into +Bohemia, drove the Austrians before him to the walls of Prague. +Influenced by these disasters and other considerations, Catharine +decided to retire from the contest. At the same time the Turks, excited +by Frederic, commenced anew their invasion of Hungary. Maria Theresa was +in dismay. Her money was gone. Her allies were dropping from her. The +Turks were advancing triumphantly up the Danube, and Frederic was +enriching himself with the spoils of Saxony and Bohemia. Influenced by +these considerations she made overtures for peace, consenting to +renounce Silesia, for the recovery of which province she had in vain +caused Europe to be desolated with blood for so many years. A treaty of +peace was soon signed, Frederic agreeing to evacuate Saxony; and thus +terminated the bloody Seven Years' War. + +Maria Theresa's eldest son Joseph was now twenty-three years of age. Her +influence and that of the Emperor Francis was such, that they secured +his election to succeed to the throne of the empire upon the death of +his father. The emperor elect received the title of King of the Romans. +The important election took place at Frankfort, on the 27th of May, +1764. The health of the Emperor Francis I., had for some time been +precarious, he being threatened with apoplexy. Three months after the +election of his son to succeed him upon the imperial throne, Francis was +at Inspruck in the Tyrol, to attend the nuptials of his second son +Leopold, with Maria Louisa, infanta of Spain. He was feeble and +dejected, and longed to return to his home in Vienna. He imagined that +the bracing air of the Tyrol did not agree with his health, and looking +out upon the summits which tower around Inspruck exclaimed, + +"Oh! if I could but once quit these mountains of the Tyrol." + +On the morning of the 18th of August, his symptoms assumed so +threatening a form, that his friends urged him to be bled. The emperor +declined, saying, + +"I am engaged this evening to sup with Joseph, and I will not disappoint +him; but I will be blooded to-morrow." + +The evening came, and as he was preparing to go and sup with his son, he +dropped instantly dead upon the floor. Fifty-eight years was his +allotted pilgrimage--a pilgrimage of care and toil and sorrow. Even when +elevated to the imperial throne, his position was humiliating, being +ever overshadowed by the grandeur of his wife. At times he felt this +most keenly, and could not refrain from giving imprudent utterance to +his mortification. Being at one time present at a levee, which the +empress was giving to her subjects, he retired, in chagrin, from the +imperial circle into a corner of the saloon, and took his seat near two +ladies of the court. They immediately, in accordance with regal +etiquette, rose. + +"Do not regard me," said the emperor bitterly, and yet with an attempt +at playfulness, "for I shall remain here until the _court_ has retired, +and shall then amuse myself in contemplating the crowd." + +One of the ladies replied, "As long as your imperial majesty is present +the court will be here." + +"You are mistaken," rejoined the emperor, with a forced smile; "the +empress and my children are the court. I am here only as a private +individual." + +Francis I., though an impotent emperor, would have made a very good +exchange broker. He seemed to be fond of mercantile life, establishing +manufactories, and letting out money on bond and mortgage. When the +queen was greatly pressed for funds he would sometimes accept her paper, +always taking care to obtain the most unexceptionable security. He +engaged in a partnership with two very efficient men for farming the +revenues of Saxony. He even entered into a contract to supply the +_Prussian_ army with forage, when that army was expending all its +energies, during the Seven Years' War, against the troops of Maria +Theresa. He judged that his wife was capable of taking care of herself. +And she was. Notwithstanding these traits of character, he was an +exceedingly amiable and charitable man, distributing annually five +hundred thousand dollars for the relief of distress. Many anecdotes are +related illustrative of the emperor's utter fearlessness of danger, and +of the kindness of his heart. There was a terrible conflagration in +Vienna. A saltpeter magazine was in flames, and the operatives exposed +to great danger. An explosion was momentarily expected, and the firemen, +in dismay, ventured but little aid. The emperor, regardless of peril, +approached near the fire to give directions. His attendants urged him +not thus to expose his person. + +"Do not be alarmed for me," said the emperor, "think only of those poor +creatures who are in such danger of perishing." + +At another time a fearful inundation swept the valley of the Danube. +Many houses were submerged in isolated positions, all but their roofs. +In several cases the families had taken refuge on the tops of the +houses, and had remained three days and three nights without food. +Immense blocks of ice, swept down by the flood, seemed to render it +impossible to convey relief to the sufferers. The most intrepid boatmen +of the Danube dared not venture into the boiling surge. The emperor +threw himself into a boat, seized the oars, and saying, "My example may +at least influence others," pushed out into the flood and successfully +rowed to one of the houses. The boatmen were shamed into heroism, and +the imperiled people were saved. + +Maria Theresa does not appear to have been very deeply afflicted by the +death of her husband; or we should, perhaps, rather say that her grief +assumed the character which one would anticipate from a person of her +peculiar frame of mind. The emperor had not been faithful to his kingly +spouse, and she was well acquainted with his numerous infidelities. +Still she seems affectionately to have cherished the memory of his +gentle virtues. With her own hands she prepared his shroud, and she +never after laid aside her weeds of mourning. She often descended into +the vault where his remains were deposited, and passed hours in prayer +by the side of his coffin. + +Joseph, of course, having been preëlected, immediately assumed the +imperial crown. Maria Theresa had but little time to devote to grief. +She had lost Silesia, and that was a calamity apparently far heavier +than the death of her husband. Millions of treasure, and countless +thousands of lives had been expended, and all in vain, for the recovery +of that province. She now began to look around for territory she could +grasp in compensation for her loss. Poland was surrounded by Austria, +Russia and Prussia. The population consisted of two classes--the nobles +who possessed all the power, and the _people_ who were in a state of the +most abject feudal vassalage. By the laws of Poland every person was a +noble who was not engaged in any industrial occupation and who owned any +land, or who had descended from those who ever had held any land. The +government was what may perhaps be called an aristocratic republic. The +masses were mere slaves. The nobles were in a state of political +equality. They chose a chieftain whom they called _king_, but whose +power was a mere shadow. At this time Poland was in a state of anarchy. +Civil war desolated the kingdom, the nobles being divided into numerous +factions, and fighting fiercely against each other. Catharine, the +Empress of Russia, espoused the cause of her favorite, Count +Poniatowski, who was one of the candidates for the crown of Poland, and +by the influence of her money and her armies placed him upon the throne +and maintained him there. Poland thus, under the influence of the +Russian queen, became, as it were, a mere province of the Russian +empire. + +Poniatowski, a proud man, soon felt galled by the chains which Catharine +threw around him. Frederic of Prussia united with Catharine in the +endeavor to make Poniatowski subservient to their wishes. Maria Theresa +eagerly put in her claim for influence in Poland. Thus the whole realm +became a confused scene of bloodshed and devastation. Frederic of +Prussia, the great regal highwayman, now proposed to Austria and Russia +that they should settle all the difficulty by just dividing Poland +between them. To their united armies Poland could present no resistance. +Maria Theresa sent her dutiful son Joseph, the emperor, to Silesia, to +confer with Frederic upon this subject. The interview took place at +Neiss, on the 25th of August, 1769. The two sovereigns vied with each +other in the interchange of courtesies, and parted most excellent +friends. Soon after, they held another interview at Neustadt, in +Moravia, when the long rivalry between the houses of Hapsburg and +Brandenburg seemed to melt down into most cordial union. The map of +Poland was placed before the two sovereigns, and they marked out the +portion of booty to be assigned to each of the three imperial +highwaymen. The troops of Russia, Austria and Prussia were already in +Poland. The matter being thus settled between Prussia and Austria, the +Prussian king immediately conferred with Catharine at St. Petersburg. +This ambitious and unprincipled woman snatched at the bait presented, +and the infamous partition was agreed to. Maria Theresa was very greedy, +and demanded nearly half of Poland as her share. This exorbitant claim, +which she with much pertinacity adhered to, so offended the two other +sovereigns that they came near fighting about the division of the spoil. +The queen was at length compelled to lower her pretensions. The final +treaty was signed between the three powers on the 5th of August, 1772. + +The three armies were immediately put in motion, and each took +possession of that portion of the Polish territory which was assigned to +its sovereign. In a few days the deed was done. By this act Austria +received an accession of twenty-seven thousand square miles of the +richest of the Polish territory, containing a population of two million +five hundred thousand souls. Russia received a more inhospitable region, +embracing forty-two thousand square miles, and a population of one +million five hundred thousand. The share of Frederic amounted to +thirteen thousand three hundred and seventy-five square miles, and eight +hundred and sixty thousand souls. + +Notwithstanding this cruel dismemberment, there was still a feeble +Poland left, upon which the three powers were continually gnawing, each +watching the others, and snarling at them lest they should get more than +their share. After twenty years of jealous watchings the three powers +decided to finish their infamous work, and Poland was blotted from the +map of Europe. In the two divisions Austria received forty-five thousand +square miles and five million of inhabitants. Maria Theresa was now upon +the highest pinnacle of her glory and her power. She had a highly +disciplined army of two hundred thousand men; her treasury was +replenished, and her wide-spread realms were in the enjoyment of peace. +Life had been to her, thus far, but a stormy sea, and weary of toil and +care, she now hoped to close her days in tranquillity. + +The queen was a stern and stately mother. While pressed by all these +cares of state, sufficient to have crushed any ordinary mind, she had +given birth to sixteen children. But as each child was born it was +placed in the hands of careful nurses, and received but little of +parental caressings. It was seldom that she saw her children more than +once a week. Absorbed by high political interests, she contented herself +with receiving a daily report from the nursery. Every morning her +physician, Van Swieter, visited the young imperial family, and then +presented a formal statement of their condition to the strong-minded +mother. Yet the empress was very desirous of having it understood that +she was the most faithful of parents. Whenever any foreign ambassador +arrived at Vienna, the empress would contrive to have an interview, as +it were by accident, when she had collected around her her interesting +family. As the illustrious stranger retired the children also retired to +their nursery. + +One of the daughters, Josepha, was betrothed to the King of Naples. A +few days before she was to leave Vienna the queen required her, in +obedience to long established etiquette, to descend into the tomb of her +ancestors and offer up a prayer. The sister-in-law, the Emperor Joseph's +wife, had just died of the small-pox, and her remains, disfigured by +that awful disease, had but recently been deposited in the tomb. The +timid maiden was horror-stricken at the requirement, and regarded it as +her death doom. But an order from Maria Theresa no one was to disobey. +With tears filling her eyes, she took her younger sister, Maria +Antoinette, upon her knee, and said, + +"I am about to leave you, Maria, not for Naples, but to die. I must +visit the tomb of our ancestors, and I am sure that I shall take the +small-pox, and shall soon be buried there." Her fears were verified. The +disease, in its most virulent form, seized her, and in a few days her +remains were also consigned to the tomb. + +In May, 1770, Maria Antoinette, then but fifteen years of age, and +marvelously beautiful, was married to the young dauphin of France, +subsequently the unhappy Louis XVI. As she left Vienna, for that throne +from which she was to descend to the guillotine, her mother sent by her +hand the following letter to her husband: + +"Your bride, dear dauphin, is separated from me. As she has ever been my +delight so will she be your happiness. For this purpose have I educated +her; for I have long been aware that she was to be the companion of your +life. I have enjoined upon her, as among her highest duties, the most +tender attachment to your person, the greatest attention to every thing +that can please or make you happy. Above all, I have recommended to her +humility towards God, because I am convinced that it is impossible for +us to contribute to the happiness of the subjects confided to us, +without love to Him who breaks the scepters and crushes the thrones of +kings according to His own will." + +In December, 1777, the Duke of Bavaria died without male issue. Many +claimants instantly rose, ambitious of so princely an inheritance. Maria +Theresa could not resist the temptation to put in her claim. With her +accustomed promptness, she immediately ordered her troops in motion, +and, descending from Bohemia, entered the electorate. Maria Theresa had +no one to fear but Frederic of Prussia, who vehemently remonstrated +against such an accession of power to the empire of Austria. After an +earnest correspondence the queen proposed that Bavaria should be divided +between them as they had partitioned Poland. Still they could not agree, +and the question was submitted to the cruel arbitrament of battle. The +young Emperor Joseph was much pleased with this issue, for he was +thirsting for military fame, and was proud to contend with so renowned +an antagonist. The death of hundreds of thousands of men in the game of +war, was of little more moment to him than the loss of a few pieces in a +game of chess. + +The Emperor Joseph was soon at the head of one hundred thousand men. The +King of Prussia, with nearly an equal force, marched to meet him. Both +commanders were exceedingly wary, and the whole campaign was passed in +maneuvers and marchings, with a few unimportant battles. The queen was +weary of war, and often spoke, with tears in her eyes, of the +commencement of hostilities. Without the knowledge of her son, who +rejoiced in the opening strife, she entered into a private +correspondence with Frederic, in which she wrote, by her secret +messenger, M. Thugut: + +"I regret exceedingly that the King of Prussia and myself, in our +advanced years, are about to tear the gray hairs from each other's +heads. My age, and my earnest desire to maintain peace are well known. +My maternal heart is alarmed for the safety of my sons who are in the +army. I take this step without the knowledge of my son the emperor, and +I entreat that you will not divulge it. I conjure you to unite your +efforts with mine to reëstablish harmony." + +The reply of Frederic was courteous and beautiful. "Baron Thugut," he +wrote, "has delivered me your majesty's letter, and no one is, or shall +be acquainted with his arrival. It was worthy of your majesty to give +such proofs of moderation, after having so heroically maintained the +inheritance of your ancestors. The tender attachment you display for +your son the emperor, and the princes of your blood, deserves the +applause of every heart, and augments, if possible, the high +consideration I entertain for your majesty. I have added some articles +to the propositions of M. Thugut, most of which have been allowed, and +others which, I hope, will meet with little difficulty. He will +immediately depart for Vienna, and will be able to return in five or six +days, during which time I will act with such caution that your imperial +majesty may have no cause of apprehension for the safety of any part of +your family, and particularly of the emperor, whom I love and esteem, +although our opinions differ in regard to the affairs of Germany." + +But the Emperor Joseph was bitterly opposed to peace, and thwarted his +mother's benevolent intentions in every possible way. Still the empress +succeeded, and the articles were signed at Teschen, the 13th day of May, +1779. The queen was overjoyed at the result, and was often heard to say +that no act of her administration had given her such heartfelt joy. When +she received the news she exclaimed, + +"My happiness is full. I am not partial to Frederic, but I must do him +the justice to confess that he has acted nobly and honorably. He +promised me to make peace on reasonable terms, and he has kept his word. +I am inexpressibly happy to spare the effusion of so much blood." + +The hour was now approaching when Maria Theresa was to die. She had for +some time been failing from a disease of the lungs, and she was now +rapidly declining. Her sufferings, as she took her chamber and her bed, +became very severe; but the stoicism of her character remained unshaken. +In one of her seasons of acute agony she exclaimed, + +"God grant that these sufferings may soon terminate, for, otherwise, I +know not if I can much longer endure them." + +Her son Maximilian stood by her bed-side. She raised her eyes to him and +said, + +"I have been enabled thus far to bear these pangs with firmness and +constancy. Pray to God, my son, that I may preserve my tranquillity to +the last." + +The dying hour, long sighed for, came. She partook of the sacrament of +the Lord's Supper, and then, assembling her family around her, addressed +to them her last words. + +"I have received the sacraments," said she, "and feel that I am now to +die." Then addressing the emperor, she continued, "My son, all my +possessions after my death revert to you. To your care I commend my +children. Be to them a father. I shall die contented, you giving me that +promise." Then looking to the other children she added, "Regard the +emperor as your sovereign. Obey him, respect him, confide in him, and +follow his advice in all things, and you will secure his friendship and +protection." + +Her mind continued active and intensely occupied with the affairs of her +family and of her kingdom, until the very last moment. During the night +succeeding her final interview with her children, though suffering from +repeated fits of suffocation, she held a long interview with the emperor +upon affairs of state. Her son, distressed by her evident exhaustion, +entreated her to take some repose; but she replied, + +"In a few hours I shall appear before the judgment-seat of God; and +would you have me lose my time in sleep?" + +Expressing solicitude in behalf of the numerous persons dependent upon +her, who, after her death, might be left friendless, she remarked, + +"I could wish for immortality on earth, for no other reason than for the +power of relieving the distressed." + +She died on the 29th of November, 1780, in the sixty-fourth year of her +age and the forty-first of her reign. + +This illustrious woman had given birth to six sons and ten daughters. +Nine of these children survived her. Joseph, already emperor, succeeded +her upon the throne of Austria, and dying childless, surrendered the +crown to his next brother Leopold. Ferdinand, the third son, became +governor of Austrian Lombardy. Upon Maximilian was conferred the +electorate of Cologne. Mary Anne became abbess of a nunnery. Christina +married the Duke of Saxony. Elizabeth entered a convent and became +abbess. Caroline married the King of Naples, and was an infamous woman. +Her sister Joanna, was first betrothed to the king, but she died of +small-pox; Josepha was then destined to supply her place; but she also +fell a victim to that terrible disease. Thus the situation was vacant +for Caroline. Maria Antoinette married Louis the dauphin, and the story +of her woes has filled the world. + +The Emperor Joseph II., who now inherited the crown of Austria, was +forty years of age, a man of strong mind, educated by observation and +travel, rather than by books. He was anxious to elevate and educate his +subjects, declaring that it was his great ambition to rule over freemen. +He had many noble traits of character, and innumerable anecdotes are +related illustrative of his energy and humanity. In war he was ambitious +of taking his full share of hardship, sleeping on the bare ground and +partaking of the soldiers' homely fare. He was exceedingly popular at +the time of his accession to the throne, and great anticipations were +cherished of a golden age about to dawn upon Austria. "His toilet," +writes one of his eulogists, "is that of a common soldier, his wardrobe +that of a sergeant, business his recreation, and his life perpetual +motion." + +The Austrian monarchy now embraced one hundred and eighty thousand +square miles, containing twenty-four millions of inhabitants. It was +indeed a heterogeneous realm, composed of a vast number of distinct +nations and provinces, differing in language, religion, government, +laws, customs and civilization. In most of these countries the feudal +system existed in all its direful oppression. Many of the provinces of +the Austrian empire, like the Netherlands, Lombardy and Suabia, were +separated by many leagues from the great central empire. The Roman +Catholic religion was dominant in nearly all the States, and the clergy +possessed enormous wealth and power. The masses of the people were sunk +in the lowest depths of poverty and ignorance. The aristocratic few +rejoiced in luxury and splendor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +JOSEPH II. AND LEOPOLD II. + +From 1780 to 1792. + +Accession of Joseph II.--His Plans of Reform.--Pius VI.--Emancipation of +the Serfs.--Joseph's Visit to his Sister, Maria Antoinette.--Ambitions +Designs.--The Imperial Sleigh Ride.--Barges on the Dneister.--Excursion +to the Crimea.--War with Turkey.--Defeat of the Austrians.--Great +Successes.--Death of Joseph.--His Character.--Accession of Leopold +II.--His Efforts to confirm Despotism.--The French Revolution.--European +Coalition.--Death of Leopold.--His Profligacy.--Accession of Francis +II.--Present Extent and Power of Austria.--Its Army.--Policy of the +Government. + + +When Joseph ascended the throne there were ten languages, besides +several dialects, spoken in Austria--the German, Hungarian, Sclavonian, +Latin, Wallachian, Turkish, modern Greek, Italian, Flemish and French. +The new king formed the desperate resolve to fuse the discordant kingdom +into one homogeneous mass, obliterating all distinctions of laws, +religion, language and manners. It was a benevolent design, but one +which far surpassed the power of man to execute. He first attempted to +obliterate all the old national landmarks, and divided the kingdom into +thirteen States, in each of which he instituted the same code of laws. +He ordered the German language alone to be used in public documents and +offices; declared the Roman Catholic religion to be dominant. There were +two thousand convents in Austria. He reduced them to seven hundred, and +cut down the number of thirty-two thousand idle monks to twenty-seven +hundred; and nobly issued an edict of toleration, granting to all +members of Protestant churches the free exercise of their religion. All +Christians, of every denomination, were declared to be equally eligible +to any offices in the State. + +These enlightened innovations roused the terror and rage of bigoted +Rome. Pope Pius VI. was so much alarmed that he took a journey to +Vienna, that he might personally remonstrate with the emperor. But +Joseph was inflexible, and the Pope returned to Rome chagrined and +humiliated that he had acted the part of a suppliant in vain. + +The serfs were all emancipated from feudal vassalage, and thus, in an +hour, the slavery under which the peasants had groaned for ages was +abolished. He established universities, academies and public schools; +encouraged literature and science in every way, and took from the +priests their office of censorship of the press, an office which they +had long held. To encourage domestic manufactures he imposed a very +heavy duty upon all articles of foreign manufacture. New roads were +constructed at what was called enormous expense, and yet at expense +which was as nothing compared with the cost of a single battle. + +Joseph, soon after his coronation, made a visit to his sister Maria +Antoinette in France, where he was received with the most profuse +hospitality, and the bonds of friendship between the two courts were +much strengthened. The ambition for territorial aggrandizement seems to +have been an hereditary disease of the Austrian monarchs. Joseph was +very anxious to attach Bavaria to his realms. Proceeding with great +caution he first secured, by diplomatic skill, the non-intervention of +France and Russia. England was too much engaged in the war of the +American Revolution to interfere. He raised an army of eighty thousand +men to crush any opposition, and then informed the Duke of Bavaria that +he must exchange his dominions for the Austrian Netherlands. He +requested the duke to give him an answer in eight days, but declared +peremptorily that in case he manifested any reluctance, the emperor +would be under the painful necessity of compelling him to make the +exchange. + +The duke appealed to Russia, France and Prussia for aid. The emperor had +bought over Russia and France. Frederic of Prussia, though seventy-four +years of age, encouraged the duke to reject the proposal, and promised +his support. The King of Prussia issued a remonstrance against this +despotic act of Austria, which remonstrance was sent to all the courts +of Europe. Joseph, on encountering this unexpected obstacle, and finding +Europe combining against him, renounced his plan and published a +declaration that he had never intended to effect the exchange by force. +This disavowal, however, deceived no one. A confederacy was soon formed, +under the auspices of Frederic of Prussia, to check the encroachments of +the house of Austria. This Germanic League was almost the last act of +Frederic. He died August 17, 1786, after a reign of forty-seven years, +in the seventy-fifth year of his age. + +The ambitious Empress of Russia, having already obtained the Crimea, was +intent upon the subversion of the Ottoman empire, that she might acquire +Constantinople as her maritime metropolis in the sunny south. Joseph was +willing to allow her to proceed unobstructed in the dismemberment of +Turkey, if she would not interfere with his plans of reform and +aggrandizement in Germany. + +In January, 1787, the Empress of Russia set out on a pleasure excursion +of two thousand miles to the Crimea; perhaps the most magnificent +pleasure excursion that was ever attempted. She was accompanied by all +the court, by the French, English and Austrian ministers, and by a very +gorgeous retinue. It was mid-winter, when the imperial party, wrapped in +furs, and in large sledges richly decorated, and prepared expressly for +the journey, commenced their sleigh ride of a thousand miles. Music +greeted them all along the way; bonfires blazed on every hill; palaces, +brilliant with illuminations and profusely supplied with every luxury, +welcomed them at each stage where they stopped for refreshment or +repose. The roads were put in perfect order; and relays of fresh horses +every few miles being harnessed to the sledges, they swept like the wind +over the hills and through the valleys. + +The drive of a few weeks, with many loiterings for pleasure in the +cities on the way, took them to Kief on the Dnieper. This ancient city, +the residence of the grand dukes of Russia, contained a population of +about twenty-six thousand. Here the imperial court established itself in +the ducal palaces, and with music, songs and dances beguiled the days +until, with the returning spring, the river opened. In the meantime an +immense flotilla of imperial barges had been prepared to drift down the +stream, a thousand miles, to its mouth at Kherson, where the river flows +into the Black sea. These barges were of magnificent dimensions, +floating palaces, containing gorgeous saloons and spacious sleeping +apartments. As they were constructed merely to float upon the rapid +current of the stream, impelled by sails when the breeze should favor, +they could easily be provided with all the appliances of luxury. It is +difficult to conceive of a jaunt which would present more of the +attractions of pleasure, than thus to glide in saloons of elegance, with +imperial resources and surrounded by youth, beauty, genius and rank, for +a thousand miles down the current of one of the wildest and most +romantic streams of Europe. + +It was a beautiful sunny morning of May, when the regal party, +accompanied by the music of military bands, and with floating banners, +entered the barges. The river, broad and deep, rolls on with majestic +flow, now through dense forests, black and gloomy, where the barking of +the bear is heard and wolves hold their nightly carousals; now it winds +through vast prairies hundreds of miles in extent; again it bursts +through mountain barriers where cliffs and crags rise sublimely +thousands of feet in the air; here with precipitous sides of granite, +bleak and scathed by the storms of centuries, and there with gloomy firs +and pines rising to the clouds, where eagles soar and scream and rear +their young. Flocks and herds now graze upon the banks; here lies the +scattered village, and its whole population, half civilized men, and +matrons and maidens in antique, grotesque attire, crowd the shores. Now +the pinnacles and the battlements of a great city rise to view. Armies +were gathered at several points to entertain the imperial pleasure-party +with all the pomp and pageantry of war. At Pultowa they witnessed the +maneuverings of a battle, with its thunderings and uproar and apparent +carnage--the exact representation of the celebrated battle of Pultowa, +which Peter the Great gained on the spot over Charles XII. of Sweden. + +The Emperor Joseph had been invited to join this party, and, with his +court and retinue, was to meet them at Kherson, near the mouth of the +Dneister, and accompany the empress to the Crimea. But, perhaps +attracted by the splendor of the water excursion, he struck across the +country in a north-east direction, by the way of Lemberg, some six +hundred miles, to intercept the flotilla and join the party on the +river. But the water of the river suddenly fell, and some hundred miles +above Kherson, the flotilla ran upon a sand bar and could not be forced +over. The empress, who was apprised of the approach of the emperor, too +proud to be found in such a situation, hastily abandoned the flotilla, +and taking the carriages which they had with them, drove to meet Joseph. +The two imperial suites were soon united, and they swept on, a +glittering cavalcade, to Kherson. Joseph and Catharine rode in a +carriage together, where they had ample opportunity of talking over all +their plans of mutual aggrandizement. As no one was permitted to listen +to their conversations, their decisions can only be guessed at. + +They entered the city of Kherson, then containing about sixty thousand +inhabitants, surrounded by all the magnificence which Russian and +Austrian opulence could exhibit. A triumphal arch spanned the gate, upon +which was inscribed in letters of gold, "The road to Byzantium." Four +days were passed here in revelry. The party then entered the Crimea, and +continued their journey as far as Sevastopol, where the empress was +delighted to find, within its capacious harbor, many Russian frigates at +anchor. Immense sums were expended in furnishing entertainments by the +way. At Batcheseria, where the two sovereigns occupied the ancient +palace of the khans, they looked out upon a mountain in a blaze of +illumination, and apparently pouring lava floods from its artificial +volcanic crater. + +Joseph returned to Vienna, and immediately there was war--Austria and +Russia against Turkey. Joseph was anxious to secure the provinces of +Bosnia, Servia, Moldavia and Wallachia, and to extend his empire to the +Dneister. With great vigor he made his preparations, and an army of two +hundred thousand men, with two thousand pieces of artillery, were +speedily on the march down the Danube. Catharine was equally energetic +in her preparations, and all the north of Europe seemed to be on the +march for the overthrow of the Ottoman empire. + +Proverbially fickle are the fortunes of war. Joseph commenced the siege +of Belgrade with high hopes. He was ignominiously defeated, and his +troops were driven, utterly routed, into Hungary, pursued by the Turks, +who spread ruin and devastation widely around them. Disaster followed +disaster. Disease entered the Austrian ranks, and the proud army melted +away. The emperor himself, with about forty thousand men, was nearly +surrounded by the enemy. He attempted a retreat by night. A false alarm +threw the troops into confusion and terror. The soldiers, in their +bewilderment fired upon each other, and an awful scene of tumult ensued. +The emperor, on horseback, endeavored to rally the fugitives, but he was +swept away by the crowd, and in the midnight darkness was separated from +his suite. Four thousand men perished in this defeat, and much of the +baggage and several guns were lost. The emperor reproached his +aides-de-camp with having deserted him. One of them sarcastically +replied, + +"We used our utmost endeavors to keep up with your imperial majesty, but +our horses were not so fleet as yours." + +Seventy thousand Austrians perished in this one campaign. The next year, +1789, was, however, as prosperous as this had been adverse. The Turks at +Rimnik were routed with enormous slaughter, and their whole camp, with +all its treasures, fell into the hands of the victors. Belgrade was +fiercely assailed and was soon compelled to capitulate. But Joseph was +now upon his dying bed. The tidings of these successes revived him for a +few hours, and leaving his sick chamber he was conveyed to the church of +St. Stephen, where thanksgivings were offered to God. A festival of +three days in Vienna gave expression to the public rejoicing. + +England was now alarmed in view of the rapid strides of Austria and +Russia, and the cabinet of St. James formed a coalition with Holland and +Prussia to assist the Turks. France, now in the midst of her +revolutionary struggle, could take no part in these foreign questions. +These successes were, however, but a momentary gleam of sunshine which +penetrated the chamber of the dying monarch. Griefs innumerable +clustered around him. The inhabitants of the Netherlands rose in +successful rebellion and threw off the Austrian yoke. Prussia was making +immense preparations for the invasion of Austria. The Hungarians were +rising and demanding emancipation from the court of Vienna. These +calamities crushed the emperor. He moaned, and wept and died. In his +last hours he found much solace in religious observances, devoutly +receiving the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and passing much of his +time in prayer. He died on the 20th of February, 1790, in the +forty-ninth year of his age, and the tenth of his reign. + +Joseph had been sincerely desirous of promoting the best interests of +his realms; but had been bitterly disappointed in the result of most of +his efforts at reform. Just before he died, he said, "I would have +engraven on my tomb, 'Here lies the sovereign who, with the best +intentions, never carried a single project into execution.'" He was +married twice, but both of his wives, in the prime of youth, fell +victims to the small-pox, that awful disease which seems to have been a +special scourge in the Austrian royal family. As Joseph II. died without +children, the crown passed to his next brother, Leopold, who was then +Grand Duke of Tuscany. + +Leopold II., at his accession to the throne, was forty-three years of +age. He hastened to Vienna, and assumed the government. By prudent acts +of conciliation he succeeded in appeasing discontents, and soon +accomplished the great object of his desire in securing the election to +the imperial throne. He was crowned at Frankfort, October 9, 1790. With +frankness very unusual in the diplomacy of kings, he sought friendly +relations with all the neighboring powers. To Frederic William, who was +now King of Prussia, he wrote: + +"In future, I solemnly protest, no views of aggrandizement will ever +enter into my political system. I shall doubtless employ all the means +in my possession to defend my country, should I unfortunately be driven +to such measures; but I will endeavor to give no umbrage. To your +majesty in particular, I will act as you act towards me, and will spare +no efforts to preserve perfect harmony." + +To these friendly overtures, Frederic William responded in a similar +spirit; but still there were unsettled points of dispute between the two +kingdoms which threatened war, and large armies were gathered on their +respective frontiers in preparation for the commencement of hostilities. +In 1790, after much correspondence, they came to terms, and articles of +peace were signed. At the same time an armistice was concluded with the +Turks. + +The spirit of liberty which had emancipated the colonies of North +America from the aristocratic sway of England, shivering the scepter of +feudal tyranny in France, had penetrated Hungary. Leopold was +endeavoring to rivet anew the shackles of despotism, when he received a +manly remonstrance from an assembly of Hungarians which had been +convened as Pest. In the following noble terms they addressed the king. + +"The fame, august sovereign, which has preceded you, has declared you a +just and gracious prince. It says that you forget not that you are a +man; that you are sensible that the king was made for the people, not +the people for the king. From the rights of nations and of man, and from +that social compact whence states arose, it is incontestable that the +sovereignty originates from the people. This axiom, our parent Nature +has impressed on the hearts of all. It is one of those which a just +prince (and such we trust your majesty ever will be) can not dispute. It +is one of those inalienable imprescriptible rights which the people can +not forfeit by neglect or disuse. Our constitution places the +sovereignty jointly in the king and people, in such a manner that the +remedies necessary to be applied according to the ends of social life, +for the security of persons and property, are in the power of the +people. + +"We are sure, therefore, that at the meeting of the ensuing diet, your +majesty will not confine yourself to the objects mentioned in your +rescript, but will also restore our freedom to us, in like manner as to +the Belgians, who have conquered theirs with the sword. It would be an +example big with danger, to teach the world that a people can only +protect or regain their liberties by the sword and not by obedience." + +But Leopold, trembling at the progress which freedom was making in +France, determined to crush this spirit with an iron heel. Their +petition was rejected with scorn and menace. + +With great splendor Leopold entered Presburg, and was crowned King of +Hungary on the 10th of November, 1790. Having thus silenced the murmurs +in Hungary, and established his authority there, he next turned his +attention to the recovery of the Netherlands. The people there, +breathing the spirit of French liberty, had, by a simultaneous rising, +thrown off the detestable Austrian yoke. Forty-five thousand men were +sent to effect their subjugation. On the 20th of November, the army +appeared before Brussels. In less than one year all the provinces were +again brought under subjection to the Austrian power. + +Leopold, thus successful, now turned his attention to France. Maria +Antoinette was his sister. He had another sister in the infamous Queen +Caroline of Naples. The complaints which came incessantly from +Versailles and the Tuilleries filled his ear, touched his affections, +and roused his indignation. Twenty-five millions of people had ventured +to assert their rights against the intolerable arrogance of the French +court. Leopold now gathered his armies to trample those people down, and +to replace the scepter of unlimited despotism in the hands of the +Bourbons. With sleepless zeal Leopold coöperated with nearly all the +monarchs in Europe, in combining a resistless force to crush out from +the continent of Europe the spirit of popular liberty. An army of ninety +thousand men was raised to coöperate with the French emigrants and all +the royalists in France. The king was to escape from Paris, place +himself at the head of the emigrants, amounting to more than twenty +thousand, rally around his banners all the advocates of the old regime, +and then, supported by all the powers of combined Europe, was to march +upon Paris, and take a bloody vengeance upon a people who dared to wish +to be free. The arrest of Louis XVI. at Varennes deranged this plan. +Leopold, alarmed not only by the impending fate of his sister, but lest +the principles of popular liberty, extending from France, should +undermine his own throne, wrote as follows to the King of England: + +"I am persuaded that your majesty is not unacquainted with the unheard +of outrage committed by the arrest of the King of France, the queen my +sister and the royal family, and that your sentiments accord with mine +on an event which, threatening more atrocious consequences, and fixing +the seal of illegality on the preceding excesses, concerns the honor and +safety of all governments. Resolved to fulfill what I owe to these +considerations, and to my duty as chief of the German empire, and +sovereign of the Austrian dominions, I propose to your majesty, in the +same manner as I have proposed to the Kings of Spain, Prussia and +Naples, as well as to the Empress of Russia, to unite with them, in a +concert of measures for obtaining the liberty of the king and his +family, and setting bounds to the dangerous excesses of the French +Revolution." + +The British _people_ nobly sympathized with the French in their efforts +at emancipation, and the British government dared not _then_ shock the +public conscience by assailing the patriots in France. Leopold +consequently turned to Frederic William of Prussia, and held a private +conference with him at Pilnitz, near Dresden, in Saxony, on the 27th of +August, 1791. The Count d'Artois, brother of Louis XVI., and who +subsequently ascended the French throne as Charles X., joined them in +this conference. In the midst of these agitations and schemes Leopold +II. was seized with a malignant dysentery, which was aggravated by a +life of shameless debauchery, and died on the 1st of March, 1792, in the +forty-fifth year of his age, and after a reign of but two years. + +Leopold has the reputation of having been, on the whole, a kind-hearted +man, but his court was a harem of unblushing profligacy. His +broken-hearted wife was compelled to submit to the degradation of daily +intimacy with the mistress of her husband. Upon one only of these +mistresses the king lavished two hundred thousand dollars in drafts on +the bank of Vienna. The sums thus infamously squandered were wrested +from the laboring poor. His son, Francis II., who succeeded him upon the +throne, was twenty-two years of age. In most affecting terms the widowed +queen entreated her son to avoid those vices of his father which had +disgraced the monarchy and embittered her whole life. + +The reign of Francis II. was so eventful, and was so intimately blended +with the fortunes of the French Revolution, the Consulate and the +Empire, that the reader must be referred to works upon those subjects +for the continuation of the history. During the wars with Napoleon +Austria lost forty-five thousand square miles, and about three and a +half millions of inhabitants. But when at length the combined monarchs +of Europe triumphed over Napoleon, the monarch of the people's choice, +and, in the carnage of Waterloo, swept constitutional liberty from the +continent, Austria received again nearly all she had lost. + +This powerful empire, as at present constituted, embraces: + + square miles inhabitants + 1 The hereditary States of Austria, 76,199 9,843,490 + 2 The duchy of Styria, 8,454 780,100 + 3 Tyrol, 11,569 738,000 + 4 Bohemia, 20,172 3,380,000 + 5 Moravia 10,192 1,805,500 + 6 The duchy of Auschnitz in Galicia, 1,843 335,190 + 7 Illyria, 9,132 897,000 + 8 Hungary, 125,105 10,628,500 + 9 Dalmatia, 5,827 320,000 +10 The Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, 17,608 4,176,000 +11 Galicia, 32,272 4,075,000 + +Thus the whole Austrian monarchy contains 256,399 square miles, and a +population which now probably exceeds forty millions. The standing army +of this immense monarchy, in time of peace, consists of 271,400 men, +which includes 39,000 horse and 17,790 artillery. In time of war this +force can be increased to almost any conceivable amount. + +Thus slumbers this vast despotism, in the heart of central Europe, the +China of the Christian world. The utmost vigilance is practiced by the +government to seclude its subjects, as far as possible, from all +intercourse with more free and enlightened nations. The government is in +continual dread lest the kingdom should be invaded by those liberal +opinions which are circulating in other parts of Europe. The young men +are prohibited, by an imperial decree, from leaving Austria to prosecute +their studies in foreign universities. "Be careful," said Francis II. to +the professors in the university at Labach, "not to teach too much. I do +not want learned men in my kingdom; I want good subjects, who will do as +I bid them." Some of the wealthy families, anxious to give their +children an elevated education, and prohibited from sending them abroad, +engaged private tutors from France and England. The government took the +alarm, and forbade the employment of any but native teachers. The Bible, +the great chart of human liberty, all despots fear and hate. In 1822 a +decree was issued by the emperor prohibiting the distribution of the +Bible in any part of the Austrian dominions. + +The censorship of the press is rigorous in the extreme. No printer in +Austria would dare to issue the sheet we now write, and no traveler +would be permitted to take this book across the frontier. Twelve public +censors are established at Vienna, to whom every book published within +the empire, whether original or reprinted, must be referred. No +newspaper or magazine is tolerated which does not advocate despotism. +Only those items of foreign intelligence are admitted into those papers +which the emperor is willing his subjects should know. The _freedom_ of +republican America is carefully excluded. The slavery which disgraces +our land is ostentatiously exhibited in harrowing descriptions and +appalling engravings, as a specimen of the degradation to which +republican institutions doom the laboring class. + +A few years ago, an English gentleman dined with Prince Metternich, the +illustrious prime minister of Austria, in his beautiful castle upon the +Rhine. As they stood after dinner at one of the windows of the palace, +looking out upon the peasants laboring in the vineyards, Metternich, in +the following words, developed his theory of social order: + +"Our policy is to extend all possible _material_ happiness to the whole +population; to administer the laws patriarchaly; to prevent their +tranquility from being disturbed. Is it not delightful to see those +people looking so contented, so much in the possession of what makes +them comfortable, so well fed, so well clad, so quiet, and so +religiously observant of order? If they are injured in persons or +property, they have immediate and unexpensive redress before our +tribunals, and in that respect, neither I, nor any nobleman in the land, +has the smallest advantage over a peasant." + +But volcanic fires are heaving beneath the foundations of the Austrian +empire, and dreadful will be the day when the eruption shall burst +forth. + + + + +INDEX. + + +ADOLPHUS (of Nassau) election of over the Germanic empire, 36. + summoned to answer charges against him, 37. + deposed by the diet, 37. + death of, 37. + +ADRIAN assumes the tiara, 114. + +ÆNEAS SYLVIUS, remarks of, 72. + +AGNES (daughter of Cunegunda) to marry Rhodolph's son, 31. + engaged in the massacre, 40. + enters a convent, 41. + +AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, coronation of Albert I. at, 88. + coronation of Charles V. at, 107. + taken possession of by Rhodolph, 193. + peace of, 461. + +ALBERT (fourth Count of Hapsburg), 17. + departure of for the holy war, 17. + address of to his sons, 18. + death of, 18. + the favorite captain of Frederic II., 19. + +ALBERT I. succeeds his father, 35. + his character, 35. + elected Emperor of Germany, 37. + victor at Gelheim, 37. + assassination of, 40. + +ALBERT III. rules with Otho, 46. + acquisitions of, 47. + +ALBERT IV., succession of, 51. + improvements projected by, 58. + +ALBERT V. declared of age, 59. + accepted King of Hungary, 62. + death of, 65. + +ALBERT (of Bavaria) declines the throne of Hungary, 66. + +ALBERT (Archduke) the candidate of the Catholics, 229. + +ALLIANCE of barons to crush Rhodolph of Hapsburg, 21. + same dissolved, 22. + +ALPHONSO (of Castile) candidate for crown of Germany, 23. + +ALPHONSO (King of Naples), abdication of, 84. + +AMURATH, conquests of, 64. + +ANABAPTISTS, rise of the sect of, 115. + +ANHALT (Prince of), dispatched with a list of grievances to the emperor, + 211. + address to the emperor, 212. + ban of the empire declared against, 265. + +ANN (Princess of Hungary and Bohemia), marriage of to Ferdinand I., 145. + +ANNA (of Russia), desire of to secure a harbor for Russia, 400. + +ANECDOTES of Rhodolph, 33. + of Charles V., 144. + +APOLOGY of Maximilian, 96. + +ASCHHAUSEN, confederacy at, 194. + +AUGSBURG, diet of, 24. + bold speech of the diet at, 102. + triumphal reception of Maurice at, 133. + Confession of, 118. + +AUGUSTUS II. loses and regains his empire, 382. + death of, 382. + +AULIC COUNCIL, establishment of the, 102. + +AUSTRIA, a portion of given as dowry to Hedwige, 25. + nucleus of the empire of, 27. + invasion of by John of Bohemia, 49. + wonderful growth of, 52. + division of, 72. + accession of Ladislaus over, 81. + the house of invested with new dignity, 101. + becomes a part of Spain, 108. + the empire of apparently on the eve of dissolution, 286. + the leading power in Europe, 314. + dispute as to the succession to the crown of, 352. + treaty between Spain and, 373. + Maria Theresa ascends the throne of, 415. + deplorable state of at that time, 415. + defeat of by Frederic, 420. + the proposed division of, 422. + prosperity of, 444. + important territory wrested from, 453. + alliance of with Prussia, 459. + Joseph II. ascends the throne of, 491. + situation and character of, 492. + languages spoken in, 493. + Leopold ascends the throne of, 500. + acquisitions of by the battle of Waterloo, 504 + present constitution of, 504. + doctrines of the government of, 503. + its future, 506. + +AUSTRIANS, triumph of the at Brussels, 340. + triumph of the at Malplaquet, 341. + evacuation of Madrid by the, 345. + prohibited from trading-with Spain, 380. + the, driven from the Neapolitan States, 388. + the, defeated at Crotzka, 407. + + +BADEN, peace of, 359. + +BAJAZET, victory achieved by, 64. + +BALDER, attack of Rhodolph upon, 22. + +BALLOT-BOX, its authority in Poland, 385. + +BALNE (Lord), followers of put to death, 40. + +BANDITTI, companies of put down by Rhodolph, 32. + +BARBARIA, wife of Sigismond, 60. + +BARCELONA, capture of by Charles, 354. + +BASLE, attack upon the city of, 20. + demands of the Bishop of upon Rhodolph, 22. + impious remark of the Bishop of, 23 + aid of the Bishop of to Rhodolph, 29. + +BAVARIA (Henry, Duke of), intimidated by Rhodolph, 25. + marriage of Hedwige to Otho of, 25. + agrees to carry the edict of Worms into effect, 114. + his hatred of Wallenstein, 275. + urged as a candidate for the imperial crown, 279. + dishonorable despair of, 438. + death of, 488. + +BAVARIA (Charles of), death of, 451. + +BAVARIA, Maximilian Joseph ascends the throne of, 451. + +BAYARD (Chevalier De), the knight without fear or reproach, 90. + +BELGRADE, relief of, 69. + siege of, 360. + capture of by Eugene, 363. + surrendered to the Turks, 408. + +BELLEISLE (General), heroic retreat of, 441. + +BLENHEIM, massacre at, 334. + +BLOODY diet, the, 158. + theater of Eperies, 325. + +BOHEMIA, triumphal march of Rhodolph into, 30. + the crown of demanded by Albert I., 39. + revolt in, 89. + rise of the nobles of against Ferdinand, 127. + the monarchy of, 154. + religious conflicts in, 155. + resistance of to Ferdinand, 156. + symptoms of the decay of, 160. + Ferdinand's blow at, 263. + severity of Ferdinand towards, 270. + son of Ferdinand crowned king of, 271. + change of prosperity of during reign of Ferdinand II., 272. + rise of the Protestants in, 286. + the Elector of Bavaria crowned king of, 434. + the Prussians driven from, 450. + (King of), chosen Emperor of Germany, 431. + +BRANDENBURG, reply of the Marquis of to Charles V., 118. + +BRITISH MINISTER, letter of the in regard to Maria Theresa, 295. + letter of the in regard to the affairs in Hungary, 416. + +BRUNAU, the Protestant church of, 235. + +BRUNSWICK, marriage of Charles VI. to Elizabeth Christina of, 164. + +BRUSSELS, diet at, 139. + +BUDA taken by the Turks, 147. + +BULL (see Pope). + +BURGHERS prevented from attending Protestant worship, 188. + +BURGUNDY (Duke of), ambition of the, 77. + +BURGUNDY (Mary of), marriage of by proxy, 79. + death of, 79. + + +CÆSAR BORGIA, plans for, 89. + +CALENDAR, the Julian and Gregorian, 192. + +CAMPEGIO, a legate from the Pope to, 114. + +CAPISTRUN, JOHN, rousing eloquence of, 69. + +CARDINAL KLESES, counselor to the king, 241. + abduction of, 242. + +CARINTHIA, dukedom of, 48. + +CARLOS crowned as Charles III., 388. + +CARLOVITZ, treaty of, 326. + +CASSAU captured by Botskoi, 198. + +CASTLE (Hawk's), situation of, 17. + (Oeltingen), the dowry of Gertrude of Hohenburg, 19. + +CATHARINE II. ascends the throne of Russia, 480. + cooperates with Austria. 481. + desire of to acquire Constantinople, 495. + grand excursion of, 496. + places Count Poniatowski on the throne of Poland, 484. + +CATHERINE BORA, marriage of to Luther, 114. + +CHANCELLOR OF SAXONY, reading of the Confession of Augsburg by, 118. + reply of to the emperor, 118. + +CHARLES OF BOHEMIA, succession of to the kingdom of Austria, 47. + death of, 47. + +CHARLES EMANUEL (King of Sardinia) character of, 386. + +CHARLES GUSTAVUS succeeds Christina, Queen of Sweden, 302. + his invasion of Poland, 303. + energy of, 305. + +CHARLES (Prince), defeat of by Frederic, 254. + +CHARLES (Prince of Lorraine) marriage of, 447. + +CHARLES II., the throne of Spain held by, 328. + sends embassage to the pope, 329. + induced to bequeath the crown to France, 330. + death of, 331. + +CHARLES III. crowned King of Spain, 332. + army of routed, 340. + arrival of at Barcelona, 342. + desperate condition of, 344. + flight of, 346. + description of his appearance, 353. + dilatoriness of, 355. + crowned king, 356. + Carlos crowned as, 388. + (See also Charles VI.) + +CHARLES V. (of Spain) inherits the Austrian States, 106. + petitions to, 106. + required to sign a constitution, 108. + ambition of, 109. + apologetic declaration of, 112. + refusal of to violate his safe conduct, 112. + attempts of to bribe Luther, 113. + determination of to suppress religious agitation, 115. + interview of with the pope at Bologna, 117. + call of for the diet at Augsburg, 117. + intolerance of, 119. + appeal of to the Protestants for aid, 122. + in violation of his pledge, turns against the Protestants, 122. + secret treaty of with the King of France, 123. + treaty of with the Turks, 123. + forces secured by against the Protestants, 124. + alarm of at the preparations of the Protestants, 125. + preparations of to enforce the Council of Trent, 125. + march of to Ingolstadt, 126. + flight of to Landshut, 126. + triumph of over the Protestants, 126. + conquers the Elector of Saxony, 128. + revenge of towards the Elector of Saxony, 128. + march to Wittemberg, 128. + visit to the grave of Luther, 129. + attempts of to settle the religious differences, 129. + attempt of to establish the inquisition in Burgundy, 129. + power of over the pope, 130. + calls a diet at Augsburg. 130. + failure of to accomplish the election of Philip, 131. + confounded at the success of the Protestants. 133. + flight of from Maurice, 133. + unconquerable will of, 135. + urged to yield, 136. + fortune deserting, 137. + extraordinary despondency of, 138. + abdication of in favor of Philip, his son, 139. + enters the convent of St. Justus, 141. + convent life of, 141. + death of, 143. + anecdotes of, 144. + attempt of to abdicate the elective crown of Germany to Ferdinand, 160. + +CHARLES VI. (see also Charles III. for previous information), + limitations imposed on the power of, 356. + desertion of by his allies, 357. + addition of Wallachia and Servia to the dominion of, 364. + marriage of, 364. + his alteration of the compact established by Leopold, 364. + power of, 365. + involved in duplicity, 377. + insult to, 380. + ambition of to secure the throne of Spain for his daughters, 382. + the loss of Lombardy felt by, 387. + attempt of to force assistance from France, 390. + his first acknowledgment of the people, in his letter to Count Kinsky, + 391. + interference of in Poland, 393. + sends Strickland to London to overthrow the cabinet, 391. + troubles of in Italy, 394. + distraction of, 396. + proposal of for a settlement with France, 397. + humbled by loss of empire. 398. + a scrupulous Romanist, 400. + removal of all the Protestants from the army, 404. + fears of for the safety of Maria Theresa, 406. + anguish of at the surrender of Belgrade, 411. + letter of to the Queen of Russia, 412. + death of, 414. + +CHARLES VII., death of, 451. + +CHARLES VIII. informed of the league against him, 88. + death of, 89. + +CHARLES XII. joins the Austrian party, 335. + death of, 368. + conquests of, 382. + +CHAZLEAU, battle of, 435. + +CHRISTIANA, the succession of Sweden conferred upon, 280. + abdicates in favor of Charles Gustavus, 302. + +CHRISTIAN IV. (of Denmark), leader of the Protestants, declares war, 267. + conquered by Ferdinand, 268. + +CHURCH, exactions of the, 102. + +CILLI, influence of Count over Ladislaus, 68. + driven from the empire, 68. + +CLEMENT VII. succeeds Adrian as pope, 116. + +CLEVES, duchy of put in sequestration, 213. + +COLOGNE, the Archbishop of joins the Protestants, 124. + deposition of the Archbishop of, 126. + +CONDUCT, Luther presented with a safe, 110. + +CONFESSION OF AUGSBURG, 118. + reading of, 119. + +CONGRESS at Rothenburg, 226. + at Hanau, 445. + at Prague, 1618, and letter of to Matthias, 236. + of electors at Frankfort, 35. + +CONSPIRACY against Albert, 36. + formed by Albert against Adolphus, 37. + +CONSTANTINOPLE, capture of by the Turks, 64. + +CONSTITUTION, Charles V. required to sign a, 108. + +COUNCIL of Trent, 124. + of Trent in 1562, 164. + of State convened in Spain, 331. + +CREMNITZ, resistance of, 148. + +CREMONIA to be disposed of as plunder, 89. + +CROATIA invaded by the Turks, 195. + +CROTZKA. battle of, 407. + +CRUSADE against the Turks, 64. + +CUNEGUNDA (wife of Ottocar), her taunts, 27. + offer of to place Bohemia under the protection of Rhodolph, 31. + + +DANUBE, position of Austria on the, 25. + +DAUN (Count), honors of at his victory, 473. + +DENMARK, the King of obliged to yield to Charles Gustavus, 306. + +DIEPOLD thrown from the palace by the mob, 328. + +DIET, command of the of Augsburg to Ottocar, 14. + at Augsburg, 118. + at Augsburg, 130. + at Brussels. 139. + at Lubec, 269. + at Prague, in 1547, 158. + at Prague, 179. + the Protestant at Prague, 209. + decrees of the, 210. + at Passau, 137. + its agreement as to the rights of the Protestants, 138. + at Pilgram, 66. + at Presburg, accusation of Leopold by the, 309. + at Ratisbon, 179. + at Spires, 116. + at Stetzim, 349. + demands of, 350. + at Worms, 86. + refusal of the at Worms to cooperate with Maximilian, 96. + at Znaim, 61. + power of the Hungarian, 308. + +DOCTRINE of the three parties, 190. + ancient and modern, contention about shadowy points of, 255. + +DRESDEN, treaty of, 458. + + +ERNEST, death of, 202. + +ELEONORA (wife of Leopold), her character, 335. + marriage of, 336. + her death, 337. + +ELFSNABEN, a fleet assembled at by Gustavus Adolphus, 281, + +ELIZABETH (wife of Philip V.), ambition of, 371. + demands of on Charles VI., 372. + +ELIZABETH (of Russia), death of, 479. + +EMERIO TEKELI invested with the Hungarian forces, 319. + +ENGLAND, assistance of against the Turks, 94. + supports the house of Austria against France, 332. + curious contradictory conduct of, 346. + pledge of to support the Pragmatic Sanction, 380. + supports Austria to check France, 428. + determines to support Maria Theresa, 436. + prodigality of, 447. + war declared against by France, 448. + purchases the aid of Poland, 452. + private arrangement of with Prussia, 457. + remonstrated with for its treatment of the queen, 463. + alliance of with Prussia, 466. + a subsidy voted Prussia by, 475. + alarmed at the strides of Austria and Russia, 499. + +EPERIES, tribunal at, 324. + +ERNEST, conquests of, 59. + +EUGENE (Prince) commands the Austrian army, 332. + his heroic capture of Belgrade, 363. + his disapproval of the war, 389. + death of, 398. + funeral honors of. 399. + +EUROPE, condition of the different powers of, 269. + +EXCOMMUNICATION of the Venetians, 97. + + +FAMILY of Rhodolph, 25. + the three daughters of the imperial, 364. + +FERDINAND (of Austria) invested with the government of the Austrian + States, 113. + determines to arrest Protestantism, 114. + assumes some impartiality, 116. + chosen King of the Romans, 120. + Bohemia and Hungary added to his kingdom, 146. + demands the restitution of Belgrade, 146. + his siege of Buda, 153. + tribute of to the Turks, 153. + his attempts to weaken the power of the Hungarian nobles, 155. + conditions of his pardon of the Hungarian nobles, 157. + his punishment of the revolters, 158. + his establishment of the Jesuits in Bohemia, 158. + his inconsistencies, 158. + obtains the crown of Germany, 161. + opposed by the pope, 162. + elected Emperor of Germany, 233. + character of, 234. + rich spoils of, 273. + he assembles a diet at Eatisbon, 275. + perplexity of in regard to the demands of the diet, 277. + +FERDINAND (King of Arragon) furnishes supplies for the war against the + Venetians, 95. + +FERDINAND (of Naples), flight of to Ischia, 85. + +FERDINAND (King of the Romans) + crowned at Ratisbon, 302. + his death, 302. + +FERDINAND I. + illustrious birth of, 145. + marriage of, 145. + efforts of to unite Protestants and Catholics, 164. + attempts of to prevent the spread of Protestantism, 167. + the founder of the Austrian empire, 168. + death of, 168. + +FERDINAND II. + manifesto of, 240. + abduction of Cardinal Kleses by, 242. + troops of defeated by the Protestants, 243. + refers the complaints of the Protestants to arbitration, 343. + unpopularity of with the Catholics, 247. + unexpected rescue of, 249. + elected King of Germany, 250. + concludes an alliance with Maximilian, 254. + secures the coöperation of the Elector of Saxony and Louis XIII., 256. + subdues Austria, 257. + barbarity of the troops of, 258. + vengeance of, 263. + meeting at Ratisbon to approve the acts of, 265. + victories of, 268. + capture of the duchies of Mecklenburg, 268. + seizes Pomerania, 268. + revokes all concessions to the Protestants, 270. + son of crowned King of Bohemia, 271. + manifesto of against Gustavus Adolphus, 283. + decorous appreciation of to the memory of Gustavus Adolphus, 296. + outwitted by a Capuchin friar, 279. + succeeds in securing the election of his son Ferdinand, 299. + his death, 299. + +FERDINAND III. + ascends the throne, 245. + his proposal for a truce with Prague, 246. + desire of for peace, 300. + succeeds in securing the election of his son as Ferdinand King of the + Romans, 302. + death of, 303. + +FLEURY (Cardinal), ascendancy of over Louis XV., 378. + +FLORENCE threatened by Louis XII., 90. + +FRANCE + influence of in wresting sacrifices from the emperor, 279. + the dominant power, 315. + fraud by which obtained possession of Spain, 331. + condition of under Louis XIV., 357. + refusal of to engage in the Polish war, 390. + design of to deprive Maria Theresa of her kingdom, 428. + declares war against England, 448. + alliance of effected with Austria. 467. + +FRANCIS (of France) + claims Austria, 106. + perfidy of, 127. + death of, 128. + +FRANCIS I. (Duke of Lorraine) elected Emperor of Germany, 457. + +FRANCIS II. ascends the throne, 504. + +FRANCIS RAVAILLAC, the assassin of Henry IV., 215. + +FRANKFORT, congress at, 35. + +FREDERIC (King of Naples), doom of, 92. + +FREDERIC (of Saxony) + friendly seizure of Luther by, 113. + death of, 114. + +FREDERIC I. (the Handsome) + capture of 43. + surrender of, 44. + death of, 45. + +FREDERIC II. (of Germany) + renown of, 18. + death of, 482. + curious occupations of, 483. + +FREDERIC II. (of Austria) + treachery of, 75. + wanderings of, 77. + death of, 81. + +FREDERIC V., character of, 251. + accepts the crown of Bohemia, 251. + inefficiency of, 258. + his feast during the assault, 258. + renounces all claim to Bohemia, 259. + flight of, 262. + his property sequestrated, 264. + +FREDERIC (King of Bohemia, Elector of Palatine), + death of, 296. + +FREDERIC (of Prussia), + demands of, 417. + seizure of Silesia by, 418. + triumphal entrance into Breslau, 419. + his defeat of Neuperg, 420. + opinions of on magnanimity, 423. + his indignation at the small concessions of Austria, 424. + implores peace, 433. + violation of his pledge, 435. + capture of Prague by, 419. + surprises and defeats Prince Charles, 454. + invasion of Saxony by, 458. + explanation demanded from Austria by, 469. + artifice of to entrap the allies, 470. + defeat of at Prague, 473. + recklessness of, 476. + undaunted perseverance of, 477. + despair of, 479. + secures an alliance with Prussia, 480. + letter of to Maria Theresa, 488. + peaceful reply of, 500. + +FRENCH, the, driven out of Italy, 94. + the, routed near Brussels, 340. + rout of at Brussels, 340. + defeat of the at Malplaquet, 341. + + +GABRIEL BETHLEHEM + chosen leader in the Hungarian revolution, 152. + he retires to Presburg, 253. + compelled to sue for peace, 268. + +GELHEIM, battle of, 37. + +GALLAS appointed commander in place of Wallenstein, 268. + +GENOA, aid furnished Leopold by, 311. + +GERMANY, + its conglomeration of States, 18. + independence of each State of, 18. + position of the Emperor of, 19. + decline of the imperial dignity of, 85. + its division into ten districts, 101. + growing independence in of the pope, 162. + tranquillity of under Ferdinand, 172. + rejoicing in at the downfall of Rhodolph, 225. + divided into two leagues, 253. + distracted state of, 299. + religious agitation in, 370. + the Elector of Bavaria chosen Emperor of, 434. + +GERTRUDE (of Hohenburg), + marriage of to Rhodolph of Hapsburg, 19. + her dowry, 19. + +GHIARADADDA to be bestowed on Venice, 89. + +GIBRALTAR taken by the English, 339. + +GOLDEN FLEECE, establishment of the order of the, 372. + +GRAN, capture of the fortress at, 324. + +GREAT WARDEIN, + siege of, 307. + the Turks retain, 313. + +GRENADER, the plot at, 92. + +GRIEVANCES complained of by the confederacy at Heilbrun, 192. + +GUICCIARDINI, remark of Charles V. about, 144. + +GUNPOWDER, its introduction, 82. + +GUNTZ, triumphant resistance of the fortress of, 150. + +GUSTAVUS YASA (King of Sweden), + league with against Charles V., 127. + +GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, + rouses the country against Ferdinand II., 280. + assembles a fleet at Elfsnaben, 281. + Stettin captured by, 281. + Mark of Brandenburg taken possession of by, 281. + conquers at the battle of Leipsic, 285. + his tranquil campaign, 286. + his intrenchment at Nuremberg, 290. + his attack on Wallenstein, 293. + his death, 293. + relics of, 295. + + +HANAU, conference at, 445. + +HANOVER, title of the Elector of to the crown of England, 367. + +HAWK'S Castle. (See Castle.) + +HEDWIGE, + wife of Albert of Hapsburg, 18. + betrothal of, 53. + +HELVETIC STATES, independence of acknowledged, 89. + +HENRY (Duke of Anjou), + abdication of the throne of Poland, 180. + succeeds Charles IX., 180. + +HENRY (Duke of Carinthia) chosen king, 39. + +HENRY (Count of Luxemburg) + elected Emperor of Austria, 41. + his death, 41. + +HENRY (of Valois) succeeds Charles IX., 171. + +HENRY VIII. (of England) claims Austria, 107. + +HENRY IV. (of France), + efforts of to unite Lutherans and Calvinists, 190. + political course of, 214. + assassination of, 215. + his plans for remodeling Europe, 216. + +HOCKKIRCHEN, battle of, 475. + +HOLY LEAGUE, formation of, 116. + +HUNGARIANS, the, summons a diet, 349. + the, remonstrate with Leopold, 501. + (see also Hungary.) + +HUNGARY, despotism of Rhodolph III. in, 196. + new revolt in, 307. + attempt of Leopold to establish despotic power in, 317. + rise of against Leopold, 333. + troubles in observed by Joseph I., 349. + enthusiastic support of Maria Theresa in, 432. + (see also Hungarian.) + +HUNNLADES (John), regent of Hungary, 68, + popularity of, 68. + death of, 71. + +HYMN, singing of a by the army of Gustavus on the field of battle, 292. + + +ISABELLA (wife of Frederic), death of, 45. + +ISABELLA (of Spain), determination of to obtain for her son the crown of + Hungary, 152. + propositions of to Ferdinand for peace, 154. + +IMPERIAL CHAMBER, creation of the, 87. + +INGOLSTADT, Charles V. marches to, 126. + +INNSPRUCK, arrival of the Duke of Ludovico at, 90. + the emperor sick at, 103. + the palace at surrendered to pillage, 134. + +INSURRECTION in Vienna, 36. + of Suabia, 55. + +INZENDORF, the Lord of arrested by Matthias, 206. + +ISCHIA, flight of Ferdinand to the island of, 85. + +ITALY, invasion of by Mahomet II., 82. + victories of Henry of France in, 136. + invaded by the Spaniards, 388. + invaded by the French and Spaniards, 452. + + +JAGHELLON, the Grand Duke, 53. + marriage of Hedwige to, 54. + baptism of, 54. + (for further reference see Ladislaus.) + +JAMES I., matrimonial negotiations of, 266. + +JEANETTE POISSON (see Marchioness of Pompadour). + +JESUITS, the, expelled from Prague, 239. + +JOANNA (of Spain), insanity of, 106. + +JOHN (of Bohemia), character of, 46. + his invasion of Austria, 49. + +JOHN SIGISMOND, death of, 178. + +JOHN SOBIESKI goes to the relief of Vienna, 320. + enthusiastic reception of, 322. + refuses to fight Tekeli, 324. + +JOHN (the Constant) succeeds Frederic, Elector of Saxony, 114. + +JOHN (of Tapoli), negotiations of with the Turks for the throne of + Hungary, 151. + marriage and death of, 52. + +JOHN (of Medici) elected pope, 100. + +JOSEPH (of Germany) elected as successor of Leopold, 316. + +JOSEPH I. secures a treaty with France for neutrality for Italy, 339. + continues the war against Spain, 338. + political concessions of in Hungary, 349. + refusal of to grant the demands of the diet, 350. + Transylvania again subject to, 351. + rout of the Hungarians by, 351. + death of, 352. + +JOSEPH II. (of Austria) elected to succeed the Emperor Francis, 481. + assumes the crown of Germany, 484. + succeeds Maria Theresa, 491. + character of, 492. + death of, 500. + attempt of to obliterate distinctions in Austria, 493. + emancipates the serfs of, 494. + joins the excursion of Catherine II., 497. + defeat of at Belgrade, 498. + successes of, 499. + +JULIUS III. ascends the pontifical throne, 130. + + +KAUNITZ (Count) appointed prime minister, 462. + +KEVENHULLER (General) given the command of the Austrian army, 405. + +KING, nominal power of the, 308. + +KINSKY, letter of Charles VI. to, 391. + +KLESES. (See Cardinal.) + +KONIGSEGG (General), power of in a counsel of war, 404. + recalled in disgrace, 405. + + +LADISLAUS I., coronation of, 65. + visit of to the pope, 67. + inglorious flight of, 69. + tyranny of towards the family of Hunniades, 71. + flight of from Buda, 71. + his projected marriage to Magdalen, 71. + death of, 72. + +LADISLAUS II. elected King of Hungary, 79. + assumes the government of Austria, 81. + +LANDAU, the Austrians checked at, 47. + +LANDSHUT, flight of Charles V. to, 126. + +LEAGUE against France, 85. + of Augsburg, 315. + +LEIPSIC captured by Tilly, 285. + +LEO X., John of Medici assumes the name of, 100. + +LEOPOLD I. (of Austria) succeeds Ferdinand III., 304. + convenes the diet at Presburg, 309. + accused by the diet of persecution, 309. + his desire for peace, 312. + organizes a coalition against Louis XIV., 315. + attempt of to establish despotic power in Hungary, 317. + driven from Hungary, 317. + flight of with his family, 319. + humiliation of, 322. + disgust of the people with, 324. + vengeance of, 324. + efforts of to obtain a decree that the crown was hereditary, 325. + claims Spain, 326. + declares war against France, 331. + deserted by the Duke of Bavaria, 334. + death of, 334. + canonization of, 335. + his various marriages, 336. + +LEOPOLD II. ascends the Austrian throne, 500. + despotism of in Hungary meets with a remonstrance, 501. + interposes against France, 502. + letter of to the King of England, 502. + death of, 502. + +LEOPOLD I. (of Germany), character and death of, 45. + +LEOPOLD I. (of Switzerland), character of, 52. + death of, 57. + +LEOPOLD II., succession of, 57. + assumes the guardianship of Albert V., 59. + death of, 59. + +LEOPOLD (Archduke) invasion of Upper Austria by, 220. + defeat of by Matthias, 221. + +LEWIS II., excommunication of, 50. + +LIBERTY, the spirit of acting in France, 501. + +LITHUANIA, duchy of, 53. + annexation of to Poland, 54. + +LOREDO, arrival of Charles V. at, 141. + +LORRAINE (Chevalier De), duel between the and the young Turk, 312. + +LORRAINE, duchy of demanded by France, 397. + +LORRAINE (Francis Stephen, Duke of) compelled to flee from Hungary, 319. + his engagement with Maria Theresa, 395. + deprived of his kingdom, 397. + his marriage, 398. + appointed commander of the army, 404. + reply of the to the demand of Frederic, 418. + +LOUIS XII., succession of to the throne of France, 89. + inaugurated Duke of Milan, 90. + diplomacy of, 91. + +LOUIS XIII. espouses the cause of Ferdinand I., 256. + +LOUIS XIV., attempt of to thwart Leopold, 304. + marriage of, 314. + resolve of to annex a part of Spain, 314. + responsible for devastation of the Palatinate, 316. + rapacious character of, 317. + claims Spain, 326. + preparations of to invade Spain, 329. + desire of to retire from the conflict, 341. + melancholy situation of, 357. + +LOUIS XV. begins to take part in the government, 378. + +LOUIS XVI., plans of, 502. + +LOUIS (of Bavaria) elected emperor, 42. + excommunication of, 47. + death of, 47. + +LOUIS (of Hungary), death of, 146. + +LOUIS (son of Philip V.), death of, 371. + +LUBEC, peace of, 269. + +LUDOVICO, escape of the Duke of, 90. + +LUDOVICO (Duke of Milan), recovery of Italy by the Duke of, 90. + mutiny of the troops of, 91. + death of, 92. + +LUTHER summoned to repair to Rome, 102. + bull of the pope against, 108. + works of burned, 109. + support of at the diet of Worms, 110. + summoned to appear before the diet, 110. + triumphal march of, 111. + memorable reply of, 111. + triumph of, 112. + attempts of Charles V. to bribe, 113. + his Patmos, 113. + his German Bible, 113. + the party of encouraged by Adrian the pope, 114. + marriage of, 114. + the Confession of Augsburg too mild for, 119. + visit of Charles V. to grave of, 128. + +LUTHERANS, reply of to Henry IV., 191. + (see also Luther.) + +LUTZEN, meeting of the armies at, 291. + battle of, 292. + + +MADRID, evacuation of, by the Austrians, 345. + +MAGDEBURG, the city of, espouses Gustavus, 282. + sacking of, by the imperial troops, 283. + +MAHOMET II., siege of Belgrade by, 69. + +MAHOMET IV., his foreign war, 307. + +MARLBOROUGH (Duke of), the guardian of Anne, 332. + +MALPLAQUET, battle at, 341. + +MANTUA, aid furnished Leopold by, 311. + battle at, 387. + +MARCHIONESS OF POMPADOUR, arrogance of, 464. + +MARIA ANTOINETTE, history of, 487. + letter of Maria Theresa to, 488. + +MARIA THERESA (of Spain), marriage of to Louis XIV., 314. + +MARIA THERESA (of Austria), character of, 395. + her attachment for the Duke of Lorraine, 395. + marriage of, 398. + ascends the Austrian throne, 415. + solicitations of to foreign powers, 417. + her apparent doom, 421. + consents to part with Glogau, 424. + a son born to her, 426. + desire of that her husband should obtain the imperial crown, 427. + her coronation at Presburg, 429. + address of to the diet, 431. + reinforcements of, 436. + ambitious dreams of, 439. + forbids the conference for the relief of Prague, 440. + attempt of to evade her promise to Sardinia, 446. + arrogance of excites indignation of the other powers, 449. + rouses the Hungarians, 450. + recovers Bohemia, 450. + interview of the English ambassador with, 454. + signs the treaty of Dresden, 458. + indignation of at peace being signed by England, 460. + chagrin of, 461. + her energetic discipline, 462. + secures the friendship of the Marchioness of Pompadour, 465 + reproaches towards England, 466. + her diplomatic fib, 468. + victories of, 475. + loses Russia and Sweden, 480. + recovers the coöperation of Russia, 481. + children of, 486. + letter of to Maria Antoinette, 488. + letter to Frederic desiring peace, 489. + charge to her son, 490. + death of, 491. + fate of her children, 491. + +MARY ANNE (of Spain) affianced to the dauphin of France, 372. + insulting rejection of, 373. + +MARGARET (of Bohemia), engagement of, 46. + marriage and flight of, 49. + divorce of, 49. + +MARGARET, celebration of the nuptials of, 314. + +MARK OF BRANDENBURG, taken possession of by Gustavus Adolphus, 281. + +MARTINETS thrown from the palace by the mob, 328. + +MASSACRE, the, of St. Bartholomew, 171. + +MATHEW HENRY (Count of Thurn), leader of the Protestants, 234. + convention called by, 236. + +MATTHIAS (of Hungary), invasion of Austria by, 75. + death of, 79. + +MATTHIAS, character of, 201. + chosen leader of the revolters in the Netherlands, 202. + increasing popularity of, 203. + announces his determination to depose Rhodolph III., 204. + his demand that Rhodolph should abdicate, 205. + distrust of by the Protestants, 205. + arrest of the Lord of Inzendorf by, 206. + reluctance of to sign the conditions, 207. + elected king, 207. + haughtiness of towards the Austrians, 208. + political reconciliation between Rhodolph III. and, 219. + march of against Leopold, 221. + limitations affixed to the offer of the crown to, 222. + coronation of, 224. + marriage of, 225. + suspicions of the Catholics against, 229. + elected Emperor of Germany, 229. + thwarted in his attempts to levy an army, 230. + concludes a truce with Turkey, 231. + his revival of the ban against the Protestants, 231. + efforts of to secure the crown of Germany for Ferdinand, 232. + opposed by the Protestants, 233. + defiant reply of to the congress at Prague, 236. + disposition of to favor toleration, 239. + death of, 344. + +MAURICE (of Saxony), Protestant principles of, 131. + treaty of with the King of France, 132 + capture of the Tyrol by, 133. + demands of from Charles V., 135 + death of, 137. + +MAXIMILIAN I., ambition of, 84. + efforts of to rouse the Italians, 88. + efforts to secure the Swiss estates, 89. + defeat of at the diet of Worms, 87. + roused to new efforts, 92. + superstitious fraud of, 93. + drawn into a war with Bavaria, 94. + league formed by against the Venetians, 95. + abandoned by his allies, 97. + perseverance of rewarded, 98. + confident of success against Italy, 99. + letter of to his daughter, 99. + success beginning to attend, 100. + plans of to secure the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, 101. + contempt of for the pope, 103. + peculiarities of exhibited, 103. + death of, 104. + accomplishments of, 105. + +MAXIMILIAN II. allowed to assume the title of emperor elect, 161. + character of, 169. + his letter to the Elector Palatine, 170. + profession of the Catholic faith, 170. + address of to Henry of Valois, 172. + liberal toleration maintained by, 172. + answer of to the complaints of the diet, 173. + offer of to pay tribute to the Turks, 174. + elected King of Poland, 180. + death of, 181. + character and acquirements of, 182. + tribute of honor by the ambassadors to, 183. + wife of, 183. + fate of his children, 184. + +MAXIMILIAN (brother of Matthias), the candidate of the Protestants, 229. + +MAXIMILIAN JOSEPH, ascends the throne of Bavaria, 451. + +MEINHARD, legitimate rights of, 50. + death of, 50. + +MELANCTHON, character of, 119. + +MENTZ, taunts of the Elector of, 38. + +METTERNICH, his theory of social order, 506. + +METZ, siege of, 137. + +MILAN, captured by Louis XII., 90. + Louis XII. created Duke of, 90. + +MINISTER (see the countries for which the minister acted). + +MOHATZ, battle of, 146. + +MOLNITZ, the court of Frederic established at, 421. + +MONTECUCULI (Prince), commander of the troops of Leopold, 311. + +MONTSERRAT, shrine of the holy Virgin at, 355. + +MORAVIA, to be held five years by Rhodolph, 81. + the province of, 208. + triumphal march of Count Thurn into, 247. + +MOSES TZEKELI crowned Prince of Transylvania, 196. + +MULHEIM, the fortifications of demolished, 232. + +MUNICH captured by Frederic, 449. + +MURCHFIELD, meeting of the armies on the field of, 29. + + +NAPLES, subjugation of, 84. + +NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, similarity of the plans of Henry IV. and, 216. + remark of verified, 262. + remark of concerning Russia, 399. + +NETHERLANDS, revolt in the, 201. + Marlborough in possession of the, 339. + +NEUPERG (General), imprudence and insult of, 408. + arrested by Charles, 413. + +NEUSTADT, the emperor's remains to be deposited at, 104. + +NICHOLAS (Count of Zrini), heroic defense of Zigeth by, 175. + +NISSA, capture of, 402. + +NOBLES, the, of Bohemia banished, 271. + +NOVARRA, defense of the citadel of, 90. + +NUREMBURG, congress at, 227. + request of, that Rhodolph should abdicate, 228. + battle of, 290. + famine in the city of, 290. + + +OFFICERS, ignorance of the Austrian, 389. + +ORLEANS (Duke of), matrimonial arrangements of the, 369. + death of the, 378. + +ORSOVA captured by the Turks, 405. + surrendered to the Turks, 408. + +OTHO marries Hedwige, of Hapsburg, 25. + harmonious rule of, 46. + +OTTOCAR (of Bohemia), candidate for crown of Germany, 23. + opposition of Rhodolph, 24. + command of the diet to, 24. + message of, to Rhodolph, 24. + power of, 25. + his contempt for Rhodolph, 25. + his excommunication by the pope, 26. + his performance of feudal homage, 27. + violates his oath, 28. + the body of found after battle, 30. + +OXENSTIERN (Chancellor), appointed commander of the Swedish army, 297. + + +PALATINATE, territory of the, 250. + +PAPPENHEIM (General), death of, 293. + +PASSAU, diet at, 187. + +PATMOS, Luther's, 113. + +PAUL III. (of Russia), alliance of with Prussia, 480. + assassination of, 480. + +PAUL IV. (Pope), death of, 162. + +Peace of Passarovitz, 364 + +PEOPLE, contempt for the, 95. + +PEST taken by the Turks, 147. + +PETER THE GREAT, ambition of, 399. + death of, 399. + +PETERWARDEIN, strength of, 406. + +PHILIP (of Burgundy), obtains the dukedom of Burgundy, 84. + +PHILIP III. institutes the order of the Golden Fleece, 372. + +PHILIP IV. (of Spain) obtains renunciation of succession in favor of + Margaret, 314. + resolve of, to maintain his throne, 341. + supported by his subjects, 342. + flight of, from Catalona, 343. + +PHILIP V. despondency of, 369. + abdication of, 370. + resumes his crown, 371. + +PILGRAM, diet at, 66. + +PIUS IV. elected pope, 162. + +PODIEBRAD (George), assumes regal authority, 66. + intrusted with the regency of Bohemia, 68. + elected King of Bohemia, 73. + +POLAND, conditions affixed to the throne of, 180. + Stephen Barthori chosen king of, by the minority, 181. + attempts of France to place Stanislaus on the throne of, 383. + Count Poniatowski secures the crown of, 484. + to be carved out, 485. + annihilation of, 486. + +POMERANIA, seizure of, by Ferdinand, 269. + +POMPADOUR (Marchioness of), arrogance of the, 464. + +PONIATOWSZI (Count), elected King of Poland, 484. + +POPE, the, letter of Rhodolph to, 24. + character of Pope Gregory N., 24. + indignation of the, 38. + capitulation of the, 84. + (Alexander VI.) bribery of, 89. + (Julius II.) the, bought over, 92. + bull of the, deposing the King of Naples, 93. + demands of the, as booty, 95. + infamy of, 95. + infamous acquisitions of, 98. + proclamation against the, by Maximilian, 98. + death of, 100. + John of Medici elected as, 100. + (Leo X.), command of the, to Luther to repair to Rome, 102. + Maximilian's contempt for the, 103. + bull of the, against Luther, 108. + bull of the, burned by Luther, 109. + death of Leo X., the, 113. + (Adrian), accession of, as, 113. + (Clement VII.) succeeds Adrian, 116. + offer of pardon by the, for those who assist in enforcing the + Council of Trent, 125. + disgust of the, against Charles V., 129. + (Julius III.) elected as, 130. + indignation of the, at the toleration of the diet at Passau, 138. + the, allows Maximilian to assume the title of emperor elect, 161. + intolerant pride of, 161. + (Pius IV.) elected as, 162. + dependence on the, dispensed with, 163. + refusal of the, to reform abuses, 165. + attempts of the, to influence Maximilian II., 174. + aid extended to Leopold by the, 311. + embassage from Charles II. to the, 329. + alarm of the, at the innovations of Joseph II., 494. + +PRAGMATIC SANCTION, the, 364. + the, supported by various powers, 461. + +PRAGUE, Ferdinand crushes the revolt in. 156. + diet at, 158. + seizure of, by Leopold, 221. + archbishop of, expelled from the city, 239. + indignation of the inhabitants of, against Frederic, 262. + surrender of, to Ferdinand, 262. + surrender of, to the Austrians, 443. + suffering in, on account of the siege, 472. + +PRAUNSTEIN (Lord of), reasons for the, declaring war, 80. + +PRECOCITY, not a modern innovation, 108. + +PRESBURG, diet at, 309. + +PRESS, success of the, in diffusing intelligence, 102. + +PRINTING, the influence of, beginning to be felt, 83. + +PRIVILEGES confined to the nobles, 187. + +PROTEST of the minority at the diet of Spires, 116. + +PROTESTANTISM, spread of, in Europe, 163. + its working for liberty, 264. + +PROTESTANTS, assembly of, at Smalkalde, 121. + refusal of the, to assist Charles V, 122. + contributions of the, to expel the Turks, 122. + increase of the, 123. + the, reject the council of Trent, 124. + ruin of the army of the, by Charles V., 126. + party of the, predominant in Germany, 183. + shameful quarreling among the, 190. + union of, at Aschhausen, 194. + opposition of the, to Matthias, 206. + their demands on Matthias, 207. + reasonable demands of, 211. + forces of the, vanquished at Pritznitz, 259. + secret combinations of the, for the rising of the, 267. + concessions to, revoked by Ferdinand, 276. + the, prefer the Duke of Bavaria to any of the family of Ferdinand, 279. + loss of the, in the death of Gustavus, 296. + pleasure of the, at the entry of Frederic into Silesia, 419. + +PRUSSIA, inhabited by a pagan race, 20. + alliance of, with Austria, 459. + alliance of, with England, 466. + a subsidy voted to, by England, 475. + formidable preparations against, 470. + +PRUSSIANS, the, driven from Bohemia, 450. + + +RAAB taken by the Turks, 147. + +RAGOTSKY (Francis), leader of the rebellion, 333. + assembles a diet, 349. + chosen dux, or leader, 350. + outlawed, and escape of, 351. + +RATISBON, diet at, in 1629, 275. + refusal of, to accept Ferdinand's word, 276. + +REFORMATION, commencement of the, 103. + +RELIGION, remarkable solicitude for the reputation of, 98. + +REWARD offered for the head of Rhodolph, 30. + +RHODOLPH (of Hapsburg), at the time of his father's death, 18. + presentation of, by the emperor for baptism, 19, + his incursions, 19. + marriage, 19. + excommunication of, 20. + engaged in Prussian crusade, 20. + a monument reared to, by the city of Strasburg, 21. + principles of honor, 21. + chosen chief of Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden, 21. + chosen mayor of Zurich, 21. + elected Emperor of Germany, 23. + power of, as emperor, 25. + family of, 25. + gathering clouds around, 28. + address of the citizens of Vienna to, 28. + death of, 35. + +RHODOLPH II., character and court of, 48. + ostentatious titles of, 51. + death of, 51. + +RHODOLPH III, crowned King of Hungary, 178. + obtains the imperial throne, 180. + bigotry of, 187. + his infringement of the rights of the burghers, 188. + his blows against Protestantism, 189. + intolerance of in Bohemia, 193. + superstition of, 200. + his favor to Ferdinand; 204. + demands of the Protestants on, 205. + his encouragement of filibustering expeditions, 208. + remarkable pliancy of, 210. + his terror at the chance of assassination, 212. + political reconciliation between Matthias and, 219. + his plot with Leopold, 220. + Rhodolph taken prisoner, 221. + his abdication, 222. + required to absolve his subjects from their oath of allegiance, 223. + retains the crown of Germany, 225. + supplication of to the congress at Rothemberg, 226. + a congress at Nuremberg summoned by, 227. + death of, 228. + +RHODOLPH (of Bohemia), death of, 39. + +RHINE, separating Basle from Rhodolph, 23. + +RICHELIEU, motives influencing, 267. + ambassadors of urge the Duke of Bavaria as candidate for the imperial + crown, 279. + +RIPPERDA (Baron), the secret agent of the Queen of Spain at Vienna, 373. + rise and fall of, 375. + escape of to England, 376. + +ROBINSON (Sir Thomas), interview of with Maria Theresa, 454. + +ROTHENBURG, congress at, 226. + +RUSSIA, growing power of, 399. + succession of the crown of, 399. + instrumental in placing Augustus II on the throne, 400. + + +SARAGOSSA, battle of, 343. + +SAXONY, defeat of the Elector of, 128. + nobility of, 128. + degradation of, 129. + power of, 132. + the electorate of, passes to Augustus, 137. + +SCHARTLIN (General), the Protestants march under, 125. + +SCHWEITZ, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, 21. + +SCLAVONIA, marriage of the Duke of to the daughter of Rhodolph, 25. + +SECKENDORF, (General), the Austrian army intrusted to, 400. + his plans of campaign broken up by Charles, 402. + capture of Nissa by, 402. + condemned to the dungeon, 402. + +SECRET ARTICLES of the treaty with Austria, 376. + +SEGEBERG, league at, 267. + +SCHMETTAU (General), the retreat of Wallis arrested by, 407. + compelled to yield Belgrade, 409. + +SELIM succeeds Solyman, 177. + +SEMENDRIA, defense of, 64. + its capture, 65. + +SEMPACH, battle of, 55. + +SERFS emancipated by Joseph II., 494. + his plan for seizing Bavaria frustrated, 495. + +SEVEN YEARS' WAR, termination of the, 481. + +SICILY, subjugated and attached to the Neapolitan crown, 388. + +SIGISMOND (Francis, Duke of Tyrol), his alliance with Rhodolph, 195. + representation in the diet introduced by, 308. + death of, 314. + +SIGISMOND (of Bohemia), power of, 60. + address of to the diet at Znaim, 61. + death of, 62. + +SILESIA sold to Rhodolph, 195. + taken possession of by Frederic, 418. + +SISECK, Turks routed at, 195. + +SLAVATA thrown from the palace by the mob, 238. + +SMALKALDE, assembly of the Protestants at, 121. + +SOLYMAN (the Magnificent), victories of, 146. + reply of to the demand made by Ferdinand, 147. + his method of overcoming difficulties, 149. + his attack upon Guntz, 150. + his price of peace with Hungary, 153. + death of from rage, 176. + +SPAIN decreed by the will of Charles II. to succeed to France, 331. + espouses the cause of Ferdinand II., 256. + assistance furnished Leopold by, 311. + invasion of by the British and Charles III., 354. + treaty between Austria and, 373. + the Austrians forbidden to trade in, 380. + invasion of Italy by, 388. + +SPANIARDS, the, routed at Catalonia, 343. + +ST. BARTHOLOMEW, massacre of, 171. + +ST. GOTHARD, troops stationed at, 311. + battle of, 312. + +ST. ILDEFONSO, the palace of, 370. + +ST. JUSTUS, convent of, 140. + +ST. PETERSBURG, rearing of the city of, 399. + +STANHOPE (General), bearing of, 342. + desperate position of, 347. + +STANISLAUS LECZINSKI, career of, 382. + daughter of married to Louis XV., 382. + receives a pension from France, 383. + elected King of Poland, 383. + his marvelous journey through Germany, 384. + +STAREMBERG (General), bearing of, 342. + +STATE, the independence of each German, 18. + +STEPHEN, crowning of the infant as king, 152. + +STEPHEN BOTSKOI, indignity offered to, 197. + his manifesto, 198. + proclaimed King of Hungary, 199. + +STETTIN captured by Gustavus Adolphus, 281. + +STETZIM, diet at, 349. + +STRALSUND, defense of, 269. + +STRICKLAND sent to London to overthrow the cabinet, 392. + +STYRIA traversed by the Turks, 311. + +SWEDEN roused by Gustavus Adolphus + against Ferdinand II., 280. + prudent conduct of on death of Gustavus, 297. + +SWEDES, sorrow of the at the death of Gustavus, 294. + +SWITZERLAND, divisions of, 40. + + +THURN (Count) leads the mob to the king's council, 237. + appointed commander of the Protestants, 338. + invades Austria, 247. + +TILLY (Count), the imperial troops intrusted to, 282. + +TITIAN, graceful compliment of Charles V to, 144. + +TRAUSNITZ, Frederic I. a prisoner at the castle of, 43. + +TRANSYLVANIA, rebellion in, 333. + +TREASURE abandoned by the Turks, 323. + +TREATY of Passau, 136. + +TRENT, Council of, 124. + the second council at, 130. + council at in 1562, 164. + declarations of, 166 + +TRIBUNAL at Eperies, 324. + +TRIESTE, arrival of troops at, 94. + +TURENNE, the Palatinate devastated by, 315. + challenged by the Elector of Palatinate, 316. + +TURIN, the court of bribed, 89. + +TURKS, origin and increase of the, 63. + defeat of at Belgrade, 70. + spread of the, 121. + invasion of Hungary by the, 122. + the, driven from Hungary, 122. + treaty of Charles V. with the, 123. + victorious in Hungary, 136. + invasion of Europe by the, 145. + compelled to return home, 148. + the, retire from Hungary, 177. + peace made by Maximilian with the, 178. + invasion of Croatia by the, 195. + union of the with the forces of Botskoi, 199. + truce of Hungary with the, 203. + the, conclude a peace with Austria, 231. + invasion of Hungary by the, 310. + defeat of on the field of St. Gothard, 312. + favorable treaty secured by the, 313. + the invasion of Sclavonia by the, 360. + destruction of the army of the, 363. + the, implore peace, 364. + Orsova besieged by the, 404. + the, routed at Einmik, 499. + +TUSCANY, subjugation of by Charles VIII, 84. + aid furnished Leopold by, 311. + death of the Duke of, 398. + +TYROL, marriage of Albert to Elizabeth, + daughter of the Count of, 25. + possession of obtained by Rhodolph II., 50. + its power as the key to Italy, 313. + death of the Duke of, 314. + + +ULADISLAUS obtains the throne of Hungary, 66. + +ULM, rendezvous of the Protestants at, 257. + +ULRIC, the Protestant Duke of restored to Wirtemberg, 122. + +UNDERWALDEN, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, 21. + +URI, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, 21. + +UTTLEBERG, capture of the castle of by Rhodolph, 22. + + +VALERIUS BARTHOLOMEW, the king's confessor, 248. + +VALLADOLID, court of Philip established at, 343. + +VENDOME (General) joins Philip, 313. + +VENICE bribed, 89. + Maximilian bound by truce with, 95. + aid furnished Leopold by, 311. + +VICTOR ASMEDEUS, business of, 369. + +VIENNA one of the strongest defenses of the empire, 26. + the king's residence at, 27. + address of the citizens of to Rhodolph, 28. + siege of, 74. + the professors of the university at avow the doctrines of Luther, 114. + assault of, 320. + delivered by Sobieski, 322. + + +WALLENSTEIN made generalissimo of all the forces, 268. + arrogance of, 273. + matrimonial alliances of, 274. + his dismissal from the army demanded, 276. + he retires from the army 278. + his regal mode of living, 287. + his humiliating exactions from the emperor, 289. + superstition of, 291. + urges Ferdinand to make peace, 297. + traitorous offer to surrender to the Swedes, 298. + his assassination, 299. + +WALLIS (Marshal) given the command of the army, 406. + arrested by Charles, 413. + +WAR, its debit and credit account, 359. + (see also the various campaigns.) + +WATERLOO, its advantage to Austria, 404. + +WENCESLAUS acknowledged king, 31. + marriage to Judeth, 31. + death of, 38. + +WESTPHALIA, signing of the peace of, 300. + conditions of the treaty of, 301. + +WHITE MOUNTAIN, battle of, 259. + +WILLIAM (son of Leopold), demand of for the government, 58. + marriage of, 59. + +WINKELREID (Arnold), heroism of, 56. + +WISMAR, the naval depot of Ferdinand, 268. + +WITTEMBERG, procession of the students of, 109. + +WORMS, diet at in 1521, 108. + the diet of inveighs Luther, 110. + + +ZEALAND, encampment of Charles Gustavus in, 306. + +ZIGETH, heroic defense of by Nicholas, 176. + noble death of the garrison of, 177. + +ZINZENDORF, remark of, 393. + +ZNAIM, diet at, 61. + +ZURICH, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen 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Abbott</title> +<style type="text/css"> + + /*<![CDATA[*/ + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {text-align: justify;} + blockquote {text-align: justify;} + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center;} + + hr {text-align: center; width: 50%;} + html>body hr {margin-right: 25%; margin-left: 25%; width: 50%;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + html>body hr.full {margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 0%; width: 100%;} + + .note, .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; + text-align: left;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem p.i2 {margin-left: 2em;} + .poem p.i4 {margin-left: 4em;} + .poem p.i6 {margin-left: 6em;} + .poem p.i8 {margin-left: 8em;} + .poem p.i10 {margin-left: 10em;} + + span.pagenum {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; + font-size: 8pt;} + + p.summary {font-size: 0.9em;} + pre {font-size: 8pt;} + --> + /*]]>*/ +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present +Power, by John S. C. Abbott</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present Power</p> +<p>Author: John S. C. Abbott</p> +<p>Release Date: June 15, 2005 [eBook #16070]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA; ITS RISE AND PRESENT POWER***</p> +<p> </p> +<h4>E-text prepared by Curtis Weyant, David King,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + from page images generously made available by<br /> + the Making of America Collection of the University of Michigan Library<br /> + <a href="http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/">(http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/)</a></h4> +<p> </p> +<table border="0" cellpadding="10" style="background-color: #ccccff;"> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through the Making of + America Collection of the University of Michigan Library. See + <a href="http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/">http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<h2>THE MONARCHIES OF CONTINENTAL EUROPE.</h2> +<hr /> +<h1>THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA; ITS RISE AND PRESENT POWER.</h1> +<h3>BY</h3> +<h2>JOHN S. C. ABBOTT</h2> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3>NEW YORK;</h3> +<h3>PUBLISHED BY MASON BROTHERS,</h3> +<h3>CINCINNATI: RICKEY, MALLORY & CO.</h3> +<h3>1859.</h3> +<p> </p> +<h4>STEREOTYPED BY THOMAS B. SMITH, 82 & 84 Beekman St.</h4> +<h4>PRINTED BY C.A. ALVORD. 15 Vandewater St.</h4> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page4" id="page4"></a>{4}</span> +<h2>PREFACE</h2> +<p>The studies of the author of this work, for the last ten years, +in writing the "History of Napoleon Bonaparte," and "The French +Revolution of 1789," have necessarily made him quite familiar with +the monarchies of Europe. He has met with so much that was strange +and romantic in their career, that he has been interested to +undertake, as it were, a <i>biography</i> of the Monarchies of +Continental Europe—their birth, education, exploits, progress +and present condition. He has commenced with Austria.</p> +<p>There are abundant materials for this work. The Life of Austria +embraces all that is wild and wonderful in history; her early +struggles for aggrandizement—the fierce strife with the +Turks, as wave after wave of Moslem invasion rolled up the +Danube—the long conflicts and bloody persecutions of the +Reformation—the thirty years' religious war—the +meteoric career of Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII. shooting +athwart the lurid storms of battle—the intrigues of +Popes—the enormous pride, power and encroachments of Louis +XIV.—the warfare of the Spanish succession and the Polish +dismemberment—all these events combine in a sublime tragedy +which fiction may in vain attempt to parallel.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page5" id="page5"></a>{5}</span> +<p>It is affecting to observe in the history of Germany, through +what woes humanity has passed in attaining even its present +position of civilization. It is to be hoped that the human family +may never again suffer what it has already endured. We shall be +indeed insane if we do not gain some wisdom from the struggles and +the calamities of those who have gone before us. The narrative of +the career of the Austrian Empire, must, by contrast, excite +emotions of gratitude in every American bosom. Our lines have +fallen to us in pleasant places; we have a goodly heritage.</p> +<p>It is the author's intention soon to issue, as the second of +this series, the History of the Empire of Russia.</p> +<p>JOHN S. C. ABBOTT.</p> +<p>Brunswick, Maine, 1859.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page6" id="page6"></a>{6}</span> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> +<p><a href="#chap1">CHAPTER I.</a><br /> +RHODOLPH OF HAPSBURG.<br /> +From 1232 to 1291.</p> +<p>Hawk's Castle.—Albert, Count of Hapsburg.—Rhodolph +of Hapsburg.—His Marriage and Estates.—Excommunication +and its Results.—His Principles of Honor.—A Confederacy +of Barons.—Their Route.—Rhodolph's Election as Emperor +of Germany.—The Bishop's Warning.—Dissatisfaction at +the Result of the Election.—Advantages accruing from the +Possession of an interesting Family.—Conquest.—Ottocar +acknowledges the Emperor; yet breaks his Oath of +Allegiance.—Gathering Clouds.—Wonderful +Escape.—Victory of Rhodolph.—His Reforms. Page 17</p> +<p><a href="#chap2">CHAPTER II.</a><br /> +REIGNS OF ALBERT I., FREDERIC, ALBERT AND OTHO.<br /> +From 1291 to 1347.</p> +<p>Anecdotes of Rhodolph.—His Desire for the Election of his +Son.—His Death.—Albert.—His +Unpopularity.—Conspiracy of the Nobles.—Their +Defeat.—Adolphus of Nassau chosen Emperor.—Albert's +Conspiracy.—Deposition of Adolphus and Election of +Albert.—Death of Adolphus.—The Pope +Defied.—Annexation of Bohemia.—Assassination of +Albert.—Avenging Fury.—The Hermit's +Direction.—Frederic the Handsome.—Election of Henry, +Count of Luxemburg.—His Death.—Election of Louis of +Bavaria.—Capture of Frederic.—Remarkable Confidence +toward a Prisoner.—Death of Frederic.—An early +Engagement.—Death of Louis.—Accession of Albert. Page +34</p> +<p><a href="#chap3">CHAPTER III.</a><br /> +RHODOLPH II., ALBERT IV. AND ALBERT V.<br /> +From 1389 to 1437.</p> +<p>Rhodolph II.—Marriage of John to +Margaret.—Intriguing for the Tyrol.—Death of +Rhodolph.—Accession of Power to Austria.—Dividing the +Empire.—Delight of the Emperor +Charles.—Leopold.—His Ambition and +successes.—Hedwige, Queen of Poland.—"The Course of +true Love never did run smooth."—Unhappy Marriage of +Hedwige.—Heroism of Arnold of Winkelreid.—Death of +Leopold.—Death of Albert IV.—Accession Of Albert +V.—Attempts of Sigismond to bequeath to Albert V. Hungary and +Bohemia. Page 48</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page7" id="page7"></a>{7}</span> +<p><a href="#chap4">CHAPTER IV.</a><br /> +ALBERT, LADISLAUS AND FREDERIC.<br /> +From 1440 to 1489.</p> +<p>Increasing Honors of Albert V.—Encroachments of the +Turks.—The Christians Routed.—Terror of the +Hungarians.—Death of Albert.—Magnanimous Conduct of +Albert of Bavaria.—Internal Troubles.—Precocity of +Ladislaus.—Fortifications Raised by the Turks.—John +Capistrun.—Rescue of Belgrade.—The Turks +Dispersed.—Exultation over the Victory.—Death of +Hunniades.—Jealousy of Ladislaus.—His +Death.—Brotherly Quarrels.—Devastations by the +Turks.—Invasion of Austria.—Repeal of the +Compromise.—The Emperor a Fugitive. Page 68</p> +<p><a href="#chap5">CHAPTER V.</a><br /> +THE EMPERORS FREDERIC II. AND MAXIMILIAN I.<br /> +From 1477 to 1500.</p> +<p>Wanderings of the Emperor Frederic.—Proposed Alliance with +the Duke of Burgundy.—Mutual Distrust.—Marriage of +Mary.—The Age of Chivalry.—The Motive inducing the Lord +of Praunstein to Declare War.—Death of Frederic II.—The +Emperor's Secret.—Designs of the Turks.—Death of +Mahomet II.—First Establishment of Standing Armies.—Use +of Gunpowder.—Energy of Maximilian.—French +Aggressions.—The League to Expel the +French.—Disappointments of Maximilian.—Bribing the +Pope.—Invasion of Italy.—Capture and +Recapture.—The Chevalier de Bayard. Page 77</p> +<p><a href="#chap6">CHAPTER VI.</a><br /> +MAXIMILIAN I.<br /> +From 1500 to 1519.</p> +<p>Base Treachery of the Swiss Soldiers.—Perfidy of Ferdinand +of Arragon.—Appeals by Superstition.—Coalition with +Spain.—The League of Cambray.—Infamy of the +Pope.—The King's Apology.—Failure of the +Plot.—Germany Aroused.—Confidence of +Maximilian.—Longings for the Pontifical +Chair.—Maximilian Bribed.—Leo X.—Dawning +Prosperity.—Matrimonial Projects.—Commencement of the +War of Reformation.—Sickness of Maximilian.—His Last +Directions.—His Death.—The Standard by which his +Character is to be Judged. Page 91</p> +<p><a href="#chap7">CHAPTER VII.</a><br /> +CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION.<br /> +From 1519 to 1581.</p> +<p>Charles V. of Spain.—His Election as Emperor of +Germany.—His Coronation.—The First +Constitution.—Progress of the Reformation.—The Pope's +Bull against Luther.—His Contempt for his Holiness.—The +Diet at Worms.—Frederic's Objection to the Condemnation of +Luther by the Diet.—He <span class="pagenum"><a name="page8" +id="page8"></a>{8}</span> obtains for Luther the Right of +Defense.—Luther's triumphal March to the +Tribunal.—Charles urged to Violate his Safe +Conduct.—Luther's Patmos.—Marriage of Sister Catharine +Bora to Luther.—Terrible Insurrection.—The Holy +League.—The Protest of Spires.—Confession of +Augsburg.—The Two Confessions.—Compulsory Measures. +Page 106</p> +<p><a href="#chap8">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br /> +CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION.<br /> +From 1531 to 1552.</p> +<p>Determination to crush Protestantism.—Incursion of the +Turks.—Valor of the Protestants.—Preparations for +renewed Hostilities.—Augmentation of the Protestant +Forces.—The Council of Trent.—Mutual +Consternation.—Defeat of the Protestant +Army.—Unlooked-for Succor.—Revolt in the Emperor's +Army.—The Fluctuations of Fortune.—Ignoble +Revenge.—Capture of Wittemberg.—Protestantism +apparently crushed.—Plot against Charles.—Maurice of +Saxony.—A Change of Scene.—The Biter Bit—The +Emperor humbled.—His Flight.—His determined Will. Page +121</p> +<p><a href="#chap9">CHAPTER IX.</a><br /> +CHARLES V. AND THE TURKISH WARS.<br /> +From 1552 to 1555.</p> +<p>The Treaty of Passau.—The Emperor yields.—His +continued Reverses.—The Toleration Compromise.—Mutual +Dissatisfaction.—Remarkable Despondency of the Emperor +Charles.—His Address to the Convention at Brussels.—The +Convent of St. Justus.—Charles returns to Spain.—His +Convent Life.—The Mock Burial.—His Death.—His +Traits of Character.—The King's Compliment to +Titian.—The Condition of Austria.—Rapid Advance of the +Turks.—Reasons for the Inaction of the Christians.—The +Sultan's Method of Overcoming Difficulties.—The little +Fortress of Guntz.—What it accomplished. Page 186</p> +<p><a href="#chap10">CHAPTER X.</a><br /> +FERDINAND I.—HIS WARS AND INTRIGUES.<br /> +From 1555 to 1562.</p> +<p>John of Tapoli.—The Instability of Compacts.—The +Sultan's Demands.—A Reign of War.—Powers and Duties of +the Monarchs of Bohemia.—The Diet.—The King's Desire to +crush Protestantism.—The Entrance to Prague.—Terror of +the Inhabitants.—The King's Conditions.—The Bloody +Diet.—Disciplinary Measures.—The establishment of the +Order of Jesuits.—Abdication of Charles V. in Favor of +Ferdinand.—Power of the Pope.—Paul IV.—A quiet +but powerful Blow.—The Progress of the +Reformers.—Attempts to reconcile the Protestants.—The +unsuccessful Assembly. Page 151</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page9" id="page9"></a>{9}</span> +<p><a href="#chap11">CHAPTER XI.</a><br /> +DEATH OF FERDINAND I.—ACCESSION OF MAXIMILIAN II.<br /> +From 1562 to 1576.</p> +<p>The Council of Trent.—Spread of the +Reformation.—Ferdinand's Attempt to influence the +Pope.—His Arguments against Celibacy.—Stubbornness of +the Pope.—Maximilian II.—Displeasure of +Ferdinand.—Motives for not abjuring the Catholic +Faith.—Religious Strife in Europe.—Maximilian's Address +to Charles IX.—Mutual Toleration.—Romantic Pastime of +War.—Heroism of Nicholas, Count of Zeini.—Accession of +Power to Austria.—Accession of Rhodolph III.—Death of +Maximilian. Page 166</p> +<p><a href="#chap12">CHAPTER XII.</a><br /> +CHARACTER OF MAXIMILIAN.—SUCCESSION OF RHODOLPH III.<br /> +From 1576 to 1604.</p> +<p>Character of Maximilian.—His Accomplishments.—His +Wife.—Fate of his Children.—Rhodolph III.—The +Liberty of Worship.—Means of Emancipation.—Rhodolph's +Attempts against Protestantism.—Declaration of a higher +Law.—Theological Differences.—The Confederacy at +Heilbrun.—The Gregorian Calendar.—Intolerance in +Bohemia.—The Trap of the Monks.—Invasion of the +Turks.—Their Defeat.—Coalition with +Sigismond.—Sale of Transylvania.—Rule of +Basta.—The Empire captured and recaptured.—Devastation +of the Country.—Treatment of Stephen Botskoi. Page 182</p> +<p><a href="#chap13">CHAPTER XIII.</a><br /> +RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS.<br /> +From 1604 to 1609.</p> +<p>Botskoi's Manifesto.—Horrible Suffering in +Transylvania.—Character of Botskoi.—Confidence of the +Protestants.—Superstition of Rholdoph.—His Mystic +Studies.—Acquirements of Matthias.—Schemes of +Matthias.—His increasing power.—Treaty with the +Turks.—Demands on Rhodolph.—The +Compromise.—Perfidy of Matthias.—The +Margravite.—Fillisbustering.—The People's Diet.—A +Hint to Royalty.—The Bloodless Triumph.—Demands of the +Germans.—Address of the Prince of Anhalt to the King. Page +198</p> +<p><a href="#chap14">CHAPTER XIV.</a><br /> +RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS.<br /> +From 1609 to 1612.</p> +<p>Difficulties as to the Succession.—Hostility of Henry IV. +to the House of Austria.—Assassination of Henry +IV.—Similarity in Sully's and Napoleon's +Plans.—Exultation of the Catholics.—The Brother's +Compact.—How Rhodolph kept it.—Seizure of +Prague.—Rhodolph a Prisoner.—The <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page10" id="page10"></a>{10}</span> King's +Abdication.—Conditions Attached to the Crown.—Rage of +Rhodolph.—Matthias Elected King.—The Emperor's +Residence.—Rejoicings of The Protestants.—Reply of the +Ambassadors.—The Nuremberg Diet.—The Unkindest cut of +all.—Rhodolph's Humiliation and Death. Page 213</p> +<p><a href="#chap15">CHAPTER XV.</a><br /> +MATTHIAS.<br /> +From 1612 to 1619.</p> +<p>Matthias Elected Emperor of Germany.—His Despotic +Character.—His Plans Thwarted.—Mulheim.—Gathering +Clouds.—Family Intrigue.—Coronation of +Ferdinand.—His Bigotry.—Henry, Count of +Thurn.—Convention at Prague.—The King's +Reply.—The Die Cast.—Amusing Defense of an +Outrage.—Ferdinand's Manifesto.—Seizure of Cardinal +Klesis.—The King's Rage.—Retreat of the King's +Troops.—Humiliation of Ferdinand.—The Difficulties +Deferred.—Death of Matthias. Page 229</p> +<p><a href="#chap16">CHAPTER XVI.</a><br /> +FERDINAND II.<br /> +From 1619 to 1621.</p> +<p>Possessions of the Emperor.—Power of the Protestants of +Bohemia.—General Spirit of Insurrection.—Anxiety of +Ferdinand.—Insurrection led by Count +Thurn.—Unpopularity of the Emperor.—Affecting +Declaration of the Emperor.—Insurrection in Vienna.—The +Arrival of Succor.—Ferdinand Seeks the Imperial +Throne.—Repudiated by Bohemia.—The +Palatinate.—Frederic Offered the Crown of +Bohemia.—Frederic Crowned.—Revolt in +Hungary.—Desperate Condition of the Emperor.—Catholic +League.—The Calvinists and the Puritans.—Duplicity of +the Emperor.—Foreign Combinations.—Truce between the +Catholics and the Protestants.—The Attack upon +Bohemia.—Battle of the White Mountain. Page 245</p> +<p><a href="#chap17">CHAPTER XVII.</a><br /> +FERDINAND II.<br /> +From 1621 to 1629.</p> +<p>Pusillanimity of Frederic.—Intreaties of the Citizens of +Prague.—Shameful Flight of Frederic.—Vengeance +Inflicted upon Bohemia.—Protestantism and Civil +Freedom.—Vast Power of the Emperor.—Alarm of +Europe.—James I.—Treaty of Marriage for the Prince of +Wales.—Cardinal Richelieu.—New League of the +Protestants.—Desolating War.—Defeat of the King of +Denmark.—Energy of Wallenstein.—Triumph of +Ferdinand.—New Acts of Intolerance.—Severities in +Bohemia.—Desolation of the Kingdom.—Dissatisfaction of +the Duke of Bavaria.—Meeting of the Catholic +Princes.—The Emperor Humbled. Page 261</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page11" id="page11"></a>{11}</span> +<p><a href="#chap18">CHAPTER XVIII.</a><br /> +FERDINAND II. AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.<br /> +From 1629 to 1632.</p> +<p>Vexation of Ferdinand.—Gustavus Adolphus.—Address to +the Nobles of Sweden.—March of Gustavus.—Appeal to the +Protestants.—Magdeburg joins Gustavus.—Destruction of +the City.—Consternation of the Protestants.—Exultation +of the Catholics.—The Elector of Saxony Driven from His +Domains.—Battle of Leipsic.—The Swedes penetrate +Bohemia.—Freedom of Conscience Established.—Death of +Tilly.—The Retirement of Wallenstein.—The Command +Resumed by Wallenstein.—Capture of Prague.—Encounter +between Wallenstein and Gustavus.—Battle of +Lutzen.—Death of Gustavus. Page 279</p> +<p><a href="#chap19">CHAPTER XIX.</a><br /> +FERDINAND II., FERDINAND III. AND LEOPOLD I.<br /> +From 1632 to 1662.</p> +<p>Character of Gustavus Adolphus.—Exultation of the +Imperialists.—Disgrace of Wallenstein.—He offers to +Surrender to the Swedish General.—His +Assassination.—Ferdinand's son Elected as his +Successor.—Death of Ferdinand.—Close of the +War.—Abdication of Christina.—Charles +Gustavus.—Preparations for War.—Death of Ferdinand +III.—Leopold Elected Emperor.—Hostilities +Renewed.—Death of Charles Gustavus.—Diet +Convened.—Invasion of the Turks. Page 295</p> +<p><a href="#chap20">CHAPTER XX.</a><br /> +LEOPOLD I.<br /> +From 1662 to 1697.</p> +<p>Invasion of the Turks.—A Treaty +Concluded.—Possessions of Leopold.—Invasion of the +French.—League of Augsburg.—Devastation of the +Palatinate.—Invasion of Hungary.—Emerio +Tekeli.—Union of Emerio Tekeli with the Turks.—Leopold +Applies to Sobieski.—He Immediately Marches to his +Aid.—The Turks Conquered.—Sobieski's Triumphal +Receptions.—Meanness of Leopold.—Revenge upon +Hungary.—Peace Concluded.—Contest for Spain. Page +811</p> +<p><a href="#chap21">CHAPTER XXI.</a><br /> +LEOPOLD I. AND THE SPANISH SUCCESSION<br /> +From 1697 to 1710.</p> +<p>The Spanish Succession.—The Impotence of Charles +II.—Appeal to the Pope.—His Decision.—Death of +Charles II.—Accession of Philip V.—Indignation of +Austria.—The Outbreak of War.—Charles III. +Crowned.—Insurrection in Hungary.—Defection of +Bavaria.—The Battle of Blenheim.—Death <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page12" id="page12"></a>{12}</span> of Leopold +I.—Eleonora.—Accession of Joseph I.—Charles XII. +of Sweden.—Charles III. of Spain.—Battle of +Malplaquet.—Charles at Barcelona.—Charles at Madrid. +328</p> +<p><a href="#chap22">CHAPTER XXII.</a><br /> +JOSEPH I. AND CHARLES VI.<br /> +From 1710 to 1717.</p> +<p>Perplexities in Madrid.—Flight of Charles.—Retreat +of the Austrian Army.—Stanhope's Division cut +off.—Capture of Stanhope.—Staremberg +assailed.—Retreat to Barcelona.—Attempt to pacify +Hungary.—The Hungarian Diet.—Baronial crowning of +Ragotsky.—Renewal of the Hungarian War.—Enterprise of +Herbeville.—The Hungarians crushed.—Lenity of +Joseph.—Death of Joseph.—Accession of Charles +VI.—His career in Spain.—Capture of +Barcelona.—The Siege.—The Rescue.—Character of +Charles.—Cloisters of Montserrat.—Increased Efforts for +the Spanish Crown.—Charles Crowned Emperor of Austria and +Hungary.—Bohemia.—Deplorable Condition of Louis XIV. +Page 845</p> +<p><a href="#chap23">CHAPTER XXIII.</a><br /> +CHARLES VI.<br /> +From 1716 to 1727.</p> +<p>Heroic Decision of Eugene.—Battle of Belgrade.—Utter +Rout of the Turks.—Possessions of Charles VI.—The +Elector of Hanover succeeds to the English +Throne.—Preparations for War.—State of +Italy.—Philip V. of Spain.—Diplomatic +Agitations.—Palace of St. Ildefonso.—Order of the +Golden Fleece.—Rejection of Maria Anne.—Contest for the +Rock of Gibraltar.—Dismissal of Rippeeda.—Treaty of +Vienna.—Peace Concluded. Page 362</p> +<p><a href="#chap24">CHAPTER XXIV.</a><br /> +CHARLES VI. AND THE POLISH WAR.<br /> +From 1727 to 1735.</p> +<p>Cardinal Fleury.—The Emperor of Austria urges the +Pragmatic Sanction.—He promises his two Daughters to the two +Sons of the Queen of Spain.—France, England and Spain unite +against Austria.—Charles VI. issues Orders to Prepare for +War.—His Perplexities.—Secret Overtures to +England.—The Crown of Poland.—Meeting of the Polish +Congress.—Stanislaus goes to Poland.—Augustus III. +crowned.—War.—Charles sends an Army to +Lombardy.—Difficulties of Prince Eugene.—Charles's +Displeasure with England.—Letter to Count +Kinsky.—Hostilities Renewed. Page 878</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page13" id="page13"></a>{13}</span> +<p><a href="#chap25">CHAPTER XXV.</a><br /> +CHARLES VI. AND THE TURKISH WAR RENEWED.<br /> +From 1735 to 1739.</p> +<p>Anxiety of Austrian Office-holders.—Maria +Theresa.—The Duke of Lorraine.—Distraction of the +Emperor.—Tuscany assigned to the Duke of +Lorraine.—Death of Eugene.—Rising Greatness of +Russia.—New War with the Turks.—Condition of the +Army.—Commencement of Hostilities—Capture of +Nissa.—Inefficient Campaign.—Disgrace of +Seckendorf.—The Duke of Lorraine placed in +Command.—Siege of Orsova.—Belgrade besieged by the +Turks.—The third Campaign.—Battle of +Crotzka.—Defeat of the Austrians.—Consternation in +Vienna.—Barbarism of the Turks.—The Surrender of +Belgrade.</p> +<p><a href="#chap26">CHAPTER XXVI.</a><br /> +MARIA THERESA.<br /> +From 1739 to 1741.</p> +<p>Anguish of the King.—Letter to the Queen of +Russia.—The Imperial Circular.—Deplorable Condition of +Austria.—Death of Charles VI.—Accession of Maria +Theresa.—Vigorous Measures of the Queen.—Claim of the +Duke of Bavaria.—Responses from the Courts.—Coldness of +the French Court.—Frederic of Prussia.—His Invasion of +Silesia.—March of the Austrians.—Battle of +Molnitz.—Firmness of Maria Theresa.—Proposed Division +of Plunder.—Villainy of Frederic.—Interview with the +King.—Character of Frederic.—Commencement of the +General Invasion. Page 411</p> +<p><a href="#chap27">CHAPTER XXVII.</a><br /> +MARIA THERESA.<br /> +From 1741 to 1743.</p> +<p>Character of Francis, Duke of Lorraine.—Policy of European +Courts.—Plan of the Allies.—Siege of +Prague.—Desperate Condition of the Queen—Her Coronation +in Hungary.—Enthusiasm of the Barons.—Speech of Maria +Theresa.—Peace with Frederic of Prussia.—His +Duplicity.—Military Movement of the Duke of +Lorraine.—Battle of Chazleau.—Second Treaty with +Frederic.—Despondency of the Duke of Bavaria.—March of +Mallebois.—Extraordinary Retreat of Belleisle.—Recovery +of Prague by the Queen. Page 427</p> +<p><a href="#chap28">CHAPTER XXVIII.</a><br /> +MARIA THERESA.<br /> +From 1743 to 1748.</p> +<p>Prosperous Aspect of Austrian Affairs.—Capture of +Egea.—Vast Extent of Austria.—Dispute with +Sardinia.—Marriage of Charles of Lorraine with <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page14" id="page14"></a>{14}</span> the Queen's +Sister.—Invasion of Alsace.—Frederic overruns +Bohemia.—Bohemia recovered by Prince Charles.—Death of +the Emperor Charles VII.—Venality of the old +Monarchies.—Battle of Hohenfriedberg.—Sir Thomas +Robinson's Interview with Maria Theresa.—Hungarian +Enthusiasm.—The Duke of Lorraine Elected +Emperor.—Continuation of the War.—Treaty of +Peace.—Indignation of Maria Theresa. Page 444</p> +<p><a href="#chap29">CHAPTER XXIX.</a><br /> +MARIA THERESA.<br /> +From 1748 to 1759.</p> +<p>Treaty of Peace.—Dissatisfaction of Maria +Theresa.—Preparation for War.—Rupture between England +and Austria.—Maria Theresa.—Alliance with +France.—Influence of Marchioness of Pompadour.—Bitter +Reproaches between Austria And England.—Commencement of the +Seven Years' War.—Energy of Frederic of +Prussia.—Sanguinary Battles.—Vicissitudes of +War.—Desperate Situation of Frederic.—Elation of Maria +Theresa.—Her Ambitious Plans.—Awful Defeat of the +Prussians at Berlin. Page 461</p> +<p><a href="#chap30">CHAPTER XXX.</a><br /> +MARIA THERESA.<br /> +From 1759 to 1780.</p> +<p>Desolations of War.—Disasters of +Prussia.—Despondency of Frederic.—Death of the Empress +Elizabeth.—Accession of Paul III.—Assassination of Paul +III.—Accession Of Catharine.—Discomfiture of the +Austrians.—Treaty of Peace.—Election of Joseph to the +Throne of the Empire.—Death of Francis.—Character of +Francis.—Anecdotes.—Energy of Maria +Theresa.—Poniatowski.—Partition of Poland.—Maria +Theresa as a Mother.—War with +Bavaria.—Peace.—Death of Maria Theresa.—Family of +the Empress.—Accession of Joseph II.—His Character. +Page 478</p> +<p><a href="#chap31">CHAPTER XXXI.</a><br /> +JOSEPH II. AND LEOPOLD II.<br /> +From 1780 to 1792.</p> +<p>Accession of Joseph II.—His Plans of Reform.—Pius +VI.—Emancipation of the Serfs.—Joseph's Visit to his +Sister, Maria Antoinette.—Ambitious Designs.—The +Imperial Sleigh Ride.—Barges on the Dneister.—Excursion +to the Crimea.—War with Turkey.—Defeat of the +Austrians.—Great Successes.—Death of Joseph.—His +Character.—Accession of Leopold II.—His Efforts to +confirm Despotism.—The French Revolution.—European +Coalition.—Death of Leopold.—His +Profligacy.—Accession of Francis II.—Present Extent and +Power of Austria.—Its Army.—Policy of the Government. +Page 493</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page17" id="page17"></a>{17}</span> +<h2><a name="chap1" id="chap1">CHAPTER I</a>.</h2> +<h3>RHODOLPH OF HAPSBURG.</h3> +<h4>From 1232 to 1291.</h4> +<p class="summary">Hawk's Castle.—Albert, Count of +Hapsburg.—Rhodolph of Hapsburg.—His Marriage and +Estates.—Excommunication and its Results.—His +Principles of Honor.—A Confederacy of Barons.—Their +Route.—Rhodolph's Election as Emperor of Germany.—The +Bishop's Warning.—Dissatisfaction at the Result of the +Election.—Advantages Accruing from the Possession of an +Interesting Family.—Conquest.—Ottocar Acknowledges the +Emperor; yet breaks his Oath of Allegiance.—Gathering +Clouds.—Wonderful Escape.—Victory of +Rhodolph.—His Reforms.</p> +<p>In the small canton of Aargau, in Switzerland, on a rocky bluff +of the Wulpelsberg, there still remains an old baronial castle, +called Hapsburg, or Hawk's Castle. It was reared in the eleventh +century, and was occupied by a succession of warlike barons, who +have left nothing to distinguish themselves from the feudal lords +whose castles, at that period, frowned upon almost every eminence +of Europe. In the year 1232 this castle was occupied by Albert, +fourth Count of Hapsburg. He had acquired some little reputation +for military prowess, the only reputation any one could acquire in +that dark age, and became ambitious of winning new laurels in the +war with the infidels in the holy land. Religious fanaticism and +military ambition were then the two great powers which ruled the +human soul.</p> +<p>With the usual display of semi-barbaric pomp, Albert made +arrangements to leave his castle to engage in the perilous holy war +against the Saracens, from which few ever returned. A few years +were employed in the necessary preparations. At the sound of the +bugle the portcullis was raised, the drawbridge <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page18" id="page18"></a>{18}</span> spanned the +moat, and Albert, at the head of thirty steel-clad warriors, with +nodding plumes, and banners unfurled, emerged from the castle, and +proceeded to the neighboring convent of Mari. His wife, Hedwige, +and their three sons, Rhodolph, Albert and Hartman, accompanied him +to the chapel where the ecclesiastics awaited his arrival. A +multitude of vassals crowded around to witness the imposing +ceremonies of the church, as the banners were blessed, and the +knights, after having received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, +were commended to the protection of God. Albert felt the solemnity +of the hour, and in solemn tones gave his farewell address to his +children.</p> +<p>"My sons," said the steel-clad warrior, "cultivate truth and +piety; give no ear to evil counselors, never engage in unnecessary +war, but when you are involved in war be strong and brave. Love +peace even better than your own personal interests. Remember that +the counts of Hapsburg did not attain their heights of reputation +and glory by fraud, insolence or selfishness, but by courage and +devotion to the public weal. As long as you follow their footsteps, +you will not only retain, but augment, the possessions and +dignities of your illustrious ancestors."</p> +<p>The tears and sobs of his wife and family interrupted him while +he uttered these parting words. The bugles then sounded. The +knights mounted their horses; the clatter of hoofs was heard, and +the glittering cavalcade soon disappeared in the forest. Albert had +left his ancestral castle, never to return. He had but just arrived +in Palestine, when he was taken sick at Askalon, and died in the +year 1240.</p> +<p>Rhodolph, his eldest son, was twenty-two years of age at the +time of his father's death. Frederic II., one of the most renowned +monarchs of the middle ages, was then Emperor of that +conglomeration of heterogeneous States called Germany. Each of +these States had its own independent ruler and laws, but they were +all held together by a common bond for mutual <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page19" id="page19"></a>{19}</span> protection, +and some one illustrious sovereign was chosen as Emperor of +Germany, to preside over their common affairs. The Emperor of +Germany, having influence over all these States, was consequently, +in position, the great man of the age.</p> +<p>Albert, Count of Hapsburg, had been one of the favorite captains +of Frederic II. in the numerous wars which desolated Europe in that +dark age. He was often at court, and the emperor even condescended +to present his son Rhodolph at the font for baptism. As the child +grew, he was trained to all athletic feats, riding ungovernable +horses, throwing the javelin, wrestling, running, and fencing. He +early gave indications of surprising mental and bodily vigor, and, +at an age when most lads are considered merely children, he +accompanied his father to the camp and to the court. Upon the death +of his father, Rhodolph inherited the ancestral castle, and the +moderate possessions of a Swiss baron. He was surrounded by barons +of far greater wealth and power than himself, and his proud spirit +was roused, in disregard of his father's counsels, to aggrandize +his fortunes by force of arms, the only way then by which wealth +and power could be attained. He exhausted his revenues by +maintaining a princely establishment, organized a well-selected +band of his vassals into a military corps, which he drilled to a +state of perfect discipline, and then commenced a series of +incursions upon his neighbors. From some feeble barons he won +territory, thus extending his domains; from others he extorted +money, thus enabling him to reward his troops, and to add to their +number by engaging fearless spirits in his service wherever he +could find them.</p> +<p>In the year 1245, Rhodolph strengthened himself still more by an +advantageous marriage with Gertrude, the beautiful daughter of the +Count of Hohenberg. With his bride he received as her dowry the +castle of Oeltingen, and very considerable territorial possessions. +Thus in five years Rhodolph, by that species of robbery which was +then called heroic adventure, <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page20" id="page20"></a>{20}</span> and by a fortunate marriage, +had more than doubled his hereditary inheritance. The charms of his +bride, and the care of his estates seem for a few years to have +arrested the progress of his ambition; for we can find no further +notice of him among the ancient chronicles for eight years. But, +with almost all men, love is an ephemeral passion, which is +eventually vanquished by other powers of the soul. Ambition +slumbered for a little time, but was soon roused anew, invigorated +by repose.</p> +<p>In 1253 we find Rhodolph heading a foray of steel-clad knights, +with their banded followers, in a midnight attack upon the city of +Basle. They break over all the defenses, sweep all opposition +before them, and in the fury of the fight, either by accident or as +a necessity of war, sacrilegiously set fire to a nunnery. For this +crime Rhodolph was excommunicated by the pope. Excommunication was +then no farce. There were few who dared to serve a prince upon whom +the denunciations of the Church had fallen. It was a stunning blow, +from which few men could recover. Rhodolph, instead of sinking in +despair, endeavored, by new acts of obedience and devotion to the +Church, to obtain the revocation of the sentence.</p> +<p>In the region now called Prussia, there was then a barbaric +pagan race, against whom the pope had published a crusade. Into +this war the excommunicated Rhodolph plunged with all the +impetuosity of his nature; he resolved to work out absolution, by +converting, with all the potency of fire and sword, the barbarians +to the Church. His penitence and zeal seem to have been accepted, +for we soon find him on good terms again with the pope. He now +sought to have a hand in every quarrel, far and near. Wherever the +sounds of war are raised, the shout of Rhodolph is heard urging to +the strife. In every hot and fiery foray, the steed of Rhodolph is +rearing and plunging, and his saber strokes fall in ringing blows +upon cuirass and helmet. He efficiently aided the city of +Strasbourg <span class="pagenum"><a name="page21" id= +"page21"></a>{21}</span> in their war against their bishop, and +received from them in gratitude extensive territories, while at the +same time they reared a monument to his name, portions of which +still exist. His younger brother died, leaving an only daughter, +Anne, with a large inheritance. Rhodolph, as her guardian, came +into possession of the counties of Kyburg, Lentzburg and Baden, and +other scattered domains.</p> +<p>This rapidly-increasing wealth and power, did but increase his +energy and his spirit of encroachment. And yet he adopted +principles of honor which were far from common in that age of +barbaric violence. He would never stoop to ordinary robbery, or +harass peasants and helpless travelers, as was constantly done by +the turbulent barons around him. His warfare was against the +castle, never against the cottage. He met in arms the panoplied +knight, never the timid and crouching peasant. He swept the roads +of the banditti by which they were infested, and often espoused the +cause of citizens and freemen against the turbulent barons and +haughty prelates. He thus gained a wide-spread reputation for +justice, as well as for prowess, and the name of Rhodolph of +Hapsburg was ascending fast into renown. Every post of authority +then required the agency of a military arm. The feeble cantons +would seek the protection of a powerful chief; the citizens of a +wealthy town, ever liable to be robbed by bishop or baron, looked +around for some warrior who had invincible troops at his command +for their protection. Thus Rhodolph of Hapsburg was chosen chief of +the mountaineers of Uri, Schweitz and Underwalden; and all their +trained bands were ready, when his bugle note echoed through their +defiles, to follow him unquestioning, and to do his bidding. The +citizens of Zurich chose Rhodolph of Hapsburg as their prefect or +mayor; and whenever his banner was unfurled in their streets, all +the troops of the city were at his command.</p> +<p>The neighboring barons, alarmed at this rapid aggrandizement of +Rhodolph, formed an alliance to crush him. The <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page22" id="page22"></a>{22}</span> mountaineers +heard his bugle call, and rushed to his aid. Zurich opened her +gates, and her marshaled troops hastened to his banner. From +Hapsburg, and Rheinfelden, and Suabia, and Brisgau, and we know not +how many other of the territorial possessions of the count, the +vassals rushed to the aid of their lord. They met in one of the +valleys of Zurich. The battle was short, and the confederated +barons were put to utter flight. Some took refuge in the strong +castle of Balder, upon a rocky cliff washed by the Albis. Rhodolph +selected thirty horsemen and thirty footmen.</p> +<p>"Will you follow me," said he, "in an enterprise where the honor +will be equal to the peril?"</p> +<p>A universal shout of assent was the response. Concealing the +footmen in a thicket, he, at the head of thirty horsemen, rode +boldly to the gates of the castle, bidding defiance, with all the +utterances and gesticulations of contempt, to the whole garrison. +Those on the ramparts, stung by the insult, rushed out to chastise +so impudent a challenge. The footmen rose from their ambush, and +assailants and assailed rushed pell mell in at the open gates of +the castle. The garrison were cut down or taken captive, and the +fortress demolished. Another party had fled to the castle of +Uttleberg. By an ingenious stratagem, this castle was also taken. +Success succeeded success with such rapidity, that the confederate +barons, struck with consternation, exclaimed,</p> +<p>"All opposition is fruitless. Rhodolph of Hapsburg is +invincible."</p> +<p>They consequently dissolved the alliance, and sought peace on +terms which vastly augmented the power of the conqueror.</p> +<p>Basle now incurred the displeasure of Rhodolph. He led his +armies to the gates of the city, and extorted satisfaction. The +Bishop of Basle, a haughty prelate of great military power, and who +could summon many barons to his aid, ventured to make arrogant +demands of this warrior flushed with victory. The palace and vast +possessions of the bishop were upon the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page23" id="page23"></a>{23}</span> other side +of the unbridged Rhine, and the bishop imagined that he could +easily prevent the passage of the river. But Rhodolph speedily +constructed a bridge of boats, put to flight the troops which +opposed his passage, drove the peasants of the bishop everywhere +before him, and burned their cottages and their fields of grain. +The bishop, appalled, sued for a truce, that they might negotiate +terms of peace. Rhodolph consented, and encamped his followers.</p> +<p>He was asleep in his tent, when a messenger entered at midnight, +awoke him, and informed him that he was elected Emperor of Germany. +The previous emperor, Richard, had died two years before, and after +an interregnum of two years of almost unparalleled anarchy, the +electors had just met, and, almost to their own surprise, through +the fluctuations and combinations of political intrigue, had chosen +Rhodolph of Hapsburg as his successor. Rhodolph himself was so much +astonished at the announcement, that for some time he could not be +persuaded that the intelligence was correct.</p> +<p>To wage war against the Emperor of Germany, who could lead +almost countless thousands into the field, was a very different +affair from measuring strength with the comparatively feeble Count +of Hapsburg. The news of his election flew rapidly. Basle threw +open her gates, and the citizens, with illuminations, shouts, and +the ringing of bells, greeted the new emperor. The bishop was so +chagrined at the elevation of his foe, that he smote his forehead, +and, looking to heaven, profanely said,</p> +<p>"Great God, take care of your throne, or Rhodolph of Hapsburg +will take it from you!"</p> +<p>Rhodolph was now fifty-five years of age. Alphonso, King of +Castile, and Ottocar, King of Bohemia, had both been candidates for +the imperial crown. Exasperated by the unexpected election of +Rhodolph, they both refused to acknowledge his election, and sent +ambassadors with rich presents to the pope to win him also to their +side. Rhodolph, justly appreciating <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page24" id="page24"></a>{24}</span> the power of the pope, sent +him a letter couched in those terms which would be most palatable +to the pontiff.</p> +<p>"Turning all my thoughts to Him," he wrote, "under whose +authority we live, and placing all my expectations on you alone, I +fall down before the feet of your Holiness, beseeching you, with +the most earnest supplication, to favor me with your accustomed +kindness in my present undertaking; and that you will deign, by +your mediation with the Most High, to support my cause. That I may +be enabled to perform what is most acceptable to God and to His +holy Church, may it graciously please your Holiness to crown me +with the imperial diadem; for I trust I am both able and willing to +undertake and accomplish whatever you and the holy Church shall +think proper to impose upon me."</p> +<p>Gregory X. was a humane and sagacious man, influenced by a +profound zeal for the peace of Europe and the propagation of the +Christian faith. Gregory received the ambassadors of Rhodolph +graciously, extorted from them whatever concessions he desired on +the part of the emperor, and pledged his support.</p> +<p>Ottocar, King of Bohemia, still remained firm, and even +malignant, in his hostility, utterly refusing to recognize the +emperor, or to perform any of those acts of fealty which were his +due. He declared the electoral diet to have been illegally +convened, and the election to have been the result of fraud, and +that a man who had been excommunicated for burning a convent, was +totally unfit to wear the imperial crown. The diet met at Augsburg, +and irritated by the contumacy of Ottocar, sent a command to him to +recognize the authority of the emperor, pronouncing upon him the +ban of the empire should he refuse. Ottocar dismissed the +ambassadors with defiance and contempt from his palace at Prague, +saying,</p> +<p>"Tell Rhodolph that he may rule over the territories of the +empire, but he shall have no dominion over mine. It is a +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page25" id="page25"></a>{25}</span> +disgrace to Germany, that a petty count of Hapsburg should have +been preferred to so many powerful sovereigns."</p> +<p>War, and a fearful one, was now inevitable. Ottocar was a +veteran soldier, a man of great intrepidity and energy, and his +pride was thoroughly roused. By a long series of aggressions he had +become the most powerful prince in Europe, and he could lead the +most powerful armies into the field. His dominions extended from +the confines of Bavaria to Raab in Hungary, and from the Adriatic +to the shores of the Baltic. The hereditary domains of the Count of +Hapsburg were comparatively insignificant, and were remotely +situated at the foot of the Alps, spreading through the defiles of +Alsace and Suabia. As emperor, Rhodolph could call the armies of +the Germanic princes into the field; but these princes moved +reluctantly, unless roused by some question of great moment to them +all. And when these heterogeneous troops of the empire were +assembled, there was but a slender bond of union between them.</p> +<p>But Rhodolph possessed mental resources equal to the emergence. +As cautious as he was bold, as sagacious in council as he was +impetuous in action, he calmly, and with great foresight and +deliberation, prepared for the strife. To a monarch in such a time +of need, a family of brave sons and beautiful daughters, is an +inestimable blessing. Rhodolph secured the Duke of Sclavonia by +making him the happy husband of one of his daughters. His son +Albert married Elizabeth, daughter of the Count of Tyrol, and thus +that powerful and noble family was secured. Henry of Bavaria he +intimidated, and by force of arms compelled him to lead his troops +to the standard of the emperor; and then, to secure his fidelity, +gave his daughter Hedwige to Henry's son Otho, in marriage, +promising to his daughter as a dowry a portion of Austria, which +was then a feeble duchy upon the Danube, but little larger than the +State of Massachusetts.</p> +<p>Ottocar was but little aware of the tremendous energies +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page26" id="page26"></a>{26}</span> +of the foe he had aroused. Regarding Rhodolph almost with contempt, +he had by no means made the arrangements which his peril demanded, +and was in consternation when he heard that Rhodolph, in alliance +with Henry of Bavaria, had already entered Austria, taken +possession of several fortresses, and, at the head of a force of a +thousand horsemen, was carrying all before him, and was +triumphantly marching upon Vienna. Rhodolph had so admirably +matured his plans, that his advance seemed rather a festive journey +than a contested conquest. With the utmost haste Ottocar urged his +troops down through the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, hoping +to save the capital. But Rhodolph was at Vienna before him, where +he was joined by others of his allies, who were to meet him at that +rendezvous. Vienna, the capital, was a fortress of great strength. +Upon this frontier post Charlemagne had established a strong body +of troops under a commander who was called a margrave; and for some +centuries this city, commanding the Danube, had been deemed one of +the strongest defenses of the empire against Mohammedan invasion. +Vienna, unable to resist, capitulated. The army of Ottocar had been +so driven in their long and difficult march, that, exhausted and +perishing for want of provisions, they began to mutiny. The pope +had excommunicated Ottocar, and the terrors of the curse of the +pope, were driving captains and nobles from his service. The proud +spirit of Ottocar, after a terrible struggle, was utterly crushed, +and he humbly sued for peace. The terms were hard for a haughty +spirit to bear. The conquered king was compelled to renounce all +claim to Austria and several other adjoining provinces, Styria, +Carinthia, Carniola and Windischmark; to take the oath of +allegiance to the emperor, and publicly to do him homage as his +vassal lord. To cement this compulsory friendship, Rhodolph, who +was rich in daughters, having six to proffer as bribes, gave one, +with an abundant dowry in silver, to a son of Ottocar.</p> +<p>The day was appointed for the king, in the presence of the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page27" id="page27"></a>{27}</span> +whole army, to do homage to the emperor as his liege lord. It was +the 25th of November, 1276. With a large escort of Bohemian nobles, +Ottocar crossed the Danube, and was received by the emperor in the +presence of many of the leading princes of the empire. The whole +army was drawn up to witness the spectacle. With a dejected +countenance, and with indications, which he could not conceal, of a +crushed and broken spirit, Ottocar renounced these valuable +provinces, and kneeling before the emperor, performed the +humiliating ceremony of feudal homage. The pope in consequence +withdrew his sentence of excommunication, and Ottocar returned to +his mutilated kingdom, a humbler and a wiser man.</p> +<p>Rhodolph now took possession of the adjacent provinces which had +been ceded to him, and, uniting them, placed them under the +government of Louis of Bavaria, son of his firm ally Henry, the +King of Bavaria. Bavaria bounded Austria on the west, and thus the +father and the son would be in easy coöperation. He then +established his three Sons, Albert, Hartmann, and Rhodolph, in +different parts of these provinces, and, with his queen, fixed his +residence at Vienna.</p> +<p>Such was the nucleus of the Austrian empire, and such the +commencement of the powerful monarchy which for so many generations +has exerted so important a control over the affairs of Europe. +Ottocar, however, though he left Rhodolph with the strongest +protestations of friendship, returned to Prague consumed by the +most torturing fires of humiliation and chagrin. His wife, a +haughty woman, who was incapable of listening to the voice of +judgment when her passions were inflamed, could not conceive it +possible that a petty count of Hapsburg could vanquish her renowned +husband in the field. And when she heard that Ottocar had actually +done fealty to Rhodolph, and had surrendered to him valuable +provinces of the kingdom, no bridle could be put upon her woman's +tongue. She almost stung her husband to madness with taunts and +reproaches.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page28" id="page28"></a>{28}</span> +<p>Thus influenced by the pride of his queen, Cunegunda, Ottocar +violated his oath, refused to execute the treaty, imprisoned in a +convent the daughter whom Rhodolph had given to his son, and sent a +defiant and insulting letter to the emperor. Rhodolph returned a +dignified answer and prepared for war. Ottocar, now better +understanding the power of his foe, made the most formidable +preparations for the strife, and soon took the field with an army +which he supposed would certainly triumph over any force which +Rhodolph could raise. He even succeeded in drawing Henry of Bavaria +into an alliance; and many of the German princes, whom he could not +win to his standard, he bribed to neutrality. Numerous chieftains, +lured to his camp by confidence of victory, crowded around him with +their followers, from Poland, Bulgaria, Pomerania, Magdeburg, and +from the barbaric shores of the Baltic. Many of the fierce nobles +of Hungary had also joined the standard of Ottocar.</p> +<p>Thus suddenly clouds gathered around Rhodolph, and many of his +friends despaired of his cause. He appealed to the princes of the +German empire, and but few responded to his call. His sons-in-law, +the Electors of Palatine and of Saxony, ventured not to aid him in +an emergence when defeat seemed almost certain, and where all who +shared in the defeat would be utterly ruined. In June, 1275, +Ottocar marched from Prague, met his allies at the appointed +rendezvous, and threading the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, +approached the frontiers of Austria. Rhodolph was seriously +alarmed, for it was evident that the chances of war were against +him. He could not conceal the restlessness and agitation of his +spirit as he impatiently awaited the arrival of troops whom he +summoned, but who disappointed his hopes.</p> +<p>"I have not one," he sadly exclaimed, "in whom I can confide, or +on whose advice I can depend."</p> +<p>The citizens of Vienna perceiving that Rhodolph was abandoned by +his German allies, and that they could present no <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page29" id="page29"></a>{29}</span> effectual +resistance to so powerful an army as was approaching, and terrified +in view of a siege, and the capture of the city by storm, urged a +capitulation, and even begged permission to choose a new sovereign, +that they might not be involved in the ruin impending over +Rhodolph. This address roused Rhodolph from his despondency, and +inspired him with the energies of despair. He had succeeded in +obtaining a few troops from his provinces in Switzerland. The +Bishop of Basle, who had now become his confessor, came to his aid, +at the head of a hundred horsemen, and a body of expert slingers. +Rhodolph, though earnestly advised not to undertake a battle with +such desperate odds, marched from Vienna to meet the foe.</p> +<p>Rapidly traversing the southern banks of the Danube to Hamburg, +he crossed the river and advanced to Marcheck, on the banks of the +Morava. He was joined by some troops from Styria and Carinthia, and +by a strong force led by the King of Hungary. Emboldened by these +accessions, though still far inferior in strength to Ottocar, he +pressed on till the two armies faced each other on the plains of +Murchfield. It was the 26th of August, 1278.</p> +<p>At this moment some traitors deserting the camp of Ottocar, +repaired to the camp of Rhodolph and proposed to assassinate the +Bohemian king. Rhodolph spurned the infamous offer, and embraced +the opportunity of seeking terms of reconciliation by apprising +Ottocar of his danger. But the king, confident in his own strength, +and despising the weakness of Rhodolph, deemed the story a +fabrication and refused to listen to any overtures. Without delay +he drew up his army in the form of a crescent, so as almost to +envelop the feeble band before him, and made a simultaneous attack +upon the center and upon both flanks. A terrific battle ensued, in +which one party fought, animated by undoubting confidence, and the +other impelled by despair. The strife was long and bloody. The tide +of victory repeatedly ebbed and flowed. Ottocar had <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page30" id="page30"></a>{30}</span> offered a +large reward to any of his followers who would bring to him +Rhodolph, dead or alive.</p> +<p>A number of knights of great strength and bravery, confederated +to achieve this feat. It was a point of honor to be effected at +every hazard. Disregarding all the other perils of the battle, they +watched their opportunity, and then in a united swoop, on their +steel-clad chargers, fell upon the emperor. His feeble guard was +instantly cut down. Rhodolph was a man of herculean power, and he +fought like a lion at bay. One after another of his assailants he +struck from his horse, when a Thuringian knight, of almost fabulous +stature and strength, thrust his spear through the horse of the +emperor, and both steed and rider fell to the ground. Rhodolph, +encumbered by his heavy coat of mail, and entangled in the housings +of his saddle, was unable to rise. He crouched upon the ground, +holding his helmet over him, while saber strokes and pike thrusts +rang upon cuirass and buckler like blows upon an anvil. A corps of +reserve spurred to his aid, and the emperor was rescued, and the +bold assailants who had penetrated the very center of his army were +slain.</p> +<p>The tide of victory now set strongly in favor of Rhodolph, for +"the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the +strong." The troops of Bohemia were soon everywhere put to rout. +The ground was covered with the dead. Ottocar, astounded at his +discomfiture, and perhaps fearing the tongue of his wife more than +the sabers of his foes, turned his back upon his flying army, and +spurred his horse into the thickest of his pursuers. He was soon +dismounted and slain. Fourteen thousand of his troops perished on +that disastrous day. The body of Ottocar, mutilated with seventeen +wounds, was carried to Vienna, and, after being exposed to the +people, was buried with regal honors.</p> +<p>Rhodolph, vastly enriched by the plunder of the camp, and having +no enemy to encounter, took possession of Moravia, and triumphantly +marched into Bohemia. All was consternation <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page31" id="page31"></a>{31}</span> there. The +queen Cunegunda, who had brought these disasters upon the kingdom, +had no influence. Her only son was but eight years of age. The +turbulent nobles, jealous of each other, had no recognized leader. +The queen, humiliated and despairing, implored the clemency of the +conqueror, and offered to place her infant son and the kingdom of +Bohemia under his protection. Rhodolph was generous in this hour of +victory. As the result of arbitration, it was agreed that he should +hold Moravia for five years, that its revenues might indemnify him +for the expenses of the war. The young prince, Wenceslaus, was +acknowledged king, and during his minority the regency was assigned +to Otho, margrave or military commander of Brundenburg. Then ensued +some politic matrimonial alliances. Wenceslaus, the boy king, was +affianced to Judith, one of the daughters of Rhodolph. The princess +Agnes, daughter of Cunegunda, was to become the bride of Rhodolph's +second son. These matters being all satisfactorily settled, +Rhodolph returned in triumph to Vienna.</p> +<p>The emperor now devoted his energies to the consolidation of +these Austrian provinces. They were four in number, Austria, +Styria, Carinthia and Carniola. All united, they made but a feeble +kingdom, for they did not equal, in extent of territory, several of +the States of the American Union. Each of these provinces had its +independent government, and its local laws and customs. They were +held together by the simple bond of an arbitrary monarch, who +claimed, and exercised as he could, supreme control over them all. +Under his wise and energetic administration, the affairs of the +wide-spread empire were prosperous, and his own Austria advanced +rapidly in order, civilization and power. The numerous nobles, +turbulent, unprincipled and essentially robbers, had been in the +habit of issuing from their castles at the head of banditti bands, +and ravaging the country with incessant incursions. It required +great boldness in Rhodolph to brave the wrath of these united +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page32" id="page32"></a>{32}</span> +nobles. He did it fearlessly, issuing the decree that there should +be no fortresses in his States which were not necessary for the +public defense. The whole country was spotted with castles, +apparently impregnable in all the strength of stone and iron, the +secure refuge of high-born nobles. In one year seventy of these +turreted bulwarks of oppression were torn down; and twenty-nine of +the highest nobles, who had ventured upon insurrection, were put to +death. An earnest petition was presented to him in behalf of the +condemned insurgents.</p> +<p>"Do not," said the king, "interfere in favor of robbers; they +are not nobles, but accursed robbers, who oppress the poor, and +break the public peace. True nobility is faithful and just, offends +no one, and commits no injury."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page33" id="page33"></a>{33}</span> +<h2><a name="chap2" id="chap2">CHAPTER II</a>.</h2> +<h3>REIGNS OF ALBERT I, FREDERIC, ALBERT AND OTHO.</h3> +<h4>FROM 1291 TO 1347.</h4> +<p class="summary">Anecdotes Of Rhodolph.—His Desire For The +Election Of His Son.—His Death.—Albert.—His +Unpopularity.—Conspiracy Of The Nobles.—Their +Defeat.—Adolphus Of Nassau Chosen Emperor.—Albert's +Conspiracy.—Deposition Of Adolphus And Election Of +Albert.—Death Of Adolphus.—The Pope +Defied.—Annexation Of Bohemia.—Assassination Of +Albert.—Avenging Fury.—The Hermit's +Direction.—Frederic The Handsome.—Election Of Henry, +Count Of Luxemburg.—His Death.—Election Of Louis Of +Bavaria.—Capture Of Frederic.—Remarkable Confidence +Toward a Prisoner.—Death Of Frederic.—An Early +Engagement.—Death Of Louis.—Accession Of Albert.</p> +<p>Rhodolph of Hapsburg was one of the most remarkable men of his +own or of any age, and many anecdotes illustrative of his +character, and of the rude times in which he lived, have been +transmitted to us. The Thuringian knight who speared the emperor's +horse in the bloody fight of Murchfield, was rescued by Rhodolph +from those who would cut him down.</p> +<p>"I have witnessed," said the emperor, "his intrepidity, and +never could forgive myself if so courageous a knight should be put +to death."</p> +<p>During the war with Ottocar, on one occasion the army were +nearly perishing of thirst. A flagon of water was brought to him. +He declined it, saying,</p> +<p>"I can not drink alone, nor can I divide so small a quantity +among all. I do not thirst for myself, but for the whole army."</p> +<p>By earnest endeavor he obtained the perfect control of his +passions, naturally very violent. "I have often," said he, +"repented of being passionate, but never of being mild and +humane."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page34" id="page34"></a>{34}</span> +<p>One of his captains expressed dissatisfaction at a rich gift the +emperor made to a literary man who presented him a manuscript +describing the wars of the Romans.</p> +<p>"My good friend," Rhodolph replied, "be contented that men of +learning praise our actions, and thereby inspire us with additional +courage in war. I wish I could employ more time in reading, and +could expend some of that money on learned men which I must throw +away on so many illiterate knights."</p> +<p>One cold morning at Metz, in the year 1288, he walked out +dressed as usual in the plainest garb. He strolled into a baker's +shop, as if to warm himself. The baker's termagant wife said to +him, all unconscious who he was,</p> +<p>"Soldiers have no business to come into poor women's +houses."</p> +<p>"True," the emperor replied, "but do not be angry, my good +woman; I am an old soldier who have spent all my fortune in the +service of that rascal Rhodolph, and he suffers me to want, +notwithstanding all his fine promises."</p> +<p>"Good enough for you," said the woman; "a man who will serve +such a fellow, who is laying waste the whole earth, deserves +nothing better."</p> +<p>She then, in her spite, threw a pail of water on the fire, +which, filling the room with smoke and ashes, drove the emperor +into the street.</p> +<p>Rhodolph, having returned to his lodgings, sent a rich present +to the old woman, from the emperor who had warmed himself at her +fire that morning, and at the dinner-table told the story with +great glee to his companions. The woman, terrified, hastened to the +emperor to implore mercy. He ordered her to be admitted to the +dining-room, and promised to forgive her if she would repeat to the +company all her abusive epithets, not omitting one. She did it +faithfully, to the infinite merriment of the festive group.</p> +<p>So far as we can now judge, and making due allowance +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page35" id="page35"></a>{35}</span> +for the darkness of the age in which he lived, Rhodolph appears to +have been, in the latter part of his life, a sincere, if not an +enlightened Christian. He was devout in prayer, and punctual in +attending the services of the Church. The humble and faithful +ministers of religion he esteemed and protected, while he was ever +ready to chastise the insolence of those haughty prelates who +disgraced their religious professions by arrogance and +splendor.</p> +<p>At last the infirmities of age pressed heavily upon him. When +seventy-three years old, knowing that he could not have much longer +to live, he assembled the congress of electors at Frankfort, and +urged them to choose his then only surviving son Albert as his +successor on the imperial throne. The diet, however, refused to +choose a successor until after the death of the emperor. Rhodolph +was bitterly disappointed, for he understood this postponement as a +positive refusal to gratify him in this respect. Saddened in +spirit, and feeble in body, he undertook a journey, by slow stages, +to his hereditary dominions in Switzerland. He then returned to +Austria, where he died on the 15th of July, 1291, in the +seventy-third year of his age.</p> +<p>Albert, who resided at Vienna, succeeded his father in authority +over the Austrian and Swiss provinces. But he was a man stern, +unconciliating and domineering. The nobles hated him, and hoped to +drive him back to the Swiss cantons from which his father had come. +One great occasion of discontent was, that he employed about his +person, and in important posts, Swiss instead of Austrian nobles. +They demanded the dismission of these foreign favorites, which so +exasperated Albert that he clung to them still more tenaciously and +exclusively.</p> +<p>The nobles now organized a very formidable conspiracy, and +offered to neighboring powers, as bribes for their aid, portions of +Austria. Austria proper was divided by the river Ens into two parts +called Upper and Lower Austria. Lower <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page36" id="page36"></a>{36}</span> Austria was +offered to Bohemia; Styria to the Duke of Bavaria; Upper Austria to +the Archbishop of Saltzburg; Carniola to the Counts of Guntz; and +thus all the provinces were portioned out to the conquerors. At the +same time the citizens of Vienna, provoked by the haughtiness of +Albert, rose in insurrection. With the energy which characterized +his father, Albert met these emergencies. Summoning immediately an +army from Switzerland, he shut up all the avenues to the city, +which was not in the slightest degree prepared for a siege, and +speedily starved the inhabitants into submission. Punishing +severely the insurgents, he strengthened his post at Vienna, and +confirmed his power. Then, marching rapidly upon the nobles, before +they had time to receive that foreign aid which had been secretly +promised them, and securing all the important fortresses, which +were now not many in number, he so overawed them, and so vigilantly +watched every movement, that there was no opportunity to rise and +combine. The Styrian nobles, being remote, made an effort at +insurrection. Albert, though it was in the depth of winter, plowed +through the snows of the mountains, and plunging unexpectedly among +them, routed them with great slaughter.</p> +<p>While he was thus conquering discontent by the sword, and +silencing murmurs beneath the tramp of iron hoofs, the diet was +assembling at Frankfort to choose a new chief for the Germanic +empire. Albert was confident of being raised to the vacant dignity. +The splendor of his talents all admitted. Four of the electors were +closely allied to him by marriage, and he arrogantly felt that he +was almost entitled to the office as the son of his renowned +father. But the electors feared his ambitious and despotic +disposition, and chose Adolphus of Nassau to succeed to the +imperial throne.</p> +<p>Albert was mortified and enraged by this disappointment, and +expressed his determination to oppose the election; but the +troubles in his own domains prevented him from putting this threat +into immediate execution. His better judgment <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page37" id="page37"></a>{37}</span> soon taught +him the policy of acquiescing in the election, and he sullenly +received the investiture of his fiefs from the hands of the Emperor +Adolphus. Still Albert, struggling against unpopularity and +continued insurrection, kept his eye fixed eagerly upon the +imperial crown. With great tact he conspired to form a confederacy +for the deposition of Adolphus.</p> +<p>Wenceslaus, the young King of Bohemia, was now of age, and +preparations were made for his coronation with great splendor at +Prague. Four of the electors were present on this occasion, which +was in June, 1297. Albert conferred with them respecting his plans, +and secured their coöperation. The electors more willingly +lent their aid since they were exceedingly displeased with some of +the measures of Adolphus for the aggrandizement of his own family. +Albert with secrecy and vigor pushed his plans, and when the diet +met the same year at Metz, a long list of grievances was drawn up +against Adolphus. He was summoned to answer to these charges. The +proud emperor refused to appear before the bar of the diet as a +culprit. The diet then deposed Adolphus and elected Albert II. to +the imperial throne, on the 23d of June, 1298.</p> +<p>The two rival emperors made vigorous preparations to settle the +dispute with the sword, and the German States arrayed themselves, +some on one side and some on the other. The two armies met at +Gelheim on the 2d of July, led by the rival sovereigns. In the +thickest of the fight Adolphus spurred his horse through the +opposing ranks, bearing down all opposition, till he faced Albert, +who was issuing orders and animating his troops by voice and +gesture.</p> +<p>"Yield," shouted Adolphus, aiming a saber stroke at the head of +his foe, "your life and your crown."</p> +<p>"Let God decide," Albert replied, as he parried the blow, and +thrust his lance into the unprotected face of Adolphus. At that +moment the horse of Adolphus fell, and he himself was instantly +slain. Albert remained the decisive victor on this bloody field. +The diet of electors was again summoned, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page38" id="page38"></a>{38}</span> and he was +now chosen unanimously emperor. He was soon crowned with great +splendor at Aix-la-Chapelle.</p> +<p>Still Albert sat on an uneasy throne. The pope, indignant that +the electors should presume to depose one emperor and choose +another without his consent, refused to confirm the election of +Albert, and loudly inveighed him as the murderer of Adolphus. +Albert, with characteristic impulsiveness, declared that he was +emperor by choice of the electors and not by ratification of the +pope, and defiantly spurned the opposition of the pontiff. +Considering himself firmly seated on the throne, he refused to pay +the bribes of tolls, privileges, territories, etc., which he had so +freely offered to the electors. Thus exasperated, the electors, the +pope, and the King of Bohemia, conspired to drive Albert from the +throne. Their secret plans were so well laid, and they were so +secure of success, that the Elector of Mentz tauntingly and +boastingly said to Albert, "I need only sound my hunting-horn and a +new emperor will appear."</p> +<p>Albert, however, succeeded by sagacity and energy, in dispelling +this storm which for a time threatened his entire destruction. By +making concessions to the pope, he finally won him to cordial +friendship, and by the sword vanquishing some and intimidating +others, he broke up the league. His most formidable foe was his +brother-in-law, Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia. Albert's sister, +Judith, the wife of Wenceslaus, had for some years prevented a +rupture between them, but she now being dead, both monarchs decided +to refer their difficulties to the arbitration of the sword. While +their armies were marching, Wenceslaus was suddenly taken sick and +died, in June, 1305. His son, but seventeen years of age, weak in +body and in mind, at once yielded to all the demands of his +imperial uncle. Hardly a year, however, had elapsed ere this young +prince, Wenceslaus III., was assassinated, leaving no issue.</p> +<p>Albert immediately resolved to transfer the crown of Bohemia +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page39" id="page39"></a>{39}</span> +to his own family, and thus to annex the powerful kingdom of +Bohemia to his own limited Austrian territories. Bohemia added to +the Austrian provinces, would constitute quite a noble kingdom. The +crown was considered elective, though in fact the eldest son was +almost always chosen during the lifetime of his father. The death +of Wenceslaus, childless, opened the throne to other claimants. No +one could more imperiously demand the scepter than Albert. He did +demand it for his son Rhodolph in tones which were heard and +obeyed. The States assembled at Prague on the 1st of April, 1306. +Albert, surrounded by a magnificent retinue, conducted his son to +Prague, and to confirm his authority married him to the widow of +Wenceslaus, a second wife. Rhodolph also, about a year before, had +buried Blanche, his first wife. Albert was exceedingly elated, for +the acquisition of Bohemia was an accession to the power of his +family which doubled their territory, and more than doubled their +wealth and resources.</p> +<p>A mild government would have conciliated the Bohemians, but such +a course was not consonant with the character of the imperious and +despotic Albert. He urged his son to measures of arbitrary power +which exasperated the nobles, and led to a speedy revolt against +his authority. Rhodolph and the nobles were soon in the field with +their contending armies, when Rhodolph suddenly died from the +fatigues of the camp, aged but twenty-two years, having held the +throne of Bohemia less than a year.</p> +<p>Albert, grievously disappointed, now demanded that his second +son, Frederic, should receive the crown. As soon as his name was +mentioned to the States, the assembly with great unanimity +exclaimed, "We will not again have an Austrian king." This led to a +tumult. Swords were drawn, and two of the partisans of Albert were +slain. Henry, Duke of Carinthia, was then almost unanimously chosen +king. But the haughty Albert was not to be thus easily thwarted in +his plans. He declared that his son Frederic was King of Bohemia, +and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page40" id= +"page40"></a>{40}</span> raising an army, he exerted all the +influence and military power which his position as emperor gave +him, to enforce his claim.</p> +<p>But affairs in Switzerland for a season arrested the attention +of Albert, and diverted his armies from the invasion of Bohemia. +Switzerland was then divided into small sovereignties, of various +names, there being no less than fifty counts, one hundred and fifty +barons, and one thousand noble families. Both Rhodolph and Albert +had greatly increased, by annexation, the territory and the power +of the house of Hapsburg. By purchase, intimidation, war, and +diplomacy, Albert had for some time been making such rapid +encroachments, that a general insurrection was secretly planned to +resist his power. All Switzerland seemed to unite as with one +accord. Albert was rejoiced at this insurrection, for, confident of +superior power, he doubted not his ability speedily to quell it, +and it would afford him the most favorable pretext for still +greater aggrandizement. Albert hastened to his domain at Hapsburg, +where he was assassinated by conspirators led by his own nephew, +whom he was defrauding of his estates.</p> +<p>Frederic and Leopold, the two oldest surviving sons of Albert, +avenged their father's death by pursuing the conspirators until +they all suffered the penalty of their crimes. With ferocity +characteristic of the age, they punished mercilessly the families +and adherents of the assassins. Their castles were demolished, +their estates confiscated, their domestics and men at arms +massacred, and their wives and children driven out into the world +to beg or to starve. Sixty-three of the retainers of Lord Balne, +one of the conspirators, though entirely innocent of the crime, and +solemnly protesting their unconsciousness of any plot, were +beheaded in one day. Though but four persons took part in the +assassination, and it was not known that any others were implicated +in the deed, it is estimated that more than a thousand persons +suffered death through the fury of the avengers. Agnes, one of the +daughters of Albert, endeavored with her own hands to strangle the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page41" id="page41"></a>{41}</span> +infant child of the Lord of Eschenback, when the soldiers, moved by +its piteous cries, with difficulty rescued it from her hands.</p> +<p>Elizabeth, the widow of Albert, with her implacable fanatic +daughter Agnes, erected a magnificent convent on the spot at +Königsburg, where the emperor was assassinated, and there in +cloistered gloom they passed the remainder of their lives. It was +an age of superstition, and yet there were some who comprehended +and appreciated the pure morality of the gospel of Christ.</p> +<p>"Woman," said an aged hermit to Agnes, "God is not served by +shedding innocent blood, and by rearing convents from the plunder +of families. He is served by compassion only, and by the +forgiveness of injuries."</p> +<p>Frederic, Albert's oldest son, now assumed the government of the +Austrian provinces. From his uncommon personal attractions he was +called Frederic the Handsome. His character was in conformity with +his person, for to the most chivalrous bravery he added the most +feminine amiability and mildness. He was a candidate for the +imperial throne, and would probably have been elected but for the +unpopularity of his despotic father. The diet met, and on the 27th +of November, 1308, the choice fell unanimously upon Henry, Count of +Luxemburg.</p> +<p>This election deprived Frederic of his hopes of uniting Bohemia +to Austria, for the new emperor placed his son John upon the +Bohemian throne, and was prepared to maintain him there by all the +power of the empire. In accomplishing this, there was a short +conflict with Henry of Carinthia, but he was speedily driven out of +the kingdom.</p> +<p>Frederic, however, found a little solace in his disappointment, +by attaching to Austria the dominions he had wrested from the lords +he had beheaded as assassins of his father. In the midst of these +scenes of ambition, intrigue and violence, the Emperor Henry fell +sick and died, in the fifty-second year <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page42" id="page42"></a>{42}</span> of his age. +This unexpected event opened again to Frederic the prospect of the +imperial crown, and all his friends, in the now very numerous +branches of the family, spared neither money nor the arts of +diplomacy in the endeavor to secure the coveted dignity for him. A +year elapsed after the death of Henry before the diet was +assembled. During that time all the German States were in intense +agitation canvassing the claims of the several candidates. The +prize of an imperial crown was one which many grasped at, and every +little court was agitated by the question. The day of election, +October 9th, 1314, arrived. There were two hostile parties in the +field, one in favor of Frederic of Austria, the other in favor of +Louis of Bavaria. The two parties met in different cities, the +Austrians at Saxenhausen, and the Bavarians at Frankfort. There +were, however, but four electors at Saxenhausen, while there were +five at Frankfort, the ancient place of election. Each party +unanimously chose its candidate. Louis, of Bavaria, receiving five +votes, while Frederic received but four, was unquestionably the +legitimate emperor. Most of the imperial cities acknowledged him. +Frankfort sung his triumph, and he was crowned with all the ancient +ceremonials of pomp at Aix-la-Chapelle.</p> +<p>But Frederic and his party were not ready to yield, and all over +Germany there was the mustering of armies. For two years the +hostile forces were marching and countermarching with the usual +vicissitudes of war. The tide of devastation and blood swept now +over one State, and now over another, until at length the two +armies met, in all their concentrated strength, at Muhldorf, near +Munich, for a decisive battle. Louis of Bavaria rode proudly at the +head of thirty thousand foot, and fifteen hundred steel-clad +horsemen. Frederic of Austria, the handsomest man of his age, +towering above all his retinue, was ostentatiously arrayed in the +most splendid armor art could furnish, emblazoned with the Austrian +eagle, and his helmet was surmounted by a crown of gold.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page43" id="page43"></a>{43}</span> +<p>As he thus led the ranks of twenty-two thousand footmen, and +seven thousand horse, all eyes followed him, and all hearts +throbbed with confidence of victory. From early dawn, till night +darkened the field, the horrid strife raged. In those days +gunpowder was unknown, and the ringing of battle-axes on helmet and +cuirass, the strokes of sabers and the clash of spears, shouts of +onset, and the shrieks of the wounded, as sixty thousand men fought +hand to hand on one small field, rose like the clamor from battling +demons in the infernal world. Hour after hour of carnage passed, +and still no one could tell on whose banners victory would alight. +The gloom of night was darkening over the exhausted combatants, +when the winding of the bugle was heard in the rear of the +Austrians, and a band of four hundred Bavarian horsemen came +plunging down an eminence into the disordered ranks of Frederic. +The hour of dismay, which decides a battle, had come. A scene of +awful carnage ensued as the routed Austrians, fleeing in every +direction, were pursued and massacred. Frederic himself was struck +from his horse, and as he fell, stunned by the blow, he was +captured, disarmed and carried to the presence of his rival +Louis.</p> +<p>The spirit of Frederic was crushed by the awful, the +irretrievable defeat, and he appeared before his conqueror +speechless in the extremity of his woe. Louis had the pride of +magnanimity and endeavored to console his captive.</p> +<p>"The battle is not lost by your fault," said he. "The Bavarians +have experienced to their cost that you are a valiant prince; but +Providence has decided the battle. Though I am happy to see you as +my guest, I sympathize with you in your sorrow, and will do what I +can to alleviate it."</p> +<p>For three years the unhappy Frederic remained a prisoner of +Louis of Bavaria, held in close confinement in the castle at +Trausnitz. At the end of that time the emperor, alarmed at the +efforts which the friends of Frederic were making to combine +several Powers to take up arms for his relief, visited his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page44" id="page44"></a>{44}</span> +prisoner, and in a personal interview proposed terms of +reconciliation. The terms, under the circumstances, were considered +generous, but a proud spirit needed the discipline of three years' +imprisonment before it could yield to such demands.</p> +<p>It was the 13th of March, 1325, when this singular interview +between Louis the emperor, and Frederic his captive, took place at +Trausnitz. Frederic promised upon oath that in exchange for his +freedom he would renounce all claim to the imperial throne; restore +all the districts and castles he had wrested from the empire; give +up all the documents relative to his election as emperor; join with +all his family influence to support Louis against any and every +adversary, and give his daughter in marriage to Stephen the son of +Louis. He also promised that in case he should fail in the +fulfillment of any one of these stipulations, he would return to +his captivity.</p> +<p>Frederic fully intended a faithful compliance with these +requisitions. But no sooner was he liberated than his fiery brother +Leopold, who presided over the Swiss estates, and who was a man of +great capacity and military energy, refused peremptorily to fulfill +the articles which related to him, and made vigorous preparations +to urge the war which he had already, with many allies, commenced +against the Emperor Louis. The pope also, who had become inimical +to Louis, declared that Frederic was absolved from the agreement at +Trausnitz, as it was extorted by force, and, with all the authority +of the head of the Church, exhorted Frederic to reassert his claim +to the imperial crown.</p> +<p>Amidst such scenes of fraud and violence, it is refreshing to +record an act of real honor. Frederic, notwithstanding the +entreaties of the pope and the remonstrances of his friends, +declared that, be the consequences what they might, he never would +violate his pledge; and finding that he could not fulfill the +articles of the agreement, he returned to Bavaria and surrendered +himself a prisoner to the emperor. It is seldom that <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page45" id="page45"></a>{45}</span> history has +the privilege of recording so noble an act. Louis of Bavaria +fortunately had a soul capable of appreciating the magnanimity of +his captive. He received him with courtesy and with almost +fraternal kindness. In the words of a contemporary historian, "They +ate at the same table and slept in the same bed;" and, most +extraordinary of all, when Louis was subsequently called to a +distant part of his dominions to quell an insurrection, he +intrusted the government of Bavaria, during his absence, to +Frederic.</p> +<p>Frederic's impetuous and ungovernable brother Leopold, was +unwearied in his endeavors to combine armies against the emperor, +and war raged without cessation. At length Louis, harassed by these +endless insurrections and coalitions against him, and admiring the +magnanimity of Frederic, entered into a new alliance, offering +terms exceedingly honorable on his part. He agreed that he and +Frederic should rule conjointly as emperors of Germany, in perfect +equality of power and dignity, alternately taking the +precedence.</p> +<p>With this arrangement Leopold was satisfied, but unfortunately, +just at that time, his impetuous spirit, exhausted by +disappointment and chagrin, yielded to death. He died at Strasbourg +on the 28th of February, 1326. The pope and several of the electors +refused to accede to this arrangement, and thus the hopes of the +unhappy Frederic were again blighted, for Louis, who had consented +to this accommodation for the sake of peace, was not willing to +enforce it through the tumult of war. Frederic was, however, +liberated from captivity, and he returned to Austria a dejected, +broken-hearted man. He pined away for a few months in languor, +being rarely known to smile, and died at the castle of Gullenstein +on the 13th of January, 1330. His widow, Isabella, the daughter of +the King of Arragon, became blind from excessive grief, and soon +followed her husband to the tomb.</p> +<p>As Frederic left no son, the Austrian dominions fell to his two +brothers, Albert III. and Otho. Albert, by marriage, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page46" id="page46"></a>{46}</span> added the +valuable county of Ferret in Alsace to the dominions of the house +of Austria. The two brothers reigned with such wonderful harmony, +that no indications can be seen of separate administrations. They +renounced all claim to the imperial throne, notwithstanding the +efforts of the pope to the contrary, and thus secured friendship +with the Emperor Louis. There were now three prominent families +dominant in Germany. Around these great families, who had +gradually, by marriage and military encroachments, attained their +supremacy, the others of all degrees rallied as vassals, seeking +protection and contributing strength. The house of Bavaria, +reigning over that powerful kingdom and in possession of the +imperial throne, ranked first. Then came the house of Luxembourg, +possessing the wide-spread and opulent realms of Bohemia. The house +of Austria had now vast possessions, but these were widely +scattered; some provinces on the banks of the Danube and others in +Switzerland, spreading through the defiles of the Alps.</p> +<p>John of Bohemia was an overbearing man, and feeling quite +impregnable in his northern realms beyond the mountains, assumed +such a dictatorial air as to rouse the ire of the princes of +Austria and Bavaria. These two houses consequently entered into an +intimate alliance for mutual security. The Duke of Carinthia, who +was uncle to Albert and Otho, died, leaving only a daughter, +Margaret. This dukedom, about the size of the State of +Massachusetts, a wild and mountainous region, was deemed very +important as the key to Italy. John of Bohemia, anxious to obtain +it, had engaged the hand of Margaret for his son, then but eight +years of age. It was a question in dispute whether the dukedom +could descend to a female, and Albert and Otho claimed it as the +heirs of their uncle. Louis, the emperor, supported the claims of +Austria, and thus Carinthia became attached to this growing +power.</p> +<p>John, enraged, formed a confederacy with the kings of Hungary +and Poland, and some minor princes, and invaded Austria. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page47" id="page47"></a>{47}</span> +For some time they swept all opposition before them. But the +Austrian troops and those of the empire checked them at Landau. +Here they entered into an agreement without a battle, by which +Austria was permitted to retain Carinthia, she making important +concessions to Bohemia. In February, 1339, Otho died, and Albert +was invested with the sole administration of affairs. The old King +of Bohemia possessed vehemence of character which neither age nor +the total blindness with which he had become afflicted could +repress. He traversed the empire, and even went to France, +organizing a powerful confederacy against the emperor. The pope, +Clement VI., who had always been inimical to Louis of Bavaria, +influenced by John of Bohemia, deposed and excommunicated Louis, +and ordered a new meeting of the diet of electors, which chose +Charles, eldest son of the Bohemian monarch, and heir to that +crown, emperor.</p> +<p>The deposed Louis fought bravely for the crown thus torn from +his brow. Albert of Austria aided him with all his energies. Their +united armies, threading the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, +penetrated the very heart of the kingdom, when, in the midst of +success, the deposed Emperor Louis fell dead from a stroke of +apoplexy, in the year 1347. This event left Charles of Bohemia in +undisputed possession of the imperial crown. Albert immediately +recognized his claim, effected reconciliation, and becoming the +friend and the ally of the emperor, pressed on cautiously but +securely, year after year, in his policy of annexation. But storms +of war incessantly howled around his domains until he died, a +crippled paralytic, on the 16th of August, 1358.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page48" id="page48"></a>{48}</span> +<h2><a name="chap3" id="chap3">CHAPTER III</a>.</h2> +<h3>RHODOLPH II., ALBERT IV. AND ALBERT V.</h3> +<h4>From 1339 to 1437.</h4> +<p class="summary">Rhodolph II.—Marriage of John to +Margaret.—Intriguing for the Tyrol.—Death of +Rhodolph.—Accession of Power to Austria.—Dividing the +Empire.—Delight of the Emperor +Charles.—Leopold.—His Ambition and +Successes.—Hedwige, Queen of Poland.—"The Course of +true Love never did run smooth."—Unhappy Marriage of +Hedwige.—Heroism of Arnold of Winkelreid.—Death of +Leopold.—Death of Albert IV.—Accession of Albert +V.—Attempts of Sigismond to bequeath to Albert V. Hungary and +Bohemia.</p> +<p>Rhodolph II., the eldest son of Albert III., when but nineteen +years of age succeeded his father in the government of the Austrian +States. He had been very thoroughly educated in all the civil and +military knowledge of the times. He was closely allied with the +Emperor Charles IV. of Bohemia, having married his daughter +Catherine. His character and manhood had been very early developed. +When he was in his seventeenth year his father had found it +necessary to visit his Swiss estates, then embroiled in the +fiercest war, and had left him in charge of the Austrian provinces. +He soon after was intrusted with the whole care of the Hapsburg +dominions in Switzerland. In this responsible post he developed +wonderful administrative skill, encouraging industry, repressing +disorder, and by constructing roads and bridges, opening facilities +for intercourse and trade.</p> +<p>Upon the death of his father, Rhodolph removed to Vienna, and +being now the monarch of powerful realms on the Danube and among +the Alps, he established a court rivaling the most magnificent +establishments of the age.</p> +<p>Just west of Austria and south of Bavaria was the magnificent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page49" id="page49"></a>{49}</span> +dukedom of Tyrol, containing some sixteen thousand square miles, or +about twice the size of the State of Massachusetts. It was a +country almost unrivaled in the grandeur of its scenery, and +contained nearly a million of inhabitants. This State, lying +equally convenient to both Austria and Bavaria, by both of these +kingdoms had for many years been regarded with a wistful eye. The +manner in which Austria secured the prize is a story well worth +telling, as illustrative of the intrigues of those times.</p> +<p>It will be remembered that John, the arrogant King of Bohemia, +engaged for his son the hand of Margaret, the only daughter of the +Duke of Carinthia. Tyrol also was one of the possessions of this +powerful duke. Henry, having no son, had obtained from the emperor +a decree that these possessions should descend, in default of male +issue, to his daughter. But for this decision the sovereignty of +these States would descend to the male heirs, Albert and Otho of +Austria, nephews of Henry. They of course disputed the legality of +the decree, and, aided by the Emperor Louis of Bavaria, obtained +Carinthia, relinquishing for a time their claim to Tyrol. The +emperor hoped to secure that golden prize for his hereditary +estates of Bavaria.</p> +<p>When John, the son of the King of Bohemia, was but seventeen +years of age, and a puny, weakly child, he was hurriedly married to +Margaret, then twenty-two. Margaret, a sanguine, energetic woman, +despised her baby husband, and he, very naturally, impotently hated +her. She at length fled from him, and escaping from Bohemia, threw +herself under the protection of Louis. The emperor joyfully +welcomed her to his court, and promised to grant her a divorce, by +virtue of his imperial power, if she would marry his son Louis. The +compliant princess readily acceded to this plan, and the divorce +was announced and the nuptials solemnized in February, 1342.</p> +<p>The King of Bohemia was as much exasperated as the King of +Bavaria was elated by this event, for the one felt that he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page50" id="page50"></a>{50}</span> +had lost the Tyrol, and the other that he had gained it. It was +this successful intrigue which cost Louis of Bavaria his imperial +crown; for the blood of the King of Bohemia was roused. Burning +with vengeance, he traversed Europe almost with the zeal and +eloquence of Peter the Hermit, to organize a coalition against the +emperor, and succeeded in inducing the pope, always hostile to +Louis, to depose and excommunicate him. This marriage was also +declared by the pope unlawful, and the son, Meinhard, eventually +born to them, was branded as illegitimate.</p> +<p>While matters were in this state, as years glided on, Rhodolph +succeeded in winning the favor of the pontiff, and induced him to +legitimate Meinhard, that this young heir of Tyrol might marry the +Austrian princess Margaret, sister of Rhodolph. Meinhard and his +wife Margaret ere long died, leaving Margaret of Tyrol, a widow in +advancing years, with no direct heirs. By the marriage contract of +her son Meinhard with Margaret of Austria, she promised that should +there be failure of issue, Tyrol should revert to Austria. On the +other hand, Bavaria claimed the territory in virtue of the marriage +of Margaret with Louis of Bavaria.</p> +<p>Rhodolph was so apprehensive that Bavaria might make an +immediate move to obtain the coveted territory by force of arms, +that he hastened across the mountains, though in the depth of +winter, obtained from Margaret an immediate possession of Tyrol, +and persuaded her to accompany him, an honored guest, to his +capital, which he had embellished with unusual splendor for her +entertainment.</p> +<p>Rhodolph had married the daughter of Charles, King of Bohemia, +the emperor, but unfortunately at this juncture, Rhodolph, united +with the kings of Hungary and Poland, was at war with the Bavarian +king. Catherine his wife, however, undertook to effect a +reconciliation between her husband and her father. She secured an +interview between them, and the emperor, the hereditary rival of +his powerful neighbor the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page51" +id="page51"></a>{51}</span> King of Bavaria, confirmed Margaret's +gift, invested Rhodolph with the Tyrol, and pledged the arm of the +empire to maintain this settlement. Thus Austria gained Tyrol, the +country of romance and of song, interesting, perhaps, above all +other portions of Europe in its natural scenery, and invaluable +from its location as the gateway of Italy. Bavaria made a show of +armed opposition to this magnificent accession to the power of +Austria, but soon found it in vain to assail Rhodolph sustained by +Margaret of Tyrol, and by the energies of the empire.</p> +<p>Rhodolph was an antiquarian of eccentric character, ever poring +over musty records and hunting up decayed titles. He was fond of +attaching to his signature the names of all the innumerable offices +he held over the conglomerated States of his realm. He was +Rhodolph, Margrave of Baden, Vicar of Upper Bavaria, Lord of +Hapsburg, Arch Huntsman of the Empire, Archduke Palatine, etc., +etc. His ostentation provoked even the jealousy of his father, the +emperor, and he was ordered to lay aside these numerous titles and +the arrogant armorial bearings he was attaching to his seals. His +desire to aggrandize his family burned with a quenchless flame. +Hoping to extend his influence in Italy, he negotiated a +matrimonial alliance for his brother with an Italian princess. As +he crossed the Alps to attend the nuptials, he was seized with an +inflammatory fever, and died the 27th of July, 1365, but twenty-six +years of age, and leaving no issue.</p> +<p>His brother Albert, a young man but seventeen years of age, +succeeded Rhodolph. Just as he assumed the government, Margaret of +Tyrol died, and the King of Bavaria, thinking this a favorable +moment to renew his claims for the Tyrol, vigorously invaded the +country with a strong army. Albert immediately applied to the +emperor for assistance. Three years were employed in fightings and +diplomacy, when Bavaria, in consideration of a large sum of money +and sundry other concessions, renounced all pretensions to Tyrol, +and left the rich <span class="pagenum"><a name="page52" id= +"page52"></a>{52}</span> prize henceforth undisputed in the hands +of Austria. Thus the diminutive margrave of Austria, which was at +first but a mere military post on the Danube, had grown by rapid +accretions in one century to be almost equal in extent of territory +to the kingdoms of Bavaria and of Bohemia. This grandeur, instead +of satisfying the Austrian princes, did but increase their +ambition.</p> +<p>The Austrian territories, though widely scattered, were +declared, both by family compact and by imperial decree, to be +indivisible. Albert had a brother, Leopold, two years younger than +himself, of exceedingly restless and ambitious spirit, while Albert +was inactive, and a lover of ease and repose. Leopold was sent to +Switzerland, and intrusted with the administration of those +provinces. But his imperious spirit so dominated over his elder but +pliant brother, that he extorted from him a compact, by which the +realm was divided, Albert remaining in possession of the Austrian +provinces of the Danube, and Leopold having exclusive dominion over +those in Switzerland; while the magnificent new acquisition, the +Tyrol, lying between the two countries, bounding Switzerland on the +east, and Austria on the west, was shared between them.</p> +<p>Nothing can more clearly show the moderate qualities of Albert +than that he should have assented to such a plan. He did, however, +with easy good nature, assent to it, and the two brothers applied +to the Emperor Charles to ratify the division by his imperial +sanction. Charles, who for some time had been very jealous of the +rapid encroachments of Austria, rubbed his hands with delight.</p> +<p>"We have long," said he, "labored in vain to humble the house of +Austria, and now the dukes of Austria have humbled themselves."</p> +<p>Leopold the First inherited all the ambition and energy of the +house of Hapsburg, and was ever watching with an eagle eye to +extend his dominions, and to magnify his power. By money, war, and +diplomacy, in a few years he obtained Friburg <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page53" id="page53"></a>{53}</span> and the +little town of Basle; attached to his dominions the counties of +Feldkirch, Pludenz, Surgans and the Rienthal, which he wrested from +the feeble counts who held them, and obtained the baillages of +Upper and Lower Suabia, and the towns of Augsburg and Gingen. But a +bitter disappointment was now encountered by this ambitious +prince.</p> +<p>Louis, the renowned King of Hungary and Poland, had two +daughters, Maria and Hedwige, but no sons. To Maria he promised the +crown of Hungary as her portion, and among the many claimants for +her hand, and the glittering crown she held in it, Sigismond, son +of the Emperor Charles, King of Bohemia, received the prize. +Leopold, whose heart throbbed in view of so splendid an alliance, +was overjoyed when he secured the pledge of the hand of Hedwige, +with the crown of Poland, for William, his eldest son. Hedwige was +one of the most beautiful and accomplished princesses of the age. +William was also a young man of great elegance of person, and of +such rare fascination of character, that he had acquired the +epithet of William the Delightful. His chivalrous bearing had been +trained and polished amidst the splendors of his uncle's court of +Vienna. Hedwige, as the affianced bride of William, was invited +from the more barbaric pomp of the Hungarian court, to improve her +education by the aid of the refinements of Vienna. William and +Hedwige no sooner met than they loved one another, as young hearts, +even in the palace, will sometimes love, as well as in the cottage. +In brilliant festivities and moonlight excursions the young lovers +passed a few happy months, when Hedwige was called home by the +final sickness of her father. Louis died, and Hedwige was +immediately crowned Queen of Poland, receiving the most +enthusiastic greetings of her subjects.</p> +<p>Bordering on Poland there was a grand duchy of immense extent, +Lithuania, embracing sixty thousand square miles. The Grand Duke +Jaghellon was a burly Northman, not more than half civilized, whose +character was as jagged as his name. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page54" id="page54"></a>{54}</span> This pagan proposed to the +Polish nobles that he should marry Hedwige, and thus unite the +grand duchy of Lithuania with the kingdom of Poland; promising in +that event to renounce paganism, and embrace Christianity. The +beautiful and accomplished Hedwige was horror-struck at the +proposal, and declared that never would she marry any one but +William.</p> +<p>But the Polish nobles, dazzled by the prospect of this +magnificent accession to the kingdom of Poland, and the bishops, +even more powerful than the nobles, elated with the vision of such +an acquisition for the Church, resolved that the young and +fatherless maiden, who had no one to defend her cause, should +yield, and that she should become the bride of Jaghellon. They +declared that it was ridiculous to think that the interests of a +mighty kingdom, and the enlargement of the Church, were to yield to +the caprices of a love-sick girl.</p> +<p>In the meantime William, all unconscious of the disappointment +which awaited him, was hastening to Cracow, with a splendid +retinue, and the richest presents Austrian art could fabricate, to +receive his bride. The nobles, however, a semi-barbaric set of men, +surrounded him upon his arrival, refused to allow him any interview +with Hedwige, threatened him with personal violence, and drove him +out of the kingdom. Poor Hedwige was in anguish. She wept, vowed +deathless fidelity to William, and expressed utter detestation of +the pagan duke, until, at last, worn out and broken-hearted, she, +in despair, surrendered herself into the arms of Jaghellon. +Jaghellon was baptized by the name of Ladislaus, and Lithuania was +annexed to Poland.</p> +<p>The loss of the crown of Poland was to Leopold a grievous +affliction; at the same time his armies, engaged in sundry measures +of aggrandizement, encountered serious reverses. Leopold, the +father of William, by these events was plunged into the deepest +dejection. No effort of his friends could lift the weight of his +gloom. In a retired apartment of one of his <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page55" id="page55"></a>{55}</span> castles he +sat silent and woful, apparently incapacitated for any exertion +whatever, either bodily or mental. The affairs of his realm were +neglected, and his bailiffs and feudal chiefs, left with +irresponsible power, were guilty of such acts of extortion and +tyranny, that, in the province of Suabia the barons combined, and a +fierce insurrection broke out. Forty important towns united in the +confederacy, and secured the co-operation of Strasburg, Mentz and +other large cities on the Rhine. Other of the Swiss provinces were +on the eve of joining this alarming confederacy against Leopold, +their Austrian ruler. As Vienna for some generations had been the +seat of the Hapsburg family, from whence governors were sent to +these provinces of Helvetia, as Switzerland was then called, the +Swiss began to regard their rulers as foreigners, and even Leopold +found it necessary to strengthen himself with Austrian troops.</p> +<p>This formidable league roused Leopold from his torpor, and he +awoke like the waking of the lion. He was immediately on the march +with four thousand horsemen, and fourteen hundred foot, while all +through the defiles of the Alps bugle blasts echoed, summoning +detachments from various cantons under their bold barons, to hasten +to the aid of the insurgents. On the evening of the 9th of July, +1396, the glittering host of Leopold appeared on an eminence +overlooking the city of Sempach and the beautiful lake on whose +border it stands. The horses were fatigued by their long and +hurried march, and the crags and ravines, covered with forest, were +impracticable for the evolutions of cavalry. The impetuous Leopold, +impatient of delay, resolved upon an immediate attack, +notwithstanding the exhaustion of his troops, and though a few +hours of delay would bring strong reinforcements to his camp. He +dismounted his horsemen, and formed his whole force in solid +phalanx. It was an imposing spectacle, as six thousand men, covered +from head to foot with blazing armor, presenting a front of shields +like a wall <span class="pagenum"><a name="page56" id= +"page56"></a>{56}</span> of burnished steel, bristling with +innumerable pikes and spears, moved with slow, majestic tread down +upon the city.</p> +<p>The confederate Swiss, conscious that the hour of vengeance had +come, in which they must conquer or be miserably slain, marched +forth to meet the foe, emboldened only by despair. But few of the +confederates were in armor. They were furnished with such weapons +as men grasp when despotism rouses them to insurrection, rusty +battle-axes, pikes and halberts, and two-handed swords, which their +ancestors, in descending into the grave, had left behind them. They +drew up in the form of a solid wedge, to pierce the thick +concentric wall of steel, apparently as impenetrable as the cliffs +of the mountains. Thus the two bodies silently and sternly +approached each other. It was a terrific hour; for every man knew +that one or the other of those hosts must perish utterly. For some +time the battle raged, while the confederates could make no +impression whatever upon their steel-clad foes, and sixty of them +fell pierced by spears before one of their assailants had been even +wounded.</p> +<p>Despair was fast settling upon their hearts, when Arnold of +Winkelreid, a knight of Underwalden, rushed from the ranks of the +confederates, exclaiming—</p> +<p>"I will open a passage into the line; protect, dear countrymen, +my wife and children."</p> +<p>He threw himself upon the bristling spears. A score pierced his +body; grasping them with the tenacity of death, he bore them to the +earth as he fell. His comrades, emulating his spirit of +self-sacrifice, rushed over his bleeding body, and forced their way +through the gate thus opened into the line. The whole unwieldy mass +was thrown into confusion. The steel-clad warriors, exhausted +before the battle commenced, and encumbered with their heavy armor, +could but feebly resist their nimble assailants, who outnumbering +them and over-powering them, cut them down in fearful havoc. It +soon became a general slaughter, and not less than two thousand of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page57" id="page57"></a>{57}</span> +the followers of Leopold were stretched lifeless upon the ground. +Many were taken prisoners, and a few, mounting their horses, +effected an escape among the wild glens of the Alps.</p> +<p>In this awful hour Leopold developed magnanimity and heroism +worthy of his name. Before the battle commenced, his friends urged +him to take care of his own person.</p> +<p>"God forbid," said he, "that I should endeavor to save my own +life and leave you to die! I will share your fate, and, with you, +will either conquer or perish."</p> +<p>When all was in confusion, and his followers were falling like +autumn leaves around him, he was urged to put spurs to his horse, +and, accompanied by his body-guard, to escape.</p> +<p>"I would rather die honorably," said Leopold, "than live with +dishonor."</p> +<p>Just at this moment his standard-bearer was struck down by a +rush of the confederates. As he fell he cried out, "Help, Austria, +help!" Leopold frantically sprang to his aid, grasped the banner +from his dying hand, and waving it, plunged into the midst of the +foe, with saber strokes hewing a path before him. He was soon lost +in the tumult and the carnage of the battle. His body was afterward +found, covered with wounds, in the midst of heaps of the dead.</p> +<p>Thus perished the ambitious and turbulent Leopold the 1st, after +a stormy and unhappy life of thirty-six years, and a reign of +constant encroachment and war of twenty years. Life to him was a +dark and somber tempest. Ever dissatisfied with what he had +attained, and grasping at more, he could never enjoy the present, +and he finally died that death of violence to which his ambition +had consigned so many thousands. Leopold, the second son of the +duke, who was but fifteen years of age, succeeded his father, in +the dominion of the Swiss estates; and after a desultory warfare of +a few months, was successful in negotiating a peace, or rather an +armed truce, with the successful insurgents.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page58" id="page58"></a>{58}</span> +<p>In the meantime, Albert, at Vienna, apparently happy in being +relieved of all care of the Swiss provinces, was devoting himself +to the arts of peace. He reared new buildings, encouraged learning, +repressed all disorders, and cultivated friendly relations with the +neighboring powers. His life was as a summer's day—serene and +bright. He and his family were happy, and his realms in prosperity. +He died at his rural residence at Laxendorf, two miles out from +Vienna, on the 29th of August, 1395. All Austria mourned his death. +Thousands gathered at his burial, exclaiming, "We have lost our +friend, our father!" He was a studious, peace-loving, warm-hearted +man, devoted to his family and his friends, fond of books and the +society of the learned, and enjoying the cultivation of his garden +with his own hands. He left, at his death, an only son, Albert, +sixteen years of age.</p> +<p>William, the eldest son of Leopold, had been brought up in the +court of Vienna. He was a young man of fascinating character and +easily won all hearts. After his bitter disappointment in Poland he +returned to Vienna, and now, upon the death of his uncle Albert, he +claimed the reins of government as the oldest member of the family. +His cousin Albert, of course, resisted this claim, demanding that +he himself should enter upon the post which his father had +occupied. A violent dissension ensued which resulted in an +agreement that they should administer the government of the +Austrian States, jointly, during their lives, and that then the +government should be vested in the eldest surviving member of the +family.</p> +<p>Having effected this arrangement, quite to the satisfaction of +both parties, Albert, who inherited much of the studious thoughtful +turn of mind of his father, set out on a pilgrimage to the holy +land, leaving the government during his absence in the hands of +William. After wanderings and adventures so full of romance as to +entitle him to the appellation of the "Wonder of the World," he +returned to Vienna. He married <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page59" id="page59"></a>{59}</span> a daughter of the Duke of +Holland, and settled down to a monkish life. He entered a monastery +of Carthusian monks, and took an active part in all their +discipline and devotions. No one was more punctual than he at +matins and vespers, or more devout in confessions, prayers, +genuflexions and the divine service in the choir. Regarding himself +as one of the fraternity, he called himself brother Albert, and +left William untrammeled in the cares of state. His life was short, +for he died the 14th of September, 1404, in the twenty-seventh year +of his age, leaving a son Albert, seven years old. William, who +married a daughter of the King of Naples, survived him but two +years, when he died childless.</p> +<p>A boy nine years old now claimed the inheritance of the Austrian +estates; but the haughty dukes of the Swiss branch of the house +were not disposed to yield to his claims. Leopold II., who after +the battle of Sempach succeeded his father in the Swiss estates, +assumed the guardianship of Albert, and the administration of +Austria, till the young duke should be of age. But Leopold had two +brothers who also inherited their father's energy and ambition. +Ernest ruled over Styria, Carinthia and Carniola. Frederic governed +the Tyrol.</p> +<p>Leopold II. repaired to Vienna to assume the administration; his +two brothers claimed the right of sharing it with him. Confusion, +strife and anarchy ensued. Ernest, a very determined and violent +man, succeeded in compelling his brother to give him a share of the +government, and in the midst of incessant quarrels, which often led +to bloody conflicts, each of the two brothers strove to wrest as +much as possible from Austria before young Albert should be of age. +The nobles availed themselves of this anarchy to renew their +expeditions of plunder. Unhappy Austria for several years was a +scene of devastation and misery. In the year 1411, Leopold II. died +without issue. The young Albert had now attained is fifteenth +year.</p> +<p>The emperor declared Albert of age, and he assumed the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page60" id="page60"></a>{60}</span> +government as Albert V. His subjects, weary of disorder and of the +strife of the nobles, welcomed him with enthusiasm. With sagacity +and self-denial above his years, the young prince devoted himself +to business, relinquishing all pursuits of pleasure. Fortunately, +during his minority he had honorable and able teachers who stored +his mind with useful knowledge, and fortified him with principles +of integrity. The change from the most desolating anarchy to +prosperity and peace was almost instantaneous. Albert had the +judgment to surround himself with able advisers. Salutary laws were +enacted; justice impartially administered; the country was swept of +the banditti which infested it, and while all the States around +were involved in the miseries of war, the song of the contented +husbandman, and the music of the artisan's tools were heard through +the fields and in the towns of happy Austria.</p> +<p>Sigismond, second son of the Emperor Charles IV., King of +Bohemia, was now emperor. It will be remembered that by marrying +Mary, the eldest daughter of Louis, King of Hungary and Poland, he +received Hungary as the dower of his bride. By intrigue he also +succeeded in deposing his effeminate and dissolute brother, +Wenceslaus, from the throne of Bohemia, and succeeded, by a new +election, in placing the crown upon his own brow. Thus Sigismond +wielded a three-fold scepter. He was Emperor of Germany, and King +of Hungary and of Bohemia.</p> +<p>Albert married the only daughter of Sigismond, and a very strong +affection sprung up between the imperial father and his son-in-law. +They often visited each other, and cooperated very cordially in +measures of state. The wife of Sigismond was a worthless woman, +described by an Austrian historian as "one who believed in neither +God, angel nor devil; neither in heaven nor hell." Sigismond had +set his heart upon bequeathing to Albert the crowns of both Hungary +and Bohemia, which magnificent accessions to the Austrian domains +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page61" id="page61"></a>{61}</span> +would elevate that power to be one of the first in Europe. But +Barbara, his queen, wished to convey these crowns to the son of the +pagan Jaghellon, who had received the crown of Poland as the dowry +of his reluctant bride, Hedwige. Sigismond, provoked by her +intrigues for the accomplishment of this object, and detesting her +for her licentiousness, put her under arrest. Sigismond was +sixty-three years of age, in very feeble health, and daily +expecting to die.</p> +<p>He summoned a general convention of the nobles of Hungary and +Bohemia to meet him at Znaim in Moravia, near the frontiers of +Austria, and sent for Albert and his daughter to hasten to that +place. The infirm emperor, traveling by slow stages, succeeded in +reaching Znaim. He immediately summoned the nobles to his presence, +and introducing to them Albert and Elizabeth, thus affectingly +addressed them:</p> +<p>"Loving friends, you know that since the commencement of my +reign I have employed my utmost exertions to maintain public +tranquillity. Now, as I am about to die, my last act must be +consistent with my former actions. At this moment my only anxiety +arises from a desire to prevent dissension and bloodshed after my +decease. It is praiseworthy in a prince to govern well; but it is +not less praiseworthy to provide a successor who shall govern +better than himself. This fame I now seek, not from ambition, but +from love to my subjects. You all know Albert, Duke of Austria, to +whom in preference to all other princes I gave my daughter in +marriage, and whom I adopted as my son. You know that he possesses +experience and every virtue becoming a prince. He found Austria in +a state of disorder, and he has restored it to tranquillity. He is +now of an age in which judgment and experience attain their +perfection, and he is sovereign of Austria, which, lying between +Hungary and Bohemia, forms a connecting link between the two +kingdoms.</p> +<p>"I recommend him to you as my successor. I leave you a king, +pious, honorable, wise and brave. I give him my <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page62" id="page62"></a>{62}</span> kingdom, or +rather I give him to my kingdoms, to whom I can give or wish +nothing better. Truly you belong to him in consideration of his +wife, the hereditary princess of Hungary and Bohemia. Again I +repeat that I do not act thus solely from love to Albert and my +daughter, but from a desire in my last moments to promote the true +welfare of my people. Happy are those who are subject to Albert. I +am confident he is no less beloved by you than by me, and that even +without my exhortations you would unanimously give him your votes. +But I beseech you by these tears, comfort my soul, which is +departing to God, by confirming my choice and fulfilling my +will."</p> +<p>The emperor was so overcome with emotion that he could with +difficulty pronounce these last words. All were deeply moved; some +wept aloud; others, seizing the hand of the emperor and bathing it +in tears, vowed allegiance to Albert, and declared that while he +lived they would recognize no other sovereign.</p> +<p>The very next day, November, 1437, Sigismond died. Albert and +Elizabeth accompanied his remains to Hungary. The Hungarian diet of +barons unanimously ratified the wishes of the late king in +accepting Albert as his successor. He then hastened to Bohemia, +and, notwithstanding a few outbursts of disaffection, was received +with great demonstrations of joy by the citizens of Prague, and was +crowned in the cathedral.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page63" id="page63"></a>{63}</span> +<h2><a name="chap4" id="chap4">CHAPTER IV</a>.</h2> +<h3>ALBERT, LADISLAUS AND FREDERIC.</h3> +<h4>From 1440 to 1489.</h4> +<p class="summary">Increasing Honors of Albert +V.—Encroachments of the Turks.—The Christians +Routed.—Terror of the Hungarians.—Death of +Albert.—Magnanimous Conduct of Albert of +Bavaria.—Internal Troubles.—Precocity of +Ladislaus.—Fortifications raised by the Turks.—John +Capistrun.—Rescue of Belgrade.—The Turks +dispersed.—Exultation over the Victory.—Death of +Hunniades.—Jealousy of Ladislaus.—His +Death.—Brotherly Quarrels.—Devastations by the +Turks.—Invasion of Austria.—Repeal of the +Compromise.—The Emperor a Fugitive.</p> +<p>The kingdom of Bohemia thus attached to the duchies of Austria +contained a population of some three millions, and embraced twenty +thousand square miles of territory, being about three times as +large as the State of Massachusetts. Hungary was a still more +magnificent realm in extent of territory, being nearly five times +as large as Bohemia, but inhabited by about the same number of +people, widely dispersed. In addition to this sudden and vast +accession of power, Albert was chosen Emperor of Germany. This +distinguished sovereign displayed as much wisdom and address in +administering the affairs of the empire, as in governing his own +kingdoms.</p> +<p>The Turks were at this time becoming the terror of Christendom. +Originating in a small tribe between the Caspian Sea and the +Euxine, they had with bloody cimeters overrun all Asia Minor, and, +crossing the Hellespont, had intrenched themselves firmly on the +shores of Europe. Crowding on in victorious hosts, armed with the +most terrible fanaticism, they had already obtained possession of +Bulgaria, Servia, and Bosnia, <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page64" id="page64"></a>{64}</span> eastern dependencies of +Hungary, and all Europe was trembling in view of their prowess, +their ferocity and their apparently exhaustless legions.</p> +<p>Sigismond, beholding the crescent of the Moslem floating over +the castles of eastern Hungary, became alarmed for the kingdom, and +sent ambassadors from court to court to form a crusade against the +invaders. He was eminently successful, and an army of one hundred +thousand men was soon collected, composed of the flower of the +European nobility. The republics of Venice and Genoa united to +supply a fleet. With this powerful armament Sigismond, in person, +commenced his march to Constantinople, which city the Turks were +besieging, to meet the fleet there. The Turkish sultan himself +gathered his troops and advanced to meet Sigismond. The Christian +troops were utterly routed, and nearly all put to the sword. The +emperor with difficulty escaped. In the confusion of the awful +scene of carnage he threw himself unperceived into a small boat, +and paddling down the Danube, as its flood swept through an almost +uninhabited wilderness, he reached the Black Sea, where he was so +fortunate as to find a portion of the fleet, and thus, by a long +circuit, he eventually reached his home.</p> +<p>Bajazet, the sultan, returned exultant from this great victory, +and resumed the siege of Constantinople, which ere long fell into +the hands of the Turks. Amurath, who was sultan at the time of the +death of Sigismond, thought the moment propitious for extending his +conquests. He immediately, with his legions, overran Servia, a +principality nearly the size of the State of Virginia, and +containing a million of inhabitants. George, Prince of Servia, +retreating before the merciless followers of the false prophet, +threw himself with a strong garrison into the fortress of +Semendria, and sent an imploring message to Albert for assistance. +Servia was separated from Hungary only by the Danube, and it was a +matter of infinite moment to Albert that the Turk should not get +possession of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page65" id= +"page65"></a>{65}</span> that province, from which he could make +constant forays into Hungary.</p> +<p>Albert hastily collected an army and marched to the banks of the +Danube just in time to witness the capture of Semendria and the +massacre of its garrison. All Hungary was now in terror. The Turks +in overwhelming numbers were firmly intrenched upon the banks of +the Danube, and were preparing to cross the river and to supplant +the cross with the crescent on all the plains of Hungary. The +Hungarian nobles, in crowds, flocked to the standard of Albert, who +made herculean exertions to meet and roll back the threatened tide +of invasion. Exhausted by unremitting toil, he was taken sick and +suddenly died, on a small island of the Danube, on the 17th of +October, 1439, in the forty-third year of his age. The death of +such a prince, heroic and magnanimous, loving the arts of peace, +and yet capable of wielding the energies of war, was an apparent +calamity to Europe.</p> +<p>Albert left two daughters, but his queen Elizabeth was +expecting, in a few months, to give birth to another child. Every +thing was thus involved in confusion, and for a time intrigue and +violence ran riot. There were many diverse parties, the rush of +armed bands, skirmishes and battles, and all the great matters of +state were involved in an inextricable labyrinth of confusion. The +queen gave birth to a son, who was baptized by the name of +Ladislaus. Elizabeth, anxious to secure the crown of Hungary for +her infant, had him solemnly crowned at Alba Regia, by the +Archbishop of Gran when the child was but four months old.</p> +<p>But a powerful party arose, opposed to the claims of the infant, +and strove by force of arms to place upon the throne Uladislaus, +King of Poland and Lithuania, and son of the pagan Jaghellon and +the unhappy Hedwige. For two years war between the rival parties +desolated the kingdom, when Elizabeth died. Uladislaus now +redoubled his endeavors, and finally succeeded in driving the +unconscious infant from his <span class="pagenum"><a name="page66" +id="page66"></a>{66}</span> hereditary domain, and established +himself firmly on the throne of Hungary.</p> +<p>The infant prince was taken to Bohemia. There also he +encountered violent opposition. "A child," said his opponents, "can +not govern. It will be long before Ladislaus will be capable of +assuming the reins of government. Let us choose another sovereign, +and when Ladislaus has attained the age of twenty-four we shall see +whether he deserves the crown."</p> +<p>This very sensible advice was adopted, and thirteen electors +were appointed to choose a sovereign. Their choice fell upon Albert +of Bavaria. But he, with a spirit of magnanimity very rare in that +age, declared that the crown, of right, belonged to Ladislaus, and +that he would not take it from him. They then chose Frederic, Duke +of Styria, who, upon the death of Albert, had been chosen emperor. +Frederic, incited by the example of Albert, also declined, saying, +"I will not rob my relation of his right." But anxious for the +peace of the empire, he recommended that they should choose some +illustrious Bohemian, to whom they should intrust the regency until +Ladislaus became of age, offering himself to assume the +guardianship of the young prince.</p> +<p>This judicious advice was accepted, and the Bohemian nobles +chose the infant Ladislaus their king. They, however, appointed two +regents instead of one. The regents quarreled and headed two +hostile parties. Anarchy and civil war desolated the kingdom, with +fluctuations of success and discomfiture attending the movements of +either party. Thus several years of violence and blood passed on. +One of the regents, George Podiebrad, drove his opponent from the +realm and assumed regal authority. To legitimate its usurped power +he summoned a diet at Pilgram, in 1447, and submitted the following +question:</p> +<p>"Is it advantageous to the kingdom that Ladislaus should retain +the crown, or would it not be more beneficial to choose +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page67" id="page67"></a>{67}</span> +a monarch acquainted with our language and customs, and inspired +with love of our country?"</p> +<p>Warm opposition to this measure arose, and the nobles voted +themselves loyal to Ladislaus. While these events were passing in +Bohemia, scenes of similar violence were transpiring in Hungary. +After a long series of convulsions, and Uladislaus, the Polish +king, who had attained the crown of Hungary, having been slain in a +battle with the Turks, a diet of Hungarian nobles was assembled and +they also declared the young Ladislaus to be their king. They +consequently wrote to the Emperor Frederic, Duke of Styria, who had +assumed the guardianship of the prince, requesting that he might be +sent to Hungary. Ladislaus Posthumous, so-called in consequence of +his birth after the death of his father, was then but six years of +age.</p> +<p>The Austrian States were also in a condition of similar +confusion, rival aspirants grasping at power, feuds agitating every +province, and all moderate men anxious for that repose which could +only be found by uniting in the claims of Ladislaus for the crown. +Thus Austria, Bohemia and Hungary, so singularly and harmoniously +united under Albert V., so suddenly dissevered and scattered by the +death of Albert, were now, after years of turmoil, all reuniting +under the child Ladislaus.</p> +<p>Frederic, however, the faithful guardian of the young prince, +was devoting the utmost care to his education, and refused to +accede to the urgent and reiterated requests to send the young +monarch to his realms. When Ladislaus was about ten years of age +the Emperor Frederic visited the pope at Rome, and took Ladislaus +in his glittering suite. The precocious child here astonished the +learned men of the court, by delivering an oration in Latin before +the consistory, and by giving many other indications of originality +and vigor of mind far above his years. The pope became much +attached to the youthful sovereign of three such important realms, +and as <span class="pagenum"><a name="page68" id= +"page68"></a>{68}</span> Frederic was about to visit Naples, +Ladislaus remained a guest in the imperial palace.</p> +<p>Deputies from the three nations repaired to Rome to urge the +pope to restore to them their young sovereign. Failing in this, +they endeavored to induce Ladislaus to escape with them. This plan +also was discovered and foiled. The nobles were much irritated by +these disappointments, and they resolved to rescue him by force of +arms. All over Hungary, Bohemia and Austria there was a general +rising of the nobles, nationalities being merged in the common +cause, and all hearts united and throbbing with a common desire. An +army of sixteen thousand men was raised. Frederic, alarmed by these +formidable preparations for war, surrendered Ladislaus and he was +conveyed in triumph to Vienna. A numerous assemblage of the nobles +of the three nations was convened, and it was settled that the +young king, during his minority, should remain at Vienna, under the +care of his maternal uncle, Count Cilli, who, in the meantime, was +to administer the government of Austria. George Podiebrad was +intrusted with the regency of Bohemia; and John Hunniades was +appointed regent of Hungary.</p> +<p>Ladislaus was now thirteen years of age. The most learned men of +the age were appointed as his teachers, and he pursued his studies +with great vigor. Count Cilli, however, an ambitious and able man, +soon gained almost unlimited control over the mind of his young +ward, and became so arrogant and dictatorial, filling every +important office with his own especial friends, and removing those +who displeased him, that general discontent was excited and +conspiracy was formed against him. Cilli was driven from Vienna +with insults and threats, and the conspirators placed the regency +in the hands of a select number of their adherents.</p> +<p>While affairs were in this condition, John Hunniades, as regent, +was administering the government of Hungary with great vigor and +sagacity. He was acquiring so much renown <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page69" id="page69"></a>{69}</span> that Count +Cilli regarded him with a very jealous eye, and excited the +suspicions of the young king that Hunniades was seeking for himself +the sovereignty of Hungary. Cilli endeavored to lure Hunniades to +Vienna, that he might seize his person, but the sagacious warrior +was too wily to be thus entrapped.</p> +<p>The Turks were now in the full tide of victory. They had +conquered Constantinople, fortified both sides of the Bosporus and +the Hellespont, overrun Greece and planted themselves firmly and +impregnably on the shores of Europe. Mahomet II. was sultan, +succeeding his father Amurath. He raised an army of two hundred +thousand men, who were all inspired with that intense fanatic +ferocity with which the Moslem then regarded the Christian. +Marching resistlessly through Bulgaria and Servia, he contemplated +the immediate conquest of Hungary, the bulwark of Europe. He +advanced to the banks of the Danube and laid siege to Belgrade, a +very important and strongly fortified town at the point where the +Save enters the great central river of eastern Europe.</p> +<p>Such an army, flushed with victory and inspired with all the +energies of fanaticism, appalled the European powers. Ladislaus was +but a boy, studious and scholarly in his tastes, having developed +but little physical energy and no executive vigor. He was very +handsome, very refined in his tastes and courteous in his address, +and he cultivated with great care the golden ringlets which +clustered around his shoulders. At the time of this fearful +invasion Ladislaus was on a visit to Buda, one of the capitals of +Hungary, on the Danube, but about three hundred miles above +Belgrade. The young monarch, with his favorite, Cilli, fled +ingloriously to Vienna, leaving Hunniades to breast as he could the +Turkish hosts. But Hunniades was, fortunately, equal to the +emergence.</p> +<p>A Franciscan monk, John Capistrun, endowed with the eloquence of +Peter the Hermit, traversed Germany, displaying the cross and +rousing Christians to defend Europe from the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page70" id="page70"></a>{70}</span> infidels. He +soon collected a motley mass of forty thousand men, rustics, +priests, students, soldiers, unarmed, undisciplined, a rabble rout, +who followed him to the rendezvous where Hunniades had succeeded in +collecting a large force of the bold barons and steel-clad warriors +of Hungary. The experienced chief gladly received this +heterogeneous mass, and soon armed them, brought them into the +ranks and subjected them to the severe discipline of military +drill.</p> +<p>At the head of this band, which was inspired with zeal equal to +that of the Turk, the brave Hunniades, in a fleet of boats, +descended the Danube. The river in front of Belgrade was covered +with the flotilla of the Turks. The wall in many places was broken +down, and at other points in the wall they had obtained a foothold, +and the crescent was proudly unfurled to the breeze. The feeble +garrison, worn out with toil and perishing with famine, were in the +last stages of despair. Hunniades came down upon the Turkish +flotilla like an inundation; both parties fought with almost +unprecedented ferocity, but the Christians drove every thing before +them, sinking, dispersing, and capturing the boats, which were by +no means prepared for so sudden and terrible an assault. The +immense reinforcement, with arms and provisions, thus entered the +city, and securing the navigation of the Danube and the Save, +opened the way for continued supplies. The immense hosts of the +Mohammedans now girdled the city in a semicircle on the land side. +Their tents, gorgeously embellished and surmounted with the +crescent, glittered in the rays of the sun as far as the eye could +extend. Squadrons of steel-clad horsemen swept the field, while +bands of the besiegers pressed the city without intermission, night +and day.</p> +<p>Mohammed, irritated by this unexpected accession of strength to +the besieged, in his passion ordered an immediate and simultaneous +attack upon the town by his whole force. The battle was long and +bloody, both parties struggling with utter desperation. The Turks +were repulsed. After one of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page71" +id="page71"></a>{71}</span> the longest continuous conflicts +recorded in history, lasting all one night, and all the following +day until the going down of the sun, the Turks, leaving thirty +thousand of their dead beneath the ramparts of the city, and taking +with them the sultan desperately wounded, struck their tents in the +darkness of the night and retreated.</p> +<p>Great was the exultation in Hungary, in Germany and all over +Europe. But this joy was speedily clouded by the intelligence that +Hunniades, the deliverer of Europe from Moslem invasion, exhausted +with toil, had been seized by a fever and had died. It is said that +the young King Ladislaus rejoiced in his death, for he was greatly +annoyed in having a subject attain such a degree of splendor as to +cast his own name into insignificance. Hunniades left two sons, +Ladislaus and Matthias. The king and Cilli manifested the meanest +jealousy in reference to these young men, and fearful that the +renown of their father, which had inspired pride and gratitude in +every Hungarian heart, might give them power, they did every thing +they could to humiliate and depress them. The king lured them both +to Buda, where he perfidiously beheaded the eldest, Ladislaus, for +wounding Cilli, in defending himself from an attack which the +implacable count had made upon him, and he also threw the younger +son, Matthias, into a prison.</p> +<p>The widow of Hunniades, the heroic mother of these children, +with a spirit worthy of the wife of her renowned husband, called +the nobles to her aid. They rallied in great numbers, roused to +indignation. The inglorious king, terrified by the storm he had +raised, released Matthias, and fled from Buda to Vienna, pursued by +the execrations and menaces of the Hungarians.</p> +<p>He soon after repaired to Prague, in Bohemia, to solemnize his +marriage with Magdalen, daughter of Charles VII., King of France. +He had just reached the city, and was making preparations for his +marriage in unusual splendor, when he was attacked by a malignant +disease, supposed to be the plague, <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page72" id="page72"></a>{72}</span> and died after a sickness of +but thirty-six hours. The unhappy king, who, through the stormy +scenes of his short life, had developed no grandeur of soul, was +oppressed with the awfulness of passing to the final judgment. In +the ordinances of the Church he sought to find solace for a sinful +and a troubled spirit. Having received the sacrament of the Lord's +Supper, with dying lips he commenced repeating the Lord's prayer. +He had just uttered the words "deliver us from evil," when his +spirit took its flight to the judgment seat of Christ.</p> +<p>Frederic, the emperor, Duke of Styria, was now the oldest lineal +descendant of Rhodolph of Hapsburg, founder of the house of +Austria. The imperial dignity had now degenerated into almost an +empty title. The Germanic empire consisted of a few large +sovereignties and a conglomeration of petty dukedoms, +principalities, and States of various names, very loosely held +together, in their heterogeneous and independent rulers and +governments, by one nominal sovereign upon whom the jealous States +were willing to confer but little real power. A writer at that +time, Æneas Sylvius, addressing the Germans, says:</p> +<p>"Although you acknowledge the emperor for your king and master, +he possesses but a precarious sovereignty; he has no power; you +only obey him when you choose; and you are seldom inclined to obey. +You are all desirous to be free; neither the princes nor the States +render to him what is due. He has no revenue, no treasure. Hence +you are involved in endless contests and daily wars. Hence also +rapine, murder, conflagrations, and a thousand evils which arise +from divided authority."</p> +<p>Upon the death of Ladislaus there was a great rush and grasping +for the vacant thrones of Bohemia and Hungary, and for possession +of the rich dukedoms of Austria. After a long conflict the Austrian +estates were divided into three portions. Frederic, the emperor, +took Upper Austria; his brother Albert, who had succeeded to the +Swiss estates, took Lower <span class="pagenum"><a name="page73" +id="page73"></a>{73}</span> Austria; Sigismond, Albert's nephew, a +man of great energy of character, took Carinthia. The three +occupied the palace in Vienna in joint residence.</p> +<p>The energetic regent, George Podiebrad, by adroit diplomacy +succeeded, after an arduous contest, in obtaining the election by +the Bohemian nobles to the throne of Bohemia. The very day he was +chosen he was inaugurated at Prague, and though rival candidates +united with the pope to depose him, he maintained his position +against them all.</p> +<p>Frederic, the emperor, had been quite sanguine in the hopes of +obtaining the crown of Bohemia. Bitterly disappointed there, he at +first made a show of hostile resistance; but thinking better of the +matter, he concluded to acquiesce in the elevation of Podiebrad, to +secure amicable relations with him, and to seek his aid in +promotion of his efforts to obtain the crown of Hungary. Here again +the emperor failed. The nobles assembled in great strength at Buda, +and elected unanimously Matthias, the only surviving son of the +heroic Hunniades, whose memory was embalmed in the hearts of all +the Hungarians. The boy then, for he was but a boy, and was styled +contemptuously by the disappointed Frederic the boy king, entered +into an alliance with Podiebrad for mutual protection, and engaged +the hand of his daughter in marriage. Thus was the great kingdom of +Austria, but recently so powerful in the union of all the Austrian +States with Bohemia and Hungary, again divided and disintegrated. +The emperor, in his vexation, foolishly sent an army of five +thousand men into Hungary, insanely hoping to take the crown by +force of arms, but he was soon compelled to relinquish the hopeless +enterprise.</p> +<p>And now Frederic and Albert began to quarrel at Vienna. The +emperor was arrogant and domineering. Albert was irritable and +jealous. First came angry words; then the enlisting of partisans, +and then all the miseries of fierce and determined civil war. The +capital was divided into hostile factions, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page74" id="page74"></a>{74}</span> and the +whole country was ravaged by the sweep of armies. The populace of +Vienna, espousing the cause of Albert, rose in insurrection, +pillaged the houses of the adherents of Frederic, drove Frederic, +with his wife and infant child, into the citadel, and invested the +fortress. Albert placed himself at the head of the insurgents and +conducted the siege. The emperor, though he had but two hundred men +in the garrison, held out valiantly. But famine would soon have +compelled him to capitulate, had not the King of Bohemia, with a +force of thirteen thousand men, marched to his aid. Podiebrad +relieved the emperor, and secured a verbal reconciliation between +the two angry brothers, which lasted until the Bohemian forces had +returned to their country, when the feud burst out anew and with +increased violence. The emperor procured the ban of the empire +against his brother, and the pope excommunicated him. Still Albert +fought fiercely, and the strife raged without intermission until +Albert suddenly died on the 4th of December, 1463.</p> +<p>The Turks, who, during all these years, had been making +predatory excursions along the frontiers of Hungary, now, in three +strong bands of ten thousand each, overran Servia and Bosnia, and +spread their devastations even into the heart of Illyria, as far as +the metropolitan city of Laybach. The ravages of fire and sword +marked their progress. They burnt every village, every solitary +cottage, and the inhabitants were indiscriminately slain. Frederic, +the emperor, a man of but little energy, was at his country +residence at Lintz, apparently more anxious, writes a contemporary, +"to shield his plants from frost, than to defend his domains +against these barbarians."</p> +<p>The bold barons of Carniola, however, rallied their vassals, +raised an army of twenty thousand men, and drove the Turks back to +the Bosphorus. But the invaders, during their unimpeded march, had +slain six thousand Christians, and they carried back with them +eight thousand captives.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page75" id="page75"></a>{75}</span> +<p>Again, a few years after, the Turks, with a still larger army, +rushed through the defiles of the Illyrian mountains, upon the +plains of Carinthia. Their march was like the flow of volcanic +fire. They left behind them utter desolation, smouldering +hearth-stones and fields crimsoned with blood. At length they +retired of their own accord, dragging after them twenty thousand +captives. During a period of twenty-seven years, under the imbecile +reign of Frederic, the very heart of Europe was twelve times +scourged by the inroads of these savages. No tongue can tell the +woes which were inflicted upon humanity. Existence, to the masses +of the people, in that day, must indeed have been a curse. Ground +to the very lowest depths of poverty by the exactions of +ecclesiastics and nobles, in rags, starving, with no social or +intellectual joys, they might indeed have envied the beasts of the +field.</p> +<p>The conduct of Frederic seems to be marked with increasing +treachery and perfidy. Jealous of the growing power of George +Podiebrad, he instigated Matthias, King of Hungary, to make war +upon Bohemia, promising Matthias the Bohemian crown. Infamously the +King of Hungary accepted the bribe, and raising a powerful army, +invaded Bohemia, to wrest the crown from his father-in-law. His +armies were pressing on so victoriously, in conjunction with those +of Frederic, that the emperor was now alarmed lest Matthias, +uniting the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, should become too +powerful. He therefore not only abandoned him, but stirred up an +insurrection among the Hungarian nobles, which compelled Matthias +to abandon Bohemia and return home.</p> +<p>Matthias, having quelled the insurrection, was so enraged with +the emperor, that he declared war against him, and immediately +invaded Austria. The emperor was now so distrusted that he could +not find a single ally. Austria alone, was no match for Hungary. +Matthias overran all Lower Austria, took all the fortresses upon +the Danube, and invested <span class="pagenum"><a name="page76" id= +"page76"></a>{76}</span> Vienna. The emperor fled in dismay to +Lintz, and was obliged to purchase an ignominious peace by an +immense sum of money, all of which was of course to be extorted by +taxes on the miserable and starving peasantry.</p> +<p>Poland, Bohemia and the Turks, now all pounced upon Hungary, and +Frederic, deeming this a providential indication that Hungary could +not enforce the fulfillment of the treaty, refused to pay the +money. Matthias, greatly exasperated, made the best terms he could +with Poland, and again led his armies in Austria. For four years +the warfare raged fiercely, when all Lower Austria, including the +capital, was in the hands of Matthias, and the emperor was driven +from his hereditary domains; and, accompanied by a few followers, +he wandered a fugitive from city to city, from convent to convent, +seeking aid from all, but finding none.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page77" id="page77"></a>{77}</span> +<h2><a name="chap5" id="chap5">CHAPTER V</a>.</h2> +<h3>THE EMPERORS FREDERIC II. AND MAXIMILIAN I.</h3> +<h4>From 1477 to 1500.</h4> +<p class="summary">Wanderings of the Emperor +Frederic.—Proposed Alliance with the Duke of +Burgundy.—Mutual Distrust.—Marriage of Mary.—The +Age of Chivalry.—The Motive inducing the Lord of Praunstein +to declare War.—Death of Frederic II.—The Emperor's +Secret.—Designs of the Turks.—Death of Mahomet +II.—First Establishment of standing Armies.—Use of +Gunpowder.—Energy of Maximilian.—French +Aggressions.—The League to expel the +French.—Disappointments of Maximilian.—Bribing the +Pope.—Invasion of Italy.—Capture and +Recapture.—The Chevalier De Bayard.</p> +<p>Adversity only developed more fully the weak and ignoble +character of Frederic. He wandered about, recognized Emperor of +Germany, but a fugitive from his own Austrian estates, occasionally +encountering pity, but never sympathy or respect. Matthias +professed his readiness to surrender Austria back to Frederic so +soon as he would fulfill the treaty by paying the stipulated money. +Frederic was accompanied in his wanderings by his son Maximilian, a +remarkably elegant lad, fourteen years of age. They came to the +court of the powerful Duke of Burgundy. The dukedom extended over +wide realms, populous and opulent, and the duke had the power of a +sovereign but not the regal title. He was ambitious of elevating +his dukedom into a kingdom and of being crowned king; and he agreed +to give his only daughter and heiress, Mary, a beautiful and +accomplished girl, to the emperor's son Maximilian, if Frederic +would confer upon his estates the regal dignity and crown him king. +The bargain was made, and Maximilian and Mary both were delighted, +for they regarded each other with all the warmth of young lovers. +Mary, heiress to the dukedom of Burgundy, was a prize which +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page78" id="page78"></a>{78}</span> +any monarch might covet; and half the princes of Europe were +striving for her hand.</p> +<p>But now came a new difficulty. Neither the emperor nor duke had +the slightest confidence in each other. The King of France, who had +hoped to obtain the hand of Mary for his son the dauphin, caused +the suspicion to be whispered into the ear of Frederic that the +Duke of Burgundy sought the kingly crown only as the first step to +the imperial crown; and that so soon as the dukedom was elevated +into a kingdom, Charles, the Duke of Burgundy, would avail himself +of his increased power, to dethrone Frederic and grasp the crown of +Germany. This was probably all true. Charles, fully understanding +the perfidious nature of Frederic, did not dare to solemnize the +marriage until he first should be crowned. Frederic, on the other +hand, did not dare to crown the duke until the marriage was +solemnized, for he had no confidence that the duke, after having +attained the regal dignity, would fulfill his pledge.</p> +<p>Charles was for hurrying the coronation, Frederic for pushing +the marriage. A magnificent throne was erected in the cathedral at +Treves, and preparations were making on the grandest scale for the +coronation solemnities, when Frederic, who did not like to tell the +duke plumply to his face that he was fearful of being cheated, +extricated himself from his embarrassment by feigning important +business which called him suddenly to Cologne. A scene of petty and +disgraceful intrigues ensued between the exasperated duke and +emperor, and there were the marching and the countermarching of +hostile bands and the usual miseries of war, until the death of +Duke Charles at the battle of Nancy on the 5th of January, +1477.</p> +<p>The King of France now made a desperate endeavor to obtain the +hand of Mary for his son. One of the novel acts of this imperial +courtship, was to send an army into Burgundy, which wrested a large +portion of Mary's dominions from her, which the king, Louis XI., +refused to surrender unless Mary <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page79" id="page79"></a>{79}</span> would marry his son. Many of +her nobles urged the claims of France. But love in the heart of +Mary was stronger than political expediency, and more persuasive +than the entreaties of her nobles. To relieve herself from +importunity, she was hurriedly married, three months after the +death of her father, by proxy to Maximilian.</p> +<p>In August the young prince, but eighteen years of age, with a +splendid retinue, made his public entry into Ghent. His commanding +person and the elegance of his manners, attracted universal +admiration. His subjects rallied with enthusiasm around him, and, +guided by his prowess, in a continued warfare of five years, drove +the invading French from their territories. But death, the goal to +which every one tends, was suddenly and unexpectedly reached by +Mary. She died the 7th of August, 1479, leaving two infant +children, Philip and Margaret.</p> +<p>The Emperor Frederic also succeeded, by diplomatic cunning, in +convening the diet of electors and choosing Maximilian as his +successor to the imperial throne. Frederic and Maximilian now +united in the endeavor to recover Austria from the King of Hungary. +The German princes, however, notwithstanding the summons of the +emperor, refused to take any part in the private quarrels of +Austria, and thus the battle would have to be fought between the +troops of Maximilian and of Matthias. Maximilian prudently decided +that it would be better to purchase the redemption of the territory +with money than with blood. The affair was in negotiation when +Matthias was taken sick and died the 15th of July, 1490. He left no +heir, and the Hungarian nobles chose Ladislaus, King of Bohemia, to +succeed him. Maximilian had been confident of obtaining the crown +of Hungary. Exasperated by the disappointment, he relinquished all +idea of purchasing his patrimonial estates, but making a sudden +rush with his troops upon the Hungarians, he drove them out of +Austria, and pursued them far over the frontiers of Hungary. +Ladislaus, the new <span class="pagenum"><a name="page80" id= +"page80"></a>{80}</span> King of Hungary, now listened to terms of +peace. A singular treaty was made. The Bohemian king was to retain +the crown of Hungary, officiating as reigning monarch, while +Maximilian was to have the <i>title</i> of King of Hungary. +Ladislaus relinquished all claim to the Austrian territories, and +paid a large sum of money as indemnity for the war.</p> +<p>Thus Austria again comes into independent existence, to watch +amidst the tumult and strife of Europe for opportunities to enlarge +her territories and increase her power. Maximilian was a prince, +energetic and brave, who would not allow any opportunity to escape +him. In those dark days of violence and of blood, every petty +quarrel was settled by the sword. All over Germany the clash of +steel against steel was ever resounding. Not only kings and dukes +engaged in wars, but the most insignificant baron would gather his +few retainers around him and declare formal war against the +occupant of the adjacent castle. The spirit of chivalry, so called, +was so rampant that private individuals would send a challenge to +the emperor. Contemporary writers record many curious specimens of +these declarations of war. The Lord of Praunstein declared war +against the city of Frankfort, because a young lady of that city +refused to dance with his uncle at a ball.</p> +<p>Frederic was now suffering from the infirmities of age. +Surrendering the administration of affairs, both in Austria and +over the estates of the empire, to Maximilian, he retired, with his +wife and three young daughters, to Lintz, where he devoted himself, +at the close of his long and turbulent reign, to the peaceful +pursuits of rural life. A cancerous affection of the leg rendered +it necessary for him to submit to the amputation of the limb. He +submitted to the painful operation with the greatest fortitude, and +taking up his severed limb, with his accustomed phlegm remarked to +those standing by,</p> +<p>"What difference is there between an emperor and a peasant? Or +rather, is not a sound peasant better than a sick emperor? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page81" id="page81"></a>{81}</span> +Yet I hope to enjoy the greatest good which can happen to +man—a happy exit from this transitory life."</p> +<p>The shock of a second amputation, which from the vitiated state +of his blood seemed necessary, was too great for his enfeebled +frame to bear. He died August 19th, 1493, seventy-eight years of +age, and after a reign of fifty-three years. He was what would be +called, in these days, an ultra temperance man, never drinking even +wine, and expressing ever the strongest abhorrence of alcoholic +drinks, calling them the parent of all vices. He seems to have +anticipated the future greatness of Austria; for he had imprinted +upon all his books, engraved upon his plate and carved into the +walls of his palace a mysterious species of anagram composed of the +five vowels, A, E, I, O, U.</p> +<p>The significance of this great secret no one could obtain from +him. It of course excited great curiosity, as it everywhere met the +eye of the public. After his death the riddle was solved by finding +among his papers the following interpretation—</p> +<p><i>Austri Est Imperare Orbi Universo.</i></p> +<p>Austria Is To govern The world Universal.</p> +<p>Maximilian, in the prime of manhood, energetic, ambitious, and +invested with the imperial dignity, now assumed the government of +the Austrian States. The prospect of greatness was brilliant before +Maximilian. The crowns of Bohemia and Hungary were united in the +person of Ladislaus, who was without children. As Maximilian +already enjoyed the title of King of Hungary, no one enjoyed so +good a chance as he of securing both of those crowns so soon as +they should fall from the brow of Ladislaus.</p> +<p>Europe was still trembling before the threatening cimeter of the +Turk. Mahomet II., having annihilated the Greek empire, and +consolidated his vast power, and checked in his career by the +warlike barons of Hungary, now cast a lustful eye across the +Adriatic to the shores of Italy. He crossed the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page82" id="page82"></a>{82}</span> sea, landed +a powerful army and established twenty thousand men, strongly +garrisoned, at Otranto, and supplied with provisions for a year. +All Italy was in consternation, for a passage was now open directly +from Turkey to Naples and Rome. Mahomet boasted that he would soon +feed his horse on the altar of St. Peter's. The pope, Sextus IV., +in dismay, was about abandoning Rome, and as there was no hope of +uniting the discordant States of Italy in any effectual resistance, +it seemed inevitable that Italy, like Greece, would soon become a +Turkish province. And where then could it be hoped that the ravages +of the Turks would be arrested?</p> +<p>In this crisis, so alarming, Providence interposed, and the +sudden death of Mahomet, in the vigor of his pride and ambition, +averted the danger. Bajazet II. succeeded to the Moslem throne, an +indolent and imbecile sultan. Insurrection in his own dominions +exhausted all his feeble energies. The Neapolitans, encouraged, +raised an army, recovered Otranto, and drove the Turks out of +Italy. Troubles in the Turkish dominions now gave Christendom a +short respite, as all the strength of the sultan was required to +subjugate insurgent Circassia and Egypt.</p> +<p>Though the Emperor of Germany was esteemed the first sovereign +in Europe, and, on state occasions, was served by kings and +electors, he had in reality but little power. The kings who formed +his retinue on occasions of ceremonial pomp, were often vastly his +superiors in wealth and power. Frequently he possessed no territory +of his own, not even a castle, but depended upon the uncertain aids +reluctantly granted by the diet.</p> +<p>Gunpowder was now coming into use as one of the most efficient +engines of destruction, and was working great changes in the +science of war. It became necessary to have troops drilled to the +use of cannon and muskets. The baron could no longer summon his +vassals, at the moment, to abandon the plow, and seize pike and +saber for battle, where the strong <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page83" id="page83"></a>{83}</span> arm only was needed. +Disciplined troops were needed, who could sweep the field with +well-aimed bullets, and crumble walls with shot and shells. This +led to the establishment of standing armies, and gave the great +powers an immense advantage over their weaker neighbors. The +invention of printing, also, which began to be operative about the +middle of the fifteenth century, rapidly changed, by the diffusion +of intelligence, the state of society, hitherto so barbarous. The +learned men of Greece, driven from their country by the Turkish +invasion, were scattered over Europe, and contributed not a little +to the extension of the love of letters. The discovery of the +mariner's compass and improvements in nautical astronomy, also +opened new sources of knowledge and of wealth, and the human mind +all over Europe commenced a new start in the career of +civilization. Men of letters began to share in those honors which +heretofore had belonged exclusively to men of war; and the arts of +peace began to claim consideration with those who had been +accustomed to respect only the science of destruction.</p> +<p>Maximilian was at Innspruck when he received intelligence of the +death of his father. He commenced his reign with an act of rigor +which was characteristic of his whole career. A horde of Turks had +penetrated Styria and Carniola, laying every thing waste before +them as far as Carniola. Maximilian, sounding the alarm, inspired +his countrymen with the same energy which animated his own breast. +Fifteen thousand men rallied at the blast of his bugles. Instead of +intrusting the command of them to his generals, he placed himself +at their head, and made so fierce an onset upon the invaders, that +they precipitately fled. Maximilian returned at the head of his +troops triumphant to Vienna, where he was received with +acclamations such as had seldom resounded in the metropolis. He was +hailed as the deliverer of his country, and at once rose to the +highest position in the esteem and affection of the Austrians.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page84" id="page84"></a>{84}</span> +<p>Maximilian had encountered innumerable difficulties in Burgundy, +and was not unwilling to escape from the vexations and cares of +that distant dukedom, by surrendering its government to his son +Philip, who was now sixteen years of age, and whom the Burgundians +claimed to be their ruler as the heir of Mary. The Swiss estates +were also sundered from Austrian dominion, and, uniting with the +Swiss confederacy, were no longer subject to the house of Hapsburg. +Thus Maximilian had the Austrian estates upon the Danube only, as +the nucleus of the empire he was ambitious of establishing.</p> +<p>Conscious of his power, and rejoicing in the imperial title, he +had no idea of playing an obscure part on the conspicuous stage of +European affairs. With an eagle eye he watched the condition of the +empire, and no less eagerly did he fix his eye upon the movements +of those great southern powers, now becoming consolidated into +kingdoms and empires, and marshaling armies which threatened again +to bring all Europe under a dominion as wide and despotic as that +of Rome.</p> +<p>Charles VIII., King of France, crossed the Alps with an army of +twenty-two thousand men, in the highest state of discipline, and +armed with all the modern enginery of war. With ease he subjugated +Tuscany, and in a triumphant march through Pisa and Siena, entered +Rome as a conqueror. It was the 31st of December, 1394, when +Charles, by torchlight, at the head of his exultant troops, entered +the eternal city. The pope threw himself into the castle of St. +Angelo, but was soon compelled to capitulate and to resign all his +fortresses to the conqueror. Charles then continued his march to +Naples, which he reached on the 22d of February. He overran and +subjugated the whole kingdom, and, having consolidated his +conquest, entered Naples on a white steed, beneath imperial +banners, and arrogantly assumed the title of King of Naples, Sicily +and Jerusalem. Alphonso, King of Naples, in despair, abdicated in +favor of his son, Ferdinand; and Ferdinand, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page85" id="page85"></a>{85}</span> unable to +oppose any effectual resistance, abandoned his kingdom to the +conqueror, and fled to the island of Ischia.</p> +<p>These alarming aggressions on the part of France, already very +powerful, excited general consternation throughout Europe. +Maximilian, as emperor, was highly incensed, and roused all his +energies to check the progress of so dangerous a rival. The +Austrian States alone could by no means cope with the kingdom of +France. Maximilian sent agents to the pope, to the Dukes of Milan +and Florence, and to the King of Arragon, and formed a secret +league to expel the French from Italy, and restore Ferdinand to +Naples. It was understood that the strength of France was such, +that this enterprise could only be achieved through a long war, and +that the allies must continue united to prevent France, when once +expelled from Italy, from renewing her aggressions. The league was +to continue twenty-two years. The pope was to furnish six thousand +men, and the other Italian States twelve thousand. Maximilian +promised to furnish nine thousand. Venice granted the troops of the +emperor a free passage through her dominions.</p> +<p>These important first steps being thus taken secretly and +securely, the emperor summoned a diet of Germany to enlist the +States of the empire in the enterprise. This was the most difficult +task, and yet nothing could be accomplished without the +coöperation of Germany. But the Germanic States, loosely held +together, jealous of each other, each grasping solely at its own +aggrandizement, reluctantly delegating any power to the emperor, +were slow to promise coöperation in any general enterprise, +and having promised, were still slower to perform. The emperor had +no power to enforce the fulfillment of agreements, and could only +supplicate. During the long reign of Frederic the imperial dignity +had lapsed more and more into an empty title; and Maximilian had an +arduous task before him in securing even respectful attention to +his demands. He was fully aware of the difficulties, and made +arrangements accordingly.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page86" id="page86"></a>{86}</span> +<p>The memorable diet was summoned at Worms, on the 26th of May, +1496. The emperor had succeeded, by great exertion, in assembling a +more numerous concourse of the princes and nobles of the empire +than had ever met on a similar occasion. He presided in person, and +in a long and earnest address endeavored to rouse the empire to a +sense of its own dignity and its own high mission as the regulator +of the affairs of Europe. He spoke earnestly of their duty to +combine and chastise the insolence of the Turks; but waiving that +for the present moment, he unfolded to them the danger to which +Europe was immediately and imminently exposed by the encroachments +of France. To add to the force of his words, he introduced +ambassadors from the King of Naples, who informed the assembly of +the conquests of the French, of their haughty bearing, and implored +the aid of the diet to repel the invaders. The Duke of Milan was +then presented, and, as a member of the empire, he implored as a +favor and claimed as a right, the armies of the empire for the +salvation of his duchy. And then the legate of the pope, in the +robes of the Church, and speaking in the name of the Holy Father to +his children, pathetically described the indignities to which the +pope had been exposed, driven from his palace, bombarded in the +fortress to which he had retreated, compelled to capitulate and +leave his kingdom in the hands of the enemy; he expatiated upon the +impiety of the French troops, the sacrilegious horrors of which +they had been guilty, and in tones of eloquence hardly surpassed by +Peter the Hermit, strove to rouse them to a crusade for the rescue +of the pope and his sacred possessions.</p> +<p>Maximilian had now exhausted all his powers of persuasion. He +had done apparently enough to rouse every heart to intensest +action. But the diet listened coldly to all these appeals, and then +in substance replied,</p> +<p>"We admit the necessity of checking the incursions of the Turks; +we admit that it is important to check the progress of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page87" id="page87"></a>{87}</span> the French. +But our first duty is to secure peace in Germany. The States of the +empire are embroiled in incessant wars with each other. All +attempts to prevent these private wars between the States of the +empire have hitherto failed. Before we can vote money and men for +any foreign enterprise whatever, we must secure internal +tranquillity. This can only be done by establishing a supreme +tribunal, supported by a power which can enforce its +decisions."</p> +<p>These views were so manifestly judicious, that Maximilian +assented to them, and, anxious to lose no time in raising troops to +expel the French from Italy, he set immediately about the +organization of an imperial tribunal to regulate the internal +affairs of the empire. A court was created called the Imperial +Chamber. It was composed of a president and sixteen judges, half of +whom were taken from the army, and half from the class of scholars. +To secure impartiality, the judges held their office for life. A +majority of suffrages decided a question and in case of a tie, the +president gave a casting vote. The emperor reserved the right of +deciding certain questions himself. This court gradually became one +of the most important and salutary institutions of the German +empire.</p> +<p>By the 7th of August these important measures were arranged. +Maximilian had made great concessions of his imperial dignity in +transferring so much of his nominal power to the Imperial Chamber, +and he was now sanguine that the States would vote him the supplies +which were needed to expel the French from Italy, or, in more +honest words, to win for the empire in Italy that ascendency which +France had attained. But bitter indeed was his disappointment. +After long deliberation and vexatious delays, the diet voted a +ridiculous sum, less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, +to raise an army "sufficient to check the progress of the French." +One third of this sum Maximilian was to raise from his Austrian +States; the remaining two thirds he was permitted to obtain by a +loan. Four years were to be allowed for raising <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page88" id="page88"></a>{88}</span> the money, +and the emperor, as a condition for the reception of even this +miserable boon, was required to pledge his word of honor that at +the expiration of the four years he would raise no more. And even +these hundred and fifty thousand dollars were to be intrusted to +seven treasurers, to be administered according to their discretion. +One only of these treasurers was to be chosen by the emperor, and +the other six by the diet.</p> +<p>Deeply chagrined by this result, Maximilian was able to raise +only three thousand men, instead of the nine thousand which he had +promised the league. Charles VIII., informed of the formidable +coalition combining against him, and not aware of the feeble +resources of the emperor, apprehensive that the armies of Germany, +marching down and uniting with the roused States of Italy, might +cut off his retreat and overwhelm him, decided that the "better +part of courage is discretion;" and he accordingly abandoned his +conquests, recrossed the Apennines, fought his backward path +through Italy, and returned to France. He, however, left behind him +six thousand men strongly intrenched, to await his return with a +new and more powerful armament.</p> +<p>Maximilian now resolved chivalrously to throw himself into +Italy, and endeavor to rouse the Italians themselves to resist the +threatened invasion, trusting that the diet of Germany, when they +should see him struggling against the hosts of France, would send +troops to his aid. With five hundred horse, and about a thousand +foot soldiers, he crossed the Alps. Here he learned that for some +unknown reason Charles had postponed his expedition. Recoiling from +the ridicule attending a quixotic and useless adventure, he hunted +around for some time to find some heroic achievement which would +redeem his name from reproach, when, thwarted in every thing, he +returned to Austria, chagrined and humiliated.</p> +<p>Thus frustrated in all his attempts to gain ascendency in Italy, +Maximilian turned his eyes to the Swiss estates of the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page89" id="page89"></a>{89}</span> house of +Hapsburg, now sundered from the Austrian territories. He made a +vigorous effort, first by diplomacy, then by force of arms, to +regain them. Here again he was frustrated, and was compelled to +enter into a capitulation by which he acknowledged the independence +of the Helvetic States, and their permanent severance from Austrian +jurisdiction.</p> +<p>In April, 1498, Charles VIII. died, and Louis XII. succeeded him +on the throne of France. Louis immediately made preparations for a +new invasion of Italy. In those miserable days of violence and +blood, almost any prince was ready to embark in war under anybody's +banner, where there was the least prospect of personal +aggrandizement. The question of right or wrong, seemed seldom to +enter any one's mind. Louis fixed his eyes upon the duchy of Milan +as the richest and most available prize within his grasp. Conscious +that he would meet with much opposition, he looked around for +allies.</p> +<p>"If you will aid me," he said to Pope Alexander VI., "I will +assist you in your war against the Duke of Romagna. I will give +your son, Caesar Borgia,<a id="footnotetag1" name= +"footnotetag1"></a><a href="#footnote1"><sup>1</sup></a> a pension +of two thousand dollars a year, will confer upon him an important +command in my army, and will procure for him a marriage with a +princess of the royal house of Navarre."</p> +<blockquote class="footnote"><a id="footnote1" name= +"footnote1"></a><b>Footnote 1:</b><a href= +"#footnotetag1">(return)</a> +<p>Cæsar Borgia, who has filled the world with the renown of +his infamy, was the illegitimate son of Alexander VI., and of a +Roman lady named Yanozza.</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The holy father could not resist this bribe, and eagerly joined +the robber king in his foray. To Venice Louis said—</p> +<p>"If you will unite with me, I will assist you in annexing to +your domains the city of Cremona, and the Ghiaradadda." Lured by +such hopes of plunder, Venice was as eager as the pope to take a +share in the piratic expedition. Louis then sent to the court of +Turin, and offered them large sums of money and increased +territory, if they would allow him a free <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page90" id="page90"></a>{90}</span> passage +across the Alps. Turin bowed obsequiously, and grasped at the easy +bargain. To Florence he said, "If you raise a hand to assist the +Duke of Milan, I will crush you. If you remain quiet, I will leave +you unharmed." Florence, overawed, remained as meek as a lamb. The +diplomacy being thus successfully closed, an army of twenty-two +thousand men was put in vigorous motion in July, 1499. They crossed +the Alps, fought a few battles, in which, with overpowering +numbers, they easily conquered their opposers, and in twenty days +were in possession of Milan. The Duke Ludovico with difficulty +escaped. With a few followers he threaded the defiles of the +Tyrolese mountains, and hastened to Innspruck, the capital of +Tyrol, where Maximilian then was, to whom he conveyed the first +tidings of his disaster. Louis XII. followed after his triumphant +army, and on the 6th of October made a triumphal entry into the +captured city, and was inaugurated Duke of Milan.</p> +<p>Maximilian promised assistance, but could raise neither money +nor men. Ludovico, however, succeeded in hiring fifteen hundred +Burgundian horsemen, and eight thousand Swiss mercenaries—for +in those ages of ignorance and crime all men were ready, for pay, +to fight in any cause—and emerging from the mountains upon +the plains of Milan, found all his former subjects disgusted with +the French, and eager to rally under his banners. His army +increased at every step. He fell fiercely upon the invaders, routed +them everywhere, drove them from the duchy, and recovered his +country and his capital as rapidly as he had lost them. One +fortress only the French maintained. The intrepid Chevalier De +Bayard, <i>the knight without fear and without reproach</i>, threw +himself into the citadel of Novarra, and held out against all the +efforts of Ludovico, awaiting the succor which he was sure would +come from his powerful sovereign the King of France.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page91" id="page91"></a>{91}</span> +<h2><a name="chap6" id="chap6">CHAPTER VI</a>.</h2> +<h3>MAXIMILIAN I.</h3> +<h4>From 1500 to 1519.</h4> +<p class="summary">Base Treachery of the Swiss +Soldiers.—Perfidy of Ferdinand of Arragon.—Appeals by +Superstition.—Coalition with Spain.—The League of +Cambray.—Infamy of the Pope.—The Kings's +Apology.—Failure of the Plot.—Germany +Aroused.—Confidence of Maximilian.—Longings for the +Pontifical Chair.—Maximilian Bribed.—Leo +X.—Dawning Prosperity.—Matrimonial +Projects.—Commencement of the War of +Reformation.—Sickness of Maximilian.—His Last +Directions.—His Death.—The Standard by which his +Character is to be Judged.</p> +<p>Louis XII., stung by the disgrace of his speedy expulsion from +Milan, immediately raised another army of five thousand horse and +fifteen thousand foot to recover his lost plunder. He also sent to +Switzerland to hire troops, and without difficulty engaged ten +thousand men to meet, on the plains of Milan, the six thousand of +their brethren whom Ludovico had hired, to hew each other to pieces +for the miserable pittance of a few pennies a day. But Louis XII. +was as great in diplomacy as in war. He sent secret emissaries to +the Swiss in the camp of Ludovico, offering them larger wages if +they would abandon the service of Ludovico and return home. They +promptly closed the bargain, unfurled the banner of mutiny, and +informed the Duke of Milan that they could not, in conscience, +fight against their own brethren. The duke was in despair. He plead +even with tears that they would not abandon him. All was in vain. +They not only commenced their march home, but basely betrayed the +duke to the French. He was taken prisoner by Louis, carried to +France and for five years was kept in rigorous confinement in the +strong fortresses <span class="pagenum"><a name="page92" id= +"page92"></a>{92}</span> of the kingdom. Afterward, through the +intercession of Maximilian, he was allowed a little more freedom. +He was, however, kept in captivity until he died in the year 1510. +Ludovico merits no commiseration. He was as perfidious and +unprincipled as any of his assailants could be.</p> +<p>The reconquest of Milan by Louis, and the capture of Ludovico, +alarmed Maximilian and roused him to new efforts. He again summoned +the States of the empire and implored their coöperation to +resist the aggressions of France. But he was as unsuccessful as in +his previous endeavors. Louis watched anxiously the movements of +the German diet, and finding that he had nothing to fear from the +troops of the empire, having secured the investiture of Milan, +prepared for the invasion of Naples. The venal pope was easily +bought over. Even Ferdinand, the King of Arragon, was induced to +loan his connivance to a plan for robbing a near relative of his +crown, by the promise of sharing in the spoil. A treaty of +partition was entered into by the two robber kings, by which +Ferdinand of Arragon was to receive Calabria and Apulia, and the +King of France the remaining States of the Neapolitan kingdom. The +pope was confidentially informed of this secret plot, which was +arranged at Grenada, and promised the plunderers his benediction, +in consideration of the abundant reward promised to him.</p> +<p>The doom of the King of Naples was now sealed. All unconscious +that his own relative, Ferdinand of Arragon, was conspiring against +him, he appealed to Ferdinand for aid against the King of France. +The perfidious king considered this as quite a providential +interposition in his favor. He affected great zeal for the King of +Naples, sent a powerful army into his kingdom, and stationed his +troops in the important fortresses. The infamous fraud was now +accomplished. Frederic of Naples, to his dismay, found that he had +been placing his empire in the hands of his enemies instead of +friends; at the same time the troops of Louis arrived at Rome, +where they <span class="pagenum"><a name="page93" id= +"page93"></a>{93}</span> were cordially received; and the pope +immediately, on the 25th of June, 1501, issued a bull deposing +Frederic from his kingdom, and, by virtue of that spiritual +authority which he derived from the Apostle Peter, invested Louis +and Ferdinand with the dominions of Frederic. Few men are more to +be commiserated than a crownless king. Frederic, in his despair, +threw himself upon the clemency of Louis. He was taken to France +and was there fed and clothed by the royal bounty.</p> +<p>Maximilian impatiently watched the events from his home in +Austria, and burned with the desire to take a more active part in +these stirring scenes. Despairing, however, to rouse the German +States to any effectual intervention in the affairs of southern +Europe, he now endeavored to rouse the enthusiasm of the German +nobles against the Turks. In this, by appealing to superstition, he +was somewhat successful. He addressed the following circular letter +to the German States:</p> +<p>"A stone, weighing two hundred pounds, recently fell from +heaven, near the army under my command in Upper Alsace, and I +caused it, as a fatal warning from God to men, to be hung up in the +neighboring church of Encisheim. In vain I myself explained to all +Christian kings the signification of this mysterious stone. The +Almighty punished the neglect of this warning with a dreadful +scourge, from which thousands have suffered death, or pains worse +than death. But since this punishment of the abominable sins of men +has produced no effect, God has imprinted in a miraculous manner +the sign of the cross, and the instruments of our Lord's passion in +dark and bloody colors, on the bodies and garments of thousands. +The appearance of these signs in Germany, in particular, does not +indeed denote that the Germans have been peculiarly distinguished +in guilt, but rather that they should set the example to the rest +of the world, by being the first to undertake a crusade against the +infidels."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page94" id="page94"></a>{94}</span> +<p>For a time Maximilian seemed quite encouraged, for quite a wave +of religious enthusiasm seemed to roll over Europe. All the +energies of the pope were apparently enlisted, and he raised, +through all the domains of the Church, large sums of money for the +holy enterprise of driving the invading infidels out of Europe. +England and France both proffered their co-operation, and England, +opening her inexhaustible purse, presented a subsidy of ten +thousand pounds. The German nobles rallied in large numbers under +the banner of the cross. But disappointment seemed to be the doom +of the emperor. The King of France sent no aid. The pope, +iniquitously squandered all the money he had raised upon his +infamous, dissolute son, Cæsar Borgia. And the emperor +himself was drawn into a war with Bavaria, to settle the right of +succession between two rival claimants. The settlement of the +question devolved upon Maximilian as emperor, and his dignity was +involved in securing respect for his decision. Thus the whole +gorgeous plan of a war against the Turks, such as Europe had never +beheld, vanished into thin air, and Maximilian was found at the +head of fourteen thousand infantry, and twelve thousand horse, +engaged in a quarrel in the heart of Germany. In this war +Maximilian was successful, and he rewarded himself by annexing to +Austria several small provinces, the sum total of which quite +enlarged his small domains.</p> +<p>By this time the kings of France and Spain were fiercely +fighting over their conquest of Naples and Sicily, each striving to +grasp the lion's share. Maximilian thought his interests would be +promoted by aiding the Spaniards, and he accordingly sent three +thousand men to Trieste, where they embarked, and sailing down the +Adriatic, united with the Spanish troops. The French were driven +out of Italy. There then ensued, for several years, wars and +intrigues in which France, Spain, Italy and Austria were involved; +all alike selfish and grasping. Armies were ever moving to and fro, +and the people of Europe, by the victories of kings and nobles, +were <span class="pagenum"><a name="page95" id= +"page95"></a>{95}</span> kept in a condition of misery. No one +seemed ever to think of their rights or their happiness.</p> +<p>Various circumstances had exasperated Maximilian very much +against the Venetians. All the powers of Europe were then ready to +combine against any other power whatever, if there was a chance of +obtaining any share in the division of the plunder. Maximilian +found no difficulty in secretly forming one of the most formidable +leagues history had then recorded, the celebrated league of +Cambray. No sympathy need be wasted upon the Venetians, the victims +of this coalition, for they had rendered themselves universally +detestable by their arrogance, rapacity, perfidy and pride. France +joined the coalition, and, in view of her power, was to receive a +lion's share of the prey—the provinces of Brescia, Bergamo, +Cremona, and the Ghiradadda. The King of Arragon was to send ships +and troops, and receive his pay in the maritime towns on the shores +of the Adriatic. The pope, Julius II., the most grasping, +perfidious and selfish of them all, demanded Ravenna, Cervia, +Faenza, Rimini, Immola and Cesena. His exorbitant claims were +assented to, as it was infinitely important that the piratic +expedition should be sanctioned by the blessing of the Church. +Maximilian was to receive, in addition to some territories which +Venice had wrested from him, Roveredo, Verona, Padua, Vicenza, +Trevigi, and the Friuli. As Maximilian was bound by a truce with +Venice, and as in those days of chivalry some little regard was to +be paid to one's word of honor, Maximilian was only to march at the +summons of the pope, which no true son of the Church, under any +circumstances, was at liberty to disobey. Sundry other minor dukes +and princes were engaged in the plot, who were also to receive a +proportionate share of the spoil.</p> +<p>After these arrangements were all completed, the holy father, +with characteristic infamy, made private overtures to the +Venetians, revealing to them the whole plot, and offering to +withdraw from the confederacy and thwart all its plans, if +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page96" id="page96"></a>{96}</span> +Venice would pay more as the reward of perfidy than Rome could hope +to acquire by force of arms. The haughty republic rejected the +infamous proposal, and prepared for a desperate defense.</p> +<p>All the powers of the confederacy were now collecting their +troops. But Maximilian was dependent upon the German diet for his +ability to fulfill his part of the contract. He assembled the diet +at Worms on the 21st of April, 1509, presented to them the plan of +the league, and solicited their support. The diet refused to +cooperate, and hardly affecting even the forms of respect, couched +its refusal in terms of stinging rebuke.</p> +<p>"We are tired," they said, "of these innumerable calls for +troops and money. We can not support the burden of these frequent +diets, involving the expense of long journeys, and we are weary of +expeditions and wars. If the emperor enters into treaties with +France and the pope without consulting us, it is his concern and +not ours, and we are not bound to aid him to fulfill his agreement. +And even if we were to vote the succors which are now asked of us, +we should only be involved in embarrassment and disgrace, as we +have been by the previous enterprises of the emperor."</p> +<p>Such, in brief, was the response of the diet. It drew from the +emperor a long defense of his conduct, which he called an +"Apology," and which is considered one of the most curious and +characteristic documents of those days. He made no attempt to +conceal his vexation, but assailed them in strong language of +reproach.</p> +<p>"I have concluded a treaty with my allies," he wrote, "in +conformity to the dictates of conscience and duty, and for the +honor, glory and happiness of the empire and of Christendom. The +negotiation could not be postponed, and if I had convoked a diet to +demand the advice of the States, the treaty would never have been +concluded. I was under the necessity of concealing the project of +the combined powers, that <span class="pagenum"><a name="page97" +id="page97"></a>{97}</span> we might fall on the Venetians at once +and unexpectedly, which could not have been effected in the midst +of public deliberations and endless discussions; and I have, I +trust, clearly proved, both in my public and my private +communications, the advantage which is likely to result from this +union. If the aids hitherto granted by diets have produced nothing +but disgrace and dishonor, I am not to blame, but the States who +acted so scandalously in granting their succors with so much +reluctance and delay. As for myself, I have, on the contrary, +exposed my treasure, my countries, my subjects and my life, while +the generality of the German States have remained in dishonorable +tranquillity at home. I have more reason to complain of you than +you of me; for you have constantly refused me your approbation and +assistance; and even when you have granted succors, you have +rendered them fruitless by the scantiness and tardiness of your +supplies, and compelled me to dissipate my own revenues, and injure +my own subjects."</p> +<p>Of course these bitter recriminations accomplished nothing in +changing the action of the diet, and Maximilian was thrown upon the +Austrian States alone for supplies. Louis of France, at the head of +seventeen thousand troops, crossed the Alps. The pope fulminated a +bull of excommunication against the Venetians, and sent an army of +ten thousand men. The Duke of Ferrara and the Marquis of Mantua +sent their contingents. Maximilian, by great exertions, sent a few +battalions through the mountains of the Tyrol, and was preparing to +follow with stronger forces. Province after province fell before +the resistless invaders, and Venice would have fallen irretrievably +had not the conquerors began to quarrel among themselves. The pope, +in secret treaty, was endeavoring to secure his private interests, +regardless of the interests of the allies. Louis, from some pique, +withdrew his forces, and abandoned Maximilian in the hour of peril, +and the emperor, shackled by want of money, and having but a feeble +force, was quite unable to make progress alone against the Venetian +troops.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page98" id="page98"></a>{98}</span> +<p>It does not seem to be the will of Providence that the plots of +unprincipled men, even against men as bad as themselves, should be +more than transiently prosperous. Maximilian, thus again utterly +thwarted in one of his most magnificent plans, covered with +disgrace, and irritated almost beyond endurance, after attempting +in vain to negotiate a truce with the Venetians, was compelled to +retreat across the Alps, inveighing bitterly against the perfidious +refusal to fulfill a perfidious agreement.</p> +<p>The holy father, Julius II., outwitted all his accomplices. He +secured from Venice very valuable accessions of territory, and +then, recalling his ecclesiastical denunciations, united with +Venice to drive the <i>barbarians</i>, as he affectionately called +his French and German allies, out of Italy. Maximilian returned to +Austria as in a funeral march, ventured to summon another diet, +told them how shamefully he had been treated by France, Venice and +the pope, and again implored them to do something to help him. +Perseverance is surely the most efficient of virtues. Incredible as +it may seem, the emperor now obtained some little success. The +diet, indignant at the conduct of the pope, and alarmed at so +formidable a union as that between the papal States and Venice, +voted a succor of six thousand infantry and eighteen hundred horse. +This encouraged the emperor, and forgetting his quarrel with Louis +XII. of France, in the stronger passion of personal aggrandizement +which influenced him, he entered into another alliance with Louis +against the pope and Venice, and then made a still stronger and a +religious appeal to Germany for aid. A certain class of politicians +in all countries and in all ages, have occasionally expressed great +solicitude for the reputation of religion.</p> +<p>"The power and government of the pope," the emperor proclaimed, +"which ought to be an example to the faithful, present, on the +contrary, nothing but trouble and disorder. The enormous sums daily +extorted from Germany, are perverted to the purposes of luxury or +worldly views, instead of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page99" +id="page99"></a>{99}</span> being employed for the service of God, +or against the infidels. As Emperor of Germany, as advocate and +protector of the Christian Church, it is my duty to examine into +such irregularities, and exert all my efforts for the glory of God +and the advantage of the empire; and as there is an evident +necessity to reëstablish due order and decency, both in the +ecclesiastical and temporal state, I have resolved to call a +general council, without which nothing permanent can be +effected."</p> +<p>It is said that Maximilian was now so confident of success, that +he had decided to divide Italy between himself and France. He was +to take Venice and the States of the Church, and France was to have +the rest. Pope Julius was to be deposed, and to be succeeded by +Pope Maximilian. The following letter from Maximilian to his +daughter, reveals his ambitious views at the time. It is dated the +18th of September, 1511.</p> +<p>"To-morrow I shall send the Bishop of Guzk to the pope at Rome, +to conclude an agreement with him that I may be appointed his +coadjutor, and on his death succeed to the papacy, and become a +priest, and afterwards a saint, that you may be bound to worship +me, of which I shall be very proud. I have written on this subject +to the King of Arragon, intreating him to favor my undertaking, and +he has promised me his assistance, provided I resign my imperial +crown to my grandson Charles, which I am very ready to do. The +people and nobles of Rome have offered to support me against the +French and Spanish party. They can muster twenty thousand +combatants, and have sent me word that they are inclined to favor +my scheme of being pope, and will not consent to have either a +Frenchman, a Spaniard or a Venetian.</p> +<p>"I have already began to sound the cardinals, and, for that +purpose, two or three hundred thousand ducats would be of great +service to me, as their partiality to me is very great. The King of +Arragon has ordered his ambassadors to assure me that he will +command the Spanish cardinals to favor my <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page100" id="page100"></a>{100}</span> +pretensions to the papacy. I intreat you to keep this matter secret +for the present, though I am afraid it will soon be known, for it +is impossible to carry on a business secretly for which it is +necessary to gain over so many persons, and to have so much money. +Adieu. Written with the hand of your dear father Maximilian, future +pope. The pope's fever has increased, and he can not live +long."</p> +<p>It is painful to follow out the windings of intrigue and the +labyrinths of guile, where selfishness seemed to actuate every +heart, and where all alike seem destitute of any principle of +Christian integrity. Bad as the world is now, and selfish as +political aspirants are now, humanity has made immense progress +since that dark age of superstition, fraud and violence. After many +victories and many defeats, after innumerable fluctuations of +guile, Maximilian accepted a bribe, and withdrew his forces, and +the King of France was summoned home by the invasion of his own +territories by the King of Arragon and Henry VIII. of England, who, +for a suitable consideration, had been induced to join Venice and +the pope. At the end of this long campaign of diplomacy, perfidy +and blood, in which misery had rioted through ten thousand +cottages, whose inhabitants the warriors regarded no more than the +occupants of the ant-hills they trampled beneath their feet, it was +found that no one had gained any thing but toil and +disappointment.</p> +<p>On the 21st of February, 1513, Pope Julius II. died, and the +cardinals, rejecting all the overtures of the emperor, elected John +of Medici pope, who assumed the name of Leo X. The new pontiff was +but thirty-six years of age, a man of brilliant talents, and +devoted to the pursuit of letters. Inspired by boundless ambition, +he wished to signalize his reign by the magnificence of his court +and the grandeur of his achievements.</p> +<p>Thus far nothing but disaster seemed to attend the enterprises +of Maximilian; but now the tide suddenly turned and <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page101" id="page101"></a>{101}</span> rolled in +upon him billows of prosperity. It will be remembered that +Maximilian married, for his first wife, Mary, the daughter of the +Duke of Burgundy. Their son Philip married Joanna, daughter of +Ferdinand and Isabella, whose marriage, uniting the kingdoms of +Castile and Arragon, created the splendid kingdom of Spain. Philip +died young, leaving a son, Charles, and Joanna, an insane wife, to +watch his grave through weary years of woe. Upon the death of +Ferdinand, in January, 1516, Charles, the grandson of Maximilian, +became undisputed heir to the whole monarchy of Spain; then, +perhaps, the grandest power in Europe, including Naples, Sicily and +Navarre. This magnificent inheritance, coming so directly into the +family, and into the line of succession, invested Maximilian and +the house of Austria with new dignity.</p> +<p>It was now an object of intense solicitude with Maximilian, to +secure the reversion of the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, which +were both upon the brow of Ladislaus, to his own family. With this +object in view, and to render assurance doubly sure, he succeeded +in negotiating a marriage between two children of Ladislaus, a son +and a daughter, and two of his own grand-children. This was a far +pleasanter mode of acquiring territory and family aggrandizement +than by the sword. In celebration of the betrothals, Ladislaus and +his brother Sigismond, King of Poland, visited Vienna, where +Ladislaus was so delighted with the magnificent hospitality of his +reception, that he even urged upon the emperor, who was then a +widower, fifty-eight years of age, that he should marry another of +his daughters, though she had but attained her thirteenth year. The +emperor declined the honor, jocularly remarking—</p> +<p>"There is no method more pleasant to kill an old man, than to +marry him to a young bride."</p> +<p>The German empire was then divided into ten districts, or +circles, as they were then called, each of which was responsible +for the maintenance of peace among its own members. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page102" id="page102"></a>{102}</span> These +districts were, Austria, Burgundy, the Upper Rhine, the Lower +Rhine, Franconia, Bavaria, Suabia, Westphalia, Upper Saxony and +Lower Saxony. The affairs of each district were to be regulated by +a court of a few nobles, called a diet. The emperor devoted +especial attention to the improvement of his own estate of Austria, +which he subdivided into two districts, and these into still +smaller districts. Over all, for the settlement of all important +points of dispute, he established a tribunal called the Aulic +Council, which subsequently exerted a powerful influence over the +affairs of Austria.</p> +<p>One more final effort Maximilian made to rouse Germany to +combine to drive the Turks out of Europe. Though the benighted +masses looked up with much reverence to the pontiff, the princes +and the nobles regarded him only as a <i>power</i>, wielding, in +addition to the military arm, the potent energies of superstition. +A diet was convened. The pope's legate appeared, and sustained the +eloquent appeal of the emperor with the paternal commands of the +holy father. But the press was now becoming a power in Europe, +diffusing intelligence and giving freedom to thought and +expression. The diet, after listening patiently to the arguments of +the emperor and the requests of the pontiff, dryly +replied—</p> +<p>"We think that Christianity has more to fear from the pope than +from the Turks. Much as we may dread the ravages of the infidel, +they can hardly drain Christendom more effectually than it is now +drained by the exactions of the Church."</p> +<p>It was at Augsburg in July, 1518, that the diet ventured thus +boldly to speak. This was one year after Luther had nailed upon the +church door in Wittemberg, his ninety-five propositions, which had +roused all Germany to scrutinize the abominable corruptions of the +papal church. This bold language of the diet, influenced by the +still bolder language of the intrepid monk, alarmed Leo X., and on +the 7th of August he issued his summons commanding Luther to repair +to Rome <span class="pagenum"><a name="page103" id= +"page103"></a>{103}</span> to answer for heresy. Maximilian, who +had been foiled in his own attempt to attain the chair of St. +Peter, who had seen so much of the infamous career of Julius and +Alexander, as to lose all his reverence for the sacred character of +the popes, and who regarded Leo X. merely as a successful rival who +had thwarted his own plans, espoused, with cautious development, +but with true interest, the cause of the reformer. And now came the +great war of the Reformation, agitating Germany in every quarter, +and rousing the lethargic intellect of the nations as nothing else +could rouse it. Maximilian, with characteristic fickleness, or +rather, with characteristic pliancy before every breeze of +self-interest, was now on the one side, now on the other, and now, +nobody knew where, until his career was terminated by sudden and +fatal sickness.</p> +<p>The emperor was at Innspruck, all overwhelmed with his cares and +his plans of ambition, when he was seized with a slight fever. +Hoping to be benefited by a change of air, he set out to travel by +slow stages to one of his castles among the mountains of Upper +Austria. The disease, however, rapidly increased, and it was soon +evident that death was approaching. The peculiarities of his +character were never more strikingly developed than in these last +solemn hours. Being told by his physicians that he had not long to +live and that he must now prepare for the final judgment, he calmly +replied, "I have long ago made that preparation. Had I not done so, +it would be too late now."</p> +<p>For four years he had been conscious of declining health, and +had always carried with him, wherever he traveled, an oaken coffin, +with his shroud and other requisites for his funeral. With very +minute directions he settled all his worldly affairs, and gave the +most particular instructions respecting his funeral. Changing his +linen, he strictly enjoined that his shirt should not be removed +after his death, for his fastidious modesty was shocked by the idea +of the exposure of his body, even after the soul had taken its +flight.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page104" id= +"page104"></a>{104}</span> +<p>He ordered his hair, after his death, to be cut off, all his +teeth to be extracted, pounded to powder and publicly burned in the +chapel of his palace. For one day his remains were to be exposed to +the public, as a lesson of mortality. They were then to be placed +in a sack filled with quicklime. The sack was to be enveloped in +folds of silk and satin, and then placed in the oaken coffin which +had been so long awaiting his remains. The coffin was then to be +deposited under the altar of the chapel of his palace at Neustadt, +in such a position that the officiating priest should ever trample +over his head and heart. The king expressed the hope that this +humiliation of his body would, in some degree, be accepted by the +Deity in atonement for the sins of his soul. How universal the +instinct that sin needs an atonement!</p> +<p>Having finished these directions the emperor observed that some +of his attendants were in tears. "Do you weep," said he, "because +you see a mortal die? Such tears become women rather than men." The +emperor was now dying. As the ecclesiastics repeated the prayers of +the Church, the emperor gave the responses until his voice failed, +and then continued to give tokens of recognition and of faith, by +making the sign of the cross. At three o'clock in the morning of +the 11th of January, 1519, the Emperor Maximilian breathed his +last. He was then in the sixtieth year of his age.</p> +<p>Maximilian is justly considered one of the most renowned of the +descendants of Rhodolph of Hapsburg. It is saying but little for +his moral integrity, to affirm that he was one of the best of the +rulers of his age. According to his ideas of religion, he was a +religious man. According to his ideas of honesty and of honor, he +was both an honest and an honorable man. According to his idea of +what is called <i>moral conduct</i>, he was irreproachable, being +addicted to no <i>ungenteel</i> vices, or any sins which would be +condemned by his associates. His ambition was not to secure for +himself ease or luxury, but to extend his imperial power, and to +aggrandize his family. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page105" id= +"page105"></a>{105}</span> For these objects he passed his life, +ever tossed upon the billows of toil and trouble. In industry and +perseverance, he has rarely been surpassed.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding the innumerable interruptions and cares +attendant upon his station, he still found time, one can hardly +imagine when, to become a proficient in all the learning of the +day. He wrote and spoke four languages readily, Latin, French, +German and Italian. Few men have possessed more persuasive powers +of eloquence. All the arts and sciences he warmly patronized, and +men of letters of every class found in him a protector. But history +must truthfully declare that there was no perfidy of which he would +not be guilty, and no meanness to which he would not stoop, if he +could only extend his hereditary domains and add to his family +renown.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page106" id= +"page106"></a>{106}</span> +<h2><a name="chap7" id="chap7">CHAPTER VII</a>.</h2> +<h3>CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION.</h3> +<h4>From 1519 to 1531.</h4> +<p class="summary">Charles V. of Spain.—His Election as +Emperor of Germany.—His Coronation.—The first +Constitution.—Progress of the Reformation.—The Pope's +Bull against Luther.—His Contempt for his Holiness.—The +Diet at Worms.—Frederic's Objection to the Condemnation of +Luther by the Diet.—He obtains for Luther the Right of +Defense.—Luther's triumphal March to the +Tribunal.—Charles urged to violate his Safe +Conduct.—Luther's Patmos.—Marriage of Sister Catharine +Bora to Luther.—Terrible Insurrection.—The Holy +League.—The Protest of Spires.—Confession of +Augsburg.—The two Confessions.—Compulsory Measures.</p> +<p>Charles V. of Spain, as the nearest male heir, inherited from +Maximilian the Austrian States. He was the grandson of the late +emperor, son of Philip and of Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and +Isabella, and was born on the 24th of February, 1500. He had been +carefully educated in the learning and accomplishments of the age, +and particularly in the arts of war. At the death of his +grandfather, Ferdinand, Charles, though but sixteen years of age, +assumed the title of King of Spain, and though strongly opposed for +a time, he grasped firmly and held securely the reins of +government.</p> +<p>Joanna, his mother, was legally the sovereign, both by the laws +of united Castile and Arragon, and by the testaments of Isabella +and Ferdinand. But she was insane, and was sunk in such depths of +melancholy as to be almost unconscious of the scenes which were +transpiring around her. Two years had elapsed between the accession +of Charles V. to the throne of Spain and the death of his +grandfather, Maximilian. The young king, with wonderful energy of +character, had, during <span class="pagenum"><a name="page107" id= +"page107"></a>{107}</span> that time, established himself very +firmly on the throne. Upon the death of Maximilian many claimants +rose for the imperial throne. Henry VIII. of England and Francis of +France, were prominent among the competitors. For six months all +the arts of diplomacy were exhausted by the various candidates, and +Charles of Spain won the prize. On the 28th of June, 1519, he was +unanimously elected Emperor of Germany. The youthful sovereign, who +was but nineteen years of age, was at Barcelona when he received +the first intelligence of his election. He had sufficient strength +of character to avoid the slightest appearance of exultation, but +received the announcement with dignity and gravity far above his +years.</p> +<p>The Spaniards were exceedingly excited and alarmed by the news. +They feared that their young sovereign, of whom they had already +begun to be proud, would leave Spain to establish his court in the +German empire, and they should thus be left, as a distant province, +to the government of a viceroy. The king was consequently flooded +with petitions, from all parts of his dominions, not to accept the +imperial crown. But Charles was as ambitious as his grandfather, +Maximilian, whose foresight and maneuvering had set in train those +influences which had elevated him to the imperial dignity.</p> +<p>Soon a solemn embassy arrived, and, with the customary pomp, +proffered to Charles the crown which so many had coveted. Charles +accepted the office, and made immediate preparations, +notwithstanding the increasing clamor of his subjects, to go to +Germany for his coronation. Intrusting the government of Spain +during his absence to officers in whom he reposed confidence, he +embarked on shipboard, and landing first at Dover in England, made +a visit of four days to Henry VIII. He then continued his voyage to +the Netherlands; proceeding thence to Aix-la-Chapelle, he was +crowned on the 20th of October, 1520, with magnificence far +surpassing that of any of his predecessors. Thus Charles V., when +but twenty years of age, was the King of Spain and the crowned +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page108" id= +"page108"></a>{108}</span> Emperor of Germany. It is a great +mistake to suppose that youthful precocity is one of the +innovations of modern times.</p> +<p>In the changes of the political kaleidoscope, Austria had now +become a part of Spain, or rather a prince of Austrian descent, a +lineal heir of the house of Hapsburg, had inherited the dominion of +Spain, the most extensive monarchy, in its continental domains and +its colonial possessions, then upon the globe. The Germanic +confederation at this time made a decided step in advance. Hitherto +the emperors, when crowned, had made a sort of verbal promise to +administer the government in accordance with the laws and customs +of the several states. They were, however, apprehensive that the +new emperor, availing himself of the vast power which he possessed +independently of the imperial crown, might, by gradual +encroachments, defraud them of their rights. A sort of constitution +was accordingly drawn up, consisting of thirty-six articles, +defining quite minutely the laws, customs and privileges of the +empire, which constitution Charles was required to sign before his +coronation.</p> +<p>Charles presided in person over his first diet which he had +convened at Worms on the 6th of January, 1521. The theological and +political war of the Reformation was now agitating all Germany, and +raging with the utmost violence. Luther had torn the vail from the +corruptions of papacy, and was exhibiting to astonished Europe the +enormous aggression and the unbridled licentiousness of pontifical +power. Letter succeeded letter, and pamphlet pamphlet, and they +fell upon the decaying hierarchy like shot and shell upon the walls +of a fortress already crumbling and tottering through age.</p> +<p>On the 15th of July, 1520, three months before the coronation of +Charles V., the pope issued his world-renowned bull against the +intrepid monk. He condemned Luther as a heretic, forbade the +reading of his writings, excommunicated him if he did not retract +within sixty days, and all princes and states were commanded, under +pain of incurring the same censure, <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page109" id="page109"></a>{109}</span> to seize his person and +punish him and his adherents. Many were overawed by these menaces +of the holy father, who held the keys of heaven and of hell. The +fate of Luther was considered sealed. His works were publicly +burned in several cities.</p> +<p>Luther, undaunted, replied with blow for blow. He declared the +pope to be antichrist, renounced all obedience to him, detailed +with scathing severity the conduct of corrupt pontiffs, and called +upon the whole nation to renounce all allegiance to the scandalous +court of Rome. To cap the climax of his contempt and defiance, he, +on the 10th of December, 1520, not two months after the crowning of +Charles V., led his admiring followers, the professors and students +of the university of Wittemberg, in procession to the eastern gate +of the city, where, in the presence of a vast concourse, he +committed the papal bull to the flames, exclaiming, in the words of +Ezekiel, "Because thou hast troubled the Holy One of God, let +eternal fire consume thee." This dauntless spirit of the reformer +inspired his disciples throughout Germany with new courage, and in +many other cities the pope's bull of excommunication was burned +with expressions of indignation and contempt.</p> +<p>Such was the state of this great religious controversy when +Charles V. held his first diet at Worms. The pope, wielding all the +energies of religious fanaticism, and with immense temporal +revenues at his disposal, with ecclesiastics, officers of his +spiritual court, scattered all over Europe, who exercised almost a +supernatural power over the minds of the benighted masses, was +still perhaps the most formidable power in Europe. The new emperor, +with immense schemes of ambition opening before his youthful and +ardent mind, and with no principles of heartfelt piety to incline +him to seek and love the truth, as a matter of course sought the +favor of the imperial pontiff, and was not at all disposed to +espouse the cause of the obscure monk.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page110" id= +"page110"></a>{110}</span> +<p>Charles, therefore, received courteously the legates of the +pontiff at the diet, gave them a friendly hearing as they inveighed +against the heresy of Luther, and proposed that the diet should +also condemn the reformer. Fortunately for Luther he was a subject +of the electorate of Saxony, and neither pope nor emperor could +touch him but through the elector. Frederic, the Duke of Saxony, +one of the electors of the empire, governed a territory of nearly +fifteen thousand square miles, more than twice as large as the +State of Massachusetts, and containing nearly three millions of +inhabitants. The duchy has since passed through many changes and +dismemberments, but in the early part of the sixteenth century the +Elector of Saxony was one of the most powerful princes of the +German empire. Frederic was not disposed to surrender his subject +untried and uncondemned to the discipline of the Roman pontiff. He +accordingly objected to this summary condemnation of Luther, and +declared that before judgment was pronounced, the accused should be +heard in his own defense. Charles, who was by no means aware how +extensively the opinions of Luther had been circulated and +received, was surprised to find many nobles, each emboldened by the +rest, rise in the diet and denounce, in terms of ever-increasing +severity, the exactions and the arrogance of the court of Rome.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the pope's legates, the +emperor found it necessary to yield to the demands of the diet, and +to allow Luther the privilege of being heard, though he avowed to +the friends of the pope that Luther should not be permitted to make +any defense, but should only have an opportunity to confess his +heresy and implore forgiveness. Worms, where the diet was in +session, on the west banks of the Rhine, was not within the +territories of the Elector of Saxony, and consequently the emperor, +in sending a summons to Luther to present himself before the diet, +sent, also, a safe conduct. With alacrity the bold reformer obeyed +the summons. From Wittemberg, where Luther was both professor in +the university <span class="pagenum"><a name="page111" id= +"page111"></a>{111}</span> and also pastor of a church, to Worms, +was a distance of nearly three hundred miles. But the journey of +the reformer, through all of this long road was almost like a +triumphal procession. Crowds gathered everywhere to behold the man +who had dared to bid defiance to the terrors of that spiritual +power before which the haughtiest monarchs had trembled. The people +had read the writings of Luther, and justly regarded him as the +advocate of civil and religious liberty. The nobles, who had often +been humiliated by the arrogance of the pontiff, admired a man who +was bringing a new power into the field for their +disenthrallment.</p> +<p>When Luther had arrived within three miles of Worms, accompanied +by a few friends and the imperial herald who had summoned him, he +was met by a procession of two thousand persons, who had come from +the city to form his escort. Some friends in the city sent him a +warning that he could not rely upon the protection of his <i>safe +conduct</i>, that he would probably be perfidiously arrested, and +they intreated him to retire immediately again to Saxony. Luther +made the memorable reply,</p> +<p>"I will go to Worms, if as many devils meet me there as there +are tiles upon the roofs of the houses."</p> +<p>The emperor was astonished to find that greater crowds were +assembled, and greater enthusiasm was displayed in witnessing the +entrance of the monk of Wittemberg, than had greeted the imperial +entrance to the city.</p> +<p>It was indeed an august assemblage before which Luther was +arrayed. The emperor himself presided, sustained by his brother, +the Archduke Ferdinand. Six electors, twenty-four dukes, seven +margraves, thirty bishops and prelates, and an uncounted number of +princes, counts, lords and ambassadors filled the spacious hall. It +was the 18th of April, 1521. His speech, fearless, dignified, +eloquent, unanswerable, occupied two hours. He closed with the +noble words,</p> +<p>"Let me be refuted and convinced by the testimony of the +Scriptures or by the clearest arguments; otherwise I can not +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page112" id= +"page112"></a>{112}</span> and will not recant; for it is neither +safe nor expedient to act against conscience. Here I take my stand. +I can do no otherwise, so help me God, Amen."</p> +<p>In this sublime moral conflict Luther came off the undisputed +conqueror. The legates of the pope, exasperated at his triumph, +intreated the emperor to arrest him, in defiance of his word of +honor pledged for his safety. Charles rejected the infamous +proposal with disdain. Still he was greatly annoyed at so serious a +schism in the Church, which threatened to alienate from him the +patronage of the pope. It was evident that Luther was too strongly +intrenched in the hearts of the Germans, for the youthful emperor, +whose crown was not yet warm upon his brow, and who was almost a +stranger in Germany, to undertake to crush him. To appease the pope +he drew up an apologetic declaration, in which he said, in terms +which do not honor his memory,</p> +<p>"Descended as I am from the Christian emperors of Germany, the +Catholic kings of Spain, and from the archdukes of Austria and the +Dukes of Burgundy, all of whom have preserved, to the last moment +of their lives, their fidelity to the Church, and have always been +the defenders and protectors of the Catholic faith, its decrees, +ceremonies and usages, I have been, am still, and will ever be +devoted to those Christian doctrines, and the constitution of the +Church which they have left to me as a sacred inheritance. And as +it is evident that a simple monk has advanced opinions contrary to +the sentiments of all Christians, past and present, I am firmly +determined to wipe away the reproach which a toleration of such +errors would cast on Germany, and to employ all my powers and +resources, my body, my blood, my life, and even my soul, in +checking the progress of this sacrilegious doctrine. I will not, +therefore, permit Luther to enter into any further explanation, and +will instantly dismiss and afterward treat him as a heretic. But I +can not violate my safe conduct, but will cause him to be conducted +safely back to Wittemberg."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page113" id= +"page113"></a>{113}</span> +<p>The emperor now attempted to accomplish by intrigue that which +he could not attain by authority of force. He held a private +interview with the reformer, and endeavored, by all those arts at +the disposal of an emperor, to influence Luther to a recantation. +Failing utterly in this, he delayed further operations for a month, +until many of the diet, including the Elector of Saxony and other +powerful friends of Luther, had retired. He then, having carefully +retained those who would be obsequious to his will, caused a decree +to be enacted, as if it were the unanimous sentiment of the diet, +that Luther was a heretic; confirmed the sentence of the pope, and +pronounced the ban of the empire against all who should countenance +or protect him.</p> +<p>But Luther, on the 26th of May, had left Worms on his return to +Wittemberg. When he had passed over about half the distance, his +friend and admirer, Frederic of Saxony, conscious of the imminent +peril which hung over the intrepid monk, sent a troop of masked +horsemen who seized him and conveyed him to the castle of Wartburg, +where Frederic kept him safely concealed for nine months, not +allowing even his friends to know the place of his concealment. +Luther, acquiescing in the prudence of this measure, called this +retreat his Patmos, and devoted himself most assiduously to the +study of the Scriptures, and commenced his most admirable +translation of the Bible into the German language, a work which has +contributed vastly more than all others to disseminate the +principles of the Reformation throughout Germany.</p> +<p>It will be remembered that Maximilian's son Ferdinand, who was +brother to Charles V., had married Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, +King of Hungary and Bohemia. Disturbances in Spain rendered it +necessary for the emperor to leave Germany, and for eight years his +attention was almost constantly occupied by wars and intrigues in +southern Europe. Ferdinand was invested with the government of the +Austrian States. In the year 1521, Leo X. died, and Adrian, who +seems to have <span class="pagenum"><a name="page114" id= +"page114"></a>{114}</span> been truly a conscientious Christian +man, assumed the tiara. He saw the deep corruptions of the Church, +confessed them openly, mourned over them and declared that the +Church needed a thorough reformation.</p> +<p>This admission, of course, wonderfully strengthened the Lutheran +party. The diet, meeting soon after, drew up a list of a hundred +grievances, which they intreated the pope to reform, declaring that +Germany could no longer endure them. They declared that Luther had +opened the eyes of the people to these corruptions, and that they +would not suffer the edicts of the diet of Worms to be enforced. +Ferdinand of Austria, entering into the views of his brother, was +anxious to arrest the progress of the new ideas, now spreading with +great rapidity, and he entered—instructed by a legate, +Campegio, from the pope—into an engagement with the Duke of +Bavaria, and most of the German bishops, to carry the edict of +Worms into effect.</p> +<p>Frederic, the Elector of Saxony, died in 1525, but he was +succeeded by his brother John the Constant, who cordially embraced +and publicly avowed the doctrines of the Reformation; and Luther, +in July of this year, gave the last signal proof of his entire +emancipation from the superstitions of the papacy by marrying +Catharine Bora, a noble lady who, having espoused his views, had +left the nunnery where she had been an inmate. It is impossible for +one now to conceive the impression which was produced in Catholic +Europe by the marriage of a priest and a nun.</p> +<p>Many of the German princes now followed the example of John of +Saxony, and openly avowed their faith in the Lutheran doctrines. In +the Austrian States, notwithstanding all Ferdinand's efforts to the +contrary, the new faith steadily spread, commanding the assent of +the most virtuous and the most intelligent. Many of the nobles +avowed themselves Lutherans, as did even some of the professors in +the university at Vienna. The vital questions at issue, taking +hold, as they <span class="pagenum"><a name="page115" id= +"page115"></a>{115}</span> did, of the deepest emotions of the soul +and the daily habits of life, roused the general mind to the most +intense activity. The bitterest hostility sprung up between the two +parties, and many persons, without piety and without judgment, +threw off the superstitions of the papacy, only to adopt other +superstitions equally revolting. The sect of Anabaptists rose, +abjuring all civil as well as all religious authority, claiming to +be the elect of God, advocating a community of goods and of wives, +and discarding all restraint. They roused the ignorant peasantry, +and easily showed them that they were suffering as much injustice +from feudal lords as from papal bishops. It was the breaking out of +the French Revolution on a small scale. Germany was desolated by +infuriate bands, demolishing alike the castles of the nobles and +the palaces of the bishops, and sparing neither age nor sex in +their indiscriminate slaughter.</p> +<p>The insurrection was so terrible, that both Lutherans and +papists united to quell it; and so fierce were these fanatics, that +a hundred thousand perished on fields of blood before the rebellion +was quelled. These outrages were, of course, by the Catholics +regarded as the legitimate results of the new doctrines, and it +surely can not be denied that they sprung from them. The fire which +glows on the hearth may consume the dwelling. But Luther and his +friends assailed the Anabaptists with every weapon they could +wield. The Catholics formed powerful combinations to arrest the +spread of evangelical views. The reformers organized combinations +equally powerful to diffuse those opinions, which they were sure +involved the welfare of the world.</p> +<p>Charles V., having somewhat allayed the troubles which harassed +him in southern Europe, now turned his attention to Germany, and +resolved, with a strong hand, to suppress the religious agitation. +In a letter to the German States he very peremptorily announced his +determination, declaring that he would exterminate the errors of +Luther, exhorting them, to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page116" +id="page116"></a>{116}</span> resist all attacks against the +ancient usages of the Church, and expressing to each of the +Catholic princes his earnest approval of their conduct.</p> +<p>Germany was now threatened with civil war. The Catholics +demanded the enforcement of the edict of Worms. The reformers +demanded perfect toleration—that every man should enjoy +freedom of opinion and of worship. A new war in Italy perhaps +prevented this appeal to arms, as Charles V. found himself involved +in new difficulties which engrossed all his energies. Ferdinand +found the Austrian States so divided by this controversy, that it +became necessary for him to assume some degree of impartiality, and +to submit to something like toleration. A new pope, Clement VII., +succeeded the short reign of Adrian, and all the ambition, intrigue +and corruption which had hitherto marked the course of the court of +Rome, resumed their sway. The pope formed the celebrated Holy +League to arrest the progress of the new opinions; and this led all +the princes of the empire, who had espoused the Lutheran doctrines, +more openly and cordially to combine in self-defense. In every +country in Europe the doctrines of the reformer spread rapidly, and +the papal throne was shaken to its base.</p> +<p>Charles V., whose arms were successful in southern Europe, and +whose power was daily increasing, was still very desirous of +restoring quiet to Europe by reëstablishing the supremacy of +the papal Church, and crushing out dissent. He accordingly convened +another diet at Spires, the capital of Rhenish Bavaria, on the 15th +of March, 1529. As the emperor was detained in Italy, his brother +Ferdinand presided. The diet was of course divided, but the +majority passed very stringent resolutions against the Reformation. +It was enacted that the edict of Worms should be enforced; that the +mass should be reëstablished wherever it had been abolished; +and that preachers should promulgate no new doctrines. The minority +entered their protest. They urged that the mass had <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page117" id="page117"></a>{117}</span> been +clearly proved to be contrary to the Word of God; that the +Scriptures were the only certain rule of life; and declared their +resolution to maintain the truths of the Old and New Testaments, +regardless of traditions. This <i>Protest</i> was sustained by +powerful names—John, Elector of Saxony; George, Margrave of +Brandenburg; two Dukes of Brunswick; the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel; +the Prince of Anhalt, and fourteen imperial cities, to which were +soon added ten more. Nothing can more decisively show than this the +wonderful progress which the Reformation in so short a time had +made. From this Protest the reformers received the name of +Protestants, which they have since retained.</p> +<p>The emperor, flushed with success, now resolved, with new +energy, to assail the principles of the Reformation. Leaving Spain +he went to Italy, and met the pope, Clement VII., at Bologna, in +February, 1530. The pope and the emperor held many long and private +interviews. What they said no one knows. But Charles V., who was +eminently a sagacious man, became convinced that the difficulty had +become far too serious to be easily healed, that men of such power +had embraced the Lutheran doctrines that it was expedient to change +the tone of menace into one of respect and conciliation. He +accordingly issued a call for another diet to meet in April, 1530, +at the city of Augsburg in Bavaria.</p> +<p>"I have convened," he wrote, "this assembly to consider the +difference of opinion on the subject of religion. It is my +intention to hear both parties with candor and charity, to examine +their respective arguments, to correct and reform what requires to +be corrected and reformed, that the truth being known, and harmony +established, there may, in future, be only one pure and simple +faith, and, as all are disciples of the same Jesus, all may form +one and the same Church."</p> +<p>These fair words, however, only excited the suspicions of the +Protestants, which suspicions subsequent events proved to be well +founded. The emperor entered Augsburg in great <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page118" id="page118"></a>{118}</span> state, +and immediately assumed a dictatorial air, requiring the diet to +attend high mass with him, and to take part in the procession of +the host.</p> +<p>"I will rather," said the Marquis of Brandenburg to the emperor, +"instantly offer my head to the executioner, than renounce the +gospel and approve idolatry. Christ did not institute the sacrament +of the Lord's Supper to be carried in pomp through the streets, nor +to be adored by the people. He said, 'Take, eat;' but never said, +'Put this sacrament into a vase, carry it publicly in triumph, and +let the people prostrate themselves before it.'"</p> +<p>The Protestants, availing themselves of the emperor's +declaration that it was his intention to hear the sentiments of +all, drew up a confession of their faith, which they presented to +the emperor in German and in Latin. This celebrated creed is known +in history as the <i>Confession of Augsburg</i>. The emperor was +quite embarrassed by this document, as he was well aware of the +argumentative powers of the reformers, and feared that the +document, attaining celebrity, and being read eagerly all over the +empire, would only multiply converts to their views. At first he +refused to allow it to be read. But finding that this only created +commotion which would add celebrity to the confession, he adjourned +the diet to a small chapel where but two hundred could be convened. +When the Chancellor of Saxony rose to read the confession, the +emperor commanded that he should read the Latin copy, a language +which but few of the Germans understood.</p> +<p>"Sire," said the chancellor, "we are now on German ground. I +trust that your majesty will not order the apology of our faith, +which ought to be made as public as possible, to be read in a +language not understood by the Germans."</p> +<p>The emperor was compelled to yield to so reasonable a request. +The adjacent apartments, and the court-yard of the palace, were all +filled with an eager crowd. The chancellor read the creed in a +voice so clear and loud that the whole <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page119" id="page119"></a>{119}</span> multitude +could hear. The emperor was very uneasy, and at the close of the +reading, which occupied two hours, took both the Latin and the +German copies, and requested that the confession should not be +published without his consent. Luther and Melancthon drew up this +celebrated document. Melancthon was an exceedingly mild and amiable +man, and such a lover of peace that he would perhaps do a little +violence to his own conscience in the attempt to conciliate those +from whom he was constrained to differ. Luther, on the contrary, +was a man of great force, decision and fearlessness, who would +speak the truth in the plainest terms, without softening a phrase +to conciliate either friend or foe. The Confession of Augsburg +being the joint production of both Melancthon and Luther, did not +<i>exactly</i> suit either. It was a little too uncompromising for +Melancthon, a little too pliant and yielding for Luther. Melancthon +soon after took the confession and changed it to bring it into more +entire accordance with his spirit. Hence a division which, in +oblivion of its origin, has continued to the present day. Those who +adhered to the original document which was presented to the +emperor, were called Lutherans; those who adopted the confession as +softened by Melancthon, were called German Reformed.</p> +<p>The emperor now threw off the mask, and carrying with him the +majority of the diet, issued a decree of intolerance and menace, in +which he declared that all the ceremonies, doctrines and usages of +the papal church, without exception, were to be reëstablished, +married priests deposed, suppressed convents restored, and every +innovation, of whatever kind, to be revoked. All who opposed this +decree were to be exposed to the ban of the empire, with all its +pains and penalties.</p> +<p>This was indeed an appalling measure. Recantation or war was the +only alternative. Charles, being still much occupied by the affairs +of his vast kingdom of Spain, with all its ambitions and wars, +needed a coadjutor in the government of Germany, as serious trouble +was evidently near at hand. He <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page120" id="page120"></a>{120}</span> therefore proposed the +election of his brother Ferdinand as coadjutor with him in +administering the affairs of Germany. Ferdinand, who had recently +united to the Austrian territories the crowns of Hungary and +Bohemia, was consequently chosen, on the 5th of January, 1531, King +of the Romans. Charles was determined to enforce his decrees, and +both parties now prepared for war.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page121" id= +"page121"></a>{121}</span> +<h2><a name="chap8" id="chap8">CHAPTER VIII</a>.</h2> +<h3>CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION.</h3> +<h4>From 1531 to 1552.</h4> +<p class="summary">Determination to crush +Protestantism.—Incursion of the Turks.—Valor of the +Protestants.—Preparations for renewed +Hostilities.—Augmentation of the Protestant Forces.—The +Council of Trent.—Mutual Consternation.—Defeat of the +Protestant Army.—Unlooked for Succor.—Revolt in the +Emperor's Army.—The Fluctuations of Fortune.—Ignoble +Revenge.—Capture of Wittemberg.—Protestantism +Apparently Crushed.—Plot against Charles.—Maurice of +Saxony.—A Change of Scene.—The Biter Bit.—The +Emperor humbled.—His Flight.—His determined Will.</p> +<p>The intolerant decrees of the diet of Augsburg, and the evident +determination of the emperor unrelentingly to enforce them, spread +the greatest alarm among the Protestants. They immediately +assembled at Smalkalde in December, 1530, and entered into a league +for mutual protection. The emperor was resolved to crush the +Protestants. The Protestants were resolved not to be crushed. The +sword of the Catholics was drawn for the assault—the sword of +the reformers for defense. Civil war was just bursting forth in all +its horrors, when the Turks, with an army three hundred thousand +strong, like ravening wolves rushed into Hungary. This danger was +appalling. The Turks in their bloody march had, as yet, encountered +no effectual resistance; though they had experienced temporary +checks, their progress had been on the whole resistless, and +wherever they had planted their feet they had established +themselves firmly. Originating as a small tribe on the shores of +the Caspian, they had spread over all Asia Minor, had crossed the +Bosphorus, captured Constantinople, and had brought all Greece +under their sway. They were still pressing on, flushed with +victory. Christian <span class="pagenum"><a name="page122" id= +"page122"></a>{122}</span> Europe was trembling before them. And +now an army of three hundred thousand had crossed the Danube, +sweeping all opposition before them, and were spreading terror and +destruction through Hungary. The capture of that immense kingdom +seemed to leave all Europe defenseless.</p> +<p>The emperor and his Catholic friends were fearfully alarmed. +Here was a danger more to be dreaded than even the doctrines of +Luther. All the energies of Christendom were requisite to repel +this invasion. The emperor was compelled to appeal to the +Protestant princes to coöperate in this great emergence. But +they had more to fear from the fiery persecution of the papal +church than from the cimeter of the infidel, and they refused any +coöperation with the emperor so long as the menaces of the +Augsburg decrees were suspended over them. The emperor wished the +Protestants to help him drive out the Turks, that then, relieved +from that danger, he might turn all his energies against the +Protestants.</p> +<p>After various negotiations it was agreed, as a temporary +arrangement, that there should be a truce of the Catholic +persecution until another general council should be called, and +that until then the Protestants should be allowed freedom of +conscience and of worship. The German States now turned their whole +force against the Turks. The Protestants contributed to the war +with energy which amazed the Catholics. They even trebled the +contingents which they had agreed to furnish, and marched to the +assault with the greatest intrepidity. The Turks were driven from +Hungary, and then the emperor, in violation of his pledge, +recommenced proceeding against the Protestants. But it was the +worst moment the infatuated emperor could have selected. The +Protestants, already armed and marshaled, were not at all disposed +to lie down to be trodden upon by their foes. They renewed their +confederacy, drove the emperor's Austrian troops out of the +territories of Wirtemberg, which they had seized, and restored the +duchy to the Protestant duke, Ulric. Civil war had now <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page123" id="page123"></a>{123}</span> +commenced. But the Protestants were strong, determined, and had +proved their valor in the recent war with the Turks. The more +moderate of the papal party, foreseeing a strife which might be +interminable, interposed, and succeeded in effecting a compromise +which again secured transient peace.</p> +<p>Charles, however, had not yet abandoned his design to compel the +Protestants to return to the papal church. He was merely +temporizing till he could bring such an array of the papal powers +against the reformers that they could present no successful +resistance. With this intention he entered into a secret treaty +with the powerful King of France, in which Francis agreed to +concentrate all the forces of his kingdom to crush the Lutheran +doctrines. He then succeeded in concluding a truce with the Turks +for five years. He was now prepared to act with decision against +the reformed religion.</p> +<p>But while Charles had been marshaling his party the Protestants +had been rapidly increasing. Eloquent preachers, able writers, had +everywhere proclaimed the corruptions of the papacy and urged a +pure gospel. These corruptions were so palpable that they could not +bear the light. The most intelligent and conscientious, all over +Europe, were rapidly embracing the new doctrines. These new +doctrines embraced and involved principles of civil as well as +religious liberty. The Bible is the most formidable book which was +ever penned against aristocratic usurpation. God is the universal +Father. All men are brothers. The despots of that day regarded the +controversy as one which, in the end, involved the stability of +their thrones. "Give us light," the Protestants said. "Give us +darkness," responded the papacy, "or the submissive masses will +rise and overthrow despotic thrones as well as idolatrous +altars."</p> +<p>Several of the ablest and most powerful of the bishops who, in +that day of darkness, had been groping in the dark, now that light +had come into the world, rejoiced in that light, and +enthusiastically espoused the truth. The emperor was <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page124" id="page124"></a>{124}</span> quite +appalled when he learned that the Archbishop of Cologne, who was +also one of the electors of the empire, had joined the reformers; +for, in addition to the vast influence of his name, this conversion +gave the Protestants a majority in the electoral diet, so many of +the German princes had already adopted the opinions of Luther. The +Protestants, encouraged by the rapidity with which their doctrines +were spreading, were not at all disposed to humble themselves +before their opponents, but with their hands upon the hilts of +their swords, declared that they would not bow their necks to +intolerance.</p> +<p>It was indeed a formidable power which the emperor was now about +to marshal against the Protestants. He had France, Spain, all the +roused energies of the pope and his extended dominions, and all the +Catholic States of the empire. But Protestantism, which had overrun +Germany, had pervaded Switzerland and France, and was daily on the +increase. The pope and the more zealous papists were impatient and +indignant that the emperor did not press his measures with more +vigor. But the sagacious Charles more clearly saw the difficulties +to be surmounted than they did, and while no less determined in his +resolves, was more prudent and wary in his measures.</p> +<p>With the consent of the pope he summoned a general council to +meet at Trent on the confines of his own Austrian territories, +where he could easily have every thing under his own control. He +did every thing in his power, in the meantime to promote division +among the Protestants, by trying to enter into private negotiations +with the Protestant princes. He had the effrontery to urge the +Protestants to send their divines to the council of Trent, and +agreed to abide by its decisions, even when that council was +summoned by the pope, and was to be so organized as to secure an +overwhelming majority to the papists. The Protestants, of course, +rejected so silly a proposition, and refused to recognize the +decrees of such a council as of any binding authority.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page125" id= +"page125"></a>{125}</span> +<p>In preparation for enforcing the decrees which he intended to +have enacted by the council of Trent, Charles obtained from the +pope thirteen thousand troops, and five hundred thousand ducats +(one million one hundred thousand dollars). He raised one army in +the Low Countries to march upon Germany. He gathered another army +in his hereditary States of Austria. His brother Ferdinand, as King +of Hungary and Bohemia, raised a large army in each of those +dominions. The King of France mustered his legions, and boasted of +the condign punishment to which he would consign the heretics. The +pope issued a decree offering the entire pardon of all sins to +those who should engage in this holy war for the extirpation of the +doctrines of the reformers.</p> +<p>The Protestants were for a moment in consternation in view of +the gatherings of so portentous a storm. The emperor, by false +professions and affected clemency, had so deceived them that they +were quite unprepared for so formidable an attack. They soon, +however, saw that their only salvation depended upon a vigorous +defense, and they marshaled their forces for war. With promptness +and energy which even astonished themselves, they speedily raised +an army which, on the junction of its several corps, amounted to +eighty thousand men. In its intelligence, valor, discipline and +equipments, it was probably the best army which had ever been +assembled in the States of Germany. Resolutely they marched under +Schartlin, one of the most experienced generals of the age, toward +Ratisbon, where the emperor was holding a diet.</p> +<p>Charles V. was as much alarmed by this unexpected apparition, as +the Protestants had been alarmed by the preparations of the +emperor. He had supposed that his force was so resistless that the +Protestants would see at once the hopelessness of resistance, and +would yield without a struggle. The emperor had a guard of but +eight thousand troops at Ratisbon. The Duke of Bavaria, in whose +dominions he was, was wavering, and the papal troops had not +commenced their <span class="pagenum"><a name="page126" id= +"page126"></a>{126}</span> march. But there was not a moment to be +lost. The emperor himself might be surrounded and taken captive. He +retired precipitately about thirty miles south to the strong +fortress of Landshut, where he could hold out until he received +succor from his Austrian territories, which were very near, and +also from the pope.</p> +<p>Charles soon received powerful reinforcements from Austria, from +the pope, and from his Spanish kingdom. With these he marched some +forty miles west to Ingolstadt and intrenched himself beneath its +massive walls. Here he waited for further reinforcements, and then +commencing the offensive, marched up the Danube, taking possession +of the cities on either bank. And now the marshaled forces of the +emperor began to crowd the Protestants on all sides. The army +became bewildered, and instead of keeping together, separated to +repel the attack at different points. This caused the ruin of the +Protestant army. The dissevered fragments were speedily dispersed. +The emperor triumphantly entered the Protestant cities of Ulm and +Augsburg, Strasbourg and Frankfort, compelled them to accept +humiliating conditions, to surrender their artillery and military +stores, and to pay enormous fines. The Archbishop of Cologne was +deposed from his dignities. The emperor had thrown his foes upon +the ground and bound them.</p> +<p>All the Protestant princes but two were vanquished, the Elector +of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse. It was evident that they must +soon yield to the overwhelming force of the emperor. It was a day +of disaster, in which no gleam of light seemed to dawn upon the +Protestant cause. But in that gloomy hour we see again the +illustration of that sentiment, that "the race is not always to the +swift nor the battle to the strong." Unthinking infidelity says +sarcastically, "Providence always helps the heavy battalions." But +Providence often brings to the discomfited, in their despair, +reinforcements all unlooked for.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page127" id= +"page127"></a>{127}</span> +<p>There were in the army of Ferdinand, gathered from the Austrian +territories by the force of military conscription, many troops more +or less influenced by the reformed religion. They were dissatisfied +with this warfare against their brothers, and their dissatisfaction +increased to murmurs and then to revolt. Thus encouraged, the +Protestant nobles in Bohemia rose against Ferdinand their king, and +the victorious Ferdinand suddenly found his strong battalions +melting away, and his banners on the retreat.</p> +<p>The other powers of Europe began to look with alarm upon the +vast ascendency which Charles V. was attaining over Europe. His +exacting and aggressive spirit assumed a more menacing aspect than +the doctrines of Luther. The King of France, Francis I., with the +characteristic perfidy of the times, meeting cunning with cunning, +formed a secret league against his ally, combining, in that league, +the English ministry who governed during the minority of Edward +VI., and also the coöperation of the illustrious Gustavus +Vasa, the powerful King of Sweden, who was then strongly inclined +to that faith of the reformers which he afterwards openly avowed. +Even the pope, who had always felt a little jealous of the power of +the emperor, thought that as the Protestants were now put down it +might be well to check the ambition of Charles V. a little, and he +accordingly ordered all his troops to return to Italy. The holy +father, Paul III., even sent money to the Protestant Elector of +Saxony, to enable him to resist the emperor, and sent ambassadors +to the Turks, to induce them to break the truce and make war upon +Christendom, that the emperor might be thus embarrassed.</p> +<p>Charles thus found himself, in the midst of his victories, +suddenly at a stand. He could no longer carry on offensive +operations, but was compelled to prepare for defense against the +attacks with which he was threatened on every side.</p> +<p>Again, the kaleidoscope of political combination received +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page128" id= +"page128"></a>{128}</span> a jar, and all was changed. The King of +France died. This so embarrassed the affairs of the confederation +which Francis had organized with so much toil and care, that +Charles availed himself of it to make a sudden and vigorous march +against the Elector of Saxony. He entered his territories with an +army of thirty-three thousand men, and swept all opposition before +him. In a final and desperate battle the troops of the elector were +cut to pieces, and the elector himself, surrounded on all sides, +sorely wounded in the face and covered with blood, was taken +prisoner. Charles disgraced his character by the exhibition of a +very ignoble spirit of revenge. The captive elector, as he was led +into the presence of his conqueror, said—</p> +<p>"Most powerful and gracious emperor, the fortune of war has now +rendered me your prisoner, and I hope to be treated—"</p> +<p>Here the emperor indignantly interrupted him, saying—</p> +<p>"I am <i>now</i> your gracious emperor! Lately you could only +vouchsafe me the title of Charles of Ghent!"</p> +<p>Then turning abruptly upon his heel, he consigned his prisoner +to the custody of one of the Spanish generals. The emperor marched +immediately to Wittemberg, which was distant but a few miles. It +was a well fortified town, and was resolutely defended by Isabella, +the wife of the elector. The emperor, maddened by the resistance, +summoned a court martial, and sentenced the elector to instant +death unless he ordered the surrender of the fortress. He at first +refused, and prepared to die. But the tears of his wife and his +family conquered his resolution, and the city was surrendered. The +emperor took from his captive the electoral dignity, and extorted +from him the most cruel concessions as the ransom for his life. +Without a murmur he surrendered wealth, power and rank, but neither +entreaties nor menaces could induce him in a single point to abjure +his Christian faith.</p> +<p>Charles now entered Wittemberg in triumph. The great +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page129" id= +"page129"></a>{129}</span> reformer had just died. The emperor +visited the grave of Luther, and when urged to dishonor his +remains, replied—</p> +<p>"I war not with the dead, but with the living. Let him repose in +peace; he is already before his Judge."</p> +<p>The Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, now the only member of the +Protestant league remaining in arms, was in a condition utterly +hopeless, and was compelled to make an unconditional +submission.</p> +<p>The landgrave, ruined in fortune, and crushed in spirit, was led +a captive into the imperial camp at Halle, in Saxony, the 19th of +June, 1547. He knelt before the throne, and made an humble +confession of his crime in resisting the emperor; he resigned +himself and all his dominions to the clemency of his sovereign. As +he rose to kiss the hand of the emperor, Charles turned +contemptuously from him and ordered him to be conveyed to one of +the apartments of the palace as a prisoner. Most ignobly the +emperor led his two illustrious captives, the Elector of Saxony and +the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, as captives from city to city, +exhibiting them as proofs of his triumph, and as a warning to all +others to avoid their fate. Very strong jealousies had now sprung +up between the emperor and the pope, and they could not cooperate. +The emperor, consequently, undertook to settle the religious +differences himself. He caused twenty-six articles to be drawn up +as the basis of pacification, which he wished both the Catholics +and the Protestants to sign. The pope was indignant, and the +Catholics were disgusted with this interference of the emperor in +the faith of the Church, a matter which in their view belonged +exclusively to the pope and the councils which he might +convene.</p> +<p>The emperor, however, resolutely persevered in the endeavor to +compel the Protestants to subscribe to his articles, and punished +severely those who refused to do so. In his Burgundian provinces he +endeavored to establish the inquisition, that all heresy might be +nipped in the bud. In his zeal he <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page130" id="page130"></a>{130}</span> quite outstripped the pope. +As Julius III. had now ascended the pontifical throne, Charles, +fearful that he might be too liberal in his policy towards the +reformers, and might make too many concessions, extorted from him +the promise that he would not introduce any reformation in the +Church without consulting him and obtaining his consent. Thus the +pope himself became but one of the dependents of Charles V., and +all the corruptions of the Church were sustained by the imperial +arm. He then, through the submissive pope, summoned a council of +Catholic divines to meet at Trent. He had arranged in his own mind +the decrees which they were to issue, and had entered into a treaty +with the new King of France, Henry II., by which the French monarch +agreed, with all the military force of his kingdom, to maintain the +decrees of the council of Trent, whatever they might be.</p> +<p>The emperor had now apparently attained all his ends. He had +crushed the Protestant league, vanquished the Protestant princes, +subjected the pope to his will, arranged religious matters +according to his views, and had now assembled a subservient council +to ratify and confirm all he had done. But with this success he had +become arrogant, implacable and cruel. His friends had become +alienated and his enemies exasperated. Even the most rigorous +Catholics were alarmed at his assumptions, and the pope was +humiliated by his haughty bearing.</p> +<p>Charles assembled a diet of the States of the empire at +Augsburg, the 26th of July, 1550. He entered the city with the pomp +and the pride of a conqueror, and with such an array of military +force as to awe the States into compliance with his wishes. He then +demanded of all the States of the empire an agreement that they +would enforce, in all their dominions the decrees of the council of +Trent, which council was soon to be convened. There is sublimity in +the energy with which this monarch moved, step by step, toward the +accomplishment of his plans. He seemed to leave no chance for +failure. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page131" id= +"page131"></a>{131}</span> members of the diet were as obsequious +as spaniels to their imperious master, and watched his countenance +to learn when they were to say yes, and when no.</p> +<p>In one thing only he failed. He wished to have his son Philip +elected as his successor on the imperial throne. His brother +Ferdinand opposed him in this ambitious plan, and thus emboldened +the diet to declare that while the emperor was living it was +illegal to choose his successor, as it tended to render the +imperial crown hereditary. The emperor, sagacious as he was +domineering, waived the prosecution of his plan for the present, +preparing to resume it when he had punished and paralyzed those who +opposed.</p> +<p>The emperor had deposed Frederic the Elector of Saxony, and +placed over his dominions, Maurice, a nephew of the deposed +elector. Maurice had married a daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse +Cassel. He was a man of commanding abilities, and as shrewd, +sagacious and ambitious as the emperor himself. He had been +strongly inclined to the Lutheran doctrines, but had been bought +over to espouse the cause of Charles V. by the brilliant offer of +the territories of Saxony. Maurice, as he saw blow after blow +falling upon his former friends; one prince after another ejected +from his estates, Protestantism crushed, and finally his own uncle +and his wife's father led about to grace the triumph of the +conqueror; as he saw the vast power to which the emperor had +attained, and that the liberties of the German empire were in +entire subjection to his will, his pride was wounded, his +patriotism aroused, and his Protestant sympathies revived. Maurice, +meeting Charles V. on the field of intrigue, was Greek meeting +Greek.</p> +<p>Maurice now began with great guile and profound sagacity to plot +against the despotic emperor. Two circumstances essentially aided +him. Charles coveted the dukedoms of Parma and Placentia in Italy, +and the Duke Ottavia had been deposed. He rallied his subjects and +succeeded in uniting France <span class="pagenum"><a name="page132" +id="page132"></a>{132}</span> on his side, for Henry II. was +alarmed at the encroachments the emperor was making in Italy. A +very fierce war instantly blazed forth, the Duke of Parma and Henry +II. on one side, the pope and the emperor on the other. At the same +time the Turks, under the leadership of the Sultan Solyman himself, +were organizing a formidable force for the invasion of Hungary, +which invasion would require all the energies of Ferdinand, with +all the forces he could raise in Austria, Hungary and Bohemia to +repel.</p> +<p>Next to Hungary and Bohemia, Saxony was perhaps the most +powerful State of the Germanic confederacy. The emperor placed full +reliance upon Maurice, and the Protestants in their despair would +have thought of him as the very last to come to their aid; for he +had marched vigorously in the armies of the emperor to crush the +Protestants, and was occupying the territories of their most able +and steadfast friend. Secretly, Maurice made proposals to all the +leading Protestant princes of the empire, and having made every +thing ready for an outbreak, he entered into a treaty with the King +of France, who promised large subsidies and an efficient military +force.</p> +<p>Maurice conducted these intrigues with such consummate skill +that the emperor had not the slightest suspicion of the storm which +was gathering. Every thing being matured, early in April, 1552, +Maurice suddenly appeared before the gates of Augsburg with an army +of twenty-five thousand men. At the same time he issued a +declaration that he had taken up arms to prevent the destruction of +the Protestant religion, to defend the liberties of Germany which +the emperor had infringed, and to rescue his relatives from their +long and unjust imprisonment. The King of France and other princes +issued similar declarations. The smothered disaffection with the +emperor instantly blazed forth all over the German empire. The +cause of Maurice was extremely popular. The Protestants in a mass, +and many others, flocked to his standard. As by magic and in a day, +all was changed. The imperial towns Augsburg, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page133" id="page133"></a>{133}</span> Nuremberg +and others, threw open their gates joyfully to Maurice. Whole +provinces rushed to his standard. He was everywhere received as the +guardian of civil and religious liberty. The ejected Protestant +rulers and magistrates were reinstated, the Protestant churches +opened, the Protestant preachers restored. In one month the +Protestant party was predominant in the German empire, and the +Catholic party either neutral or secretly favoring one who was +humbling that haughty emperor whom even the Catholics had begun to +fear. The prelates who were assembling at Trent, alarmed by so +sudden and astounding a revolution, dissolved the assembly and +hastened to their homes.</p> +<p>The emperor was at Innspruck seated in his arm chair, with his +limbs bandaged in flannel, enfeebled and suffering from a severe +attack of the gout, when the intelligence of this sudden and +overwhelming reverse reached him. He was astonished and utterly +confounded. In weakness and pain, unable to leave his couch, with +his treasury exhausted, his armies widely scattered, and so pressed +by their foes that they could not be concentrated from their wide +dispersion, there was nothing left for him but to endeavor to +beguile Maurice into a truce. But Maurice was as much at home in +all the arts of cunning as the emperor, and instead of being +beguiled, contrived to entrap his antagonist. This was a new and a +very salutary experience for Charles. It is a very novel sensation +for a successful rogue to be the dupe of roguery.</p> +<p>Maurice pressed on, his army gathering force at every step. He +entered the Tyrol, swept through all its valleys, took possession +of all its castles and its sublime fastnesses, and the blasts of +his bugles reverberated among the cliffs of the Alps, ever sounding +the charge and announcing victory, never signaling a defeat. The +emperor was reduced to the terrible humiliation of saving himself +from capture only by flight. The emperor could hardly credit his +senses when told that his conquering foes were within two days' +march of Innspruck, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page134" id= +"page134"></a>{134}</span> that a squadron of horse might at any +hour appear and cut off his retreat. It was in the night when these +appalling tidings were brought to him. The tortures of the gout +would not allow him to mount on horseback, neither could he bear +the jolting in a carriage over the rough roads. It was a dark and +stormy night, the 20th of May, 1552. The rain fell in torrents, and +the wind howled through the fir-trees and around the crags of the +Alps. Some attendants wrapped the monarch in blankets, took him out +into the court-yard of the palace, and placed him in a litter. +Attendants led the way with lanterns, and thus, through the +inundated and storm-swept defiles of the mountains, they fled with +their helpless sovereign through the long hours of the tempestuous +night, not daring to stop one moment lest they should hear behind +them the clatter of the iron hoofs of their pursuers. What a change +for one short month to produce! What a comment upon earthly +grandeur! It is well for man in the hour of most exultant +prosperity to be humble. He knows not how soon he may fall. +Instructive indeed is the apostrophe of Cardinal Wolsey, +illustrated as the truth he utters is by almost every page of +history:</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"This is the state of man; to-day he puts forth</p> +<p>The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms,</p> +<p>The third day comes a frost, a killing frost;</p> +<p>And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely</p> +<p>His greatness is a ripening—nips his root,</p> +<p>And then he falls as I do."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>The fugitive emperor did not venture to stop for refreshment or +repose until he had reached the strong town of Villach in +Carinthia, nearly one hundred and fifty miles west of Innspruck. +The troops of Maurice soon entered the city which the emperor had +abandoned, and the imperial palace was surrendered to pillage. +Heroic courage, indomitable perseverance always commands respect. +These are great and noble qualities, though they may be exerted in +a bad cause. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page135" id= +"page135"></a>{135}</span> The will of Charles was unconquerable. +In these hours of disaster, tortured with pain, driven from his +palace, deserted by his allies, impoverished, and borne upon his +litter in humiliating flight before his foes, he was just as +determined to enforce his plans as in the most brilliant hour of +victory.</p> +<p>He sent his brother Ferdinand and other ambassadors to Passau to +meet Maurice, and mediate for a settlement of the difficulties. +Maurice now had no need of diplomacy. His demands were simple and +reasonable. They were, that the emperor should liberate his +father-in-law from captivity, tolerate the Protestant religion, and +grant to the German States their accustomed liberty. But the +emperor would not yield a single point. Though his brother +Ferdinand urged him to yield, though his Catholic ambassadors +intreated him to yield, though they declared that if he did not +they should be compelled to abandon his cause and make the best +terms for themselves with the conqueror that they could, still +nothing could bend his inflexible will, and the armies, after the +lull of a few days, were again in motion. The despotism of the +emperor we abhor; but his indomitable perseverance and +unconquerable energy are worthy of all admiration and imitation. +Had they but been exerted in a good cause!</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page136" id= +"page136"></a>{136}</span> +<h2><a name="chap9" id="chap9">CHAPTER IX</a>.</h2> +<h3>CHARLES V. AND THE TURKISH WARS.</h3> +<h4>From 1552 to 1555.</h4> +<p class="summary">The Treaty of Passau.—The Emperor +yields.—His continued Reverses.—The Toleration +Compromise.—Mutual Dissatisfation.—Remarkable +Despondency of the Emperor Charles.—His Address to the +Convention at Brussels.—The Convent of St. +Justus.—Charles returns to Spain.—His Convent +Life.—The mock Burial.—His Death.—His Traits of +Character.—The King's Compliment to Titian.—The +Condition of Austria.—Rapid Advance of the +Turks.—Reasons for the Inaction of the Christians.—The +Sultan's Method of overcoming Difficulties.—The little +Fortress of Guntz.—What it accomplished.</p> +<p>The Turks, animated by this civil war which was raging in +Germany, were pressing their march upon Hungary with great vigor, +and the troops of Ferdinand were retiring discomfited before the +invader. Henry of France and the Duke of Parma were also achieving +victories in Italy endangering the whole power of the emperor over +those States. Ferdinand, appalled by the prospect of the loss of +Hungary, imploringly besought the emperor to listen to terms of +reconciliation. The Catholic princes, terrified in view of the +progress of the infidel, foreseeing the entire subjection of Europe +to the arms of the Moslem unless Christendom could combine in +self-defense, joined their voices with that of Ferdinand so +earnestly and in such impassioned tones, that the emperor finally, +though very reluctantly, gave his assent to the celebrated treaty +of Passau, on the 2d of August, 1552. By this pacification the +captives were released, freedom of conscience and of worship was +established, and the Protestant troops, being disbanded, were at +liberty to enter into the service of Ferdinand to repel the Turks. +Within six months a diet was to be assembled <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page137" id="page137"></a>{137}</span> to +attempt an amicable adjustment of all civil and religious +difficulties.</p> +<p>The intrepid Maurice immediately marched, accompanied by many of +the Protestant princes, and at the head of a powerful army, to +repel the Mohammedan armies. Charles, relieved from his German +troubles, gathered his strength to wreak revenge upon the King of +France. But fortune seemed to have deserted him. Defeat and +disgrace accompanied his march. Having penetrated the French +province of Lorraine, he laid siege to Metz. After losing thirty +thousand men beneath its walls, he was compelled, in the depth of +winter, to raise the siege and retreat. His armies were everywhere +routed; the Turks menaced the shores of Italy; the pope became his +inveterate enemy, and joined France against him. Maurice was struck +by a bullet, and fell on the field of battle. The electorate of +Saxony passed into the hands of Augustus, a brother of Maurice, +while the former elector, Ferdinand, who shortly after died, +received some slight indemnification.</p> +<p>Such was the state of affairs when the promised diet was +summoned at Passau. It met on the 5th of February, 1555. The +emperor was confined with the gout at Brussels, and his brother +Ferdinand presided. It was a propitious hour for the Protestants. +Charles was sick, dejected and in adversity. The better portion of +the Catholics were disgusted with the intolerance of the emperor, +intolerance which even the more conscientious popes could not +countenance. Ferdinand was fully aware that he could not defend his +own kingdom of Hungary from the Turks without the intervention of +Protestant arms. He was, therefore, warmly in favor of +conciliation.</p> +<p>The world was not yet sufficiently enlightened to comprehend the +beauty of a true toleration, entire freedom of conscience and of +worship. After long and very exciting debates—after being +again and again at the point of grasping their arms anew—they +finally agreed that the Protestants should enjoy the free exercise +of their religion wherever Protestantism had <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page138" id="page138"></a>{138}</span> been +established and recognized by the Confession of Augsburg. That in +all other places Protestant princes might prohibit the Catholic +religion in their States, and Catholic princes prohibit the +Protestant religion. But in each case the ejected party was at +liberty to sell their property and move without molestation to some +State where their religion was dominant. In the free cities of the +empire, where both religions were established, both were to be +tolerated.</p> +<p>Thus far, and no further, had the spirit of toleration made +progress in the middle of the sixteenth century.</p> +<p>Such was the basis of the pacification. Neither party was +satisfied. Each felt that it had surrendered far too much to the +other; and there was subsequently much disagreement respecting the +interpretation of some of the most important articles. The pope, +Paul IV., was indignant that such toleration had been granted to +the Protestants, and threatened the emperor and his brother +Ferdinand of Austria with excommunication if they did not declare +these decrees null and void throughout their dominions. At the same +time he entered into correspondence with Henry II. of France to +form a new holy league for the defense of the papal church against +the inroads of heresy.</p> +<p>And now occurred one of the most extraordinary events which +history has recorded. Charles V., who had been the most +enterprising and ambitious prince in Europe, and the most +insatiable in his thirst for power, became the victim of the most +extreme despondency. Harassed by the perplexities which pressed in +upon him from his widely-extended realms, annoyed by the undutiful +and haughty conduct of his son, who was endeavoring to wrest +authority from his father by taking advantage of all his +misfortunes, and perhaps inheriting a melancholy temperament from +his mother, who died in the glooms of insanity, and, more than all, +mortified and wounded by so sudden and so vast a reverse of +fortune, in which all his plans seemed to have failed—thus +oppressed, humbled, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page139" id= +"page139"></a>{139}</span> he retired in disgust to his room, +indulged in the most fretful temper, admitted none but his sister +and a few confidential servants to his presence, and so entirely +neglected all business as to pass nine months without signing a +single paper.</p> +<p>While the emperor was in this melancholy state, his insane +mother, who had lingered for years in delirious gloom, died on the +4th of April, 1555. It will be remembered that Charles had +inherited valuable estates in the Low Countries from his marriage +with the daughter of the Duke of Burgundy. Having resolved to +abdicate all his power and titles in favor of his son, he convened +the States of the Low Countries at Brussels on the 25th of October, +1555. Charles was then but fifty-five years of age, and should have +been in the strength of vigorous manhood. But he was prematurely +old, worn down with care, toil and disappointment. He attended the +assembly accompanied by his son Philip. Tottering beneath +infirmities, he leaned upon the shoulders of a friend for support, +and addressed the assembly in a long and somewhat boastful speech, +enumerating all the acts of his administration, his endeavors, his +long and weary journeys, his sleepless care, his wars, and, above +all, his victories. In conclusion he said:</p> +<p>"While my health enabled me to perform my duty, I cheerfully +bore the burden; but as my constitution is now broken by an +incurable distemper, and my infirmities admonish me to retire, the +happiness of my people affects me more than the ambition of +reigning. Instead of a decrepid old man, tottering on the brink of +the grave, I transfer your allegiance to a sovereign in the prime +of life, vigilant, sagacious, active and enterprising. With respect +to myself, if I have committed any error in the course of a long +administration, forgive and impute it to my weakness, not to my +intention. I shall ever retain a grateful sense of your fidelity +and attachment, and your welfare shall be the great object of my +prayers to Almighty God, to whom I now consecrate the remainder of +my days."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page140" id= +"page140"></a>{140}</span> +<p>Then turning to his son Philip, he said:</p> +<p>"And you, my son, let the grateful recollection of this day +redouble your care and affection for your people. Other sovereigns +may rejoice in having given birth to their sons and in leaving +their States to them after their death. But I am anxious to enjoy, +during my life, the double satisfaction of feeling that you are +indebted to me both for your birth and power. Few monarchs will +follow my example, and in the lapse of ages I have scarcely found +one whom I myself would imitate. The resolution, therefore, which I +have taken, and which I now carry into execution, will be justified +only by your proving yourself worthy of it. And you will alone +render yourself worthy of the extraordinary confidence which I now +repose in you by a zealous protection of your religion, and by +maintaining the purity of the Catholic faith, and by governing with +justice and moderation. And may you, if ever you are desirous of +retiring like myself to the tranquillity of private life, enjoy the +inexpressible happiness of having such a son, that you may resign +your crown to him with the same satisfaction as I now deliver mine +to you."</p> +<p>The emperor was here entirely overcome by emotion, and embracing +Philip, sank exhausted into his chair. The affecting scene moved +all the audience to tears. Soon after this, with the same +formalities the emperor resigned the crown of Spain to his son, +reserving to himself, of all his dignities and vast revenues, only +a pension of about twenty thousand dollars a year. For some months +he remained in the Low Countries, and then returned to Spain to +seek an asylum in a convent there.</p> +<p>When in the pride of his power he once, while journeying in +Spain, came upon the convent of St. Justus in Estramadura, situated +in a lovely vale, secluded from all the bustle of life. The massive +pile was embosomed among the hills; forests spread widely around, +and a beautiful rivulet murmured by its walls. As the emperor gazed +upon the enchanting scene <span class="pagenum"><a name="page141" +id="page141"></a>{141}</span> of solitude and silence he exclaimed, +"Behold a lovely retreat for another Diocletian!"</p> +<p>The picture of the convent of St. Justus had ever remained in +his mind, and perhaps had influenced him, when overwhelmed with +care, to seek its peaceful retirement. Embarking in a ship for +Spain, he landed at Loredo on the 28th of September, 1556. As soon +as his feet touched the soil of his native land he prostrated +himself to the earth, kissed the ground, and said,</p> +<p>"Naked came I into the world, and naked I return to thee, thou +common mother of mankind. To thee I dedicate my body, as the only +return I can make for all the benefits conferred on me."</p> +<p>Then kneeling, and holding the crucifix before him, with tears +streaming from his eyes, and all unmindful of the attendants who +were around, he breathed a fervent prayer of gratitude for the +past, and commended himself to God for the future. By slow and easy +stages, as he was very infirm, he journeyed to the vale of +Estramadura, near Placentia, and entered upon his silent, monastic +life.</p> +<p>His apartments consisted of six small cells. The stone walls +were whitewashed, and the rooms furnished with the utmost +frugality. Within the walls of the convent, and communicating with +the chapel, there was a small garden, which the emperor had +tastefully arranged with shrubbery and flowers. Here Charles passed +the brief remainder of his days. He amused himself with laboring in +the garden with his own hands. He regularly attended worship in the +chapel twice every day, and took part in the service, manifestly +with the greatest sincerity and devotion.</p> +<p>The emperor had not a cultivated mind, and was not fond of +either literary or scientific pursuits. To beguile the hours he +amused himself with tools, carving toys for children, and ingenious +puppets and automata to astonish the peasants. For a time he was +very happy in his new employment. After so <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page142" id="page142"></a>{142}</span> stormy a +life, the perfect repose and freedom from care which he enjoyed in +the convent, seemed to him the perfection of bliss. But soon the +novelty wore away, and his constitutional despondency returned with +accumulated power.</p> +<p>His dejection now assumed the form of religious melancholy. He +began to devote every moment of his time to devotional reading and +prayer, esteeming all amusements and all employments sinful which +interfered with his spiritual exercises. He expressed to the Bishop +of Toledo his determination to devote, for the rest of his days, +every moment to the service of God. With the utmost scrupulousness +he carried out this plan. He practiced rigid fasts, and conformed +to all the austerity of convent discipline. He renounced his +pension, and sitting at the abstemious table with the monks, +declined seeing any other company than that of the world-renouncing +priests and friars around him. He scourged himself with the most +cruel severity, till his back was lacerated with the whip. He whole +soul seemed to crave suffering, in expiation for his sins. His +ingenuity was tasked to devise new methods of mortification and +humiliation. Ambition had ever been the ruling passion of his soul, +and now he was ambitious to suffer more, and to abuse himself more +than any other mortal had ever done.</p> +<p>Goaded by this impulse, he at last devised the scheme of +solemnising his own funeral. All the melancholy arrangements for +his burial were made; the coffin provided; the emperor reclined +upon his bed as dead; he was wrapped in his shroud, and placed in +his coffin. The monks, and all the inmates of the convent attended +in mourning; the bells tolled; requiems were chanted by the choir; +the funeral service was read, and then the emperor, as if dead, was +placed in the tomb of the chapel, and the congregation retired. The +monarch, after remaining some time in his coffin to impress himself +with the sense of what it is to die, and be buried, rose from his +tomb, kneeled before the altar for some time in worship, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page143" id= +"page143"></a>{143}</span> and then returned to his cell to pass +the night in deep meditation and prayer.</p> +<p>The shock and the chill of this solemn scene were too much for +the old monarch's feeble frame and weakened mind. He was seized +with a fever, and in a few days breathed his last, in the 59th year +of his age. He had spent a little over three years in the convent. +The life of Charles V. was a sad one. Through all his days he was +consumed by unsatisfied ambition, and he seldom enjoyed an hour of +contentment. To his son he said—</p> +<p>"I leave you a heavy burden; for, since my shoulders have borne +it, I have not passed one day exempt from disquietude."</p> +<p>Indeed it would seem that there could have been but little +happiness for anybody in those dark days of feudal oppression and +of incessant wars. Ambition, intrigue, duplicity, reigned over the +lives of princes and nobles, while the masses of the people were +ever trampled down by oppressive lords and contending armies. +Europe was a field of fire and blood. The cimeter of the Turk +spared neither mother, maiden nor babe. Cities and villages were +mercilessly burned, cottages set in flames, fields of grain +destroyed, and whole populations carried into slavery, where they +miserably died. And the ravages of Christian warfare, duke against +duke, baron against baron, king against king, were hardly less +cruel and desolating. Balls from opposing batteries regard not the +helpless ones in their range. Charging squadrons must trample down +with iron hoof all who are in their way. The wail of misery rose +from every portion of Europe. The world has surely made some +progress since that day.</p> +<p>There was but very little that was loveable in the character of +Charles, and he seems to have had but very few friends. So intense +and earnest was he in the prosecution of the plans of grandeur +which engrossed his soul, that he was seldom known to smile. He had +many of the attributes of greatness, <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page144" id="page144"></a>{144}</span> indomitable energy and +perseverance, untiring industry, comprehensive grasp of thought and +capability of superintending the minutest details. He had, also, a +certain fanatic conscientiousness about him, like that which +actuated Saul of Tarsus, when, holding the garments of those who +stoned the martyr, he "verily thought that he was doing God +service."</p> +<p>Many anecdotes are told illustrative of certain estimable traits +in his character. When a boy, like other boys, he was not fond of +study, and being very self-willed, he would not yield to the +entreaties of his tutors. He consequently had but an imperfect +education, which may in part account for his excessive +illiberality, and for many of his stupendous follies. The mind, +enlarged by liberal culture, is ever tolerant. He afterwards +regretted exceedingly this neglect of his early studies. At Genoa, +on some public occasion, he was addressed in a Latin oration, not +one word of which he understood.</p> +<p>"I now feel," he said, "the justice of my preceptor Adrian's +remonstrances, who frequently used to predict that I should be +punished for the thoughtlessness of my youth."</p> +<p>He was fond of the society of learned men, and treated them with +great respect. Some of the nobles complained that the emperor +treated the celebrated historian, Guicciardini, with much more +respect than he did them. He replied—</p> +<p>"I can, by a word, create a hundred nobles; but God alone can +create a Guicciardini."</p> +<p>He greatly admired the genius of Titian, and considered him one +of the most resplendent ornaments of his empire. He knew full well +that Titian would be remembered long after thousands of the +proudest grandees of his empire had sunk into oblivion. He loved to +go into the studio of the illustrious painter, and watch the +creations of beauty as they rose beneath his pencil. One day Titian +accidentally dropped <span class="pagenum"><a name="page145" id= +"page145"></a>{145}</span> his brush. The emperor picked it up, +and, presenting it to the artist, said gracefully—</p> +<p>"Titian is worthy of being served by an emperor."</p> +<p>Charles V. never, apparently, inspired the glow of affection, or +an emotion of enthusiasm in any bosom. He accomplished some reforms +in the German empire, and the only interest his name now excites is +the interest necessarily involved in the sublime drama of his long +and eventful reign.</p> +<p>It is now necessary to retrace our steps for a few years, that +we may note the vicissitudes of Austria, while the empire was +passing through the scenes we have narrated.</p> +<p>Ferdinand I., the brother of Charles V., who was left alone in +the government of Austria, was the second son of Philip the +Handsome and Joanna of Spain. His birth was illustrious, the +Emperor Maximilian being his paternal grandfather, and Ferdinand +and Isabella being his grandparents on his mother's side. He was +born in Spain, March 10, 1503, and received a respectable +education. His manners were courteous and winning, and he was so +much more popular than Charles as quite to excite the jealousy of +his imperious and imperial spirit. Charles, upon attaining the +throne, ceded to his brother the Austrian territories, which then +consisted of four small provinces, Austria, Styria, Carinthia and +Carniola, with the Tyrol.</p> +<p>Ferdinand married Ann, princess of Hungary and Bohemia. The +death of his wife's brother Louis made her the heiress of those two +crowns, and thus secured to Ferdinand the magnificent dowry of the +kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia. But possession of the scepter of +those realms was by no means a sinecure. The Turkish power, which +had been for many years increasing with the most alarming rapidity +and had now acquired appalling strength, kept Hungary, and even the +Austrian States, in constant and terrible alarm.</p> +<p>The Turks, sweeping over Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Syria, all Asia +Minor, crossing the straits and inundating Greece, fierce and +semi-savage, with just civilization enough to organize <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page146" id="page146"></a>{146}</span> and guide +with skill their wolf-like ferocity, were now pressing Europe in +Spain, in Italy, and were crowding, in wave after wave of invasion, +up the valley of the Danube. They had created a navy which was able +to cope with the most powerful fleets of Europe, and island after +island of the Mediterranean was yielding to their sway.</p> +<p>In 1520, Solyman, called the Magnificent, overran Bosnia, and +advancing to the Danube, besieged and captured Belgrade, which +strong fortress was considered the only reliable barrier against +his encroachments. At the same time his fleet took possession of +the island of Rhodes. After some slight reverses, which the Turks +considered merely embarrassments, they resumed their aggressions, +and Solyman, in 1525, again crossing the Danube, entered Hungary +with an army of two hundred thousand men. Louis, who was then King +of Hungary, brother of the wife of Ferdinand, was able to raise an +army of but thirty thousand to meet him. With more courage than +discretion, leading this feeble band, he advanced to resist the +foe. They met on the plains of Mohatz. The Turks made short work of +it. In a few hours, with their cimeters they hewed down nearly the +whole Christian army. The remnant escaped as lambs from wolves. The +king, in his heavy armor, spurred his horse into a stream to cross +in his flight. In attempting to ascend the bank, the noble charger, +who had borne his master bravely through the flood, fell back upon +his rider, and the dead body of the king was afterward picked up by +the Turks, covered with the mud of the morass. All Hungary would +now have fallen into the hands of the Turks had not Solyman been +recalled by a rebellion in one of his own provinces.</p> +<p>It was this event which placed the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary +on the brow of Ferdinand, and by annexing those two kingdoms to the +Austrian States, elevated Austria to be one of the first powers in +Europe. Ferdinand, thus strengthened sent ambassadors to +Constantinople to demand the restitution <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page147" id="page147"></a>{147}</span> of +Belgrade and other important towns which the Turks still held in +Hungary.</p> +<p>"Belgrade!" exclaimed the haughty sultan, when he heard the +demand. "Go tell your master that I am collecting troops and +preparing for my expedition. I will suspend at my neck the keys of +my Hungarian fortresses, and will bring them to that plain of +Mohatz where Louis, by the aid of Providence, found defeat and a +grave. Let Ferdinand meet and conquer me, and take them, after +severing my head from my body! But if I find him not there, I will +seek him at Buda or follow him to Vienna."</p> +<p>Soon after this Solyman crossed the Danube with three hundred +thousand men, and advancing to Mohatz, encamped for several days +upon the plain, with all possible display or Oriental pomp and +magnificence. Thus proudly he threw down the gauntlet of defiance. +But there was no champion there to take it up. Striking his tents, +and spreading his banners to the breeze, in unimpeded march he +ascended the Danube two hundred miles from Belgrade to the city of +Pest. And here his martial bands made hill and vale reverberate the +bugle blasts of victory. Pest, the ancient capital of Hungary, rich +in all the wealth of those days, with a population of some sixty +thousand, was situated on the left bank of the river. Upon the +opposite shore, connected by a fine bridge three quarters of a mile +in width, was the beautiful and opulent city of Buda. In possession +of these two maritime towns, then perhaps the most important in +Hungary, the Turks rioted for a few days in luxury and all +abominable outrage and indulgence, and then, leaving a strong +garrison to hold the fortresses, they continued their march. +Pressing resistlessly onward some hundred miles further, taking all +the towns by the way, on both sides of the Danube, they came to the +city of Raab.</p> +<p>It seems incredible that there could have been such an +unobstructed march of the Turks, through the very heart of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page148" id= +"page148"></a>{148}</span> Hungary. But the Emperor Charles V. was +at that time in Italy, all engrossed in the fiercest warfare there. +Throughout the German empire the Catholics and the Protestants were +engaged in a conflict which absorbed all other thoughts. And the +Protestants resolutely refused to assist in repelling the Turks +while the sword of Catholic vengeance was suspended over them. From +Raab the invading army advanced some hundred miles further to the +very walls of Vienna. Ferdinand, conscious of his inability to meet +the foe in the open field, was concentrating all his available +strength to defend his capital.</p> +<p>At Cremnitz the Turks met with the first serious show of +resistance. The fortress was strong, and the garrison, inspired by +the indomitable energy and courage of their commandant, Nicholas, +Count of Salm, for a month repelled every assault of the foe. Day +after day and night after night the incessant bombardment +continued; the walls were crumbed by the storm of shot; column +after column of the Turks rushed to the assault, but all in vain. +The sultan, disappointed and enraged, made one last desperate +effort, but his strong columns, thined, mangled and bleeding, were +compelled to retire in utter discomfiture.</p> +<p>Winter was now approaching. Reinforcements were also hastening +from Vienna, from Bohemia, and from other parts of the German +empire. Solyman, having devastated the country around him, and +being all unprepared for the storms of winter, was compelled to +retire. He struck his tents, and slowly and sullenly descended the +Danube, wreaking diabolical vengeance upon the helpless peasants, +killing, burning and destroying. Leaving a strong garrison to hold +what remained of Buda and Pest, he carried thousands with him into +captivity, where, after years of woe, they passed into the +grave.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"'Tis terrible to rouse the lion,</p> +<p class="i2">Dreadful to cross the tiger's path;</p> +<p>But the most terrible of terrors,</p> +<p class="i2">Is man himself in his wild wrath."</p> +</div> +</div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page149" id= +"page149"></a>{149}</span> +<p>Solyman spent two years in making preparation for another march +to Vienna, resolved to wipe out the disgrace of his last defeat by +capturing all the Austrian States, and of then spreading the terror +of his arms far and wide through the empire of Germany. The energy +with which he acted may be inferred from one well authenticated +anecdote illustrative of his character. He had ordered a bridge to +be constructed across the Drave. The engineer who had been sent to +accomplish the task, after a careful survey, reported that a bridge +could not be constructed at that point. Solyman sent him a linen +cord with this message:</p> +<p>"The sultan, thy master, commands thee, without consideration of +the difficulties, to complete the bridge over the Drave. If thou +doest it not, on his arrival he will have thee strangled with this +cord."</p> +<p>With a large army, thoroughly drilled, and equipped with all the +enginery of war, the sultan commenced his campaign. His force was +so stupendous and so incumbered with the necessary baggage and +heavy artillery, that it required a march of sixty days to pass +from Constantinople to Belgrade. Ferdinand, in inexpressible alarm, +sent ambassadors to Solyman, hoping to avert the storm by +conciliation and concessions. This indication of weakness but +increased the arrogance of the Turk.</p> +<p>He embarked his artillery on the Danube in a flotilla of three +thousand vessels. Then crossing the Save, which at Belgrade flows +into the Danube, he left the great central river of Europe on his +right, and marching almost due west through Sclavonia, approached +the frontiers of Styria, one of the most important provinces of the +Austrian kingdom, by the shortest route. Still it was a long march +of some two hundred miles. Among the defiles of the Illyrian +mountains, through which he was compelled to pass in his advance to +Vienna, he came upon the little fortress of Guntz, garrisoned only +by eight hundred men. Solyman expected to sweep this slight +annoyance <span class="pagenum"><a name="page150" id= +"page150"></a>{150}</span> away as he would brush a fly from his +face. He sent his advance guard to demolish the impudent obstacle; +then, surprised by the resistance, he pushed forward a few more +battalions; then, enraged at the unexpected strength developed, he +ordered to the attack what he deemed an overwhelming force; and +then, in astonishment and fury, impelled against the fortress the +combined strength of his whole army. But the little crag stood, +like a rock opposing the flooding tide. The waves of war rolled on +and dashed against impenetrable and immovable granite, and were +scattered back in bloody spray. The fortress commanded the pass, +and swept it clean with an unintermitted storm of shot and balls. +For twenty-eight days the fortress resisted the whole force of the +Turkish army, and prevented it from advancing a mile. This check +gave the terrified inhabitants of Vienna, and of the surrounding +region, time to unite for the defense of the capital. The +Protestants and the Catholics having settled their difficulties by +the pacification of Ratisbon, as we have before narrated, combined +all their energies; the pope sent his choicest troops; all the +ardent young men of the German empire, from the ocean to the Alps, +rushed to the banners of the cross, and one hundred and thirty +thousand men, including thirty thousand mounted horsemen, were +speedily gathered within and around the walls of Vienna.</p> +<p>Thus thwarted in his plans, Solyman found himself compelled to +retreat ingloriously, by the same path through which he had +advanced. Thus Christendom was relieved of this terrible menace. +Though the Turks were still in possession of Hungary, the allied +troops of the empire strangely dispersed without attempting to +regain the kingdom from their domination.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page151" id= +"page151"></a>{151}</span> +<h2><a name="chap10" id="chap10">CHAPTER X</a>.</h2> +<h3>FERDINAND I.—HIS WARS AND INTRIGUES.</h3> +<h4>From 1555 To 1562.</h4> +<p class="summary">John Of Tapoli.—The Instability Of +Compacts.—The Sultans's Demands.—A Reign Of +War.—Powers And Duties Of The Monarchs Of Bohemia.—The +Diet.—The King's Desire To Crush Protestantism.—The +Entrance To Prague.—Terror Of The Inhabitants.—The +King's Conditions.—The Bloody Diet.—Disciplinary +Measures.—The Establishment Of The Order Of +Jesuits.—abdication Of Charles V. In Favor Of +Ferdinand.—Power Of The Pope.—Paul IV.—A Quiet +But Powerful Blow.—The Progress Of The +Reformers.—Attempts To Reconcile The Protestants—The +Unsuccessful Assembly.</p> +<p>During all the wars with the Turks, a Transylvanian count, John +of Tapoli, was disputing Ferdinand's right to the throne of Hungary +and claiming it for himself. He even entered into negotiations with +the Turks, and coöperated with Solyman in his invasion of +Hungary, having the promise of the sultan that he should be +appointed king of the realm as soon as it was brought in subjection +to Turkey. The Turks had now possession of Hungary, and the sultan +invested John of Tapoli with the sovereignty of the kingdom, in the +presence of a brilliant assemblage of the officers of his army and +of the Hungarian nobles.</p> +<p>The last discomfiture and retreat of Solyman encouraged +Ferdinand to redoubled exertions to reconquer Hungary from the +combined forces of the Turks and his Transylvanian rival. Several +years passed away in desultory, indecisive warfare, while John held +his throne as tributary king to the sultan. At last Ferdinand, +finding that he could not resist their united strength, and John +becoming annoyed by the exactions of his Turkish master, they +agreed to a compromise, by which John, who was aged, childless and +infirm, was to remain king of all <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page152" id="page152"></a>{152}</span> that part of Hungary which +he held until he died; and the whole kingdom was then to revert to +Ferdinand and his heirs—But it was agreed that should John +marry and have a son, that son should be viceroy, or, as the title +then was, <i>univode</i>, of his father's hereditary domain of +<i>Transylvania</i>, having no control over any portion of Hungary +proper.</p> +<p>Somewhat to the disappointment of Ferdinand, the old monarch +immediately married a young bride. A son was born to them, and in +fourteen days after his birth the father died of a stroke of +apoplexy. The child was entitled to the viceroyship of +Transylvania, while all the rest of Hungary was to pass +unincumbered to Ferdinand. But Isabella, the ambitious young +mother, who had married the decrepit monarch that she might enjoy +wealth and station, had no intention that her babe should be less +of a king than his father was. She was the daughter of Sigismond, +King of Poland, and relying upon the support of her regal father +she claimed the crown of Hungary for her boy, in defiance of the +solemn compact. In that age of chivalry a young and beautiful woman +could easily find defenders whatever might be her claims. Isabella +soon rallied around her banner many Hungarian nobles, and a large +number of adventurous knights from Poland.</p> +<p>Under her influence a large party of nobles met, chose the babe +their king, and crowned him, under the name of Stephen, with a +great display of military and religious pomp. They then conveyed +him and his mother to the strong castle of Buda and dispatched an +embassy to the sultan at Constantinople, avowing homage to him, as +their feudal lord, and imploring his immediate and vigorous +support.</p> +<p>Ferdinand, thus defrauded, and conscious of his inability to +rescue the crown from the united forces of the Hungarian partisans +of Stephen, and from the Turks, condescended also to send a message +to the sultan, offering to hold the crown as his fief and to pay to +the Porte the same tribute which John had paid, if the sultan would +support his claim. The imperious <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page153" id="page153"></a>{153}</span> Turk, knowing that he could +depose the baby king at his pleasure, insultingly rejected the +proposals which Ferdinand had humiliated himself in advancing. He +returned in answer, that he demanded, as the price of peace, not +only that Ferdinand should renounce all claim whatever to the crown +of Hungary, but that he should also acknowledge the Austrian +territories as under vassalage to the Turkish empire, and pay +tribute accordingly.</p> +<p>Ferdinand, at the same time that he sent his embassy to +Constantinople, without waiting for a reply dispatched an army into +Hungary, which reached Buda and besieged Isabella and her son in +the citadel.</p> +<p>He pressed the siege with such vigor that Isabella must have +surrendered had not an army of Turks come to her rescue. The +Austrian troops were defeated and dispersed. The sultan himself +soon followed with a still larger army, took possession of the +city, secured the person of the queen and the infant prince, and +placed a garrison of ten thousand janissaries in the citadel. The +Turkish troops spread in all directions, establishing themselves in +towns, castles, fortresses, and setting at defiance all Ferdinand's +efforts to dislodge them. These events occurred during the reign of +the Emperor Charles V. The resources of Ferdinand had become so +exhausted that he was compelled, while affairs were in this state, +in the year 1545, ten years before the abdication of the emperor, +to implore of Solyman a suspension of arms.</p> +<p>The haughty sultan reluctantly consented to a truce of five +years upon condition that Ferdinand would pay him an annual tribute +of about sixty thousand dollars, and become feudatory of the Porte. +To these humiliating conditions Ferdinand felt compelled to assent. +Solyman, thus relieved from any trouble on the part of Ferdinand, +compelled the queen to renounce to himself all right which either +she or her son had to the throne. And now for many years we have +nothing but a weary record of intrigues, assassinations, wars and +woes. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page154" id= +"page154"></a>{154}</span> Miserable Hungary was but a field of +blood. There were three parties, Ferdinand, Stephen and Solyman, +all alike ready to be guilty of any inhumanity or to perpetrate any +perfidy in the accomplishment of their plans. Ferdinand with his +armies held one portion of Hungary, Solyman another, and Stephen, +with his strong partisans another. Bombardment succeeded +bombardment; cities and provinces were now overrun by one set of +troops and now by another; the billows of war surged to and fro +incessantly, and the wail of the widow and the cry of the orphan +ascended by day and by night to the ear of God.</p> +<p>In 1556 the Turks again invested Stephen with the government of +that large portion of Hungary which they held, including +Transylvania. Ferdinand still was in possession of several +important fortresses, and of several of the western districts of +Hungary bordering on the Austrian States. Isabella, annoyed by her +subjection to the Turks, made propositions to Ferdinand for a +reconciliation, and a truce was agreed upon which gave the land +rest for a few years.</p> +<p>While these storms were sweeping over Hungary, events of +scarcely less importance were transpiring in Bohemia. This kingdom +was an elective monarchy, and usually upon the death of a king the +fiercest strife ensued as to who should be his successor. The +elected monarch, on receiving the crown, was obliged to recognize +the sovereignty of the people as having chosen him for their ruler, +and he promised to govern according to the ancient constitution of +the kingdom. The monarch, however, generally found no difficulty in +surrounding himself with such strong supporters as to secure the +election of his son or heir, and frequently he had his successor +chosen before his death. Thus the monarchy, though nominally +elective, was in its practical operation essentially +hereditary.</p> +<p>The authority of the crown was quite limited. The monarch was +only intrusted with so much power as the proud nobles were willing +to surrender to one of their number whom <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page155" id="page155"></a>{155}</span> they +appointed chief, whose superiority they reluctantly acknowledged, +and against whom they were very frequently involved in wars. In +those days the <i>people</i> had hardly a recognized existence. The +nobles met in a congress called a diet, and authorized their +elected chief, the king, to impose taxes, raise troops, declare war +and institute laws according to their will. These diets were +differently composed under different reigns, and privileged cities +were sometimes authorized to send deputies whom they selected from +the most illustrious of their citizens. The king usually convoked +the diets; but in those stormy times of feuds, conspiracies and +wars, there was hardly any general rule. The nobles, displeased at +some act of the king, would themselves, through some one or more of +their number, summon a diet and organize resistance. The numbers +attending such an irregular body were of course very various. There +appear to have been diets of the empire composed of not more than +half a dozen individuals, and others where as many hundreds were +assembled. Sometimes the meetings were peaceful, and again +tumultuous with the clashing of arms.</p> +<p>In Bohemia the conflict between the Catholics and the reformers +had raged with peculiar acrimony, and the reformers in that kingdom +had become a very numerous and influential body. Ferdinand was +anxious to check the progress of the Reformation, and he exerted +all the power he could command to defend and maintain Catholic +supremacy. For ten years Ferdinand was absent from Bohemia, all his +energies being absorbed by the Hungarian war. He was anxious to +weaken the power of the nobles in Bohemia. There was ever, in those +days, either an open or a smothered conflict between the king and +the nobles, the monarch striving to grasp more power, the nobles +striving to keep him in subjection to them. Ferdinand attempted to +disarm the nobles by sending for all the artillery of the kingdom, +professing that he needed it to carry on his war with the Turks. +But the wary nobles held on to <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page156" id="page156"></a>{156}</span> their artillery. He then +was guilty of the folly of hunting up some old exploded compacts, +in virtue of which he declared that Bohemia was not an elective but +a hereditary monarchy, and that he, as hereditary sovereign, held +the throne for himself and his heirs.</p> +<p>This announcement spread a flame of indignation through all the +castles of Bohemia. The nobles rallied, called a diet, passed +strong resolutions, organized an army, and adopted measures for +vigorous resistance. But Ferdinand was prepared for all these +demonstrations. His Hungarian truce enabled him to march a strong +army on Bohemia. The party in power has always numerous supporters +from those who, being in office, will lose their dignities by +revolution. The king summoned all the well affected to repair to +his standards, threatening condign punishment to all who did not +give this proof of loyalty. Nobles and knights in great numbers +flocked to his encampment. With menacing steps his battalions +strode on, and triumphantly entered Prague, the capital city, +situated in the very heart of the kingdom.</p> +<p>The indignation in the city was great, but the king was too +strong to be resisted, and he speedily quelled all movements of +tumult. Prague, situated upon the steep and craggy banks of the +Moldau, spanning the stream, and with its antique dwellings rising +tier above tier upon the heights, is one of the most grand and +imposing capitals of Europe. About one hundred and twenty thousand +inhabitants crowd its narrow streets and massive edifices. Castles, +fortresses, somber convents and the Gothic palaces of the old +Bohemian monarchs, occupying every picturesque locality, as gray +with age as the eternal crags upon which they stand, and exhibiting +every fantastic variety of architecture, present an almost +unrivaled aspect of beauty and of grandeur. The Palace on the Hill +alone is larger than the imperial palace at Vienna, containing over +four hundred apartments, some of them being rooms of magnificent +dimensions. The cathedral within the precincts of this <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page157" id="page157"></a>{157}</span> palace +occupied more than one hundred and fifty years in its erection.</p> +<p>Ferdinand, with the iron energy and determined will of an +enraged, successful despot, stationed his troops at the gates, the +bridges and at every commanding position, and thus took military +possession of the city. The inhabitants, overawed and helpless, +were in a state of terror. The emperor summoned six hundred of the +most influential of the citizens to his palace, including all who +possessed rank or office or wealth. Tremblingly they came. As soon +as they had entered, the gates were closed and guarded, and they +were all made prisoners. The king then, seated upon his throne, in +his royal robes, and with his armed officers around him, ordered +the captives like culprits to be led before him. Sternly he charged +them with treason, and demanded what excuse they had to offer. They +were powerless, and their only hope was in self-abasement. One, +speaking in the name of the rest, said:</p> +<p>"We will not presume to enter into any defense of our conduct +with our king and master. We cast ourselves upon his royal +mercy."</p> +<p>They then all simultaneously threw themselves upon their knees, +imploring his pardon. The king allowed them to remain for some time +in that posture, that he might enjoy their humiliation. He then +ordered his officers to conduct them into the hall of justice, and +detain them there until he had decided respecting their punishment. +For some hours they were kept in this state of suspense. He then +informed them, that out of his great clemency he had decided to +pardon them on the following conditions.</p> +<p>They were to surrender all their constitutional privileges, +whatever they were, into the hands of the king, and be satisfied +with whatever privileges he might condescend to confer upon them. +They were to bring all their artillery, muskets and ammunition to +the palace, and surrender them to his officers; all the revenues of +the city, together with a tax upon <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page158" id="page158"></a>{158}</span> malt and beer, were to be +paid into his hands for his disposal, and all their vassals, and +their property of every kind, they were to resign to the king and +to his heirs, whom they were to acknowledge as the +<i>hereditary</i> successors to the throne of Bohemia. Upon these +conditions the king promised to spare the rebellious city, and to +pardon all the offenders, excepting a few of the most prominent, +whom he was determined to punish with such severity as to prove an +effectual warning to all others.</p> +<p>The prisoners were terrified into the immediate ratification of +these hard terms. They were then all released, excepting forty, who +were reserved for more rigorous punishment. In the same manner the +king sent a summons to all the towns of the kingdom; and by the +same terrors the same terms were extorted. All the rural nobles, +who had manifested a spirit of resistance, were also summoned +before a court of justice for trial. Some fled the kingdom. Their +estates were confiscated to Ferdinand, and they were sentenced to +death should they ever return. Many others were deprived of their +possessions. Twenty-six were thrown into prison, and two condemned +to public execution.</p> +<p>The king, having thus struck all the discontented with terror, +summoned a diet to meet in his palace at Prague. They met the 22d +of August, 1547. A vast assemblage was convened, as no one who was +summoned dared to stay away. The king, wishing to give an +intimation to the diet of what they were to expect should they +oppose his wishes, commenced the session by publicly hanging four +of the most illustrious of his captives. One of these, high judge +of the kingdom, was in the seventieth year of his age. The Bloody +Diet, as it has since been called, was opened, and Ferdinand found +all as pliant as he could wish. The royal discipline had effected +wonders. The slightest intimation of Ferdinand was accepted with +eagerness.</p> +<p>The execrable tyrant wished to impress the whole kingdom +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page159" id= +"page159"></a>{159}</span> with a salutary dread of incurring his +paternal displeasure. He brought out the forty prisoners who still +remained in their dungeons. Eight of the most distinguished men of +the kingdom were led to three of the principal cities, in each of +which, in the public square, they were ignominiously and cruelly +whipped on the bare back. Before each flagellation the executioner +proclaimed—</p> +<p>"These men are punished because they are traitors, and because +they excited the people against their <i>hereditary</i> +master."</p> +<p>They then, with eight others, their property being confiscated, +in utter beggary, were driven as vagabonds from the kingdom. The +rest, after being impoverished by fines, were restored to liberty. +Ferdinand adopted vigorous measures to establish his despotic +power. Considering the Protestant religion as peculiarly hostile to +despotism, in the encouragement it afforded to education, to the +elevation of the masses, and to the diffusion of those principles +of fraternal equality which Christ enjoined; and considering the +Catholic religion as the great bulwark of kingly power, by the +intolerance of the Church teaching the benighted multitudes +subjection to civil intolerance, Ferdinand, with unceasing +vigilance, and with melancholy success, endeavored to eradicate the +Lutheran doctrines from the kingdom. He established the most +rigorous censorship of the press, and would allow no foreign work, +unexamined, to enter the realm. He established in Bohemia the +fanatic order of the Jesuits, and intrusted to them the education +of the young.</p> +<p>It is often impossible to reconcile the inconsistencies of the +human heart. Ferdinand, while guilty of such atrocities, affected, +on some points, the most scrupulous punctilios of honor. The +clearly-defined privileges which had been promised the Protestants, +he would not infringe in the least. They were permitted to give +their children Protestant teachers, and to conduct worship in their +own way. He effected his object of <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page160" id="page160"></a>{160}</span> changing Bohemia from an +elective to a hereditary monarchy, and thus there was established +in Bohemia the renowned doctrine of regal legitimacy; of the +<i>divine right</i> of kings to govern. With such a bloody hand was +the doctrine of the sovereignty, not of the <i>people</i>, but of +the <i>nobles</i>, overthrown in Bohemia. The nobles are not much +to be commiserated, for they trampled upon the people as +mercilessly as the king did upon them. It is merely another +illustration of the old and melancholy story of the strong +devouring the weak: the owl takes the wren; the eagle the owl.</p> +<p>Bohemia, thus brought in subjection to a single mind, and +shackled in its spirit of free enterprise, began rapidly to exhibit +symptoms of decline and decay. It was a great revolution, +accomplished by cunning and energy, and maintained by the terrors +of confiscation, exile and death.</p> +<p>The Emperor Charles V., it will be remembered, had attempted in +vain to obtain the reversion of the imperial crown for his son +Philip at his own death. The crown of Spain was his hereditary +possession, and that he could transmit to his son. But the crown of +the empire was elective. Charles V. was so anxious to secure the +imperial dignity for his son, that he retained the crown of the +empire for some months after abdicating that of Spain, still hoping +to influence the electors in their choice. But there were so many +obstacles in the way of the recognition of the young Philip as +emperor, that Charles, anxious to retain the dignity in the family, +reluctantly yielded to the intrigues of his brother Ferdinand, who +had now become so powerful that he could perhaps triumph over any +little irregularity in the succession and silence murmurs.</p> +<p>Consequently, Charles, nine months after the abdication of the +thrones of the Low Countries and of Spain, tried the experiment of +abdicating the <i>elective</i> crown of the empire in favor of +Ferdinand. It was in many respects such an act as if the President +of the United States should abdicate in favor of some one of his +own choice. The emperor had, however, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page161" id="page161"></a>{161}</span> a +semblance of right to place the scepter in the hands of whom he +would during his lifetime. But, upon the death of the emperor, +would his appointee still hold his power, or would the crown at +that moment be considered as falling from his brow? It was the 7th +of August, 1556, when the emperor abdicated the throne of the +empire in behalf of his brother Ferdinand. It was a new event in +history, without a precedent, and the matter was long and earnestly +discussed throughout the German States. Notwithstanding all +Ferdinand's energy, sagacity and despotic power, two years elapsed +before he could secure the acknowledgment of his title, by the +German States, and obtain a proclamation of his imperial state.</p> +<p>The pope had thus far had such an amazing control over the +conscience, or rather the superstition of Europe, that the choice +of the electors was ever subject to the ratification of the holy +father. It was necessary for the emperor elect to journey to Rome, +and be personally crowned by the hands of the pope, before he could +be considered in legal possession of the imperial title and of a +right to the occupancy of the throne. Julius II., under peculiar +circumstances, allowed Maximilian to assume the title of <i>emperor +elect</i> while he postponed his visit to Rome for coronation; but +the want of the papal sanction, by the imposition of the crown upon +his brow by those <i>sacred hands</i>, thwarted Maximilian in some +of his most fondly-cherished measures.</p> +<p>Paul IV. was now pontiff, an old man, jealous of his +prerogatives, intolerant in the extreme, and cherishing the most +exorbitant sense of his spiritual power. He execrated the +Protestants, and was indignant with Ferdinand that he had shown +them any mercy at all. But Ferdinand, conscious of the importance +of a papal coronation, sent a very obsequious embassy to Rome, +announcing his appointment as emperor, and imploring the +benediction of the holy father and the reception of the crown from +his hands. The haughty and disdainful <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page162" id="page162"></a>{162}</span> reply of +the pope was characteristic of the times and of the man. It was in +brief, as follows:</p> +<p>"The Emperor Charles has behaved like a madman; and his acts are +no more to be respected than the ravings of insanity. Charles V. +received the imperial crown from the head of the Church; in +abdicating, that crown could only return to the sacred hands which +conferred it. The nomination of Ferdinand as his successor we +pronounce to be null and void. The alleged ratification of the +electors is a mockery, dishonored and vitiated as it is by the +votes of electors polluted with heresy. We therefore command +Ferdinand to relinquish all claim to the imperial crown."</p> +<p>The irascible old pontiff, buried beneath the senseless pomps of +the Vatican, was not at all aware of the change which Protestant +preaching and writing had effected in the public mind of Germany. +Italy was still slumbering in the gloom of the dark ages; but light +was beginning to dawn upon the hills of the empire. One half of the +population of the German empire would rally only the more +enthusiastically around Ferdinand, if he would repel all papal +assumptions with defiance and contempt. Ferdinand was the wiser and +the better informed man of the two. He conducted with dignity and +firmness which make us almost forget his crimes. A diet was +summoned, and it was quietly decreed that a <i>papal coronation was +no longer necessary</i>. That one short line was the heaviest blow +the papal throne had yet received. From it, it never recovered and +never can recover.</p> +<p>Paul IV. was astounded at such effrontery, and as soon as he had +recovered a little from his astonishment, alarmed in view of such a +declaration of independence, he took counsel of discretion, and +humiliating as it was, made advances for a reconciliation. +Ferdinand was also anxious to be on good terms with the pope. While +negotiations were pending, Paul died, his death being perhaps +hastened by chagrin. Pius IV. succeeded him, and pressed still more +earnestly overtures for reconciliation <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page163" id="page163"></a>{163}</span> +Ferdinand, through his ambassador, expressed his willingness to +pledge the accustomed <i>devotion</i> and <i>reverence</i> to the +head of the Church, omitting the word <i>obedience</i>. But the +pope was anxious, above all things, to have that emphatic word +<i>obey</i> introduced into the ritual of subjection, and after +employing all the arts of diplomacy and cajolery, carried his +point. Ferdinand, with duplicity which was not honorable, let the +word remain, saying that it was not his act, but that of his +ambassador. The pope affected satisfaction with the formal +acknowledgment of his power, while Ferdinand ever after refused to +recognize his authority. Thus terminated the long dependence, +running through ages of darkness and delusion, of the German +emperors upon the Roman see.</p> +<p>Ferdinand did not trouble himself to receive the crown from the +pope, and since his day the emperors of Germany have no longer been +exposed to the expense and the trouble of a journey to Rome for +their coronation. Though Ferdinand was strongly attached to the +tenets of the papal church, and would gladly have eradicated +Protestantism from his domains, he was compelled to treat the +Protestants with some degree of consideration, as he needed the aid +of their arms in the wars in which he was incessantly involved with +the Turks. He even made great efforts to introduce some measure of +conciliation which should reconcile the two parties, and thus +reunite his realms under one system of doctrine and of worship.</p> +<p>Still Protestantism was making rapid strides all over Europe. It +had become the dominant religion in Denmark and Sweden, and, by the +accession of Elizabeth to the throne of England, was firmly +established in that important kingdom. In France also the reformed +religion had made extensive inroads, gathering to its defense many +of the noblest spirits, in rank and intellect, in the realm. The +terrors of the inquisition had thus far prevented the truth from +making much progress in Spain and Portugal.</p> +<p>With the idea of promoting reconciliation, Ferdinand +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page164" id= +"page164"></a>{164}</span> adopted a measure which contributed +greatly to his popularity with the Protestants. He united with +France and Spain in urging Pius IV., a mild and pliant pontiff, to +convene a council in Germany to heal the religious feud. He drew up +a memorial, which was published and widely scattered, declaring +that the Protestants had become far too powerful to be treated with +outrage or contempt; that there were undeniable wrongs in the +Church which needed to be reformed; and that no harm could accrue +from permitting the clergy to marry, and to administer both bread +and wine to the communicants in the Lord's Supper. It was a +doctrine of the Church of Rome, that the laity could receive the +bread only; the wine was reserved for the officiating priest.</p> +<p>This memorial of Ferdinand, drawn up with much distinctness and +great force of argument, was very grateful to the Protestants, but +very displeasing to the court of Rome. These conflicts raged for +several years without any decisive results. The efforts of +Ferdinand to please both parties, as usual, pleased neither. By the +Protestants he was regarded as a persecutor and intolerant; while +the Catholics accused him of lukewarmness, of conniving at heresy +and of dishonoring the Church by demanding of her concessions +derogatory to her authority and her dignity.</p> +<p>Ferdinand, finding that the Church clung with deathly tenacity +to its corruptions, assumed himself quite the attitude of a +reformer. A memorable council had been assembled at Trent on the +15th of January, 1562. Ferdinand urged the council to exhort the +pope to examine if there was not room for some reform in his own +person, state or court. "Because," said he, "the only true method +to obtain authority for the reformation of others, is to begin by +amending oneself." He commented upon the manifest impropriety of +scandalous indulgences: of selling the sacred offices of the Church +to the highest bidder, regardless of character; of extorting fees +for the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page165" id= +"page165"></a>{165}</span> offering prayers and performing the +services of public devotion in a language which the people could +not understand; and other similar and most palpable abuses. Even +the kings of France and Spain united with the emperor in these +remonstrances.</p> +<p>It is difficult now to conceive of the astonishment and +indignation with which the pope and his adherents received these +very reasonable suggestions, coming not from the Protestants but +from the most staunch advocates of the papacy. The see of Rome, +corrupt to its very core, would yield nothing. The more senseless +and abominable any of its corruptions were, the more tenaciously +did pope and cardinals cling to them. At last the emperor, in +despair of seeing any thing accomplished, requested that the +assembly might be dissolved, saying, "Nothing good can be expected, +even if it continue its sittings for a hundred years."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page166" id= +"page166"></a>{166}</span> +<h2><a name="chap11" id="chap11">CHAPTER XI</a>.</h2> +<h3>DEATH OF FERDINAND I.—ACCESSION OF MAXIMILIAN II.</h3> +<h4>From 1562 to 1576.</h4> +<p class="summary">The Council of Trent.—Spread of the +Reformation.—Ferdinand's Attempt to Influence the +Pope.—His Arguments against Celibacy.—Stubbornness of +the Pope.—Maximilian II.—Displeasure of +Ferdinand.—Motives for not Abjuring the Catholic +Faith.—Religious Strife in Europe.—Maximilian's Address +to Charles IX.—Mutual Toleration.—Romantic Pastime of +War.—Heroism of Nicholas, Count Of Zrini.—Accession of +Power to Austria.—Accession of Rhodolph III.—Death of +Maximilian.</p> +<p>This celebrated council of Trent, which was called with the hope +that by a spirit of concession and reform the religious dissensions +which agitated Europe might be adjusted, declared, in the very +bravado of papal intolerance, the very worst abuses of the Church +to be essential articles of faith, which could only be renounced at +the peril of eternal condemnation, and thus presented an +insuperable barrier to any reconciliation between the Catholics and +the Protestants. Ferdinand was disappointed, and yet did not +venture to break with the pope by withholding his assent from the +decrees which were enacted.</p> +<p>The Lutheran doctrines had spread widely through Ferdinand's +hereditary States of Austria. Several of the professors in the +university at Vienna had embraced those views; and quite a number +of the most powerful and opulent of the territorial lords even +maintained Protestant chaplains at their castles. The majority of +the inhabitants of the Austrian States had, in the course of a few +years, become Protestants. Though Ferdinand did every thing he +dared to do to check their progress, forbidding the circulation of +Luther's translation of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page167" +id="page167"></a>{167}</span> Bible, and throwing all the obstacles +he could in the way of Protestant worship, he was compelled to +grant them very considerable toleration, and to overlook the +infraction of his decrees, that he might secure their aid to repel +the Turks. Providence seemed to overrule the Moslem invasion for +the protection of the Protestant faith. Notwithstanding all the +efforts of Ferdinand, the reformers gained ground in Austria as in +other parts of Germany.</p> +<p>The two articles upon which the Protestants at this time placed +most stress were the right of the clergy to marry and the +administration of the communion under both kinds, as it was called; +that is, that the communicants should partake of both the bread and +the wine. Ferdinand, having failed entirely in inducing the council +to submit to any reform, opened direct communication with the pope +to obtain for his subjects indulgence in respect to these two +articles. In advocacy of this measure he wrote:</p> +<p>"In Bohemia no persuasion, no argument, no violence, not even +arms and war, have succeeded in abolishing the use of the cup as +well as the bread in the sacrament. In fact the Church itself +permitted it, although the popes revoked it by a breach of the +conditions on which it was granted. In the other States, Hungary, +Austria, Silesia, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Bavaria and other +parts of Germany, many desire with ardor the same indulgence. If +this concession is granted they may be reunited to the Church, but +if refused they will be driven into the party of the Protestants. +So many of the priests have been degraded by their diocesans for +administering the sacrament in both kinds, that the country is +almost deprived of priests. Hence children die or grow up to +maturity without baptism; and men and women, of all ages and of all +ranks, live like the brutes, in the grossest ignorance of God and +of religion."</p> +<p>In reference to the marriage of the clergy he wrote: "If a +permission to the clergy to marry can not be granted, may +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page168" id= +"page168"></a>{168}</span> 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 be justly +asked whether such concessions would not be far preferable to +tolerating, as has unfortunately been done, fornication and +concubinage? I can not avoid adding, what is a common observation, +that priests who live in concubinage are guilty of greater sin than +those who are married; for the last only transgress a law which is +capable of being changed, whereas the first sin against a divine +law, which is capable of neither change nor dispensation."</p> +<p>The pope, pressed with all the importunity which Ferdinand could +urge, reluctantly consented to the administration of the cup to the +laity, but resolutely refused to tolerate the marriage of the +clergy. Ferdinand was excessively annoyed by the stubbornness of +the court of Rome in its refusal to submit to the most reasonable +reform, thus rendering it impossible for him to allay the religious +dissensions which were still spreading and increasing in acrimony. +His disappointment was so great that it is said to have thrown him +into the fever of which he died on the 25th of July, 1564.</p> +<p>For several ages the archdukes of Austria had been endeavoring +to unite the Austrian States with Hungary and Bohemia under one +monarchy. The union had been temporarily effected once or twice, +but Ferdinand accomplished the permanent union, and may thus be +considered as the founder of the Austrian monarchy essentially as +it now exists. As Archduke of Austria, he inherited the Austrian +duchies. By his marriage with Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, King of +Hungary and Bohemia, he secured those crowns, which he made +hereditary in his family. He left three sons. The eldest, +Maximilian, inherited the archduchy of Austria and the crowns of +Bohemia and Hungary, of course inheriting, with Hungary, +prospective war with the Turks. The second son, Ferdinand, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page169" id= +"page169"></a>{169}</span> had, as his legacy, the government and +the revenues of the Tyrol. The third son, Charles, received Styria. +There were nine daughters left, three of whom took the vail and the +rest formed illustrious marriages.</p> +<p>Ferdinand appears to have been a sincere Catholic, though he saw +the great corruptions of the Church and earnestly desired reform. +As he advanced in years he became more tolerant and gentle, and had +his wise counsels been pursued Europe would have escaped +inexpressible woes. Still he clung to the Church, unwisely seeking +unity of faith and discipline, which can hardly be attained in this +world, rather than toleration with allowed diversity.</p> +<p>Maximilian II. was thirty-seven years of age on his accession to +the throne. Although he was educated in the court of Spain, which +was the most bigoted and intolerant in Europe, yet he developed a +character remarkable for mildness, affability and tolerance. He was +indebted for these attractive traits to his tutor, a man of +enlarged and cultivated mind, and who had, like most men of his +character at that time, a strong leaning towards Protestantism. +These principles took so firm a hold of his youthful mind that they +could never be eradicated. As he advanced in life he became more +and more interested in the Protestant faith. He received a +clergyman of the reformed religion as his chaplain and private +secretary, and partook of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, from +his hands, in both kinds. Even while remaining in the Spanish court +he entered into a correspondence with several of the most +influential advocates of the Protestant faith. Returning to Austria +from Spain, he attended public worship in the chapels of the +Protestants, and communed with them in the sacrament of the Lord's +Supper. When some of his friends warned him that by pursuing such a +course he could never hope to obtain the imperial crown of Germany, +he replied:</p> +<p>"I will sacrifice all worldly interests for the sake of my +salvation."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page170" id= +"page170"></a>{170}</span> +<p>His father, the Emperor Ferdinand, was so much displeased with +his son's advocacy of the Protestant faith, that after many angry +remonstrances he threatened to disinherit him if he did not +renounce all connection with the reformers. But Maximilian, true to +his conscience, would not allow the apprehension of the loss of a +crown to induce him to swerve from his faith. Fully expecting to be +thus cast off and banished from the kingdom, he wrote to the +Protestant elector Palatine:</p> +<p>"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."</p> +<p>The Catholics of course looked with apprehension to the +accession of Maximilian to the throne, while the Protestants +anticipated the event with great hope. There were, however, many +considerations of vast moment influencing Maximilian not to +separate himself, in form, from the Catholic church. Philip, his +cousin, King of Spain, was childless, and should he die without +issue, Ferdinand would inherit that magnificent throne, which he +could not hope to ascend, as an avowed Protestant, without a long +and bloody war. It had been the most earnest dying injunction of +his father that he should not abjure the Catholic faith. His wife +was a very zealous Catholic, as was also each one of his brothers. +There were very many who remained in the Catholic church whose +sympathies were with the reformers—who hoped to promote +reformation in the Church without leaving it. Influenced by such +considerations, Maximilian made a public confession of the Catholic +faith, received his father's confessor, and maintained, in his +court, the usages of the papal church. He was, however, the kind +friend of the Protestants, ever seeking to shield them from +persecution, claiming for them a liberal toleration, and seeking, +in all ways, to promote fraternal religious feeling throughout his +domains.</p> +<p>The prudence of Maximilian wonderfully allayed the bitterness +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page171" id= +"page171"></a>{171}</span> of religious strife in Germany, while +other portions of Europe were desolated with the fiercest warfare +between the Catholics and Protestants. In France, in particular, +the conflict raged with merciless fury. It was on August 24th, +1572, but a few years after Maximilian ascended the throne, when +the Catholics of France perpetrated the Massacre of St. +Bartholomew, perhaps the most atrocious crime recorded in history. +The Catholics and Protestants in France were nearly equally divided +in numbers, wealth and rank. The papal party, finding it impossible +to crush their foes by force of arms, resolved to exterminate them +by a simultaneous massacre. They feigned toleration and +reconciliation. The court of Paris invited all the leading +Protestants of the kingdom to the metropolis to celebrate the +nuptials of Henry, the young King of Navarre, with Margaret, sister +of Charles IX., the reigning monarch. Secret orders were dispatched +all over the kingdom, for the conspirators, secretly armed, at a +given signal, by midnight, to rise upon the Protestants, men, women +and children, and utterly exterminate them. "Let not one remain +alive," said the King of France, "to tell the story."</p> +<p>The deed was nearly accomplished. The king himself, from a +window of the Louvre, fired upon his Protestant subjects, as they +fled in dismay through the streets. In a few hours eighty thousand +of the Protestants were mangled corpses. Protestantism in France +has never recovered from this blow. Maximilian openly expressed his +execration of this deed, though the pope ordered Te Deums to be +chanted at Rome in exultation over the crime. Not long after this +horrible slaughter, Charles IX. died in mental torment. Henry of +Valois, brother of the deceased king, succeeded to the throne. He +was at that time King of Poland. Returning to France, through +Vienna, he had an interview with Maximilian, who addressed him in +those memorable words which have often been quoted to the honor of +the Austrian sovereign:</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page172" id= +"page172"></a>{172}</span> +<p>"There is no crime greater in princes," said Maximilian, "than +to tyrannize over the consciences of their subjects. By shedding +the blood of heretics, far from honoring the common Father of all, +they incur the divine vengeance; and while they aspire, by such +means, to crowns in heaven, they justly expose themselves to the +loss of their earthly kingdoms."</p> +<p>Under the peaceful and humane reign of Ferdinand, Germany was +kept in a general state of tranquillity, while storms of war and +woe were sweeping over almost all other parts of Europe. During all +his reign, Maximilian II. was unwearied in his endeavors to promote +harmony between the two great religious parties, by trying, on the +one hand, to induce the pope to make reasonable concessions, and, +on the other hand, to induce the Protestants to moderate their +demands. His first great endeavor was to induce the pope to consent +to the marriage of the clergy. In this he failed entirely. He then +tried to form a basis of mutual agreement, upon which the two +parties could unite. His father had attempted this plan, and found +it utterly impracticable. Maximilian attempted it, with just as +little success. It has been attempted a thousand times since, and +has always failed. Good men are ever rising who mourn the divisions +in the Christian Church, and strive to form some plan of union, +where all true Christians can meet and fraternize, and forget their +minor differences. Alas! for poor human nature, there is but little +prospect that this plan can ever be accomplished. There will be +always those who can not discriminate between essential and +non-essential differences of opinion. Maximilian at last fell back +simply upon the doctrine of a liberal toleration, and in +maintaining this he was eminently successful.</p> +<p>At one time the Turks were crowding him very hard in Hungary. A +special effort was requisite to raise troops to repel them. +Maximilian summoned a diet, and appealed to the assembled nobles +for supplies of men and money. In Austria proper, Protestantism was +now in the decided ascendency. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page173" id="page173"></a>{173}</span> The nobles took advantage +of the emperor's wants to reply—</p> +<p>"We are ready to march to the assistance of our sovereign, to +repel the Turks from Hungary, if the Jesuits are first expelled +from our territories."</p> +<p>The answer of the king was characteristic of his policy and of +his career. "I have convened you," he said, "to give me +contributions, not remonstrances. I wish you to help me expel the +Turks, not the Jesuits."</p> +<p>From many a prince this reply would have excited exasperation. +But Maximilian had established such a character for impartiality +and probity, that the rebuke was received with applause rather than +with murmurs, and the Protestants, with affectionate zeal, rallied +around his standard. So great was the influence of the king, that +toleration, as one of the virtues of the court, became the fashion, +and the Catholics and Protestants vied with each other in the +manifestation of mutual forbearance and good will. They met on +equal terms in the palace of the monarch, shared alike in his +confidence and his favors, and cooperated cordially in the +festivities of the banqueting room, and in the toils of the camp. +We love to dwell upon the first beautiful specimen of toleration +which the world has seen in any court. It is the more beautiful, +and the more wonderful, as having occurred in a dark age of +bigotry, intolerance and persecution. And let us be sufficiently +candid to confess, that it was professedly a Roman Catholic +monarch, a member of the papal church, to whom the world is +indebted for this first recognition of true mental freedom. It can +not be denied that Maximilian II. was in advance of the avowed +Protestants of his day.</p> +<p>Pope Pius V. was a bigot, inflexible, overbearing; and he +determined, with a bloody hand, to crush all dissent. From his +throne in the Vatican he cast an eagle eye to Germany, and was +alarmed and indignant at the innovations which Maximilian was +permitting. In all haste he dispatched a legate <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page174" id="page174"></a>{174}</span> to +remonstrate strongly against such liberality. Maximilian received +the legate, Cardinal Commendon, with courtesy, but for a time +firmly refused to change his policy in obedience to the exactions +of the pope. The pope brought to bear upon him all the influence of +the Spanish court. He was threatened with war by all the papal +forces, sustained by the then immense power of the Spanish +monarchy. For a time Maximilian was in great perplexity, and +finally yielded to the pope so far as to promise not to permit any +further innovations than those which he had already allowed, and +not to extend his principles of toleration into any of his States +where they had not as yet been introduced. Thus, while he did not +retract any concessions he had made, he promised to stop where he +was, and proceed no further.</p> +<p>Maximilian was so deeply impressed with the calamities of war, +that he even sent an embassy to the Turks, offering to continue to +pay the tribute which they had exacted of his father, as the price +of a continued armistice. But Solyman, having made large +preparations for the renewed invasion of Hungary, and sanguine of +success, haughtily rejected the offer, and renewed hostilities.</p> +<p>Nearly all of the eastern and southern portions of Hungary were +already in the hands of the Turks. Maximilian held a few important +towns and strong fortresses on the western frontier. Not feeling +strong enough to attempt to repel the Turks from the portion they +already held, he strengthened his garrisons, and raising an army of +eighty thousand men, of which he assumed the command, he entered +Hungary and marched down the Danube about sixty miles to Raab, to +await the foe and act on the defensive. Solyman rendezvoused an +immense army at Belgrade, and commenced his march up the +Danube.</p> +<p>"Old as I am," said he to his troops, "I am determined to +chastise the house of Austria, or to perish in the attempt beneath +the walls of Vienna."</p> +<p>It was beautiful spring weather, and the swelling buds and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page175" id= +"page175"></a>{175}</span> hourly increasing verdure, decorated the +fields with loveliness. For several days the Turks marched along +the right bank of the Danube, through green fields, and beneath a +sunny sky, encountering no foe. War seemed but as the pastime of a +festive day, as gay banners floated in the breeze, groups of +horsemen, gorgeously caparisoned, pranced along, and the turbaned +multitude, in brilliant uniform, with jokes, and laughter and +songs, leisurely ascended the majestic stream. A fleet of boats +filled the whole body of the river, impelled by sails when the wind +favored, or, when the winds were adverse, driven by the strong arms +of the rowers against the gentle tide. Each night the white tents +were spread, and a city for a hundred thousand inhabitants rose as +by magic, with its grassy streets, its squares, its busy +population, its music, its splendor, blazing in all the regalia of +war. As by magic the city rose in the rays of the declining sun. As +by magic it disappeared in the early dawn of the morning, and the +mighty hosts moved on.</p> +<p>A few days thus passed, when Solyman approached the fortified +town of Zigeth, near the confluence of the Drave and the Danube. +Nicholas, Count of Zrini, was intrusted with the defense of this +place, and he fulfilled his trust with heroism and valor which has +immortalized both his name and the fortress which he defended. +Zrini had a garrison of but three thousand men. An army of nearly a +hundred thousand were marching upon him. Zrini collected his +troops, and took a solemn oath, in the presence of all, that, true +to God, to his Christian faith, and his country, he never would +surrender the town to the Turks, but with his life. He then +required each soldier individually to take the same oath to his +captain. All the captains then, in the presence of the assembled +troops, took the same oath to him.</p> +<p>The Turks soon arrived and commenced an unceasing bombardment +day and night. The little garrison vigorously responded. The +besieged made frequent sallies, spiking the guns <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page176" id="page176"></a>{176}</span> of the +besiegers, and again retiring behind their works. But their +overpowering foes advanced, inch by inch, till they got possession +of what was called the "old city." The besieged retiring to the +"new city," resumed the defense with unabated ardor. The storm of +war raged incessantly for many days, and the new city was reduced +to a smoldering heap of fire and ashes. The Turks, with incredible +labor, raised immense mounds of earth and stone, on the summits of +which they planted their batteries, where they could throw their +shot, with unobstructed aim, into every part of the city. Roads +were constructed across the marsh, and the swarming multitudes, in +defiance of all the efforts of the heroic little garrison, filled +up the ditch, and were just on the rush to take the place by a +general assault, when Zrini abandoned the new city to flames, and +threw himself into the citadel. His force was now reduced to about +a thousand men. Day after day the storm of war blazed with demoniac +fury around the citadel. Mines were dug, and, as by volcanic +explosions, bastions, with men and guns, were blown high into the +air. The indomitable Hungarians made many sallies, cutting down the +gunners and spiking the guns, but they were always driven back with +heavy loss. Repeated demands for capitulation were sent in and as +repeatedly rejected. For a week seven assaults were made daily upon +the citadel by the Turks, but they were always repulsed. At length +the outer citadel was entirely demolished. Then the heroic band +retired to the inner works. They were now without ammunition or +provisions, and the Turks, exasperated by such a defense, were +almost gnashing their teeth with rage. The old sultan, Solyman, +actually died from the intensity of his vexation and wrath. The +death of the sultan was concealed from the Turkish troops, and a +general assault was arranged upon the inner works. The hour had now +come when they must surrender or die, for the citadel was all +battered into a pile of smoldering ruins, and there were no +ramparts capable of checking the progress of the foe. Zrini +assembled <span class="pagenum"><a name="page177" id= +"page177"></a>{177}</span> his little band, now counting but six +hundred, and said,</p> +<p>"Remember your oath. We must die in the flames, or perish with +hunger, or go forth to meet the foe. Let us die like men. Follow +me, and do as I do."</p> +<p>They made a simultaneous rush from their defenses into the +thickest of the enemy. For a few moments there was a scene of +wildest uproar and confusion, and the brave defenders were all +silent in death. The Turks with shouts of triumph now rushed into +the citadel. But Zrini had fired trains leading to the subterranean +vaults of powder, and when the ruins were covered with the +conquerors, a sullen roar ran beneath the ground and the whole +citadel, men, horses, rocks and artillery were thrown into the air, +and fell a commingled mass of ruin, fire and blood. A more heroic +defense history has not recorded. Twenty thousand Turks perished in +this siege. The body of Zrini was found in the midst of the mangled +dead. His head was cut off and, affixed to a pole, was raised as a +trophy before the tent of the deceased sultan.</p> +<p>The death of Solyman, and the delay which this desperate siege +had caused, embarrassed all the plans of the invaders, and they +resolved upon a retreat. The troops were consequently withdrawn +from Hungary, and returned to Constantinople.</p> +<p>Maximilian, behind his intrenchments at Raab, did not dare to +march to the succor of the beleaguered garrison, for overpowering +numbers would immediately have destroyed him had he appeared in the +open field. But upon the withdrawal of the Turks he disbanded his +army, after having replenished his garrisons, and returned to +Vienna. Selim succeeded Solyman, and Maximilian sent an embassy to +Constantinople to offer terms of peace. At the same time, to add +weight to his negotiations, he collected a large army, and made the +most vigorous preparations for the prosecution of the war.</p> +<p>Selim, just commencing his reign, anxious to consolidate his +power, and embarrassed by insurrection in his own realms, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page178" id= +"page178"></a>{178}</span> was glad to conclude an armistice on +terms highly favorable to Maximilian. John Sigismond, who had been +crowned by the Turks, as their tributary King of Hungary, was to +retain Transylvania. The Turks were to hold the country generally +between Transylvania and the river Teiss, while Ferdinand was to +have the remainder, extending many hundred miles from the Teiss to +Austria. The Prince of Transylvania was compelled, though very +reluctantly, to assent to this treaty. He engaged not to assume the +title of King of Hungary, except in correspondence with the Turks. +The emperor promised him one of his nieces in marriage, and in +return it was agreed that should John Sigismond die without male +issue, Transylvania should revert to the crown of Hungary.</p> +<p>Soon after this treaty, John Sigismond died, before his marriage +with the emperor's niece, and Transylvania was again united to +Hungary and came under the sway of Maximilian. This event formed +quite an accession to the power of the Austrian monarch, as he now +held all of Hungary save the southern and central portion where the +Turks had garrisoned the fortresses. The pope, the King of Spain, +and the Venetians, now sent united ambassadors to the emperor +urging him to summon the armies of the empire and drive the Turks +entirely out of Hungary. Cardinal Commendon assured the emperor, in +the name of the holy father of the Church, that it was no sin to +violate any compact with the infidel. Maximilian nobly replied,</p> +<p>"The faith of treaties ought to be considered as inviolable, and +a Christian can never be justified in breaking an oath."</p> +<p>Maximilian never enjoyed vigorous health, and being anxious to +secure the tranquillity of his extended realms after his death, he +had his eldest son, Rhodolph, in a diet at Presburg, crowned King +of Hungary. Rhodolph at once entered upon the government of his +realm as viceroy during the life of his father. Thus he would have +all the reins of government in his <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page179" id="page179"></a>{179}</span> hands, and, at the death of +the emperor, there would be no apparent change.</p> +<p>It will be remembered that Ferdinand had, by violence and +treachery, wrested from the Bohemians the privilege of electing +their sovereign, and had thus converted Bohemia into an hereditary +monarchy. Maximilian, with characteristic prudence, wished to +maintain the hereditary right thus established, while at the same +time he wished to avoid wounding the prejudices of those who had +surrendered the right of suffrage only to fraud and the sword. He +accordingly convoked a diet at Prague. The nobles were assembled in +large numbers, and the occasion was invested with unusual +solemnity. The emperor himself introduced to them his son, and +recommended him to them as their future sovereign. The nobles were +much gratified by so unexpected a concession, and with enthusiasm +accepted their new king. The emperor had thus wisely secured for +his son the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia.</p> +<p>Having succeeded in these two important measures, Maximilian set +about the more difficult enterprise of securing for his son his +succession upon the imperial throne. This was a difficult matter in +the strong rivalry which then existed between the Catholics and the +Protestants. With caution and conciliation, encountering and +overturning innumerable obstacles, Maximilian proceeded, until +having, as he supposed, a fair chance of success, he summoned the +diet of electors at Ratisbon. But here new difficulties arose. The +Protestants were jealous of their constantly imperiled privileges, +and wished to surround them with additional safeguards. The +Catholics, on the contrary, stimulated by the court of Rome, wished +to withdraw the toleration already granted, and to pursue the +Protestant faith with new rigor. The meeting of the diet was long +and stormy, and again they were upon the point of a violent +dissolution. But the wisdom, moderation and perseverance of +Maximilian finally prevailed, and his success <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page180" id="page180"></a>{180}</span> was +entire. Rhodolph III. was unanimously chosen to succeed him upon +the imperial throne, and was crowned at Ratisbon on the 1st of +November, 1575.</p> +<p>Poland was strictly an elective monarchy. The tumultuous nobles +had established a law prohibiting the election of a successor +during the lifetime of the monarch. Their last king had been the +reckless, chivalrous Henry, Duke of Anjou, brother of Charles IX. +of France. Charles IX. having died without issue, Henry succeeded +him upon the throne of France, and abdicated the crown of the +semi-barbaric wilds of Poland. The nobles were about to assemble +for the election. There were many influential candidates. +Maximilian was anxious to obtain the crown for his son Ernest. Much +to the surprise of Maximilian, he himself was chosen king. +Protestantism had gained the ascendency in Poland, and a large +majority of the nobles united upon Maximilian. The electors honored +both themselves and the emperor in assigning, as the reason for +their choice, that the emperor had conciliated the contending +factions of the Christian world, and had acquired more glory by his +pacific policy than other princes had acquired in the exploits of +war.</p> +<p>There were curious conditions at that time assigned to the +occupancy of the throne of Poland. The elected monarch, before +receiving the crown, was required to give his pledge that he would +reside two years uninterruptedly in the kingdom, and that then he +would not leave without the consent of the nobles. He was also +required to construct four fortresses at his own expense, and to +pay all the debts of the last monarch, however heavy they might be, +including the arrears of the troops. He was also to maintain a sort +of guard of honor, consisting of ten thousand Polish horsemen.</p> +<p>In addition to the embarrassment which these conditions +presented, there were many indications of jealousy on the part of +other powers, in view of the wonderful aggrandizement of Austria. +Encouraged by the emperor's delay and by the hostility <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page181" id="page181"></a>{181}</span> of other +powers, a minority of the nobles chose Stephen Bathori, a +Transylvanian prince, King of Poland; and to strengthen his title, +married him to Anne, sister to Sigismond Augustus, the King of +Poland who preceded the Duke of Anjou. Maximilian thus aroused, +signed the articles of agreement, and the two rival monarchs +prepared for war. The kingdoms of Europe were arraying themselves, +some on the one side and some on the other, and there was the +prospect of a long, desperate and bloody strife, when death stilled +the tumult.</p> +<p>Maximilian had long been declining. On the 12th of October, +1576, he breathed his last at Ratisbon. He apparently died the +death of the Christian, tranquilly surrendering his spirit to his +Saviour. He died in the fiftieth year of his age and the twelfth of +his reign. He had lived, for those dark days, eminently the life of +the righteous, and his end was peace.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"So fades the summer cloud away,</p> +<p class="i2">So sinks the gale when storms are o'er</p> +<p>So gently shuts the eye of day,</p> +<p class="i2">So dies a wave along the shore."</p> +</div> +</div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page182" id= +"page182"></a>{182}</span> +<h2><a name="chap12" id="chap12">CHAPTER XII</a>.</h2> +<h3>CHARACTER OF MAXIMILIAN II.—SUCCESSION OF RHODOLPH +III.</h3> +<h4>From 1576 to 1604.</h4> +<p class="summary">Character of Maximilian.—His +Accomplishments.—His Wife.—Fate of his +Children.—Rhodolph III.—The Liberty of +Worship.—Means of Emancipation.—Rhodolph's Attempts +against Protestantism.—Declaration of a higher +Law.—Theological Differences.—The Confederacy at +Heilbrun.—The Gregorian Calendar.—Intolerance in +Bohemia.—The Trap of the Monks.—Invasion of the +Turks.—Their Defeat.—Coalition with +Sigismond.—Sale of Transylvania.—Rule of +Basta.—The Empire captured and recaptured.—Devastation +of the Country.—Treatment of Stephen Botskoi.</p> +<p>It is indeed refreshing, in the midst of the long list of +selfish and ambitious sovereigns who have disgraced the thrones of +Europe, to meet with such a prince as Maximilian, a gentleman, a +philosopher, a philanthropist and a Christian. Henry of Valois, on +his return from Poland to France, visited Maximilian at Vienna. +Henry was considered one of the most polished men of his age. He +remarked in his palace at Paris that in all his travels he had +never met a more accomplished gentleman than the Emperor +Maximilian. Similar is the testimony of all his contemporaries. +With all alike, at all times, and under all circumstances, he was +courteous and affable. His amiability shone as conspicuously at +home as abroad, and he was invariably the kind husband, the tender +father, the indulgent master and the faithful friend.</p> +<p>In early life he had vigorously prosecuted his studies, and thus +possessed the invaluable blessing of a highly cultivated mind. Fond +of the languages, he not only wrote and conversed in the Latin +tongue with fluency and elegance, but was quite at home in all the +languages of his extensive domains. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page183" id="page183"></a>{183}</span> Notwithstanding the immense +cares devolving upon the ruler of so extended an empire, he +appropriated a portion of time every day to devotional reading and +prayer; and his hours were methodically arranged for business, +recreation and repose. The most humble subject found easy access to +his person, and always obtained a patient hearing. When he was +chosen King of Poland, some ambassadors from Bohemia voluntarily +went to Poland to testify to the virtues of their king. It was a +heartfelt tribute, such as few sovereigns have ever received.</p> +<p>"We Bohemians," said they, "are as happy under his government as +if he were our father. Our privileges, laws, rights, liberties and +usages are protected and defended. Not less just than wise, he +confers the offices and dignities of the kingdom only on natives of +rank, and is not influenced by favor 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 a +miracle is, the prudence and impartiality of his conduct toward +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."</p> +<p>Not an act of injustice sullied his reign, and during his +administration nearly all Germany, with the exception of Hungary, +enjoyed almost uninterrupted tranquillity. Catholics and +Protestants unite in his praises, and have conferred upon him the +surname of the Delight of Mankind. His wife Mary was the daughter +of Charles V. She was an accomplished, exemplary woman, entirely +devoted to the Catholic faith. For this devotion, notwithstanding +the tolerant spirit of her husband, she was warmly extolled by the +Catholics. Gregory XIII. called her the firm column of the Catholic +faith, and Pius V. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page184" id= +"page184"></a>{184}</span> pronounced her worthy of being +worshiped. After the death of her husband she returned to Spain, to +the bigoted court of her bigoted brother Philip. Upon reaching +Madrid she developed the spirit which dishonored her, in expressing +great joy that she was once more in a country where no heretic was +tolerated. Soon after she entered a nunnery where she remained +seven years until her death.</p> +<p>It is interesting briefly to trace out the history of the +children of this royal family. It certainly will not tend to make +one any more discontented to move in a humbler sphere. Maximilian +left three daughters and five sons.</p> +<p>Anne, the eldest daughter, was engaged to her cousin, Don +Carlos, only son of her uncle Philip, King of Spain. As he was +consequently heir to the Spanish throne, this was a brilliant +match. History thus records the person and character of Don Carlos. +He was sickly and one of his legs was shorter than the other. His +temper was not only violent, but furious, breaking over all +restraints, and the malignant passions were those alone which +governed him. He always slept with two naked swords under his +pillow, two loaded pistols, and several loaded guns, with a chest +of fire-arms at the side of his bed. He formed a conspiracy to +murder his father. He was arrested and imprisoned. Choking with +rage, he called for a fire, and threw himself into the flames, +hoping to suffocate himself. Being rescued, he attempted to starve +himself. Failing in this, he tried to choke himself by swallowing a +diamond. He threw off his clothes, and went naked and barefoot on +the stone floor, hoping to engender some fatal disease. For eleven +days he took no food but ice. At length the wretched man died, and +thus Anne lost her lover. But Philip, the father of Don Carlos, and +own uncle of Anne, concluded to take her for himself. She lived a +few years as Queen of Spain, and died four years after the death of +her father, Maximilian.</p> +<p>Elizabeth, the second daughter, was beautiful. At sixteen years +of age she married Charles IX., King of France, who <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page185" id="page185"></a>{185}</span> was then +twenty years old. Charles IX. ascended the throne when but ten +years of age, under the regency of his infamous mother, Catherine +de Medici, perhaps the most demoniac female earth has known. Under +her tutelage, her boy, equally impotent in body and in mind, became +as pitiable a creature as ever disgraced a throne. The only energy +he ever showed was in shooting the Protestants from a window of the +Louvre in the horrible Massacre of St. Bartholomew, which he +planned at the instigation of his fiend-like mother. A few wretched +years the youthful queen lived with the monster, when his death +released her from that bondage. She then returned to Vienna, a +young and childless widow, but twenty years of age. She built and +endowed the splendid monastery of St. Mary de Angelis, and having +seen enough of the pomp of the world, shut herself up from the +world in the imprisonment of its cloisters, where she recounted her +beads for nineteen years, until she died in 1592.</p> +<p>Margaret, the youngest daughter, after her father's death, +accompanied her mother to Spain. Her sister Anne soon after died, +and Philip II., her morose and debauched husband, having already +buried four wives, and no one can tell how many guilty favorites, +sought the hand of his young and fresh niece. But Margaret wisely +preferred the gloom of the cloister to the Babylonish glare of the +palace. She rejected the polluted and withered hand, and in +solitude and silence, as a hooded nun, she remained immured in her +cell for fifty-seven years. Then her pure spirit passed from a +joyless life on earth, we trust, to a happy home in heaven.</p> +<p>Rhodolph, the eldest son, succeeded his father, and in the +subsequent pages we shall record his career.</p> +<p>Ernest, the second son, was a mild, bashful young man, of a +temperament so singularly melancholy that he was rarely known to +smile. His brother Rhodolph gave him the appointment of Governor of +Hungary. He passed quietly down the stream of time until he was +forty-two years of age, when he <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page186" id="page186"></a>{186}</span> died of the stone, a +disease which had long tortured him with excruciating pangs.</p> +<p>Matthias, the third son, became a restless, turbulent man, whose +deeds we shall have occasion to record in connection with his +brother Rhodolph, whom he sternly and successfully opposed.</p> +<p>Maximilian, the fourth son, when thirty years of age was elected +King of Poland. An opposition party chose John, son of the King of +Sweden. The rival candidates appealed to the cruel arbitration of +the sword. In a decisive battle Maximilian's troops were defeated, +and he was taken prisoner. He was only released upon his giving the +pledge that he renounced all his right to the throne. He rambled +about, now governing a province, and now fighting the Turks, until +he died unmarried, sixty years of age.</p> +<p>Albert, the youngest son, was destined to the Church. He was +sent to Spain, and under the patronage of his royal uncle he soon +rose to exalted ecclesiastical dignities. He, however, eventually +renounced these for more alluring temporal honors. Surrendering his +cardinal's hat, and archiepiscopal robes, he espoused Isabella, +daughter of Philip, and from the governorship of Portugal was +promoted to the sovereignty of the Netherlands. Here he encountered +only opposition and war. After a stormy and unsuccessful life, in +which he was thwarted in all his plans, he died childless.</p> +<p>From this digression let us return to Rhodolph III., the heir to +the titles and the sovereignties of his father the emperor. It was +indeed a splendid inheritance which fell to his lot. He was the +sole possessor of the archduchy of Austria, King of Bohemia and of +Hungary, and Emperor of Germany. He was but twenty-five years of +age when he entered upon the undisputed possession of all these +dignities. His natural disposition was mild and amiable, his +education had been carefully attended to, his moral character was +good, a rare virtue in those days, and he had already evinced much +industry, energy <span class="pagenum"><a name="page187" id= +"page187"></a>{187}</span> and talents for business. His father had +left the finances and the internal administration of all his realms +in good condition; his moderation had greatly mitigated the +religious animosities which disturbed other portions of Europe, and +all obstacles to a peaceful and prosperous reign seemed to have +been removed.</p> +<p>But all these prospects were blighted by the religious bigotry +which had gained a firm hold of the mind of the young emperor. When +he was but twelve years of age he was sent to Madrid to be +educated. Philip II., of Spain, Rhodolph's uncle, had an only +daughter, and no son, and there seemed to be no prospect that his +queen would give birth to another child. Philip consequently +thought of adopting Rhodolph as his successor to the Spanish +throne, and of marrying him to his daughter. In the court of Spain +where the Jesuits held supreme sway, and where Rhodolph was +intrusted to their guidance, the superstitious sentiments which he +had imbibed from his mother were still more deeply rooted. The +Jesuits found Rhodolph a docile pupil; and never on earth have +there been found a set of men who, more thoroughly than the +Jesuits, have understood the art of educating the mind to +subjection. Rhodolph was instructed in all the petty arts of +intrigue and dissimulation, and was brought into entire +subserviency to the Spanish court. Thus educated, Rhodolph received +the crown.</p> +<p>He commenced his reign with the desperate resolve to crush out +Protestantism, either by force or guile, and to bring back his +realms to the papal church. Even the toleration of Maximilian, in +those dark days, did not allow freedom of worship to any but the +nobles. The wealthy and emancipated citizens of Vienna, and other +royal cities, could not establish a church of their own; they could +only, under protection of the nobles, attend the churches which the +nobles sustained. In other words, the people were slaves, who were +hardly thought of in any state arrangements. The nobles were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page188" id= +"page188"></a>{188}</span> merely the slaveholders. As there was +not difference of color to mark the difference between the +slaveholder and the slaves or vassals, many in the cities, who had +in various ways achieved their emancipation, had become wealthy and +instructed, and were slowly claiming some few rights. The country +nobles could assemble their vassals in the churches where they had +obtained toleration. In some few cases some of the citizens of the +large towns, who had obtained emancipation from some feudal +oppressions, had certain defined political privileges granted them. +But, in general, the nobles or slaveholders, some having more, and +some having less wealth and power, were all whom even Maximilian +thought of including in his acts of toleration. A learned man in +the universities, or a wealthy man in the walks of commerce, was +compelled to find shelter under the protection of some powerful +noble. There were nobles of all ranks, from the dukes, who could +bring twenty thousand armed men into the field, down to the most +petty, impoverished baron, who had perhaps not half a dozen +vassals.</p> +<p>Rhodolph's first measure was to prevent the <i>burghers</i>, as +they were called, who were those who had in various ways obtained +emancipation from vassal service, and in the large cities had +acquired energy, wealth and an air of independence, from attending +Protestant worship. The nobles were very jealous of their +privileges, and were prompt to combine whenever they thought them +infringed. Fearful of rousing the nobles, Rhodolph issued a decree, +confirming the toleration which his father had granted the nobles, +but forbidding the burghers from attending Protestant worship. This +was very adroitly done, as it did not interfere with the vassals of +the rural nobles on their estates; and these burghers were freed +men, over whom the nobles could claim no authority. At the same +time Rhodolph silenced three of the most eloquent and influential +of the Protestant ministers, under the plea that they assailed the +Catholic church with too much virulence; <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page189" id="page189"></a>{189}</span> and he +also forbade any one thenceforward to officiate as a Protestant +clergyman without a license from him. These were very decisive +acts, and yet very adroit ones, as they did not directly interfere +with any of the immunities of the nobles.</p> +<p>The Protestants were, however, much alarmed by these measures, +as indicative of the intolerant policy of the new king. The +preachers met together to consult. They corresponded with foreign +universities respecting the proper course to pursue; and the +Protestant nobles met to confer upon the posture of affairs. As the +result of their conferences, they issued a remonstrance, declaring +that they could not yield to such an infringement of the rights of +conscience, and that "they were bound to obey God rather than +man."</p> +<p>Rhodolph was pleased with this resistance, as it afforded him +some excuse for striking a still heavier blow. He declared the +remonstrants guilty of rebellion. As a punishment, he banished +several Protestant ministers, and utterly forbade the exercise of +any Protestant worship whatever, in any of the royal towns, +including Vienna itself. He communicated with the leading Catholics +in the Church and in the State, urging them to act with energy, +concert and unanimity. He removed the Protestants from office, and +supplied their places with Catholics. He forbade any license to +preach or academical degree, or professorship in the universities +from being conferred upon any one who did not sign the formulary of +the Catholic faith. He ordered a new catechism to be drawn up for +universal use in the schools, that there should be no more +Protestant education of children; he allowed no town to choose any +officer without his approbation, and he refused to ratify any +choice which did not fall upon a Catholic. No person was to be +admitted to the rights of burghership, until he had taken an oath +of submission to the Catholic priesthood. These high-handed +measures led to the outbreak of a few insurrections, which the +emperor crushed with iron rigor. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page190" id="page190"></a>{190}</span> In the course of a few +years, by the vigorous and unrelenting prosecution of these +measures, Rhodolph gave the Catholics the ascendency in all his +realms.</p> +<p>While the Catholics were all united, the Protestants were +shamefully divided upon the most trivial points of discipline, or +upon abstruse questions in philosophy above the reach of mortal +minds. It was as true then, as in the days of our Saviour, that +"the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the +children of light." Henry IV., of France, who had not then embraced +the Catholic faith, was anxious to unite the two great parties of +Lutherans and Calvinists, who were as hostile to each other as they +were to the Catholics. He sent an ambassador to Germany to urge +their union. He entreated them to call a general synod, suggesting, +that as they differed only on the single point of the Lord's +Supper, it would be easy for them to form some basis of fraternal +and harmonious action.</p> +<p>The Catholic church received the doctrine, so called, of +<i>transubstantiation</i>; that is, the bread and wine, used in the +Lord's Supper, is converted into the actual body and blood of Jesus +Christ, that it is no longer bread and wine, but real flesh and +blood; and none the less so, because it does not appear such to our +senses. Luther renounced the doctrine of transubstantiation, and +adopted, in its stead, what he called <i>consubstantiation</i>; +that is, that after the consecration of the elements, the body and +blood of Christ are substantially <i>present with</i> (cum et sub,) +with and under, the substance of the bread and wine. Calvin taught +that the bread and wine represented the real body and blood of +Christ, and that the body and blood were <i>spiritually present</i> +in the sacrament. It is a deplorable exhibition of the weakness of +good men, that the Lutherans and the Calvinists should have wasted +their energies in contending together upon such a point. But we +moderns have no right to boast. Precisely the same spirit is +manifested now, and denominations differ and strive together +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page191" id= +"page191"></a>{191}</span> upon questions which the human mind can +never settle. The spirit which then animated the two parties may be +inferred from the reply of the Lutherans.</p> +<p>"The partisans of Calvin," they wrote, "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 explanations of the Scriptures, and adopted so +many blasphemies, that the question of the Lord's Supper, far from +being the principal, has become the least point of difference. An +outward 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. These considerations induced us to +insert into the formulary of 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 tolerated under pretense 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 +conformable."</p> +<p>They, in conclusion, very politely informed King Henry IV. +himself, that if he wished to unite with them, he must sign their +creed. This was sincerity, honesty, but it was the sincerity and +honesty of minds but partially disinthralled from the bigotry of +the dark ages. While the Protestants were thus unhappily disunited, +the pope coöperated with the emperor, and wheeled all his +mighty forces into the line to recover the ground which the papal +church had lost. Several of the more enlightened of the Protestant +princes, seeing all their efforts paralyzed by disunion, endeavored +to heal the schism. But the Lutheran leaders would not listen to +the Calvinists, nor the Calvinists to the Lutherans, and the +masses, as usual, blindly followed their leaders.</p> +<p>Several of the Calvinist princes and nobles, the Lutherans +refusing to meet with them, united in a confederacy at Heilbrun, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page192" id= +"page192"></a>{192}</span> and drew up a long list of grievances, +declaring that, until they were redressed, they should withhold the +succors which the emperor had solicited to repel the Turks. Most of +these grievances were very serious, sufficiently so to rouse men to +almost any desperation of resistance. But it would be amusing, were +it not humiliating, to find among them the complaint that the pope +had changed the calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian.</p> +<p>By the Julian calendar, or Old Style as it was called, the solar +year was estimated at three hundred and sixty-five days and six +hours; but it exceeds this by about eleven minutes. As no allowance +was made for these minutes, which amount to a day in about one +hundred and thirty years, the current year had, in process of ages, +advanced ten days beyond the real time. Thus the vernal equinox, +which really took place on the 10th of March, was assigned in the +calendar to the 21st. To rectify this important error the New +Style, or Gregorian calendar, was introduced, so called from Pope +Gregory XII. Ten days were dropped after the 4th of October, 1582, +and the 5th was called the 15th. This reform of the calendar, +correct and necessary as it was, was for a long time adopted only +by the Catholic princes, so hostile were the Protestants to any +thing whatever which originated from the pope. In their list of +grievances they mentioned this most salutary reform as one, stating +that the pope and the Jesuits presumed even to change the order of +times and years.</p> +<p>This confederacy of the Calvinists, unaided by the Lutherans, +accomplished nothing; but still, as year after year the +disaffection increased, their numbers gradually increased also, +until, on the 12th of February, 1603, at Heidelberg they entered +into quite a formidable alliance, offensive and defensive.</p> +<p>Rhodolph, encouraged by success, pressed his measure of +intolerance with renovated vigor. Having quite effectually +abolished the Protestant worship in the States of Austria, he +turned his attention to Bohemia, where, under the mild government +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page193" id= +"page193"></a>{193}</span> of his father, the Protestants had +enjoyed a degree of liberty of conscience hardly known in any other +part of Europe. The realm was startled by the promulgation of a +decree forbidding both Calvinists and Lutherans from holding any +meetings for divine worship, and declaring them incapacitated from +holding any official employment whatever. At the same time he +abolished all their schools, and either closed all their churches, +or placed in them Catholic preachers. These same decrees were also +promulgated and these same measures adopted in Hungary. And still +the Protestants, insanely quarreling among themselves upon the most +abstruse points of theological philosophy, chose rather to be +devoured piecemeal by their great enemy than to combine in +self-defense.</p> +<p>The emperor now turned from his own dominions of Austria, +Hungary and Bohemia, where he reigned in undisputed sway, to other +States of the empire, which were governed by their own independent +rulers and laws, and where the power of the emperor was shadowy and +limited. He began with the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, in a Prussian +province on the Lower Rhine; sent an army there, took possession of +the town, expelled the Protestants from the magistracy, driving +some of them into exile, inflicting heavy fines upon others, and +abolishing entirely the exercise of the Protestant religion.</p> +<p>He then turned to Donauworth, an important city of Bavaria, upon +the Upper Danube. This was a Protestant city, having within its +walls but few Catholics. There was in the city one Catholic +religious establishment, a Benedictine abbey. The friars enjoyed +unlimited freedom of conscience and worship within their own walls, +but were not permitted to occupy the streets with their +processions, performing the forms and ceremonies of the Catholic +church. The Catholics, encouraged by the emperor, sent out a +procession from the walls of the abbey, with torches, banners, +relics and all the pageants of Catholic worship. The magistrates +stopped the procession, took away their banners and sent them back +to <span class="pagenum"><a name="page194" id= +"page194"></a>{194}</span> the abbey, and then suffered the +procession to proceed. Soon after the friars got up another +procession on a funeral occasion. The magistrates, apprehensive +that this was a trap to excite them to some opposition which would +render it plausible for the emperor to interfere, suffered the +procession to proceed unmolested. In a few days the monks repeated +the experiment. The populace had now become excited, and there were +threats of violence. The magistrates, fearful of the consequences, +did every thing in their power to soothe the people, and urged +them, by earnest proclamation, to abstain from all tumult. For some +time the procession, displaying all the hated pomp of papal +worship, paraded the streets undisturbed. But at length the +populace became ungovernable, attacked the monks, demolished their +pageants and pelted them with mire back into the convent.</p> +<p>This was enough. The emperor published the ban of the empire, +and sent the Duke of Bavaria with an army to execute the decree. +Resistance was hopeless. The troops took possession of the town, +abolished the Protestant religion, and delivered the churches to +the Catholics.</p> +<p>The Protestants now saw that there was no hope for them but in +union. Thus driven together by an outward pressure which was every +day growing more menacing and severe, the chiefs of the Protestant +party met at Aschhausen and established a confederacy to continue +for ten years. Thus united, they drew up a list of grievances, and +sent an embassy to present their demands to the emperor. And now +came a very serious turn in the fortunes of Rhodolph. +Notwithstanding the armistice which had been concluded with the +Turks by Rhodolph, a predatory warfare continued to rage along the +borders. Neither the emperor nor the sultan, had they wished it, +could prevent fiery spirits, garrisoned in fortresses frowning at +each other, from meeting occasionally in hostile encounter. And +both parties were willing that their soldiers should have enough to +do to keep up their courage and their warlike spirit. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page195" id="page195"></a>{195}</span> +Aggression succeeding aggression, sometimes on one side and +sometimes on the other, the sultan at last, in a moment of +exasperation, resolved to break the truce.</p> +<p>A large army of Turks invaded Croatia, took several fortresses, +and marching up the valley of the Save, were opening before them a +route into the heart of the Austrian States. The emperor hastily +gathered an army to oppose them. They met before Siseck, at the +confluence of the Kulpa and the Save. The Turks were totally +defeated, with the loss of twelve thousand men. Exasperated by the +defeat, the sultan roused his energies anew, and war again raged in +all its horrors. The advantage was with the Turks, and they +gradually forced their way up the valley of the Danube, taking +fortress after fortress, till they were in possession of the +important town of Raab, within a hundred miles of Vienna.</p> +<p>Sigismond, the waivode or governor of Transylvania, an +energetic, high-spirited man, had, by his arms, brought the +provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia under subjection to him. Having +attained such power, he was galled at the idea of holding his +government under the protection of the Turks. He accordingly +abandoned the sultan, and entered into a coalition with the +emperor. The united armies fell furiously upon the Turks, and drove +them back to Constantinople.</p> +<p>The sultan, himself a man of exceedingly ferocious character, +was thoroughly aroused by this disgrace. He raised an immense army, +placed himself at its head, and in 1596 again invaded Hungary. He +drove the Austrians everywhere before him, and but for the lateness +of the season would have bombarded Vienna. Sigismond, in the hour +of victory, sold Transylvania to Rhodolph for the governorship of +some provinces in Silesia, and a large annual pension. There was +some fighting before the question was fully settled in favor of the +emperor, and then he placed the purchased and the conquered +province under the government of the imperial general Basta.</p> +<p>The rule of Basta was so despotic that the Transylvanians +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page196" id= +"page196"></a>{196}</span> rose in revolt, and under an intrepid +chief, Moses Tzekeli, appealed to the Turks for aid. The Turks were +rejoiced again to find the Christians divided, and hastened to +avail themselves of the coöperation of the disaffected. The +Austrians were driven from Transylvania, and the Turks aided in +crowning Tzekeli Prince of Transylvania, under the protection of +the Porte. The Austrians, however, soon returned in greater force, +killed Tzekeli in the confusion of battle, and reconquered the +country. During all this time wretched Hungary was ravaged with +incessant wars between the Turks and Austrians. Army after army +swept to and fro over the smoldering cities and desolated plains. +Neither party gained any decisive advantage, while Hungary was +exposed to misery which no pen can describe. Cities were bombarded, +now by the Austrians and now by the Turks, villages were burned, +harvests trodden down, every thing eatable was consumed. Outrages +were perpetrated upon the helpless population by the ferocious +Turks which can not be told.</p> +<p>The Hungarians lost all confidence in Rhodolph. The bigoted +emperor was so much engaged in the attempt to extirpate what he +called heresy from his realms, that he neglected to send armies +sufficiently strong to protect Hungary from these ravages. He could +have done this without much difficulty; but absorbed in his +hostility to Protestantism, he merely sent sufficient troops to +Hungary to keep the country in a constant state of warfare. He +filled every important governmental post in Hungary with Catholics +and foreigners. To all the complaints of the Hungarians he turned a +deaf ear; and his own Austrian troops frequently rivaled the Turks +in devastation and pillage. At the same time he issued the most +intolerant edicts, depriving the Protestants of all their rights, +and endeavoring to force the Roman Catholic religion upon the +community.</p> +<p>He allowed, and even encouraged, his rapacious generals to +insult and defraud the Protestant Hungarian nobles, seizing +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page197" id= +"page197"></a>{197}</span> their castles, confiscating their +estates and driving them into exile. This oppression at last became +unendurable. The people were driven to despair. One of the most +illustrious nobles of Hungary, a magnate of great wealth and +distinction, Stephen Botskoi, repaired to Prague to inform the +emperor of the deplorable state of Hungary and to seek redress. He +was treated with the utmost indignity; was detained for hours in +the ante-chamber of the emperor, where he encountered the most +cutting insults from the minions of the court. The indignation of +the high-spirited noble was roused to the highest pitch. And when, +on his return to Hungary, he found his estates plundered and +devastated by order of the imperial governor, he was all ready to +head an insurrection.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page198" id= +"page198"></a>{198}</span> +<h2><a name="chap13" id="chap13">CHAPTER XIII</a>.</h2> +<h3>RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS.</h3> +<h4>From 1604 to 1609.</h4> +<p class="summary">Botskoi's Manifesto.—Horrible Suffering in +Transylvania.—Character of Botskoi.—Confidence of the +Protestants.—Superstition of Rhodolph.—His Mystic +Studies.—Acquirements of Matthias.—Schemes of +Matthias.—His Increasing Power.—Treaty with the +Turks.—Demands on Rhodolph.—The +Compromise.—Perfidy of Matthias.—The +Margravite.—Filibustering.—The People's Diet.—A +Hint to Royalty.—The Bloodless Triumph.—Demands of the +Germans.—Address of the Prince of Anhalt to the King.</p> +<p>Stephen Botskoi issued a spirited manifesto to his countrymen, +urging them to seek by force of arms that redress which they could +obtain in no other way. The Hungarians flocked in crowds to his +standard. Many soldiers deserted from the service of the emperor +and joined the insurrection. Botskoi soon found himself in +possession of a force sufficiently powerful to meet the Austrian +troops in the field. The two hostile armies soon met in the +vicinity of Cassau. The imperial troops were defeated with great +slaughter, and the city of Cassau fell into the hands of Botskoi; +soon his victorious troops took several other important fortresses. +The inhabitants of Transylvania, encouraged by the success of +Botskoi, and detesting the imperial rule, also in great numbers +crowded his ranks and intreated him to march into Transylvania. He +promptly obeyed their summons. The misery of the Transylvanians +was, if possible, still greater than that of the Hungarians. Their +country presented but a wide expanse of ruin and starvation. Every +aspect of comfort and industry was obliterated. The famishing +inhabitants were compelled to use the most disgusting animals for +food; and when these were <span class="pagenum"><a name="page199" +id="page199"></a>{199}</span> gone, in many cases they went to the +grave-yard, in the frenzied torments of hunger, and devoured the +decaying bodies of the dead. Pestilence followed in the train of +these woes, and the land was filled with the dying and the +dead.</p> +<p>The Turks marched to the aid of Botskoi to expel the Austrians. +Even the sway of the Mussulman was preferable to that of the +bigoted Rhodolph. Hungary, Transylvania and Turkey united, and the +detested Austrians were driven out of Transylvania, and Botskoi, at +the head of his victorious army, and hailed by thousands as the +deliverer of Transylvania, was inaugurated prince of the province. +He then returned to Hungary, where an immense Turkish army received +him, in the plains of Rahoz, with regal honors. Here a throne was +erected. The banners of the majestic host fluttered in the breeze, +and musical bands filled the air with their triumphal strains as +the regal diadem was placed upon the brow of Botskoi, and he was +proclaimed King of Hungary. The Sultan Achment sent, with his +congratulations to the victorious noble, a saber of exquisite +temper and finish, and a gorgeous standard. The grand vizier +himself placed the royal diadem upon his brow.</p> +<p>Botskoi was a nobleman in every sense of the word. He thought it +best publicly to accept these honors in gratitude to the sultan for +his friendship and aid, and also to encourage and embolden the +Hungarians to retain what they had already acquired. He knew that +there were bloody battles still before them, for the emperor would +doubtless redouble his efforts to regain his Hungarian possessions. +At the same time Botskoi, in the spirit of true patriotism, was not +willing even to appear to have usurped the government through the +energies of the sword. He therefore declared that he should not +claim the crown unless he should be freely elected by the nobles; +and that he accepted these honors simply as tokens of the +confidence of the allied army, and as a means of strengthening +their power to resist the emperor.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page200" id= +"page200"></a>{200}</span> +<p>The campaign was now urged with great vigor, and nearly all of +Hungary was conquered. Such was the first great disaster which the +intolerance and folly of Rhodolph brought upon him. The Turks and +the Hungarians were now good friends, cordially coöperating. A +few more battles would place them in possession of the whole of +Hungary, and then, in their alliance they could defy all the power +of the emperor, and penetrate even the very heart of his hereditary +dominions of Austria. Rhodolph, in this sudden peril, knew not +where to look for aid. The Protestants, who constituted one half of +the physical force, not only of Bohemia and of the Austrian States, +but of all Germany, had been insulted and oppressed beyond all hope +of reconciliation. They dreaded the papal emperor more than the +Mohammedan sultan. They were ready to hail Botskoi as their +deliverer from intolerable despotism, and to swell the ranks of his +army. Botskoi was a Protestant, and the sympathies of the +Protestants all over Germany were with him. Elated by his advance, +the Protestants withheld all contributions from the emperor, and +began to form combinations in favor of the Protestant chief. +Rhodolph was astonished at this sudden reverse, and quite in +dismay. He had no resource but to implore the aid of the Spanish +court.</p> +<p>Rhodolph was as superstitious as he was bigoted and cruel. +Through the mysteries of alchymy he had been taught to believe that +his life would be endangered by one of his own blood. The idea +haunted him by night and by day; he was to be assassinated, and by +a near relative. He was afraid to marry lest his own child might +prove his destined murderer. He was afraid to have his brothers +marry lest it might be a nephew who was to perpetrate the deed. He +did not dare to attend church, or to appear any where in public +without taking the greatest precautions against any possibility of +attack. The galleries of his palace were so arranged with windows +in the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page201" id= +"page201"></a>{201}</span> roof, that he could pass from one +apartment to another sheltered by impenetrable walls.</p> +<p>This terror, which pursued him every hour, palsied his energies; +and while the Turks were drawing nearer to his capital, and Hungary +had broken from his sway, and insurrection was breaking out in all +parts of his dominions, he secluded himself in the most retired +apartments of his palace at Prague, haunted by visions of terror, +as miserable himself as he had already made millions of his +subjects. He devoted himself to the study of the mystic sciences of +astrology and alchymy. He became irritable, morose, and melancholy +even to madness. Foreign ambassadors could not get admission to his +presence. His religion, consisting entirely in ecclesiastical +rituals and papal dogmas, not in Christian morals, could not +dissuade him from the most degrading sensual vice. Low-born +mistresses, whom he was continually changing, became his only +companions, and thus sunk in sin, shame and misery, he virtually +abandoned his ruined realms to their fate.</p> +<p>Rhodolph had received the empire from the hands of his noble +father in a state of the very highest prosperity. In thirty years, +by shameful misgovernment, he had carried it to the brink of ruin. +Rhodolph's third brother, Matthias, was now forty-nine years of +age. He had been educated by the illustrious Busbequias, whose mind +had been liberalized by study in the most celebrated universities +of Flanders, France and Italy. His teacher had passed many years as +an ambassador in the court of the sultan, and thus had been able to +give his pupil a very intimate acquaintance with the resources, the +military tactics, the manners and customs of the Turks. He excelled +in military exercises, and was passionately devoted to the art of +war. In all respects he was the reverse of his +brother—energetic, frank, impulsive. The two brothers, so +dissimilar, had no ideas in common, and were always involved in +bickerings.</p> +<p>The Netherlands had risen in revolt against the infamous +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page202" id= +"page202"></a>{202}</span> Philip II. of Spain. They chose the +intrepid and warlike Matthias as their leader. With alacrity he +assumed the perilous post. The rivalry of the chiefs thwarted his +plans, and he resigned his post and returned to Austria, where his +brother, the emperor, refused even to see him, probably fearing +assassination. Matthias took up his residence at Lintz, where he +lived for some time in obscurity and penury. His imperial brother +would neither give him help nor employment. The restless prince +fretted like a tiger in his cage.</p> +<p>In 1595 Rhodolph's second brother, Ernest, died childless, and +thus Matthias became heir presumptive to the crown of Austria. From +that time Rhodolph made a change, and intrusted him with high +offices. Still the brothers were no nearer to each other in +affection. Rhodolph dreaded the ambition and was jealous of the +rising power of his brother. He no longer dared to treat him +ignominiously, lest his brother should be provoked to some +desperate act of retaliation. On the other hand, Matthias despised +the weakness and superstition of Rhodolph. The increasing troubles +in the realm and the utter inefficiency of Rhodolph, convinced +Matthias that the day was near when he must thrust Rhodolph from +the throne he disgraced, and take his seat upon it, or the splendid +hereditary domains which had descended to them from their ancestors +would pass from their hands forever.</p> +<p>With this object in view, he did all he could to conciliate the +Catholics, while he attempted to secure the Protestants by +promising to return to the principles of toleration established by +his father, Maximilian. Matthias rapidly increased in popularity, +and as rapidly Rhodolph was sinking into disgrace. Catholics and +Protestants saw alike that the ruin of Austria was impending, and +that apparently there was no hope but in the deposition of Rhodolph +and the enthronement of Matthias.</p> +<p>It was not difficult to accomplish this revolution, and yet it +required energy, secrecy and an extended combination. Even the +weakest reigning monarch has power in his hands <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page203" id="page203"></a>{203}</span> which can +only be wrested from him by both strength and skill. Matthias first +gained over to his plan his younger brother, Maximilian, and two of +his cousins, princes of the Styrian line. They entered into a +secret agreement, by which they declared that in consequence of the +incapacity of Rhodolph, he was to be considered as deposed by the +will of Providence, and that Matthias was entitled to the +sovereignty as head of the house of Austria. Matthias then gained, +by the varied arts of diplomatic bargaining, the promised support +of several other princes. He purchased the coöperation of +Botskoi by surrendering to him the whole of Transylvania, and all +of Hungary to the river Theiss, which, including Transylvania, +constitutes one half of the majestic kingdom. Matthias agreed to +grant general toleration to all Protestants, both Lutherans and +Calvinists, and also to render them equally eligible with the +Catholics to all offices of emolument and honor. Both parties then +agreed to unite against the Turks if they refused to accede to +honorable terms of peace. The sultan, conscious that such a union +would be more than he could successfully oppose, listened to the +conditions of peace when they afterwards made them, as he had never +condescended to listen before. It is indicative of the power which +the Turks had at that day attained, that a truce with the sultan +for twenty years, allowing each party to retain possession of the +territories which they then held, was purchased by paying a sum +outright, amounting to two hundred thousand dollars. The annual +tribute, however, was no longer to be paid, and thus Christendom +was released from the degradation of vassalage to the Turk.</p> +<p>Rhodolph, who had long looked with a suspicious eye upon +Matthias, watching him very narrowly, began now to see indications +of the plot. He therefore, aided by the counsel and the energy of +the King of Spain, who was implacable in his hostility to Matthias, +resolved to make his cousin Ferdinand, a Styrian prince, his heir +to succeed him upon the throne. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page204" id="page204"></a>{204}</span> He conferred upon Ferdinand +exalted dignities; appointed him to preside in his stead at a diet +at Ratisbon, and issued a proclamation full of most bitter +recriminations against Matthias.</p> +<p>Matters had now come to such a pass that Matthias was compelled +either to bow in humble submission to his brother, or by force of +arms to execute his purposes. With such an alternative he was not a +man long to delay his decision. Still he advanced in his plans, +though firmly, with great circumspection. To gain the Protestants +was to gain one half of the physical power of united Austria, and +more than one half of its energy and intelligence. He appointed a +rendezvous for his troops at Znaim in Moravia, and while Rhodolph +was timidly secluding himself in his palace at Prague, Matthias +left Vienna with ten thousand men, and marched to meet them. He was +received by the troops assembled at Znaim with enthusiasm. Having +thus collected an army of twenty-five thousand men, he entered +Bohemia. On the 10th of May, 1608, he reached Craslau, within sixty +miles of Prague. Great multitudes now crowded around him and openly +espoused his cause. He now declared openly and to all, that it was +his intention to depose his brother and claim for himself the +government of Hungary, Austria and Bohemia.</p> +<p>He then urged his battalions onward, and pressed with rapid +march towards Prague. Rhodolph was now roused to some degree of +energy. He summoned all his supporters to rally around him. It was +a late hour for such a call, but the Catholic nobles generally, all +over the kingdom, were instantly in motion. Many Protestant nobles +also attended the assembly, hoping to extort from the emperor some +measures of toleration. The emperor was so frightened that he was +ready to promise almost any thing. He even crept from his secluded +apartments and presided over the meeting in person. The Protestant +nobles drew up a paper demanding the same toleration which +Maximilian had granted, with the additional permission <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page205" id="page205"></a>{205}</span> to build +churches and to have their own burying-grounds. With this paper, to +which five or six hundred signatures were attached, they went to +the palace, demanded admission to the emperor, and required him +immediately to give his assent to them. It was not necessary for +them to add any threat, for the emperor knew that there was an +Austrian and Hungarian army within a few hours' march.</p> +<p>While matters were in this state, commissioners from Matthias +arrived to inform the king that he must cede the crown to his +brother and retire into the Tyrol. The emperor, in terror, +inquired, "What shall I do?" The Protestants demanded an immediate +declaration, either that he would or would not grant their request. +His friends told him that resistance was unavailing, and that he +must come to an accommodation. Still the emperor had now thirty-six +thousand troops in and around Prague. They were, however, inspired +with no enthusiasm for his person, and it was quite doubtful +whether they would fight. A few skirmishes took place between the +advance guards with such results as to increase Rhodolph's +alarm.</p> +<p>He consequently sent envoys to his brother. They met at Liebau, +and after a negotiation of four days they made a partial +compromise, by which Rhodolph ceded to Matthias, without +reservation, Hungary, Austria and Moravia. Matthias was also +declared to be the successor to the crown of Bohemia should +Rhodolph die without issue male, and Matthias was immediately to +assume the title of "appointed King of Bohemia." The crown and +scepter of Hungary were surrendered to Matthias. He received them +with great pomp at the head of his army, and then leading his +triumphant battalions out of Bohemia, he returned to Vienna and +entered the city with all the military parade of a returning +conqueror.</p> +<p>Matthias had now gained his great object, but he was not at all +inclined to fulfill his promises. He assembled the nobles of +Austria, to receive from them their oaths of allegiance. But the +Protestants, taught caution by long experience, wished <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page206" id="page206"></a>{206}</span> first to +see the decree of toleration which he had promised. Many of the +Protestants, at a distance from the capital, not waiting for the +issuing of the decree, but relying upon his promise, +reëstablished their worship, and the Lord of Inzendorf threw +open his chapel to the citizens of the town. But Matthias was now +disposed to play the despot. He arrested the Lord of Inzendorf, and +closed his church. He demanded of all the lords, Protestant as well +as Catholic, an unconditional oath of allegiance, giving vague +promises, that perhaps at some future time he would promulgate a +decree of toleration, but declaring that he was not bound to do so, +on the miserable quibble that, as he had received from Rhodolph a +hereditary title, he was not bound to grant any thing but what he +had received.</p> +<p>The Protestants were alarmed and exasperated. They grasped their +arms; they retired in a body from Vienna to Hern; threw garrisons +and provisions into several important fortresses; ordered a levy of +every fifth man; sent to Hungary and Moravia to rally their friends +there, and with amazing energy and celerity formed a league for the +defense of their faith. Matthias was now alarmed. He had not +anticipated such energetic action, and he hastened to Presburg, the +capital of Hungary, to secure, if possible, a firm seat upon the +throne. A large force of richly caparisoned troops followed him, +and he entered the capital with splendor, which he hoped would +dazzle the Hungarians. The regal crown and regalia, studded with +priceless jewels, which belonged to Hungary, he took with him, with +great parade. Hungary had been deprived of these treasures, which +were the pride of the nation, for seventy years. But the Protestant +nobles were not to be cajoled with such tinsel. They remained firm +in their demands, and refused to accept him as their sovereign +until the promised toleration was granted. Their claims were very +distinct and intelligible, demanding full toleration for both +Calvinists and Lutherans, and equal eligibility for Protestants +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page207" id= +"page207"></a>{207}</span> with Catholics, to all governmental +offices; none but native Hungarians were to be placed in office; +the king was to reside in Hungary, and when necessarily absent, was +to intrust the government to a regent, chosen jointly by the king +and the nobles; Jesuits were not to be admitted into the kingdom; +no foreign troops were to be admitted, unless there was war with +the Turks, and the king was not to declare war without the consent +of the nobles.</p> +<p>Matthias was very reluctant to sign such conditions, for he was +very jealous of his newly-acquired power as a sovereign. But a +refusal would have exposed him to a civil war, with such forces +arrayed against him as to render the result at least doubtful. The +Austrian States were already in open insurrection. The emissaries +of Rhodolph were busy, fanning the flames of discontent, and making +great promises to those who would restore Rhodolph to the throne. +Intolerant and odious as Rhodolph had been, his great reverses +excited sympathy, and many were disposed to regard Matthias but as +a usurper. Thus influenced, Matthias not only signed all the +conditions, but was also constrained to carry them, into immediate +execution. These conditions being fulfilled, the nobles met on the +19th of November, 1606, and elected Matthias king, and inaugurated +him with the customary forms.</p> +<p>Matthias now returned to Vienna, to quell the insurrection in +the Austrian States. The two countries were so entirely independent +of each other, though now under the same ruler, that he had no fear +that his Hungarian subjects would interfere at all in the internal +administration of Austria. Matthias was resolved to make up for the +concessions he had granted the Hungarians, by ruling with more +despotic sway in Austria. The pope proffered him his aid. The +powerful bishops of Passau and Vienna assured him of efficient +support, and encouraged the adoption of energetic measures. Thus +strengthened Matthias, who was so pliant and humble in Hungary, +assumed the most haughty airs of the sovereign in Austria. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page208" id= +"page208"></a>{208}</span> He peremptorily ordered the Protestants +to be silent, and to cease their murmurings, or he would visit them +with the most exemplary punishment.</p> +<p>North-east of the duchy of Austria, and lying between the +kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, was the province of Moravia. This +territory was about the size of the State of Massachusetts, and its +chief noble, or governor, held the title of margrave, or marquis. +Hence the province, which belonged to the Austrian empire, was +called the margraviate of Moravia. It contained a population of a +little over a million. The nobles of Moravia immediately made +common cause with those of Austria, for they knew that they must +share the same fate. Matthias was again alarmed, and brought to +terms. On the 16th of March, 1609, he signed a capitulation, which +restored to all the Austrian provinces all the toleration which +they had enjoyed under Maximilian II. The nobles then, of all the +States of Austria, took the oath of allegiance to Matthias.</p> +<p>The ambitious monarch, having thus for succeeded, looked with a +covetous eye towards Transylvania. That majestic province, on the +eastern borders of Hungary, being three times the size of +Massachusetts, and containing a population of about two millions, +would prove a splendid addition to the Hungarian kingdom. While +Matthias was secretly encouraging what in modern times and +republican parlance is called a filibustering expedition, for the +sake of annexing Transylvania to the area of Hungary, a new object +of ambition, and one still more alluring, opened before him.</p> +<p>The Protestants in Bohemia were quite excited when they heard of +the great privileges which their brethren in Hungary, and in the +Austrian provinces had extorted from Matthias. This rendered them +more restless under the intolerable burdens imposed upon them. Soon +after the armies of Matthias had withdrawn from Bohemia, Rhodolph, +according to his promise, summoned a diet to deliberate upon the +state of affairs. The Protestants, who despised Rhodolph, attended +the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page209" id= +"page209"></a>{209}</span> diet, resolved to demand reform, and, if +necessary, to seek it by force of arms. They at once assumed a bold +front, and refused to discuss any civil affairs whatever, until the +freedom of religious worship, which they had enjoyed under +Maximilian, was restored to them. But Rhodolph, infatuated, and +under the baleful influence of the Jesuits, refused to listen to +their appeal.</p> +<p>Matthias, informed of this state of affairs, saw that there was +a fine opportunity for him to place himself at the head of the +Protestants, who constituted not only a majority in Bohemia, but +were also a majority in the diet. He therefore sent his emissaries +among them to encourage them with assurances of his sympathy and +aid. The diet which Rhodolph had summoned, separated without coming +to other result than rousing thoroughly the spirit of the +Protestants. They boldly called another diet to meet in May, in the +city of Prague itself, under the very shadow of the palace of +Rhodolph, and sent deputies to Matthias, and to the Protestant +princes generally of the German empire, soliciting their support. +Rhodolph issued a proclamation forbidding them to meet. Regardless +of this injunction they met, at the appointed time and place, +opened the meeting with imposing ceremonies, and made quiet +preparation to repel force with force. These preparations were so +effectually made that upon an alarm being given that the troops of +Rhodolph were approaching to disperse the assembly, in less than an +hour twelve hundred mounted knights and more than ten thousand foot +soldiers surrounded their hall as a guard.</p> +<p>This was a very broad hint to the emperor, and it surprisingly +enlightened him. He began to bow and to apologize, and to +asserverate upon his word of honor that he meant to do what was +right, and from denunciations, he passed by a single step to +cajolery and fawning. It was, however, only his intention to gain +time till he could secure the coöperation of the pope, and +other Catholic princes. The Protestants, however, were not to be +thus deluded. As unmindful of his protestations <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page210" id="page210"></a>{210}</span> as they +had been of his menaces, they proceeded resolutely in establishing +an energetic organization for the defense of their civil and +religious rights. They decreed the levying of an army, and +appointed three of the most distinguished nobles as generals. The +decree was hardly passed before it was carried into execution, and +an army of three thousand foot soldiers, and two thousand horsemen +was assembled as by magic, and their numbers were daily +increasing.</p> +<p>Rhodolph, still cloistered in his palace, looked with amazement +upon this rising storm. He had no longer energy for any decisive +action. With mulish obstinacy he would concede nothing, neither had +he force of character to marshal any decisive resistance. But at +last he saw that the hand of Matthias was also in the movement; +that his ambitious, unrelenting brother was cooperating with his +foes, and would inevitably hurl him from the throne of Bohemia, as +he had already done from the kingdom of Hungary and from the +dukedom of Austria. He was panic-stricken by this sudden +revelation, and in the utmost haste issued a decree, dated July +5th, 1609, granting to the Protestants full toleration of religious +worship, and every other right they had demanded. The despotic old +king became all of a sudden as docile and pliant as a child. He +assured his faithful and well-beloved Protestant subjects that they +might worship God in their own chapels without any molestation; +that they might build churches that they might establish schools +for their children; that their clergy might meet in ecclesiastical +councils; that they might choose chiefs, who should be confirmed by +the sovereign, to watch over their religious privileges and to +guard against any infringement of this edict; and finally, all +ordinances contrary to this act of free and full toleration, which +might hereafter be issued, either by the present sovereign or any +of his successors, were declared null and void.</p> +<p>The Protestants behaved nobly in this hour of bloodless triumph. +Their demands were reasonable and honorable, and <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page211" id="page211"></a>{211}</span> they +sought no infringement whatever of the rights of others. Their +brethren of Silesia had aided them in this great achievement. The +duchy of Silesia was then dependent upon Bohemia, and was just +north of Moldavia. It contained a population of about a million and +a half, scattered over a territory of about fifteen thousand square +miles. The Protestants demanded that the Silesians should share in +the decree. "Most certainly," replied the amiable Rhodolph. An act +of general amnesty for all political offenses was then passed, and +peace was restored to Germany.</p> +<p>Never was more forcibly seen, than on this occasion, the power +of the higher classes over the masses of the people. In fact, +popular tumults, disgraceful mobs, are almost invariably excited by +the higher classes, who push the mob on while they themselves keep +in the background. It was now for the interest of the leaders, both +Catholic and Protestant, that there should be peace, and the +populace immediately imbibed that spirit. The Protestant chapel +stood by the side of the Romish cathedral, and the congregations +mingled freely in courtesy and kindness, as they passed to and from +their places of worship. Mutual forbearance and good will seemed at +once to be restored. And now the several cities of the German +empire, where religious freedom had been crushed by the emperor, +began to throng his palace with remonstrants and demands. They, +united, resolved at every hazard to attain the privileges which +their brethren in Bohemia and Austria had secured. The Prince of +Anhalt, an able and intrepid man, was dispatched to Prague with a +list of grievances. In very plain language he inveighed against the +government of the emperor, and demanded for Donauworth and other +cities of the German empire, the civil and religious freedom of +which Rhodolph had deprived them; declaring, without any softening +of expression, that if the emperor did not peacefully grant their +requests, they would seek redress by force of arms. The humiliated +and dishonored emperor tried to pacify the prince by vague +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page212" id= +"page212"></a>{212}</span> promises and honeyed words, to which the +prince replied in language which at once informed the emperor that +the time for dalliance had passed.</p> +<p>"I fear," said the Prince of Anhalt, in words which sovereigns +are not accustomed to hear, "that this answer will rather tend to +prolong the dispute than to tranquillize the united princes. I am +bound in duty to represent to your imperial majesty the dangerous +flame which I now see bursting forth in Germany. Your counselors +are ill adapted to extinguish this rising flame—those +counselors 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 consideration yourself, +intreating you to recollect the example of Julius Cæsar, 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."</p> +<p>This last remark threw the emperor into a paroxysm of terror. He +had long been trembling from the apprehension of assassination. +This allusion to Julius Cæsar he considered an intimation +that his hour was at hand. His terror was so great that Prince +Anhalt had to assure him, again and again, that he intended no such +menace, and that he was not aware that any conspiracy was thought +of any where, for his death. The emperor was, however, so alarmed +that he promised any thing and every thing. He doubtless intended +to fulfill his promise, but subsequent troubles arose which +absorbed all his remaining feeble energies, and obliterated past +engagements from his mind.</p> +<p>Matthias was watching all the events with the intensest +eagerness, as affording a brilliant prospect to him, to obtain the +crown of Bohemia, and the scepter of the empire. This ambition +consumed his days and his nights, verifying the adage, "uneasy lies +the head which wears a crown."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page213" id= +"page213"></a>{213}</span> +<h2><a name="chap14" id="chap14">CHAPTER XIV</a>.</h2> +<h3>RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS.</h3> +<h4>From 1609 to 1612.</h4> +<p class="summary">Difficulties as to the +Succession.—Hostility of Henry IV. to the House of +Austria.—Assassination of Henry IV.—Similarity in +Sully's and Napoleon's Plans.—Exultation of the +Catholics.—The Brothers' Compact.—How Rhodolph Kept +It.—Seizure of Prague.—Rhodolph a Prisoner.—The +King's Abdication.—Conditions Attached to the +Crown.—Rage of Rhodolph.—Matthias Elected +King.—The Emperor's Residence.—Rejoicings of the +Protestants.—Reply of the Ambassadors.—The Nuremburg +Diet.—The Unkindest Cut of All.—Rhodolph's Humiliation +And Death.</p> +<p>And now suddenly arose another question which threatened to +involve all Europe in war. The Duke of Cleves, Juliers, and Berg +died without issue. This splendid duchy, or rather combination of +duchies, spread over a territory of several thousand square miles, +and was inhabited by over a million of inhabitants. There were many +claimants to the succession, and the question was so singularly +intricate and involved, that there were many who seemed to have an +equal right to the possession. The emperor, by virtue of his +imperial authority, issued an edict, putting the territory in +sequestration, till the question should be decided by the proper +tribunals, and, in the meantime, placing the territory in the hands +of one of his own family as administrator.</p> +<p>This act, together with the known wishes of Spain to prevent so +important a region, lying near the Netherlands, from falling into +the hands of the Protestants, immediately changed the character of +the dispute into a religious contest, and, as by magic, all Europe +wheeled into line on the one side or the other, Every other +question was lost sight of, in the all-absorbing <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page214" id="page214"></a>{214}</span> one, +Shall the duchy fall into the hands of the Protestants or the +Catholics?</p> +<p>Henry IV. of France zealously espoused the cause of the +Protestants. He was very hostile to the house of Austria for the +assistance it had lent to that celebrated league which for so many +years had deluged France in blood, and kept Henry IV. from the +throne; and he was particularly anxious to humble that proud power. +Though Henry IV., after fighting for many years the battles of +Protestantism, had, from motives of policy, avowed the Romish +faith, he could never forget his mother's instructions, his early +predilections and his old friends and supporters, the Protestants; +and his sympathies were always with them. Henry IV., as sagacious +and energetic as he was ambitious, saw that he could never expect a +more favorable moment to strike the house of Austria than the one +then presented. The Emperor Rhodolph was weak, and universally +unpopular, not only with his own subjects, but throughout Germany. +The Protestants were all inimical to him, and he was involved in +desperate antagonism with his energetic brother Matthias. Still he +was a formidable foe, as, in a war involving religious questions, +he could rally around him all the Catholic powers of Europe.</p> +<p>Henry IV., preparatory to pouring his troops into the German +empire, entered into secret negotiations with England, Denmark, +Switzerland, Venice, whom he easily purchased with offers of +plunder, and with the Protestant princes of minor power on the +continent. There were not a few, indifferent upon religious +matters, who were ready to engage in any enterprise which would +humble Spain and Austria. Henry collected a large force on the +frontiers of Germany, and, with ample materials of war, was +prepared, at a given signal, to burst into the territory of the +empire.</p> +<p>The Catholics watched these movements with alarm, and began also +to organize. Rhodolph, who, from his position as emperor, should +have been their leader, was a wretched hypochondriac, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page215" id="page215"></a>{215}</span> trembling +before imaginary terrors, a prey to the most gloomy superstitions, +and still concealed in the secret chambers of his palace. He was a +burden to his party, and was regarded by them with contempt. +Matthias was watching him, as the tiger watches its prey. To human +eyes it would appear that the destiny of the house of Austria was +sealed. Just at that critical point, one of those unexpected events +occurred, which so often rise to thwart the deepest laid schemes of +man.</p> +<p>On the 14th of May, 1610, Henry IV. left the Louvre in his +carriage to visit his prime minister, the illustrious Sully, who +was sick. The city was thronged with the multitudes assembled to +witness the triumphant entry of the queen, who had just been +crowned. It was a beautiful spring morning, and the king sat in his +carriage with several of his nobles, the windows of his carriage +being drawn up. Just as the carriage was turning up from the rue +St. Honore into the rue Ferronnerie, the passage was found blocked +up by two carts. The moment the carriage stopped, a man sprung from +the crowd upon one of the spokes of the wheel, and grasping a part +of the coach with his right hand, with his left plunged a dagger to +the hilt into the heart of Henry IV. Instantly withdrawing it, he +repeated the blow, and with nervous strength again penetrated the +heart. The king dropped dead into the arms of his friends, the +blood gushing from the wound and from his mouth. The wretched +assassin, a fanatic monk, Francis Ravaillac, was immediately seized +by the guard. With difficulty they protected him from being torn in +pieces by the populace. He was reserved for a more terrible fate, +and was subsequently put to death by the most frightful tortures +human ingenuity could devise.</p> +<p>The poniard of the assassin changed the fate of Europe. Henry +IV. had formed one of the grandest plans which ever entered the +human mind. Though it is not at all probable that he could have +executed it, the attempt, with the immense <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page216" id="page216"></a>{216}</span> means he +had at his disposal, and with his energy as a warrior and +diplomatist, would doubtless have entirely altered the aspect of +human affairs. There was very much in his plan to secure the +approval of all those enlightened men who were mourning over the +incessant and cruel wars with which Europe was ever desolated. His +intention was to reconstruct Europe into fifteen States, as nearly +uniform in size and power as possible. These States were, according +to their own choice, to be monarchical or republican, and were to +be associated on a plan somewhat resembling that of the United +States of North America. In each State the majority were to decide +which religion, whether Protestant or Catholic, should be +established. The Catholics were all to leave the Protestant States, +and assemble in their own. In like manner the Protestants were to +abandon the Catholic kingdoms. This was the very highest point to +which the spirit of toleration had then attained. All Pagans and +Mohammedans were to be driven out of Europe into Asia. A civil +tribunal was to be organized to settle all national difficulties, +so that there should be no more war. There was to be a standing +army belonging to the confederacy, to preserve the peace, and +enforce its decrees, consisting of two hundred and seventy thousand +infantry, fifty thousand cavalry, two hundred cannon, and one +hundred and twenty ships of war.</p> +<p>This plan was by no means so chimerical as at first glance it +might seem to be. The sagacious Sully examined it in all its +details, and gave it his cordial support. The coöperation of +two or three of the leading powers would have invested the plan +with sufficient moral and physical support to render its success +even probable. But the single poniard of the monk Ravaillac +arrested it all.</p> +<p>The Emperor Napoleon I. had formed essentially the same plan, +with the same humane desire to put an end to interminable wars; but +he had adopted far nobler principles of toleration. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page217" id="page217"></a>{217}</span> "One of +my great plans," said he at St. Helena, "was the rejoining, the +concentration of those same geographical nations which have been +disunited and parcelled out by revolution and policy. There are +dispersed in Europe upwards of thirty millions of French, fifteen +millions of Spaniards, fifteen millions of Italians, and thirty +millions of Germans. It was my intention to incorporate these +several people each into one nation. It would have been a noble +thing to have advanced into posterity with such a train, and +attended by the blessings of future ages. I felt myself worthy of +this glory.</p> +<p>"After this summary simplification, it would have been possible +to indulge the chimera of the <i>beau ideal</i> of civilization. In +this state of things there would have been some chance of +establishing in every country a unity of codes, of principles, of +opinions, of sentiments, views and interests. Then perhaps, by the +help of the universal diffusion of knowledge, one might have +thought of attempting in the great human family the application of +the American Congress, or the Amphictyons of Greece. What a +perspective of power, grandeur, happiness and prosperity would thus +have appeared.</p> +<p>"The concentration of thirty or forty millions of Frenchmen was +completed and perfected. That of fifteen millions of Spaniards was +nearly accomplished. Because I did not subdue the Spaniards, it +will henceforth be argued that they were invincible, for nothing is +more common than to convert accident into principle. But the fact +is that they were actually conquered, and, at the very moment when +they escaped me, the Cortes of Cadiz were secretly in treaty with +me. They were not delivered either by their own resistance or by +the efforts of the English, but by the reverses which I sustained +at different points, and, above all, by the error I committed in +transferring my whole forces to the distance of three thousand +miles from them. Had it not been for this, the Spanish government +would have been shortly consolidated, the public mind would have +been tranquilized, and hostile parties <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page218" id="page218"></a>{218}</span> would +have been rallied together. Three or four years would have restored +the Spaniards to profound peace and brilliant prosperity. They +would have become a compact nation, and I should have well deserved +their gratitude, for I should have saved them from the tyranny by +which they are now oppressed, and the terrible agitations which +await them.</p> +<p>"With regard to the fifteen millions of Italians, their +concentration was already far advanced; it only wanted maturity. +The people were daily becoming more firmly established in the unity +of principles and legislation, and also in the unity of thought and +feeling—that certain and infallible cement of human thought +and concentration. The union of Piedmont to France, and the +junction of Parma, Tuscany and Rome, were, in my mind, only +temporary measures, intended merely to guarantee and promote the +national education of the Italians. The portions of Italy that were +united to France, though that union might have been regarded as the +result of invasion on our part, were, in spite of their Italian +patriotism, the very places that continued most attached to us.</p> +<p>"All the south of Europe, therefore, would soon have been +rendered compact in point of locality, views, opinions, sentiments +and interests. In this state of things, what would have been the +weight of all the nations of the North? What human efforts could +have broken through so strong a barrier? The concentration of the +Germans must have been effected more gradually, and therefore I had +done no more than simplify their monstrous complication. Not that +they were unprepared for concentralization; on the contrary, they +were too well prepared for it, and they might have blindly risen in +reaction against us before they had comprehended our designs. How +happens it that no German prince has yet formed a just notion of +the spirit of his nation, and turned it to good account? Certainly +if Heaven had made me a prince of Germany, amid the critical events +of our times I should infallibly have governed the thirty millions +of Germans combined; and, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page219" +id="page219"></a>{219}</span> from what I know of them, I think I +may venture to affirm that if they had once elected and proclaimed +me they would not have forsaken me, and I should never have been at +St. Helena.</p> +<p>"At all events," the emperor continued, after a moment's pause, +"this concentration will be brought about sooner or later by the +very force of events. The impulse is given, and I think that since +my fall and the destruction of my system, no grand equilibrium can +possibly be established in Europe except by the concentration and +confederation of the principal nations. The sovereign who in the +first great conflict shall sincerely embrace the cause of the +people, will find himself at the head of Europe, and may attempt +whatever he pleases."</p> +<p>Thus similar were the plans of these two most illustrious men. +But from this digression let us return to the affairs of Austria. +With the death of Henry IV., fell the stupendous plan which his +genius conceived, and which his genius alone could execute. The +Protestants, all over Europe, regarded his death as a terrible +blow. Still they did not despair of securing the contested duchy +for a Protestant prince. The fall of Henry IV. raised from the +Catholics a shout of exultation, and they redoubled their zeal.</p> +<p>The various princes of the house of Austria, brothers, uncles, +cousins, holding important posts all over the empire, were much +alarmed in view of the peril to which the family ascending was +exposed by the feebleness of Rhodolph. They held a private family +conference, and decided that the interests of all required that +there should be reconciliation between Matthias and Rhodolph; or +that, in their divided state, they would fall victims to their +numerous foes. The brothers agreed to an outward reconciliation; +but there was not the slightest mitigation of the rancor which +filled their hearts. Matthias, however, consented to acknowledge +the superiority of his brother, the emperor, to honor him as the +head of the family, and to hold his possessions as fiefs of +Rhodolph intrusted to him by favor. Rhodolph, while hating +Matthias, and watching for an <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page220" id="page220"></a>{220}</span> opportunity to crush him, +promised to regard him hereafter as a brother and a friend.</p> +<p>And now Rhodolph developed unexpected energy, mingled with +treachery and disgraceful duplicity. He secretly and treacherously +invited the Archduke Leopold, who was also Bishop of Passau and +Strasbourg, and one of the most bigoted of the warrior +ecclesiastics of the papal church, to invade, with an army of +sixteen thousand men, Rhodolph's own kingdom of Bohemia, under the +plea that the wages of the soldiers had not been paid. It was his +object, by thus introducing an army of Roman Catholics into his +kingdom, and betraying into their hands several strong fortresses, +then to place himself at their head, rally the Catholics of Bohemia +around him, annul all the edicts of toleration, crush the +Protestants, and then to march to the punishment of Matthias.</p> +<p>The troops, in accordance with their treacherous plan, burst +into Upper Austria, where the emperor had provided that there +should be no force to oppose them. They spread themselves over the +country, robbing the Protestants and destroying their property with +the most wanton cruelty. Crossing the Danube they continued their +march and entered Bohemia. Still Rhodolph kept quiet in his palace, +sending no force to oppose, but on the contrary contriving that +towns and fortresses, left defenseless, should fall easily into +their hands. Bohemia was in a terrible state of agitation. Wherever +the invading army appeared, it wreaked dire vengeance upon the +Protestants. The leaders of the Protestants hurriedly ran together, +and, suspicious of treachery, sent an earnest appeal to the +king.</p> +<p>The infamous emperor, not yet ready to lay aside the vail, +called Heaven to witness that the irruption was made without his +knowledge, and advised vigorous measures to repel the foe, while he +carefully thwarted the execution of any such measures. At the same +time he issued a proclamation to Leopold, commanding him to retire. +Leopold understood all this beforehand, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page221" id="page221"></a>{221}</span> and +smiling, pressed on. Aided by the treason of the king, they reached +Prague, seized one of the gates, massacred the guard, and took +possession of the capital. The emperor now came forward and +disclosed his plans. The foreign troops, holding Prague and many +other of the most important towns and fortresses in the kingdom, +took the oath of allegiance to Rhodolph as their sovereign, and he +placed in their hands five pieces of heavy artillery, which were +planted in battery on an eminence which commanded the town. A part +of Bohemia rallied around the king in support of these atrocious +measures.</p> +<p>But all the Protestants, and all who had any sympathy with the +Protestants, were exasperated to the highest pitch. They +immediately dispatched messengers to Matthias and to their friends +in Moravia, imploring aid. Matthias immediately started eight +thousand Hungarians on the march. As they entered Bohemia with +rapid steps and pushed their way toward Prague they were joined +every hour by Protestant levies pouring in from all quarters. So +rapidly did their ranks increase that Leopold's troops, not daring +to await their arrival, in a panic, fled by night. They were +pursued on their retreat, attacked, and put to flight with the loss +of two thousand men. The ecclesiastical duke, in shame and +confusion, slunk away to his episcopal castle of Passau.</p> +<p>The contemptible Rhodolph now first proposed terms of +reconciliation, and then implored the clemency of his indignant +conquerors. They turned from the overtures of the perjured monarch +with disdain, burst into the city of Prague, surrounded every +avenue to the palace, and took Rhodolph a prisoner. Soon Matthias +arrived, mounted in regal splendor, at the head of a gorgeous +retinue. The army received him with thunders of acclaim. Rhodolph, +a captive in his palace, heard the explosion of artillery, the +ringing of bells and the shouts of the populace, welcoming his +dreaded and detested rival to the capital. It was the 20th of +March, 1611. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page222" id= +"page222"></a>{222}</span> The nobles commanded Rhodolph to summon +a diet. The humiliated, degraded, helpless emperor knew full well +what this signified, but dared not disobey. He summoned a diet. It +was immediately convened. Rhodolph sent in a message, saying,</p> +<p>"Since, on account of my advanced age, I am no longer capable of +supporting the weight of government, I hereby abdicate the throne, +and earnestly desire that my brother Matthias may be crowned +without delay."</p> +<p>The diet were disposed very promptly to gratify the king in his +expressed wishes. But there arose some very formidable +difficulties. The German princes, who were attached to the cause +which Rhodolph had so cordially espoused, and who foresaw that his +fall threatened the ascendency of Protestantism throughout the +empire, sent their ambassadors to the Bohemian nobles with the +menace of the vengeance of the empire, if they proceeded to the +deposition of Rhodolph and to the inauguration of Matthias, whom +they stigmatized as an usurper. This unexpected interposition +reanimated the hopes of Rhodolph, and he instantly found such +renovation of youth and strength as to feel quite able to bear the +burden of the crown a little longer; and consequently, +notwithstanding his abdication, through his friends, all the most +accomplished mechanism of diplomacy, with its menaces, its bribes, +and its artifice were employed to thwart the movements of Matthias +and his friends.</p> +<p>There was still another very great difficulty. Matthias was very +ambitious, and wished to be a sovereign, with sovereign power. He +was very reluctant to surrender the least portion of those +prerogatives which his regal ancestors had grasped. But the nobles +deemed this a favorable opportunity to regain their lost power. +They were disposed to make a hard bargain with Matthias. They +demanded—1st, that the throne should no longer be hereditary, +but elective; 2d, that the nobles should be permitted to meet in a +diet, or congress, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page223" id= +"page223"></a>{223}</span> to deliberate upon public affairs +whenever and wherever they pleased; 3d, that all financial and +military affairs should be left in their hands; 4th, that although +the king might appoint all the great officers of state, they might +remove any of them at pleasure; 5th, that it should be the +privilege of the nobles to form all foreign alliances; 6th, that +they were to be empowered to form an armed force by their own +authority.</p> +<p>Matthias hesitated in giving his assent to such demands, which +seemed to reduce him to a cipher, conferring upon him only the +shadow of a crown. Rhodolph, however, who was eager to make any +concessions, had his agents busy through the diet, with assurances +that the emperor would grant all these concessions. But Rhodolph +had fallen too low to rise again. The diet spurned all his offers, +and chose Matthias, though he postponed his decision upon these +articles until he could convene a future and more general diet. +Rhodolph had eagerly caught at the hope of regaining his crown. As +his messengers returned to him in the palace with the tidings of +their defeat, he was overwhelmed with indignation, shame and +despair. In a paroxysm of agony he threw up his window, and looking +out upon the city, exclaimed,</p> +<p>"O 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 upon thee and all Bohemia."</p> +<p>The 23d of May was appointed for the coronation. The nobles drew +up a paper, which they required Rhodolph to sign, absolving his +subjects from their oath of allegiance to him. The degraded king +writhed in helpless indignation, for he was a captive. With the +foolish petulance of a spoiled child, as he affixed his signature +in almost an illegible scrawl, he dashed blots of ink upon the +paper, and then, tearing the pen to pieces, threw it upon the +floor, and trampled it beneath his feet.</p> +<p>It was still apprehended that the adherents of Rhodolph +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page224" id= +"page224"></a>{224}</span> might make some armed demonstration in +his favor. As a precaution against this, the city was filled with +troops, the gates closed, and carefully guarded. The nobles met in +the great hall of the palace. It was called a meeting of the +States, for it included the higher nobles, the higher clergy, and a +few citizens, as representatives of certain privileged cities. The +forced abdication of Rhodolph was first read. It was as +follows:—</p> +<p>"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 conditions, 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 increased in riches and splendor. +We accordingly, in virtue of this present voluntary resignation, +and after due reflection, do, from this day, release our subjects +from all duty and obligation."</p> +<p>Matthias was then chosen king, in accordance with all the +ancient customs of the hereditary monarchy of Bohemia. The States +immediately proceeded to his coronation. Every effort was made to +dazzle the multitude with the splendors of the coronation, and to +throw a halo of glory around the event, not merely as the accession +of a new monarch to the throne, but as the introduction of a great +reform in reinstating the nation in its pristine rights.</p> +<p>While the capital was resounding with these rejoicings, Rhodolph +had retired to a villa at some distance from the city, in a +secluded glen among the mountains, that he might close his ears +against the hateful sounds. The next day Matthias, fraternally or +maliciously, for it is not easy to judge which <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page225" id="page225"></a>{225}</span> motive +actuated him, sent a stinging message of assumed gratitude to his +brother, thanking him for relinquishing in his brother's favor his +throne and his palaces, and expressing the hope that they might +still live together in fraternal confidence and affection.</p> +<p>Matthias and the States consulted their own honor rather than +Rhodolph's merits, in treating him with great magnanimity. Though +Rhodolph had lost, one by one, all his own hereditary or acquired +territories, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, he still retained the +imperial crown of Germany. This gave him rank and certain official +honors, with but little real power. The emperor, who was also a +powerful sovereign in his own right, could marshal his own forces +to establish his decrees. But the emperor, who had no treasury or +army of his own, was powerless indeed.</p> +<p>The emperor was permitted to occupy one of the palaces at +Prague. He received an annual pension of nearly a million of +dollars; and the territories and revenues of four lordships were +conferred upon him. Matthias having consolidated his government, +and appointed the great officers of his kingdom, left Prague +without having any interview with his brother, and returned to his +central capital at Vienna, where he married Anne, daughter of his +uncle Ferdinand of Tyrol.</p> +<p>The Protestants all over the German empire hailed these events +with public rejoicing. Rhodolph had been their implacable foe. He +was now disarmed and incapable of doing them any serious injury. +Matthias was professedly their friend, had been placed in power +mainly as their sovereign, and was now invested with such power, as +sovereign of the collected realms of Austria, that he could +effectually protect them from persecution. This success emboldened +them to unite in a strong, wide-spread confederacy for the +protection of their rights. The Protestant nobles and princes, with +the most distinguished of their clergy from all parts of the German +empire, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page226" id= +"page226"></a>{226}</span> held a congress at Rothenburg. This +great assembly, in the number, splendor and dignity of its +attendants, vied with regal diets. Many of the most illustrious +princes of the empire were there in person, with imposing retinues. +The emperor and Matthias both deemed it expedient to send +ambassadors to the meeting. The congress at Rothenburg was one of +the most memorable movements of the Protestant party. They drew up +minute regulations for the government of their confederacy, +established a system of taxation among themselves, made efficient +arrangements for the levying of troops, established arsenals and +magazines, and strongly garrisoned a fortress, to be the nucleus of +their gathering should they at any time be compelled to appeal to +arms.</p> +<p>Rhodolph, through his ambassadors, appeared before this +resplendent assembly the mean and miserable sycophant he ever was +in days of disaster. He was so silly as to try to win them again to +his cause. He coaxed and made the most liberal promises, but all in +vain. Their reply was indignant and decisive, yet dignified.</p> +<p>"We have too long," they replied, "been duped by specious and +deceitful promises. We now demand actions, not words. Let the +emperor show us by the acts of his administration that his spirit +is changed, and then, and then only, can we confide in him."</p> +<p>Matthias was still apprehensive that the emperor might rally the +Catholic forces of Germany, and in union with the pope and the +formidable power of the Spanish court, make an attempt to recover +his Bohemian throne. It was manifest that with any energy of +character, Rhodolph might combine Catholic Europe, and inundate the +plains of Germany with blood. While it was very important, +therefore, that Matthias should do every thing he could to avoid +exasperating the Catholics, it was essential to his cause that he +should rally around him the sympathies of the Protestants.</p> +<p>The ambassadors of Matthias respectfully announced to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page227" id= +"page227"></a>{227}</span> congress the events which had transpired +in Bohemia in the transference of the crown, and solicited the +support of the congress. The Protestant princes received this +communication with satisfaction, promised their support in case it +should be needed, and, conscious of the danger of provoking +Rhodolph to any desperate efforts to rouse the Catholics, +recommended that he should be treated with brotherly kindness, and, +at the same time, watched with a vigilant eye.</p> +<p>Rhodolph, disappointed here, summoned an electoral meeting of +the empire, to be held at Nuremburg on the 14th of December, 1711. +He hoped that a majority of the electors would be his friends. +Before this body he presented a very pathetic account of his +grievances, delineating in most melancholy colors the sorrows which +attend fallen grandeur. He detailed his privations and necessities, +the straits to which he was reduced by poverty, his utter inability +to maintain a state befitting the imperial dignity, and implored +them, with the eloquence of a Neapolitan mendicant, to grant him a +suitable establishment, and not to abandon him, in his old age, to +penury and dishonor.</p> +<p>The reply of the electors to the dispirited, degraded, +downtrodden old monarch was the unkindest cut of all. Much as +Rhodolph is to be execrated and despised, one can hardly refrain +from an emotion of sympathy in view of this new blow which fell +upon him. A deputation sent from the electoral college met him in +his palace at Prague. Mercilessly they recapitulated most of the +complaints which the Protestants had brought against him, declined +rendering him any pecuniary relief, and requested him to nominate +some one to be chosen as his successor on the imperial throne.</p> +<p>"The emperor," said the delegation in conclusion, "is himself +the principal author of his own distresses and misfortunes. The +contempt into which he has fallen and the disgrace which, through +him, is reflected upon the empire, is derived from his own +indolence and his obstinacy in following perverse counsels. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page228" id= +"page228"></a>{228}</span> He might have escaped all these +calamities if, instead of resigning himself to corrupt and +interested ministers, he had followed the salutary counsels of the +electors."</p> +<p>They closed this overwhelming announcement by demanding the +immediate assembling of a diet to elect an emperor to succeed him +on the throne of Germany. Rhodolph, not yet quite sufficiently +humiliated to officiate as his own executioner, though he promised +to summon a diet, evaded the fulfillment of his promise. The +electors, not disposed to dally with him at all, called the +assembly by their own authority to meet on the 31st of May.</p> +<p>This seemed to be the finishing blow. Rhodolph, now sixty years +of age, enfeebled and emaciated by disease and melancholy, threw +himself upon his bed to die. Death, so often invoked in vain by the +miserable, came to his aid. He welcomed its approach. To those +around his bed he remarked,</p> +<p>"When a youth, I experienced the most exquisite pleasure in +returning from Spain to my native country. 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!"</p> +<p>In the tomb let him be forgotten.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page229" id= +"page229"></a>{229}</span> +<h2><a name="chap15" id="chap15">CHAPTER XV</a>.</h2> +<h3>MATTHIAS.</h3> +<h4>From 1612 to 1619.</h4> +<p class="summary">Matthias Elected Emperor of Germany.—His +despotic Character.—His Plans +thwarted.—Mulheim.—Gathering Clouds.—Family +Intrigue.—Coronation of Ferdinand.—His +Bigotry.—Henry, Count of Thurn.—Convention at +Prague.—The King's Reply.—The Die cast.—Amusing +Defense of an Outrage.—Ferdinand's Manifesto.—Seizure +of Cardinal Kleses.—The King's Rage.—Retreat of the +King's Troops.—Humiliation of Ferdinand.—The +Difficulties referred.—Death of Matthias.</p> +<p>Upon the death of Rhodolph, Matthias promptly offered himself as +a candidate for the imperial crown. But the Catholics, suspicious +of Matthias, in consequence of his connection with the Protestants, +centered upon the Archduke Albert, sovereign of the Netherlands, as +their candidate. Many of the Protestants, also, jealous of the vast +power Matthias was attaining, and not having full confidence in his +integrity, offered their suffrages to Maximilian, the younger +brother of Matthias. But notwithstanding this want of unanimity, +political intrigue removed all difficulties and Matthias was +unanimously elected Emperor of Germany.</p> +<p>The new emperor was a man of renown. His wonderful achievements +had arrested the attention of Europe, and it was expected that in +his hands the administration of the empire would be conducted with +almost unprecedented skill and vigor. But clouds and storms +immediately began to lower around the throne. Matthias had no +spirit of toleration in his heart, and every tolerant act he had +assented to, had been extorted from him. He was, by nature, a +despot, and most reluctantly, for the sake of grasping the reins of +power, he had relinquished <span class="pagenum"><a name="page230" +id="page230"></a>{230}</span> a few of the royal prerogatives. He +had thus far evaded many of the claims which had been made upon +him, and which he had partially promised to grant, and now, being +both king and emperor, he was disposed to grasp all power, both +secular and religious, which he could attain.</p> +<p>Matthias's first endeavor was to recover Transylvania. This +province had fallen into the hands of Gabriel Bethlehem, who was +under the protection of the Turks. Matthias, thinking that a war +with the infidel would be popular, summoned a diet and solicited +succors to drive the Turks from Moldavia and Wallachia, where they +had recently established themselves. The Protestants, however, +presented a list of grievances which they wished to have redressed +before they listened to his request. The Catholics, on the other +hand, presented a list of their grievances, which consisted, +mainly, in privileges granted the Protestants, which they also +demanded to have redressed before they could vote any supplies to +the emperor. These demands were so diametrically hostile to each +other, that there could be no reconciliation. After an angry debate +the diet broke up in confusion, having accomplished nothing.</p> +<p>Matthias, disappointed in this endeavor, now applied to the +several States of his widely extended Austrian domains—to his +own subjects. A general assembly was convened at Lintz. Matthias +proposed his plans, urging the impolicy of allowing the Turks to +retain the conquered provinces, and to remain in the ascendency in +Transylvania. But here again Matthias was disappointed. The +Bohemian Protestants were indignant in view of some restrictions +upon their worship, imposed by the emperor to please the Catholics. +The Hungarians, weary of the miseries of war, were disposed on any +terms to seek peace with the Turks. The Austrians had already +expended an immense amount of blood and money on the battle-fields +of Hungary, and urged the emperor to send an ambassador to treat +for peace. Matthias was excessively annoyed in being thus thwarted +in all his plans.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page231" id= +"page231"></a>{231}</span> +<p>Just at this time a Turkish envoy arrived at Vienna, proposing a +truce for twenty years. The Turks had never before condescended to +send an embassage to a Christian power. This afforded Matthias an +honorable pretext for abandoning his warlike plan, and the truce +was agreed to.</p> +<p>The incessant conflict between the Catholics and Protestants +allowed Germany no repose. A sincere toleration, such as existed +during the reign of Maximilian I., established fraternal feelings +between the contending parties. But it required ages of suffering +and peculiar combination of circumstances, to lead the king and the +nobles to a cordial consent to that toleration. But the bigotry of +Rhodolph and the trickery of Matthias, had so exasperated the +parties, and rendered them so suspicious of each other, that the +emperor, even had he been so disposed, could not, but by very slow +and gradual steps, have secured reconciliation. Rhodolph had put +what was called the ban of the empire upon the Protestant city of +Aix-la-Chapelle, removing the Protestants from the magistracy, and +banishing their chiefs from the city. When Rhodolph was sinking +into disgrace and had lost his power, the Protestants, being in the +majority, took up arms, reflected their magistracy, and expelled +the Jesuits from the city. The Catholics now appealed to Matthias, +and he insanely revived the ban against the Protestants, and +commissioned Albert, Archduke of Cologne, a bigoted Catholic, to +march with an army to Aix-la-Chapelle and enforce its +execution.</p> +<p>Opposite Cologne, on the Rhine, the Protestants, in the days of +bitter persecution, had established the town of Mulheim. Several of +the neighboring Protestant princes defended with their arms the +refugees who settled there from all parts of Germany. The town was +strongly fortified, and here the Protestants, with arms in their +hands, maintained perfect freedom of religious worship. The city +grew rapidly and became one of the most important fortresses upon +the river. The Catholics, jealous of its growing power, appealed to +the emperor. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page232" id= +"page232"></a>{232}</span> He issued a decree ordering the +Protestants to demolish every fortification of the place within +thirty days; and to put up no more buildings whatever.</p> +<p>These decrees were both enforced by the aid of a Spanish army of +thirty thousand men, which, having executed the ban, descended the +river and captured several others of the most important of the +Protestant towns. Of course all Germany was in a ferment. +Everywhere was heard the clashing of arms, and every thing +indicated the immediate outburst of civil war. Matthias was in +great perplexity, and his health rapidly failed beneath the burden +of care and sorrow. All the thoughts of Matthias were now turned to +the retaining of the triple crown of Bohemia, Hungary and the +empire, in the family. Matthias was old, sick and childless. +Maximilian, his next brother, was fifty-nine years of age and +unmarried. The next brother, Albert, was fifty-eight, and without +children. Neither of the brothers could consequently receive the +crowns with any hope of retaining them in the family. Matthias +turned to his cousin Ferdinand, head of the Styrian branch of the +family, as the nearest relative who was likely to continue the +succession. In accordance with the custom which had grown up, +Matthias wished to nominate his successor, and have him recognized +and crowned before his death, so that immediately upon his death +the new sovereign, already crowned, could enter upon the government +without any interregnum.</p> +<p>The brothers, appreciating the importance of retaining the crown +in the family, and conscious that all the united influence they +then possessed was essential to securing that result, assented to +the plan, and coöperated in the nomination of Ferdinand. All +the arts of diplomatic intrigue were called into requisition to +attain these important ends. The Bohemian crown was now electoral; +and it was necessary to persuade the electors to choose Ferdinand, +one of the most intolerant Catholics who ever swayed a scepter. The +crown of Hungary was nominally hereditary. But the turbulent +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page233" id= +"page233"></a>{233}</span> nobles, ever armed, and strong in their +fortresses, would accept no monarch whom they did not approve. To +secure also the electoral vote for Emperor of Germany, while +parties were so divided and so bitterly hostile to each other, +required the most adroit application of bribes and menaces.</p> +<p>Matthias made his first movement in Bohemia. Having adopted +previous measures to gain the support of the principal nobles, he +summoned a diet at Prague, which he attended in person, accompanied +by Ferdinand. In a brief speech he thus addressed them.</p> +<p>"As I and my brothers," said the king, "are without children, I +deem it necessary, for the advantage of Bohemia, and to prevent +future 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."</p> +<p>Some of the leading Protestants opposed this, on the ground of +the known intolerance of Ferdinand. But the majority, either won +over by the arts of Matthias, or dreading civil war, accepted +Ferdinand. He was crowned on the 10th of June, 1616, he promising +not to interfere with the government during the lifetime of +Matthias. The emperor now turned to Hungary, and, by the adoption +of the same measures, secured the same results. The nobles accepted +Ferdinand, and he was solemnly crowned at Presburg.</p> +<p>Ferdinand was Archduke of Styria, a province of Austria +embracing a little more than eight thousand square miles, being +about the size of the State of Massachusetts, and containing about +a million of inhabitants. He was educated by the Jesuits after the +strictest manner of their religion. He became so thoroughly imbued +with the spirit of his monastic education, that he was anxious to +assume the cowl of the monk, and enter the order of the Jesuits. +His devotion to the papal church assumed the aspect of the most +inflexible intolerance towards all dissent. In the administration +of the government of his own duchy, he had given free swing to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page234" id= +"page234"></a>{234}</span> his bigotry. Marshaling his troops, he +had driven all the Protestant preachers from his domains. He had +made a pilgrimage to Rome, to receive the benediction of the pope, +and another to Loretto, where, prostrating himself before the +miraculous image, he vowed never to cease his exertions until he +had extirpated all heresy from his territories. He often declared +that he would beg his bread from door to door, submit to every +insult, to every calamity, sacrifice even life itself, rather than +suffer the true Church to be injured. Ferdinand was no +time-server—no hypocrite. He was a genuine bigot, sincere and +conscientious. Animated by this spirit, although two thirds of the +inhabitants of Styria were Protestants, he banished all their +preachers, professors and schoolmasters; closed their churches, +seminaries and schools; even tore down the churches and +school-houses; multiplied papal institutions, and called in +teachers and preachers from other States.</p> +<p>Matthias and Ferdinand now seemed jointly to reign, and the +Protestants were soon alarmed by indications that a new spirit was +animating the councils of the sovereign. The most inflexible +Catholics were received as the friends and advisers of the king. +The Jesuits loudly exulted, declaring that heresy was no longer to +be tolerated. Banishments and confiscations were talked of, and the +alarm of the Protestants became intense and universal: they looked +forward to the commencement of the reign of Ferdinand with +terror.</p> +<p>As was to be expected, such wrongs and perils called out an +avenger. Matthew Henry, Count of Thurn, was one of the most +illustrious and wealthy of the Bohemian nobles. He had long been a +warm advocate of the doctrines of the Reformation; and having, in +the wars with the Turks, acquired a great reputation for military +capacity and courage, and being also a man of great powers of +eloquence, and of exceedingly popular manners, he had become quite +the idol of the Protestant party. He had zealously opposed the +election of Ferdinand to the throne of Bohemia, and had thus +increased that <span class="pagenum"><a name="page235" id= +"page235"></a>{235}</span> jealousy and dislike with which both +Matthias and Ferdinand had previously regarded so formidable an +opponent. He was, in consequence, very summarily deprived of some +very important dignities. This roused his impetuous spirit, and +caused the Protestants more confidingly to rally around him as a +martyr to their cause.</p> +<p>The Count of Thurn, as prudent as he was bold, as deliberate as +he was energetic, aware of the fearful hazard of entering into +hostilities with the sovereign who was at the same time king of all +the Austrian realms, and Emperor of Germany, conferred with the +leading Protestant princes, and organized a confederacy so strong +that all the energies of the empire could with difficulty crush it. +They were not disposed to make any aggressive movements, but to +defend their rights if assailed. The inhabitants of a town in the +vicinity of Prague began to erect a church for Protestant worship. +The Roman Catholic bishop, who presided over that diocese, forbade +them to proceed. They plead a royal edict, which authorized them to +erect the church, and continued their work, regardless of the +prohibition. Count Thurn encouraged them to persevere, promising +them ample support. The bishop appealed to the Emperor Matthias. He +also issued his prohibition; but aware of the strength of the +Protestants, did not venture to attempt to enforce it by arms. +Ferdinand, however, was not disposed to yield to this spirit, and +by his influence obtained an order, demanding the immediate +surrender of the church to the Catholics, or its entire demolition. +The bishop attempted its destruction by an armed force, but the +Protestants defended their property, and sent a committee to +Matthias, petitioning for a revocation of the mandate. These +deputies were seized and imprisoned by the king, and an imperial +force was sent to the town, Brunau, to take possession of the +church. From so small a beginning rose the Thirty Years' War.</p> +<p>Count Thurn immediately summoned a convention of six +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page236" id= +"page236"></a>{236}</span> delegates from each of the districts, +called circles in Bohemia. The delegates met at Prague on the 16th +of March, 1618. An immense concourse of Protestants from all parts +of the surrounding country accompanied the delegates to the +capital. Count Thurn was a man of surpassing eloquence, and seemed +to control at will all the passions of the human heart. In the +boldest strains of eloquence he addressed the assembly, and roused +them to the most enthusiastic resolve to defend at all hazards +their civil and religious rights. They unanimously passed a resolve +that the demolition of the church and the suspension of the +Protestant worship were violations of the royal edict, and they +drew up a petition to the emperor demanding the redress of this +grievance, and the liberation of the imprisoned deputies from +Brunau. The meeting then adjourned, to be reassembled soon to hear +the reply of the emperor.</p> +<p>As the delegates and the multitudes who accompanied them +returned to their homes, they spread everywhere the impression +produced upon their minds by the glowing eloquence of Count Thurn. +The Protestant mind was roused to the highest pitch by the truthful +representation, that the court had adopted a deliberate plan for +the utter extirpation of Protestant worship throughout Bohemia, and +that foreign troops were to be brought in to execute this decree. +These convictions were strengthened and the alarm increased by the +defiant reply which Matthias sent back from his palace in Vienna to +his Bohemian subjects. He accused the delegates of treason and of +circulating false and slanderous reports, and declared that they +should be punished according to their deserts. He forbade them to +meet again, or to interfere in any way with the affairs of Brunau, +stating that at his leisure he would repair to Prague and attend to +the business himself.</p> +<p>The king could not have framed an answer better calculated to +exasperate the people, and rouse them to the most determined +resistance. Count Thurn, regardless of the prohibition, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page237" id= +"page237"></a>{237}</span> called the delegates together and read +to them the answer, which the king had not addressed to them but to +the council of regency. He then addressed them again in those +impassioned strains which he had ever at command, and roused them +almost to fury against those Catholic lords who had dictated this +answer to the king and obtained his signature.</p> +<p>The next day the nobles met again. They came to the place of +meeting thoroughly armed and surrounded by their retainers, +prepared to repel force by force. Count Thurn now wished to lead +them to some act of hostility so decisive that they would be +irrecoverably committed. The king's council of regency was then +assembled in the palace of Prague. The regency consisted of seven +Catholics and three Protestants. For some unknown reason the +Protestant lords were not present on this occasion. Three of the +members of the regency, Slavata and Martinetz and the burgrave of +Prague, were peculiarly obnoxious on account of the implacable +spirit with which they had ever persecuted the reformers. These +lords were the especial friends of Ferdinand and had great +influence with Matthias, and it was not doubted that they had +framed the answer which the emperor had returned. Incited by Count +Thurn, several of the most resolute of the delegates, led by the +count, proceeded to the palace, and burst into the room where the +regency was in session.</p> +<p>Their leader, addressing Slavata, Martinetz, and Diepold, the +burgrave, said, "Our business is with you. We wish to know if you +are responsible for the answer returned to us by the king."</p> +<p>"That," one of them replied, "is a secret of state which we are +not bound to reveal."</p> +<p>"Let us follow," exclaimed the Protestant chief, "the ancient +custom of Bohemia, and hurl them from the window."</p> +<p>They were in a room in the tower of the castle, and it was +eighty feet to the water of the moat. The Catholic lords were +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page238" id= +"page238"></a>{238}</span> instantly seized, dragged to the window +and thrust out. Almost incredible as it may seem, the water and the +mud of the moat so broke their fall, that neither of them was +killed. They all recovered from the effects of their fall. Having +performed this deed, Count Thurn and his companions returned to the +delegates, informed them of what they had done, and urged them that +the only hope of safety now, for any Protestant, was for all to +unite in open and desperate resistance. Then mounting his horse, +and protected by a strong body-guard, he rode through the streets +of Prague, stopping at every corner to harangue the Protestant +populace. The city was thronged on the occasion by Protestants from +all parts of the kingdom.</p> +<p>"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 to 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."</p> +<p>He was everywhere greeted with shouts of enthusiasm, and the +whole Protestant population were united as one man in the cause. +Even many of the moderate Catholics, disgusted with the despotism +of the newly elected king, which embraced civil as well as +religious affairs, joined the Protestants, for they feared the loss +of their civil rights more than they dreaded the inroads of +heresy.</p> +<p>With amazing celerity they now organized to repel the force +which they knew that the emperor would immediately send to crush +them. Within three days their plans were all matured and an +organization effected which made the king tremble in his palace. +Count Thurn was appointed their commander, an executive committee +of thirty very efficient men was chosen, which committee +immediately issued orders for the levy of troops all over the +kingdom. Envoys were sent to <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page239" id="page239"></a>{239}</span> Moravia, Silesia, Lusatia, +and Hungary, and to the Protestants all over the German empire. The +Archbishop of Prague was expelled from the city, and the Jesuits +were also banished. They then issued a proclamation in defense of +their conduct, which they sent to the king with a firm but +respectful letter.</p> +<p>One can not but be amused in reading their defense of the +outrage against the council of regency. "We have thrown from the +windows," they said, "the two ministers who have been the enemies +of the State, together with their creature and flatterer, in +conformity with an ancient custom prevalent throughout all Bohemia, +as well as in the capital. This custom is justified by the example +of Jezebel in holy Writ, who was thrown from a window for +persecuting the people of God; and it was common among the Romans, +and all other nations of antiquity, who hurled the disturbers of +the public peace from rocks and precipices."</p> +<p>Matthias had very reluctantly sent his insulting and defiant +answer to the reasonable complaints of the Protestants, and he was +thunderstruck in contemplating the storm which had thus been +raised—a storm which apparently no human wisdom could now +allay. There are no energies so potent as those which are aroused +by religious convictions. Matthias well knew the ascendency of the +Protestants all over Bohemia, and that their spirit, once +thoroughly aroused, could not be easily quelled by any opposing +force he could array. He was also aware that Ferdinand was +thoroughly detested by the Protestant leaders, and that it was by +no means improbable that this revolt would thwart all his plans in +securing his succession.</p> +<p>As the Protestants had not renounced their allegiance, Matthias +was strongly disposed to measures of conciliation, and several of +the most influential, yet fair-minded Catholics supported him in +these views. The Protestants were too numerous to be annihilated, +and too strong in their desperation <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page240" id="page240"></a>{240}</span> to be crushed. But +Ferdinand, guided by the Jesuits, was implacable. He issued a +manifesto, which was but a transcript of his own soul, and which is +really sublime in the sincerity and fervor of its intolerance.</p> +<p>"All attempts," said he, "to bring to reason a people whom God +has struck with judicial blindness will be in vain. Since the +introduction of heresy into Bohemia, we have seen nothing but +tumults, disobedience and rebellion. While the Catholics and the +sovereign have displayed only lenity and moderation, these sects +have become stronger, more violent and more insolent; having gained +all their objects in religious affairs, they turn their arms +against the civil government, and attack the supreme authority +under the pretense of conscience; not content with confederating +themselves against their sovereign, they have usurped the power of +taxation, and have made alliances with foreign States, particularly +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 outrages against his ministers, and the +usurpation of the regal revenues, no object remains for their +vengeance and rapacity but the persons of the sovereign and his +successor, and the whole house of Austria.</p> +<p>"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 incessantly 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 <span class="pagenum"><a name="page241" id= +"page241"></a>{241}</span> the world that their sole object is only +to deliver themselves from slavery and restore their legal +authority. They are secure of divine support, and they have only +the alternative of a war by which they may regain their power, or a +peace which is far more dishonorable and dangerous than war. If +successful, the forfeited property of the rebels will defray the +expense of their armaments; if the event of hostilities be +unfortunate, they can only lose, with honor, and with arms in their +hands, the rights and prerogatives which are and will be wrested +from them with shame and dishonor. 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."</p> +<p>Matthias endeavored to unite his own peace policy with the +energetic warlike measures urged by Ferdinand. He attempted to +overawe by a great demonstration of physical force, while at the +same time he made very pacific proposals. Applying to Spain for +aid, the Spanish court sent him eight thousand troops from the +Netherlands; he also raised, in his own dominions, ten thousand +men. Having assembled this force he sent word to the Protestants, +that if they would disband their force he would do the same, and +that he would confirm the royal edict and give full security for +the maintenance of their civil and religious privileges. The +Protestants refused to disband, knowing that they could place no +reliance upon the word of the unstable monarch who was crowded by +the rising power of the energetic Ferdinand. The ambitious +naturally deserted the court of the sovereign whose days were +declining, to enlist in the service of one who was just entering +upon the kingly power.</p> +<p>Ferdinand was enraged at what he considered the pusillanimity of +the king. Maximilian, the younger brother of Matthias, cordially +espoused the cause of Ferdinand. Cardinal Kleses, a Catholic of +commanding influence and of enlightened, liberal views, was the +counselor of the king. Ferdinand <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page242" id="page242"></a>{242}</span> and Maximilian resolved +that he should no longer have access to the ear of the pliant +monarch, but he could be removed from the court only by violence. +With an armed band they entered the palace at Vienna, seized the +cardinal in the midst of the court, stripped him of his robes, +hurried him into a carriage, and conveyed him to a strong castle in +the midst of the mountains of the Tyrol, where they held him a +close prisoner. The emperor was at the time confined to his bed +with the gout. As soon as they had sent off the cardinal, Ferdinand +and Maximilian repaired to the royal chamber, informed the emperor +of what they had done, and attempted to justify the deed on the +plea that the cardinal was a weak and wicked minister whose policy +would certainly divide and ruin the house of Austria.</p> +<p>The emperor was in his bed as he received this insulting +announcement of a still more insulting outrage. For a moment he was +speechless with rage. But he was old, sick and powerless. This act +revealed to him that the scepter had fallen from his hands. In a +paroxysm of excitement, to prevent himself from speaking he thrust +the bed-clothes into his mouth, nearly suffocating himself. +Resistance was in vain. He feared that should he manifest any, he +also might be torn from his palace, a captive, to share the prison +of the cardinal. In sullen indignation he submitted to the +outrage.</p> +<p>Ferdinand and Maximilian now pursued their energetic measures of +hostility unopposed. They immediately put the army in motion to +invade Bohemia, and boasted that the Protestants should soon be +punished with severity which would teach them a lesson they would +never forget. But the Protestants were on the alert. Every town in +the kingdom had joined in the confederacy, and in a few weeks Count +Thurn found himself at the head of ten thousand men inspired with +the most determined spirit. The Silesians and Lusatians marched to +help them, and the Protestant league of Germany sent them timely +supplies. The troops of Ferdinand found <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page243" id="page243"></a>{243}</span> opponents +in every pass and in every defile, and in their endeavor to force +their way through the fastnesses of the mountains, were frequently +driven back with great loss. At length the troops of Ferdinand, +defeated at every point, were compelled to retreat in shame back to +Austria, leaving all Bohemia in the hands of the Protestants.</p> +<p>Ferdinand was now in trouble and disgrace. His plans had +signally failed. The Protestants all over Germany were in arms, and +their spirits roused to the highest pitch; many of the moderate +Catholics refused to march against them, declaring that the +Protestants were right in resisting such oppression. They feared +Ferdinand, and were apprehensive that his despotic temper, +commencing with religious intolerance, would terminate in civil +tyranny. It was evident to all that the Protestants could not be +put down by force of arms, and even Ferdinand was so intensely +humiliated that he was constrained to assent to the proposal which +Matthias made to refer their difficulty to arbitration. Four +princes were selected as the referees—the Electors of Mentz, +Bavaria, Saxony and Palatine. They were to meet at Egra the 14th of +April, 1619.</p> +<p>But Matthias, the victim of disappointment and grief, was now +rapidly approaching his end. The palace at Vienna was shrouded in +gloom, and no smiles were seen there, and no sounds of joy were +heard in those regal saloons. The wife of Matthias, whom he +tenderly loved, oppressed by the humiliation and anguish which she +saw her husband enduring, died of a broken heart. Matthias was +inconsolable under this irretrievable loss. Lying upon his bed +tortured with the pain of the gout, sinking under incurable +disease, with no pleasant memories of the past to cheer him, with +disgrace and disaster accumulating, and with no bright hopes beyond +the grave, he loathed life and dreaded death. The emperor in his +palace was perhaps the most pitiable object which could be found in +all his realms. He tossed upon his pillow, the victim of remorse +and despair, now condemning himself for his cruel <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page244" id="page244"></a>{244}</span> treatment +of his brother Rhodolph, now inveighing bitterly against the +inhumanity and arrogance of Ferdinand and Maximilian. On the 20th +of March, 1619, the despairing spirit of the emperor passed away to +the tribunal of the "King of kings and the Lord of lords."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page245" id= +"page245"></a>{245}</span> +<h2><a name="chap16" id="chap16">CHAPTER XVI</a>.</h2> +<h3>FERDINAND II.</h3> +<h4>From 1619 to 1621.</h4> +<p class="summary">Possessions of the Emperor.—Power of the +Protestants of Bohemia.—General Spirit of +Insurrection.—Anxiety of Ferdinand.—Insurrection led by +Count Thurn.—Unpopularity of the Emperor.—Affecting +Declaration of the Emperor.—Insurrection in Vienna.—The +Arrival of Succor.—Ferdinand seeks the imperial +Throne.—Repudiated by Bohemia.—The +Palatinate.—Frederic offered the Crown of +Bohemia.—Frederic crowned.—Revolt in +Hungary.—Desperate Condition of the Emperor.—Catholic +League.—The Calvinists and the Puritans.—Duplicity of +the Emperor.—Foreign Combinations.—Truce between the +Catholics and the Protestants.—The Attack upon +Bohemia.—Battle of the White Mountain.</p> +<p>Ferdinand, who now ascended the throne by right of the +coronation he had already received, was in the prime of life, being +but forty-one years of age, and was in possession of a rare +accumulation of dignities. He was Archduke of Austria, King of +Hungary and of Bohemia, Duke of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, and +held joint possession, with his two brothers, of the spacious +territory of the Tyrol. Thus all these wide-spread and powerful +territories, with different languages, different laws, and diverse +manners and customs, were united under the Austrian monarchy, which +was now undeniably one of the leading powers of Europe. In addition +to all these titles and possessions, he was a prominent candidate +for the imperial crown of Germany. To secure this additional +dignity he could rely upon his own family influence, which was very +powerful, and also upon the aid of the Spanish monarchy. When we +contemplate his accession in this light, he appears as one of the +most powerful monarchs who ever ascended a throne.</p> +<p>But there is another side to the picture. The spirit of +rebellion <span class="pagenum"><a name="page246" id= +"page246"></a>{246}</span> against his authority had spread through +nearly all his territories, and he had neither State nor kingdom +where his power seemed stable. In whatever direction he turned his +eyes, he saw either the gleam of hostile arms or the people in a +tumult just ready to combine against him.</p> +<p>The Protestants of Bohemia had much to encourage them. All the +kingdom, excepting one fortress, was in their possession. All the +Protestants of the German empire had espoused their cause. The +Silesians, Lusatians and Moravians were in open revolt. The +Hungarian Protestants, animated by the success of the Bohemians, +were eager to follow their example and throw off the yoke of +Ferdinand. With iron tyranny he had silenced every Protestant voice +in the Styrian provinces, and had crushed every semblance of +religious liberty. But the successful example of the Bohemians had +roused the Styrians, and they also were on the eve of making a bold +move in defense of their rights. Even in Austria itself, and +beneath the very shadow of the palaces of Vienna, conspiracies were +rife, and insurrection was only checked by the presence of the army +which had been driven out of Bohemia.</p> +<p>Even Ferdinand could not be blind to the difficulties which were +accumulating upon him, and to the precarious tenure of his power. +He saw the necessity of persevering in the attempt at conciliation +which he had so reluctantly commenced. And yet, with strange +infatuation, he proposed an accommodation in a manner which was +deemed insulting, and which tended only to exasperate. The very day +of his accession to the throne, he sent a commission to Prague, to +propose a truce; but, instead of conferring with the Protestant +leaders, he seemed to treat them with intentional contempt, by +addressing his proposal to that very council of regency which had +become so obnoxious. The Protestants, justly regarding this as an +indication of the implacable state of his mind, and conscious that +the proposed truce would only enable him more effectually to rally +his forces, made no reply whatever to his proposals. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page247" id="page247"></a>{247}</span> +Ferdinand, perceiving that he had made a great mistake, and that he +had not rightly appreciated the spirit of his foes, humbled himself +a little more, and made still another attempt at conciliation. But +the Protestants had now resolved that Ferdinand should never be +King of Bohemia. It had become an established tenet of the Catholic +church that it is not necessary to keep faith with heretics. +Whatever solemn promises Ferdinand might make, the pope would +absolve him from all sin in violating them.</p> +<p>Count Thurn, with sixteen thousand men, marched into Moravia. +The people rose simultaneously to greet him. He entered Brunn, the +capital, in triumph. The revolution was immediate and entire. They +abolished the Austrian government, established the Protestant +worship, and organized a new government similar to that which they +had instituted in Bohemia. Crossing the frontier, Count Thurn +boldly entered Austria and, meeting no foe capable of retarding his +steps, he pushed vigorously on even to the very gates of Vienna. As +he had no heavy artillery capable of battering down the walls, and +as he knew that he had many partisans within the walls of the city, +he took possession of the suburbs, blockaded the town, and waited +for the slow operation of a siege, hoping thus to be able to take +the capital and the person of the sovereign without bloodshed.</p> +<p>Ferdinand had brought such trouble upon the country, that he was +now almost as unpopular with the Catholics as with the Protestants, +and all his appeals to them for aid were of but little avail. The +sudden approach of Count Thurn had amazed and discomfited him, and +he knew not in what direction to look for aid. Cooped up in his +capital, he could hold no communication with foreign powers, and +his own subjects manifested no disposition to come to his rescue. +The evidences of popular discontent, even in the city, were every +hour becoming more manifest, and the unhappy sovereign was in +hourly expectation of an insurrection in the streets.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page248" id= +"page248"></a>{248}</span> +<p>The surrender of Vienna involved the loss of Austria. With the +loss of Austria vanished all hopes of the imperial crown. Bohemia, +Austria, and the German scepter gone, Hungary would soon follow; +and then, his own Styrian territories, sustained and aided by their +successful neighbors, would speedily discard his sway. Ferdinand +saw it all clearly, and was in an agony of despair. He has confided +to his confessor the emotions which, in those terrible hours, +agitated his soul. It is affecting to read the declaration, +indicative as it is that the most cruel and perfidious man may be +sincere and even conscientious in his cruelty and crime. To his +Jesuitical confessor, Bartholomew Valerius, he said,</p> +<p>"I have reflected 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 implore that +help from God which I can not 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, Thou knowest that I seek Thy +honor, not my own. If it be Thy will, that, in this extremity, I +should be overcome by thy enemies, and be made the sport and +contempt of the world, I will drink of the bitter cup. Thy will be +done.' I had hardly spoken these words before I was inspired with +new hope, and felt a full conviction that God would frustrate the +designs of my enemies."</p> +<p>Nerved by such a spirit, Ferdinand was prepared to endure all +things rather than yield the slightest point. Hour after hour his +situation became more desperate, and still he remained inflexible. +Balls from the batteries of Count Thurn struck even the walls of +his palace; murmurs filled the streets, and menaces rose to his +ears from beneath his windows. "Let us put his evil counselors to +the sword," the disaffected exclaimed; "shut him up in a convent; +and educate his children in the Protestant religion."</p> +<p>At length the crisis had apparently arrived. Insurrection +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page249" id= +"page249"></a>{249}</span> was organized. Clamorous bands surged +through the streets, and there was a state of tumult which no +police force could quell. A band of armed men burst into the +palace, forced their way into the presence of Ferdinand, and +demanded the surrender of the city. At that moment, when Ferdinand +might well have been in despair, the unexpected sound of trumpets +was heard in the streets, and the tramp of a squadron of cavalry. +The king was as much amazed as were the insurgents. The deputies, +not knowing what it meant, in great alarm retreated from the +palace. The squadron swept the streets, and surrounded the palace. +They had been sent to the city by the general who had command of +the Austrian forces, and, arriving at full speed, had entered +unexpectedly at the only gate which the besiegers had not +guarded.</p> +<p>Their arrival, as if by heavenly commission, and the tidings +they brought of other succor near at hand, reanimated the king and +his partisans, and instantly the whole aspect of things within the +city was changed. Six hundred students in the Roman Catholic +institutions of the city flew to arms, and organized themselves as +a body-guard of the king. All the zealous Catholics formed +themselves into military bands, and this encouraged that numerous +neutral party, always existing in such seasons of uncertainty, +ready to join those who shall prove to be the strongest. The +Protestants fled from the city, and sought protection under the +banners of Count Thurn.</p> +<p>In the meantime the Catholics in Bohemia, taking advantage of +the absence of Count Thurn with his troops, had surrounded Prague, +and were demanding its capitulation. This rendered it necessary for +the Bohemian army immediately to strike their tents and return to +Bohemia. Never was there a more sudden and perfect deliverance. It +was, however, deliverance only from the momentary peril. The great +elements of discontent and conflict remained unchanged.</p> +<p>It was very evident that the difficulties which Ferdinand had to +encounter in his Austrian dominions, were so immense <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page250" id="page250"></a>{250}</span> that he +could not hope to surmount them without foreign aid. He +consequently deemed it a matter important above all others to +secure the imperial throne. Without this strength the loss of all +his Austrian possessions was inevitable. With the influence and the +power which the crown of Germany would confer upon him he could +hope to gain all. Ferdinand immediately left Vienna and visited the +most influential of the German princes to secure their support for +his election. The Catholics all over Germany, alarmed by the vigor +and energy which had been displayed by the Protestants, laid aside +their several preferences, and gradually all united upon Ferdinand. +The Protestants, foolishly allowing their Lutheran and Calvinistic +differences to disunite them, could not agree in their candidate. +Consequently Ferdinand was elected, and immediately crowned +emperor, the 9th of September, 1619.</p> +<p>The Bohemians, however, remained firm in their resolve to +repudiate him utterly as their king. They summoned a diet of the +States of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia to meet at Prague. +Delegates also attended the diet from Upper and Lower Austria, as +also many nobles from distant Hungary. The diet drew up a very +formidable list of grievances, and declared, in view of them, that +Ferdinand had forfeited all right to the crown of Bohemia, and that +consequently it was their duty, in accordance with the ancient +usages, to proceed to the election of a sovereign. The Catholics +were now so entirely in the minority in Bohemia that the +Protestants held the undisputed control. They first chose the +Elector of Saxony. He, conscious that he could maintain his post +only by a long and uncertain war, declined the perilous dignity. +They then with great unanimity elected Frederic, the Elector of +Palatine.</p> +<p>The Palatinate was a territory bordering on Bohemia, of over +four thousand square miles, and contained nearly seven hundred +thousand inhabitants. The elector, Frederic V., was thus a prince +of no small power in his own right. He had married <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page251" id="page251"></a>{251}</span> a +daughter of James I. of England, and had many powerful relatives. +Frederic was an affable, accomplished, kind-hearted man, quite +ambitious, and with but little force of character. He was much +pleased at the idea of being elevated to the dignity of a king, and +was yet not a little appalled in contemplating the dangers which it +was manifest he must encounter. His mother, with maternal +solicitude, trembling for her son, intreated him not to accept the +perilous crown. His father-in-law, James, remonstrated against it, +sternly declaring that he would never patronize subjects in +rebellion against their sovereign, that he would never acknowledge +Frederic's title as king, or render him, under any circumstances, +either sympathy or support. On the other hand the members of the +Protestant league urged his acceptance; his uncles united strongly +with them in recommending it, and above all, his fascinating wife, +whom he dotingly loved, and who, delighted at the idea of being a +queen, threw herself into his arms, and plead in those persuasive +tones which the pliant heart of Frederic could not resist. The +Protestant clergy, also, in a strong delegation waited upon him, +and intreated him in the name of that Providence which had +apparently proffered to him the crown, to accept it in fidelity to +himself, to his country and to the true religion.</p> +<p>The trembling hand and the tearful eye with which Frederic +accepted the crown, proved his incapacity to bear the burden in +those stormy days. Placing the government of the Palatinate in the +hands of the Duke of Deux Ponts, he repaired, with his family, to +Prague. A rejoicing multitude met him at several leagues from the +capital, and escorted him to the city with an unwonted display of +popular enthusiasm. He was crowned with splendor such as Bohemia +had never witnessed before.</p> +<p>For a time the Bohemians surrendered themselves to the most +extravagant joy. Frederic was exceedingly amiable, and just the +prince to win, in calm and sunny days, the enthusiastic +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page252" id= +"page252"></a>{252}</span> admiration of his subjects. They were +highly gratified in having the King of Bohemia dwell in his own +capital at Prague, a privilege and honor which they had seldom +enjoyed. Many of the German princes acknowledged Frederic's title, +as did also Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Vienna. The revolution in +Bohemia was apparently consummated, and to the ordinary observer no +cloud could be seen darkening the horizon.</p> +<p>The Bohemians were strengthened in their sense of security by a +similar revolution which was taking place in Hungary. As soon as +Ferdinand left Vienna, to seek the crown of Germany, the +Protestants of Hungary threw off their allegiance to Austria, and +rallied around the banners of their bold, indomitable leader, +Gabriel Bethlehem. They fell upon the imperial forces with +resistless fury and speedily dispersed them. Having captured +several of the most important fortresses, and having many troops to +spare, Gabriel Bethlehem sent eighteen thousand men into Moravia to +aid Count Thurn to disperse the imperial forces there. He then +marched triumphantly to Presburg, the renowned capital of Hungary, +within thirty miles of Vienna, where he was received by the +majority of the inhabitants with open arms. He took possession of +the sacred crown and of the crown jewels, called an assembly of the +nobles from the various States of Hungary and Transylvania, and +united them in a firm band against Ferdinand. He now marched up the +banks of the Danube into Austria. Count Thurn advanced from Moravia +to meet him. The junction of their forces placed the two leaders in +command of sixty thousand men. They followed along the left bank of +the majestic Danube until they arrived opposite Vienna. Here they +found eighteen thousand troops posted to oppose. After a short +conflict, the imperial troops retreated from behind their +intrenchments across the river, and blew up the bridge.</p> +<p>In such a deplorable condition did the Emperor Ferdinand find +his affairs, as he returned from Germany to Austria. He was +apparently in a desperate position, and no human sagacity +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page253" id= +"page253"></a>{253}</span> could foresee how he could retrieve his +fallen fortunes. Apparently, could his despotic arm then have been +broken, Europe might have been spared many years of war and woe. +But the designs of Providence are inscrutable. Again there was +apparently almost miraculous interposition. The imperial troops +were rapidly concentrated in the vicinity of Vienna, to prevent the +passage of the broad, deep and rapid river by the allied army. A +strong force was dispatched down the right bank of the Danube, +which attacked and dispersed a force left to protect the +communication with Hungary. The season was far advanced, and it was +intensely cold in those northern latitudes. The allied army had +been collected so suddenly, that no suitable provision had been +made for feeding so vast a host. Famine added its terrors to the +cold blasts which menacingly swept the plains, and as there was +imminent danger that the imperial army might cut off entirely the +communication of the allies with Hungary, Gabriel Bethlehem decided +to relinquish the enterprise of taking Vienna, and retired +unimpeded to Presburg. Almost every fortress in Hungary was now in +the possession of the Hungarians, and Ferdinand, though his capital +was released, saw that Hungary as well as Bohemia had escaped from +his hands. At Presburg Gabriel was, with imposing ceremonies, +proclaimed King of Hungary, and a decree of proscription and +banishment was issued against all the adherents of Ferdinand.</p> +<p>Germany was now divided into two great leagues, the Catholic and +the Protestant. Though nominally religious parties, they were +political as well as religious, and subject to all the fluctuations +and corruptions attending such combinations. The Protestant league, +composed of princes of every degree of dignity, who came from all +parts of Germany, proudly mounted and armed, and attended by armed +retainers, from a few score to many hundreds or even thousands, met +at Nuremburg. It was one of the most influential and imposing +assemblages which had ever gathered in Europe. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page254" id="page254"></a>{254}</span> The +Catholics, with no less display of pomp and power, for their league +embraced many of the haughtiest sovereigns in Europe, met at +Wurtzburg. There were, of course, not a few who were entirely +indifferent as to the religious questions involved, and who were +Catholics or Protestants, in subserviency to the dictates of +interest or ambition. Both parties contended with the arts of +diplomacy as well as with those of war. The Spanish court was +preparing a powerful armament to send from the Netherlands to the +help of Ferdinand. The Protestants sent an army to Ulm to watch +their movements, and to cut them off.</p> +<p>Ferdinand was as energetic as he had previously proved himself +inflexible and persevering. In person he visited Munich, the +capital of Bavaria, that he might more warmly interest in his favor +Maximilian, the illustrious and warlike duke. The emperor made him +brilliant promises, and secured his cordial coöperation. The +Duke of Bavaria, and the Elector of the Palatinate, were neighbors +and rivals; and the emperor offered Maximilian the spoils of the +Palatinate, if they should be successful in their warfare against +the newly elected Bohemian king. Maximilian, thus persuaded, placed +all his force at the disposal of the emperor.</p> +<p>The Elector of Saxony was a Lutheran; the Elector Palatine a +Calvinist. The Lutherans believed, that after the consecration of +the bread and wine at the sacramental table, the body and blood of +Christ were spiritually present with that bread and wine. This +doctrine, which they called <i>consubstantiation</i>, they adopted +in antagonism to the papal doctrine of <i>transubstantiation</i>, +which was that the bread and wine were actually transformed into, +and became the real body and blood of Christ.</p> +<p>The difference between the Calvinists and the Lutherans, as we +have before mentioned, was that, while the former considered the +bread and wine in the sacraments as <i>representing</i> the body +and the blood of Christ, the latter considered the body +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page255" id= +"page255"></a>{255}</span> and the blood as spiritually present in +the consecrated elements. This trivial difference divided brethren +who were agreed upon all the great points of Christian faith, duty +and obligation. It is melancholy, and yet instructive to observe, +through the course of history, how large a proportion of the +energies of Christians have been absorbed in contentions against +each other upon shadowy points of doctrine, while a world has been +perishing in wickedness. The most efficient men in the Church on +earth, have had about one half of their energies paralyzed by +contentions with their own Christian brethren. It is so now. The +most energetic men, in pleading the cause of Christ, are often +assailed even more unrelentingly by brethren who differ with them +upon some small point of doctrine, than by a hostile world.</p> +<p>Human nature, even when partially sanctified, is frail indeed. +The Elector of Saxony was perhaps a good man, but he was a weak +one. He was a zealous Lutheran, and was shocked that a Calvinist, a +man who held the destructive error that the bread and wine only +<i>represented</i> the body and the blood of Christ, should be +raised to the throne of Bohemia, and thus become the leader of the +Protestant party. The Elector of Saxony and the Elector of the +Palatine had also been naturally rivals, as neighbors, and +possessors of about equal rank and power. Though the Calvinists, to +conciliate the Lutherans, had offered the throne to the Elector of +Saxony, and he had declined it, as too perilous a post for him to +occupy, still he was weakly jealous of his rival who had assumed +that post, and was thus elevated above him to the kingly +dignity.</p> +<p>Ferdinand understood all this, and shrewdly availed himself of +it. He plied the elector with arguments and promises, assuring him +that the points in dispute were political merely and not religious; +that he had no intention of opposing the Protestant religion, and +that if the elector would abandon the Protestant league, he would +reward him with a large <span class="pagenum"><a name="page256" id= +"page256"></a>{256}</span> accession of territory. It seems +incredible that the Elector of Saxony could have been influenced by +such representations. But so it was. Averring that he could not in +conscience uphold a man who did not embrace the vital doctrine of +the spiritual presence, he abandoned his Protestant brethren, and +drew with him the Landgrave of Hesse, and several other Lutheran +princes. This was a very serious defection, which disheartened the +Protestants as much as it encouraged Ferdinand.</p> +<p>The wily emperor having succeeded so admirably with the +Protestant elector, now turned to the Roman Catholic court of +France—that infamous court, still crimsoned with the blood of +the St. Bartholomew massacre. Then, with diplomatic tergiversation, +he represented that the conflict was not a political one, but +purely religious, involving the interests of the Church. He urged +that the peace of France and of Europe required that the Protestant +heresy should be utterly effaced; and he provoked the resentment of +the court by showing how much aid the Protestants in Europe had +ever received from the Palatinate family. Here again he was +completely successful, and the young king, Louis XIII., who was +controlled by his bigoted yet powerful minister, the Duke of +Luines, cordially espoused his cause.</p> +<p>Spain, intolerant, despotic, hating Protestantism with perfect +hatred, was eager with its aid. A well furnished army of +twenty-four thousand men was sent from the Netherlands, and also a +large sum of money was placed in the treasury of Ferdinand. Even +the British monarch, notwithstanding the clamors of the nation, was +maneuvered into neutrality. And most surprising of all, Ferdinand +was successful in securing a truce with Gabriel Bethlehem, which, +though it conferred peace upon Hungary, deprived the Bohemians of +their powerful support.</p> +<p>The Protestants were strong in their combination; but still it +was a power of fearful strength now arrayed against <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page257" id="page257"></a>{257}</span> them. It +was evident that Europe was on the eve of a long and terrible +struggle. The two forces began to assemble. The Protestants +rendezvoused at Ulm, under the command of the Margrave of Anspach. +The Catholic troops, from their wide dispersion, were concentrating +at Guntzburg, to be led by the Duke of Bavaria. The attention of +all Europe was arrested by these immense gatherings. All hearts +were oppressed with solicitude, for the parties were very equally +matched, and results of most momentous importance were dependent +upon the issue.</p> +<p>In this state of affairs the Protestant league, which extended +through Europe, entered into a truce with the Catholic league, +which also extended through Europe, that they should both withdraw +from the contest, leaving Ferdinand and the Bohemians to settle the +dispute as they best could. This seemed very much to narrow the +field of strife, but the measure, in its practical results, was far +more favorable to Ferdinand than to the Bohemians. The emperor thus +disembarrassed, by important concessions, and by menaces, brought +the Protestants of Lower Austria into submission. The masses, +overawed by a show of power which they could not resist, yielded; +the few who refused to bow in homage to the emperor were punished +as guilty of treason.</p> +<p>Ferdinand, by these cautious steps, was now prepared to +concentrate his energies upon Bohemia. He first attacked the +dependent provinces of Bohemia, one by one, sending an army of +twenty-five thousand men to take them unprepared. Having subjected +all of Upper Austria to his sway, with fifty thousand men he +entered Bohemia. Their march was energetic and sanguinary. With +such an overpowering force they took fortress after fortress, +scaling ramparts, mercilessly cutting down garrisons, plundering +and burning towns, and massacreing the inhabitants. Neither sex nor +age was spared, and a brutal soldiery gratified their passions in +the perpetration of indescribable horrors. Even the Duke of Bavaria +was shocked <span class="pagenum"><a name="page258" id= +"page258"></a>{258}</span> at such barbarities, and entered his +remonstrances against them. Many large towns, terrified by the +atrocities perpetrated upon those who resisted the imperial arms, +threw open their gates, hoping thus, by submission, to appease the +vengeance of the conqueror.</p> +<p>Frederic was a weak man, not at all capable of encountering such +a storm, and the Bohemians had consequently no one to rally and to +guide them with efficiency. His situation was now alarming in the +extreme. He was abandoned by the Protestant league, hemmed in on +every side by the imperial troops, and his hereditary domains of +the Palatinate were overrun by twenty thousand Spaniards. His +subjects, alarmed at his utter inefficiency, and terrified by the +calamities which were falling, like avalanche after avalanche upon +them, became dissatisfied with him, and despairing respecting their +own fate. He was a Calvinist, and the Lutherans had never warmly +received him. The impotent monarch, instead of establishing himself +in the affections of his subjects, by vigorously driving the +invaders from his realms, with almost inconceivable silliness +endeavored to win their popularity by balls and smiles, pleasant +words and masquerades. In fact, Frederic, by his utter +inefficiency, was a foe more to be dreaded by Bohemia than +Ferdinand.</p> +<p>The armies of the emperor pressed on, throwing the whole kingdom +into a state of consternation and dismay. The army of Frederic, +which dared not emerge from its intrenchments at Pritznitz, about +fifty miles south of Prague, consisted of but twenty-two thousand +men, poorly armed, badly clothed, wretchedly supplied with military +stores, and almost in a state of mutiny from arrears of pay. The +generals were in perplexity and disagreement. Some, in the +recklessness of despair, were for marching to meet the foe and to +risk a battle; others were for avoiding a conflict, and thus +protracting the war till the severity of winter should drive their +enemies from the field, when they would have some time to prepare +for <span class="pagenum"><a name="page259" id= +"page259"></a>{259}</span> another year's campaign. These +difficulties led Frederic to apply for a truce. But Ferdinand was +too wise to lose by wasting time in negotiations, vantage ground he +had already gained. He refused to listen to any word except the +unequivocal declaration that Frederic relinquished all right to the +crown. Pressing his forces onward, he drove the Bohemians from +behind their ramparts at Pritznitz, and pursued them down the +Moldau even to the walls of Prague.</p> +<p>Upon a magnificent eminence called the White Mountain, which +commanded the city and its most important approaches, the +disheartened army of Frederic stopped in its flight, and made its +last stand. The enemy were in hot pursuit. The Bohemians in +breathless haste began to throw up intrenchments along the ravines, +and to plant their batteries on the hills, when the banners of +Ferdinand were seen approaching. The emperor was too energetic a +warrior to allow his panic-stricken foes time to regain their +courage. Without an hour's delay he urged his victorious columns to +the charge. The Bohemians fought desperately, with far more spirit +than could have been expected. But they were overpowered by +numbers, and in one short hour the army of Frederic was +annihilated. Four thousand were left dead upon the field, one +thousand were drowned in the frantic attempt to swim the Moldau, +and the rest were either dispersed as fugitives over hill and +valley or taken captive. The victory of the emperor was complete, +the hopes of Frederic crushed, and the fate of Bohemia sealed.</p> +<p>The contemptible Frederic, while this fierce battle was raging +beneath the very walls of his capital, instead of placing himself +at the head of his troops, was in the heart of the city, in the +banqueting-hall of his palace, bowing and smiling and feasting his +friends. The Prince of Anhalt, who was in command of the Bohemian +army, had sent a most urgent message to the king, intreating him to +dispatch immediately to his aid all the troops in the city, and +especially to repair himself to <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page260" id="page260"></a>{260}</span> the camp to encourage the +troops by his presence. Frederic was at the table when he received +this message, and sent word back that he could not come until after +dinner. As soon as the combat commenced, another still more urgent +message was sent, to which he returned the same reply. <i>After +dinner</i> he mounted his horse and rode to the gate which led to +the White Mountain. The thunders of the terrible battle filled the +air; the whole city was in the wildest state of terror and +confusion; the gates barred and barricaded. Even the king could not +get out. He climbed one of the towers of the wall and looked out +upon the gory field, strewn with corpses, where his army <i>had +been</i>, but was no more. He returned hastily to his palace, and +met there the Prince of Anhalt, who, with a few fugitives, had +succeeded in entering the city by one of the gates.</p> +<p>The city now could not defend itself for an hour. The batteries +of Ferdinand were beginning to play upon the walls, when Frederic +sent out a flag of truce soliciting a cessation of hostilities for +twenty-four hours, that they might negotiate respecting peace. The +peremptory reply returned was, that there should not be truce for a +single moment, unless Frederic would renounce all pretension to the +crown of Bohemia. With such a renunciation truce would be granted +for eight hours. Frederic acceded to the demand, and the noise of +war was hushed.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page261" id= +"page261"></a>{261}</span> +<h2><a name="chap17" id="chap17">CHAPTER XVII</a>.</h2> +<h3>FERDINAND II.</h3> +<h4>From 1621 to 1629.</h4> +<p class="summary">Pusillanimity of Frederic.—Intreaties of +the Citizens of Prague.—Shameful Flight of +Frederic.—Vengeance Inflicted Upon +Bohemia.—Protestantism and Civil Freedom.—Vast Power of +the Emperor.—Alarm of Europe.—James I.—Treaty of +Marriage for the Prince of Wales.—Cardinal +Richelieu.—New League of the Protestants.—Desolating +War.—Defeat of the King of Denmark.—Energy of +Wallenstein.—Triumph of Ferdinand.—New Acts of +Intolerance.—Severities in Bohemia.—Desolation of the +Kingdom.—Dissatisfaction of the Duke of +Bavaria.—Meeting of the Catholic Princes.—The Emperor +Humbled.</p> +<p>The citizens of Prague were indignant at the pusillanimity of +Frederic. In a body they repaired to the palace and tried to rouse +his feeble spirits. They urged him to adopt a manly resistance, and +offered to mount the ramparts and beat off the foe until succor +could arrive. But Frederic told them that he had resolved to leave +Prague, that he should escape during the darkness of the night, and +advised them to capitulate on the most favorable terms they could +obtain. The inhabitants of the city were in despair. They knew that +they had nothing to hope from the clemency of the conqueror, and +that there was no salvation for them from irretrievable ruin but in +the most desperate warfare. Even now, though the enemy was at their +gates, their situation was by no means hopeless with a leader of +any energy.</p> +<p>"We have still," they urged, "sufficient strength to withstand a +siege. The city is not invested on every side, and reinforcements +can enter by some of the gates. We have ample means in the city to +support all the troops which can <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page262" id="page262"></a>{262}</span> be assembled within its +walls. The soldiers who have escaped from the disastrous battle +need but to see the Bohemian banners again unfurled and to hear the +blast of the bugle, to return to their ranks. Eight thousand troops +are within a few hours' march of us. There is another strong band +in the rear of the enemy, prepared to cut off their communications. +Several strong fortresses, filled with arms and ammunition, are +still in our possession, and the Bohemians, animated by the +remembrance of the heroic deeds of their ancestors, are eager to +retrieve their fortunes."</p> +<p>Had Frederic possessed a tithe of the perseverance and energy of +Ferdinand, with these resources he might soon have arrested the +steps of the conqueror. Never was the characteristic remark of +Napoleon to Ney better verified, that "an army of deer led by a +lion is better than an army of lions led by a deer." Frederic was +panic-stricken for fear he might fall into the hands of Ferdinand, +from whom he well knew that he was to expect no mercy. With +ignominious haste, abandoning every thing, even the coronation +regalia, at midnight, surrounded by a few friends, he stole out at +one of the gates of the city, and putting spurs to his horse, +allowed himself no rest until he was safe within the walls of +Berlin, two hundred miles from Prague.</p> +<p>The despairing citizens, thus deserted by their sovereign, and +with a victorious foe at their very walls, had no alternative but +to throw open their gates and submit to the mercy of the conqueror. +The next day the whole imperial army, under the Duke of Bavaria, +with floating banners and exultant music, entered the streets of +the capital, and took possession of the palaces. The tyrant +Ferdinand was as vengeful and venomous as he was vigorous and +unyielding. The city was immediately disarmed, and the government +intrusted to a vigorous Roman Catholic prince, Charles of +Lichtenstein. A strong garrison was left in the city to crush, with +a bloody hand, any indications of insurrection, and then the Duke +of Bavaria returned <span class="pagenum"><a name="page263" id= +"page263"></a>{263}</span> with most of his army to Munich, his +capital, tottering beneath the burden of plunder.</p> +<p>There was a moment's lull before the tempest of imperial wrath +burst upon doomed Bohemia. Ferdinand seemed to deliberate, and +gather his strength, that he might strike a blow which would be +felt forever. He did strike such a blow—one which has been +remembered for two hundred years, and which will not be forgotten +for ages to come—one which doomed parents and children to +weary years of vagabondage, penury and woe which must have made +life a burden.</p> +<p>On the night of the 21st of January, three months after the +capitulation, and when the inhabitants of Prague had begun to hope +that there might, after all, be some mercy in the bosom of +Ferdinand, forty of the leading citizens of the place were +simultaneously arrested. They were torn from their families and +thrown into dungeons where they were kept in terrific suspense for +four months. They were then brought before an imperial commission +and condemned as guilty of high treason. All their property was +confiscated, nothing whatever being left for their helpless +families. Twenty-three were immediately executed upon the scaffold, +and all the rest were either consigned to life-long imprisonment, +or driven into banishment. Twenty-seven other nobles, who had +escaped from the kingdom, were declared traitors. Their castles +were seized, their property confiscated and presented as rewards to +Roman Catholic nobles who were the friends of Ferdinand. An order +was then issued for all the nobles and landholders throughout the +kingdom to send in a confession of whatever aid they had rendered, +or encouragement they had given to the insurrection. And the most +terrible vengeance was threatened against any one who should +afterward be proved guilty of any act whatever of which he had not +made confession. The consternation which this decree excited was so +great, that not only was every one anxious to confess the slightest +act which could be construed as unfriendly to the emperor, but +many, in their <span class="pagenum"><a name="page264" id= +"page264"></a>{264}</span> terror, were driven to accuse themselves +of guilt, who had taken no share in the movement. Seven hundred +nobles, and the whole body of Protestant landholders, placed their +names on the list of those who confessed guilt and implored +pardon.</p> +<p>The fiend-like emperor, then, in the mockery of mercy, declared +that in view of his great clemency and their humble confession, he +would spare their forfeited lives, and would only punish them by +depriving them of their estates. He took their mansions, their +estates, their property, and turned them adrift upon the world, +with their wives and their children, fugitives and penniless. Thus +between one and two thousand of the most ancient and noble families +of the kingdom were rendered houseless and utterly beggared. Their +friends, involved with them in the same woe, could render no +assistance. They were denounced as traitors; no one dared befriend +them, and their possessions were given to those who had rallied +beneath the banners of the emperor. "To the victors belong the +spoils." No pen can describe the ruin of these ancient families. No +imagination can follow them in their steps of starvation and +despair, until death came to their relief.</p> +<p>Ferdinand considered Protestantism and rebellion as synonymous +terms. And well he might, for Protestantism has ever been arrayed +as firmly against civil as against religious despotism. The +doctrines of the reformers, from the days of Luther and Calvin, +have always been associated with political liberty. Ferdinand was +determined to crush Protestantism. The punishment of the Elector +Palatine was to be a signal and an appalling warning to all who in +future should think of disputing the imperial sway. The elector +himself, having renounced the throne, had escaped beyond the +emperor's reach. But Ferdinand took possession of his ancestral +territories and divided them among his Roman Catholic allies. The +electoral vote which he held in the diet of the empire, Ferdinand +transferred to the Duke of Bavaria, thus reducing the Protestant +vote to two, and securing an additional Catholic suffrage. The ban +of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page265" id= +"page265"></a>{265}</span> the empire was also published against +the Prince of Anhalt, the Count of Hohenloe, and the Duke +Jaegendorf, who had been supporters of Frederic. This ban of the +empire deprived them of their territories, of their rank, and of +their possessions.</p> +<p>The Protestants throughout the empire were terrified by these +fierce acts of vengeance, and were fearful of sharing the same +fate. They now regretted bitterly that they had disbanded their +organization. They dared not make any move against the emperor, who +was flushed with pride and power, lest he should pounce at once +upon them. The emperor consequently marched unimpeded in his stern +chastisements. Frederic was thus deserted entirely by the +Protestant union; and his father-in-law, James of England, in +accordance with his threat, refused to lend him any aid. Various +most heroic efforts were made by a few intrepid nobles but one +after another they were crushed by the iron hand of the +emperor.</p> +<p>Ferdinand, having thus triumphed over all his foes, and having +divided their domains among his own followers, called a meeting of +the electors who were devoted to his cause, at Ratisbon, on the +25th of February, 1623, to confirm what he had done. In every +portion of the empire, where the arm of the emperor could reach +them, the Protestants were receiving heavy blows. They were now +thoroughly alarmed and aroused. The Catholics all over Europe were +renewing their league; all the Catholic powers were banded +together, and Protestantism seemed on the eve of being destroyed by +the sword of persecution.</p> +<p>Other parts of Europe also began to look with alarm upon the +vast power acquired by Austria. There was but little of +conciliation in the character of Ferdinand, and his unbounded +success, while it rendered him more haughty, excited also the +jealousy of the neighboring powers. In Lower Saxony, nearly all the +nobles and men of influence were Protestants. The principal portion +of the ecclesiastical property was in their <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page266" id="page266"></a>{266}</span> hands. It +was very evident that unless the despotism of Ferdinand was +checked, he would soon wrest from them their titles and +possessions, and none the less readily because he had succeeded in +bribing the Elector of Saxony to remain neutral while he tore the +crown of Bohemia from the Elector of the Palatine, and despoiled +him of his wide-spread ancestral territories.</p> +<p>James I. of England had been negotiating a marriage of his son, +the Prince of Wales, subsequently Charles I., with the daughter of +the King of Spain. This would have been, in that day, a brilliant +match for his son; and as the Spanish monarch was a member of the +house of Austria, and a coöperator with his cousin, the +Emperor Ferdinand, in all his measures in Germany, it was an +additional reason why James should not interfere in defense of his +son-in-law, Frederic of the Palatine. But now this match was broken +off by the influence of the haughty English minister Buckingham, +who had the complete control of the feeble mind of the British +monarch. A treaty of marriage was soon concluded between the Prince +of Wales and Henrietta, a princess of France. There was hereditary +hostility between France and Spain, and both England and France +were now quite willing to humble the house of Austria. The nobles +of Lower Saxony availed themselves of this new turn in the posture +of affairs, and obtained promises of aid from them both, and, +through their intercession, aid also from Denmark and Sweden.</p> +<p>Richelieu, the imperious French minister, was embarrassed by two +antagonistic passions. He was eager to humble the house of Austria; +and this he could only do by lending aid to the Protestants. On the +other hand, it was the great object of his ambition to restore the +royal authority to unlimited power, and this he could only +accomplish by aiding the house of Austria to crush the Protestants, +whose love of freedom all despots have abhorred. Impelled by these +conflicting passions, he did all in his power to extirpate +Protestantism <span class="pagenum"><a name="page267" id= +"page267"></a>{267}</span> from France, while he omitted neither +lures nor intrigues to urge the Protestants in Germany to rise +against the despotism of Austria. Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden, was +personally inimical to Ferdinand, in consequence of injuries he had +received at his hands. Christian IV. of Denmark was cousin to +Elizabeth, the mother of Frederic, and, in addition to this +interest in the conflict which relationship gave him, he was also +trembling lest some of his own possessions should soon be wrested +from him by the all-grasping emperor. A year was employed, the year +1624, in innumerable secret intrigues, and plans of combination, +for a general rising of the Protestant powers. It was necessary +that the utmost secrecy should be observed in forming the +coalition, and that all should be ready, at the same moment, to +cooperate against a foe so able, so determined and so powerful.</p> +<p>Matters being thus essentially arranged, the States of Lower +Saxony, who were to take the lead, held a meeting at Segeberg on +the 25th of March, 1625. They formed a league for the preservation +of their religion and liberties, settled the amount of money and +men which each of the contracting parties was to furnish, and chose +Christian IV., King of Denmark, their leader. The emperor had for +some time suspected that a confederacy was in the process of +formation, and had kept a watchful eye upon every movement. The +vail was now laid aside, and Christian IV. issued a proclamation, +stating the reasons why they had taken up arms against the emperor. +This was the signal for a blaze of war, which wrapped all northern +Europe in a wide conflagration. Victory ebbed and flowed. Bohemia, +Hungary, Denmark, Austria—all the States of the empire, were +swept and devastated by pursuing and retreating armies. But +gradually the emperor gained. First he overwhelmed all opposition +in Lower Saxony, and riveting anew the shackles of despotism, +rewarded his followers with the spoils of the vanquished. Then he +silenced every murmur in Austria, so that no foe dared lift up the +voice or <span class="pagenum"><a name="page268" id= +"page268"></a>{268}</span> peep. Then he poured his legions into +Hungary, swept back the tide of victory which had been following +the Hungarian banners, and struck blow after blow, until Gabriel +Bethlehem was compelled to cry for peace and mercy. Bohemia, +previously disarmed and impoverished, was speedily struck down.</p> +<p>And now the emperor turned his energies against the +panic-stricken King of Denmark. He pursued him from fortress to +fortress; attacked him in the open field, and beat him; attacked +him behind his intrenchments, and drove him from them through the +valleys, and over the hills, across rivers, and into forests; +bombarded his cities, plundered his provinces, shot down his +subjects, till the king, reduced almost to the last extremity, +implored peace. The emperor repelled his advances with scorn, +demanding conditions of debasement more to be dreaded than death. +The King of Denmark fled to the isles of the Baltic. Ferdinand took +possession of the shores of this northern sea, and immediately +commenced with vigor creating a fleet, that he might have sea as +well as land forces, that he might pursue the Danish monarch over +the water, and that he might more effectually punish Gustavus +Adolphus of Sweden. He had determined to dethrone this monarch, and +to transfer the crown of Sweden to Sigismond, his brother-in-law, +King of Poland, who was almost as zealous a Roman Catholic as was +the emperor himself.</p> +<p>He drove the two Dukes of Mecklenburg from their territory, and +gave the rich and beautiful duchy, extending along the +south-eastern shore of the Baltic, to his renowned general, +Wallenstein. This fierce, ambitious warrior was made generalissimo +of all the imperial troops by land, and admiral of the Baltic sea. +Ferdinand took possession of all the ports, from the mouth of the +Keil, to Kolberg, at the mouth of the Persante. Wismar, on the +magnificent bay bearing the same name, was made the great naval +depot; and, by building, buying, hiring and robbing, the emperor +soon collected quite a formidable fleet. The immense duchy of +Pomerania was <span class="pagenum"><a name="page269" id= +"page269"></a>{269}</span> just north-east of Mecklenburg, +extending along the eastern shore of the Baltic sea some hundred +and eighty miles, and about sixty miles in breadth. Though the duke +had in no way displeased Ferdinand, the emperor grasped the +magnificent duchy, and held it by the power of his resistless +armies. Crossing a narrow arm of the sea, he took the rich and +populous islands of Rugen and Usedom, and laid siege to the city of +Stralsund, which almost commanded the Baltic sea.</p> +<p>The kings of Sweden and Denmark, appalled by the rapid strides +of the imperial general, united all their strength to resist him. +They threw a strong garrison into Stralsund, and sent the fleets of +both kingdoms to aid in repelling the attack, and succeeded in +baffling all the attempts of Wallenstein, and finally in driving +him off, though he had boasted that "he would reduce Stralsund, +even if it were bound to heaven with chains of adamant." Though +frustrated in this attempt, the armies of Ferdinand had swept along +so resistlessly, that the King of Denmark was ready to make almost +any sacrifice for peace. A congress was accordingly held at Lubec +in May, 1629, when peace was made; Ferdinand retaining a large +portion of his conquests, and the King of Denmark engaging no +longer to interfere in the affairs of the empire.</p> +<p>Ferdinand was now triumphant over all his foes. The Protestants +throughout the empire were crushed, and all their allies +vanquished. He now deemed himself omnipotent, and with wild +ambition contemplated the utter extirpation of Protestantism, and +the subjugation of nearly all of Europe to his sway. He formed the +most intimate alliance with the branch of his house ruling over +Spain, hoping that thus the house of Austria might be the arbiter +of the fate of Europe. The condition of Europe at that time was +peculiarly favorable for the designs of the emperor. Charles I. of +England was struggling against that Parliament which soon deprived +him both of his crown and his head. France was agitated, from the +Rhine to the Pyrenees, by civil war, the Catholics striving to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page270" id= +"page270"></a>{270}</span> exterminate the Protestants. +Insurrections in Turkey absorbed all the energies of the Ottoman +court, leaving them no time to think of interfering with the +affairs of Europe. The King of Denmark was humiliated and +prostrate. Sweden was too far distant and too feeble to excite +alarm. Sigismond of Poland was in intimate alliance with the +emperor. Gabriel Bethlehem of Hungary was languishing on a bed of +disease and pain, and only asked permission to die in peace.</p> +<p>The first step which the emperor now took was to revoke all the +concessions which had been granted to the Protestants. In Upper +Austria, where he felt especially strong, he abolished the +Protestant worship utterly. In Lower Austria he was slightly +embarrassed by engagements which he had so solemnly made, and dared +not trample upon them without some little show of moderation. First +he prohibited the circulation of all Protestant books; he then +annulled all baptisms and marriages performed by Protestants; then +all Protestants were excluded from holding any civil or military +office; then he issued a decree that all the children, without +exception, should be educated by Catholic priests, and that every +individual should attend Catholic worship. Thus coil by coil he +wound around his subjects the chain of unrelenting intolerance.</p> +<p>In Bohemia he was especially severe, apparently delighting to +punish those who had made a struggle for civil and religious +liberty. Every school teacher, university professor and Christian +minister, was ejected from office, and their places in schools, +universities and churches were supplied by Catholic monks. No +person was allowed to exercise any mechanical trade whatever, +unless he professed the Roman Catholic faith. A very severe fine +was inflicted upon any one who should be detected worshiping at any +time, even in family prayer, according to the doctrines and customs +of the Protestant church. Protestant marriages were pronounced +illegal, their children illegitimate, their wills invalid. The +Protestant poor were driven from the hospitals and the alms-houses. +No Protestant <span class="pagenum"><a name="page271" id= +"page271"></a>{271}</span> was allowed to reside in the capital +city of Prague, but, whatever his wealth or rank, he was driven +ignominiously from the metropolis.</p> +<p>In the smaller towns and remote provinces of the kingdom, a +military force, accompanied by Jesuits and Capuchin friars, sought +out the Protestants, and they were exposed to every conceivable +insult and indignity. Their houses were pillaged, their wives and +children surrendered to all the outrages of a cruel soldiery; many +were massacred; many, hunted like wild beasts, were driven into the +forest; many were put to the torture, and as their bones were +crushed and quivering nerves were torn, they were required to give +in their adhesion to the Catholic faith. The persecution to which +the Bohemians were subjected has perhaps never been exceeded in +severity.</p> +<p>While Bohemia was writhing beneath these woes, the emperor, to +secure the succession, repaired in regal pomp to Prague, and +crowned his son King of Bohemia. He then issued a decree abolishing +the right which the Bohemians had claimed, to elect their king, +forbade the use of the Bohemian language in the court and in all +public transactions, and annulled all past edicts of toleration. He +proclaimed that no religion but the Roman Catholic should +henceforth be tolerated in Bohemia, and that all who did not +immediately return to the bosom of the Church should be banished +from the kingdom. This cruel edict drove into banishment thirty +thousand families. These Protestant families composed the best +portion of the community, including the most illustrious in rank, +the most intelligent, the most industrious and the most virtuous, +No State could meet with such a loss without feeling it deeply, and +Bohemia has never yet recovered from the blow. One of the Bohemian +historians, himself a Roman Catholic, thus describes the change +which persecution wrought in Bohemia:</p> +<p>"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 monks and a few of the nobility <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page272" id="page272"></a>{272}</span> 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.</p> +<p>"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. Their +courage lay buried in the White Mountain. Individuals still +possessed personal valor, military ardor 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 is only +mentioned, and the Moldau forgotten.</p> +<p>"The Bohemian language, which had been used in all the courts of +justice, and which was in high estimation 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 greater part of the schools were +conducted by Jesuits and other monkish orders, and nothing taught +therein but bad Latin.</p> +<p>"It can not 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 traveled from town to <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page273" id="page273"></a>{273}</span> 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. They thus endeavored to +extinguish the ancient literature of the country, labored to +persuade the students that before the introduction of their order +into Bohemia nothing but ignorance prevailed, and carefully +concealed the learned labors and even the names of our +ancestors."</p> +<p>Ferdinand, having thus bound Bohemia hand and foot, and having +accomplished all his purpose in that kingdom, now endeavored, by +cautious but very decisive steps, to expel Protestant doctrines +from all parts of the German empire. Decree succeeded decree, +depriving Protestants of their rights and conferring upon the Roman +Catholics wealth and station. He had a powerful and triumphant +standing army at his control, under the energetic and bigoted +Wallenstein, ready and able to enforce his ordinances. No +Protestant prince dared to make any show of resistance. All the +church property was torn from the Protestants, and this vast sum, +together with the confiscated territories of those Protestant +princes or nobles who had ventured to resist the emperor, placed at +his disposal a large fund from which to reward his followers. The +emperor kept, however, a large portion of the spoils in his own +hands for the enriching of his own family.</p> +<p>This state of things soon alarmed even the Catholics. The +emperor was growing too powerful, and his power was bearing +profusely its natural fruit of pride and arrogance. The army was +insolent, trampling alike upon friend and foe. As there was no +longer any war, the army had become merely the sword of the emperor +to maintain his despotism. Wallenstein had become so essential to +the emperor, and possessed such power at the head of the army, that +he assumed all the air and state of a sovereign, and insulted the +highest nobles and the most powerful bishops by his assumptions of +superiority. The electors of the empire perceiving that the emperor +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page274" id= +"page274"></a>{274}</span> was centralizing power in his own hands, +and that they would soon become merely provincial governors, +compelled to obey his laws and subject to his appointment and +removal, began to whisper to each other their alarm.</p> +<p>The Duke of Bavaria was one of the most powerful princes of the +German empire. He had been the rival of Count Wallenstein, and was +now exceedingly annoyed by the arrogance of this haughty military +chief. Wallenstein was the emperor's right arm of strength. +Inflamed by as intense an ambition as ever burned in a human bosom, +every thought and energy was devoted to self-aggrandizement. He had +been educated a Protestant, but abandoned those views for the +Catholic faith which opened a more alluring field to ambition. +Sacrificing the passions of youth he married a widow, infirm and of +advanced age, but of great wealth. The death of his wrinkled bride +soon left him the vast property without incumbrance. He then +entered into a matrimonial alliance which favored his political +prospects, marrying Isabella, the daughter of Count Harruch, who +was one of the emperor's greatest favorites.</p> +<p>When Ferdinand's fortunes were at a low ebb, and he knew not in +which way to find either money or an army, Wallenstein offered to +raise fifty thousand men at his own expense, to pay their wages, +supply them with arms and all the munitions of war, and to call +upon the emperor for no pecuniary assistance whatever, if the +emperor would allow him to retain the plunder he could extort from +the conquered. Upon this majestic scale Wallenstein planned to act +the part of a highwayman. Ferdinand's necessities were so great +that he gladly availed himself of this infamous offer. Wallenstein +made money by the bargain. Wherever he marched he compelled the +people to support his army, and to support it luxuriously. The +emperor had now constituted him admiral of the Baltic fleet, and +had conferred upon him the title of duke, with the splendid duchy +of Mecklenburg, and the principality of Sagan <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page275" id="page275"></a>{275}</span> in +Silesia. His overbearing conduct and his enormous +extortions—he having, in seven years, wrested from the German +princes more than four hundred million of dollars—excited a +general feeling of discontent, in which the powerful Duke of +Bavaria took the lead.</p> +<p>Envy is a stronger passion than political religion. Zealous as +the Duke of Bavaria had been in the cause of the papal church, he +now forgot that church in his zeal to abase an arrogant and +insulting rival. Richelieu, the prime minister of France, was +eagerly watching for opportunities to humiliate the house of +Austria, and he, with alacrity, met the advances of the Duke of +Bavaria, and conspired with him to form a Catholic league, to check +the ambition of Wallenstein, and to arrest the enormous strides of +the emperor. With this object in view, a large number of the most +powerful Catholic princes met at Heidelberg, in March, 1629, and +passed resolutions soliciting Ferdinand to summon a diet of the +German empire to take into consideration the evils occasioned by +the army of Wallenstein, and to propose a remedy. The emperor had, +in his arrogance, commanded the princes of the various States in +the departments of Suabia and Franconia, to disband their troops. +To this demand they returned the bold and spirited reply,</p> +<p>"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, ecclesiastical or secular, +<i>demand it who will</i>."</p> +<p>The emperor did not venture to disregard the request for him to +summon a diet. Indeed he was anxious, on his own account, to +convene the electors, for he wished to secure the election of his +son to the throne of the empire, and he needed succors to aid him +in the ambitious wars which he was waging in various and distant +parts of Europe. The diet was assembled at Ratisbon: the emperor +presided in person. As he had important favors to solicit, he +assumed a very conciliatory tone. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page276" id="page276"></a>{276}</span> He expressed his regret +that the troops had been guilty of such disorders, and promised +immediate redress. He then, supposing that his promise would be an +ample satisfaction, very graciously solicited of them the +succession of the imperial throne for his son, and supplies for his +army.</p> +<p>But the electors were not at all in a pliant mood. Some were +resolved that, at all hazards, the imperial army, which threatened +Germany, should be reduced, and that Wallenstein should be +dismissed from the command. Others were equally determined that the +crown of the empire should not descend to the son of Ferdinand. The +Duke of Bavaria headed the party who would debase Wallenstein; and +Cardinal Richelieu, with all the potent influences of intrigue and +bribery at the command of the French court, was the soul of the +party resolved to wrest the crown of the empire from the house of +Austria. Richelieu sent two of the most accomplished diplomatists +France could furnish, as ambassadors to the diet, who, while +maintaining, as far as possible, the guise of friendship, were to +do every thing in their power to thwart the election of Ferdinand's +son. These were supplied with inexhaustible means for the purchase +of votes, and were authorized to make any promises, however +extravagant, which should be deemed essential for the attainment of +their object.</p> +<p>Ferdinand, long accustomed to have his own way, was not +anticipating any serious resistance. He was therefore amazed and +confounded, when the diet returned to him, instead of their humble +submission and congratulations, a long, detailed, emphatic +remonstrance against the enormities perpetrated by the imperial +army, and demanding the immediate reduction of the army, now one +hundred and fifty thousand strong, and the dismission of +Wallenstein, before they could proceed to any other business +whatever. This bold stand animated the Protestant princes of the +empire, and they began to be clamorous for their rights. Some of +the Catholics even espoused their cause, warning Ferdinand that, +unless he granted the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page277" id= +"page277"></a>{277}</span> Protestants some degree of toleration, +they would seek redress by joining the enemies of the empire.</p> +<p>It would have been impossible to frame three demands more +obnoxious to the emperor. To crush the Protestants had absorbed the +energies of his life; and now that they were utterly prostrate, to +lift them up and place them on their feet again, was an idea he +could not endure. The imperial army had been his supple tool. By +its instrumentality he had gained all his power, and by its +energies alone he retained that power. To disband the army was to +leave himself defenseless. Wallenstein had been every thing to the +emperor, and Ferdinand still needed the support of his inflexible +and unscrupulous energies. Wallenstein was in the cabinet of the +emperor advising him in this hour of perplexity. His counsel was +characteristic of his impetuous, headlong spirit. He advised the +emperor to pour his army into the territory of the Duke of Bavaria; +chastise him and all his associates for their insolence, and thus +overawe the rest. But the Duke of Bavaria was in favor of electing +the emperor's son as his successor on the throne of the empire; and +Ferdinand's heart was fixed upon this object.</p> +<p>"Dismiss Wallenstein, and reduce the army," said the Duke of +Bavaria, "and the Catholic electors will vote for your son; grant +the required toleration to the Protestants, and they will vote for +him likewise."</p> +<p>The emperor yielded, deciding in his own mind, aided by the +Jesuitical suggestions of a monk, that he could afterwards recall +Wallenstein, and assemble anew his dispersed battalions. He +dismissed sixteen thousand of his best cavalry; suspended some of +the most obnoxious edicts against the Protestants, and +<i>implored</i> Wallenstein to resign his post. The emperor was +terribly afraid that this proud general would refuse, and would +lead the army to mutiny. The emperor accordingly accompanied his +request with every expression of gratitude and regret, and assured +the general of his continued <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page278" id="page278"></a>{278}</span> favor. Wallenstein, well +aware that the disgrace would be but temporary, quietly yielded. He +dismissed the envoys of the emperor with presents, wrote a very +submissive letter, and, with much ostentation of obedience, retired +to private life.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page279" id= +"page279"></a>{279}</span> +<h2><a name="chap18" id="chap18">CHAPTER XVIII</a>.</h2> +<h3>FERDINAND II. AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.</h3> +<h4>From 1629 to 1632.</h4> +<p class="summary">Vexation of Ferdinand.—Gustavus +Adolphus.—Address to the nobles of Sweden.—March of +Gustavus.—Appeal to the Protestants.—Magdeburg joins +Gustavus.—Destruction of the city.—Consternation of the +Protestants.—Exultation of the Catholics.—The Elector +of Saxony driven from his domains.—Battle of +Leipsig.—The Swedes penetrate Bohemia.—Freedom of +conscience established.—Death of Tilly.—The Retirement +of Wallenstein.—The command resumed by +Wallenstein.—Capture of Prague.—Encounter between +Wallenstein and Gustavus.—Battle of Lutzen.—Death of +Gustavus.</p> +<p>The hand of France was conspicuous in wresting all these +sacrifices from the emperor, and was then still more conspicuous in +thwarting his plans for the election of his son. The ambassadors of +Richelieu, with diplomatic adroitness, urged upon the diet the Duke +of Bavaria as candidate for the imperial crown. This tempting offer +silenced the duke, and he could make no more efforts for the +emperor. The Protestants greatly preferred the duke to any one of +the race of the bigoted Ferdinand. The emperor was excessively +chagrined by this aspect of affairs, and abruptly dissolved the +diet. He felt that he had been duped by France; that a cunning +monk, Richelieu's ambassador, had outwitted him. In his vexation he +exclaimed, "A Capuchin friar has disarmed me with his rosary, and +covered six electoral caps with his cowl."</p> +<p>The emperor was meditating vengeance—the recall of +Wallenstein, the reconstruction of the army, the annulling of the +edict of toleration, the march of an invading force into the +territories of the Duke of Bavaria, and the chastisement of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page280" id= +"page280"></a>{280}</span> all, Catholics as well as Protestants, +who had aided in thwarting his plans—when suddenly a new +enemy appeared. Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, reigning over +his remote realms on the western shores of the Baltic, though a +zealous Protestant, was regarded by Ferdinand as a foe too distant +and too feeble to be either respected or feared. But Gustavus, a +man of exalted abilities, and of vast energy, was watching with +intense interest the despotic strides of the emperor. In his +endeavors to mediate in behalf of the Protestants of Germany, he +had encountered repeated insults on the part of Ferdinand. The +imperial troops were now approaching his own kingdom. They had +driven Christian IV., King of Denmark, from his continental +territories on the eastern shore of the Baltic, had already taken +possession of several of the islands, and were constructing a fleet +which threatened the command of that important sea. Gustavus was +alarmed, and roused himself to assume the championship of the civil +and religious liberties of Europe. He conferred with all the +leading Protestant princes, formed alliances, secured funds, +stationed troops to protect his own frontiers, and then, assembling +the States of his kingdom, entailed the succession of the crown on +his only child Christiana, explained to them his plans of war +against the emperor, and concluded a dignified and truly pathetic +harangue with the following words.</p> +<p>"The enterprise in which I am about to engage is not one +dictated by the love of conquest or by personal ambition. Our +honor, our religion and our independence are imperiled. I am to +encounter great dangers, and may fall upon the field of battle. If +it be God's will that I should die in the defense of liberty, of my +country and of mankind, I cheerfully surrender myself to the +sacrifice. It is my duty as a sovereign to obey the King of kings +without murmuring, and to resign the power I have received from His +hands whenever it shall suit His all-wise purposes. I shall yield +up my last breath with the firm persuasion that Providence will +support my subjects because <span class="pagenum"><a name="page281" +id="page281"></a>{281}</span> they are faithful and virtuous, and +that my ministers, generals and senators will punctually discharge +their duty to my child because they love justice, respect me, and +feel for their country."</p> +<p>The king himself was affected as he uttered these words, and +tears moistened the eyes of many of the stern warriors who +surrounded him. With general acclaim they approved of his plan, +voted him all the succors he required, and enthusiastically offered +their own fortunes and lives to his service. Gustavus assembled a +fleet at Elfsnaben, crossed the Baltic sea, and in June, 1630, +landed thirty thousand troops in Pomerania, which Wallenstein had +overrun. The imperial army, unprepared for such an assault, fled +before the Swedish king. Marching rapidly, Gustavus took Stettin, +the capital of the duchy, situated at the mouth of the Oder, and +commanding that stream. Driving the imperial troops everywhere +before him from Pomerania, and pursuing them into the adjoining +Mark of Brandenburg, he took possession of a large part of that +territory. He issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of Germany, +recapitulating the arbitrary and despotic acts of the emperor, and +calling upon all Protestants to aid in an enterprise, in the +success of which the very existence of Protestantism in Germany +seemed to be involved. But so utterly had the emperor crushed the +spirits of the Protestants by his fiend-like severity, that but few +ventured to respond to his appeal. The rulers, however, of many of +the Protestant States met at Leipsic, and without venturing to +espouse the cause of Gustavus, and without even alluding to his +invasion, they addressed a letter to the emperor demanding a +redress of grievances, and informing him that they had decided to +establish a permanent council for the direction of their own +affairs, and to raise an army of forty thousand men for their own +protection.</p> +<p>Most of these events had occurred while the emperor, with +Wallenstein, was at Ratisbon, intriguing to secure the succession +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page282" id= +"page282"></a>{282}</span> of the imperial crown for his son. They +both looked upon the march of the King of Sweden into the heart of +Germany as the fool-hardy act of a mad adventurer. The courtiers +ridiculed his transient conquests, saying, "Gustavus Adolphus is a +king of snow. Like a snowball he will melt in a southern clime." +Wallenstein was particularly contemptuous. "I will whip him back to +his country," said he, "like a truant school-boy, with rods." +Ferdinand was for a time deceived by these representations, and was +by no means aware of the real peril which threatened him. The diet +which the emperor had assembled made a proclamation of war against +Gustavus, but adopted no measures of energy adequate to the +occasion. The emperor sent a silly message to Gustavus that if he +did not retire immediately from Germany he would attack him with +his whole force. To this folly Gustavus returned a contemptuous +reply.</p> +<p>A few of the minor Protestant princes now ventured to take arms +and join the standard of Gustavus. The important city of Magdeburg, +in Saxony, on the Elbe, espoused his cause. This city, with its +bastions and outworks completely commanding the Elbe, formed one of +the strongest fortresses of Europe. It contained, exclusive of its +strong garrison, thirty thousand inhabitants. It was now evident to +Ferdinand that vigorous action was called for. He could not, +consistently with his dignity, recall Wallenstein in the same +breath with which he had dismissed him. He accordingly concentrated +his troops and placed them under the command of Count Tilly. The +imperial troops were dispatched to Magdeburg. They surrounded the +doomed city, assailed it furiously, and proclaimed their intention +of making it a signal mark of imperial vengeance. Notwithstanding +the utmost efforts of Gustavus to hasten to their relief, he was +foiled in his endeavors, and the town was carried by assault on the +10th of May. Never, perhaps, did earth witness a more cruel +exhibition of the horrors of war. The soul sickens in the +contemplation <span class="pagenum"><a name="page283" id= +"page283"></a>{283}</span> of outrages so fiend-like. We prefer to +give the narrative of these deeds, which it is the duty of history +to record, in the language of another.</p> +<p>"All the horrors ever exercised against a captured place were +repeated and almost surpassed, on this dreadful event, which, +notwithstanding all the subsequent disorders and the lapse 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 compassion from the fury of the +licentious soldiery. No retreat was sufficiently secure to escape +their rapacity and vengeance; 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 of the imperial officers, +recoiling from this terrible scene, flew to Count Tilly and +supplicated him to put a stop to the carnage. 'Stay yet an hour,' +was his barbarous reply; 'let the soldier have some compensation +for his dangers and fatigues.'</p> +<p>"The troops, left to themselves, after sating their passions, +and almost exhausting their cruelty in three hours of pillage and +massacre, 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 who were forced by the flames from their +hiding-places, experienced a more dreadful fate. Numbers were +driven into the Elbe, others massacred 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 +colors to depict all the horrors of the scene. In less than ten +hours the most rich, the most flourishing and the most populous +town in Germany was reduced to ashes. The cathedral, a single +convent and a few miserable huts, were all that were left of its +numerous <span class="pagenum"><a name="page284" id= +"page284"></a>{284}</span> buildings, and scarcely more than a +thousand souls all that remained of more than thirty thousand +inhabitants.</p> +<p>"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 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 +refuge 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 <i>Te Deum</i> in the +midst of military pomp, he paraded the streets; and even though 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 comparing the assault of Magdeburg to the sack of Troy +and of Jerusalem."</p> +<p>This terrible display of vengeance struck the Protestants with +consternation. The extreme Catholic party were exultant, and their +chiefs met in a general assembly and passed resolutions approving +the course of the emperor and pledging him their support. Ferdinand +was much encouraged by this change in his favor, and declared his +intention of silencing all Protestant voices. He recalled an army +of twenty-four thousand men from Italy. They crossed the Alps, and, +as they marched through the frontier States of the empire, they +spread devastation and ruin through all the Protestant territories, +exacting enormous contributions, compelling the Protestant princes, +on oath, to renounce the Protestant league, and to unite with the +Catholic confederacy against the King of Sweden.</p> +<p>In the meantime, Gustavus pressed forward into the duchy of +Mecklenburg, driving the imperial troops before him. Tilly retired +into the territory of the Elector of Saxony, robbing, burning and +destroying everywhere. Uniting his force with the army from Italy +he ravaged the country, resistlessly advancing <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page285" id="page285"></a>{285}</span> even to +Leipsic, and capturing the city. The elector, quite unable to cope +with so powerful a foe, retired with his troops to the Swedish +camp, where he entered into an offensive and defensive alliance +with Gustavus. The Swedish army, thus reinforced, hastened to the +relief of Leipsic, and arrived before its walls the very day on +which the city surrendered.</p> +<p>Tilly, with the pride of a conqueror, advanced to meet them. The +two armies, about equal in numbers, and commanded by their renowned +captains, met but a few miles from the city. Neither of the +commanders had ever before suffered a defeat. It was a duel, in +which one or the other must fall. Every soldier in the ranks felt +the sublimity of the hour. For some time there was marching and +countermarching—the planting of batteries, and the gathering +of squadrons and solid columns, each one hesitating to strike the +first blow. At last the signal was given by the discharge of three +pieces of cannon from one of the batteries of Tilly. Instantly a +thunder peal rolled along the extended lines from wing to wing. The +awful work of death was begun. Hour after hour the fierce and +bloody fight continued, as the surges of victory and defeat swept +to and fro upon the plain. But the ever uncertain fortune of battle +decided in favor of the Swedes. As the darkness of evening came +prematurely on, deepened by the clouds of smoke which canopied the +field, the imperialists were everywhere flying in dismay. Tilly, +having been struck by three balls, was conveyed from the field in +excruciating pain to a retreat in Halle. Seven thousand of his +troops lay dead upon the field. Five thousand were taken prisoners. +All the imperial artillery and baggage fell into the hands of the +conqueror. The rest of the army was so dispersed that but two +thousand could be rallied under the imperial banners.</p> +<p>Gustavus, thus triumphant, dispatched a portion of his army, +under the Elector of Saxony, to rescue Bohemia from the tyrant +grasp of the emperor. Gustavus himself, with another portion, +marched in various directions to cut off the resources <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page286" id="page286"></a>{286}</span> of the +enemy and to combine the scattered parts of the Protestant +confederacy. His progress was like the tranquil march of a +sovereign in his own dominions, greeted by the enthusiasm of his +subjects. He descended the Maine to the Rhine, and then ascending +the Rhine, took every fortress from Maine to Strasbourg. While +Gustavus was thus extending his conquests through the very heart of +Germany, the Elector of Saxony reclaimed all of Bohemia from the +imperial arms. Prague itself capitulated to the Saxon troops. Count +Thurn led the Saxon troops in triumph over the same bridge which +he, but a few months before, had traversed a fugitive. He found, +impaled upon the bridge, the shriveled heads of twelve of his +companions, which he enveloped in black satin and buried with +funeral honors.</p> +<p>The Protestants of Bohemia rose enthusiastically to greet their +deliverers. Their churches, schools and universities were +reëstablished. Their preachers resumed their functions. Many +returned from exile and rejoiced in the restoration of their +confiscated property. The Elector of Saxony retaliated upon the +Catholics the cruel wrongs which they had inflicted upon the +Protestants. Their castles were plundered, their nobles driven into +exile, and the conquerors loaded themselves with the spoils of the +vanquished.</p> +<p>But Ferdinand, as firm and inexorable in adversity as in +prosperity, bowed not before disaster. He roused the Catholics to a +sense of their danger, organized new coalitions, raised new armies. +Tilly, with recruited forces, was urged on to arrest the march of +the conqueror. Burning under the sense of shame for his defeat at +Leipsic, he placed himself at the head of his veterans, fell, +struck by a musket-ball, and died, after a few days of intense +suffering, at the age of seventy-three. The vast Austrian empire, +composed of so many heterogeneous States, bound together only by +the iron energy of Ferdinand, seemed now upon the eve of its +dissolution. The Protestants, who composed in most of the States a +majority, were cordially <span class="pagenum"><a name="page287" +id="page287"></a>{287}</span> rallying beneath the banners of +Gustavus. They had been in a state of despair. They now rose in +exalted hope. Many of the minor princes who had been nominally +Catholics, but whose Christian creeds were merely political dogmas, +threw themselves into the arms of Gustavus. Even the Elector of +Bavaria was so helpless in his isolation, that, champion as he had +been of the Catholic party, there seemed to be no salvation for him +but in abandoning the cause of Ferdinand. Gustavus was now, with a +victorious army, in the heart of Germany. He was in possession of +the whole western country from the Baltic to the frontiers of +France, and apparently a majority of the population were in +sympathy with him.</p> +<p>Ferdinand at first resolved, in this dire extremity, to assume +himself the command of his armies, and in person to enter the +field. This was heroic madness, and his friends soon convinced him +of the folly of one so inexperienced in the arts of war undertaking +to cope with Gustavus Adolphus, now the most experienced and +renowned captain in Europe. He then thought of appointing his son, +the Archduke Ferdinand, commander-in-chief. But Ferdinand was but +twenty-three years of age, and though a young man of decided +abilities, was by no means able to encounter on the field the skill +and heroism of the Swedish warrior. In this extremity, Ferdinand +was compelled to turn his eyes to his discarded general +Wallenstein.</p> +<p>This extraordinary man, in renouncing, at the command of his +sovereign, his military supremacy, retired with boundless wealth, +and assumed a style of living surpassing even regal splendor. His +gorgeous palace at Prague was patrolled by sentinels. A body-guard +of fifty halberdiers, in sumptuous uniform, ever waited in his +ante-chamber. Twelve nobles attended his person, and four gentlemen +ushers introduced to his presence those whom he condescended to +favor with an audience. Sixty pages, taken from the most +illustrious families, embellished his courts. His steward was a +baron of the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page288" id= +"page288"></a>{288}</span> highest rank; and even the chamberlain +of the emperor had left Ferdinand's court, that he might serve in +the more princely palace of this haughty subject. A hundred guests +dined daily at his table. His gardens and parks were embellished +with more than oriental magnificence. Even his stables were +furnished with marble mangers, and supplied with water from an +ever-living fountain. Upon his journeys he was accompanied by a +suite of twelve coaches of state and fifty carriages. A large +retinue of wagons conveyed his plate and equipage. Fifty mounted +grooms followed with fifty led horses richly caparisoned. (Coxe's +"House of Austria," ii., 254.)</p> +<p>Wallenstein watched the difficulties gathering around the +emperor with satisfaction which he could not easily disguise. +Though intensely eager to be restored to the command of the armies, +he affected an air of great indifference, and when the emperor +suggested his restoration, he very adroitly played the coquette. +The emperor at first proposed that his son, the Archduke Ferdinand, +should nominally have the command, while Wallenstein should be his +executive and advisory general. "I would not serve," said the +impious captain, "as second in command under God Himself."</p> +<p>After long negotiation, Wallenstein, with well-feigned +reluctance, consented to relinquish for a few weeks the sweets of +private life, and to recruit an army, and bring it under suitable +discipline. He, however, limited the time of his command to three +months. With his boundless wealth and amazing energy, he +immediately set all springs in motion. Adventurers from all parts +of Europe, lured by the splendor of his past achievements, crowded +his ranks. In addition to his own vast opulence, the pope and the +court of Spain opened freely to him their purses. As by magic he +was in a few weeks at the head of forty thousand men. In companies, +regiments and battalions they were incessantly drilled, and by the +close of three months this splendid army, thoroughly <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page289" id="page289"></a>{289}</span> +furnished, and in the highest state of discipline, was presented to +the emperor. Every step he had taken had convinced, and was +intended to convince Ferdinand that his salvation depended upon the +energies of Wallenstein. Gustavus was now, in the full tide of +victory, marching from the Rhine to the Danube, threatening to +press his conquests even to Vienna. Ferdinand was compelled to +assume the attitude of a suppliant, and to implore his proud +general to accept the command of which he had so recently been +deprived. Wallenstein exacted terms so humiliating as in reality to +divest the emperor of his imperial power. He was to be declared +generalissimo of all the forces of the empire, and to be invested +with unlimited authority. The emperor pledged himself that neither +he nor his son would ever enter the camp. Wallenstein was to +appoint all his officers, distribute all rewards, and the emperor +was not allowed to grant either a pardon or a safe-conduct without +the confirmation of Wallenstein. The general was to levy what +contribution he pleased upon the vanquished enemy, confiscate +property, and no peace or truce was to be made with the enemy +without his consent. Finally, he was to receive, either from the +spoils of the enemy, or from the hereditary States of the empire, +princely remuneration for his services.</p> +<p>Armed with such enormous power, Wallenstein consented to place +himself at the head of the army. He marched to Prague, and without +difficulty took the city. Gradually he drove the Saxon troops from +all their fortresses in Bohemia. Then advancing to Bavaria, he +effected a junction with Bavarian troops, and found himself +sufficiently strong to attempt to arrest the march of Gustavus. The +imperial force now amounted to sixty thousand men. Wallenstein was +so sanguine of success, that he boasted that in a few days he would +decide the question, whether Gustavus Adolphus or Wallenstein was +to be master of the world. The Swedish king was at Nuremberg with +but twenty thousand men, when he heard <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page290" id="page290"></a>{290}</span> of the +approach of the imperial army, three times outnumbering his own. +Disdaining to retreat, he threw up redoubts, and prepared for a +desperate defense. As Wallenstein brought up his heavy battalions, +he was so much overawed by the military genius which Gustavus had +displayed in his strong intrenchments, and by the bold front which +the Swedes presented, that notwithstanding his boast, he did not +dare to hazard an attack. He accordingly threw up intrenchments +opposite the works of the Swedes, and there the two armies +remained, looking each other in the face for eight weeks, neither +daring to withdraw from behind their intrenchments, and each hoping +to starve the other party out. Gustavus did every thing in his +power to provoke Wallenstein to the attack, but the wary general, +notwithstanding the importunities of his officers, and the clamors +of his soldiers, refused to risk an engagement. Both parties were +all the time strengthening their intrenchments and gathering +reinforcements.</p> +<p>At last Gustavus resolved upon an attack. He led his troops +against the intrenchments of Wallenstein, which resembled a +fortress rather than a camp. The Swedes clambered over the +intrenchments, and assailed the imperialists with as much valor and +energy as mortals ever exhibited. They were, however, with equal +fury repelled, and after a long conflict were compelled to retire +again behind their fortifications with the loss of three thousand +of their best troops. For another fortnight the two armies remained +watching each other, and then Gustavus, leaving a strong garrison +in Nuremberg, slowly and defiantly retired. Wallenstein stood so +much in fear of the tactics of Gustavus that he did not even +venture to molest his retreat. During this singular struggle of +patient endurance, both armies suffered fearfully from sickness and +famine. In the city of Nuremberg ten thousand perished. Gustavus +buried twenty thousand of his men beneath his intrenchments. And in +the imperial army, after the retreat of Gustavus, but thirty +thousand troops were left to answer the roll-call.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page291" id= +"page291"></a>{291}</span> +<p>Wallenstein claimed, and with justice, the merit of having +arrested the steps of Gustavus, though he could not boast of any +very chivalrous exploits. After various maneuvering, and desolating +marches, the two armies, with large reinforcements, met at Lutzen, +about thirty miles from Leipsic. It was in the edge of the evening +when they arrived within sight of each other's banners. Both +parties passed an anxious night, preparing for the decisive battle +which the dawn of the morning would usher in.</p> +<p>Wallenstein was fearfully alarmed. He had not willingly met his +dreaded antagonist, and would now gladly escape the issues of +battle. He called a council of war, and even suggested a retreat. +But it was decided that such an attempt in the night, and while +watched by so able and vigilant a foe, would probably involve the +army in irretrievable ruin, besides exposing his own name to deep +disgrace. The imperial troops, thirty thousand strong, quite +outnumbered the army of Gustavus, and the officers of Wallenstein +unanimously advised to give battle. Wallenstein was a superstitious +man and deeply devoted to astrological science. He consulted his +astrologers, and they declared the stars to be unpropitious to +Gustavus. This at once decided him. He resolved, however, to act on +the defensive, and through the night employed the energies of his +army in throwing up intrenchments. In the earliest dawn of the +morning mass was celebrated throughout the whole camp, and +Wallenstein on horseback rode along behind the redoubts, urging his +troops, by every consideration, to fight valiantly for their +emperor and their religion.</p> +<p>The morning was dark and lowering, and such an impenetrable fog +enveloped the armies that they were not visible to each other. It +was near noon ere the fog arose, and the two armies, in the full +blaze of an unclouded sun, gazed, awe-stricken, upon each other. +The imperial troops and the Swedish troops were alike renowned; and +Gustavus Adolphus and Wallenstein were, by universal admission, the +two ablest captains <span class="pagenum"><a name="page292" id= +"page292"></a>{292}</span> in Europe. Neither force could even +affect to despise the other. The scene unfolded, as the vapor swept +away, was one which even war has seldom presented. The vast plain +of Lutzen extended many miles, almost as smooth, level and treeless +as a western prairie. Through the center of this plain ran a nearly +straight and wide road. On one side of this road, in long line, +extending one or two miles, was the army of Wallenstein. His whole +front was protected by a ditch and redoubts bristling with +bayonets. Behind these intrenchments his army was extended; the +numerous and well-mounted cavalry at the wings, the artillery, in +ponderous batteries, at the center, with here and there solid +squares of infantry to meet the rush of the assailing columns. On +the other side of the road, and within musket-shot, were drawn up +in a parallel line the troops of Gustavus. He had interspersed +along his double line bands of cavalry, with artillery and platoons +of musketeers, that he might be prepared from any point to make or +repel assault. The whole host stood reverently, with uncovered +heads, as a public prayer was offered. The Psalm which Watts has so +majestically versified was read—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"God is the refuge of his saints,</p> +<p>When storms of dark distress invade;</p> +<p>Ere we can offer our complaints,</p> +<p>Behold him present with his aid.</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Let mountains from their seats be hurled</p> +<p>Down to the deep, and buried there,</p> +<p>Convulsions shake the solid world;</p> +<p>Our faith shall never yield to fear."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>From twenty thousand voices the solemn hymn arose and floated +over the field—celestial songs, to be succeeded by demoniac +clangor. Both parties appealed to the God of battle; both parties +seemed to feel that their cause was just. Alas for man!</p> +<p>Gustavus now ordered the attack. A solid column emerged from his +ranks, crossed the road, in breathless silence approached the +trenches, while both armies looked on. They <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page293" id="page293"></a>{293}</span> were +received with a volcanic sheet of flame which prostrated half of +them bleeding upon the sod. Gustavus ordered column after column to +follow on to support the assailants, and to pierce the enemy's +center. In his zeal he threw himself from his horse, seized a pike, +and rushed to head the attack. Wallenstein energetically ordered up +cavalry and artillery to strengthen the point so fiercely assailed. +And now the storm of war blazed along the whole lines. A +sulphureous canopy settled down over the contending hosts, and +thunderings, shrieks, clangor as of Pandemonium, filled the air. +The king, as reckless of life as if he had been the meanest +soldier, rushed to every spot where the battle raged the fiercest. +Learning that his troops upon the left were yielding to the +imperial fire, he mounted his horse and was galloping across the +field swept by the storm of war, when a bullet struck his arm and +shattered the bone. Almost at the same moment another bullet struck +his breast, and he fell mortally wounded from his horse, +exclaiming, "My God! my God!"</p> +<p>The command now devolved upon the Duke of Saxe Weimar. The horse +of Gustavus, galloping along the lines, conveyed to the whole army +the dispiriting intelligence that their beloved chieftain had +fallen. The duke spread the report that he was not killed, but +taken prisoner, and summoned all to the rescue. This roused the +Swedes to superhuman exertions. They rushed over the ramparts, +driving the infantry back upon the cavalry, and the whole imperial +line was thrown into confusion. Just at that moment, when both +parties were in the extreme of exhaustion, when the Swedes were +shouting victory and the imperialists were flying in dismay, +General Pappenheim, with eight fresh regiments of imperial cavalry, +came galloping upon the field. This seemed at once to restore the +battle to the imperialists, and the Swedes were apparently undone. +But just then a chance bullet struck Pappenheim and he fell, +mortally wounded, from his horse. The cry ran through the imperial +ranks, "Pappenheim is killed and the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page294" id="page294"></a>{294}</span> battle is lost." No further +efforts of Wallenstein were of any avail to arrest the confusion. +His whole host turned and fled. Fortunately for them, the darkness +of the approaching night, and a dense fog settling upon the plain, +concealed them from their pursuers. During the night the +imperialists retired, and in the morning the Swedes found +themselves in possession of the field with no foe in sight. But the +Swedes had no heart to exult over their victory. The loss of their +beloved king was a greater calamity than any defeat could have +been. His mangled body was found, covered with blood, in the midst +of heaps of the slain, and so much mutilated with the tramplings of +cavalry as to be with difficulty recognized.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page295" id= +"page295"></a>{295}</span> +<h2><a name="chap19" id="chap19">CHAPTER XIX</a>.</h2> +<h3>FERDINAND II., FERDINAND III. AND LEOPOLD I</h3> +<h4>From 1632 to 1662.</h4> +<p class="summary">Character of Gustavus Adolphus.—Exultation +of the Imperialists.—Disgrace of Wallenstein.—He Offers +to Surrender to the Swedish General.—His +Assassination.—Ferdinand's Son Elected as his +Successor.—Death of Ferdinand.—Close of the +War.—Abdication of Christina.—Charles +Gustavus.—Preparations for War.—Death Of Ferdinand +III.—Leopold Elected Emperor.—Hostilities +Renewed.—Death of Charles Gustavus.—Diet +Convened.—Invasion of the Turks.</p> +<p>The battle of Lutzen was fought on the 16th of November, 1632. +It is generally estimated that the imperial troops were forty +thousand, while there were but twenty-seven thousand in the Swedish +army. Gustavus was then thirty-eight years of age. A plain stone +still marks the spot where he fell. A few poplars surround it, and +it has become a shrine visited by strangers from all parts of the +world. Traces of his blood are still shown in the town-house of +Lutzen, where his body was transported from the fatal field. The +buff waistcoat he wore in the engagement, pierced by the bullet +which took his life, is preserved as a trophy in the arsenal at +Vienna.</p> +<p>Both as a monarch and a man, this illustrious sovereign stands +in the highest ranks. He possessed the peculiar power of winning +the ardent attachment of all who approached him. Every soldier in +the army was devoted to him, for he shared all their toils and +perils. "Cities," he said, "are not taken by keeping in tents; as +scholars, in the absence of the master, shut their books, so my +troops, without my presence, would slacken their blows."</p> +<p>In very many traits of character he resembled Napoleon, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page296" id= +"page296"></a>{296}</span> combining in his genius the highest +attributes of the statesman and the soldier. Like Napoleon he was a +predestinarian, believing himself the child of Providence, raised +for the accomplishment of great purposes, and that the decrees of +his destiny no foresight could thwart. When urged to spare his +person in the peril of battle, he replied,</p> +<p>"My hour is written in heaven, and can not be reversed."</p> +<p>Frederic, the unhappy Elector of the Palatine, and King of +Bohemia, who had been driven from his realms by Ferdinand, and who, +for some years, had been wandering from court to court in Europe, +seeking an asylum, was waiting at Mentz, trusting that the success +of the armies of Gustavus would soon restore him to his throne. The +death of the king shattered all his hopes. Disappointment and +chagrin threw him into a fever of which he died, in the +thirty-ninth year of his age. The death of Gustavus was considered +by the Catholics such a singular interposition of Providence in +their behalf, that, regardless of the disaster of Lutzen, they +surrendered themselves to the most enthusiastic joy. Even in Spain +bells were rung, and the streets of Madrid blazed with bonfires and +illuminations. At Vienna it was regarded as a victory, and <i>Te +Deums</i> were chanted in the cathedral. Ferdinand, however, +conducted with a decorum which should be recorded to his honor. He +expressed the fullest appreciation of the grand qualities of his +opponent, and in graceful words regretted his untimely death. When +the bloody waistcoat, perforated by the bullet, was shown him, he +turned from it with utterances of sadness and regret. Even if this +were all feigned, it shows a sense of external propriety worthy of +record.</p> +<p>It was the genius of Gustavus alone which had held together the +Protestant confederacy. No more aid of any efficiency could be +anticipated from Sweden. Christina, the daughter and heiress of +Gustavus, was in her seventh year. The crown was claimed by her +cousin Ladislaus, the King of Poland, and this disputed succession +threatened the kingdom <span class="pagenum"><a name="page297" id= +"page297"></a>{297}</span> with the calamities of civil war. The +Senate of Sweden in this emergence conducted with great prudence. +That they might secure an honorable peace they presented a bold +front of war. A council of regency was appointed, abundant succors +in men and money voted, and the Chancellor Oxenstiern, a man of +commanding civil and military talents, was intrusted with the sole +conduct of the war. The Senate declared the young queen the +legitimate successor to the throne, and forbade all allusion to the +claims of Ladislaus, under the penalty of high treason.</p> +<p>Oxenstiern proved himself worthy to be the successor of +Gustavus. He vigorously renewed alliances with the German princes, +and endeavored to follow out the able plans sketched by the +departed monarch. Wallenstein, humiliated by his defeat, had fallen +back into Bohemia, and now, with moderation strangely inconsistent +with his previous career, urged the emperor to conciliate the +Protestants by publishing a decree of general amnesty, and by +proposing peace on favorable terms. But the iron will of Ferdinand +was inflexible. In heart, exulting that his most formidable foe was +removed, he resolved with unrelenting vigor to prosecute the war. +The storm of battle raged anew; and to the surprise of Ferdinand, +Oxenstiern moved forward with strides of victory as signal as those +of his illustrious predecessor. Wallenstein meanly attempted to +throw the blame of the disaster at Lutzen upon the alleged +cowardice of his officers. Seventeen of them he hanged, and +consigned fifty others to infamy by inscribing their names upon the +gallows.</p> +<p>So haughty a man could not but have many enemies at court. They +combined, and easily persuaded Ferdinand, who had also been +insulted by his arrogance, again to degrade him. Wallenstein, +informed of their machinations, endeavored to rally the army to a +mutiny in his favor. Ferdinand, alarmed by this intelligence, which +even threatened his own dethronement, immediately dismissed +Wallenstein from the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page298" id= +"page298"></a>{298}</span> command, and dispatched officers from +Vienna to seize his person, dead or alive. This roused Wallenstein +to desperation. Having secured the coöperation of his leading +officers, he dispatched envoys to the Swedish camp, offering to +surrender important fortresses to Oxenstiern, and to join him +against the emperor. It was an atrocious act of treason, and so +marvellous in its aspect, that Oxenstiern regarded it as mere +duplicity on the part of Wallenstein, intended to lead him into a +trap. He therefore dismissed the envoy, rejecting the offer. His +officers now abandoned him, and Gallas, who was appointed as his +successor, took command of the army.</p> +<p>With a few devoted adherents, and one regiment of troops, he +took refuge in the strong fortress of Egra, hoping to maintain +himself there until he could enter into some arrangement with the +Swedes. The officers around him, whom he had elevated and enriched +by his iniquitous bounty, entered into a conspiracy to purchase the +favor of the emperor by the assassination of their doomed general. +It was a very difficult enterprise, and one which exposed the +conspirators to the most imminent peril.</p> +<p>On the 25th of February, 1634, the conspirators gave a +magnificent entertainment in the castle. They sat long at the +table, wine flowed freely, and as the darkness of night enveloped +the castle, fourteen men, armed to the teeth, rushed into the +banqueting hall from two opposite doors, and fell upon the friends +of Wallenstein. Though thus taken by surprise, they fought +fiercely, and killed several of their assailants before they were +cut down. They all, however, were soon dispatched. The +conspirators, fifty in number, then ascended the stairs of the +castle to the chamber of Wallenstein. They cut down the sentinel at +his door, and broke into the room. Wallenstein had retired to his +bed, but alarmed by the clamor, he arose, and was standing at the +window in his shirt, shouting from it to the soldiers for +assistance.</p> +<p>"Are you," exclaimed one of the conspirators, "the traitor +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page299" id= +"page299"></a>{299}</span> who is going to deliver the imperial +troops to the enemy, and tear the crown from the head of the +emperor?"</p> +<p>Wallenstein was perfectly helpless. He looked around, and +deigned no reply. "You must die," continued the conspirator, +advancing with his halberd. Wallenstein, in silence, opened his +arms to receive the blow. The sharp blade pierced his body, and he +fell dead upon the floor. The alarm now spread through the town. +The soldiers seized their arms, and flocked to avenge their +general. But the leading friends of Wallenstein were slain; and the +other officers easily satisfied the fickle soldiery that their +general was a traitor, and with rather a languid cry of "Long live +Ferdinand," they returned to duty.</p> +<p>Two of the leading assassins hastened to Vienna to inform the +emperor of the deed they had perpetrated. It was welcome +intelligence to Ferdinand, and he finished the work they had thus +commenced by hanging and beheading the adherents of Wallenstein +without mercy. The assassins were abundantly rewarded. The emperor +still prosecuted the war with perseverance, which no disasters +could check. Gradually the imperial arms gained the ascendency. The +Protestant princes became divided and jealous of each other. The +emperor succeeded in detaching from the alliance, and negotiating a +separate peace with the powerful Electors of Saxony and +Brandenburg. He then assembled a diet at Ratisbon on the 15th of +September, 1639, and without much difficulty secured the election +of his son Ferdinand to succeed him on the imperial throne. The +emperor presided at this diet in person. He was overjoyed in the +attainment of this great object of his ambition. He was now +fifty-nine years of age, in very feeble health, and quite worn out +by a life of incessant anxiety and toil. He returned to Vienna, and +in four months, on the 15th of February, 1637, breathed his +last.</p> +<p>For eighteen years Germany had now been distracted by war. The +contending parties were so exasperated against each other, that no +human wisdom could, at once, allay the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page300" id="page300"></a>{300}</span> strife. +The new king and emperor, Ferdinand III., wished for peace, but he +could not obtain it on terms which he thought honorable to the +memory of his father. The Swedish army was still in Germany, aided +by the Protestant princes of the empire, and especially by the +armies and the treasury of France. The thunders of battle were +daily heard, and the paths of these hostile bands were ever marked +by smoldering ruins and blood. Vials of woe were emptied, +unsurpassed in apocalyptic vision. In the siege of Brisac, the +wretched inhabitants were reduced to such a condition of +starvation, that a guard was stationed at the burying ground to +prevent them from devouring the putrid carcasses of the dead.</p> +<p>For eleven years history gives us nothing but a dismal record of +weary marches, sieges, battles, bombardments, conflagrations, and +all the unimaginable brutalities and miseries of war. The war had +now raged for thirty years. Hundreds of thousands of lives had been +lost. Millions of property had been destroyed, and other millions +squandered in the arts of destruction. Nearly all Europe had been +drawn into this vortex of fury and misery. All parties were now +weary. And yet seven years of negotiation had been employed before +they could consent to meet to consult upon a general peace. At +length congresses of the belligerent powers were assembled in two +important towns of Westphalia, Osnabruck and Munster. Ridiculous +disputes upon etiquette rendered this division of the congress +necessary. The ministers of <i>electors</i> enjoyed the title of +<i>excellency</i>. The ministers of <i>princes</i> claimed the same +title. Months were employed in settling that question. Then a +difficulty arose as to the seats at table, who were entitled to the +positions of honor. After long debate, this point was settled by +having a large round table made, to which there could be no head +and no foot.</p> +<p>For four years the great questions of European policy were +discussed by this assembly. The all-important treaty, known in +history as the peace of Westphalia, and which established +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page301" id= +"page301"></a>{301}</span> the general condition of Europe for one +hundred and fifty years, was signed on the 24th of October, 1648. +The contracting parties included all the great and nearly all the +minor powers of Europe. The articles of this renowned treaty are +vastly too voluminous to be recorded here. The family of Frederic +received back the Palatinate of which he had been deprived. The +Protestants were restored to nearly all the rights which they had +enjoyed under the beneficent reign of Maximilian II. The princes of +the German empire, kings, dukes, electors, marquises, princes, of +whatever name, pledged themselves not to oppress those of their +subjects who differed from them in religious faith. The pope +protested against this toleration, but his protest was disregarded. +The German empire lost its unity, and became a conglomeration of +three hundred independent sovereignties. Each petty prince or duke, +though possessing but a few square miles of territory, was +recognized as a sovereign power, entitled to its court, its army, +and its foreign alliances. The emperor thus lost much of that power +which he had inherited from his ancestors; as those princes, whom +he had previously regarded as vassals, now shared with him +sovereign dignity.</p> +<p>Ferdinand III., however, weary of the war which for so many +years had allowed him not an hour of repose, gladly acceded to +these terms of peace, and in good faith employed himself in +carrying out the terms of the treaty. After the exchange of +ratifications another congress was assembled at Nuremburg to settle +some of the minute details, which continued in session two years, +when at length, in 1651, the armies were disbanded, and Germany was +released from the presence of a foreign foe.</p> +<p>Internal peace being thus secured, Ferdinand was anxious, before +his death, to secure the succession of the imperial crown to his +son who bore his own name. He accordingly assembled a meeting of +the electors at Prague, and by the free use of bribes and +diplomatic intrigue, obtained their engagement to <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page302" id="page302"></a>{302}</span> support +his son. He accomplished his purpose, and Ferdinand, quite to the +astonishment of Germany, was chosen unanimously, King of the +Romans—the title assumed by the emperor elect. In June, 1653, +the young prince was crowned at Ratisbon. The joy of his father, +however, was of short duration. In one year from that time the +small-pox, in its most loathsome form, seized the prince, and after +a few days of anguish he died. His father was almost inconsolable +with grief. As soon as he had partially recovered from the blow, he +brought forward his second son, Leopold, and with but little +difficulty secured for him the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, but +was disappointed in his attempts to secure the suffrages of the +German electors.</p> +<p>With energy, moderation and sagacity, the peacefully disposed +Ferdinand so administered the government as to allay for seven +years all the menaces of war which were continually arising. For so +long a period had Germany been devastated by this most direful of +earthly calamities, which is indeed the accumulation of all +conceivable woes, ever leading in its train pestilence and famine, +that peace seemed to the people a heavenly boon. The fields were +again cultivated, the cities and villages repaired, and comfort +began again gradually to make its appearance in homes long +desolate. It is one of the deepest mysteries of the divine +government that the destinies of millions should be so entirely +placed in the hands of a single man. Had Ferdinand II. been an +enlightened, good man, millions would have been saved from +life-long ruin and misery.</p> +<p>One pert young king, in the search of glory, kindled again the +lurid flames of war. Christina, Queen of Sweden, daughter of +Gustavus Adolphus, influenced by romantic dreams, abdicated the +throne and retired to the seclusion of the cloister. Her cousin, +Charles Gustavus, succeeded her. He thought it a fine thing to play +the soldier, and to win renown by consigning the homes of thousands +to blood and misery. He was a king, and the power was in his hands. +Merely to gratify this fiend-like ambition, he laid claim to the +crown of Poland, and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page303" id= +"page303"></a>{303}</span> raised an army for the invasion of that +kingdom. A portion of Poland was then in a state of insurrection, +the Ukraine Cossacks having risen against John Cassimar, the king. +Charles Gustavus thought that this presented him an opportunity to +obtain celebrity as a warrior, with but little danger of failure. +He marched into the doomed country, leaving behind him a wake of +fire and blood. Cities and villages were burned; the soil was +drenched with the blood of fathers and sons, his bugle blasts were +echoed by the agonizing groans of widows and orphans, until at +last, in an awful battle of three days, under the walls of Warsaw, +the Polish army, struggling in self-defense, was cut to pieces, and +Charles Gustavus was crowned a conqueror. Elated by this infernal +deed, the most infernal which mortal man can commit, he began to +look around to decide in what direction to extend his +conquests.</p> +<p>Ferdinand III., anxious as he was to preserve peace, could not +but look with alarm upon the movements which now threatened the +States of the empire. It was necessary to present a barrier to the +inroads of such a ruffian. He accordingly assembled a diet at +Frankfort and demanded succors to oppose the threatened invasion on +the north. He raised an army, entered into an alliance with the +defeated and prostrate, yet still struggling Poles, and was just +commencing his march, when he was seized with sudden illness and +died, on the 3d of March, 1657. Ferdinand was a good man. He was +not responsible for the wars which desolated the empire during the +first years of his reign, for he was doing every thing in his power +to bring those wars to a close. His administration was a blessing +to millions. Just before his death he said, and with truth which no +one will controvert, "During my whole reign no one can reproach me +with a single act which I knew to be unjust." Happy is the monarch +who can go into the presence of the King of kings with such a +conscience.</p> +<p>The death of the emperor was caused by a singular accident. He +was not very well, and was lying upon a couch in <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page304" id="page304"></a>{304}</span> one of +the chambers of his palace. He had an infant son, but a few weeks +old, lying in a cradle in the nursery. A fire broke out in the +apartment of the young prince. The whole palace was instantly in +clamor and confusion. Some attendants seized the cradle of the +young prince, and rushed with it to the chamber of the emperor. In +their haste and terror they struck the cradle with such violence +against the wall that it was broken to pieces and the child fell, +screaming, upon the floor. The cry of fire, the tumult, the +bursting into the room, the dashing of the cradle and the shrieks +of the child, so shocked the debilitated king that he died within +an hour.</p> +<p>Leopold was but eighteen years of age when he succeeded to the +sovereignty of all the Austrian dominions, including the crowns of +Hungary and Bohemia. It was the first great object of his ambition +to secure the imperial throne also, which his father had failed to +obtain for him. Louis XIV. was now the youthful sovereign of +France. He, through his ambitious and able minister, Mazarin, did +every thing in his power to thwart the endeavors of Ferdinand, and +to obtain the brilliant prize for himself. The King of Sweden +united with the French court in the endeavor to abase the pride of +the house of Austria. But notwithstanding all their efforts, +Leopold carried his point, and was unanimously elected emperor, and +crowned on the 31st of July, 1657. The princes of the empire, +however, greatly strengthened in their independence by the articles +of the peace of Westphalia, increasingly jealous of their rights, +attached forty-five conditions to their acceptance of Leopold as +emperor. Thus, notwithstanding the imperial title, Leopold had as +little power over the States of the empire as the President of the +United States has over the internal concerns of Maine or Louisiana. +In all such cases there is ever a conflict between two parties, the +one seeking the centralization of power, and the other advocating +its dispersion into various distant central points.</p> +<p>The flames of war which Charles Gustavus had kindled +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page305" id= +"page305"></a>{305}</span> were still blazing. Leopold continued +the alliance which his father had formed with the Poles, and sent +an army of sixteen thousand men into Poland, hoping to cut off the +retreat of Charles Gustavus, and take him and all his army +prisoners. But the Swedish monarch was as sagacious and energetic +as he was unscrupulous and ambitious. Both parties formed +alliances. State after State was drawn into the conflict. The flame +spread like a conflagration. Fleets met in deadly conflict on the +Baltic, and crimsoned its waves with blood. The thunders of war +were soon again echoing over all the plains of northern and western +Germany—and all this because a proud, unprincipled young man, +who chanced to be a king, wished to be called a <i>hero</i>.</p> +<p>He accomplished his object. Through burning homes and bleeding +hearts and crushed hopes he marched to his renown. The forces of +the empire were allied with Denmark and Poland against him. With +skill and energy which can hardly find a parallel in the tales of +romance, he baffled all the combinations of his foes. Energy is a +noble quality, and we may admire its exhibition even though we +detest the cause which has called it forth. The Swedish fleet had +been sunk by the Danes, and Charles Gustavus was driven from the +waters of the Baltic. With a few transports he secretly conveyed an +army across the Cattegat to the northern coast of Jutland, marched +rapidly down those inhospitable shores until he came to the narrow +strait, called the Little Belt, which separates Jutland from the +large island of Fyen. He crossed this strait on the ice, dispersed +a corps of Danes posted to arrest him, traversed the island, +exposed to all the storms of mid-winter, some sixty miles to its +eastern shore. A series of islands, with intervening straits +clogged with ice, bridged by a long and circuitous way his passage +across the Great Belt. A march of ten miles across the hummocks, +rising and falling with the tides, landed him upon the almost +pathless snows of Langeland. Crossing that dreary waste diagonally +some dozen miles <span class="pagenum"><a name="page306" id= +"page306"></a>{306}</span> to another arm of the sea ten miles +wide, which the ices of a winter of almost unprecedented severity +had also bridged, pushing boldly on, with a recklessness which +nothing but success redeems from stupendous infatuation, he crossed +this fragile surface, which any storm might crumble beneath his +feet, and landed upon the western coast of Laaland. A march of +thirty-five miles over a treeless, shelterless and almost +uninhabited expanse, brought him to the eastern shore. Easily +crossing a narrow strait about a mile in width, he plunged into the +forests of the island of Falster. A dreary march of twenty-seven +miles conducted him to the last remaining arm of the sea which +separated him from Zealand. This strait, from twelve to fifteen +miles in breadth, was also closed by ice. Charles Gustavus led his +hardy soldiers across it, and then, with accelerated steps, pressed +on some sixty miles to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. In +sixteen days after landing in Jutland, his troops were encamped in +Zealand before the gates of the capital.</p> +<p>The King of Denmark was appalled at such a sudden apparition. +His allies were too remote to render him any assistance. Never +dreaming of such an attack, his capital was quite defenseless in +that quarter. Overwhelmed with terror and despondency, he was +compelled to submit to such terms as the conqueror might dictate. +The conqueror was inexorable in his demands. Sweden was +aggrandized, and Denmark humiliated.</p> +<p>Leopold was greatly chagrined by this sudden prostration of his +faithful ally. In the midst of these scenes of ambition and of +conquest, the "king of terrors" came with his summons to Charles +Gustavus. The passage of this blood-stained warrior to the world of +spirits reminds us of the sublime vision of Isaiah when the King of +Babylon sank into the grave:</p> +<p>"Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy +coming; it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones +of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page307" id="page307"></a>{307}</span> the kings +of the nations. All they shall speak and say unto thee,</p> +<p>"'Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? +Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols; +the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art +thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art +thou cut down to the ground which didst weaken the nations!'</p> +<p>"They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider +thee, saying, 'Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, and +didst shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness and +destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the house of his +prisoners?'"</p> +<p>The death of Charles Gustavus was the signal for the strife of +war to cease, and the belligerent nations soon came to terms of +accommodation. But scarcely was peace proclaimed ere new troubles +arose in Hungary. The barbarian Turks, with their head-quarters at +Constantinople, lived in a state of continual anarchy. The cimeter +was their only law. The palace of the sultan was the scene of +incessant assassinations. Nothing ever prevented them from +assailing their neighbors but incessant quarrels among themselves. +The life of the Turkish empire was composed of bloody insurrections +at home, and still more bloody wars abroad. Mahomet IV. was now +sultan. He was but twenty years of age. A quarrel for ascendency +among the beauties of his harem had involved the empire in a civil +war. The sultan, after a long conflict, crushed the insurrection +with a blood-red hand. Having restored internal tranquillity, he +prepared as usual for foreign war. By intrigue and the force of +arms they took possession of most of the fortresses of +Transylvania, and crossing the frontier, entered Hungary, and laid +siege to Great Wardein.</p> +<p>Leopold immediately dispatched ten thousand men to succor the +besieged town and to garrison other important fortresses. His +succors arrived too late. Great Wardein fell <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page308" id="page308"></a>{308}</span> into the +hands of the Turks, and they commenced their merciless ravages. +Hungary was in a wretched condition. The king, residing in Vienna, +was merely a nominal sovereign. Chosen by nobles proud of their +independence, and jealous of each other and of their feudal rights, +they were unwilling to delegate to the sovereign any efficient +power. They would crown him with great splendor of gold and +jewelry, and crowd his court in their magnificent display, but they +would not grant him the prerogative to make war or peace, to levy +taxes, or to exercise any other of the peculiar attributes of +sovereignty. The king, with all his sounding titles and gorgeous +parade, was in reality but the chairman of a committee of nobles. +The real power was with the Hungarian diet.</p> +<p>This diet, or congress, was a peculiar body. Originally it +consisted of the whole body of nobles, who assembled annually on +horseback on the vast plain of Rakoz, near Buda. Eighty thousand +nobles, many of them with powerful revenues, were frequently +convened at these tumultuous gatherings. The people were thought to +have no rights which a noble was bound to respect. They lived in +hovels, hardly superior to those which a humane farmer now prepares +for his swine. The only function they fulfilled was, by a life of +exhausting toil and suffering, to raise the funds which the nobles +expended in their wars and their pleasure; and to march to the +field of blood when summoned by the bugle. In fact history has +hardly condescended to allude to the people. We have minutely +detailed the intrigues and the conflicts of kings and nobles, when +generation after generation of the masses of the people have passed +away, as little thought of as billows upon the beach.</p> +<p>These immense gatherings of the nobles were found to be so +unwieldy, and so inconvenient for the transaction of any efficient +business, that Sigismond, at the commencement of the fifteenth +century, introduced a limited kind of representation. The bishops, +who stood first in wealth, power and rank, and the highest dukes, +attended in person. The nobles of less <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page309" id="page309"></a>{309}</span> exalted +rank sent their delegates, and the assembly, much diminished in +number, was transferred from the open plain to the city of +Presburg. The diet, at the time of which we write, was assembled +once in three years, and at such other times as the sovereign +thought it necessary to convene it. The diet controlled the king, +unless he chanced to be a man of such commanding character, that by +moral power he could bring the diet to his feet. A clause had been +inserted in the coronation oath, that the nobles, without guilt, +could oppose the authority of the king, whenever he transgressed +their privileges; it was also declared that no foreign troops could +be introduced into the kingdom without the consent of the diet.</p> +<p>Under such a government, it was inevitable that the king should +be involved in a continued conflict with the nobles. The nobles +wished for aid to repel the Turks; and yet they were unwilling that +an Austrian army should be introduced into Hungary, lest it should +enable the king to enlarge those prerogatives which he was ever +seeking to extend, and which they were ever endeavoring to +curtail.</p> +<p>Leopold convened the diet at Presburg. They had a stormy +session. Leopold had commenced some persecution of the Protestants +in the States of Austria. This excited the alarm of the Protestant +nobles of Hungary; and they had reason to dread the intolerance of +the Roman Catholics, more than the cimeter of the Turk. They openly +accused Leopold of commencing persecution, and declared that it was +his intention to reduce Hungary to the state to which Ferdinand II. +had reduced Bohemia. They met all the suggestions of Leopold, for +decisive action, with so many provisos and precautions, that +nothing could be done. It is dangerous to surrender one's arms to a +highway robber, or one whom we fear may prove such, even if he does +promise with them to aid in repelling a foe. The Catholics and the +Protestants became involved in altercation, and the diet was +abruptly dissolved.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page310" id= +"page310"></a>{310}</span> +<p>The Turks eagerly watched their movements, and, encouraged by +these dissensions, soon burst into Hungary with an army of one +hundred thousand men. They crossed the Drave at Esseg, and, +ascending the valley of the Danube, directly north one hundred and +fifty miles, crossed that stream unopposed at Buda. Still ascending +the stream, which here flows from the west, they spread devastation +everywhere around them, until they arrived nearly within sight of +the steeples of Vienna. The capital was in consternation. To add to +their terror and their peril, the emperor was dangerously sick of +the small-pox, a disease which had so often proved fatal to members +of the royal family. One of the imperial generals, near Presburg, +in a strong position, held the invading army in check a few days. +The ministry, in their consternation, appealed to all the powers of +Christendom to hasten to the rescue of the cross, now so seriously +imperiled by the crescent. Forces flowed in, which for a time +arrested the further advance of the Moslem banners, and afforded +time to prepare for more efficient action.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page311" id= +"page311"></a>{311}</span> +<h2><a name="chap20" id="chap20">CHAPTER XX</a>.</h2> +<h3>LEOPOLD I.</h3> +<h4>From 1662 to 1697.</h4> +<p class="summary">Invasion of the Turks.—A Treaty +concluded.—Possessions of Leopold.—Invasion of the +French.—League of Augsburg.—Devastation of the +Palatinate.—Invasion of Hungary.—Emeric +Tekeli.—Union of Emeric Tekeli with the Turks.—Leopold +applies to Sobieski.—He immediately marches to his +Aid.—The Turks conquered.—Sobieski's triumphal +Receptions.—Meanness of Leopold.—Revenge upon +Hungary.—Peace concluded.—Contest for Spain.</p> +<p>While Europe was rousing itself to repel this invasion of the +Turks, the grand vizier, leaving garrisons in the strong fortresses +of the Danube, withdrew the remainder of his army to prepare for a +still more formidable invasion the ensuing year. Most of the +European powers seemed disposed to render the emperor some aid. The +pope transmitted to him about two hundred thousand dollars. France +sent a detachment of six thousand men. Spain, Venice, Genoa, +Tuscany and Mantua, forwarded important contributions of money and +military stores. Early in the summer the Turks, in a powerful and +well provided army, commenced their march anew. Ascending the +valley of the Save, where they encountered no opposition, they +traversed Styria, that they might penetrate to the seat of war +through a defenseless frontier. The troops assembled by Leopold, +sixty thousand in number, under the renowned Prince Montecuculi, +stationed themselves in a very strong position at St. Gothard, +behind the river Raab, which flows into the Danube about one +hundred miles below Vienna. Here they threw up their intrenchments +and prepared to resist the progress of the invader.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page312" id= +"page312"></a>{312}</span> +<p>The Turks soon arrived and spread themselves out in military +array upon the opposite side of the narrow but rapid stream. As the +hostile armies were preparing for an engagement, a young Turk, +magnificently mounted, and in gorgeous uniform, having crossed the +stream with a party of cavalry, rode in advance of the troop, upon +the plain, and in the spirit of ancient chivalry challenged any +Christian knight to meet him in single combat. The Chevalier of +Lorraine accepted the challenge, and rode forth to the encounter. +Both armies looked silently on to witness the issue of the duel. It +was of but a few moments' duration. Lorraine, warding off every +blow of his antagonist, soon passed his sword through the body of +the Turk, and he fell dead from his horse. The victor returned to +the Christian camp, leading in triumph the splendid steed of his +antagonist.</p> +<p>And now the signal was given for the general battle. The Turks +impetuously crossing the narrow stream, assailed the Christian camp +in all directions, with their characteristic physical bravery, the +most common, cheap and vulgar of all earthly virtues. A few months +of military discipline will make fearless soldiers of the most +ignominious wretches who can be raked from the gutters of Christian +or heathen lands. The battle was waged with intense fierceness on +both sides, and was long continued with varying success. At last +the Turks were routed on every portion of the field, and leaving +nearly twenty thousand of their number either dead upon the plain +or drowned in the Raab, they commenced a precipitate flight.</p> +<p>Leopold was, for many reasons, very anxious for peace, and +immediately proposed terms very favorable to the Turks. The sultan +was so disheartened by this signal reverse that he readily listened +to the propositions of the emperor, and within nine days after the +battle of St. Gothard, to the astonishment of all Europe, a truce +was concluded for twenty years. The Hungarians were much displeased +with the terms of this treaty; for in the first place, it was +contrary to the laws of the kingdom <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page313" id="page313"></a>{313}</span> for the king to make peace +without the consent of the diet, and in the second place, the +conditions he offered the Turks were humiliating to the Hungarians. +Leopold confirmed to the Turks their ascendency in Transylvania, +and allowed them to retain Great Wardein, and two other important +fortresses in Hungary. It was with no little difficulty that the +emperor persuaded the diet to ratify these terms.</p> +<p>Leopold is to be considered under the twofold light of sovereign +of Austria and Emperor of Germany. We have seen that his power as +emperor was quite limited. His power as sovereign of Austria, also +varied greatly in the different States of his widely extended +realms. In the Austrian duchies proper, upon the Danube, of which +he was, by long hereditary descent, archduke, his sway was almost +omnipotent. In Bohemia he was powerful, though much less so than in +Austria, and it was necessary for him to move with caution there, +and not to disturb the ancient usages of the realm lest he should +excite insurrection. In Hungary, where the laws and customs were +entirely different, Leopold held merely a nominal, hardly a +recognized sway. The bold Hungarian barons, always steel-clad and +mounted for war, in their tumultuous diets, governed the kingdom. +There were other remote duchies and principalities, too feeble to +stand by themselves, and ever changing masters, as they were +conquered or sought the protection of other powers, which, under +the reign of Leopold, were portions of wide extended Austria. +Another large and vastly important accession was now made to his +realms. The Tyrol, which, in its natural features, may be +considered but an extension of Switzerland, is a territory of about +one hundred miles square, traversed through its whole extent by the +Alps. Lying just south of Austria it is the key to Italy, opening +through its defiles a passage to the sunny plains of the Peninsula; +and through those fastnesses, guarded by frowning castles, no foe +could force his way, into the valleys of the Tyrol. The most +sublime road in Europe is that over Mount Brenner, along the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page314" id= +"page314"></a>{314}</span> banks of the Adige. This province had +long been in the hands of members of the Austrian family.</p> +<p>On the 15th of June, 1665, Sigismond Francis, Duke of Tyrol, and +cousin of Leopold, died, leaving no issue, and the province +escheated with its million of inhabitants to Leopold, as the next +heir. This brought a large accession of revenue and of military +force, to the kingdom. Austria was now the leading power in Europe, +and Leopold, in rank and position, the most illustrious sovereign. +Louis XIV. had recently married Maria Theresa, eldest daughter of +Philip IV., King of Spain. Philip, who was anxious to retain the +crown of Spain in his own family, extorted from Maria Theresa, and +from her husband, Louis XIV., the renunciation of all right of +succession, in favor of his second daughter, Margaret, whom he +betrothed to Leopold. Philip died in September, 1665, leaving these +two daughters, one of whom was married to the King of France, and +leaving also an infant son, who succeeded to the throne under the +regency of his mother, Ann, daughter of Ferdinand III., of Austria. +Margaret was then too young to be married, but in a year from this +time, in September, 1666, her nuptials were celebrated with great +splendor at Madrid. The ambitious French monarch, taking advantage +of the minority of the King of Spain, and of the feeble regency, +and in defiance of the solemn renunciation made at his marriage, +resolved to annex the Spanish provinces of the Low Countries to +France, and invaded the kingdom, leading himself an army of thirty +thousand men. The Spanish court immediately appealed to Leopold for +assistance. But Leopold was so embarrassed by troubles in Hungary, +and by discontents in the empire that he could render no efficient +aid. England, however, and other powers of Europe, jealous of the +aggrandizement of Louis XIV. combined, and compelled him to abandon +a large portion of the Netherlands, though he still retained +several fortresses. The ambition of Louis XIV. was inflamed, not +checked by this reverse, and all Europe was involved again in +bloody <span class="pagenum"><a name="page315" id= +"page315"></a>{315}</span> wars. The aggressions of France, and the +devastations of Tarenne in the Palatinate, roused Germany to listen +to the appeals of Leopold, and the empire declared war against +France. Months of desolating war rolled on, decisive of no results, +except universal misery. The fierce conflict continued with +unintermitted fury until 1679, when the haughty monarch of France, +who was as sagacious in diplomacy as he was able in war, by bribes +and threats succeeded in detaching one after another from the +coalition against him, until Leopold, deserted by nearly all his +allies, was also compelled to accede to peace.</p> +<p>France, under Louis XIV., was now the dominant power in Europe. +Every court seemed to be agitated by the intrigues of this haughty +sovereign, and one becomes weary of describing the incessant +fluctuations of the warfare. The arrogance of Louis, his unblushing +perfidy and his insulting assumptions of superiority over all other +powers, exasperated the emperor to the highest pitch. But the +French monarch, by secret missions and abounding bribes, kept +Hungary in continued commotion, and excited such jealousy in the +different States of the empire, that Leopold was compelled to +submit in silent indignation to wrongs almost too grievous for +human nature to bear.</p> +<p>At length Leopold succeeded in organizing another coalition to +resist the aggressions of Louis XIV. The Prince of Orange, the King +of Sweden and the Elector of Brandenburg were the principal parties +united with the emperor in this confederacy, which was concluded, +under the name of the "League of Augsburg," on the 21st of June, +1686. An army of sixty thousand men was immediately raised. From +all parts of Germany troops were now hurrying towards the Rhine. +Louis, alarmed, retired from the Palatinate, which he had overrun, +and, to place a barrier between himself and his foes, ordered the +utter devastation of the unhappy country. The diabolical order was +executed by Turenne. The whole of the Palatinate <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page316" id="page316"></a>{316}</span> was +surrendered to pillage and conflagration. The elector, from the +towers of his castle at Mannheim, saw at one time two cities and +twenty-five villages in flames. He had no force sufficient to +warrant him to leave the walls of his fortress to oppose the foe. +He was, however, so moved to despair by the sight, that he sent a +challenge to Turenne to meet him in single combat. Turenne, by +command of the king, declined accepting the challenge. More than +forty large towns, besides innumerable villages, were given up to +the flames. It was mid-winter. The fields were covered with snow, +and swept by freezing blasts. The wretched inhabitants, parents and +children, driven into the bleak plains without food or clothing or +shelter, perished miserably by thousands. The devastation of the +Palatinate is one of the most cruel deeds which war has ever +perpetrated. For these woes, which no imagination can gauge, Louis +XIV. is responsible. He has escaped any adequate earthly penalty +for the crime, but the instinctive sense of justice implanted in +every breast, demands that he should not escape the retributions of +a righteous God. "After death cometh the judgment."</p> +<p>This horrible deed roused Germany. All Europe now combined +against France, except Portugal, Russia and a few of the Italian +States. The tide now turned in favor of the house of Austria. +Germany was so alarmed by the arrogance of France, that, to +strengthen the power of the emperor, the diet with almost perfect +unanimity elected his son Joseph, though a lad but eleven years of +age, to succeed to the imperial throne. Indeed, Leopold presented +his son in a manner which seemed to claim the crown for him as his +hereditary right, and the diet did not resist that claim. France, +rich and powerful, with marvelous energy breasted her host of foes. +All Europe was in a blaze. The war raged on the ocean, over the +marshes of Holland, along the banks of the Rhine, upon the plains +of Italy, through the defiles of the Alps and far away on the +steppes of Hungary and the shores of the Euxine. To all these +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page317" id= +"page317"></a>{317}</span> points the emperor was compelled to send +his troops. Year after year of carnage and woe rolled on, during +which hardly a happy family could be found in all Europe.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"Man's inhumanity to man</p> +<p>Made countless millions mourn."</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>At last all parties became weary of the war, and none of the +powers having gained any thing of any importance by these long +years of crime and misery, for which Louis XIV., as the aggressor, +is mainly responsible, peace was signed on the 30th of October, +1697. One important thing, indeed, had been accomplished. The +rapacious Louis XIV. had been checked in his career of spoliation. +But his insatiate ambition was by no means subdued. He desired +peace only that he might more successfully prosecute his plans of +aggrandizement. He soon, by his system of robbery, involved Europe +again in war. Perhaps no man has ever lived who has caused more +bloody deaths and more wide-spread destruction of human happiness +than Louis XIV. We wonder not that in the French Revolution an +exasperated people should have rifled his sepulcher and spurned his +skull over the pavements as a foot-ball.</p> +<p>Leopold, during the progress of these wars, by the aid of the +armies which the empire furnished him, recovered all of Hungary and +Transylvania, driving the Turks beyond the Danube. But the proud +Hungarian nobles were about as much opposed to the rule of the +Austrian king as to that of the Turkish sultan. The Protestants +gained but little by the change, for the Mohammedan was about as +tolerant as the papist. They all suspected Leopold of the design of +establishing over them despotic power, and they formed a secret +confederacy for their own protection. Leopold, released from his +warfare against France and the Turks, was now anxious to +consolidate his power in Hungary, and justly regarding the Roman +Catholic religion as the great bulwark against liberty, encouraged +the Catholics to persecute the Protestants.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page318" id= +"page318"></a>{318}</span> +<p>Leopold took advantage of this conspiracy to march an army into +Hungary, and attacking the discontented nobles, who had raised an +army, he crushed them with terrible severity. No mercy was shown. +He exhausted the energies of confiscation, exile and the scaffold +upon his foes; and then, having intimidated all so that no one +dared to murmur, declared the monarchy of Hungary no longer +elective but hereditary, like that of Bohemia. He even had the +assurance to summon a diet of the nobles to confirm this decree +which defrauded them of their time-honored rights. The nobles who +were summoned, terrified, instead of obeying, fled into +Transylvania. The despot then issued an insulting and menacing +proclamation, declaring that the power he exercised he received +from God, and calling upon all to manifest implicit submission +under peril of his vengeance. He then extorted a large contribution +of money from the kingdom, and quartered upon the inhabitants +thirty thousand troops to awe them into subjection.</p> +<p>This proclamation was immediately followed by another, changing +the whole form of government of the kingdom, and establishing an +unlimited despotism. He then moved vigorously for the extirpation +of the Protestant religion. The Protestant pastors were silenced; +courts were instituted for the suppression of heresy; two hundred +and fifty Protestant ministers were sentenced to be burned at the +stake, and then, as an act of extraordinary clemency, on the part +of the despot, their punishment was commuted to hard labor in the +galleys for life. All the nameless horrors of inquisitorial cruelty +desolated the land.</p> +<p>Catholics and Protestants were alike driven to despair by these +civil and religious outrages. They combined, and were aided both by +France and Turkey; not that France and Turkey loved justice and +humanity, but they hated the house of Austria, and wished to weaken +its power, that they might enrich themselves by the spoils. A noble +chief, Emeric Tekeli, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page319" id= +"page319"></a>{319}</span> who had fled from Hungary to Poland, and +who hated Austria as Hannibal hated Rome, was invested with the +command of the Hungarian patriots. Victory followed his standard, +until the emperor, threatened with entire expulsion from the +kingdom, offered to reëstablish the ancient laws which he had +abrogated, and to restore to the Hungarians all those civil and +religious privileges of which he had so ruthlessly defrauded +them.</p> +<p>But the Hungarians were no longer to be deceived by his +perfidious promises. They continued the war; and the sultan sent an +army of two hundred thousand men to cooperate with Tekeli. The +emperor, unable to meet so formidable an army, abandoned his +garrisons, and, retiring from the distant parts of the kingdom, +concentrated his troops at Presburg. But with all his efforts, he +was able to raise an army of only forty thousand men. The Duke of +Lorraine, who was intrusted with the command of the imperial +troops, was compelled to retreat precipitately before outnumbering +foes, and he fled upon the Danube, pursued by the combined +Hungarians and Turks, until he found refuge within the walls of +Vienna. The city was quite unprepared for resistance, its +fortifications being dilapidated, and its garrison feeble. +Universal consternation seized the inhabitants. All along the +valley of the Danube the population fled in terror before the +advance of the Turks. Leopold, with his family, at midnight, +departed ingloriously from the city, to seek a distant refuge. The +citizens followed the example of their sovereign, and all the roads +leading westward and northward from the city were crowded with +fugitives, in carriages, on horseback and on foot, and with all +kinds of vehicles laden with the treasures of the metropolis. The +churches were filled with the sick and the aged, pathetically +imploring the protection of Heaven.</p> +<p>The Duke of Lorraine conducted with great energy, repairing the +dilapidated fortifications, stationing in posts of peril the +veteran troops, and marshaling the citizens and the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page320" id="page320"></a>{320}</span> students +to coöperate with the garrison. On the 14th of July, 1682, the +banners of the advance guard of the Turkish army were seen from the +walls of Vienna. Soon the whole mighty host, like an inundation, +came surging on, and, surrounding the city, invested it on all +sides. The terrific assault from innumerable batteries immediately +commenced. The besieged were soon reduced to the last extremity for +want of provisions, and famine and pestilence rioting within the +walls, destroyed more than the shot of the enemy. The suburbs were +destroyed, the principal outworks taken, several breaches were +battered in the walls, and the terrified inhabitants were hourly in +expectation that the city would be taken by storm. There can not +be, this side of the world of woe, any thing more terrible than +such an event.</p> +<p>The emperor, in his terror, had dispatched envoys all over +Germany to rally troops for the defense of Vienna and the empire. +He himself had hastened to Poland, where, with frantic intreaties, +he pressed the king, the renowned John Sobieski, whose very name +was a terror, to rush to his relief. Sobieski left orders for a +powerful army immediately to commence their march. But, without +waiting for their comparatively slow movements, he placed himself +at the head of three thousand Polish horsemen, and, without +incumbering himself with luggage, like the sweep of the whirlwind +traversed Silesia and Moravia, and reached Tulen, on the banks of +the Danube, about twenty miles above Vienna. He had been told by +the emperor that here he would find an army awaiting him, and a +bridge constructed, by which he could cross the stream. But, to his +bitter disappointment, he found no army, and the bridge unfinished. +Indignantly he exclaimed,</p> +<p>"What does the emperor mean? Does he think me a mere adventurer? +I left my own army that I might take command of his. It is not for +myself that I fight, but for him."</p> +<p>Notwithstanding this disappointment, he called into requisition +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page321" id= +"page321"></a>{321}</span> all his energies to meet the crisis. The +bridge was pushed forward to its completion. The loitering German +troops were hurried on to the rendezvous. After a few days the +Polish troops, by forced marches, arrived, and Sobieski found +himself at the head of sixty thousand men, experienced soldiers, +and well supplied with all the munitions of war. On the 11th of +September the inhabitants of the city were overjoyed, in descrying +from the towers of the city, in the distance, the approaching +banners of the Polish and German army. Sobieski ascended an +elevation, and long and carefully scrutinized the position of the +besieging host. He then calmly remarked,</p> +<p>"The grand vizier has selected a bad position. I understand him. +He is ignorant of the arts of war, and yet thinks that he has +military genius. It will be so easy to conquer him, that we shall +obtain no honor from the victory."</p> +<p>Early the next morning, the 12th of September, the Polish and +German troops rushed to the assault, with such amazing impetuosity, +and guided by such military skill, that the Turks were swept before +them as by a torrent. The army of the grand vizier, seized by a +panic, fled so precipitately, that they left baggage, tents, +ammunition and provisions behind. The garrison emerged from the +city, and coöperated with the victors, and booty of +indescribable value fell into their hands. As Sobieski took +possession of the abandoned camp, stored with all the wealth and +luxuries of the East, he wrote, in a tone of pleasantry to his +wife,</p> +<p>"The grand vizier has left me his heir, and I inherit millions +of ducats. When I return home I shall not be met with the reproach +of the Tartar wives, 'You are not a man, because you have come back +without booty.'"</p> +<p>The inhabitants of Vienna flocked out from the city to greet the +king as an angel deliverer sent from heaven. The next morning the +gates of the city were thrown open, the streets were garlanded with +flowers, and the King of Poland had a <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page322" id="page322"></a>{322}</span> triumphal +reception in the streets of the metropolis. The enthusiasm and +gratitude of the people passed all ordinary bounds. The bells rang +their merriest peals; files of maidens lined his path, and +acclamations, bursting from the heart, greeted him every step of +his way. They called him their father and deliverer. They struggled +to kiss his feet and even to touch his garments. With difficulty he +pressed through the grateful crowd to the cathedral, where he +prostrated himself before the altar, and returned thanks to God for +the signal victory. As he returned, after a public dinner, to his +camp, he said, "This is the happiest day of my life."</p> +<p>Two days after this, Leopold returned, trembling and humiliated +to his capital. He was received in silence, and with undisguised +contempt. His mortification was intense, and he could not endure to +hear the praises which were everywhere lavished upon Sobieski. +Jealousy rankled in his heart, and he vented his spite upon all +around him. It was necessary that he should have an interview with +the heroic king who had so nobly come to his rescue. But instead of +meeting him with a warm and grateful heart, he began to study the +punctilios of etiquette, that the dreaded interview might be +rendered as cold and formal as possible.</p> +<p>Sobieski was merely an elective monarch. Leopold was a +hereditary king and an emperor. Leopold even expressed some doubt +whether it were consistent with his exalted dignity to grant the +Polish king the honor of an audience. He inquired whether an +<i>elected monarch</i> had ever been admitted to the presence of an +<i>emperor</i>; and if so, with what forms, in the present case, +the king should be received. The Duke of Lorraine, of whom he made +the inquiry, disgusted with the mean spirit of the emperor, nobly +replied, "With open arms."</p> +<p>But the soulless Leopold had every movement punctiliously +arranged according to the dictates of his ignoble spirit. The +Polish and Austrian armies were drawn up in opposite <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page323" id="page323"></a>{323}</span> lines +upon the plain before the city. At a concerted signal the emperor +and the king emerged from their respective ranks, and rode out upon +the open plain to meet each other. Sobieski, a man of splendid +bearing, magnificently mounted, and dressed in the brilliant +uniform of a Polish warrior, attracted all eyes and the admiration +of all hearts. His war steed pranced proudly as if conscious of the +royal burden he bore, and of the victories he had achieved. Leopold +was an ungainly man at the best. Conscious of his inability to vie +with the hero, in his personal presence, he affected the utmost +simplicity of dress and equipage. Humiliated also by the cold +reception he had met and by the consciousness of extreme +unpopularity in both armies, he was embarrassed and deject. The +contrast was very striking, adding to the renown of Sobieski, and +sinking Leopold still deeper in contempt.</p> +<p>The two sovereigns advanced, formally saluted each other with +bows, dismounted and embraced. A few cold words were exchanged, +when they again embraced and remounted to review the troops. But +Sobieski, frank, cordial, impulsive, was so disgusted with this +reception, so different from what he had a right to expect, that he +excused himself, and rode to his tent, leaving his chancellor +Zaluski to accompany the emperor on the review. As Leopold rode +along the lines he was received in contemptuous silence, and he +returned to his palace in Vienna, tortured by wounded pride and +chagrin.</p> +<p>The treasure abandoned by the Turks was so abundant that five +days were spent in gathering it up. The victorious army then +commenced the pursuit of the retreating foe. About one hundred and +fifty miles below Vienna, where the majestic Danube turns suddenly +from its eastern course and flows toward the south, is situated the +imperial city of Gran. Upon a high precipitous rock, overlooking +both the town and the river, there had stood for centuries one of +the most imposing fortresses which mortal hands have ever reared. +For seventy years this post had been in the hands of the Turks, and +strongly <span class="pagenum"><a name="page324" id= +"page324"></a>{324}</span> garrisoned by four thousand troops, had +bid defiance to every assault. Here the thinned and bleeding +battalions of the grand vizier sought refuge. Sobieski and the Duke +of Lorraine, flushed with victory, hurled their masses upon the +disheartened foe, and the Turks were routed with enormous +slaughter. Seven thousand gory corpses of the dead strewed the +plain. Many thousands were driven into the river and drowned. The +fortress was taken, sword in hand; and the remnant of the Moslem +army, in utter discomfiture, fled down the Danube, hardly resting, +by night or by day, till they were safe behind the ramparts of +Belgrade.</p> +<p>Both the German and the Polish troops were disgusted with +Leopold. Having reconquered Hungary for the emperor, they were not +disposed to remain longer in his service. Most of the German +auxiliaries, disbanding, returned to their own countries. Sobieski, +declaring that he was willing to fight against the Turks, but not +against Tekeli and his Christian confederates, led back his troops +to Poland. The Duke of Lorraine was now left with the Austrian +troops to struggle against Tekeli with the Hungarian patriots. The +Turks, exasperated by the defeat, accused Tekeli of being the +cause. By stratagem he was seized and sent in chains to +Constantinople. The chief who succeeded him turned traitor and +joined the imperialists. The cause of the patriots was ruined. +Victory now kept pace with the march of the Duke of Lorraine. The +Turks were driven from all their fortresses, and Leopold again had +Hungary at his feet. His vengeance was such as might have been +expected from such a man.</p> +<p>Far away, in the wilds of northern Hungary, at the base of the +Carpathian, mountains, on the river Tarcza, one of the tributaries +of the Theiss, is the strongly fortified town of Eperies. At this +remote spot the diabolical emperor established his revolutionary +tribunal, as if he thought that the shrieks of his victims, there +echoing through the savage defiles of the mountains, could not +awaken the horror of civilized <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page325" id="page325"></a>{325}</span> Europe. His armed bands +scoured the country and transported to Eperies every individual, +man, woman and child, who was even suspected of sympathizing with +the insurgents. There was hardly a man of wealth or influence in +the kingdom who was not dragged before this horrible tribunal, +composed of ignorant, brutal, sanguinary officers of the king. +Their summary trial, without any forms of justice, was an awful +tragedy. They were thrown into dungeons; their property +confiscated; they were exposed to the most direful tortures which +human ingenuity could devise, to extort confession and to compel +them to criminate friends. By scores they were daily consigned to +the scaffold. Thirty executioners, with their assistants, found +constant employment in beheading the condemned. In the middle of +the town, the scaffold was raised for this butchery. The spot is +still called "The Bloody Theater of Eperies."</p> +<p>Leopold, having thus glutted his vengeance, defiantly convoked a +diet and crowned his son Joseph, a boy twelve years of age, as King +of Hungary, practically saying to the nobles, "Dispute his +hereditary right now, if you dare." The emperor had been too often +instructed in the vicissitudes of war to feel that even in this +hour of triumph he was perfectly safe. He knew that other days +might come; that other foes might rise; and that Hungary could +never forget the rights of which she had been defrauded. He +therefore exhausted all the arts of threats and bribes to induce +the diet to pass a decree that the crown was no longer elective but +hereditary. It is marvelous that in such an hour there could have +been any energy left to resist his will. But with all his terrors +he could only extort from the diet their consent that the +succession to the crown should be confirmed in the males, but that +upon the extinction of the <i>male</i> line the crown, instead of +being hereditary in the female line, should revert to the nation, +who should again confer it by the right of election.</p> +<p>Leopold reluctantly yielded to this, as the most he could +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page326" id= +"page326"></a>{326}</span> then hope to accomplish. The emperor, +elated by success, assumed such imperious airs as to repel from him +all his former allies. For several years Hungary was but a battle +field where Austrians and Turks met in incessant and bloody +conflicts. But Leopold, in possession of all the fortresses, +succeeded in repelling each successive invasion.</p> +<p>Both parties became weary of war. In November, 1697, +negotiations were opened at Carlovitz, and a truce was concluded +for twenty-five years. The Turks abandoned both Hungary and +Transylvania, and these two important provinces became more firmly +than ever before, integral portions of the Austrian empire. By the +peace of Carlovitz the sultan lost one half of his possessions in +Europe. Austria, in the grandeur of her territory, was never more +powerful than at this hour: extending across the whole breadth of +Europe, from the valley of the Rhine to the Euxine sea, and from +the Carpathian mountains to the plains of Italy. A more +heterogeneous conglomeration of States never existed, consisting of +kingdoms, archduchies, duchies, principalities, counties, +margraves, landgraves and imperial cities, nearly all with their +hereditary rulers subordinate to the emperor, and with their local +customs and laws.</p> +<p>Leopold, though a weak and bad man, in addition to all this +power, swayed also the imperial scepter over all the States of +Germany. Though his empire over all was frail, and his vast +dominions were liable at any moment to crumble to pieces, he still +was not content with consolidating the realms he held, but was +anxiously grasping for more. Spain was the prize now to be won. +Louis XIV., with the concentrated energies of the French kingdom, +was claiming it by virtue of his marriage with the eldest daughter +of the deceased monarch, notwithstanding his solemn renunciation of +all right at his marriage in favor of the second daughter. Leopold, +as the husband of the second daughter, claimed the crown, in the +event, then impending, of the death of the imbecile and childless +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page327" id= +"page327"></a>{327}</span> king. This quarrel agitated Europe to +its center, and deluged her fields with blood. If the +<i>elective</i> franchise is at times the source of agitation, the +law of <i>hereditary</i> succession most certainly does not always +confer tranquillity and peace.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page328" id= +"page328"></a>{328}</span> +<h2><a name="chap21" id="chap21">CHAPTER XXI</a>.</h2> +<h3>LEOPOLD I. AND THE SPANISH SUCCESSION.</h3> +<h4>From 1697 to 1710.</h4> +<p class="summary">The Spanish Succession.—The Impotence of +Charles II.—Appeal to the Pope.—His +Decision.—Death of Charles II.—Accession of Philip +V.—Indignation of Austria.—The outbreak of +War.—Charles III. crowned.—Insurrection in +Hungary.—Defection of Bavaria.—The Battle of +Blenheim.—Death of Leopold I.—Eleonora.—Accession +of Joseph I.—Charles XII. of Sweden.—Charles III. in +Spain.—Battle of Malplaquet.—Charles at +Barcelona.—Charles at Madrid.</p> +<p>Charles II., King of Spain, was one of the most impotent of men, +in both body and mind. The law of hereditary descent had placed +this semi-idiot upon the throne of Spain to control the destinies +of twenty millions of people. The same law, in the event of his +death without heirs, would carry the crown across the Pyrenees to a +little boy in the palace of Versailles, or two thousand miles, to +the banks of the Danube, to another little boy in the gardens of +Vienna. Louis XIV. claimed the Spanish scepter in behalf of his +wife, the Spanish princess Maria Theresa, and her son. Leopold +claimed it in behalf of his deceased wife, Margaret, and her child. +For many years before the death of Philip II. the envoys of France +and Austria crowded the court of Spain, employing all the arts of +intrigue and bribery to forward the interests of their several +sovereigns. The different courts of Europe espoused the claims of +the one party or the other, accordingly as their interests would be +promoted by the aggrandizement of the house of Bourbon or the house +of Hapsburg.</p> +<p>Louis XIV. prepared to strike a sudden blow by gathering +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page329" id= +"page329"></a>{329}</span> an army of one hundred thousand men in +his fortresses near the Spanish frontier, in establishing immense +magazines of military stores, and in filling the adjacent harbors +with ships of war. The sagacious French monarch had secured the +coöperation of the pope, and of some of the most influential +Jesuits who surrounded the sick and dying monarch. Charles II. had +long been harassed by the importunities of both parties that he +should give the influence of his voice in the decision. Tortured by +the incessant vacillations of his own mind, he was at last +influenced, by the suggestions of his spiritual advisers, to refer +the question to the pope. He accordingly sent an embassage to the +pontiff with a letter soliciting counsel.</p> +<p>"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, 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 God. We are anxious to act rightly, and we have recourse +to your holiness, as to an infallible guide, intreating you to +consult with the cardinals and divines, and, after having +attentively examined the testaments of our ancestors, to decide +according to the rules of right and equity."</p> +<p>Pope Innocent XII. was already prepared for this appeal, and was +engaged to act as the agent of the French court. The hoary-headed +pontiff, with one foot in the grave, affected the character of +great honesty and impartiality. He required forty days to examine +the important case, and to seek divine assistance. He then returned +the following answer, admirably adapted to influence a weak and +superstitious prince:</p> +<p>"Being myself," he wrote, "in a situation similar to that of his +Catholic majesty, the King of Spain, on the point of appearing at +the judgment-seat of Christ, and rendering an account to the +sovereign pastor of the flock which has been intrusted to my care, +I am bound to give such advice as will <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page330" id="page330"></a>{330}</span> not +reproach my conscience on the day of judgment. Your majesty ought +not to put the interests of the house of Austria in competition +with those of eternity. Neither should you be ignorant that the +French claimants are the rightful heirs of the crown, and no member +of the Austrian family has the smallest legitimate pretension. It +is therefore 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 succession of the Spanish +monarchy to the French claimants."</p> +<p>Charles, as fickle as the wind, still remained undecided, and +his anxieties preying upon his feeble frame, already exhausted by +disease, caused him rapidly to decline. He was now confined to his +chamber and his bed, and his death was hourly expected. He hated +the French, and all his sympathies were with Austria. Some priests +entered his chamber, professedly to perform the pompous and +sepulchral service of the church of Rome for the dying. In this +hour of languor, and in the prospect of immediate death, they +assailed the imbecile monarch with all the terrors of superstition. +They depicted the responsibility which he would incur should he +entail on the kingdom the woes of a disputed succession; they +assured him that he could not, without unpardonable guilt, reject +the decision of the holy father of the Church; and growing more +eager and excited, they denounced upon him the vengeance of +Almighty God, if he did not bequeath the crown, now falling from +his brow, to the Bourbons of France.</p> +<p>The dying, half-delirious king, appalled by the terrors of +eternal damnation, yielded helplessly to their demands. A will was +already prepared awaiting his signature. With a hand trembling in +death, the king attached to it his name; but as he did so, he burst +into tears, exclaiming, "I am already nothing." It was supposed +that he could then survive but a few hours. Contrary to all +expectation he revived, and expressed the keenest indignation and +anguish that he had <span class="pagenum"><a name="page331" id= +"page331"></a>{331}</span> been thus beguiled to decide against +Austria, and in favor of France. He even sent a courier to the +emperor, announcing his determination to decide in favor of the +Austrian claimant. The flickering flame of life, thus revived for a +moment, glimmered again in the socket and expired. The wretched +king died the 1st of November, 1699, in the fortieth year of his +age, and the thirty-sixth of his reign.</p> +<p>On the day of his death a council of State was convened, and the +will, the very existence of which was generally unknown, was read. +It declared the Dauphin of France, son of the Spanish princess +Maria Theresa, to be the successor to all the Spanish dominions; +and required all subjects and vassals of Spain to acknowledge him. +The Austrian party were astounded at this revelation. The French +party were prepared to receive it without any surprise. The son of +Maria Theresa was dead, and the crown consequently passed to her +grandson Philip. Louis XIV. immediately acknowledged his title, +when he was proclaimed king, and took quiet possession of the +throne of Spain on the 24th of November, 1700, as Philip V.</p> +<p>It was by such fraud that the Bourbons of France attained the +succession to the Spanish crown; a fraud as palpable as was ever +committed; for Maria Theresa had renounced all her rights to the +throne; this renunciation had been confirmed by the will of her +father Philip IV., sanctioned by the Cortes of Spain, and solemnly +ratified by her husband, Louis XIV. Such is "legitimacy—the +divine right of kings." All the great powers of Europe, excepting +the emperor, promptly acknowledged the title of Philip V.</p> +<p>Leopold, enraged beyond measure, dispatched envoys to rouse the +empire, and made the most formidable preparations for war. A force +of eighty thousand men was soon assembled. The war commenced in +Italy. Leopold sent down his German troops through the defiles of +the Tyrol, and, in the valley of the Adige, they encountered the +combined armies of France, Spain and Italy. Prince Eugene, who had +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page332" id= +"page332"></a>{332}</span> already acquired great renown in the +wars against the Turks, though by birth a French noble, had long +been in the Austrian service, and led the Austrian troops. William, +of England, jealous of the encroachments of Louis XIV., and leading +with him the States of Holland, formed an alliance with Austria. +This was pretty equally dividing the military power of Europe, and +a war of course ensued, almost unparalleled in its sanguinary +ferocity. The English nation supported the monarch; the House of +Lords, in an address to the king, declared that "his majesty, his +subjects and his 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 reason." Forty thousand sailors and +forty thousand land troops were promptly voted for the war.</p> +<p>William died on the 16th of March, in consequence of a fall from +his horse, and was succeeded by Anne, daughter of James II. She +was, however, but nominally the sovereign. The infamously renowned +Duke of Marlborough became the real monarch, and with great skill +and energy prosecuted the eleven years' war which ensued, which is +known in history as the War of the Spanish Succession. For many +months the conflict raged with the usual fluctuations, the Austrian +forces being commanded on the Rhine by the Duke of Marlborough, and +in Italy by Prince Eugene. Portugal soon joined the Austrian +alliance, and Philip V. and the French becoming unpopular in Spain, +a small party rose there, advocating the claims of the house of +Austria. Thus supported, Leopold, at Vienna, declared his son +Charles King of Spain, and crowned him as such in Vienna. By the +aid of the English fleet he passed from Holland to England, and +thence to Lisbon, where a powerful army was assembled to invade +Spain, wrest the crown from Philip, and place it upon the brow of +Charles III.</p> +<p>And now Leopold began to reap the bitter consequences of his +atrocious conduct in Hungary. The Hungarian nobles <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page333" id="page333"></a>{333}</span> embraced +this opportunity, when the imperial armies were fully engaged, to +rise in a new and formidable invasion. Francis Ragotsky, a +Transylvanian prince, led in the heroic enterprise. He was of one +of the noblest and wealthiest families of the realm, and was goaded +to action by the bitterest wrongs. His grandfather and uncle had +been beheaded; his father robbed of his property and his rank; his +cousin doomed to perpetual imprisonment; his father-in-law +proscribed, and his mother driven into exile. The French court +immediately opened a secret correspondence with Ragotsky, promising +him large supplies of men and money, and encouraging him with hopes +of the coöperation of the Turks. Ragotsky secretly assembled a +band of determined followers, in the savage solitudes of the +Carpathian mountains, and suddenly descended into the plains of +Hungary, at the head of his wild followers, calling upon his +countrymen to rise and shake off the yoke of the detested Austrian. +Adherents rapidly gathered around his standard; several fortresses +fell into his hands, and he soon found himself at the head of +twenty thousand well armed troops. The flame of insurrection +spread, with electric rapidity, through all Hungary and +Transylvania.</p> +<p>The tyrant Leopold, as he heard these unexpected tidings, was +struck with consternation. He sent all the troops he could collect +to oppose the patriots, but they could make no impression upon an +indignant nation in arms. He then, in his panic, attempted +negotiation. But the Hungarians demanded terms both reasonable and +honorable, and to neither of these could the emperor possibly +submit. They required that the monarchy should no longer be +hereditary, but elective, according to immemorial usage; that the +Hungarians should have the right to resist <i>illegal</i> power +without the charge of treason; that foreign officers and garrisons +should be removed from the kingdom; that the Protestants should be +reëstablished in the free exercise of their religion, and that +their confiscated estates should be restored. The despot could not +listen for one <span class="pagenum"><a name="page334" id= +"page334"></a>{334}</span> moment to requirements so just; and +appalled by the advance of the patriots toward Vienna, he recalled +the troops from Italy.</p> +<p>About the same time the Duke of Bavaria, disgusted with the +arrogance and the despotism of Leopold, renounced allegiance to the +emperor, entered into an alliance with the French, and at the head +of forty thousand troops, French and Bavarians, commenced the +invasion of Austria from the west. Both Eugene and Marlborough +hastened to the rescue of the emperor. Combining their forces, with +awful slaughter they mowed down the French and Bavarians at +Blenheim, and then overran all Bavaria. The elector fled with the +mutilated remnants of his army to France. The conquerors seized all +the fortresses, all the guns and ammunition; disbanded the Bavarian +troops, took possession of the revenues of the kingdom, and +assigned to the heart-broken wife of the duke a humble residence in +the dismantled capital of the duchy.</p> +<p>The signal victory of Blenheim enabled Leopold to concentrate +his energies upon Hungary. It was now winter, and the belligerents, +during these stormy months, were active in making preparations for +the campaign of the spring. But Leopold's hour was now tolled. That +summons came which prince and peasant must alike obey, and the +emperor, after a few months of languor and pain, on the 5th of May, +1705, passed away to that tribunal where each must answer for every +deed done in the body. He was sixty-five years of age, and had +occupied the throne forty-six years. This is the longest reign +recorded in the Austrian annals, excepting that of Frederic +III.</p> +<p>The reign of Leopold was eventful and woeful. It was almost one +continued scene of carnage. In his character there was a singular +blending of the good and the bad. In what is usually called moral +character he was irreproachable. He was a faithful husband, a kind +father, and had no taste for any sensual pleasures. In his natural +disposition he was melancholy, and so exceedingly reserved, that he +lived in his palace almost <span class="pagenum"><a name="page335" +id="page335"></a>{335}</span> the life of a recluse. Though he was +called the most learned prince of his age, a Jesuitical education +had so poisoned and debauched his mind, that while perpetrating the +most grievous crimes of perfidy and cruelty, he seemed sincerely to +feel that he was doing God service. His persecution of the +Protestants was persistent, relentless and horrible; while at the +same time he was scrupulous in his devotions, never allowing the +cares of business to interfere with the prescribed duties of the +Church. <i>The Church</i>, the human church of popes, cardinals, +bishops and priests, was his guide, not the <i>divine Bible</i>. +Hence his darkness of mind and his crimes. Pope Innocent XI. deemed +him worthy of canonization. But an indignant world must in justice +inscribe upon his tomb, "Tyrant and Persecutor."</p> +<p>He was three times married; first, to Margaret, daughter of +Philip IV. of Spain; again, to Claudia, daughter of Ferdinand of +Tyrol; and a third time, to Eleonora, daughter of Philip, Elector +Palatine. The character and history of his third wife are +peculiarly illustrative of the kind of religion inculcated in that +day, and of the beautiful spirit of piety often exemplified in the +midst of melancholy errors.</p> +<p>In the castle of her father, Eleonora was taught, by priests and +nuns, that God was only acceptably worshiped by self-sacrifice and +mortification. The devout child longed for the love of God more +than for any thing else. Guided by the teachings of those who, +however sincere, certainly misunderstood the spirit of the gospel, +she deprived herself of every innocent gratification, and practiced +upon her fragile frame all the severities of an anchorite. She had +been taught that celibacy was a virtue peculiarly acceptable to +God, and resolutely declined all solicitations for her hand.</p> +<p>The emperor, after the death of his first wife, sought Eleonora +as his bride. It was the most brilliant match Europe could offer. +Eleonora, from religious scruples, rejected the offer, +notwithstanding all the importunities of her parents, who +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page336" id= +"page336"></a>{336}</span> could not feel reconciled to the loss of +so splendid an alliance. The devout maiden, in the conflict, +exposed herself, bonnet-less, to sun and wind, that she might +render herself unattractive, tanned, sun burnt, and freckled, so +that the emperor might not desire her. She succeeded in repelling +the suit, and the emperor married Claudia of the Tyrol. The court +of the Elector Palatine was brilliant in opulence and gayety. +Eleonora was compelled to mingle with the festive throng in the +scenes of pomp and splendor; but her thoughts, her affections, were +elsewhere, and all the vanities of princely life had no influence +in leading her heart from God. She passed several hours, every day, +in devotional reading and prayer. She kept a very careful register +of her thoughts and actions, scrutinizing and condemning with +unsparing severity every questionable emotion. Every sick bed of +the poor peasants around, she visited with sympathy and as a tender +nurse. She groped her way into the glooms of prison dungeons to +convey solace to the prisoner. She wrought ornaments for the +Church, and toiled, even to weariness and exhaustion, in making +garments for the poor.</p> +<p>Claudia in three years died, and the emperor again was left a +widower. Again he applied for the hand of Eleonora. Her spiritual +advisers now urged that it was clearly the will of God that she +should fill the first throne of the universe, as the patroness and +protectress of the Catholic church. For such an object she would +have been willing to sweep the streets or to die in a dungeon. +Yielding to these persuasions she married the emperor, and was +conveyed, as in a triumphal march, to the gorgeous palaces of +Vienna. But her character and her mode of life were not changed. +Though she sat at the imperial table, which was loaded with every +conceivable luxury, she condemned herself to fare as humble and +abstemious as could be found in the hut of the most impoverished +peasant. It was needful for her at times to appear in the rich garb +of an empress, but to prevent any possible indulgence of pride, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page337" id= +"page337"></a>{337}</span> she had her bracelets and jewelry so +arranged with sharp brads as to keep her in continued suffering by +the laceration of the flesh.</p> +<p>She was, notwithstanding these austerities, which she practiced +with the utmost secrecy, indefatigable in the discharge of her +duties as a wife and an empress. She often attended the opera with +the emperor, but always took with her the Psalms of David, bound to +resemble the books of the performance, and while the tragic or the +comic scenes of the stage were transpiring before her, she was +studying the devout lyrics of the Psalmist of Israel. She +translated all the Psalms into German verse; and also translated +from the French, and had printed for the benefit of her subjects, a +devotional work entitled, "Pious Reflections for every Day of the +Month." During the last sickness of her husband she watched with +unwearied assiduity at his bed-side, shrinking from no amount of +exhaustion or toil, She survived her husband fifteen years, +devoting all this time to austerities, self-mortification and deeds +of charity. She died in 1720; and at her express request was buried +without any parade, and with no other inscription upon her tomb +than—</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>ELEONORA,</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>A POOR SINNER,</p> +</div> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>Died, January 17, 1720.</p> +</div> +</div> +<p>Joseph, the eldest son of Leopold, was twenty-five years of age +when, by the death of his father, he was called to the throne as +both king and emperor. He immediately and cordially coöperated +with the alliance his father had formed, and pressed the war +against France, Spain and Italy. Louis XIV. was not a man, however, +to be disheartened by disaster. Though thousands of his choicest +troops had found a grave at Blenheim, he immediately collected +another army of one hundred and sixty thousand men, and pushed them +forward to the seat of war on the Rhine and the Danube. Marlborough +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page338" id= +"page338"></a>{338}</span> and Eugene led Austrian forces to the +field still more powerful. The whole summer was spent in marches, +countermarches and bloody battles on both sides of the Rhine. +Winter came, and its storms and snows drove the exhausted, bleeding +combatants from the bleak plains to shelter and the fireside. All +Europe, through the winter months, resounded with preparations for +another campaign. There was hardly a petty prince on the continent +who was not drawn into the strife—to decide whether Philip of +Bourbon or Charles of Hapsburg, was entitled by hereditary descent +to the throne of Spain.</p> +<p>And now suddenly Charles XII. of Sweden burst in upon the scene, +like a meteor amidst the stars of midnight. A more bloody +apparition never emerged from the sulphureous canopy of war. Having +perfect contempt for all enervating pleasures, with an iron frame +and the abstemious habits of a Spartan, he rushed through a career +which has excited the wonder of the world. He joined the Austrian +party; struck down Denmark at a blow; penetrated Russia in +mid-winter, driving the Russian troops before him as dogs scatter +wolves; pressed on triumphantly to Poland, through an interminable +series of battles; drove the king from the country, and placed a +new sovereign of his own selection upon the throne; and then, +proudly assuming to hold the balance between the rival powers of +France and Austria, made demands of Joseph I., as if the emperor +were but the vassal of the King of Sweden. France and Austria were +alike anxious to gain the coöperation of this energetic +arm.</p> +<p>Early in May, 1706, the armies of Austria and France, each about +seventy thousand strong, met in the Netherlands. Marlborough led +the allied Austrian troops; the Duke of Bavaria was in command of +the French. The French were again routed, almost as disastrously as +at Blenheim, losing thirteen thousand men and fifty pieces of +artillery. On the Rhine and in Italy the French arms were also in +disgrace. Throughout the summer battle succeeded battle, and siege +followed siege. <span class="pagenum"><a name="page339" id= +"page339"></a>{339}</span> When the snows of another winter +whitened the plains of Europe, the armies again retired to winter +quarters, the Austrian party having made very decided progress as +the result of the campaign. Marlborough was in possession of most +of the Netherlands, and was threatening France with invasion. +Eugene had driven the French out of Italy, and had brought many of +the Italian provinces under the dominion of Austria.</p> +<p>In Spain, also, the warfare was fiercely raging. Charles III., +who had been crowned in Vienna King of Spain, and who, as we have +mentioned, had been conveyed to Lisbon by a British fleet, joined +by the King of Portugal, and at the head of an allied army, marched +towards the frontiers of Spain. The Spaniards, though they disliked +the French, hated virulently the English and the Dutch, both of +whom they considered heretics. Their national pride was roused in +seeing England, Holland and Portugal marching upon them to place +over Spain an Austrian king. The populace rose, and after a few +sanguinary conflicts drove the invaders from their borders. +December's storms separated the two armies, compelling them to seek +winter quarters, with only the frontier line between them. It was +in one of the campaigns of this war, in 1704, that the English took +the rock of Gibraltar, which they have held from that day till +this.</p> +<p>The British people began to remonstrate bitterly against this +boundless expenditure of blood and treasure merely to remove a +Bourbon prince, and place a Hapsburg prince upon the throne of +Spain. Both were alike despotic in character, and Europe had as +much to fear from the aggressions of the house of Austria as from +the ambition of the King of France. The Emperor Joseph was very +apprehensive that the English court might be induced to withdraw +from the alliance, and fearing that they might sacrifice, as the +price of accommodation, his conquests in Italy, he privately +concluded with France a treaty of neutrality for Italy. This +secured to him what he <span class="pagenum"><a name="page340" id= +"page340"></a>{340}</span> had already acquired there, and saved +France and Spain from the danger of losing any more Italian +States.</p> +<p>Though the allies were indignant, and remonstrated against this +transaction, they did not see fit to abandon the war. Immense +preparations were made to invade France from the Netherlands and +from Piedmont, in the opening of the spring of 1707. Both efforts +were only successful in spreading far and wide conflagration and +blood. The invaders were driven from the kingdom with heavy loss. +The campaign in Spain, this year, was also exceedingly disastrous +to the Austrian arms. The heterogeneous army of Charles III., +composed of Germans, English, Dutch, Portuguese, and a few Spanish +refugees, were routed, and with the loss of thirteen thousand men +were driven from the kingdom. Joseph, however, who stood in great +dread of so terrible an enemy as Charles XII., succeeded in +purchasing his neutrality, and this fiery warrior marched off with +his battalions, forty-three thousand strong, to drive Peter I. from +the throne of Russia.</p> +<p>Joseph I., with exhausted resources, and embarrassed by the +claims of so wide-spread a war, was able to do but little for the +subjugation of Hungary. As the campaign of 1708 opened, two immense +armies, each about eighty thousand strong, were maneuvering near +Brussels. After a long series of marches and combinations a general +engagement ensued, in which the Austrian party, under Marlborough +and Eugene, were decisively triumphant. The French were routed with +the loss of fifteen thousand in killed, wounded and prisoners. +During the whole summer the war raged throughout the Low Countries +with unabated violence. In Spain, Austria was not able to make any +progress against Philip and his forces.</p> +<p>Another winter came, and again the wearied combatants, all of +whom had received about as many blows as they had given, sought +repose. The winter was passed in fruitless negotiations, and as +soon as the buds of another spring began to swell, the thunders of +war were again pealing over <span class="pagenum"><a name="page341" +id="page341"></a>{341}</span> nearly all the hills and valleys of +Europe. The Austrian party had resolved, by a gigantic effort, to +send an army of one hundred thousand men to the gates of Paris, +there to dictate terms to the French monarch. On the 11th of +September, 1709, the Austrian force, eighty thousand strong, with +eighty pieces of cannon, encountered the French, seventy thousand +in number, with eighty pieces of cannon, on the field of +Malplaquet. The bloodiest battle of the Spanish succession was then +fought. The Austrian party, guided by Marlborough and Eugene, +justly claimed the victory, as they held the field. But they lost +twenty thousand in killed and wounded, and took neither prisoners +nor guns. The loss of the French was but ten thousand. All this +slaughter seemed to be accomplishing nothing. Philip still stood +firm upon the Spanish throne, and Charles could scarcely gain the +slightest foothold in the kingdom which he claimed. On the side of +the Rhine and of Italy, though blood flowed like water, nothing was +accomplished; the plan of invading France had totally failed, and +again the combatants were compelled to retire to winter +quarters.</p> +<p>For nine years this bloody war had now desolated Europe. It is +not easy to defend the cause of Austria and her allies in this +cruel conflict. The Spaniards undeniably preferred Philip as their +king. Louis XIV. had repeatedly expressed his readiness to withdraw +entirely from the conflict. But the Austrian allies demanded that +he should either by force or persuasion remove Philip from Spain, +and place the kingdom in the hands of the Austrian prince. But +Philip was now an independent sovereign who for ten years had +occupied the throne. He was resolved not to abdicate, and his +subjects were resolved to support him. Louis XIV. said that he +could not wage warfare against his own grandson. The wretched old +monarch, now feeble, childless, and woe crushed, whose soul was +already crimsoned with the blood of countless thousands, was so +dispirited by defeat, and so weary of the war, that though he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page342" id= +"page342"></a>{342}</span> still refused to send his armies against +his grandson, he even offered to pay a monthly subsidy of two +hundred thousand dollars (one million livres) to the allied +Austrian party, to be employed in the expulsion of Philip, if they +would cease to make war upon him. Even to these terms, after blood +had been flowing in torrents for ten years, Austria, England and +Holland would not accede. "If I must fight either Austria and her +allies," said Louis XIV., "or the Spaniards, led by their king, my +own grandson, I prefer to fight the Austrians."</p> +<p>The returning sun of the summer of 1710, found the hostile +armies again in the field. The allies of Austria, early in April, +hoping to surprise the French, assembled, ninety thousand in +number, on the Flemish frontiers of France, trusting that by an +unexpected attack they might break down the fortresses which had +hitherto impeded their way. But the French were on the alert to +resist them, and the whole summer was again expended in fruitless +battles. These fierce conflicts so concentrated the energies of war +in the Netherlands, that but little was attempted in the way of +invading Spain. The Spanish nobles rallied around Philip, melted +their plate to replenish his treasury, and led their vassals to +fight his battles. The ecclesiastics, as a body, supported his +cause. Philip was a zealous Catholic, and the priests considered +him as the defender of the Church, while they had no confidence in +Charles of Austria, whose cause was advocated by heretical England +and Holland.</p> +<p>Charles III. was now in Catalonia, on the Mediterranean coast of +Spain. He had landed at Barcelona, with a strong force of English +and Germans. He was a man of but little character, and his military +operations were conducted entirely by the English general Stanhope +and the German general Staremberg. The English general was haughty +and domineering; the German proud and stubborn. They were in a +continued quarrel contesting the preeminence. The two rival +monarchs, with forces about equal, met in Catalonia a few miles +from Saragossa, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page343" id= +"page343"></a>{343}</span> on the 24th of July, 1710. Though the +inefficient Charles was very reluctant to hazard a battle, the +generals insisted upon it. The Spaniards were speedily and totally +routed. Philip fled with a small body-guard to Lerida. His array +was thoroughly dispersed. The conquerors pressed on toward Madrid, +crossed the Ebro at Saragossa, where they again encountered, but a +short distance from the city, an army strongly posted upon some +heights. Philip was already there. The conflict was short but +bloody, and the generals of Charles were again victorious. Philip, +with a disheartened remnant of his troops, retreated to Madrid. The +generals dragged the timid and reluctant Charles on to Madrid, +where they arrived on the 28th of September. There was no force at +the capital to oppose them. They were received, however, by the +citizens of the metropolis as foreign conquerors. Charles rode +through the deserted streets, meeting only with sullen silence. A +few who were hired to shout, were pelted, by the populace, with +mud, as traitors to their lawful king. None flocked to his +standard. Nobles, clergy, populace, all alike stood aloof from him. +Charles and his generals were embarrassed and perplexed. They could +not compel the nation to receive the Austrian king.</p> +<p>Philip, in the meantime, who had much energy and popularity of +character, was rapidly retrieving his losses, and troops were +flocking to his camp from all parts of Spain. He established his +court at Yalladolid, about one hundred and fifty miles north-east +from Madrid. His troops, dispersed by the two disastrous battles, +were reassembled at Lerida. The peasants rose in large numbers and +joined them, and cut off all communication between Charles at +Madrid and his ships at Barcelona. The Spanish grandees sent urgent +messages to France for succors. General Yendome, at the head of +three thousand horse, swept through the defiles of the Pyrenees, +and, with exultant music and waving banners, joined Philip at +Valladolid. Universal enthusiasm was excited. Soon thirty +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page344" id= +"page344"></a>{344}</span> thousand infantry entered the camp, and +then took positions on the Tagus, where they could cut off any +reinforcements which might attempt to march from Portugal to aid +the invaders.</p> +<p>Charles was apparently in a desperate situation. Famine and +consequent sickness were in his camp. His army was daily dwindling +away. He was emphatically in an enemy's country. Not a soldier +could stray from the ranks without danger of assassination. He had +taken Madrid, and Madrid was his prison.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page345" id= +"page345"></a>{345}</span> +<h2><a name="chap22" id="chap22">CHAPTER XXII</a>.</h2> +<h3>JOSEPH I. AND CHARLES VI.</h3> +<h4>From 1710 to 1717.</h4> +<p class="summary">Perplexities in Madrid.—Flight of +Charles.—Retreat of the Austrian Army.—Stanhope's +Division Cut Off.—Capture of Stanhope.—Staremberg +Assailed.—Retreat to Barcelona.—Attempt to Pacify +Hungary.—The Hungarian Diet.—Baronial Crowning of +Kagotsky.—Renewal of the Hungarian War.—Enterprise of +Herbeville.—The Hungarians Crushed.—Lenity of +Joseph.—Death of Joseph.—Accession of Charles +VI.—His Career in Spain.—Capture of +Barcelona.—The Siege.—The Rescue.—Character of +Charles.—Cloisters of Montserrat.—Increased Efforts for +the Spanish Crown.—Charles Crowned Emperor of Austria and +Hungary.—Bohemia.—Deplorable Condition of Louis +XIV.</p> +<p>Generals Stanhope and Staremberg, who managed the affairs of +Charles, with but little respect for his judgment, and none for his +administrative qualities, were in great perplexity respecting the +course to be pursued. Some recommended the transference of the +court from Madrid to Saragossa, where they would be nearer to their +supplies. Others urged removal to Barcelona, where they would be +under the protection of the British fleet. It was necessary to +watch over Charles with the utmost care, as he was in constant +danger of assassination. While in this state of uncertainty, +tidings reached Madrid that the Duke of Noailles was on the march, +with fifteen thousand men, to cut off the retreat of the Austrians, +and at the same time Philip was advancing with a powerful army from +Valladolid. This intelligence rendered instant action necessary. +The Austrian party precipitately evacuated Madrid, followed by the +execrations of the people. As soon as the last battalions had left +the city, the ringing of bells, the firing of artillery, and the +shouts of the people, announced <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page346" id="page346"></a>{346}</span> the popular exultation in +view of the departure of Charles, and the cordial greeting they +were giving to his rival Philip. The complications of politics are +very curious. The British government was here, through years of war +and blood, endeavoring to drive from his throne the acknowledged +King of Spain. In less than a hundred years we find this same +government again deluging Europe in blood, to reseat upon the +throne the miserable Ferdinand, the lineal descendant of this +Bourbon prince.</p> +<p>Charles put spurs to his horse, and accompanied by a glittering +cavalcade of two thousand cavaliers, galloped over the mountains to +Barcelona. His army, under the leadership of his efficient English +general, followed rapidly but cautiously on, hoping to press +through the defiles of the mountains which separated them from +Arragon before their passage could be obstructed by the foe. The +troops were chagrined and dispirited; the generals in that state of +ill humor which want of success generally engenders. The roads were +bad, provisions scarce, the inhabitants of the country bitterly +hostile. It was the middle of November, and cold blasts swept +through the mountains. Staremberg led the van, and Stanhope, with +four thousand English troops, occupied the post of peril in a +retreat, the rear. As the people of the country would furnish them +with no supplies, the pillage of towns and villages became a +necessity; but it none the less added to the exasperation of the +Spaniards.</p> +<p>A hurried march of about eighty miles brought the troops to the +banks of the Tagus. As General Staremberg, at the head of the +advance guard, pressed eagerly on, he left Stanhope at quite a +distance behind. They encamped for a night, the advance at +Cifuentes, the rear at Brihuega. The hostility of the natives was +such that almost all communication was cut off between the two +sections of the army. In the confusion of the hasty retreat, and as +no enemy was apprehended in that portion of the way, the importance +of hourly communication <span class="pagenum"><a name="page347" id= +"page347"></a>{347}</span> was forgotten. In the morning, as +Stanhope put his troops again in motion, he was surprised and +alarmed in seeing upon the hills before him the banners of an +opposing host, far outnumbering his own, and strongly intrenched. +The Earl of Stanhope at once appreciated the nearly utter +hopelessness of his position. He was cut off from the rest of the +army, had no artillery, but little ammunition, and was almost +entirely destitute of provision. Still he scorned to surrender. He +threw his troops behind a stone wall, and vigorously commenced +fortifying his position, hoping to be able to hold out until +Staremberg, hearing of his situation, should come to his +release.</p> +<p>During the whole day he beat back the assaults of the Spanish +army. In the meantime Staremberg was pressing on to Barcelona. In +the evening of that day he heard of the peril of his rear guard. +His troops were exhausted; the night of pitchy blackness, and the +miry roads, cut to pieces by the heavy artillery and baggage +wagons, were horrible. Through the night he made preparations to +turn back to aid his beleaguered friends. It was, however, midday +before he could collect his scattered troops, from their straggling +march, and commence retracing his steps. In a few hours the low sun +of a November day sunk below the hills. The troops, overtaken by +darkness, stumbling through the gloom, and apprehensive of a +midnight attack, rested upon their arms, waiting, through the weary +hours, for the dawn of the morning. The second day came, and the +weary troops toiled through the mire, while Stanhope, from behind +his slight parapet, baffled all the efforts of his foes.</p> +<p>The third morning dawned. Staremberg was within some fifteen +miles of Briehuga. Stanhope had now exhausted all his ammunition. +The inhabitants of the town rose against him and attacked him in +the rear, while the foe pressed him in front. A large number of his +troops had already fallen, and no longer resistance was possible. +Stanhope and the remnant <span class="pagenum"><a name="page348" +id="page348"></a>{348}</span> of his band were taken captive and +conducted into the town of Briehuga. Staremberg, unaware of the +surrender, pushed on until he came within a league of Briehuga. +Anxiously he threw up signals, but could obtain no response. His +fears of the worst were soon confirmed by seeing the Spanish army, +in brilliant battle array, approaching to assail him. Philip +himself was there to animate them by his presence; and the heroic +French general, the Duke of Vendome, a descendant of Henry IV., led +the charging columns.</p> +<p>Though the troops of Staremberg were inferior in number to those +of the Spanish monarch, and greatly fatigued by their forced +marches, a retreat at that moment, in the face of so active an +enemy, was not to be thought of. The battle immediately commenced, +with its rushing squadrons and its thunder peals. The Spaniards, +sanguine of success, and inspired with the intensest hatred of +their <i>heretical</i> foes, charged with irresistible fury. The +left wing of Staremberg was speedily cut to pieces, and the baggage +taken. The center and the right maintained their ground until night +came to their protection. Staremberg's army was now reduced to nine +thousand. His horses were either slain or worn out by fatigue. He +was consequently compelled to abandon all his artillery and most of +his baggage, as he again commenced a rapid retreat towards +Barcelona. The enemy pressed him every step of the way. But with +great heroism and military skill he baffled their endeavors to +destroy him, and after one of the most arduous marches on record, +reached Barcelona with a feeble remnant of but seven thousand men, +ragged, emaciated and bleeding. Behind the walls of this fortified +city, and protected by the fleet of England, they found repose.</p> +<p>We must now turn back a few years, to trace the progress of +events in Hungary and Austria. Joseph, the emperor, had sufficient +intelligence to understand that the rebellious and anarchical state +of Hungary was owing to the cruelty and intolerance of his father. +He saw, also, that there could be no <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page349" id="page349"></a>{349}</span> hope of permanent +tranquillity but in paying some respect to the aspirations for +civil and religious liberty. The troubles in Hungary distracted his +attention, exhausted the energies of his troops, and deprived him +of a large portion of his political and military power. He now +resolved to try the effect of concessions. The opportunity was +propitious, as he could throw upon his father the blame of all past +decrees. He accordingly sent a messenger to the Hungarian nobles +with the declaration that during his father's lifetime he had never +interfered in the government, and that consequently he was in no +respect responsible for the persecution of which they complained. +And he promised, on the honor of a king, that instead of attempting +the enforcement of those rigorous decrees, he would faithfully +fulfill all the articles he had sworn to observe at his coronation; +and that he accordingly summoned a diet for the redress of their +grievances and the confirmation of all their ancient privileges. As +proof of his sincerity, he dismissed those ministers who had +advised the intolerant decrees enacted by Leopold, and appointed in +their place men of more mild and lenient character.</p> +<p>But the Hungarians, deeming themselves now in a position to +enforce their claims by the energies of their army, feared to trust +to the promises of a court so often perjured. Without openly +renouncing allegiance to Austria, and declaring independence, they, +through Ragotsky, summoned a diet to meet at Stetzim, where their +session would be protected by the Hungarian army. There was a large +gathering of all the first nobility of the realm. A spacious tent +was spread for the imposing assembly, and the army encircled it as +with a sheltering embrace. The session was opened with prayer and +the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Will the +time ever come when the members of the United States Congress will +meet as Christian brethren, at the table of our Saviour, as they +commence their annual deliberations for the welfare of this +republic? The nobles formed a confederacy for <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page350" id="page350"></a>{350}</span> the +government of the country. The legislative power was committed to a +senate of twenty-four nobles. Ragotsky was chosen military chief, +with the title of Dux, or leader. Four of the most illustrious +nobles raised Ragotsky upon a buckler on their shoulders, when he +took the oath of fidelity to the government thus provisionally +established, and then administered the oath to his confederates. +They all bound themselves solemnly not to conclude any peace with +the emperor, until their ancient rights, both civil and religious, +were fully restored.</p> +<p>In reply to the advances made by the emperor, they returned the +very reasonable and moderate demands that their chief, Ragotsky, +should be reinstated in his ancestral realms of Transylvania, that +the claim of <i>hereditary</i> sovereignty should be relinquished, +and that there should be the restoration of those ancient civil and +religious immunities of which Leopold had defrauded them. Upon +these conditions they promised to recognize Joseph as their +sovereign during his lifetime; claiming at his death their +time-honored right of choosing his successor. Joseph would not +listen for one moment to these terms, and the war was renewed with +fury.</p> +<p>The Hungarian patriots had seventy-five thousand men under arms. +The spirit of the whole nation was with them, and the Austrian +troops were driven from almost every fortress in the kingdom. The +affairs of Joseph seemed to be almost desperate, his armies +struggling against overpowering foes all over Europe, from the +remotest borders of Transylvania to the frontiers of Portugal. The +vicissitudes of war are proverbial. An energetic, sagacious +general, Herbeville, with great military sagacity, and aided by a +peculiar series of fortunate events, marched down the valley of the +Danube to Buda; crossed the stream to Pesth; pushed boldly on +through the heart of Hungary to Great Waradin, forced the defiles +of the mountains, and entered Transylvania. Through a series of +brilliant victories he took fortress after fortress, until he +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page351" id= +"page351"></a>{351}</span> subjugated the whole of Transylvania, +and brought it again into subjection to the Austrian crown. This +was in November, 1705.</p> +<p>But the Hungarians, instead of being intimidated by the success +of the imperial arms, summoned another diet. It was held in the +open field in accordance with ancient custom, and was thronged by +thousands from all parts of the kingdom. With great enthusiasm and +public acclaim the resolution was passed that Joseph was a tyrant +and a usurper, animated by the hereditary despotism of the Austrian +family. This truthful utterance roused anew the ire of the emperor. +He resolved upon a desperate effort to bring Hungary into +subjection. Leaving his English and Dutch allies to meet the brunt +of the battle on the Rhine and in the Netherlands, he recalled his +best troops, and made forced levies in Austria until he had created +an army sufficiently strong, as he thought, to sweep down all +opposition. These troops he placed under the most experienced +generals, and sent them into Hungary in the summer of 1708. France, +weakened by repeated defeats, could send the Hungarians no aid, and +the imperial troops, through bloody battles, victoriously traversed +the kingdom. Everywhere the Hungarians were routed and dispersed, +until no semblance of an army was left to oppose the victors. It +seems that life in those days, to the masses of the people, swept +incessantly by these fiery surges of war, could only have been a +scene, from the cradle to the grave, of blood and agony. For two +years this dismal storm of battle howled over all the Hungarian +plains, and then the kingdom, like a victim exhausted, prostrate +and bleeding, was taken captive and firmly bound.</p> +<p>Ragotsky, denounced with the penalty of high treason, escaped to +Poland. The emperor, anxious no longer to exasperate, proposed +measures of unusual moderation. He assembled a convention; promised +a general amnesty for all political offenses, the restitution of +confiscated property, the liberation of prisoners, and the +confirmation of all the rights which he <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page352" id="page352"></a>{352}</span> had +promised at his coronation. Some important points were not touched +upon; others were passed over in vague and general terms. The +Hungarians, helpless as a babe, had nothing to do but to submit, +whatever the terms might be. They were surprised at the +unprecedented lenity of the conqueror, and the treaty of peace and +subjection was signed in January, 1711.</p> +<p>In three months after the signing of this treaty, Joseph I. died +of the small-pox, in his palace of Vienna. He was but thirty-three +years of age. For a sovereign educated from the cradle to despotic +rule, and instructed by one of the most bigoted of fathers, he was +an unusually good man, and must be regarded as one of the best +sovereigns who have swayed the scepter of Austrian despotism.</p> +<p>The law of hereditary descent is frequently involved in great +embarrassment. Leopold, to obviate disputes which he foresaw were +likely to arise, had assigned Hungary, Bohemia, and his other +hereditary estates, to Joseph. To Charles he had assigned the vast +Spanish inheritance. In case Joseph should die without male issue +he had decreed that the crown of the Austrian dominions should also +pass to Charles. In case Charles should also die without issue +male, the crown should then revert to the daughters of Joseph in +preference to those of Charles. Joseph left no son. He had two +daughters, the eldest of whom was but twelve years of age. Charles, +who was now in Barcelona, claiming the crown of Spain as Charles +III., had no Spanish blood in his veins. He was the son of Leopold, +and of his third wife, the devout and lovely Eleonora, daughter of +the Elector Palatine. He was now but twenty-eight years of age. For +ten years he had been struggling for the crown which his father +Leopold had claimed, as succeeding to the rights of his first wife +Margaret, daughter of Philip IV.</p> +<p>Charles was a genteel, accomplished young man of eighteen when +he left his father's palace at Vienna, for England, where +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page353" id= +"page353"></a>{353}</span> a British fleet was to convey him to +Portugal, and, by the energy of its fleet and army, place him upon +the throne of Spain. He was received at Portsmouth in England, when +he landed from Holland, with much parade, and was conducted by the +Dukes of Maryborough and Somerset to Windsor castle, where he had +an interview with Queen Anne. His appearance at that time is thus +described by his partial chroniclers:</p> +<p>"The court was very splendid and much thronged. The queen's +behavior toward him was very noble and obliging. The young king +charmed all who were present. He had a gravity beyond his age, +tempered with much modesty. His behavior in all points was so +exact, that there was not a circumstance in his whole deportment +which was liable to censure. He paid an extraordinary respect to +the queen, and yet maintained a due greatness in it. He had the art +of seeming well pleased with every thing, without so much as +smiling once all the while he was at court, which was only three +days. He spoke but little, and all he said was judicious and +obliging."</p> +<p>Young Charles was engaged to the daughter of the King of +Portugal; but the young lady died just before his arrival at +Lisbon. As he had never seen the infanta, his grief could not have +been very deep, however great his disappointment might have been. +He made several attempts to penetrate Spain by the Portuguese +frontier, but being repelled in every effort, by the troops of +Philip, he again embarked, and with twelve thousand troops in an +English fleet, sailed around the Peninsula, entered the +Mediterranean and landed on the shores of Catalonia, where he had +been led to believe that the inhabitants in a body would rally +around him. But he was bitterly disappointed. The Earl of +Peterborough, who was intrusted with the command of this +expedition, in a letter home gave free utterance to his +disappointment and chagrin.</p> +<p>"Instead of ten thousand men, and in arms," he wrote, "to cover +our landing and strengthen our camp, we found <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page354" id="page354"></a>{354}</span> only so +many higglers and sutlers flocking into it. Instead of finding +Barcelona in a weak condition, and ready to surrender upon the +first appearance of our troops, we found a strong garrison to +oppose us, and a hostile army almost equal to our own."</p> +<p>In this dilemma a council of war was held, and though many were +in favor of abandoning the enterprise and returning to Portugal, it +was at last determined, through the urgency of Charles, to remain +and lay siege to the city. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, was +then the principal sea-port of the Spanish peninsula on the +Mediterranean. It contained a population of about one hundred and +forty thousand. It was strongly fortified. West of the city there +was a mountain called Montjoy, upon which there was a strong fort +which commanded the harbor and the town. After a short siege this +fort was taken by storm, and the city was then forced to +surrender.</p> +<p>Philip soon advanced with an army of French and Spaniards to +retake the city. The English fleet had retired. Twenty-eight French +ships of war blockaded the harbor, which they could not enter, as +it was commanded by the guns of Montjoy. The siege was very +desperate both in the assault and the defense. The young king, +Charles, was in the most imminent danger of falling into the bands +of his foes. There was no possibility of escape, and it seemed +inevitable that the city must either surrender, or be taken by +storm. The French and Spanish army numbered twenty thousand men. +They first attempted to storm Montjoy, but were repulsed with great +slaughter. They then besieged it, and by regular approaches +compelled its capitulation in three weeks.</p> +<p>This noble resistance enabled the troops in the city greatly to +multiply and increase their defenses. They thus succeeded in +protracting the siege of the town five weeks longer. Every day the +beleagured troops from the crumbling ramparts <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page355" id="page355"></a>{355}</span> watched +the blue expanse of the Mediterranean, hoping to see the sails of +an English fleet coming to their rescue. Two breaches were already +effected in the walls. The garrison, reduced to two thousand, and +exhausted by superhuman exertions by day and by night, were almost +in the last stages of despair, when, in the distant horizon, the +long looked-for fleet appeared. The French ships, by no means able +to cope with such a force, spread their sails, and sought safety in +flight.</p> +<p>The English fleet, amounting to fifty sail of the line, and +transporting a large number of land troops, triumphantly entered +the harbor on the 3rd of May, 1708. The fresh soldiers were +speedily landed, and marched to the ramparts and the breaches. This +strong reinforcement annihilated the hopes of the besiegers. +Apprehensive of an immediate sally, they retreated with such +precipitation that they left behind them in the hospitals their +sick and wounded; they also abandoned their heavy artillery, and an +immense quantity of military stores.</p> +<p>Whatever energy Charles might have shown during the siege, all +seemed now to evaporate. When the shot of the foe were crumbling +the walls of Barcelona, he was in danger of the terrible doom of +being taken a captive, which would have been the annihilation of +all his hopes. Despair nerved him to effort. But now his person was +no longer in danger; and his natural inefficiency and dilatoriness +returned. Notwithstanding the urgent intreaties of the Earl of +Peterborough to pursue the foe, he insisted upon first making a +pilgrimage to the shrine of the holy Virgin at Montserrat, +twenty-four miles from Barcelona.</p> +<p>This curious monastery consists of but a succession of cloisters +or hermitages hewn out of the solid rock. They are only accessible +by steps as steep as a ladder, which are also hewn upon the face of +the almost precipitous mountain. The highest of these cells, and +which are occupied by the youngest <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page356" id="page356"></a>{356}</span> monks, are at an elevation +of three or four thousand feet above the level of the +Mediterranean. Soon after Charles's pilgrimage to Montserrat, he +made a triumphal march to Madrid, entered the city, and caused +himself to be proclaimed king under the title of Charles III. But +Philip soon came upon him with such force that he was compelled to +retreat back to Barcelona. Again, in 1710, he succeeded in reaching +Madrid, and, as we have described, he was driven back, with +accumulated disaster, to Catalonia.</p> +<p>Three months after this defeat, when his affairs in Spain were +assuming the gloomiest aspect, a courier arrived at Barcelona, and +informed him that his brother Joseph was dead; that he had already +been proclaimed King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Archduke of +Austria; and that it was a matter of the most urgent necessity that +he should immediately return to Germany. Charles immediately +embarked at Barcelona, and landed near Genoa on the 27th of +September. Rapidly pressing on through the Italian States, he +entered Milan on the 16th of October, where he was greeted with the +joyful intelligence that a diet had been convened under the +influence of Prince Eugene, and that by its unanimous vote he was +invested with the imperial throne. He immediately proceeded through +the Tyrol to Frankfort, where he was crowned on the 22d of +December. He was now more than ever determined that the diadem of +Spain should be added to the other crowns which had been placed +upon his brow.</p> +<p>In the incessant wars which for centuries had been waged between +the princes and States of Germany and the emperor, the States had +acquired virtually a constitution, which they called a +capitulation. When Charles was crowned as Charles VI., he was +obliged to promise that he would never assemble a diet or council +without convening all the princes and States of the empire; that he +would never wage war, or conclude peace, or enter into alliance +with any nation without the consent of the States; that he would +not, of his own authority, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page357" +id="page357"></a>{357}</span> put any prince under the ban of the +empire; that confiscated territory should never be conferred upon +any members of his own family, and that no successor to the +imperial crown should be chosen during his lifetime, unless absence +from Germany or the infirmities of age rendered him incapable of +administering the affairs of the empire.</p> +<p>The emperor, invested with the imperial crown, hastened to +Vienna, and, with unexpected energy, entered upon the +administration of the complicated interests of his widespread +realms. After passing a few weeks in Vienna, he repaired to Prague, +where, in May, he was, with much pomp, crowned King of Hungary. He +then returned to Vienna, and prepared to press with new vigor the +war of the Spanish succession.</p> +<p>Louis XIV. was now suffering the earthly retribution for his +ill-spent life. The finances of the realm were in a state of +hopeless embarrassment; famine was filling the kingdom with misery; +his armies were everywhere defeated; the imprecations of a beggared +people were rising around his throne; his palace was the scene of +incessant feuds and intrigues. His children were dead; he was old, +infirm, sick, the victim of insupportable melancholy—utterly +weary of life, and yet awfully afraid to die. France, in the person +of Louis XIV., who could justly say, "I am the State," was +humbled.</p> +<p>The accession of Charles to the throne of the empire, and to +that of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, while at the same time he +claimed sovereignty over the vast realms of the Spanish kingdom, +invested him with such enormous power, that England, which had +combined Europe against the colossal growth of France, having +humbled that power, was disposed to form a combination against +Austria. There was in consequence an immediate relaxation of +hostilities just at the time when the French batteries on the +frontiers were battered down, and when the allied army had +apparently an unobstructed way opened to the gates of Paris. In +this state of affairs the British <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page358" id="page358"></a>{358}</span> ministry pressed +negotiations for peace. The preliminaries were settled in London on +the 8th of October, 1711. By this treaty Louis XIV. agreed to make +such a change in the law of hereditary descent, as to render it +impossible for any king to wear at the same time the crowns of +France and of Spain, and made various other important +concessions.</p> +<p>Charles, whose ambition was roused by his sudden and unexpected +elevation, exerted all his energies to thwart the progress of +negotiations, and bitterly complained that the allies were +dishonorably deserting the cause which they had espoused. The +emperor dispatched circular letters to all the courts of Europe, +and sent Prince Eugene as a special ambassador to London, to +influence Queen Anne, if possible, to persevere in the grand +alliance. But he was entirely unsuccessful. The Duke of Marlborough +was disgraced, and dismissed from office. The peace party rendered +Eugene so unpopular that he was insulted in the streets of London. +The Austrian party in England was utterly defeated, and a congress +was appointed to meet at Utrecht to settle the terms of peace. But +Charles was now so powerful that he resolved to prosecute the war +even though abandoned by England. He accordingly sent an ambassador +to Utrecht to embarrass the proceedings as much as possible, and, +in case the grand alliance should be broken up, to secure as many +powers as possible in fidelity to Austria.</p> +<p>The States of the Netherlands were still warmly with Austria, as +they dreaded so formidable a power as France directly upon their +frontier. The other minor powers of the alliance were also rather +inclined to remain with Austria. The war continued while the terms +of peace were under discussion. England, however, entered into a +private understanding with France, and the Duke of Ormond, who had +succeeded Marlborough, received secret orders not to take part in +any battle or siege. The developments, upon fields of battle, of +this dishonorable arrangement, caused great indignation on the part +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page359" id= +"page359"></a>{359}</span> of the allies. The British forces +withdrew, and the French armies, taking advantage of the great +embarrassments thus caused, were again gaining the ascendency. +Portugal soon followed the example of England and abandoned the +alliance. The Duke of Savoy was the next to leave. The alliance was +evidently crumbling to pieces, and on the 11th of April, 1713, all +the belligerents, excepting the emperor, signed the treaty of +peace. Philip of Spain also acceded to the same articles.</p> +<p>Charles was very indignant in being thus abandoned; and unduly +estimating his strength, resolved alone, with the resources which +the empire afforded him, to prosecute the war against France and +Spain. Having nothing to fear from a Spanish invasion, he for a +time relinquished his attempts upon Spain, and concentrating his +armies upon the Rhine, prepared for a desperate onset upon France. +For two years the war raged between Austria and France with war's +usual vicissitudes of defeat and victory on either side. It was +soon evident that the combatants were too equally matched for +either party to hope to gain any decisive advantage over the other. +On the 7th of September, 1714, France and Austria agreed to sheathe +the sword. The war had raged for fourteen years, with an +expenditure of blood and treasure, and an accumulation of misery +which never can be gauged. Every party had lost fourfold more than +it had gained. "A war," says Marshal Villers, "which had desolated +the greater part of Europe, was concluded almost on the very terms +which might have been procured at the commencement of +hostilities."</p> +<p>By this treaty of peace, which was signed at Baden, in +Switzerland, the States of the Netherlands were left in the hands +of Austria; and also the Italian States of Naples, Milan, Mantua +and Sardinia. The thunders of artillery had hardly ceased to +reverberate over the marshes of Holland and along the banks of the +Rhine, ere the "blast of war's loud organ" and the tramp of +charging squadrons were heard rising anew <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page360" id="page360"></a>{360}</span> from the +distant mountains of Sclavonia. The Turks, in violation of their +treaty of peace, were again on the march, ascending the Danube +along its southern banks, through the defiles of the Sclavonian +mountains. In a motley mass of one hundred and fifty thousand men +they had passed Belgrade, crossed the Save, and were approaching +Peterwarden.</p> +<p>Eugene was instantly dispatched with an efficient, compact army, +disciplined by twelve years of warfare, to resist the Moslem +invaders. The hostile battalions met at Karlowitz, but a few miles +from Peterwarden, on the 5th of August, 1716. The tempest blazed +with terrific fury for a few hours, when the Turkish host turned +and fled. Thirty thousand of their number, including the grand +vizier who led the host, were left dead upon the field. In their +utter discomfiture they abandoned two hundred and fifty pieces of +heavy artillery, and baggage, tents and military stores to an +immense amount. Fifty Turkish banners embellished the camp of the +victors.</p> +<p>And now Eugene led his triumphant troops, sixty thousand in +number, down the river to lay siege to Belgrade. This fortress, +which the labor of ages had strengthened, was garrisoned by thirty +thousand troops, and was deemed almost impregnable. Eugene invested +the place and commenced the slow and tedious operations of a siege. +The sultan immediately dispatched an army of two hundred thousand +men to the relief of his beleaguered fortress. The Turks, arriving +at the scene of action, did not venture an assault upon their +intrenched foes, but intrenched themselves on heights, outside of +the besieging camp, in a semicircle extending from the Danube to +the Save. They thus shut up the besiegers in the miasmatic marshes +which surrounded the city, cut off their supplies of provisions, +and from their advancing batteries threw shot into the Austrian +camp. "A man," said Napoleon, "is not a soldier." The Turks had two +hundred thousand <i>men</i> in their camp, raw recruits. Eugene had +sixty thousand veteran <i>soldiers</i>. He decided to drive off the +Turks who annoyed him. It was <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page361" id="page361"></a>{361}</span> necessary for him to detach +twenty thousand to hold in check the garrison of Belgrade, who +might sally to the relief of their companions. This left him but +forty thousand troops with whom to assail two hundred thousand +strongly intrenched. He did not hesitate in the undertaking.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page362" id= +"page362"></a>{362}</span> +<h2><a name="chap23" id="chap23">CHAPTER XXIII</a>.</h2> +<h3>CHARLES VI.</h3> +<h4>From 1716 to 1727.</h4> +<p class="summary">Heroic Decision of Eugene.—Battle of +Belgrade.—Utter Rout of the Turks.—Possessions of +Charles VI.—The Elector of Hanover Succeeds to the English +Throne.—Preparations for War.—State of +Italy.—Philip V. of Spain.—Diplomatic +Agitations.—Palace of St. Ildefonso.—Order of the +Golden Fleece.—Rejection of Maria Anne.—Contest for the +Rock of Gibraltar.—Dismissal of Ripperda.—Treaty of +Vienna.—Peace Concluded.</p> +<p>The enterprise upon which Eugene had resolved was bold in the +extreme. It could only be accomplished by consummate bravery aided +by equal military skill. The foe they were to attack were five to +one, and were protected by well-constructed redoubts, armed with +the most formidable batteries. They were also abundantly supplied +with cavalry, and the Turkish cavalry were esteemed the finest +horsemen in the world. There was but one circumstance in favor of +Eugene. The Turks did not dream that he would have the audacity to +march from the protection of his intrenchments and assail them +behind their own strong ramparts. There was consequently but little +difficulty in effecting a surprise.</p> +<p>All the arrangements were made with the utmost precision and +secrecy for a midnight attack. The favorable hour came. The sun +went down in clouds, and a night of Egyptian darkness enveloped the +armies. The glimmer of innumerable camp-fires only pointed out the +position of the foe, without throwing any illumination upon the +field. Eugene visited all the posts of the army, ordered abundant +refreshment to be distributed to the troops, addressed them in +encouraging <span class="pagenum"><a name="page363" id= +"page363"></a>{363}</span> words, to impress upon them the +importance of the enterprise, and minutely assigned to each +battalion, regiment, brigade and division its duty, that there +might be no confusion. The whole plan was carefully arranged in all +its details and in all its grand combination. As the bells of +Belgrade tolled the hour of twelve at midnight, three bombs, +simultaneously discharged, put the whole Austrian army in rapid and +noiseless motion.</p> +<p>A dense fog had now descended, through which they could with +difficulty discern the twinkling lights of the Turkish camp. +Rapidly they traversed the intervening space, and in dense, solid +columns, rushed over the ramparts of the foe. Bombs, cannon, +musketry, bayonets, cavalry, all were employed, amidst the +thunderings and the lightnings of that midnight storm of war, in +the work of destruction. The Turks, roused from their slumber, +amazed, bewildered, fought for a short time with maniacal fury, +often pouring volleys of bullets into the bosoms of their friends, +and with bloody cimeters smiting indiscriminately on the right hand +and the left, till, in the midst of a scene of confusion and horror +which no imagination can conceive, they broke and fled. Two hundred +thousand men, lighted only by the flash of guns which mowed their +ranks, with thousands of panic-stricken cavalry trampling over +them, while the crash of musketry, the explosions of artillery, the +shouts of the assailants and the fugitives, and the shrieks of the +dying, blended in a roar more appalling than heaven's heaviest +thunders, presented a scene which has few parallels even in the +horrid annals of war.</p> +<p>The morning dawned upon a field of blood and death. The victory +of the Austrians was most decisive. The flower of the Turkish army +was cut to pieces, and the remnant was utterly dispersed. The +Turkish camp, with all its abundant booty of tents, provisions, +ammunition and artillery, fell into the hands of the conqueror. So +signal was the victory, that the disheartened Turks made no attempt +to retrieve their loss. Belgrade <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page364" id="page364"></a>{364}</span> was surrendered to the +Austrians, and the sultan implored peace. The articles were signed +in Passarovitz, a small town of Servia, in July, 1718. By this +treaty the emperor added Belgrade to his dominions, and also a +large part of Wallachia and Servia.</p> +<p>Austria and Spain were still in heart at war, as the emperor +claimed the crown of Spain, and was only delaying active +hostilities until he could dispose of his more immediate foes. +Charles, soon after the death of his cousin, the Portuguese +princess, with whom he had formed a matrimonial engagement, married +Elizabeth Christina, a princess of Brunswick. The imperial family +now consisted of three daughters, Maria Theresa, Maria Anne and +Maria Amelia. It will be remembered that by the family compact +established by Leopold, the succession was entailed upon Charles in +preference to the daughters of Joseph, in case Joseph should die +without male issue. But should Charles die without male issue, the +crown was to revert to the daughters of Joseph in preference to +those of Charles. The emperor, having three daughters and no sons, +with natural parental partiality, but unjustly, and with great want +of magnanimity, was anxious to deprive the daughters of Joseph of +their rights, that he might secure the crown for his own daughters. +He accordingly issued a decree reversing this contract, and +settling the right of succession first upon his daughters, should +he die without sons, then upon the daughters of Joseph, one of whom +had married the Elector of Saxony and the other the Elector of +Bavaria. After them he declared his sister, who had married the +King of Portugal, and then his other sisters, the daughters of +Leopold, to be in the line of succession. This new law of +succession Charles issued under the name of the Pragmatic Sanction. +He compelled his nieces, the daughters of Joseph, to give their +assent to this Sanction, and then, for the remainder of his reign, +made the greatest efforts to induce all the powers of Europe to +acknowledge its validity.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page365" id= +"page365"></a>{365}</span> +<p>Charles VI. was now, as to the extent of territory over which he +reigned and the population subject to his sway, decidedly the most +powerful monarch in Christendom. Three hundred princes of the +German empire acknowledged him as their elected sovereign. By +hereditary right he claimed dominion over Bohemia, Hungary, +Transylvania, Wallachia, Servia, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the +Tyrol, and all the rich and populous States of the Netherlands. +Naples, Sicily, Mantua and Milan in Italy, also recognized his +sovereignty. To enlightened reason nothing can seem more absurd +than that one man, of very moderate capacities, luxuriating in his +palace at Vienna, should pretend to hold dominion over so many +millions so widely dispersed. But the progress of the world towards +intelligent liberty has been very slow. When we contrast the +constitution of the United States with such a political condition, +all our evils and difficulties dwindle to utter insignificance.</p> +<p>Still the power of the emperor was in many respects apparent +rather than real. Each of these States had its own customs and +laws. The nobles were tumultuary, and ever ready, if their +privileges were infringed, to rise in insurrection. Military force +alone could hold these turbulent realms in awe; and the old feudal +servitude which crushed the millions, was but another name for +anarchy. The peace establishment of the emperor amounted to one +hundred thousand men, and every one of these was necessary simply +to garrison his fortresses. The enormous expense of the support of +such an army, with all the outlays for the materiel of war, the +cavalry, and the structure of vast fortresses, exhausted the +revenues of a kingdom in which the masses of the people were so +miserably poor that they were scarcely elevated above the beasts of +the field, and where the finances had long been in almost +irreparable disorder. The years of peace, however, were very few. +War, a maelstrom which ingulfs uncounted millions, seems to have +been the normal state of Germany. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page366" id="page366"></a>{366}</span> But the treasury of Charles +was so constantly drained that he could never, even in his greatest +straits, raise more than one hundred and sixty thousand men; and he +was often compelled to call upon the aid of a foreign purse to meet +the expense which that number involved. Within a hundred years the +nations have made vast strides in wealth, and in the consequent +ability to throw away millions in war.</p> +<p>Charles VI. commenced his reign with intense devotion to +business. He resolved to be an illustrious emperor, vigorously +superintending all the interests of the empire, legislative, +judicial and executive. For a few weeks he was busy night and day, +buried in a hopeless mass of diplomatic papers. But he soon became +weary of this, and leaving all the ordinary affairs of the State in +the hands of agents, amused himself with his violin and in chasing +rabbits. As more serious employment, he gave pompous receptions, +and enveloped himself in imperial ceremony and the most approved +courtly etiquette. He still, however, insisted upon giving his +approval to all measures adopted by his ministers, before they were +carried into execution. But as he was too busy with his +entertainments, his music and the chase, to devote much time to the +dry details of government, papers were accumulating in a +mountainous heap in his cabinet, and the most important business +was neglected.</p> +<p>Charles XII. was now King of Sweden; Peter the Great, Emperor of +Russia; George I., King of England; and the shameful regency had +succeeded, in France, the reign of Louis XIV. For eighteen years a +bloody war had been sweeping the plains of Poland, Russia and +Sweden. Thousands had been torn to pieces by the enginery of war, +and trampled beneath iron hoofs. Millions of women and children had +been impoverished, beggared, and turned out houseless into the +fields to moan and starve and die. The claims of humanity must ever +yield to the requisitions of war. This fierce battle of eighteen +years was fought to decide which of <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page367" id="page367"></a>{367}</span> three men, Peter of Russia, +Charles of Sweden, or Augustus of Poland, should have the right to +exact tribute from Livonia. This province was a vast pasture on the +Baltic, containing about seventeen thousand square miles, and +inhabited by about five hundred thousand poor herdsmen and tillers +of the soil.</p> +<p>Peter the Great was in the end victorious in this long conflict; +and having attached large portions of Sweden to his territory, with +a navy upon the Baltic, and a disciplined army, began to be +regarded as a European power, and was quite disposed to make his +voice heard in the diplomacy of Europe. Queen Anne having died, +leaving no children, the law of hereditary descent carried the +crown of England to Germany, and placed it upon the brow of the +Elector of Hanover, who, as grandson of James I., was the nearest +heir, but who could not speak a word of English, who knew nothing +of constitutional law, and who was about as well qualified to +govern England as a Patagonian or Esquimaux would have been. But +obedience to this law of hereditary descent was a political +necessity. There were thousands of able men in England who could +have administered the government with honor to themselves and to +the country. But it is said in reply that the people of England, as +a body, were not then, and probably are not even now, sufficiently +enlightened to be intrusted with the choice of their own rulers. +Respect for the ballot-box is one of the last and highest +attainments of civilization. Recent developments in our own land +have led many to fear that barbarism is gaining upon the people. If +the <i>ballot-box</i> be overturned, the <i>cartridge-box</i> must +take its place. The great battle we have to fight is the battle +against popular ignorance. The great army we are to support is the +army of teachers in the schools and in the pulpit, elevating the +mind to the highest possible intelligence, and guiding the heart by +the pure spirit of the gospel.</p> +<p>The emperor was so crowded with affairs of immediate +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page368" id= +"page368"></a>{368}</span> urgency, and it was so evident that he +could not drive Philip from the throne, now that he was recognized +by all Europe, that he postponed the attempt for a season, while he +still adopted the title of King of Spain. His troops had hardly +returned from the brilliant campaign of Belgrade, ere the emperor +saw a cloud gathering in the north, which excited his most serious +apprehension. Russia and Sweden, irritated by some of the acts of +the emperor, formed an alliance for the invasion of the German +empire. The fierce warriors of the north, led by such captains as +Charles XII. and Peter the Great, were foes not to be despised. +This threatened invasion not only alarmed the emperor, but alarmed +George I. of England, as his electorate of Hanover was imperiled; +and also excited the fears of Augustus, the Elector of Saxony, who +had regained the throne of Poland. England and Poland consequently +united with the emperor, and formidable preparations were in +progress for a terrible war, when one single chance bullet, upon +the field of Pultowa, struck Charles XII., as he was looking over +the parapet, and dispersed this cloud which threatened the +desolation of all Europe.</p> +<p>Austria was now the preponderating power in degenerate Italy. +Even those States which were not in subjection to the emperor, were +overawed by his imperious spirit. Genoa was nominally independent. +The Genoese arrested one of the imperial officers for some +violation of the laws of the republic. The emperor sent an army to +the gates of the city, threatening it with bombardment and utter +destruction. They were thus compelled immediately to liberate the +officer, to pay a fine of three hundred thousand dollars, and to +send a senator to Vienna with humble expressions of contrition, and +to implore pardon.</p> +<p>The kingdom of Sardinia was at this time the most powerful State +in Italy, if we except those united Italian States which now +composed an integral part of the Austrian empire. Victor Asmedeus, +the energetic king, had a small but vigorous <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page369" id="page369"></a>{369}</span> army, and +held himself ready, with this army, for a suitable remuneration, to +engage in the service of any sovereign, without asking any +troublesome questions as to the righteousness of the expedition in +which he was to serve. The Sardinian king was growing rich, and +consequently ambitious. He wished to rise from the rank of a +secondary to that of a primary power in Europe. There was but one +direction in which he could hope to extend his territories, and +that was by pressing into Lombardy. He had made the remark, which +was repeated to the emperor, "I must acquire Lombardy piece by +piece, as I eat an artichoke." Charles, consequently, watched +Victor with a suspicious eye.</p> +<p>The four great powers of middle and southern Europe were +Austria, England, France, and Spain. All the other minor States, +innumerable in name as well as number, were compelled to take +refuge, openly or secretly, beneath one or another of these great +monarchies.</p> +<p>In France, the Duke of Orleans, the regent during the minority +of Louis XV., whose court, in the enormous expenditures of vice, +exhausted the yearly earnings of a population of twenty millions, +was anxious to unite the Bourbon' branches of France and Spain in +more intimate alliance. He accordingly affianced the young +sovereign of France to Mary Anne, daughter of Philip V. of Spain. +At the same time he married his own daughter to the king's oldest +son, the Prince of Asturias, who was heir to the throne. Mary Anne, +to whom the young king was affianced, was only four years of +age.</p> +<p>The personal history of the monarchs of Europe is, almost +without exception, a melancholy history. By their ambition and +their wars they whelmed the cottages in misery, and by a righteous +retribution misery also inundated the palace. Philip V. became the +victim of the most insupportable melancholy. Earth had no joy which +could lift the cloud of gloom from his soul. For months he was +never known to smile. Imprisoning himself in his palace he refused +to see any company, and left <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page370" id="page370"></a>{370}</span> all the cares of government +in the hands of his wife, Elizabeth Farnese.</p> +<p>Germany was still agitated by the great religious contest +between the Catholics and the Protestants, which divided the empire +into two nearly equal parties, bitterly hostile to each other. +Various fruitless attempts had been made to bring the parties +together, into <i>unity of faith</i>, by compromise. Neither party +were reconciled to cordial <i>toleration</i>, free and full, in +which alone harmony can be obtained. In all the States of the +empire the Catholics and the Protestants were coming continually +into collision. Charles, though a very decided Catholic, was not +disposed to persecute the Protestants, as most of his predecessors +had done, for he feared to rouse them to despair.</p> +<p>England, France, Austria and Spain, were now involved in an +inextricable maze of diplomacy. Congresses were assembled and +dissolved; treaties made and violated; alliances formed and broken. +Weary of the conflict of arms, they were engaged in the more +harmless squabbles of intrigue, each seeking its own +aggrandizement. Philip V., who had fought so many bloody battles to +acquire the crown of Spain, now, disgusted with the cares which +that crown involved, overwhelmed with melancholy, and trembling in +view of the final judgment of God, suddenly abdicated the throne in +favor of his son Louis, and took a solemn oath that he would never +resume it again. This event, which surprised Europe, took place on +the 10th of February, 1724. Philip retired to St. Ildefonso.</p> +<p>The celebrated palace of St. Ildefonso, which became the retreat +of the monarch, was about forty miles north of Madrid, in an +elevated ravine among the mountains of Gaudarruma. It was an +enormous pile, nearly four thousand feet above the level of the +sea, and reared by the Spanish monarchs at an expense exceeding +thirty millions of dollars. The palace, two stories high, and +occupying three sides of a square, presents a front five hundred +and thirty feet in length. In <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page371" id="page371"></a>{371}</span> this front alone there are, +upon each story, twelve gorgeous apartments in a suite. The +interior is decorated in the richest style of art, with frescoed +ceilings, and splendid mirrors, and tesselated floors of variegated +marble. The furniture was embellishcd with gorgeous carvings, and +enriched with marble, jasper and verd-antique. The galleries were +filled with the most costly productions of the chisel and the +pencil. The spacious garden, spread out before the palace, was +cultivated with the utmost care, and ornamented with fountains +surpassing even those of Versailles.</p> +<p>To this magnificent retreat Philip V. retired with his +imperious, ambitious wife. She was the step-mother of his son who +had succeeded to the throne. For a long time, by the vigor of her +mind, she had dominated over her husband, and had in reality been +the sovereign of Spain. In the magnificent palace of St. Ildefonso, +she was by no means inclined to relinquish her power. Gathering a +brilliant court around her, she still issued her decrees, and +exerted a powerful influence over the kingdom. The young Louis, who +was but a boy, was not disposed to engage in a quarrel with his +mother, and for a time submitted to this interference; but +gradually he was roused by his adherents, to emancipate himself +from these shackles, and to assume the authority of a sovereign. +This led to very serious trouble. The abdicated king, in his moping +melancholy, was entirely in subjection to his wife. There were now +two rival courts. Parties were organizing. Some were for deposing +the son; others for imprisoning the father. The kingdom was on the +eve of a civil war, when death kindly came to settle the +difficulty.</p> +<p>The young King Louis, but eighteen years of age, after a nominal +reign of but eight months, was seized with that awful scourge the +small-pox, and, after a few days of suffering and delirium, was +consigned to the tomb. Philip, notwithstanding his vow, was +constrained by his wife to resume the crown, she probably promising +to relieve him of all care. Such are <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page372" id="page372"></a>{372}</span> the vicissitudes of a +hereditary government. Elizabeth, with woman's spirit, now +commanded the emperor to renounce the title of King of Spain, which +he still claimed. Charles, with the spirit of an emperor, declared +that he would do no such thing.</p> +<p>There was another serious source of difficulty between the two +monarchs, which has descended, generation after generation, to our +own time, and to this day is only settled by each party quietly +persisting in his own claim.</p> +<p>In the year 1430 Philip III., Duke of Burgundy, instituted a new +order of knighthood for the protection of the Catholic church, to +be called the order of the Golden Fleece. But twenty-four members +were to be admitted, and Philip himself was the grand master. +Annual meetings were held to fill vacancies. Charles V., as grand +master, increased the number of knights to fifty-one. After his +death, as the Burgundian provinces and the Netherlands passed under +the dominion of Spain, the Spanish monarchs exercised the office of +grand master, and conferred the dignity, which was now regarded the +highest order of knighthood in Europe, according to their pleasure. +But Charles VI., now in admitted possession of the Netherlands, by +virtue of that possession claimed the office of grand master of the +Golden Fleece. Philip also claimed it as the inheritance of the +kings of Spain. The dispute has never been settled. Both parties +still claim it, and the order is still conferred both at Vienna and +Madrid.</p> +<p>Other powers interfered, in the endeavor to promote +reconciliation between the hostile courts, but, as usual, only +increased the acrimony of the two parties. The young Spanish +princess Mary Anne, who was affianced to the Dauphin of France, was +sent to Paris for her education, and that she might become familiar +with the etiquette of a court over which she was to preside as +queen. For a time she was treated with great attention, and child +as she was, received all the homage which the courtiers were +accustomed to pay to the Queen of <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page373" id="page373"></a>{373}</span> France. But amidst the +intrigues of the times a change arose, and it was deemed a matter +of state policy to marry the boy-king to another princess. The +French court consequently rejected Maria Anne and sent her back to +Spain, and married Louis, then but fifteen years of age, to Maria +Lebrinsky, daughter of the King of Poland. The rejected child was +too young fully to appreciate the mortification. Her parents, +however, felt the insult most keenly. The whole Spanish court was +roused to resent it as a national outrage. The queen was so +indignant that she tore from her arm a bracelet which she wore, +containing a portrait of Louis XV., and dashing it upon the floor, +trampled it beneath her feet. Even the king was roused from his +gloom by the humiliation of his child, and declared that no amount +of blood could atone for such an indignity.</p> +<p>Under the influence of this exasperation, the queen resolved to +seek reconciliation with Austria, that all friendly relations might +be abandoned with France, and that Spain and Austria might be +brought into intimate alliance to operate against their common foe. +A renowned Spanish diplomatist, the Baron of Ripperda, had been for +some time a secret agent of the queen at the court of Vienna, +watching the progress of events there. He resided in the suburbs +under a fictitious name, and eluding the vigilance of the ministry, +had held by night several secret interviews with the emperor, +proposing to him, in the name of the queen, plans of +reconciliation. Letters were immediately dispatched to Ripperda +urging him to come to an accommodation with the emperor upon almost +any terms.</p> +<p>A treaty was soon concluded, early in the spring of 1725. The +emperor renounced all claim to the Spanish crown, entered into an +alliance, both offensive and defensive, with Philip, and promised +to aid, both with men and money, to help recover Gibraltar from the +English, which fortress they had held since they seized upon it in +the war of the Spanish succession. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page374" id="page374"></a>{374}</span> In consideration of these +great concessions Philip agreed to recognize the right of the +emperor to the Netherlands and to his acquisitions in Italy. He +opened all the ports of Spain to the subjects of the emperor, and +pledged himself to support the Pragmatic Sanction, which wrested +the crown of Austria from the daughters of Joseph, and transmitted +it to the daughters of Charles. It was this last clause which +influenced the emperor, for his whole heart was set upon the +accomplishment of this important result, and he was willing to make +almost any sacrifice to attain it. There were also some secret +articles attached which have never been divulged.</p> +<p>The immediate demand of Spain for the surrender of the rock of +Gibraltar was the signal for all Europe to marshal itself for +war—a war which threatened the destruction of hundreds of +thousands of lives, millions of property, and which was sure to +spread far and wide over populous cities and extended provinces, +carnage, conflagration, and unspeakable woe. The question was, +whether England or Spain should have possession of a rock seven +miles long and one mile broad, which was supposed, but very +erroneously, to command the Mediterranean. To the rest of Europe it +was hardly a matter of the slightest moment whether the flag of +England or Spain waved over those granite cliffs. It seems +incredible that beings endowed with reason could be guilty of such +madness.</p> +<p>England, with great vigor, immediately rallied on her side +France, Hanover, Holland, Denmark and Sweden. On the other side +were Spain, Austria, Russia, Prussia and a large number of the +minor States of Germany. Many months were occupied in consolidating +these coalitions, and in raising the armies and gathering the +materials for the war.</p> +<p>In the meantime Ripperda, having so successfully, as he +supposed, concluded his negotiations at Vienna, in a high state of +exultation commenced his journey back to Spain. Passing down +through the Tyrol and traversing Italy he embarked at <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page375" id="page375"></a>{375}</span> Genoa and +landed at Barcelona. Here he boasted loudly of what he had +accomplished.</p> +<p>"Spain and the emperor now united," he said, "will give the law +to Europe. The emperor has one hundred and fifty thousand troops +under arms, and in six months can bring as many more into the +field. France shall be pillaged. George I. shall be driven both +from his German and his British territories."</p> +<p>From Barcelona Ripperda traveled rapidly to Madrid, where he was +received with almost regal honors by the queen, who was now in +reality the sovereign. She immediately appointed him Secretary of +State, and transferred to him the reins of government which she had +taken from the unresisting hands of her moping husband. Thus +Ripperda became, in all but title, the King of Spain. He was a weak +man, of just those traits of character which would make him a +haughty woman's favorite. He was so elated with this success, +became so insufferably vain, and assumed such imperious airs as to +disgust all parties. He made the most extravagant promises of the +subsidies the emperor was to furnish, and of the powers which were +to combine to trample England and France beneath their feet. It was +soon seen that these promises were merely the vain-glorious boasts +of his own heated brain. Even the imperial ambassador at Madrid was +so repelled by his arrogance, that he avoided as far as possible +all social and even diplomatic intercourse with him. There was a +general combination of the courtiers to crush the favorite. The +queen, who, with all her ambition, had a good share of sagacity, +soon saw the mistake she had made, and in four months after +Ripperda's return to Madrid, he was dismissed in disgrace.</p> +<p>A general storm of contempt and indignation pursued the +discarded minister. His rage was now inflamed as much as his vanity +had been. Fearful of arrest and imprisonment, and burning with that +spirit of revenge which is ever strongest in weakest minds, he took +refuge in the house of the British ambassador, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page376" id="page376"></a>{376}</span> Mr. +Stanhope. Hostilities had not yet commenced. Indeed there had been +no declaration of war, and diplomatic relations still continued +undisturbed. Each party was acting secretly, and watching the +movements of the other with a jealous eye.</p> +<p>Ripperda sought protection beneath the flag of England, and with +the characteristic ignominy of deserters and traitors, endeavored +to ingratiate himself with his new friends by disclosing all the +secrets of his negotiations at Vienna. Under these circumstances +full confidence can not be placed in his declarations, for he had +already proved himself to be quite unscrupulous in regard to truth. +The indignant queen sent an armed force, arrested the duke in the +house of the British ambassador, and sent him, in close +imprisonment, to the castle of Segovia. He, however, soon escaped +from there and fled to England, where he reiterated his +declarations respecting the secret articles of the treaty of +Vienna. The most important of these declarations was, that Spain +and the emperor had agreed to drive George I. from England and to +place the Pretender, who had still many adherents, upon the British +throne. It was also asserted that marriage contracts were entered +into which, by uniting the daughters of the emperor with the sons +of the Spanish monarch, would eventually place the crowns of +Austria and Spain upon the same brow. The thought of such a vast +accumulation of power in the hands of any one monarch, alarmed all +the rest of Europe. Both Spain and the emperor denied many of the +statements made by Ripperda. But as <i>truth</i> has not been +esteemed a diplomatic virtue, and as both Ripperda and the +sovereigns he had served were equally tempted to falsehood, and +were equally destitute of any character for truth, it is not easy +to decide which party to believe.</p> +<p>England and France took occasion, through these disclosures, to +rouse the alarm of Europe. So much apprehension was excited in +Prussia, Bavaria, and with other princes of the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page377" id="page377"></a>{377}</span> empire, +who were appalled at the thought of having another Spanish prince +upon the imperial throne, that the emperor sent ambassadors to +these courts to appease their anxiety, and issued a public +declaration denying that any such marriages were in contemplation; +while at the same time he was promising the Queen of Spain these +marriages, to secure her support. England and France accuse the +emperor of deliberate, persistent, unblushing falsehood.</p> +<p>The emperor seems now to have become involved in an inextricable +maze of prevarication and duplicity, striving in one court to +accomplish purposes which in other courts he was denying that he +wished to accomplish. His embarrassment at length became so great, +the greater part of Europe being roused and jealous, that he was +compelled to abandon Spain, and reluctantly to sign a treaty of +amity with France and England. A general armistice was agreed upon +for seven years. The King of Spain, thus abandoned by the emperor, +was also compelled to smother his indignation and to roll back his +artillery into the arsenals. Thus this black cloud of war, which +threatened all Europe with desolation, was apparently dispelled. +This treaty, which seemed to restore peace to Europe, was signed in +June, 1727. It was, however, a hollow peace. The spirit of ambition +and aggression animated every court; and each one was ready, in +defiance of treaties and in defiance of the misery of the world, +again to unsheath the sword as soon as any opportunity should offer +for the increase of territory or power.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page378" id= +"page378"></a>{378}</span> +<h2><a name="chap24" id="chap24">CHAPTER XXIV</a>.</h2> +<h3>CHARLES VI. AND THE POLISH WAR.</h3> +<h4>From 1727 to 1735.</h4> +<p class="summary">Cardinal Fleury.—The Emperor of Austria +Urges the Pragmatic Sanction.—He Promises His Two Daughters +to the Two Sons of the Queen of Spain.—France, England and +Spain Unite Against Austria.—Charles VI. Issues Orders to +Prepare for War.—His Perplexities.—Secret Overtures to +England.—The Crown of Poland.—Meeting of the Polish +Congress.—Stanislaus Goes to Poland.—Augustus III. +Crowned.—War.—Charles Sends an Army to +Lombardy.—Difficulties of Prince Eugene.—Charles's +Displeasure with England.—Letter to Count +Kinsky.—Hostilities Renewed.</p> +<p>The young King of France, Louis XV., from amidst the orgies of +his court which rivaled Babylon in corruption, was now seventeen +years of age, and was beginning to shake off the trammels of +guardianship and to take some ambitious part in government. The +infamous regent, the Duke of Orleans, died suddenly of apoplexy in +1723. Gradually the king's preceptor, Fleury, obtained the entire +ascendency over the mind of his pupil, and became the chief +director of affairs. He saw the policy of reuniting the Bourbons of +France and Spain for the support of each other. The policy was +consequently adopted of cultivating friendly relations between the +two kingdoms. Cardinal Fleury was much disposed to thwart the plans +of the emperor. A congress of the leading powers had been assembled +at Soissons in June, 1728, to settle some diplomatic questions. The +favorite object of the emperor now was, to obtain from the European +powers the formal guarantee to support his decree of succession +which conveyed the crown of Austria to his daughters, in preference +to those of his brother Joseph.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page379" id= +"page379"></a>{379}</span> +<p>The emperor urged the Pragmatic Sanction strongly upon the +congress, as the basis upon which he would enter into friendly +relations with all the powers. Fleury opposed it, and with such +influence over the other plenipotentiaries as to secure its +rejection. The emperor was much irritated, and intimated war. +France and England retorted defiance. Spain was becoming alienated +from the emperor, who had abandoned her cause, and was again +entering into alliance with France. The emperor had promised his +eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, to Carlos, son of the Queen of +Spain, and a second daughter to the next son, Philip. These were as +brilliant matches as an ambitious mother could desire. But while +the emperor was making secret and solemn promises to the Queen of +Spain, that these marriages should be consummated, which would +secure to the son of the queen the Austrian, as well as the Spanish +crown, he was declaring to the courts of Europe that he had no such +plans in contemplation.</p> +<p>The Spanish queen, at length, annoyed, and goaded on by France +and England, sent an ambassador to Vienna, and demanded of the +emperor a written promise that Maria Theresa was to be the bride of +Carlos. The emperor was now brought to the end of his intrigues. He +had been careful heretofore to give only verbal promises, through +his ministers. After his reiterated public denials that any such +alliance was anticipated, he did not dare commit himself by giving +the required document. An apologetic, equivocal answer was returned +which so roused the ire of the queen, that, breaking off from +Austria, she at once entered into a treaty of cordial union with +England and France.</p> +<p>It will readily be seen that all these wars and intrigues had +but little reference to the welfare of the masses of the people. +They were hardly more thought of than the cattle and the poultry. +The only purpose they served was, by unintermitted toil, to raise +the wealth which supported the castle and the palace, and to march +to the field to fight battles, in which <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page380" id="page380"></a>{380}</span> they had +no earthly interest. The written history of Europe is only the +history of kings and nobles—their ambitions, intrigues and +war. The unwritten history of the dumb, toiling millions, defrauded +of their rights, doomed to poverty and ignorance, is only recorded +in the book of God's remembrance. When that page shall be read, +every ear that hears it will tingle.</p> +<p>The frail connection between Austria and Spain was now +terminated. England, France and Spain entered into an alliance to +make vigorous war against Charles VI. if he manifested any +hostility to any of the articles of the treaty into which they had +entered. The Queen of Spain, in her spite, forbade the subjects of +the emperor from trading at all with Spain, and granted to her new +allies the exclusive right to the Spanish trade. She went so far in +her reconciliation with England as to assure the king that he was +quite welcome to retain the rock of Gibraltar which he held with so +tenacious a grasp.</p> +<p>In this treaty, with studied neglect, even the name of the +emperor was not mentioned; and yet the allies, as if to provoke a +quarrel, sent Charles VI. a copy, peremptorily demanding assent to +the treaty without his having taken any part whatever in the +negotiation.</p> +<p>This insulting demand fell like a bomb-shell in the palace at +Vienna. Emperor, ministers, courtiers, all were aroused to a frenzy +of indignation. "So insulting a message," said Count Zinzendorf, +"is unparalleled, even in the annals of savages." The emperor +condescended to make no reply, but very spiritedly issued orders to +all parts of the empire, for his troops to hold themselves in +readiness for war.</p> +<p>And yet Charles was overwhelmed with anxiety, and was almost in +despair. It was a terrible humiliation for the emperor to be +compelled to submit, unavenged, to such an insult. But how could +the emperor alone, venture to meet in battle England, France, Spain +and all the other powers whom three such kingdoms could, either by +persuasion or compulsion, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page381" +id="page381"></a>{381}</span> bring into their alliance? He pleaded +with his natural allies. Russia had not been insulted, and was +unwilling to engage in so distant a war. Prussia had no hope of +gaining any thing, and declined the contest. Sardinia sent a polite +message to the emperor that it was more for her interest to enter +into an alliance with her nearer neighbors, France, Spain and +England, and that she had accordingly done so. The treasury of +Charles was exhausted; his States were impoverished by constant and +desolating wars. And his troops manifested but little zeal to enter +the field against so fearful a superiority of force. The emperor, +tortured almost beyond endurance by chagrin, was yet compelled to +submit.</p> +<p>The allies were quite willing to provoke a war with the emperor; +but as he received their insults so meekly, and made no movement +against them, they were rather disposed to march against him. Spain +wanted Parma and Tuscany, but France was not willing to have Spain +make so great an accession to her Italian power. France wished to +extend her area north, through the States of the Netherlands. But +England was unwilling to see the French power thus aggrandized. +England had her aspirations, to which both France and Spain were +opposed. Thus the allies operated as a check upon each other.</p> +<p>The emperor found some little consolation in this growing +disunion, and did all in his power to foment it. Wishing to humble +the Bourbons of France and Spain, he made secret overtures to +England. The offers of the emperor were of such a nature, that +England eagerly accepted them, returned to friendly relations with +the emperor, and, to his extreme joy, pledged herself to support +the Pragmatic Sanction.</p> +<p>It seems to have been the great object of the emperor's life to +secure the crown of Austria for his daughters. It was an +exceedingly disgraceful act. There was no single respectable reason +to be brought forward why his daughters should crowd from the +throne the daughters of his elder deceased <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page382" id="page382"></a>{382}</span> brother, +the Emperor Joseph. Charles was so aware of the gross injustice of +the deed, and that the ordinary integrity of humanity would rise +against him, that he felt the necessity of exhausting all the arts +of diplomacy to secure for his daughters the pledged support of the +surrounding thrones. He had now by intrigues of many years obtained +the guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction from Russia, Prussia, +Holland, Spain and England. France still refused her pledge, as did +also many of the minor States of the empire. The emperor, +encouraged by the success he had thus far met with, pushed his +efforts with renewed vigor, and in January, 1732, exulted that he +had gained the guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction from all the +Germanic body, with the exception of Bavaria, Palatine and +Saxony.</p> +<p>And now a new difficulty arose to embroil Europe in trouble. +When Charles XII., like a thunderbolt of war, burst upon Poland, he +drove Augustus II. from the throne, and placed upon it Stanislaus +Leczinski, a Polish noble, whom he had picked up by the way, and +whose heroic character secured the admiration of this semi-insane +monarch. Augustus, utterly crushed, was compelled by his eccentric +victor to send the crown jewels and the archives, with a letter of +congratulation, to Stanislaus. This was in the year 1706. Three +years after this, in 1709, Charles XII. suffered a memorable defeat +at Pultowa. Augustus II., then at the head of an army, regained his +kingdom, and Stanislaus fled in disguise. After numerous adventures +and fearful afflictions, the court of France offered him a retreat +in Wissembourg in Alsace. Here the ex-king remained for six years, +when his beautiful daughter Mary was selected to take the place of +the rejected Mary of Spain, as the wife of the young dauphin, Louis +XV.</p> +<p>In the year 1733 Augustus II. died. In anticipation of this +event Austria had been very busy, hoping to secure the elective +crown of Poland for the son of Augustus who had inherited his +father's name, and who had promised to support the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page383" id="page383"></a>{383}</span> Pragmatic +Sanction. France was equally busy in the endeavor to place the +scepter of Poland in the hand of Stanislaus, father of the queen. +From the time of the marriage of his daughter with Louis XV., +Stanislaus received a handsome pension from the French treasury, +maintained a court of regal splendor, and received all the honors +due to a sovereign. All the energies of the French court were now +aroused to secure the crown for Stanislaus. Russia, Prussia and +Austria were in natural sympathy. They wished to secure the +alliance of Poland, and were also both anxious to destroy the +republican principle of <i>electing</i> rulers, and to introduce +hereditary descent of the crown in all the kingdoms of Europe. But +an election by the nobles was now indispensable, and the rival +powers were, with all the arts known in courts, pushing the claims +of their several candidates. It was an important question, for upon +it depended whether warlike Poland was to be the ally of the +Austrian or of the French party. Poland was also becoming quite +republican in its tendencies, and had adopted a constitution which +greatly limited the power of the crown. Augustus would be but a +tool in the hands of Russia, Prussia and Austria, and would +cooperate with them in crushing the spirit of liberty in Poland. +These three great northern powers became so roused upon the +subject, that they put their troops in motion, threatening to +exclude Stanislaus by force.</p> +<p>This language of menace and display of arms roused France. The +king, while inundating Poland with agents, and lavishing the +treasure of France in bribes to secure the election of Stanislaus, +assumed an air of virtuous indignation in view of the interference +of the Austrian party, and declared that no foreign power should +interfere in any way with the freedom of the election. This led the +emperor to issue a counter-memorial inveighing against the +intermeddling of France.</p> +<p>In the midst of these turmoils the congress of Polish nobles met +to choose their king. It was immediately apparent that there was a +very powerful party organized in favor of Stanislaus. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page384" id="page384"></a>{384}</span> The +emperor was for marching directly into the kingdom with an army +which he had already assembled in Silesia for this purpose, and +with the bayonet make up for any deficiency which his party might +want in votes. Though Prussia demurred, he put his troops in +motion, and the imperial and Russian ambassadors at Warsaw informed +the marshal of the diet that Catharine, who was now Empress of +Russia, and Charles, had decided to exclude Stanislaus from Poland +by force.</p> +<p>These threats produced their natural effect upon the bold +warrior barons of Poland. Exasperated rather than intimidated, they +assembled, many thousands in number, on the great plain of Wola, +but a few miles from Warsaw, and with great unanimity chose +Stanislaus their king. This was the 12th of September, 1733. +Stanislaus, anticipating the result, had left France in disguise, +accompanied by a single attendant, to undertake the bold enterprise +of traversing the heart of Germany, eluding all the vigilance of +the emperor, and of entering Poland notwithstanding all the efforts +of Austria, Russia and Prussia to keep him away. It was a very +hazardous adventure, for his arrest would have proved his ruin. +Though he encountered innumerable dangers, with marvelous sagacity +and heroism he succeeded, and reached Warsaw on the 9th of +September, just three days before the election. In regal splendor +he rode, as soon as informed of his election, to the tented field +where the nobles were convened. He was received with the clashing +of weapons, the explosions of artillery, and the acclamations of +thousands.</p> +<p>But the Poles were not sufficiently enlightened fully to +comprehend the virtue and the sacredness of the ballot-box. The +Russian army was now hastening to the gates of Warsaw. The small +minority of Polish nobles opposed to the election of Stanislaus +seceded from the diet, mounted their horses, crossed the Vistula, +and joined the invading array to make war upon the sovereign whom +the majority had chosen. The retribution <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page385" id="page385"></a>{385}</span> for such +folly and wickedness has come. There is no longer any Poland. They +who despise the authority of the ballot-box inevitably usher in the +bayonets of despotism. Under the protection of this army the +minority held another diet at Kamien (on the 5th of October), a +village just outside the suburbs of Warsaw, and chose as the +sovereign of Poland Augustus, son of the deceased king. The +minority, aided by the Russian and imperial armies, were too strong +for the majority. They took possession of Warsaw, and crowned their +candidate king, with the title of Augustus III. Stanislaus, pressed +by an overpowering force, retreated to Dantzic, at the mouth of the +Vistula, about two hundred miles from Warsaw. Here he was +surrounded by the Russian troops and held in close siege, while +Augustus III. took possession of Poland. France could do nothing. A +weary march of more than a thousand miles separated Paris from +Warsaw, and the French troops would be compelled to fight their way +through the very heart of the German empire, and at the end of the +journey to meet the united armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and +Poland under her king, now in possession of all the fortresses.</p> +<p>Though Louis XV. could make no effectual resistance, it was not +in human nature but that he should seek revenge. When shepherds +quarrel, they kill each other's flocks. When kings quarrel, they +kill the poor peasants in each other's territories, and burn their +homes. France succeeded in enlisting in her behalf Spain and +Sardinia. Austria and Russia were upon the other side. Prussia, +jealous of the emperor's greatness, declined any active +participation. Most of the other powers of Europe also remained +neutral. France had now no hope of placing Stanislaus upon the +throne; she only sought revenge, determined to humble the house of +Austria. The mercenary King of Sardinia, Charles Emanuel, was +willing to serve the one who would pay the most. He first offered +himself to the emperor, but upon terms too exorbitant to be +accepted. France and Spain immediately offered him terms even +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page386" id= +"page386"></a>{386}</span> more advantageous than those he had +demanded of the emperor. The contract was settled, and the +Sardinian army marched into the allied camp.</p> +<p>The King of Sardinia, who was as ready to employ guile as force +in warfare, so thoroughly deceived the emperor as to lead him to +believe that he had accepted the emperor's terms, and that Sardinia +was to be allied with Austria, even when the whole contract was +settled with France and Spain, and the plan of the campaign was +matured. So utterly was the emperor deluded by a fraud so +contemptible, in the view of every honorable mind, that he sent +great convoys of grain, and a large supply of shot, shells and +artillery from the arsenals of Milan into the Sardinian camp. +Charles Emanuel, dead to all sense of magnanimity, rubbed his hands +with delight in the successful perpetration of such fraud, +exclaiming, "<i>An virtus an dolos, quis ab hoste +requirat</i>."</p> +<p>So cunningly was this stratagem carried on, that the emperor was +not undeceived until his own artillery, which he had sent to +Charles Emanuel, were thundering at the gates of the city of Milan, +and the shot and shells which he had so unsuspectingly furnished +were mowing down the imperial troops. So sudden was the attack, so +unprepared was Austrian Lombardy to meet it, that in twelve weeks +the Sardinian troops overran the whole territory, seized every city +and magazine, with all their treasures, leaving the fortress of +Mantua alone in the possession of the imperial troops. It was the +policy of Louis XV. to attack Austria in the remote portions of her +widely-extended dominions, and to cut off province by province. He +also made special and successful efforts to detach the interests of +the German empire from those of Austria, so that the princes of the +empire might claim neutrality. It was against the possessions of +Charles VI., not against the independent States of the empire, that +Louis XV. urged war.</p> +<p>The storms of winter were now at hand, and both parties were +compelled to abandon the field until spring. But during +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page387" id= +"page387"></a>{387}</span> the winter every nerve was strained by +the combatants in preparation for the strife which the returning +sun would introduce. The emperor established strong defenses along +the banks of the Rhine to prevent the passage of the French; he +also sent agents to all the princes of the empire to enlist them in +his cause, and succeeded, notwithstanding the remonstrances of many +who claimed neutrality, in obtaining a vote from a diet which he +assembled, for a large sum of money, and for an army of one hundred +and twenty thousand men.</p> +<p>The loss of Lombardy troubled Charles exceedingly, for it +threatened the loss of all his Italian possessions. Notwithstanding +the severity of the winter he sent to Mantua all the troops he +could raise from his hereditary domains; and ordered every possible +effort to be made to be prepared to undertake the offensive in the +spring, and to drive the Sardinians from Lombardy. In the beginning +of May the emperor had assembled within and around Mantua, sixty +thousand men, under the command of Count Merci. The hostile forces +soon met, and battle after battle thundered over the Italian +plains. On the 29th of June the two armies encountered each other +in the vicinity of Parma, in such numbers as to give promise of a +decisive battle. For ten hours the demoniac storm raged +unintermitted. Ten thousand of the dead covered the ground. Neither +party had taken a single standard or a single prisoner, an event +almost unparalleled in the history of battles. From the utter +exhaustion of both parties the strife ceased. The Sardinians and +French, mangled and bleeding, retired within the walls of Parma. +The Austrians, equally bruised and bloody, having lost their +leader, retired to Reggio. Three hundred and forty of the Austrian +officers were either killed or wounded.</p> +<p>The King of Sardinia was absent during this engagement, having +gone to Turin to visit his wife, who was sick. The morning after +the battle, however, he joined the army, and succeeded in cutting +off an Austrian division of twelve hundred men, whom he took +prisoners. Both parties now waited <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page388" id="page388"></a>{388}</span> for a time to heal their +wounds, repair their shattered weapons, get rested and receive +reinforcements. Ten thousand poor peasants, who had not the +slightest interest in the quarrel, had now met with a bloody death, +and other thousands were now to be brought forward and offered as +victims on this altar of kingly ambition. By the middle of July +they were again prepared to take the field. Both parties struggled +with almost superhuman energies in the work of mutual destruction; +villages were burned, cities stormed, fields crimsoned with blood +and strewn with the slain, while no decisive advantage was gained. +In the desperation of the strife the hostile battalions were hurled +against each other until the beginning of January. They waded +morasses, slept in drenching storms, and were swept by freezing +blasts. Sickness entered the camp, and was even more fatal than the +bullet of the foe. Thousands moaned and died in their misery, upon +pallets of straw, where no sister, wife or mother could soothe the +dying anguish. Another winter only afforded the combatants +opportunity to nurse their strength that they might deal still +heavier blows in another campaign.</p> +<p>While the imperial troops were struggling against Sardinia and +France on the plains of Lombardy, a Spanish squadron landed a +strong military force of French and Spaniards upon the peninsula of +southern Italy, and meeting with no force sufficiently powerful to +oppose them, speedily overran Naples and Sicily. The Spanish troops +silenced the forts which defended the city of Naples, and taking +the garrison prisoners, entered the metropolis in triumphal array, +greeted by the acclamations of the populace, who hated the +Austrians. After many battles, in which thousands were slain, the +Austrians were driven out of all the Neapolitan States, and Carlos, +the oldest son of Philip V. of Spain, was crowned King of Naples, +with the title of Charles III. The island of Sicily was speedily +subjugated and also attached to the Neapolitan crown.</p> +<p>These losses the emperor felt most keenly. Upon the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page389" id="page389"></a>{389}</span> Rhine he +had made great preparations, strengthening fortresses and +collecting troops, which he placed under the command of his veteran +general, Prince Eugene. He was quite sanguine that here he would be +abundantly able to repel the assaults of his foes. But here again +he was doomed to bitter disappointment. The emperor found a vast +disproportion between promise and performance. The diet had voted +him one hundred and twenty thousand troops; they furnished twelve +thousand. They voted abundant supplies; they furnished almost none +at all.</p> +<p>The campaign opened the 9th of April, 1734, the French crossing +the Rhine near Truerbuch, in three strong columns, notwithstanding +all the efforts of the Austrians to resist them. Prince Eugene, by +birth a Frenchman, reluctantly assumed the command. He had +remonstrated with the emperor against any forcible interference in +the Polish election, assuring him that he would thus expose +himself, almost without allies, to all the power of France. Eugene +did not hesitate openly to express his disapprobation of the war. +"I can take no interest in this war," he said; "the question at +issue is not important enough to authorize the death of a +chicken."</p> +<p>Eugene, upon his arrival from Vienna, at the Austrian camp, +found but twenty-five thousand men. They were composed of a motley +assemblage from different States, undisciplined, unaccustomed to +act together and with no confidence in each other. The commanders +of the various corps were quarreling for the precedence in rank, +and there was no unity or subordination in the army. They were +retreating before the French, who, in numbers, in discipline, and +in the materiel of war, were vastly in the superiority. Eugene saw +at once that it would be folly to risk a battle, and that all he +could hope to accomplish was to throw such embarrassments as he +might in the path of the victors.</p> +<p>The young officers, ignorant, impetuous and reckless, were for +giving battle, which would inevitably have resulted in the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page390" id= +"page390"></a>{390}</span> destruction of the army. They were so +vexed by the wise caution of Eugene, which they regarded as +pusillanimity, that they complained to the emperor that the veteran +general was in his dotage, that he was broken both in body and +mind, and quite unfit to command the army. These representations +induced the emperor to send a spy to watch the conduct of Eugene. +Though deeply wounded by these suspicions, the experienced general +could not be provoked to hazard an engagement. He retreated from +post to post, merely checking the progress of the enemy, till the +campaign was over, and the ice and snow of a German winter drove +all to winter quarters.</p> +<p>While recruiting for the campaign of 1735, Prince Eugene wrote a +series of most earnest letters to his confidential agent in London, +which letters were laid before George II., urging England to come +to the help of the emperor in his great extremity. Though George +was eager to put the fleet and army of England in motion, the +British cabinet wisely refused to plunge the nation into war for +such a cause, and the emperor was left to reap the bitter fruit of +his despotism and folly. The emperor endeavored to frighten England +by saying that he was reduced to such an extremity that if the +British cabinet did not give him aid, he should be compelled to +seek peace by giving his daughter, with Austria in her hand as her +dowry, to Carlos, now King of Naples and heir apparent to the crown +of Spain. He well knew that to prevent such an acquisition of power +on the part of the Spanish monarch, who was also in intimate +alliance with France, England would be ready to expend any amount +of blood and treasure.</p> +<p>Charles VI. waited with great impatience to see the result of +this menace, hardly doubting that it would bring England +immediately to terms. Bitter was his disappointment and his despair +when he received from the court of St. James the calm reply, that +England could not possibly take a part in this war, and that in +view of the great embarrassments in which the emperor was involved, +England would take no offense in case <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page391" id="page391"></a>{391}</span> of the +marriage of the emperor's second daughter to Carlos. England then +advised the emperor to make peace by surrendering the +Netherlands.</p> +<p>The emperor was now greatly enraged, and inveighed bitterly +against England as guilty of the grossest perfidy. He declared that +England had been as deeply interested as he was in excluding +Stanislaus from the throne of Poland; that it was more important +for England than for Austria to curb the exorbitant power of +France; that in every step he had taken against Stanislaus, he had +consulted England, and had acted in accordance with her counsel; +that England was reaping the benefit of having the father-in-law of +the French king expelled from the Polish throne; that England had +solemnly promised to support him in these measures, and now having +derived all the advantage, basely abandoned him. There were bitter +charges, and it has never been denied that they were mainly true. +The emperor, in his indignation, threatened to tell the whole story +to the <i>people</i> of England. It is strange that the emperor had +found out that there were <i>people</i> in England. In no other +part of Europe was there any thing but <i>nobles</i> and +<i>peasants</i>.</p> +<p>In this extraordinary letter, addressed to Count Kinsky, the +imperial ambassador in London, the emperor wrote:</p> +<p>"On the death of Augustus II., King of Poland, my first care was +to communicate to the King of England the principles on which I +acted. I followed, in every instance, his advice.... England has +never failed to give me promises, both before and since the +commencement of the war, but instead of fulfilling those promises, +she has even favored my enemies.... Let the king know that I never +will consent to the plan of pacification now in agitation; that I +had rather suffer the worst of extremities than accede to such +disadvantageous proposals, and that even if I should not be able to +prevent them, I will justify my honor and my dignity, by publishing +a circumstantial account of all the transaction, together +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page392" id= +"page392"></a>{392}</span> with all the documents which I have now +in possession.... If these representations fail, means must be +taken to publish and circulate throughout England our answer to the +proposal of good offices which was not made till after the +expiration of nine months. Should the court of London proceed so +far as to make such propositions of peace as are supposed to be in +agitation, you will not delay a moment to circulate throughout +England a memorial, containing a recapitulation of all negotiations +which have taken place since 1710, together with the authentic +documents, detailing my just complaints, and reclaiming, in the +most solemn manner, the execution of the guaranties."</p> +<p>One more effort the emperor made, and it was indeed a desperate +one. He dispatched a secret agent, an English Roman Catholic, by +the name of Strickland, to London, to endeavor to overthrow the +ministry and bring in a cabinet in favor of him. In this, of +course, he failed entirely. Nothing now remained for him but to +submit, with the best grace he could, to the terms exacted by his +foes. In the general pacification great interests were at stake, +and all the leading powers of Europe demanded a voice in the +proceedings. For many months the negotiations were protracted. +England and France became involved in an angry dispute. Each power +was endeavoring to grasp all it could, while at the same time it +was striving to check the rapacity of every other power. There was +a general armistice while these negotiations were pending. It was, +however, found exceedingly difficult to reconcile all conflicting +interests. New parties were formed; new combinations entered into, +and all parties began to aim for a renewal of the strife. England, +exasperated against France, in menace made an imposing display of +her fleet and navy. The emperor was delighted, and, trusting to +gain new allies, exerted his skill of diplomacy to involve the +contracting parties in confusion and discord.</p> +<p>Thus encouraged, the emperor refused to accede to the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page393" id= +"page393"></a>{393}</span> terms demanded. He was required to give +up the Netherlands, and all his foreign possessions, and to retire +to his hereditary dominions. "What a severe sentence," exclaimed +Count Zinzendorf, the emperor's ambassador, "have you passed on the +emperor. No malefactor was ever carried with so hard a doom to the +gibbet."</p> +<p>The armies again took the field. Eugene, again, though with +great reluctance, assumed the command of the imperial forces. +France had assembled one hundred thousand men upon the Rhine. +Eugene had but thirty thousand men to meet them. He assured the +emperor that with such a force he could not successfully carry on +the war. Jealous of his reputation, he said, sadly, "to find myself +in the same condition as last year, will be only exposing myself to +the censure of the world, which judges by appearance, as if I were +less capable, in my old age, to support the reputation of my former +successes." With consummate generalship, this small force held the +whole French army in check.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page394" id= +"page394"></a>{394}</span> +<h2><a name="chap25" id="chap25">CHAPTER XXV</a>.</h2> +<h3>CHARLES VI. AND THE TURKISH WAR RENEWED.</h3> +<h4>From 1735 to 1730.</h4> +<p class="summary">Anxiety Of Austrian Office-Holders.—Maria +Theresa.—The Duke Of Lorraine.—Distraction Of The +Emperor.—Tuscany Assigned To The Duke Of +Lorraine.—Death Of Eugene.—Rising Greatness Of +Russia.—New War With The Turks.—Condition Of The +Army.—Commencement Of Hostilities.—Capture Of +Nissa.—Inefficient Campaign.—Disgrace Of +Seckendorf.—The Duke Of Lorraine Placed In +Command.—Siege Of Orsova.—Belgrade Besieged By The +Turks.—The Third Campaign.—Battle Of +Crotzka.—Defeat Of The Austrians.—Consternation In +Vienna.—Barbarism Of The Turks.—The Surrender Of +Belgrade.</p> +<p>The emperor being quite unable, either on the Rhine or in Italy, +successfully to compete with his foes, received blow after blow, +which exceedingly disheartened him. His affairs were in a desperate +condition, and, to add to his grief, dissensions filled his +cabinet; his counsellors mutually accusing each other of being the +cause of the impending ruin. The Italian possessions of the emperor +had been thronged with Austrian nobles, filling all the posts of +office and of honor, and receiving rich salaries. A change of +administration, in the transference of these States to the dominion +of Spain and Sardinia, "reformed" all these Austrian office-holders +out of their places, and conferred these posts upon Spaniards and +Sardinians. The ejected Austrian nobles crowded the court of the +emperor, with the most passionate importunities that he would enter +into a separate accommodation with Spain, and secure the +restoration of the Italian provinces by giving his eldest daughter, +Maria Theresa, to the Spanish prince, Carlos. This would seem to be +a very simple arrangement, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page395" +id="page395"></a>{395}</span> especially since the Queen of Spain +so earnestly desired this match, that she was willing to make +almost any sacrifice for its accomplishment. But there was an +inseparable obstacle in the way of any such arrangement.</p> +<p>Maria Theresa had just attained her eighteenth year. She was a +young lady of extraordinary force of character, and of an imperial +spirit; and she had not the slightest idea of having her person +disposed of as a mere make-weight in the diplomacy of Europe. She +knew that the crown of Austria was soon to be hers; she understood +the weakness of her father, and was well aware that she was far +more capable of wearing that crown than he had ever been; and she +was already far more disposed to take the reins of government from +her father's hand, than she was to submit herself to his control. +With such a character, and such anticipations, she had become +passionately attached to the young Duke of Lorraine, who was eight +years her senior, and who had for some years been one of the most +brilliant ornaments of her father's court.</p> +<p>The duchy of Lorraine was one of the most extensive and opulent +of the minor States of the German empire. Admirably situated upon +the Rhine and the Meuse, and extending to the sea, it embraced over +ten thousand square miles, and contained a population of over a +million and a half. The duke, Francis Stephen, was the heir of an +illustrious line, whose lineage could be traced for many centuries. +Germany, France and Spain, united, had not sufficient power to +induce Maria Theresa to reject Francis Stephen, the grandson of her +father's sister, the playmate of her childhood, and now her devoted +lover, heroic and fascinating, for the Spanish Carlos, of whom she +knew little, and for whom she cared less. Ambition also powerfully +operated on the very peculiar mind of Maria Theresa. She had much +of the exacting spirit of Elizabeth, England's maiden queen, and +was emulous of supremacy which no one would share. She, in her own +right, was to inherit the crown of Austria, and Francis Stephen, +high-born and <span class="pagenum"><a name="page396" id= +"page396"></a>{396}</span> noble as he was, and her recognized +husband, would still be her subject. She could confer upon him +dignity and power, retaining a supremacy which even he could never +reach.</p> +<p>The emperor was fully aware of the attachment of his daughter to +Francis, of her inflexible character; and even when pretending to +negotiate for her marriage with Carlos, he was conscious that it +was all a mere pretense, and that the union could never be +effected. The British minister at Vienna saw very clearly the true +state of affairs, and when the emperor was endeavoring to +intimidate England by the menace that he would unite the crowns of +Spain and Austria by uniting Maria and Carlos, the minister wrote +to his home government as follows:</p> +<p>"Maria Theresa is a princess of the highest spirit; her father's +losses are her own. She reasons already; she enters into affairs; +she admires his virtues, but condemns his mismanagement; and is of +a temper so formed for rule and ambition, as to look upon him as +little more than her administrator. Notwithstanding this lofty +humor by day, she sighs and pines all night for her Duke of +Lorraine. If she sleeps, it is only to dream of him; if she wakes, +it is but to talk of him to the lady in waiting; so that there is +no more probability of her forgetting the very individual +government, and the very individual husband which she thinks +herself born to, than of her forgiving the authors of her losing +either."</p> +<p>The empress was cordially coöperating with her daughter. +The emperor was in a state of utter distraction. His affairs were +fast going to ruin; he was harassed by counter intreaties; he knew +not which way to turn, or what to do. Insupportable gloom oppressed +his spirit. Pale and haggard, he wandered through the rooms of his +palace, the image of woe. At night he tossed sleepless upon his +bed, moaning in anguish which he then did not attempt to conceal, +and giving free utterance to all the mental tortures which were +goading him to madness. The queen became seriously alarmed lest his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page397" id= +"page397"></a>{397}</span> reason should break down beneath such a +weight of woe. It was clear that neither reason nor life could long +withstand such a struggle.</p> +<p>Thus in despair, the emperor made proposals for a secret and +separate accommodation with France. Louis XV. promptly listened, +and offered terms, appallingly definite, and cruel enough to extort +the last drop of blood from the emperor's sinking heart. "Give me," +said the French king, "the duchy of Lorraine, and I will withdraw +my armies, and leave Austria to make the best terms she can with +Spain."</p> +<p>How could the emperor wrest from his prospective son-in-law his +magnificent ancestral inheritance? The duke could not hold his +realms for an hour against the armies of France, should the emperor +consent to their surrender; and conscious of the desperation to +which the emperor was driven, and of his helplessness, he was +himself plunged into the deepest dismay and anguish. He held an +interview with the British minister to see if it were not possible +that England might interpose her aid in his behalf. In frantic +grief he lost his self control, and, throwing himself into a chair, +pressed his brow convulsively, and exclaimed, "Great God! will not +England help me? Has not his majesty with his own lips, over and +over again, promised to stand by me?"</p> +<p>The French armies were advancing; shot and shell were falling +upon village and city; fortress after fortress was surrendering. +"Give me Lorraine," repeated Louis XV., persistently, "or I will +take all Austria." There was no alternative but for the emperor to +drink to the dregs the bitter cup which his own hand had mingled. +He surrendered Lorraine to France. He, however, succeeded in +obtaining some slight compensation for the defrauded duke. The +French court allowed him a pension of ninety thousand dollars a +year, until the death of the aged Duke of Tuscany, who was the last +of the Medici line, promising that then Tuscany, one of the most +important duchies of central Italy, should pass into the hands +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page398" id= +"page398"></a>{398}</span> of Francis. Should Sardinia offer any +opposition, the King of France promised to unite with the emperor +in maintaining Francis in his possession by force of arms. Peace +was thus obtained with France. Peace was then made with Spain and +Sardinia, by surrendering to Spain Naples and Sicily, and to +Sardinia most of the other Austrian provinces in Italy. Thus +scourged and despoiled, the emperor, a humbled, woe-stricken man, +retreated to the seclusion of his palace.</p> +<p>While these affairs were in progress, Francis Stephen derived +very considerable solace by his marriage with Maria Theresa. Their +nuptials took place at Vienna on the 12th of February, 1736. The +emperor made the consent of the duke to the cession of Lorraine to +France, a condition of the marriage. As the duke struggled against +the surrender of his paternal domains, Cartenstein, the emperor's +confidential minister, insultingly said to him, "Monseigneur, point +de cession, point d'archiduchesse." <i>My lord, no cession, no +archduchess.</i> Fortunately for Francis, in about a year after his +marriage the Duke of Tuscany died, and Francis, with his bride, +hastened to his new home in the palaces of Leghorn. Though the duke +mourned bitterly over the loss of his ancestral domains, Tuscany +was no mean inheritance. The duke was absolute monarch of the +duchy, which contained about eight thousand square miles and a +population of a million. The revenues of the archduchy were some +four millions of dollars. The army consisted of six thousand +troops.</p> +<p>Two months after the marriage of Maria Theresa, Prince Eugene +died quietly in his bed at the age of seventy-three. He had passed +his whole lifetime riding over fields of battle swept by bullets +and plowed by shot. He had always exposed his own person with utter +recklessness, leading the charge, and being the first to enter the +breach or climb the rampart. Though often wounded, he escaped all +these perils, and breathed his last in peace upon his pillow in +Vienna.</p> +<p>His funeral was attended with regal honors. For three +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page399" id= +"page399"></a>{399}</span> days the corpse lay in state, with the +coat of mail, the helmet and the gauntlets which the warrior had +worn in so many fierce battles, suspended over his lifeless +remains. His heart was sent in an urn to be deposited in the royal +tomb where his ancestors slumbered. His embalmed body was interred +in the metropolitan church in Vienna. The emperor and all the court +attended the funeral, and his remains were borne to the grave with +honors rarely conferred upon any but crowned heads.</p> +<p>The Ottoman power had now passed its culminating point, and was +evidently on the wane. The Russian empire was beginning to arrest +the attention of Europe, and was ambitious of making its voice +heard in the diplomacy of the European monarchies. Being destitute +of any sea coast, it was excluded from all commercial intercourse +with foreign nations, and in its cold, northern realm, "leaning," +as Napoleon once said, "against the North Pole," seemed to be shut +up to barbarism. It had been a leading object of the ambition of +Peter the Great to secure a maritime port for his kingdom. He at +first attempted a naval depot on his extreme southern border, at +the mouth of the Don, on the sea of Azof. This would open to him +the commerce of the Mediterranean through the Azof, the Euxine and +the Marmora. But the assailing Turks drove him from these shores, +and he was compelled to surrender the fortresses he had commenced +to their arms. He then turned to his western frontier, and, with an +incredible expenditure of money and sacrifice of life, reared upon +the marshes of the Baltic the imperial city of St. Petersburg. +Peter I. died in 1725, leaving the crown to his wife Catharine. +She, however, survived him but two years, when she died, in 1727, +leaving two daughters. The crown then passed to the grandson of +Peter I., a boy of thirteen. In three years he died of the +small-pox. Anna, the daughter of the oldest brother of Peter I., +now ascended the throne, and reigned, through her favorites, with +relentless rigor.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page400" id= +"page400"></a>{400}</span> +<p>It was one of the first objects of Anna's ambition to secure a +harbor for maritime commerce in the more sunny climes of southern +Europe. St. Petersburg, far away upon the frozen shores of the +Baltic, where the harbor was shut up with ice for five months in +the year, presented but a cheerless prospect for the formation of a +merchant marine. She accordingly revived the original project of +Peter the Great, and waged war with the Turks to recover the lost +province on the shores of the Euxine. Russia had been mainly +instrumental in placing Augustus II. on the throne of Poland; Anna +was consequently sure of his sympathy and coöperation. She +also sent to Austria to secure the alliance of the emperor. Charles +VI., though his army was in a state of decay and his treasury +empty, eagerly embarked in the enterprise. He was in a continued +state of apprehension from the threatened invasion of the Turks. He +hoped also, aided by the powerful arm of Russia, to be able to gain +territories in the east which would afford some compensation for +his enormous losses in the south and in the west.</p> +<p>While negotiations were pending, the Russian armies were already +on the march. They took Azof after a siege of but a fortnight, and +then overran and took possession of the whole Crimea, driving the +Turks before them. Charles VI. was a very scrupulous Roman +Catholic, and was animated to the strife by the declaration of his +confessor that it was his duty, as a Christian prince, to aid in +extirpating the enemies of the Church of Christ. The Turks were +greatly alarmed by these successes of the Russians, and by the +formidable preparations of the other powers allied against +them.</p> +<p>The emperor hoped that fortune, so long adverse, was now turning +in his favor. He collected a large force on the frontiers of +Turkey, and intrusted the command to General Seckendorf. The +general hastened into Hungary to the rendezvous of the troops. He +found the army in a deplorable condition. The treasury being +exhausted, they were but poorly supplied <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page401" id="page401"></a>{401}</span> with the +necessaries of war, and the generals and contractors had contrived +to appropriate to themselves most of the funds which had been +furnished. The general wrote to the emperor, presenting a +lamentable picture of the destitution of the army.</p> +<p>"I can not," he said, "consistently with my duty to God and the +emperor, conceal the miserable condition of the barracks and the +hospitals. The troops, crowded together without sufficient bedding +to cover them, are a prey to innumerable disorders, and are exposed +to the rain, and other inclemencies of the weather, from the +dilapidated state of the caserns, the roofs of which are in +perpetual danger of being overthrown by the wind. All the frontier +fortresses, and even Belgrade, are incapable of the smallest +resistance, as well from the dilapidated state of the +fortifications as from a total want of artillery, ammunition and +other requisites. The naval armament is in a state of irreparable +disorder. Some companies of my regiment of Belgrade are thrust into +holes where a man would not put even his favorite hounds; and I can +not see the situation of these miserable and half-starved wretches +without tears. These melancholy circumstances portend the loss of +these fine kingdoms with the same rapidity as that of the States of +Italy."</p> +<p>The bold Commander-in-chief also declared that many of the +generals were so utterly incapable of discharging their duties, +that nothing could be anticipated, under their guidance, but defeat +and ruin. He complained that the governors of those distant +provinces, quite neglecting the responsibilities of their offices, +were spending their time in hunting and other trivial amusements. +These remonstrances roused the emperor, and decisive reforms were +undertaken. The main plan of the campaign was for the Russians, who +were already on the shores of the Black sea, to press on to the +mouth of the Danube, and then to march up the stream. The Austrians +were to follow down the Danube to the Turkish province of +Wallachia, and then, marching through the heart of that province, +either effect a junction with the Russians, or inclose the Turks +between <span class="pagenum"><a name="page402" id= +"page402"></a>{402}</span> the two armies. At the same time a large +Austrian force, marching through Bosnia and Servia, and driving the +Turks out, were to take military possession of those countries and +join the main army in its union on the lower Danube.</p> +<p>Matters being thus arranged, General Seckendorf took the command +of the Austrian troops, with the assurance that he should be +furnished with one hundred and twenty-six thousand men, provided +with all the implements of war, and that he should receive a +monthly remittance of one million two hundred thousand dollars for +the pay of the troops. The emperor, however, found it much easier +to make promises than to fulfill them. The month of August had +already arrived and Seckendorf, notwithstanding his most strenuous +exertions, had assembled at Belgrade but thirty thousand infantry +and fifteen thousand cavalry. The Turks, with extraordinary energy, +had raised a much more formidable and a better equipped army. Just +as Seckendorf was commencing his march, having minutely arranged +all the stages of the campaign, to his surprise and indignation he +received orders to leave the valley of the Danube and march +directly south about one hundred and fifty miles into the heart of +Servia, and lay siege to the fortress of Nissa. The whole plan of +the campaign was thus frustrated. Magazines, at great expense, had +been established, and arrangements made for floating the heavy +baggage down the stream. Now the troops were to march through +morasses and over mountains, without suitable baggage wagons, and +with no means of supplying themselves with provisions in so hostile +and inhospitable a country.</p> +<p>But the command of the emperor was not to be disobeyed. For +twenty-eight days they toiled along, encountering innumerable +impediments, many perishing by the way, until they arrived, in a +state of extreme exhaustion and destitution, before the walls of +Nissa. Fortunately the city was entirely unprepared for an attack, +which had not been at all anticipated, and the garrison speedily +surrendered. Here Seckendorf, having <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page403" id="page403"></a>{403}</span> dispatched parties to seize +the neighboring fortress, and the passes of the mountains, waited +for further orders from Vienna. The army were so dissatisfied with +their position and their hardships, that they at last almost rose +in mutiny, and Seckendorf, having accomplished nothing of any +moment, was compelled to retrace his steps to the banks of the +Danube, where he arrived on the 16th of October. Thus the campaign +was a total failure.</p> +<p>Bitter complaints were uttered both by the army and the nation. +The emperor, with the characteristic injustice of an ignoble mind, +attributed the unfortunate campaign to the incapacity of +Seckendorf, whose judicious plans he had so ruthlessly thwarted. +The heroic general was immediately disgraced and recalled, and the +command of the army given to General Philippi. The friends of +General Seckendorf, aware of his peril, urged him to seek safety in +flight. But he, emboldened by conscious innocence, obeyed the +imperial commands and repaired to Vienna. Seckendorf was a +Protestant. His appointment to the supreme command gave great +offense to the Catholics, and the priests, from their pulpits, +inveighed loudly against him as a heretic, whom God could not +bless. They arraigned his appointment as impious, and declared +that, in consequence, nothing was to be expected but divine +indignation. Immediately upon his arrival in Vienna the emperor +ordered his arrest. A strong guard was placed over him, in his own +house, and articles of impeachment were drawn up against him. His +doom was sealed. Every misadventure was attributed to negligence, +cupidity or treachery. He could offer no defense which would be of +any avail, for he was not permitted to exhibit the orders he had +received from the emperor, lest the emperor himself should be +proved guilty of those disasters which he was thus dishonorably +endeavoring to throw upon another. The unhappy Seckendorf, thus +made the victim of the faults of others, was condemned to the +dungeon. He was sent to imprisonment in the castle of Glatz, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page404" id= +"page404"></a>{404}</span> where he lingered in captivity for many +years until the death of the emperor.</p> +<p>Charles now, in accordance with the clamor of the priests, +removed all Protestants from command in the army and supplied their +places with Catholics. The Duke of Lorraine, who had recently +married Maria Theresa, was appointed generalissimo. But as the duke +was young, inexperienced in war, and, as yet, had displayed none of +that peculiar talent requisite for the guidance of armies, the +emperor placed next to him, as the acting commander, Marshal +Konigsegg. The emperor also gave orders that every important +movement should be directed by a council of war, and that in case +of a tie the casting vote should be given, not by the Duke of +Lorraine, but by the veteran commander Konigsegg. The duke was an +exceedingly amiable man, of very courtly manners and winning +address. He was scholarly in his tastes, and not at all fond of the +hardships of war, with its exposure, fatigue and butchery. Though a +man of perhaps more than ordinary intellectual power, he was easily +depressed by adversity, and not calculated to brave the fierce +storms of disaster.</p> +<p>Early in March the Turks opened the campaign by sending an army +of twenty thousand men to besiege Orsova, an important fortress on +an island of the Danube, about one hundred miles below Belgrade. +They planted their batteries upon both the northern and the +southern banks of the Danube, and opened a storm of shot and shell +upon the fortress. The Duke of Lorraine hastened to the relief of +the important post, which quite commanded that portion of the +stream. The imperial troops pressed on until they arrived within a +few miles of the fortress. The Turks marched to meet them, and +plunged into their camp with great fierceness. After a short but +desperate conflict, the Turks were repulsed, and retreating in a +panic, they broke up their camp before the walls of Orsova and +retired.</p> +<p>This slight success, after so many disasters, caused immense +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page405" id= +"page405"></a>{405}</span> exultation. The Duke of Lorraine was +lauded as one of the greatest generals of the age. The pulpits rang +with his praises, and it was announced that now, that the troops +were placed under a true child of the Church, Providence might be +expected to smile. Soon, however, the imperial army, while +incautiously passing through a defile, was assailed by a strong +force of the Turks, and compelled to retreat, having lost three +thousand men. The Turks resumed the siege of Orsova; and the Duke +of Lorraine, quite disheartened, returned to Vienna, leaving the +command of the army to Konigsegg. The Turks soon captured the +fortress, and then, ascending the river, drove the imperial troops +before them to Belgrade. The Turks invested the city, and the +beleaguered troops were rapidly swept away by famine and +pestilence. The imperial cavalry, crossing the Save, rapidly +continued their retreat. Konigsegg was now recalled in disgrace, as +incapable of conducting the war, and the command was given to +General Kevenhuller. He was equally unsuccessful in resisting the +foe; and, after a series of indecisive battles, the storms of +November drove both parties to winter quarters, and another +campaign was finished. The Russians had also fought some fierce +battles; but their campaign was as ineffective as that of the +Austrians.</p> +<p>The court of Vienna was now in a state of utter confusion. There +was no leading mind to assume any authority, and there was +irremediable discordance of counsel. The Duke of Lorraine was in +hopeless disgrace; even the emperor assenting to the universal cry +against him. In a state almost of distraction the emperor +exclaimed, "Is the fortune of my empire departed with Eugene?" The +disgraceful retreat to Belgrade seemed to haunt him day and night; +and he repeated again and again to himself, as he paced the floor +of his apartment, "that unfortunate, that fatal retreat." Disasters +had been so rapidly accumulating upon him, that he feared for every +thing. He expressed the greatest anxiety lest his daughter, Maria +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page406" id= +"page406"></a>{406}</span> Theresa, who was to succeed him upon the +throne, might be intercepted, in the case of his sudden death, from +returning to Austria, and excluded from the throne. The emperor was +in a state of mind nearly bordering upon insanity.</p> +<p>At length the sun of another spring returned, the spring of +1739, and the recruited armies were prepared again to take the +field. The emperor placed a new commander, Marshal Wallis, in +command of the Austrian troops. He was a man of ability, but +overbearing and morose, being described by a contemporary as one +who hated everybody, and who was hated by everybody in return. +Fifty miles north of Belgrade, on the south bank of the Danube, is +the fortified town of Peterwardein, so called as the rendezvous +where Peter the Hermit marshaled the soldiers of the first crusade. +This fortress had long been esteemed one of the strongest of the +Austrian empire. It was appointed as the rendezvous of the imperial +troops, and all the energies of the now exhausted empire were +expended in gathering there as large a force as possible. But, +notwithstanding the utmost efforts, in May but thirty thousand men +were assembled, and these but very poorly provided with the costly +necessaries of war. Another auxiliary force of ten thousand men was +collected at Temeswar, a strong fortress twenty-five miles north of +Peterwardein. With these forces Wallis was making preparations to +attempt to recover Orsova from the Turks, when he received positive +orders to engage the enemy with his whole force on the first +opportunity.</p> +<p>The army marched down the banks of the river, conveying its +baggage and heavy artillery in a flotilla to Belgrade, where it +arrived on the 11th of June. Here they were informed that the +Turkish army was about twenty miles below on the river at Crotzka. +The imperial army was immediately pressed forward, in accordance +with the emperor's orders, to attack the foe. The Turks were +strongly posted, and far exceeded the Austrians in number. At five +o'clock on the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page407" id= +"page407"></a>{407}</span> morning of the 21st of July the battle +commenced, and blazed fiercely through all the hours of the day +until the sun went down. Seven thousand Austrians were then dead +upon the plain. The Turks were preparing to renew the conflict in +the morning, when Wallis ordered a retreat, which was securely +effected during the darkness of the night. On the ensuing day the +Turks pursued them to the walls of Belgrade, and, driving them +across the river, opened the fire of their batteries upon the city. +The Turks commenced the siege in form, and were so powerful, that +Wallis could do nothing to retard their operations. A breach was +ere long made in one of the bastions; an assault was hourly +expected which the garrison was in no condition to repel. Wallis +sent word to the emperor that the surrender of Belgrade was +inevitable; that it was necessary immediately to retreat to +Peterwardein, and that the Turks, flushed with victory, might soon +be at the gates of Vienna.</p> +<p>Great was the consternation which pervaded the court and the +capital upon the reception of these tidings. The ministers all +began to criminate each other. The general voice clamored for peace +upon almost any terms. The emperor alone remained firm. He +dispatched another officer, General Schmettan, to hasten with all +expedition to the imperial camp, and prevent, if possible, the +impending disaster. He earnestly pressed the hand of the general as +he took his leave, and said—</p> +<p>"Use the utmost diligence to arrive before the retreat of the +army; assume the defense of Belgrade, and save it, if not too late, +from falling into the hands of the enemy."</p> +<p>The energy of Schmettan arrested the retreat of Wallis, and +revived the desponding hopes of the garrison of Belgrade. Bastion +after bastion was recovered. The Turks were driven back from the +advance posts they had occupied. A new spirit animated the whole +Austrian army, and from the depths of despair they were rising to +sanguine hopes of victory, when the stunning news arrived that the +emperor had sent an envoy <span class="pagenum"><a name="page408" +id="page408"></a>{408}</span> to the Turkish camp, and had obtained +peace by the surrender of Belgrade. Count Neuperg having received +full powers from the emperor to treat, very imprudently entered the +camp of the barbaric Turk, without requiring any hostages for his +safety. The barbarians, regardless of the flag of truce, and of all +the rules of civilized warfare, arrested Count Neuperg, and put him +under guard. He was then conducted into the presence of the grand +vizier, who was arrayed in state, surrounded by his bashaws. The +grand vizier haughtily demanded the terms Neuperg was authorized to +offer.</p> +<p>"The emperor, my master," said Neuperg, "has intrusted me with +full powers to negotiate a peace, and is willing, for the sake of +peace, to cede the province of Wallachia to Turkey provided the +fortress of Orsova be dismantled."</p> +<p>The grand vizier rose, came forward, and deliberately spit in +the face of the Count Neuperg, and exclaimed,</p> +<p>"Infidel dog! thou provest thyself a spy, with all thy powers. +Since thou hast brought no letter from the Vizier Wallis, and hast +concealed his offer to surrender Belgrade, thou shalt be sent to +Constantinople to receive the punishment thou deservest."</p> +<p>Count Neuperg, after this insult, was conducted into close +confinement. The French ambassador, Villeneuve, now arrived. He had +adopted the precaution of obtaining hostages before intrusting +himself in the hands of the Turks. The grand vizier would not +listen to any terms of accommodation but upon the basis of the +surrender of Belgrade. The Turks carried their point in every +thing. The emperor surrendered Belgrade, relinquished to them +Orsova, agreed to demolish all the fortresses of his own province +of Media, and ceded to Turkey Servia and various other contiguous +districts. It was a humiliating treaty for Austria. Already +despoiled in Italy and on the Rhine, the emperor was now compelled +to abandon to the Turks extensive territories and important +fortresses upon the lower Danube.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page409" id= +"page409"></a>{409}</span> +<p>General Schmettan, totally unconscious of these proceedings, was +conducting the defense of Belgrade with great vigor and with great +success, when he was astounded by the arrival of a courier in his +camp, presenting to him the following laconic note from Count +Neuperg:</p> +<p>"Peace was signed this morning between the emperor, our master, +and the Porte. Let hostilities cease, therefore, on the receipt of +this. In half an hour I shall follow, and announce the particulars +myself."</p> +<p>General Schmettan could hardly repress his indignation, and, +when Count Neuperg arrived, intreated that the surrender of +Belgrade might be postponed until the terms had been sent to the +emperor for his ratification. But Neuperg would listen to no such +suggestions, and, indignant that any obstacle should be thrown in +the way of the fulfillment of the treaty, menacingly said,</p> +<p>"If you choose to disobey the orders of the emperor, and to +delay the execution of the article relative to Belgrade, I will +instantly dispatch a courier to Vienna, and charge you with all the +misfortunes which may result. I had great difficulty in diverting +the grand vizier from the demand of Sirmia, Sclavonia and the +bannat of Temeswar; and when I have dispatched a courier, I will +return into the Turkish camp and protest against this violation of +the treaty."</p> +<p>General Schmettan was compelled to yield. Eight hundred +janissaries took possession of one of the gates of the city; and +the Turkish officers rode triumphantly into the streets, waving +before them in defiance the banners they had taken at Crotzka. The +new fortifications were blown up, and the imperial army, in grief +and shame, retired up the river to Peterwardein. They had hardly +evacuated the city ere Count Neuperg, to his inexpressible +mortification, received a letter from the emperor stating that +nothing could reconcile him to the idea of surrendering Belgrade +but the conviction that its defense was utterly hopeless; but that +learning that this was <span class="pagenum"><a name="page410" id= +"page410"></a>{410}</span> by no means the case, he intreated him +on no account to think of the surrender of the city. To add to the +chagrin of the count, he also ascertained, at the same time, that +the Turks were in such a deplorable condition that they were just +on the point of retreating, and would gladly have purchased peace +at almost any sacrifice. A little more diplomatic skill might have +wrested from the Turks even a larger extent of territory than the +emperor had so foolishly surrendered to them.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page411" id= +"page411"></a>{411}</span> +<h2><a name="chap26" id="chap26">CHAPTER XXVI</a>.</h2> +<h3>MARIA THERESA.</h3> +<h4>From 1739 to 1741.</h4> +<p class="summary">Anguish of the King.—Letter to the Queen +of Russia.—The imperial Circular.—Deplorable Condition +of Austria.—Death of Charles VI.—Accession of Maria +Theresa.—Vigorous Measures of the Queen.—Claim of the +Duke of Bavaria.—Responses from the Courts.—Coldness of +the French Court.—Frederic of Russia.—His Invasion of +Silesia.—March of the Austrians.—Battle of +Molnitz.—Firmness of Maria Theresa.—Proposed Division +of Plunder.—Villainy of Frederic.—Interview with the +King.—Character of Frederic.—Commencement of the +General Invasion.</p> +<p>Every intelligent man in Austria felt degraded by the peace +which had been made with the Turks. The tidings were received +throughout the ranks of the army with a general outburst of grief +and indignation. The troops intreated their officers to lead them +against the foe, declaring that they would speedily drive the Turks +from Belgrade, which had been so ignominiously surrendered. The +populace of Vienna rose in insurrection, and would have torn down +the houses of the ministers who had recommended the peace but for +the interposition of the military. The emperor was almost beside +himself with anguish. He could not appease the clamors of the +nation. He was also in alliance with Russia, and knew not how to +meet the reproaches of the court of St. Petersburg for having so +needlessly surrendered the most important fortress on the Turkish +frontier. In an interview which he held with the Russian ambassador +his embarrassment was painful to witness. To the Queen of Russia he +wrote in terms expressive of the extreme agony of his mind, and, +with characteristic want of magnanimity cast the blame of the very +measures he <span class="pagenum"><a name="page412" id= +"page412"></a>{412}</span> had ordered upon the agents who had +merely executed his will.</p> +<p>"While I am writing this letter," he said, "to your imperial +majesty, my heart is filled with the most excessive grief. I was +much less touched with the advantages gained by the enemy and the +news of the siege of Belgrade, than with the advice I have received +concerning the shameful preliminary articles concluded by Count +Neuperg.</p> +<p>"The history of past ages exhibits no vestiges of such an event. +I was on the point of preventing the fatal and too hasty execution +of these preliminaries, when I heard that they were already partly +executed, even before the design had been communicated to me. Thus +I see my hands tied by those who ought to glory in obeying me. All +who have approached me since that fatal day, are so many witnesses +of the excess of my grief. Although I have many times experienced +adversity, I never was so much afflicted as by this event. Your +majesty has a right to complain of some who ought to have obeyed my +orders; but I had no part in what they have done. Though all the +forces of the Ottoman empire were turned against me I was not +disheartened, but still did all in my power for the common cause. I +shall not, however, fail to perform in due time what avenging +justice requires. In this dismal series of misfortunes I have still +one comfort left, which is that the fault can not be thrown upon +me. It lies entirely on such of my officers as ratified the +disgraceful preliminaries without my knowledge, against my consent, +and even contrary to my express orders."</p> +<p>This apologetic letter was followed by a circular to all the +imperial ambassadors in the various courts of Europe, which +circular was filled with the bitterest denunciation of Count +Neuperg and Marshal Wallis. It declared that the emperor was not in +any way implicated in the shameful surrender of Belgrade. The +marshal and the count, thus assailed and held up to the scorn and +execration of Europe, ventured to reply <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page413" id="page413"></a>{413}</span> that they +had strictly conformed to their instructions. The common sense of +the community taught them that, in so rigorous and punctilious a +court as that of Vienna, no agent of the emperor would dare to act +contrary to his received instructions. Thus the infamous attempts +of Charles to brand his officers with ignominy did but rebound upon +himself. The almost universal voice condemned the emperor and +acquitted the plenipotentiaries.</p> +<p>While the emperor was thus filling all the courts of Europe with +his clamor against Count Neuperg, declaring that he had exceeded +his powers and that he deserved to be hung, he at the same time, +with almost idiotic fatuity, sent the same Count Neuperg back to +the Turkish camp to settle some items which yet required +adjustment. This proved, to every mind, the insincerity of Charles. +The Russians, thus forsaken by Austria, also made peace with the +Turks. They consented to demolish their fortress of Azof, to +relinquish all pretensions to the right of navigating the Black +sea, and to allow a vast extent of territory upon its northern +shores to remain an uninhabited desert, as a barrier between Russia +and Turkey. The treaty being definitively settled, both Marshal +Wallis and Count Neuperg were arrested and sent to prison, where +they were detained until the death of Charles VI.</p> +<p>Care and sorrow were now hurrying the emperor to the grave. Wan +and haggard he moved about his palace, mourning his doom, and +complaining that it was his destiny to be disappointed in every +cherished plan of his life. All his affairs were in inextricable +confusion, and his empire seemed crumbling to decay. A cotemporary +writer thus describes the situation of the court and the +nation:</p> +<p>"Every thing in this court is running into the last confusion +and ruin; where there are as visible signs of folly and madness, as +ever were inflicted upon a people whom Heaven is determined to +destroy, no less by domestic divisions, than by the more public +calamities of repeated defeats, defenselessness, poverty and +plagues."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page414" id= +"page414"></a>{414}</span> +<p>Early in October, 1740, the emperor, restless, and feverish in +body and mind, repaired to one of his country palaces a few miles +distant from Vienna. The season was prematurely cold and gloomy, +with frost and storms of sleet. In consequence of a chill the +enfeebled monarch was seized with an attack of the gout, which was +followed by a very severe fit of the colic. The night of the 10th +of October he writhed in pain upon his bed, while repeated +vomitings weakened his already exhausted frame. The next day he was +conveyed to Vienna, but in such extreme debility that he fainted +several times in his carriage by the way. Almost in a state of +insensibility he was carried to the retired palace of La Favourite +in the vicinity of Vienna, and placed in his bed. It was soon +evident that his stormy life was now drawing near to its close. +Patiently he bore his severe sufferings, and as his physicians were +unable to agree respecting the nature of his disease, he said to +them, calmly,</p> +<p>"Cease your disputes. I shall soon be dead. You can then open my +body and ascertain the cause of my death."</p> +<p>Priests were admitted to his chamber who performed the last +offices of the Church for the dying. With perfect composure, he +made all the arrangements relative to the succession to the throne. +One after another the members of his family were introduced, and he +affectionately bade them adieu, giving to each appropriate words of +counsel. To his daughter, Maria Theresa, who was not present, and +who was to succeed him, he sent his earnest blessing. With the Duke +of Lorraine, her husband, he had a private interview of two hours. +On the 20th of October, 1740, at two o'clock in the morning, he +died, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and the thirtieth of his +reign. Weary of the world, he willingly retired to the anticipated +repose of the grave.</p> +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<p>"To die,—to sleep;—</p> +<p>To sleep! perchance to dream;—ay, there's the rub;</p> +<p>For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,</p> +<p>When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,</p> +<p>Must give us pause."</p> +</div> +</div> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page415" id= +"page415"></a>{415}</span> +<p>By the death of Charles VI. the male line of the house of +Hapsburg became extinct, after having continued in uninterrupted +succession for over four hundred years. His eldest daughter, Maria +Theresa, who now succeeded to the crown of Austria, was twenty-four +years of age. Her figure was tall, graceful and commanding. Her +features were beautiful, and her smile sweet and winning. She was +born to command, combining in her character woman's power of +fascination with man's energy. Though so far advanced in pregnancy +that she was not permitted to see her dying father, the very day +after his death she so rallied her energies as to give an audience +to the minister of state, and to assume the government with that +marvelous vigor which characterized her whole reign.</p> +<p>Seldom has a kingdom been in a more deplorable condition than +was Austria on the morning when the scepter passed into the hands +of Maria Theresa. There were not forty thousand dollars in the +treasury; the state was enormously in debt; the whole army did not +amount to more than thirty thousand men, widely dispersed, +clamoring for want of pay, and almost entirely destitute of the +materials for war. The vintage had been cut off by the frost, +producing great distress in the country. There was a famine in +Vienna, and many were starving for want of food. The peasants, in +the neighborhood of the metropolis, were rising in insurrection, +ravaging the fields in search of game; while rumors were +industriously circulated that the government was dissolved, that +the succession was disputed, and that the Duke of Bavaria was on +the march, with an army, to claim the crown. The distant provinces +were anxious to shake off the Austrian yoke. Bohemia was agitated; +and the restless barons of Hungary were upon the point of grasping +their arms, and, under the protection of Turkey, of claiming their +ancestral hereditary rights. Notwithstanding the untiring endeavors +of the emperor to obtain the assent of Europe to the Pragmatic +Sanction, many influential courts refused to recognize the right of +Maria Theresa to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page416" id= +"page416"></a>{416}</span> crown. The ministers were desponding, +irresolute and incapable. Maria Theresa was young, quite +inexperienced and in delicate health, being upon the eve of her +confinement. The English ambassador, describing the state of +affairs in Vienna as they appeared to him at this time, wrote:</p> +<p>"To the ministers, the Turks seem to be already in Hungary; the +Hungarians in insurrection; the Bohemians in open revolt; the Duke +of Bavaria, with his army, at the gates of Vienna; and France the +soul of all these movements. The ministers were not only in +despair, but that despair even was not capable of rousing them to +any desperate exertions."</p> +<p>Maria Theresa immediately dispatched couriers to inform the +northern powers of her accession to the crown, and troops were +forwarded to the frontiers to prevent any hostile invasion from +Bavaria. The Duke of Bavaria claimed the Austrian crown in virtue +of the will of Ferdinand I., which, he affirmed, devised the crown +to his daughters and their descendants in case of the failure of +the male line. As the male line was now extinct, by this decree the +scepter would pass to the Duke of Bavaria. Charles VI. had foreseen +this claim, and endeavored to set it aside by the declaration that +the clause referred to in the will of Ferdinand I. had reference to +<i>legitimate heirs</i>, not <i>male</i> merely, and that, +consequently, it did not set aside female descendants. In proof of +this, Maria Theresa had the will exhibited to all the leading +officers of state, and to the foreign ambassadors. It appeared that +<i>legitimate heirs</i> was the phrase. And now the question hinged +upon the point, whether females were <i>legitimate heirs</i>. In +some kingdoms of Europe they were; in others they were not. In +Austria the custom had been variable. Here was a nicely-balanced +question, sufficiently momentous to divide Europe, and which might +put all the armies of the continent in motion. There were also +other claimants for the crown, but none who could present so +plausible a plea as that of the Duke of Bavaria.</p> +<p>Maria Theresa now waited with great anxiety for the reply +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page417" id= +"page417"></a>{417}</span> she should receive from the foreign +powers whom she had notified of her accession. The Duke of Bavaria +was equally active and solicitous, and it was quite uncertain whose +claim would be supported by the surrounding courts. The first +response came from Prussia. The king sent his congratulations, and +acknowledged the title of Maria Theresa. This was followed by a +letter from Augustus of Poland, containing the same friendly +recognition. Russia then sent in assurances of cordial support. The +King of England returned a friendly answer, promising +coöperation. All this was cheering. But France was then the +great power on the continent, and could carry with her one half of +Europe in almost any cause. The response was looked for from France +with great anxiety. Day after day, week after week passed, and no +response came. At length the French Secretary of State gave a +cautious and merely verbal declaration of the friendly disposition +of the French court. Cardinal Fleury, the illustrious French +Secretary of State, was cold, formal and excessively polite. Maria +Theresa at once inferred that France withheld her acknowledgment, +merely waiting for a favorable opportunity to recognize the claims +of the Duke of Bavaria.</p> +<p>While matters were in this state, to the surprise of all, +Frederic, King of Prussia, drew his sword, and demanded large and +indefinite portions of Austria to be annexed to his territories. +Disdaining all appeal to any documentary evidence, and scorning to +reply to any questionings as to his right, he demanded vast +provinces, as a highwayman demands one's purse, with the pistol at +his breast. This fiery young prince, inheriting the most +magnificent army in Europe, considering its discipline and +equipments, was determined to display his gallantry as a fighter, +with Europe for the arena. As he was looking about to find some +suitable foe against which he could hurl his seventy-five thousand +men, the defenseless yet large and opulent duchy of Silesia +presented itself as a glittering prize worth the claiming by a +royal highwayman.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page418" id= +"page418"></a>{418}</span> +<p>The Austrian province of Silesia bordered a portion of Prussia. +"While treacherously professing friendship with the court of +Vienna, with great secrecy and sagacity Frederic assembled a large +force of his best troops in the vicinity of Berlin, and in +mid-winter, when the snow lay deep upon the plains, made a sudden +rush into Silesia, and, crushing at a blow all opposition, took +possession of the whole duchy. Having accomplished this feat, he +still pretended great friendship for Maria Theresa, and sent an +ambassador to inform her that he was afraid that some of the +foreign powers, now conspiring against her, might seize the duchy, +and thus wrest it from her; that he had accordingly taken it to +hold it in safety; and that since it was so very important, for the +tranquillity of his kingdom, that Silesia should not fall into the +hands of an enemy, he hoped that Maria Theresa would allow him to +retain the duchy as an indemnity for the expense he had been at in +taking it."</p> +<p>This most extraordinary and impertinent message was accompanied +by a threat. The ambassador of the Prussian king, a man haughty and +semi-barbaric in his demeanor, gave his message in a private +interview with the queen's husband, Francis, the Duke of Lorraine. +In conclusion, the ambassador added, "No one is more firm in his +resolutions than the King of Prussia. He must and will take +Silesia. If not secured by the immediate cession of that province, +his troops and money will be offered to the Duke of Bavaria."</p> +<p>"Go tell your master," the Duke of Lorraine replied with +dignity, "that while he has a single soldier in Silesia, we will +rather perish than enter into any discussion. If he will evacuate +the duchy, we will treat with him at Berlin. For my part, not for +the imperial crown, nor even for the whole world, will I sacrifice +one inch of the queen's lawful possessions."</p> +<p>While these negotiations were pending, the king himself made an +ostentatious entry into Silesia. The majority of the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page419" id="page419"></a>{419}</span> Silesians +were Protestants. The King of Prussia, who had discarded religion +of all kinds, had of course discarded that of Rome, and was thus +nominally a Protestant. The Protestants, who had suffered so much +from the persecutions of the Catholic church, had less to fear from +the infidelity of Berlin than from the fanaticism of Rome. Frederic +was consequently generally received with rejoicings. The duchy of +Silesia was indeed a desirable prize. Spreading over a region of +more than fifteen thousand square miles, and containing a +population of more than a million and a half, it presented to its +feudal lord an ample revenue and the means of raising a large army. +Breslau, the capital of the duchy, upon the Oder, contained a +population of over eighty thousand. Built upon several islands of +that beautiful stream, its situation was attractive, while in its +palaces and its ornamental squares, it vied with the finest +capitals of Europe.</p> +<p>Frederic entered the city in triumph in January, 1741. The small +Austrian garrison, consisting of but three thousand men, retired +before him into Moravia. The Prussian monarch took possession of +the revenues of the duchy, organized the government under his own +officers, garrisoned the fortresses and returned to Berlin. Maria +Theresa appealed to friendly courts for aid. Most of them were +lavish in promises, but she waited in vain for any fulfillment. +Neither money, arms nor men were sent to her. Maria Theresa, thus +abandoned and thrown upon her own unaided energies, collected a +small army in Moravia, on the confines of Silesia, and intrusted +the command to Count Neuperg, whom she liberated from the prison to +which her father had so unjustly consigned him. But it was +mid-winter. The roads were almost impassable. The treasury of the +Austrian court was so empty that but meager supplies could be +provided for the troops. A ridge of mountains, whose defiles were +blocked up with snow, spread between Silesia and Moravia.</p> +<p>It was not until the close of March that Marshal Neuperg +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page420" id= +"page420"></a>{420}</span> was able to force his way through these +defiles and enter Silesia. The Prussians, not aware of their +danger, were reposing in their cantonments. Neuperg hoped to take +them by surprise and cut them off in detail. Indeed Frederic, who, +by chance, was at Jagerndorf inspecting a fortress, was nearly +surrounded by a party of Austrian hussars, and very narrowly +escaped capture. The ground was still covered with snow as the +Austrian troops toiled painfully through the mountains to penetrate +the Silesian plains. Frederic rapidly concentrated his scattered +troops to meet the foe. The warlike character of the Prussian king +was as yet undeveloped, and Neuperg, unconscious of the tremendous +energies he was to encounter, and supposing that the Prussian +garrisons would fly in dismay before him, was giving his troops, +after their exhausting march, a few days of repose in the Vicinity +of Molnitz.</p> +<p>On the 8th of April there was a thick fall of snow, filling the +air and covering the fields. Frederic availed himself of the storm, +which curtained him from all observation, to urge forward his +troops, that he might overwhelm the Austrians by a fierce surprise. +While Neuperg was thus resting, all unconscious of danger, +twenty-seven battalions, consisting of sixteen thousand men, and +twenty-nine squadrons of horse, amounting to six thousand, were, in +the smothering snow, taking their positions for battle. On the +morning of the 10th the snow ceased to fall, the clouds broke, and +the sun came out clear and bright, when Neuperg saw that another +and a far more fearful storm had gathered, and that its +thunderbolts were about to be hurled into the midst of his +camp.</p> +<p>The Prussian batteries opened their fire, spreading death +through the ranks of the Austrians, even while they were hastily +forming in line of battle. Still the Austrian veterans, accustomed +to all the vicissitudes of war, undismayed, rapidly threw +themselves into columns and rushed upon the foe. Fiercely the +battle raged hour after hour until the middle of the afternoon, +when the field was covered with the dead and <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page421" id="page421"></a>{421}</span> crimsoned +with blood. The Austrians, having lost three thousand in slain and +two thousand in prisoners, retired in confusion, surrendering the +field, with several guns and banners, to the victors. This +memorable battle gave Silesia to Prussia, and opened the war of the +Austrian succession.</p> +<p>The Duke of Lorraine was greatly alarmed by the threatening +attitude which affairs now assumed. It was evident that France, +Prussia, Bavaria and many other powers were combining against +Austria, to rob her of her provinces, and perhaps to dismember the +kingdom entirely. Not a single court as yet had manifested any +disposition to assist Maria Theresa. England urged the Austrian +court to buy the peace of Prussia at almost any price. Francis, +Duke of Lorraine, was earnestly for yielding, and intreated his +wife to surrender a part for the sake of retaining the rest. "We +had better," he said, "surrender Silesia to Prussia, and thus +purchase peace with Frederic, than meet the chances of so general a +war as now threatens Austria."</p> +<p>But Maria Theresa was as imperial in character and as +indomitable in spirit as Frederic of Prussia. With indignation she +rejected all such counsel, declaring that she would never cede one +inch of her territories to any claimant, and that, even if her +allies all abandoned her, she would throw herself upon her subjects +and upon her armies, and perish, if need be, in defense of the +integrity of Austria.</p> +<p>Frederic now established his court and cabinet at the camp of +Molnitz. Couriers were ever coming and going. Envoys from France +and Bavaria were in constant secret conference with him. France, +jealous of the power of Austria, was plotting its dismemberment, +even while protesting friendship. Bavaria was willing to unite with +Prussia in seizing the empire and in dividing the spoil. These +courts seemed to lay no claim to any higher morality than that of +ordinary highwaymen. The doom of Maria Theresa was apparently +sealed. Austria was to be plundered. Other parties now began to +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page422" id= +"page422"></a>{422}</span> rush in with their claims, that they +might share in the booty. Philip V. of Spain put in his claim for +the Austrian crown as the lineal descendant of the Emperor Charles +V. Augustus, King of Poland, urged the right of his wife Maria, +eldest daughter of Joseph. And even Charles Emanuel, King of +Sardinia, hunted up an obsolete claim, through the line of the +second daughter of Philip II.</p> +<p>At the camp of Molnitz the plan was matured of giving Bohemia +and Upper Austria to the Duke of Bavaria. Frederic of Prussia was +to receive Upper Silesia and Glatz. Augustus of Poland was to annex +to his kingdom Moravia and Upper Silesia. Lombardy was assigned to +Spain. Sardinia was to receive some compensation not yet fully +decided upon. The whole transaction was a piece of as unmitigated +villainy as ever transpired. One can not but feel a little sympathy +for Austria which had thus fallen among thieves, and was stripped +and bleeding. Our sympathies are, however, somewhat alleviated by +the reflection that Austria was just as eager as any of the other +powers for any such piratic expedition, and that, soon after, she +united with Russia and Prussia in plundering Poland. And when +Poland was dismembered by a trio of regal robbers, she only +incurred the same doom which she was now eager to inflict upon +Austria. When pirates and robbers plunder each other, the victims +are not entitled to much sympathy. To the masses of the people it +made but little difference whether their life's blood was wrung +from them by Russian, Prussian or Austrian despots. Under whatever +rule they lived, they were alike doomed to toil as beasts of burden +in the field, or to perish amidst the hardships and the carnage of +the camp.</p> +<p>These plans were all revealed to Maria Theresa, and with such a +combination of foes so powerful, it seemed as if no earthly wisdom +could avert her doom. But her lofty spirit remained unyielding, and +she refused all offers of accommodation based upon the surrender of +any portion of her territories. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page423" id="page423"></a>{423}</span> England endeavored to +induce Frederic to consent to take the duchy of Glogau alone, +suggesting that thus his Prussian majesty had it in his power to +conclude an honorable peace, and to show his magnanimity by +restoring tranquillity to Europe.</p> +<p>"At the beginning of the war," Frederic replied, "I might +perhaps have been contented with this proposal. At present I must +have four duchies. But do not," he exclaimed, impatiently, "talk to +me of <i>magnanimity</i>. A prince must consult his own interests. +I am not averse to peace; but I want four duchies, and I will have +them."</p> +<p>Frederic of Prussia was no hypocrite. He was a highway robber +and did not profess to be any thing else. His power was such that +instead of demanding of the helpless traveler his watch, he could +demand of powerful nations their revenues. If they did not yield to +his demands he shot them down without compunction, and left them in +their blood. The British minister ventured to ask what four duchies +Frederic intended to take. No reply could be obtained to this +question. By the four duchies he simply meant that he intended to +extend the area of Prussia over every inch of territory he could +possibly acquire, either by fair means or by foul.</p> +<p>England, alarmed by these combinations, which it was evident +that France was sagaciously forming and guiding, and from the +successful prosecution of which plans it was certain that France +would secure some immense accession of power, granted to Austria a +subsidy of one million five hundred thousand dollars, to aid her in +repelling her foes. Still the danger from the grand confederacy +became so imminent, that the Duke of Lorraine and all the Austrian +ministry united with the British ambassador, in entreating Maria +Theresa to try to break up the confederacy and purchase peace with +Prussia by offering Frederic the duchy of Glogau. With extreme +reluctance the queen at length yielded to these importunities, and +consented that an envoy should take the proposal to the Prussian +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page424" id= +"page424"></a>{424}</span> camp at Molnitz. As the envoy was about +to leave he expressed some apprehension that the Prussian king +might reject the proffer.</p> +<p>"I wish he may reject it," exclaimed the queen, passionately. +"It would be a relief to my conscience. God only knows how I can +answer to my subjects for the cession of the duchy, having sworn to +them never to alienate any part of our country."</p> +<p>Mr. Robinson, the British ambassador, as mediator, took these +terms to the Prussian camp. In the endeavor to make as good a +bargain as possible, he was first to offer Austrian Guelderland. If +that failed he was then to offer Limburg, a province of the +Netherlands, containing sixteen hundred square miles, and if this +was not accepted, he was authorized, as the ultimatum, to consent +to the cession of the duchy of Glogau. The Prussian king received +the ambassadors, on the 5th of August, in a large tent, in his camp +at Molanitz. The king was a blunt, uncourtly man, and the interview +was attended with none of the amenities of polished life. After a +few desultory remarks, the British ambassador opened the business +by saying that he was authorized by the Queen of Austria to offer, +as the basis of peace, the cession to Prussia of Austrian +Guelderland.</p> +<p>"What a beggarly offer," exclaimed the king. "This is extremely +impertinent. What! nothing but a paltry town for all my just +pretensions in Silesia!"</p> +<p>In this tirade of passion, either affected or real, he continued +for some time. Mr. Robinson waited patiently until this outburst +was exhausted, and then hesitatingly remarked that the queen was so +anxious to secure the peace of Europe, that if tranquillity could +not be restored on other terms she was even willing to cede to +Prussia, in addition, the province of Limburg.</p> +<p>"Indeed!" said the ill-bred, clownish king, contemptuously. "And +how can the queen think of violating her solemn <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page425" id="page425"></a>{425}</span> oath +which renders every inch of the Low Countries inalienable. I have +no desire to obtain distant territory which will be useless to me; +much less do I wish to expend money in new fortification. Neither +the French nor the Dutch have offended me; and I do not wish to +offend them, by acquiring territory in the vicinity of their +realms. If I should accept Limburg, what security could I have that +I should be permitted to retain it?"</p> +<p>The ambassador replied, "England, Russia and Saxony, will give +their guaranty."</p> +<p>"Guaranties," rejoined the king, sneeringly. "Who, in these +times, pays any regard to pledges? Have not both England and France +pledged themselves to support the Pragmatic Sanction? Why do they +not keep their promises? The conduct of these powers is ridiculous. +They only do what is for their own interests. As for me, I am at +the head of an invincible army. I want Silesia. I have taken it, +and I intend to keep it. What kind of a reputation should I have if +I should abandon the first enterprise of my reign? No! I will +sooner be crushed with my whole army, than renounce my rights in +Silesia. Let those who want peace grant me my demands. If they +prefer to fight again, they can do so, and again be beaten."</p> +<p>Mr. Robinson ventured to offer a few soothing words to calm the +ferocious brute, and then proposed to give to him Glogau, a small +but rich duchy of about six hundred square miles, near the +frontiers of Prussia.</p> +<p>Frederic rose in a rage, and with loud voice and threatening +gestures, exclaimed,</p> +<p>"If the queen does not, within six weeks, yield to my demands, I +will double them. Return with this answer to Vienna. They who want +peace with me, will not oppose my wishes. I am sick of ultimatums; +I will hear no more of them. I demand Silesia. This is my final +answer. I will give no other."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page426" id= +"page426"></a>{426}</span> +<p>Then turning upon his heel, with an air of towering indignation, +he retired behind the inner curtain of his tent. Such was the man +to whom Providence, in its inscrutable wisdom, had assigned a +throne, and a highly disciplined army of seventy-five thousand men. +To northern Europe he proved an awful scourge, inflicting woes, +which no tongue can adequately tell.</p> +<p>And now the storm of war seemed to commence in earnest. The Duke +of Bavaria issued a manifesto, declaring his right to the whole +Austrian inheritance, and pronouncing Maria Theresa a usurper. He +immediately marched an army into one of the provinces of Austria. +At the same time, two French armies were preparing to cross the +Rhine to cooperate with the Bavarian troops. The King of Prussia +was also on the march, extending his conquests. Still Maria Theresa +remained inflexible, refusing to purchase peace with Prussia by the +surrender of Silesia.</p> +<p>"The resolution of the queen is taken," she said. "If the House +of Austria must perish, it is indifferent whether it perishes by an +Elector of Bavaria, or by an Elector of Brandenburg."</p> +<p>While these all important matters were under discussion, the +queen, on the 13th of March, gave birth to a son, the Archduke +Joseph. This event strengthened the queen's resolution, to +preserve, not only for herself, but for her son and heir, the +Austrian empire in its integrity. From her infancy she had imbibed +the most exalted ideas of the dignity and grandeur of the house of +Hapsburg. She had also been taught that her inheritance was a +solemn trust which she was religiously bound to preserve. Thus +religious principle, family pride and maternal love all now +combined to increase the inflexibility of a will which by nature +was indomitable.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page427" id= +"page427"></a>{427}</span> +<h2><a name="chap27" id="chap27">CHAPTER XXVII</a>.</h2> +<h3>MARIA THERESA.</h3> +<h4>From 1741 to 1743.</h4> +<p class="summary">Character of Francis, Duke of +Lorraine.—Policy of European Courts.—Plan of the +Allies.—Siege of Prague.—Desperate Condition of the +Queen.—Her Coronation in Hungary.—Enthusiasm of the +Barons.—Speech of Maria Theresa.—Peace with Frederic of +Prussia.—His Duplicity.—Military Movement of the Duke +of Lorraine.—Battle of Chazleau.—Second Treaty with +Frederic.—Despondency of the Duke of Bavaria.—March of +Mallebois.—Extraordinary Retreat of Belleisle.—Recovery +of Prague by the Queen.</p> +<p>Maria Theresa, as imperial in spirit as in position, was +unwilling to share the crown, even with her husband. Francis +officiated as her chief minister, giving audience to foreign +ambassadors, and attending to many of the details of government, +yet he had but little influence in the direction of affairs. Though +a very handsome man, of polished address, and well cultivated +understanding, he was not a man of either brilliant or commanding +intellect. Maria Theresa, as a woman, could not aspire to the +imperial throne; but all the energies of her ambitious nature were +roused to secure that dignity for her husband. Francis was very +anxious to secure for himself the electoral vote of Prussia, and +he, consequently, was accused of being willing to cede Austrian +territory to Frederic to purchase his support. This deprived him of +all influence whenever he avowed sentiments contrary to those of +the queen.</p> +<p>England, jealous of the vast continental power of France, was +anxious to strengthen Austria, as a means of holding <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page428" id="page428"></a>{428}</span> France in +check. Seldom, in any of these courts, was the question of right or +wrong considered, in any transaction. Each court sought only its +own aggrandizement and the humiliation of its foes. The British +cabinet, now, with very considerable zeal, espoused the cause of +Maria Theresa. Pamphlets were circulated to rouse the enthusiasm of +the nation, by depicting the wrongs of a young and beautiful queen, +so unchivalrously assailed by bearded monarchs in overwhelming +combination. The national ardor was thus easily kindled. On the 8th +of August the King of England, in an animated speech from the +throne, urged Parliament to support Maria Theresa, thus to maintain +the <i>balance of power</i> in Europe. One million five hundred +thousand dollars were immediately voted, with strong resolutions in +favor of the queen. The Austrian ambassador, in transmitting this +money and these resolutions to the queen, urged that no sacrifice +should be made to purchase peace with Prussia; affirming that the +king, the Parliament, and the people of England were all roused to +enthusiasm in behalf of Austria; and that England would spend its +last penny, and shed its last drop of blood, in defense of the +cause of Maria Theresa. This encouraged the queen exceedingly, for +she was sanguine that Holland, the natural ally of England, would +follow the example of that nation. She also cherished strong hopes +that Russia might come to her aid.</p> +<p>It was the plan of France to rob Maria Theresa of all her +possessions excepting Hungary, to which distant kingdom she was to +be driven, and where she was to be left undisturbed to defend +herself as she best could against the Turks. Thus the confederates +would have, to divide among themselves, the States of the +Netherlands, the kingdom of Bohemia, the Tyrol, the duchies of +Austria, Silesia, Moravia, Carinthia, Servia and various other +duchies opulent and populous, over which the vast empire of Austria +had extended its sway.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page429" id= +"page429"></a>{429}</span> +<p>The French armies crossed the Rhine and united with the Bavarian +troops. The combined battalions marched, sweeping all opposition +before them, to Lintz, the capital of upper Austria. This city, +containing about thirty thousand inhabitants, is within a hundred +miles of Vienna, and is one of the most beautiful in Germany. Here, +with much military and civic pomp, the Duke of Bavaria was +inaugurated Archduke of the Austrian duchies. A detachment of the +army was then dispatched down the river to Polten, within +twenty-four miles of Vienna; from whence a summons was sent to the +capital to surrender. At the same time a powerful army turned its +steps north, and pressing on a hundred and fifty miles, over the +mountains and through the plains of Bohemia, laid siege to Prague, +which was filled with magazines, and weakly garrisoned. Frederic, +now in possession of all Silesia, was leading his troops to +cooperate with those of France and Bavaria.</p> +<p>The cause of Maria Theresa was now, to human vision, desperate. +Immense armies were invading her realms. Prague was invested; +Vienna threatened with immediate siege; her treasury was empty; her +little army defeated and scattered; she was abandoned by her +allies, and nothing seemed to remain for her but to submit to her +conquerors. Hungary still clung firmly to the queen, and she had +been crowned at Presburg with boundless enthusiasm. An eyewitness +has thus described this scene:—</p> +<p>"The coronation was magnificent. The queen was all charm. She +rode gallantly up the Royal Mount, a hillock in the vicinity of +Presburg, which the new sovereign ascends on horseback, and waving +a drawn sword, defied the four corners of the world, in a manner to +show that she had no occasion for that weapon to conquer all who +saw her. The antiquated crown received new graces from her head; +and the old tattered robe of St. Stephen became her as well as her +own rich habit, if diamonds, pearls and all sorts of precious +stones can be called clothes,"</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page430" id= +"page430"></a>{430}</span> +<p>She had but recently risen from the bed of confinement and the +delicacy of her appearance added to her attractions. A table was +spread for a public entertainment, around which all the dignitaries +of the realm were assembled—dukes who could lead thousands of +troops into the field, bold barons, with their bronzed followers, +whose iron sinews had been toughened in innumerable wars. It was a +warm summer day, and the cheek of the youthful queen glowed with +the warmth and with the excitement of the hour. Her beautiful hair +fell in ringlets upon her shoulders and over her full bosom. She +sat at the head of the table all queenly in loveliness, and +imperial in character. The bold, high-spirited nobles, who +surrounded her, could appreciate her position, assailed by half the +monarchies of Europe, and left alone to combat them all. Their +chivalrous enthusiasm was thus aroused.</p> +<p>The statesmen of Vienna had endeavored to dissuade the queen +from making any appeal to the Hungarians. When Charles VI. made an +effort to secure their assent to the Pragmatic Sanction, the +war-worn barons replied haughtily, "We are accustomed to be +governed by men, not by women." The ministers at Vienna feared, +therefore, that the very sight of the queen, youthful, frail and +powerless, would stir these barons to immediate insurrection, and +that they would scorn such a sovereign to guide them in the fierce +wars which her crown involved. But Maria Theresa better understood +human nature. She believed that the same barons, who would resist +the demands of the Emperor Charles VI., would rally with enthusiasm +around a defenseless woman, appealing to them for aid. The +cordiality and ever-increasing glow of ardor with which she was +greeted at the coronation and at the dinner encouraged her +hopes.</p> +<p>She summoned all the nobles to meet her in the great hall of the +castle. The hall was crowded with as brilliant an assemblage of +rank and power as Hungary could furnish. The queen entered, +accompanied by her retinue. She was <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page431" id="page431"></a>{431}</span> dressed in deep mourning, +in the Hungarian costume, with the crown of St. Stephen upon her +brow, and the regal cimiter at her side. With a majestic step she +traversed the apartment, and ascended the platform or tribune from +whence the Kings of Hungary were accustomed to address their +congregated lords. All eyes were fixed upon her, and the most +solemn silence pervaded the assemblage.</p> +<p>The Latin language was then, in Hungary, the language of +diplomacy and of the court. All the records of the kingdom were +preserved in that language, and no one spoke, in the deliberations +of the diet, but in the majestic tongue of ancient Rome. The queen, +after a pause of a few moments, during which she carefully scanned +the assemblage, addressing them in Latin, said:—</p> +<p>"The disastrous situation of our affairs has moved us to lay +before our dear and faithful States of Hungary, the recent invasion +of Austria, the danger now impending over this kingdom, and a +proposal for the consideration of a remedy. The very existence of +the kingdom of Hungary, of our own person, of our children and our +crown, is now at stake. Forsaken by all, we place our sole resource +in the fidelity, arms and long tried valor of the Hungarians; +exhorting you, the states and orders, to deliberate without delay +in this extreme danger, on the most effectual measures for the +security of our person, of our children and of our crown, and to +carry them into immediate execution. In regard to ourself, the +faithful states and orders of Hungary shall experience our hearty +coöperation in all things which may promote the pristine +happiness of this ancient kingdom, and the honor of the +people."</p> +<p>(Some may feel interested in reading this speech in the original +Latin, as it is now found recorded in the archives of Hungary. It +is as follows:</p> +<p>"Allocutio Reginæ Hungariæ Mariæ +Theresiæ, anno 1741. Afflictus rerum nostrarum status nos +movit, ut fidelibus perchari regni Hungariæ statibus de +hostili provinciæ nostræ hereditariæ, +Austriæ invasione, et imminente <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page432" id="page432"></a>{432}</span> regno +huic periculo, adeoque de considerando remedio propositionem +scrïpto facíamus. Agitur de regno Hungarïa, de +persona nostrâ, prolibus nostris, et coronâ, ab omnibus +derelictï, unice ad inclytorum statuum fidelitatem, arma, et +Hungarorum priscam virtutem confugimus, ímpense hortantes, +velint status et ordines in hoc maximo periculo de securitate +personæ nostræ, prolium, coronæ, et regni quanto +ocius consulere, et ea in effectum etiam deducere. Quantum ex parte +nostra est, quæcunque pro pristina regni hujus +felicïtate, et gentis decore forent, in iis omnibus +benignitatem et clementiam nostram regiam fideles status et ordines +regni experturi sunt.")</p> +<p>The response was instantaneous and emphatic. A thousand warriors +drew their sabers half out of their scabbards, and then thrust them +back to the hilt, with a clangor like the clash of swords on the +field of battle. Then with one voice they shouted, "Moriamur pro +nostra rege, Maria Theresa"—<i>We will die for our sovereign, +Maria Theresa</i>.</p> +<p>The queen, until now, had preserved a perfectly calm and +composed demeanor. But this outburst of enthusiasm overpowered her, +and forgetting the queen, she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes +and burst into a flood of tears. No manly heart could stand this +unmoved. Every eye was moistened, every heart throbbed with +admiration and devotion, and a scene of indescribable enthusiasm +ensued. Hungary was now effectually roused, and Maria Theresa was +queen of all hearts. Every noble was ready to march his vassals and +to open his purse at her bidding. All through the wide extended +realm, the enthusiasm rolled like an inundation. The remote tribes +on the banks of the Save, the Theiss, the Drave, and the lower +Danube flocked to her standards. They came, semi-savage bands, in +uncouth garb, and speaking unintelligible tongues—Croats, +Pandours, Sclavonians, Warusdinians and Tolpaches. Germany was +astounded at the spectacle of these wild, fierce men, apparently as +tameless and as fearless as wolves. The enthusiasm spread rapidly +all over the States of Austria. The young men, and especially the +students in the universities, espoused the cause of the queen with +deathless fervor. Vienna was strongly fortified, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page433" id="page433"></a>{433}</span> all hands +engaging in the work. So wonderful was this movement, that the +allies were alarmed. They had already become involved in quarrels +about the division of the anticipated booty.</p> +<p>Frederic of Prussia was the first to implore peace. The Elector +of Bavaria was a rival sovereign, and Frederic preferred seeing +Austria in the hands of the queen, rather than in the hands of the +elector. He was, therefore, anxious to withdraw from the +confederacy, and to oppose the allies. The queen, as anxious as +Frederic to come to an accommodation, sent an ambassador to +ascertain his terms. In laconic phrase, characteristic of this +singular man, he returned the following answer:—</p> +<p>"All lower Silesia; the river Neiss for the boundary. The town +of Neiss as well as Glatz. Beyond the Oder the ancient limits to +continue between the duchies of Brieg and Oppelon. Breslau for us. +The affairs of religion in <i>statu quo</i>. No dependence on +Bohemia; a cession forever. In return we will proceed no further. +We will besiege Neiss for form. The commandant shall surrender and +depart. We will pass quietly into winter quarters, and the Austrian +army may go where they will. Let the whole be concluded in twelve +days."</p> +<p>These terms were assented to. The king promised never to ask any +further territory from the queen, and not to act offensively +against the queen or any of her allies. Though the queen placed not +the slightest confidence in the integrity of the Prussian monarch, +she rejoiced in this treaty, which enabled her to turn all her +attention to her other foes. The allies were now in possession of +nearly all of Bohemia and were menacing Prague.</p> +<p>The Duke of Lorraine hastened with sixty thousand men to the +relief of the capital. He had arrived within nine miles of the +city, when he learned, to his extreme chagrin, that the preceding +night Prague had been taken by surprise. That <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page434" id="page434"></a>{434}</span> very day +the Elector of Bavaria made a triumphal entry into the town, and +was soon crowned King of Bohemia. And now the electoral diet of +Germany met, and, to the extreme disappointment of Maria Theresa, +chose, as Emperor of Germany, instead of her husband, the Elector +of Bavaria, whom they also acknowledged King of Bohemia. He +received the imperial crown at Frankfort on the 12th of February, +1742, with the title of Charles VII.</p> +<p>The Duke of Lorraine having been thus thwarted in his plan of +relieving Prague, and not being prepared to assail the allied army +in possession of the citadel, and behind the ramparts of the city, +detached a part of his army to keep the enemy in check, and sent +General Kevenhuller, with thirty thousand men, to invade and take +possession of Bavaria, now nearly emptied of its troops. By very +sagacious movements the general soon became master of all the +defiles of the Bavarian mountains. He then pressed forward, +overcoming all opposition, and in triumph entered Munich, the +capital of Bavaria, the very day Charles was chosen emperor. Thus +the elector, as he received the imperial crown, dropped his own +hereditary estates from his hand.</p> +<p>This triumph of the queen's arms alarmed Frederic of Prussia. He +reposed as little confidence in the honesty of the Austrian court +as they reposed in him. He was afraid that the queen, thus +victorious, would march her triumphant battalions into Silesia and +regain the lost duchy. He consequently, in total disregard of his +treaty, and without troubling himself to make any declaration of +war, resumed hostilities. He entered into a treaty with his old +rival, the Elector of Bavaria, now King of Bohemia, and Emperor of +Germany. Receiving from the emperor large accessions of territory, +Frederic devoted his purse and array to the allies. His armies were +immediately in motion. They overran Moravia, and were soon in +possession of all of its most important fortresses. All the +energies of Frederic were consecrated <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page435" id="page435"></a>{435}</span> to any +cause in which he enlisted. He was indefatigable in his activity. +With no sense of dishonor in violating a solemn treaty, with no +sense of shame in conspiring with banded despots against a youthful +queen, of whose youth, and feebleness and feminine nature they +wished to take advantage that they might rob her of her +possessions, Frederic rode from camp to camp, from capital to +capital, to infuse new vigor into the alliance. He visited the +Elector of Saxony at Dresden, then galloped to Prague, then +returned through Moravia, and placed himself at the head of his +army. Marching vigorously onward, he entered upper Austria. His +hussars spread terror in all directions, even to the gates of +Vienna.</p> +<p>The Hungarian troops pressed forward in defense of the queen. +Wide leagues of country were desolated by war, as all over Germany +the hostile battalions swept to and fro. The Duke of Lorraine +hastened from Moravia for the defense of Vienna, while detached +portions of the Austrian army were on the rapid march, in all +directions, to join him. On the 16th of May, 1742, the Austrian +army, under the Duke of Lorraine, and the Prussian army under +Frederic, encountered each other, in about equal numbers, at +Chazleau. Equal in numbers, equal in skill, equal in bravery, they +fought with equal success. After several hours of awful carnage, +fourteen thousand corpses strewed the ground. Seven thousand were +Austrians, seven thousand Prussians. The Duke of Lorraine retired +first, leaving a thousand prisoners, eighteen pieces of artillery +and two standards, with the foe; but he took with him, captured +from the Prussians, a thousand prisoners, fourteen cannon, and two +standards. As the duke left Frederic in possession of the field, it +was considered a Prussian victory. But it was a victory decisive of +no results, as each party was alike crippled. Frederic was much +disappointed. He had anticipated the annihilation of the Austrian +army, and a triumphant march to Vienna, where, in the palaces of +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page436" id= +"page436"></a>{436}</span> the Austrian kings, he intended to +dictate terms to the prostrate monarchy.</p> +<p>The queen had effectually checked his progress, new levies were +crowding to her aid, and it was in vain for Frederic, with his +diminished and exhausted regiments, to undertake an assault upon +the ramparts of Vienna. Again he proposed terms of peace. He +demanded all of upper as well as lower Silesia, and the county of +Glatz, containing nearly seven hundred square miles, and a +population of a little over sixty thousand. Maria Theresa, crowded +by her other enemies, was exceedingly anxious to detach a foe so +powerful and active, and she accordingly assented to the hard +terms. This new treaty was signed at Breslau, on the 11th of June, +and was soon ratified by both sovereigns. The Elector of Saxony was +also included in this treaty and retired from the contest.</p> +<p>The withdrawal of these forces seemed to turn the tide of battle +in favor of the Austrians. The troops from Hungary fought with the +most romantic devotion. A band of Croats in the night swam across a +river, with their sabers in their mouths, and climbing on each +other's shoulders, scaled the walls of the fortress of Piseck, and +made the garrison prisoners of war. The Austrians, dispersing the +allied French and Bavarians in many successful skirmishes, advanced +to the walls of Prague. With seventy thousand men, the Duke of +Lorraine commenced the siege of this capital, so renowned in the +melancholy annals of war. The sympathies of Europe began to turn in +favor of Maria Theresa. It became a general impression, that the +preservation of the Austrian monarchy was essential to hold France +in check, which colossal power seemed to threaten the liberties of +Europe. The cabinet of England was especially animated by this +sentiment, and a change in the ministry being effected, the court +of St. James sent assurances to Vienna of their readiness to +support the queen with the whole power of the British empire. Large +supplies of men and money were immediately voted. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page437" id="page437"></a>{437}</span> Sixteen +thousand men were landed in Flanders to cooperate with the Austrian +troops. Holland, instigated by the example of England, granted +Maria Theresa a subsidy of eight hundred and forty thousand +florins. The new Queen of Russia, also, Elizabeth, daughter of +Peter the Great, adopted measures highly favorable to Austria.</p> +<p>In Italy affairs took a singular turn in favor of the Austrian +queen. The King of Sardinia, ever ready to embark his troops in any +enterprise which gave him promise of booty, alarmed by the grasping +ambition of France and Spain, who were ever seizing the lion's +share in all plunder, seeing that he could not hope for much +advantage in his alliance with them, proposed to the queen that if +she would cede to him certain of the Milanese provinces, he would +march his troops into her camp. This was a great gain for Maria +Theresa. The Sardinian troops guarding the passes of the Alps, shut +out the French, during the whole campaign, from entering Italy. At +the same time the Sardinian king, with another portion of his army, +aided by the Austrian troops, overran the whole duchy of Modena, +and drove out the Spaniards. The English fleet in the Mediterranean +cooperated in this important measure. By the threat of a +bombardment they compelled the King of Naples to withdraw from the +French and Spanish alliance. Thus Austria again planted her foot in +Italy. This extraordinary and unanticipated success created the +utmost joy and exultation in Vienna. The despondency of the French +court was correspondingly great. A few months had totally changed +the aspect of affairs. The allied troops were rapidly melting away, +with none to fill up the dwindling ranks. The proud army which had +swept over Germany, defying all opposition, was now cooped up +within the walls of Prague, beleaguered by a foe whom victory had +rendered sanguine. The new emperor, claiming the crown of Austria, +had lost his own territory of Bavaria; and the capital of Bohemia, +where he had so recently been enthroned, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page438" id="page438"></a>{438}</span> was +hourly in peril of falling into the hands of his foes.</p> +<p>Under these circumstances the hopes of the Duke of Bavaria sank +rapidly into despair. The hour of disaster revealed a meanness of +spirit which prosperity had not developed. He sued for peace, +writing a dishonorable and cringing letter, in which he protested +that he was not to blame for the war, but that the whole guilt +rested upon the French court, which had inveigled him to present +his claim and commence hostilities. Maria Theresa made no other +reply to this humiliating epistle than to publish it, and give it a +wide circulation throughout Europe. Cardinal Fleury, the French +minister of state, indignant at this breach of confidence, sent to +the cabinet of Vienna a remonstrance and a counter statement. This +paper also the queen gave to the public.</p> +<p>Marshal Belleisle was in command of the French and Bavarian +troops, which were besieged in Prague. The force rapidly gathering +around him was such as to render retreat impossible. The city was +unprepared for a siege, and famine soon began to stare the citizens +and garrison in the face. The marshal, reduced to the last +extremity, offered to evacuate the city and march out of Bohemia, +if he could be permitted to retire unmolested, with arms, artillery +and baggage. The Duke of Lorraine, to avoid a battle which would be +rendered sanguinary through despair, was ready and even anxious to +assent to these terms. His leading generals were of the same +opinion, as they wished to avoid a needless effusion of blood.</p> +<p>The offered terms of capitulation were sent to Maria Theresa. +She rejected them with disdain. She displayed a revengeful spirit, +natural, perhaps, under the circumstances, but which reflects but +little honor upon her character.</p> +<p>"I will not," she replied, in the presence of the whole court; +"I will not grant any capitulation to the French army. I will +listen to no terms, to no proposition from Cardinal <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page439" id="page439"></a>{439}</span> Fleury. I +am astonished that he should come to me now with proposals for +peace; <i>he</i> who endeavored to excite all the princes of +Germany to crush me. I have acted with too much condescension to +the court of France. Compelled by the necessities of my situation I +debased my royal dignity by writing to the cardinal in terms which +would have softened the most obdurate rock. He insolently rejected +my entreaties; and the only answer I obtained was that his most +Christian majesty had contracted engagements which he could not +violate. I can prove, by documents now in my possession, that the +French endeavored to excite sedition even in the heart of my +dominions; that they attempted to overturn the fundamental laws of +the empire, and to set all Germany in a flame. I will transmit +these proofs to posterity as a warning to the empire."</p> +<p>The ambition of Maria Theresa was now greatly roused. She +resolved to retain the whole of Bavaria which she had taken from +the elector. The duchy of Lorraine, which had been wrested from her +husband, was immediately to be invaded and restored to the empire. +The dominions which had been torn from her father in Italy were to +be reannexed to the Austrian crown, and Alsace upon the Rhine was +to be reclaimed. Thus, far from being now satisfied with the +possessions she had inherited from her father, her whole soul was +roused, in these hours of triumph, to conquer vast accessions for +her domains. She dreamed only of conquest, and in her elation +parceled out the dominions of France and Bavaria as liberally and +as unscrupulously as they had divided among themselves the domain +of the house of Austria.</p> +<p>The French, alarmed, made a great effort to relieve Prague. An +army, which on its march was increased to sixty thousand men, was +sent six hundred miles to cross rivers, to penetrate defiles of +mountains crowded with hostile troops, that they might rescue +Prague and its garrison from the besiegers. With consummate skill +and energy this critical <span class="pagenum"><a name="page440" +id="page440"></a>{440}</span> movement was directed by General +Mallebois. The garrison of the city were in a state of great +distress. The trenches were open and the siege was pushed with +great vigilance. All within the walls of the beleaguered city were +reduced to extreme suffering. Horse flesh was considered a delicacy +which was reserved for the sick. The French made sally after sally +to spike the guns which were battering down the walls. As +Mallebois, with his powerful reënforcement, drew near, their +courage rose. The Duke of Lorraine became increasingly anxious to +secure the capitulation before the arrival of the army of relief, +and proposed a conference to decide upon terms, which should be +transmitted for approval to the courts of Vienna and of Paris. But +the imperious Austrian queen, as soon as she heard of this +movement, quite regardless of the feelings of her husband, whom she +censured as severely as she would any corporal in the army, issued +orders prohibiting, peremptorily, any such conference.</p> +<p>"I will not suffer," she said "any council to be held in the +army. From Vienna alone are orders to be received. I disavow and +forbid all such proceedings, <i>let the blame fall where it +may</i>."</p> +<p>She knew full well that it was her husband who had proposed this +plan; and he knew, and all Austria knew, that it was the Duke of +Lorraine who was thus severely and publicly reprimanded. But the +husband of Maria Theresa was often reminded that he was but the +subject of the queen. So peremptory a mandate admitted of no +compromise. The Austrians plied their batteries with new vigor, the +wan and skeleton soldiers fought perseveringly at their embrasures; +and the battalions of Mallebois, by forced marches, pressed on +through the mountains of Bohemia, to the eventful arena. A division +of the Austrian army was dispatched to the passes of Satz and +Caden, which it would be necessary for the French to thread, in +approaching Prague. The troops of <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page441" id="page441"></a>{441}</span> Mallebois, when they +arrived at these defiles, were so exhausted by their long and +forced marches, that they were incapable of forcing their way +against the opposition they encountered in the passes of the +mountains. After a severe struggle, Mallebois was compelled to +relinquish the design of relieving Prague, and storms of snow +beginning to incumber his path, he retired across the Danube, and +throwing up an intrenched camp, established himself in winter +quarters. The Austrian division, thus successful, returned to +Prague, and the blockade was resumed. There seemed to be now no +hope for the French, and their unconditional surrender was hourly +expected. Affairs were in this state, when Europe was astounded by +the report that the French general, Belleisle, with a force of +eleven thousand foot and three thousand horse, had effected his +escape from the battered walls of the city and was in successful +retreat.</p> +<p>It was the depth of winter. The ground was covered with snow, +and freezing blasts swept the fields. The besiegers were compelled +to retreat to the protection of their huts. Taking advantage of a +cold and stormy night, Belleisle formed his whole force into a +single column, and, leaving behind him his sick and wounded, and +every unnecessary incumbrance, marched noiselessly but rapidly from +one of the gates of the city. He took with him but thirty cannon +and provisions for twelve days. It was a heroic but an awful +retreat. The army, already exhausted and emaciate by famine, toiled +on over morasses, through forests, over mountains, facing frost and +wind and snow, and occasionally fighting their way against their +foes, until on the twelfth day they reached Egra on the frontiers +of Bavaria, about one hundred and twenty miles east from +Prague.</p> +<p>Their sufferings were fearful: They had nothing to eat but +frozen bread, and at night they sought repose, tentless, and upon +the drifted snow. The whole distance was strewed with the bodies of +the dead. Each morning mounds of frozen <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page442" id="page442"></a>{442}</span> corpses +indicated the places of the night's bivouac. Twelve hundred +perished during this dreadful march. Of those who survived, many, +at Egra, were obliged to undergo the amputation of their frozen +limbs. General Belleisle himself, during the whole retreat, was +suffering from such a severe attack of rheumatism, that he was +unable either to walk or ride. His mind, however, was full of vigor +and his energies unabated. Carried in a sedan chair he reconnoitred +the way, pointed out the roads, visited every part of the extended +line of march, encouraged the fainting troops, and superintended +all the minutest details of the retreat. "Notwithstanding the +losses of his army," it is recorded, "he had the satisfaction of +preserving the flower of the French forces, of saving every cannon +which bore the arms of his master, and of not leaving the smallest +trophy to grace the triumph of the enemy."</p> +<p>In the citadel of Prague, Belleisle had left six thousand +troops, to prevent the eager pursuit of the Austrians. The Prince +Sobcuitz, now in command of the besieging force, mortified and +irritated by the escape, sent a summons to the garrison demanding +its immediate and unconditional surrender. Chevert, the gallant +commander, replied to the officer who brought the +summons,—</p> +<p>"Tell the prince that if he will not grant me the honors of war, +I will set fire to the four corners of Prague, and bury myself +under its ruins."</p> +<p>The destruction of Prague, with all its treasures of +architecture and art, was too serious a calamity to be hazarded. +Chevert was permitted to retire with the honors of war, and with +his division he soon rejoined the army at Egra. Maria Theresa was +exceedingly chagrined by the escape of the French, and in the +seclusion of her palace she gave vent to the bitterness of her +anguish. In public, however, she assumed an attitude of triumph and +great exultation in view of the recovery of Prague. She celebrated +the event by magnificent entertainments. In imitation of the +Olympic games, she <span class="pagenum"><a name="page443" id= +"page443"></a>{443}</span> established chariot races, in which +ladies alone were the competitors, and even condescended herself, +with her sister, to enter the lists.</p> +<p>All Bohemia, excepting Egra, was now reclaimed. Early in the +spring Maria Theresa visited Prague, where, on the 12th of May, +1743, with great splendor she was crowned Queen of Bohemia. General +Belleisle, leaving a small garrison at Egra, with the remnant of +his force crossed the Rhine and returned to France. He had entered +Germany a few months before, a conqueror at the head of forty +thousand men. He retired a fugitive with eight thousand men in his +train, ragged, emaciate and mutilated.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page444" id= +"page444"></a>{444}</span> +<h2><a name="chap28" id="chap28">CHAPTER XXVIII</a>.</h2> +<h3>MARIA THERESA.</h3> +<h4>From 1743 to 1748.</h4> +<p class="summary">Prosperous Aspect of Austrian +Affairs.—Capture of Egra.—Vast Extent of +Austria.—Dispute with Sardinia.—Marriage of Charles of +Lorraine with The Queen's Sister.—Invasion of +Alsace.—Frederic Overruns Bohemia.— Bohemia Recovered +by Prince Charles.—Death of the Emperor Charles +VII.—Venality of the Old Monarchies.—Battle of +Hohenfriedberg.—Sir Thomas Robinson's Interview with Maria +Theresa.—Hungarian Enthusiasm.—The Duke of Lorraine +Elected Emperor.—Continuation of the War.—Treaty of +Peace.—Indignation of Maria Theresa.</p> +<p>The cause of Maria Theresa, at the commencement of the year +1743, was triumphant all over her widely extended domains. Russia +was cordial in friendship. Holland, in token of hostility to +France, sent the queen an efficient loan of six thousand men, +thoroughly equipped for the field. The King of Sardinia, grateful +for his share in the plunder of the French and Spanish provinces in +Italy, and conscious that he could retain those spoils only by the +aid of Austria, sent to the queen, in addition to the +coöperation of his armies, a gift of a million of dollars. +England, also, still anxious to check the growth of France, +continued her subsidy of a million and a half, and also with both +fleet and army contributed very efficient military aid. The whole +force of Austria was now turned against France. The French were +speedily driven from Bavaria; and Munich, the capital, fell into +the hands of the Austrians. The emperor, in extreme dejection, +unable to present any front of resistance, sent to the queen +entreating a treaty of neutrality, offering to withdraw all claims +to the <span class="pagenum"><a name="page445" id= +"page445"></a>{445}</span> Austrian succession, and consenting to +leave his Bavarian realm in the hands of Maria Theresa until a +general peace. The emperor, thus humiliated and stripped of all his +territories, retired to Frankfort.</p> +<p>On the 7th of September Egra was captured, and the queen was +placed in possession of all her hereditary domains. The wonderful +firmness and energy which she had displayed, and the consummate +wisdom with which she had conceived and executed her measures, +excited the admiration of Europe. In Vienna, and throughout all the +States of Austria, her popularity was unbounded. After the battle +of Dettingen, in which her troops gained a decisive victory, as the +queen was returning to Vienna from a water excursion, she found the +banks of the Danube, for nine miles, crowded with her rejoicing +subjects. In triumph she was escorted into the capital, greeted by +every demonstration of the most enthusiastic joy.</p> +<p>Austria and England were now prepared to mature their plans for +the dismemberment of France. The commissioners met at Hanau, a +small fortified town, a few miles east of Frankfort. They met, +however, only to quarrel fiercely. Austrian and English pride +clashed in instant collision. Lord Stair, imperious and irritable, +regarded the Austrians as outside barbarians whom England was +feeding, clothing and protecting. The Austrian officers regarded +the English as remote islanders from whom they had hired money and +men. The Austrians were amazed at the impudence of the English in +assuming the direction of affairs. The British officers were +equally astounded that the Austrians should presume to take the +lead. No plan of coöperation could be agreed upon, and the +conference broke up in confusion,</p> +<p>The queen, whose heart was still fixed upon the elevation of her +husband to the throne of the empire, was anxious to depose the +emperor. But England was no more willing to see Austria dominant +over Europe than to see France thus powerful. Maria Theresa was now +in possession of all her <span class="pagenum"><a name="page446" +id="page446"></a>{446}</span> vast ancestral domains, and England +judged that it would endanger the balance of power to place upon +the brow of her husband the imperial crown. The British cabinet +consequently espoused the cause of the Elector of Bavaria, and +entered into a private arrangement with him, agreeing to +acknowledge him as emperor, and to give him an annual pension that +he might suitably support the dignity of his station. The wealth of +England seems to have been inexhaustible, for half the monarchs of +Europe have, at one time or other, been fed and clothed from her +treasury. George II. contracted to pay the emperor, within forty +days, three hundred thousand dollars, and to do all in his power to +constrain the queen of Austria to acknowledge his title.</p> +<p>Maria Theresa had promised the King of Sardinia large accessions +of territory in Italy, as the price for his coöperation. But +now, having acquired those Italian territories, she was exceedingly +reluctant to part with any one of them, and very dishonorably +evaded, by every possible pretense, the fulfillment of her +agreement. The queen considered herself now so strong that she was +not anxious to preserve the alliance of Sardinia. She thought her +Italian possessions secure, even in case of the defection of the +Sardinian king. Sardinia appealed to England, as one of the allies, +to interpose for the execution of the treaty. To the remonstrance +of England the queen peevishly replied,</p> +<p>"It is the policy of England to lead me from one sacrifice to +another. I am expected to expose my troops for no other end than +voluntarily to strip myself of my possessions. Should the cession +of the Italian provinces, which the King of Sardinia claims, be +extorted from me, what remains in Italy will not be worth +defending, and the only alternative left is that of being stripped +either by England or France."</p> +<p>While the queen was not willing to give as much as she had +agreed to bestow, the greedy King of Sardinia was grasping at more +than she had promised. At last the king, in a <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page447" id="page447"></a>{447}</span> rage +threatened, that if she did not immediately comply with his +demands, he would unite with France and Spain and the emperor +against Austria. This angry menace brought the queen to terms, and +articles of agreement satisfactory to Sardinia were signed. During +the whole of this summer of 1743, though large armies were +continually in motion, and there were many sanguinary battles, and +all the arts of peace were destroyed, and conflagration, death and +woe were sent to ten thousand homes, nothing effectual was +accomplished by either party. The strife did not cease until winter +drove the weary combatants to their retreats.</p> +<p>For the protection of the Austrian possessions against the +French and Spanish, the queen agreed to maintain in Italy an army +of thirty thousand men, to be placed under the command of the King +of Sardinia, who was to add to them an army of forty-five thousand. +England, with characteristic prodigality, voted a million of +dollars annually, to aid in the payment of these troops. It was the +object of England, to prevent France from strengthening herself by +Italian possessions. The cabinet of St. James took such an interest +in this treaty that, to secure its enactment, one million five +hundred thousand dollars were paid down, in addition to the annual +subsidy. England also agreed to maintain a strong squadron in the +Mediterranean to coöperate with Sardinia and Austria.</p> +<p>Amidst these scenes of war, the usual dramas of domestic life +moved on. Prince Charles of Lorraine, had long been ardently +attached to Mary Anne, younger sister of Maria Theresa. The young +prince had greatly signalized himself on the field of battle. Their +nuptials were attended in Vienna with great splendor and +rejoicings. It was a union of loving hearts. Charles was appointed +to the government of the Austrian Netherlands. One short and happy +year passed away, when Mary Anne, in the sorrows of child-birth, +breathed her last.</p> +<p>The winter was passed by all parties in making the most +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page448" id= +"page448"></a>{448}</span> vigorous preparations for a new +campaign. England and France were now thoroughly aroused, and +bitterly irritated against each other. Hitherto they had acted as +auxiliaries for other parties. Now they summoned all their +energies, and became principals in the conflict. France issued a +formal declaration of war against England and Austria, raised an +army of one hundred thousand men, and the debauched king himself, +Louis XV., left his <i>Pare Aux Cerfs</i> and placed himself at the +head of the army. Marshal Saxe was the active commander. He was +provided with a train of artillery superior to any which had ever +before appeared on any field. Entering the Netherlands he swept all +opposition before him.</p> +<p>The French department of Alsace, upon the Rhine, embraced over +forty thousand square miles of territory, and contained a +population of about a million. While Marshal Saxe was ravaging the +Netherlands, an Austrian army, sixty thousand strong, crossed the +Rhine, like a torrent burst into Alsace, and spread equal ravages +through the cities and villages of France. Bombardment echoed to +bombardment; conflagration blazed in response to conflagration; and +the shrieks of the widow, and the moans of the orphan which rose +from the marshes of Burgundy, were reechoed in an undying wail +along the valleys of the Rhine.</p> +<p>The King of France, alarmed by the progress which the Austrians +were making in his own territories, ordered thirty thousand troops, +from the army in the Netherlands, to be dispatched to the +protection of Alsace. Again the tide was turning against Maria +Theresa. She had become so arrogant and exacting, that she had +excited the displeasure of nearly all the empire. She persistently +refused to acknowledge the emperor, who, beyond all dispute, was +legally elected; she treated the diet contemptuously; she did not +disguise her determination to hold Bavaria by the right of +conquest, and to annex it to Austria; she had compelled the +Bavarians to take the oath of allegiance to her; she was avowedly +meditating <span class="pagenum"><a name="page449" id= +"page449"></a>{449}</span> gigantic projects in the conquest of +France and Italy; and it was very evident that she was maturing her +plans for the reconquest of Silesia. Such inordinate ambition +alarmed all the neighboring courts. Frederic of Prussia was +particularly alarmed lest he should lose Silesia. With his +accustomed energy he again drew his sword against the queen, and +became the soul of a new confederacy which combined many of the +princes of the empire whom the haughty queen had treated with so +much indignity. In this new league, formed by Frederic, the Elector +Palatine and the King of Sweden were brought into the field against +Maria Theresa. All this was effected with the utmost secrecy, and +the queen had no intimation of her danger until the troops were in +motion. Frederic published a manifesto in which he declared that he +took up arms "to restore to the German empire its liberty, to the +emperor his dignity, and to Europe repose."</p> +<p>With his strong army he burst into Bohemia, now drained of its +troops to meet the war in the Netherlands and on the Rhine. With a +lion's tread, brushing all opposition away, he advanced to Prague. +The capital was compelled to surrender, and the garrison of fifteen +thousand troops became prisoners of war. Nearly all the fortresses +of the kingdom fell into his hands. Establishing garrisons at +Tabor, Budweiss, Frauenberg, and other important posts, he then +made an irruption into Bavaria, scattered the Austrian troops in +all directions, entered Munich in triumph, and reinstated the +emperor in the possession of his capital and his duchy. Such are +the fortunes of war. The queen heard these tidings of accumulated +disaster in dismay. In a few weeks of a summer's campaign, when she +supposed that Europe was almost a suppliant at her feet, she found +herself deprived of the Netherlands, of the whole kingdom of +Bohemia, the brightest jewel in her crown, and of the electorate of +Bavaria.</p> +<p>But the resolution and energy of the queen remained indomitable. +Maria Theresa and Frederic were fairly pitted <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page450" id="page450"></a>{450}</span> against +each other. It was Greek meeting Greek. The queen immediately +recalled the army from Alsace, and in person repaired to Presburg, +where she summoned a diet of the Hungarian nobles. In accordance +with an ancient custom, a blood-red flag waved from all the castles +in the kingdom, summoning the people to a levy <i>en masse</i>, or, +as it was then called, to a general insurrection. An army of nearly +eighty thousand men was almost instantly raised. A cotemporary +historian, speaking of this event, says:</p> +<p>"This amazing unanimity of a people so divided amongst +themselves as the Hungarians, especially in point of religion, +could only be effected by the address of Maria Theresa, who seemed +to possess one part of the character of Elizabeth of England, that +of making every man about her a hero."</p> +<p>Prince Charles re-crossed the Rhine, and, by a vigorous march +through Suabia, returned to Bohemia. By surprise, with a vastly +superior force, he assailed the fortresses garrisoned by the +Prussian troops, gradually took one after another, and ere long +drove the Prussians, with vast slaughter, out of the whole kingdom. +Though disaster, in this campaign, followed the banners of Maria +Theresa in the Netherlands and in Italy, she forgot those reverses +in exultation at the discomfiture of her great rival Frederic. She +had recovered Bohemia, and was now sanguine that she soon would +regain Silesia, the loss of which province ever weighed heavily +upon her heart. But in her character woman's weakness was allied +with woman's determination. She imagined that she could rouse the +chivalry of her allies as easily as that of the Hungarian barons, +and that foreign courts, forgetful of their own grasping ambition, +would place themselves as pliant instruments in her hands.</p> +<p>In this posture of affairs, the hand of Providence was again +interposed, in an event which removed from the path of the queen a +serious obstacle, and opened to her aspiring mind new visions of +grandeur. The Emperor Charles VII., an <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page451" id="page451"></a>{451}</span> amiable +man, of moderate abilities, was quite crushed in spirit by the +calamities accumulating upon him. Though he had regained his +capital, he was in hourly peril of being driven from it again. +Anguish so preyed upon his mind, that, pale and wan, he was thrown +upon a sick bed. While in this state he was very injudiciously +informed of a great defeat which his troops had encountered. It was +a death-blow to the emperor. He moaned, turned over in his bed, and +died, on the 20th of January, 1745.</p> +<p>The imperial crown was thus thrown down among the combatants, +and a scramble ensued for its possession such as Europe had never +witnessed before. Every court was agitated, and the combinations of +intrigue were as innumerable as were the aspirants for the crown. +The spring of 1745 opened with clouds of war darkening every +quarter of the horizon. England opened the campaign in Italy and +the Netherlands, her whole object now being to humble France. Maria +Theresa remained uncompromising in her disposition to relinquish +nothing and to grasp every thing. The cabinet of England, with far +higher views of policy, were anxious to detach some of the numerous +foes combined against Austria; but it was almost impossible to +induce the queen to make the slightest abatement of her desires. +She had set her heart upon annexing all of Bavaria to her realms. +That immense duchy, now a kingdom, was about the size of the State +of South Carolina, containing over thirty thousand square miles. +Its population amounted to about four millions. The death of the +Emperor Charles VII., who was Elector of Bavaria, transmitted the +sovereignty of this realm to his son, Maximilian Joseph.</p> +<p>Maximilian was anxious to withdraw from the strife. He agreed to +renounce all claim to the Austrian succession, to acknowledge the +validity of the queen's title, to dismiss the auxiliary troops, and +to give his electoral vote to the Duke of Lorraine for emperor. But +so eager was the queen to grasp <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page452" id="page452"></a>{452}</span> the Bavarian dominions, +that it was with the utmost difficulty that England could induce +her to accede even to these terms.</p> +<p>It is humiliating to record the readiness of these old +monarchies to sell themselves and their armies to any cause which +would pay the price demanded. For seven hundred and fifty thousand +dollars England purchased the alliance of Poland, and her army of +thirty thousand men. Before the treaty was formally ratified, the +Emperor Charles VII. died, and there were indications that Bavaria +would withdraw from the French alliance. This alarmed the French +ministry, and they immediately offered Poland a larger sum than +England had proffered, to send her army to the French camp. The +bargain was on the point of being settled, when England and Austria +again rushed in, and whispered in the ear of Augustus that they +intended to chastise the King of Prussia thoroughly, and that if +Poland would help them, Poland should be rewarded with generous +slices of the Prussian territory. This was a resistless bribe, and +the Polish banners were borne in the train of the Austrian +alliance.</p> +<p>The Duke of Lorraine was much annoyed by the imperial assumption +of his wife. She was anxious to secure for him the crown of +Germany, as adding to her power and grandeur. But Francis was still +more anxious to attain that dignity, as his position in the court, +as merely the docile subject of his wife, the queen, was +exceedingly humiliating. The spring of 1745 found all parties +prepared for the renewal of the fight. The drama was opened by the +terrible battle of Fontenoy in the Netherlands. On the 11th of May +eighty thousand French met the Austrian allied army of fifty +thousand. After a few hours of terrific slaughter the allies +retreated, leaving the French in possession of the field. In Italy, +also, the tide of war set against the queen. The French and +Spaniards poured an army of seventy thousand men over the Alps into +Italy. The queen, even with the aid of Sardinia, had no force +capable of resisting them. The allies swept the country. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page453" id= +"page453"></a>{453}</span> The King of Sardinia was driven behind +the walls of his capital. In this one short campaign Tortona, +Placentia, Parma, Pavia, Cazale and Aste were wrested from the +Austrians, and the citadels of Alexandria and Milan were +blockaded.</p> +<p>The queen had weakened her armies both in the Netherlands and +Italy that she might accumulate a force sufficient to recover +Silesia, and to crush, if possible, her great antagonist Frederic. +Maria Theresa was greatly elated by her success in driving the +Prussians from Bavaria, and Frederic was mortified and irritated by +this first defeat of his arms. Thus animated, the one by hope, the +other by vengeance, Maria and Frederic gathered all their resources +for a trial of strength on the plains of Silesia. France, fully +occupied in the Netherlands and in Italy, could render Frederic no +assistance. His prospects began to look dark. War had made sad +ravages in his army, and he found much difficulty in filling up his +wasted battalions. His treasury was exhausted. Still the +indomitable monarch indulged in no emotions of dejection.</p> +<p>Each party was fully aware of the vigilance and energy of its +antagonist. Their forces were early in the field. The month of +April was passed in stratagems and skirmishes, each endeavoring in +vain to obtain some advantage over the other in position or +combinations. Early in May there was a pretty severe conflict, in +which the Prussians gained the advantage. They feigned, however, +dejection and alarm, and apparently commenced a retreat. The +Austrians, emboldened by this subterfuge, pursued them with +indiscreet haste. Prince Charles pressed the retiring hosts, and +followed closely after them through the passes of the mountains to +Landshut and Friedburg. Frederic fled as if in a panic, throwing no +obstacle in the path of his pursuers, seeming only anxious to gain +the ramparts of Breslau. Suddenly the Prussians turned—the +whole army being concentrated in columns of enormous strength. They +had chosen their ground and their hour. It was before the break of +day on the 3d of June, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page454" id= +"page454"></a>{454}</span> among the hills of Hohenfriedberg. The +Austrians were taken utterly by surprise. For seven hours they +repelled the impetuous onset of their foes. But when four thousand +of their number were mangled corpses, seven thousand captives in +the hands of the enemy, seventy-six standards and sixty-six pieces +of artillery wrested from them, the broken bands of the Austrians +turned and fled, pursued and incessantly pelted by Frederic through +the defiles of the mountains back to Bohemia. The Austrians found +no rest till they had escaped beyond the Riesengeberg, and placed +the waves of the Elbe between themselves and their pursuers. The +Prussians followed to the opposite bank, and there the two armies +remained for three months looking each other in the face.</p> +<p>Frederic, having gained so signal a victory, again proposed +peace. England, exceedingly desirous to detach from the allies so +energetic a foe, urged the queen, in the strongest terms, to accede +to the overtures. The queen, however, never dismayed by adversity, +still adhered to her resolve to reconquer Silesia. The English +cabinet, finding Maria Theresa deaf to all their remonstrances and +entreaties, endeavored to intimidate her by the threat of +withdrawing their subsidies.</p> +<p>The English ambassador, Sir Thomas Robinson, with this object in +view, demanded an audience with the queen. The interview, as he has +recorded it, is worthy of preservation.</p> +<p>"England," said the ambassador to the queen, "has this year +furnished five million, three hundred and ninety-three thousand +seven hundred and sixty-five dollars. The nation is not in a +condition to maintain a superiority over the allies in the +Netherlands, Italy and Silesia. It is, therefore, indispensable to +diminish the force of the enemy. France can not be detached from +the alliance. Prussia can be and must be. This concession England +expects from Austria. What is to be done must be done immediately. +The King of Prussia can not be driven from Bohemia this campaign. +By making peace with him, and thus securing his voluntary +withdrawal, your <span class="pagenum"><a name="page455" id= +"page455"></a>{455}</span> majesty can send troops to the +Netherlands, and check the rapid progress of the French, who now +threaten the very existence of England and Holland. If they fall, +Austria must inevitably fall also. If peace can be, made with +Prussia France can be checked, and the Duke of Lorraine can be +chosen emperor."</p> +<p>"I feel exceedingly grateful," the queen replied, "to the king +and the English nation, and am ready to show it in every way in my +power. Upon this matter I will consult my ministers and acquaint +you with my answer. But whatever may be the decision, I can not +spare a man from the neighborhood of the King of Prussia. In peace, +as well as in war, I need them all for the defense of my person and +family."</p> +<p>"It is affirmed," Sir Thomas Robinson replied, "that seventy +thousand men are employed against Prussia. From such a force enough +might be spared to render efficient aid in Italy and in the +Netherlands."</p> +<p>"I can not spare a man," the queen abruptly replied.</p> +<p>Sir Thomas was a little touched, and with some spirit rejoined, +"If your majesty can not spare her troops for the general cause, +England will soon find it necessary to withdraw her armies also, to +be employed at home."</p> +<p>This was a home thrust, and the queen felt it, and replied, "But +why may we not as well detach France from the alliance, as +Prussia?"</p> +<p>"Because Prussia," was the reply, "can be more easily induced to +accede to peace, by allowing her to retain what she now has, than +France can be induced to yield, by surrendering, as she must, large +portions of her present acquisitions."</p> +<p>"I must have an opportunity," Maria Theresa continued, "to +strike Prussia another blow. Prince Charles has still enough men to +give battle."</p> +<p>"But should he be the victor in the battle," Sir Thomas replied, +"Silesia is not conquered. And if the battle be lost, your majesty +is well nigh ruined."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page456" id= +"page456"></a>{456}</span> +<p>"If I had determined," said the queen, "to make peace with +Frederic to-morrow, I would give him battle to-night. But why in +such a hurry? Why this interruption of operations which are by no +means to be despaired of? Give me only to October, and then you may +do as you please."</p> +<p>"October will close this campaign," was the answer. "Our affairs +are going so disastrously, that unless we can detach Prussia, by +that time France and Prussia will be able to dictate terms to which +we shall be compelled to accede."</p> +<p>"That might be true," the queen replied, tartly, "if I were to +waste my time, as you are urging me to do, in marching my troops +from Bohemia to the Rhine, and from the Rhine to the Netherlands. +But as for my troops, I have not a single general who would +condescend to command such merely <i>machinery</i> armies. As for +the Duke of Lorraine, and my brother, Prince Charles, they shall +not thus degrade themselves. The great duke is not so ambitious of +an empty honor, much less to enjoy it under the patronage of +Prussia. You speak of the imperial dignity! Is it compatible with +the loss of Silesia? Great God! give me only till October. I shall +then at least be able to secure better conditions."</p> +<p>The English ambassador now ventured, in guarded phrase, but very +decisively, to inform the queen that unless she could accede to +these views, England would be constrained to withdraw her +assistance, and, making the best terms she could for herself with +the enemy, leave Austria to fight her own battles; and that England +requested an immediate and a specific answer. Even this serious +menace did not move the inflexible will of the queen. She, with +much calmness, replied,</p> +<p>"It is that I might, with the utmost promptness, attend to this +business, that I have given you so expeditious an audience, and +that I have summoned my council to meet so early. I see, however, +very clearly, that whatever may be my decisions, they will have but +little influence upon measures which are to be adopted +elsewhere."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page457" id= +"page457"></a>{457}</span> +<p>The queen convened her council, and then informed England, in +most courteous phrase, that she could not accede to the +proposition. The British cabinet immediately entered into a private +arrangement with Prussia, guaranteeing to Frederic the possession +of Silesia, in consideration of Prussia's agreement not to molest +England's Hanoverian possessions.</p> +<p>Maria Theresa was exceedingly indignant when she became +acquainted with this treaty. She sent peremptory orders to Prince +Charles to prosecute hostilities with the utmost vigor, and with +great energy dispatched reënforcements to his camp. The +Hungarians, with their accustomed enthusiasm, flocked to the aid of +the queen; and Frederic, pressed by superior numbers, retreated +from Bohemia back to Silesia, pursued and pelted in his turn by the +artillery of Prince Charles. But Frederic soon turned upon his +foes, who almost surrounded him with double his own number of men. +His army was compact and in the highest state of discipline. A +scene of terrible carnage ensued, in which the Austrians, having +lost four thousand in killed and two thousand taken prisoners, were +utterly routed and scattered. The proud victor, gathering up his +weakened battalions, one fourth of whom had been either killed or +wounded in this short, fierce storm of war, continued his retreat +unmolested.</p> +<p>While Maria Theresa, with such almost superhuman inflexibility, +was pressing her own plans, the electoral diet of Germany was +assembled at Frankfort, and Francis, Duke of Lorraine, was chosen +emperor, with the title of Francis I. The queen was at Frankfort +when the diet had assembled, and was plying all her energies in +favor of her husband, while awaiting, with intense solicitude, the +result of the election. When the choice was announced to her, she +stepped out upon the balcony of the palace, and was the first to +shout, "Long live the emperor, Francis I." The immense concourse +assembled in the streets caught and reëchoed the cry. This +result was exceedingly gratifying to the queen; she regarded it as +a <span class="pagenum"><a name="page458" id= +"page458"></a>{458}</span> noble triumph, adding to the power and +the luster of her house.</p> +<p>The duke, now the emperor, was at Heidelberg, with an army of +sixty thousand men. The queen hastened to him with her +congratulations. The emperor, no longer a submissive subject, +received his queenly spouse with great dignity at the head of his +army. The whole host was drawn up in two lines, and the queen rode +between, bowing to the regiments on the right hand and the left, +with majesty and grace which all admired.</p> +<p>Though the queen's treasury was so exhausted that she had been +compelled to melt the church plate to pay her troops, she was now +so elated that, regardless of the storms of winter, she resolved to +send an army to Berlin, to chastise Frederic in his own capital, +and there recover long lost Silesia. But Frederic was not thus to +be caught napping. Informed of the plan, he succeeded in surprising +the Austrian army, and dispersed them after the slaughter of five +thousand men. The queen's troops, who had entered Silesia, were +thus driven pell-mell back to Bohemia. The Prussian king then +invaded Saxony, driving all before him. He took possession of the +whole electorate, and entered Dresden, its capital, in triumph. +This was a terrible defeat for the queen. Though she had often said +that she would part with her last garment before she would consent +to the surrender of Silesia, she felt now compelled to yield. +Accepting the proffered mediation of England, on the 25th of +December, 1745, she signed the treaty of Dresden, by which she left +Silesia in the hands of Frederic. He agreed to withdraw his troops +from Saxony, and to acknowledge the imperial title of Francis +I.</p> +<p>England, in consequence of rebellion at home, had been compelled +to withdraw her troops from the Netherlands; and France, advancing +with great vigor, took fortress after fortress, until nearly all of +the Low Countries had fallen into her hands. In Italy, however, the +Austrians were successful, and <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page459" id="page459"></a>{459}</span> Maria Theresa, having +dispatched thirty thousand troops to their aid, cherished sanguine +hopes that she might recover Milan and Naples. All the belligerent +powers, excepting Maria Theresa, weary of the long war, were +anxious for peace. She, however, still clung, with deathless +tenacity, to her determination to recover Silesia, and to win +provinces in Italy. England and France were equally desirous to +sheathe the sword. France could only attack England in the +Netherlands; England could only assail France in her marine. They +were both successful. France drove England from the continent; +England drove France from the ocean.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding the most earnest endeavors of the allies, Maria +Theresa refused to listen to any terms of peace, and succeeded in +preventing the other powers from coming to any accommodation. All +parties, consequently, prepared for another campaign. Prussia +entered into an alliance with Austria, by which she agreed to +furnish her with thirty thousand troops. The queen made gigantic +efforts to drive the French from the Netherlands. England and +Holland voted an army of forty thousand each. The queen furnished +sixty thousand; making an army of one hundred and forty thousand to +operate in the Netherlands. At the same time the queen sent sixty +thousand men to Italy, to be joined by forty-five thousand +Sardinians. All the energies of the English fleet were also +combined with these formidable preparations. Though never before +during the war had such forces been brought into the field, the +campaign was quite disastrous to Austria and her allies. Many +bloody battles were fought, and many thousands perished in agony; +but nothing of any importance was gained by either party. When +winter separated the combatants, they retired exhausted and +bleeding.</p> +<p>Again France made overtures for a general pacification, on terms +which were eminently honorable. England was disposed to listen to +those terms. But the queen had not yet accomplished her purposes, +and she succeeded in securing the <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page460" id="page460"></a>{460}</span> rejection of the proposals. +Again the belligerents gathered their resources, with still +increasing vigor, for another campaign. The British cabinet seemed +now to be out of all patience with Maria Theresa. They accused her +of not supplying the contingents she had promised, they threatened +to withhold their subsidies, many bitter recriminations passed, but +still the queen, undismayed by the contentions, urged forward her +preparations for the new campaign, till she was thunderstruck with +the tidings that the preliminaries of peace were already signed by +England, France and Holland.</p> +<p>Maria Theresa received the first formal notification of the +terms agreed to by the three contracting powers, from the English +minister, Sir Thomas Robinson, who urged her concurrence in the +treaty. The indignant queen could not refrain from giving free vent +to her displeasure. Listening for a moment impatiently to his +words, she overwhelmed him with a torrent of reproaches.</p> +<p>"You, sir," she exclaimed, "who had such a share in the +sacrifice of Silesia; you, who contributed more than any one in +procuring the cessions to Sardinia, do you still think to persuade +me? No! I am neither a child nor a fool! If you will have an +instant peace, make it. I can negotiate for myself. Why am I always +to be excluded from transacting my own business? My enemies will +give me better conditions than my friends. Place me where I was in +Italy before the war; but <i>your King of Sardinia</i> must have +all, without one thought for me. This treaty was not made for me, +but for him, for him singly. Great God, how have I been used by +that court! There is <i>your King of Prussia</i>! Indeed these +circumstances tear open too many old wounds and create too many new +ones. Agree to such a treaty as this!" she exclaimed indignantly. +"No, no, I will rather lose my head."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page461" id= +"page461"></a>{461}</span> +<h2><a name="chap29" id="chap29">CHAPTER XXIX</a>.</h2> +<h3>MARIA THERESA.</h3> +<h4>From 1748 to 1759.</h4> +<p class="summary">Treaty of Peace.—Dissatisfaction of Maria +Theresa.—Preparation for War.—Rupture between England +and Austria.—Maria Theresa.—Alliance with +France.—Influence of Marchioness of Pompadour.—Bitter +Reproaches Between Austria and England.—Commencement of the +Seven Years' War.—Energy of Frederic of +Prussia.—Sanguinary Battles.—Vicissitudes of +War.—Desperate Situation of Frederic.—Elation of Maria +Theresa.—Her Ambitious Plans.—Awful Defeat of the +Prussians at Berlin.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding the bitter opposition of Maria Theresa to peace, +the definitive treaty was signed at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 18th of +October, 1748, by France, England and Holland. Spain and Sardinia +soon also gave in their adhesion. The queen, finding it impossible +to resist the determination of the other powers, at length +reluctantly yielded, and accepted the terms, which they were ready +unitedly to enforce should she refuse to accede to them. By this +treaty all the contracting powers gave their assent to the +Pragmatic Sanction. The queen was required to surrender her +conquests in Italy, and to confirm her cessions of Silesia to +Prussia. Thus terminated this long and cruel war. Though at the +commencement the queen was threatened with utter destruction, and +she had come out from the contests with signal honor, retaining all +her vast possessions, excepting Silesia and the Italian provinces, +still she could not repress her chagrin. Her complaints were loud +and reiterated. When the British minister requested an audience to +congratulate her upon the return of peace, she snappishly +replied,</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page462" id= +"page462"></a>{462}</span> +<p>"A visit of condolence would be more proper, under these +circumstances, than one of congratulation. The British minister +will oblige me by making no allusion whatever to so disagreeable a +topic."</p> +<p>The queen was not only well aware that this peace could not long +continue, but was fully resolved that it should not be permanent. +Her great rival, Frederic, had wrested from her Silesia, and she +was determined that there should be no stable peace until she had +regained it. With wonderful energy she availed herself of this +short respite in replenishing her treasury and in recruiting her +armies. Frederic himself has recorded the masculine vigor with +which she prepared herself for the renewal of war.</p> +<p>"Maria Theresa," he says, "in the secrecy of her cabinet, +arranged those great projects which she afterwards carried into +execution. She introduced an order and economy into the finances +unknown to her ancestors; and her revenues far exceeded those of +her father, even when he was master of Naples, Parma, Silesia and +Servia. Having learned the necessity of introducing into her army a +better discipline, she annually formed camps in the provinces, +which she visited herself that she might animate the troops by her +presence and bounty. She established a military academy at Vienna, +and collected the most skillful professors of all the sciences and +exercises which tend to elucidate or improve the art of war. By +these institutions the army acquired, under Maria Theresa, such a +degree of perfection as it had never attained under any of her +predecessors; and a woman accomplished designs worthy of a great +man."</p> +<p>The queen immediately organized a standing army of one hundred +and eight thousand men, who were brought under the highest state of +discipline, and were encamped in such positions that they could, at +any day, be concentrated ready for combined action. The one great +object which now seemed to engross her mind was the recovery of +Silesia. It was, of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page463" id= +"page463"></a>{463}</span> course, a subject not to be spoken of +openly; but in secret conference with her ministers she unfolded +her plans and sought counsel. Her intense devotion to political +affairs, united to a mind of great activity and native strength, +soon placed her above her ministers in intelligence and sagacity; +and conscious of superior powers, she leaned less upon them, and +relied upon her own resources. With a judgment thus matured she +became convinced of the incapacity of her cabinet, and with great +skill in the discernment of character, chose Count Kaunitz, who was +then her ambassador at Paris, prime minister. Kaunitz, son of the +governor of Moravia, had given signal proof of his diplomatic +abilities, in Rome and in Paris. For nearly forty years he remained +at the head of foreign affairs, and, in conjunction with the queen, +administered the government of Austria.</p> +<p>Policy had for some time allied Austria and England, but there +had never been any real friendship between the two cabinets. The +high tone of superiority ever assumed by the court of St. James, +its offensive declaration that the arm of England alone had saved +the house of Austria from utter ruin, and the imperious demand for +corresponding gratitude, annoyed and exasperated the proud court of +Vienna. The British cabinet were frequently remonstrated with +against the assumption of such airs, and the employment of language +so haughty in their diplomatic intercourse. But the British +government has never been celebrated for courtesy in its +intercourse with weaker powers. The chancellor Kaunitz entreated +them, in their communications, to respect the sex and temper of the +queen, and not to irritate her by demeanor so overbearing. The +emperor himself entered a remonstrance against the discourtesy +which characterized their intercourse. Even the queen, unwilling to +break off friendly relations with her unpolished allies, complained +to the British ambassador of the arrogant style of the English +documents.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page464" id= +"page464"></a>{464}</span> +<p>"They do not," said the queen, "disturb me, but they give great +offense to others, and endanger the amity existing between the two +nations. I would wish that more courtesy might mark our +intercourse."</p> +<p>But the amenities of polished life, the rude islanders despised. +The British ambassador at Vienna, Sir Robert Keith, a gentlemanly +man, was often mortified at the messages he was compelled to +communicate to the queen. Occasionally the messages were couched in +terms so peremptory and offensive that he could not summon +resolution to deliver them, and thus he more than once incurred the +censure of the king and cabinet, for his sense of propriety and +delicacy. These remonstrances were all unavailing, and at length +the Austrian cabinet began to reply with equal rancor.</p> +<p>This state of things led the Austrian cabinet to turn to France, +and seek the establishment of friendly relations with that court. +Louis XV., the most miserable of debauchees, was nominally king. +His mistress, Jeanette Poisson, who was as thoroughly polluted as +her regal paramour, governed the monarch, and through him France. +The king had ennobled her with the title of Marchioness of +Pompadour. Her power was so boundless and indisputable that the +most illustrious ladies of the French court were happy to serve as +her waiting women. Whenever she walked out, one of the highest +nobles of the realm accompanied her as her attendant, obsequiously +bearing her shawl upon his arm, to spread it over her shoulders in +case it should be needed. Ambassadors and ministers she summoned +before her, assuming that air of royalty which she had purchased +with her merchantable charms. Voltaire, Diderot, Montesquieu, +waited in her ante-chambers, and implored her patronage. The +haughty mistress became even weary of their adulation.</p> +<p>"Not only," said she one day, to the Abbé de Bernis, +"have I all the nobility at my feet, but even my lap-dog is weary +of their fawning."</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page465" id= +"page465"></a>{465}</span> +<p>With many apologies for requiring of the high-minded Maria +Theresa a sacrifice, Kaunitz suggested to her the expediency of +cultivating the friendship of Pompadour. Silesia was engraved upon +the heart of the queen, and she was prepared to do any thing which +could aid her in the reconquest of that duchy. She stooped so low +as to write a letter with her own hand to the marchioness, +addressing her as "our dear friend and cousin."</p> +<p>This was a new triumph for Pompadour, and it delighted her +beyond measure. To have the most illustrious sovereign of Europe, +combining in her person the titles of Queen of Austria and Empress +of Germany, solicit her friendship and her good offices, so excited +the vanity of the mistress, that she became immediately the warm +friend of Maria Theresa, and her all powerful advocate in the court +of Versailles. England was now becoming embroiled with France in +reference to the possessions upon the St. Lawrence and Ohio in +North America. In case of war, France would immediately make an +attack upon Hanover. England was anxious to secure the Austrian +alliance, that the armies of the queen might aid in the protection +of Hanover. But Austria, being now in secret conference with +France, was very reserved. England coaxed and threatened, but could +get no definite or satisfactory answer. Quite enraged, the British +cabinet sent a final declaration that, "should the empress decline +fulfilling the conditions required, the king can not take any +measures in coöperation with Austria, and the present system +of European policy must be dissolved."</p> +<p>The reply of the empress queen develops the feelings of +irritation and bitterness which at that time existed between the +two cabinets of Austria and England.</p> +<p>"The queen," Maria Theresa replied, "has never had the +satisfaction of seeing England do justice to her principles. If the +army of Austria were merely the hired soldiers of England, the +British cabinet could not more decisively assume <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page466" id="page466"></a>{466}</span> the +control of their movements than it now does, by requiring their +removal from the center of Austria, for the defense of England and +Hanover. We are reproached with the great efforts England has made +in behalf of the house of Austria. But to these efforts England +owes its present greatness. If Austria has derived useful succors +from England, she has purchased those succors with the blood and +ruin of her subjects; while England has been opening to herself new +sources of wealth and power. We regret the necessity of uttering +these truths in reply to unjust and unceasing reproaches. Could any +consideration diminish our gratitude towards England, it would be +thus diminished by her constant endeavor to represent the aid she +has furnished us as entirely gratuitous, when this aid has always +been and always will be dictated by her own interests."</p> +<p>Such goading as this brought back a roar. The British envoy was +ordered to demand an explicit and categorical reply to the +following questions:</p> +<p>1. If the French attack Hanover, will the queen render England +assistance?</p> +<p>2. What number of troops will she send; and how soon will they +be in motion to join the British and Hanoverian troops?</p> +<p>The Austrian minister, Kaunitz, evaded a reply, coldly +answering, "Our ultimatum has been given. The queen deems those +declarations as ample as can be expected in the present posture of +affairs; nor can she give any further reply till England shall have +more fully explained her intentions."</p> +<p>Thus repulsed, England turned to Prussia, and sought alliance +with the most inveterate enemy of Austria. Frederic, fearing an +assault from united Russia and Austria, eagerly entered into +friendly relations with England, and on the 16th of January, 1756, +entered into a treaty with the cabinet of Great Britain for the +defense of Hanover.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page467" id= +"page467"></a>{467}</span> +<p>Maria Theresa was quite delighted with this arrangement, for +affairs were moving much to her satisfaction at Versailles. Her +"dear friend and cousin" Jeanette Poisson, had dismissed all the +ministers who were unfriendly to Austria, and had replaced them +with her own creatures who were in favor of the Austrian alliance. +A double motive influenced the Marchioness of Pompadour. Her vanity +was gratified by the advances of Maria Theresa, and revenge roused +her soul against Frederic of Prussia, who had indulged in a cutting +witticism upon her position and character.</p> +<p>The marchioness, with one of her favorites, Cardinal Bernis, met +the Austrian ambassador in one of the private apartments of the +palace of the Luxembourg, and arranged the plan of the alliance +between France and Austria. Maria Theresa, without the knowledge of +her ministers, or even of her husband the emperor, privately +conducted these negotiations with the Marchioness du Pompadour. M. +Kaunitz was the agent employed by the queen in this transaction. +Louis XV., sunk in the lowest depths of debauchery, consented to +any arrangements his mistress might propose. But when the treaty +was all matured it became necessary to present it to the Council of +State. The queen, knowing how astounded her husband would be to +learn what she had been doing, and aware of the shock it would give +the ministry to think of an alliance with France, pretended to +entire ignorance of the measures she had been so energetically +prosecuting.</p> +<p>In very guarded and apologetic phrase, Kaunitz introduced the +delicate subject. The announcement of the unexpected alliance with +France struck all with astonishment and indignation. Francis, +vehemently moved, rose, and smiting the table with his hand, +exclaimed, "Such an alliance is unnatural and +impracticable—it never shall take place." The empress, by +nods and winks, encouraged her minister, and he went on detailing +the great advantages to result from the French alliance. Maria +Theresa listened with great attention to his <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page468" id="page468"></a>{468}</span> +arguments, and was apparently convinced by them. She then gave her +approbation so decisively as to silence all debate. She said that +such a treaty was so manifestly for the interest of Austria, that +she was fearful that France would not accede to it. Since she knew +that the matter was already arranged and settled with the French +court, this was a downright lie, though the queen probably regarded +it as a venial fib, or as diplomacy.</p> +<p>Thus curiously England and Austria had changed their allies. +George II. and Frederic II., from being rancorous foes became +friends, and Maria Theresa and Louis XV. unfurled their flags +together. England was indignant with Austria for the French +alliance, Austria was indignant with England for the Prussian +alliance. Each accused the other of being the first to abandon the +ancient treaty. As the British ambassador reproached the queen with +this abandonment, she replied,</p> +<p>"I have not abandoned the old system, but Great Britain has +abandoned me and that system, by concluding the Prussian treaty, +the first intelligence of which struck me like a fit of apoplexy. I +and the King of Prussia are incompatible. No consideration on earth +shall induce me to enter into any engagement to which he is a +party. Why should you be surprised if, following your example in +concluding a treaty with Prussia, I should enter into an engagement +with France?"</p> +<p>"I have but two enemies," Maria Theresa said again, "whom I have +to dread—the King of Prussia and the Turks. And while I and +the Empress of Russia continue on the same good terms as now +subsist between us, we shall, I trust, be able to convince Europe +that we are in a condition to defend ourselves against those +adversaries, however formidable."</p> +<p>The queen still kept her eye anxiously fixed upon Silesia, and +in secret combination with the Empress of Russia made preparation +for a sudden invasion. With as much secrecy as was possible, large +armies were congregated in the vicinity of <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page469" id="page469"></a>{469}</span> Prague, +while Russia was cautiously concentrating her troops upon the +frontiers of Livonia. But Frederic was on the alert, and +immediately demanded of the empress queen the significance of these +military movements.</p> +<p>"In the present crisis," the queen replied, "I deem it necessary +to take measures for the security of myself and my allies, which +tend to the prejudice of no one."</p> +<p>So vague an answer was of course unsatisfactory, and the haughty +Prussian king reiterated his demand in very imperious tones.</p> +<p>"I wish," said he, "for an immediate and categorical answer, not +delivered in an oracular style, ambiguous and inconclusive, +respecting the armaments in Bohemia, and I demand a positive +assurance that the queen will not attack me either during this or +the following year."</p> +<p>The answer returned by the queen to this demand was equally +unsatisfactory with the first, and the energetic Prussian monarch, +wasting no more words, instantly invaded Saxony with a powerful +army, overran the duchy, and took possession of Dresden, its +capital. Then wheeling his troops, with twenty-four thousand men he +marched boldly into Bohemia. The queen dispatched an army of forty +thousand to meet him. The fierce encounter took place at Lowositz, +near the banks of the Elbe. The military genius of Frederic +prevailed, and the Austrians were repulsed, though the slaughter +was about equal on each side, six thousand men, three thousand upon +each side, being left in their blood. Frederic took possession of +Saxony as a conquered province. Seventeen thousand soldiers, whom +he made prisoners, he forced into his own service. Eighty pieces of +cannon were added to his artillery train, and the revenues of +Saxony replenished his purse.</p> +<p>The anger of Maria Theresa, at this humiliation of her ally, was +roused to the highest pitch, and she spent the winter in the most +vigorous preparations for the campaign of the spring. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page470" id="page470"></a>{470}</span> She took +advantage of religious fanaticism, and represented, through all the +Catholic courts of Europe, that there was a league of the two +heretical powers, England and Prussia, against the faithful +children of the Church. Jeanette Poisson, Marchioness of Pompadour, +who now controlled the destinies of France, raised, for the service +of Maria Theresa, an army of one hundred and five thousand men, +paid all the expenses of ten thousand Bavarian troops, and promised +the queen an annual subsidy of twelve millions of imperial florins. +The emperor, regarding the invasion of Saxony as an insult to the +empire, roused the States of Germany to coöperate with the +queen. Europe was again ablaze with war.</p> +<p>It was indeed a fearful combination now prepared to make a rush +upon the King of Prussia. France had assembled eighty thousand men +on the Rhine. The Swedes were rallying in great numbers on the +frontiers of Pomerania. The Russians had concentrated an army sixty +thousand strong on the borders of Livonia. And the Queen of Austria +had one hundred and fifty thousand men on the march, through +Hungary and Bohemia, to the frontiers of Silesia. Frederic, with an +eagle eye, was watching all these movements, and was employing all +his amazing energies to meet the crisis. He resolved to have the +advantage of striking the first blow, and adopted the bold measure +of marching directly into the heart of the Austrian States. To +deceive the allies he pretended to be very much frightened, and by +breaking down bridges and establishing fortresses seemed intent +upon merely presenting a desperate defense behind his ramparts.</p> +<p>Suddenly, in three strong, dense columns, Frederic burst into +Bohemia and advanced, with rapid and resistless strides, towards +Prague. The unprepared Austrian bands were driven before these +impetuous assailants as chaff is dispersed by the whirlwind. With +great precipitation the Austrian troops, from all quarters, fled to +the city of Prague and rallied beneath its walls. Seventy thousand +men were soon collected, <span class="pagenum"><a name="page471" +id="page471"></a>{471}</span> strongly intrenched behind ramparts, +thrown up outside of the city, from which ramparts, in case of +disaster, they could retire behind the walls and into the +citadel.</p> +<p>The king, with his army, came rushing on like the sweep of the +tornado, and plunged, as a thunderbolt of war, into the camp of the +Austrians. For a few hours the battle blazed as if it were a strife +of demons—hell in high carnival. Eighteen thousand Prussians +were mowed down by the Austrian batteries, before the fierce +assailants could scale the ramparts. Then, with cimeter and +bayonet, they took a bloody revenge. Eight thousand Austrians were +speedily weltering in blood. The shriek of the battle penetrated +all the dwellings in Prague, appalling every ear, like a wail from +the world of woe. The routed Austrians, leaving nine thousand +prisoners, in the hands of Frederic, rushed through the gates into +the city, while a storm of shot from the batteries on the walls +drove back the pursuing Prussians.</p> +<p>Prague, with the broken army thus driven within its walls, now +contained one hundred thousand inhabitants. The city was totally +unprepared for a siege. All supplies of food being cut off, the +inhabitants were soon reduced to extreme suffering. The queen was +exceedingly anxious that the city should hold out until she could +hasten to its relief. She succeeded in sending a message to the +besieged army, by a captain of grenadiers, who contrived to evade +the vigilance of the besiegers and to gain entrance to the +city.</p> +<p>"I am concerned," said the empress, "that so many generals, with +so considerable a force, must remain besieged in Prague, but I +augur favorably for the event. I can not too strongly impress upon +your minds that the troops will incur everlasting disgrace should +they not effect what the French in the last war performed with far +inferior numbers. The honor of the whole nation, as well as that of +the imperial aims, is interested in their present behavior. The +security of Bohemia, of my other hereditary dominions, and of the +German <span class="pagenum"><a name="page472" id= +"page472"></a>{472}</span> empire itself, depends on a gallant +defense and the preservation of Prague.</p> +<p>"The army under the command of Marshal Daun is daily +strengthening, and will soon be in a condition to raise the siege. +The French are approaching with all diligence. The Swedes are +marching to my assistance. In a short space of time affairs will, +under divine Providence, wear a better aspect."</p> +<p>The scene in Prague was awful. Famine strode through all the +streets, covering the pavements with the emaciate corpses of the +dead. An incessant bombardment was kept up from the Prussian +batteries, and shot and shell were falling incessantly, by day and +by night, in every portion of the city. Conflagrations were +continually blazing; there was no possible place of safety; shells +exploded in parlors, in chambers, in cellars, tearing limb from +limb, and burying the mutilated dead beneath the ruins of their +dwellings. The booming of the cannon, from the distant batteries, +was answered by the thunder of the guns from the citadel and the +walls, and blended with all this uproar rose the uninterrupted +shrieks of the wounded and the dying. The cannonade from the +Prussian batteries was so destructive, that in a few days one +quarter of the entire city was demolished.</p> +<p>Count Daun, with sixty thousand men, was soon advancing rapidly +towards Prague. Frederic, leaving a small force to continue the +blockade of the city, marched with the remainder of his troops to +assail the Austrian general. They soon met, and fought for some +hours as fiercely as mortals can fight. The slaughter on both sides +was awful. At length the fortune of war turned in favor of the +Austrians, though they laid down nine thousand husbands, fathers, +sons, in bloody death, as the price of the victory. Frederic was +almost frantic with grief and rage as he saw his proud battalions +melting away before the batteries of the foe. Six times his cavalry +charged with the utmost impetuosity, and six times <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page473" id="page473"></a>{473}</span> they were +as fiercely repulsed. Frederic was finally compelled to withdraw, +leaving fourteen thousand of his troops either slain or prisoners. +Twenty-two Prussian standards and forty-three pieces of artillery +were taken by the Austrians.</p> +<p>The tidings of this victory elated Maria Theresa almost to +delirium. Feasts were given, medals struck, presents given, and the +whole empire blazed with illuminations, and rang with all the +voices of joy. The queen even condescended to call in person upon +the Countess Daun to congratulate her upon the great victory +attained by her husband. She instituted, on the occasion, a new +military order of merit, called the order of Maria Theresa. Count +Daun and his most illustrious officers were honored with the first +positions in this new order of knighthood.</p> +<p>The Prussians were compelled to raise the siege of Prague, and +to retreat with precipitation. Bohemia was speedily evacuated by +the Prussian troops. The queen was now determined to crush Frederic +entirely, so that he might never rise again. His kingdom was to be +taken from him, carved up, and apportioned out between Austria, +Sweden, Poland and Russia.</p> +<p>The Prussians retreated, in a broken band of but twenty-five +thousand men, into the heart of Silesia, to Breslau, its beautiful +and strongly fortified capital. This city, situated upon the Oder, +at its junction with the Ohlau, contained a population of nearly +eighty thousand. The fugitive troops sought refuge behind its +walls, protected as they were by batteries of the heaviest +artillery. The Austrians, strengthened by the French, with an army +now amounting to ninety thousand, followed closely on, and with +their siege artillery commenced the cannonade of the city. An awful +scene of carnage ensued, in which the Austrians lost eight thousand +men and the Prussians five thousand, when the remnant of the +Prussian garrison, retreating by night through a remote gate, left +the city in the hands of the Austrians.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page474" id= +"page474"></a>{474}</span> +<p>It was now mid-winter. But the iron-nerved Frederic, undismayed +by these terrible reverses, collected the scattered fragments of +his army, and, finding himself at the head of thirty thousand men, +advanced to Breslau in the desperate attempt to regain his capital. +His force was so inconsiderable as to excite the ridicule of the +Austrians. Upon the approach of Frederic, Prince Charles, +disdaining to hide behind the ramparts of the city on the +defensive, against a foe thus insulting him with inferior numbers, +marched to meet the Prussians. The interview between Prince Charles +and Frederic was short but very decisive, lasting only from the +hour of dinner to the going down of a December's sun. The twilight +of the wintry day had not yet come when seven thousand Austrians +were lying mangled in death on the blood-stained snow. Twenty +thousand were made prisoners. All the baggage of the Austrian army, +the military chest, one hundred and thirty-four pieces of cannon, +and fifty-nine standards fell into the hands of the victors. For +this victory Frederic paid the price of five thousand lives; but +<i>life</i> to the poor Prussian soldier must have been a joyless +scene, and death must have been a relief.</p> +<p>Frederic now, with triumphant banners, approached the city. It +immediately capitulated, surrendering nearly eighteen thousand +soldiers, six hundred and eighty-six officers and thirteen generals +as prisoners of war. In this one storm of battle, protracted +through but a few days, Maria Theresa lost fifty thousand men. +Frederic then turned upon the Russians, and drove them out of +Silesia. The same doom awaited the Swedes, and they fled +precipitately to winter quarters behind the cannon of Stralsund. +Thus terminated the memorable campaign of 1757, the most memorable +of the Seven Years' War. The Austrian army was almost annihilated; +but the spirit of the strife was not subdued in any breast.</p> +<p>The returning sun of spring was but the harbinger of new woes +for war-stricken Europe. England, being essentially a <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page475" id="page475"></a>{475}</span> maritime +power, could render Frederic but little assistance in troops; but +the cabinet of St. James was lavish in voting money. Encouraged by +the vigor Frederic had shown, the British cabinet, with enthusiasm, +voted him an annual subsidy of three million two hundred and fifty +thousand dollars.</p> +<p>Austria was so exhausted in means and in men, that +notwithstanding the most herculean efforts of the queen, it was not +until April of the year 1758 that she was able to concentrate fifty +thousand men in the field, with the expensive equipments which war +demands. Frederic, aided by the gold of England, was early on the +move, and had already opened the campaign by the invasion of +Moravia, and by besieging Olmutz.</p> +<p>The summer was passed in a series of incessant battles, sweeping +all over Germany, with the usual vicissitudes of war. In the great +battle of Hockkirchen Frederic encountered a woful defeat. The +battle took place on the 14th of October, and lasted five hours. +Eight thousand Austrians and nine thousand Prussians were stretched +lifeless upon the plain. Frederic was at last compelled to retreat, +abandoning his tents, his baggage, one hundred and one cannon, and +thirty standards. Nearly every Prussian general was wounded. The +king himself was grazed by a ball; his horse was shot from under +him, and two pages were killed at his side.</p> +<p>Again Vienna blazed with illuminations and rang with rejoicing, +and the queen liberally dispensed her gifts and her +congratulations. Still nothing effectual was accomplished by all +this enormous expenditure of treasure, this carnage and woe; and +again the exhausted combatants retired to seek shelter from the +storms of winter. Thus terminated the third year of this cruel and +wasting war.</p> +<p>The spring of 1759 opened brightly for Maria Theresa. Her army, +flushed by the victory of the last autumn, was in high health and +spirits. All the allies of Austria redoubled their exertions; and +the Catholic States of Germany with religious <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page476" id="page476"></a>{476}</span> zeal +rallied against the two heretical kingdoms of Prussia and England. +The armies of France, Austria, Sweden and Russia were now marching +upon Prussia, and it seemed impossible that the king could +withstand such adversaries. More fiercely than ever the storm of +war raged. Frederic, at the head of forty thousand men, early in +June met eighty thousand Russians and Austrians upon the banks of +the Oder, near Frankfort. For seven hours the action lasted, and +the allies were routed with enormous slaughter; but the king, +pursuing his victory too far with his exhausted troops, was turned +upon by the foe, and was routed himself in turn, with the slaughter +of one half of his whole army. Twenty-four thousand of the allies +and twenty thousand Prussians perished on that bloody day.</p> +<p>Frederic exposed his person with the utmost recklessness. Two +horses were shot beneath him; several musket balls pierced his +clothes; he was slightly wounded, and was rescued from the foe only +by the almost superhuman exertions of his hussars. In the darkness +of the night the Prussians secured their retreat.</p> +<p>We have mentioned that at first Frederic seemed to have gained +the victory. So sanguine was he then of success that he dispatched +a courier from the field, with the following billet to the queen at +Berlin:—</p> +<p>"We have driven the enemy from their intrenchments; in two hours +expect to hear of a glorious victory."</p> +<p>Hardly two hours had elapsed ere another courier was sent to the +queen with the following appalling message:—</p> +<p>"Remove from Berlin with the royal family. Let the archives be +carried to Potsdam, and the capital make conditions with the +enemy."</p> +<p>In this terrible battle the enemy lost so fearfully that no +effort was made to pursue Frederic. Disaster never disheartened the +Prussian king. It seemed but to rouse anew his energies. With +amazing vigor he rallied his scattered forces, <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page477" id="page477"></a>{477}</span> and +called in reënforcements. The gold of England was at his +disposal; he dismantled distant fortresses and brought their cannon +into the field, and in a few days was at the head of twenty-eight +thousand men, beneath the walls of his capital, ready again to face +the foe.</p> +<p>The thunderings of battle continued week after week, in +unintermitted roar throughout nearly all of Germany. Winter again +came. Frederic had suffered awfully during the campaign, but was +still unsubdued. The warfare was protracted even into the middle of +the winter. The soldiers, in the fields, wading through snow a foot +deep, suffered more from famine, frost and sickness than from the +bullet of the foe. In the Austrian army four thousand died, in +sixteen days of December, from the inclemency of the weather. Thus +terminated the campaign of 1759.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page478" id= +"page478"></a>{478}</span> +<h2><a name="chap30" id="chap30">CHAPTER XXX</a>.</h2> +<h3>MARIA THERESA.</h3> +<h4>From 1759 to 1780.</h4> +<p class="summary">Desolations of War.—Disasters of +Prussia.—Despondency of Frederic.—Death of the Empress +Elizabeth.—Accession of Paul III.—Assassination of Paul +III.—Accession of Catharine.—Discomfiture of the +Austrians.—Treaty of Peace.—Election of Joseph to the +Throne of the Empire.—Death of Francis.—Character of +Francis.—Anecdotes.—Energy of Maria +Theresa.—Poniatowski.—Partition of Poland.—Maria +Theresa as a Mother.—War With +Bavaria.—Peace.—Death of Maria Theresa.—Family of +the Empress.—Accession of Joseph II.—His Character.</p> +<p>The spring of 1760 found all parties eager for the renewal of +the strife, but none more so than Maria Theresa. The King of +Prussia was, however, in a deplorable condition. The veteran army, +in which he had taken so much pride, was now annihilated. With +despotic power he had assembled a new army; but it was composed of +peasants, raw recruits, but poorly prepared to encounter the +horrors of war. The allies were marching against him with two +hundred and fifty thousand men. Frederic, with his utmost efforts, +could muster but seventy-five thousand, who, to use his own +language, "were half peasants, half deserters from the enemy, +soldiers no longer fit for service, but only for show."</p> +<p>Month after month passed away, during which the whole of Prussia +presented the aspect of one wide field of battle. Frederic fought +with the energies of desperation. Villages were everywhere blazing, +squadrons charging, and the thunders of an incessant cannonade +deafened the ear by night and by day. On the whole the campaign +terminated in favor of Frederic; the allies being thwarted in all +their endeavors to crush him. In one battle Maria Theresa lost +twenty thousand men.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page479" id= +"page479"></a>{479}</span> +<p>During the ensuing winter all the continental powers were again +preparing for the resumption of hostilities in the spring, when the +British people, weary of the enormous expenditures of the war, +began to be clamorous for peace. The French treasury was also +utterly exhausted. France made overtures to England for a cessation +of hostilities; and these two powers, with peaceful overtures, +addressed Maria Theresa. The queen, though fully resolved to +prosecute the war until she should attain her object, thought it +not prudent to reject outright such proposals, but consented to the +assembling of a congress at Augsburg. Hostilities were not +suspended during the meeting of the congress, and the Austrian +queen was sanguine in the hope of being speedily able to crush her +Prussian rival. Every general in the field had experienced such +terrible disasters, and the fortune of war seemed so fickle, now +lighting upon one banner and now upon another, that all parties +were wary, practicing the extreme of caution, and disposed rather +to act upon the defensive. Though not a single pitched battle was +fought, the allies, outnumbering the Prussians, three to one, +continually gained fortresses, intrenchments and positions, until +the spirit even of Frederic was broken by calamities, and he +yielded to despair. He no longer hoped to be able to preserve his +empire, but proudly resolved to bury himself beneath its ruins. His +despondency could not be concealed from his army, and his bravest +troops declared that they could fight no longer.</p> +<p>Maria Theresa was elated beyond measure. England was withdrawing +from Prussia. Frederic was utterly exhausted both as to money and +men; one campaign more would finish the work, and Prussia would lie +helpless at the feet of Maria Theresa, and her most sanguine +anticipations would be realized. But the deepest laid plans of man +are often thwarted by apparently the most trivial events. One +single individual chanced to be taken sick and die. That individual +was Elizabeth, the Empress of Russia. On the 5th of January, 1762, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page480" id= +"page480"></a>{480}</span> she was lying upon her bed an emaciate +suffering woman, gasping in death. The departure of her last breath +changed the fate of Europe.</p> +<p>Paul III., her nephew, who succeeded the empress, detested Maria +Theresa, and often inveighed bitterly against her haughtiness and +her ambition. On the contrary, he admired the King of Prussia. He +had visited the court of Berlin, where he had been received with +marked attention; and Frederic was his model of a hero. He had +watched with enthusiastic admiration the fortitude and military +prowess of the Prussian king, and had even sent to him many +messages of sympathy, and had communicated to him secrets of the +cabinet and their plans of operation. Now, enthroned as Emperor of +Russia, without reserve he avowed his attachment to Frederic, and +ordered his troops to abstain from hostilities, and to quit the +Austrian army. At the same time he sent a minister to Berlin to +conclude an alliance with the hero he so greatly admired. He even +asked for himself a position in the Prussian army as lieutenant +under Frederic.</p> +<p>The Swedish court was so intimately allied with that of St. +Petersburg, that the cabinet of Stockholm also withdrew from the +Austrian alliance, and thus Maria Theresa, at a blow, lost two of +her most efficient allies. The King of Prussia rose immediately +from his despondency, and the whole kingdom shared in his +exultation and his joy. The Prussian troops, in conjunction with +the Russians, were now superior to the Austrians, and were prepared +to assume the offensive. But again Providence interposed. A +conspiracy was formed against the Russian emperor, headed by his +wife whom he had treated with great brutality, and Paul III. lost +both his crown and his life, in July 1762, after a reign of less +than six months.</p> +<p>Catharine II., wife of Paul III., with a bloody hand took the +crown from the brow of her murdered husband and placed it upon her +own head. She immediately dissolved the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page481" id="page481"></a>{481}</span> Prussian +alliance, declared Frederic an enemy to the Prussian name, and +ordered her troops, in coöperation with those of Austria, to +resume hostilities against Frederic. It was an instantaneous +change, confounding all the projects of man. The energetic Prussian +king, before the Russian troops had time so to change their +positions as to coöperate with the Austrians, assailed the +troops of Maria Theresa with such impetuosity as to drive them out +of Silesia. Pursuing his advantage Frederic overran Saxony, and +then turning into Bohemia, drove the Austrians before him to the +walls of Prague. Influenced by these disasters and other +considerations, Catharine decided to retire from the contest. At +the same time the Turks, excited by Frederic, commenced anew their +invasion of Hungary. Maria Theresa was in dismay. Her money was +gone. Her allies were dropping from her. The Turks were advancing +triumphantly up the Danube, and Frederic was enriching himself with +the spoils of Saxony and Bohemia. Influenced by these +considerations she made overtures for peace, consenting to renounce +Silesia, for the recovery of which province she had in vain caused +Europe to be desolated with blood for so many years. A treaty of +peace was soon signed, Frederic agreeing to evacuate Saxony; and +thus terminated the bloody Seven Years' War.</p> +<p>Maria Theresa's eldest son Joseph was now twenty-three years of +age. Her influence and that of the Emperor Francis was such, that +they secured his election to succeed to the throne of the empire +upon the death of his father. The emperor elect received the title +of King of the Romans. The important election took place at +Frankfort, on the 27th of May, 1764. The health of the Emperor +Francis I., had for some time been precarious, he being threatened +with apoplexy. Three months after the election of his son to +succeed him upon the imperial throne, Francis was at Inspruck in +the Tyrol, to attend the nuptials of his second son Leopold, with +Maria Louisa, infanta of Spain. He was feeble and dejected, and +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page482" id= +"page482"></a>{482}</span> longed to return to his home in Vienna. +He imagined that the bracing air of the Tyrol did not agree with +his health, and looking out upon the summits which tower around +Inspruck exclaimed,</p> +<p>"Oh! if I could but once quit these mountains of the Tyrol."</p> +<p>On the morning of the 18th of August, his symptoms assumed so +threatening a form, that his friends urged him to be bled. The +emperor declined, saying,</p> +<p>"I am engaged this evening to sup with Joseph, and I will not +disappoint him; but I will be blooded to-morrow."</p> +<p>The evening came, and as he was preparing to go and sup with his +son, he dropped instantly dead upon the floor. Fifty-eight years +was his allotted pilgrimage—a pilgrimage of care and toil and +sorrow. Even when elevated to the imperial throne, his position was +humiliating, being ever overshadowed by the grandeur of his wife. +At times he felt this most keenly, and could not refrain from +giving imprudent utterance to his mortification. Being at one time +present at a levee, which the empress was giving to her subjects, +he retired, in chagrin, from the imperial circle into a corner of +the saloon, and took his seat near two ladies of the court. They +immediately, in accordance with regal etiquette, rose.</p> +<p>"Do not regard me," said the emperor bitterly, and yet with an +attempt at playfulness, "for I shall remain here until the +<i>court</i> has retired, and shall then amuse myself in +contemplating the crowd."</p> +<p>One of the ladies replied, "As long as your imperial majesty is +present the court will be here."</p> +<p>"You are mistaken," rejoined the emperor, with a forced smile; +"the empress and my children are the court. I am here only as a +private individual."</p> +<p>Francis I., though an impotent emperor, would have made a very +good exchange broker. He seemed to be fond of mercantile life, +establishing manufactories, and letting out <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page483" id="page483"></a>{483}</span> money on +bond and mortgage. When the queen was greatly pressed for funds he +would sometimes accept her paper, always taking care to obtain the +most unexceptionable security. He engaged in a partnership with two +very efficient men for farming the revenues of Saxony. He even +entered into a contract to supply the <i>Prussian</i> army with +forage, when that army was expending all its energies, during the +Seven Years' War, against the troops of Maria Theresa. He judged +that his wife was capable of taking care of herself. And she was. +Notwithstanding these traits of character, he was an exceedingly +amiable and charitable man, distributing annually five hundred +thousand dollars for the relief of distress. Many anecdotes are +related illustrative of the emperor's utter fearlessness of danger, +and of the kindness of his heart. There was a terrible +conflagration in Vienna. A saltpeter magazine was in flames, and +the operatives exposed to great danger. An explosion was +momentarily expected, and the firemen, in dismay, ventured but +little aid. The emperor, regardless of peril, approached near the +fire to give directions. His attendants urged him not thus to +expose his person.</p> +<p>"Do not be alarmed for me," said the emperor, "think only of +those poor creatures who are in such danger of perishing."</p> +<p>At another time a fearful inundation swept the valley of the +Danube. Many houses were submerged in isolated positions, all but +their roofs. In several cases the families had taken refuge on the +tops of the houses, and had remained three days and three nights +without food. Immense blocks of ice, swept down by the flood, +seemed to render it impossible to convey relief to the sufferers. +The most intrepid boatmen of the Danube dared not venture into the +boiling surge. The emperor threw himself into a boat, seized the +oars, and saying, "My example may at least influence others," +pushed out into the flood and successfully rowed to one of the +houses. The boatmen were shamed into heroism, and the imperiled +people were saved.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page484" id= +"page484"></a>{484}</span> +<p>Maria Theresa does not appear to have been very deeply afflicted +by the death of her husband; or we should, perhaps, rather say that +her grief assumed the character which one would anticipate from a +person of her peculiar frame of mind. The emperor had not been +faithful to his kingly spouse, and she was well acquainted with his +numerous infidelities. Still she seems affectionately to have +cherished the memory of his gentle virtues. With her own hands she +prepared his shroud, and she never after laid aside her weeds of +mourning. She often descended into the vault where his remains were +deposited, and passed hours in prayer by the side of his +coffin.</p> +<p>Joseph, of course, having been preëlected, immediately +assumed the imperial crown. Maria Theresa had but little time to +devote to grief. She had lost Silesia, and that was a calamity +apparently far heavier than the death of her husband. Millions of +treasure, and countless thousands of lives had been expended, and +all in vain, for the recovery of that province. She now began to +look around for territory she could grasp in compensation for her +loss. Poland was surrounded by Austria, Russia and Prussia. The +population consisted of two classes—the nobles who possessed +all the power, and the <i>people</i> who were in a state of the +most abject feudal vassalage. By the laws of Poland every person +was a noble who was not engaged in any industrial occupation and +who owned any land, or who had descended from those who ever had +held any land. The government was what may perhaps be called an +aristocratic republic. The masses were mere slaves. The nobles were +in a state of political equality. They chose a chieftain whom they +called <i>king</i>, but whose power was a mere shadow. At this time +Poland was in a state of anarchy. Civil war desolated the kingdom, +the nobles being divided into numerous factions, and fighting +fiercely against each other. Catharine, the Empress of Russia, +espoused the cause of her favorite, Count Poniatowski, who was one +of the candidates for the crown of Poland, and by the influence of +her money <span class="pagenum"><a name="page485" id= +"page485"></a>{485}</span> and her armies placed him upon the +throne and maintained him there. Poland thus, under the influence +of the Russian queen, became, as it were, a mere province of the +Russian empire.</p> +<p>Poniatowski, a proud man, soon felt galled by the chains which +Catharine threw around him. Frederic of Prussia united with +Catharine in the endeavor to make Poniatowski subservient to their +wishes. Maria Theresa eagerly put in her claim for influence in +Poland. Thus the whole realm became a confused scene of bloodshed +and devastation. Frederic of Prussia, the great regal highwayman, +now proposed to Austria and Russia that they should settle all the +difficulty by just dividing Poland between them. To their united +armies Poland could present no resistance. Maria Theresa sent her +dutiful son Joseph, the emperor, to Silesia, to confer with +Frederic upon this subject. The interview took place at Neiss, on +the 25th of August, 1769. The two sovereigns vied with each other +in the interchange of courtesies, and parted most excellent +friends. Soon after, they held another interview at Neustadt, in +Moravia, when the long rivalry between the houses of Hapsburg and +Brandenburg seemed to melt down into most cordial union. The map of +Poland was placed before the two sovereigns, and they marked out +the portion of booty to be assigned to each of the three imperial +highwaymen. The troops of Russia, Austria and Prussia were already +in Poland. The matter being thus settled between Prussia and +Austria, the Prussian king immediately conferred with Catharine at +St. Petersburg. This ambitious and unprincipled woman snatched at +the bait presented, and the infamous partition was agreed to. Maria +Theresa was very greedy, and demanded nearly half of Poland as her +share. This exorbitant claim, which she with much pertinacity +adhered to, so offended the two other sovereigns that they came +near fighting about the division of the spoil. The queen was at +length compelled to lower her pretensions. <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page486" id="page486"></a>{486}</span> The final +treaty was signed between the three powers on the 5th of August, +1772.</p> +<p>The three armies were immediately put in motion, and each took +possession of that portion of the Polish territory which was +assigned to its sovereign. In a few days the deed was done. By this +act Austria received an accession of twenty-seven thousand square +miles of the richest of the Polish territory, containing a +population of two million five hundred thousand souls. Russia +received a more inhospitable region, embracing forty-two thousand +square miles, and a population of one million five hundred +thousand. The share of Frederic amounted to thirteen thousand three +hundred and seventy-five square miles, and eight hundred and sixty +thousand souls.</p> +<p>Notwithstanding this cruel dismemberment, there was still a +feeble Poland left, upon which the three powers were continually +gnawing, each watching the others, and snarling at them lest they +should get more than their share. After twenty years of jealous +watchings the three powers decided to finish their infamous work, +and Poland was blotted from the map of Europe. In the two divisions +Austria received forty-five thousand square miles and five million +of inhabitants. Maria Theresa was now upon the highest pinnacle of +her glory and her power. She had a highly disciplined army of two +hundred thousand men; her treasury was replenished, and her +wide-spread realms were in the enjoyment of peace. Life had been to +her, thus far, but a stormy sea, and weary of toil and care, she +now hoped to close her days in tranquillity.</p> +<p>The queen was a stern and stately mother. While pressed by all +these cares of state, sufficient to have crushed any ordinary mind, +she had given birth to sixteen children. But as each child was born +it was placed in the hands of careful nurses, and received but +little of parental caressings. It was seldom that she saw her +children more than once a week. <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page487" id="page487"></a>{487}</span> Absorbed by high political +interests, she contented herself with receiving a daily report from +the nursery. Every morning her physician, Van Swieter, visited the +young imperial family, and then presented a formal statement of +their condition to the strong-minded mother. Yet the empress was +very desirous of having it understood that she was the most +faithful of parents. Whenever any foreign ambassador arrived at +Vienna, the empress would contrive to have an interview, as it were +by accident, when she had collected around her her interesting +family. As the illustrious stranger retired the children also +retired to their nursery.</p> +<p>One of the daughters, Josepha, was betrothed to the King of +Naples. A few days before she was to leave Vienna the queen +required her, in obedience to long established etiquette, to +descend into the tomb of her ancestors and offer up a prayer. The +sister-in-law, the Emperor Joseph's wife, had just died of the +small-pox, and her remains, disfigured by that awful disease, had +but recently been deposited in the tomb. The timid maiden was +horror-stricken at the requirement, and regarded it as her death +doom. But an order from Maria Theresa no one was to disobey. With +tears filling her eyes, she took her younger sister, Maria +Antoinette, upon her knee, and said,</p> +<p>"I am about to leave you, Maria, not for Naples, but to die. I +must visit the tomb of our ancestors, and I am sure that I shall +take the small-pox, and shall soon be buried there." Her fears were +verified. The disease, in its most virulent form, seized her, and +in a few days her remains were also consigned to the tomb.</p> +<p>In May, 1770, Maria Antoinette, then but fifteen years of age, +and marvelously beautiful, was married to the young dauphin of +France, subsequently the unhappy Louis XVI. As she left Vienna, for +that throne from which she was to descend to the guillotine, her +mother sent by her hand the following letter to her husband:</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page488" id= +"page488"></a>{488}</span> +<p>"Your bride, dear dauphin, is separated from me. As she has ever +been my delight so will she be your happiness. For this purpose +have I educated her; for I have long been aware that she was to be +the companion of your life. I have enjoined upon her, as among her +highest duties, the most tender attachment to your person, the +greatest attention to every thing that can please or make you +happy. Above all, I have recommended to her humility towards God, +because I am convinced that it is impossible for us to contribute +to the happiness of the subjects confided to us, without love to +Him who breaks the scepters and crushes the thrones of kings +according to His own will."</p> +<p>In December, 1777, the Duke of Bavaria died without male issue. +Many claimants instantly rose, ambitious of so princely an +inheritance. Maria Theresa could not resist the temptation to put +in her claim. With her accustomed promptness, she immediately +ordered her troops in motion, and, descending from Bohemia, entered +the electorate. Maria Theresa had no one to fear but Frederic of +Prussia, who vehemently remonstrated against such an accession of +power to the empire of Austria. After an earnest correspondence the +queen proposed that Bavaria should be divided between them as they +had partitioned Poland. Still they could not agree, and the +question was submitted to the cruel arbitrament of battle. The +young Emperor Joseph was much pleased with this issue, for he was +thirsting for military fame, and was proud to contend with so +renowned an antagonist. The death of hundreds of thousands of men +in the game of war, was of little more moment to him than the loss +of a few pieces in a game of chess.</p> +<p>The Emperor Joseph was soon at the head of one hundred thousand +men. The King of Prussia, with nearly an equal force, marched to +meet him. Both commanders were exceedingly wary, and the whole +campaign was passed in maneuvers and marchings, with a few +unimportant battles. The <span class="pagenum"><a name="page489" +id="page489"></a>{489}</span> queen was weary of war, and often +spoke, with tears in her eyes, of the commencement of hostilities. +Without the knowledge of her son, who rejoiced in the opening +strife, she entered into a private correspondence with Frederic, in +which she wrote, by her secret messenger, M. Thugut:</p> +<p>"I regret exceedingly that the King of Prussia and myself, in +our advanced years, are about to tear the gray hairs from each +other's heads. My age, and my earnest desire to maintain peace are +well known. My maternal heart is alarmed for the safety of my sons +who are in the army. I take this step without the knowledge of my +son the emperor, and I entreat that you will not divulge it. I +conjure you to unite your efforts with mine to reëstablish +harmony."</p> +<p>The reply of Frederic was courteous and beautiful. "Baron +Thugut," he wrote, "has delivered me your majesty's letter, and no +one is, or shall be acquainted with his arrival. It was worthy of +your majesty to give such proofs of moderation, after having so +heroically maintained the inheritance of your ancestors. The tender +attachment you display for your son the emperor, and the princes of +your blood, deserves the applause of every heart, and augments, if +possible, the high consideration I entertain for your majesty. I +have added some articles to the propositions of M. Thugut, most of +which have been allowed, and others which, I hope, will meet with +little difficulty. He will immediately depart for Vienna, and will +be able to return in five or six days, during which time I will act +with such caution that your imperial majesty may have no cause of +apprehension for the safety of any part of your family, and +particularly of the emperor, whom I love and esteem, although our +opinions differ in regard to the affairs of Germany."</p> +<p>But the Emperor Joseph was bitterly opposed to peace, and +thwarted his mother's benevolent intentions in every possible way. +Still the empress succeeded, and the articles were signed at +Teschen, the 13th day of May, 1779. The queen <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page490" id="page490"></a>{490}</span> was +overjoyed at the result, and was often heard to say that no act of +her administration had given her such heartfelt joy. When she +received the news she exclaimed,</p> +<p>"My happiness is full. I am not partial to Frederic, but I must +do him the justice to confess that he has acted nobly and +honorably. He promised me to make peace on reasonable terms, and he +has kept his word. I am inexpressibly happy to spare the effusion +of so much blood."</p> +<p>The hour was now approaching when Maria Theresa was to die. She +had for some time been failing from a disease of the lungs, and she +was now rapidly declining. Her sufferings, as she took her chamber +and her bed, became very severe; but the stoicism of her character +remained unshaken. In one of her seasons of acute agony she +exclaimed,</p> +<p>"God grant that these sufferings may soon terminate, for, +otherwise, I know not if I can much longer endure them."</p> +<p>Her son Maximilian stood by her bed-side. She raised her eyes to +him and said,</p> +<p>"I have been enabled thus far to bear these pangs with firmness +and constancy. Pray to God, my son, that I may preserve my +tranquillity to the last."</p> +<p>The dying hour, long sighed for, came. She partook of the +sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and then, assembling her family +around her, addressed to them her last words.</p> +<p>"I have received the sacraments," said she, "and feel that I am +now to die." Then addressing the emperor, she continued, "My son, +all my possessions after my death revert to you. To your care I +commend my children. Be to them a father. I shall die contented, +you giving me that promise." Then looking to the other children she +added, "Regard the emperor as your sovereign. Obey him, respect +him, confide in him, and follow his advice in all things, and you +will secure his friendship and protection."</p> +<p>Her mind continued active and intensely occupied with the +affairs of her family and of her kingdom, until the very last +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page491" id= +"page491"></a>{491}</span> moment. During the night succeeding her +final interview with her children, though suffering from repeated +fits of suffocation, she held a long interview with the emperor +upon affairs of state. Her son, distressed by her evident +exhaustion, entreated her to take some repose; but she replied,</p> +<p>"In a few hours I shall appear before the judgment-seat of God; +and would you have me lose my time in sleep?"</p> +<p>Expressing solicitude in behalf of the numerous persons +dependent upon her, who, after her death, might be left friendless, +she remarked,</p> +<p>"I could wish for immortality on earth, for no other reason than +for the power of relieving the distressed."</p> +<p>She died on the 29th of November, 1780, in the sixty-fourth year +of her age and the forty-first of her reign.</p> +<p>This illustrious woman had given birth to six sons and ten +daughters. Nine of these children survived her. Joseph, already +emperor, succeeded her upon the throne of Austria, and dying +childless, surrendered the crown to his next brother Leopold. +Ferdinand, the third son, became governor of Austrian Lombardy. +Upon Maximilian was conferred the electorate of Cologne. Mary Anne +became abbess of a nunnery. Christina married the Duke of Saxony. +Elizabeth entered a convent and became abbess. Caroline married the +King of Naples, and was an infamous woman. Her sister Joanna, was +first betrothed to the king, but she died of small-pox; Josepha was +then destined to supply her place; but she also fell a victim to +that terrible disease. Thus the situation was vacant for Caroline. +Maria Antoinette married Louis the dauphin, and the story of her +woes has filled the world.</p> +<p>The Emperor Joseph II., who now inherited the crown of Austria, +was forty years of age, a man of strong mind, educated by +observation and travel, rather than by books. He was anxious to +elevate and educate his subjects, declaring that it was his great +ambition to rule over freemen. He had many noble traits of +character, and innumerable anecdotes are related <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page492" id="page492"></a>{492}</span> +illustrative of his energy and humanity. In war he was ambitious of +taking his full share of hardship, sleeping on the bare ground and +partaking of the soldiers' homely fare. He was exceedingly popular +at the time of his accession to the throne, and great anticipations +were cherished of a golden age about to dawn upon Austria. "His +toilet," writes one of his eulogists, "is that of a common soldier, +his wardrobe that of a sergeant, business his recreation, and his +life perpetual motion."</p> +<p>The Austrian monarchy now embraced one hundred and eighty +thousand square miles, containing twenty-four millions of +inhabitants. It was indeed a heterogeneous realm, composed of a +vast number of distinct nations and provinces, differing in +language, religion, government, laws, customs and civilization. In +most of these countries the feudal system existed in all its +direful oppression. Many of the provinces of the Austrian empire, +like the Netherlands, Lombardy and Suabia, were separated by many +leagues from the great central empire. The Roman Catholic religion +was dominant in nearly all the States, and the clergy possessed +enormous wealth and power. The masses of the people were sunk in +the lowest depths of poverty and ignorance. The aristocratic few +rejoiced in luxury and splendor.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page493" id= +"page493"></a>{493}</span> +<h2><a name="chap31" id="chap31">CHAPTER XXXI</a>.</h2> +<h3>JOSEPH II. AND LEOPOLD II.</h3> +<h4>From 1780 to 1792.</h4> +<p class="summary">Accession of Joseph II.—His Plans of +Reform.—Pius VI.—Emancipation of the +Serfs.—Joseph's Visit to his Sister, Maria +Antoinette.—Ambitions Designs.—The Imperial Sleigh +Ride.—Barges on the Dneister.—Excursion to the +Crimea.—War with Turkey.—Defeat of the +Austrians.—Great Successes.—Death of Joseph.—His +Character.—Accession of Leopold II.—His Efforts to +confirm Despotism.—The French Revolution.—European +Coalition.—Death of Leopold.—His +Profligacy.—Accession of Francis II.—Present Extent and +Power of Austria.—Its Army.—Policy of the +Government.</p> +<p>When Joseph ascended the throne there were ten languages, +besides several dialects, spoken in Austria—the German, +Hungarian, Sclavonian, Latin, Wallachian, Turkish, modern Greek, +Italian, Flemish and French. The new king formed the desperate +resolve to fuse the discordant kingdom into one homogeneous mass, +obliterating all distinctions of laws, religion, language and +manners. It was a benevolent design, but one which far surpassed +the power of man to execute. He first attempted to obliterate all +the old national landmarks, and divided the kingdom into thirteen +States, in each of which he instituted the same code of laws. He +ordered the German language alone to be used in public documents +and offices; declared the Roman Catholic religion to be dominant. +There were two thousand convents in Austria. He reduced them to +seven hundred, and cut down the number of thirty-two thousand idle +monks to twenty-seven hundred; and nobly issued an edict of +toleration, granting to all members <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page494" id="page494"></a>{494}</span> of Protestant churches the +free exercise of their religion. All Christians, of every +denomination, were declared to be equally eligible to any offices +in the State.</p> +<p>These enlightened innovations roused the terror and rage of +bigoted Rome. Pope Pius VI. was so much alarmed that he took a +journey to Vienna, that he might personally remonstrate with the +emperor. But Joseph was inflexible, and the Pope returned to Rome +chagrined and humiliated that he had acted the part of a suppliant +in vain.</p> +<p>The serfs were all emancipated from feudal vassalage, and thus, +in an hour, the slavery under which the peasants had groaned for +ages was abolished. He established universities, academies and +public schools; encouraged literature and science in every way, and +took from the priests their office of censorship of the press, an +office which they had long held. To encourage domestic manufactures +he imposed a very heavy duty upon all articles of foreign +manufacture. New roads were constructed at what was called enormous +expense, and yet at expense which was as nothing compared with the +cost of a single battle.</p> +<p>Joseph, soon after his coronation, made a visit to his sister +Maria Antoinette in France, where he was received with the most +profuse hospitality, and the bonds of friendship between the two +courts were much strengthened. The ambition for territorial +aggrandizement seems to have been an hereditary disease of the +Austrian monarchs. Joseph was very anxious to attach Bavaria to his +realms. Proceeding with great caution he first secured, by +diplomatic skill, the non-intervention of France and Russia. +England was too much engaged in the war of the American Revolution +to interfere. He raised an army of eighty thousand men to crush any +opposition, and then informed the Duke of Bavaria that he must +exchange his dominions for the Austrian Netherlands. He requested +the duke to give him an answer in eight days, but declared +peremptorily that in case he manifested any reluctance, the +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page495" id= +"page495"></a>{495}</span> emperor would be under the painful +necessity of compelling him to make the exchange.</p> +<p>The duke appealed to Russia, France and Prussia for aid. The +emperor had bought over Russia and France. Frederic of Prussia, +though seventy-four years of age, encouraged the duke to reject the +proposal, and promised his support. The King of Prussia issued a +remonstrance against this despotic act of Austria, which +remonstrance was sent to all the courts of Europe. Joseph, on +encountering this unexpected obstacle, and finding Europe combining +against him, renounced his plan and published a declaration that he +had never intended to effect the exchange by force. This disavowal, +however, deceived no one. A confederacy was soon formed, under the +auspices of Frederic of Prussia, to check the encroachments of the +house of Austria. This Germanic League was almost the last act of +Frederic. He died August 17, 1786, after a reign of forty-seven +years, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.</p> +<p>The ambitious Empress of Russia, having already obtained the +Crimea, was intent upon the subversion of the Ottoman empire, that +she might acquire Constantinople as her maritime metropolis in the +sunny south. Joseph was willing to allow her to proceed +unobstructed in the dismemberment of Turkey, if she would not +interfere with his plans of reform and aggrandizement in +Germany.</p> +<p>In January, 1787, the Empress of Russia set out on a pleasure +excursion of two thousand miles to the Crimea; perhaps the most +magnificent pleasure excursion that was ever attempted. She was +accompanied by all the court, by the French, English and Austrian +ministers, and by a very gorgeous retinue. It was mid-winter, when +the imperial party, wrapped in furs, and in large sledges richly +decorated, and prepared expressly for the journey, commenced their +sleigh ride of a thousand miles. Music greeted them all along the +way; bonfires blazed on every hill; palaces, brilliant with +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page496" id= +"page496"></a>{496}</span> illuminations and profusely supplied +with every luxury, welcomed them at each stage where they stopped +for refreshment or repose. The roads were put in perfect order; and +relays of fresh horses every few miles being harnessed to the +sledges, they swept like the wind over the hills and through the +valleys.</p> +<p>The drive of a few weeks, with many loiterings for pleasure in +the cities on the way, took them to Kief on the Dnieper. This +ancient city, the residence of the grand dukes of Russia, contained +a population of about twenty-six thousand. Here the imperial court +established itself in the ducal palaces, and with music, songs and +dances beguiled the days until, with the returning spring, the +river opened. In the meantime an immense flotilla of imperial +barges had been prepared to drift down the stream, a thousand +miles, to its mouth at Kherson, where the river flows into the +Black sea. These barges were of magnificent dimensions, floating +palaces, containing gorgeous saloons and spacious sleeping +apartments. As they were constructed merely to float upon the rapid +current of the stream, impelled by sails when the breeze should +favor, they could easily be provided with all the appliances of +luxury. It is difficult to conceive of a jaunt which would present +more of the attractions of pleasure, than thus to glide in saloons +of elegance, with imperial resources and surrounded by youth, +beauty, genius and rank, for a thousand miles down the current of +one of the wildest and most romantic streams of Europe.</p> +<p>It was a beautiful sunny morning of May, when the regal party, +accompanied by the music of military bands, and with floating +banners, entered the barges. The river, broad and deep, rolls on +with majestic flow, now through dense forests, black and gloomy, +where the barking of the bear is heard and wolves hold their +nightly carousals; now it winds through vast prairies hundreds of +miles in extent; again it bursts through mountain barriers where +cliffs and crags rise sublimely <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page497" id="page497"></a>{497}</span> thousands of feet in the +air; here with precipitous sides of granite, bleak and scathed by +the storms of centuries, and there with gloomy firs and pines +rising to the clouds, where eagles soar and scream and rear their +young. Flocks and herds now graze upon the banks; here lies the +scattered village, and its whole population, half civilized men, +and matrons and maidens in antique, grotesque attire, crowd the +shores. Now the pinnacles and the battlements of a great city rise +to view. Armies were gathered at several points to entertain the +imperial pleasure-party with all the pomp and pageantry of war. At +Pultowa they witnessed the maneuverings of a battle, with its +thunderings and uproar and apparent carnage—the exact +representation of the celebrated battle of Pultowa, which Peter the +Great gained on the spot over Charles XII. of Sweden.</p> +<p>The Emperor Joseph had been invited to join this party, and, +with his court and retinue, was to meet them at Kherson, near the +mouth of the Dneister, and accompany the empress to the Crimea. +But, perhaps attracted by the splendor of the water excursion, he +struck across the country in a north-east direction, by the way of +Lemberg, some six hundred miles, to intercept the flotilla and join +the party on the river. But the water of the river suddenly fell, +and some hundred miles above Kherson, the flotilla ran upon a sand +bar and could not be forced over. The empress, who was apprised of +the approach of the emperor, too proud to be found in such a +situation, hastily abandoned the flotilla, and taking the carriages +which they had with them, drove to meet Joseph. The two imperial +suites were soon united, and they swept on, a glittering cavalcade, +to Kherson. Joseph and Catharine rode in a carriage together, where +they had ample opportunity of talking over all their plans of +mutual aggrandizement. As no one was permitted to listen to their +conversations, their decisions can only be guessed at.</p> +<p>They entered the city of Kherson, then containing about +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page498" id= +"page498"></a>{498}</span> sixty thousand inhabitants, surrounded +by all the magnificence which Russian and Austrian opulence could +exhibit. A triumphal arch spanned the gate, upon which was +inscribed in letters of gold, "The road to Byzantium." Four days +were passed here in revelry. The party then entered the Crimea, and +continued their journey as far as Sevastopol, where the empress was +delighted to find, within its capacious harbor, many Russian +frigates at anchor. Immense sums were expended in furnishing +entertainments by the way. At Batcheseria, where the two sovereigns +occupied the ancient palace of the khans, they looked out upon a +mountain in a blaze of illumination, and apparently pouring lava +floods from its artificial volcanic crater.</p> +<p>Joseph returned to Vienna, and immediately there was +war—Austria and Russia against Turkey. Joseph was anxious to +secure the provinces of Bosnia, Servia, Moldavia and Wallachia, and +to extend his empire to the Dneister. With great vigor he made his +preparations, and an army of two hundred thousand men, with two +thousand pieces of artillery, were speedily on the march down the +Danube. Catharine was equally energetic in her preparations, and +all the north of Europe seemed to be on the march for the overthrow +of the Ottoman empire.</p> +<p>Proverbially fickle are the fortunes of war. Joseph commenced +the siege of Belgrade with high hopes. He was ignominiously +defeated, and his troops were driven, utterly routed, into Hungary, +pursued by the Turks, who spread ruin and devastation widely around +them. Disaster followed disaster. Disease entered the Austrian +ranks, and the proud army melted away. The emperor himself, with +about forty thousand men, was nearly surrounded by the enemy. He +attempted a retreat by night. A false alarm threw the troops into +confusion and terror. The soldiers, in their bewilderment fired +upon each other, and an awful scene of tumult ensued. The emperor, +on horseback, endeavored to rally the <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page499" id="page499"></a>{499}</span> +fugitives, but he was swept away by the crowd, and in the midnight +darkness was separated from his suite. Four thousand men perished +in this defeat, and much of the baggage and several guns were lost. +The emperor reproached his aides-de-camp with having deserted him. +One of them sarcastically replied,</p> +<p>"We used our utmost endeavors to keep up with your imperial +majesty, but our horses were not so fleet as yours."</p> +<p>Seventy thousand Austrians perished in this one campaign. The +next year, 1789, was, however, as prosperous as this had been +adverse. The Turks at Rimnik were routed with enormous slaughter, +and their whole camp, with all its treasures, fell into the hands +of the victors. Belgrade was fiercely assailed and was soon +compelled to capitulate. But Joseph was now upon his dying bed. The +tidings of these successes revived him for a few hours, and leaving +his sick chamber he was conveyed to the church of St. Stephen, +where thanksgivings were offered to God. A festival of three days +in Vienna gave expression to the public rejoicing.</p> +<p>England was now alarmed in view of the rapid strides of Austria +and Russia, and the cabinet of St. James formed a coalition with +Holland and Prussia to assist the Turks. France, now in the midst +of her revolutionary struggle, could take no part in these foreign +questions. These successes were, however, but a momentary gleam of +sunshine which penetrated the chamber of the dying monarch. Griefs +innumerable clustered around him. The inhabitants of the +Netherlands rose in successful rebellion and threw off the Austrian +yoke. Prussia was making immense preparations for the invasion of +Austria. The Hungarians were rising and demanding emancipation from +the court of Vienna. These calamities crushed the emperor. He +moaned, and wept and died. In his last hours he found much solace +in religious observances, devoutly receiving the sacrament of the +Lord's Supper, and passing much of his time in prayer. He +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page500" id= +"page500"></a>{500}</span> died on the 20th of February, 1790, in +the forty-ninth year of his age, and the tenth of his reign.</p> +<p>Joseph had been sincerely desirous of promoting the best +interests of his realms; but had been bitterly disappointed in the +result of most of his efforts at reform. Just before he died, he +said, "I would have engraven on my tomb, 'Here lies the sovereign +who, with the best intentions, never carried a single project into +execution.'" He was married twice, but both of his wives, in the +prime of youth, fell victims to the small-pox, that awful disease +which seems to have been a special scourge in the Austrian royal +family. As Joseph II. died without children, the crown passed to +his next brother, Leopold, who was then Grand Duke of Tuscany.</p> +<p>Leopold II., at his accession to the throne, was forty-three +years of age. He hastened to Vienna, and assumed the government. By +prudent acts of conciliation he succeeded in appeasing discontents, +and soon accomplished the great object of his desire in securing +the election to the imperial throne. He was crowned at Frankfort, +October 9, 1790. With frankness very unusual in the diplomacy of +kings, he sought friendly relations with all the neighboring +powers. To Frederic William, who was now King of Prussia, he +wrote:</p> +<p>"In future, I solemnly protest, no views of aggrandizement will +ever enter into my political system. I shall doubtless employ all +the means in my possession to defend my country, should I +unfortunately be driven to such measures; but I will endeavor to +give no umbrage. To your majesty in particular, I will act as you +act towards me, and will spare no efforts to preserve perfect +harmony."</p> +<p>To these friendly overtures, Frederic William responded in a +similar spirit; but still there were unsettled points of dispute +between the two kingdoms which threatened war, and large armies +were gathered on their respective frontiers in preparation for the +commencement of hostilities. In 1790, after much correspondence, +they came to terms, and articles <span class="pagenum"><a name= +"page501" id="page501"></a>{501}</span> of peace were signed. At +the same time an armistice was concluded with the Turks.</p> +<p>The spirit of liberty which had emancipated the colonies of +North America from the aristocratic sway of England, shivering the +scepter of feudal tyranny in France, had penetrated Hungary. +Leopold was endeavoring to rivet anew the shackles of despotism, +when he received a manly remonstrance from an assembly of +Hungarians which had been convened as Pest. In the following noble +terms they addressed the king.</p> +<p>"The fame, august sovereign, which has preceded you, has +declared you a just and gracious prince. It says that you forget +not that you are a man; that you are sensible that the king was +made for the people, not the people for the king. From the rights +of nations and of man, and from that social compact whence states +arose, it is incontestable that the sovereignty originates from the +people. This axiom, our parent Nature has impressed on the hearts +of all. It is one of those which a just prince (and such we trust +your majesty ever will be) can not dispute. It is one of those +inalienable imprescriptible rights which the people can not forfeit +by neglect or disuse. Our constitution places the sovereignty +jointly in the king and people, in such a manner that the remedies +necessary to be applied according to the ends of social life, for +the security of persons and property, are in the power of the +people.</p> +<p>"We are sure, therefore, that at the meeting of the ensuing +diet, your majesty will not confine yourself to the objects +mentioned in your rescript, but will also restore our freedom to +us, in like manner as to the Belgians, who have conquered theirs +with the sword. It would be an example big with danger, to teach +the world that a people can only protect or regain their liberties +by the sword and not by obedience."</p> +<p>But Leopold, trembling at the progress which freedom was making +in France, determined to crush this spirit with an iron heel. Their +petition was rejected with scorn and menace.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page502" id= +"page502"></a>{502}</span> +<p>With great splendor Leopold entered Presburg, and was crowned +King of Hungary on the 10th of November, 1790. Having thus silenced +the murmurs in Hungary, and established his authority there, he +next turned his attention to the recovery of the Netherlands. The +people there, breathing the spirit of French liberty, had, by a +simultaneous rising, thrown off the detestable Austrian yoke. +Forty-five thousand men were sent to effect their subjugation. On +the 20th of November, the army appeared before Brussels. In less +than one year all the provinces were again brought under subjection +to the Austrian power.</p> +<p>Leopold, thus successful, now turned his attention to France. +Maria Antoinette was his sister. He had another sister in the +infamous Queen Caroline of Naples. The complaints which came +incessantly from Versailles and the Tuilleries filled his ear, +touched his affections, and roused his indignation. Twenty-five +millions of people had ventured to assert their rights against the +intolerable arrogance of the French court. Leopold now gathered his +armies to trample those people down, and to replace the scepter of +unlimited despotism in the hands of the Bourbons. With sleepless +zeal Leopold coöperated with nearly all the monarchs in +Europe, in combining a resistless force to crush out from the +continent of Europe the spirit of popular liberty. An army of +ninety thousand men was raised to coöperate with the French +emigrants and all the royalists in France. The king was to escape +from Paris, place himself at the head of the emigrants, amounting +to more than twenty thousand, rally around his banners all the +advocates of the old regime, and then, supported by all the powers +of combined Europe, was to march upon Paris, and take a bloody +vengeance upon a people who dared to wish to be free. The arrest of +Louis XVI. at Varennes deranged this plan. Leopold, alarmed not +only by the impending fate of his sister, but lest the principles +of <span class="pagenum"><a name="page503" id= +"page503"></a>{503}</span> popular liberty, extending from France, +should undermine his own throne, wrote as follows to the King of +England:</p> +<p>"I am persuaded that your majesty is not unacquainted with the +unheard of outrage committed by the arrest of the King of France, +the queen my sister and the royal family, and that your sentiments +accord with mine on an event which, threatening more atrocious +consequences, and fixing the seal of illegality on the preceding +excesses, concerns the honor and safety of all governments. +Resolved to fulfill what I owe to these considerations, and to my +duty as chief of the German empire, and sovereign of the Austrian +dominions, I propose to your majesty, in the same manner as I have +proposed to the Kings of Spain, Prussia and Naples, as well as to +the Empress of Russia, to unite with them, in a concert of measures +for obtaining the liberty of the king and his family, and setting +bounds to the dangerous excesses of the French Revolution."</p> +<p>The British <i>people</i> nobly sympathized with the French in +their efforts at emancipation, and the British government dared not +<i>then</i> shock the public conscience by assailing the patriots +in France. Leopold consequently turned to Frederic William of +Prussia, and held a private conference with him at Pilnitz, near +Dresden, in Saxony, on the 27th of August, 1791. The Count +d'Artois, brother of Louis XVI., and who subsequently ascended the +French throne as Charles X., joined them in this conference. In the +midst of these agitations and schemes Leopold II. was seized with a +malignant dysentery, which was aggravated by a life of shameless +debauchery, and died on the 1st of March, 1792, in the forty-fifth +year of his age, and after a reign of but two years.</p> +<p>Leopold has the reputation of having been, on the whole, a +kind-hearted man, but his court was a harem of unblushing +profligacy. His broken-hearted wife was compelled to submit to the +degradation of daily intimacy with the mistress of her husband. +Upon one only of these mistresses the king <span class= +"pagenum"><a name="page504" id="page504"></a>{504}</span> lavished +two hundred thousand dollars in drafts on the bank of Vienna. The +sums thus infamously squandered were wrested from the laboring +poor. His son, Francis II., who succeeded him upon the throne, was +twenty-two years of age. In most affecting terms the widowed queen +entreated her son to avoid those vices of his father which had +disgraced the monarchy and embittered her whole life.</p> +<p>The reign of Francis II. was so eventful, and was so intimately +blended with the fortunes of the French Revolution, the Consulate +and the Empire, that the reader must be referred to works upon +those subjects for the continuation of the history. During the wars +with Napoleon Austria lost forty-five thousand square miles, and +about three and a half millions of inhabitants. But when at length +the combined monarchs of Europe triumphed over Napoleon, the +monarch of the people's choice, and, in the carnage of Waterloo, +swept constitutional liberty from the continent, Austria received +again nearly all she had lost.</p> +<p>This powerful empire, as at present constituted, embraces:</p> +<table summary="States of Austria"> +<tr> +<td> </td> +<td>Size in Square Miles</td> +<td>Inhabitants</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The hereditary States of Austria</td> +<td>76,199</td> +<td>9,843,490</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The duchy of Styria</td> +<td>8,454</td> +<td>780,100</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Tyrol</td> +<td>11,569</td> +<td>738,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Bohemia</td> +<td>20,172</td> +<td>3,380,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Moravia</td> +<td>10,192</td> +<td>1,805,500</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The duchy of Auschnitz in Galicia</td> +<td>1,843</td> +<td>335,190</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Illyria</td> +<td>9,132</td> +<td>897,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Hungary</td> +<td>125,105</td> +<td>10,628,500</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Dalmatia</td> +<td>5,827</td> +<td>320,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>The Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom</td> +<td>17,608</td> +<td>4,176,000</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td>Galicia</td> +<td>32,272</td> +<td>4,075,000</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>Thus the whole Austrian monarchy contains 256,399 square miles, +and a population which now probably exceeds forty millions. The +standing army of this immense monarchy, in time of peace, consists +of 271,400 men, which includes 39,000 horse and 17,790 artillery. +In time of war this force can be increased to almost any +conceivable amount.</p> +<p>Thus slumbers this vast despotism, in the heart of central +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page505" id= +"page505"></a>{505}</span> Europe, the China of the Christian +world. The utmost vigilance is practiced by the government to +seclude its subjects, as far as possible, from all intercourse with +more free and enlightened nations. The government is in continual +dread lest the kingdom should be invaded by those liberal opinions +which are circulating in other parts of Europe. The young men are +prohibited, by an imperial decree, from leaving Austria to +prosecute their studies in foreign universities. "Be careful," said +Francis II. to the professors in the university at Labach, "not to +teach too much. I do not want learned men in my kingdom; I want +good subjects, who will do as I bid them." Some of the wealthy +families, anxious to give their children an elevated education, and +prohibited from sending them abroad, engaged private tutors from +France and England. The government took the alarm, and forbade the +employment of any but native teachers. The Bible, the great chart +of human liberty, all despots fear and hate. In 1822 a decree was +issued by the emperor prohibiting the distribution of the Bible in +any part of the Austrian dominions.</p> +<p>The censorship of the press is rigorous in the extreme. No +printer in Austria would dare to issue the sheet we now write, and +no traveler would be permitted to take this book across the +frontier. Twelve public censors are established at Vienna, to whom +every book published within the empire, whether original or +reprinted, must be referred. No newspaper or magazine is tolerated +which does not advocate despotism. Only those items of foreign +intelligence are admitted into those papers which the emperor is +willing his subjects should know. The <i>freedom</i> of republican +America is carefully excluded. The slavery which disgraces our land +is ostentatiously exhibited in harrowing descriptions and appalling +engravings, as a specimen of the degradation to which republican +institutions doom the laboring class.</p> +<p>A few years ago, an English gentleman dined with Prince +Metternich, the illustrious prime minister of Austria, in his +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page506" id= +"page506"></a>{506}</span> beautiful castle upon the Rhine. As they +stood after dinner at one of the windows of the palace, looking out +upon the peasants laboring in the vineyards, Metternich, in the +following words, developed his theory of social order:</p> +<p>"Our policy is to extend all possible <i>material</i> happiness +to the whole population; to administer the laws patriarchaly; to +prevent their tranquility from being disturbed. Is it not +delightful to see those people looking so contented, so much in the +possession of what makes them comfortable, so well fed, so well +clad, so quiet, and so religiously observant of order? If they are +injured in persons or property, they have immediate and unexpensive +redress before our tribunals, and in that respect, neither I, nor +any nobleman in the land, has the smallest advantage over a +peasant."</p> +<p>But volcanic fires are heaving beneath the foundations of the +Austrian empire, and dreadful will be the day when the eruption +shall burst forth.</p> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="page507" id= +"page507"></a>{507}</span> +<h2>INDEX.</h2> +<p>ADOLPHUS (of Nassau) election of over the Germanic empire, +<a href="#page36">36</a>.<br /> + summoned to answer charges against him, <a href= +"#page37">37</a>.<br /> + deposed by the diet, <a href="#page37">37</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page37">37</a>.</p> +<p>ADRIAN assumes the tiara, <a href="#page114">114</a>.</p> +<p>ÆNEAS SYLVIUS, remarks of, <a href="#page72">72</a>.</p> +<p>AGNES (daughter of Cunegunda) to marry Rhodolph's son, <a href= +"#page31">31</a>.<br /> + engaged in the massacre, <a href= +"#page40">40</a>.<br /> + enters a convent, <a href="#page41">41</a>.</p> +<p>AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, coronation of Albert I. at, <a href= +"#page88">88</a>.<br /> + coronation of Charles V. at, <a href= +"#page107">107</a>.<br /> + taken possession of by Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page193">193</a>.<br /> + peace of, <a href="#page461">461</a>.</p> +<p>ALBERT (fourth Count of Hapsburg), <a href= +"#page17">17</a>.<br /> + departure of for the holy war, <a href= +"#page17">17</a>.<br /> + address of to his sons, <a href="#page18">18</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page18">18</a>.<br /> + the favorite captain of Frederic II., <a href= +"#page19">19</a>.</p> +<p>ALBERT I. succeeds his father, <a href="#page35">35</a>.<br /> + his character, <a href="#page35">35</a>.<br /> + elected Emperor of Germany, <a href= +"#page37">37</a>.<br /> + victor at Gelheim, <a href="#page37">37</a>.<br /> + assassination of, <a href="#page40">40</a>.</p> +<p>ALBERT III. rules with Otho, <a href="#page46">46</a>.<br /> + acquisitions of, <a href="#page47">47</a>.</p> +<p>ALBERT IV., succession of, <a href="#page51">51</a>.<br /> + improvements projected by, <a href= +"#page58">58</a>.</p> +<p>ALBERT V. declared of age, <a href="#page59">59</a>.<br /> + accepted King of Hungary, <a href= +"#page62">62</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page65">65</a>.</p> +<p>ALBERT (of Bavaria) declines the throne of Hungary, <a href= +"#page66">66</a>.</p> +<p>ALBERT (Archduke) the candidate of the Catholics, <a href= +"#page229">229</a>.</p> +<p>ALLIANCE of barons to crush Rhodolph of Hapsburg, <a href= +"#page21">21</a>.<br /> + same dissolved, <a href="#page22">22</a>.</p> +<p>ALPHONSO (of Castile) candidate for crown of Germany, <a href= +"#page23">23</a>.</p> +<p>ALPHONSO (King of Naples), abdication of, <a href= +"#page84">84</a>.</p> +<p>AMURATH, conquests of, <a href="#page64">64</a>.</p> +<p>ANABAPTISTS, rise of the sect of, <a href= +"#page115">115</a>.</p> +<p>ANHALT (Prince of), dispatched with a list of grievances to the +emperor, <a href="#page211">211</a>.<br /> + address to the emperor, <a href= +"#page212">212</a>.<br /> + ban of the empire declared against, <a href= +"#page265">265</a>.</p> +<p>ANN (Princess of Hungary and Bohemia), marriage of to Ferdinand +I., <a href="#page145">145</a>.</p> +<p>ANNA (of Russia), desire of to secure a harbor for Russia, +<a href="#page400">400</a>.</p> +<p>ANECDOTES of Rhodolph, <a href="#page33">33</a>.<br /> + of Charles V., <a href="#page144">144</a>.</p> +<p>APOLOGY of Maximilian, <a href="#page96">96</a>.</p> +<p>ASCHHAUSEN, confederacy at, <a href="#page194">194</a>.</p> +<p>AUGSBURG, diet of, <a href="#page24">24</a>.<br /> + bold speech of the diet at, <a href= +"#page102">102</a>.<br /> + triumphal reception of Maurice at, <a href= +"#page133">133</a>.<br /> + Confession of, <a href="#page118">118</a>.</p> +<p>AUGUSTUS II. loses and regains his empire, <a href= +"#page382">382</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page382">382</a>.</p> +<p>AULIC COUNCIL, establishment of the, <a href= +"#page102">102</a>.</p> +<p>AUSTRIA, a portion of given as dowry to Hedwige, <a href= +"#page25">25</a>.<br /> + nucleus of the empire of, <a href= +"#page27">27</a>.<br /> + invasion of by John of Bohemia, <a href= +"#page49">49</a>.<br /> + wonderful growth of, <a href="#page52">52</a>.<br /> + division of, <a href="#page72">72</a>.<br /> + accession of Ladislaus over, <a href= +"#page81">81</a>.<br /> + the house of invested with new dignity, <a href= +"#page101">101</a>.<br /> + becomes a part of Spain, <a href= +"#page108">108</a>.<br /> + the empire of apparently on the eve of dissolution, +<a href="#page286">286</a>.<br /> + the leading power in Europe, <a href= +"#page314">314</a>.<br /> + dispute as to the succession to the crown of, <a href= +"#page352">352</a>.<br /> + treaty between Spain and, <a href= +"#page373">373</a>.<br /> + Maria Theresa ascends the throne of, <a href= +"#page415">415</a>.<br /> + deplorable state of at that time, <a href= +"#page415">415</a>.<br /> + defeat of by Frederic, <a href= +"#page420">420</a>.<br /> + the proposed division of, <a href= +"#page422">422</a>.<br /> + prosperity of, <a href="#page444">444</a>.<br /> + important territory wrested from, <a href= +"#page453">453</a>.<br /> + alliance of with Prussia, <a href= +"#page459">459</a>.<br /> + Joseph II. ascends the throne of, <a href= +"#page491">491</a>.<br /> + situation and character of, <a href= +"#page492">492</a>.<br /> + languages spoken in, <a href="#page493">493</a>.<br /> + Leopold ascends the throne of, <a href= +"#page500">500</a>.<br /> + acquisitions of by the battle of Waterloo, <a href= +"#page504">504</a><br /> + present constitution of, <a href= +"#page504">504</a>.<br /> + doctrines of the government of, <a href= +"#page503">503</a>.<br /> + its future, <a href="#page506">506</a>.</p> +<p>AUSTRIANS, triumph of the at Brussels, <a href= +"#page340">340</a>.<br /> + triumph of the at Malplaquet, <a href= +"#page341">341</a>.<br /> + evacuation of Madrid by the, <a href= +"#page345">345</a>.<br /> + prohibited from trading-with Spain, <a href= +"#page380">380</a>.<br /> + the, driven from the Neapolitan States, <a href= +"#page388">388</a>.<br /> + the, defeated at Crotzka, <a href= +"#page407">407</a>.</p> +<p>BADEN, peace of, <a href="#page359">359</a>.</p> +<p>BAJAZET, victory achieved by, <a href="#page64">64</a>.</p> +<p>BALDER, attack of Rhodolph upon, <a href="#page22">22</a>.</p> +<p>BALLOT-BOX, its authority in Poland, <a href= +"#page385">385</a>.</p> +<p>BALNE (Lord), followers of put to death, <a href= +"#page40">40</a>.</p> +<p>BANDITTI, companies of put down by Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page32">32</a>.</p> +<p>BARBARIA, wife of Sigismond, <a href="#page60">60</a>.</p> +<p>BARCELONA, capture of by Charles, <a href= +"#page354">354</a>.</p> +<p>BASLE, attack upon the city of, <a href="#page20">20</a>.<br /> + demands of the Bishop of upon Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page22">22</a>.<br /> + impious remark of the Bishop of, <a href= +"#page23">23</a><br /> + aid of the Bishop of to Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page29">29</a>.</p> +<p>BAVARIA (Henry, Duke of), intimidated by Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page25">25</a>.<br /> + marriage of Hedwige to Otho of, <a href= +"#page25">25</a>.<br /> + agrees to carry the edict of Worms into effect, +<a href="#page114">114</a>.<br /> + his hatred of Wallenstein, <a href= +"#page275">275</a>.<br /> + urged as a candidate for the imperial crown, <a href= +"#page279">279</a>.<br /> + dishonorable despair of, <a href= +"#page438">438</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page488">488</a>.</p> +<p>BAVARIA (Charles of), death of, <a href="#page451">451</a>.</p> +<p>BAVARIA, Maximilian Joseph ascends the throne of, <a href= +"#page451">451</a>.</p> +<p>BAYARD (Chevalier De), the knight without fear or reproach, +<a href="#page90">90</a>.</p> +<p>BELGRADE, relief of, <a href="#page69">69</a>.<br /> + siege of, <a href="#page360">360</a>.<br /> + capture of by Eugene, <a href="#page363">363</a>.<br /> + surrendered to the Turks, <a href= +"#page408">408</a>.</p> +<p>BELLEISLE (General), heroic retreat of, <a href= +"#page441">441</a>.</p> +<p>BLENHEIM, massacre at, <a href="#page334">334</a>.</p> +<p>BLOODY diet, the, <a href="#page158">158</a>.<br /> + theater of Eperies, <a href="#page325">325</a>.</p> +<p>BOHEMIA, triumphal march of Rhodolph into, <a href= +"#page30">30</a>.<br /> + the crown of demanded by Albert I., <a href= +"#page39">39</a>.<br /> + revolt in, <a href="#page89">89</a>.<br /> + rise of the nobles of against Ferdinand, <a href= +"#page127">127</a>.<br /> + the monarchy of, <a href="#page154">154</a>.<br /> + religious conflicts in, <a href= +"#page155">155</a>.<br /> + resistance of to Ferdinand, <a href= +"#page156">156</a>.<br /> + symptoms of the decay of, <a href= +"#page160">160</a>.<br /> + Ferdinand's blow at, <a href="#page263">263</a>.<br /> + severity of Ferdinand towards, <a href= +"#page270">270</a>.<br /> + son of Ferdinand crowned king of, <a href= +"#page271">271</a>.<br /> + change of prosperity of during reign of Ferdinand II., +<a href="#page272">272</a>.<br /> + rise of the Protestants in, <a href= +"#page286">286</a>.<br /> + the Elector of Bavaria crowned king of, <a href= +"#page434">434</a>.<br /> + the Prussians driven from, <a href= +"#page450">450</a>.<br /> + (King of), chosen Emperor of Germany, <a href= +"#page431">431</a>.</p> +<p>BRANDENBURG, reply of the Marquis of to Charles V., <a href= +"#page118">118</a>.</p> +<p>BRITISH MINISTER, letter of the in regard to Maria Theresa, +<a href="#page295">295</a>.<br /> + letter of the in regard to the affairs in Hungary, +<a href="#page416">416</a>.</p> +<p>BRUNAU, the Protestant church of, <a href= +"#page235">235</a>.</p> +<p>BRUNSWICK, marriage of Charles VI. to Elizabeth Christina of, +<a href="#page164">164</a>.</p> +<p>BRUSSELS, diet at, <a href="#page139">139</a>.</p> +<p>BUDA taken by the Turks, <a href="#page147">147</a>.</p> +<p>BULL (see <a href="#index-pope">Pope</a>).</p> +<p>BURGHERS prevented from attending Protestant worship, <a href= +"#page188">188</a>.</p> +<p>BURGUNDY (Duke of), ambition of the, <a href= +"#page77">77</a>.</p> +<p>BURGUNDY (Mary of), marriage of by proxy, <a href= +"#page79">79</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page79">79</a>.</p> +<p>CÆSAR BORGIA, plans for, <a href="#page89">89</a>.</p> +<p>CALENDAR, the Julian and Gregorian, <a href= +"#page192">192</a>.</p> +<p>CAMPEGIO, a legate from the Pope to, <a href= +"#page114">114</a>.</p> +<p>CAPISTRUN, JOHN, rousing eloquence of, <a href= +"#page69">69</a>.</p> +<p><a name="index-cardinal" id="index-cardinal">CARDINAL +KLESES</a>, counselor to the king, <a href= +"#page241">241</a>.<br /> + abduction of, <a href="#page242">242</a>.</p> +<p>CARINTHIA, dukedom of, <a href="#page48">48</a>.</p> +<p>CARLOS crowned as Charles III., <a href="#page388">388</a>.</p> +<p>CARLOVITZ, treaty of, <a href="#page326">326</a>.</p> +<p>CASSAU captured by Botskoi, <a href="#page198">198</a>.</p> +<p><a name="index-castle" id="index-castle">CASTLE</a> (Hawk's), +situation of, <a href="#page17">17</a>.<br /> + (Oeltingen), the dowry of Gertrude of Hohenburg, +<a href="#page19">19</a>.</p> +<p>CATHARINE II. ascends the throne of Russia, <a href= +"#page480">480</a>.<br /> + cooperates with Austria. <a href= +"#page481">481</a>.<br /> + desire of to acquire Constantinople, <a href= +"#page495">495</a>.<br /> + grand excursion of, <a href="#page496">496</a>.<br /> + places Count Poniatowski on the throne of Poland, +<a href="#page484">484</a>.</p> +<p>CATHERINE BORA, marriage of to Luther, <a href= +"#page114">114</a>.</p> +<p>CHANCELLOR OF SAXONY, reading of the Confession of Augsburg by, +<a href="#page118">118</a>.<br /> + reply of to the emperor, <a href= +"#page118">118</a>.</p> +<p>CHARLES OF BOHEMIA, succession of to the kingdom of Austria, +<a href="#page47">47</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page47">47</a>.</p> +<p>CHARLES EMANUEL (King of Sardinia) character of, <a href= +"#page386">386</a>.</p> +<p>CHARLES GUSTAVUS succeeds Christina, Queen of Sweden, <a href= +"#page302">302</a>.<br /> + his invasion of Poland, <a href= +"#page303">303</a>.<br /> + energy of, <a href="#page305">305</a>.</p> +<p>CHARLES (Prince), defeat of by Frederic, <a href= +"#page254">254</a>.</p> +<p>CHARLES (Prince of Lorraine) marriage of, <a href= +"#page447">447</a>.</p> +<p>CHARLES II., the throne of Spain held by, <a href= +"#page328">328</a>.<br /> + sends embassage to the pope, <a href= +"#page329">329</a>.<br /> + induced to bequeath the crown to France, <a href= +"#page330">330</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page331">331</a>.</p> +<p><a name="index-charles-iii" id="index-charles-iii">CHARLES +III</a>. crowned King of Spain, <a href="#page332">332</a>.<br /> + army of routed, <a href="#page340">340</a>.<br /> + arrival of at Barcelona, <a href= +"#page342">342</a>.<br /> + desperate condition of, <a href= +"#page344">344</a>.<br /> + flight of, <a href="#page346">346</a>.<br /> + description of his appearance, <a href= +"#page353">353</a>.<br /> + dilatoriness of, <a href="#page355">355</a>.<br /> + crowned king, <a href="#page356">356</a>.<br /> + Carlos crowned as, <a href="#page388">388</a>.<br /> + (See also <a href="#index-charles-vi">Charles +VI</a>.)</p> +<p>CHARLES V. (of Spain) inherits the Austrian States, <a href= +"#page106">106</a>.<br /> + petitions to, <a href="#page106">106</a>.<br /> + required to sign a constitution, <a href= +"#page108">108</a>.<br /> + ambition of, <a href="#page109">109</a>.<br /> + apologetic declaration of, <a href= +"#page112">112</a>.<br /> + refusal of to violate his safe conduct, <a href= +"#page112">112</a>.<br /> + attempts of to bribe Luther, <a href= +"#page113">113</a>.<br /> + determination of to suppress religious agitation, +<a href="#page115">115</a>.<br /> + interview of with the pope at Bologna, <a href= +"#page117">117</a>.<br /> + call of for the diet at Augsburg, <a href= +"#page117">117</a>.<br /> + intolerance of, <a href="#page119">119</a>.<br /> + appeal of to the Protestants for aid, <a href= +"#page122">122</a>.<br /> + in violation of his pledge, turns against the +Protestants, <a href="#page122">122</a>.<br /> + secret treaty of with the King of France, <a href= +"#page123">123</a>.<br /> + treaty of with the Turks, <a href= +"#page123">123</a>.<br /> + forces secured by against the Protestants, <a href= +"#page124">124</a>.<br /> + alarm of at the preparations of the Protestants, +<a href="#page125">125</a>.<br /> + preparations of to enforce the Council of Trent, +<a href="#page125">125</a>.<br /> + march of to Ingolstadt, <a href= +"#page126">126</a>.<br /> + flight of to Landshut, <a href= +"#page126">126</a>.<br /> + triumph of over the Protestants, <a href= +"#page126">126</a>.<br /> + conquers the Elector of Saxony, <a href= +"#page128">128</a>.<br /> + revenge of towards the Elector of Saxony, <a href= +"#page128">128</a>.<br /> + march to Wittemberg, <a href="#page128">128</a>.<br /> + visit to the grave of Luther, <a href= +"#page129">129</a>.<br /> + attempts of to settle the religious differences, +<a href="#page129">129</a>.<br /> + attempt of to establish the inquisition in Burgundy, +<a href="#page129">129</a>.<br /> + power of over the pope, <a href= +"#page130">130</a>.<br /> + calls a diet at Augsburg. <a href= +"#page130">130</a>.<br /> + failure of to accomplish the election of Philip, +<a href="#page131">131</a>.<br /> + confounded at the success of the Protestants. <a href= +"#page133">133</a>.<br /> + flight of from Maurice, <a href= +"#page133">133</a>.<br /> + unconquerable will of, <a href= +"#page135">135</a>.<br /> + urged to yield, <a href="#page136">136</a>.<br /> + fortune deserting, <a href="#page137">137</a>.<br /> + extraordinary despondency of, <a href= +"#page138">138</a>.<br /> + abdication of in favor of Philip, his son, <a href= +"#page139">139</a>.<br /> + enters the convent of St. Justus, <a href= +"#page141">141</a>.<br /> + convent life of, <a href="#page141">141</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page143">143</a>.<br /> + anecdotes of, <a href="#page144">144</a>.<br /> + attempt of to abdicate the elective crown of Germany to +Ferdinand, <a href="#page160">160</a>.</p> +<p><a name="index-charles-vi" id="index-charles-vi">CHARLES VI</a>. +(see also <a href="#index-charles-iii">Charles III</a>. for +previous information),<br /> + limitations imposed on the power of, <a href= +"#page356">356</a>.<br /> + desertion of by his allies, <a href= +"#page357">357</a>.<br /> + addition of Wallachia and Servia to the dominion of, +<a href="#page364">364</a>.<br /> + marriage of, <a href="#page364">364</a>.<br /> + his alteration of the compact established by Leopold, +<a href="#page364">364</a>.<br /> + power of, <a href="#page365">365</a>.<br /> + involved in duplicity, <a href= +"#page377">377</a>.<br /> + insult to, <a href="#page380">380</a>.<br /> + ambition of to secure the throne of Spain for his +daughters, <a href="#page382">382</a>.<br /> + the loss of Lombardy felt by, <a href= +"#page387">387</a>.<br /> + attempt of to force assistance from France, <a href= +"#page390">390</a>.<br /> + his first acknowledgment of the people, in his letter +to Count Kinsky, <a href="#page391">391</a>.<br /> + interference of in Poland, <a href= +"#page393">393</a>.<br /> + sends Strickland to London to overthrow the cabinet, +<a href="#page391">391</a>.<br /> + troubles of in Italy, <a href="#page394">394</a>.<br /> + distraction of, <a href="#page396">396</a>.<br /> + proposal of for a settlement with France, <a href= +"#page397">397</a>.<br /> + humbled by loss of empire. <a href= +"#page398">398</a>.<br /> + a scrupulous Romanist, <a href= +"#page400">400</a>.<br /> + removal of all the Protestants from the army, <a href= +"#page404">404</a>.<br /> + fears of for the safety of Maria Theresa, <a href= +"#page406">406</a>.<br /> + anguish of at the surrender of Belgrade, <a href= +"#page411">411</a>.<br /> + letter of to the Queen of Russia, <a href= +"#page412">412</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page414">414</a>.</p> +<p>CHARLES VII., death of, <a href="#page451">451</a>.</p> +<p>CHARLES VIII. informed of the league against him, <a href= +"#page88">88</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page89">89</a>.</p> +<p>CHARLES XII. joins the Austrian party, <a href= +"#page335">335</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page368">368</a>.<br /> + conquests of, <a href="#page382">382</a>.</p> +<p>CHAZLEAU, battle of, <a href="#page435">435</a>.</p> +<p>CHRISTIANA, the succession of Sweden conferred upon, <a href= +"#page280">280</a>.<br /> + abdicates in favor of Charles Gustavus, <a href= +"#page302">302</a>.</p> +<p>CHRISTIAN IV. (of Denmark), leader of the Protestants, declares +war, <a href="#page267">267</a>.<br /> + conquered by Ferdinand, <a href="#page268">268</a>.</p> +<p>CHURCH, exactions of the, <a href="#page102">102</a>.</p> +<p>CILLI, influence of Count over Ladislaus, <a href= +"#page68">68</a>.<br /> + driven from the empire, <a href="#page68">68</a>.</p> +<p>CLEMENT VII. succeeds Adrian as pope, <a href= +"#page116">116</a>.</p> +<p>CLEVES, duchy of put in sequestration, <a href= +"#page213">213</a>.</p> +<p>COLOGNE, the Archbishop of joins the Protestants, <a href= +"#page124">124</a>.<br /> + deposition of the Archbishop of, <a href= +"#page126">126</a>.</p> +<p>CONDUCT, Luther presented with a safe, <a href= +"#page110">110</a>.</p> +<p>CONFESSION OF AUGSBURG, <a href="#page118">118</a>.<br /> + reading of, <a href="#page119">119</a>.</p> +<p>CONGRESS at Rothenburg, <a href="#page226">226</a>.<br /> + at Hanau, <a href="#page445">445</a>.<br /> + at Prague, 1618, and letter of to Matthias, <a href= +"#page236">236</a>.<br /> + of electors at Frankfort, <a href="#page35">35</a>.</p> +<p>CONSPIRACY against Albert, <a href="#page36">36</a>.<br /> + formed by Albert against Adolphus, <a href= +"#page37">37</a>.</p> +<p>CONSTANTINOPLE, capture of by the Turks, <a href= +"#page64">64</a>.</p> +<p>CONSTITUTION, Charles V. required to sign a, <a href= +"#page108">108</a>.</p> +<p>COUNCIL of Trent, <a href="#page124">124</a>.<br /> + of Trent in 1562, <a href="#page164">164</a>.<br /> + of State convened in Spain, <a href= +"#page331">331</a>.</p> +<p>CREMNITZ, resistance of, <a href="#page148">148</a>.</p> +<p>CREMONIA to be disposed of as plunder, <a href= +"#page89">89</a>.</p> +<p>CROATIA invaded by the Turks, <a href="#page195">195</a>.</p> +<p>CROTZKA. battle of, <a href="#page407">407</a>.</p> +<p>CRUSADE against the Turks, <a href="#page64">64</a>.</p> +<p>CUNEGUNDA (wife of Ottocar), her taunts, <a href= +"#page27">27</a>.<br /> + offer of to place Bohemia under the protection of +Rhodolph, <a href="#page31">31</a>.</p> +<p>DANUBE, position of Austria on the, <a href= +"#page25">25</a>.</p> +<p>DAUN (Count), honors of at his victory, <a href= +"#page473">473</a>.</p> +<p>DENMARK, the King of obliged to yield to Charles Gustavus, +<a href="#page306">306</a>.</p> +<p>DIEPOLD thrown from the palace by the mob, <a href= +"#page328">328</a>.</p> +<p>DIET, command of the of Augsburg to Ottocar, <a href= +"#page14">14</a>.<br /> + at Augsburg, <a href="#page118">118</a>.<br /> + at Augsburg, <a href="#page130">130</a>.<br /> + at Brussels. <a href="#page139">139</a>.<br /> + at Lubec, <a href="#page269">269</a>.<br /> + at Prague, in 1547, <a href="#page158">158</a>.<br /> + at Prague, <a href="#page179">179</a>.<br /> + the Protestant at Prague, <a href= +"#page209">209</a>.<br /> + decrees of the, <a href="#page210">210</a>.<br /> + at Passau, <a href="#page137">137</a>.<br /> + its agreement as to the rights of the Protestants, +<a href="#page138">138</a>.<br /> + at Pilgram, <a href="#page66">66</a>.<br /> + at Presburg, accusation of Leopold by the, <a href= +"#page309">309</a>.<br /> + at Ratisbon, <a href="#page179">179</a>.<br /> + at Spires, <a href="#page116">116</a>.<br /> + at Stetzim, <a href="#page349">349</a>.<br /> + demands of, <a href="#page350">350</a>.<br /> + at Worms, <a href="#page86">86</a>.<br /> + refusal of the at Worms to cooperate with Maximilian, +<a href="#page96">96</a>.<br /> + at Znaim, <a href="#page61">61</a>.<br /> + power of the Hungarian, <a href="#page308">308</a>.</p> +<p>DOCTRINE of the three parties, <a href="#page190">190</a>.<br /> + ancient and modern, contention about shadowy points of, +<a href="#page255">255</a>.</p> +<p>DRESDEN, treaty of, <a href="#page458">458</a>.</p> +<p>ERNEST, death of, <a href="#page202">202</a>.</p> +<p>ELEONORA (wife of Leopold), her character, <a href= +"#page335">335</a>.<br /> + marriage of, <a href="#page336">336</a>.<br /> + her death, <a href="#page337">337</a>.</p> +<p>ELFSNABEN, a fleet assembled at by Gustavus Adolphus, <a href= +"#page281">281</a>,</p> +<p>ELIZABETH (wife of Philip V.), ambition of, <a href= +"#page371">371</a>.<br /> + demands of on Charles VI., <a href= +"#page372">372</a>.</p> +<p>ELIZABETH (of Russia), death of, <a href="#page479">479</a>.</p> +<p>EMERIO TEKELI invested with the Hungarian forces, <a href= +"#page319">319</a>.</p> +<p>ENGLAND, assistance of against the Turks, <a href= +"#page94">94</a>.<br /> + supports the house of Austria against France, <a href= +"#page332">332</a>.<br /> + curious contradictory conduct of, <a href= +"#page346">346</a>.<br /> + pledge of to support the Pragmatic Sanction, <a href= +"#page380">380</a>.<br /> + supports Austria to check France, <a href= +"#page428">428</a>.<br /> + determines to support Maria Theresa, <a href= +"#page436">436</a>.<br /> + prodigality of, <a href="#page447">447</a>.<br /> + war declared against by France, <a href= +"#page448">448</a>.<br /> + purchases the aid of Poland, <a href= +"#page452">452</a>.<br /> + private arrangement of with Prussia, <a href= +"#page457">457</a>.<br /> + remonstrated with for its treatment of the queen, +<a href="#page463">463</a>.<br /> + alliance of with Prussia, <a href= +"#page466">466</a>.<br /> + a subsidy voted Prussia by, <a href= +"#page475">475</a>.<br /> + alarmed at the strides of Austria and Russia, <a href= +"#page499">499</a>.</p> +<p>EPERIES, tribunal at, <a href="#page324">324</a>.</p> +<p>ERNEST, conquests of, <a href="#page59">59</a>.</p> +<p>EUGENE (Prince) commands the Austrian army, <a href= +"#page332">332</a>.<br /> + his heroic capture of Belgrade, <a href= +"#page363">363</a>.<br /> + his disapproval of the war, <a href= +"#page389">389</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page398">398</a>.<br /> + funeral honors of. <a href="#page399">399</a>.</p> +<p>EUROPE, condition of the different powers of, <a href= +"#page269">269</a>.</p> +<p>EXCOMMUNICATION of the Venetians, <a href="#page97">97</a>.</p> +<p>FAMILY of Rhodolph, <a href="#page25">25</a>.<br /> + the three daughters of the imperial, <a href= +"#page364">364</a>.</p> +<p>FERDINAND (of Austria) invested with the government of the +Austrian States, <a href="#page113">113</a>.<br /> + determines to arrest Protestantism, <a href= +"#page114">114</a>.<br /> + assumes some impartiality, <a href= +"#page116">116</a>.<br /> + chosen King of the Romans, <a href= +"#page120">120</a>.<br /> + Bohemia and Hungary added to his kingdom, <a href= +"#page146">146</a>.<br /> + demands the restitution of Belgrade, <a href= +"#page146">146</a>.<br /> + his siege of Buda, <a href="#page153">153</a>.<br /> + tribute of to the Turks, <a href= +"#page153">153</a>.<br /> + his attempts to weaken the power of the Hungarian +nobles, <a href="#page155">155</a>.<br /> + conditions of his pardon of the Hungarian nobles, +<a href="#page157">157</a>.<br /> + his punishment of the revolters, <a href= +"#page158">158</a>.<br /> + his establishment of the Jesuits in Bohemia, <a href= +"#page158">158</a>.<br /> + his inconsistencies, <a href="#page158">158</a>.<br /> + obtains the crown of Germany, <a href= +"#page161">161</a>.<br /> + opposed by the pope, <a href="#page162">162</a>.<br /> + elected Emperor of Germany, <a href= +"#page233">233</a>.<br /> + character of, <a href="#page234">234</a>.<br /> + rich spoils of, <a href="#page273">273</a>.<br /> + he assembles a diet at Eatisbon, <a href= +"#page275">275</a>.<br /> + perplexity of in regard to the demands of the diet, +<a href="#page277">277</a>.</p> +<p>FERDINAND (King of Arragon) furnishes supplies for the war +against the Venetians, <a href="#page95">95</a>.</p> +<p>FERDINAND (of Naples), flight of to Ischia, <a href= +"#page85">85</a>.</p> +<p>FERDINAND (King of the Romans)<br /> + crowned at Ratisbon, <a href="#page302">302</a>.<br /> + his death, <a href="#page302">302</a>.</p> +<p>FERDINAND I.<br /> + illustrious birth of, <a href="#page145">145</a>.<br /> + marriage of, <a href="#page145">145</a>.<br /> + efforts of to unite Protestants and Catholics, <a href= +"#page164">164</a>.<br /> + attempts of to prevent the spread of Protestantism, +<a href="#page167">167</a>.<br /> + the founder of the Austrian empire, <a href= +"#page168">168</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page168">168</a>.</p> +<p>FERDINAND II.<br /> + manifesto of, <a href="#page240">240</a>.<br /> + abduction of Cardinal Kleses by, <a href= +"#page242">242</a>.<br /> + troops of defeated by the Protestants, <a href= +"#page243">243</a>.<br /> + refers the complaints of the Protestants to +arbitration, <a href="#page343">343</a>.<br /> + unpopularity of with the Catholics, <a href= +"#page247">247</a>.<br /> + unexpected rescue of, <a href="#page249">249</a>.<br /> + elected King of Germany, <a href= +"#page250">250</a>.<br /> + concludes an alliance with Maximilian, <a href= +"#page254">254</a>.<br /> + secures the coöperation of the Elector of Saxony +and Louis XIII., <a href="#page256">256</a>.<br /> + subdues Austria, <a href="#page257">257</a>.<br /> + barbarity of the troops of, <a href= +"#page258">258</a>.<br /> + vengeance of, <a href="#page263">263</a>.<br /> + meeting at Ratisbon to approve the acts of, <a href= +"#page265">265</a>.<br /> + victories of, <a href="#page268">268</a>.<br /> + capture of the duchies of Mecklenburg, <a href= +"#page268">268</a>.<br /> + seizes Pomerania, <a href="#page268">268</a>.<br /> + revokes all concessions to the Protestants, <a href= +"#page270">270</a>.<br /> + son of crowned King of Bohemia, <a href= +"#page271">271</a>.<br /> + manifesto of against Gustavus Adolphus, <a href= +"#page283">283</a>.<br /> + decorous appreciation of to the memory of Gustavus +Adolphus, <a href="#page296">296</a>.<br /> + outwitted by a Capuchin friar, <a href= +"#page279">279</a>.<br /> + succeeds in securing the election of his son Ferdinand, +<a href="#page299">299</a>.<br /> + his death, <a href="#page299">299</a>.</p> +<p>FERDINAND III.<br /> + ascends the throne, <a href="#page245">245</a>.<br /> + his proposal for a truce with Prague, <a href= +"#page246">246</a>.<br /> + desire of for peace, <a href="#page300">300</a>.<br /> + succeeds in securing the election of his son as +Ferdinand King of the Romans, <a href="#page302">302</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page303">303</a>.</p> +<p>FLEURY (Cardinal), ascendancy of over Louis XV., <a href= +"#page378">378</a>.</p> +<p>FLORENCE threatened by Louis XII., <a href="#page90">90</a>.</p> +<p>FRANCE<br /> + influence of in wresting sacrifices from the emperor, +<a href="#page279">279</a>.<br /> + the dominant power, <a href="#page315">315</a>.<br /> + fraud by which obtained possession of Spain, <a href= +"#page331">331</a>.<br /> + condition of under Louis XIV., <a href= +"#page357">357</a>.<br /> + refusal of to engage in the Polish war, <a href= +"#page390">390</a>.<br /> + design of to deprive Maria Theresa of her kingdom, +<a href="#page428">428</a>.<br /> + declares war against England, <a href= +"#page448">448</a>.<br /> + alliance of effected with Austria. <a href= +"#page467">467</a>.</p> +<p>FRANCIS (of France)<br /> + claims Austria, <a href="#page106">106</a>.<br /> + perfidy of, <a href="#page127">127</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page128">128</a>.</p> +<p>FRANCIS I. (Duke of Lorraine) elected Emperor of Germany, +<a href="#page457">457</a>.</p> +<p>FRANCIS II. ascends the throne, <a href="#page504">504</a>.</p> +<p>FRANCIS RAVAILLAC, the assassin of Henry IV., <a href= +"#page215">215</a>.</p> +<p>FRANKFORT, congress at, <a href="#page35">35</a>.</p> +<p>FREDERIC (King of Naples), doom of, <a href= +"#page92">92</a>.</p> +<p>FREDERIC (of Saxony)<br /> + friendly seizure of Luther by, <a href= +"#page113">113</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page114">114</a>.</p> +<p>FREDERIC I. (the Handsome)<br /> + capture of <a href="#page43">43</a>.<br /> + surrender of, <a href="#page44">44</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page45">45</a>.</p> +<p>FREDERIC II. (of Germany)<br /> + renown of, <a href="#page18">18</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page482">482</a>.<br /> + curious occupations of, <a href="#page483">483</a>.</p> +<p>FREDERIC II. (of Austria)<br /> + treachery of, <a href="#page75">75</a>.<br /> + wanderings of, <a href="#page77">77</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page81">81</a>.</p> +<p>FREDERIC V., character of, <a href="#page251">251</a>.<br /> + accepts the crown of Bohemia, <a href= +"#page251">251</a>.<br /> + inefficiency of, <a href="#page258">258</a>.<br /> + his feast during the assault, <a href= +"#page258">258</a>.<br /> + renounces all claim to Bohemia, <a href= +"#page259">259</a>.<br /> + flight of, <a href="#page262">262</a>.<br /> + his property sequestrated, <a href= +"#page264">264</a>.</p> +<p>FREDERIC (King of Bohemia, Elector of Palatine),<br /> + death of, <a href="#page296">296</a>.</p> +<p>FREDERIC (of Prussia),<br /> + demands of, <a href="#page417">417</a>.<br /> + seizure of Silesia by, <a href= +"#page418">418</a>.<br /> + triumphal entrance into Breslau, <a href= +"#page419">419</a>.<br /> + his defeat of Neuperg, <a href= +"#page420">420</a>.<br /> + opinions of on magnanimity, <a href= +"#page423">423</a>.<br /> + his indignation at the small concessions of Austria, +<a href="#page424">424</a>.<br /> + implores peace, <a href="#page433">433</a>.<br /> + violation of his pledge, <a href= +"#page435">435</a>.<br /> + capture of Prague by, <a href="#page419">419</a>.<br /> + surprises and defeats Prince Charles, <a href= +"#page454">454</a>.<br /> + invasion of Saxony by, <a href= +"#page458">458</a>.<br /> + explanation demanded from Austria by, <a href= +"#page469">469</a>.<br /> + artifice of to entrap the allies, <a href= +"#page470">470</a>.<br /> + defeat of at Prague, <a href="#page473">473</a>.<br /> + recklessness of, <a href="#page476">476</a>.<br /> + undaunted perseverance of, <a href= +"#page477">477</a>.<br /> + despair of, <a href="#page479">479</a>.<br /> + secures an alliance with Prussia, <a href= +"#page480">480</a>.<br /> + letter of to Maria Theresa, <a href= +"#page488">488</a>.<br /> + peaceful reply of, <a href="#page500">500</a>.</p> +<p>FRENCH, the, driven out of Italy, <a href= +"#page94">94</a>.<br /> + the, routed near Brussels, <a href= +"#page340">340</a>.<br /> + rout of at Brussels, <a href="#page340">340</a>.<br /> + defeat of the at Malplaquet, <a href= +"#page341">341</a>.</p> +<p>GABRIEL BETHLEHEM<br /> + chosen leader in the Hungarian revolution, <a href= +"#page152">152</a>.<br /> + he retires to Presburg, <a href= +"#page253">253</a>.<br /> + compelled to sue for peace, <a href= +"#page268">268</a>.</p> +<p>GELHEIM, battle of, <a href="#page37">37</a>.</p> +<p>GALLAS appointed commander in place of Wallenstein, <a href= +"#page268">268</a>.</p> +<p>GENOA, aid furnished Leopold by, <a href="#page311">311</a>.</p> +<p>GERMANY,<br /> + its conglomeration of States, <a href= +"#page18">18</a>.<br /> + independence of each State of, <a href= +"#page18">18</a>.<br /> + position of the Emperor of, <a href= +"#page19">19</a>.<br /> + decline of the imperial dignity of, <a href= +"#page85">85</a>.<br /> + its division into ten districts, <a href= +"#page101">101</a>.<br /> + growing independence in of the pope, <a href= +"#page162">162</a>.<br /> + tranquillity of under Ferdinand, <a href= +"#page172">172</a>.<br /> + rejoicing in at the downfall of Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page225">225</a>.<br /> + divided into two leagues, <a href= +"#page253">253</a>.<br /> + distracted state of, <a href="#page299">299</a>.<br /> + religious agitation in, <a href= +"#page370">370</a>.<br /> + the Elector of Bavaria chosen Emperor of, <a href= +"#page434">434</a>.</p> +<p>GERTRUDE (of Hohenburg),<br /> + marriage of to Rhodolph of Hapsburg, <a href= +"#page19">19</a>.<br /> + her dowry, <a href="#page19">19</a>.</p> +<p>GHIARADADDA to be bestowed on Venice, <a href= +"#page89">89</a>.</p> +<p>GIBRALTAR taken by the English, <a href="#page339">339</a>.</p> +<p>GOLDEN FLEECE, establishment of the order of the, <a href= +"#page372">372</a>.</p> +<p>GRAN, capture of the fortress at, <a href= +"#page324">324</a>.</p> +<p>GREAT WARDEIN,<br /> + siege of, <a href="#page307">307</a>.<br /> + the Turks retain, <a href="#page313">313</a>.</p> +<p>GRENADER, the plot at, <a href="#page92">92</a>.</p> +<p>GRIEVANCES complained of by the confederacy at Heilbrun, +<a href="#page192">192</a>.</p> +<p>GUICCIARDINI, remark of Charles V. about, <a href= +"#page144">144</a>.</p> +<p>GUNPOWDER, its introduction, <a href="#page82">82</a>.</p> +<p>GUNTZ, triumphant resistance of the fortress of, <a href= +"#page150">150</a>.</p> +<p>GUSTAVUS YASA (King of Sweden),<br /> + league with against Charles V., <a href= +"#page127">127</a>.</p> +<p>GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS,<br /> + rouses the country against Ferdinand II., <a href= +"#page280">280</a>.<br /> + assembles a fleet at Elfsnaben, <a href= +"#page281">281</a>.<br /> + Stettin captured by, <a href="#page281">281</a>.<br /> + Mark of Brandenburg taken possession of by, <a href= +"#page281">281</a>.<br /> + conquers at the battle of Leipsic, <a href= +"#page285">285</a>.<br /> + his tranquil campaign, <a href= +"#page286">286</a>.<br /> + his intrenchment at Nuremberg, <a href= +"#page290">290</a>.<br /> + his attack on Wallenstein, <a href= +"#page293">293</a>.<br /> + his death, <a href="#page293">293</a>.<br /> + relics of, <a href="#page295">295</a>.</p> +<p>HANAU, conference at, <a href="#page445">445</a>.</p> +<p>HANOVER, title of the Elector of to the crown of England, +<a href="#page367">367</a>.</p> +<p>HAWK'S Castle. (See <a href="#index-castle">Castle</a>.)</p> +<p>HEDWIGE,<br /> + wife of Albert of Hapsburg, <a href= +"#page18">18</a>.<br /> + betrothal of, <a href="#page53">53</a>.</p> +<p>HELVETIC STATES, independence of acknowledged, <a href= +"#page89">89</a>.</p> +<p>HENRY (Duke of Anjou),<br /> + abdication of the throne of Poland, <a href= +"#page180">180</a>.<br /> + succeeds Charles IX., <a href="#page180">180</a>.</p> +<p>HENRY (Duke of Carinthia) chosen king, <a href= +"#page39">39</a>.</p> +<p>HENRY (Count of Luxemburg)<br /> + elected Emperor of Austria, <a href= +"#page41">41</a>.<br /> + his death, <a href="#page41">41</a>.</p> +<p>HENRY (of Valois) succeeds Charles IX., <a href= +"#page171">171</a>.</p> +<p>HENRY VIII. (of England) claims Austria, <a href= +"#page107">107</a>.</p> +<p>HENRY IV. (of France),<br /> + efforts of to unite Lutherans and Calvinists, <a href= +"#page190">190</a>.<br /> + political course of, <a href="#page214">214</a>.<br /> + assassination of, <a href="#page215">215</a>.<br /> + his plans for remodeling Europe, <a href= +"#page216">216</a>.</p> +<p>HOCKKIRCHEN, battle of, <a href="#page475">475</a>.</p> +<p>HOLY LEAGUE, formation of, <a href="#page116">116</a>.</p> +<p><a name="index-hungarians" id="index-hungarians">HUNGARIANS</a>, +the, summons a diet, <a href="#page349">349</a>.<br /> + the, remonstrate with Leopold, <a href= +"#page501">501</a>.<br /> + (see also <a href="#index-hungary">Hungary</a>.)</p> +<p><a name="index-hungary" id="index-hungary">HUNGARY</a>, +despotism of Rhodolph III. in, <a href="#page196">196</a>.<br /> + new revolt in, <a href="#page307">307</a>.<br /> + attempt of Leopold to establish despotic power in, +<a href="#page317">317</a>.<br /> + rise of against Leopold, <a href= +"#page333">333</a>.<br /> + troubles in observed by Joseph I., <a href= +"#page349">349</a>.<br /> + enthusiastic support of Maria Theresa in, <a href= +"#page432">432</a>.<br /> + (see also <a href= +"#index-hungarians">Hungarian</a>.)</p> +<p>HUNNLADES (John), regent of Hungary, <a href= +"#page68">68</a>,<br /> + popularity of, <a href="#page68">68</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page71">71</a>.</p> +<p>HYMN, singing of a by the army of Gustavus on the field of +battle, <a href="#page292">292</a>.</p> +<p>ISABELLA (wife of Frederic), death of, <a href= +"#page45">45</a>.</p> +<p>ISABELLA (of Spain), determination of to obtain for her son the +crown of Hungary, <a href="#page152">152</a>.<br /> + propositions of to Ferdinand for peace, <a href= +"#page154">154</a>.</p> +<p>IMPERIAL CHAMBER, creation of the, <a href="#page87">87</a>.</p> +<p>INGOLSTADT, Charles V. marches to, <a href= +"#page126">126</a>.</p> +<p>INNSPRUCK, arrival of the Duke of Ludovico at, <a href= +"#page90">90</a>.<br /> + the emperor sick at, <a href="#page103">103</a>.<br /> + the palace at surrendered to pillage, <a href= +"#page134">134</a>.</p> +<p>INSURRECTION in Vienna, <a href="#page36">36</a>.<br /> + of Suabia, <a href="#page55">55</a>.</p> +<p>INZENDORF, the Lord of arrested by Matthias, <a href= +"#page206">206</a>.</p> +<p>ISCHIA, flight of Ferdinand to the island of, <a href= +"#page85">85</a>.</p> +<p>ITALY, invasion of by Mahomet II., <a href= +"#page82">82</a>.<br /> + victories of Henry of France in, <a href= +"#page136">136</a>.<br /> + invaded by the Spaniards, <a href= +"#page388">388</a>.<br /> + invaded by the French and Spaniards, <a href= +"#page452">452</a>.</p> +<p>JAGHELLON, the Grand Duke, <a href="#page53">53</a>.<br /> + marriage of Hedwige to, <a href="#page54">54</a>.<br /> + baptism of, <a href="#page54">54</a>.<br /> + (for further reference see <a href= +"#index-ladislaus">Ladislaus</a>.)</p> +<p>JAMES I., matrimonial negotiations of, <a href= +"#page266">266</a>.</p> +<p>JEANETTE POISSON (see <a href="#index-marchioness">Marchioness +of Pompadour</a>).</p> +<p>JESUITS, the, expelled from Prague, <a href= +"#page239">239</a>.</p> +<p>JOANNA (of Spain), insanity of, <a href="#page106">106</a>.</p> +<p>JOHN (of Bohemia), character of, <a href="#page46">46</a>.<br /> + his invasion of Austria, <a href="#page49">49</a>.</p> +<p>JOHN SIGISMOND, death of, <a href="#page178">178</a>.</p> +<p>JOHN SOBIESKI goes to the relief of Vienna, <a href= +"#page320">320</a>.<br /> + enthusiastic reception of, <a href= +"#page322">322</a>.<br /> + refuses to fight Tekeli, <a href= +"#page324">324</a>.</p> +<p>JOHN (the Constant) succeeds Frederic, Elector of Saxony, +<a href="#page114">114</a>.</p> +<p>JOHN (of Tapoli), negotiations of with the Turks for the throne +of Hungary, <a href="#page151">151</a>.<br /> + marriage and death of, <a href="#page52">52</a>.</p> +<p>JOHN (of Medici) elected pope, <a href="#page100">100</a>.</p> +<p>JOSEPH (of Germany) elected as successor of Leopold, <a href= +"#page316">316</a>.</p> +<p>JOSEPH I. secures a treaty with France for neutrality for Italy, +<a href="#page339">339</a>.<br /> + continues the war against Spain, <a href= +"#page338">338</a>.<br /> + political concessions of in Hungary, <a href= +"#page349">349</a>.<br /> + refusal of to grant the demands of the diet, <a href= +"#page350">350</a>.<br /> + Transylvania again subject to, <a href= +"#page351">351</a>.<br /> + rout of the Hungarians by, <a href= +"#page351">351</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page352">352</a>.</p> +<p>JOSEPH II. (of Austria) elected to succeed the Emperor Francis, +<a href="#page481">481</a>.<br /> + assumes the crown of Germany, <a href= +"#page484">484</a>.<br /> + succeeds Maria Theresa, <a href= +"#page491">491</a>.<br /> + character of, <a href="#page492">492</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page500">500</a>.<br /> + attempt of to obliterate distinctions in Austria, +<a href="#page493">493</a>.<br /> + emancipates the serfs of, <a href= +"#page494">494</a>.<br /> + joins the excursion of Catherine II., <a href= +"#page497">497</a>.<br /> + defeat of at Belgrade, <a href= +"#page498">498</a>.<br /> + successes of, <a href="#page499">499</a>.</p> +<p>JULIUS III. ascends the pontifical throne, <a href= +"#page130">130</a>.</p> +<p>KAUNITZ (Count) appointed prime minister, <a href= +"#page462">462</a>.</p> +<p>KEVENHULLER (General) given the command of the Austrian army, +<a href="#page405">405</a>.</p> +<p>KING, nominal power of the, <a href="#page308">308</a>.</p> +<p>KINSKY, letter of Charles VI. to, <a href= +"#page391">391</a>.</p> +<p>KLESES. (See <a href="#index-cardinal">Cardinal</a>.)</p> +<p>KONIGSEGG (General), power of in a counsel of war, <a href= +"#page404">404</a>.<br /> + recalled in disgrace, <a href="#page405">405</a>.</p> +<p><a name="index-ladislaus" id="index-ladislaus">LADISLAUS I</a>., +coronation of, <a href="#page65">65</a>.<br /> + visit of to the pope, <a href="#page67">67</a>.<br /> + inglorious flight of, <a href="#page69">69</a>.<br /> + tyranny of towards the family of Hunniades, <a href= +"#page71">71</a>.<br /> + flight of from Buda, <a href="#page71">71</a>.<br /> + his projected marriage to Magdalen, <a href= +"#page71">71</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page72">72</a>.</p> +<p>LADISLAUS II. elected King of Hungary, <a href= +"#page79">79</a>.<br /> + assumes the government of Austria, <a href= +"#page81">81</a>.</p> +<p>LANDAU, the Austrians checked at, <a href="#page47">47</a>.</p> +<p>LANDSHUT, flight of Charles V. to, <a href= +"#page126">126</a>.</p> +<p>LEAGUE against France, <a href="#page85">85</a>.<br /> + of Augsburg, <a href="#page315">315</a>.</p> +<p>LEIPSIC captured by Tilly, <a href="#page285">285</a>.</p> +<p>LEO X., John of Medici assumes the name of, <a href= +"#page100">100</a>.</p> +<p>LEOPOLD I. (of Austria) succeeds Ferdinand III., <a href= +"#page304">304</a>.<br /> + convenes the diet at Presburg, <a href= +"#page309">309</a>.<br /> + accused by the diet of persecution, <a href= +"#page309">309</a>.<br /> + his desire for peace, <a href="#page312">312</a>.<br /> + organizes a coalition against Louis XIV., <a href= +"#page315">315</a>.<br /> + attempt of to establish despotic power in Hungary, +<a href="#page317">317</a>.<br /> + driven from Hungary, <a href="#page317">317</a>.<br /> + flight of with his family, <a href= +"#page319">319</a>.<br /> + humiliation of, <a href="#page322">322</a>.<br /> + disgust of the people with, <a href= +"#page324">324</a>.<br /> + vengeance of, <a href="#page324">324</a>.<br /> + efforts of to obtain a decree that the crown was +hereditary, <a href="#page325">325</a>.<br /> + claims Spain, <a href="#page326">326</a>.<br /> + declares war against France, <a href= +"#page331">331</a>.<br /> + deserted by the Duke of Bavaria, <a href= +"#page334">334</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page334">334</a>.<br /> + canonization of, <a href="#page335">335</a>.<br /> + his various marriages, <a href="#page336">336</a>.</p> +<p>LEOPOLD II. ascends the Austrian throne, <a href= +"#page500">500</a>.<br /> + despotism of in Hungary meets with a remonstrance, +<a href="#page501">501</a>.<br /> + interposes against France, <a href= +"#page502">502</a>.<br /> + letter of to the King of England, <a href= +"#page502">502</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page502">502</a>.</p> +<p>LEOPOLD I. (of Germany), character and death of, <a href= +"#page45">45</a>.</p> +<p>LEOPOLD I. (of Switzerland), character of, <a href= +"#page52">52</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page57">57</a>.</p> +<p>LEOPOLD II., succession of, <a href="#page57">57</a>.<br /> + assumes the guardianship of Albert V., <a href= +"#page59">59</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page59">59</a>.</p> +<p>LEOPOLD (Archduke) invasion of Upper Austria by, <a href= +"#page220">220</a>.<br /> + defeat of by Matthias, <a href="#page221">221</a>.</p> +<p>LEWIS II., excommunication of, <a href="#page50">50</a>.</p> +<p>LIBERTY, the spirit of acting in France, <a href= +"#page501">501</a>.</p> +<p>LITHUANIA, duchy of, <a href="#page53">53</a>.<br /> + annexation of to Poland, <a href="#page54">54</a>.</p> +<p>LOREDO, arrival of Charles V. at, <a href= +"#page141">141</a>.</p> +<p>LORRAINE (Chevalier De), duel between the and the young Turk, +<a href="#page312">312</a>.</p> +<p>LORRAINE, duchy of demanded by France, <a href= +"#page397">397</a>.</p> +<p>LORRAINE (Francis Stephen, Duke of) compelled to flee from +Hungary, <a href="#page319">319</a>.<br /> + his engagement with Maria Theresa, <a href= +"#page395">395</a>.<br /> + deprived of his kingdom, <a href= +"#page397">397</a>.<br /> + his marriage, <a href="#page398">398</a>.<br /> + appointed commander of the army, <a href= +"#page404">404</a>.<br /> + reply of the to the demand of Frederic, <a href= +"#page418">418</a>.</p> +<p>LOUIS XII., succession of to the throne of France, <a href= +"#page89">89</a>.<br /> + inaugurated Duke of Milan, <a href= +"#page90">90</a>.<br /> + diplomacy of, <a href="#page91">91</a>.</p> +<p>LOUIS XIII. espouses the cause of Ferdinand I., <a href= +"#page256">256</a>.</p> +<p>LOUIS XIV., attempt of to thwart Leopold, <a href= +"#page304">304</a>.<br /> + marriage of, <a href="#page314">314</a>.<br /> + resolve of to annex a part of Spain, <a href= +"#page314">314</a>.<br /> + responsible for devastation of the Palatinate, <a href= +"#page316">316</a>.<br /> + rapacious character of, <a href= +"#page317">317</a>.<br /> + claims Spain, <a href="#page326">326</a>.<br /> + preparations of to invade Spain, <a href= +"#page329">329</a>.<br /> + desire of to retire from the conflict, <a href= +"#page341">341</a>.<br /> + melancholy situation of, <a href= +"#page357">357</a>.</p> +<p>LOUIS XV. begins to take part in the government, <a href= +"#page378">378</a>.</p> +<p>LOUIS XVI., plans of, <a href="#page502">502</a>.</p> +<p>LOUIS (of Bavaria) elected emperor, <a href= +"#page42">42</a>.<br /> + excommunication of, <a href="#page47">47</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page47">47</a>.</p> +<p>LOUIS (of Hungary), death of, <a href="#page146">146</a>.</p> +<p>LOUIS (son of Philip V.), death of, <a href= +"#page371">371</a>.</p> +<p>LUBEC, peace of, <a href="#page269">269</a>.</p> +<p>LUDOVICO, escape of the Duke of, <a href="#page90">90</a>.</p> +<p>LUDOVICO (Duke of Milan), recovery of Italy by the Duke of, +<a href="#page90">90</a>.<br /> + mutiny of the troops of, <a href= +"#page91">91</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page92">92</a>.</p> +<p><a name="index-luther" id="index-luther">LUTHER</a> summoned to +repair to Rome, <a href="#page102">102</a>.<br /> + bull of the pope against, <a href= +"#page108">108</a>.<br /> + works of burned, <a href="#page109">109</a>.<br /> + support of at the diet of Worms, <a href= +"#page110">110</a>.<br /> + summoned to appear before the diet, <a href= +"#page110">110</a>.<br /> + triumphal march of, <a href="#page111">111</a>.<br /> + memorable reply of, <a href="#page111">111</a>.<br /> + triumph of, <a href="#page112">112</a>.<br /> + attempts of Charles V. to bribe, <a href= +"#page113">113</a>.<br /> + his Patmos, <a href="#page113">113</a>.<br /> + his German Bible, <a href="#page113">113</a>.<br /> + the party of encouraged by Adrian the pope, <a href= +"#page114">114</a>.<br /> + marriage of, <a href="#page114">114</a>.<br /> + the Confession of Augsburg too mild for, <a href= +"#page119">119</a>.<br /> + visit of Charles V. to grave of, <a href= +"#page128">128</a>.</p> +<p>LUTHERANS, reply of to Henry IV., <a href= +"#page191">191</a>.<br /> + (see also <a href="#index-luther">Luther</a>.)</p> +<p>LUTZEN, meeting of the armies at, <a href= +"#page291">291</a>.<br /> + battle of, <a href="#page292">292</a>.</p> +<p>MADRID, evacuation of, by the Austrians, <a href= +"#page345">345</a>.</p> +<p>MAGDEBURG, the city of, espouses Gustavus, <a href= +"#page282">282</a>.<br /> + sacking of, by the imperial troops, <a href= +"#page283">283</a>.</p> +<p>MAHOMET II., siege of Belgrade by, <a href="#page69">69</a>.</p> +<p>MAHOMET IV., his foreign war, <a href="#page307">307</a>.</p> +<p>MARLBOROUGH (Duke of), the guardian of Anne, <a href= +"#page332">332</a>.</p> +<p>MALPLAQUET, battle at, <a href="#page341">341</a>.</p> +<p>MANTUA, aid furnished Leopold by, <a href= +"#page311">311</a>.<br /> + battle at, <a href="#page387">387</a>.</p> +<p><a name="index-marchioness" id="index-marchioness">MARCHIONESS +OF POMPADOUR</a>, arrogance of, <a href="#page464">464</a>.</p> +<p>MARIA ANTOINETTE, history of, <a href="#page487">487</a>.<br /> + letter of Maria Theresa to, <a href= +"#page488">488</a>.</p> +<p>MARIA THERESA (of Spain), marriage of to Louis XIV., <a href= +"#page314">314</a>.</p> +<p>MARIA THERESA (of Austria), character of, <a href= +"#page395">395</a>.<br /> + her attachment for the Duke of Lorraine, <a href= +"#page395">395</a>.<br /> + marriage of, <a href="#page398">398</a>.<br /> + ascends the Austrian throne, <a href= +"#page415">415</a>.<br /> + solicitations of to foreign powers, <a href= +"#page417">417</a>.<br /> + her apparent doom, <a href="#page421">421</a>.<br /> + consents to part with Glogau, <a href= +"#page424">424</a>.<br /> + a son born to her, <a href="#page426">426</a>.<br /> + desire of that her husband should obtain the imperial +crown, <a href="#page427">427</a>.<br /> + her coronation at Presburg, <a href= +"#page429">429</a>.<br /> + address of to the diet, <a href= +"#page431">431</a>.<br /> + reinforcements of, <a href="#page436">436</a>.<br /> + ambitious dreams of, <a href="#page439">439</a>.<br /> + forbids the conference for the relief of Prague, +<a href="#page440">440</a>.<br /> + attempt of to evade her promise to Sardinia, <a href= +"#page446">446</a>.<br /> + arrogance of excites indignation of the other powers, +<a href="#page449">449</a>.<br /> + rouses the Hungarians, <a href= +"#page450">450</a>.<br /> + recovers Bohemia, <a href="#page450">450</a>.<br /> + interview of the English ambassador with, <a href= +"#page454">454</a>.<br /> + signs the treaty of Dresden, <a href= +"#page458">458</a>.<br /> + indignation of at peace being signed by England, +<a href="#page460">460</a>.<br /> + chagrin of, <a href="#page461">461</a>.<br /> + her energetic discipline, <a href= +"#page462">462</a>.<br /> + secures the friendship of the Marchioness of Pompadour, +<a href="#page465">465</a><br /> + reproaches towards England, <a href= +"#page466">466</a>.<br /> + her diplomatic fib, <a href="#page468">468</a>.<br /> + victories of, <a href="#page475">475</a>.<br /> + loses Russia and Sweden, <a href= +"#page480">480</a>.<br /> + recovers the coöperation of Russia, <a href= +"#page481">481</a>.<br /> + children of, <a href="#page486">486</a>.<br /> + letter of to Maria Antoinette, <a href= +"#page488">488</a>.<br /> + letter to Frederic desiring peace, <a href= +"#page489">489</a>.<br /> + charge to her son, <a href="#page490">490</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page491">491</a>.<br /> + fate of her children, <a href="#page491">491</a>.</p> +<p>MARY ANNE (of Spain) affianced to the dauphin of France, +<a href="#page372">372</a>.<br /> + insulting rejection of, <a href="#page373">373</a>.</p> +<p>MARGARET (of Bohemia), engagement of, <a href= +"#page46">46</a>.<br /> + marriage and flight of, <a href="#page49">49</a>.<br /> + divorce of, <a href="#page49">49</a>.</p> +<p>MARGARET, celebration of the nuptials of, <a href= +"#page314">314</a>.</p> +<p>MARK OF BRANDENBURG, taken possession of by Gustavus Adolphus, +<a href="#page281">281</a>.</p> +<p>MARTINETS thrown from the palace by the mob, <a href= +"#page328">328</a>.</p> +<p>MASSACRE, the, of St. Bartholomew, <a href= +"#page171">171</a>.</p> +<p>MATHEW HENRY (Count of Thurn), leader of the Protestants, +<a href="#page234">234</a>.<br /> + convention called by, <a href="#page236">236</a>.</p> +<p>MATTHIAS (of Hungary), invasion of Austria by, <a href= +"#page75">75</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page79">79</a>.</p> +<p>MATTHIAS, character of, <a href="#page201">201</a>.<br /> + chosen leader of the revolters in the Netherlands, +<a href="#page202">202</a>.<br /> + increasing popularity of, <a href= +"#page203">203</a>.<br /> + announces his determination to depose Rhodolph III., +<a href="#page204">204</a>.<br /> + his demand that Rhodolph should abdicate, <a href= +"#page205">205</a>.<br /> + distrust of by the Protestants, <a href= +"#page205">205</a>.<br /> + arrest of the Lord of Inzendorf by, <a href= +"#page206">206</a>.<br /> + reluctance of to sign the conditions, <a href= +"#page207">207</a>.<br /> + elected king, <a href="#page207">207</a>.<br /> + haughtiness of towards the Austrians, <a href= +"#page208">208</a>.<br /> + political reconciliation between Rhodolph III. and, +<a href="#page219">219</a>.<br /> + march of against Leopold, <a href= +"#page221">221</a>.<br /> + limitations affixed to the offer of the crown to, +<a href="#page222">222</a>.<br /> + coronation of, <a href="#page224">224</a>.<br /> + marriage of, <a href="#page225">225</a>.<br /> + suspicions of the Catholics against, <a href= +"#page229">229</a>.<br /> + elected Emperor of Germany, <a href= +"#page229">229</a>.<br /> + thwarted in his attempts to levy an army, <a href= +"#page230">230</a>.<br /> + concludes a truce with Turkey, <a href= +"#page231">231</a>.<br /> + his revival of the ban against the Protestants, +<a href="#page231">231</a>.<br /> + efforts of to secure the crown of Germany for +Ferdinand, <a href="#page232">232</a>.<br /> + opposed by the Protestants, <a href= +"#page233">233</a>.<br /> + defiant reply of to the congress at Prague, <a href= +"#page236">236</a>.<br /> + disposition of to favor toleration, <a href= +"#page239">239</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page344">344</a>.</p> +<p>MAURICE (of Saxony), Protestant principles of, <a href= +"#page131">131</a>.<br /> + treaty of with the King of France, <a href= +"#page132">132</a><br /> + capture of the Tyrol by, <a href= +"#page133">133</a>.<br /> + demands of from Charles V., <a href= +"#page135">135</a><br /> + death of, <a href="#page137">137</a>.</p> +<p>MAXIMILIAN I., ambition of, <a href="#page84">84</a>.<br /> + efforts of to rouse the Italians, <a href= +"#page88">88</a>.<br /> + efforts to secure the Swiss estates, <a href= +"#page89">89</a>.<br /> + defeat of at the diet of Worms, <a href= +"#page87">87</a>.<br /> + roused to new efforts, <a href="#page92">92</a>.<br /> + superstitious fraud of, <a href="#page93">93</a>.<br /> + drawn into a war with Bavaria, <a href= +"#page94">94</a>.<br /> + league formed by against the Venetians, <a href= +"#page95">95</a>.<br /> + abandoned by his allies, <a href= +"#page97">97</a>.<br /> + perseverance of rewarded, <a href= +"#page98">98</a>.<br /> + confident of success against Italy, <a href= +"#page99">99</a>.<br /> + letter of to his daughter, <a href= +"#page99">99</a>.<br /> + success beginning to attend, <a href= +"#page100">100</a>.<br /> + plans of to secure the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, +<a href="#page101">101</a>.<br /> + contempt of for the pope, <a href= +"#page103">103</a>.<br /> + peculiarities of exhibited, <a href= +"#page103">103</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page104">104</a>.<br /> + accomplishments of, <a href="#page105">105</a>.</p> +<p>MAXIMILIAN II. allowed to assume the title of emperor elect, +<a href="#page161">161</a>.<br /> + character of, <a href="#page169">169</a>.<br /> + his letter to the Elector Palatine, <a href= +"#page170">170</a>.<br /> + profession of the Catholic faith, <a href= +"#page170">170</a>.<br /> + address of to Henry of Valois, <a href= +"#page172">172</a>.<br /> + liberal toleration maintained by, <a href= +"#page172">172</a>.<br /> + answer of to the complaints of the diet, <a href= +"#page173">173</a>.<br /> + offer of to pay tribute to the Turks, <a href= +"#page174">174</a>.<br /> + elected King of Poland, <a href= +"#page180">180</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page181">181</a>.<br /> + character and acquirements of, <a href= +"#page182">182</a>.<br /> + tribute of honor by the ambassadors to, <a href= +"#page183">183</a>.<br /> + wife of, <a href="#page183">183</a>.<br /> + fate of his children, <a href="#page184">184</a>.</p> +<p>MAXIMILIAN (brother of Matthias), the candidate of the +Protestants, <a href="#page229">229</a>.</p> +<p>MAXIMILIAN JOSEPH, ascends the throne of Bavaria, <a href= +"#page451">451</a>.</p> +<p>MEINHARD, legitimate rights of, <a href="#page50">50</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page50">50</a>.</p> +<p>MELANCTHON, character of, <a href="#page119">119</a>.</p> +<p>MENTZ, taunts of the Elector of, <a href="#page38">38</a>.</p> +<p>METTERNICH, his theory of social order, <a href= +"#page506">506</a>.</p> +<p>METZ, siege of, <a href="#page137">137</a>.</p> +<p>MILAN, captured by Louis XII., <a href="#page90">90</a>.<br /> + Louis XII. created Duke of, <a href= +"#page90">90</a>.</p> +<p>MINISTER (see the countries for which the minister acted).</p> +<p>MOHATZ, battle of, <a href="#page146">146</a>.</p> +<p>MOLNITZ, the court of Frederic established at, <a href= +"#page421">421</a>.</p> +<p>MONTECUCULI (Prince), commander of the troops of Leopold, +<a href="#page311">311</a>.</p> +<p>MONTSERRAT, shrine of the holy Virgin at, <a href= +"#page355">355</a>.</p> +<p>MORAVIA, to be held five years by Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page81">81</a>.<br /> + the province of, <a href="#page208">208</a>.<br /> + triumphal march of Count Thurn into, <a href= +"#page247">247</a>.</p> +<p>MOSES TZEKELI crowned Prince of Transylvania, <a href= +"#page196">196</a>.</p> +<p>MULHEIM, the fortifications of demolished, <a href= +"#page232">232</a>.</p> +<p>MUNICH captured by Frederic, <a href="#page449">449</a>.</p> +<p>MURCHFIELD, meeting of the armies on the field of, <a href= +"#page29">29</a>.</p> +<p>NAPLES, subjugation of, <a href="#page84">84</a>.</p> +<p>NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, similarity of the plans of Henry IV. and, +<a href="#page216">216</a>.<br /> + remark of verified, <a href="#page262">262</a>.<br /> + remark of concerning Russia, <a href= +"#page399">399</a>.</p> +<p>NETHERLANDS, revolt in the, <a href="#page201">201</a>.<br /> + Marlborough in possession of the, <a href= +"#page339">339</a>.</p> +<p>NEUPERG (General), imprudence and insult of, <a href= +"#page408">408</a>.<br /> + arrested by Charles, <a href="#page413">413</a>.</p> +<p>NEUSTADT, the emperor's remains to be deposited at, <a href= +"#page104">104</a>.</p> +<p>NICHOLAS (Count of Zrini), heroic defense of Zigeth by, <a href= +"#page175">175</a>.</p> +<p>NISSA, capture of, <a href="#page402">402</a>.</p> +<p>NOBLES, the, of Bohemia banished, <a href= +"#page271">271</a>.</p> +<p>NOVARRA, defense of the citadel of, <a href= +"#page90">90</a>.</p> +<p>NUREMBURG, congress at, <a href="#page227">227</a>.<br /> + request of, that Rhodolph should abdicate, <a href= +"#page228">228</a>.<br /> + battle of, <a href="#page290">290</a>.<br /> + famine in the city of, <a href="#page290">290</a>.</p> +<p>OFFICERS, ignorance of the Austrian, <a href= +"#page389">389</a>.</p> +<p>ORLEANS (Duke of), matrimonial arrangements of the, <a href= +"#page369">369</a>.<br /> + death of the, <a href="#page378">378</a>.</p> +<p>ORSOVA captured by the Turks, <a href="#page405">405</a>.<br /> + surrendered to the Turks, <a href= +"#page408">408</a>.</p> +<p>OTHO marries Hedwige, of Hapsburg, <a href= +"#page25">25</a>.<br /> + harmonious rule of, <a href="#page46">46</a>.</p> +<p>OTTOCAR (of Bohemia), candidate for crown of Germany, <a href= +"#page23">23</a>.<br /> + opposition of Rhodolph, <a href="#page24">24</a>.<br /> + command of the diet to, <a href="#page24">24</a>.<br /> + message of, to Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page24">24</a>.<br /> + power of, <a href="#page25">25</a>.<br /> + his contempt for Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page25">25</a>.<br /> + his excommunication by the pope, <a href= +"#page26">26</a>.<br /> + his performance of feudal homage, <a href= +"#page27">27</a>.<br /> + violates his oath, <a href="#page28">28</a>.<br /> + the body of found after battle, <a href= +"#page30">30</a>.</p> +<p>OXENSTIERN (Chancellor), appointed commander of the Swedish +army, <a href="#page297">297</a>.</p> +<p>PALATINATE, territory of the, <a href="#page250">250</a>.</p> +<p>PAPPENHEIM (General), death of, <a href="#page293">293</a>.</p> +<p>PASSAU, diet at, <a href="#page187">187</a>.</p> +<p>PATMOS, Luther's, <a href="#page113">113</a>.</p> +<p>PAUL III. (of Russia), alliance of with Prussia, <a href= +"#page480">480</a>.<br /> + assassination of, <a href="#page480">480</a>.</p> +<p>PAUL IV. (Pope), death of, <a href="#page162">162</a>.</p> +<p>Peace of Passarovitz, <a href="#page364">364</a></p> +<p>PEOPLE, contempt for the, <a href="#page95">95</a>.</p> +<p>PEST taken by the Turks, <a href="#page147">147</a>.</p> +<p>PETER THE GREAT, ambition of, <a href="#page399">399</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page399">399</a>.</p> +<p>PETERWARDEIN, strength of, <a href="#page406">406</a>.</p> +<p>PHILIP (of Burgundy), obtains the dukedom of Burgundy, <a href= +"#page84">84</a>.</p> +<p>PHILIP III. institutes the order of the Golden Fleece, <a href= +"#page372">372</a>.</p> +<p>PHILIP IV. (of Spain) obtains renunciation of succession in +favor of Margaret, <a href="#page314">314</a>.<br /> + resolve of, to maintain his throne, <a href= +"#page341">341</a>.<br /> + supported by his subjects, <a href= +"#page342">342</a>.<br /> + flight of, from Catalona, <a href= +"#page343">343</a>.</p> +<p>PHILIP V. despondency of, <a href="#page369">369</a>.<br /> + abdication of, <a href="#page370">370</a>.<br /> + resumes his crown, <a href="#page371">371</a>.</p> +<p>PILGRAM, diet at, <a href="#page66">66</a>.</p> +<p>PIUS IV. elected pope, <a href="#page162">162</a>.</p> +<p>PODIEBRAD (George), assumes regal authority, <a href= +"#page66">66</a>.<br /> + intrusted with the regency of Bohemia, <a href= +"#page68">68</a>.<br /> + elected King of Bohemia, <a href="#page73">73</a>.</p> +<p>POLAND, conditions affixed to the throne of, <a href= +"#page180">180</a>.<br /> + Stephen Barthori chosen king of, by the minority, +<a href="#page181">181</a>.<br /> + attempts of France to place Stanislaus on the throne +of, <a href="#page383">383</a>.<br /> + Count Poniatowski secures the crown of, <a href= +"#page484">484</a>.<br /> + to be carved out, <a href="#page485">485</a>.<br /> + annihilation of, <a href="#page486">486</a>.</p> +<p>POMERANIA, seizure of, by Ferdinand, <a href= +"#page269">269</a>.</p> +<p>POMPADOUR (Marchioness of), arrogance of the, <a href= +"#page464">464</a>.</p> +<p>PONIATOWSZI (Count), elected King of Poland, <a href= +"#page484">484</a>.</p> +<p><a name="index-pope" id="index-pope">POPE</a>, the, letter of +Rhodolph to, <a href="#page24">24</a>.<br /> + character of Pope Gregory N., <a href= +"#page24">24</a>.<br /> + indignation of the, <a href="#page38">38</a>.<br /> + capitulation of the, <a href="#page84">84</a>.<br /> + (Alexander VI.) bribery of, <a href= +"#page89">89</a>.<br /> + (Julius II.) the, bought over, <a href= +"#page92">92</a>.<br /> + bull of the, deposing the King of Naples, +<a href="#page93">93</a>.<br /> + demands of the, as booty, <a href= +"#page95">95</a>.<br /> + infamy of, <a href="#page95">95</a>.<br /> + infamous acquisitions of, <a href= +"#page98">98</a>.<br /> + proclamation against the, by Maximilian, +<a href="#page98">98</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page100">100</a>.<br /> + John of Medici elected as, <a href= +"#page100">100</a>.<br /> + (Leo X.), command of the, to Luther to repair to Rome, +<a href="#page102">102</a>.<br /> + Maximilian's contempt for the, <a href= +"#page103">103</a>.<br /> + bull of the, against Luther, <a href= +"#page108">108</a>.<br /> + bull of the, burned by Luther, <a href= +"#page109">109</a>.<br /> + death of Leo X., the, <a href="#page113">113</a>.<br /> + (Adrian), accession of, as, <a href= +"#page113">113</a>.<br /> + (Clement VII.) succeeds Adrian, <a href= +"#page116">116</a>.<br /> + offer of pardon by the, for those who +assist in enforcing the Council of Trent, <a href= +"#page125">125</a>.<br /> + disgust of the, against Charles V., <a href= +"#page129">129</a>.<br /> + (Julius III.) elected as, <a href= +"#page130">130</a>.<br /> + indignation of the, at the toleration of the diet at +Passau, <a href="#page138">138</a>.<br /> + the, allows Maximilian to assume the title of emperor +elect, <a href="#page161">161</a>.<br /> + intolerant pride of, <a href="#page161">161</a>.<br /> + (Pius IV.) elected as, <a href= +"#page162">162</a>.<br /> + dependence on the, dispensed with, <a href= +"#page163">163</a>.<br /> + refusal of the, to reform abuses, <a href= +"#page165">165</a>.<br /> + attempts of the, to influence Maximilian II., <a href= +"#page174">174</a>.<br /> + aid extended to Leopold by the, <a href= +"#page311">311</a>.<br /> + embassage from Charles II. to the, <a href= +"#page329">329</a>.<br /> + alarm of the, at the innovations of Joseph +II., <a href="#page494">494</a>.</p> +<p>PRAGMATIC SANCTION, the, <a href="#page364">364</a>.<br /> + the, supported by various powers, <a href= +"#page461">461</a>.</p> +<p>PRAGUE, Ferdinand crushes the revolt in. <a href= +"#page156">156</a>.<br /> + diet at, <a href="#page158">158</a>.<br /> + seizure of, by Leopold, <a href= +"#page221">221</a>.<br /> + archbishop of, expelled from the city, <a href= +"#page239">239</a>.<br /> + indignation of the inhabitants of, against Frederic, +<a href="#page262">262</a>.<br /> + surrender of, to Ferdinand, <a href= +"#page262">262</a>.<br /> + surrender of, to the Austrians, <a href= +"#page443">443</a>.<br /> + suffering in, on account of the siege, <a href= +"#page472">472</a>.</p> +<p>PRAUNSTEIN (Lord of), reasons for the, declaring war, <a href= +"#page80">80</a>.</p> +<p>PRECOCITY, not a modern innovation, <a href= +"#page108">108</a>.</p> +<p>PRESBURG, diet at, <a href="#page309">309</a>.</p> +<p>PRESS, success of the, in diffusing intelligence, <a href= +"#page102">102</a>.</p> +<p>PRINTING, the influence of, beginning to be felt, <a href= +"#page83">83</a>.</p> +<p>PRIVILEGES confined to the nobles, <a href= +"#page187">187</a>.</p> +<p>PROTEST of the minority at the diet of Spires, <a href= +"#page116">116</a>.</p> +<p>PROTESTANTISM, spread of, in Europe, <a href= +"#page163">163</a>.<br /> + its working for liberty, <a href= +"#page264">264</a>.</p> +<p>PROTESTANTS, assembly of, at Smalkalde, <a href= +"#page121">121</a>.<br /> + refusal of the, to assist Charles V, <a href= +"#page122">122</a>.<br /> + contributions of the, to expel the Turks, <a href= +"#page122">122</a>.<br /> + increase of the, <a href="#page123">123</a>.<br /> + the, reject the council of Trent, <a href= +"#page124">124</a>.<br /> + ruin of the army of the, by Charles V., <a href= +"#page126">126</a>.<br /> + party of the, predominant in Germany, <a href= +"#page183">183</a>.<br /> + shameful quarreling among the, <a href= +"#page190">190</a>.<br /> + union of, at Aschhausen, <a href= +"#page194">194</a>.<br /> + opposition of the, to Matthias, <a href= +"#page206">206</a>.<br /> + their demands on Matthias, <a href= +"#page207">207</a>.<br /> + reasonable demands of, <a href= +"#page211">211</a>.<br /> + forces of the, vanquished at Pritznitz, <a href= +"#page259">259</a>.<br /> + secret combinations of the, for the rising of the, +<a href="#page267">267</a>.<br /> + concessions to, revoked by Ferdinand, <a href= +"#page276">276</a>.<br /> + the, prefer the Duke of Bavaria to any of the family of +Ferdinand, <a href="#page279">279</a>.<br /> + loss of the, in the death of Gustavus, <a href= +"#page296">296</a>.<br /> + pleasure of the, at the entry of Frederic into Silesia, +<a href="#page419">419</a>.</p> +<p>PRUSSIA, inhabited by a pagan race, <a href= +"#page20">20</a>.<br /> + alliance of, with Austria, <a href= +"#page459">459</a>.<br /> + alliance of, with England, <a href= +"#page466">466</a>.<br /> + a subsidy voted to, by England, <a href= +"#page475">475</a>.<br /> + formidable preparations against, <a href= +"#page470">470</a>.</p> +<p>PRUSSIANS, the, driven from Bohemia, <a href= +"#page450">450</a>.</p> +<p>RAAB taken by the Turks, <a href="#page147">147</a>.</p> +<p>RAGOTSKY (Francis), leader of the rebellion, <a href= +"#page333">333</a>.<br /> + assembles a diet, <a href="#page349">349</a>.<br /> + chosen dux, or leader, <a href= +"#page350">350</a>.<br /> + outlawed, and escape of, <a href= +"#page351">351</a>.</p> +<p>RATISBON, diet at, in 1629, <a href="#page275">275</a>.<br /> + refusal of, to accept Ferdinand's word, <a href= +"#page276">276</a>.</p> +<p>REFORMATION, commencement of the, <a href= +"#page103">103</a>.</p> +<p>RELIGION, remarkable solicitude for the reputation of, <a href= +"#page98">98</a>.</p> +<p>REWARD offered for the head of Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page30">30</a>.</p> +<p>RHODOLPH (of Hapsburg), at the time of his father's death, +<a href="#page18">18</a>.<br /> + presentation of, by the emperor for baptism, <a href= +"#page19">19</a>,<br /> + his incursions, <a href="#page19">19</a>.<br /> + marriage, <a href="#page19">19</a>.<br /> + excommunication of, <a href="#page20">20</a>.<br /> + engaged in Prussian crusade, <a href= +"#page20">20</a>.<br /> + a monument reared to, by the city of Strasburg, +<a href="#page21">21</a>.<br /> + principles of honor, <a href="#page21">21</a>.<br /> + chosen chief of Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden, +<a href="#page21">21</a>.<br /> + chosen mayor of Zurich, <a href="#page21">21</a>.<br /> + elected Emperor of Germany, <a href= +"#page23">23</a>.<br /> + power of, as emperor, <a href="#page25">25</a>.<br /> + family of, <a href="#page25">25</a>.<br /> + gathering clouds around, <a href= +"#page28">28</a>.<br /> + address of the citizens of Vienna to, <a href= +"#page28">28</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page35">35</a>.</p> +<p>RHODOLPH II., character and court of, <a href= +"#page48">48</a>.<br /> + ostentatious titles of, <a href="#page51">51</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page51">51</a>.</p> +<p>RHODOLPH III, crowned King of Hungary, <a href= +"#page178">178</a>.<br /> + obtains the imperial throne, <a href= +"#page180">180</a>.<br /> + bigotry of, <a href="#page187">187</a>.<br /> + his infringement of the rights of the burghers, +<a href="#page188">188</a>.<br /> + his blows against Protestantism, <a href= +"#page189">189</a>.<br /> + intolerance of in Bohemia, <a href= +"#page193">193</a>.<br /> + superstition of, <a href="#page200">200</a>.<br /> + his favor to Ferdinand; <a href= +"#page204">204</a>.<br /> + demands of the Protestants on, <a href= +"#page205">205</a>.<br /> + his encouragement of filibustering expeditions, +<a href="#page208">208</a>.<br /> + remarkable pliancy of, <a href= +"#page210">210</a>.<br /> + his terror at the chance of assassination, <a href= +"#page212">212</a>.<br /> + political reconciliation between Matthias and, <a href= +"#page219">219</a>.<br /> + his plot with Leopold, <a href= +"#page220">220</a>.<br /> + Rhodolph taken prisoner, <a href= +"#page221">221</a>.<br /> + his abdication, <a href="#page222">222</a>.<br /> + required to absolve his subjects from their oath of +allegiance, <a href="#page223">223</a>.<br /> + retains the crown of Germany, <a href= +"#page225">225</a>.<br /> + supplication of to the congress at Rothemberg, <a href= +"#page226">226</a>.<br /> + a congress at Nuremberg summoned by, <a href= +"#page227">227</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page228">228</a>.</p> +<p>RHODOLPH (of Bohemia), death of, <a href="#page39">39</a>.</p> +<p>RHINE, separating Basle from Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page23">23</a>.</p> +<p>RICHELIEU, motives influencing, <a href= +"#page267">267</a>.<br /> + ambassadors of urge the Duke of Bavaria as candidate +for the imperial crown, <a href="#page279">279</a>.</p> +<p>RIPPERDA (Baron), the secret agent of the Queen of Spain at +Vienna, <a href="#page373">373</a>.<br /> + rise and fall of, <a href="#page375">375</a>.<br /> + escape of to England, <a href="#page376">376</a>.</p> +<p>ROBINSON (Sir Thomas), interview of with Maria Theresa, <a href= +"#page454">454</a>.</p> +<p>ROTHENBURG, congress at, <a href="#page226">226</a>.</p> +<p>RUSSIA, growing power of, <a href="#page399">399</a>.<br /> + succession of the crown of, <a href= +"#page399">399</a>.<br /> + instrumental in placing Augustus II on the throne, +<a href="#page400">400</a>.</p> +<p>SARAGOSSA, battle of, <a href="#page343">343</a>.</p> +<p>SAXONY, defeat of the Elector of, <a href= +"#page128">128</a>.<br /> + nobility of, <a href="#page128">128</a>.<br /> + degradation of, <a href="#page129">129</a>.<br /> + power of, <a href="#page132">132</a>.<br /> + the electorate of, passes to Augustus, <a href= +"#page137">137</a>.</p> +<p>SCHARTLIN (General), the Protestants march under, <a href= +"#page125">125</a>.</p> +<p>SCHWEITZ, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, <a href= +"#page21">21</a>.</p> +<p>SCLAVONIA, marriage of the Duke of to the daughter of Rhodolph, +<a href="#page25">25</a>.</p> +<p>SECKENDORF, (General), the Austrian army intrusted to, <a href= +"#page400">400</a>.<br /> + his plans of campaign broken up by Charles, <a href= +"#page402">402</a>.<br /> + capture of Nissa by, <a href="#page402">402</a>.<br /> + condemned to the dungeon, <a href= +"#page402">402</a>.</p> +<p>SECRET ARTICLES of the treaty with Austria, <a href= +"#page376">376</a>.</p> +<p>SEGEBERG, league at, <a href="#page267">267</a>.</p> +<p>SCHMETTAU (General), the retreat of Wallis arrested by, <a href= +"#page407">407</a>.<br /> + compelled to yield Belgrade, <a href= +"#page409">409</a>.</p> +<p>SELIM succeeds Solyman, <a href="#page177">177</a>.</p> +<p>SEMENDRIA, defense of, <a href="#page64">64</a>.<br /> + its capture, <a href="#page65">65</a>.</p> +<p>SEMPACH, battle of, <a href="#page55">55</a>.</p> +<p>SERFS emancipated by Joseph II., <a href= +"#page494">494</a>.<br /> + his plan for seizing Bavaria frustrated, <a href= +"#page495">495</a>.</p> +<p>SEVEN YEARS' WAR, termination of the, <a href= +"#page481">481</a>.</p> +<p>SICILY, subjugated and attached to the Neapolitan crown, +<a href="#page388">388</a>.</p> +<p>SIGISMOND (Francis, Duke of Tyrol), his alliance with Rhodolph, +<a href="#page195">195</a>.<br /> + representation in the diet introduced by, <a href= +"#page308">308</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page314">314</a>.</p> +<p>SIGISMOND (of Bohemia), power of, <a href= +"#page60">60</a>.<br /> + address of to the diet at Znaim, <a href= +"#page61">61</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page62">62</a>.</p> +<p>SILESIA sold to Rhodolph, <a href="#page195">195</a>.<br /> + taken possession of by Frederic, <a href= +"#page418">418</a>.</p> +<p>SISECK, Turks routed at, <a href="#page195">195</a>.</p> +<p>SLAVATA thrown from the palace by the mob, <a href= +"#page238">238</a>.</p> +<p>SMALKALDE, assembly of the Protestants at, <a href= +"#page121">121</a>.</p> +<p>SOLYMAN (the Magnificent), victories of, <a href= +"#page146">146</a>.<br /> + reply of to the demand made by Ferdinand, <a href= +"#page147">147</a>.<br /> + his method of overcoming difficulties, <a href= +"#page149">149</a>.<br /> + his attack upon Guntz, <a href= +"#page150">150</a>.<br /> + his price of peace with Hungary, <a href= +"#page153">153</a>.<br /> + death of from rage, <a href="#page176">176</a>.</p> +<p>SPAIN decreed by the will of Charles II. to succeed to France, +<a href="#page331">331</a>.<br /> + espouses the cause of Ferdinand II., <a href= +"#page256">256</a>.<br /> + assistance furnished Leopold by, <a href= +"#page311">311</a>.<br /> + invasion of by the British and Charles III., <a href= +"#page354">354</a>.<br /> + treaty between Austria and, <a href= +"#page373">373</a>.<br /> + the Austrians forbidden to trade +in, <a href="#page380">380</a>.<br /> + invasion of Italy by, <a href="#page388">388</a>.</p> +<p>SPANIARDS, the, routed at Catalonia, <a href= +"#page343">343</a>.</p> +<p>ST. BARTHOLOMEW, massacre of, <a href="#page171">171</a>.</p> +<p>ST. GOTHARD, troops stationed at, <a href= +"#page311">311</a>.<br /> + battle of, <a href="#page312">312</a>.</p> +<p>ST. ILDEFONSO, the palace of, <a href="#page370">370</a>.</p> +<p>ST. JUSTUS, convent of, <a href="#page140">140</a>.</p> +<p>ST. PETERSBURG, rearing of the city of, <a href= +"#page399">399</a>.</p> +<p>STANHOPE (General), bearing of, <a href= +"#page342">342</a>.<br /> + desperate position of, <a href="#page347">347</a>.</p> +<p>STANISLAUS LECZINSKI, career of, <a href= +"#page382">382</a>.<br /> + daughter of married to Louis XV., <a href= +"#page382">382</a>.<br /> + receives a pension from France, <a href= +"#page383">383</a>.<br /> + elected King of Poland, <a href= +"#page383">383</a>.<br /> + his marvelous journey through Germany, <a href= +"#page384">384</a>.</p> +<p>STAREMBERG (General), bearing of, <a href= +"#page342">342</a>.</p> +<p>STATE, the independence of each German, <a href= +"#page18">18</a>.</p> +<p>STEPHEN, crowning of the infant as king, <a href= +"#page152">152</a>.</p> +<p>STEPHEN BOTSKOI, indignity offered to, <a href= +"#page197">197</a>.<br /> + his manifesto, <a href="#page198">198</a>.<br /> + proclaimed King of Hungary, <a href= +"#page199">199</a>.</p> +<p>STETTIN captured by Gustavus Adolphus, <a href= +"#page281">281</a>.</p> +<p>STETZIM, diet at, <a href="#page349">349</a>.</p> +<p>STRALSUND, defense of, <a href="#page269">269</a>.</p> +<p>STRICKLAND sent to London to overthrow the cabinet, <a href= +"#page392">392</a>.</p> +<p>STYRIA traversed by the Turks, <a href="#page311">311</a>.</p> +<p>SWEDEN roused by Gustavus Adolphus<br /> + against Ferdinand II., <a href= +"#page280">280</a>.<br /> + prudent conduct of on death of Gustavus, <a href= +"#page297">297</a>.</p> +<p>SWEDES, sorrow of the at the death of Gustavus, <a href= +"#page294">294</a>.</p> +<p>SWITZERLAND, divisions of, <a href="#page40">40</a>.</p> +<p>THURN (Count) leads the mob to the king's council, <a href= +"#page237">237</a>.<br /> + appointed commander of the Protestants, <a href= +"#page338">338</a>.<br /> + invades Austria, <a href="#page247">247</a>.</p> +<p>TILLY (Count), the imperial troops intrusted to, <a href= +"#page282">282</a>.</p> +<p>TITIAN, graceful compliment of Charles V to, <a href= +"#page144">144</a>.</p> +<p>TRAUSNITZ, Frederic I. a prisoner at the castle of, <a href= +"#page43">43</a>.</p> +<p>TRANSYLVANIA, rebellion in, <a href="#page333">333</a>.</p> +<p>TREASURE abandoned by the Turks, <a href="#page323">323</a>.</p> +<p>TREATY of Passau, <a href="#page136">136</a>.</p> +<p>TRENT, Council of, <a href="#page124">124</a>.<br /> + the second council at, <a href= +"#page130">130</a>.<br /> + council at in 1562, <a href="#page164">164</a>.<br /> + declarations of, <a href="#page166">166</a></p> +<p>TRIBUNAL at Eperies, <a href="#page324">324</a>.</p> +<p>TRIESTE, arrival of troops at, <a href="#page94">94</a>.</p> +<p>TURENNE, the Palatinate devastated by, <a href= +"#page315">315</a>.<br /> + challenged by the Elector of Palatinate, <a href= +"#page316">316</a>.</p> +<p>TURIN, the court of bribed, <a href="#page89">89</a>.</p> +<p>TURKS, origin and increase of the, <a href= +"#page63">63</a>.<br /> + defeat of at Belgrade, <a href="#page70">70</a>.<br /> + spread of the, <a href="#page121">121</a>.<br /> + invasion of Hungary by the, <a href= +"#page122">122</a>.<br /> + the, driven from Hungary, <a href= +"#page122">122</a>.<br /> + treaty of Charles V. with the, <a href= +"#page123">123</a>.<br /> + victorious in Hungary, <a href= +"#page136">136</a>.<br /> + invasion of Europe by the, <a href= +"#page145">145</a>.<br /> + compelled to return home, <a href= +"#page148">148</a>.<br /> + the, retire from Hungary, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>.<br /> + peace made by Maximilian with the, <a href= +"#page178">178</a>.<br /> + invasion of Croatia by the, <a href= +"#page195">195</a>.<br /> + union of the with the forces of Botskoi, <a href= +"#page199">199</a>.<br /> + truce of Hungary with the, <a href= +"#page203">203</a>.<br /> + the, conclude a peace with Austria, <a href= +"#page231">231</a>.<br /> + invasion of Hungary by the, <a href= +"#page310">310</a>.<br /> + defeat of on the field of St. Gothard, <a href= +"#page312">312</a>.<br /> + favorable treaty secured by the, <a href= +"#page313">313</a>.<br /> + the invasion of Sclavonia by the, <a href= +"#page360">360</a>.<br /> + destruction of the army of the, <a href= +"#page363">363</a>.<br /> + the, implore peace, <a href="#page364">364</a>.<br /> + Orsova besieged by the, <a href= +"#page404">404</a>.<br /> + the, routed at Einmik, <a href="#page499">499</a>.</p> +<p>TUSCANY, subjugation of by Charles VIII, <a href= +"#page84">84</a>.<br /> + aid furnished Leopold by, <a href= +"#page311">311</a>.<br /> + death of the Duke of, <a href="#page398">398</a>.</p> +<p>TYROL, marriage of Albert to Elizabeth,<br /> + daughter of the Count of, <a href= +"#page25">25</a>.<br /> + possession of obtained by Rhodolph II., <a href= +"#page50">50</a>.<br /> + its power as the key to Italy, <a href= +"#page313">313</a>.<br /> + death of the Duke of, <a href="#page314">314</a>.</p> +<p>ULADISLAUS obtains the throne of Hungary, <a href= +"#page66">66</a>.</p> +<p>ULM, rendezvous of the Protestants at, <a href= +"#page257">257</a>.</p> +<p>ULRIC, the Protestant Duke of restored to Wirtemberg, <a href= +"#page122">122</a>.</p> +<p>UNDERWALDEN, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, <a href= +"#page21">21</a>.</p> +<p>URI, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, <a href= +"#page21">21</a>.</p> +<p>UTTLEBERG, capture of the castle of by Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page22">22</a>.</p> +<p>VALERIUS BARTHOLOMEW, the king's confessor, <a href= +"#page248">248</a>.</p> +<p>VALLADOLID, court of Philip established at, <a href= +"#page343">343</a>.</p> +<p>VENDOME (General) joins Philip, <a href="#page313">313</a>.</p> +<p>VENICE bribed, <a href="#page89">89</a>.<br /> + Maximilian bound by truce with, <a href= +"#page95">95</a>.<br /> + aid furnished Leopold by, <a href= +"#page311">311</a>.</p> +<p>VICTOR ASMEDEUS, business of, <a href="#page369">369</a>.</p> +<p>VIENNA one of the strongest defenses of the empire, <a href= +"#page26">26</a>.<br /> + the king's residence at, <a href= +"#page27">27</a>.<br /> + address of the citizens of to Rhodolph, <a href= +"#page28">28</a>.<br /> + siege of, <a href="#page74">74</a>.<br /> + the professors of the university at avow the doctrines +of Luther, <a href="#page114">114</a>.<br /> + assault of, <a href="#page320">320</a>.<br /> + delivered by Sobieski, <a href="#page322">322</a>.</p> +<p>WALLENSTEIN made generalissimo of all the forces, <a href= +"#page268">268</a>.<br /> + arrogance of, <a href="#page273">273</a>.<br /> + matrimonial alliances of, <a href= +"#page274">274</a>.<br /> + his dismissal from the army demanded, <a href= +"#page276">276</a>.<br /> + he retires from the army <a href= +"#page278">278</a>.<br /> + his regal mode of living, <a href= +"#page287">287</a>.<br /> + his humiliating exactions from the emperor, <a href= +"#page289">289</a>.<br /> + superstition of, <a href="#page291">291</a>.<br /> + urges Ferdinand to make peace, <a href= +"#page297">297</a>.<br /> + traitorous offer to surrender to the Swedes, <a href= +"#page298">298</a>.<br /> + his assassination, <a href="#page299">299</a>.</p> +<p>WALLIS (Marshal) given the command of the army, <a href= +"#page406">406</a>.<br /> + arrested by Charles, <a href="#page413">413</a>.</p> +<p>WAR, its debit and credit account, <a href= +"#page359">359</a>.<br /> + (see also the various campaigns.)</p> +<p>WATERLOO, its advantage to Austria, <a href= +"#page404">404</a>.</p> +<p>WENCESLAUS acknowledged king, <a href="#page31">31</a>.<br /> + marriage to Judeth, <a href="#page31">31</a>.<br /> + death of, <a href="#page38">38</a>.</p> +<p>WESTPHALIA, signing of the peace of, <a href= +"#page300">300</a>.<br /> + conditions of the treaty of, <a href= +"#page301">301</a>.</p> +<p>WHITE MOUNTAIN, battle of, <a href="#page259">259</a>.</p> +<p>WILLIAM (son of Leopold), demand of for the government, <a href= +"#page58">58</a>.<br /> + marriage of, <a href="#page59">59</a>.</p> +<p>WINKELREID (Arnold), heroism of, <a href="#page56">56</a>.</p> +<p>WISMAR, the naval depot of Ferdinand, <a href= +"#page268">268</a>.</p> +<p>WITTEMBERG, procession of the students of, <a href= +"#page109">109</a>.</p> +<p>WORMS, diet at in 1521, <a href="#page108">108</a>.<br /> + the diet of inveighs Luther, <a href= +"#page110">110</a>.</p> +<p>ZEALAND, encampment of Charles Gustavus in, <a href= +"#page306">306</a>.</p> +<p>ZIGETH, heroic defense of by Nicholas, <a href= +"#page176">176</a>.<br /> + noble death of the garrison of, <a href= +"#page177">177</a>.</p> +<p>ZINZENDORF, remark of, <a href="#page393">393</a>.</p> +<p>ZNAIM, diet at, <a href="#page61">61</a>.</p> +<p>ZURICH, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, <a href= +"#page21">21</a>.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA; ITS RISE AND PRESENT POWER***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 16070-h.txt or 16070-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/16070.txt b/16070.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6dca2b --- /dev/null +++ b/16070.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18315 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present +Power, by John S. C. Abbott + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present Power + + +Author: John S. C. Abbott + + + +Release Date: June 15, 2005 [eBook #16070] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA; ITS RISE +AND PRESENT POWER*** + + +E-text prepared by Curtis Weyant, David King, and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team from page images generously made +available by the Making of America Collection of the University of +Michigan Library (http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/) + + + +Note: Images of the original pages are available through the Making of + America Collection of the University of Michigan Library. See + http://www.hti.umich.edu/m/moagrp/ + + + + + +The Monarchies of Continental Europe + +THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA; ITS RISE AND PRESENT POWER + +by + +JOHN S. C. ABBOTT + +New York; +Published by Mason Brothers, +Cincinnati: Rickey, Mallory & Co. +Stereotyped by +Thomas B. Smith, +82 & 84 Beekman St. +Printed By +C. A. Alvord. +15 Vandewater St. + +1859 + + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +The studies of the author of this work, for the last ten years, in +writing the "History of Napoleon Bonaparte," and "The French Revolution +of 1789," have necessarily made him quite familiar with the monarchies +of Europe. He has met with so much that was strange and romantic in +their career, that he has been interested to undertake, as it were, a +_biography_ of the Monarchies of Continental Europe--their birth, +education, exploits, progress and present condition. He has commenced +with Austria. + +There are abundant materials for this work. The Life of Austria embraces +all that is wild and wonderful in history; her early struggles for +aggrandizement--the fierce strife with the Turks, as wave after wave of +Moslem invasion rolled up the Danube--the long conflicts and bloody +persecutions of the Reformation--the thirty years' religious war--the +meteoric career of Gustavus Adolphus and Charles XII. shooting athwart +the lurid storms of battle--the intrigues of Popes--the enormous pride, +power and encroachments of Louis XIV.--the warfare of the Spanish +succession and the Polish dismemberment--all these events combine in a +sublime tragedy which fiction may in vain attempt to parallel. + +It is affecting to observe in the history of Germany, through what woes +humanity has passed in attaining even its present position of +civilization. It is to be hoped that the human family may never again +suffer what it has already endured. We shall be indeed insane if we do +not gain some wisdom from the struggles and the calamities of those who +have gone before us. The narrative of the career of the Austrian Empire, +must, by contrast, excite emotions of gratitude in every American bosom. +Our lines have fallen to us in pleasant places; we have a goodly +heritage. + +It is the author's intention soon to issue, as the second of this +series, the History of the Empire of Russia. + +JOHN S. C. ABBOTT. + +Brunswick, Maine, 1859. + + + + +CONTENTS. + +CHAPTER I. +RHODOLPH OF HAPSBURG. +From 1232 to 1291. + +Hawk's Castle.--Albert, Count of Hapsburg.--Rhodolph of Hapsburg.--His +Marriage and Estates.--Excommunication and its Results.--His Principles +of Honor.--A Confederacy of Barons.--Their Route.--Rhodolph's Election +as Emperor of Germany.--The Bishop's Warning.--Dissatisfaction at the +Result of the Election.--Advantages accruing from the Possession of an +interesting Family.--Conquest.--Ottocar acknowledges the Emperor; yet +breaks his Oath of Allegiance.--Gathering Clouds.--Wonderful +Escape.--Victory of Rhodolph.--His Reforms. Page 17 + + +CHAPTER II. +REIGNS OF ALBERT I., FREDERIC, ALBERT AND OTHO. +From 1291 to 1347. + +Anecdotes of Rhodolph.--His Desire for the Election of his Son.--His +Death.--Albert.--His Unpopularity.--Conspiracy of the Nobles.--Their +Defeat.--Adolphus of Nassau chosen Emperor.--Albert's Conspiracy.-- +Deposition of Adolphus and Election of Albert.--Death of Adolphus.--The +Pope Defied.--Annexation of Bohemia.--Assassination of Albert.--Avenging +Fury.--The Hermit's Direction.--Frederic the Handsome.--Election of +Henry, Count of Luxemburg.--His Death.--Election of Louis of +Bavaria.--Capture of Frederic.--Remarkable Confidence toward a +Prisoner.--Death of Frederic.--An early Engagement.--Death of +Louis.--Accession of Albert. Page 34 + + +CHAPTER III. +RHODOLPH II., ALBERT IV. AND ALBERT V. +From 1389 to 1437. + +Rhodolph II.--Marriage of John to Margaret.--Intriguing for the +Tyrol.--Death of Rhodolph.--Accession of Power to Austria.--Dividing the +Empire.--Delight of the Emperor Charles.--Leopold.--His Ambition and +successes.--Hedwige, Queen of Poland.--"The Course of true Love never +did run smooth."--Unhappy Marriage of Hedwige.--Heroism of Arnold of +Winkelreid.--Death of Leopold.--Death of Albert IV.--Accession Of Albert +V.--Attempts of Sigismond to bequeath to Albert V. Hungary and Bohemia. +Page 48 + + +CHAPTER IV. +ALBERT, LADISLAUS AND FREDERIC. +From 1440 to 1489. + +Increasing Honors of Albert V.--Encroachments of the Turks.--The +Christians Routed.--Terror of the Hungarians.--Death of Albert.-- +Magnanimous Conduct of Albert of Bavaria.--Internal Troubles.--Precocity +of Ladislaus.--Fortifications Raised by the Turks.--John Capistrun.-- +Rescue of Belgrade.--The Turks Dispersed.--Exultation over the +Victory.--Death of Hunniades.--Jealousy of Ladislaus.--His +Death.--Brotherly Quarrels.--Devastations by the Turks.--Invasion of +Austria.--Repeal of the Compromise.--The Emperor a Fugitive. Page 68 + + +CHAPTER V. +THE EMPERORS FREDERIC II. AND MAXIMILIAN I. +From 1477 to 1500. + +Wanderings of the Emperor Frederic.--Proposed Alliance with the Duke of +Burgundy.--Mutual Distrust.--Marriage of Mary.--The Age of +Chivalry.--The Motive inducing the Lord of Praunstein to Declare +War.--Death of Frederic II.--The Emperor's Secret.--Designs of the +Turks.--Death of Mahomet II.--First Establishment of Standing +Armies.--Use of Gunpowder.--Energy of Maximilian.--French +Aggressions.--The League to Expel the French.--Disappointments of +Maximilian.--Bribing the Pope.--Invasion of Italy.--Capture and +Recapture.--The Chevalier de Bayard. Page 77 + + +CHAPTER VI. +MAXIMILIAN I. +From 1500 to 1519. + +Base Treachery of the Swiss Soldiers.--Perfidy of Ferdinand of +Arragon.--Appeals by Superstition.--Coalition with Spain.--The League of +Cambray.--Infamy of the Pope.--The King's Apology.--Failure of the +Plot.--Germany Aroused.--Confidence of Maximilian.--Longings for the +Pontifical Chair.--Maximilian Bribed.--Leo X.--Dawning Prosperity.-- +Matrimonial Projects.--Commencement of the War of Reformation.--Sickness +of Maximilian.--His Last Directions.--His Death.--The Standard by which +his Character is to be Judged. Page 91 + + +CHAPTER VII. +CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION. +From 1519 to 1581. + +Charles V. of Spain.--His Election as Emperor of Germany.--His +Coronation.--The First Constitution.--Progress of the Reformation.--The +Pope's Bull against Luther.--His Contempt for his Holiness.--The Diet at +Worms.--Frederic's Objection to the Condemnation of Luther by the +Diet.--He obtains for Luther the Right of Defense.--Luther's triumphal +March to the Tribunal.--Charles urged to Violate his Safe Conduct.-- +Luther's Patmos.--Marriage of Sister Catharine Bora to Luther.--Terrible +Insurrection.--The Holy League.--The Protest of Spires.--Confession of +Augsburg.--The Two Confessions.--Compulsory Measures. Page 106 + + +CHAPTER VIII. +CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION. +From 1531 to 1552. + +Determination to crush Protestantism.--Incursion of the Turks.--Valor of +the Protestants.--Preparations for renewed Hostilities.--Augmentation of +the Protestant Forces.--The Council of Trent.--Mutual Consternation.-- +Defeat of the Protestant Army.--Unlooked-for Succor.--Revolt in the +Emperor's Army.--The Fluctuations of Fortune.--Ignoble Revenge.--Capture +of Wittemberg.--Protestantism apparently crushed.--Plot against +Charles.--Maurice of Saxony.--A Change of Scene.--The Biter Bit--The +Emperor humbled.--His Flight.--His determined Will. Page 121 + + +CHAPTER IX. +CHARLES V. AND THE TURKISH WARS. +From 1552 to 1555. + +The Treaty of Passau.--The Emperor yields.--His continued Reverses.--The +Toleration Compromise.--Mutual Dissatisfaction.--Remarkable Despondency +of the Emperor Charles.--His Address to the Convention at Brussels.-- +The Convent of St. Justus.--Charles returns to Spain.--His Convent +Life.--The Mock Burial.--His Death.--His Traits of Character.--The +King's Compliment to Titian.--The Condition of Austria.--Rapid Advance +of the Turks.--Reasons for the Inaction of the Christians.--The Sultan's +Method of Overcoming Difficulties.--The little Fortress of Guntz.--What +it accomplished. Page 186 + + +CHAPTER X. +FERDINAND I.--HIS WARS AND INTRIGUES. +From 1555 to 1562. + +John of Tapoli.--The Instability of Compacts.--The Sultan's Demands.--A +Reign of War.--Powers and Duties of the Monarchs of Bohemia.--The +Diet.--The King's Desire to crush Protestantism.--The Entrance to +Prague.--Terror of the Inhabitants.--The King's Conditions.--The Bloody +Diet.--Disciplinary Measures.--The establishment of the Order of +Jesuits.--Abdication of Charles V. in Favor of Ferdinand.--Power of the +Pope.--Paul IV.--A quiet but powerful Blow.--The Progress of the +Reformers.--Attempts to reconcile the Protestants.--The unsuccessful +Assembly. Page 151 + + +CHAPTER XI. +DEATH OF FERDINAND I.--ACCESSION OF MAXIMILIAN II. +From 1562 to 1576. + +The Council of Trent.--Spread of the Reformation.--Ferdinand's Attempt +to influence the Pope.--His Arguments against Celibacy.--Stubbornness of +the Pope.--Maximilian II.--Displeasure of Ferdinand.--Motives for not +abjuring the Catholic Faith.--Religious Strife in Europe.--Maximilian's +Address to Charles IX.--Mutual Toleration.--Romantic Pastime of +War.--Heroism of Nicholas, Count of Zeini.--Accession of Power to +Austria.--Accession of Rhodolph III.--Death of Maximilian. Page 166 + + +CHAPTER XII. +CHARACTER OF MAXIMILIAN.--SUCCESSION OF RHODOLPH III. +From 1576 to 1604. + +Character of Maximilian.--His Accomplishments.--His Wife.--Fate of his +Children.--Rhodolph III.--The Liberty of Worship.--Means of +Emancipation.--Rhodolph's Attempts against Protestantism.--Declaration +of a higher Law.--Theological Differences.--The Confederacy at +Heilbrun.--The Gregorian Calendar.--Intolerance in Bohemia.--The Trap of +the Monks.--Invasion of the Turks.--Their Defeat.--Coalition with +Sigismond.--Sale of Transylvania.--Rule of Basta.--The Empire captured +and recaptured.--Devastation of the Country.--Treatment of Stephen +Botskoi. Page 182 + + +CHAPTER XIII. +RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS. +From 1604 to 1609. + +Botskoi's Manifesto.--Horrible Suffering in Transylvania.--Character of +Botskoi.--Confidence of the Protestants.--Superstition of Rholdoph.--His +Mystic Studies.--Acquirements of Matthias.--Schemes of Matthias.--His +increasing power.--Treaty with the Turks.--Demands on Rhodolph.--The +Compromise.--Perfidy of Matthias.--The Margravite.--Fillisbustering.-- +The People's Diet.--A Hint to Royalty.--The Bloodless Triumph.--Demands +of the Germans.--Address of the Prince of Anhalt to the King. Page 198 + + +CHAPTER XIV. +RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS. +From 1609 to 1612. + +Difficulties as to the Succession.--Hostility of Henry IV. to the House +of Austria.--Assassination of Henry IV.--Similarity in Sully's and +Napoleon's Plans.--Exultation of the Catholics.--The Brother's +Compact.--How Rhodolph kept it.--Seizure of Prague.--Rhodolph a +Prisoner.--The King's Abdication.--Conditions Attached to the +Crown.--Rage of Rhodolph.--Matthias Elected King.--The Emperor's +Residence.--Rejoicings of The Protestants.--Reply of the Ambassadors.-- +The Nuremberg Diet.--The Unkindest cut of all.--Rhodolph's Humiliation +and Death. Page 213 + + +CHAPTER XV. +MATTHIAS. +From 1612 to 1619. + +Matthias Elected Emperor of Germany.--His Despotic Character.--His Plans +Thwarted.--Mulheim.--Gathering Clouds.--Family Intrigue.--Coronation of +Ferdinand.--His Bigotry.--Henry, Count of Thurn.--Convention at +Prague.--The King's Reply.--The Die Cast.--Amusing Defense of an +Outrage.--Ferdinand's Manifesto.--Seizure of Cardinal Klesis.--The +King's Rage.--Retreat of the King's Troops.--Humiliation of +Ferdinand.--The Difficulties Deferred.--Death of Matthias. Page 229 + + +CHAPTER XVI. +FERDINAND II. +From 1619 to 1621. + +Possessions of the Emperor.--Power of the Protestants of Bohemia.-- +General Spirit of Insurrection.--Anxiety of Ferdinand.--Insurrection led +by Count Thurn.--Unpopularity of the Emperor.--Affecting Declaration of +the Emperor.--Insurrection in Vienna.--The Arrival of Succor.--Ferdinand +Seeks the Imperial Throne.--Repudiated by Bohemia.--The Palatinate.-- +Frederic Offered the Crown of Bohemia.--Frederic Crowned.--Revolt in +Hungary.--Desperate Condition of the Emperor.--Catholic League.--The +Calvinists and the Puritans.--Duplicity of the Emperor.--Foreign +Combinations.--Truce between the Catholics and the Protestants.--The +Attack upon Bohemia.--Battle of the White Mountain. Page 245 + + +CHAPTER XVII. +FERDINAND II. +From 1621 to 1629. + +Pusillanimity of Frederic.--Intreaties of the Citizens of +Prague.--Shameful Flight of Frederic.--Vengeance Inflicted upon +Bohemia.--Protestantism and Civil Freedom.--Vast Power of the +Emperor.--Alarm of Europe.--James I.--Treaty of Marriage for the Prince +of Wales.--Cardinal Richelieu.--New League of the Protestants.-- +Desolating War.--Defeat of the King of Denmark.--Energy of +Wallenstein.--Triumph of Ferdinand.--New Acts of Intolerance.-- +Severities in Bohemia.--Desolation of the Kingdom.--Dissatisfaction of +the Duke of Bavaria.--Meeting of the Catholic Princes.--The Emperor +Humbled. Page 261 + + +CHAPTER XVIII. +FERDINAND II. AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. +From 1629 to 1632. + +Vexation of Ferdinand.--Gustavus Adolphus.--Address to the Nobles of +Sweden.--March of Gustavus.--Appeal to the Protestants.--Magdeburg joins +Gustavus.--Destruction of the City.--Consternation of the +Protestants.--Exultation of the Catholics.--The Elector of Saxony Driven +from His Domains.--Battle of Leipsic.--The Swedes penetrate +Bohemia.--Freedom of Conscience Established.--Death of Tilly.--The +Retirement of Wallenstein.--The Command Resumed by Wallenstein.--Capture +of Prague.--Encounter between Wallenstein and Gustavus.--Battle of +Lutzen.--Death of Gustavus. Page 279 + + +CHAPTER XIX. +FERDINAND II., FERDINAND III. AND LEOPOLD I. +From 1632 to 1662. + +Character of Gustavus Adolphus.--Exultation of the +Imperialists.--Disgrace of Wallenstein.--He offers to Surrender to the +Swedish General.--His Assassination.--Ferdinand's son Elected as his +Successor.--Death of Ferdinand.--Close of the War.--Abdication of +Christina.--Charles Gustavus.--Preparations for War.--Death of Ferdinand +III.--Leopold Elected Emperor.--Hostilities Renewed.--Death of Charles +Gustavus.--Diet Convened.--Invasion of the Turks. Page 295 + + +CHAPTER XX. +LEOPOLD I. +From 1662 to 1697. + +Invasion of the Turks.--A Treaty Concluded.--Possessions of +Leopold.--Invasion of the French.--League of Augsburg.--Devastation of +the Palatinate.--Invasion of Hungary.--Emerio Tekeli.--Union of Emerio +Tekeli with the Turks.--Leopold Applies to Sobieski.--He Immediately +Marches to his Aid.--The Turks Conquered.--Sobieski's Triumphal +Receptions.--Meanness of Leopold.--Revenge upon Hungary.--Peace +Concluded.--Contest for Spain. Page 311 + + +CHAPTER XXI. +LEOPOLD I. AND THE SPANISH SUCCESSION +From 1697 to 1710. + +The Spanish Succession.--The Impotence of Charles II.--Appeal to the +Pope.--His Decision.--Death of Charles II.--Accession of Philip +V.--Indignation of Austria.--The Outbreak of War.--Charles III. +Crowned.--Insurrection in Hungary.--Defection of Bavaria.--The Battle of +Blenheim.--Death of Leopold I.--Eleonora.--Accession of Joseph +I.--Charles XII. of Sweden.--Charles III. of Spain.--Battle of +Malplaquet.--Charles at Barcelona.--Charles at Madrid. 328 + + +CHAPTER XXII. +JOSEPH I. AND CHARLES VI. +From 1710 to 1717. + +Perplexities in Madrid.--Flight of Charles.--Retreat of the Austrian +Army.--Stanhope's Division cut off.--Capture of Stanhope.--Staremberg +assailed.--Retreat to Barcelona.--Attempt to pacify Hungary.--The +Hungarian Diet.--Baronial crowning of Ragotsky.--Renewal of the +Hungarian War.--Enterprise of Herbeville.--The Hungarians +crushed.--Lenity of Joseph.--Death of Joseph.--Accession of Charles +VI.--His career in Spain.--Capture of Barcelona.--The Siege.--The +Rescue.--Character of Charles.--Cloisters of Montserrat.--Increased +Efforts for the Spanish Crown.--Charles Crowned Emperor of Austria and +Hungary.--Bohemia.--Deplorable Condition of Louis XIV. Page 845 + + +CHAPTER XXIII. +CHARLES VI. +From 1716 to 1727. + +Heroic Decision of Eugene.--Battle of Belgrade.--Utter Rout of the +Turks.--Possessions of Charles VI.--The Elector of Hanover succeeds to +the English Throne.--Preparations for War.--State of Italy.--Philip V. +of Spain.--Diplomatic Agitations.--Palace of St. Ildefonso.--Order of +the Golden Fleece.--Rejection of Maria Anne.--Contest for the Rock of +Gibraltar.--Dismissal of Rippeeda.--Treaty of Vienna.--Peace Concluded. +Page 362 + + +CHAPTER XXIV. +CHARLES VI. AND THE POLISH WAR. +From 1727 to 1735. + +Cardinal Fleury.--The Emperor of Austria urges the Pragmatic +Sanction.--He promises his two Daughters to the two Sons of the Queen of +Spain.--France, England and Spain unite against Austria.--Charles VI. +issues Orders to Prepare for War.--His Perplexities.--Secret Overtures +to England.--The Crown of Poland.--Meeting of the Polish Congress.-- +Stanislaus goes to Poland.--Augustus III. crowned.--War.--Charles sends +an Army to Lombardy.--Difficulties of Prince Eugene.--Charles's +Displeasure with England.--Letter to Count Kinsky.--Hostilities Renewed. +Page 878 + + +CHAPTER XXV. +CHARLES VI. AND THE TURKISH WAR RENEWED. +From 1735 to 1739. + +Anxiety of Austrian Office-holders.--Maria Theresa.--The Duke of +Lorraine.--Distraction of the Emperor.--Tuscany assigned to the Duke of +Lorraine.--Death of Eugene.--Rising Greatness of Russia.--New War with +the Turks.--Condition of the Army.--Commencement of Hostilities--Capture +of Nissa.--Inefficient Campaign.--Disgrace of Seckendorf.--The Duke of +Lorraine placed in Command.--Siege of Orsova.--Belgrade besieged by the +Turks.--The third Campaign.--Battle of Crotzka.--Defeat of the +Austrians.--Consternation in Vienna.--Barbarism of the Turks.--The +Surrender of Belgrade. + + +CHAPTER XXVI. +MARIA THERESA. +From 1739 to 1741. + +Anguish of the King.--Letter to the Queen of Russia.--The Imperial +Circular.--Deplorable Condition of Austria.--Death of Charles +VI.--Accession of Maria Theresa.--Vigorous Measures of the Queen.--Claim +of the Duke of Bavaria.--Responses from the Courts.--Coldness of the +French Court.--Frederic of Prussia.--His Invasion of Silesia.--March of +the Austrians.--Battle of Molnitz.--Firmness of Maria Theresa.--Proposed +Division of Plunder.--Villainy of Frederic.--Interview with the +King.--Character of Frederic.--Commencement of the General Invasion. +Page 411 + + +CHAPTER XXVII. +MARIA THERESA. +From 1741 to 1743. + +Character of Francis, Duke of Lorraine.--Policy of European +Courts.--Plan of the Allies.--Siege of Prague.--Desperate Condition of +the Queen--Her Coronation in Hungary.--Enthusiasm of the Barons.--Speech +of Maria Theresa.--Peace with Frederic of Prussia.--His +Duplicity.--Military Movement of the Duke of Lorraine.--Battle of +Chazleau.--Second Treaty with Frederic.--Despondency of the Duke of +Bavaria.--March of Mallebois.--Extraordinary Retreat of +Belleisle.--Recovery of Prague by the Queen. Page 427 + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. +MARIA THERESA. +From 1743 to 1748. + +Prosperous Aspect of Austrian Affairs.--Capture of Egea.--Vast Extent of +Austria.--Dispute with Sardinia.--Marriage of Charles of Lorraine with +the Queen's Sister.--Invasion of Alsace.--Frederic overruns +Bohemia.--Bohemia recovered by Prince Charles.--Death of the Emperor +Charles VII.--Venality of the old Monarchies.--Battle of +Hohenfriedberg.--Sir Thomas Robinson's Interview with Maria +Theresa.--Hungarian Enthusiasm.--The Duke of Lorraine Elected +Emperor.--Continuation of the War.--Treaty of Peace.--Indignation of +Maria Theresa. Page 444 + + +CHAPTER XXIX. +MARIA THERESA. +From 1748 to 1759. + +Treaty of Peace.--Dissatisfaction of Maria Theresa.--Preparation for +War.--Rupture between England and Austria.--Maria Theresa.--Alliance +with France.--Influence of Marchioness of Pompadour.--Bitter Reproaches +between Austria And England.--Commencement of the Seven Years' War.-- +Energy of Frederic of Prussia.--Sanguinary Battles.--Vicissitudes of +War.--Desperate Situation of Frederic.--Elation of Maria Theresa.--Her +Ambitious Plans.--Awful Defeat of the Prussians at Berlin. Page 461 + + +CHAPTER XXX. +MARIA THERESA. +From 1759 to 1780. + +Desolations of War.--Disasters of Prussia.--Despondency of Frederic.-- +Death of the Empress Elizabeth.--Accession of Paul III.--Assassination +of Paul III.--Accession Of Catharine.--Discomfiture of the Austrians.-- +Treaty of Peace.--Election of Joseph to the Throne of the Empire.--Death +of Francis.--Character of Francis.--Anecdotes.--Energy of Maria +Theresa.--Poniatowski.--Partition of Poland.--Maria Theresa as a +Mother.--War with Bavaria.--Peace.--Death of Maria Theresa.--Family of +the Empress.--Accession of Joseph II.--His Character. Page 478 + + +CHAPTER XXXI. +JOSEPH II. AND LEOPOLD II. +From 1780 to 1792. + +Accession of Joseph II.--His Plans of Reform.--Pius VI.--Emancipation of +the Serfs.--Joseph's Visit to his Sister, Maria Antoinette.--Ambitious +Designs.--The Imperial Sleigh Ride.--Barges on the Dneister.--Excursion +to the Crimea.--War with Turkey.--Defeat of the Austrians.--Great +Successes.--Death of Joseph.--His Character.--Accession of Leopold +II.--His Efforts to confirm Despotism.--The French Revolution.--European +Coalition.--Death of Leopold.--His Profligacy.--Accession of Francis +II.--Present Extent and Power of Austria.--Its Army.--Policy of the +Government. Page 493 + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +RHODOLPH OF HAPSBURG. + +From 1232 to 1291. + +Hawk's Castle.--Albert, Count of Hapsburg.--Rhodolph of Hapsburg.--His +Marriage and Estates.--Excommunication and its Results.--His Principles +of Honor.--A Confederacy of Barons.--Their Route.--Rhodolph's Election +as Emperor of Germany.--The Bishop's Warning.--Dissatisfaction at the +Result of the Election.--Advantages Accruing from the Possession of an +Interesting Family.--Conquest.--Ottocar Acknowledges the Emperor; yet +breaks his Oath of Allegiance.--Gathering Clouds.--Wonderful +Escape.--Victory of Rhodolph.--His Reforms. + + +In the small canton of Aargau, in Switzerland, on a rocky bluff of the +Wulpelsberg, there still remains an old baronial castle, called +Hapsburg, or Hawk's Castle. It was reared in the eleventh century, and +was occupied by a succession of warlike barons, who have left nothing to +distinguish themselves from the feudal lords whose castles, at that +period, frowned upon almost every eminence of Europe. In the year 1232 +this castle was occupied by Albert, fourth Count of Hapsburg. He had +acquired some little reputation for military prowess, the only +reputation any one could acquire in that dark age, and became ambitious +of winning new laurels in the war with the infidels in the holy land. +Religious fanaticism and military ambition were then the two great +powers which ruled the human soul. + +With the usual display of semi-barbaric pomp, Albert made arrangements +to leave his castle to engage in the perilous holy war against the +Saracens, from which few ever returned. A few years were employed in the +necessary preparations. At the sound of the bugle the portcullis was +raised, the drawbridge spanned the moat, and Albert, at the head of +thirty steel-clad warriors, with nodding plumes, and banners unfurled, +emerged from the castle, and proceeded to the neighboring convent of +Mari. His wife, Hedwige, and their three sons, Rhodolph, Albert and +Hartman, accompanied him to the chapel where the ecclesiastics awaited +his arrival. A multitude of vassals crowded around to witness the +imposing ceremonies of the church, as the banners were blessed, and the +knights, after having received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, were +commended to the protection of God. Albert felt the solemnity of the +hour, and in solemn tones gave his farewell address to his children. + +"My sons," said the steel-clad warrior, "cultivate truth and piety; give +no ear to evil counselors, never engage in unnecessary war, but when you +are involved in war be strong and brave. Love peace even better than +your own personal interests. Remember that the counts of Hapsburg did +not attain their heights of reputation and glory by fraud, insolence or +selfishness, but by courage and devotion to the public weal. As long as +you follow their footsteps, you will not only retain, but augment, the +possessions and dignities of your illustrious ancestors." + +The tears and sobs of his wife and family interrupted him while he +uttered these parting words. The bugles then sounded. The knights +mounted their horses; the clatter of hoofs was heard, and the glittering +cavalcade soon disappeared in the forest. Albert had left his ancestral +castle, never to return. He had but just arrived in Palestine, when he +was taken sick at Askalon, and died in the year 1240. + +Rhodolph, his eldest son, was twenty-two years of age at the time of his +father's death. Frederic II., one of the most renowned monarchs of the +middle ages, was then Emperor of that conglomeration of heterogeneous +States called Germany. Each of these States had its own independent +ruler and laws, but they were all held together by a common bond for +mutual protection, and some one illustrious sovereign was chosen as +Emperor of Germany, to preside over their common affairs. The Emperor of +Germany, having influence over all these States, was consequently, in +position, the great man of the age. + +Albert, Count of Hapsburg, had been one of the favorite captains of +Frederic II. in the numerous wars which desolated Europe in that dark +age. He was often at court, and the emperor even condescended to present +his son Rhodolph at the font for baptism. As the child grew, he was +trained to all athletic feats, riding ungovernable horses, throwing the +javelin, wrestling, running, and fencing. He early gave indications of +surprising mental and bodily vigor, and, at an age when most lads are +considered merely children, he accompanied his father to the camp and to +the court. Upon the death of his father, Rhodolph inherited the +ancestral castle, and the moderate possessions of a Swiss baron. He was +surrounded by barons of far greater wealth and power than himself, and +his proud spirit was roused, in disregard of his father's counsels, to +aggrandize his fortunes by force of arms, the only way then by which +wealth and power could be attained. He exhausted his revenues by +maintaining a princely establishment, organized a well-selected band of +his vassals into a military corps, which he drilled to a state of +perfect discipline, and then commenced a series of incursions upon his +neighbors. From some feeble barons he won territory, thus extending his +domains; from others he extorted money, thus enabling him to reward his +troops, and to add to their number by engaging fearless spirits in his +service wherever he could find them. + +In the year 1245, Rhodolph strengthened himself still more by an +advantageous marriage with Gertrude, the beautiful daughter of the Count +of Hohenberg. With his bride he received as her dowry the castle of +Oeltingen, and very considerable territorial possessions. Thus in five +years Rhodolph, by that species of robbery which was then called heroic +adventure, and by a fortunate marriage, had more than doubled his +hereditary inheritance. The charms of his bride, and the care of his +estates seem for a few years to have arrested the progress of his +ambition; for we can find no further notice of him among the ancient +chronicles for eight years. But, with almost all men, love is an +ephemeral passion, which is eventually vanquished by other powers of the +soul. Ambition slumbered for a little time, but was soon roused anew, +invigorated by repose. + +In 1253 we find Rhodolph heading a foray of steel-clad knights, with +their banded followers, in a midnight attack upon the city of Basle. +They break over all the defenses, sweep all opposition before them, and +in the fury of the fight, either by accident or as a necessity of war, +sacrilegiously set fire to a nunnery. For this crime Rhodolph was +excommunicated by the pope. Excommunication was then no farce. There +were few who dared to serve a prince upon whom the denunciations of the +Church had fallen. It was a stunning blow, from which few men could +recover. Rhodolph, instead of sinking in despair, endeavored, by new +acts of obedience and devotion to the Church, to obtain the revocation +of the sentence. + +In the region now called Prussia, there was then a barbaric pagan race, +against whom the pope had published a crusade. Into this war the +excommunicated Rhodolph plunged with all the impetuosity of his nature; +he resolved to work out absolution, by converting, with all the potency +of fire and sword, the barbarians to the Church. His penitence and zeal +seem to have been accepted, for we soon find him on good terms again +with the pope. He now sought to have a hand in every quarrel, far and +near. Wherever the sounds of war are raised, the shout of Rhodolph is +heard urging to the strife. In every hot and fiery foray, the steed of +Rhodolph is rearing and plunging, and his saber strokes fall in ringing +blows upon cuirass and helmet. He efficiently aided the city of +Strasbourg in their war against their bishop, and received from them in +gratitude extensive territories, while at the same time they reared a +monument to his name, portions of which still exist. His younger brother +died, leaving an only daughter, Anne, with a large inheritance. +Rhodolph, as her guardian, came into possession of the counties of +Kyburg, Lentzburg and Baden, and other scattered domains. + +This rapidly-increasing wealth and power, did but increase his energy +and his spirit of encroachment. And yet he adopted principles of honor +which were far from common in that age of barbaric violence. He would +never stoop to ordinary robbery, or harass peasants and helpless +travelers, as was constantly done by the turbulent barons around him. +His warfare was against the castle, never against the cottage. He met in +arms the panoplied knight, never the timid and crouching peasant. He +swept the roads of the banditti by which they were infested, and often +espoused the cause of citizens and freemen against the turbulent barons +and haughty prelates. He thus gained a wide-spread reputation for +justice, as well as for prowess, and the name of Rhodolph of Hapsburg +was ascending fast into renown. Every post of authority then required +the agency of a military arm. The feeble cantons would seek the +protection of a powerful chief; the citizens of a wealthy town, ever +liable to be robbed by bishop or baron, looked around for some warrior +who had invincible troops at his command for their protection. Thus +Rhodolph of Hapsburg was chosen chief of the mountaineers of Uri, +Schweitz and Underwalden; and all their trained bands were ready, when +his bugle note echoed through their defiles, to follow him +unquestioning, and to do his bidding. The citizens of Zurich chose +Rhodolph of Hapsburg as their prefect or mayor; and whenever his banner +was unfurled in their streets, all the troops of the city were at his +command. + +The neighboring barons, alarmed at this rapid aggrandizement of +Rhodolph, formed an alliance to crush him. The mountaineers heard his +bugle call, and rushed to his aid. Zurich opened her gates, and her +marshaled troops hastened to his banner. From Hapsburg, and Rheinfelden, +and Suabia, and Brisgau, and we know not how many other of the +territorial possessions of the count, the vassals rushed to the aid of +their lord. They met in one of the valleys of Zurich. The battle was +short, and the confederated barons were put to utter flight. Some took +refuge in the strong castle of Balder, upon a rocky cliff washed by the +Albis. Rhodolph selected thirty horsemen and thirty footmen. + +"Will you follow me," said he, "in an enterprise where the honor will be +equal to the peril?" + +A universal shout of assent was the response. Concealing the footmen in +a thicket, he, at the head of thirty horsemen, rode boldly to the gates +of the castle, bidding defiance, with all the utterances and +gesticulations of contempt, to the whole garrison. Those on the +ramparts, stung by the insult, rushed out to chastise so impudent a +challenge. The footmen rose from their ambush, and assailants and +assailed rushed pell mell in at the open gates of the castle. The +garrison were cut down or taken captive, and the fortress demolished. +Another party had fled to the castle of Uttleberg. By an ingenious +stratagem, this castle was also taken. Success succeeded success with +such rapidity, that the confederate barons, struck with consternation, +exclaimed, + +"All opposition is fruitless. Rhodolph of Hapsburg is invincible." + +They consequently dissolved the alliance, and sought peace on terms +which vastly augmented the power of the conqueror. + +Basle now incurred the displeasure of Rhodolph. He led his armies to the +gates of the city, and extorted satisfaction. The Bishop of Basle, a +haughty prelate of great military power, and who could summon many +barons to his aid, ventured to make arrogant demands of this warrior +flushed with victory. The palace and vast possessions of the bishop were +upon the other side of the unbridged Rhine, and the bishop imagined that +he could easily prevent the passage of the river. But Rhodolph speedily +constructed a bridge of boats, put to flight the troops which opposed +his passage, drove the peasants of the bishop everywhere before him, and +burned their cottages and their fields of grain. The bishop, appalled, +sued for a truce, that they might negotiate terms of peace. Rhodolph +consented, and encamped his followers. + +He was asleep in his tent, when a messenger entered at midnight, awoke +him, and informed him that he was elected Emperor of Germany. The +previous emperor, Richard, had died two years before, and after an +interregnum of two years of almost unparalleled anarchy, the electors +had just met, and, almost to their own surprise, through the +fluctuations and combinations of political intrigue, had chosen Rhodolph +of Hapsburg as his successor. Rhodolph himself was so much astonished at +the announcement, that for some time he could not be persuaded that the +intelligence was correct. + +To wage war against the Emperor of Germany, who could lead almost +countless thousands into the field, was a very different affair from +measuring strength with the comparatively feeble Count of Hapsburg. The +news of his election flew rapidly. Basle threw open her gates, and the +citizens, with illuminations, shouts, and the ringing of bells, greeted +the new emperor. The bishop was so chagrined at the elevation of his +foe, that he smote his forehead, and, looking to heaven, profanely said, + +"Great God, take care of your throne, or Rhodolph of Hapsburg will take +it from you!" + +Rhodolph was now fifty-five years of age. Alphonso, King of Castile, and +Ottocar, King of Bohemia, had both been candidates for the imperial +crown. Exasperated by the unexpected election of Rhodolph, they both +refused to acknowledge his election, and sent ambassadors with rich +presents to the pope to win him also to their side. Rhodolph, justly +appreciating the power of the pope, sent him a letter couched in those +terms which would be most palatable to the pontiff. + +"Turning all my thoughts to Him," he wrote, "under whose authority we +live, and placing all my expectations on you alone, I fall down before +the feet of your Holiness, beseeching you, with the most earnest +supplication, to favor me with your accustomed kindness in my present +undertaking; and that you will deign, by your mediation with the Most +High, to support my cause. That I may be enabled to perform what is most +acceptable to God and to His holy Church, may it graciously please your +Holiness to crown me with the imperial diadem; for I trust I am both +able and willing to undertake and accomplish whatever you and the holy +Church shall think proper to impose upon me." + +Gregory X. was a humane and sagacious man, influenced by a profound zeal +for the peace of Europe and the propagation of the Christian faith. +Gregory received the ambassadors of Rhodolph graciously, extorted from +them whatever concessions he desired on the part of the emperor, and +pledged his support. + +Ottocar, King of Bohemia, still remained firm, and even malignant, in +his hostility, utterly refusing to recognize the emperor, or to perform +any of those acts of fealty which were his due. He declared the +electoral diet to have been illegally convened, and the election to have +been the result of fraud, and that a man who had been excommunicated for +burning a convent, was totally unfit to wear the imperial crown. The +diet met at Augsburg, and irritated by the contumacy of Ottocar, sent a +command to him to recognize the authority of the emperor, pronouncing +upon him the ban of the empire should he refuse. Ottocar dismissed the +ambassadors with defiance and contempt from his palace at Prague, +saying, + +"Tell Rhodolph that he may rule over the territories of the empire, but +he shall have no dominion over mine. It is a disgrace to Germany, that a +petty count of Hapsburg should have been preferred to so many powerful +sovereigns." + +War, and a fearful one, was now inevitable. Ottocar was a veteran +soldier, a man of great intrepidity and energy, and his pride was +thoroughly roused. By a long series of aggressions he had become the +most powerful prince in Europe, and he could lead the most powerful +armies into the field. His dominions extended from the confines of +Bavaria to Raab in Hungary, and from the Adriatic to the shores of the +Baltic. The hereditary domains of the Count of Hapsburg were +comparatively insignificant, and were remotely situated at the foot of +the Alps, spreading through the defiles of Alsace and Suabia. As +emperor, Rhodolph could call the armies of the Germanic princes into the +field; but these princes moved reluctantly, unless roused by some +question of great moment to them all. And when these heterogeneous +troops of the empire were assembled, there was but a slender bond of +union between them. + +But Rhodolph possessed mental resources equal to the emergence. As +cautious as he was bold, as sagacious in council as he was impetuous in +action, he calmly, and with great foresight and deliberation, prepared +for the strife. To a monarch in such a time of need, a family of brave +sons and beautiful daughters, is an inestimable blessing. Rhodolph +secured the Duke of Sclavonia by making him the happy husband of one of +his daughters. His son Albert married Elizabeth, daughter of the Count +of Tyrol, and thus that powerful and noble family was secured. Henry of +Bavaria he intimidated, and by force of arms compelled him to lead his +troops to the standard of the emperor; and then, to secure his fidelity, +gave his daughter Hedwige to Henry's son Otho, in marriage, promising to +his daughter as a dowry a portion of Austria, which was then a feeble +duchy upon the Danube, but little larger than the State of +Massachusetts. + +Ottocar was but little aware of the tremendous energies of the foe he +had aroused. Regarding Rhodolph almost with contempt, he had by no means +made the arrangements which his peril demanded, and was in consternation +when he heard that Rhodolph, in alliance with Henry of Bavaria, had +already entered Austria, taken possession of several fortresses, and, at +the head of a force of a thousand horsemen, was carrying all before him, +and was triumphantly marching upon Vienna. Rhodolph had so admirably +matured his plans, that his advance seemed rather a festive journey than +a contested conquest. With the utmost haste Ottocar urged his troops +down through the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, hoping to save the +capital. But Rhodolph was at Vienna before him, where he was joined by +others of his allies, who were to meet him at that rendezvous. Vienna, +the capital, was a fortress of great strength. Upon this frontier post +Charlemagne had established a strong body of troops under a commander +who was called a margrave; and for some centuries this city, commanding +the Danube, had been deemed one of the strongest defenses of the empire +against Mohammedan invasion. Vienna, unable to resist, capitulated. The +army of Ottocar had been so driven in their long and difficult march, +that, exhausted and perishing for want of provisions, they began to +mutiny. The pope had excommunicated Ottocar, and the terrors of the +curse of the pope, were driving captains and nobles from his service. +The proud spirit of Ottocar, after a terrible struggle, was utterly +crushed, and he humbly sued for peace. The terms were hard for a haughty +spirit to bear. The conquered king was compelled to renounce all claim +to Austria and several other adjoining provinces, Styria, Carinthia, +Carniola and Windischmark; to take the oath of allegiance to the +emperor, and publicly to do him homage as his vassal lord. To cement +this compulsory friendship, Rhodolph, who was rich in daughters, having +six to proffer as bribes, gave one, with an abundant dowry in silver, to +a son of Ottocar. + +The day was appointed for the king, in the presence of the whole army, +to do homage to the emperor as his liege lord. It was the 25th of +November, 1276. With a large escort of Bohemian nobles, Ottocar crossed +the Danube, and was received by the emperor in the presence of many of +the leading princes of the empire. The whole army was drawn up to +witness the spectacle. With a dejected countenance, and with +indications, which he could not conceal, of a crushed and broken spirit, +Ottocar renounced these valuable provinces, and kneeling before the +emperor, performed the humiliating ceremony of feudal homage. The pope +in consequence withdrew his sentence of excommunication, and Ottocar +returned to his mutilated kingdom, a humbler and a wiser man. + +Rhodolph now took possession of the adjacent provinces which had been +ceded to him, and, uniting them, placed them under the government of +Louis of Bavaria, son of his firm ally Henry, the King of Bavaria. +Bavaria bounded Austria on the west, and thus the father and the son +would be in easy cooeperation. He then established his three Sons, +Albert, Hartmann, and Rhodolph, in different parts of these provinces, +and, with his queen, fixed his residence at Vienna. + +Such was the nucleus of the Austrian empire, and such the commencement +of the powerful monarchy which for so many generations has exerted so +important a control over the affairs of Europe. Ottocar, however, though +he left Rhodolph with the strongest protestations of friendship, +returned to Prague consumed by the most torturing fires of humiliation +and chagrin. His wife, a haughty woman, who was incapable of listening +to the voice of judgment when her passions were inflamed, could not +conceive it possible that a petty count of Hapsburg could vanquish her +renowned husband in the field. And when she heard that Ottocar had +actually done fealty to Rhodolph, and had surrendered to him valuable +provinces of the kingdom, no bridle could be put upon her woman's +tongue. She almost stung her husband to madness with taunts and +reproaches. + +Thus influenced by the pride of his queen, Cunegunda, Ottocar violated +his oath, refused to execute the treaty, imprisoned in a convent the +daughter whom Rhodolph had given to his son, and sent a defiant and +insulting letter to the emperor. Rhodolph returned a dignified answer +and prepared for war. Ottocar, now better understanding the power of his +foe, made the most formidable preparations for the strife, and soon took +the field with an army which he supposed would certainly triumph over +any force which Rhodolph could raise. He even succeeded in drawing Henry +of Bavaria into an alliance; and many of the German princes, whom he +could not win to his standard, he bribed to neutrality. Numerous +chieftains, lured to his camp by confidence of victory, crowded around +him with their followers, from Poland, Bulgaria, Pomerania, Magdeburg, +and from the barbaric shores of the Baltic. Many of the fierce nobles of +Hungary had also joined the standard of Ottocar. + +Thus suddenly clouds gathered around Rhodolph, and many of his friends +despaired of his cause. He appealed to the princes of the German empire, +and but few responded to his call. His sons-in-law, the Electors of +Palatine and of Saxony, ventured not to aid him in an emergence when +defeat seemed almost certain, and where all who shared in the defeat +would be utterly ruined. In June, 1275, Ottocar marched from Prague, met +his allies at the appointed rendezvous, and threading the defiles of the +Bohemian mountains, approached the frontiers of Austria. Rhodolph was +seriously alarmed, for it was evident that the chances of war were +against him. He could not conceal the restlessness and agitation of his +spirit as he impatiently awaited the arrival of troops whom he summoned, +but who disappointed his hopes. + +"I have not one," he sadly exclaimed, "in whom I can confide, or on +whose advice I can depend." + +The citizens of Vienna perceiving that Rhodolph was abandoned by his +German allies, and that they could present no effectual resistance to so +powerful an army as was approaching, and terrified in view of a siege, +and the capture of the city by storm, urged a capitulation, and even +begged permission to choose a new sovereign, that they might not be +involved in the ruin impending over Rhodolph. This address roused +Rhodolph from his despondency, and inspired him with the energies of +despair. He had succeeded in obtaining a few troops from his provinces +in Switzerland. The Bishop of Basle, who had now become his confessor, +came to his aid, at the head of a hundred horsemen, and a body of expert +slingers. Rhodolph, though earnestly advised not to undertake a battle +with such desperate odds, marched from Vienna to meet the foe. + +Rapidly traversing the southern banks of the Danube to Hamburg, he +crossed the river and advanced to Marcheck, on the banks of the Morava. +He was joined by some troops from Styria and Carinthia, and by a strong +force led by the King of Hungary. Emboldened by these accessions, though +still far inferior in strength to Ottocar, he pressed on till the two +armies faced each other on the plains of Murchfield. It was the 26th of +August, 1278. + +At this moment some traitors deserting the camp of Ottocar, repaired to +the camp of Rhodolph and proposed to assassinate the Bohemian king. +Rhodolph spurned the infamous offer, and embraced the opportunity of +seeking terms of reconciliation by apprising Ottocar of his danger. But +the king, confident in his own strength, and despising the weakness of +Rhodolph, deemed the story a fabrication and refused to listen to any +overtures. Without delay he drew up his army in the form of a crescent, +so as almost to envelop the feeble band before him, and made a +simultaneous attack upon the center and upon both flanks. A terrific +battle ensued, in which one party fought, animated by undoubting +confidence, and the other impelled by despair. The strife was long and +bloody. The tide of victory repeatedly ebbed and flowed. Ottocar had +offered a large reward to any of his followers who would bring to him +Rhodolph, dead or alive. + +A number of knights of great strength and bravery, confederated to +achieve this feat. It was a point of honor to be effected at every +hazard. Disregarding all the other perils of the battle, they watched +their opportunity, and then in a united swoop, on their steel-clad +chargers, fell upon the emperor. His feeble guard was instantly cut +down. Rhodolph was a man of herculean power, and he fought like a lion +at bay. One after another of his assailants he struck from his horse, +when a Thuringian knight, of almost fabulous stature and strength, +thrust his spear through the horse of the emperor, and both steed and +rider fell to the ground. Rhodolph, encumbered by his heavy coat of +mail, and entangled in the housings of his saddle, was unable to rise. +He crouched upon the ground, holding his helmet over him, while saber +strokes and pike thrusts rang upon cuirass and buckler like blows upon +an anvil. A corps of reserve spurred to his aid, and the emperor was +rescued, and the bold assailants who had penetrated the very center of +his army were slain. + +The tide of victory now set strongly in favor of Rhodolph, for "the race +is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." The troops of +Bohemia were soon everywhere put to rout. The ground was covered with +the dead. Ottocar, astounded at his discomfiture, and perhaps fearing +the tongue of his wife more than the sabers of his foes, turned his back +upon his flying army, and spurred his horse into the thickest of his +pursuers. He was soon dismounted and slain. Fourteen thousand of his +troops perished on that disastrous day. The body of Ottocar, mutilated +with seventeen wounds, was carried to Vienna, and, after being exposed +to the people, was buried with regal honors. + +Rhodolph, vastly enriched by the plunder of the camp, and having no +enemy to encounter, took possession of Moravia, and triumphantly marched +into Bohemia. All was consternation there. The queen Cunegunda, who had +brought these disasters upon the kingdom, had no influence. Her only son +was but eight years of age. The turbulent nobles, jealous of each other, +had no recognized leader. The queen, humiliated and despairing, implored +the clemency of the conqueror, and offered to place her infant son and +the kingdom of Bohemia under his protection. Rhodolph was generous in +this hour of victory. As the result of arbitration, it was agreed that +he should hold Moravia for five years, that its revenues might indemnify +him for the expenses of the war. The young prince, Wenceslaus, was +acknowledged king, and during his minority the regency was assigned to +Otho, margrave or military commander of Brundenburg. Then ensued some +politic matrimonial alliances. Wenceslaus, the boy king, was affianced +to Judith, one of the daughters of Rhodolph. The princess Agnes, +daughter of Cunegunda, was to become the bride of Rhodolph's second son. +These matters being all satisfactorily settled, Rhodolph returned in +triumph to Vienna. + +The emperor now devoted his energies to the consolidation of these +Austrian provinces. They were four in number, Austria, Styria, Carinthia +and Carniola. All united, they made but a feeble kingdom, for they did +not equal, in extent of territory, several of the States of the American +Union. Each of these provinces had its independent government, and its +local laws and customs. They were held together by the simple bond of an +arbitrary monarch, who claimed, and exercised as he could, supreme +control over them all. Under his wise and energetic administration, the +affairs of the wide-spread empire were prosperous, and his own Austria +advanced rapidly in order, civilization and power. The numerous nobles, +turbulent, unprincipled and essentially robbers, had been in the habit +of issuing from their castles at the head of banditti bands, and +ravaging the country with incessant incursions. It required great +boldness in Rhodolph to brave the wrath of these united nobles. He did +it fearlessly, issuing the decree that there should be no fortresses in +his States which were not necessary for the public defense. The whole +country was spotted with castles, apparently impregnable in all the +strength of stone and iron, the secure refuge of high-born nobles. In +one year seventy of these turreted bulwarks of oppression were torn +down; and twenty-nine of the highest nobles, who had ventured upon +insurrection, were put to death. An earnest petition was presented to +him in behalf of the condemned insurgents. + +"Do not," said the king, "interfere in favor of robbers; they are not +nobles, but accursed robbers, who oppress the poor, and break the public +peace. True nobility is faithful and just, offends no one, and commits +no injury." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +REIGNS OF ALBERT I, FREDERIC, ALBERT AND OTHO. + +From 1291 to 1347. + +Anecdotes Of Rhodolph.--His Desire For The Election Of His Son.--His +Death.--Albert.--His Unpopularity.--Conspiracy Of The Nobles.--Their +Defeat.--Adolphus Of Nassau Chosen Emperor.--Albert's Conspiracy.-- +Deposition Of Adolphus And Election Of Albert.--Death Of Adolphus.--The +Pope Defied.--Annexation Of Bohemia.--Assassination Of Albert.--Avenging +Fury.--The Hermit's Direction.--Frederic The Handsome.--Election Of +Henry, Count Of Luxemburg.--His Death.--Election Of Louis Of +Bavaria.--Capture Of Frederic.--Remarkable Confidence Toward a +Prisoner.--Death Of Frederic.--An Early Engagement.--Death Of +Louis.--Accession Of Albert. + + +Rhodolph of Hapsburg was one of the most remarkable men of his own or of +any age, and many anecdotes illustrative of his character, and of the +rude times in which he lived, have been transmitted to us. The +Thuringian knight who speared the emperor's horse in the bloody fight of +Murchfield, was rescued by Rhodolph from those who would cut him down. + +"I have witnessed," said the emperor, "his intrepidity, and never could +forgive myself if so courageous a knight should be put to death." + +During the war with Ottocar, on one occasion the army were nearly +perishing of thirst. A flagon of water was brought to him. He declined +it, saying, + +"I can not drink alone, nor can I divide so small a quantity among all. +I do not thirst for myself, but for the whole army." + +By earnest endeavor he obtained the perfect control of his passions, +naturally very violent. "I have often," said he, "repented of being +passionate, but never of being mild and humane." + +One of his captains expressed dissatisfaction at a rich gift the emperor +made to a literary man who presented him a manuscript describing the +wars of the Romans. + +"My good friend," Rhodolph replied, "be contented that men of learning +praise our actions, and thereby inspire us with additional courage in +war. I wish I could employ more time in reading, and could expend some +of that money on learned men which I must throw away on so many +illiterate knights." + +One cold morning at Metz, in the year 1288, he walked out dressed as +usual in the plainest garb. He strolled into a baker's shop, as if to +warm himself. The baker's termagant wife said to him, all unconscious +who he was, + +"Soldiers have no business to come into poor women's houses." + +"True," the emperor replied, "but do not be angry, my good woman; I am +an old soldier who have spent all my fortune in the service of that +rascal Rhodolph, and he suffers me to want, notwithstanding all his fine +promises." + +"Good enough for you," said the woman; "a man who will serve such a +fellow, who is laying waste the whole earth, deserves nothing better." + +She then, in her spite, threw a pail of water on the fire, which, +filling the room with smoke and ashes, drove the emperor into the +street. + +Rhodolph, having returned to his lodgings, sent a rich present to the +old woman, from the emperor who had warmed himself at her fire that +morning, and at the dinner-table told the story with great glee to his +companions. The woman, terrified, hastened to the emperor to implore +mercy. He ordered her to be admitted to the dining-room, and promised to +forgive her if she would repeat to the company all her abusive epithets, +not omitting one. She did it faithfully, to the infinite merriment of +the festive group. + +So far as we can now judge, and making due allowance for the darkness of +the age in which he lived, Rhodolph appears to have been, in the latter +part of his life, a sincere, if not an enlightened Christian. He was +devout in prayer, and punctual in attending the services of the Church. +The humble and faithful ministers of religion he esteemed and protected, +while he was ever ready to chastise the insolence of those haughty +prelates who disgraced their religious professions by arrogance and +splendor. + +At last the infirmities of age pressed heavily upon him. When +seventy-three years old, knowing that he could not have much longer to +live, he assembled the congress of electors at Frankfort, and urged them +to choose his then only surviving son Albert as his successor on the +imperial throne. The diet, however, refused to choose a successor until +after the death of the emperor. Rhodolph was bitterly disappointed, for +he understood this postponement as a positive refusal to gratify him in +this respect. Saddened in spirit, and feeble in body, he undertook a +journey, by slow stages, to his hereditary dominions in Switzerland. He +then returned to Austria, where he died on the 15th of July, 1291, in +the seventy-third year of his age. + +Albert, who resided at Vienna, succeeded his father in authority over +the Austrian and Swiss provinces. But he was a man stern, unconciliating +and domineering. The nobles hated him, and hoped to drive him back to +the Swiss cantons from which his father had come. One great occasion of +discontent was, that he employed about his person, and in important +posts, Swiss instead of Austrian nobles. They demanded the dismission of +these foreign favorites, which so exasperated Albert that he clung to +them still more tenaciously and exclusively. + +The nobles now organized a very formidable conspiracy, and offered to +neighboring powers, as bribes for their aid, portions of Austria. +Austria proper was divided by the river Ens into two parts called Upper +and Lower Austria. Lower Austria was offered to Bohemia; Styria to the +Duke of Bavaria; Upper Austria to the Archbishop of Saltzburg; Carniola +to the Counts of Guntz; and thus all the provinces were portioned out to +the conquerors. At the same time the citizens of Vienna, provoked by the +haughtiness of Albert, rose in insurrection. With the energy which +characterized his father, Albert met these emergencies. Summoning +immediately an army from Switzerland, he shut up all the avenues to the +city, which was not in the slightest degree prepared for a siege, and +speedily starved the inhabitants into submission. Punishing severely the +insurgents, he strengthened his post at Vienna, and confirmed his power. +Then, marching rapidly upon the nobles, before they had time to receive +that foreign aid which had been secretly promised them, and securing all +the important fortresses, which were now not many in number, he so +overawed them, and so vigilantly watched every movement, that there was +no opportunity to rise and combine. The Styrian nobles, being remote, +made an effort at insurrection. Albert, though it was in the depth of +winter, plowed through the snows of the mountains, and plunging +unexpectedly among them, routed them with great slaughter. + +While he was thus conquering discontent by the sword, and silencing +murmurs beneath the tramp of iron hoofs, the diet was assembling at +Frankfort to choose a new chief for the Germanic empire. Albert was +confident of being raised to the vacant dignity. The splendor of his +talents all admitted. Four of the electors were closely allied to him by +marriage, and he arrogantly felt that he was almost entitled to the +office as the son of his renowned father. But the electors feared his +ambitious and despotic disposition, and chose Adolphus of Nassau to +succeed to the imperial throne. + +Albert was mortified and enraged by this disappointment, and expressed +his determination to oppose the election; but the troubles in his own +domains prevented him from putting this threat into immediate execution. +His better judgment soon taught him the policy of acquiescing in the +election, and he sullenly received the investiture of his fiefs from the +hands of the Emperor Adolphus. Still Albert, struggling against +unpopularity and continued insurrection, kept his eye fixed eagerly upon +the imperial crown. With great tact he conspired to form a confederacy +for the deposition of Adolphus. + +Wenceslaus, the young King of Bohemia, was now of age, and preparations +were made for his coronation with great splendor at Prague. Four of the +electors were present on this occasion, which was in June, 1297. Albert +conferred with them respecting his plans, and secured their cooeperation. +The electors more willingly lent their aid since they were exceedingly +displeased with some of the measures of Adolphus for the aggrandizement +of his own family. Albert with secrecy and vigor pushed his plans, and +when the diet met the same year at Metz, a long list of grievances was +drawn up against Adolphus. He was summoned to answer to these charges. +The proud emperor refused to appear before the bar of the diet as a +culprit. The diet then deposed Adolphus and elected Albert II. to the +imperial throne, on the 23d of June, 1298. + +The two rival emperors made vigorous preparations to settle the dispute +with the sword, and the German States arrayed themselves, some on one +side and some on the other. The two armies met at Gelheim on the 2d of +July, led by the rival sovereigns. In the thickest of the fight Adolphus +spurred his horse through the opposing ranks, bearing down all +opposition, till he faced Albert, who was issuing orders and animating +his troops by voice and gesture. + +"Yield," shouted Adolphus, aiming a saber stroke at the head of his foe, +"your life and your crown." + +"Let God decide," Albert replied, as he parried the blow, and thrust his +lance into the unprotected face of Adolphus. At that moment the horse of +Adolphus fell, and he himself was instantly slain. Albert remained the +decisive victor on this bloody field. The diet of electors was again +summoned, and he was now chosen unanimously emperor. He was soon crowned +with great splendor at Aix-la-Chapelle. + +Still Albert sat on an uneasy throne. The pope, indignant that the +electors should presume to depose one emperor and choose another without +his consent, refused to confirm the election of Albert, and loudly +inveighed him as the murderer of Adolphus. Albert, with characteristic +impulsiveness, declared that he was emperor by choice of the electors +and not by ratification of the pope, and defiantly spurned the +opposition of the pontiff. Considering himself firmly seated on the +throne, he refused to pay the bribes of tolls, privileges, territories, +etc., which he had so freely offered to the electors. Thus exasperated, +the electors, the pope, and the King of Bohemia, conspired to drive +Albert from the throne. Their secret plans were so well laid, and they +were so secure of success, that the Elector of Mentz tauntingly and +boastingly said to Albert, "I need only sound my hunting-horn and a new +emperor will appear." + +Albert, however, succeeded by sagacity and energy, in dispelling this +storm which for a time threatened his entire destruction. By making +concessions to the pope, he finally won him to cordial friendship, and +by the sword vanquishing some and intimidating others, he broke up the +league. His most formidable foe was his brother-in-law, Wenceslaus, King +of Bohemia. Albert's sister, Judith, the wife of Wenceslaus, had for +some years prevented a rupture between them, but she now being dead, +both monarchs decided to refer their difficulties to the arbitration of +the sword. While their armies were marching, Wenceslaus was suddenly +taken sick and died, in June, 1305. His son, but seventeen years of age, +weak in body and in mind, at once yielded to all the demands of his +imperial uncle. Hardly a year, however, had elapsed ere this young +prince, Wenceslaus III., was assassinated, leaving no issue. + +Albert immediately resolved to transfer the crown of Bohemia to his own +family, and thus to annex the powerful kingdom of Bohemia to his own +limited Austrian territories. Bohemia added to the Austrian provinces, +would constitute quite a noble kingdom. The crown was considered +elective, though in fact the eldest son was almost always chosen during +the lifetime of his father. The death of Wenceslaus, childless, opened +the throne to other claimants. No one could more imperiously demand the +scepter than Albert. He did demand it for his son Rhodolph in tones +which were heard and obeyed. The States assembled at Prague on the 1st +of April, 1306. Albert, surrounded by a magnificent retinue, conducted +his son to Prague, and to confirm his authority married him to the widow +of Wenceslaus, a second wife. Rhodolph also, about a year before, had +buried Blanche, his first wife. Albert was exceedingly elated, for the +acquisition of Bohemia was an accession to the power of his family which +doubled their territory, and more than doubled their wealth and +resources. + +A mild government would have conciliated the Bohemians, but such a +course was not consonant with the character of the imperious and +despotic Albert. He urged his son to measures of arbitrary power which +exasperated the nobles, and led to a speedy revolt against his +authority. Rhodolph and the nobles were soon in the field with their +contending armies, when Rhodolph suddenly died from the fatigues of the +camp, aged but twenty-two years, having held the throne of Bohemia less +than a year. + +Albert, grievously disappointed, now demanded that his second son, +Frederic, should receive the crown. As soon as his name was mentioned to +the States, the assembly with great unanimity exclaimed, "We will not +again have an Austrian king." This led to a tumult. Swords were drawn, +and two of the partisans of Albert were slain. Henry, Duke of Carinthia, +was then almost unanimously chosen king. But the haughty Albert was not +to be thus easily thwarted in his plans. He declared that his son +Frederic was King of Bohemia, and raising an army, he exerted all the +influence and military power which his position as emperor gave him, to +enforce his claim. + +But affairs in Switzerland for a season arrested the attention of +Albert, and diverted his armies from the invasion of Bohemia. +Switzerland was then divided into small sovereignties, of various names, +there being no less than fifty counts, one hundred and fifty barons, and +one thousand noble families. Both Rhodolph and Albert had greatly +increased, by annexation, the territory and the power of the house of +Hapsburg. By purchase, intimidation, war, and diplomacy, Albert had for +some time been making such rapid encroachments, that a general +insurrection was secretly planned to resist his power. All Switzerland +seemed to unite as with one accord. Albert was rejoiced at this +insurrection, for, confident of superior power, he doubted not his +ability speedily to quell it, and it would afford him the most favorable +pretext for still greater aggrandizement. Albert hastened to his domain +at Hapsburg, where he was assassinated by conspirators led by his own +nephew, whom he was defrauding of his estates. + +Frederic and Leopold, the two oldest surviving sons of Albert, avenged +their father's death by pursuing the conspirators until they all +suffered the penalty of their crimes. With ferocity characteristic of +the age, they punished mercilessly the families and adherents of the +assassins. Their castles were demolished, their estates confiscated, +their domestics and men at arms massacred, and their wives and children +driven out into the world to beg or to starve. Sixty-three of the +retainers of Lord Balne, one of the conspirators, though entirely +innocent of the crime, and solemnly protesting their unconsciousness of +any plot, were beheaded in one day. Though but four persons took part in +the assassination, and it was not known that any others were implicated +in the deed, it is estimated that more than a thousand persons suffered +death through the fury of the avengers. Agnes, one of the daughters of +Albert, endeavored with her own hands to strangle the infant child of +the Lord of Eschenback, when the soldiers, moved by its piteous cries, +with difficulty rescued it from her hands. + +Elizabeth, the widow of Albert, with her implacable fanatic daughter +Agnes, erected a magnificent convent on the spot at Koenigsburg, where +the emperor was assassinated, and there in cloistered gloom they passed +the remainder of their lives. It was an age of superstition, and yet +there were some who comprehended and appreciated the pure morality of +the gospel of Christ. + +"Woman," said an aged hermit to Agnes, "God is not served by shedding +innocent blood, and by rearing convents from the plunder of families. He +is served by compassion only, and by the forgiveness of injuries." + +Frederic, Albert's oldest son, now assumed the government of the +Austrian provinces. From his uncommon personal attractions he was called +Frederic the Handsome. His character was in conformity with his person, +for to the most chivalrous bravery he added the most feminine amiability +and mildness. He was a candidate for the imperial throne, and would +probably have been elected but for the unpopularity of his despotic +father. The diet met, and on the 27th of November, 1308, the choice fell +unanimously upon Henry, Count of Luxemburg. + +This election deprived Frederic of his hopes of uniting Bohemia to +Austria, for the new emperor placed his son John upon the Bohemian +throne, and was prepared to maintain him there by all the power of the +empire. In accomplishing this, there was a short conflict with Henry of +Carinthia, but he was speedily driven out of the kingdom. + +Frederic, however, found a little solace in his disappointment, by +attaching to Austria the dominions he had wrested from the lords he had +beheaded as assassins of his father. In the midst of these scenes of +ambition, intrigue and violence, the Emperor Henry fell sick and died, +in the fifty-second year of his age. This unexpected event opened again +to Frederic the prospect of the imperial crown, and all his friends, in +the now very numerous branches of the family, spared neither money nor +the arts of diplomacy in the endeavor to secure the coveted dignity for +him. A year elapsed after the death of Henry before the diet was +assembled. During that time all the German States were in intense +agitation canvassing the claims of the several candidates. The prize of +an imperial crown was one which many grasped at, and every little court +was agitated by the question. The day of election, October 9th, 1314, +arrived. There were two hostile parties in the field, one in favor of +Frederic of Austria, the other in favor of Louis of Bavaria. The two +parties met in different cities, the Austrians at Saxenhausen, and the +Bavarians at Frankfort. There were, however, but four electors at +Saxenhausen, while there were five at Frankfort, the ancient place of +election. Each party unanimously chose its candidate. Louis, of Bavaria, +receiving five votes, while Frederic received but four, was +unquestionably the legitimate emperor. Most of the imperial cities +acknowledged him. Frankfort sung his triumph, and he was crowned with +all the ancient ceremonials of pomp at Aix-la-Chapelle. + +But Frederic and his party were not ready to yield, and all over Germany +there was the mustering of armies. For two years the hostile forces were +marching and countermarching with the usual vicissitudes of war. The +tide of devastation and blood swept now over one State, and now over +another, until at length the two armies met, in all their concentrated +strength, at Muhldorf, near Munich, for a decisive battle. Louis of +Bavaria rode proudly at the head of thirty thousand foot, and fifteen +hundred steel-clad horsemen. Frederic of Austria, the handsomest man of +his age, towering above all his retinue, was ostentatiously arrayed in +the most splendid armor art could furnish, emblazoned with the Austrian +eagle, and his helmet was surmounted by a crown of gold. + +As he thus led the ranks of twenty-two thousand footmen, and seven +thousand horse, all eyes followed him, and all hearts throbbed with +confidence of victory. From early dawn, till night darkened the field, +the horrid strife raged. In those days gunpowder was unknown, and the +ringing of battle-axes on helmet and cuirass, the strokes of sabers and +the clash of spears, shouts of onset, and the shrieks of the wounded, as +sixty thousand men fought hand to hand on one small field, rose like the +clamor from battling demons in the infernal world. Hour after hour of +carnage passed, and still no one could tell on whose banners victory +would alight. The gloom of night was darkening over the exhausted +combatants, when the winding of the bugle was heard in the rear of the +Austrians, and a band of four hundred Bavarian horsemen came plunging +down an eminence into the disordered ranks of Frederic. The hour of +dismay, which decides a battle, had come. A scene of awful carnage +ensued as the routed Austrians, fleeing in every direction, were pursued +and massacred. Frederic himself was struck from his horse, and as he +fell, stunned by the blow, he was captured, disarmed and carried to the +presence of his rival Louis. + +The spirit of Frederic was crushed by the awful, the irretrievable +defeat, and he appeared before his conqueror speechless in the extremity +of his woe. Louis had the pride of magnanimity and endeavored to console +his captive. + +"The battle is not lost by your fault," said he. "The Bavarians have +experienced to their cost that you are a valiant prince; but Providence +has decided the battle. Though I am happy to see you as my guest, I +sympathize with you in your sorrow, and will do what I can to alleviate +it." + +For three years the unhappy Frederic remained a prisoner of Louis of +Bavaria, held in close confinement in the castle at Trausnitz. At the +end of that time the emperor, alarmed at the efforts which the friends +of Frederic were making to combine several Powers to take up arms for +his relief, visited his prisoner, and in a personal interview proposed +terms of reconciliation. The terms, under the circumstances, were +considered generous, but a proud spirit needed the discipline of three +years' imprisonment before it could yield to such demands. + +It was the 13th of March, 1325, when this singular interview between +Louis the emperor, and Frederic his captive, took place at Trausnitz. +Frederic promised upon oath that in exchange for his freedom he would +renounce all claim to the imperial throne; restore all the districts and +castles he had wrested from the empire; give up all the documents +relative to his election as emperor; join with all his family influence +to support Louis against any and every adversary, and give his daughter +in marriage to Stephen the son of Louis. He also promised that in case +he should fail in the fulfillment of any one of these stipulations, he +would return to his captivity. + +Frederic fully intended a faithful compliance with these requisitions. +But no sooner was he liberated than his fiery brother Leopold, who +presided over the Swiss estates, and who was a man of great capacity and +military energy, refused peremptorily to fulfill the articles which +related to him, and made vigorous preparations to urge the war which he +had already, with many allies, commenced against the Emperor Louis. The +pope also, who had become inimical to Louis, declared that Frederic was +absolved from the agreement at Trausnitz, as it was extorted by force, +and, with all the authority of the head of the Church, exhorted Frederic +to reassert his claim to the imperial crown. + +Amidst such scenes of fraud and violence, it is refreshing to record an +act of real honor. Frederic, notwithstanding the entreaties of the pope +and the remonstrances of his friends, declared that, be the consequences +what they might, he never would violate his pledge; and finding that he +could not fulfill the articles of the agreement, he returned to Bavaria +and surrendered himself a prisoner to the emperor. It is seldom that +history has the privilege of recording so noble an act. Louis of Bavaria +fortunately had a soul capable of appreciating the magnanimity of his +captive. He received him with courtesy and with almost fraternal +kindness. In the words of a contemporary historian, "They ate at the +same table and slept in the same bed;" and, most extraordinary of all, +when Louis was subsequently called to a distant part of his dominions to +quell an insurrection, he intrusted the government of Bavaria, during +his absence, to Frederic. + +Frederic's impetuous and ungovernable brother Leopold, was unwearied in +his endeavors to combine armies against the emperor, and war raged +without cessation. At length Louis, harassed by these endless +insurrections and coalitions against him, and admiring the magnanimity +of Frederic, entered into a new alliance, offering terms exceedingly +honorable on his part. He agreed that he and Frederic should rule +conjointly as emperors of Germany, in perfect equality of power and +dignity, alternately taking the precedence. + +With this arrangement Leopold was satisfied, but unfortunately, just at +that time, his impetuous spirit, exhausted by disappointment and +chagrin, yielded to death. He died at Strasbourg on the 28th of +February, 1326. The pope and several of the electors refused to accede +to this arrangement, and thus the hopes of the unhappy Frederic were +again blighted, for Louis, who had consented to this accommodation for +the sake of peace, was not willing to enforce it through the tumult of +war. Frederic was, however, liberated from captivity, and he returned to +Austria a dejected, broken-hearted man. He pined away for a few months +in languor, being rarely known to smile, and died at the castle of +Gullenstein on the 13th of January, 1330. His widow, Isabella, the +daughter of the King of Arragon, became blind from excessive grief, and +soon followed her husband to the tomb. + +As Frederic left no son, the Austrian dominions fell to his two +brothers, Albert III. and Otho. Albert, by marriage, added the valuable +county of Ferret in Alsace to the dominions of the house of Austria. The +two brothers reigned with such wonderful harmony, that no indications +can be seen of separate administrations. They renounced all claim to the +imperial throne, notwithstanding the efforts of the pope to the +contrary, and thus secured friendship with the Emperor Louis. There were +now three prominent families dominant in Germany. Around these great +families, who had gradually, by marriage and military encroachments, +attained their supremacy, the others of all degrees rallied as vassals, +seeking protection and contributing strength. The house of Bavaria, +reigning over that powerful kingdom and in possession of the imperial +throne, ranked first. Then came the house of Luxembourg, possessing the +wide-spread and opulent realms of Bohemia. The house of Austria had now +vast possessions, but these were widely scattered; some provinces on the +banks of the Danube and others in Switzerland, spreading through the +defiles of the Alps. + +John of Bohemia was an overbearing man, and feeling quite impregnable in +his northern realms beyond the mountains, assumed such a dictatorial air +as to rouse the ire of the princes of Austria and Bavaria. These two +houses consequently entered into an intimate alliance for mutual +security. The Duke of Carinthia, who was uncle to Albert and Otho, died, +leaving only a daughter, Margaret. This dukedom, about the size of the +State of Massachusetts, a wild and mountainous region, was deemed very +important as the key to Italy. John of Bohemia, anxious to obtain it, +had engaged the hand of Margaret for his son, then but eight years of +age. It was a question in dispute whether the dukedom could descend to a +female, and Albert and Otho claimed it as the heirs of their uncle. +Louis, the emperor, supported the claims of Austria, and thus Carinthia +became attached to this growing power. + +John, enraged, formed a confederacy with the kings of Hungary and +Poland, and some minor princes, and invaded Austria. For some time they +swept all opposition before them. But the Austrian troops and those of +the empire checked them at Landau. Here they entered into an agreement +without a battle, by which Austria was permitted to retain Carinthia, +she making important concessions to Bohemia. In February, 1339, Otho +died, and Albert was invested with the sole administration of affairs. +The old King of Bohemia possessed vehemence of character which neither +age nor the total blindness with which he had become afflicted could +repress. He traversed the empire, and even went to France, organizing a +powerful confederacy against the emperor. The pope, Clement VI., who had +always been inimical to Louis of Bavaria, influenced by John of Bohemia, +deposed and excommunicated Louis, and ordered a new meeting of the diet +of electors, which chose Charles, eldest son of the Bohemian monarch, +and heir to that crown, emperor. + +The deposed Louis fought bravely for the crown thus torn from his brow. +Albert of Austria aided him with all his energies. Their united armies, +threading the defiles of the Bohemian mountains, penetrated the very +heart of the kingdom, when, in the midst of success, the deposed Emperor +Louis fell dead from a stroke of apoplexy, in the year 1347. This event +left Charles of Bohemia in undisputed possession of the imperial crown. +Albert immediately recognized his claim, effected reconciliation, and +becoming the friend and the ally of the emperor, pressed on cautiously +but securely, year after year, in his policy of annexation. But storms +of war incessantly howled around his domains until he died, a crippled +paralytic, on the 16th of August, 1358. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +RHODOLPH II., ALBERT IV. AND ALBERT V. + +From 1339 to 1437. + +Rhodolph II.--Marriage of John to Margaret.--Intriguing for the +Tyrol.--Death of Rhodolph.--Accession of Power to Austria.--Dividing the +Empire.--Delight of the Emperor Charles.--Leopold.--His Ambition and +Successes.--Hedwige, Queen of Poland.--"The Course of true Love never +did run smooth."--Unhappy Marriage of Hedwige.--Heroism of Arnold of +Winkelreid.--Death of Leopold.--Death of Albert IV.--Accession of Albert +V.--Attempts of Sigismond to bequeath to Albert V. Hungary and Bohemia. + + +Rhodolph II., the eldest son of Albert III., when but nineteen years of +age succeeded his father in the government of the Austrian States. He +had been very thoroughly educated in all the civil and military +knowledge of the times. He was closely allied with the Emperor Charles +IV. of Bohemia, having married his daughter Catherine. His character and +manhood had been very early developed. When he was in his seventeenth +year his father had found it necessary to visit his Swiss estates, then +embroiled in the fiercest war, and had left him in charge of the +Austrian provinces. He soon after was intrusted with the whole care of +the Hapsburg dominions in Switzerland. In this responsible post he +developed wonderful administrative skill, encouraging industry, +repressing disorder, and by constructing roads and bridges, opening +facilities for intercourse and trade. + +Upon the death of his father, Rhodolph removed to Vienna, and being now +the monarch of powerful realms on the Danube and among the Alps, he +established a court rivaling the most magnificent establishments of the +age. + +Just west of Austria and south of Bavaria was the magnificent dukedom of +Tyrol, containing some sixteen thousand square miles, or about twice the +size of the State of Massachusetts. It was a country almost unrivaled in +the grandeur of its scenery, and contained nearly a million of +inhabitants. This State, lying equally convenient to both Austria and +Bavaria, by both of these kingdoms had for many years been regarded with +a wistful eye. The manner in which Austria secured the prize is a story +well worth telling, as illustrative of the intrigues of those times. + +It will be remembered that John, the arrogant King of Bohemia, engaged +for his son the hand of Margaret, the only daughter of the Duke of +Carinthia. Tyrol also was one of the possessions of this powerful duke. +Henry, having no son, had obtained from the emperor a decree that these +possessions should descend, in default of male issue, to his daughter. +But for this decision the sovereignty of these States would descend to +the male heirs, Albert and Otho of Austria, nephews of Henry. They of +course disputed the legality of the decree, and, aided by the Emperor +Louis of Bavaria, obtained Carinthia, relinquishing for a time their +claim to Tyrol. The emperor hoped to secure that golden prize for his +hereditary estates of Bavaria. + +When John, the son of the King of Bohemia, was but seventeen years of +age, and a puny, weakly child, he was hurriedly married to Margaret, +then twenty-two. Margaret, a sanguine, energetic woman, despised her +baby husband, and he, very naturally, impotently hated her. She at +length fled from him, and escaping from Bohemia, threw herself under the +protection of Louis. The emperor joyfully welcomed her to his court, and +promised to grant her a divorce, by virtue of his imperial power, if she +would marry his son Louis. The compliant princess readily acceded to +this plan, and the divorce was announced and the nuptials solemnized in +February, 1342. + +The King of Bohemia was as much exasperated as the King of Bavaria was +elated by this event, for the one felt that he had lost the Tyrol, and +the other that he had gained it. It was this successful intrigue which +cost Louis of Bavaria his imperial crown; for the blood of the King of +Bohemia was roused. Burning with vengeance, he traversed Europe almost +with the zeal and eloquence of Peter the Hermit, to organize a coalition +against the emperor, and succeeded in inducing the pope, always hostile +to Louis, to depose and excommunicate him. This marriage was also +declared by the pope unlawful, and the son, Meinhard, eventually born to +them, was branded as illegitimate. + +While matters were in this state, as years glided on, Rhodolph succeeded +in winning the favor of the pontiff, and induced him to legitimate +Meinhard, that this young heir of Tyrol might marry the Austrian +princess Margaret, sister of Rhodolph. Meinhard and his wife Margaret +ere long died, leaving Margaret of Tyrol, a widow in advancing years, +with no direct heirs. By the marriage contract of her son Meinhard with +Margaret of Austria, she promised that should there be failure of issue, +Tyrol should revert to Austria. On the other hand, Bavaria claimed the +territory in virtue of the marriage of Margaret with Louis of Bavaria. + +Rhodolph was so apprehensive that Bavaria might make an immediate move +to obtain the coveted territory by force of arms, that he hastened +across the mountains, though in the depth of winter, obtained from +Margaret an immediate possession of Tyrol, and persuaded her to +accompany him, an honored guest, to his capital, which he had +embellished with unusual splendor for her entertainment. + +Rhodolph had married the daughter of Charles, King of Bohemia, the +emperor, but unfortunately at this juncture, Rhodolph, united with the +kings of Hungary and Poland, was at war with the Bavarian king. +Catherine his wife, however, undertook to effect a reconciliation +between her husband and her father. She secured an interview between +them, and the emperor, the hereditary rival of his powerful neighbor the +King of Bavaria, confirmed Margaret's gift, invested Rhodolph with the +Tyrol, and pledged the arm of the empire to maintain this settlement. +Thus Austria gained Tyrol, the country of romance and of song, +interesting, perhaps, above all other portions of Europe in its natural +scenery, and invaluable from its location as the gateway of Italy. +Bavaria made a show of armed opposition to this magnificent accession to +the power of Austria, but soon found it in vain to assail Rhodolph +sustained by Margaret of Tyrol, and by the energies of the empire. + +Rhodolph was an antiquarian of eccentric character, ever poring over +musty records and hunting up decayed titles. He was fond of attaching to +his signature the names of all the innumerable offices he held over the +conglomerated States of his realm. He was Rhodolph, Margrave of Baden, +Vicar of Upper Bavaria, Lord of Hapsburg, Arch Huntsman of the Empire, +Archduke Palatine, etc., etc. His ostentation provoked even the jealousy +of his father, the emperor, and he was ordered to lay aside these +numerous titles and the arrogant armorial bearings he was attaching to +his seals. His desire to aggrandize his family burned with a quenchless +flame. Hoping to extend his influence in Italy, he negotiated a +matrimonial alliance for his brother with an Italian princess. As he +crossed the Alps to attend the nuptials, he was seized with an +inflammatory fever, and died the 27th of July, 1365, but twenty-six +years of age, and leaving no issue. + +His brother Albert, a young man but seventeen years of age, succeeded +Rhodolph. Just as he assumed the government, Margaret of Tyrol died, and +the King of Bavaria, thinking this a favorable moment to renew his +claims for the Tyrol, vigorously invaded the country with a strong army. +Albert immediately applied to the emperor for assistance. Three years +were employed in fightings and diplomacy, when Bavaria, in consideration +of a large sum of money and sundry other concessions, renounced all +pretensions to Tyrol, and left the rich prize henceforth undisputed in +the hands of Austria. Thus the diminutive margrave of Austria, which was +at first but a mere military post on the Danube, had grown by rapid +accretions in one century to be almost equal in extent of territory to +the kingdoms of Bavaria and of Bohemia. This grandeur, instead of +satisfying the Austrian princes, did but increase their ambition. + +The Austrian territories, though widely scattered, were declared, both +by family compact and by imperial decree, to be indivisible. Albert had +a brother, Leopold, two years younger than himself, of exceedingly +restless and ambitious spirit, while Albert was inactive, and a lover of +ease and repose. Leopold was sent to Switzerland, and intrusted with the +administration of those provinces. But his imperious spirit so dominated +over his elder but pliant brother, that he extorted from him a compact, +by which the realm was divided, Albert remaining in possession of the +Austrian provinces of the Danube, and Leopold having exclusive dominion +over those in Switzerland; while the magnificent new acquisition, the +Tyrol, lying between the two countries, bounding Switzerland on the +east, and Austria on the west, was shared between them. + +Nothing can more clearly show the moderate qualities of Albert than that +he should have assented to such a plan. He did, however, with easy good +nature, assent to it, and the two brothers applied to the Emperor +Charles to ratify the division by his imperial sanction. Charles, who +for some time had been very jealous of the rapid encroachments of +Austria, rubbed his hands with delight. + +"We have long," said he, "labored in vain to humble the house of +Austria, and now the dukes of Austria have humbled themselves." + +Leopold the First inherited all the ambition and energy of the house of +Hapsburg, and was ever watching with an eagle eye to extend his +dominions, and to magnify his power. By money, war, and diplomacy, in a +few years he obtained Friburg and the little town of Basle; attached to +his dominions the counties of Feldkirch, Pludenz, Surgans and the +Rienthal, which he wrested from the feeble counts who held them, and +obtained the baillages of Upper and Lower Suabia, and the towns of +Augsburg and Gingen. But a bitter disappointment was now encountered by +this ambitious prince. + +Louis, the renowned King of Hungary and Poland, had two daughters, Maria +and Hedwige, but no sons. To Maria he promised the crown of Hungary as +her portion, and among the many claimants for her hand, and the +glittering crown she held in it, Sigismond, son of the Emperor Charles, +King of Bohemia, received the prize. Leopold, whose heart throbbed in +view of so splendid an alliance, was overjoyed when he secured the +pledge of the hand of Hedwige, with the crown of Poland, for William, +his eldest son. Hedwige was one of the most beautiful and accomplished +princesses of the age. William was also a young man of great elegance of +person, and of such rare fascination of character, that he had acquired +the epithet of William the Delightful. His chivalrous bearing had been +trained and polished amidst the splendors of his uncle's court of +Vienna. Hedwige, as the affianced bride of William, was invited from the +more barbaric pomp of the Hungarian court, to improve her education by +the aid of the refinements of Vienna. William and Hedwige no sooner met +than they loved one another, as young hearts, even in the palace, will +sometimes love, as well as in the cottage. In brilliant festivities and +moonlight excursions the young lovers passed a few happy months, when +Hedwige was called home by the final sickness of her father. Louis died, +and Hedwige was immediately crowned Queen of Poland, receiving the most +enthusiastic greetings of her subjects. + +Bordering on Poland there was a grand duchy of immense extent, +Lithuania, embracing sixty thousand square miles. The Grand Duke +Jaghellon was a burly Northman, not more than half civilized, whose +character was as jagged as his name. This pagan proposed to the Polish +nobles that he should marry Hedwige, and thus unite the grand duchy of +Lithuania with the kingdom of Poland; promising in that event to +renounce paganism, and embrace Christianity. The beautiful and +accomplished Hedwige was horror-struck at the proposal, and declared +that never would she marry any one but William. + +But the Polish nobles, dazzled by the prospect of this magnificent +accession to the kingdom of Poland, and the bishops, even more powerful +than the nobles, elated with the vision of such an acquisition for the +Church, resolved that the young and fatherless maiden, who had no one to +defend her cause, should yield, and that she should become the bride of +Jaghellon. They declared that it was ridiculous to think that the +interests of a mighty kingdom, and the enlargement of the Church, were +to yield to the caprices of a love-sick girl. + +In the meantime William, all unconscious of the disappointment which +awaited him, was hastening to Cracow, with a splendid retinue, and the +richest presents Austrian art could fabricate, to receive his bride. The +nobles, however, a semi-barbaric set of men, surrounded him upon his +arrival, refused to allow him any interview with Hedwige, threatened him +with personal violence, and drove him out of the kingdom. Poor Hedwige +was in anguish. She wept, vowed deathless fidelity to William, and +expressed utter detestation of the pagan duke, until, at last, worn out +and broken-hearted, she, in despair, surrendered herself into the arms +of Jaghellon. Jaghellon was baptized by the name of Ladislaus, and +Lithuania was annexed to Poland. + +The loss of the crown of Poland was to Leopold a grievous affliction; at +the same time his armies, engaged in sundry measures of aggrandizement, +encountered serious reverses. Leopold, the father of William, by these +events was plunged into the deepest dejection. No effort of his friends +could lift the weight of his gloom. In a retired apartment of one of his +castles he sat silent and woful, apparently incapacitated for any +exertion whatever, either bodily or mental. The affairs of his realm +were neglected, and his bailiffs and feudal chiefs, left with +irresponsible power, were guilty of such acts of extortion and tyranny, +that, in the province of Suabia the barons combined, and a fierce +insurrection broke out. Forty important towns united in the confederacy, +and secured the co-operation of Strasburg, Mentz and other large cities +on the Rhine. Other of the Swiss provinces were on the eve of joining +this alarming confederacy against Leopold, their Austrian ruler. As +Vienna for some generations had been the seat of the Hapsburg family, +from whence governors were sent to these provinces of Helvetia, as +Switzerland was then called, the Swiss began to regard their rulers as +foreigners, and even Leopold found it necessary to strengthen himself +with Austrian troops. + +This formidable league roused Leopold from his torpor, and he awoke like +the waking of the lion. He was immediately on the march with four +thousand horsemen, and fourteen hundred foot, while all through the +defiles of the Alps bugle blasts echoed, summoning detachments from +various cantons under their bold barons, to hasten to the aid of the +insurgents. On the evening of the 9th of July, 1396, the glittering host +of Leopold appeared on an eminence overlooking the city of Sempach and +the beautiful lake on whose border it stands. The horses were fatigued +by their long and hurried march, and the crags and ravines, covered with +forest, were impracticable for the evolutions of cavalry. The impetuous +Leopold, impatient of delay, resolved upon an immediate attack, +notwithstanding the exhaustion of his troops, and though a few hours of +delay would bring strong reinforcements to his camp. He dismounted his +horsemen, and formed his whole force in solid phalanx. It was an +imposing spectacle, as six thousand men, covered from head to foot with +blazing armor, presenting a front of shields like a wall of burnished +steel, bristling with innumerable pikes and spears, moved with slow, +majestic tread down upon the city. + +The confederate Swiss, conscious that the hour of vengeance had come, in +which they must conquer or be miserably slain, marched forth to meet the +foe, emboldened only by despair. But few of the confederates were in +armor. They were furnished with such weapons as men grasp when despotism +rouses them to insurrection, rusty battle-axes, pikes and halberts, and +two-handed swords, which their ancestors, in descending into the grave, +had left behind them. They drew up in the form of a solid wedge, to +pierce the thick concentric wall of steel, apparently as impenetrable as +the cliffs of the mountains. Thus the two bodies silently and sternly +approached each other. It was a terrific hour; for every man knew that +one or the other of those hosts must perish utterly. For some time the +battle raged, while the confederates could make no impression whatever +upon their steel-clad foes, and sixty of them fell pierced by spears +before one of their assailants had been even wounded. + +Despair was fast settling upon their hearts, when Arnold of Winkelreid, +a knight of Underwalden, rushed from the ranks of the confederates, +exclaiming-- + +"I will open a passage into the line; protect, dear countrymen, my wife +and children." + +He threw himself upon the bristling spears. A score pierced his body; +grasping them with the tenacity of death, he bore them to the earth as +he fell. His comrades, emulating his spirit of self-sacrifice, rushed +over his bleeding body, and forced their way through the gate thus +opened into the line. The whole unwieldy mass was thrown into confusion. +The steel-clad warriors, exhausted before the battle commenced, and +encumbered with their heavy armor, could but feebly resist their nimble +assailants, who outnumbering them and over-powering them, cut them down +in fearful havoc. It soon became a general slaughter, and not less than +two thousand of the followers of Leopold were stretched lifeless upon +the ground. Many were taken prisoners, and a few, mounting their horses, +effected an escape among the wild glens of the Alps. + +In this awful hour Leopold developed magnanimity and heroism worthy of +his name. Before the battle commenced, his friends urged him to take +care of his own person. + +"God forbid," said he, "that I should endeavor to save my own life and +leave you to die! I will share your fate, and, with you, will either +conquer or perish." + +When all was in confusion, and his followers were falling like autumn +leaves around him, he was urged to put spurs to his horse, and, +accompanied by his body-guard, to escape. + +"I would rather die honorably," said Leopold, "than live with dishonor." + +Just at this moment his standard-bearer was struck down by a rush of the +confederates. As he fell he cried out, "Help, Austria, help!" Leopold +frantically sprang to his aid, grasped the banner from his dying hand, +and waving it, plunged into the midst of the foe, with saber strokes +hewing a path before him. He was soon lost in the tumult and the carnage +of the battle. His body was afterward found, covered with wounds, in the +midst of heaps of the dead. + +Thus perished the ambitious and turbulent Leopold the 1st, after a +stormy and unhappy life of thirty-six years, and a reign of constant +encroachment and war of twenty years. Life to him was a dark and somber +tempest. Ever dissatisfied with what he had attained, and grasping at +more, he could never enjoy the present, and he finally died that death +of violence to which his ambition had consigned so many thousands. +Leopold, the second son of the duke, who was but fifteen years of age, +succeeded his father, in the dominion of the Swiss estates; and after a +desultory warfare of a few months, was successful in negotiating a +peace, or rather an armed truce, with the successful insurgents. + +In the meantime, Albert, at Vienna, apparently happy in being relieved +of all care of the Swiss provinces, was devoting himself to the arts of +peace. He reared new buildings, encouraged learning, repressed all +disorders, and cultivated friendly relations with the neighboring +powers. His life was as a summer's day--serene and bright. He and his +family were happy, and his realms in prosperity. He died at his rural +residence at Laxendorf, two miles out from Vienna, on the 29th of +August, 1395. All Austria mourned his death. Thousands gathered at his +burial, exclaiming, "We have lost our friend, our father!" He was a +studious, peace-loving, warm-hearted man, devoted to his family and his +friends, fond of books and the society of the learned, and enjoying the +cultivation of his garden with his own hands. He left, at his death, an +only son, Albert, sixteen years of age. + +William, the eldest son of Leopold, had been brought up in the court of +Vienna. He was a young man of fascinating character and easily won all +hearts. After his bitter disappointment in Poland he returned to Vienna, +and now, upon the death of his uncle Albert, he claimed the reins of +government as the oldest member of the family. His cousin Albert, of +course, resisted this claim, demanding that he himself should enter upon +the post which his father had occupied. A violent dissension ensued +which resulted in an agreement that they should administer the +government of the Austrian States, jointly, during their lives, and that +then the government should be vested in the eldest surviving member of +the family. + +Having effected this arrangement, quite to the satisfaction of both +parties, Albert, who inherited much of the studious thoughtful turn of +mind of his father, set out on a pilgrimage to the holy land, leaving +the government during his absence in the hands of William. After +wanderings and adventures so full of romance as to entitle him to the +appellation of the "Wonder of the World," he returned to Vienna. He +married a daughter of the Duke of Holland, and settled down to a monkish +life. He entered a monastery of Carthusian monks, and took an active +part in all their discipline and devotions. No one was more punctual +than he at matins and vespers, or more devout in confessions, prayers, +genuflexions and the divine service in the choir. Regarding himself as +one of the fraternity, he called himself brother Albert, and left +William untrammeled in the cares of state. His life was short, for he +died the 14th of September, 1404, in the twenty-seventh year of his age, +leaving a son Albert, seven years old. William, who married a daughter +of the King of Naples, survived him but two years, when he died +childless. + +A boy nine years old now claimed the inheritance of the Austrian +estates; but the haughty dukes of the Swiss branch of the house were not +disposed to yield to his claims. Leopold II., who after the battle of +Sempach succeeded his father in the Swiss estates, assumed the +guardianship of Albert, and the administration of Austria, till the +young duke should be of age. But Leopold had two brothers who also +inherited their father's energy and ambition. Ernest ruled over Styria, +Carinthia and Carniola. Frederic governed the Tyrol. + +Leopold II. repaired to Vienna to assume the administration; his two +brothers claimed the right of sharing it with him. Confusion, strife and +anarchy ensued. Ernest, a very determined and violent man, succeeded in +compelling his brother to give him a share of the government, and in the +midst of incessant quarrels, which often led to bloody conflicts, each +of the two brothers strove to wrest as much as possible from Austria +before young Albert should be of age. The nobles availed themselves of +this anarchy to renew their expeditions of plunder. Unhappy Austria for +several years was a scene of devastation and misery. In the year 1411, +Leopold II. died without issue. The young Albert had now attained is +fifteenth year. + +The emperor declared Albert of age, and he assumed the government as +Albert V. His subjects, weary of disorder and of the strife of the +nobles, welcomed him with enthusiasm. With sagacity and self-denial +above his years, the young prince devoted himself to business, +relinquishing all pursuits of pleasure. Fortunately, during his minority +he had honorable and able teachers who stored his mind with useful +knowledge, and fortified him with principles of integrity. The change +from the most desolating anarchy to prosperity and peace was almost +instantaneous. Albert had the judgment to surround himself with able +advisers. Salutary laws were enacted; justice impartially administered; +the country was swept of the banditti which infested it, and while all +the States around were involved in the miseries of war, the song of the +contented husbandman, and the music of the artisan's tools were heard +through the fields and in the towns of happy Austria. + +Sigismond, second son of the Emperor Charles IV., King of Bohemia, was +now emperor. It will be remembered that by marrying Mary, the eldest +daughter of Louis, King of Hungary and Poland, he received Hungary as +the dower of his bride. By intrigue he also succeeded in deposing his +effeminate and dissolute brother, Wenceslaus, from the throne of +Bohemia, and succeeded, by a new election, in placing the crown upon his +own brow. Thus Sigismond wielded a three-fold scepter. He was Emperor of +Germany, and King of Hungary and of Bohemia. + +Albert married the only daughter of Sigismond, and a very strong +affection sprung up between the imperial father and his son-in-law. They +often visited each other, and cooperated very cordially in measures of +state. The wife of Sigismond was a worthless woman, described by an +Austrian historian as "one who believed in neither God, angel nor devil; +neither in heaven nor hell." Sigismond had set his heart upon +bequeathing to Albert the crowns of both Hungary and Bohemia, which +magnificent accessions to the Austrian domains would elevate that power +to be one of the first in Europe. But Barbara, his queen, wished to +convey these crowns to the son of the pagan Jaghellon, who had received +the crown of Poland as the dowry of his reluctant bride, Hedwige. +Sigismond, provoked by her intrigues for the accomplishment of this +object, and detesting her for her licentiousness, put her under arrest. +Sigismond was sixty-three years of age, in very feeble health, and daily +expecting to die. + +He summoned a general convention of the nobles of Hungary and Bohemia to +meet him at Znaim in Moravia, near the frontiers of Austria, and sent +for Albert and his daughter to hasten to that place. The infirm emperor, +traveling by slow stages, succeeded in reaching Znaim. He immediately +summoned the nobles to his presence, and introducing to them Albert and +Elizabeth, thus affectingly addressed them: + +"Loving friends, you know that since the commencement of my reign I have +employed my utmost exertions to maintain public tranquillity. Now, as I +am about to die, my last act must be consistent with my former actions. +At this moment my only anxiety arises from a desire to prevent +dissension and bloodshed after my decease. It is praiseworthy in a +prince to govern well; but it is not less praiseworthy to provide a +successor who shall govern better than himself. This fame I now seek, +not from ambition, but from love to my subjects. You all know Albert, +Duke of Austria, to whom in preference to all other princes I gave my +daughter in marriage, and whom I adopted as my son. You know that he +possesses experience and every virtue becoming a prince. He found +Austria in a state of disorder, and he has restored it to tranquillity. +He is now of an age in which judgment and experience attain their +perfection, and he is sovereign of Austria, which, lying between Hungary +and Bohemia, forms a connecting link between the two kingdoms. + +"I recommend him to you as my successor. I leave you a king, pious, +honorable, wise and brave. I give him my kingdom, or rather I give him +to my kingdoms, to whom I can give or wish nothing better. Truly you +belong to him in consideration of his wife, the hereditary princess of +Hungary and Bohemia. Again I repeat that I do not act thus solely from +love to Albert and my daughter, but from a desire in my last moments to +promote the true welfare of my people. Happy are those who are subject +to Albert. I am confident he is no less beloved by you than by me, and +that even without my exhortations you would unanimously give him your +votes. But I beseech you by these tears, comfort my soul, which is +departing to God, by confirming my choice and fulfilling my will." + +The emperor was so overcome with emotion that he could with difficulty +pronounce these last words. All were deeply moved; some wept aloud; +others, seizing the hand of the emperor and bathing it in tears, vowed +allegiance to Albert, and declared that while he lived they would +recognize no other sovereign. + +The very next day, November, 1437, Sigismond died. Albert and Elizabeth +accompanied his remains to Hungary. The Hungarian diet of barons +unanimously ratified the wishes of the late king in accepting Albert as +his successor. He then hastened to Bohemia, and, notwithstanding a few +outbursts of disaffection, was received with great demonstrations of joy +by the citizens of Prague, and was crowned in the cathedral. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ALBERT, LADISLAUS AND FREDERIC. + +From 1440 to 1489. + +Increasing Honors of Albert V.--Encroachments of the Turks.--The +Christians Routed.--Terror of the Hungarians.--Death of +Albert.--Magnanimous Conduct of Albert of Bavaria.--Internal +Troubles.--Precocity of Ladislaus.--Fortifications raised by the +Turks.--John Capistrun.--Rescue of Belgrade.--The Turks +dispersed.--Exultation over the Victory.--Death of Hunniades.--Jealousy +of Ladislaus.--His Death.--Brotherly Quarrels.--Devastations by the +Turks.--Invasion of Austria.--Repeal of the Compromise.--The Emperor a +Fugitive. + + +The kingdom of Bohemia thus attached to the duchies of Austria contained +a population of some three millions, and embraced twenty thousand square +miles of territory, being about three times as large as the State of +Massachusetts. Hungary was a still more magnificent realm in extent of +territory, being nearly five times as large as Bohemia, but inhabited by +about the same number of people, widely dispersed. In addition to this +sudden and vast accession of power, Albert was chosen Emperor of +Germany. This distinguished sovereign displayed as much wisdom and +address in administering the affairs of the empire, as in governing his +own kingdoms. + +The Turks were at this time becoming the terror of Christendom. +Originating in a small tribe between the Caspian Sea and the Euxine, +they had with bloody cimeters overrun all Asia Minor, and, crossing the +Hellespont, had intrenched themselves firmly on the shores of Europe. +Crowding on in victorious hosts, armed with the most terrible +fanaticism, they had already obtained possession of Bulgaria, Servia, +and Bosnia, eastern dependencies of Hungary, and all Europe was +trembling in view of their prowess, their ferocity and their apparently +exhaustless legions. + +Sigismond, beholding the crescent of the Moslem floating over the +castles of eastern Hungary, became alarmed for the kingdom, and sent +ambassadors from court to court to form a crusade against the invaders. +He was eminently successful, and an army of one hundred thousand men was +soon collected, composed of the flower of the European nobility. The +republics of Venice and Genoa united to supply a fleet. With this +powerful armament Sigismond, in person, commenced his march to +Constantinople, which city the Turks were besieging, to meet the fleet +there. The Turkish sultan himself gathered his troops and advanced to +meet Sigismond. The Christian troops were utterly routed, and nearly all +put to the sword. The emperor with difficulty escaped. In the confusion +of the awful scene of carnage he threw himself unperceived into a small +boat, and paddling down the Danube, as its flood swept through an almost +uninhabited wilderness, he reached the Black Sea, where he was so +fortunate as to find a portion of the fleet, and thus, by a long +circuit, he eventually reached his home. + +Bajazet, the sultan, returned exultant from this great victory, and +resumed the siege of Constantinople, which ere long fell into the hands +of the Turks. Amurath, who was sultan at the time of the death of +Sigismond, thought the moment propitious for extending his conquests. He +immediately, with his legions, overran Servia, a principality nearly the +size of the State of Virginia, and containing a million of inhabitants. +George, Prince of Servia, retreating before the merciless followers of +the false prophet, threw himself with a strong garrison into the +fortress of Semendria, and sent an imploring message to Albert for +assistance. Servia was separated from Hungary only by the Danube, and it +was a matter of infinite moment to Albert that the Turk should not get +possession of that province, from which he could make constant forays +into Hungary. + +Albert hastily collected an army and marched to the banks of the Danube +just in time to witness the capture of Semendria and the massacre of its +garrison. All Hungary was now in terror. The Turks in overwhelming +numbers were firmly intrenched upon the banks of the Danube, and were +preparing to cross the river and to supplant the cross with the crescent +on all the plains of Hungary. The Hungarian nobles, in crowds, flocked +to the standard of Albert, who made herculean exertions to meet and roll +back the threatened tide of invasion. Exhausted by unremitting toil, he +was taken sick and suddenly died, on a small island of the Danube, on +the 17th of October, 1439, in the forty-third year of his age. The death +of such a prince, heroic and magnanimous, loving the arts of peace, and +yet capable of wielding the energies of war, was an apparent calamity to +Europe. + +Albert left two daughters, but his queen Elizabeth was expecting, in a +few months, to give birth to another child. Every thing was thus +involved in confusion, and for a time intrigue and violence ran riot. +There were many diverse parties, the rush of armed bands, skirmishes and +battles, and all the great matters of state were involved in an +inextricable labyrinth of confusion. The queen gave birth to a son, who +was baptized by the name of Ladislaus. Elizabeth, anxious to secure the +crown of Hungary for her infant, had him solemnly crowned at Alba Regia, +by the Archbishop of Gran when the child was but four months old. + +But a powerful party arose, opposed to the claims of the infant, and +strove by force of arms to place upon the throne Uladislaus, King of +Poland and Lithuania, and son of the pagan Jaghellon and the unhappy +Hedwige. For two years war between the rival parties desolated the +kingdom, when Elizabeth died. Uladislaus now redoubled his endeavors, +and finally succeeded in driving the unconscious infant from his +hereditary domain, and established himself firmly on the throne of +Hungary. + +The infant prince was taken to Bohemia. There also he encountered +violent opposition. "A child," said his opponents, "can not govern. It +will be long before Ladislaus will be capable of assuming the reins of +government. Let us choose another sovereign, and when Ladislaus has +attained the age of twenty-four we shall see whether he deserves the +crown." + +This very sensible advice was adopted, and thirteen electors were +appointed to choose a sovereign. Their choice fell upon Albert of +Bavaria. But he, with a spirit of magnanimity very rare in that age, +declared that the crown, of right, belonged to Ladislaus, and that he +would not take it from him. They then chose Frederic, Duke of Styria, +who, upon the death of Albert, had been chosen emperor. Frederic, +incited by the example of Albert, also declined, saying, "I will not rob +my relation of his right." But anxious for the peace of the empire, he +recommended that they should choose some illustrious Bohemian, to whom +they should intrust the regency until Ladislaus became of age, offering +himself to assume the guardianship of the young prince. + +This judicious advice was accepted, and the Bohemian nobles chose the +infant Ladislaus their king. They, however, appointed two regents +instead of one. The regents quarreled and headed two hostile parties. +Anarchy and civil war desolated the kingdom, with fluctuations of +success and discomfiture attending the movements of either party. Thus +several years of violence and blood passed on. One of the regents, +George Podiebrad, drove his opponent from the realm and assumed regal +authority. To legitimate its usurped power he summoned a diet at +Pilgram, in 1447, and submitted the following question: + +"Is it advantageous to the kingdom that Ladislaus should retain the +crown, or would it not be more beneficial to choose a monarch acquainted +with our language and customs, and inspired with love of our country?" + +Warm opposition to this measure arose, and the nobles voted themselves +loyal to Ladislaus. While these events were passing in Bohemia, scenes +of similar violence were transpiring in Hungary. After a long series of +convulsions, and Uladislaus, the Polish king, who had attained the crown +of Hungary, having been slain in a battle with the Turks, a diet of +Hungarian nobles was assembled and they also declared the young +Ladislaus to be their king. They consequently wrote to the Emperor +Frederic, Duke of Styria, who had assumed the guardianship of the +prince, requesting that he might be sent to Hungary. Ladislaus +Posthumous, so-called in consequence of his birth after the death of his +father, was then but six years of age. + +The Austrian States were also in a condition of similar confusion, rival +aspirants grasping at power, feuds agitating every province, and all +moderate men anxious for that repose which could only be found by +uniting in the claims of Ladislaus for the crown. Thus Austria, Bohemia +and Hungary, so singularly and harmoniously united under Albert V., so +suddenly dissevered and scattered by the death of Albert, were now, +after years of turmoil, all reuniting under the child Ladislaus. + +Frederic, however, the faithful guardian of the young prince, was +devoting the utmost care to his education, and refused to accede to the +urgent and reiterated requests to send the young monarch to his realms. +When Ladislaus was about ten years of age the Emperor Frederic visited +the pope at Rome, and took Ladislaus in his glittering suite. The +precocious child here astonished the learned men of the court, by +delivering an oration in Latin before the consistory, and by giving many +other indications of originality and vigor of mind far above his years. +The pope became much attached to the youthful sovereign of three such +important realms, and as Frederic was about to visit Naples, Ladislaus +remained a guest in the imperial palace. + +Deputies from the three nations repaired to Rome to urge the pope to +restore to them their young sovereign. Failing in this, they endeavored +to induce Ladislaus to escape with them. This plan also was discovered +and foiled. The nobles were much irritated by these disappointments, and +they resolved to rescue him by force of arms. All over Hungary, Bohemia +and Austria there was a general rising of the nobles, nationalities +being merged in the common cause, and all hearts united and throbbing +with a common desire. An army of sixteen thousand men was raised. +Frederic, alarmed by these formidable preparations for war, surrendered +Ladislaus and he was conveyed in triumph to Vienna. A numerous +assemblage of the nobles of the three nations was convened, and it was +settled that the young king, during his minority, should remain at +Vienna, under the care of his maternal uncle, Count Cilli, who, in the +meantime, was to administer the government of Austria. George Podiebrad +was intrusted with the regency of Bohemia; and John Hunniades was +appointed regent of Hungary. + +Ladislaus was now thirteen years of age. The most learned men of the age +were appointed as his teachers, and he pursued his studies with great +vigor. Count Cilli, however, an ambitious and able man, soon gained +almost unlimited control over the mind of his young ward, and became so +arrogant and dictatorial, filling every important office with his own +especial friends, and removing those who displeased him, that general +discontent was excited and conspiracy was formed against him. Cilli was +driven from Vienna with insults and threats, and the conspirators placed +the regency in the hands of a select number of their adherents. + +While affairs were in this condition, John Hunniades, as regent, was +administering the government of Hungary with great vigor and sagacity. +He was acquiring so much renown that Count Cilli regarded him with a +very jealous eye, and excited the suspicions of the young king that +Hunniades was seeking for himself the sovereignty of Hungary. Cilli +endeavored to lure Hunniades to Vienna, that he might seize his person, +but the sagacious warrior was too wily to be thus entrapped. + +The Turks were now in the full tide of victory. They had conquered +Constantinople, fortified both sides of the Bosporus and the Hellespont, +overrun Greece and planted themselves firmly and impregnably on the +shores of Europe. Mahomet II. was sultan, succeeding his father Amurath. +He raised an army of two hundred thousand men, who were all inspired +with that intense fanatic ferocity with which the Moslem then regarded +the Christian. Marching resistlessly through Bulgaria and Servia, he +contemplated the immediate conquest of Hungary, the bulwark of Europe. +He advanced to the banks of the Danube and laid siege to Belgrade, a +very important and strongly fortified town at the point where the Save +enters the great central river of eastern Europe. + +Such an army, flushed with victory and inspired with all the energies of +fanaticism, appalled the European powers. Ladislaus was but a boy, +studious and scholarly in his tastes, having developed but little +physical energy and no executive vigor. He was very handsome, very +refined in his tastes and courteous in his address, and he cultivated +with great care the golden ringlets which clustered around his +shoulders. At the time of this fearful invasion Ladislaus was on a visit +to Buda, one of the capitals of Hungary, on the Danube, but about three +hundred miles above Belgrade. The young monarch, with his favorite, +Cilli, fled ingloriously to Vienna, leaving Hunniades to breast as he +could the Turkish hosts. But Hunniades was, fortunately, equal to the +emergence. + +A Franciscan monk, John Capistrun, endowed with the eloquence of Peter +the Hermit, traversed Germany, displaying the cross and rousing +Christians to defend Europe from the infidels. He soon collected a +motley mass of forty thousand men, rustics, priests, students, soldiers, +unarmed, undisciplined, a rabble rout, who followed him to the +rendezvous where Hunniades had succeeded in collecting a large force of +the bold barons and steel-clad warriors of Hungary. The experienced +chief gladly received this heterogeneous mass, and soon armed them, +brought them into the ranks and subjected them to the severe discipline +of military drill. + +At the head of this band, which was inspired with zeal equal to that of +the Turk, the brave Hunniades, in a fleet of boats, descended the +Danube. The river in front of Belgrade was covered with the flotilla of +the Turks. The wall in many places was broken down, and at other points +in the wall they had obtained a foothold, and the crescent was proudly +unfurled to the breeze. The feeble garrison, worn out with toil and +perishing with famine, were in the last stages of despair. Hunniades +came down upon the Turkish flotilla like an inundation; both parties +fought with almost unprecedented ferocity, but the Christians drove +every thing before them, sinking, dispersing, and capturing the boats, +which were by no means prepared for so sudden and terrible an assault. +The immense reinforcement, with arms and provisions, thus entered the +city, and securing the navigation of the Danube and the Save, opened the +way for continued supplies. The immense hosts of the Mohammedans now +girdled the city in a semicircle on the land side. Their tents, +gorgeously embellished and surmounted with the crescent, glittered in +the rays of the sun as far as the eye could extend. Squadrons of +steel-clad horsemen swept the field, while bands of the besiegers +pressed the city without intermission, night and day. + +Mohammed, irritated by this unexpected accession of strength to the +besieged, in his passion ordered an immediate and simultaneous attack +upon the town by his whole force. The battle was long and bloody, both +parties struggling with utter desperation. The Turks were repulsed. +After one of the longest continuous conflicts recorded in history, +lasting all one night, and all the following day until the going down of +the sun, the Turks, leaving thirty thousand of their dead beneath the +ramparts of the city, and taking with them the sultan desperately +wounded, struck their tents in the darkness of the night and retreated. + +Great was the exultation in Hungary, in Germany and all over Europe. But +this joy was speedily clouded by the intelligence that Hunniades, the +deliverer of Europe from Moslem invasion, exhausted with toil, had been +seized by a fever and had died. It is said that the young King Ladislaus +rejoiced in his death, for he was greatly annoyed in having a subject +attain such a degree of splendor as to cast his own name into +insignificance. Hunniades left two sons, Ladislaus and Matthias. The +king and Cilli manifested the meanest jealousy in reference to these +young men, and fearful that the renown of their father, which had +inspired pride and gratitude in every Hungarian heart, might give them +power, they did every thing they could to humiliate and depress them. +The king lured them both to Buda, where he perfidiously beheaded the +eldest, Ladislaus, for wounding Cilli, in defending himself from an +attack which the implacable count had made upon him, and he also threw +the younger son, Matthias, into a prison. + +The widow of Hunniades, the heroic mother of these children, with a +spirit worthy of the wife of her renowned husband, called the nobles to +her aid. They rallied in great numbers, roused to indignation. The +inglorious king, terrified by the storm he had raised, released +Matthias, and fled from Buda to Vienna, pursued by the execrations and +menaces of the Hungarians. + +He soon after repaired to Prague, in Bohemia, to solemnize his marriage +with Magdalen, daughter of Charles VII., King of France. He had just +reached the city, and was making preparations for his marriage in +unusual splendor, when he was attacked by a malignant disease, supposed +to be the plague, and died after a sickness of but thirty-six hours. The +unhappy king, who, through the stormy scenes of his short life, had +developed no grandeur of soul, was oppressed with the awfulness of +passing to the final judgment. In the ordinances of the Church he sought +to find solace for a sinful and a troubled spirit. Having received the +sacrament of the Lord's Supper, with dying lips he commenced repeating +the Lord's prayer. He had just uttered the words "deliver us from evil," +when his spirit took its flight to the judgment seat of Christ. + +Frederic, the emperor, Duke of Styria, was now the oldest lineal +descendant of Rhodolph of Hapsburg, founder of the house of Austria. The +imperial dignity had now degenerated into almost an empty title. The +Germanic empire consisted of a few large sovereignties and a +conglomeration of petty dukedoms, principalities, and States of various +names, very loosely held together, in their heterogeneous and +independent rulers and governments, by one nominal sovereign upon whom +the jealous States were willing to confer but little real power. A +writer at that time, AEneas Sylvius, addressing the Germans, says: + +"Although you acknowledge the emperor for your king and master, he +possesses but a precarious sovereignty; he has no power; you only obey +him when you choose; and you are seldom inclined to obey. You are all +desirous to be free; neither the princes nor the States render to him +what is due. He has no revenue, no treasure. Hence you are involved in +endless contests and daily wars. Hence also rapine, murder, +conflagrations, and a thousand evils which arise from divided +authority." + +Upon the death of Ladislaus there was a great rush and grasping for the +vacant thrones of Bohemia and Hungary, and for possession of the rich +dukedoms of Austria. After a long conflict the Austrian estates were +divided into three portions. Frederic, the emperor, took Upper Austria; +his brother Albert, who had succeeded to the Swiss estates, took Lower +Austria; Sigismond, Albert's nephew, a man of great energy of character, +took Carinthia. The three occupied the palace in Vienna in joint +residence. + +The energetic regent, George Podiebrad, by adroit diplomacy succeeded, +after an arduous contest, in obtaining the election by the Bohemian +nobles to the throne of Bohemia. The very day he was chosen he was +inaugurated at Prague, and though rival candidates united with the pope +to depose him, he maintained his position against them all. + +Frederic, the emperor, had been quite sanguine in the hopes of obtaining +the crown of Bohemia. Bitterly disappointed there, he at first made a +show of hostile resistance; but thinking better of the matter, he +concluded to acquiesce in the elevation of Podiebrad, to secure amicable +relations with him, and to seek his aid in promotion of his efforts to +obtain the crown of Hungary. Here again the emperor failed. The nobles +assembled in great strength at Buda, and elected unanimously Matthias, +the only surviving son of the heroic Hunniades, whose memory was +embalmed in the hearts of all the Hungarians. The boy then, for he was +but a boy, and was styled contemptuously by the disappointed Frederic +the boy king, entered into an alliance with Podiebrad for mutual +protection, and engaged the hand of his daughter in marriage. Thus was +the great kingdom of Austria, but recently so powerful in the union of +all the Austrian States with Bohemia and Hungary, again divided and +disintegrated. The emperor, in his vexation, foolishly sent an army of +five thousand men into Hungary, insanely hoping to take the crown by +force of arms, but he was soon compelled to relinquish the hopeless +enterprise. + +And now Frederic and Albert began to quarrel at Vienna. The emperor was +arrogant and domineering. Albert was irritable and jealous. First came +angry words; then the enlisting of partisans, and then all the miseries +of fierce and determined civil war. The capital was divided into hostile +factions, and the whole country was ravaged by the sweep of armies. The +populace of Vienna, espousing the cause of Albert, rose in insurrection, +pillaged the houses of the adherents of Frederic, drove Frederic, with +his wife and infant child, into the citadel, and invested the fortress. +Albert placed himself at the head of the insurgents and conducted the +siege. The emperor, though he had but two hundred men in the garrison, +held out valiantly. But famine would soon have compelled him to +capitulate, had not the King of Bohemia, with a force of thirteen +thousand men, marched to his aid. Podiebrad relieved the emperor, and +secured a verbal reconciliation between the two angry brothers, which +lasted until the Bohemian forces had returned to their country, when the +feud burst out anew and with increased violence. The emperor procured +the ban of the empire against his brother, and the pope excommunicated +him. Still Albert fought fiercely, and the strife raged without +intermission until Albert suddenly died on the 4th of December, 1463. + +The Turks, who, during all these years, had been making predatory +excursions along the frontiers of Hungary, now, in three strong bands of +ten thousand each, overran Servia and Bosnia, and spread their +devastations even into the heart of Illyria, as far as the metropolitan +city of Laybach. The ravages of fire and sword marked their progress. +They burnt every village, every solitary cottage, and the inhabitants +were indiscriminately slain. Frederic, the emperor, a man of but little +energy, was at his country residence at Lintz, apparently more anxious, +writes a contemporary, "to shield his plants from frost, than to defend +his domains against these barbarians." + +The bold barons of Carniola, however, rallied their vassals, raised an +army of twenty thousand men, and drove the Turks back to the Bosphorus. +But the invaders, during their unimpeded march, had slain six thousand +Christians, and they carried back with them eight thousand captives. + +Again, a few years after, the Turks, with a still larger army, rushed +through the defiles of the Illyrian mountains, upon the plains of +Carinthia. Their march was like the flow of volcanic fire. They left +behind them utter desolation, smouldering hearth-stones and fields +crimsoned with blood. At length they retired of their own accord, +dragging after them twenty thousand captives. During a period of +twenty-seven years, under the imbecile reign of Frederic, the very heart +of Europe was twelve times scourged by the inroads of these savages. No +tongue can tell the woes which were inflicted upon humanity. Existence, +to the masses of the people, in that day, must indeed have been a curse. +Ground to the very lowest depths of poverty by the exactions of +ecclesiastics and nobles, in rags, starving, with no social or +intellectual joys, they might indeed have envied the beasts of the +field. + +The conduct of Frederic seems to be marked with increasing treachery and +perfidy. Jealous of the growing power of George Podiebrad, he instigated +Matthias, King of Hungary, to make war upon Bohemia, promising Matthias +the Bohemian crown. Infamously the King of Hungary accepted the bribe, +and raising a powerful army, invaded Bohemia, to wrest the crown from +his father-in-law. His armies were pressing on so victoriously, in +conjunction with those of Frederic, that the emperor was now alarmed +lest Matthias, uniting the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, should become +too powerful. He therefore not only abandoned him, but stirred up an +insurrection among the Hungarian nobles, which compelled Matthias to +abandon Bohemia and return home. + +Matthias, having quelled the insurrection, was so enraged with the +emperor, that he declared war against him, and immediately invaded +Austria. The emperor was now so distrusted that he could not find a +single ally. Austria alone, was no match for Hungary. Matthias overran +all Lower Austria, took all the fortresses upon the Danube, and invested +Vienna. The emperor fled in dismay to Lintz, and was obliged to purchase +an ignominious peace by an immense sum of money, all of which was of +course to be extorted by taxes on the miserable and starving peasantry. + +Poland, Bohemia and the Turks, now all pounced upon Hungary, and +Frederic, deeming this a providential indication that Hungary could not +enforce the fulfillment of the treaty, refused to pay the money. +Matthias, greatly exasperated, made the best terms he could with Poland, +and again led his armies in Austria. For four years the warfare raged +fiercely, when all Lower Austria, including the capital, was in the +hands of Matthias, and the emperor was driven from his hereditary +domains; and, accompanied by a few followers, he wandered a fugitive +from city to city, from convent to convent, seeking aid from all, but +finding none. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THE EMPERORS FREDERIC II. AND MAXIMILIAN I. + +From 1477 to 1500. + +Wanderings of the Emperor Frederic.--Proposed Alliance with the Duke of +Burgundy.--Mutual Distrust.--Marriage of Mary.--The Age of +Chivalry.--The Motive inducing the Lord of Praunstein to declare +War.--Death of Frederic II.--The Emperor's Secret.--Designs of the +Turks.--Death of Mahomet II.--First Establishment of standing +Armies.--Use of Gunpowder.--Energy of Maximilian.--French +Aggressions.--The League to expel the French.--Disappointments of +Maximilian.--Bribing the Pope.--Invasion of Italy.--Capture and +Recapture.--The Chevalier De Bayard. + + +Adversity only developed more fully the weak and ignoble character of +Frederic. He wandered about, recognized Emperor of Germany, but a +fugitive from his own Austrian estates, occasionally encountering pity, +but never sympathy or respect. Matthias professed his readiness to +surrender Austria back to Frederic so soon as he would fulfill the +treaty by paying the stipulated money. Frederic was accompanied in his +wanderings by his son Maximilian, a remarkably elegant lad, fourteen +years of age. They came to the court of the powerful Duke of Burgundy. +The dukedom extended over wide realms, populous and opulent, and the +duke had the power of a sovereign but not the regal title. He was +ambitious of elevating his dukedom into a kingdom and of being crowned +king; and he agreed to give his only daughter and heiress, Mary, a +beautiful and accomplished girl, to the emperor's son Maximilian, if +Frederic would confer upon his estates the regal dignity and crown him +king. The bargain was made, and Maximilian and Mary both were delighted, +for they regarded each other with all the warmth of young lovers. Mary, +heiress to the dukedom of Burgundy, was a prize which any monarch might +covet; and half the princes of Europe were striving for her hand. + +But now came a new difficulty. Neither the emperor nor duke had the +slightest confidence in each other. The King of France, who had hoped to +obtain the hand of Mary for his son the dauphin, caused the suspicion to +be whispered into the ear of Frederic that the Duke of Burgundy sought +the kingly crown only as the first step to the imperial crown; and that +so soon as the dukedom was elevated into a kingdom, Charles, the Duke of +Burgundy, would avail himself of his increased power, to dethrone +Frederic and grasp the crown of Germany. This was probably all true. +Charles, fully understanding the perfidious nature of Frederic, did not +dare to solemnize the marriage until he first should be crowned. +Frederic, on the other hand, did not dare to crown the duke until the +marriage was solemnized, for he had no confidence that the duke, after +having attained the regal dignity, would fulfill his pledge. + +Charles was for hurrying the coronation, Frederic for pushing the +marriage. A magnificent throne was erected in the cathedral at Treves, +and preparations were making on the grandest scale for the coronation +solemnities, when Frederic, who did not like to tell the duke plumply to +his face that he was fearful of being cheated, extricated himself from +his embarrassment by feigning important business which called him +suddenly to Cologne. A scene of petty and disgraceful intrigues ensued +between the exasperated duke and emperor, and there were the marching +and the countermarching of hostile bands and the usual miseries of war, +until the death of Duke Charles at the battle of Nancy on the 5th of +January, 1477. + +The King of France now made a desperate endeavor to obtain the hand of +Mary for his son. One of the novel acts of this imperial courtship, was +to send an army into Burgundy, which wrested a large portion of Mary's +dominions from her, which the king, Louis XI., refused to surrender +unless Mary would marry his son. Many of her nobles urged the claims of +France. But love in the heart of Mary was stronger than political +expediency, and more persuasive than the entreaties of her nobles. To +relieve herself from importunity, she was hurriedly married, three +months after the death of her father, by proxy to Maximilian. + +In August the young prince, but eighteen years of age, with a splendid +retinue, made his public entry into Ghent. His commanding person and the +elegance of his manners, attracted universal admiration. His subjects +rallied with enthusiasm around him, and, guided by his prowess, in a +continued warfare of five years, drove the invading French from their +territories. But death, the goal to which every one tends, was suddenly +and unexpectedly reached by Mary. She died the 7th of August, 1479, +leaving two infant children, Philip and Margaret. + +The Emperor Frederic also succeeded, by diplomatic cunning, in convening +the diet of electors and choosing Maximilian as his successor to the +imperial throne. Frederic and Maximilian now united in the endeavor to +recover Austria from the King of Hungary. The German princes, however, +notwithstanding the summons of the emperor, refused to take any part in +the private quarrels of Austria, and thus the battle would have to be +fought between the troops of Maximilian and of Matthias. Maximilian +prudently decided that it would be better to purchase the redemption of +the territory with money than with blood. The affair was in negotiation +when Matthias was taken sick and died the 15th of July, 1490. He left no +heir, and the Hungarian nobles chose Ladislaus, King of Bohemia, to +succeed him. Maximilian had been confident of obtaining the crown of +Hungary. Exasperated by the disappointment, he relinquished all idea of +purchasing his patrimonial estates, but making a sudden rush with his +troops upon the Hungarians, he drove them out of Austria, and pursued +them far over the frontiers of Hungary. Ladislaus, the new King of +Hungary, now listened to terms of peace. A singular treaty was made. The +Bohemian king was to retain the crown of Hungary, officiating as +reigning monarch, while Maximilian was to have the _title_ of King of +Hungary. Ladislaus relinquished all claim to the Austrian territories, +and paid a large sum of money as indemnity for the war. + +Thus Austria again comes into independent existence, to watch amidst the +tumult and strife of Europe for opportunities to enlarge her territories +and increase her power. Maximilian was a prince, energetic and brave, +who would not allow any opportunity to escape him. In those dark days of +violence and of blood, every petty quarrel was settled by the sword. All +over Germany the clash of steel against steel was ever resounding. Not +only kings and dukes engaged in wars, but the most insignificant baron +would gather his few retainers around him and declare formal war against +the occupant of the adjacent castle. The spirit of chivalry, so called, +was so rampant that private individuals would send a challenge to the +emperor. Contemporary writers record many curious specimens of these +declarations of war. The Lord of Praunstein declared war against the +city of Frankfort, because a young lady of that city refused to dance +with his uncle at a ball. + +Frederic was now suffering from the infirmities of age. Surrendering the +administration of affairs, both in Austria and over the estates of the +empire, to Maximilian, he retired, with his wife and three young +daughters, to Lintz, where he devoted himself, at the close of his long +and turbulent reign, to the peaceful pursuits of rural life. A cancerous +affection of the leg rendered it necessary for him to submit to the +amputation of the limb. He submitted to the painful operation with the +greatest fortitude, and taking up his severed limb, with his accustomed +phlegm remarked to those standing by, + +"What difference is there between an emperor and a peasant? Or rather, +is not a sound peasant better than a sick emperor? Yet I hope to enjoy +the greatest good which can happen to man--a happy exit from this +transitory life." + +The shock of a second amputation, which from the vitiated state of his +blood seemed necessary, was too great for his enfeebled frame to bear. +He died August 19th, 1493, seventy-eight years of age, and after a reign +of fifty-three years. He was what would be called, in these days, an +ultra temperance man, never drinking even wine, and expressing ever the +strongest abhorrence of alcoholic drinks, calling them the parent of all +vices. He seems to have anticipated the future greatness of Austria; for +he had imprinted upon all his books, engraved upon his plate and carved +into the walls of his palace a mysterious species of anagram composed of +the five vowels, A, E, I, O, U. + +The significance of this great secret no one could obtain from him. It +of course excited great curiosity, as it everywhere met the eye of the +public. After his death the riddle was solved by finding among his +papers the following interpretation-- + +_Austri Est Imperare Orbi Universo._ + +Austria Is To govern The world Universal. + +Maximilian, in the prime of manhood, energetic, ambitious, and invested +with the imperial dignity, now assumed the government of the Austrian +States. The prospect of greatness was brilliant before Maximilian. The +crowns of Bohemia and Hungary were united in the person of Ladislaus, +who was without children. As Maximilian already enjoyed the title of +King of Hungary, no one enjoyed so good a chance as he of securing both +of those crowns so soon as they should fall from the brow of Ladislaus. + +Europe was still trembling before the threatening cimeter of the Turk. +Mahomet II., having annihilated the Greek empire, and consolidated his +vast power, and checked in his career by the warlike barons of Hungary, +now cast a lustful eye across the Adriatic to the shores of Italy. He +crossed the sea, landed a powerful army and established twenty thousand +men, strongly garrisoned, at Otranto, and supplied with provisions for a +year. All Italy was in consternation, for a passage was now open +directly from Turkey to Naples and Rome. Mahomet boasted that he would +soon feed his horse on the altar of St. Peter's. The pope, Sextus IV., +in dismay, was about abandoning Rome, and as there was no hope of +uniting the discordant States of Italy in any effectual resistance, it +seemed inevitable that Italy, like Greece, would soon become a Turkish +province. And where then could it be hoped that the ravages of the Turks +would be arrested? + +In this crisis, so alarming, Providence interposed, and the sudden death +of Mahomet, in the vigor of his pride and ambition, averted the danger. +Bajazet II. succeeded to the Moslem throne, an indolent and imbecile +sultan. Insurrection in his own dominions exhausted all his feeble +energies. The Neapolitans, encouraged, raised an army, recovered +Otranto, and drove the Turks out of Italy. Troubles in the Turkish +dominions now gave Christendom a short respite, as all the strength of +the sultan was required to subjugate insurgent Circassia and Egypt. + +Though the Emperor of Germany was esteemed the first sovereign in +Europe, and, on state occasions, was served by kings and electors, he +had in reality but little power. The kings who formed his retinue on +occasions of ceremonial pomp, were often vastly his superiors in wealth +and power. Frequently he possessed no territory of his own, not even a +castle, but depended upon the uncertain aids reluctantly granted by the +diet. + +Gunpowder was now coming into use as one of the most efficient engines +of destruction, and was working great changes in the science of war. It +became necessary to have troops drilled to the use of cannon and +muskets. The baron could no longer summon his vassals, at the moment, to +abandon the plow, and seize pike and saber for battle, where the strong +arm only was needed. Disciplined troops were needed, who could sweep the +field with well-aimed bullets, and crumble walls with shot and shells. +This led to the establishment of standing armies, and gave the great +powers an immense advantage over their weaker neighbors. The invention +of printing, also, which began to be operative about the middle of the +fifteenth century, rapidly changed, by the diffusion of intelligence, +the state of society, hitherto so barbarous. The learned men of Greece, +driven from their country by the Turkish invasion, were scattered over +Europe, and contributed not a little to the extension of the love of +letters. The discovery of the mariner's compass and improvements in +nautical astronomy, also opened new sources of knowledge and of wealth, +and the human mind all over Europe commenced a new start in the career +of civilization. Men of letters began to share in those honors which +heretofore had belonged exclusively to men of war; and the arts of peace +began to claim consideration with those who had been accustomed to +respect only the science of destruction. + +Maximilian was at Innspruck when he received intelligence of the death +of his father. He commenced his reign with an act of rigor which was +characteristic of his whole career. A horde of Turks had penetrated +Styria and Carniola, laying every thing waste before them as far as +Carniola. Maximilian, sounding the alarm, inspired his countrymen with +the same energy which animated his own breast. Fifteen thousand men +rallied at the blast of his bugles. Instead of intrusting the command of +them to his generals, he placed himself at their head, and made so +fierce an onset upon the invaders, that they precipitately fled. +Maximilian returned at the head of his troops triumphant to Vienna, +where he was received with acclamations such as had seldom resounded in +the metropolis. He was hailed as the deliverer of his country, and at +once rose to the highest position in the esteem and affection of the +Austrians. + +Maximilian had encountered innumerable difficulties in Burgundy, and was +not unwilling to escape from the vexations and cares of that distant +dukedom, by surrendering its government to his son Philip, who was now +sixteen years of age, and whom the Burgundians claimed to be their ruler +as the heir of Mary. The Swiss estates were also sundered from Austrian +dominion, and, uniting with the Swiss confederacy, were no longer +subject to the house of Hapsburg. Thus Maximilian had the Austrian +estates upon the Danube only, as the nucleus of the empire he was +ambitious of establishing. + +Conscious of his power, and rejoicing in the imperial title, he had no +idea of playing an obscure part on the conspicuous stage of European +affairs. With an eagle eye he watched the condition of the empire, and +no less eagerly did he fix his eye upon the movements of those great +southern powers, now becoming consolidated into kingdoms and empires, +and marshaling armies which threatened again to bring all Europe under a +dominion as wide and despotic as that of Rome. + +Charles VIII., King of France, crossed the Alps with an army of +twenty-two thousand men, in the highest state of discipline, and armed +with all the modern enginery of war. With ease he subjugated Tuscany, +and in a triumphant march through Pisa and Siena, entered Rome as a +conqueror. It was the 31st of December, 1394, when Charles, by +torchlight, at the head of his exultant troops, entered the eternal +city. The pope threw himself into the castle of St. Angelo, but was soon +compelled to capitulate and to resign all his fortresses to the +conqueror. Charles then continued his march to Naples, which he reached +on the 22d of February. He overran and subjugated the whole kingdom, +and, having consolidated his conquest, entered Naples on a white steed, +beneath imperial banners, and arrogantly assumed the title of King of +Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem. Alphonso, King of Naples, in despair, +abdicated in favor of his son, Ferdinand; and Ferdinand, unable to +oppose any effectual resistance, abandoned his kingdom to the conqueror, +and fled to the island of Ischia. + +These alarming aggressions on the part of France, already very powerful, +excited general consternation throughout Europe. Maximilian, as emperor, +was highly incensed, and roused all his energies to check the progress +of so dangerous a rival. The Austrian States alone could by no means +cope with the kingdom of France. Maximilian sent agents to the pope, to +the Dukes of Milan and Florence, and to the King of Arragon, and formed +a secret league to expel the French from Italy, and restore Ferdinand to +Naples. It was understood that the strength of France was such, that +this enterprise could only be achieved through a long war, and that the +allies must continue united to prevent France, when once expelled from +Italy, from renewing her aggressions. The league was to continue +twenty-two years. The pope was to furnish six thousand men, and the +other Italian States twelve thousand. Maximilian promised to furnish +nine thousand. Venice granted the troops of the emperor a free passage +through her dominions. + +These important first steps being thus taken secretly and securely, the +emperor summoned a diet of Germany to enlist the States of the empire in +the enterprise. This was the most difficult task, and yet nothing could +be accomplished without the cooeperation of Germany. But the Germanic +States, loosely held together, jealous of each other, each grasping +solely at its own aggrandizement, reluctantly delegating any power to +the emperor, were slow to promise cooeperation in any general enterprise, +and having promised, were still slower to perform. The emperor had no +power to enforce the fulfillment of agreements, and could only +supplicate. During the long reign of Frederic the imperial dignity had +lapsed more and more into an empty title; and Maximilian had an arduous +task before him in securing even respectful attention to his demands. He +was fully aware of the difficulties, and made arrangements accordingly. + +The memorable diet was summoned at Worms, on the 26th of May, 1496. The +emperor had succeeded, by great exertion, in assembling a more numerous +concourse of the princes and nobles of the empire than had ever met on a +similar occasion. He presided in person, and in a long and earnest +address endeavored to rouse the empire to a sense of its own dignity and +its own high mission as the regulator of the affairs of Europe. He spoke +earnestly of their duty to combine and chastise the insolence of the +Turks; but waiving that for the present moment, he unfolded to them the +danger to which Europe was immediately and imminently exposed by the +encroachments of France. To add to the force of his words, he introduced +ambassadors from the King of Naples, who informed the assembly of the +conquests of the French, of their haughty bearing, and implored the aid +of the diet to repel the invaders. The Duke of Milan was then presented, +and, as a member of the empire, he implored as a favor and claimed as a +right, the armies of the empire for the salvation of his duchy. And then +the legate of the pope, in the robes of the Church, and speaking in the +name of the Holy Father to his children, pathetically described the +indignities to which the pope had been exposed, driven from his palace, +bombarded in the fortress to which he had retreated, compelled to +capitulate and leave his kingdom in the hands of the enemy; he +expatiated upon the impiety of the French troops, the sacrilegious +horrors of which they had been guilty, and in tones of eloquence hardly +surpassed by Peter the Hermit, strove to rouse them to a crusade for the +rescue of the pope and his sacred possessions. + +Maximilian had now exhausted all his powers of persuasion. He had done +apparently enough to rouse every heart to intensest action. But the diet +listened coldly to all these appeals, and then in substance replied, + +"We admit the necessity of checking the incursions of the Turks; we +admit that it is important to check the progress of the French. But our +first duty is to secure peace in Germany. The States of the empire are +embroiled in incessant wars with each other. All attempts to prevent +these private wars between the States of the empire have hitherto +failed. Before we can vote money and men for any foreign enterprise +whatever, we must secure internal tranquillity. This can only be done by +establishing a supreme tribunal, supported by a power which can enforce +its decisions." + +These views were so manifestly judicious, that Maximilian assented to +them, and, anxious to lose no time in raising troops to expel the French +from Italy, he set immediately about the organization of an imperial +tribunal to regulate the internal affairs of the empire. A court was +created called the Imperial Chamber. It was composed of a president and +sixteen judges, half of whom were taken from the army, and half from the +class of scholars. To secure impartiality, the judges held their office +for life. A majority of suffrages decided a question and in case of a +tie, the president gave a casting vote. The emperor reserved the right +of deciding certain questions himself. This court gradually became one +of the most important and salutary institutions of the German empire. + +By the 7th of August these important measures were arranged. Maximilian +had made great concessions of his imperial dignity in transferring so +much of his nominal power to the Imperial Chamber, and he was now +sanguine that the States would vote him the supplies which were needed +to expel the French from Italy, or, in more honest words, to win for the +empire in Italy that ascendency which France had attained. But bitter +indeed was his disappointment. After long deliberation and vexatious +delays, the diet voted a ridiculous sum, less than one hundred and fifty +thousand dollars, to raise an army "sufficient to check the progress of +the French." One third of this sum Maximilian was to raise from his +Austrian States; the remaining two thirds he was permitted to obtain by +a loan. Four years were to be allowed for raising the money, and the +emperor, as a condition for the reception of even this miserable boon, +was required to pledge his word of honor that at the expiration of the +four years he would raise no more. And even these hundred and fifty +thousand dollars were to be intrusted to seven treasurers, to be +administered according to their discretion. One only of these treasurers +was to be chosen by the emperor, and the other six by the diet. + +Deeply chagrined by this result, Maximilian was able to raise only three +thousand men, instead of the nine thousand which he had promised the +league. Charles VIII., informed of the formidable coalition combining +against him, and not aware of the feeble resources of the emperor, +apprehensive that the armies of Germany, marching down and uniting with +the roused States of Italy, might cut off his retreat and overwhelm him, +decided that the "better part of courage is discretion;" and he +accordingly abandoned his conquests, recrossed the Apennines, fought his +backward path through Italy, and returned to France. He, however, left +behind him six thousand men strongly intrenched, to await his return +with a new and more powerful armament. + +Maximilian now resolved chivalrously to throw himself into Italy, and +endeavor to rouse the Italians themselves to resist the threatened +invasion, trusting that the diet of Germany, when they should see him +struggling against the hosts of France, would send troops to his aid. +With five hundred horse, and about a thousand foot soldiers, he crossed +the Alps. Here he learned that for some unknown reason Charles had +postponed his expedition. Recoiling from the ridicule attending a +quixotic and useless adventure, he hunted around for some time to find +some heroic achievement which would redeem his name from reproach, when, +thwarted in every thing, he returned to Austria, chagrined and +humiliated. + +Thus frustrated in all his attempts to gain ascendency in Italy, +Maximilian turned his eyes to the Swiss estates of the house of +Hapsburg, now sundered from the Austrian territories. He made a vigorous +effort, first by diplomacy, then by force of arms, to regain them. Here +again he was frustrated, and was compelled to enter into a capitulation +by which he acknowledged the independence of the Helvetic States, and +their permanent severance from Austrian jurisdiction. + +In April, 1498, Charles VIII. died, and Louis XII. succeeded him on the +throne of France. Louis immediately made preparations for a new invasion +of Italy. In those miserable days of violence and blood, almost any +prince was ready to embark in war under anybody's banner, where there +was the least prospect of personal aggrandizement. The question of right +or wrong, seemed seldom to enter any one's mind. Louis fixed his eyes +upon the duchy of Milan as the richest and most available prize within +his grasp. Conscious that he would meet with much opposition, he looked +around for allies. + +"If you will aid me," he said to Pope Alexander VI., "I will assist you +in your war against the Duke of Romagna. I will give your son, Caesar +Borgia,[1] a pension of two thousand dollars a year, will confer upon +him an important command in my army, and will procure for him a marriage +with a princess of the royal house of Navarre." + +[Footnote 1: Caesar Borgia, who has filled the world with the renown of +his infamy, was the illegitimate son of Alexander VI., and of a Roman +lady named Yanozza.] + +The holy father could not resist this bribe, and eagerly joined the +robber king in his foray. To Venice Louis said-- + +"If you will unite with me, I will assist you in annexing to your +domains the city of Cremona, and the Ghiaradadda." Lured by such hopes +of plunder, Venice was as eager as the pope to take a share in the +piratic expedition. Louis then sent to the court of Turin, and offered +them large sums of money and increased territory, if they would allow +him a free passage across the Alps. Turin bowed obsequiously, and +grasped at the easy bargain. To Florence he said, "If you raise a hand +to assist the Duke of Milan, I will crush you. If you remain quiet, I +will leave you unharmed." Florence, overawed, remained as meek as a +lamb. The diplomacy being thus successfully closed, an army of +twenty-two thousand men was put in vigorous motion in July, 1499. They +crossed the Alps, fought a few battles, in which, with overpowering +numbers, they easily conquered their opposers, and in twenty days were +in possession of Milan. The Duke Ludovico with difficulty escaped. With +a few followers he threaded the defiles of the Tyrolese mountains, and +hastened to Innspruck, the capital of Tyrol, where Maximilian then was, +to whom he conveyed the first tidings of his disaster. Louis XII. +followed after his triumphant army, and on the 6th of October made a +triumphal entry into the captured city, and was inaugurated Duke of +Milan. + +Maximilian promised assistance, but could raise neither money nor men. +Ludovico, however, succeeded in hiring fifteen hundred Burgundian +horsemen, and eight thousand Swiss mercenaries--for in those ages of +ignorance and crime all men were ready, for pay, to fight in any +cause--and emerging from the mountains upon the plains of Milan, found +all his former subjects disgusted with the French, and eager to rally +under his banners. His army increased at every step. He fell fiercely +upon the invaders, routed them everywhere, drove them from the duchy, +and recovered his country and his capital as rapidly as he had lost +them. One fortress only the French maintained. The intrepid Chevalier De +Bayard, _the knight without fear and without reproach_, threw himself +into the citadel of Novarra, and held out against all the efforts of +Ludovico, awaiting the succor which he was sure would come from his +powerful sovereign the King of France. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MAXIMILIAN I. + +From 1500 to 1519. + +Base Treachery of the Swiss Soldiers.--Perfidy of Ferdinand of +Arragon.--Appeals by Superstition.--Coalition with Spain.--The League of +Cambray.--Infamy of the Pope.--The Kings's Apology.--Failure of the +Plot.--Germany Aroused.--Confidence of Maximilian.--Longings for the +Pontifical Chair.--Maximilian Bribed.--Leo X.--Dawning Prosperity.-- +Matrimonial Projects.--Commencement of the War of Reformation.--Sickness +of Maximilian.--His Last Directions.--His Death.--The Standard by which +his Character is to be Judged. + + +Louis XII., stung by the disgrace of his speedy expulsion from Milan, +immediately raised another army of five thousand horse and fifteen +thousand foot to recover his lost plunder. He also sent to Switzerland +to hire troops, and without difficulty engaged ten thousand men to meet, +on the plains of Milan, the six thousand of their brethren whom Ludovico +had hired, to hew each other to pieces for the miserable pittance of a +few pennies a day. But Louis XII. was as great in diplomacy as in war. +He sent secret emissaries to the Swiss in the camp of Ludovico, offering +them larger wages if they would abandon the service of Ludovico and +return home. They promptly closed the bargain, unfurled the banner of +mutiny, and informed the Duke of Milan that they could not, in +conscience, fight against their own brethren. The duke was in despair. +He plead even with tears that they would not abandon him. All was in +vain. They not only commenced their march home, but basely betrayed the +duke to the French. He was taken prisoner by Louis, carried to France +and for five years was kept in rigorous confinement in the strong +fortresses of the kingdom. Afterward, through the intercession of +Maximilian, he was allowed a little more freedom. He was, however, kept +in captivity until he died in the year 1510. Ludovico merits no +commiseration. He was as perfidious and unprincipled as any of his +assailants could be. + +The reconquest of Milan by Louis, and the capture of Ludovico, alarmed +Maximilian and roused him to new efforts. He again summoned the States +of the empire and implored their cooeperation to resist the aggressions +of France. But he was as unsuccessful as in his previous endeavors. +Louis watched anxiously the movements of the German diet, and finding +that he had nothing to fear from the troops of the empire, having +secured the investiture of Milan, prepared for the invasion of Naples. +The venal pope was easily bought over. Even Ferdinand, the King of +Arragon, was induced to loan his connivance to a plan for robbing a near +relative of his crown, by the promise of sharing in the spoil. A treaty +of partition was entered into by the two robber kings, by which +Ferdinand of Arragon was to receive Calabria and Apulia, and the King of +France the remaining States of the Neapolitan kingdom. The pope was +confidentially informed of this secret plot, which was arranged at +Grenada, and promised the plunderers his benediction, in consideration +of the abundant reward promised to him. + +The doom of the King of Naples was now sealed. All unconscious that his +own relative, Ferdinand of Arragon, was conspiring against him, he +appealed to Ferdinand for aid against the King of France. The perfidious +king considered this as quite a providential interposition in his favor. +He affected great zeal for the King of Naples, sent a powerful army into +his kingdom, and stationed his troops in the important fortresses. The +infamous fraud was now accomplished. Frederic of Naples, to his dismay, +found that he had been placing his empire in the hands of his enemies +instead of friends; at the same time the troops of Louis arrived at +Rome, where they were cordially received; and the pope immediately, on +the 25th of June, 1501, issued a bull deposing Frederic from his +kingdom, and, by virtue of that spiritual authority which he derived +from the Apostle Peter, invested Louis and Ferdinand with the dominions +of Frederic. Few men are more to be commiserated than a crownless king. +Frederic, in his despair, threw himself upon the clemency of Louis. He +was taken to France and was there fed and clothed by the royal bounty. + +Maximilian impatiently watched the events from his home in Austria, and +burned with the desire to take a more active part in these stirring +scenes. Despairing, however, to rouse the German States to any effectual +intervention in the affairs of southern Europe, he now endeavored to +rouse the enthusiasm of the German nobles against the Turks. In this, by +appealing to superstition, he was somewhat successful. He addressed the +following circular letter to the German States: + +"A stone, weighing two hundred pounds, recently fell from heaven, near +the army under my command in Upper Alsace, and I caused it, as a fatal +warning from God to men, to be hung up in the neighboring church of +Encisheim. In vain I myself explained to all Christian kings the +signification of this mysterious stone. The Almighty punished the +neglect of this warning with a dreadful scourge, from which thousands +have suffered death, or pains worse than death. But since this +punishment of the abominable sins of men has produced no effect, God has +imprinted in a miraculous manner the sign of the cross, and the +instruments of our Lord's passion in dark and bloody colors, on the +bodies and garments of thousands. The appearance of these signs in +Germany, in particular, does not indeed denote that the Germans have +been peculiarly distinguished in guilt, but rather that they should set +the example to the rest of the world, by being the first to undertake a +crusade against the infidels." + +For a time Maximilian seemed quite encouraged, for quite a wave of +religious enthusiasm seemed to roll over Europe. All the energies of the +pope were apparently enlisted, and he raised, through all the domains of +the Church, large sums of money for the holy enterprise of driving the +invading infidels out of Europe. England and France both proffered their +co-operation, and England, opening her inexhaustible purse, presented a +subsidy of ten thousand pounds. The German nobles rallied in large +numbers under the banner of the cross. But disappointment seemed to be +the doom of the emperor. The King of France sent no aid. The pope, +iniquitously squandered all the money he had raised upon his infamous, +dissolute son, Caesar Borgia. And the emperor himself was drawn into a +war with Bavaria, to settle the right of succession between two rival +claimants. The settlement of the question devolved upon Maximilian as +emperor, and his dignity was involved in securing respect for his +decision. Thus the whole gorgeous plan of a war against the Turks, such +as Europe had never beheld, vanished into thin air, and Maximilian was +found at the head of fourteen thousand infantry, and twelve thousand +horse, engaged in a quarrel in the heart of Germany. In this war +Maximilian was successful, and he rewarded himself by annexing to +Austria several small provinces, the sum total of which quite enlarged +his small domains. + +By this time the kings of France and Spain were fiercely fighting over +their conquest of Naples and Sicily, each striving to grasp the lion's +share. Maximilian thought his interests would be promoted by aiding the +Spaniards, and he accordingly sent three thousand men to Trieste, where +they embarked, and sailing down the Adriatic, united with the Spanish +troops. The French were driven out of Italy. There then ensued, for +several years, wars and intrigues in which France, Spain, Italy and +Austria were involved; all alike selfish and grasping. Armies were ever +moving to and fro, and the people of Europe, by the victories of kings +and nobles, were kept in a condition of misery. No one seemed ever to +think of their rights or their happiness. + +Various circumstances had exasperated Maximilian very much against the +Venetians. All the powers of Europe were then ready to combine against +any other power whatever, if there was a chance of obtaining any share +in the division of the plunder. Maximilian found no difficulty in +secretly forming one of the most formidable leagues history had then +recorded, the celebrated league of Cambray. No sympathy need be wasted +upon the Venetians, the victims of this coalition, for they had rendered +themselves universally detestable by their arrogance, rapacity, perfidy +and pride. France joined the coalition, and, in view of her power, was +to receive a lion's share of the prey--the provinces of Brescia, +Bergamo, Cremona, and the Ghiradadda. The King of Arragon was to send +ships and troops, and receive his pay in the maritime towns on the +shores of the Adriatic. The pope, Julius II., the most grasping, +perfidious and selfish of them all, demanded Ravenna, Cervia, Faenza, +Rimini, Immola and Cesena. His exorbitant claims were assented to, as it +was infinitely important that the piratic expedition should be +sanctioned by the blessing of the Church. Maximilian was to receive, in +addition to some territories which Venice had wrested from him, +Roveredo, Verona, Padua, Vicenza, Trevigi, and the Friuli. As Maximilian +was bound by a truce with Venice, and as in those days of chivalry some +little regard was to be paid to one's word of honor, Maximilian was only +to march at the summons of the pope, which no true son of the Church, +under any circumstances, was at liberty to disobey. Sundry other minor +dukes and princes were engaged in the plot, who were also to receive a +proportionate share of the spoil. + +After these arrangements were all completed, the holy father, with +characteristic infamy, made private overtures to the Venetians, +revealing to them the whole plot, and offering to withdraw from the +confederacy and thwart all its plans, if Venice would pay more as the +reward of perfidy than Rome could hope to acquire by force of arms. The +haughty republic rejected the infamous proposal, and prepared for a +desperate defense. + +All the powers of the confederacy were now collecting their troops. But +Maximilian was dependent upon the German diet for his ability to fulfill +his part of the contract. He assembled the diet at Worms on the 21st of +April, 1509, presented to them the plan of the league, and solicited +their support. The diet refused to cooperate, and hardly affecting even +the forms of respect, couched its refusal in terms of stinging rebuke. + +"We are tired," they said, "of these innumerable calls for troops and +money. We can not support the burden of these frequent diets, involving +the expense of long journeys, and we are weary of expeditions and wars. +If the emperor enters into treaties with France and the pope without +consulting us, it is his concern and not ours, and we are not bound to +aid him to fulfill his agreement. And even if we were to vote the +succors which are now asked of us, we should only be involved in +embarrassment and disgrace, as we have been by the previous enterprises +of the emperor." + +Such, in brief, was the response of the diet. It drew from the emperor a +long defense of his conduct, which he called an "Apology," and which is +considered one of the most curious and characteristic documents of those +days. He made no attempt to conceal his vexation, but assailed them in +strong language of reproach. + +"I have concluded a treaty with my allies," he wrote, "in conformity to +the dictates of conscience and duty, and for the honor, glory and +happiness of the empire and of Christendom. The negotiation could not be +postponed, and if I had convoked a diet to demand the advice of the +States, the treaty would never have been concluded. I was under the +necessity of concealing the project of the combined powers, that we +might fall on the Venetians at once and unexpectedly, which could not +have been effected in the midst of public deliberations and endless +discussions; and I have, I trust, clearly proved, both in my public and +my private communications, the advantage which is likely to result from +this union. If the aids hitherto granted by diets have produced nothing +but disgrace and dishonor, I am not to blame, but the States who acted +so scandalously in granting their succors with so much reluctance and +delay. As for myself, I have, on the contrary, exposed my treasure, my +countries, my subjects and my life, while the generality of the German +States have remained in dishonorable tranquillity at home. I have more +reason to complain of you than you of me; for you have constantly +refused me your approbation and assistance; and even when you have +granted succors, you have rendered them fruitless by the scantiness and +tardiness of your supplies, and compelled me to dissipate my own +revenues, and injure my own subjects." + +Of course these bitter recriminations accomplished nothing in changing +the action of the diet, and Maximilian was thrown upon the Austrian +States alone for supplies. Louis of France, at the head of seventeen +thousand troops, crossed the Alps. The pope fulminated a bull of +excommunication against the Venetians, and sent an army of ten thousand +men. The Duke of Ferrara and the Marquis of Mantua sent their +contingents. Maximilian, by great exertions, sent a few battalions +through the mountains of the Tyrol, and was preparing to follow with +stronger forces. Province after province fell before the resistless +invaders, and Venice would have fallen irretrievably had not the +conquerors began to quarrel among themselves. The pope, in secret +treaty, was endeavoring to secure his private interests, regardless of +the interests of the allies. Louis, from some pique, withdrew his +forces, and abandoned Maximilian in the hour of peril, and the emperor, +shackled by want of money, and having but a feeble force, was quite +unable to make progress alone against the Venetian troops. + +It does not seem to be the will of Providence that the plots of +unprincipled men, even against men as bad as themselves, should be more +than transiently prosperous. Maximilian, thus again utterly thwarted in +one of his most magnificent plans, covered with disgrace, and irritated +almost beyond endurance, after attempting in vain to negotiate a truce +with the Venetians, was compelled to retreat across the Alps, inveighing +bitterly against the perfidious refusal to fulfill a perfidious +agreement. + +The holy father, Julius II., outwitted all his accomplices. He secured +from Venice very valuable accessions of territory, and then, recalling +his ecclesiastical denunciations, united with Venice to drive the +_barbarians_, as he affectionately called his French and German allies, +out of Italy. Maximilian returned to Austria as in a funeral march, +ventured to summon another diet, told them how shamefully he had been +treated by France, Venice and the pope, and again implored them to do +something to help him. Perseverance is surely the most efficient of +virtues. Incredible as it may seem, the emperor now obtained some little +success. The diet, indignant at the conduct of the pope, and alarmed at +so formidable a union as that between the papal States and Venice, voted +a succor of six thousand infantry and eighteen hundred horse. This +encouraged the emperor, and forgetting his quarrel with Louis XII. of +France, in the stronger passion of personal aggrandizement which +influenced him, he entered into another alliance with Louis against the +pope and Venice, and then made a still stronger and a religious appeal +to Germany for aid. A certain class of politicians in all countries and +in all ages, have occasionally expressed great solicitude for the +reputation of religion. + +"The power and government of the pope," the emperor proclaimed, "which +ought to be an example to the faithful, present, on the contrary, +nothing but trouble and disorder. The enormous sums daily extorted from +Germany, are perverted to the purposes of luxury or worldly views, +instead of being employed for the service of God, or against the +infidels. As Emperor of Germany, as advocate and protector of the +Christian Church, it is my duty to examine into such irregularities, and +exert all my efforts for the glory of God and the advantage of the +empire; and as there is an evident necessity to reestablish due order +and decency, both in the ecclesiastical and temporal state, I have +resolved to call a general council, without which nothing permanent can +be effected." + +It is said that Maximilian was now so confident of success, that he had +decided to divide Italy between himself and France. He was to take +Venice and the States of the Church, and France was to have the rest. +Pope Julius was to be deposed, and to be succeeded by Pope Maximilian. +The following letter from Maximilian to his daughter, reveals his +ambitious views at the time. It is dated the 18th of September, 1511. + +"To-morrow I shall send the Bishop of Guzk to the pope at Rome, to +conclude an agreement with him that I may be appointed his coadjutor, +and on his death succeed to the papacy, and become a priest, and +afterwards a saint, that you may be bound to worship me, of which I +shall be very proud. I have written on this subject to the King of +Arragon, intreating him to favor my undertaking, and he has promised me +his assistance, provided I resign my imperial crown to my grandson +Charles, which I am very ready to do. The people and nobles of Rome have +offered to support me against the French and Spanish party. They can +muster twenty thousand combatants, and have sent me word that they are +inclined to favor my scheme of being pope, and will not consent to have +either a Frenchman, a Spaniard or a Venetian. + +"I have already began to sound the cardinals, and, for that purpose, two +or three hundred thousand ducats would be of great service to me, as +their partiality to me is very great. The King of Arragon has ordered +his ambassadors to assure me that he will command the Spanish cardinals +to favor my pretensions to the papacy. I intreat you to keep this matter +secret for the present, though I am afraid it will soon be known, for it +is impossible to carry on a business secretly for which it is necessary +to gain over so many persons, and to have so much money. Adieu. Written +with the hand of your dear father Maximilian, future pope. The pope's +fever has increased, and he can not live long." + +It is painful to follow out the windings of intrigue and the labyrinths +of guile, where selfishness seemed to actuate every heart, and where all +alike seem destitute of any principle of Christian integrity. Bad as the +world is now, and selfish as political aspirants are now, humanity has +made immense progress since that dark age of superstition, fraud and +violence. After many victories and many defeats, after innumerable +fluctuations of guile, Maximilian accepted a bribe, and withdrew his +forces, and the King of France was summoned home by the invasion of his +own territories by the King of Arragon and Henry VIII. of England, who, +for a suitable consideration, had been induced to join Venice and the +pope. At the end of this long campaign of diplomacy, perfidy and blood, +in which misery had rioted through ten thousand cottages, whose +inhabitants the warriors regarded no more than the occupants of the +ant-hills they trampled beneath their feet, it was found that no one had +gained any thing but toil and disappointment. + +On the 21st of February, 1513, Pope Julius II. died, and the cardinals, +rejecting all the overtures of the emperor, elected John of Medici pope, +who assumed the name of Leo X. The new pontiff was but thirty-six years +of age, a man of brilliant talents, and devoted to the pursuit of +letters. Inspired by boundless ambition, he wished to signalize his +reign by the magnificence of his court and the grandeur of his +achievements. + +Thus far nothing but disaster seemed to attend the enterprises of +Maximilian; but now the tide suddenly turned and rolled in upon him +billows of prosperity. It will be remembered that Maximilian married, +for his first wife, Mary, the daughter of the Duke of Burgundy. Their +son Philip married Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, whose +marriage, uniting the kingdoms of Castile and Arragon, created the +splendid kingdom of Spain. Philip died young, leaving a son, Charles, +and Joanna, an insane wife, to watch his grave through weary years of +woe. Upon the death of Ferdinand, in January, 1516, Charles, the +grandson of Maximilian, became undisputed heir to the whole monarchy of +Spain; then, perhaps, the grandest power in Europe, including Naples, +Sicily and Navarre. This magnificent inheritance, coming so directly +into the family, and into the line of succession, invested Maximilian +and the house of Austria with new dignity. + +It was now an object of intense solicitude with Maximilian, to secure +the reversion of the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, which were both upon +the brow of Ladislaus, to his own family. With this object in view, and +to render assurance doubly sure, he succeeded in negotiating a marriage +between two children of Ladislaus, a son and a daughter, and two of his +own grand-children. This was a far pleasanter mode of acquiring +territory and family aggrandizement than by the sword. In celebration of +the betrothals, Ladislaus and his brother Sigismond, King of Poland, +visited Vienna, where Ladislaus was so delighted with the magnificent +hospitality of his reception, that he even urged upon the emperor, who +was then a widower, fifty-eight years of age, that he should marry +another of his daughters, though she had but attained her thirteenth +year. The emperor declined the honor, jocularly remarking-- + +"There is no method more pleasant to kill an old man, than to marry him +to a young bride." + +The German empire was then divided into ten districts, or circles, as +they were then called, each of which was responsible for the maintenance +of peace among its own members. These districts were, Austria, Burgundy, +the Upper Rhine, the Lower Rhine, Franconia, Bavaria, Suabia, +Westphalia, Upper Saxony and Lower Saxony. The affairs of each district +were to be regulated by a court of a few nobles, called a diet. The +emperor devoted especial attention to the improvement of his own estate +of Austria, which he subdivided into two districts, and these into still +smaller districts. Over all, for the settlement of all important points +of dispute, he established a tribunal called the Aulic Council, which +subsequently exerted a powerful influence over the affairs of Austria. + +One more final effort Maximilian made to rouse Germany to combine to +drive the Turks out of Europe. Though the benighted masses looked up +with much reverence to the pontiff, the princes and the nobles regarded +him only as a _power_, wielding, in addition to the military arm, the +potent energies of superstition. A diet was convened. The pope's legate +appeared, and sustained the eloquent appeal of the emperor with the +paternal commands of the holy father. But the press was now becoming a +power in Europe, diffusing intelligence and giving freedom to thought +and expression. The diet, after listening patiently to the arguments of +the emperor and the requests of the pontiff, dryly replied-- + +"We think that Christianity has more to fear from the pope than from the +Turks. Much as we may dread the ravages of the infidel, they can hardly +drain Christendom more effectually than it is now drained by the +exactions of the Church." + +It was at Augsburg in July, 1518, that the diet ventured thus boldly to +speak. This was one year after Luther had nailed upon the church door in +Wittemberg, his ninety-five propositions, which had roused all Germany +to scrutinize the abominable corruptions of the papal church. This bold +language of the diet, influenced by the still bolder language of the +intrepid monk, alarmed Leo X., and on the 7th of August he issued his +summons commanding Luther to repair to Rome to answer for heresy. +Maximilian, who had been foiled in his own attempt to attain the chair +of St. Peter, who had seen so much of the infamous career of Julius and +Alexander, as to lose all his reverence for the sacred character of the +popes, and who regarded Leo X. merely as a successful rival who had +thwarted his own plans, espoused, with cautious development, but with +true interest, the cause of the reformer. And now came the great war of +the Reformation, agitating Germany in every quarter, and rousing the +lethargic intellect of the nations as nothing else could rouse it. +Maximilian, with characteristic fickleness, or rather, with +characteristic pliancy before every breeze of self-interest, was now on +the one side, now on the other, and now, nobody knew where, until his +career was terminated by sudden and fatal sickness. + +The emperor was at Innspruck, all overwhelmed with his cares and his +plans of ambition, when he was seized with a slight fever. Hoping to be +benefited by a change of air, he set out to travel by slow stages to one +of his castles among the mountains of Upper Austria. The disease, +however, rapidly increased, and it was soon evident that death was +approaching. The peculiarities of his character were never more +strikingly developed than in these last solemn hours. Being told by his +physicians that he had not long to live and that he must now prepare for +the final judgment, he calmly replied, "I have long ago made that +preparation. Had I not done so, it would be too late now." + +For four years he had been conscious of declining health, and had always +carried with him, wherever he traveled, an oaken coffin, with his shroud +and other requisites for his funeral. With very minute directions he +settled all his worldly affairs, and gave the most particular +instructions respecting his funeral. Changing his linen, he strictly +enjoined that his shirt should not be removed after his death, for his +fastidious modesty was shocked by the idea of the exposure of his body, +even after the soul had taken its flight. + +He ordered his hair, after his death, to be cut off, all his teeth to be +extracted, pounded to powder and publicly burned in the chapel of his +palace. For one day his remains were to be exposed to the public, as a +lesson of mortality. They were then to be placed in a sack filled with +quicklime. The sack was to be enveloped in folds of silk and satin, and +then placed in the oaken coffin which had been so long awaiting his +remains. The coffin was then to be deposited under the altar of the +chapel of his palace at Neustadt, in such a position that the +officiating priest should ever trample over his head and heart. The king +expressed the hope that this humiliation of his body would, in some +degree, be accepted by the Deity in atonement for the sins of his soul. +How universal the instinct that sin needs an atonement! + +Having finished these directions the emperor observed that some of his +attendants were in tears. "Do you weep," said he, "because you see a +mortal die? Such tears become women rather than men." The emperor was +now dying. As the ecclesiastics repeated the prayers of the Church, the +emperor gave the responses until his voice failed, and then continued to +give tokens of recognition and of faith, by making the sign of the +cross. At three o'clock in the morning of the 11th of January, 1519, the +Emperor Maximilian breathed his last. He was then in the sixtieth year +of his age. + +Maximilian is justly considered one of the most renowned of the +descendants of Rhodolph of Hapsburg. It is saying but little for his +moral integrity, to affirm that he was one of the best of the rulers of +his age. According to his ideas of religion, he was a religious man. +According to his ideas of honesty and of honor, he was both an honest +and an honorable man. According to his idea of what is called _moral +conduct_, he was irreproachable, being addicted to no _ungenteel_ vices, +or any sins which would be condemned by his associates. His ambition was +not to secure for himself ease or luxury, but to extend his imperial +power, and to aggrandize his family. For these objects he passed his +life, ever tossed upon the billows of toil and trouble. In industry and +perseverance, he has rarely been surpassed. + +Notwithstanding the innumerable interruptions and cares attendant upon +his station, he still found time, one can hardly imagine when, to become +a proficient in all the learning of the day. He wrote and spoke four +languages readily, Latin, French, German and Italian. Few men have +possessed more persuasive powers of eloquence. All the arts and sciences +he warmly patronized, and men of letters of every class found in him a +protector. But history must truthfully declare that there was no perfidy +of which he would not be guilty, and no meanness to which he would not +stoop, if he could only extend his hereditary domains and add to his +family renown. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION. + +From 1519 to 1531. + +Charles V. of Spain.--His Election as Emperor of Germany.--His +Coronation.--The first Constitution.--Progress of the Reformation.--The +Pope's Bull against Luther.--His Contempt for his Holiness.--The Diet at +Worms.--Frederic's Objection to the Condemnation of Luther by the +Diet.--He obtains for Luther the Right of Defense.--Luther's triumphal +March to the Tribunal.--Charles urged to violate his Safe Conduct.-- +Luther's Patmos.--Marriage of Sister Catharine Bora to Luther.--Terrible +Insurrection.--The Holy League.--The Protest of Spires.--Confession of +Augsburg.--The two Confessions.--Compulsory Measures. + + +Charles V. of Spain, as the nearest male heir, inherited from Maximilian +the Austrian States. He was the grandson of the late emperor, son of +Philip and of Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, and was born +on the 24th of February, 1500. He had been carefully educated in the +learning and accomplishments of the age, and particularly in the arts of +war. At the death of his grandfather, Ferdinand, Charles, though but +sixteen years of age, assumed the title of King of Spain, and though +strongly opposed for a time, he grasped firmly and held securely the +reins of government. + +Joanna, his mother, was legally the sovereign, both by the laws of +united Castile and Arragon, and by the testaments of Isabella and +Ferdinand. But she was insane, and was sunk in such depths of melancholy +as to be almost unconscious of the scenes which were transpiring around +her. Two years had elapsed between the accession of Charles V. to the +throne of Spain and the death of his grandfather, Maximilian. The young +king, with wonderful energy of character, had, during that time, +established himself very firmly on the throne. Upon the death of +Maximilian many claimants rose for the imperial throne. Henry VIII. of +England and Francis of France, were prominent among the competitors. For +six months all the arts of diplomacy were exhausted by the various +candidates, and Charles of Spain won the prize. On the 28th of June, +1519, he was unanimously elected Emperor of Germany. The youthful +sovereign, who was but nineteen years of age, was at Barcelona when he +received the first intelligence of his election. He had sufficient +strength of character to avoid the slightest appearance of exultation, +but received the announcement with dignity and gravity far above his +years. + +The Spaniards were exceedingly excited and alarmed by the news. They +feared that their young sovereign, of whom they had already begun to be +proud, would leave Spain to establish his court in the German empire, +and they should thus be left, as a distant province, to the government +of a viceroy. The king was consequently flooded with petitions, from all +parts of his dominions, not to accept the imperial crown. But Charles +was as ambitious as his grandfather, Maximilian, whose foresight and +maneuvering had set in train those influences which had elevated him to +the imperial dignity. + +Soon a solemn embassy arrived, and, with the customary pomp, proffered +to Charles the crown which so many had coveted. Charles accepted the +office, and made immediate preparations, notwithstanding the increasing +clamor of his subjects, to go to Germany for his coronation. Intrusting +the government of Spain during his absence to officers in whom he +reposed confidence, he embarked on shipboard, and landing first at Dover +in England, made a visit of four days to Henry VIII. He then continued +his voyage to the Netherlands; proceeding thence to Aix-la-Chapelle, he +was crowned on the 20th of October, 1520, with magnificence far +surpassing that of any of his predecessors. Thus Charles V., when but +twenty years of age, was the King of Spain and the crowned Emperor of +Germany. It is a great mistake to suppose that youthful precocity is one +of the innovations of modern times. + +In the changes of the political kaleidoscope, Austria had now become a +part of Spain, or rather a prince of Austrian descent, a lineal heir of +the house of Hapsburg, had inherited the dominion of Spain, the most +extensive monarchy, in its continental domains and its colonial +possessions, then upon the globe. The Germanic confederation at this +time made a decided step in advance. Hitherto the emperors, when +crowned, had made a sort of verbal promise to administer the government +in accordance with the laws and customs of the several states. They +were, however, apprehensive that the new emperor, availing himself of +the vast power which he possessed independently of the imperial crown, +might, by gradual encroachments, defraud them of their rights. A sort of +constitution was accordingly drawn up, consisting of thirty-six +articles, defining quite minutely the laws, customs and privileges of +the empire, which constitution Charles was required to sign before his +coronation. + +Charles presided in person over his first diet which he had convened at +Worms on the 6th of January, 1521. The theological and political war of +the Reformation was now agitating all Germany, and raging with the +utmost violence. Luther had torn the vail from the corruptions of +papacy, and was exhibiting to astonished Europe the enormous aggression +and the unbridled licentiousness of pontifical power. Letter succeeded +letter, and pamphlet pamphlet, and they fell upon the decaying hierarchy +like shot and shell upon the walls of a fortress already crumbling and +tottering through age. + +On the 15th of July, 1520, three months before the coronation of Charles +V., the pope issued his world-renowned bull against the intrepid monk. +He condemned Luther as a heretic, forbade the reading of his writings, +excommunicated him if he did not retract within sixty days, and all +princes and states were commanded, under pain of incurring the same +censure, to seize his person and punish him and his adherents. Many were +overawed by these menaces of the holy father, who held the keys of +heaven and of hell. The fate of Luther was considered sealed. His works +were publicly burned in several cities. + +Luther, undaunted, replied with blow for blow. He declared the pope to +be antichrist, renounced all obedience to him, detailed with scathing +severity the conduct of corrupt pontiffs, and called upon the whole +nation to renounce all allegiance to the scandalous court of Rome. To +cap the climax of his contempt and defiance, he, on the 10th of +December, 1520, not two months after the crowning of Charles V., led his +admiring followers, the professors and students of the university of +Wittemberg, in procession to the eastern gate of the city, where, in the +presence of a vast concourse, he committed the papal bull to the flames, +exclaiming, in the words of Ezekiel, "Because thou hast troubled the +Holy One of God, let eternal fire consume thee." This dauntless spirit +of the reformer inspired his disciples throughout Germany with new +courage, and in many other cities the pope's bull of excommunication was +burned with expressions of indignation and contempt. + +Such was the state of this great religious controversy when Charles V. +held his first diet at Worms. The pope, wielding all the energies of +religious fanaticism, and with immense temporal revenues at his +disposal, with ecclesiastics, officers of his spiritual court, scattered +all over Europe, who exercised almost a supernatural power over the +minds of the benighted masses, was still perhaps the most formidable +power in Europe. The new emperor, with immense schemes of ambition +opening before his youthful and ardent mind, and with no principles of +heartfelt piety to incline him to seek and love the truth, as a matter +of course sought the favor of the imperial pontiff, and was not at all +disposed to espouse the cause of the obscure monk. + +Charles, therefore, received courteously the legates of the pontiff at +the diet, gave them a friendly hearing as they inveighed against the +heresy of Luther, and proposed that the diet should also condemn the +reformer. Fortunately for Luther he was a subject of the electorate of +Saxony, and neither pope nor emperor could touch him but through the +elector. Frederic, the Duke of Saxony, one of the electors of the +empire, governed a territory of nearly fifteen thousand square miles, +more than twice as large as the State of Massachusetts, and containing +nearly three millions of inhabitants. The duchy has since passed through +many changes and dismemberments, but in the early part of the sixteenth +century the Elector of Saxony was one of the most powerful princes of +the German empire. Frederic was not disposed to surrender his subject +untried and uncondemned to the discipline of the Roman pontiff. He +accordingly objected to this summary condemnation of Luther, and +declared that before judgment was pronounced, the accused should be +heard in his own defense. Charles, who was by no means aware how +extensively the opinions of Luther had been circulated and received, was +surprised to find many nobles, each emboldened by the rest, rise in the +diet and denounce, in terms of ever-increasing severity, the exactions +and the arrogance of the court of Rome. + +Notwithstanding the remonstrances of the pope's legates, the emperor +found it necessary to yield to the demands of the diet, and to allow +Luther the privilege of being heard, though he avowed to the friends of +the pope that Luther should not be permitted to make any defense, but +should only have an opportunity to confess his heresy and implore +forgiveness. Worms, where the diet was in session, on the west banks of +the Rhine, was not within the territories of the Elector of Saxony, and +consequently the emperor, in sending a summons to Luther to present +himself before the diet, sent, also, a safe conduct. With alacrity the +bold reformer obeyed the summons. From Wittemberg, where Luther was both +professor in the university and also pastor of a church, to Worms, was a +distance of nearly three hundred miles. But the journey of the reformer, +through all of this long road was almost like a triumphal procession. +Crowds gathered everywhere to behold the man who had dared to bid +defiance to the terrors of that spiritual power before which the +haughtiest monarchs had trembled. The people had read the writings of +Luther, and justly regarded him as the advocate of civil and religious +liberty. The nobles, who had often been humiliated by the arrogance of +the pontiff, admired a man who was bringing a new power into the field +for their disenthrallment. + +When Luther had arrived within three miles of Worms, accompanied by a +few friends and the imperial herald who had summoned him, he was met by +a procession of two thousand persons, who had come from the city to form +his escort. Some friends in the city sent him a warning that he could +not rely upon the protection of his _safe conduct_, that he would +probably be perfidiously arrested, and they intreated him to retire +immediately again to Saxony. Luther made the memorable reply, + +"I will go to Worms, if as many devils meet me there as there are tiles +upon the roofs of the houses." + +The emperor was astonished to find that greater crowds were assembled, +and greater enthusiasm was displayed in witnessing the entrance of the +monk of Wittemberg, than had greeted the imperial entrance to the city. + +It was indeed an august assemblage before which Luther was arrayed. The +emperor himself presided, sustained by his brother, the Archduke +Ferdinand. Six electors, twenty-four dukes, seven margraves, thirty +bishops and prelates, and an uncounted number of princes, counts, lords +and ambassadors filled the spacious hall. It was the 18th of April, +1521. His speech, fearless, dignified, eloquent, unanswerable, occupied +two hours. He closed with the noble words, + +"Let me be refuted and convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or +by the clearest arguments; otherwise I can not and will not recant; for +it is neither safe nor expedient to act against conscience. Here I take +my stand. I can do no otherwise, so help me God, Amen." + +In this sublime moral conflict Luther came off the undisputed conqueror. +The legates of the pope, exasperated at his triumph, intreated the +emperor to arrest him, in defiance of his word of honor pledged for his +safety. Charles rejected the infamous proposal with disdain. Still he +was greatly annoyed at so serious a schism in the Church, which +threatened to alienate from him the patronage of the pope. It was +evident that Luther was too strongly intrenched in the hearts of the +Germans, for the youthful emperor, whose crown was not yet warm upon his +brow, and who was almost a stranger in Germany, to undertake to crush +him. To appease the pope he drew up an apologetic declaration, in which +he said, in terms which do not honor his memory, + +"Descended as I am from the Christian emperors of Germany, the Catholic +kings of Spain, and from the archdukes of Austria and the Dukes of +Burgundy, all of whom have preserved, to the last moment of their lives, +their fidelity to the Church, and have always been the defenders and +protectors of the Catholic faith, its decrees, ceremonies and usages, I +have been, am still, and will ever be devoted to those Christian +doctrines, and the constitution of the Church which they have left to me +as a sacred inheritance. And as it is evident that a simple monk has +advanced opinions contrary to the sentiments of all Christians, past and +present, I am firmly determined to wipe away the reproach which a +toleration of such errors would cast on Germany, and to employ all my +powers and resources, my body, my blood, my life, and even my soul, in +checking the progress of this sacrilegious doctrine. I will not, +therefore, permit Luther to enter into any further explanation, and will +instantly dismiss and afterward treat him as a heretic. But I can not +violate my safe conduct, but will cause him to be conducted safely back +to Wittemberg." + +The emperor now attempted to accomplish by intrigue that which he could +not attain by authority of force. He held a private interview with the +reformer, and endeavored, by all those arts at the disposal of an +emperor, to influence Luther to a recantation. Failing utterly in this, +he delayed further operations for a month, until many of the diet, +including the Elector of Saxony and other powerful friends of Luther, +had retired. He then, having carefully retained those who would be +obsequious to his will, caused a decree to be enacted, as if it were the +unanimous sentiment of the diet, that Luther was a heretic; confirmed +the sentence of the pope, and pronounced the ban of the empire against +all who should countenance or protect him. + +But Luther, on the 26th of May, had left Worms on his return to +Wittemberg. When he had passed over about half the distance, his friend +and admirer, Frederic of Saxony, conscious of the imminent peril which +hung over the intrepid monk, sent a troop of masked horsemen who seized +him and conveyed him to the castle of Wartburg, where Frederic kept him +safely concealed for nine months, not allowing even his friends to know +the place of his concealment. Luther, acquiescing in the prudence of +this measure, called this retreat his Patmos, and devoted himself most +assiduously to the study of the Scriptures, and commenced his most +admirable translation of the Bible into the German language, a work +which has contributed vastly more than all others to disseminate the +principles of the Reformation throughout Germany. + +It will be remembered that Maximilian's son Ferdinand, who was brother +to Charles V., had married Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, King of Hungary +and Bohemia. Disturbances in Spain rendered it necessary for the emperor +to leave Germany, and for eight years his attention was almost +constantly occupied by wars and intrigues in southern Europe. Ferdinand +was invested with the government of the Austrian States. In the year +1521, Leo X. died, and Adrian, who seems to have been truly a +conscientious Christian man, assumed the tiara. He saw the deep +corruptions of the Church, confessed them openly, mourned over them and +declared that the Church needed a thorough reformation. + +This admission, of course, wonderfully strengthened the Lutheran party. +The diet, meeting soon after, drew up a list of a hundred grievances, +which they intreated the pope to reform, declaring that Germany could no +longer endure them. They declared that Luther had opened the eyes of the +people to these corruptions, and that they would not suffer the edicts +of the diet of Worms to be enforced. Ferdinand of Austria, entering into +the views of his brother, was anxious to arrest the progress of the new +ideas, now spreading with great rapidity, and he entered--instructed by +a legate, Campegio, from the pope--into an engagement with the Duke of +Bavaria, and most of the German bishops, to carry the edict of Worms +into effect. + +Frederic, the Elector of Saxony, died in 1525, but he was succeeded by +his brother John the Constant, who cordially embraced and publicly +avowed the doctrines of the Reformation; and Luther, in July of this +year, gave the last signal proof of his entire emancipation from the +superstitions of the papacy by marrying Catharine Bora, a noble lady +who, having espoused his views, had left the nunnery where she had been +an inmate. It is impossible for one now to conceive the impression which +was produced in Catholic Europe by the marriage of a priest and a nun. + +Many of the German princes now followed the example of John of Saxony, +and openly avowed their faith in the Lutheran doctrines. In the Austrian +States, notwithstanding all Ferdinand's efforts to the contrary, the new +faith steadily spread, commanding the assent of the most virtuous and +the most intelligent. Many of the nobles avowed themselves Lutherans, as +did even some of the professors in the university at Vienna. The vital +questions at issue, taking hold, as they did, of the deepest emotions of +the soul and the daily habits of life, roused the general mind to the +most intense activity. The bitterest hostility sprung up between the two +parties, and many persons, without piety and without judgment, threw off +the superstitions of the papacy, only to adopt other superstitions +equally revolting. The sect of Anabaptists rose, abjuring all civil as +well as all religious authority, claiming to be the elect of God, +advocating a community of goods and of wives, and discarding all +restraint. They roused the ignorant peasantry, and easily showed them +that they were suffering as much injustice from feudal lords as from +papal bishops. It was the breaking out of the French Revolution on a +small scale. Germany was desolated by infuriate bands, demolishing alike +the castles of the nobles and the palaces of the bishops, and sparing +neither age nor sex in their indiscriminate slaughter. + +The insurrection was so terrible, that both Lutherans and papists united +to quell it; and so fierce were these fanatics, that a hundred thousand +perished on fields of blood before the rebellion was quelled. These +outrages were, of course, by the Catholics regarded as the legitimate +results of the new doctrines, and it surely can not be denied that they +sprung from them. The fire which glows on the hearth may consume the +dwelling. But Luther and his friends assailed the Anabaptists with every +weapon they could wield. The Catholics formed powerful combinations to +arrest the spread of evangelical views. The reformers organized +combinations equally powerful to diffuse those opinions, which they were +sure involved the welfare of the world. + +Charles V., having somewhat allayed the troubles which harassed him in +southern Europe, now turned his attention to Germany, and resolved, with +a strong hand, to suppress the religious agitation. In a letter to the +German States he very peremptorily announced his determination, +declaring that he would exterminate the errors of Luther, exhorting +them, to resist all attacks against the ancient usages of the Church, +and expressing to each of the Catholic princes his earnest approval of +their conduct. + +Germany was now threatened with civil war. The Catholics demanded the +enforcement of the edict of Worms. The reformers demanded perfect +toleration--that every man should enjoy freedom of opinion and of +worship. A new war in Italy perhaps prevented this appeal to arms, as +Charles V. found himself involved in new difficulties which engrossed +all his energies. Ferdinand found the Austrian States so divided by this +controversy, that it became necessary for him to assume some degree of +impartiality, and to submit to something like toleration. A new pope, +Clement VII., succeeded the short reign of Adrian, and all the ambition, +intrigue and corruption which had hitherto marked the course of the +court of Rome, resumed their sway. The pope formed the celebrated Holy +League to arrest the progress of the new opinions; and this led all the +princes of the empire, who had espoused the Lutheran doctrines, more +openly and cordially to combine in self-defense. In every country in +Europe the doctrines of the reformer spread rapidly, and the papal +throne was shaken to its base. + +Charles V., whose arms were successful in southern Europe, and whose +power was daily increasing, was still very desirous of restoring quiet +to Europe by reestablishing the supremacy of the papal Church, and +crushing out dissent. He accordingly convened another diet at Spires, +the capital of Rhenish Bavaria, on the 15th of March, 1529. As the +emperor was detained in Italy, his brother Ferdinand presided. The diet +was of course divided, but the majority passed very stringent +resolutions against the Reformation. It was enacted that the edict of +Worms should be enforced; that the mass should be reestablished wherever +it had been abolished; and that preachers should promulgate no new +doctrines. The minority entered their protest. They urged that the mass +had been clearly proved to be contrary to the Word of God; that the +Scriptures were the only certain rule of life; and declared their +resolution to maintain the truths of the Old and New Testaments, +regardless of traditions. This _Protest_ was sustained by powerful +names--John, Elector of Saxony; George, Margrave of Brandenburg; two +Dukes of Brunswick; the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel; the Prince of Anhalt, +and fourteen imperial cities, to which were soon added ten more. Nothing +can more decisively show than this the wonderful progress which the +Reformation in so short a time had made. From this Protest the reformers +received the name of Protestants, which they have since retained. + +The emperor, flushed with success, now resolved, with new energy, to +assail the principles of the Reformation. Leaving Spain he went to +Italy, and met the pope, Clement VII., at Bologna, in February, 1530. +The pope and the emperor held many long and private interviews. What +they said no one knows. But Charles V., who was eminently a sagacious +man, became convinced that the difficulty had become far too serious to +be easily healed, that men of such power had embraced the Lutheran +doctrines that it was expedient to change the tone of menace into one of +respect and conciliation. He accordingly issued a call for another diet +to meet in April, 1530, at the city of Augsburg in Bavaria. + +"I have convened," he wrote, "this assembly to consider the difference +of opinion on the subject of religion. It is my intention to hear both +parties with candor and charity, to examine their respective arguments, +to correct and reform what requires to be corrected and reformed, that +the truth being known, and harmony established, there may, in future, be +only one pure and simple faith, and, as all are disciples of the same +Jesus, all may form one and the same Church." + +These fair words, however, only excited the suspicions of the +Protestants, which suspicions subsequent events proved to be well +founded. The emperor entered Augsburg in great state, and immediately +assumed a dictatorial air, requiring the diet to attend high mass with +him, and to take part in the procession of the host. + +"I will rather," said the Marquis of Brandenburg to the emperor, +"instantly offer my head to the executioner, than renounce the gospel +and approve idolatry. Christ did not institute the sacrament of the +Lord's Supper to be carried in pomp through the streets, nor to be +adored by the people. He said, 'Take, eat;' but never said, 'Put this +sacrament into a vase, carry it publicly in triumph, and let the people +prostrate themselves before it.'" + +The Protestants, availing themselves of the emperor's declaration that +it was his intention to hear the sentiments of all, drew up a confession +of their faith, which they presented to the emperor in German and in +Latin. This celebrated creed is known in history as the _Confession of +Augsburg_. The emperor was quite embarrassed by this document, as he was +well aware of the argumentative powers of the reformers, and feared that +the document, attaining celebrity, and being read eagerly all over the +empire, would only multiply converts to their views. At first he refused +to allow it to be read. But finding that this only created commotion +which would add celebrity to the confession, he adjourned the diet to a +small chapel where but two hundred could be convened. When the +Chancellor of Saxony rose to read the confession, the emperor commanded +that he should read the Latin copy, a language which but few of the +Germans understood. + +"Sire," said the chancellor, "we are now on German ground. I trust that +your majesty will not order the apology of our faith, which ought to be +made as public as possible, to be read in a language not understood by +the Germans." + +The emperor was compelled to yield to so reasonable a request. The +adjacent apartments, and the court-yard of the palace, were all filled +with an eager crowd. The chancellor read the creed in a voice so clear +and loud that the whole multitude could hear. The emperor was very +uneasy, and at the close of the reading, which occupied two hours, took +both the Latin and the German copies, and requested that the confession +should not be published without his consent. Luther and Melancthon drew +up this celebrated document. Melancthon was an exceedingly mild and +amiable man, and such a lover of peace that he would perhaps do a little +violence to his own conscience in the attempt to conciliate those from +whom he was constrained to differ. Luther, on the contrary, was a man of +great force, decision and fearlessness, who would speak the truth in the +plainest terms, without softening a phrase to conciliate either friend +or foe. The Confession of Augsburg being the joint production of both +Melancthon and Luther, did not _exactly_ suit either. It was a little +too uncompromising for Melancthon, a little too pliant and yielding for +Luther. Melancthon soon after took the confession and changed it to +bring it into more entire accordance with his spirit. Hence a division +which, in oblivion of its origin, has continued to the present day. +Those who adhered to the original document which was presented to the +emperor, were called Lutherans; those who adopted the confession as +softened by Melancthon, were called German Reformed. + +The emperor now threw off the mask, and carrying with him the majority +of the diet, issued a decree of intolerance and menace, in which he +declared that all the ceremonies, doctrines and usages of the papal +church, without exception, were to be reestablished, married priests +deposed, suppressed convents restored, and every innovation, of whatever +kind, to be revoked. All who opposed this decree were to be exposed to +the ban of the empire, with all its pains and penalties. + +This was indeed an appalling measure. Recantation or war was the only +alternative. Charles, being still much occupied by the affairs of his +vast kingdom of Spain, with all its ambitions and wars, needed a +coadjutor in the government of Germany, as serious trouble was evidently +near at hand. He therefore proposed the election of his brother +Ferdinand as coadjutor with him in administering the affairs of Germany. +Ferdinand, who had recently united to the Austrian territories the +crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, was consequently chosen, on the 5th of +January, 1531, King of the Romans. Charles was determined to enforce his +decrees, and both parties now prepared for war. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CHARLES V. AND THE REFORMATION. + +From 1531 to 1552. + +Determination to crush Protestantism.--Incursion of the Turks.--Valor of +the Protestants.--Preparations for renewed Hostilities.--Augmentation of +the Protestant Forces.--The Council of Trent.--Mutual Consternation.-- +Defeat of the Protestant Army.--Unlooked for Succor.--Revolt in the +Emperor's Army.--The Fluctuations of Fortune.--Ignoble Revenge.--Capture +of Wittemberg.--Protestantism Apparently Crushed.--Plot against +Charles.--Maurice of Saxony.--A Change of Scene.--The Biter Bit.--The +Emperor humbled.--His Flight.--His determined Will. + + +The intolerant decrees of the diet of Augsburg, and the evident +determination of the emperor unrelentingly to enforce them, spread the +greatest alarm among the Protestants. They immediately assembled at +Smalkalde in December, 1530, and entered into a league for mutual +protection. The emperor was resolved to crush the Protestants. The +Protestants were resolved not to be crushed. The sword of the Catholics +was drawn for the assault--the sword of the reformers for defense. Civil +war was just bursting forth in all its horrors, when the Turks, with an +army three hundred thousand strong, like ravening wolves rushed into +Hungary. This danger was appalling. The Turks in their bloody march had, +as yet, encountered no effectual resistance; though they had experienced +temporary checks, their progress had been on the whole resistless, and +wherever they had planted their feet they had established themselves +firmly. Originating as a small tribe on the shores of the Caspian, they +had spread over all Asia Minor, had crossed the Bosphorus, captured +Constantinople, and had brought all Greece under their sway. They were +still pressing on, flushed with victory. Christian Europe was trembling +before them. And now an army of three hundred thousand had crossed the +Danube, sweeping all opposition before them, and were spreading terror +and destruction through Hungary. The capture of that immense kingdom +seemed to leave all Europe defenseless. + +The emperor and his Catholic friends were fearfully alarmed. Here was a +danger more to be dreaded than even the doctrines of Luther. All the +energies of Christendom were requisite to repel this invasion. The +emperor was compelled to appeal to the Protestant princes to cooeperate +in this great emergence. But they had more to fear from the fiery +persecution of the papal church than from the cimeter of the infidel, +and they refused any cooeperation with the emperor so long as the menaces +of the Augsburg decrees were suspended over them. The emperor wished the +Protestants to help him drive out the Turks, that then, relieved from +that danger, he might turn all his energies against the Protestants. + +After various negotiations it was agreed, as a temporary arrangement, +that there should be a truce of the Catholic persecution until another +general council should be called, and that until then the Protestants +should be allowed freedom of conscience and of worship. The German +States now turned their whole force against the Turks. The Protestants +contributed to the war with energy which amazed the Catholics. They even +trebled the contingents which they had agreed to furnish, and marched to +the assault with the greatest intrepidity. The Turks were driven from +Hungary, and then the emperor, in violation of his pledge, recommenced +proceeding against the Protestants. But it was the worst moment the +infatuated emperor could have selected. The Protestants, already armed +and marshaled, were not at all disposed to lie down to be trodden upon +by their foes. They renewed their confederacy, drove the emperor's +Austrian troops out of the territories of Wirtemberg, which they had +seized, and restored the duchy to the Protestant duke, Ulric. Civil war +had now commenced. But the Protestants were strong, determined, and had +proved their valor in the recent war with the Turks. The more moderate +of the papal party, foreseeing a strife which might be interminable, +interposed, and succeeded in effecting a compromise which again secured +transient peace. + +Charles, however, had not yet abandoned his design to compel the +Protestants to return to the papal church. He was merely temporizing +till he could bring such an array of the papal powers against the +reformers that they could present no successful resistance. With this +intention he entered into a secret treaty with the powerful King of +France, in which Francis agreed to concentrate all the forces of his +kingdom to crush the Lutheran doctrines. He then succeeded in concluding +a truce with the Turks for five years. He was now prepared to act with +decision against the reformed religion. + +But while Charles had been marshaling his party the Protestants had been +rapidly increasing. Eloquent preachers, able writers, had everywhere +proclaimed the corruptions of the papacy and urged a pure gospel. These +corruptions were so palpable that they could not bear the light. The +most intelligent and conscientious, all over Europe, were rapidly +embracing the new doctrines. These new doctrines embraced and involved +principles of civil as well as religious liberty. The Bible is the most +formidable book which was ever penned against aristocratic usurpation. +God is the universal Father. All men are brothers. The despots of that +day regarded the controversy as one which, in the end, involved the +stability of their thrones. "Give us light," the Protestants said. "Give +us darkness," responded the papacy, "or the submissive masses will rise +and overthrow despotic thrones as well as idolatrous altars." + +Several of the ablest and most powerful of the bishops who, in that day +of darkness, had been groping in the dark, now that light had come into +the world, rejoiced in that light, and enthusiastically espoused the +truth. The emperor was quite appalled when he learned that the +Archbishop of Cologne, who was also one of the electors of the empire, +had joined the reformers; for, in addition to the vast influence of his +name, this conversion gave the Protestants a majority in the electoral +diet, so many of the German princes had already adopted the opinions of +Luther. The Protestants, encouraged by the rapidity with which their +doctrines were spreading, were not at all disposed to humble themselves +before their opponents, but with their hands upon the hilts of their +swords, declared that they would not bow their necks to intolerance. + +It was indeed a formidable power which the emperor was now about to +marshal against the Protestants. He had France, Spain, all the roused +energies of the pope and his extended dominions, and all the Catholic +States of the empire. But Protestantism, which had overrun Germany, had +pervaded Switzerland and France, and was daily on the increase. The pope +and the more zealous papists were impatient and indignant that the +emperor did not press his measures with more vigor. But the sagacious +Charles more clearly saw the difficulties to be surmounted than they +did, and while no less determined in his resolves, was more prudent and +wary in his measures. + +With the consent of the pope he summoned a general council to meet at +Trent on the confines of his own Austrian territories, where he could +easily have every thing under his own control. He did every thing in his +power, in the meantime to promote division among the Protestants, by +trying to enter into private negotiations with the Protestant princes. +He had the effrontery to urge the Protestants to send their divines to +the council of Trent, and agreed to abide by its decisions, even when +that council was summoned by the pope, and was to be so organized as to +secure an overwhelming majority to the papists. The Protestants, of +course, rejected so silly a proposition, and refused to recognize the +decrees of such a council as of any binding authority. + +In preparation for enforcing the decrees which he intended to have +enacted by the council of Trent, Charles obtained from the pope thirteen +thousand troops, and five hundred thousand ducats (one million one +hundred thousand dollars). He raised one army in the Low Countries to +march upon Germany. He gathered another army in his hereditary States of +Austria. His brother Ferdinand, as King of Hungary and Bohemia, raised a +large army in each of those dominions. The King of France mustered his +legions, and boasted of the condign punishment to which he would consign +the heretics. The pope issued a decree offering the entire pardon of all +sins to those who should engage in this holy war for the extirpation of +the doctrines of the reformers. + +The Protestants were for a moment in consternation in view of the +gatherings of so portentous a storm. The emperor, by false professions +and affected clemency, had so deceived them that they were quite +unprepared for so formidable an attack. They soon, however, saw that +their only salvation depended upon a vigorous defense, and they +marshaled their forces for war. With promptness and energy which even +astonished themselves, they speedily raised an army which, on the +junction of its several corps, amounted to eighty thousand men. In its +intelligence, valor, discipline and equipments, it was probably the best +army which had ever been assembled in the States of Germany. Resolutely +they marched under Schartlin, one of the most experienced generals of +the age, toward Ratisbon, where the emperor was holding a diet. + +Charles V. was as much alarmed by this unexpected apparition, as the +Protestants had been alarmed by the preparations of the emperor. He had +supposed that his force was so resistless that the Protestants would see +at once the hopelessness of resistance, and would yield without a +struggle. The emperor had a guard of but eight thousand troops at +Ratisbon. The Duke of Bavaria, in whose dominions he was, was wavering, +and the papal troops had not commenced their march. But there was not a +moment to be lost. The emperor himself might be surrounded and taken +captive. He retired precipitately about thirty miles south to the strong +fortress of Landshut, where he could hold out until he received succor +from his Austrian territories, which were very near, and also from the +pope. + +Charles soon received powerful reinforcements from Austria, from the +pope, and from his Spanish kingdom. With these he marched some forty +miles west to Ingolstadt and intrenched himself beneath its massive +walls. Here he waited for further reinforcements, and then commencing +the offensive, marched up the Danube, taking possession of the cities on +either bank. And now the marshaled forces of the emperor began to crowd +the Protestants on all sides. The army became bewildered, and instead of +keeping together, separated to repel the attack at different points. +This caused the ruin of the Protestant army. The dissevered fragments +were speedily dispersed. The emperor triumphantly entered the Protestant +cities of Ulm and Augsburg, Strasbourg and Frankfort, compelled them to +accept humiliating conditions, to surrender their artillery and military +stores, and to pay enormous fines. The Archbishop of Cologne was deposed +from his dignities. The emperor had thrown his foes upon the ground and +bound them. + +All the Protestant princes but two were vanquished, the Elector of +Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse. It was evident that they must soon +yield to the overwhelming force of the emperor. It was a day of +disaster, in which no gleam of light seemed to dawn upon the Protestant +cause. But in that gloomy hour we see again the illustration of that +sentiment, that "the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to +the strong." Unthinking infidelity says sarcastically, "Providence +always helps the heavy battalions." But Providence often brings to the +discomfited, in their despair, reinforcements all unlooked for. + +There were in the army of Ferdinand, gathered from the Austrian +territories by the force of military conscription, many troops more or +less influenced by the reformed religion. They were dissatisfied with +this warfare against their brothers, and their dissatisfaction increased +to murmurs and then to revolt. Thus encouraged, the Protestant nobles in +Bohemia rose against Ferdinand their king, and the victorious Ferdinand +suddenly found his strong battalions melting away, and his banners on +the retreat. + +The other powers of Europe began to look with alarm upon the vast +ascendency which Charles V. was attaining over Europe. His exacting and +aggressive spirit assumed a more menacing aspect than the doctrines of +Luther. The King of France, Francis I., with the characteristic perfidy +of the times, meeting cunning with cunning, formed a secret league +against his ally, combining, in that league, the English ministry who +governed during the minority of Edward VI., and also the cooeperation of +the illustrious Gustavus Vasa, the powerful King of Sweden, who was then +strongly inclined to that faith of the reformers which he afterwards +openly avowed. Even the pope, who had always felt a little jealous of +the power of the emperor, thought that as the Protestants were now put +down it might be well to check the ambition of Charles V. a little, and +he accordingly ordered all his troops to return to Italy. The holy +father, Paul III., even sent money to the Protestant Elector of Saxony, +to enable him to resist the emperor, and sent ambassadors to the Turks, +to induce them to break the truce and make war upon Christendom, that +the emperor might be thus embarrassed. + +Charles thus found himself, in the midst of his victories, suddenly at a +stand. He could no longer carry on offensive operations, but was +compelled to prepare for defense against the attacks with which he was +threatened on every side. + +Again, the kaleidoscope of political combination received a jar, and all +was changed. The King of France died. This so embarrassed the affairs of +the confederation which Francis had organized with so much toil and +care, that Charles availed himself of it to make a sudden and vigorous +march against the Elector of Saxony. He entered his territories with an +army of thirty-three thousand men, and swept all opposition before him. +In a final and desperate battle the troops of the elector were cut to +pieces, and the elector himself, surrounded on all sides, sorely wounded +in the face and covered with blood, was taken prisoner. Charles +disgraced his character by the exhibition of a very ignoble spirit of +revenge. The captive elector, as he was led into the presence of his +conqueror, said-- + +"Most powerful and gracious emperor, the fortune of war has now rendered +me your prisoner, and I hope to be treated--" + +Here the emperor indignantly interrupted him, saying-- + +"I am _now_ your gracious emperor! Lately you could only vouchsafe me +the title of Charles of Ghent!" + +Then turning abruptly upon his heel, he consigned his prisoner to the +custody of one of the Spanish generals. The emperor marched immediately +to Wittemberg, which was distant but a few miles. It was a well +fortified town, and was resolutely defended by Isabella, the wife of the +elector. The emperor, maddened by the resistance, summoned a court +martial, and sentenced the elector to instant death unless he ordered +the surrender of the fortress. He at first refused, and prepared to die. +But the tears of his wife and his family conquered his resolution, and +the city was surrendered. The emperor took from his captive the +electoral dignity, and extorted from him the most cruel concessions as +the ransom for his life. Without a murmur he surrendered wealth, power +and rank, but neither entreaties nor menaces could induce him in a +single point to abjure his Christian faith. + +Charles now entered Wittemberg in triumph. The great reformer had just +died. The emperor visited the grave of Luther, and when urged to +dishonor his remains, replied-- + +"I war not with the dead, but with the living. Let him repose in peace; +he is already before his Judge." + +The Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, now the only member of the Protestant +league remaining in arms, was in a condition utterly hopeless, and was +compelled to make an unconditional submission. + +The landgrave, ruined in fortune, and crushed in spirit, was led a +captive into the imperial camp at Halle, in Saxony, the 19th of June, +1547. He knelt before the throne, and made an humble confession of his +crime in resisting the emperor; he resigned himself and all his +dominions to the clemency of his sovereign. As he rose to kiss the hand +of the emperor, Charles turned contemptuously from him and ordered him +to be conveyed to one of the apartments of the palace as a prisoner. +Most ignobly the emperor led his two illustrious captives, the Elector +of Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, as captives from city to +city, exhibiting them as proofs of his triumph, and as a warning to all +others to avoid their fate. Very strong jealousies had now sprung up +between the emperor and the pope, and they could not cooperate. The +emperor, consequently, undertook to settle the religious differences +himself. He caused twenty-six articles to be drawn up as the basis of +pacification, which he wished both the Catholics and the Protestants to +sign. The pope was indignant, and the Catholics were disgusted with this +interference of the emperor in the faith of the Church, a matter which +in their view belonged exclusively to the pope and the councils which he +might convene. + +The emperor, however, resolutely persevered in the endeavor to compel +the Protestants to subscribe to his articles, and punished severely +those who refused to do so. In his Burgundian provinces he endeavored to +establish the inquisition, that all heresy might be nipped in the bud. +In his zeal he quite outstripped the pope. As Julius III. had now +ascended the pontifical throne, Charles, fearful that he might be too +liberal in his policy towards the reformers, and might make too many +concessions, extorted from him the promise that he would not introduce +any reformation in the Church without consulting him and obtaining his +consent. Thus the pope himself became but one of the dependents of +Charles V., and all the corruptions of the Church were sustained by the +imperial arm. He then, through the submissive pope, summoned a council +of Catholic divines to meet at Trent. He had arranged in his own mind +the decrees which they were to issue, and had entered into a treaty with +the new King of France, Henry II., by which the French monarch agreed, +with all the military force of his kingdom, to maintain the decrees of +the council of Trent, whatever they might be. + +The emperor had now apparently attained all his ends. He had crushed the +Protestant league, vanquished the Protestant princes, subjected the pope +to his will, arranged religious matters according to his views, and had +now assembled a subservient council to ratify and confirm all he had +done. But with this success he had become arrogant, implacable and +cruel. His friends had become alienated and his enemies exasperated. +Even the most rigorous Catholics were alarmed at his assumptions, and +the pope was humiliated by his haughty bearing. + +Charles assembled a diet of the States of the empire at Augsburg, the +26th of July, 1550. He entered the city with the pomp and the pride of a +conqueror, and with such an array of military force as to awe the States +into compliance with his wishes. He then demanded of all the States of +the empire an agreement that they would enforce, in all their dominions +the decrees of the council of Trent, which council was soon to be +convened. There is sublimity in the energy with which this monarch +moved, step by step, toward the accomplishment of his plans. He seemed +to leave no chance for failure. The members of the diet were as +obsequious as spaniels to their imperious master, and watched his +countenance to learn when they were to say yes, and when no. + +In one thing only he failed. He wished to have his son Philip elected as +his successor on the imperial throne. His brother Ferdinand opposed him +in this ambitious plan, and thus emboldened the diet to declare that +while the emperor was living it was illegal to choose his successor, as +it tended to render the imperial crown hereditary. The emperor, +sagacious as he was domineering, waived the prosecution of his plan for +the present, preparing to resume it when he had punished and paralyzed +those who opposed. + +The emperor had deposed Frederic the Elector of Saxony, and placed over +his dominions, Maurice, a nephew of the deposed elector. Maurice had +married a daughter of the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel. He was a man of +commanding abilities, and as shrewd, sagacious and ambitious as the +emperor himself. He had been strongly inclined to the Lutheran +doctrines, but had been bought over to espouse the cause of Charles V. +by the brilliant offer of the territories of Saxony. Maurice, as he saw +blow after blow falling upon his former friends; one prince after +another ejected from his estates, Protestantism crushed, and finally his +own uncle and his wife's father led about to grace the triumph of the +conqueror; as he saw the vast power to which the emperor had attained, +and that the liberties of the German empire were in entire subjection to +his will, his pride was wounded, his patriotism aroused, and his +Protestant sympathies revived. Maurice, meeting Charles V. on the field +of intrigue, was Greek meeting Greek. + +Maurice now began with great guile and profound sagacity to plot against +the despotic emperor. Two circumstances essentially aided him. Charles +coveted the dukedoms of Parma and Placentia in Italy, and the Duke +Ottavia had been deposed. He rallied his subjects and succeeded in +uniting France on his side, for Henry II. was alarmed at the +encroachments the emperor was making in Italy. A very fierce war +instantly blazed forth, the Duke of Parma and Henry II. on one side, the +pope and the emperor on the other. At the same time the Turks, under the +leadership of the Sultan Solyman himself, were organizing a formidable +force for the invasion of Hungary, which invasion would require all the +energies of Ferdinand, with all the forces he could raise in Austria, +Hungary and Bohemia to repel. + +Next to Hungary and Bohemia, Saxony was perhaps the most powerful State +of the Germanic confederacy. The emperor placed full reliance upon +Maurice, and the Protestants in their despair would have thought of him +as the very last to come to their aid; for he had marched vigorously in +the armies of the emperor to crush the Protestants, and was occupying +the territories of their most able and steadfast friend. Secretly, +Maurice made proposals to all the leading Protestant princes of the +empire, and having made every thing ready for an outbreak, he entered +into a treaty with the King of France, who promised large subsidies and +an efficient military force. + +Maurice conducted these intrigues with such consummate skill that the +emperor had not the slightest suspicion of the storm which was +gathering. Every thing being matured, early in April, 1552, Maurice +suddenly appeared before the gates of Augsburg with an army of +twenty-five thousand men. At the same time he issued a declaration that +he had taken up arms to prevent the destruction of the Protestant +religion, to defend the liberties of Germany which the emperor had +infringed, and to rescue his relatives from their long and unjust +imprisonment. The King of France and other princes issued similar +declarations. The smothered disaffection with the emperor instantly +blazed forth all over the German empire. The cause of Maurice was +extremely popular. The Protestants in a mass, and many others, flocked +to his standard. As by magic and in a day, all was changed. The imperial +towns Augsburg, Nuremberg and others, threw open their gates joyfully to +Maurice. Whole provinces rushed to his standard. He was everywhere +received as the guardian of civil and religious liberty. The ejected +Protestant rulers and magistrates were reinstated, the Protestant +churches opened, the Protestant preachers restored. In one month the +Protestant party was predominant in the German empire, and the Catholic +party either neutral or secretly favoring one who was humbling that +haughty emperor whom even the Catholics had begun to fear. The prelates +who were assembling at Trent, alarmed by so sudden and astounding a +revolution, dissolved the assembly and hastened to their homes. + +The emperor was at Innspruck seated in his arm chair, with his limbs +bandaged in flannel, enfeebled and suffering from a severe attack of the +gout, when the intelligence of this sudden and overwhelming reverse +reached him. He was astonished and utterly confounded. In weakness and +pain, unable to leave his couch, with his treasury exhausted, his armies +widely scattered, and so pressed by their foes that they could not be +concentrated from their wide dispersion, there was nothing left for him +but to endeavor to beguile Maurice into a truce. But Maurice was as much +at home in all the arts of cunning as the emperor, and instead of being +beguiled, contrived to entrap his antagonist. This was a new and a very +salutary experience for Charles. It is a very novel sensation for a +successful rogue to be the dupe of roguery. + +Maurice pressed on, his army gathering force at every step. He entered +the Tyrol, swept through all its valleys, took possession of all its +castles and its sublime fastnesses, and the blasts of his bugles +reverberated among the cliffs of the Alps, ever sounding the charge and +announcing victory, never signaling a defeat. The emperor was reduced to +the terrible humiliation of saving himself from capture only by flight. +The emperor could hardly credit his senses when told that his conquering +foes were within two days' march of Innspruck, and that a squadron of +horse might at any hour appear and cut off his retreat. It was in the +night when these appalling tidings were brought to him. The tortures of +the gout would not allow him to mount on horseback, neither could he +bear the jolting in a carriage over the rough roads. It was a dark and +stormy night, the 20th of May, 1552. The rain fell in torrents, and the +wind howled through the fir-trees and around the crags of the Alps. Some +attendants wrapped the monarch in blankets, took him out into the +court-yard of the palace, and placed him in a litter. Attendants led the +way with lanterns, and thus, through the inundated and storm-swept +defiles of the mountains, they fled with their helpless sovereign +through the long hours of the tempestuous night, not daring to stop one +moment lest they should hear behind them the clatter of the iron hoofs +of their pursuers. What a change for one short month to produce! What a +comment upon earthly grandeur! It is well for man in the hour of most +exultant prosperity to be humble. He knows not how soon he may fall. +Instructive indeed is the apostrophe of Cardinal Wolsey, illustrated as +the truth he utters is by almost every page of history: + + "This is the state of man; to-day he puts forth + The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms, + The third day comes a frost, a killing frost; + And when he thinks, good easy man, full surely + His greatness is a ripening--nips his root, + And then he falls as I do." + +The fugitive emperor did not venture to stop for refreshment or repose +until he had reached the strong town of Villach in Carinthia, nearly one +hundred and fifty miles west of Innspruck. The troops of Maurice soon +entered the city which the emperor had abandoned, and the imperial +palace was surrendered to pillage. Heroic courage, indomitable +perseverance always commands respect. These are great and noble +qualities, though they may be exerted in a bad cause. The will of +Charles was unconquerable. In these hours of disaster, tortured with +pain, driven from his palace, deserted by his allies, impoverished, and +borne upon his litter in humiliating flight before his foes, he was just +as determined to enforce his plans as in the most brilliant hour of +victory. + +He sent his brother Ferdinand and other ambassadors to Passau to meet +Maurice, and mediate for a settlement of the difficulties. Maurice now +had no need of diplomacy. His demands were simple and reasonable. They +were, that the emperor should liberate his father-in-law from captivity, +tolerate the Protestant religion, and grant to the German States their +accustomed liberty. But the emperor would not yield a single point. +Though his brother Ferdinand urged him to yield, though his Catholic +ambassadors intreated him to yield, though they declared that if he did +not they should be compelled to abandon his cause and make the best +terms for themselves with the conqueror that they could, still nothing +could bend his inflexible will, and the armies, after the lull of a few +days, were again in motion. The despotism of the emperor we abhor; but +his indomitable perseverance and unconquerable energy are worthy of all +admiration and imitation. Had they but been exerted in a good cause! + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CHARLES V. AND THE TURKISH WARS. + +From 1552 to 1555. + +The Treaty of Passau.--The Emperor yields.--His continued Reverses.--The +Toleration Compromise.--Mutual Dissatisfation.--Remarkable Despondency +of the Emperor Charles.--His Address to the Convention at Brussels.--The +Convent of St. Justus.--Charles returns to Spain.--His Convent +Life.--The mock Burial.--His Death.--His Traits of Character.--The +King's Compliment to Titian.--The Condition of Austria.--Rapid Advance +of the Turks.--Reasons for the Inaction of the Christians.--The Sultan's +Method of overcoming Difficulties.--The little Fortress of Guntz.--What +it accomplished. + + +The Turks, animated by this civil war which was raging in Germany, were +pressing their march upon Hungary with great vigor, and the troops of +Ferdinand were retiring discomfited before the invader. Henry of France +and the Duke of Parma were also achieving victories in Italy endangering +the whole power of the emperor over those States. Ferdinand, appalled by +the prospect of the loss of Hungary, imploringly besought the emperor to +listen to terms of reconciliation. The Catholic princes, terrified in +view of the progress of the infidel, foreseeing the entire subjection of +Europe to the arms of the Moslem unless Christendom could combine in +self-defense, joined their voices with that of Ferdinand so earnestly +and in such impassioned tones, that the emperor finally, though very +reluctantly, gave his assent to the celebrated treaty of Passau, on the +2d of August, 1552. By this pacification the captives were released, +freedom of conscience and of worship was established, and the Protestant +troops, being disbanded, were at liberty to enter into the service of +Ferdinand to repel the Turks. Within six months a diet was to be +assembled to attempt an amicable adjustment of all civil and religious +difficulties. + +The intrepid Maurice immediately marched, accompanied by many of the +Protestant princes, and at the head of a powerful army, to repel the +Mohammedan armies. Charles, relieved from his German troubles, gathered +his strength to wreak revenge upon the King of France. But fortune +seemed to have deserted him. Defeat and disgrace accompanied his march. +Having penetrated the French province of Lorraine, he laid siege to +Metz. After losing thirty thousand men beneath its walls, he was +compelled, in the depth of winter, to raise the siege and retreat. His +armies were everywhere routed; the Turks menaced the shores of Italy; +the pope became his inveterate enemy, and joined France against him. +Maurice was struck by a bullet, and fell on the field of battle. The +electorate of Saxony passed into the hands of Augustus, a brother of +Maurice, while the former elector, Ferdinand, who shortly after died, +received some slight indemnification. + +Such was the state of affairs when the promised diet was summoned at +Passau. It met on the 5th of February, 1555. The emperor was confined +with the gout at Brussels, and his brother Ferdinand presided. It was a +propitious hour for the Protestants. Charles was sick, dejected and in +adversity. The better portion of the Catholics were disgusted with the +intolerance of the emperor, intolerance which even the more +conscientious popes could not countenance. Ferdinand was fully aware +that he could not defend his own kingdom of Hungary from the Turks +without the intervention of Protestant arms. He was, therefore, warmly +in favor of conciliation. + +The world was not yet sufficiently enlightened to comprehend the beauty +of a true toleration, entire freedom of conscience and of worship. After +long and very exciting debates--after being again and again at the point +of grasping their arms anew--they finally agreed that the Protestants +should enjoy the free exercise of their religion wherever Protestantism +had been established and recognized by the Confession of Augsburg. That +in all other places Protestant princes might prohibit the Catholic +religion in their States, and Catholic princes prohibit the Protestant +religion. But in each case the ejected party was at liberty to sell +their property and move without molestation to some State where their +religion was dominant. In the free cities of the empire, where both +religions were established, both were to be tolerated. + +Thus far, and no further, had the spirit of toleration made progress in +the middle of the sixteenth century. + +Such was the basis of the pacification. Neither party was satisfied. +Each felt that it had surrendered far too much to the other; and there +was subsequently much disagreement respecting the interpretation of some +of the most important articles. The pope, Paul IV., was indignant that +such toleration had been granted to the Protestants, and threatened the +emperor and his brother Ferdinand of Austria with excommunication if +they did not declare these decrees null and void throughout their +dominions. At the same time he entered into correspondence with Henry +II. of France to form a new holy league for the defense of the papal +church against the inroads of heresy. + +And now occurred one of the most extraordinary events which history has +recorded. Charles V., who had been the most enterprising and ambitious +prince in Europe, and the most insatiable in his thirst for power, +became the victim of the most extreme despondency. Harassed by the +perplexities which pressed in upon him from his widely-extended realms, +annoyed by the undutiful and haughty conduct of his son, who was +endeavoring to wrest authority from his father by taking advantage of +all his misfortunes, and perhaps inheriting a melancholy temperament +from his mother, who died in the glooms of insanity, and, more than all, +mortified and wounded by so sudden and so vast a reverse of fortune, in +which all his plans seemed to have failed--thus oppressed, humbled, he +retired in disgust to his room, indulged in the most fretful temper, +admitted none but his sister and a few confidential servants to his +presence, and so entirely neglected all business as to pass nine months +without signing a single paper. + +While the emperor was in this melancholy state, his insane mother, who +had lingered for years in delirious gloom, died on the 4th of April, +1555. It will be remembered that Charles had inherited valuable estates +in the Low Countries from his marriage with the daughter of the Duke of +Burgundy. Having resolved to abdicate all his power and titles in favor +of his son, he convened the States of the Low Countries at Brussels on +the 25th of October, 1555. Charles was then but fifty-five years of age, +and should have been in the strength of vigorous manhood. But he was +prematurely old, worn down with care, toil and disappointment. He +attended the assembly accompanied by his son Philip. Tottering beneath +infirmities, he leaned upon the shoulders of a friend for support, and +addressed the assembly in a long and somewhat boastful speech, +enumerating all the acts of his administration, his endeavors, his long +and weary journeys, his sleepless care, his wars, and, above all, his +victories. In conclusion he said: + +"While my health enabled me to perform my duty, I cheerfully bore the +burden; but as my constitution is now broken by an incurable distemper, +and my infirmities admonish me to retire, the happiness of my people +affects me more than the ambition of reigning. Instead of a decrepid old +man, tottering on the brink of the grave, I transfer your allegiance to +a sovereign in the prime of life, vigilant, sagacious, active and +enterprising. With respect to myself, if I have committed any error in +the course of a long administration, forgive and impute it to my +weakness, not to my intention. I shall ever retain a grateful sense of +your fidelity and attachment, and your welfare shall be the great object +of my prayers to Almighty God, to whom I now consecrate the remainder of +my days." + +Then turning to his son Philip, he said: + +"And you, my son, let the grateful recollection of this day redouble +your care and affection for your people. Other sovereigns may rejoice in +having given birth to their sons and in leaving their States to them +after their death. But I am anxious to enjoy, during my life, the double +satisfaction of feeling that you are indebted to me both for your birth +and power. Few monarchs will follow my example, and in the lapse of ages +I have scarcely found one whom I myself would imitate. The resolution, +therefore, which I have taken, and which I now carry into execution, +will be justified only by your proving yourself worthy of it. And you +will alone render yourself worthy of the extraordinary confidence which +I now repose in you by a zealous protection of your religion, and by +maintaining the purity of the Catholic faith, and by governing with +justice and moderation. And may you, if ever you are desirous of +retiring like myself to the tranquillity of private life, enjoy the +inexpressible happiness of having such a son, that you may resign your +crown to him with the same satisfaction as I now deliver mine to you." + +The emperor was here entirely overcome by emotion, and embracing Philip, +sank exhausted into his chair. The affecting scene moved all the +audience to tears. Soon after this, with the same formalities the +emperor resigned the crown of Spain to his son, reserving to himself, of +all his dignities and vast revenues, only a pension of about twenty +thousand dollars a year. For some months he remained in the Low +Countries, and then returned to Spain to seek an asylum in a convent +there. + +When in the pride of his power he once, while journeying in Spain, came +upon the convent of St. Justus in Estramadura, situated in a lovely +vale, secluded from all the bustle of life. The massive pile was +embosomed among the hills; forests spread widely around, and a beautiful +rivulet murmured by its walls. As the emperor gazed upon the enchanting +scene of solitude and silence he exclaimed, "Behold a lovely retreat for +another Diocletian!" + +The picture of the convent of St. Justus had ever remained in his mind, +and perhaps had influenced him, when overwhelmed with care, to seek its +peaceful retirement. Embarking in a ship for Spain, he landed at Loredo +on the 28th of September, 1556. As soon as his feet touched the soil of +his native land he prostrated himself to the earth, kissed the ground, +and said, + +"Naked came I into the world, and naked I return to thee, thou common +mother of mankind. To thee I dedicate my body, as the only return I can +make for all the benefits conferred on me." + +Then kneeling, and holding the crucifix before him, with tears streaming +from his eyes, and all unmindful of the attendants who were around, he +breathed a fervent prayer of gratitude for the past, and commended +himself to God for the future. By slow and easy stages, as he was very +infirm, he journeyed to the vale of Estramadura, near Placentia, and +entered upon his silent, monastic life. + +His apartments consisted of six small cells. The stone walls were +whitewashed, and the rooms furnished with the utmost frugality. Within +the walls of the convent, and communicating with the chapel, there was a +small garden, which the emperor had tastefully arranged with shrubbery +and flowers. Here Charles passed the brief remainder of his days. He +amused himself with laboring in the garden with his own hands. He +regularly attended worship in the chapel twice every day, and took part +in the service, manifestly with the greatest sincerity and devotion. + +The emperor had not a cultivated mind, and was not fond of either +literary or scientific pursuits. To beguile the hours he amused himself +with tools, carving toys for children, and ingenious puppets and +automata to astonish the peasants. For a time he was very happy in his +new employment. After so stormy a life, the perfect repose and freedom +from care which he enjoyed in the convent, seemed to him the perfection +of bliss. But soon the novelty wore away, and his constitutional +despondency returned with accumulated power. + +His dejection now assumed the form of religious melancholy. He began to +devote every moment of his time to devotional reading and prayer, +esteeming all amusements and all employments sinful which interfered +with his spiritual exercises. He expressed to the Bishop of Toledo his +determination to devote, for the rest of his days, every moment to the +service of God. With the utmost scrupulousness he carried out this plan. +He practiced rigid fasts, and conformed to all the austerity of convent +discipline. He renounced his pension, and sitting at the abstemious +table with the monks, declined seeing any other company than that of the +world-renouncing priests and friars around him. He scourged himself with +the most cruel severity, till his back was lacerated with the whip. He +whole soul seemed to crave suffering, in expiation for his sins. His +ingenuity was tasked to devise new methods of mortification and +humiliation. Ambition had ever been the ruling passion of his soul, and +now he was ambitious to suffer more, and to abuse himself more than any +other mortal had ever done. + +Goaded by this impulse, he at last devised the scheme of solemnising his +own funeral. All the melancholy arrangements for his burial were made; +the coffin provided; the emperor reclined upon his bed as dead; he was +wrapped in his shroud, and placed in his coffin. The monks, and all the +inmates of the convent attended in mourning; the bells tolled; requiems +were chanted by the choir; the funeral service was read, and then the +emperor, as if dead, was placed in the tomb of the chapel, and the +congregation retired. The monarch, after remaining some time in his +coffin to impress himself with the sense of what it is to die, and be +buried, rose from his tomb, kneeled before the altar for some time in +worship, and then returned to his cell to pass the night in deep +meditation and prayer. + +The shock and the chill of this solemn scene were too much for the old +monarch's feeble frame and weakened mind. He was seized with a fever, +and in a few days breathed his last, in the 59th year of his age. He had +spent a little over three years in the convent. The life of Charles V. +was a sad one. Through all his days he was consumed by unsatisfied +ambition, and he seldom enjoyed an hour of contentment. To his son he +said-- + +"I leave you a heavy burden; for, since my shoulders have borne it, I +have not passed one day exempt from disquietude." + +Indeed it would seem that there could have been but little happiness for +anybody in those dark days of feudal oppression and of incessant wars. +Ambition, intrigue, duplicity, reigned over the lives of princes and +nobles, while the masses of the people were ever trampled down by +oppressive lords and contending armies. Europe was a field of fire and +blood. The cimeter of the Turk spared neither mother, maiden nor babe. +Cities and villages were mercilessly burned, cottages set in flames, +fields of grain destroyed, and whole populations carried into slavery, +where they miserably died. And the ravages of Christian warfare, duke +against duke, baron against baron, king against king, were hardly less +cruel and desolating. Balls from opposing batteries regard not the +helpless ones in their range. Charging squadrons must trample down with +iron hoof all who are in their way. The wail of misery rose from every +portion of Europe. The world has surely made some progress since that +day. + +There was but very little that was loveable in the character of Charles, +and he seems to have had but very few friends. So intense and earnest +was he in the prosecution of the plans of grandeur which engrossed his +soul, that he was seldom known to smile. He had many of the attributes +of greatness, indomitable energy and perseverance, untiring industry, +comprehensive grasp of thought and capability of superintending the +minutest details. He had, also, a certain fanatic conscientiousness +about him, like that which actuated Saul of Tarsus, when, holding the +garments of those who stoned the martyr, he "verily thought that he was +doing God service." + +Many anecdotes are told illustrative of certain estimable traits in his +character. When a boy, like other boys, he was not fond of study, and +being very self-willed, he would not yield to the entreaties of his +tutors. He consequently had but an imperfect education, which may in +part account for his excessive illiberality, and for many of his +stupendous follies. The mind, enlarged by liberal culture, is ever +tolerant. He afterwards regretted exceedingly this neglect of his early +studies. At Genoa, on some public occasion, he was addressed in a Latin +oration, not one word of which he understood. + +"I now feel," he said, "the justice of my preceptor Adrian's +remonstrances, who frequently used to predict that I should be punished +for the thoughtlessness of my youth." + +He was fond of the society of learned men, and treated them with great +respect. Some of the nobles complained that the emperor treated the +celebrated historian, Guicciardini, with much more respect than he did +them. He replied-- + +"I can, by a word, create a hundred nobles; but God alone can create a +Guicciardini." + +He greatly admired the genius of Titian, and considered him one of the +most resplendent ornaments of his empire. He knew full well that Titian +would be remembered long after thousands of the proudest grandees of his +empire had sunk into oblivion. He loved to go into the studio of the +illustrious painter, and watch the creations of beauty as they rose +beneath his pencil. One day Titian accidentally dropped his brush. The +emperor picked it up, and, presenting it to the artist, said +gracefully-- + +"Titian is worthy of being served by an emperor." + +Charles V. never, apparently, inspired the glow of affection, or an +emotion of enthusiasm in any bosom. He accomplished some reforms in the +German empire, and the only interest his name now excites is the +interest necessarily involved in the sublime drama of his long and +eventful reign. + +It is now necessary to retrace our steps for a few years, that we may +note the vicissitudes of Austria, while the empire was passing through +the scenes we have narrated. + +Ferdinand I., the brother of Charles V., who was left alone in the +government of Austria, was the second son of Philip the Handsome and +Joanna of Spain. His birth was illustrious, the Emperor Maximilian being +his paternal grandfather, and Ferdinand and Isabella being his +grandparents on his mother's side. He was born in Spain, March 10, 1503, +and received a respectable education. His manners were courteous and +winning, and he was so much more popular than Charles as quite to excite +the jealousy of his imperious and imperial spirit. Charles, upon +attaining the throne, ceded to his brother the Austrian territories, +which then consisted of four small provinces, Austria, Styria, Carinthia +and Carniola, with the Tyrol. + +Ferdinand married Ann, princess of Hungary and Bohemia. The death of his +wife's brother Louis made her the heiress of those two crowns, and thus +secured to Ferdinand the magnificent dowry of the kingdoms of Hungary +and Bohemia. But possession of the scepter of those realms was by no +means a sinecure. The Turkish power, which had been for many years +increasing with the most alarming rapidity and had now acquired +appalling strength, kept Hungary, and even the Austrian States, in +constant and terrible alarm. + +The Turks, sweeping over Persia, Arabia, Egypt, Syria, all Asia Minor, +crossing the straits and inundating Greece, fierce and semi-savage, with +just civilization enough to organize and guide with skill their +wolf-like ferocity, were now pressing Europe in Spain, in Italy, and +were crowding, in wave after wave of invasion, up the valley of the +Danube. They had created a navy which was able to cope with the most +powerful fleets of Europe, and island after island of the Mediterranean +was yielding to their sway. + +In 1520, Solyman, called the Magnificent, overran Bosnia, and advancing +to the Danube, besieged and captured Belgrade, which strong fortress was +considered the only reliable barrier against his encroachments. At the +same time his fleet took possession of the island of Rhodes. After some +slight reverses, which the Turks considered merely embarrassments, they +resumed their aggressions, and Solyman, in 1525, again crossing the +Danube, entered Hungary with an army of two hundred thousand men. Louis, +who was then King of Hungary, brother of the wife of Ferdinand, was able +to raise an army of but thirty thousand to meet him. With more courage +than discretion, leading this feeble band, he advanced to resist the +foe. They met on the plains of Mohatz. The Turks made short work of it. +In a few hours, with their cimeters they hewed down nearly the whole +Christian army. The remnant escaped as lambs from wolves. The king, in +his heavy armor, spurred his horse into a stream to cross in his flight. +In attempting to ascend the bank, the noble charger, who had borne his +master bravely through the flood, fell back upon his rider, and the dead +body of the king was afterward picked up by the Turks, covered with the +mud of the morass. All Hungary would now have fallen into the hands of +the Turks had not Solyman been recalled by a rebellion in one of his own +provinces. + +It was this event which placed the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary on the +brow of Ferdinand, and by annexing those two kingdoms to the Austrian +States, elevated Austria to be one of the first powers in Europe. +Ferdinand, thus strengthened sent ambassadors to Constantinople to +demand the restitution of Belgrade and other important towns which the +Turks still held in Hungary. + +"Belgrade!" exclaimed the haughty sultan, when he heard the demand. "Go +tell your master that I am collecting troops and preparing for my +expedition. I will suspend at my neck the keys of my Hungarian +fortresses, and will bring them to that plain of Mohatz where Louis, by +the aid of Providence, found defeat and a grave. Let Ferdinand meet and +conquer me, and take them, after severing my head from my body! But if I +find him not there, I will seek him at Buda or follow him to Vienna." + +Soon after this Solyman crossed the Danube with three hundred thousand +men, and advancing to Mohatz, encamped for several days upon the plain, +with all possible display or Oriental pomp and magnificence. Thus +proudly he threw down the gauntlet of defiance. But there was no +champion there to take it up. Striking his tents, and spreading his +banners to the breeze, in unimpeded march he ascended the Danube two +hundred miles from Belgrade to the city of Pest. And here his martial +bands made hill and vale reverberate the bugle blasts of victory. Pest, +the ancient capital of Hungary, rich in all the wealth of those days, +with a population of some sixty thousand, was situated on the left bank +of the river. Upon the opposite shore, connected by a fine bridge three +quarters of a mile in width, was the beautiful and opulent city of Buda. +In possession of these two maritime towns, then perhaps the most +important in Hungary, the Turks rioted for a few days in luxury and all +abominable outrage and indulgence, and then, leaving a strong garrison +to hold the fortresses, they continued their march. Pressing +resistlessly onward some hundred miles further, taking all the towns by +the way, on both sides of the Danube, they came to the city of Raab. + +It seems incredible that there could have been such an unobstructed +march of the Turks, through the very heart of Hungary. But the Emperor +Charles V. was at that time in Italy, all engrossed in the fiercest +warfare there. Throughout the German empire the Catholics and the +Protestants were engaged in a conflict which absorbed all other +thoughts. And the Protestants resolutely refused to assist in repelling +the Turks while the sword of Catholic vengeance was suspended over them. +From Raab the invading army advanced some hundred miles further to the +very walls of Vienna. Ferdinand, conscious of his inability to meet the +foe in the open field, was concentrating all his available strength to +defend his capital. + +At Cremnitz the Turks met with the first serious show of resistance. The +fortress was strong, and the garrison, inspired by the indomitable +energy and courage of their commandant, Nicholas, Count of Salm, for a +month repelled every assault of the foe. Day after day and night after +night the incessant bombardment continued; the walls were crumbed by the +storm of shot; column after column of the Turks rushed to the assault, +but all in vain. The sultan, disappointed and enraged, made one last +desperate effort, but his strong columns, thined, mangled and bleeding, +were compelled to retire in utter discomfiture. + +Winter was now approaching. Reinforcements were also hastening from +Vienna, from Bohemia, and from other parts of the German empire. +Solyman, having devastated the country around him, and being all +unprepared for the storms of winter, was compelled to retire. He struck +his tents, and slowly and sullenly descended the Danube, wreaking +diabolical vengeance upon the helpless peasants, killing, burning and +destroying. Leaving a strong garrison to hold what remained of Buda and +Pest, he carried thousands with him into captivity, where, after years +of woe, they passed into the grave. + + "'Tis terrible to rouse the lion, + Dreadful to cross the tiger's path; + But the most terrible of terrors, + Is man himself in his wild wrath." + +Solyman spent two years in making preparation for another march to +Vienna, resolved to wipe out the disgrace of his last defeat by +capturing all the Austrian States, and of then spreading the terror of +his arms far and wide through the empire of Germany. The energy with +which he acted may be inferred from one well authenticated anecdote +illustrative of his character. He had ordered a bridge to be constructed +across the Drave. The engineer who had been sent to accomplish the task, +after a careful survey, reported that a bridge could not be constructed +at that point. Solyman sent him a linen cord with this message: + +"The sultan, thy master, commands thee, without consideration of the +difficulties, to complete the bridge over the Drave. If thou doest it +not, on his arrival he will have thee strangled with this cord." + +With a large army, thoroughly drilled, and equipped with all the +enginery of war, the sultan commenced his campaign. His force was so +stupendous and so incumbered with the necessary baggage and heavy +artillery, that it required a march of sixty days to pass from +Constantinople to Belgrade. Ferdinand, in inexpressible alarm, sent +ambassadors to Solyman, hoping to avert the storm by conciliation and +concessions. This indication of weakness but increased the arrogance of +the Turk. + +He embarked his artillery on the Danube in a flotilla of three thousand +vessels. Then crossing the Save, which at Belgrade flows into the +Danube, he left the great central river of Europe on his right, and +marching almost due west through Sclavonia, approached the frontiers of +Styria, one of the most important provinces of the Austrian kingdom, by +the shortest route. Still it was a long march of some two hundred miles. +Among the defiles of the Illyrian mountains, through which he was +compelled to pass in his advance to Vienna, he came upon the little +fortress of Guntz, garrisoned only by eight hundred men. Solyman +expected to sweep this slight annoyance away as he would brush a fly +from his face. He sent his advance guard to demolish the impudent +obstacle; then, surprised by the resistance, he pushed forward a few +more battalions; then, enraged at the unexpected strength developed, he +ordered to the attack what he deemed an overwhelming force; and then, in +astonishment and fury, impelled against the fortress the combined +strength of his whole army. But the little crag stood, like a rock +opposing the flooding tide. The waves of war rolled on and dashed +against impenetrable and immovable granite, and were scattered back in +bloody spray. The fortress commanded the pass, and swept it clean with +an unintermitted storm of shot and balls. For twenty-eight days the +fortress resisted the whole force of the Turkish army, and prevented it +from advancing a mile. This check gave the terrified inhabitants of +Vienna, and of the surrounding region, time to unite for the defense of +the capital. The Protestants and the Catholics having settled their +difficulties by the pacification of Ratisbon, as we have before +narrated, combined all their energies; the pope sent his choicest +troops; all the ardent young men of the German empire, from the ocean to +the Alps, rushed to the banners of the cross, and one hundred and thirty +thousand men, including thirty thousand mounted horsemen, were speedily +gathered within and around the walls of Vienna. + +Thus thwarted in his plans, Solyman found himself compelled to retreat +ingloriously, by the same path through which he had advanced. Thus +Christendom was relieved of this terrible menace. Though the Turks were +still in possession of Hungary, the allied troops of the empire +strangely dispersed without attempting to regain the kingdom from their +domination. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +FERDINAND I.--HIS WARS AND INTRIGUES. + +From 1555 To 1562. + +John Of Tapoli.--The Instability Of Compacts.--The Sultans's Demands.--A +Reign Of War.--Powers And Duties Of The Monarchs Of Bohemia.--The +Diet.--The King's Desire To Crush Protestantism.--The Entrance To +Prague.--Terror Of The Inhabitants.--The King's Conditions.--The Bloody +Diet.--Disciplinary Measures.--The Establishment Of The Order Of +Jesuits.--abdication Of Charles V. In Favor Of Ferdinand.--Power Of The +Pope.--Paul IV.--A Quiet But Powerful Blow.--The Progress Of The +Reformers.--Attempts To Reconcile The Protestants--The Unsuccessful +Assembly. + + +During all the wars with the Turks, a Transylvanian count, John of +Tapoli, was disputing Ferdinand's right to the throne of Hungary and +claiming it for himself. He even entered into negotiations with the +Turks, and cooeperated with Solyman in his invasion of Hungary, having +the promise of the sultan that he should be appointed king of the realm +as soon as it was brought in subjection to Turkey. The Turks had now +possession of Hungary, and the sultan invested John of Tapoli with the +sovereignty of the kingdom, in the presence of a brilliant assemblage of +the officers of his army and of the Hungarian nobles. + +The last discomfiture and retreat of Solyman encouraged Ferdinand to +redoubled exertions to reconquer Hungary from the combined forces of the +Turks and his Transylvanian rival. Several years passed away in +desultory, indecisive warfare, while John held his throne as tributary +king to the sultan. At last Ferdinand, finding that he could not resist +their united strength, and John becoming annoyed by the exactions of his +Turkish master, they agreed to a compromise, by which John, who was +aged, childless and infirm, was to remain king of all that part of +Hungary which he held until he died; and the whole kingdom was then to +revert to Ferdinand and his heirs--But it was agreed that should John +marry and have a son, that son should be viceroy, or, as the title then +was, _univode_, of his father's hereditary domain of _Transylvania_, +having no control over any portion of Hungary proper. + +Somewhat to the disappointment of Ferdinand, the old monarch immediately +married a young bride. A son was born to them, and in fourteen days +after his birth the father died of a stroke of apoplexy. The child was +entitled to the viceroyship of Transylvania, while all the rest of +Hungary was to pass unincumbered to Ferdinand. But Isabella, the +ambitious young mother, who had married the decrepit monarch that she +might enjoy wealth and station, had no intention that her babe should be +less of a king than his father was. She was the daughter of Sigismond, +King of Poland, and relying upon the support of her regal father she +claimed the crown of Hungary for her boy, in defiance of the solemn +compact. In that age of chivalry a young and beautiful woman could +easily find defenders whatever might be her claims. Isabella soon +rallied around her banner many Hungarian nobles, and a large number of +adventurous knights from Poland. + +Under her influence a large party of nobles met, chose the babe their +king, and crowned him, under the name of Stephen, with a great display +of military and religious pomp. They then conveyed him and his mother to +the strong castle of Buda and dispatched an embassy to the sultan at +Constantinople, avowing homage to him, as their feudal lord, and +imploring his immediate and vigorous support. + +Ferdinand, thus defrauded, and conscious of his inability to rescue the +crown from the united forces of the Hungarian partisans of Stephen, and +from the Turks, condescended also to send a message to the sultan, +offering to hold the crown as his fief and to pay to the Porte the same +tribute which John had paid, if the sultan would support his claim. The +imperious Turk, knowing that he could depose the baby king at his +pleasure, insultingly rejected the proposals which Ferdinand had +humiliated himself in advancing. He returned in answer, that he +demanded, as the price of peace, not only that Ferdinand should renounce +all claim whatever to the crown of Hungary, but that he should also +acknowledge the Austrian territories as under vassalage to the Turkish +empire, and pay tribute accordingly. + +Ferdinand, at the same time that he sent his embassy to Constantinople, +without waiting for a reply dispatched an army into Hungary, which +reached Buda and besieged Isabella and her son in the citadel. + +He pressed the siege with such vigor that Isabella must have surrendered +had not an army of Turks come to her rescue. The Austrian troops were +defeated and dispersed. The sultan himself soon followed with a still +larger army, took possession of the city, secured the person of the +queen and the infant prince, and placed a garrison of ten thousand +janissaries in the citadel. The Turkish troops spread in all directions, +establishing themselves in towns, castles, fortresses, and setting at +defiance all Ferdinand's efforts to dislodge them. These events occurred +during the reign of the Emperor Charles V. The resources of Ferdinand +had become so exhausted that he was compelled, while affairs were in +this state, in the year 1545, ten years before the abdication of the +emperor, to implore of Solyman a suspension of arms. + +The haughty sultan reluctantly consented to a truce of five years upon +condition that Ferdinand would pay him an annual tribute of about sixty +thousand dollars, and become feudatory of the Porte. To these +humiliating conditions Ferdinand felt compelled to assent. Solyman, thus +relieved from any trouble on the part of Ferdinand, compelled the queen +to renounce to himself all right which either she or her son had to the +throne. And now for many years we have nothing but a weary record of +intrigues, assassinations, wars and woes. Miserable Hungary was but a +field of blood. There were three parties, Ferdinand, Stephen and +Solyman, all alike ready to be guilty of any inhumanity or to perpetrate +any perfidy in the accomplishment of their plans. Ferdinand with his +armies held one portion of Hungary, Solyman another, and Stephen, with +his strong partisans another. Bombardment succeeded bombardment; cities +and provinces were now overrun by one set of troops and now by another; +the billows of war surged to and fro incessantly, and the wail of the +widow and the cry of the orphan ascended by day and by night to the ear +of God. + +In 1556 the Turks again invested Stephen with the government of that +large portion of Hungary which they held, including Transylvania. +Ferdinand still was in possession of several important fortresses, and +of several of the western districts of Hungary bordering on the Austrian +States. Isabella, annoyed by her subjection to the Turks, made +propositions to Ferdinand for a reconciliation, and a truce was agreed +upon which gave the land rest for a few years. + +While these storms were sweeping over Hungary, events of scarcely less +importance were transpiring in Bohemia. This kingdom was an elective +monarchy, and usually upon the death of a king the fiercest strife +ensued as to who should be his successor. The elected monarch, on +receiving the crown, was obliged to recognize the sovereignty of the +people as having chosen him for their ruler, and he promised to govern +according to the ancient constitution of the kingdom. The monarch, +however, generally found no difficulty in surrounding himself with such +strong supporters as to secure the election of his son or heir, and +frequently he had his successor chosen before his death. Thus the +monarchy, though nominally elective, was in its practical operation +essentially hereditary. + +The authority of the crown was quite limited. The monarch was only +intrusted with so much power as the proud nobles were willing to +surrender to one of their number whom they appointed chief, whose +superiority they reluctantly acknowledged, and against whom they were +very frequently involved in wars. In those days the _people_ had hardly +a recognized existence. The nobles met in a congress called a diet, and +authorized their elected chief, the king, to impose taxes, raise troops, +declare war and institute laws according to their will. These diets were +differently composed under different reigns, and privileged cities were +sometimes authorized to send deputies whom they selected from the most +illustrious of their citizens. The king usually convoked the diets; but +in those stormy times of feuds, conspiracies and wars, there was hardly +any general rule. The nobles, displeased at some act of the king, would +themselves, through some one or more of their number, summon a diet and +organize resistance. The numbers attending such an irregular body were +of course very various. There appear to have been diets of the empire +composed of not more than half a dozen individuals, and others where as +many hundreds were assembled. Sometimes the meetings were peaceful, and +again tumultuous with the clashing of arms. + +In Bohemia the conflict between the Catholics and the reformers had +raged with peculiar acrimony, and the reformers in that kingdom had +become a very numerous and influential body. Ferdinand was anxious to +check the progress of the Reformation, and he exerted all the power he +could command to defend and maintain Catholic supremacy. For ten years +Ferdinand was absent from Bohemia, all his energies being absorbed by +the Hungarian war. He was anxious to weaken the power of the nobles in +Bohemia. There was ever, in those days, either an open or a smothered +conflict between the king and the nobles, the monarch striving to grasp +more power, the nobles striving to keep him in subjection to them. +Ferdinand attempted to disarm the nobles by sending for all the +artillery of the kingdom, professing that he needed it to carry on his +war with the Turks. But the wary nobles held on to their artillery. He +then was guilty of the folly of hunting up some old exploded compacts, +in virtue of which he declared that Bohemia was not an elective but a +hereditary monarchy, and that he, as hereditary sovereign, held the +throne for himself and his heirs. + +This announcement spread a flame of indignation through all the castles +of Bohemia. The nobles rallied, called a diet, passed strong +resolutions, organized an army, and adopted measures for vigorous +resistance. But Ferdinand was prepared for all these demonstrations. His +Hungarian truce enabled him to march a strong army on Bohemia. The party +in power has always numerous supporters from those who, being in office, +will lose their dignities by revolution. The king summoned all the well +affected to repair to his standards, threatening condign punishment to +all who did not give this proof of loyalty. Nobles and knights in great +numbers flocked to his encampment. With menacing steps his battalions +strode on, and triumphantly entered Prague, the capital city, situated +in the very heart of the kingdom. + +The indignation in the city was great, but the king was too strong to be +resisted, and he speedily quelled all movements of tumult. Prague, +situated upon the steep and craggy banks of the Moldau, spanning the +stream, and with its antique dwellings rising tier above tier upon the +heights, is one of the most grand and imposing capitals of Europe. About +one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants crowd its narrow streets and +massive edifices. Castles, fortresses, somber convents and the Gothic +palaces of the old Bohemian monarchs, occupying every picturesque +locality, as gray with age as the eternal crags upon which they stand, +and exhibiting every fantastic variety of architecture, present an +almost unrivaled aspect of beauty and of grandeur. The Palace on the +Hill alone is larger than the imperial palace at Vienna, containing over +four hundred apartments, some of them being rooms of magnificent +dimensions. The cathedral within the precincts of this palace occupied +more than one hundred and fifty years in its erection. + +Ferdinand, with the iron energy and determined will of an enraged, +successful despot, stationed his troops at the gates, the bridges and at +every commanding position, and thus took military possession of the +city. The inhabitants, overawed and helpless, were in a state of terror. +The emperor summoned six hundred of the most influential of the citizens +to his palace, including all who possessed rank or office or wealth. +Tremblingly they came. As soon as they had entered, the gates were +closed and guarded, and they were all made prisoners. The king then, +seated upon his throne, in his royal robes, and with his armed officers +around him, ordered the captives like culprits to be led before him. +Sternly he charged them with treason, and demanded what excuse they had +to offer. They were powerless, and their only hope was in +self-abasement. One, speaking in the name of the rest, said: + +"We will not presume to enter into any defense of our conduct with our +king and master. We cast ourselves upon his royal mercy." + +They then all simultaneously threw themselves upon their knees, +imploring his pardon. The king allowed them to remain for some time in +that posture, that he might enjoy their humiliation. He then ordered his +officers to conduct them into the hall of justice, and detain them there +until he had decided respecting their punishment. For some hours they +were kept in this state of suspense. He then informed them, that out of +his great clemency he had decided to pardon them on the following +conditions. + +They were to surrender all their constitutional privileges, whatever +they were, into the hands of the king, and be satisfied with whatever +privileges he might condescend to confer upon them. They were to bring +all their artillery, muskets and ammunition to the palace, and surrender +them to his officers; all the revenues of the city, together with a tax +upon malt and beer, were to be paid into his hands for his disposal, and +all their vassals, and their property of every kind, they were to resign +to the king and to his heirs, whom they were to acknowledge as the +_hereditary_ successors to the throne of Bohemia. Upon these conditions +the king promised to spare the rebellious city, and to pardon all the +offenders, excepting a few of the most prominent, whom he was determined +to punish with such severity as to prove an effectual warning to all +others. + +The prisoners were terrified into the immediate ratification of these +hard terms. They were then all released, excepting forty, who were +reserved for more rigorous punishment. In the same manner the king sent +a summons to all the towns of the kingdom; and by the same terrors the +same terms were extorted. All the rural nobles, who had manifested a +spirit of resistance, were also summoned before a court of justice for +trial. Some fled the kingdom. Their estates were confiscated to +Ferdinand, and they were sentenced to death should they ever return. +Many others were deprived of their possessions. Twenty-six were thrown +into prison, and two condemned to public execution. + +The king, having thus struck all the discontented with terror, summoned +a diet to meet in his palace at Prague. They met the 22d of August, +1547. A vast assemblage was convened, as no one who was summoned dared +to stay away. The king, wishing to give an intimation to the diet of +what they were to expect should they oppose his wishes, commenced the +session by publicly hanging four of the most illustrious of his +captives. One of these, high judge of the kingdom, was in the seventieth +year of his age. The Bloody Diet, as it has since been called, was +opened, and Ferdinand found all as pliant as he could wish. The royal +discipline had effected wonders. The slightest intimation of Ferdinand +was accepted with eagerness. + +The execrable tyrant wished to impress the whole kingdom with a salutary +dread of incurring his paternal displeasure. He brought out the forty +prisoners who still remained in their dungeons. Eight of the most +distinguished men of the kingdom were led to three of the principal +cities, in each of which, in the public square, they were ignominiously +and cruelly whipped on the bare back. Before each flagellation the +executioner proclaimed-- + +"These men are punished because they are traitors, and because they +excited the people against their _hereditary_ master." + +They then, with eight others, their property being confiscated, in utter +beggary, were driven as vagabonds from the kingdom. The rest, after +being impoverished by fines, were restored to liberty. Ferdinand adopted +vigorous measures to establish his despotic power. Considering the +Protestant religion as peculiarly hostile to despotism, in the +encouragement it afforded to education, to the elevation of the masses, +and to the diffusion of those principles of fraternal equality which +Christ enjoined; and considering the Catholic religion as the great +bulwark of kingly power, by the intolerance of the Church teaching the +benighted multitudes subjection to civil intolerance, Ferdinand, with +unceasing vigilance, and with melancholy success, endeavored to +eradicate the Lutheran doctrines from the kingdom. He established the +most rigorous censorship of the press, and would allow no foreign work, +unexamined, to enter the realm. He established in Bohemia the fanatic +order of the Jesuits, and intrusted to them the education of the young. + +It is often impossible to reconcile the inconsistencies of the human +heart. Ferdinand, while guilty of such atrocities, affected, on some +points, the most scrupulous punctilios of honor. The clearly-defined +privileges which had been promised the Protestants, he would not +infringe in the least. They were permitted to give their children +Protestant teachers, and to conduct worship in their own way. He +effected his object of changing Bohemia from an elective to a hereditary +monarchy, and thus there was established in Bohemia the renowned +doctrine of regal legitimacy; of the _divine right_ of kings to govern. +With such a bloody hand was the doctrine of the sovereignty, not of the +_people_, but of the _nobles_, overthrown in Bohemia. The nobles are not +much to be commiserated, for they trampled upon the people as +mercilessly as the king did upon them. It is merely another illustration +of the old and melancholy story of the strong devouring the weak: the +owl takes the wren; the eagle the owl. + +Bohemia, thus brought in subjection to a single mind, and shackled in +its spirit of free enterprise, began rapidly to exhibit symptoms of +decline and decay. It was a great revolution, accomplished by cunning +and energy, and maintained by the terrors of confiscation, exile and +death. + +The Emperor Charles V., it will be remembered, had attempted in vain to +obtain the reversion of the imperial crown for his son Philip at his own +death. The crown of Spain was his hereditary possession, and that he +could transmit to his son. But the crown of the empire was elective. +Charles V. was so anxious to secure the imperial dignity for his son, +that he retained the crown of the empire for some months after +abdicating that of Spain, still hoping to influence the electors in +their choice. But there were so many obstacles in the way of the +recognition of the young Philip as emperor, that Charles, anxious to +retain the dignity in the family, reluctantly yielded to the intrigues +of his brother Ferdinand, who had now become so powerful that he could +perhaps triumph over any little irregularity in the succession and +silence murmurs. + +Consequently, Charles, nine months after the abdication of the thrones +of the Low Countries and of Spain, tried the experiment of abdicating +the _elective_ crown of the empire in favor of Ferdinand. It was in many +respects such an act as if the President of the United States should +abdicate in favor of some one of his own choice. The emperor had, +however, a semblance of right to place the scepter in the hands of whom +he would during his lifetime. But, upon the death of the emperor, would +his appointee still hold his power, or would the crown at that moment be +considered as falling from his brow? It was the 7th of August, 1556, +when the emperor abdicated the throne of the empire in behalf of his +brother Ferdinand. It was a new event in history, without a precedent, +and the matter was long and earnestly discussed throughout the German +States. Notwithstanding all Ferdinand's energy, sagacity and despotic +power, two years elapsed before he could secure the acknowledgment of +his title, by the German States, and obtain a proclamation of his +imperial state. + +The pope had thus far had such an amazing control over the conscience, +or rather the superstition of Europe, that the choice of the electors +was ever subject to the ratification of the holy father. It was +necessary for the emperor elect to journey to Rome, and be personally +crowned by the hands of the pope, before he could be considered in legal +possession of the imperial title and of a right to the occupancy of the +throne. Julius II., under peculiar circumstances, allowed Maximilian to +assume the title of _emperor elect_ while he postponed his visit to Rome +for coronation; but the want of the papal sanction, by the imposition of +the crown upon his brow by those _sacred hands_, thwarted Maximilian in +some of his most fondly-cherished measures. + +Paul IV. was now pontiff, an old man, jealous of his prerogatives, +intolerant in the extreme, and cherishing the most exorbitant sense of +his spiritual power. He execrated the Protestants, and was indignant +with Ferdinand that he had shown them any mercy at all. But Ferdinand, +conscious of the importance of a papal coronation, sent a very +obsequious embassy to Rome, announcing his appointment as emperor, and +imploring the benediction of the holy father and the reception of the +crown from his hands. The haughty and disdainful reply of the pope was +characteristic of the times and of the man. It was in brief, as follows: + +"The Emperor Charles has behaved like a madman; and his acts are no more +to be respected than the ravings of insanity. Charles V. received the +imperial crown from the head of the Church; in abdicating, that crown +could only return to the sacred hands which conferred it. The nomination +of Ferdinand as his successor we pronounce to be null and void. The +alleged ratification of the electors is a mockery, dishonored and +vitiated as it is by the votes of electors polluted with heresy. We +therefore command Ferdinand to relinquish all claim to the imperial +crown." + +The irascible old pontiff, buried beneath the senseless pomps of the +Vatican, was not at all aware of the change which Protestant preaching +and writing had effected in the public mind of Germany. Italy was still +slumbering in the gloom of the dark ages; but light was beginning to +dawn upon the hills of the empire. One half of the population of the +German empire would rally only the more enthusiastically around +Ferdinand, if he would repel all papal assumptions with defiance and +contempt. Ferdinand was the wiser and the better informed man of the +two. He conducted with dignity and firmness which make us almost forget +his crimes. A diet was summoned, and it was quietly decreed that a +_papal coronation was no longer necessary_. That one short line was the +heaviest blow the papal throne had yet received. From it, it never +recovered and never can recover. + +Paul IV. was astounded at such effrontery, and as soon as he had +recovered a little from his astonishment, alarmed in view of such a +declaration of independence, he took counsel of discretion, and +humiliating as it was, made advances for a reconciliation. Ferdinand was +also anxious to be on good terms with the pope. While negotiations were +pending, Paul died, his death being perhaps hastened by chagrin. Pius +IV. succeeded him, and pressed still more earnestly overtures for +reconciliation Ferdinand, through his ambassador, expressed his +willingness to pledge the accustomed _devotion_ and _reverence_ to the +head of the Church, omitting the word _obedience_. But the pope was +anxious, above all things, to have that emphatic word _obey_ introduced +into the ritual of subjection, and after employing all the arts of +diplomacy and cajolery, carried his point. Ferdinand, with duplicity +which was not honorable, let the word remain, saying that it was not his +act, but that of his ambassador. The pope affected satisfaction with the +formal acknowledgment of his power, while Ferdinand ever after refused +to recognize his authority. Thus terminated the long dependence, running +through ages of darkness and delusion, of the German emperors upon the +Roman see. + +Ferdinand did not trouble himself to receive the crown from the pope, +and since his day the emperors of Germany have no longer been exposed to +the expense and the trouble of a journey to Rome for their coronation. +Though Ferdinand was strongly attached to the tenets of the papal +church, and would gladly have eradicated Protestantism from his domains, +he was compelled to treat the Protestants with some degree of +consideration, as he needed the aid of their arms in the wars in which +he was incessantly involved with the Turks. He even made great efforts +to introduce some measure of conciliation which should reconcile the two +parties, and thus reunite his realms under one system of doctrine and of +worship. + +Still Protestantism was making rapid strides all over Europe. It had +become the dominant religion in Denmark and Sweden, and, by the +accession of Elizabeth to the throne of England, was firmly established +in that important kingdom. In France also the reformed religion had made +extensive inroads, gathering to its defense many of the noblest spirits, +in rank and intellect, in the realm. The terrors of the inquisition had +thus far prevented the truth from making much progress in Spain and +Portugal. + +With the idea of promoting reconciliation, Ferdinand adopted a measure +which contributed greatly to his popularity with the Protestants. He +united with France and Spain in urging Pius IV., a mild and pliant +pontiff, to convene a council in Germany to heal the religious feud. He +drew up a memorial, which was published and widely scattered, declaring +that the Protestants had become far too powerful to be treated with +outrage or contempt; that there were undeniable wrongs in the Church +which needed to be reformed; and that no harm could accrue from +permitting the clergy to marry, and to administer both bread and wine to +the communicants in the Lord's Supper. It was a doctrine of the Church +of Rome, that the laity could receive the bread only; the wine was +reserved for the officiating priest. + +This memorial of Ferdinand, drawn up with much distinctness and great +force of argument, was very grateful to the Protestants, but very +displeasing to the court of Rome. These conflicts raged for several +years without any decisive results. The efforts of Ferdinand to please +both parties, as usual, pleased neither. By the Protestants he was +regarded as a persecutor and intolerant; while the Catholics accused him +of lukewarmness, of conniving at heresy and of dishonoring the Church by +demanding of her concessions derogatory to her authority and her +dignity. + +Ferdinand, finding that the Church clung with deathly tenacity to its +corruptions, assumed himself quite the attitude of a reformer. A +memorable council had been assembled at Trent on the 15th of January, +1562. Ferdinand urged the council to exhort the pope to examine if there +was not room for some reform in his own person, state or court. +"Because," said he, "the only true method to obtain authority for the +reformation of others, is to begin by amending oneself." He commented +upon the manifest impropriety of scandalous indulgences: of selling the +sacred offices of the Church to the highest bidder, regardless of +character; of extorting fees for the administration of the sacrament of +the Lord's Supper; of offering prayers and performing the services of +public devotion in a language which the people could not understand; and +other similar and most palpable abuses. Even the kings of France and +Spain united with the emperor in these remonstrances. + +It is difficult now to conceive of the astonishment and indignation with +which the pope and his adherents received these very reasonable +suggestions, coming not from the Protestants but from the most staunch +advocates of the papacy. The see of Rome, corrupt to its very core, +would yield nothing. The more senseless and abominable any of its +corruptions were, the more tenaciously did pope and cardinals cling to +them. At last the emperor, in despair of seeing any thing accomplished, +requested that the assembly might be dissolved, saying, "Nothing good +can be expected, even if it continue its sittings for a hundred years." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +DEATH OF FERDINAND I.--ACCESSION OF MAXIMILIAN II. + +From 1562 to 1576. + +The Council of Trent.--Spread of the Reformation.--Ferdinand's Attempt +to Influence the Pope.--His Arguments against Celibacy.--Stubbornness of +the Pope.--Maximilian II.--Displeasure of Ferdinand.--Motives for not +Abjuring the Catholic Faith.--Religious Strife in Europe.--Maximilian's +Address to Charles IX.--Mutual Toleration.--Romantic Pastime of +War.--Heroism of Nicholas, Count Of Zrini.--Accession of Power to +Austria.--Accession of Rhodolph III.--Death of Maximilian. + + +This celebrated council of Trent, which was called with the hope that by +a spirit of concession and reform the religious dissensions which +agitated Europe might be adjusted, declared, in the very bravado of +papal intolerance, the very worst abuses of the Church to be essential +articles of faith, which could only be renounced at the peril of eternal +condemnation, and thus presented an insuperable barrier to any +reconciliation between the Catholics and the Protestants. Ferdinand was +disappointed, and yet did not venture to break with the pope by +withholding his assent from the decrees which were enacted. + +The Lutheran doctrines had spread widely through Ferdinand's hereditary +States of Austria. Several of the professors in the university at Vienna +had embraced those views; and quite a number of the most powerful and +opulent of the territorial lords even maintained Protestant chaplains at +their castles. The majority of the inhabitants of the Austrian States +had, in the course of a few years, become Protestants. Though Ferdinand +did every thing he dared to do to check their progress, forbidding the +circulation of Luther's translation of the Bible, and throwing all the +obstacles he could in the way of Protestant worship, he was compelled to +grant them very considerable toleration, and to overlook the infraction +of his decrees, that he might secure their aid to repel the Turks. +Providence seemed to overrule the Moslem invasion for the protection of +the Protestant faith. Notwithstanding all the efforts of Ferdinand, the +reformers gained ground in Austria as in other parts of Germany. + +The two articles upon which the Protestants at this time placed most +stress were the right of the clergy to marry and the administration of +the communion under both kinds, as it was called; that is, that the +communicants should partake of both the bread and the wine. Ferdinand, +having failed entirely in inducing the council to submit to any reform, +opened direct communication with the pope to obtain for his subjects +indulgence in respect to these two articles. In advocacy of this measure +he wrote: + +"In Bohemia no persuasion, no argument, no violence, not even arms and +war, have succeeded in abolishing the use of the cup as well as the +bread in the sacrament. In fact the Church itself permitted it, although +the popes revoked it by a breach of the conditions on which it was +granted. In the other States, Hungary, Austria, Silesia, Styria, +Carinthia, Carniola, Bavaria and other parts of Germany, many desire +with ardor the same indulgence. If this concession is granted they may +be reunited to the Church, but if refused they will be driven into the +party of the Protestants. So many of the priests have been degraded by +their diocesans for administering the sacrament in both kinds, that the +country is almost deprived of priests. Hence children die or grow up to +maturity without baptism; and men and women, of all ages and of all +ranks, live like the brutes, in the grossest ignorance of God and of +religion." + +In reference to the marriage of the clergy he wrote: "If a permission to +the clergy to marry can not 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 be justly asked whether +such concessions would not be far preferable to tolerating, as has +unfortunately been done, fornication and concubinage? I can not avoid +adding, what is a common observation, that priests who live in +concubinage are guilty of greater sin than those who are married; for +the last only transgress a law which is capable of being changed, +whereas the first sin against a divine law, which is capable of neither +change nor dispensation." + +The pope, pressed with all the importunity which Ferdinand could urge, +reluctantly consented to the administration of the cup to the laity, but +resolutely refused to tolerate the marriage of the clergy. Ferdinand was +excessively annoyed by the stubbornness of the court of Rome in its +refusal to submit to the most reasonable reform, thus rendering it +impossible for him to allay the religious dissensions which were still +spreading and increasing in acrimony. His disappointment was so great +that it is said to have thrown him into the fever of which he died on +the 25th of July, 1564. + +For several ages the archdukes of Austria had been endeavoring to unite +the Austrian States with Hungary and Bohemia under one monarchy. The +union had been temporarily effected once or twice, but Ferdinand +accomplished the permanent union, and may thus be considered as the +founder of the Austrian monarchy essentially as it now exists. As +Archduke of Austria, he inherited the Austrian duchies. By his marriage +with Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, King of Hungary and Bohemia, he +secured those crowns, which he made hereditary in his family. He left +three sons. The eldest, Maximilian, inherited the archduchy of Austria +and the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary, of course inheriting, with +Hungary, prospective war with the Turks. The second son, Ferdinand, had, +as his legacy, the government and the revenues of the Tyrol. The third +son, Charles, received Styria. There were nine daughters left, three of +whom took the vail and the rest formed illustrious marriages. + +Ferdinand appears to have been a sincere Catholic, though he saw the +great corruptions of the Church and earnestly desired reform. As he +advanced in years he became more tolerant and gentle, and had his wise +counsels been pursued Europe would have escaped inexpressible woes. +Still he clung to the Church, unwisely seeking unity of faith and +discipline, which can hardly be attained in this world, rather than +toleration with allowed diversity. + +Maximilian II. was thirty-seven years of age on his accession to the +throne. Although he was educated in the court of Spain, which was the +most bigoted and intolerant in Europe, yet he developed a character +remarkable for mildness, affability and tolerance. He was indebted for +these attractive traits to his tutor, a man of enlarged and cultivated +mind, and who had, like most men of his character at that time, a strong +leaning towards Protestantism. These principles took so firm a hold of +his youthful mind that they could never be eradicated. As he advanced in +life he became more and more interested in the Protestant faith. He +received a clergyman of the reformed religion as his chaplain and +private secretary, and partook of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, +from his hands, in both kinds. Even while remaining in the Spanish court +he entered into a correspondence with several of the most influential +advocates of the Protestant faith. Returning to Austria from Spain, he +attended public worship in the chapels of the Protestants, and communed +with them in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. When some of his +friends warned him that by pursuing such a course he could never hope to +obtain the imperial crown of Germany, he replied: + +"I will sacrifice all worldly interests for the sake of my salvation." + +His father, the Emperor Ferdinand, was so much displeased with his son's +advocacy of the Protestant faith, that after many angry remonstrances he +threatened to disinherit him if he did not renounce all connection with +the reformers. But Maximilian, true to his conscience, would not allow +the apprehension of the loss of a crown to induce him to swerve from his +faith. Fully expecting to be thus cast off and banished from the +kingdom, he wrote to the Protestant elector Palatine: + +"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." + +The Catholics of course looked with apprehension to the accession of +Maximilian to the throne, while the Protestants anticipated the event +with great hope. There were, however, many considerations of vast moment +influencing Maximilian not to separate himself, in form, from the +Catholic church. Philip, his cousin, King of Spain, was childless, and +should he die without issue, Ferdinand would inherit that magnificent +throne, which he could not hope to ascend, as an avowed Protestant, +without a long and bloody war. It had been the most earnest dying +injunction of his father that he should not abjure the Catholic faith. +His wife was a very zealous Catholic, as was also each one of his +brothers. There were very many who remained in the Catholic church whose +sympathies were with the reformers--who hoped to promote reformation in +the Church without leaving it. Influenced by such considerations, +Maximilian made a public confession of the Catholic faith, received his +father's confessor, and maintained, in his court, the usages of the +papal church. He was, however, the kind friend of the Protestants, ever +seeking to shield them from persecution, claiming for them a liberal +toleration, and seeking, in all ways, to promote fraternal religious +feeling throughout his domains. + +The prudence of Maximilian wonderfully allayed the bitterness of +religious strife in Germany, while other portions of Europe were +desolated with the fiercest warfare between the Catholics and +Protestants. In France, in particular, the conflict raged with merciless +fury. It was on August 24th, 1572, but a few years after Maximilian +ascended the throne, when the Catholics of France perpetrated the +Massacre of St. Bartholomew, perhaps the most atrocious crime recorded +in history. The Catholics and Protestants in France were nearly equally +divided in numbers, wealth and rank. The papal party, finding it +impossible to crush their foes by force of arms, resolved to exterminate +them by a simultaneous massacre. They feigned toleration and +reconciliation. The court of Paris invited all the leading Protestants +of the kingdom to the metropolis to celebrate the nuptials of Henry, the +young King of Navarre, with Margaret, sister of Charles IX., the +reigning monarch. Secret orders were dispatched all over the kingdom, +for the conspirators, secretly armed, at a given signal, by midnight, to +rise upon the Protestants, men, women and children, and utterly +exterminate them. "Let not one remain alive," said the King of France, +"to tell the story." + +The deed was nearly accomplished. The king himself, from a window of the +Louvre, fired upon his Protestant subjects, as they fled in dismay +through the streets. In a few hours eighty thousand of the Protestants +were mangled corpses. Protestantism in France has never recovered from +this blow. Maximilian openly expressed his execration of this deed, +though the pope ordered Te Deums to be chanted at Rome in exultation +over the crime. Not long after this horrible slaughter, Charles IX. died +in mental torment. Henry of Valois, brother of the deceased king, +succeeded to the throne. He was at that time King of Poland. Returning +to France, through Vienna, he had an interview with Maximilian, who +addressed him in those memorable words which have often been quoted to +the honor of the Austrian sovereign: + +"There is no crime greater in princes," said Maximilian, "than to +tyrannize over the consciences of their subjects. By shedding the blood +of heretics, far from honoring the common Father of all, they incur the +divine vengeance; and while they aspire, by such means, to crowns in +heaven, they justly expose themselves to the loss of their earthly +kingdoms." + +Under the peaceful and humane reign of Ferdinand, Germany was kept in a +general state of tranquillity, while storms of war and woe were sweeping +over almost all other parts of Europe. During all his reign, Maximilian +II. was unwearied in his endeavors to promote harmony between the two +great religious parties, by trying, on the one hand, to induce the pope +to make reasonable concessions, and, on the other hand, to induce the +Protestants to moderate their demands. His first great endeavor was to +induce the pope to consent to the marriage of the clergy. In this he +failed entirely. He then tried to form a basis of mutual agreement, upon +which the two parties could unite. His father had attempted this plan, +and found it utterly impracticable. Maximilian attempted it, with just +as little success. It has been attempted a thousand times since, and has +always failed. Good men are ever rising who mourn the divisions in the +Christian Church, and strive to form some plan of union, where all true +Christians can meet and fraternize, and forget their minor differences. +Alas! for poor human nature, there is but little prospect that this plan +can ever be accomplished. There will be always those who can not +discriminate between essential and non-essential differences of opinion. +Maximilian at last fell back simply upon the doctrine of a liberal +toleration, and in maintaining this he was eminently successful. + +At one time the Turks were crowding him very hard in Hungary. A special +effort was requisite to raise troops to repel them. Maximilian summoned +a diet, and appealed to the assembled nobles for supplies of men and +money. In Austria proper, Protestantism was now in the decided +ascendency. The nobles took advantage of the emperor's wants to reply-- + +"We are ready to march to the assistance of our sovereign, to repel the +Turks from Hungary, if the Jesuits are first expelled from our +territories." + +The answer of the king was characteristic of his policy and of his +career. "I have convened you," he said, "to give me contributions, not +remonstrances. I wish you to help me expel the Turks, not the Jesuits." + +From many a prince this reply would have excited exasperation. But +Maximilian had established such a character for impartiality and +probity, that the rebuke was received with applause rather than with +murmurs, and the Protestants, with affectionate zeal, rallied around his +standard. So great was the influence of the king, that toleration, as +one of the virtues of the court, became the fashion, and the Catholics +and Protestants vied with each other in the manifestation of mutual +forbearance and good will. They met on equal terms in the palace of the +monarch, shared alike in his confidence and his favors, and cooperated +cordially in the festivities of the banqueting room, and in the toils of +the camp. We love to dwell upon the first beautiful specimen of +toleration which the world has seen in any court. It is the more +beautiful, and the more wonderful, as having occurred in a dark age of +bigotry, intolerance and persecution. And let us be sufficiently candid +to confess, that it was professedly a Roman Catholic monarch, a member +of the papal church, to whom the world is indebted for this first +recognition of true mental freedom. It can not be denied that Maximilian +II. was in advance of the avowed Protestants of his day. + +Pope Pius V. was a bigot, inflexible, overbearing; and he determined, +with a bloody hand, to crush all dissent. From his throne in the Vatican +he cast an eagle eye to Germany, and was alarmed and indignant at the +innovations which Maximilian was permitting. In all haste he dispatched +a legate to remonstrate strongly against such liberality. Maximilian +received the legate, Cardinal Commendon, with courtesy, but for a time +firmly refused to change his policy in obedience to the exactions of the +pope. The pope brought to bear upon him all the influence of the Spanish +court. He was threatened with war by all the papal forces, sustained by +the then immense power of the Spanish monarchy. For a time Maximilian +was in great perplexity, and finally yielded to the pope so far as to +promise not to permit any further innovations than those which he had +already allowed, and not to extend his principles of toleration into any +of his States where they had not as yet been introduced. Thus, while he +did not retract any concessions he had made, he promised to stop where +he was, and proceed no further. + +Maximilian was so deeply impressed with the calamities of war, that he +even sent an embassy to the Turks, offering to continue to pay the +tribute which they had exacted of his father, as the price of a +continued armistice. But Solyman, having made large preparations for the +renewed invasion of Hungary, and sanguine of success, haughtily rejected +the offer, and renewed hostilities. + +Nearly all of the eastern and southern portions of Hungary were already +in the hands of the Turks. Maximilian held a few important towns and +strong fortresses on the western frontier. Not feeling strong enough to +attempt to repel the Turks from the portion they already held, he +strengthened his garrisons, and raising an army of eighty thousand men, +of which he assumed the command, he entered Hungary and marched down the +Danube about sixty miles to Raab, to await the foe and act on the +defensive. Solyman rendezvoused an immense army at Belgrade, and +commenced his march up the Danube. + +"Old as I am," said he to his troops, "I am determined to chastise the +house of Austria, or to perish in the attempt beneath the walls of +Vienna." + +It was beautiful spring weather, and the swelling buds and hourly +increasing verdure, decorated the fields with loveliness. For several +days the Turks marched along the right bank of the Danube, through green +fields, and beneath a sunny sky, encountering no foe. War seemed but as +the pastime of a festive day, as gay banners floated in the breeze, +groups of horsemen, gorgeously caparisoned, pranced along, and the +turbaned multitude, in brilliant uniform, with jokes, and laughter and +songs, leisurely ascended the majestic stream. A fleet of boats filled +the whole body of the river, impelled by sails when the wind favored, +or, when the winds were adverse, driven by the strong arms of the rowers +against the gentle tide. Each night the white tents were spread, and a +city for a hundred thousand inhabitants rose as by magic, with its +grassy streets, its squares, its busy population, its music, its +splendor, blazing in all the regalia of war. As by magic the city rose +in the rays of the declining sun. As by magic it disappeared in the +early dawn of the morning, and the mighty hosts moved on. + +A few days thus passed, when Solyman approached the fortified town of +Zigeth, near the confluence of the Drave and the Danube. Nicholas, Count +of Zrini, was intrusted with the defense of this place, and he fulfilled +his trust with heroism and valor which has immortalized both his name +and the fortress which he defended. Zrini had a garrison of but three +thousand men. An army of nearly a hundred thousand were marching upon +him. Zrini collected his troops, and took a solemn oath, in the presence +of all, that, true to God, to his Christian faith, and his country, he +never would surrender the town to the Turks, but with his life. He then +required each soldier individually to take the same oath to his captain. +All the captains then, in the presence of the assembled troops, took the +same oath to him. + +The Turks soon arrived and commenced an unceasing bombardment day and +night. The little garrison vigorously responded. The besieged made +frequent sallies, spiking the guns of the besiegers, and again retiring +behind their works. But their overpowering foes advanced, inch by inch, +till they got possession of what was called the "old city." The besieged +retiring to the "new city," resumed the defense with unabated ardor. The +storm of war raged incessantly for many days, and the new city was +reduced to a smoldering heap of fire and ashes. The Turks, with +incredible labor, raised immense mounds of earth and stone, on the +summits of which they planted their batteries, where they could throw +their shot, with unobstructed aim, into every part of the city. Roads +were constructed across the marsh, and the swarming multitudes, in +defiance of all the efforts of the heroic little garrison, filled up the +ditch, and were just on the rush to take the place by a general assault, +when Zrini abandoned the new city to flames, and threw himself into the +citadel. His force was now reduced to about a thousand men. Day after +day the storm of war blazed with demoniac fury around the citadel. Mines +were dug, and, as by volcanic explosions, bastions, with men and guns, +were blown high into the air. The indomitable Hungarians made many +sallies, cutting down the gunners and spiking the guns, but they were +always driven back with heavy loss. Repeated demands for capitulation +were sent in and as repeatedly rejected. For a week seven assaults were +made daily upon the citadel by the Turks, but they were always repulsed. +At length the outer citadel was entirely demolished. Then the heroic +band retired to the inner works. They were now without ammunition or +provisions, and the Turks, exasperated by such a defense, were almost +gnashing their teeth with rage. The old sultan, Solyman, actually died +from the intensity of his vexation and wrath. The death of the sultan +was concealed from the Turkish troops, and a general assault was +arranged upon the inner works. The hour had now come when they must +surrender or die, for the citadel was all battered into a pile of +smoldering ruins, and there were no ramparts capable of checking the +progress of the foe. Zrini assembled his little band, now counting but +six hundred, and said, + +"Remember your oath. We must die in the flames, or perish with hunger, +or go forth to meet the foe. Let us die like men. Follow me, and do as I +do." + +They made a simultaneous rush from their defenses into the thickest of +the enemy. For a few moments there was a scene of wildest uproar and +confusion, and the brave defenders were all silent in death. The Turks +with shouts of triumph now rushed into the citadel. But Zrini had fired +trains leading to the subterranean vaults of powder, and when the ruins +were covered with the conquerors, a sullen roar ran beneath the ground +and the whole citadel, men, horses, rocks and artillery were thrown into +the air, and fell a commingled mass of ruin, fire and blood. A more +heroic defense history has not recorded. Twenty thousand Turks perished +in this siege. The body of Zrini was found in the midst of the mangled +dead. His head was cut off and, affixed to a pole, was raised as a +trophy before the tent of the deceased sultan. + +The death of Solyman, and the delay which this desperate siege had +caused, embarrassed all the plans of the invaders, and they resolved +upon a retreat. The troops were consequently withdrawn from Hungary, and +returned to Constantinople. + +Maximilian, behind his intrenchments at Raab, did not dare to march to +the succor of the beleaguered garrison, for overpowering numbers would +immediately have destroyed him had he appeared in the open field. But +upon the withdrawal of the Turks he disbanded his army, after having +replenished his garrisons, and returned to Vienna. Selim succeeded +Solyman, and Maximilian sent an embassy to Constantinople to offer terms +of peace. At the same time, to add weight to his negotiations, he +collected a large army, and made the most vigorous preparations for the +prosecution of the war. + +Selim, just commencing his reign, anxious to consolidate his power, and +embarrassed by insurrection in his own realms, was glad to conclude an +armistice on terms highly favorable to Maximilian. John Sigismond, who +had been crowned by the Turks, as their tributary King of Hungary, was +to retain Transylvania. The Turks were to hold the country generally +between Transylvania and the river Teiss, while Ferdinand was to have +the remainder, extending many hundred miles from the Teiss to Austria. +The Prince of Transylvania was compelled, though very reluctantly, to +assent to this treaty. He engaged not to assume the title of King of +Hungary, except in correspondence with the Turks. The emperor promised +him one of his nieces in marriage, and in return it was agreed that +should John Sigismond die without male issue, Transylvania should revert +to the crown of Hungary. + +Soon after this treaty, John Sigismond died, before his marriage with +the emperor's niece, and Transylvania was again united to Hungary and +came under the sway of Maximilian. This event formed quite an accession +to the power of the Austrian monarch, as he now held all of Hungary save +the southern and central portion where the Turks had garrisoned the +fortresses. The pope, the King of Spain, and the Venetians, now sent +united ambassadors to the emperor urging him to summon the armies of the +empire and drive the Turks entirely out of Hungary. Cardinal Commendon +assured the emperor, in the name of the holy father of the Church, that +it was no sin to violate any compact with the infidel. Maximilian nobly +replied, + +"The faith of treaties ought to be considered as inviolable, and a +Christian can never be justified in breaking an oath." + +Maximilian never enjoyed vigorous health, and being anxious to secure +the tranquillity of his extended realms after his death, he had his +eldest son, Rhodolph, in a diet at Presburg, crowned King of Hungary. +Rhodolph at once entered upon the government of his realm as viceroy +during the life of his father. Thus he would have all the reins of +government in his hands, and, at the death of the emperor, there would +be no apparent change. + +It will be remembered that Ferdinand had, by violence and treachery, +wrested from the Bohemians the privilege of electing their sovereign, +and had thus converted Bohemia into an hereditary monarchy. Maximilian, +with characteristic prudence, wished to maintain the hereditary right +thus established, while at the same time he wished to avoid wounding the +prejudices of those who had surrendered the right of suffrage only to +fraud and the sword. He accordingly convoked a diet at Prague. The +nobles were assembled in large numbers, and the occasion was invested +with unusual solemnity. The emperor himself introduced to them his son, +and recommended him to them as their future sovereign. The nobles were +much gratified by so unexpected a concession, and with enthusiasm +accepted their new king. The emperor had thus wisely secured for his son +the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. + +Having succeeded in these two important measures, Maximilian set about +the more difficult enterprise of securing for his son his succession +upon the imperial throne. This was a difficult matter in the strong +rivalry which then existed between the Catholics and the Protestants. +With caution and conciliation, encountering and overturning innumerable +obstacles, Maximilian proceeded, until having, as he supposed, a fair +chance of success, he summoned the diet of electors at Ratisbon. But +here new difficulties arose. The Protestants were jealous of their +constantly imperiled privileges, and wished to surround them with +additional safeguards. The Catholics, on the contrary, stimulated by the +court of Rome, wished to withdraw the toleration already granted, and to +pursue the Protestant faith with new rigor. The meeting of the diet was +long and stormy, and again they were upon the point of a violent +dissolution. But the wisdom, moderation and perseverance of Maximilian +finally prevailed, and his success was entire. Rhodolph III. was +unanimously chosen to succeed him upon the imperial throne, and was +crowned at Ratisbon on the 1st of November, 1575. + +Poland was strictly an elective monarchy. The tumultuous nobles had +established a law prohibiting the election of a successor during the +lifetime of the monarch. Their last king had been the reckless, +chivalrous Henry, Duke of Anjou, brother of Charles IX. of France. +Charles IX. having died without issue, Henry succeeded him upon the +throne of France, and abdicated the crown of the semi-barbaric wilds of +Poland. The nobles were about to assemble for the election. There were +many influential candidates. Maximilian was anxious to obtain the crown +for his son Ernest. Much to the surprise of Maximilian, he himself was +chosen king. Protestantism had gained the ascendency in Poland, and a +large majority of the nobles united upon Maximilian. The electors +honored both themselves and the emperor in assigning, as the reason for +their choice, that the emperor had conciliated the contending factions +of the Christian world, and had acquired more glory by his pacific +policy than other princes had acquired in the exploits of war. + +There were curious conditions at that time assigned to the occupancy of +the throne of Poland. The elected monarch, before receiving the crown, +was required to give his pledge that he would reside two years +uninterruptedly in the kingdom, and that then he would not leave without +the consent of the nobles. He was also required to construct four +fortresses at his own expense, and to pay all the debts of the last +monarch, however heavy they might be, including the arrears of the +troops. He was also to maintain a sort of guard of honor, consisting of +ten thousand Polish horsemen. + +In addition to the embarrassment which these conditions presented, there +were many indications of jealousy on the part of other powers, in view +of the wonderful aggrandizement of Austria. Encouraged by the emperor's +delay and by the hostility of other powers, a minority of the nobles +chose Stephen Bathori, a Transylvanian prince, King of Poland; and to +strengthen his title, married him to Anne, sister to Sigismond Augustus, +the King of Poland who preceded the Duke of Anjou. Maximilian thus +aroused, signed the articles of agreement, and the two rival monarchs +prepared for war. The kingdoms of Europe were arraying themselves, some +on the one side and some on the other, and there was the prospect of a +long, desperate and bloody strife, when death stilled the tumult. + +Maximilian had long been declining. On the 12th of October, 1576, he +breathed his last at Ratisbon. He apparently died the death of the +Christian, tranquilly surrendering his spirit to his Saviour. He died in +the fiftieth year of his age and the twelfth of his reign. He had lived, +for those dark days, eminently the life of the righteous, and his end +was peace. + + "So fades the summer cloud away, + So sinks the gale when storms are o'er + So gently shuts the eye of day, + So dies a wave along the shore." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CHARACTER OF MAXIMILIAN II.--SUCCESSION OF RHODOLPH III. + +From 1576 to 1604. + +Character of Maximilian.--His Accomplishments.--His Wife.--Fate of his +Children.--Rhodolph III.--The Liberty of Worship.--Means of +Emancipation.--Rhodolph's Attempts against Protestantism.--Declaration +of a higher Law.--Theological Differences.--The Confederacy at +Heilbrun.--The Gregorian Calendar.--Intolerance in Bohemia.--The Trap of +the Monks.--Invasion of the Turks.--Their Defeat.--Coalition with +Sigismond.--Sale of Transylvania.--Rule of Basta.--The Empire captured +and recaptured.--Devastation of the Country.--Treatment of Stephen +Botskoi. + + +It is indeed refreshing, in the midst of the long list of selfish and +ambitious sovereigns who have disgraced the thrones of Europe, to meet +with such a prince as Maximilian, a gentleman, a philosopher, a +philanthropist and a Christian. Henry of Valois, on his return from +Poland to France, visited Maximilian at Vienna. Henry was considered one +of the most polished men of his age. He remarked in his palace at Paris +that in all his travels he had never met a more accomplished gentleman +than the Emperor Maximilian. Similar is the testimony of all his +contemporaries. With all alike, at all times, and under all +circumstances, he was courteous and affable. His amiability shone as +conspicuously at home as abroad, and he was invariably the kind husband, +the tender father, the indulgent master and the faithful friend. + +In early life he had vigorously prosecuted his studies, and thus +possessed the invaluable blessing of a highly cultivated mind. Fond of +the languages, he not only wrote and conversed in the Latin tongue with +fluency and elegance, but was quite at home in all the languages of his +extensive domains. Notwithstanding the immense cares devolving upon the +ruler of so extended an empire, he appropriated a portion of time every +day to devotional reading and prayer; and his hours were methodically +arranged for business, recreation and repose. The most humble subject +found easy access to his person, and always obtained a patient hearing. +When he was chosen King of Poland, some ambassadors from Bohemia +voluntarily went to Poland to testify to the virtues of their king. It +was a heartfelt tribute, such as few sovereigns have ever received. + +"We Bohemians," said they, "are as happy under his government as if he +were our father. Our privileges, laws, rights, liberties and usages are +protected and defended. Not less just than wise, he confers the offices +and dignities of the kingdom only on natives of rank, and is not +influenced by favor 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 a miracle is, the prudence and impartiality of his +conduct toward 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." + +Not an act of injustice sullied his reign, and during his administration +nearly all Germany, with the exception of Hungary, enjoyed almost +uninterrupted tranquillity. Catholics and Protestants unite in his +praises, and have conferred upon him the surname of the Delight of +Mankind. His wife Mary was the daughter of Charles V. She was an +accomplished, exemplary woman, entirely devoted to the Catholic faith. +For this devotion, notwithstanding the tolerant spirit of her husband, +she was warmly extolled by the Catholics. Gregory XIII. called her the +firm column of the Catholic faith, and Pius V. pronounced her worthy of +being worshiped. After the death of her husband she returned to Spain, +to the bigoted court of her bigoted brother Philip. Upon reaching Madrid +she developed the spirit which dishonored her, in expressing great joy +that she was once more in a country where no heretic was tolerated. Soon +after she entered a nunnery where she remained seven years until her +death. + +It is interesting briefly to trace out the history of the children of +this royal family. It certainly will not tend to make one any more +discontented to move in a humbler sphere. Maximilian left three +daughters and five sons. + +Anne, the eldest daughter, was engaged to her cousin, Don Carlos, only +son of her uncle Philip, King of Spain. As he was consequently heir to +the Spanish throne, this was a brilliant match. History thus records the +person and character of Don Carlos. He was sickly and one of his legs +was shorter than the other. His temper was not only violent, but +furious, breaking over all restraints, and the malignant passions were +those alone which governed him. He always slept with two naked swords +under his pillow, two loaded pistols, and several loaded guns, with a +chest of fire-arms at the side of his bed. He formed a conspiracy to +murder his father. He was arrested and imprisoned. Choking with rage, he +called for a fire, and threw himself into the flames, hoping to +suffocate himself. Being rescued, he attempted to starve himself. +Failing in this, he tried to choke himself by swallowing a diamond. He +threw off his clothes, and went naked and barefoot on the stone floor, +hoping to engender some fatal disease. For eleven days he took no food +but ice. At length the wretched man died, and thus Anne lost her lover. +But Philip, the father of Don Carlos, and own uncle of Anne, concluded +to take her for himself. She lived a few years as Queen of Spain, and +died four years after the death of her father, Maximilian. + +Elizabeth, the second daughter, was beautiful. At sixteen years of age +she married Charles IX., King of France, who was then twenty years old. +Charles IX. ascended the throne when but ten years of age, under the +regency of his infamous mother, Catherine de Medici, perhaps the most +demoniac female earth has known. Under her tutelage, her boy, equally +impotent in body and in mind, became as pitiable a creature as ever +disgraced a throne. The only energy he ever showed was in shooting the +Protestants from a window of the Louvre in the horrible Massacre of St. +Bartholomew, which he planned at the instigation of his fiend-like +mother. A few wretched years the youthful queen lived with the monster, +when his death released her from that bondage. She then returned to +Vienna, a young and childless widow, but twenty years of age. She built +and endowed the splendid monastery of St. Mary de Angelis, and having +seen enough of the pomp of the world, shut herself up from the world in +the imprisonment of its cloisters, where she recounted her beads for +nineteen years, until she died in 1592. + +Margaret, the youngest daughter, after her father's death, accompanied +her mother to Spain. Her sister Anne soon after died, and Philip II., +her morose and debauched husband, having already buried four wives, and +no one can tell how many guilty favorites, sought the hand of his young +and fresh niece. But Margaret wisely preferred the gloom of the cloister +to the Babylonish glare of the palace. She rejected the polluted and +withered hand, and in solitude and silence, as a hooded nun, she +remained immured in her cell for fifty-seven years. Then her pure spirit +passed from a joyless life on earth, we trust, to a happy home in +heaven. + +Rhodolph, the eldest son, succeeded his father, and in the subsequent +pages we shall record his career. + +Ernest, the second son, was a mild, bashful young man, of a temperament +so singularly melancholy that he was rarely known to smile. His brother +Rhodolph gave him the appointment of Governor of Hungary. He passed +quietly down the stream of time until he was forty-two years of age, +when he died of the stone, a disease which had long tortured him with +excruciating pangs. + +Matthias, the third son, became a restless, turbulent man, whose deeds +we shall have occasion to record in connection with his brother +Rhodolph, whom he sternly and successfully opposed. + +Maximilian, the fourth son, when thirty years of age was elected King of +Poland. An opposition party chose John, son of the King of Sweden. The +rival candidates appealed to the cruel arbitration of the sword. In a +decisive battle Maximilian's troops were defeated, and he was taken +prisoner. He was only released upon his giving the pledge that he +renounced all his right to the throne. He rambled about, now governing a +province, and now fighting the Turks, until he died unmarried, sixty +years of age. + +Albert, the youngest son, was destined to the Church. He was sent to +Spain, and under the patronage of his royal uncle he soon rose to +exalted ecclesiastical dignities. He, however, eventually renounced +these for more alluring temporal honors. Surrendering his cardinal's +hat, and archiepiscopal robes, he espoused Isabella, daughter of Philip, +and from the governorship of Portugal was promoted to the sovereignty of +the Netherlands. Here he encountered only opposition and war. After a +stormy and unsuccessful life, in which he was thwarted in all his plans, +he died childless. + +From this digression let us return to Rhodolph III., the heir to the +titles and the sovereignties of his father the emperor. It was indeed a +splendid inheritance which fell to his lot. He was the sole possessor of +the archduchy of Austria, King of Bohemia and of Hungary, and Emperor of +Germany. He was but twenty-five years of age when he entered upon the +undisputed possession of all these dignities. His natural disposition +was mild and amiable, his education had been carefully attended to, his +moral character was good, a rare virtue in those days, and he had +already evinced much industry, energy and talents for business. His +father had left the finances and the internal administration of all his +realms in good condition; his moderation had greatly mitigated the +religious animosities which disturbed other portions of Europe, and all +obstacles to a peaceful and prosperous reign seemed to have been +removed. + +But all these prospects were blighted by the religious bigotry which had +gained a firm hold of the mind of the young emperor. When he was but +twelve years of age he was sent to Madrid to be educated. Philip II., of +Spain, Rhodolph's uncle, had an only daughter, and no son, and there +seemed to be no prospect that his queen would give birth to another +child. Philip consequently thought of adopting Rhodolph as his successor +to the Spanish throne, and of marrying him to his daughter. In the court +of Spain where the Jesuits held supreme sway, and where Rhodolph was +intrusted to their guidance, the superstitious sentiments which he had +imbibed from his mother were still more deeply rooted. The Jesuits found +Rhodolph a docile pupil; and never on earth have there been found a set +of men who, more thoroughly than the Jesuits, have understood the art of +educating the mind to subjection. Rhodolph was instructed in all the +petty arts of intrigue and dissimulation, and was brought into entire +subserviency to the Spanish court. Thus educated, Rhodolph received the +crown. + +He commenced his reign with the desperate resolve to crush out +Protestantism, either by force or guile, and to bring back his realms to +the papal church. Even the toleration of Maximilian, in those dark days, +did not allow freedom of worship to any but the nobles. The wealthy and +emancipated citizens of Vienna, and other royal cities, could not +establish a church of their own; they could only, under protection of +the nobles, attend the churches which the nobles sustained. In other +words, the people were slaves, who were hardly thought of in any state +arrangements. The nobles were merely the slaveholders. As there was not +difference of color to mark the difference between the slaveholder and +the slaves or vassals, many in the cities, who had in various ways +achieved their emancipation, had become wealthy and instructed, and were +slowly claiming some few rights. The country nobles could assemble their +vassals in the churches where they had obtained toleration. In some few +cases some of the citizens of the large towns, who had obtained +emancipation from some feudal oppressions, had certain defined political +privileges granted them. But, in general, the nobles or slaveholders, +some having more, and some having less wealth and power, were all whom +even Maximilian thought of including in his acts of toleration. A +learned man in the universities, or a wealthy man in the walks of +commerce, was compelled to find shelter under the protection of some +powerful noble. There were nobles of all ranks, from the dukes, who +could bring twenty thousand armed men into the field, down to the most +petty, impoverished baron, who had perhaps not half a dozen vassals. + +Rhodolph's first measure was to prevent the _burghers_, as they were +called, who were those who had in various ways obtained emancipation +from vassal service, and in the large cities had acquired energy, wealth +and an air of independence, from attending Protestant worship. The +nobles were very jealous of their privileges, and were prompt to combine +whenever they thought them infringed. Fearful of rousing the nobles, +Rhodolph issued a decree, confirming the toleration which his father had +granted the nobles, but forbidding the burghers from attending +Protestant worship. This was very adroitly done, as it did not interfere +with the vassals of the rural nobles on their estates; and these +burghers were freed men, over whom the nobles could claim no authority. +At the same time Rhodolph silenced three of the most eloquent and +influential of the Protestant ministers, under the plea that they +assailed the Catholic church with too much virulence; and he also +forbade any one thenceforward to officiate as a Protestant clergyman +without a license from him. These were very decisive acts, and yet very +adroit ones, as they did not directly interfere with any of the +immunities of the nobles. + +The Protestants were, however, much alarmed by these measures, as +indicative of the intolerant policy of the new king. The preachers met +together to consult. They corresponded with foreign universities +respecting the proper course to pursue; and the Protestant nobles met to +confer upon the posture of affairs. As the result of their conferences, +they issued a remonstrance, declaring that they could not yield to such +an infringement of the rights of conscience, and that "they were bound +to obey God rather than man." + +Rhodolph was pleased with this resistance, as it afforded him some +excuse for striking a still heavier blow. He declared the remonstrants +guilty of rebellion. As a punishment, he banished several Protestant +ministers, and utterly forbade the exercise of any Protestant worship +whatever, in any of the royal towns, including Vienna itself. He +communicated with the leading Catholics in the Church and in the State, +urging them to act with energy, concert and unanimity. He removed the +Protestants from office, and supplied their places with Catholics. He +forbade any license to preach or academical degree, or professorship in +the universities from being conferred upon any one who did not sign the +formulary of the Catholic faith. He ordered a new catechism to be drawn +up for universal use in the schools, that there should be no more +Protestant education of children; he allowed no town to choose any +officer without his approbation, and he refused to ratify any choice +which did not fall upon a Catholic. No person was to be admitted to the +rights of burghership, until he had taken an oath of submission to the +Catholic priesthood. These high-handed measures led to the outbreak of a +few insurrections, which the emperor crushed with iron rigor. In the +course of a few years, by the vigorous and unrelenting prosecution of +these measures, Rhodolph gave the Catholics the ascendency in all his +realms. + +While the Catholics were all united, the Protestants were shamefully +divided upon the most trivial points of discipline, or upon abstruse +questions in philosophy above the reach of mortal minds. It was as true +then, as in the days of our Saviour, that "the children of this world +are wiser in their generation than the children of light." Henry IV., of +France, who had not then embraced the Catholic faith, was anxious to +unite the two great parties of Lutherans and Calvinists, who were as +hostile to each other as they were to the Catholics. He sent an +ambassador to Germany to urge their union. He entreated them to call a +general synod, suggesting, that as they differed only on the single +point of the Lord's Supper, it would be easy for them to form some basis +of fraternal and harmonious action. + +The Catholic church received the doctrine, so called, of +_transubstantiation_; that is, the bread and wine, used in the Lord's +Supper, is converted into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ, +that it is no longer bread and wine, but real flesh and blood; and none +the less so, because it does not appear such to our senses. Luther +renounced the doctrine of transubstantiation, and adopted, in its stead, +what he called _consubstantiation_; that is, that after the consecration +of the elements, the body and blood of Christ are substantially _present +with_ (cum et sub,) with and under, the substance of the bread and wine. +Calvin taught that the bread and wine represented the real body and +blood of Christ, and that the body and blood were _spiritually present_ +in the sacrament. It is a deplorable exhibition of the weakness of good +men, that the Lutherans and the Calvinists should have wasted their +energies in contending together upon such a point. But we moderns have +no right to boast. Precisely the same spirit is manifested now, and +denominations differ and strive together upon questions which the human +mind can never settle. The spirit which then animated the two parties +may be inferred from the reply of the Lutherans. + +"The partisans of Calvin," they wrote, "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 +explanations of the Scriptures, and adopted so many blasphemies, that +the question of the Lord's Supper, far from being the principal, has +become the least point of difference. An outward 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. These considerations induced us to insert into the formulary of +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 tolerated under pretense 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 +conformable." + +They, in conclusion, very politely informed King Henry IV. himself, that +if he wished to unite with them, he must sign their creed. This was +sincerity, honesty, but it was the sincerity and honesty of minds but +partially disinthralled from the bigotry of the dark ages. While the +Protestants were thus unhappily disunited, the pope cooeperated with the +emperor, and wheeled all his mighty forces into the line to recover the +ground which the papal church had lost. Several of the more enlightened +of the Protestant princes, seeing all their efforts paralyzed by +disunion, endeavored to heal the schism. But the Lutheran leaders would +not listen to the Calvinists, nor the Calvinists to the Lutherans, and +the masses, as usual, blindly followed their leaders. + +Several of the Calvinist princes and nobles, the Lutherans refusing to +meet with them, united in a confederacy at Heilbrun, and drew up a long +list of grievances, declaring that, until they were redressed, they +should withhold the succors which the emperor had solicited to repel the +Turks. Most of these grievances were very serious, sufficiently so to +rouse men to almost any desperation of resistance. But it would be +amusing, were it not humiliating, to find among them the complaint that +the pope had changed the calendar from the Julian to the Gregorian. + +By the Julian calendar, or Old Style as it was called, the solar year +was estimated at three hundred and sixty-five days and six hours; but it +exceeds this by about eleven minutes. As no allowance was made for these +minutes, which amount to a day in about one hundred and thirty years, +the current year had, in process of ages, advanced ten days beyond the +real time. Thus the vernal equinox, which really took place on the 10th +of March, was assigned in the calendar to the 21st. To rectify this +important error the New Style, or Gregorian calendar, was introduced, so +called from Pope Gregory XII. Ten days were dropped after the 4th of +October, 1582, and the 5th was called the 15th. This reform of the +calendar, correct and necessary as it was, was for a long time adopted +only by the Catholic princes, so hostile were the Protestants to any +thing whatever which originated from the pope. In their list of +grievances they mentioned this most salutary reform as one, stating that +the pope and the Jesuits presumed even to change the order of times and +years. + +This confederacy of the Calvinists, unaided by the Lutherans, +accomplished nothing; but still, as year after year the disaffection +increased, their numbers gradually increased also, until, on the 12th of +February, 1603, at Heidelberg they entered into quite a formidable +alliance, offensive and defensive. + +Rhodolph, encouraged by success, pressed his measure of intolerance with +renovated vigor. Having quite effectually abolished the Protestant +worship in the States of Austria, he turned his attention to Bohemia, +where, under the mild government of his father, the Protestants had +enjoyed a degree of liberty of conscience hardly known in any other part +of Europe. The realm was startled by the promulgation of a decree +forbidding both Calvinists and Lutherans from holding any meetings for +divine worship, and declaring them incapacitated from holding any +official employment whatever. At the same time he abolished all their +schools, and either closed all their churches, or placed in them +Catholic preachers. These same decrees were also promulgated and these +same measures adopted in Hungary. And still the Protestants, insanely +quarreling among themselves upon the most abstruse points of theological +philosophy, chose rather to be devoured piecemeal by their great enemy +than to combine in self-defense. + +The emperor now turned from his own dominions of Austria, Hungary and +Bohemia, where he reigned in undisputed sway, to other States of the +empire, which were governed by their own independent rulers and laws, +and where the power of the emperor was shadowy and limited. He began +with the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, in a Prussian province on the Lower +Rhine; sent an army there, took possession of the town, expelled the +Protestants from the magistracy, driving some of them into exile, +inflicting heavy fines upon others, and abolishing entirely the exercise +of the Protestant religion. + +He then turned to Donauworth, an important city of Bavaria, upon the +Upper Danube. This was a Protestant city, having within its walls but +few Catholics. There was in the city one Catholic religious +establishment, a Benedictine abbey. The friars enjoyed unlimited freedom +of conscience and worship within their own walls, but were not permitted +to occupy the streets with their processions, performing the forms and +ceremonies of the Catholic church. The Catholics, encouraged by the +emperor, sent out a procession from the walls of the abbey, with +torches, banners, relics and all the pageants of Catholic worship. The +magistrates stopped the procession, took away their banners and sent +them back to the abbey, and then suffered the procession to proceed. +Soon after the friars got up another procession on a funeral occasion. +The magistrates, apprehensive that this was a trap to excite them to +some opposition which would render it plausible for the emperor to +interfere, suffered the procession to proceed unmolested. In a few days +the monks repeated the experiment. The populace had now become excited, +and there were threats of violence. The magistrates, fearful of the +consequences, did every thing in their power to soothe the people, and +urged them, by earnest proclamation, to abstain from all tumult. For +some time the procession, displaying all the hated pomp of papal +worship, paraded the streets undisturbed. But at length the populace +became ungovernable, attacked the monks, demolished their pageants and +pelted them with mire back into the convent. + +This was enough. The emperor published the ban of the empire, and sent +the Duke of Bavaria with an army to execute the decree. Resistance was +hopeless. The troops took possession of the town, abolished the +Protestant religion, and delivered the churches to the Catholics. + +The Protestants now saw that there was no hope for them but in union. +Thus driven together by an outward pressure which was every day growing +more menacing and severe, the chiefs of the Protestant party met at +Aschhausen and established a confederacy to continue for ten years. Thus +united, they drew up a list of grievances, and sent an embassy to +present their demands to the emperor. And now came a very serious turn +in the fortunes of Rhodolph. Notwithstanding the armistice which had +been concluded with the Turks by Rhodolph, a predatory warfare continued +to rage along the borders. Neither the emperor nor the sultan, had they +wished it, could prevent fiery spirits, garrisoned in fortresses +frowning at each other, from meeting occasionally in hostile encounter. +And both parties were willing that their soldiers should have enough to +do to keep up their courage and their warlike spirit. Aggression +succeeding aggression, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other, +the sultan at last, in a moment of exasperation, resolved to break the +truce. + +A large army of Turks invaded Croatia, took several fortresses, and +marching up the valley of the Save, were opening before them a route +into the heart of the Austrian States. The emperor hastily gathered an +army to oppose them. They met before Siseck, at the confluence of the +Kulpa and the Save. The Turks were totally defeated, with the loss of +twelve thousand men. Exasperated by the defeat, the sultan roused his +energies anew, and war again raged in all its horrors. The advantage was +with the Turks, and they gradually forced their way up the valley of the +Danube, taking fortress after fortress, till they were in possession of +the important town of Raab, within a hundred miles of Vienna. + +Sigismond, the waivode or governor of Transylvania, an energetic, +high-spirited man, had, by his arms, brought the provinces of Wallachia +and Moldavia under subjection to him. Having attained such power, he was +galled at the idea of holding his government under the protection of the +Turks. He accordingly abandoned the sultan, and entered into a coalition +with the emperor. The united armies fell furiously upon the Turks, and +drove them back to Constantinople. + +The sultan, himself a man of exceedingly ferocious character, was +thoroughly aroused by this disgrace. He raised an immense army, placed +himself at its head, and in 1596 again invaded Hungary. He drove the +Austrians everywhere before him, and but for the lateness of the season +would have bombarded Vienna. Sigismond, in the hour of victory, sold +Transylvania to Rhodolph for the governorship of some provinces in +Silesia, and a large annual pension. There was some fighting before the +question was fully settled in favor of the emperor, and then he placed +the purchased and the conquered province under the government of the +imperial general Basta. + +The rule of Basta was so despotic that the Transylvanians rose in +revolt, and under an intrepid chief, Moses Tzekeli, appealed to the +Turks for aid. The Turks were rejoiced again to find the Christians +divided, and hastened to avail themselves of the cooeperation of the +disaffected. The Austrians were driven from Transylvania, and the Turks +aided in crowning Tzekeli Prince of Transylvania, under the protection +of the Porte. The Austrians, however, soon returned in greater force, +killed Tzekeli in the confusion of battle, and reconquered the country. +During all this time wretched Hungary was ravaged with incessant wars +between the Turks and Austrians. Army after army swept to and fro over +the smoldering cities and desolated plains. Neither party gained any +decisive advantage, while Hungary was exposed to misery which no pen can +describe. Cities were bombarded, now by the Austrians and now by the +Turks, villages were burned, harvests trodden down, every thing eatable +was consumed. Outrages were perpetrated upon the helpless population by +the ferocious Turks which can not be told. + +The Hungarians lost all confidence in Rhodolph. The bigoted emperor was +so much engaged in the attempt to extirpate what he called heresy from +his realms, that he neglected to send armies sufficiently strong to +protect Hungary from these ravages. He could have done this without much +difficulty; but absorbed in his hostility to Protestantism, he merely +sent sufficient troops to Hungary to keep the country in a constant +state of warfare. He filled every important governmental post in Hungary +with Catholics and foreigners. To all the complaints of the Hungarians +he turned a deaf ear; and his own Austrian troops frequently rivaled the +Turks in devastation and pillage. At the same time he issued the most +intolerant edicts, depriving the Protestants of all their rights, and +endeavoring to force the Roman Catholic religion upon the community. + +He allowed, and even encouraged, his rapacious generals to insult and +defraud the Protestant Hungarian nobles, seizing their castles, +confiscating their estates and driving them into exile. This oppression +at last became unendurable. The people were driven to despair. One of +the most illustrious nobles of Hungary, a magnate of great wealth and +distinction, Stephen Botskoi, repaired to Prague to inform the emperor +of the deplorable state of Hungary and to seek redress. He was treated +with the utmost indignity; was detained for hours in the ante-chamber of +the emperor, where he encountered the most cutting insults from the +minions of the court. The indignation of the high-spirited noble was +roused to the highest pitch. And when, on his return to Hungary, he +found his estates plundered and devastated by order of the imperial +governor, he was all ready to head an insurrection. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS. + +From 1604 to 1609. + +Botskoi's Manifesto.--Horrible Suffering in Transylvania.--Character of +Botskoi.--Confidence of the Protestants.--Superstition of Rhodolph.--His +Mystic Studies.--Acquirements of Matthias.--Schemes of Matthias.--His +Increasing Power.--Treaty with the Turks.--Demands on Rhodolph.--The +Compromise.--Perfidy of Matthias.--The Margravite.--Filibustering.--The +People's Diet.--A Hint to Royalty.--The Bloodless Triumph.--Demands of +the Germans.--Address of the Prince of Anhalt to the King. + + +Stephen Botskoi issued a spirited manifesto to his countrymen, urging +them to seek by force of arms that redress which they could obtain in no +other way. The Hungarians flocked in crowds to his standard. Many +soldiers deserted from the service of the emperor and joined the +insurrection. Botskoi soon found himself in possession of a force +sufficiently powerful to meet the Austrian troops in the field. The two +hostile armies soon met in the vicinity of Cassau. The imperial troops +were defeated with great slaughter, and the city of Cassau fell into the +hands of Botskoi; soon his victorious troops took several other +important fortresses. The inhabitants of Transylvania, encouraged by the +success of Botskoi, and detesting the imperial rule, also in great +numbers crowded his ranks and intreated him to march into Transylvania. +He promptly obeyed their summons. The misery of the Transylvanians was, +if possible, still greater than that of the Hungarians. Their country +presented but a wide expanse of ruin and starvation. Every aspect of +comfort and industry was obliterated. The famishing inhabitants were +compelled to use the most disgusting animals for food; and when these +were gone, in many cases they went to the grave-yard, in the frenzied +torments of hunger, and devoured the decaying bodies of the dead. +Pestilence followed in the train of these woes, and the land was filled +with the dying and the dead. + +The Turks marched to the aid of Botskoi to expel the Austrians. Even the +sway of the Mussulman was preferable to that of the bigoted Rhodolph. +Hungary, Transylvania and Turkey united, and the detested Austrians were +driven out of Transylvania, and Botskoi, at the head of his victorious +army, and hailed by thousands as the deliverer of Transylvania, was +inaugurated prince of the province. He then returned to Hungary, where +an immense Turkish army received him, in the plains of Rahoz, with regal +honors. Here a throne was erected. The banners of the majestic host +fluttered in the breeze, and musical bands filled the air with their +triumphal strains as the regal diadem was placed upon the brow of +Botskoi, and he was proclaimed King of Hungary. The Sultan Achment sent, +with his congratulations to the victorious noble, a saber of exquisite +temper and finish, and a gorgeous standard. The grand vizier himself +placed the royal diadem upon his brow. + +Botskoi was a nobleman in every sense of the word. He thought it best +publicly to accept these honors in gratitude to the sultan for his +friendship and aid, and also to encourage and embolden the Hungarians to +retain what they had already acquired. He knew that there were bloody +battles still before them, for the emperor would doubtless redouble his +efforts to regain his Hungarian possessions. At the same time Botskoi, +in the spirit of true patriotism, was not willing even to appear to have +usurped the government through the energies of the sword. He therefore +declared that he should not claim the crown unless he should be freely +elected by the nobles; and that he accepted these honors simply as +tokens of the confidence of the allied army, and as a means of +strengthening their power to resist the emperor. + +The campaign was now urged with great vigor, and nearly all of Hungary +was conquered. Such was the first great disaster which the intolerance +and folly of Rhodolph brought upon him. The Turks and the Hungarians +were now good friends, cordially cooeperating. A few more battles would +place them in possession of the whole of Hungary, and then, in their +alliance they could defy all the power of the emperor, and penetrate +even the very heart of his hereditary dominions of Austria. Rhodolph, in +this sudden peril, knew not where to look for aid. The Protestants, who +constituted one half of the physical force, not only of Bohemia and of +the Austrian States, but of all Germany, had been insulted and oppressed +beyond all hope of reconciliation. They dreaded the papal emperor more +than the Mohammedan sultan. They were ready to hail Botskoi as their +deliverer from intolerable despotism, and to swell the ranks of his +army. Botskoi was a Protestant, and the sympathies of the Protestants +all over Germany were with him. Elated by his advance, the Protestants +withheld all contributions from the emperor, and began to form +combinations in favor of the Protestant chief. Rhodolph was astonished +at this sudden reverse, and quite in dismay. He had no resource but to +implore the aid of the Spanish court. + +Rhodolph was as superstitious as he was bigoted and cruel. Through the +mysteries of alchymy he had been taught to believe that his life would +be endangered by one of his own blood. The idea haunted him by night and +by day; he was to be assassinated, and by a near relative. He was afraid +to marry lest his own child might prove his destined murderer. He was +afraid to have his brothers marry lest it might be a nephew who was to +perpetrate the deed. He did not dare to attend church, or to appear any +where in public without taking the greatest precautions against any +possibility of attack. The galleries of his palace were so arranged with +windows in the roof, that he could pass from one apartment to another +sheltered by impenetrable walls. + +This terror, which pursued him every hour, palsied his energies; and +while the Turks were drawing nearer to his capital, and Hungary had +broken from his sway, and insurrection was breaking out in all parts of +his dominions, he secluded himself in the most retired apartments of his +palace at Prague, haunted by visions of terror, as miserable himself as +he had already made millions of his subjects. He devoted himself to the +study of the mystic sciences of astrology and alchymy. He became +irritable, morose, and melancholy even to madness. Foreign ambassadors +could not get admission to his presence. His religion, consisting +entirely in ecclesiastical rituals and papal dogmas, not in Christian +morals, could not dissuade him from the most degrading sensual vice. +Low-born mistresses, whom he was continually changing, became his only +companions, and thus sunk in sin, shame and misery, he virtually +abandoned his ruined realms to their fate. + +Rhodolph had received the empire from the hands of his noble father in a +state of the very highest prosperity. In thirty years, by shameful +misgovernment, he had carried it to the brink of ruin. Rhodolph's third +brother, Matthias, was now forty-nine years of age. He had been educated +by the illustrious Busbequias, whose mind had been liberalized by study +in the most celebrated universities of Flanders, France and Italy. His +teacher had passed many years as an ambassador in the court of the +sultan, and thus had been able to give his pupil a very intimate +acquaintance with the resources, the military tactics, the manners and +customs of the Turks. He excelled in military exercises, and was +passionately devoted to the art of war. In all respects he was the +reverse of his brother--energetic, frank, impulsive. The two brothers, +so dissimilar, had no ideas in common, and were always involved in +bickerings. + +The Netherlands had risen in revolt against the infamous Philip II. of +Spain. They chose the intrepid and warlike Matthias as their leader. +With alacrity he assumed the perilous post. The rivalry of the chiefs +thwarted his plans, and he resigned his post and returned to Austria, +where his brother, the emperor, refused even to see him, probably +fearing assassination. Matthias took up his residence at Lintz, where he +lived for some time in obscurity and penury. His imperial brother would +neither give him help nor employment. The restless prince fretted like a +tiger in his cage. + +In 1595 Rhodolph's second brother, Ernest, died childless, and thus +Matthias became heir presumptive to the crown of Austria. From that time +Rhodolph made a change, and intrusted him with high offices. Still the +brothers were no nearer to each other in affection. Rhodolph dreaded the +ambition and was jealous of the rising power of his brother. He no +longer dared to treat him ignominiously, lest his brother should be +provoked to some desperate act of retaliation. On the other hand, +Matthias despised the weakness and superstition of Rhodolph. The +increasing troubles in the realm and the utter inefficiency of Rhodolph, +convinced Matthias that the day was near when he must thrust Rhodolph +from the throne he disgraced, and take his seat upon it, or the splendid +hereditary domains which had descended to them from their ancestors +would pass from their hands forever. + +With this object in view, he did all he could to conciliate the +Catholics, while he attempted to secure the Protestants by promising to +return to the principles of toleration established by his father, +Maximilian. Matthias rapidly increased in popularity, and as rapidly +Rhodolph was sinking into disgrace. Catholics and Protestants saw alike +that the ruin of Austria was impending, and that apparently there was no +hope but in the deposition of Rhodolph and the enthronement of Matthias. + +It was not difficult to accomplish this revolution, and yet it required +energy, secrecy and an extended combination. Even the weakest reigning +monarch has power in his hands which can only be wrested from him by +both strength and skill. Matthias first gained over to his plan his +younger brother, Maximilian, and two of his cousins, princes of the +Styrian line. They entered into a secret agreement, by which they +declared that in consequence of the incapacity of Rhodolph, he was to be +considered as deposed by the will of Providence, and that Matthias was +entitled to the sovereignty as head of the house of Austria. Matthias +then gained, by the varied arts of diplomatic bargaining, the promised +support of several other princes. He purchased the cooeperation of +Botskoi by surrendering to him the whole of Transylvania, and all of +Hungary to the river Theiss, which, including Transylvania, constitutes +one half of the majestic kingdom. Matthias agreed to grant general +toleration to all Protestants, both Lutherans and Calvinists, and also +to render them equally eligible with the Catholics to all offices of +emolument and honor. Both parties then agreed to unite against the Turks +if they refused to accede to honorable terms of peace. The sultan, +conscious that such a union would be more than he could successfully +oppose, listened to the conditions of peace when they afterwards made +them, as he had never condescended to listen before. It is indicative of +the power which the Turks had at that day attained, that a truce with +the sultan for twenty years, allowing each party to retain possession of +the territories which they then held, was purchased by paying a sum +outright, amounting to two hundred thousand dollars. The annual tribute, +however, was no longer to be paid, and thus Christendom was released +from the degradation of vassalage to the Turk. + +Rhodolph, who had long looked with a suspicious eye upon Matthias, +watching him very narrowly, began now to see indications of the plot. He +therefore, aided by the counsel and the energy of the King of Spain, who +was implacable in his hostility to Matthias, resolved to make his cousin +Ferdinand, a Styrian prince, his heir to succeed him upon the throne. He +conferred upon Ferdinand exalted dignities; appointed him to preside in +his stead at a diet at Ratisbon, and issued a proclamation full of most +bitter recriminations against Matthias. + +Matters had now come to such a pass that Matthias was compelled either +to bow in humble submission to his brother, or by force of arms to +execute his purposes. With such an alternative he was not a man long to +delay his decision. Still he advanced in his plans, though firmly, with +great circumspection. To gain the Protestants was to gain one half of +the physical power of united Austria, and more than one half of its +energy and intelligence. He appointed a rendezvous for his troops at +Znaim in Moravia, and while Rhodolph was timidly secluding himself in +his palace at Prague, Matthias left Vienna with ten thousand men, and +marched to meet them. He was received by the troops assembled at Znaim +with enthusiasm. Having thus collected an army of twenty-five thousand +men, he entered Bohemia. On the 10th of May, 1608, he reached Craslau, +within sixty miles of Prague. Great multitudes now crowded around him +and openly espoused his cause. He now declared openly and to all, that +it was his intention to depose his brother and claim for himself the +government of Hungary, Austria and Bohemia. + +He then urged his battalions onward, and pressed with rapid march +towards Prague. Rhodolph was now roused to some degree of energy. He +summoned all his supporters to rally around him. It was a late hour for +such a call, but the Catholic nobles generally, all over the kingdom, +were instantly in motion. Many Protestant nobles also attended the +assembly, hoping to extort from the emperor some measures of toleration. +The emperor was so frightened that he was ready to promise almost any +thing. He even crept from his secluded apartments and presided over the +meeting in person. The Protestant nobles drew up a paper demanding the +same toleration which Maximilian had granted, with the additional +permission to build churches and to have their own burying-grounds. With +this paper, to which five or six hundred signatures were attached, they +went to the palace, demanded admission to the emperor, and required him +immediately to give his assent to them. It was not necessary for them to +add any threat, for the emperor knew that there was an Austrian and +Hungarian army within a few hours' march. + +While matters were in this state, commissioners from Matthias arrived to +inform the king that he must cede the crown to his brother and retire +into the Tyrol. The emperor, in terror, inquired, "What shall I do?" The +Protestants demanded an immediate declaration, either that he would or +would not grant their request. His friends told him that resistance was +unavailing, and that he must come to an accommodation. Still the emperor +had now thirty-six thousand troops in and around Prague. They were, +however, inspired with no enthusiasm for his person, and it was quite +doubtful whether they would fight. A few skirmishes took place between +the advance guards with such results as to increase Rhodolph's alarm. + +He consequently sent envoys to his brother. They met at Liebau, and +after a negotiation of four days they made a partial compromise, by +which Rhodolph ceded to Matthias, without reservation, Hungary, Austria +and Moravia. Matthias was also declared to be the successor to the crown +of Bohemia should Rhodolph die without issue male, and Matthias was +immediately to assume the title of "appointed King of Bohemia." The +crown and scepter of Hungary were surrendered to Matthias. He received +them with great pomp at the head of his army, and then leading his +triumphant battalions out of Bohemia, he returned to Vienna and entered +the city with all the military parade of a returning conqueror. + +Matthias had now gained his great object, but he was not at all inclined +to fulfill his promises. He assembled the nobles of Austria, to receive +from them their oaths of allegiance. But the Protestants, taught caution +by long experience, wished first to see the decree of toleration which +he had promised. Many of the Protestants, at a distance from the +capital, not waiting for the issuing of the decree, but relying upon his +promise, reestablished their worship, and the Lord of Inzendorf threw +open his chapel to the citizens of the town. But Matthias was now +disposed to play the despot. He arrested the Lord of Inzendorf, and +closed his church. He demanded of all the lords, Protestant as well as +Catholic, an unconditional oath of allegiance, giving vague promises, +that perhaps at some future time he would promulgate a decree of +toleration, but declaring that he was not bound to do so, on the +miserable quibble that, as he had received from Rhodolph a hereditary +title, he was not bound to grant any thing but what he had received. + +The Protestants were alarmed and exasperated. They grasped their arms; +they retired in a body from Vienna to Hern; threw garrisons and +provisions into several important fortresses; ordered a levy of every +fifth man; sent to Hungary and Moravia to rally their friends there, and +with amazing energy and celerity formed a league for the defense of +their faith. Matthias was now alarmed. He had not anticipated such +energetic action, and he hastened to Presburg, the capital of Hungary, +to secure, if possible, a firm seat upon the throne. A large force of +richly caparisoned troops followed him, and he entered the capital with +splendor, which he hoped would dazzle the Hungarians. The regal crown +and regalia, studded with priceless jewels, which belonged to Hungary, +he took with him, with great parade. Hungary had been deprived of these +treasures, which were the pride of the nation, for seventy years. But +the Protestant nobles were not to be cajoled with such tinsel. They +remained firm in their demands, and refused to accept him as their +sovereign until the promised toleration was granted. Their claims were +very distinct and intelligible, demanding full toleration for both +Calvinists and Lutherans, and equal eligibility for Protestants with +Catholics, to all governmental offices; none but native Hungarians were +to be placed in office; the king was to reside in Hungary, and when +necessarily absent, was to intrust the government to a regent, chosen +jointly by the king and the nobles; Jesuits were not to be admitted into +the kingdom; no foreign troops were to be admitted, unless there was war +with the Turks, and the king was not to declare war without the consent +of the nobles. + +Matthias was very reluctant to sign such conditions, for he was very +jealous of his newly-acquired power as a sovereign. But a refusal would +have exposed him to a civil war, with such forces arrayed against him as +to render the result at least doubtful. The Austrian States were already +in open insurrection. The emissaries of Rhodolph were busy, fanning the +flames of discontent, and making great promises to those who would +restore Rhodolph to the throne. Intolerant and odious as Rhodolph had +been, his great reverses excited sympathy, and many were disposed to +regard Matthias but as a usurper. Thus influenced, Matthias not only +signed all the conditions, but was also constrained to carry them, into +immediate execution. These conditions being fulfilled, the nobles met on +the 19th of November, 1606, and elected Matthias king, and inaugurated +him with the customary forms. + +Matthias now returned to Vienna, to quell the insurrection in the +Austrian States. The two countries were so entirely independent of each +other, though now under the same ruler, that he had no fear that his +Hungarian subjects would interfere at all in the internal administration +of Austria. Matthias was resolved to make up for the concessions he had +granted the Hungarians, by ruling with more despotic sway in Austria. +The pope proffered him his aid. The powerful bishops of Passau and +Vienna assured him of efficient support, and encouraged the adoption of +energetic measures. Thus strengthened Matthias, who was so pliant and +humble in Hungary, assumed the most haughty airs of the sovereign in +Austria. He peremptorily ordered the Protestants to be silent, and to +cease their murmurings, or he would visit them with the most exemplary +punishment. + +North-east of the duchy of Austria, and lying between the kingdoms of +Hungary and Bohemia, was the province of Moravia. This territory was +about the size of the State of Massachusetts, and its chief noble, or +governor, held the title of margrave, or marquis. Hence the province, +which belonged to the Austrian empire, was called the margraviate of +Moravia. It contained a population of a little over a million. The +nobles of Moravia immediately made common cause with those of Austria, +for they knew that they must share the same fate. Matthias was again +alarmed, and brought to terms. On the 16th of March, 1609, he signed a +capitulation, which restored to all the Austrian provinces all the +toleration which they had enjoyed under Maximilian II. The nobles then, +of all the States of Austria, took the oath of allegiance to Matthias. + +The ambitious monarch, having thus for succeeded, looked with a covetous +eye towards Transylvania. That majestic province, on the eastern borders +of Hungary, being three times the size of Massachusetts, and containing +a population of about two millions, would prove a splendid addition to +the Hungarian kingdom. While Matthias was secretly encouraging what in +modern times and republican parlance is called a filibustering +expedition, for the sake of annexing Transylvania to the area of +Hungary, a new object of ambition, and one still more alluring, opened +before him. + +The Protestants in Bohemia were quite excited when they heard of the +great privileges which their brethren in Hungary, and in the Austrian +provinces had extorted from Matthias. This rendered them more restless +under the intolerable burdens imposed upon them. Soon after the armies +of Matthias had withdrawn from Bohemia, Rhodolph, according to his +promise, summoned a diet to deliberate upon the state of affairs. The +Protestants, who despised Rhodolph, attended the diet, resolved to +demand reform, and, if necessary, to seek it by force of arms. They at +once assumed a bold front, and refused to discuss any civil affairs +whatever, until the freedom of religious worship, which they had enjoyed +under Maximilian, was restored to them. But Rhodolph, infatuated, and +under the baleful influence of the Jesuits, refused to listen to their +appeal. + +Matthias, informed of this state of affairs, saw that there was a fine +opportunity for him to place himself at the head of the Protestants, who +constituted not only a majority in Bohemia, but were also a majority in +the diet. He therefore sent his emissaries among them to encourage them +with assurances of his sympathy and aid. The diet which Rhodolph had +summoned, separated without coming to other result than rousing +thoroughly the spirit of the Protestants. They boldly called another +diet to meet in May, in the city of Prague itself, under the very shadow +of the palace of Rhodolph, and sent deputies to Matthias, and to the +Protestant princes generally of the German empire, soliciting their +support. Rhodolph issued a proclamation forbidding them to meet. +Regardless of this injunction they met, at the appointed time and place, +opened the meeting with imposing ceremonies, and made quiet preparation +to repel force with force. These preparations were so effectually made +that upon an alarm being given that the troops of Rhodolph were +approaching to disperse the assembly, in less than an hour twelve +hundred mounted knights and more than ten thousand foot soldiers +surrounded their hall as a guard. + +This was a very broad hint to the emperor, and it surprisingly +enlightened him. He began to bow and to apologize, and to asserverate +upon his word of honor that he meant to do what was right, and from +denunciations, he passed by a single step to cajolery and fawning. It +was, however, only his intention to gain time till he could secure the +cooeperation of the pope, and other Catholic princes. The Protestants, +however, were not to be thus deluded. As unmindful of his protestations +as they had been of his menaces, they proceeded resolutely in +establishing an energetic organization for the defense of their civil +and religious rights. They decreed the levying of an army, and appointed +three of the most distinguished nobles as generals. The decree was +hardly passed before it was carried into execution, and an army of three +thousand foot soldiers, and two thousand horsemen was assembled as by +magic, and their numbers were daily increasing. + +Rhodolph, still cloistered in his palace, looked with amazement upon +this rising storm. He had no longer energy for any decisive action. With +mulish obstinacy he would concede nothing, neither had he force of +character to marshal any decisive resistance. But at last he saw that +the hand of Matthias was also in the movement; that his ambitious, +unrelenting brother was cooperating with his foes, and would inevitably +hurl him from the throne of Bohemia, as he had already done from the +kingdom of Hungary and from the dukedom of Austria. He was +panic-stricken by this sudden revelation, and in the utmost haste issued +a decree, dated July 5th, 1609, granting to the Protestants full +toleration of religious worship, and every other right they had +demanded. The despotic old king became all of a sudden as docile and +pliant as a child. He assured his faithful and well-beloved Protestant +subjects that they might worship God in their own chapels without any +molestation; that they might build churches that they might establish +schools for their children; that their clergy might meet in +ecclesiastical councils; that they might choose chiefs, who should be +confirmed by the sovereign, to watch over their religious privileges and +to guard against any infringement of this edict; and finally, all +ordinances contrary to this act of free and full toleration, which might +hereafter be issued, either by the present sovereign or any of his +successors, were declared null and void. + +The Protestants behaved nobly in this hour of bloodless triumph. Their +demands were reasonable and honorable, and they sought no infringement +whatever of the rights of others. Their brethren of Silesia had aided +them in this great achievement. The duchy of Silesia was then dependent +upon Bohemia, and was just north of Moldavia. It contained a population +of about a million and a half, scattered over a territory of about +fifteen thousand square miles. The Protestants demanded that the +Silesians should share in the decree. "Most certainly," replied the +amiable Rhodolph. An act of general amnesty for all political offenses +was then passed, and peace was restored to Germany. + +Never was more forcibly seen, than on this occasion, the power of the +higher classes over the masses of the people. In fact, popular tumults, +disgraceful mobs, are almost invariably excited by the higher classes, +who push the mob on while they themselves keep in the background. It was +now for the interest of the leaders, both Catholic and Protestant, that +there should be peace, and the populace immediately imbibed that spirit. +The Protestant chapel stood by the side of the Romish cathedral, and the +congregations mingled freely in courtesy and kindness, as they passed to +and from their places of worship. Mutual forbearance and good will +seemed at once to be restored. And now the several cities of the German +empire, where religious freedom had been crushed by the emperor, began +to throng his palace with remonstrants and demands. They, united, +resolved at every hazard to attain the privileges which their brethren +in Bohemia and Austria had secured. The Prince of Anhalt, an able and +intrepid man, was dispatched to Prague with a list of grievances. In +very plain language he inveighed against the government of the emperor, +and demanded for Donauworth and other cities of the German empire, the +civil and religious freedom of which Rhodolph had deprived them; +declaring, without any softening of expression, that if the emperor did +not peacefully grant their requests, they would seek redress by force of +arms. The humiliated and dishonored emperor tried to pacify the prince +by vague promises and honeyed words, to which the prince replied in +language which at once informed the emperor that the time for dalliance +had passed. + +"I fear," said the Prince of Anhalt, in words which sovereigns are not +accustomed to hear, "that this answer will rather tend to prolong the +dispute than to tranquillize the united princes. I am bound in duty to +represent to your imperial majesty the dangerous flame which I now see +bursting forth in Germany. Your counselors are ill adapted to extinguish +this rising flame--those counselors 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 consideration +yourself, intreating 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." + +This last remark threw the emperor into a paroxysm of terror. He had +long been trembling from the apprehension of assassination. This +allusion to Julius Caesar he considered an intimation that his hour was +at hand. His terror was so great that Prince Anhalt had to assure him, +again and again, that he intended no such menace, and that he was not +aware that any conspiracy was thought of any where, for his death. The +emperor was, however, so alarmed that he promised any thing and every +thing. He doubtless intended to fulfill his promise, but subsequent +troubles arose which absorbed all his remaining feeble energies, and +obliterated past engagements from his mind. + +Matthias was watching all the events with the intensest eagerness, as +affording a brilliant prospect to him, to obtain the crown of Bohemia, +and the scepter of the empire. This ambition consumed his days and his +nights, verifying the adage, "uneasy lies the head which wears a crown." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +RHODOLPH III. AND MATTHIAS. + +From 1609 to 1612. + +Difficulties as to the Succession.--Hostility of Henry IV. to the House +of Austria.--Assassination of Henry IV.--Similarity in Sully's and +Napoleon's Plans.--Exultation of the Catholics.--The Brothers' +Compact.--How Rhodolph Kept It.--Seizure of Prague.--Rhodolph a +Prisoner.--The King's Abdication.--Conditions Attached to the +Crown.--Rage of Rhodolph.--Matthias Elected King.--The Emperor's +Residence.--Rejoicings of the Protestants.--Reply of the +Ambassadors.--The Nuremburg Diet.--The Unkindest Cut of All.--Rhodolph's +Humiliation And Death. + + +And now suddenly arose another question which threatened to involve all +Europe in war. The Duke of Cleves, Juliers, and Berg died without issue. +This splendid duchy, or rather combination of duchies, spread over a +territory of several thousand square miles, and was inhabited by over a +million of inhabitants. There were many claimants to the succession, and +the question was so singularly intricate and involved, that there were +many who seemed to have an equal right to the possession. The emperor, +by virtue of his imperial authority, issued an edict, putting the +territory in sequestration, till the question should be decided by the +proper tribunals, and, in the meantime, placing the territory in the +hands of one of his own family as administrator. + +This act, together with the known wishes of Spain to prevent so +important a region, lying near the Netherlands, from falling into the +hands of the Protestants, immediately changed the character of the +dispute into a religious contest, and, as by magic, all Europe wheeled +into line on the one side or the other, Every other question was lost +sight of, in the all-absorbing one, Shall the duchy fall into the hands +of the Protestants or the Catholics? + +Henry IV. of France zealously espoused the cause of the Protestants. He +was very hostile to the house of Austria for the assistance it had lent +to that celebrated league which for so many years had deluged France in +blood, and kept Henry IV. from the throne; and he was particularly +anxious to humble that proud power. Though Henry IV., after fighting for +many years the battles of Protestantism, had, from motives of policy, +avowed the Romish faith, he could never forget his mother's +instructions, his early predilections and his old friends and +supporters, the Protestants; and his sympathies were always with them. +Henry IV., as sagacious and energetic as he was ambitious, saw that he +could never expect a more favorable moment to strike the house of +Austria than the one then presented. The Emperor Rhodolph was weak, and +universally unpopular, not only with his own subjects, but throughout +Germany. The Protestants were all inimical to him, and he was involved +in desperate antagonism with his energetic brother Matthias. Still he +was a formidable foe, as, in a war involving religious questions, he +could rally around him all the Catholic powers of Europe. + +Henry IV., preparatory to pouring his troops into the German empire, +entered into secret negotiations with England, Denmark, Switzerland, +Venice, whom he easily purchased with offers of plunder, and with the +Protestant princes of minor power on the continent. There were not a +few, indifferent upon religious matters, who were ready to engage in any +enterprise which would humble Spain and Austria. Henry collected a large +force on the frontiers of Germany, and, with ample materials of war, was +prepared, at a given signal, to burst into the territory of the empire. + +The Catholics watched these movements with alarm, and began also to +organize. Rhodolph, who, from his position as emperor, should have been +their leader, was a wretched hypochondriac, trembling before imaginary +terrors, a prey to the most gloomy superstitions, and still concealed in +the secret chambers of his palace. He was a burden to his party, and was +regarded by them with contempt. Matthias was watching him, as the tiger +watches its prey. To human eyes it would appear that the destiny of the +house of Austria was sealed. Just at that critical point, one of those +unexpected events occurred, which so often rise to thwart the deepest +laid schemes of man. + +On the 14th of May, 1610, Henry IV. left the Louvre in his carriage to +visit his prime minister, the illustrious Sully, who was sick. The city +was thronged with the multitudes assembled to witness the triumphant +entry of the queen, who had just been crowned. It was a beautiful spring +morning, and the king sat in his carriage with several of his nobles, +the windows of his carriage being drawn up. Just as the carriage was +turning up from the rue St. Honore into the rue Ferronnerie, the passage +was found blocked up by two carts. The moment the carriage stopped, a +man sprung from the crowd upon one of the spokes of the wheel, and +grasping a part of the coach with his right hand, with his left plunged +a dagger to the hilt into the heart of Henry IV. Instantly withdrawing +it, he repeated the blow, and with nervous strength again penetrated the +heart. The king dropped dead into the arms of his friends, the blood +gushing from the wound and from his mouth. The wretched assassin, a +fanatic monk, Francis Ravaillac, was immediately seized by the guard. +With difficulty they protected him from being torn in pieces by the +populace. He was reserved for a more terrible fate, and was subsequently +put to death by the most frightful tortures human ingenuity could +devise. + +The poniard of the assassin changed the fate of Europe. Henry IV. had +formed one of the grandest plans which ever entered the human mind. +Though it is not at all probable that he could have executed it, the +attempt, with the immense means he had at his disposal, and with his +energy as a warrior and diplomatist, would doubtless have entirely +altered the aspect of human affairs. There was very much in his plan to +secure the approval of all those enlightened men who were mourning over +the incessant and cruel wars with which Europe was ever desolated. His +intention was to reconstruct Europe into fifteen States, as nearly +uniform in size and power as possible. These States were, according to +their own choice, to be monarchical or republican, and were to be +associated on a plan somewhat resembling that of the United States of +North America. In each State the majority were to decide which religion, +whether Protestant or Catholic, should be established. The Catholics +were all to leave the Protestant States, and assemble in their own. In +like manner the Protestants were to abandon the Catholic kingdoms. This +was the very highest point to which the spirit of toleration had then +attained. All Pagans and Mohammedans were to be driven out of Europe +into Asia. A civil tribunal was to be organized to settle all national +difficulties, so that there should be no more war. There was to be a +standing army belonging to the confederacy, to preserve the peace, and +enforce its decrees, consisting of two hundred and seventy thousand +infantry, fifty thousand cavalry, two hundred cannon, and one hundred +and twenty ships of war. + +This plan was by no means so chimerical as at first glance it might seem +to be. The sagacious Sully examined it in all its details, and gave it +his cordial support. The cooeperation of two or three of the leading +powers would have invested the plan with sufficient moral and physical +support to render its success even probable. But the single poniard of +the monk Ravaillac arrested it all. + +The Emperor Napoleon I. had formed essentially the same plan, with the +same humane desire to put an end to interminable wars; but he had +adopted far nobler principles of toleration. "One of my great plans," +said he at St. Helena, "was the rejoining, the concentration of those +same geographical nations which have been disunited and parcelled out by +revolution and policy. There are dispersed in Europe upwards of thirty +millions of French, fifteen millions of Spaniards, fifteen millions of +Italians, and thirty millions of Germans. It was my intention to +incorporate these several people each into one nation. It would have +been a noble thing to have advanced into posterity with such a train, +and attended by the blessings of future ages. I felt myself worthy of +this glory. + +"After this summary simplification, it would have been possible to +indulge the chimera of the _beau ideal_ of civilization. In this state +of things there would have been some chance of establishing in every +country a unity of codes, of principles, of opinions, of sentiments, +views and interests. Then perhaps, by the help of the universal +diffusion of knowledge, one might have thought of attempting in the +great human family the application of the American Congress, or the +Amphictyons of Greece. What a perspective of power, grandeur, happiness +and prosperity would thus have appeared. + +"The concentration of thirty or forty millions of Frenchmen was +completed and perfected. That of fifteen millions of Spaniards was +nearly accomplished. Because I did not subdue the Spaniards, it will +henceforth be argued that they were invincible, for nothing is more +common than to convert accident into principle. But the fact is that +they were actually conquered, and, at the very moment when they escaped +me, the Cortes of Cadiz were secretly in treaty with me. They were not +delivered either by their own resistance or by the efforts of the +English, but by the reverses which I sustained at different points, and, +above all, by the error I committed in transferring my whole forces to +the distance of three thousand miles from them. Had it not been for +this, the Spanish government would have been shortly consolidated, the +public mind would have been tranquilized, and hostile parties would have +been rallied together. Three or four years would have restored the +Spaniards to profound peace and brilliant prosperity. They would have +become a compact nation, and I should have well deserved their +gratitude, for I should have saved them from the tyranny by which they +are now oppressed, and the terrible agitations which await them. + +"With regard to the fifteen millions of Italians, their concentration +was already far advanced; it only wanted maturity. The people were daily +becoming more firmly established in the unity of principles and +legislation, and also in the unity of thought and feeling--that certain +and infallible cement of human thought and concentration. The union of +Piedmont to France, and the junction of Parma, Tuscany and Rome, were, +in my mind, only temporary measures, intended merely to guarantee and +promote the national education of the Italians. The portions of Italy +that were united to France, though that union might have been regarded +as the result of invasion on our part, were, in spite of their Italian +patriotism, the very places that continued most attached to us. + +"All the south of Europe, therefore, would soon have been rendered +compact in point of locality, views, opinions, sentiments and interests. +In this state of things, what would have been the weight of all the +nations of the North? What human efforts could have broken through so +strong a barrier? The concentration of the Germans must have been +effected more gradually, and therefore I had done no more than simplify +their monstrous complication. Not that they were unprepared for +concentralization; on the contrary, they were too well prepared for it, +and they might have blindly risen in reaction against us before they had +comprehended our designs. How happens it that no German prince has yet +formed a just notion of the spirit of his nation, and turned it to good +account? Certainly if Heaven had made me a prince of Germany, amid the +critical events of our times I should infallibly have governed the +thirty millions of Germans combined; and, from what I know of them, I +think I may venture to affirm that if they had once elected and +proclaimed me they would not have forsaken me, and I should never have +been at St. Helena. + +"At all events," the emperor continued, after a moment's pause, "this +concentration will be brought about sooner or later by the very force of +events. The impulse is given, and I think that since my fall and the +destruction of my system, no grand equilibrium can possibly be +established in Europe except by the concentration and confederation of +the principal nations. The sovereign who in the first great conflict +shall sincerely embrace the cause of the people, will find himself at +the head of Europe, and may attempt whatever he pleases." + +Thus similar were the plans of these two most illustrious men. But from +this digression let us return to the affairs of Austria. With the death +of Henry IV., fell the stupendous plan which his genius conceived, and +which his genius alone could execute. The Protestants, all over Europe, +regarded his death as a terrible blow. Still they did not despair of +securing the contested duchy for a Protestant prince. The fall of Henry +IV. raised from the Catholics a shout of exultation, and they redoubled +their zeal. + +The various princes of the house of Austria, brothers, uncles, cousins, +holding important posts all over the empire, were much alarmed in view +of the peril to which the family ascending was exposed by the feebleness +of Rhodolph. They held a private family conference, and decided that the +interests of all required that there should be reconciliation between +Matthias and Rhodolph; or that, in their divided state, they would fall +victims to their numerous foes. The brothers agreed to an outward +reconciliation; but there was not the slightest mitigation of the rancor +which filled their hearts. Matthias, however, consented to acknowledge +the superiority of his brother, the emperor, to honor him as the head of +the family, and to hold his possessions as fiefs of Rhodolph intrusted +to him by favor. Rhodolph, while hating Matthias, and watching for an +opportunity to crush him, promised to regard him hereafter as a brother +and a friend. + +And now Rhodolph developed unexpected energy, mingled with treachery and +disgraceful duplicity. He secretly and treacherously invited the +Archduke Leopold, who was also Bishop of Passau and Strasbourg, and one +of the most bigoted of the warrior ecclesiastics of the papal church, to +invade, with an army of sixteen thousand men, Rhodolph's own kingdom of +Bohemia, under the plea that the wages of the soldiers had not been +paid. It was his object, by thus introducing an army of Roman Catholics +into his kingdom, and betraying into their hands several strong +fortresses, then to place himself at their head, rally the Catholics of +Bohemia around him, annul all the edicts of toleration, crush the +Protestants, and then to march to the punishment of Matthias. + +The troops, in accordance with their treacherous plan, burst into Upper +Austria, where the emperor had provided that there should be no force to +oppose them. They spread themselves over the country, robbing the +Protestants and destroying their property with the most wanton cruelty. +Crossing the Danube they continued their march and entered Bohemia. +Still Rhodolph kept quiet in his palace, sending no force to oppose, but +on the contrary contriving that towns and fortresses, left defenseless, +should fall easily into their hands. Bohemia was in a terrible state of +agitation. Wherever the invading army appeared, it wreaked dire +vengeance upon the Protestants. The leaders of the Protestants hurriedly +ran together, and, suspicious of treachery, sent an earnest appeal to +the king. + +The infamous emperor, not yet ready to lay aside the vail, called Heaven +to witness that the irruption was made without his knowledge, and +advised vigorous measures to repel the foe, while he carefully thwarted +the execution of any such measures. At the same time he issued a +proclamation to Leopold, commanding him to retire. Leopold understood +all this beforehand, and smiling, pressed on. Aided by the treason of +the king, they reached Prague, seized one of the gates, massacred the +guard, and took possession of the capital. The emperor now came forward +and disclosed his plans. The foreign troops, holding Prague and many +other of the most important towns and fortresses in the kingdom, took +the oath of allegiance to Rhodolph as their sovereign, and he placed in +their hands five pieces of heavy artillery, which were planted in +battery on an eminence which commanded the town. A part of Bohemia +rallied around the king in support of these atrocious measures. + +But all the Protestants, and all who had any sympathy with the +Protestants, were exasperated to the highest pitch. They immediately +dispatched messengers to Matthias and to their friends in Moravia, +imploring aid. Matthias immediately started eight thousand Hungarians on +the march. As they entered Bohemia with rapid steps and pushed their way +toward Prague they were joined every hour by Protestant levies pouring +in from all quarters. So rapidly did their ranks increase that Leopold's +troops, not daring to await their arrival, in a panic, fled by night. +They were pursued on their retreat, attacked, and put to flight with the +loss of two thousand men. The ecclesiastical duke, in shame and +confusion, slunk away to his episcopal castle of Passau. + +The contemptible Rhodolph now first proposed terms of reconciliation, +and then implored the clemency of his indignant conquerors. They turned +from the overtures of the perjured monarch with disdain, burst into the +city of Prague, surrounded every avenue to the palace, and took Rhodolph +a prisoner. Soon Matthias arrived, mounted in regal splendor, at the +head of a gorgeous retinue. The army received him with thunders of +acclaim. Rhodolph, a captive in his palace, heard the explosion of +artillery, the ringing of bells and the shouts of the populace, +welcoming his dreaded and detested rival to the capital. It was the 20th +of March, 1611. The nobles commanded Rhodolph to summon a diet. The +humiliated, degraded, helpless emperor knew full well what this +signified, but dared not disobey. He summoned a diet. It was immediately +convened. Rhodolph sent in a message, saying, + +"Since, on account of my advanced age, I am no longer capable of +supporting the weight of government, I hereby abdicate the throne, and +earnestly desire that my brother Matthias may be crowned without delay." + +The diet were disposed very promptly to gratify the king in his +expressed wishes. But there arose some very formidable difficulties. The +German princes, who were attached to the cause which Rhodolph had so +cordially espoused, and who foresaw that his fall threatened the +ascendency of Protestantism throughout the empire, sent their +ambassadors to the Bohemian nobles with the menace of the vengeance of +the empire, if they proceeded to the deposition of Rhodolph and to the +inauguration of Matthias, whom they stigmatized as an usurper. This +unexpected interposition reanimated the hopes of Rhodolph, and he +instantly found such renovation of youth and strength as to feel quite +able to bear the burden of the crown a little longer; and consequently, +notwithstanding his abdication, through his friends, all the most +accomplished mechanism of diplomacy, with its menaces, its bribes, and +its artifice were employed to thwart the movements of Matthias and his +friends. + +There was still another very great difficulty. Matthias was very +ambitious, and wished to be a sovereign, with sovereign power. He was +very reluctant to surrender the least portion of those prerogatives +which his regal ancestors had grasped. But the nobles deemed this a +favorable opportunity to regain their lost power. They were disposed to +make a hard bargain with Matthias. They demanded--1st, that the throne +should no longer be hereditary, but elective; 2d, that the nobles should +be permitted to meet in a diet, or congress, to deliberate upon public +affairs whenever and wherever they pleased; 3d, that all financial and +military affairs should be left in their hands; 4th, that although the +king might appoint all the great officers of state, they might remove +any of them at pleasure; 5th, that it should be the privilege of the +nobles to form all foreign alliances; 6th, that they were to be +empowered to form an armed force by their own authority. + +Matthias hesitated in giving his assent to such demands, which seemed to +reduce him to a cipher, conferring upon him only the shadow of a crown. +Rhodolph, however, who was eager to make any concessions, had his agents +busy through the diet, with assurances that the emperor would grant all +these concessions. But Rhodolph had fallen too low to rise again. The +diet spurned all his offers, and chose Matthias, though he postponed his +decision upon these articles until he could convene a future and more +general diet. Rhodolph had eagerly caught at the hope of regaining his +crown. As his messengers returned to him in the palace with the tidings +of their defeat, he was overwhelmed with indignation, shame and despair. +In a paroxysm of agony he threw up his window, and looking out upon the +city, exclaimed, + +"O 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 upon thee and all Bohemia." + +The 23d of May was appointed for the coronation. The nobles drew up a +paper, which they required Rhodolph to sign, absolving his subjects from +their oath of allegiance to him. The degraded king writhed in helpless +indignation, for he was a captive. With the foolish petulance of a +spoiled child, as he affixed his signature in almost an illegible +scrawl, he dashed blots of ink upon the paper, and then, tearing the pen +to pieces, threw it upon the floor, and trampled it beneath his feet. + +It was still apprehended that the adherents of Rhodolph might make some +armed demonstration in his favor. As a precaution against this, the city +was filled with troops, the gates closed, and carefully guarded. The +nobles met in the great hall of the palace. It was called a meeting of +the States, for it included the higher nobles, the higher clergy, and a +few citizens, as representatives of certain privileged cities. The +forced abdication of Rhodolph was first read. It was as follows:-- + +"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 conditions, 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 increased in riches +and splendor. We accordingly, in virtue of this present voluntary +resignation, and after due reflection, do, from this day, release our +subjects from all duty and obligation." + +Matthias was then chosen king, in accordance with all the ancient +customs of the hereditary monarchy of Bohemia. The States immediately +proceeded to his coronation. Every effort was made to dazzle the +multitude with the splendors of the coronation, and to throw a halo of +glory around the event, not merely as the accession of a new monarch to +the throne, but as the introduction of a great reform in reinstating the +nation in its pristine rights. + +While the capital was resounding with these rejoicings, Rhodolph had +retired to a villa at some distance from the city, in a secluded glen +among the mountains, that he might close his ears against the hateful +sounds. The next day Matthias, fraternally or maliciously, for it is not +easy to judge which motive actuated him, sent a stinging message of +assumed gratitude to his brother, thanking him for relinquishing in his +brother's favor his throne and his palaces, and expressing the hope that +they might still live together in fraternal confidence and affection. + +Matthias and the States consulted their own honor rather than Rhodolph's +merits, in treating him with great magnanimity. Though Rhodolph had +lost, one by one, all his own hereditary or acquired territories, +Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, he still retained the imperial crown of +Germany. This gave him rank and certain official honors, with but little +real power. The emperor, who was also a powerful sovereign in his own +right, could marshal his own forces to establish his decrees. But the +emperor, who had no treasury or army of his own, was powerless indeed. + +The emperor was permitted to occupy one of the palaces at Prague. He +received an annual pension of nearly a million of dollars; and the +territories and revenues of four lordships were conferred upon him. +Matthias having consolidated his government, and appointed the great +officers of his kingdom, left Prague without having any interview with +his brother, and returned to his central capital at Vienna, where he +married Anne, daughter of his uncle Ferdinand of Tyrol. + +The Protestants all over the German empire hailed these events with +public rejoicing. Rhodolph had been their implacable foe. He was now +disarmed and incapable of doing them any serious injury. Matthias was +professedly their friend, had been placed in power mainly as their +sovereign, and was now invested with such power, as sovereign of the +collected realms of Austria, that he could effectually protect them from +persecution. This success emboldened them to unite in a strong, +wide-spread confederacy for the protection of their rights. The +Protestant nobles and princes, with the most distinguished of their +clergy from all parts of the German empire, held a congress at +Rothenburg. This great assembly, in the number, splendor and dignity of +its attendants, vied with regal diets. Many of the most illustrious +princes of the empire were there in person, with imposing retinues. The +emperor and Matthias both deemed it expedient to send ambassadors to the +meeting. The congress at Rothenburg was one of the most memorable +movements of the Protestant party. They drew up minute regulations for +the government of their confederacy, established a system of taxation +among themselves, made efficient arrangements for the levying of troops, +established arsenals and magazines, and strongly garrisoned a fortress, +to be the nucleus of their gathering should they at any time be +compelled to appeal to arms. + +Rhodolph, through his ambassadors, appeared before this resplendent +assembly the mean and miserable sycophant he ever was in days of +disaster. He was so silly as to try to win them again to his cause. He +coaxed and made the most liberal promises, but all in vain. Their reply +was indignant and decisive, yet dignified. + +"We have too long," they replied, "been duped by specious and deceitful +promises. We now demand actions, not words. Let the emperor show us by +the acts of his administration that his spirit is changed, and then, and +then only, can we confide in him." + +Matthias was still apprehensive that the emperor might rally the +Catholic forces of Germany, and in union with the pope and the +formidable power of the Spanish court, make an attempt to recover his +Bohemian throne. It was manifest that with any energy of character, +Rhodolph might combine Catholic Europe, and inundate the plains of +Germany with blood. While it was very important, therefore, that +Matthias should do every thing he could to avoid exasperating the +Catholics, it was essential to his cause that he should rally around him +the sympathies of the Protestants. + +The ambassadors of Matthias respectfully announced to the congress the +events which had transpired in Bohemia in the transference of the crown, +and solicited the support of the congress. The Protestant princes +received this communication with satisfaction, promised their support in +case it should be needed, and, conscious of the danger of provoking +Rhodolph to any desperate efforts to rouse the Catholics, recommended +that he should be treated with brotherly kindness, and, at the same +time, watched with a vigilant eye. + +Rhodolph, disappointed here, summoned an electoral meeting of the +empire, to be held at Nuremburg on the 14th of December, 1711. He hoped +that a majority of the electors would be his friends. Before this body +he presented a very pathetic account of his grievances, delineating in +most melancholy colors the sorrows which attend fallen grandeur. He +detailed his privations and necessities, the straits to which he was +reduced by poverty, his utter inability to maintain a state befitting +the imperial dignity, and implored them, with the eloquence of a +Neapolitan mendicant, to grant him a suitable establishment, and not to +abandon him, in his old age, to penury and dishonor. + +The reply of the electors to the dispirited, degraded, downtrodden old +monarch was the unkindest cut of all. Much as Rhodolph is to be +execrated and despised, one can hardly refrain from an emotion of +sympathy in view of this new blow which fell upon him. A deputation sent +from the electoral college met him in his palace at Prague. Mercilessly +they recapitulated most of the complaints which the Protestants had +brought against him, declined rendering him any pecuniary relief, and +requested him to nominate some one to be chosen as his successor on the +imperial throne. + +"The emperor," said the delegation in conclusion, "is himself the +principal author of his own distresses and misfortunes. The contempt +into which he has fallen and the disgrace which, through him, is +reflected upon the empire, is derived from his own indolence and his +obstinacy in following perverse counsels. He might have escaped all +these calamities if, instead of resigning himself to corrupt and +interested ministers, he had followed the salutary counsels of the +electors." + +They closed this overwhelming announcement by demanding the immediate +assembling of a diet to elect an emperor to succeed him on the throne of +Germany. Rhodolph, not yet quite sufficiently humiliated to officiate as +his own executioner, though he promised to summon a diet, evaded the +fulfillment of his promise. The electors, not disposed to dally with him +at all, called the assembly by their own authority to meet on the 31st +of May. + +This seemed to be the finishing blow. Rhodolph, now sixty years of age, +enfeebled and emaciated by disease and melancholy, threw himself upon +his bed to die. Death, so often invoked in vain by the miserable, came +to his aid. He welcomed its approach. To those around his bed he +remarked, + +"When a youth, I experienced the most exquisite pleasure in returning +from Spain to my native country. 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!" + +In the tomb let him be forgotten. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +MATTHIAS. + +From 1612 to 1619. + +Matthias Elected Emperor of Germany.--His despotic Character.--His Plans +thwarted.--Mulheim.--Gathering Clouds.--Family Intrigue.--Coronation of +Ferdinand.--His Bigotry.--Henry, Count of Thurn.--Convention at +Prague.--The King's Reply.--The Die cast.--Amusing Defense of an +Outrage.--Ferdinand's Manifesto.--Seizure of Cardinal Kleses.--The +King's Rage.--Retreat of the King's Troops.--Humiliation of +Ferdinand.--The Difficulties referred.--Death of Matthias. + + +Upon the death of Rhodolph, Matthias promptly offered himself as a +candidate for the imperial crown. But the Catholics, suspicious of +Matthias, in consequence of his connection with the Protestants, +centered upon the Archduke Albert, sovereign of the Netherlands, as +their candidate. Many of the Protestants, also, jealous of the vast +power Matthias was attaining, and not having full confidence in his +integrity, offered their suffrages to Maximilian, the younger brother of +Matthias. But notwithstanding this want of unanimity, political intrigue +removed all difficulties and Matthias was unanimously elected Emperor of +Germany. + +The new emperor was a man of renown. His wonderful achievements had +arrested the attention of Europe, and it was expected that in his hands +the administration of the empire would be conducted with almost +unprecedented skill and vigor. But clouds and storms immediately began +to lower around the throne. Matthias had no spirit of toleration in his +heart, and every tolerant act he had assented to, had been extorted from +him. He was, by nature, a despot, and most reluctantly, for the sake of +grasping the reins of power, he had relinquished a few of the royal +prerogatives. He had thus far evaded many of the claims which had been +made upon him, and which he had partially promised to grant, and now, +being both king and emperor, he was disposed to grasp all power, both +secular and religious, which he could attain. + +Matthias's first endeavor was to recover Transylvania. This province had +fallen into the hands of Gabriel Bethlehem, who was under the protection +of the Turks. Matthias, thinking that a war with the infidel would be +popular, summoned a diet and solicited succors to drive the Turks from +Moldavia and Wallachia, where they had recently established themselves. +The Protestants, however, presented a list of grievances which they +wished to have redressed before they listened to his request. The +Catholics, on the other hand, presented a list of their grievances, +which consisted, mainly, in privileges granted the Protestants, which +they also demanded to have redressed before they could vote any supplies +to the emperor. These demands were so diametrically hostile to each +other, that there could be no reconciliation. After an angry debate the +diet broke up in confusion, having accomplished nothing. + +Matthias, disappointed in this endeavor, now applied to the several +States of his widely extended Austrian domains--to his own subjects. A +general assembly was convened at Lintz. Matthias proposed his plans, +urging the impolicy of allowing the Turks to retain the conquered +provinces, and to remain in the ascendency in Transylvania. But here +again Matthias was disappointed. The Bohemian Protestants were indignant +in view of some restrictions upon their worship, imposed by the emperor +to please the Catholics. The Hungarians, weary of the miseries of war, +were disposed on any terms to seek peace with the Turks. The Austrians +had already expended an immense amount of blood and money on the +battle-fields of Hungary, and urged the emperor to send an ambassador to +treat for peace. Matthias was excessively annoyed in being thus thwarted +in all his plans. + +Just at this time a Turkish envoy arrived at Vienna, proposing a truce +for twenty years. The Turks had never before condescended to send an +embassage to a Christian power. This afforded Matthias an honorable +pretext for abandoning his warlike plan, and the truce was agreed to. + +The incessant conflict between the Catholics and Protestants allowed +Germany no repose. A sincere toleration, such as existed during the +reign of Maximilian I., established fraternal feelings between the +contending parties. But it required ages of suffering and peculiar +combination of circumstances, to lead the king and the nobles to a +cordial consent to that toleration. But the bigotry of Rhodolph and the +trickery of Matthias, had so exasperated the parties, and rendered them +so suspicious of each other, that the emperor, even had he been so +disposed, could not, but by very slow and gradual steps, have secured +reconciliation. Rhodolph had put what was called the ban of the empire +upon the Protestant city of Aix-la-Chapelle, removing the Protestants +from the magistracy, and banishing their chiefs from the city. When +Rhodolph was sinking into disgrace and had lost his power, the +Protestants, being in the majority, took up arms, reflected their +magistracy, and expelled the Jesuits from the city. The Catholics now +appealed to Matthias, and he insanely revived the ban against the +Protestants, and commissioned Albert, Archduke of Cologne, a bigoted +Catholic, to march with an army to Aix-la-Chapelle and enforce its +execution. + +Opposite Cologne, on the Rhine, the Protestants, in the days of bitter +persecution, had established the town of Mulheim. Several of the +neighboring Protestant princes defended with their arms the refugees who +settled there from all parts of Germany. The town was strongly +fortified, and here the Protestants, with arms in their hands, +maintained perfect freedom of religious worship. The city grew rapidly +and became one of the most important fortresses upon the river. The +Catholics, jealous of its growing power, appealed to the emperor. He +issued a decree ordering the Protestants to demolish every fortification +of the place within thirty days; and to put up no more buildings +whatever. + +These decrees were both enforced by the aid of a Spanish army of thirty +thousand men, which, having executed the ban, descended the river and +captured several others of the most important of the Protestant towns. +Of course all Germany was in a ferment. Everywhere was heard the +clashing of arms, and every thing indicated the immediate outburst of +civil war. Matthias was in great perplexity, and his health rapidly +failed beneath the burden of care and sorrow. All the thoughts of +Matthias were now turned to the retaining of the triple crown of +Bohemia, Hungary and the empire, in the family. Matthias was old, sick +and childless. Maximilian, his next brother, was fifty-nine years of age +and unmarried. The next brother, Albert, was fifty-eight, and without +children. Neither of the brothers could consequently receive the crowns +with any hope of retaining them in the family. Matthias turned to his +cousin Ferdinand, head of the Styrian branch of the family, as the +nearest relative who was likely to continue the succession. In +accordance with the custom which had grown up, Matthias wished to +nominate his successor, and have him recognized and crowned before his +death, so that immediately upon his death the new sovereign, already +crowned, could enter upon the government without any interregnum. + +The brothers, appreciating the importance of retaining the crown in the +family, and conscious that all the united influence they then possessed +was essential to securing that result, assented to the plan, and +cooeperated in the nomination of Ferdinand. All the arts of diplomatic +intrigue were called into requisition to attain these important ends. +The Bohemian crown was now electoral; and it was necessary to persuade +the electors to choose Ferdinand, one of the most intolerant Catholics +who ever swayed a scepter. The crown of Hungary was nominally +hereditary. But the turbulent nobles, ever armed, and strong in their +fortresses, would accept no monarch whom they did not approve. To secure +also the electoral vote for Emperor of Germany, while parties were so +divided and so bitterly hostile to each other, required the most adroit +application of bribes and menaces. + +Matthias made his first movement in Bohemia. Having adopted previous +measures to gain the support of the principal nobles, he summoned a diet +at Prague, which he attended in person, accompanied by Ferdinand. In a +brief speech he thus addressed them. + +"As I and my brothers," said the king, "are without children, I deem it +necessary, for the advantage of Bohemia, and to prevent future 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." + +Some of the leading Protestants opposed this, on the ground of the known +intolerance of Ferdinand. But the majority, either won over by the arts +of Matthias, or dreading civil war, accepted Ferdinand. He was crowned +on the 10th of June, 1616, he promising not to interfere with the +government during the lifetime of Matthias. The emperor now turned to +Hungary, and, by the adoption of the same measures, secured the same +results. The nobles accepted Ferdinand, and he was solemnly crowned at +Presburg. + +Ferdinand was Archduke of Styria, a province of Austria embracing a +little more than eight thousand square miles, being about the size of +the State of Massachusetts, and containing about a million of +inhabitants. He was educated by the Jesuits after the strictest manner +of their religion. He became so thoroughly imbued with the spirit of his +monastic education, that he was anxious to assume the cowl of the monk, +and enter the order of the Jesuits. His devotion to the papal church +assumed the aspect of the most inflexible intolerance towards all +dissent. In the administration of the government of his own duchy, he +had given free swing to his bigotry. Marshaling his troops, he had +driven all the Protestant preachers from his domains. He had made a +pilgrimage to Rome, to receive the benediction of the pope, and another +to Loretto, where, prostrating himself before the miraculous image, he +vowed never to cease his exertions until he had extirpated all heresy +from his territories. He often declared that he would beg his bread from +door to door, submit to every insult, to every calamity, sacrifice even +life itself, rather than suffer the true Church to be injured. Ferdinand +was no time-server--no hypocrite. He was a genuine bigot, sincere and +conscientious. Animated by this spirit, although two thirds of the +inhabitants of Styria were Protestants, he banished all their preachers, +professors and schoolmasters; closed their churches, seminaries and +schools; even tore down the churches and school-houses; multiplied papal +institutions, and called in teachers and preachers from other States. + +Matthias and Ferdinand now seemed jointly to reign, and the Protestants +were soon alarmed by indications that a new spirit was animating the +councils of the sovereign. The most inflexible Catholics were received +as the friends and advisers of the king. The Jesuits loudly exulted, +declaring that heresy was no longer to be tolerated. Banishments and +confiscations were talked of, and the alarm of the Protestants became +intense and universal: they looked forward to the commencement of the +reign of Ferdinand with terror. + +As was to be expected, such wrongs and perils called out an avenger. +Matthew Henry, Count of Thurn, was one of the most illustrious and +wealthy of the Bohemian nobles. He had long been a warm advocate of the +doctrines of the Reformation; and having, in the wars with the Turks, +acquired a great reputation for military capacity and courage, and being +also a man of great powers of eloquence, and of exceedingly popular +manners, he had become quite the idol of the Protestant party. He had +zealously opposed the election of Ferdinand to the throne of Bohemia, +and had thus increased that jealousy and dislike with which both +Matthias and Ferdinand had previously regarded so formidable an +opponent. He was, in consequence, very summarily deprived of some very +important dignities. This roused his impetuous spirit, and caused the +Protestants more confidingly to rally around him as a martyr to their +cause. + +The Count of Thurn, as prudent as he was bold, as deliberate as he was +energetic, aware of the fearful hazard of entering into hostilities with +the sovereign who was at the same time king of all the Austrian realms, +and Emperor of Germany, conferred with the leading Protestant princes, +and organized a confederacy so strong that all the energies of the +empire could with difficulty crush it. They were not disposed to make +any aggressive movements, but to defend their rights if assailed. The +inhabitants of a town in the vicinity of Prague began to erect a church +for Protestant worship. The Roman Catholic bishop, who presided over +that diocese, forbade them to proceed. They plead a royal edict, which +authorized them to erect the church, and continued their work, +regardless of the prohibition. Count Thurn encouraged them to persevere, +promising them ample support. The bishop appealed to the Emperor +Matthias. He also issued his prohibition; but aware of the strength of +the Protestants, did not venture to attempt to enforce it by arms. +Ferdinand, however, was not disposed to yield to this spirit, and by his +influence obtained an order, demanding the immediate surrender of the +church to the Catholics, or its entire demolition. The bishop attempted +its destruction by an armed force, but the Protestants defended their +property, and sent a committee to Matthias, petitioning for a revocation +of the mandate. These deputies were seized and imprisoned by the king, +and an imperial force was sent to the town, Brunau, to take possession +of the church. From so small a beginning rose the Thirty Years' War. + +Count Thurn immediately summoned a convention of six delegates from each +of the districts, called circles in Bohemia. The delegates met at Prague +on the 16th of March, 1618. An immense concourse of Protestants from all +parts of the surrounding country accompanied the delegates to the +capital. Count Thurn was a man of surpassing eloquence, and seemed to +control at will all the passions of the human heart. In the boldest +strains of eloquence he addressed the assembly, and roused them to the +most enthusiastic resolve to defend at all hazards their civil and +religious rights. They unanimously passed a resolve that the demolition +of the church and the suspension of the Protestant worship were +violations of the royal edict, and they drew up a petition to the +emperor demanding the redress of this grievance, and the liberation of +the imprisoned deputies from Brunau. The meeting then adjourned, to be +reassembled soon to hear the reply of the emperor. + +As the delegates and the multitudes who accompanied them returned to +their homes, they spread everywhere the impression produced upon their +minds by the glowing eloquence of Count Thurn. The Protestant mind was +roused to the highest pitch by the truthful representation, that the +court had adopted a deliberate plan for the utter extirpation of +Protestant worship throughout Bohemia, and that foreign troops were to +be brought in to execute this decree. These convictions were +strengthened and the alarm increased by the defiant reply which Matthias +sent back from his palace in Vienna to his Bohemian subjects. He accused +the delegates of treason and of circulating false and slanderous +reports, and declared that they should be punished according to their +deserts. He forbade them to meet again, or to interfere in any way with +the affairs of Brunau, stating that at his leisure he would repair to +Prague and attend to the business himself. + +The king could not have framed an answer better calculated to exasperate +the people, and rouse them to the most determined resistance. Count +Thurn, regardless of the prohibition, called the delegates together and +read to them the answer, which the king had not addressed to them but to +the council of regency. He then addressed them again in those +impassioned strains which he had ever at command, and roused them almost +to fury against those Catholic lords who had dictated this answer to the +king and obtained his signature. + +The next day the nobles met again. They came to the place of meeting +thoroughly armed and surrounded by their retainers, prepared to repel +force by force. Count Thurn now wished to lead them to some act of +hostility so decisive that they would be irrecoverably committed. The +king's council of regency was then assembled in the palace of Prague. +The regency consisted of seven Catholics and three Protestants. For some +unknown reason the Protestant lords were not present on this occasion. +Three of the members of the regency, Slavata and Martinetz and the +burgrave of Prague, were peculiarly obnoxious on account of the +implacable spirit with which they had ever persecuted the reformers. +These lords were the especial friends of Ferdinand and had great +influence with Matthias, and it was not doubted that they had framed the +answer which the emperor had returned. Incited by Count Thurn, several +of the most resolute of the delegates, led by the count, proceeded to +the palace, and burst into the room where the regency was in session. + +Their leader, addressing Slavata, Martinetz, and Diepold, the burgrave, +said, "Our business is with you. We wish to know if you are responsible +for the answer returned to us by the king." + +"That," one of them replied, "is a secret of state which we are not +bound to reveal." + +"Let us follow," exclaimed the Protestant chief, "the ancient custom of +Bohemia, and hurl them from the window." + +They were in a room in the tower of the castle, and it was eighty feet +to the water of the moat. The Catholic lords were instantly seized, +dragged to the window and thrust out. Almost incredible as it may seem, +the water and the mud of the moat so broke their fall, that neither of +them was killed. They all recovered from the effects of their fall. +Having performed this deed, Count Thurn and his companions returned to +the delegates, informed them of what they had done, and urged them that +the only hope of safety now, for any Protestant, was for all to unite in +open and desperate resistance. Then mounting his horse, and protected by +a strong body-guard, he rode through the streets of Prague, stopping at +every corner to harangue the Protestant populace. The city was thronged +on the occasion by Protestants from all parts of the kingdom. + +"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 to +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." + +He was everywhere greeted with shouts of enthusiasm, and the whole +Protestant population were united as one man in the cause. Even many of +the moderate Catholics, disgusted with the despotism of the newly +elected king, which embraced civil as well as religious affairs, joined +the Protestants, for they feared the loss of their civil rights more +than they dreaded the inroads of heresy. + +With amazing celerity they now organized to repel the force which they +knew that the emperor would immediately send to crush them. Within three +days their plans were all matured and an organization effected which +made the king tremble in his palace. Count Thurn was appointed their +commander, an executive committee of thirty very efficient men was +chosen, which committee immediately issued orders for the levy of troops +all over the kingdom. Envoys were sent to Moravia, Silesia, Lusatia, and +Hungary, and to the Protestants all over the German empire. The +Archbishop of Prague was expelled from the city, and the Jesuits were +also banished. They then issued a proclamation in defense of their +conduct, which they sent to the king with a firm but respectful letter. + +One can not but be amused in reading their defense of the outrage +against the council of regency. "We have thrown from the windows," they +said, "the two ministers who have been the enemies of the State, +together with their creature and flatterer, in conformity with an +ancient custom prevalent throughout all Bohemia, as well as in the +capital. This custom is justified by the example of Jezebel in holy +Writ, who was thrown from a window for persecuting the people of God; +and it was common among the Romans, and all other nations of antiquity, +who hurled the disturbers of the public peace from rocks and +precipices." + +Matthias had very reluctantly sent his insulting and defiant answer to +the reasonable complaints of the Protestants, and he was thunderstruck +in contemplating the storm which had thus been raised--a storm which +apparently no human wisdom could now allay. There are no energies so +potent as those which are aroused by religious convictions. Matthias +well knew the ascendency of the Protestants all over Bohemia, and that +their spirit, once thoroughly aroused, could not be easily quelled by +any opposing force he could array. He was also aware that Ferdinand was +thoroughly detested by the Protestant leaders, and that it was by no +means improbable that this revolt would thwart all his plans in securing +his succession. + +As the Protestants had not renounced their allegiance, Matthias was +strongly disposed to measures of conciliation, and several of the most +influential, yet fair-minded Catholics supported him in these views. The +Protestants were too numerous to be annihilated, and too strong in their +desperation to be crushed. But Ferdinand, guided by the Jesuits, was +implacable. He issued a manifesto, which was but a transcript of his own +soul, and which is really sublime in the sincerity and fervor of its +intolerance. + +"All attempts," said he, "to bring to reason a people whom God has +struck with judicial blindness will be in vain. Since the introduction +of heresy into Bohemia, we have seen nothing but tumults, disobedience +and rebellion. While the Catholics and the sovereign have displayed only +lenity and moderation, these sects have become stronger, more violent +and more insolent; having gained all their objects in religious affairs, +they turn their arms against the civil government, and attack the +supreme authority under the pretense of conscience; not content with +confederating themselves against their sovereign, they have usurped the +power of taxation, and have made alliances with foreign States, +particularly 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 outrages against his ministers, and the usurpation of the +regal revenues, no object remains for their vengeance and rapacity 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 +incessantly 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, and they have only the alternative of +a war by which they may regain their power, or a peace which is far more +dishonorable and dangerous than war. If successful, the forfeited +property of the rebels will defray the expense of their armaments; if +the event of hostilities be unfortunate, they can only lose, with honor, +and with arms in their hands, the rights and prerogatives which are and +will be wrested from them with shame and dishonor. 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." + +Matthias endeavored to unite his own peace policy with the energetic +warlike measures urged by Ferdinand. He attempted to overawe by a great +demonstration of physical force, while at the same time he made very +pacific proposals. Applying to Spain for aid, the Spanish court sent him +eight thousand troops from the Netherlands; he also raised, in his own +dominions, ten thousand men. Having assembled this force he sent word to +the Protestants, that if they would disband their force he would do the +same, and that he would confirm the royal edict and give full security +for the maintenance of their civil and religious privileges. The +Protestants refused to disband, knowing that they could place no +reliance upon the word of the unstable monarch who was crowded by the +rising power of the energetic Ferdinand. The ambitious naturally +deserted the court of the sovereign whose days were declining, to enlist +in the service of one who was just entering upon the kingly power. + +Ferdinand was enraged at what he considered the pusillanimity of the +king. Maximilian, the younger brother of Matthias, cordially espoused +the cause of Ferdinand. Cardinal Kleses, a Catholic of commanding +influence and of enlightened, liberal views, was the counselor of the +king. Ferdinand and Maximilian resolved that he should no longer have +access to the ear of the pliant monarch, but he could be removed from +the court only by violence. With an armed band they entered the palace +at Vienna, seized the cardinal in the midst of the court, stripped him +of his robes, hurried him into a carriage, and conveyed him to a strong +castle in the midst of the mountains of the Tyrol, where they held him a +close prisoner. The emperor was at the time confined to his bed with the +gout. As soon as they had sent off the cardinal, Ferdinand and +Maximilian repaired to the royal chamber, informed the emperor of what +they had done, and attempted to justify the deed on the plea that the +cardinal was a weak and wicked minister whose policy would certainly +divide and ruin the house of Austria. + +The emperor was in his bed as he received this insulting announcement of +a still more insulting outrage. For a moment he was speechless with +rage. But he was old, sick and powerless. This act revealed to him that +the scepter had fallen from his hands. In a paroxysm of excitement, to +prevent himself from speaking he thrust the bed-clothes into his mouth, +nearly suffocating himself. Resistance was in vain. He feared that +should he manifest any, he also might be torn from his palace, a +captive, to share the prison of the cardinal. In sullen indignation he +submitted to the outrage. + +Ferdinand and Maximilian now pursued their energetic measures of +hostility unopposed. They immediately put the army in motion to invade +Bohemia, and boasted that the Protestants should soon be punished with +severity which would teach them a lesson they would never forget. But +the Protestants were on the alert. Every town in the kingdom had joined +in the confederacy, and in a few weeks Count Thurn found himself at the +head of ten thousand men inspired with the most determined spirit. The +Silesians and Lusatians marched to help them, and the Protestant league +of Germany sent them timely supplies. The troops of Ferdinand found +opponents in every pass and in every defile, and in their endeavor to +force their way through the fastnesses of the mountains, were frequently +driven back with great loss. At length the troops of Ferdinand, defeated +at every point, were compelled to retreat in shame back to Austria, +leaving all Bohemia in the hands of the Protestants. + +Ferdinand was now in trouble and disgrace. His plans had signally +failed. The Protestants all over Germany were in arms, and their spirits +roused to the highest pitch; many of the moderate Catholics refused to +march against them, declaring that the Protestants were right in +resisting such oppression. They feared Ferdinand, and were apprehensive +that his despotic temper, commencing with religious intolerance, would +terminate in civil tyranny. It was evident to all that the Protestants +could not be put down by force of arms, and even Ferdinand was so +intensely humiliated that he was constrained to assent to the proposal +which Matthias made to refer their difficulty to arbitration. Four +princes were selected as the referees--the Electors of Mentz, Bavaria, +Saxony and Palatine. They were to meet at Egra the 14th of April, 1619. + +But Matthias, the victim of disappointment and grief, was now rapidly +approaching his end. The palace at Vienna was shrouded in gloom, and no +smiles were seen there, and no sounds of joy were heard in those regal +saloons. The wife of Matthias, whom he tenderly loved, oppressed by the +humiliation and anguish which she saw her husband enduring, died of a +broken heart. Matthias was inconsolable under this irretrievable loss. +Lying upon his bed tortured with the pain of the gout, sinking under +incurable disease, with no pleasant memories of the past to cheer him, +with disgrace and disaster accumulating, and with no bright hopes beyond +the grave, he loathed life and dreaded death. The emperor in his palace +was perhaps the most pitiable object which could be found in all his +realms. He tossed upon his pillow, the victim of remorse and despair, +now condemning himself for his cruel treatment of his brother Rhodolph, +now inveighing bitterly against the inhumanity and arrogance of +Ferdinand and Maximilian. On the 20th of March, 1619, the despairing +spirit of the emperor passed away to the tribunal of the "King of kings +and the Lord of lords." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +FERDINAND II. + +From 1619 to 1621. + +Possessions of the Emperor.--Power of the Protestants of +Bohemia.--General Spirit of Insurrection.--Anxiety of Ferdinand.-- +Insurrection led by Count Thurn.--Unpopularity of the Emperor.-- +Affecting Declaration of the Emperor.--Insurrection in Vienna.--The +Arrival of Succor.--Ferdinand seeks the imperial Throne.--Repudiated by +Bohemia.--The Palatinate.--Frederic offered the Crown of Bohemia.-- +Frederic crowned.--Revolt in Hungary.--Desperate Condition of the +Emperor.--Catholic League.--The Calvinists and the Puritans.--Duplicity +of the Emperor.--Foreign Combinations.--Truce between the Catholics and +the Protestants.--The Attack upon Bohemia.--Battle of the White +Mountain. + + +Ferdinand, who now ascended the throne by right of the coronation he had +already received, was in the prime of life, being but forty-one years of +age, and was in possession of a rare accumulation of dignities. He was +Archduke of Austria, King of Hungary and of Bohemia, Duke of Styria, +Carinthia and Carniola, and held joint possession, with his two +brothers, of the spacious territory of the Tyrol. Thus all these +wide-spread and powerful territories, with different languages, +different laws, and diverse manners and customs, were united under the +Austrian monarchy, which was now undeniably one of the leading powers of +Europe. In addition to all these titles and possessions, he was a +prominent candidate for the imperial crown of Germany. To secure this +additional dignity he could rely upon his own family influence, which +was very powerful, and also upon the aid of the Spanish monarchy. When +we contemplate his accession in this light, he appears as one of the +most powerful monarchs who ever ascended a throne. + +But there is another side to the picture. The spirit of rebellion +against his authority had spread through nearly all his territories, and +he had neither State nor kingdom where his power seemed stable. In +whatever direction he turned his eyes, he saw either the gleam of +hostile arms or the people in a tumult just ready to combine against +him. + +The Protestants of Bohemia had much to encourage them. All the kingdom, +excepting one fortress, was in their possession. All the Protestants of +the German empire had espoused their cause. The Silesians, Lusatians and +Moravians were in open revolt. The Hungarian Protestants, animated by +the success of the Bohemians, were eager to follow their example and +throw off the yoke of Ferdinand. With iron tyranny he had silenced every +Protestant voice in the Styrian provinces, and had crushed every +semblance of religious liberty. But the successful example of the +Bohemians had roused the Styrians, and they also were on the eve of +making a bold move in defense of their rights. Even in Austria itself, +and beneath the very shadow of the palaces of Vienna, conspiracies were +rife, and insurrection was only checked by the presence of the army +which had been driven out of Bohemia. + +Even Ferdinand could not be blind to the difficulties which were +accumulating upon him, and to the precarious tenure of his power. He saw +the necessity of persevering in the attempt at conciliation which he had +so reluctantly commenced. And yet, with strange infatuation, he proposed +an accommodation in a manner which was deemed insulting, and which +tended only to exasperate. The very day of his accession to the throne, +he sent a commission to Prague, to propose a truce; but, instead of +conferring with the Protestant leaders, he seemed to treat them with +intentional contempt, by addressing his proposal to that very council of +regency which had become so obnoxious. The Protestants, justly regarding +this as an indication of the implacable state of his mind, and conscious +that the proposed truce would only enable him more effectually to rally +his forces, made no reply whatever to his proposals. Ferdinand, +perceiving that he had made a great mistake, and that he had not rightly +appreciated the spirit of his foes, humbled himself a little more, and +made still another attempt at conciliation. But the Protestants had now +resolved that Ferdinand should never be King of Bohemia. It had become +an established tenet of the Catholic church that it is not necessary to +keep faith with heretics. Whatever solemn promises Ferdinand might make, +the pope would absolve him from all sin in violating them. + +Count Thurn, with sixteen thousand men, marched into Moravia. The people +rose simultaneously to greet him. He entered Brunn, the capital, in +triumph. The revolution was immediate and entire. They abolished the +Austrian government, established the Protestant worship, and organized a +new government similar to that which they had instituted in Bohemia. +Crossing the frontier, Count Thurn boldly entered Austria and, meeting +no foe capable of retarding his steps, he pushed vigorously on even to +the very gates of Vienna. As he had no heavy artillery capable of +battering down the walls, and as he knew that he had many partisans +within the walls of the city, he took possession of the suburbs, +blockaded the town, and waited for the slow operation of a siege, hoping +thus to be able to take the capital and the person of the sovereign +without bloodshed. + +Ferdinand had brought such trouble upon the country, that he was now +almost as unpopular with the Catholics as with the Protestants, and all +his appeals to them for aid were of but little avail. The sudden +approach of Count Thurn had amazed and discomfited him, and he knew not +in what direction to look for aid. Cooped up in his capital, he could +hold no communication with foreign powers, and his own subjects +manifested no disposition to come to his rescue. The evidences of +popular discontent, even in the city, were every hour becoming more +manifest, and the unhappy sovereign was in hourly expectation of an +insurrection in the streets. + +The surrender of Vienna involved the loss of Austria. With the loss of +Austria vanished all hopes of the imperial crown. Bohemia, Austria, and +the German scepter gone, Hungary would soon follow; and then, his own +Styrian territories, sustained and aided by their successful neighbors, +would speedily discard his sway. Ferdinand saw it all clearly, and was +in an agony of despair. He has confided to his confessor the emotions +which, in those terrible hours, agitated his soul. It is affecting to +read the declaration, indicative as it is that the most cruel and +perfidious man may be sincere and even conscientious in his cruelty and +crime. To his Jesuitical confessor, Bartholomew Valerius, he said, + +"I have reflected 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 implore that help from God which I +can not 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, Thou knowest that I seek Thy honor, not my own. If it be Thy +will, that, in this extremity, I should be overcome by thy enemies, and +be made the sport and contempt of the world, I will drink of the bitter +cup. Thy will be done.' I had hardly spoken these words before I was +inspired with new hope, and felt a full conviction that God would +frustrate the designs of my enemies." + +Nerved by such a spirit, Ferdinand was prepared to endure all things +rather than yield the slightest point. Hour after hour his situation +became more desperate, and still he remained inflexible. Balls from the +batteries of Count Thurn struck even the walls of his palace; murmurs +filled the streets, and menaces rose to his ears from beneath his +windows. "Let us put his evil counselors to the sword," the disaffected +exclaimed; "shut him up in a convent; and educate his children in the +Protestant religion." + +At length the crisis had apparently arrived. Insurrection was organized. +Clamorous bands surged through the streets, and there was a state of +tumult which no police force could quell. A band of armed men burst into +the palace, forced their way into the presence of Ferdinand, and +demanded the surrender of the city. At that moment, when Ferdinand might +well have been in despair, the unexpected sound of trumpets was heard in +the streets, and the tramp of a squadron of cavalry. The king was as +much amazed as were the insurgents. The deputies, not knowing what it +meant, in great alarm retreated from the palace. The squadron swept the +streets, and surrounded the palace. They had been sent to the city by +the general who had command of the Austrian forces, and, arriving at +full speed, had entered unexpectedly at the only gate which the +besiegers had not guarded. + +Their arrival, as if by heavenly commission, and the tidings they +brought of other succor near at hand, reanimated the king and his +partisans, and instantly the whole aspect of things within the city was +changed. Six hundred students in the Roman Catholic institutions of the +city flew to arms, and organized themselves as a body-guard of the king. +All the zealous Catholics formed themselves into military bands, and +this encouraged that numerous neutral party, always existing in such +seasons of uncertainty, ready to join those who shall prove to be the +strongest. The Protestants fled from the city, and sought protection +under the banners of Count Thurn. + +In the meantime the Catholics in Bohemia, taking advantage of the +absence of Count Thurn with his troops, had surrounded Prague, and were +demanding its capitulation. This rendered it necessary for the Bohemian +army immediately to strike their tents and return to Bohemia. Never was +there a more sudden and perfect deliverance. It was, however, +deliverance only from the momentary peril. The great elements of +discontent and conflict remained unchanged. + +It was very evident that the difficulties which Ferdinand had to +encounter in his Austrian dominions, were so immense that he could not +hope to surmount them without foreign aid. He consequently deemed it a +matter important above all others to secure the imperial throne. Without +this strength the loss of all his Austrian possessions was inevitable. +With the influence and the power which the crown of Germany would confer +upon him he could hope to gain all. Ferdinand immediately left Vienna +and visited the most influential of the German princes to secure their +support for his election. The Catholics all over Germany, alarmed by the +vigor and energy which had been displayed by the Protestants, laid aside +their several preferences, and gradually all united upon Ferdinand. The +Protestants, foolishly allowing their Lutheran and Calvinistic +differences to disunite them, could not agree in their candidate. +Consequently Ferdinand was elected, and immediately crowned emperor, the +9th of September, 1619. + +The Bohemians, however, remained firm in their resolve to repudiate him +utterly as their king. They summoned a diet of the States of Bohemia, +Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia to meet at Prague. Delegates also attended +the diet from Upper and Lower Austria, as also many nobles from distant +Hungary. The diet drew up a very formidable list of grievances, and +declared, in view of them, that Ferdinand had forfeited all right to the +crown of Bohemia, and that consequently it was their duty, in accordance +with the ancient usages, to proceed to the election of a sovereign. The +Catholics were now so entirely in the minority in Bohemia that the +Protestants held the undisputed control. They first chose the Elector of +Saxony. He, conscious that he could maintain his post only by a long and +uncertain war, declined the perilous dignity. They then with great +unanimity elected Frederic, the Elector of Palatine. + +The Palatinate was a territory bordering on Bohemia, of over four +thousand square miles, and contained nearly seven hundred thousand +inhabitants. The elector, Frederic V., was thus a prince of no small +power in his own right. He had married a daughter of James I. of +England, and had many powerful relatives. Frederic was an affable, +accomplished, kind-hearted man, quite ambitious, and with but little +force of character. He was much pleased at the idea of being elevated to +the dignity of a king, and was yet not a little appalled in +contemplating the dangers which it was manifest he must encounter. His +mother, with maternal solicitude, trembling for her son, intreated him +not to accept the perilous crown. His father-in-law, James, remonstrated +against it, sternly declaring that he would never patronize subjects in +rebellion against their sovereign, that he would never acknowledge +Frederic's title as king, or render him, under any circumstances, either +sympathy or support. On the other hand the members of the Protestant +league urged his acceptance; his uncles united strongly with them in +recommending it, and above all, his fascinating wife, whom he dotingly +loved, and who, delighted at the idea of being a queen, threw herself +into his arms, and plead in those persuasive tones which the pliant +heart of Frederic could not resist. The Protestant clergy, also, in a +strong delegation waited upon him, and intreated him in the name of that +Providence which had apparently proffered to him the crown, to accept it +in fidelity to himself, to his country and to the true religion. + +The trembling hand and the tearful eye with which Frederic accepted the +crown, proved his incapacity to bear the burden in those stormy days. +Placing the government of the Palatinate in the hands of the Duke of +Deux Ponts, he repaired, with his family, to Prague. A rejoicing +multitude met him at several leagues from the capital, and escorted him +to the city with an unwonted display of popular enthusiasm. He was +crowned with splendor such as Bohemia had never witnessed before. + +For a time the Bohemians surrendered themselves to the most extravagant +joy. Frederic was exceedingly amiable, and just the prince to win, in +calm and sunny days, the enthusiastic admiration of his subjects. They +were highly gratified in having the King of Bohemia dwell in his own +capital at Prague, a privilege and honor which they had seldom enjoyed. +Many of the German princes acknowledged Frederic's title, as did also +Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Vienna. The revolution in Bohemia was +apparently consummated, and to the ordinary observer no cloud could be +seen darkening the horizon. + +The Bohemians were strengthened in their sense of security by a similar +revolution which was taking place in Hungary. As soon as Ferdinand left +Vienna, to seek the crown of Germany, the Protestants of Hungary threw +off their allegiance to Austria, and rallied around the banners of their +bold, indomitable leader, Gabriel Bethlehem. They fell upon the imperial +forces with resistless fury and speedily dispersed them. Having captured +several of the most important fortresses, and having many troops to +spare, Gabriel Bethlehem sent eighteen thousand men into Moravia to aid +Count Thurn to disperse the imperial forces there. He then marched +triumphantly to Presburg, the renowned capital of Hungary, within thirty +miles of Vienna, where he was received by the majority of the +inhabitants with open arms. He took possession of the sacred crown and +of the crown jewels, called an assembly of the nobles from the various +States of Hungary and Transylvania, and united them in a firm band +against Ferdinand. He now marched up the banks of the Danube into +Austria. Count Thurn advanced from Moravia to meet him. The junction of +their forces placed the two leaders in command of sixty thousand men. +They followed along the left bank of the majestic Danube until they +arrived opposite Vienna. Here they found eighteen thousand troops posted +to oppose. After a short conflict, the imperial troops retreated from +behind their intrenchments across the river, and blew up the bridge. + +In such a deplorable condition did the Emperor Ferdinand find his +affairs, as he returned from Germany to Austria. He was apparently in a +desperate position, and no human sagacity could foresee how he could +retrieve his fallen fortunes. Apparently, could his despotic arm then +have been broken, Europe might have been spared many years of war and +woe. But the designs of Providence are inscrutable. Again there was +apparently almost miraculous interposition. The imperial troops were +rapidly concentrated in the vicinity of Vienna, to prevent the passage +of the broad, deep and rapid river by the allied army. A strong force +was dispatched down the right bank of the Danube, which attacked and +dispersed a force left to protect the communication with Hungary. The +season was far advanced, and it was intensely cold in those northern +latitudes. The allied army had been collected so suddenly, that no +suitable provision had been made for feeding so vast a host. Famine +added its terrors to the cold blasts which menacingly swept the plains, +and as there was imminent danger that the imperial army might cut off +entirely the communication of the allies with Hungary, Gabriel Bethlehem +decided to relinquish the enterprise of taking Vienna, and retired +unimpeded to Presburg. Almost every fortress in Hungary was now in the +possession of the Hungarians, and Ferdinand, though his capital was +released, saw that Hungary as well as Bohemia had escaped from his +hands. At Presburg Gabriel was, with imposing ceremonies, proclaimed +King of Hungary, and a decree of proscription and banishment was issued +against all the adherents of Ferdinand. + +Germany was now divided into two great leagues, the Catholic and the +Protestant. Though nominally religious parties, they were political as +well as religious, and subject to all the fluctuations and corruptions +attending such combinations. The Protestant league, composed of princes +of every degree of dignity, who came from all parts of Germany, proudly +mounted and armed, and attended by armed retainers, from a few score to +many hundreds or even thousands, met at Nuremburg. It was one of the +most influential and imposing assemblages which had ever gathered in +Europe. The Catholics, with no less display of pomp and power, for their +league embraced many of the haughtiest sovereigns in Europe, met at +Wurtzburg. There were, of course, not a few who were entirely +indifferent as to the religious questions involved, and who were +Catholics or Protestants, in subserviency to the dictates of interest or +ambition. Both parties contended with the arts of diplomacy as well as +with those of war. The Spanish court was preparing a powerful armament +to send from the Netherlands to the help of Ferdinand. The Protestants +sent an army to Ulm to watch their movements, and to cut them off. + +Ferdinand was as energetic as he had previously proved himself +inflexible and persevering. In person he visited Munich, the capital of +Bavaria, that he might more warmly interest in his favor Maximilian, the +illustrious and warlike duke. The emperor made him brilliant promises, +and secured his cordial cooeperation. The Duke of Bavaria, and the +Elector of the Palatinate, were neighbors and rivals; and the emperor +offered Maximilian the spoils of the Palatinate, if they should be +successful in their warfare against the newly elected Bohemian king. +Maximilian, thus persuaded, placed all his force at the disposal of the +emperor. + +The Elector of Saxony was a Lutheran; the Elector Palatine a Calvinist. +The Lutherans believed, that after the consecration of the bread and +wine at the sacramental table, the body and blood of Christ were +spiritually present with that bread and wine. This doctrine, which they +called _consubstantiation_, they adopted in antagonism to the papal +doctrine of _transubstantiation_, which was that the bread and wine were +actually transformed into, and became the real body and blood of Christ. + +The difference between the Calvinists and the Lutherans, as we have +before mentioned, was that, while the former considered the bread and +wine in the sacraments as _representing_ the body and the blood of +Christ, the latter considered the body and the blood as spiritually +present in the consecrated elements. This trivial difference divided +brethren who were agreed upon all the great points of Christian faith, +duty and obligation. It is melancholy, and yet instructive to observe, +through the course of history, how large a proportion of the energies of +Christians have been absorbed in contentions against each other upon +shadowy points of doctrine, while a world has been perishing in +wickedness. The most efficient men in the Church on earth, have had +about one half of their energies paralyzed by contentions with their own +Christian brethren. It is so now. The most energetic men, in pleading +the cause of Christ, are often assailed even more unrelentingly by +brethren who differ with them upon some small point of doctrine, than by +a hostile world. + +Human nature, even when partially sanctified, is frail indeed. The +Elector of Saxony was perhaps a good man, but he was a weak one. He was +a zealous Lutheran, and was shocked that a Calvinist, a man who held the +destructive error that the bread and wine only _represented_ the body +and the blood of Christ, should be raised to the throne of Bohemia, and +thus become the leader of the Protestant party. The Elector of Saxony +and the Elector of the Palatine had also been naturally rivals, as +neighbors, and possessors of about equal rank and power. Though the +Calvinists, to conciliate the Lutherans, had offered the throne to the +Elector of Saxony, and he had declined it, as too perilous a post for +him to occupy, still he was weakly jealous of his rival who had assumed +that post, and was thus elevated above him to the kingly dignity. + +Ferdinand understood all this, and shrewdly availed himself of it. He +plied the elector with arguments and promises, assuring him that the +points in dispute were political merely and not religious; that he had +no intention of opposing the Protestant religion, and that if the +elector would abandon the Protestant league, he would reward him with a +large accession of territory. It seems incredible that the Elector of +Saxony could have been influenced by such representations. But so it +was. Averring that he could not in conscience uphold a man who did not +embrace the vital doctrine of the spiritual presence, he abandoned his +Protestant brethren, and drew with him the Landgrave of Hesse, and +several other Lutheran princes. This was a very serious defection, which +disheartened the Protestants as much as it encouraged Ferdinand. + +The wily emperor having succeeded so admirably with the Protestant +elector, now turned to the Roman Catholic court of France--that infamous +court, still crimsoned with the blood of the St. Bartholomew massacre. +Then, with diplomatic tergiversation, he represented that the conflict +was not a political one, but purely religious, involving the interests +of the Church. He urged that the peace of France and of Europe required +that the Protestant heresy should be utterly effaced; and he provoked +the resentment of the court by showing how much aid the Protestants in +Europe had ever received from the Palatinate family. Here again he was +completely successful, and the young king, Louis XIII., who was +controlled by his bigoted yet powerful minister, the Duke of Luines, +cordially espoused his cause. + +Spain, intolerant, despotic, hating Protestantism with perfect hatred, +was eager with its aid. A well furnished army of twenty-four thousand +men was sent from the Netherlands, and also a large sum of money was +placed in the treasury of Ferdinand. Even the British monarch, +notwithstanding the clamors of the nation, was maneuvered into +neutrality. And most surprising of all, Ferdinand was successful in +securing a truce with Gabriel Bethlehem, which, though it conferred +peace upon Hungary, deprived the Bohemians of their powerful support. + +The Protestants were strong in their combination; but still it was a +power of fearful strength now arrayed against them. It was evident that +Europe was on the eve of a long and terrible struggle. The two forces +began to assemble. The Protestants rendezvoused at Ulm, under the +command of the Margrave of Anspach. The Catholic troops, from their wide +dispersion, were concentrating at Guntzburg, to be led by the Duke of +Bavaria. The attention of all Europe was arrested by these immense +gatherings. All hearts were oppressed with solicitude, for the parties +were very equally matched, and results of most momentous importance were +dependent upon the issue. + +In this state of affairs the Protestant league, which extended through +Europe, entered into a truce with the Catholic league, which also +extended through Europe, that they should both withdraw from the +contest, leaving Ferdinand and the Bohemians to settle the dispute as +they best could. This seemed very much to narrow the field of strife, +but the measure, in its practical results, was far more favorable to +Ferdinand than to the Bohemians. The emperor thus disembarrassed, by +important concessions, and by menaces, brought the Protestants of Lower +Austria into submission. The masses, overawed by a show of power which +they could not resist, yielded; the few who refused to bow in homage to +the emperor were punished as guilty of treason. + +Ferdinand, by these cautious steps, was now prepared to concentrate his +energies upon Bohemia. He first attacked the dependent provinces of +Bohemia, one by one, sending an army of twenty-five thousand men to take +them unprepared. Having subjected all of Upper Austria to his sway, with +fifty thousand men he entered Bohemia. Their march was energetic and +sanguinary. With such an overpowering force they took fortress after +fortress, scaling ramparts, mercilessly cutting down garrisons, +plundering and burning towns, and massacreing the inhabitants. Neither +sex nor age was spared, and a brutal soldiery gratified their passions +in the perpetration of indescribable horrors. Even the Duke of Bavaria +was shocked at such barbarities, and entered his remonstrances against +them. Many large towns, terrified by the atrocities perpetrated upon +those who resisted the imperial arms, threw open their gates, hoping +thus, by submission, to appease the vengeance of the conqueror. + +Frederic was a weak man, not at all capable of encountering such a +storm, and the Bohemians had consequently no one to rally and to guide +them with efficiency. His situation was now alarming in the extreme. He +was abandoned by the Protestant league, hemmed in on every side by the +imperial troops, and his hereditary domains of the Palatinate were +overrun by twenty thousand Spaniards. His subjects, alarmed at his utter +inefficiency, and terrified by the calamities which were falling, like +avalanche after avalanche upon them, became dissatisfied with him, and +despairing respecting their own fate. He was a Calvinist, and the +Lutherans had never warmly received him. The impotent monarch, instead +of establishing himself in the affections of his subjects, by vigorously +driving the invaders from his realms, with almost inconceivable +silliness endeavored to win their popularity by balls and smiles, +pleasant words and masquerades. In fact, Frederic, by his utter +inefficiency, was a foe more to be dreaded by Bohemia than Ferdinand. + +The armies of the emperor pressed on, throwing the whole kingdom into a +state of consternation and dismay. The army of Frederic, which dared not +emerge from its intrenchments at Pritznitz, about fifty miles south of +Prague, consisted of but twenty-two thousand men, poorly armed, badly +clothed, wretchedly supplied with military stores, and almost in a state +of mutiny from arrears of pay. The generals were in perplexity and +disagreement. Some, in the recklessness of despair, were for marching to +meet the foe and to risk a battle; others were for avoiding a conflict, +and thus protracting the war till the severity of winter should drive +their enemies from the field, when they would have some time to prepare +for another year's campaign. These difficulties led Frederic to apply +for a truce. But Ferdinand was too wise to lose by wasting time in +negotiations, vantage ground he had already gained. He refused to listen +to any word except the unequivocal declaration that Frederic +relinquished all right to the crown. Pressing his forces onward, he +drove the Bohemians from behind their ramparts at Pritznitz, and pursued +them down the Moldau even to the walls of Prague. + +Upon a magnificent eminence called the White Mountain, which commanded +the city and its most important approaches, the disheartened army of +Frederic stopped in its flight, and made its last stand. The enemy were +in hot pursuit. The Bohemians in breathless haste began to throw up +intrenchments along the ravines, and to plant their batteries on the +hills, when the banners of Ferdinand were seen approaching. The emperor +was too energetic a warrior to allow his panic-stricken foes time to +regain their courage. Without an hour's delay he urged his victorious +columns to the charge. The Bohemians fought desperately, with far more +spirit than could have been expected. But they were overpowered by +numbers, and in one short hour the army of Frederic was annihilated. +Four thousand were left dead upon the field, one thousand were drowned +in the frantic attempt to swim the Moldau, and the rest were either +dispersed as fugitives over hill and valley or taken captive. The +victory of the emperor was complete, the hopes of Frederic crushed, and +the fate of Bohemia sealed. + +The contemptible Frederic, while this fierce battle was raging beneath +the very walls of his capital, instead of placing himself at the head of +his troops, was in the heart of the city, in the banqueting-hall of his +palace, bowing and smiling and feasting his friends. The Prince of +Anhalt, who was in command of the Bohemian army, had sent a most urgent +message to the king, intreating him to dispatch immediately to his aid +all the troops in the city, and especially to repair himself to the camp +to encourage the troops by his presence. Frederic was at the table when +he received this message, and sent word back that he could not come +until after dinner. As soon as the combat commenced, another still more +urgent message was sent, to which he returned the same reply. _After +dinner_ he mounted his horse and rode to the gate which led to the White +Mountain. The thunders of the terrible battle filled the air; the whole +city was in the wildest state of terror and confusion; the gates barred +and barricaded. Even the king could not get out. He climbed one of the +towers of the wall and looked out upon the gory field, strewn with +corpses, where his army _had been_, but was no more. He returned hastily +to his palace, and met there the Prince of Anhalt, who, with a few +fugitives, had succeeded in entering the city by one of the gates. + +The city now could not defend itself for an hour. The batteries of +Ferdinand were beginning to play upon the walls, when Frederic sent out +a flag of truce soliciting a cessation of hostilities for twenty-four +hours, that they might negotiate respecting peace. The peremptory reply +returned was, that there should not be truce for a single moment, unless +Frederic would renounce all pretension to the crown of Bohemia. With +such a renunciation truce would be granted for eight hours. Frederic +acceded to the demand, and the noise of war was hushed. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +FERDINAND II. + +From 1621 to 1629. + +Pusillanimity of Frederic.--Intreaties of the Citizens of +Prague.--Shameful Flight of Frederic.--Vengeance Inflicted Upon +Bohemia.--Protestantism and Civil Freedom.--Vast Power of the +Emperor.--Alarm of Europe.--James I.--Treaty of Marriage for the Prince +of Wales.--Cardinal Richelieu.--New League of the Protestants.-- +Desolating War.--Defeat of the King of Denmark.--Energy of +Wallenstein.--Triumph of Ferdinand.--New Acts of Intolerance.-- +Severities in Bohemia.--Desolation of the Kingdom.--Dissatisfaction of +the Duke of Bavaria.--Meeting of the Catholic Princes.--The Emperor +Humbled. + + +The citizens of Prague were indignant at the pusillanimity of Frederic. +In a body they repaired to the palace and tried to rouse his feeble +spirits. They urged him to adopt a manly resistance, and offered to +mount the ramparts and beat off the foe until succor could arrive. But +Frederic told them that he had resolved to leave Prague, that he should +escape during the darkness of the night, and advised them to capitulate +on the most favorable terms they could obtain. The inhabitants of the +city were in despair. They knew that they had nothing to hope from the +clemency of the conqueror, and that there was no salvation for them from +irretrievable ruin but in the most desperate warfare. Even now, though +the enemy was at their gates, their situation was by no means hopeless +with a leader of any energy. + +"We have still," they urged, "sufficient strength to withstand a siege. +The city is not invested on every side, and reinforcements can enter by +some of the gates. We have ample means in the city to support all the +troops which can be assembled within its walls. The soldiers who have +escaped from the disastrous battle need but to see the Bohemian banners +again unfurled and to hear the blast of the bugle, to return to their +ranks. Eight thousand troops are within a few hours' march of us. There +is another strong band in the rear of the enemy, prepared to cut off +their communications. Several strong fortresses, filled with arms and +ammunition, are still in our possession, and the Bohemians, animated by +the remembrance of the heroic deeds of their ancestors, are eager to +retrieve their fortunes." + +Had Frederic possessed a tithe of the perseverance and energy of +Ferdinand, with these resources he might soon have arrested the steps of +the conqueror. Never was the characteristic remark of Napoleon to Ney +better verified, that "an army of deer led by a lion is better than an +army of lions led by a deer." Frederic was panic-stricken for fear he +might fall into the hands of Ferdinand, from whom he well knew that he +was to expect no mercy. With ignominious haste, abandoning every thing, +even the coronation regalia, at midnight, surrounded by a few friends, +he stole out at one of the gates of the city, and putting spurs to his +horse, allowed himself no rest until he was safe within the walls of +Berlin, two hundred miles from Prague. + +The despairing citizens, thus deserted by their sovereign, and with a +victorious foe at their very walls, had no alternative but to throw open +their gates and submit to the mercy of the conqueror. The next day the +whole imperial army, under the Duke of Bavaria, with floating banners +and exultant music, entered the streets of the capital, and took +possession of the palaces. The tyrant Ferdinand was as vengeful and +venomous as he was vigorous and unyielding. The city was immediately +disarmed, and the government intrusted to a vigorous Roman Catholic +prince, Charles of Lichtenstein. A strong garrison was left in the city +to crush, with a bloody hand, any indications of insurrection, and then +the Duke of Bavaria returned with most of his army to Munich, his +capital, tottering beneath the burden of plunder. + +There was a moment's lull before the tempest of imperial wrath burst +upon doomed Bohemia. Ferdinand seemed to deliberate, and gather his +strength, that he might strike a blow which would be felt forever. He +did strike such a blow--one which has been remembered for two hundred +years, and which will not be forgotten for ages to come--one which +doomed parents and children to weary years of vagabondage, penury and +woe which must have made life a burden. + +On the night of the 21st of January, three months after the +capitulation, and when the inhabitants of Prague had begun to hope that +there might, after all, be some mercy in the bosom of Ferdinand, forty +of the leading citizens of the place were simultaneously arrested. They +were torn from their families and thrown into dungeons where they were +kept in terrific suspense for four months. They were then brought before +an imperial commission and condemned as guilty of high treason. All +their property was confiscated, nothing whatever being left for their +helpless families. Twenty-three were immediately executed upon the +scaffold, and all the rest were either consigned to life-long +imprisonment, or driven into banishment. Twenty-seven other nobles, who +had escaped from the kingdom, were declared traitors. Their castles were +seized, their property confiscated and presented as rewards to Roman +Catholic nobles who were the friends of Ferdinand. An order was then +issued for all the nobles and landholders throughout the kingdom to send +in a confession of whatever aid they had rendered, or encouragement they +had given to the insurrection. And the most terrible vengeance was +threatened against any one who should afterward be proved guilty of any +act whatever of which he had not made confession. The consternation +which this decree excited was so great, that not only was every one +anxious to confess the slightest act which could be construed as +unfriendly to the emperor, but many, in their terror, were driven to +accuse themselves of guilt, who had taken no share in the movement. +Seven hundred nobles, and the whole body of Protestant landholders, +placed their names on the list of those who confessed guilt and implored +pardon. + +The fiend-like emperor, then, in the mockery of mercy, declared that in +view of his great clemency and their humble confession, he would spare +their forfeited lives, and would only punish them by depriving them of +their estates. He took their mansions, their estates, their property, +and turned them adrift upon the world, with their wives and their +children, fugitives and penniless. Thus between one and two thousand of +the most ancient and noble families of the kingdom were rendered +houseless and utterly beggared. Their friends, involved with them in the +same woe, could render no assistance. They were denounced as traitors; +no one dared befriend them, and their possessions were given to those +who had rallied beneath the banners of the emperor. "To the victors +belong the spoils." No pen can describe the ruin of these ancient +families. No imagination can follow them in their steps of starvation +and despair, until death came to their relief. + +Ferdinand considered Protestantism and rebellion as synonymous terms. +And well he might, for Protestantism has ever been arrayed as firmly +against civil as against religious despotism. The doctrines of the +reformers, from the days of Luther and Calvin, have always been +associated with political liberty. Ferdinand was determined to crush +Protestantism. The punishment of the Elector Palatine was to be a signal +and an appalling warning to all who in future should think of disputing +the imperial sway. The elector himself, having renounced the throne, had +escaped beyond the emperor's reach. But Ferdinand took possession of his +ancestral territories and divided them among his Roman Catholic allies. +The electoral vote which he held in the diet of the empire, Ferdinand +transferred to the Duke of Bavaria, thus reducing the Protestant vote to +two, and securing an additional Catholic suffrage. The ban of the empire +was also published against the Prince of Anhalt, the Count of Hohenloe, +and the Duke Jaegendorf, who had been supporters of Frederic. This ban +of the empire deprived them of their territories, of their rank, and of +their possessions. + +The Protestants throughout the empire were terrified by these fierce +acts of vengeance, and were fearful of sharing the same fate. They now +regretted bitterly that they had disbanded their organization. They +dared not make any move against the emperor, who was flushed with pride +and power, lest he should pounce at once upon them. The emperor +consequently marched unimpeded in his stern chastisements. Frederic was +thus deserted entirely by the Protestant union; and his father-in-law, +James of England, in accordance with his threat, refused to lend him any +aid. Various most heroic efforts were made by a few intrepid nobles but +one after another they were crushed by the iron hand of the emperor. + +Ferdinand, having thus triumphed over all his foes, and having divided +their domains among his own followers, called a meeting of the electors +who were devoted to his cause, at Ratisbon, on the 25th of February, +1623, to confirm what he had done. In every portion of the empire, where +the arm of the emperor could reach them, the Protestants were receiving +heavy blows. They were now thoroughly alarmed and aroused. The Catholics +all over Europe were renewing their league; all the Catholic powers were +banded together, and Protestantism seemed on the eve of being destroyed +by the sword of persecution. + +Other parts of Europe also began to look with alarm upon the vast power +acquired by Austria. There was but little of conciliation in the +character of Ferdinand, and his unbounded success, while it rendered him +more haughty, excited also the jealousy of the neighboring powers. In +Lower Saxony, nearly all the nobles and men of influence were +Protestants. The principal portion of the ecclesiastical property was in +their hands. It was very evident that unless the despotism of Ferdinand +was checked, he would soon wrest from them their titles and possessions, +and none the less readily because he had succeeded in bribing the +Elector of Saxony to remain neutral while he tore the crown of Bohemia +from the Elector of the Palatine, and despoiled him of his wide-spread +ancestral territories. + +James I. of England had been negotiating a marriage of his son, the +Prince of Wales, subsequently Charles I., with the daughter of the King +of Spain. This would have been, in that day, a brilliant match for his +son; and as the Spanish monarch was a member of the house of Austria, +and a cooeperator with his cousin, the Emperor Ferdinand, in all his +measures in Germany, it was an additional reason why James should not +interfere in defense of his son-in-law, Frederic of the Palatine. But +now this match was broken off by the influence of the haughty English +minister Buckingham, who had the complete control of the feeble mind of +the British monarch. A treaty of marriage was soon concluded between the +Prince of Wales and Henrietta, a princess of France. There was +hereditary hostility between France and Spain, and both England and +France were now quite willing to humble the house of Austria. The nobles +of Lower Saxony availed themselves of this new turn in the posture of +affairs, and obtained promises of aid from them both, and, through their +intercession, aid also from Denmark and Sweden. + +Richelieu, the imperious French minister, was embarrassed by two +antagonistic passions. He was eager to humble the house of Austria; and +this he could only do by lending aid to the Protestants. On the other +hand, it was the great object of his ambition to restore the royal +authority to unlimited power, and this he could only accomplish by +aiding the house of Austria to crush the Protestants, whose love of +freedom all despots have abhorred. Impelled by these conflicting +passions, he did all in his power to extirpate Protestantism from +France, while he omitted neither lures nor intrigues to urge the +Protestants in Germany to rise against the despotism of Austria. +Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden, was personally inimical to Ferdinand, in +consequence of injuries he had received at his hands. Christian IV. of +Denmark was cousin to Elizabeth, the mother of Frederic, and, in +addition to this interest in the conflict which relationship gave him, +he was also trembling lest some of his own possessions should soon be +wrested from him by the all-grasping emperor. A year was employed, the +year 1624, in innumerable secret intrigues, and plans of combination, +for a general rising of the Protestant powers. It was necessary that the +utmost secrecy should be observed in forming the coalition, and that all +should be ready, at the same moment, to cooperate against a foe so able, +so determined and so powerful. + +Matters being thus essentially arranged, the States of Lower Saxony, who +were to take the lead, held a meeting at Segeberg on the 25th of March, +1625. They formed a league for the preservation of their religion and +liberties, settled the amount of money and men which each of the +contracting parties was to furnish, and chose Christian IV., King of +Denmark, their leader. The emperor had for some time suspected that a +confederacy was in the process of formation, and had kept a watchful eye +upon every movement. The vail was now laid aside, and Christian IV. +issued a proclamation, stating the reasons why they had taken up arms +against the emperor. This was the signal for a blaze of war, which +wrapped all northern Europe in a wide conflagration. Victory ebbed and +flowed. Bohemia, Hungary, Denmark, Austria--all the States of the +empire, were swept and devastated by pursuing and retreating armies. But +gradually the emperor gained. First he overwhelmed all opposition in +Lower Saxony, and riveting anew the shackles of despotism, rewarded his +followers with the spoils of the vanquished. Then he silenced every +murmur in Austria, so that no foe dared lift up the voice or peep. Then +he poured his legions into Hungary, swept back the tide of victory which +had been following the Hungarian banners, and struck blow after blow, +until Gabriel Bethlehem was compelled to cry for peace and mercy. +Bohemia, previously disarmed and impoverished, was speedily struck down. + +And now the emperor turned his energies against the panic-stricken King +of Denmark. He pursued him from fortress to fortress; attacked him in +the open field, and beat him; attacked him behind his intrenchments, and +drove him from them through the valleys, and over the hills, across +rivers, and into forests; bombarded his cities, plundered his provinces, +shot down his subjects, till the king, reduced almost to the last +extremity, implored peace. The emperor repelled his advances with scorn, +demanding conditions of debasement more to be dreaded than death. The +King of Denmark fled to the isles of the Baltic. Ferdinand took +possession of the shores of this northern sea, and immediately commenced +with vigor creating a fleet, that he might have sea as well as land +forces, that he might pursue the Danish monarch over the water, and that +he might more effectually punish Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. He had +determined to dethrone this monarch, and to transfer the crown of Sweden +to Sigismond, his brother-in-law, King of Poland, who was almost as +zealous a Roman Catholic as was the emperor himself. + +He drove the two Dukes of Mecklenburg from their territory, and gave the +rich and beautiful duchy, extending along the south-eastern shore of the +Baltic, to his renowned general, Wallenstein. This fierce, ambitious +warrior was made generalissimo of all the imperial troops by land, and +admiral of the Baltic sea. Ferdinand took possession of all the ports, +from the mouth of the Keil, to Kolberg, at the mouth of the Persante. +Wismar, on the magnificent bay bearing the same name, was made the great +naval depot; and, by building, buying, hiring and robbing, the emperor +soon collected quite a formidable fleet. The immense duchy of Pomerania +was just north-east of Mecklenburg, extending along the eastern shore of +the Baltic sea some hundred and eighty miles, and about sixty miles in +breadth. Though the duke had in no way displeased Ferdinand, the emperor +grasped the magnificent duchy, and held it by the power of his +resistless armies. Crossing a narrow arm of the sea, he took the rich +and populous islands of Rugen and Usedom, and laid siege to the city of +Stralsund, which almost commanded the Baltic sea. + +The kings of Sweden and Denmark, appalled by the rapid strides of the +imperial general, united all their strength to resist him. They threw a +strong garrison into Stralsund, and sent the fleets of both kingdoms to +aid in repelling the attack, and succeeded in baffling all the attempts +of Wallenstein, and finally in driving him off, though he had boasted +that "he would reduce Stralsund, even if it were bound to heaven with +chains of adamant." Though frustrated in this attempt, the armies of +Ferdinand had swept along so resistlessly, that the King of Denmark was +ready to make almost any sacrifice for peace. A congress was accordingly +held at Lubec in May, 1629, when peace was made; Ferdinand retaining a +large portion of his conquests, and the King of Denmark engaging no +longer to interfere in the affairs of the empire. + +Ferdinand was now triumphant over all his foes. The Protestants +throughout the empire were crushed, and all their allies vanquished. He +now deemed himself omnipotent, and with wild ambition contemplated the +utter extirpation of Protestantism, and the subjugation of nearly all of +Europe to his sway. He formed the most intimate alliance with the branch +of his house ruling over Spain, hoping that thus the house of Austria +might be the arbiter of the fate of Europe. The condition of Europe at +that time was peculiarly favorable for the designs of the emperor. +Charles I. of England was struggling against that Parliament which soon +deprived him both of his crown and his head. France was agitated, from +the Rhine to the Pyrenees, by civil war, the Catholics striving to +exterminate the Protestants. Insurrections in Turkey absorbed all the +energies of the Ottoman court, leaving them no time to think of +interfering with the affairs of Europe. The King of Denmark was +humiliated and prostrate. Sweden was too far distant and too feeble to +excite alarm. Sigismond of Poland was in intimate alliance with the +emperor. Gabriel Bethlehem of Hungary was languishing on a bed of +disease and pain, and only asked permission to die in peace. + +The first step which the emperor now took was to revoke all the +concessions which had been granted to the Protestants. In Upper Austria, +where he felt especially strong, he abolished the Protestant worship +utterly. In Lower Austria he was slightly embarrassed by engagements +which he had so solemnly made, and dared not trample upon them without +some little show of moderation. First he prohibited the circulation of +all Protestant books; he then annulled all baptisms and marriages +performed by Protestants; then all Protestants were excluded from +holding any civil or military office; then he issued a decree that all +the children, without exception, should be educated by Catholic priests, +and that every individual should attend Catholic worship. Thus coil by +coil he wound around his subjects the chain of unrelenting intolerance. + +In Bohemia he was especially severe, apparently delighting to punish +those who had made a struggle for civil and religious liberty. Every +school teacher, university professor and Christian minister, was ejected +from office, and their places in schools, universities and churches were +supplied by Catholic monks. No person was allowed to exercise any +mechanical trade whatever, unless he professed the Roman Catholic faith. +A very severe fine was inflicted upon any one who should be detected +worshiping at any time, even in family prayer, according to the +doctrines and customs of the Protestant church. Protestant marriages +were pronounced illegal, their children illegitimate, their wills +invalid. The Protestant poor were driven from the hospitals and the +alms-houses. No Protestant was allowed to reside in the capital city of +Prague, but, whatever his wealth or rank, he was driven ignominiously +from the metropolis. + +In the smaller towns and remote provinces of the kingdom, a military +force, accompanied by Jesuits and Capuchin friars, sought out the +Protestants, and they were exposed to every conceivable insult and +indignity. Their houses were pillaged, their wives and children +surrendered to all the outrages of a cruel soldiery; many were +massacred; many, hunted like wild beasts, were driven into the forest; +many were put to the torture, and as their bones were crushed and +quivering nerves were torn, they were required to give in their adhesion +to the Catholic faith. The persecution to which the Bohemians were +subjected has perhaps never been exceeded in severity. + +While Bohemia was writhing beneath these woes, the emperor, to secure +the succession, repaired in regal pomp to Prague, and crowned his son +King of Bohemia. He then issued a decree abolishing the right which the +Bohemians had claimed, to elect their king, forbade the use of the +Bohemian language in the court and in all public transactions, and +annulled all past edicts of toleration. He proclaimed that no religion +but the Roman Catholic should henceforth be tolerated in Bohemia, and +that all who did not immediately return to the bosom of the Church +should be banished from the kingdom. This cruel edict drove into +banishment thirty thousand families. These Protestant families composed +the best portion of the community, including the most illustrious in +rank, the most intelligent, the most industrious and the most virtuous, +No State could meet with such a loss without feeling it deeply, and +Bohemia has never yet recovered from the blow. One of the Bohemian +historians, himself a Roman Catholic, thus describes the change which +persecution wrought in Bohemia: + +"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 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. + +"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. Their courage lay +buried in the White Mountain. Individuals still possessed personal +valor, military ardor 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 is only mentioned, and the Moldau forgotten. + +"The Bohemian language, which had been used in all the courts of +justice, and which was in high estimation 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 greater part of the +schools were conducted by Jesuits and other monkish orders, and nothing +taught therein but bad Latin. + +"It can not 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 +traveled 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. They thus endeavored to extinguish the ancient literature of the +country, labored to persuade the students that before the introduction +of their order into Bohemia nothing but ignorance prevailed, and +carefully concealed the learned labors and even the names of our +ancestors." + +Ferdinand, having thus bound Bohemia hand and foot, and having +accomplished all his purpose in that kingdom, now endeavored, by +cautious but very decisive steps, to expel Protestant doctrines from all +parts of the German empire. Decree succeeded decree, depriving +Protestants of their rights and conferring upon the Roman Catholics +wealth and station. He had a powerful and triumphant standing army at +his control, under the energetic and bigoted Wallenstein, ready and able +to enforce his ordinances. No Protestant prince dared to make any show +of resistance. All the church property was torn from the Protestants, +and this vast sum, together with the confiscated territories of those +Protestant princes or nobles who had ventured to resist the emperor, +placed at his disposal a large fund from which to reward his followers. +The emperor kept, however, a large portion of the spoils in his own +hands for the enriching of his own family. + +This state of things soon alarmed even the Catholics. The emperor was +growing too powerful, and his power was bearing profusely its natural +fruit of pride and arrogance. The army was insolent, trampling alike +upon friend and foe. As there was no longer any war, the army had become +merely the sword of the emperor to maintain his despotism. Wallenstein +had become so essential to the emperor, and possessed such power at the +head of the army, that he assumed all the air and state of a sovereign, +and insulted the highest nobles and the most powerful bishops by his +assumptions of superiority. The electors of the empire perceiving that +the emperor was centralizing power in his own hands, and that they would +soon become merely provincial governors, compelled to obey his laws and +subject to his appointment and removal, began to whisper to each other +their alarm. + +The Duke of Bavaria was one of the most powerful princes of the German +empire. He had been the rival of Count Wallenstein, and was now +exceedingly annoyed by the arrogance of this haughty military chief. +Wallenstein was the emperor's right arm of strength. Inflamed by as +intense an ambition as ever burned in a human bosom, every thought and +energy was devoted to self-aggrandizement. He had been educated a +Protestant, but abandoned those views for the Catholic faith which +opened a more alluring field to ambition. Sacrificing the passions of +youth he married a widow, infirm and of advanced age, but of great +wealth. The death of his wrinkled bride soon left him the vast property +without incumbrance. He then entered into a matrimonial alliance which +favored his political prospects, marrying Isabella, the daughter of +Count Harruch, who was one of the emperor's greatest favorites. + +When Ferdinand's fortunes were at a low ebb, and he knew not in which +way to find either money or an army, Wallenstein offered to raise fifty +thousand men at his own expense, to pay their wages, supply them with +arms and all the munitions of war, and to call upon the emperor for no +pecuniary assistance whatever, if the emperor would allow him to retain +the plunder he could extort from the conquered. Upon this majestic scale +Wallenstein planned to act the part of a highwayman. Ferdinand's +necessities were so great that he gladly availed himself of this +infamous offer. Wallenstein made money by the bargain. Wherever he +marched he compelled the people to support his army, and to support it +luxuriously. The emperor had now constituted him admiral of the Baltic +fleet, and had conferred upon him the title of duke, with the splendid +duchy of Mecklenburg, and the principality of Sagan in Silesia. His +overbearing conduct and his enormous extortions--he having, in seven +years, wrested from the German princes more than four hundred million of +dollars--excited a general feeling of discontent, in which the powerful +Duke of Bavaria took the lead. + +Envy is a stronger passion than political religion. Zealous as the Duke +of Bavaria had been in the cause of the papal church, he now forgot that +church in his zeal to abase an arrogant and insulting rival. Richelieu, +the prime minister of France, was eagerly watching for opportunities to +humiliate the house of Austria, and he, with alacrity, met the advances +of the Duke of Bavaria, and conspired with him to form a Catholic +league, to check the ambition of Wallenstein, and to arrest the enormous +strides of the emperor. With this object in view, a large number of the +most powerful Catholic princes met at Heidelberg, in March, 1629, and +passed resolutions soliciting Ferdinand to summon a diet of the German +empire to take into consideration the evils occasioned by the army of +Wallenstein, and to propose a remedy. The emperor had, in his arrogance, +commanded the princes of the various States in the departments of Suabia +and Franconia, to disband their troops. To this demand they returned the +bold and spirited reply, + +"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, ecclesiastical or secular, _demand it +who will_." + +The emperor did not venture to disregard the request for him to summon a +diet. Indeed he was anxious, on his own account, to convene the +electors, for he wished to secure the election of his son to the throne +of the empire, and he needed succors to aid him in the ambitious wars +which he was waging in various and distant parts of Europe. The diet was +assembled at Ratisbon: the emperor presided in person. As he had +important favors to solicit, he assumed a very conciliatory tone. He +expressed his regret that the troops had been guilty of such disorders, +and promised immediate redress. He then, supposing that his promise +would be an ample satisfaction, very graciously solicited of them the +succession of the imperial throne for his son, and supplies for his +army. + +But the electors were not at all in a pliant mood. Some were resolved +that, at all hazards, the imperial army, which threatened Germany, +should be reduced, and that Wallenstein should be dismissed from the +command. Others were equally determined that the crown of the empire +should not descend to the son of Ferdinand. The Duke of Bavaria headed +the party who would debase Wallenstein; and Cardinal Richelieu, with all +the potent influences of intrigue and bribery at the command of the +French court, was the soul of the party resolved to wrest the crown of +the empire from the house of Austria. Richelieu sent two of the most +accomplished diplomatists France could furnish, as ambassadors to the +diet, who, while maintaining, as far as possible, the guise of +friendship, were to do every thing in their power to thwart the election +of Ferdinand's son. These were supplied with inexhaustible means for the +purchase of votes, and were authorized to make any promises, however +extravagant, which should be deemed essential for the attainment of +their object. + +Ferdinand, long accustomed to have his own way, was not anticipating any +serious resistance. He was therefore amazed and confounded, when the +diet returned to him, instead of their humble submission and +congratulations, a long, detailed, emphatic remonstrance against the +enormities perpetrated by the imperial army, and demanding the immediate +reduction of the army, now one hundred and fifty thousand strong, and +the dismission of Wallenstein, before they could proceed to any other +business whatever. This bold stand animated the Protestant princes of +the empire, and they began to be clamorous for their rights. Some of the +Catholics even espoused their cause, warning Ferdinand that, unless he +granted the Protestants some degree of toleration, they would seek +redress by joining the enemies of the empire. + +It would have been impossible to frame three demands more obnoxious to +the emperor. To crush the Protestants had absorbed the energies of his +life; and now that they were utterly prostrate, to lift them up and +place them on their feet again, was an idea he could not endure. The +imperial army had been his supple tool. By its instrumentality he had +gained all his power, and by its energies alone he retained that power. +To disband the army was to leave himself defenseless. Wallenstein had +been every thing to the emperor, and Ferdinand still needed the support +of his inflexible and unscrupulous energies. Wallenstein was in the +cabinet of the emperor advising him in this hour of perplexity. His +counsel was characteristic of his impetuous, headlong spirit. He advised +the emperor to pour his army into the territory of the Duke of Bavaria; +chastise him and all his associates for their insolence, and thus +overawe the rest. But the Duke of Bavaria was in favor of electing the +emperor's son as his successor on the throne of the empire; and +Ferdinand's heart was fixed upon this object. + +"Dismiss Wallenstein, and reduce the army," said the Duke of Bavaria, +"and the Catholic electors will vote for your son; grant the required +toleration to the Protestants, and they will vote for him likewise." + +The emperor yielded, deciding in his own mind, aided by the Jesuitical +suggestions of a monk, that he could afterwards recall Wallenstein, and +assemble anew his dispersed battalions. He dismissed sixteen thousand of +his best cavalry; suspended some of the most obnoxious edicts against +the Protestants, and _implored_ Wallenstein to resign his post. The +emperor was terribly afraid that this proud general would refuse, and +would lead the army to mutiny. The emperor accordingly accompanied his +request with every expression of gratitude and regret, and assured the +general of his continued favor. Wallenstein, well aware that the +disgrace would be but temporary, quietly yielded. He dismissed the +envoys of the emperor with presents, wrote a very submissive letter, +and, with much ostentation of obedience, retired to private life. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +FERDINAND II. AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. + +From 1629 to 1632. + +Vexation of Ferdinand.--Gustavus Adolphus.--Address to the nobles of +Sweden.--March of Gustavus.--Appeal to the Protestants.--Magdeburg joins +Gustavus.--Destruction of the city.--Consternation of the Protestants.-- +Exultation of the Catholics.--The Elector of Saxony driven from his +domains.--Battle of Leipsig.--The Swedes penetrate Bohemia.--Freedom of +conscience established.--Death of Tilly.--The Retirement of +Wallenstein.--The command resumed by Wallenstein.--Capture of +Prague.--Encounter between Wallenstein and Gustavus.--Battle of +Lutzen.--Death of Gustavus. + + +The hand of France was conspicuous in wresting all these sacrifices from +the emperor, and was then still more conspicuous in thwarting his plans +for the election of his son. The ambassadors of Richelieu, with +diplomatic adroitness, urged upon the diet the Duke of Bavaria as +candidate for the imperial crown. This tempting offer silenced the duke, +and he could make no more efforts for the emperor. The Protestants +greatly preferred the duke to any one of the race of the bigoted +Ferdinand. The emperor was excessively chagrined by this aspect of +affairs, and abruptly dissolved the diet. He felt that he had been duped +by France; that a cunning monk, Richelieu's ambassador, had outwitted +him. In his vexation he exclaimed, "A Capuchin friar has disarmed me +with his rosary, and covered six electoral caps with his cowl." + +The emperor was meditating vengeance--the recall of Wallenstein, the +reconstruction of the army, the annulling of the edict of toleration, +the march of an invading force into the territories of the Duke of +Bavaria, and the chastisement of all, Catholics as well as Protestants, +who had aided in thwarting his plans--when suddenly a new enemy +appeared. Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, reigning over his remote +realms on the western shores of the Baltic, though a zealous Protestant, +was regarded by Ferdinand as a foe too distant and too feeble to be +either respected or feared. But Gustavus, a man of exalted abilities, +and of vast energy, was watching with intense interest the despotic +strides of the emperor. In his endeavors to mediate in behalf of the +Protestants of Germany, he had encountered repeated insults on the part +of Ferdinand. The imperial troops were now approaching his own kingdom. +They had driven Christian IV., King of Denmark, from his continental +territories on the eastern shore of the Baltic, had already taken +possession of several of the islands, and were constructing a fleet +which threatened the command of that important sea. Gustavus was +alarmed, and roused himself to assume the championship of the civil and +religious liberties of Europe. He conferred with all the leading +Protestant princes, formed alliances, secured funds, stationed troops to +protect his own frontiers, and then, assembling the States of his +kingdom, entailed the succession of the crown on his only child +Christiana, explained to them his plans of war against the emperor, and +concluded a dignified and truly pathetic harangue with the following +words. + +"The enterprise in which I am about to engage is not one dictated by the +love of conquest or by personal ambition. Our honor, our religion and +our independence are imperiled. I am to encounter great dangers, and may +fall upon the field of battle. If it be God's will that I should die in +the defense of liberty, of my country and of mankind, I cheerfully +surrender myself to the sacrifice. It is my duty as a sovereign to obey +the King of kings without murmuring, and to resign the power I have +received from His hands whenever it shall suit His all-wise purposes. I +shall yield up my last breath with the firm persuasion that Providence +will support my subjects because they are faithful and virtuous, and +that my ministers, generals and senators will punctually discharge their +duty to my child because they love justice, respect me, and feel for +their country." + +The king himself was affected as he uttered these words, and tears +moistened the eyes of many of the stern warriors who surrounded him. +With general acclaim they approved of his plan, voted him all the +succors he required, and enthusiastically offered their own fortunes and +lives to his service. Gustavus assembled a fleet at Elfsnaben, crossed +the Baltic sea, and in June, 1630, landed thirty thousand troops in +Pomerania, which Wallenstein had overrun. The imperial army, unprepared +for such an assault, fled before the Swedish king. Marching rapidly, +Gustavus took Stettin, the capital of the duchy, situated at the mouth +of the Oder, and commanding that stream. Driving the imperial troops +everywhere before him from Pomerania, and pursuing them into the +adjoining Mark of Brandenburg, he took possession of a large part of +that territory. He issued a proclamation to the inhabitants of Germany, +recapitulating the arbitrary and despotic acts of the emperor, and +calling upon all Protestants to aid in an enterprise, in the success of +which the very existence of Protestantism in Germany seemed to be +involved. But so utterly had the emperor crushed the spirits of the +Protestants by his fiend-like severity, that but few ventured to respond +to his appeal. The rulers, however, of many of the Protestant States met +at Leipsic, and without venturing to espouse the cause of Gustavus, and +without even alluding to his invasion, they addressed a letter to the +emperor demanding a redress of grievances, and informing him that they +had decided to establish a permanent council for the direction of their +own affairs, and to raise an army of forty thousand men for their own +protection. + +Most of these events had occurred while the emperor, with Wallenstein, +was at Ratisbon, intriguing to secure the succession of the imperial +crown for his son. They both looked upon the march of the King of Sweden +into the heart of Germany as the fool-hardy act of a mad adventurer. The +courtiers ridiculed his transient conquests, saying, "Gustavus Adolphus +is a king of snow. Like a snowball he will melt in a southern clime." +Wallenstein was particularly contemptuous. "I will whip him back to his +country," said he, "like a truant school-boy, with rods." Ferdinand was +for a time deceived by these representations, and was by no means aware +of the real peril which threatened him. The diet which the emperor had +assembled made a proclamation of war against Gustavus, but adopted no +measures of energy adequate to the occasion. The emperor sent a silly +message to Gustavus that if he did not retire immediately from Germany +he would attack him with his whole force. To this folly Gustavus +returned a contemptuous reply. + +A few of the minor Protestant princes now ventured to take arms and join +the standard of Gustavus. The important city of Magdeburg, in Saxony, on +the Elbe, espoused his cause. This city, with its bastions and outworks +completely commanding the Elbe, formed one of the strongest fortresses +of Europe. It contained, exclusive of its strong garrison, thirty +thousand inhabitants. It was now evident to Ferdinand that vigorous +action was called for. He could not, consistently with his dignity, +recall Wallenstein in the same breath with which he had dismissed him. +He accordingly concentrated his troops and placed them under the command +of Count Tilly. The imperial troops were dispatched to Magdeburg. They +surrounded the doomed city, assailed it furiously, and proclaimed their +intention of making it a signal mark of imperial vengeance. +Notwithstanding the utmost efforts of Gustavus to hasten to their +relief, he was foiled in his endeavors, and the town was carried by +assault on the 10th of May. Never, perhaps, did earth witness a more +cruel exhibition of the horrors of war. The soul sickens in the +contemplation of outrages so fiend-like. We prefer to give the narrative +of these deeds, which it is the duty of history to record, in the +language of another. + +"All the horrors ever exercised against a captured place were repeated +and almost surpassed, on this dreadful event, which, notwithstanding all +the subsequent disorders and the lapse 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 compassion +from the fury of the licentious soldiery. No retreat was sufficiently +secure to escape their rapacity and vengeance; 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 of the imperial officers, recoiling +from this terrible scene, flew to Count Tilly and supplicated him to put +a stop to the carnage. 'Stay yet an hour,' was his barbarous reply; 'let +the soldier have some compensation for his dangers and fatigues.' + +"The troops, left to themselves, after sating their passions, and almost +exhausting their cruelty in three hours of pillage and massacre, 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 who were forced +by the flames from their hiding-places, experienced a more dreadful +fate. Numbers were driven into the Elbe, others massacred 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 colors to +depict all the horrors of the scene. In less than ten hours the most +rich, the most flourishing and the most populous town in 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 more than thirty +thousand inhabitants. + +"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 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 refuge 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 +even though 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 comparing the assault of Magdeburg to the sack of Troy +and of Jerusalem." + +This terrible display of vengeance struck the Protestants with +consternation. The extreme Catholic party were exultant, and their +chiefs met in a general assembly and passed resolutions approving the +course of the emperor and pledging him their support. Ferdinand was much +encouraged by this change in his favor, and declared his intention of +silencing all Protestant voices. He recalled an army of twenty-four +thousand men from Italy. They crossed the Alps, and, as they marched +through the frontier States of the empire, they spread devastation and +ruin through all the Protestant territories, exacting enormous +contributions, compelling the Protestant princes, on oath, to renounce +the Protestant league, and to unite with the Catholic confederacy +against the King of Sweden. + +In the meantime, Gustavus pressed forward into the duchy of Mecklenburg, +driving the imperial troops before him. Tilly retired into the territory +of the Elector of Saxony, robbing, burning and destroying everywhere. +Uniting his force with the army from Italy he ravaged the country, +resistlessly advancing even to Leipsic, and capturing the city. The +elector, quite unable to cope with so powerful a foe, retired with his +troops to the Swedish camp, where he entered into an offensive and +defensive alliance with Gustavus. The Swedish army, thus reinforced, +hastened to the relief of Leipsic, and arrived before its walls the very +day on which the city surrendered. + +Tilly, with the pride of a conqueror, advanced to meet them. The two +armies, about equal in numbers, and commanded by their renowned +captains, met but a few miles from the city. Neither of the commanders +had ever before suffered a defeat. It was a duel, in which one or the +other must fall. Every soldier in the ranks felt the sublimity of the +hour. For some time there was marching and countermarching--the planting +of batteries, and the gathering of squadrons and solid columns, each one +hesitating to strike the first blow. At last the signal was given by the +discharge of three pieces of cannon from one of the batteries of Tilly. +Instantly a thunder peal rolled along the extended lines from wing to +wing. The awful work of death was begun. Hour after hour the fierce and +bloody fight continued, as the surges of victory and defeat swept to and +fro upon the plain. But the ever uncertain fortune of battle decided in +favor of the Swedes. As the darkness of evening came prematurely on, +deepened by the clouds of smoke which canopied the field, the +imperialists were everywhere flying in dismay. Tilly, having been struck +by three balls, was conveyed from the field in excruciating pain to a +retreat in Halle. Seven thousand of his troops lay dead upon the field. +Five thousand were taken prisoners. All the imperial artillery and +baggage fell into the hands of the conqueror. The rest of the army was +so dispersed that but two thousand could be rallied under the imperial +banners. + +Gustavus, thus triumphant, dispatched a portion of his army, under the +Elector of Saxony, to rescue Bohemia from the tyrant grasp of the +emperor. Gustavus himself, with another portion, marched in various +directions to cut off the resources of the enemy and to combine the +scattered parts of the Protestant confederacy. His progress was like the +tranquil march of a sovereign in his own dominions, greeted by the +enthusiasm of his subjects. He descended the Maine to the Rhine, and +then ascending the Rhine, took every fortress from Maine to Strasbourg. +While Gustavus was thus extending his conquests through the very heart +of Germany, the Elector of Saxony reclaimed all of Bohemia from the +imperial arms. Prague itself capitulated to the Saxon troops. Count +Thurn led the Saxon troops in triumph over the same bridge which he, but +a few months before, had traversed a fugitive. He found, impaled upon +the bridge, the shriveled heads of twelve of his companions, which he +enveloped in black satin and buried with funeral honors. + +The Protestants of Bohemia rose enthusiastically to greet their +deliverers. Their churches, schools and universities were reestablished. +Their preachers resumed their functions. Many returned from exile and +rejoiced in the restoration of their confiscated property. The Elector +of Saxony retaliated upon the Catholics the cruel wrongs which they had +inflicted upon the Protestants. Their castles were plundered, their +nobles driven into exile, and the conquerors loaded themselves with the +spoils of the vanquished. + +But Ferdinand, as firm and inexorable in adversity as in prosperity, +bowed not before disaster. He roused the Catholics to a sense of their +danger, organized new coalitions, raised new armies. Tilly, with +recruited forces, was urged on to arrest the march of the conqueror. +Burning under the sense of shame for his defeat at Leipsic, he placed +himself at the head of his veterans, fell, struck by a musket-ball, and +died, after a few days of intense suffering, at the age of +seventy-three. The vast Austrian empire, composed of so many +heterogeneous States, bound together only by the iron energy of +Ferdinand, seemed now upon the eve of its dissolution. The Protestants, +who composed in most of the States a majority, were cordially rallying +beneath the banners of Gustavus. They had been in a state of despair. +They now rose in exalted hope. Many of the minor princes who had been +nominally Catholics, but whose Christian creeds were merely political +dogmas, threw themselves into the arms of Gustavus. Even the Elector of +Bavaria was so helpless in his isolation, that, champion as he had been +of the Catholic party, there seemed to be no salvation for him but in +abandoning the cause of Ferdinand. Gustavus was now, with a victorious +army, in the heart of Germany. He was in possession of the whole western +country from the Baltic to the frontiers of France, and apparently a +majority of the population were in sympathy with him. + +Ferdinand at first resolved, in this dire extremity, to assume himself +the command of his armies, and in person to enter the field. This was +heroic madness, and his friends soon convinced him of the folly of one +so inexperienced in the arts of war undertaking to cope with Gustavus +Adolphus, now the most experienced and renowned captain in Europe. He +then thought of appointing his son, the Archduke Ferdinand, +commander-in-chief. But Ferdinand was but twenty-three years of age, and +though a young man of decided abilities, was by no means able to +encounter on the field the skill and heroism of the Swedish warrior. In +this extremity, Ferdinand was compelled to turn his eyes to his +discarded general Wallenstein. + +This extraordinary man, in renouncing, at the command of his sovereign, +his military supremacy, retired with boundless wealth, and assumed a +style of living surpassing even regal splendor. His gorgeous palace at +Prague was patrolled by sentinels. A body-guard of fifty halberdiers, in +sumptuous uniform, ever waited in his ante-chamber. Twelve nobles +attended his person, and four gentlemen ushers introduced to his +presence those whom he condescended to favor with an audience. Sixty +pages, taken from the most illustrious families, embellished his courts. +His steward was a baron of the highest rank; and even the chamberlain of +the emperor had left Ferdinand's court, that he might serve in the more +princely palace of this haughty subject. A hundred guests dined daily at +his table. His gardens and parks were embellished with more than +oriental magnificence. Even his stables were furnished with marble +mangers, and supplied with water from an ever-living fountain. Upon his +journeys he was accompanied by a suite of twelve coaches of state and +fifty carriages. A large retinue of wagons conveyed his plate and +equipage. Fifty mounted grooms followed with fifty led horses richly +caparisoned. (Coxe's "House of Austria," ii., 254.) + +Wallenstein watched the difficulties gathering around the emperor with +satisfaction which he could not easily disguise. Though intensely eager +to be restored to the command of the armies, he affected an air of great +indifference, and when the emperor suggested his restoration, he very +adroitly played the coquette. The emperor at first proposed that his +son, the Archduke Ferdinand, should nominally have the command, while +Wallenstein should be his executive and advisory general. "I would not +serve," said the impious captain, "as second in command under God +Himself." + +After long negotiation, Wallenstein, with well-feigned reluctance, +consented to relinquish for a few weeks the sweets of private life, and +to recruit an army, and bring it under suitable discipline. He, however, +limited the time of his command to three months. With his boundless +wealth and amazing energy, he immediately set all springs in motion. +Adventurers from all parts of Europe, lured by the splendor of his past +achievements, crowded his ranks. In addition to his own vast opulence, +the pope and the court of Spain opened freely to him their purses. As by +magic he was in a few weeks at the head of forty thousand men. In +companies, regiments and battalions they were incessantly drilled, and +by the close of three months this splendid army, thoroughly furnished, +and in the highest state of discipline, was presented to the emperor. +Every step he had taken had convinced, and was intended to convince +Ferdinand that his salvation depended upon the energies of Wallenstein. +Gustavus was now, in the full tide of victory, marching from the Rhine +to the Danube, threatening to press his conquests even to Vienna. +Ferdinand was compelled to assume the attitude of a suppliant, and to +implore his proud general to accept the command of which he had so +recently been deprived. Wallenstein exacted terms so humiliating as in +reality to divest the emperor of his imperial power. He was to be +declared generalissimo of all the forces of the empire, and to be +invested with unlimited authority. The emperor pledged himself that +neither he nor his son would ever enter the camp. Wallenstein was to +appoint all his officers, distribute all rewards, and the emperor was +not allowed to grant either a pardon or a safe-conduct without the +confirmation of Wallenstein. The general was to levy what contribution +he pleased upon the vanquished enemy, confiscate property, and no peace +or truce was to be made with the enemy without his consent. Finally, he +was to receive, either from the spoils of the enemy, or from the +hereditary States of the empire, princely remuneration for his services. + +Armed with such enormous power, Wallenstein consented to place himself +at the head of the army. He marched to Prague, and without difficulty +took the city. Gradually he drove the Saxon troops from all their +fortresses in Bohemia. Then advancing to Bavaria, he effected a junction +with Bavarian troops, and found himself sufficiently strong to attempt +to arrest the march of Gustavus. The imperial force now amounted to +sixty thousand men. Wallenstein was so sanguine of success, that he +boasted that in a few days he would decide the question, whether +Gustavus Adolphus or Wallenstein was to be master of the world. The +Swedish king was at Nuremberg with but twenty thousand men, when he +heard of the approach of the imperial army, three times outnumbering his +own. Disdaining to retreat, he threw up redoubts, and prepared for a +desperate defense. As Wallenstein brought up his heavy battalions, he +was so much overawed by the military genius which Gustavus had displayed +in his strong intrenchments, and by the bold front which the Swedes +presented, that notwithstanding his boast, he did not dare to hazard an +attack. He accordingly threw up intrenchments opposite the works of the +Swedes, and there the two armies remained, looking each other in the +face for eight weeks, neither daring to withdraw from behind their +intrenchments, and each hoping to starve the other party out. Gustavus +did every thing in his power to provoke Wallenstein to the attack, but +the wary general, notwithstanding the importunities of his officers, and +the clamors of his soldiers, refused to risk an engagement. Both parties +were all the time strengthening their intrenchments and gathering +reinforcements. + +At last Gustavus resolved upon an attack. He led his troops against the +intrenchments of Wallenstein, which resembled a fortress rather than a +camp. The Swedes clambered over the intrenchments, and assailed the +imperialists with as much valor and energy as mortals ever exhibited. +They were, however, with equal fury repelled, and after a long conflict +were compelled to retire again behind their fortifications with the loss +of three thousand of their best troops. For another fortnight the two +armies remained watching each other, and then Gustavus, leaving a strong +garrison in Nuremberg, slowly and defiantly retired. Wallenstein stood +so much in fear of the tactics of Gustavus that he did not even venture +to molest his retreat. During this singular struggle of patient +endurance, both armies suffered fearfully from sickness and famine. In +the city of Nuremberg ten thousand perished. Gustavus buried twenty +thousand of his men beneath his intrenchments. And in the imperial army, +after the retreat of Gustavus, but thirty thousand troops were left to +answer the roll-call. + +Wallenstein claimed, and with justice, the merit of having arrested the +steps of Gustavus, though he could not boast of any very chivalrous +exploits. After various maneuvering, and desolating marches, the two +armies, with large reinforcements, met at Lutzen, about thirty miles +from Leipsic. It was in the edge of the evening when they arrived within +sight of each other's banners. Both parties passed an anxious night, +preparing for the decisive battle which the dawn of the morning would +usher in. + +Wallenstein was fearfully alarmed. He had not willingly met his dreaded +antagonist, and would now gladly escape the issues of battle. He called +a council of war, and even suggested a retreat. But it was decided that +such an attempt in the night, and while watched by so able and vigilant +a foe, would probably involve the army in irretrievable ruin, besides +exposing his own name to deep disgrace. The imperial troops, thirty +thousand strong, quite outnumbered the army of Gustavus, and the +officers of Wallenstein unanimously advised to give battle. Wallenstein +was a superstitious man and deeply devoted to astrological science. He +consulted his astrologers, and they declared the stars to be +unpropitious to Gustavus. This at once decided him. He resolved, +however, to act on the defensive, and through the night employed the +energies of his army in throwing up intrenchments. In the earliest dawn +of the morning mass was celebrated throughout the whole camp, and +Wallenstein on horseback rode along behind the redoubts, urging his +troops, by every consideration, to fight valiantly for their emperor and +their religion. + +The morning was dark and lowering, and such an impenetrable fog +enveloped the armies that they were not visible to each other. It was +near noon ere the fog arose, and the two armies, in the full blaze of an +unclouded sun, gazed, awe-stricken, upon each other. The imperial troops +and the Swedish troops were alike renowned; and Gustavus Adolphus and +Wallenstein were, by universal admission, the two ablest captains in +Europe. Neither force could even affect to despise the other. The scene +unfolded, as the vapor swept away, was one which even war has seldom +presented. The vast plain of Lutzen extended many miles, almost as +smooth, level and treeless as a western prairie. Through the center of +this plain ran a nearly straight and wide road. On one side of this +road, in long line, extending one or two miles, was the army of +Wallenstein. His whole front was protected by a ditch and redoubts +bristling with bayonets. Behind these intrenchments his army was +extended; the numerous and well-mounted cavalry at the wings, the +artillery, in ponderous batteries, at the center, with here and there +solid squares of infantry to meet the rush of the assailing columns. On +the other side of the road, and within musket-shot, were drawn up in a +parallel line the troops of Gustavus. He had interspersed along his +double line bands of cavalry, with artillery and platoons of musketeers, +that he might be prepared from any point to make or repel assault. The +whole host stood reverently, with uncovered heads, as a public prayer +was offered. The Psalm which Watts has so majestically versified was +read-- + + "God is the refuge of his saints, + When storms of dark distress invade; + Ere we can offer our complaints, + Behold him present with his aid. + + "Let mountains from their seats be hurled + Down to the deep, and buried there, + Convulsions shake the solid world; + Our faith shall never yield to fear." + +From twenty thousand voices the solemn hymn arose and floated over the +field--celestial songs, to be succeeded by demoniac clangor. Both +parties appealed to the God of battle; both parties seemed to feel that +their cause was just. Alas for man! + +Gustavus now ordered the attack. A solid column emerged from his ranks, +crossed the road, in breathless silence approached the trenches, while +both armies looked on. They were received with a volcanic sheet of flame +which prostrated half of them bleeding upon the sod. Gustavus ordered +column after column to follow on to support the assailants, and to +pierce the enemy's center. In his zeal he threw himself from his horse, +seized a pike, and rushed to head the attack. Wallenstein energetically +ordered up cavalry and artillery to strengthen the point so fiercely +assailed. And now the storm of war blazed along the whole lines. A +sulphureous canopy settled down over the contending hosts, and +thunderings, shrieks, clangor as of Pandemonium, filled the air. The +king, as reckless of life as if he had been the meanest soldier, rushed +to every spot where the battle raged the fiercest. Learning that his +troops upon the left were yielding to the imperial fire, he mounted his +horse and was galloping across the field swept by the storm of war, when +a bullet struck his arm and shattered the bone. Almost at the same +moment another bullet struck his breast, and he fell mortally wounded +from his horse, exclaiming, "My God! my God!" + +The command now devolved upon the Duke of Saxe Weimar. The horse of +Gustavus, galloping along the lines, conveyed to the whole army the +dispiriting intelligence that their beloved chieftain had fallen. The +duke spread the report that he was not killed, but taken prisoner, and +summoned all to the rescue. This roused the Swedes to superhuman +exertions. They rushed over the ramparts, driving the infantry back upon +the cavalry, and the whole imperial line was thrown into confusion. Just +at that moment, when both parties were in the extreme of exhaustion, +when the Swedes were shouting victory and the imperialists were flying +in dismay, General Pappenheim, with eight fresh regiments of imperial +cavalry, came galloping upon the field. This seemed at once to restore +the battle to the imperialists, and the Swedes were apparently undone. +But just then a chance bullet struck Pappenheim and he fell, mortally +wounded, from his horse. The cry ran through the imperial ranks, +"Pappenheim is killed and the battle is lost." No further efforts of +Wallenstein were of any avail to arrest the confusion. His whole host +turned and fled. Fortunately for them, the darkness of the approaching +night, and a dense fog settling upon the plain, concealed them from +their pursuers. During the night the imperialists retired, and in the +morning the Swedes found themselves in possession of the field with no +foe in sight. But the Swedes had no heart to exult over their victory. +The loss of their beloved king was a greater calamity than any defeat +could have been. His mangled body was found, covered with blood, in the +midst of heaps of the slain, and so much mutilated with the tramplings +of cavalry as to be with difficulty recognized. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +FERDINAND II., FERDINAND III. AND LEOPOLD I + +From 1632 to 1662. + +Character of Gustavus Adolphus.--Exultation of the Imperialists.-- +Disgrace of Wallenstein.--He Offers to Surrender to the Swedish +General.--His Assassination.--Ferdinand's Son Elected as his +Successor.--Death of Ferdinand.--Close of the War.--Abdication of +Christina.--Charles Gustavus.--Preparations for War.--Death Of Ferdinand +III.--Leopold Elected Emperor.--Hostilities Renewed.--Death of Charles +Gustavus.--Diet Convened.--Invasion of the Turks. + + +The battle of Lutzen was fought on the 16th of November, 1632. It is +generally estimated that the imperial troops were forty thousand, while +there were but twenty-seven thousand in the Swedish army. Gustavus was +then thirty-eight years of age. A plain stone still marks the spot where +he fell. A few poplars surround it, and it has become a shrine visited +by strangers from all parts of the world. Traces of his blood are still +shown in the town-house of Lutzen, where his body was transported from +the fatal field. The buff waistcoat he wore in the engagement, pierced +by the bullet which took his life, is preserved as a trophy in the +arsenal at Vienna. + +Both as a monarch and a man, this illustrious sovereign stands in the +highest ranks. He possessed the peculiar power of winning the ardent +attachment of all who approached him. Every soldier in the army was +devoted to him, for he shared all their toils and perils. "Cities," he +said, "are not taken by keeping in tents; as scholars, in the absence of +the master, shut their books, so my troops, without my presence, would +slacken their blows." + +In very many traits of character he resembled Napoleon, combining in his +genius the highest attributes of the statesman and the soldier. Like +Napoleon he was a predestinarian, believing himself the child of +Providence, raised for the accomplishment of great purposes, and that +the decrees of his destiny no foresight could thwart. When urged to +spare his person in the peril of battle, he replied, + +"My hour is written in heaven, and can not be reversed." + +Frederic, the unhappy Elector of the Palatine, and King of Bohemia, who +had been driven from his realms by Ferdinand, and who, for some years, +had been wandering from court to court in Europe, seeking an asylum, was +waiting at Mentz, trusting that the success of the armies of Gustavus +would soon restore him to his throne. The death of the king shattered +all his hopes. Disappointment and chagrin threw him into a fever of +which he died, in the thirty-ninth year of his age. The death of +Gustavus was considered by the Catholics such a singular interposition +of Providence in their behalf, that, regardless of the disaster of +Lutzen, they surrendered themselves to the most enthusiastic joy. Even +in Spain bells were rung, and the streets of Madrid blazed with bonfires +and illuminations. At Vienna it was regarded as a victory, and _Te +Deums_ were chanted in the cathedral. Ferdinand, however, conducted with +a decorum which should be recorded to his honor. He expressed the +fullest appreciation of the grand qualities of his opponent, and in +graceful words regretted his untimely death. When the bloody waistcoat, +perforated by the bullet, was shown him, he turned from it with +utterances of sadness and regret. Even if this were all feigned, it +shows a sense of external propriety worthy of record. + +It was the genius of Gustavus alone which had held together the +Protestant confederacy. No more aid of any efficiency could be +anticipated from Sweden. Christina, the daughter and heiress of +Gustavus, was in her seventh year. The crown was claimed by her cousin +Ladislaus, the King of Poland, and this disputed succession threatened +the kingdom with the calamities of civil war. The Senate of Sweden in +this emergence conducted with great prudence. That they might secure an +honorable peace they presented a bold front of war. A council of regency +was appointed, abundant succors in men and money voted, and the +Chancellor Oxenstiern, a man of commanding civil and military talents, +was intrusted with the sole conduct of the war. The Senate declared the +young queen the legitimate successor to the throne, and forbade all +allusion to the claims of Ladislaus, under the penalty of high treason. + +Oxenstiern proved himself worthy to be the successor of Gustavus. He +vigorously renewed alliances with the German princes, and endeavored to +follow out the able plans sketched by the departed monarch. Wallenstein, +humiliated by his defeat, had fallen back into Bohemia, and now, with +moderation strangely inconsistent with his previous career, urged the +emperor to conciliate the Protestants by publishing a decree of general +amnesty, and by proposing peace on favorable terms. But the iron will of +Ferdinand was inflexible. In heart, exulting that his most formidable +foe was removed, he resolved with unrelenting vigor to prosecute the +war. The storm of battle raged anew; and to the surprise of Ferdinand, +Oxenstiern moved forward with strides of victory as signal as those of +his illustrious predecessor. Wallenstein meanly attempted to throw the +blame of the disaster at Lutzen upon the alleged cowardice of his +officers. Seventeen of them he hanged, and consigned fifty others to +infamy by inscribing their names upon the gallows. + +So haughty a man could not but have many enemies at court. They +combined, and easily persuaded Ferdinand, who had also been insulted by +his arrogance, again to degrade him. Wallenstein, informed of their +machinations, endeavored to rally the army to a mutiny in his favor. +Ferdinand, alarmed by this intelligence, which even threatened his own +dethronement, immediately dismissed Wallenstein from the command, and +dispatched officers from Vienna to seize his person, dead or alive. This +roused Wallenstein to desperation. Having secured the cooeperation of his +leading officers, he dispatched envoys to the Swedish camp, offering to +surrender important fortresses to Oxenstiern, and to join him against +the emperor. It was an atrocious act of treason, and so marvellous in +its aspect, that Oxenstiern regarded it as mere duplicity on the part of +Wallenstein, intended to lead him into a trap. He therefore dismissed +the envoy, rejecting the offer. His officers now abandoned him, and +Gallas, who was appointed as his successor, took command of the army. + +With a few devoted adherents, and one regiment of troops, he took refuge +in the strong fortress of Egra, hoping to maintain himself there until +he could enter into some arrangement with the Swedes. The officers +around him, whom he had elevated and enriched by his iniquitous bounty, +entered into a conspiracy to purchase the favor of the emperor by the +assassination of their doomed general. It was a very difficult +enterprise, and one which exposed the conspirators to the most imminent +peril. + +On the 25th of February, 1634, the conspirators gave a magnificent +entertainment in the castle. They sat long at the table, wine flowed +freely, and as the darkness of night enveloped the castle, fourteen men, +armed to the teeth, rushed into the banqueting hall from two opposite +doors, and fell upon the friends of Wallenstein. Though thus taken by +surprise, they fought fiercely, and killed several of their assailants +before they were cut down. They all, however, were soon dispatched. The +conspirators, fifty in number, then ascended the stairs of the castle to +the chamber of Wallenstein. They cut down the sentinel at his door, and +broke into the room. Wallenstein had retired to his bed, but alarmed by +the clamor, he arose, and was standing at the window in his shirt, +shouting from it to the soldiers for assistance. + +"Are you," exclaimed one of the conspirators, "the traitor who is going +to deliver the imperial troops to the enemy, and tear the crown from the +head of the emperor?" + +Wallenstein was perfectly helpless. He looked around, and deigned no +reply. "You must die," continued the conspirator, advancing with his +halberd. Wallenstein, in silence, opened his arms to receive the blow. +The sharp blade pierced his body, and he fell dead upon the floor. The +alarm now spread through the town. The soldiers seized their arms, and +flocked to avenge their general. But the leading friends of Wallenstein +were slain; and the other officers easily satisfied the fickle soldiery +that their general was a traitor, and with rather a languid cry of "Long +live Ferdinand," they returned to duty. + +Two of the leading assassins hastened to Vienna to inform the emperor of +the deed they had perpetrated. It was welcome intelligence to Ferdinand, +and he finished the work they had thus commenced by hanging and +beheading the adherents of Wallenstein without mercy. The assassins were +abundantly rewarded. The emperor still prosecuted the war with +perseverance, which no disasters could check. Gradually the imperial +arms gained the ascendency. The Protestant princes became divided and +jealous of each other. The emperor succeeded in detaching from the +alliance, and negotiating a separate peace with the powerful Electors of +Saxony and Brandenburg. He then assembled a diet at Ratisbon on the 15th +of September, 1639, and without much difficulty secured the election of +his son Ferdinand to succeed him on the imperial throne. The emperor +presided at this diet in person. He was overjoyed in the attainment of +this great object of his ambition. He was now fifty-nine years of age, +in very feeble health, and quite worn out by a life of incessant anxiety +and toil. He returned to Vienna, and in four months, on the 15th of +February, 1637, breathed his last. + +For eighteen years Germany had now been distracted by war. The +contending parties were so exasperated against each other, that no human +wisdom could, at once, allay the strife. The new king and emperor, +Ferdinand III., wished for peace, but he could not obtain it on terms +which he thought honorable to the memory of his father. The Swedish army +was still in Germany, aided by the Protestant princes of the empire, and +especially by the armies and the treasury of France. The thunders of +battle were daily heard, and the paths of these hostile bands were ever +marked by smoldering ruins and blood. Vials of woe were emptied, +unsurpassed in apocalyptic vision. In the siege of Brisac, the wretched +inhabitants were reduced to such a condition of starvation, that a guard +was stationed at the burying ground to prevent them from devouring the +putrid carcasses of the dead. + +For eleven years history gives us nothing but a dismal record of weary +marches, sieges, battles, bombardments, conflagrations, and all the +unimaginable brutalities and miseries of war. The war had now raged for +thirty years. Hundreds of thousands of lives had been lost. Millions of +property had been destroyed, and other millions squandered in the arts +of destruction. Nearly all Europe had been drawn into this vortex of +fury and misery. All parties were now weary. And yet seven years of +negotiation had been employed before they could consent to meet to +consult upon a general peace. At length congresses of the belligerent +powers were assembled in two important towns of Westphalia, Osnabruck +and Munster. Ridiculous disputes upon etiquette rendered this division +of the congress necessary. The ministers of _electors_ enjoyed the title +of _excellency_. The ministers of _princes_ claimed the same title. +Months were employed in settling that question. Then a difficulty arose +as to the seats at table, who were entitled to the positions of honor. +After long debate, this point was settled by having a large round table +made, to which there could be no head and no foot. + +For four years the great questions of European policy were discussed by +this assembly. The all-important treaty, known in history as the peace +of Westphalia, and which established the general condition of Europe for +one hundred and fifty years, was signed on the 24th of October, 1648. +The contracting parties included all the great and nearly all the minor +powers of Europe. The articles of this renowned treaty are vastly too +voluminous to be recorded here. The family of Frederic received back the +Palatinate of which he had been deprived. The Protestants were restored +to nearly all the rights which they had enjoyed under the beneficent +reign of Maximilian II. The princes of the German empire, kings, dukes, +electors, marquises, princes, of whatever name, pledged themselves not +to oppress those of their subjects who differed from them in religious +faith. The pope protested against this toleration, but his protest was +disregarded. The German empire lost its unity, and became a +conglomeration of three hundred independent sovereignties. Each petty +prince or duke, though possessing but a few square miles of territory, +was recognized as a sovereign power, entitled to its court, its army, +and its foreign alliances. The emperor thus lost much of that power +which he had inherited from his ancestors; as those princes, whom he had +previously regarded as vassals, now shared with him sovereign dignity. + +Ferdinand III., however, weary of the war which for so many years had +allowed him not an hour of repose, gladly acceded to these terms of +peace, and in good faith employed himself in carrying out the terms of +the treaty. After the exchange of ratifications another congress was +assembled at Nuremburg to settle some of the minute details, which +continued in session two years, when at length, in 1651, the armies were +disbanded, and Germany was released from the presence of a foreign foe. + +Internal peace being thus secured, Ferdinand was anxious, before his +death, to secure the succession of the imperial crown to his son who +bore his own name. He accordingly assembled a meeting of the electors at +Prague, and by the free use of bribes and diplomatic intrigue, obtained +their engagement to support his son. He accomplished his purpose, and +Ferdinand, quite to the astonishment of Germany, was chosen unanimously, +King of the Romans--the title assumed by the emperor elect. In June, +1653, the young prince was crowned at Ratisbon. The joy of his father, +however, was of short duration. In one year from that time the +small-pox, in its most loathsome form, seized the prince, and after a +few days of anguish he died. His father was almost inconsolable with +grief. As soon as he had partially recovered from the blow, he brought +forward his second son, Leopold, and with but little difficulty secured +for him the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, but was disappointed in his +attempts to secure the suffrages of the German electors. + +With energy, moderation and sagacity, the peacefully disposed Ferdinand +so administered the government as to allay for seven years all the +menaces of war which were continually arising. For so long a period had +Germany been devastated by this most direful of earthly calamities, +which is indeed the accumulation of all conceivable woes, ever leading +in its train pestilence and famine, that peace seemed to the people a +heavenly boon. The fields were again cultivated, the cities and villages +repaired, and comfort began again gradually to make its appearance in +homes long desolate. It is one of the deepest mysteries of the divine +government that the destinies of millions should be so entirely placed +in the hands of a single man. Had Ferdinand II. been an enlightened, +good man, millions would have been saved from life-long ruin and misery. + +One pert young king, in the search of glory, kindled again the lurid +flames of war. Christina, Queen of Sweden, daughter of Gustavus +Adolphus, influenced by romantic dreams, abdicated the throne and +retired to the seclusion of the cloister. Her cousin, Charles Gustavus, +succeeded her. He thought it a fine thing to play the soldier, and to +win renown by consigning the homes of thousands to blood and misery. He +was a king, and the power was in his hands. Merely to gratify this +fiend-like ambition, he laid claim to the crown of Poland, and raised an +army for the invasion of that kingdom. A portion of Poland was then in a +state of insurrection, the Ukraine Cossacks having risen against John +Cassimar, the king. Charles Gustavus thought that this presented him an +opportunity to obtain celebrity as a warrior, with but little danger of +failure. He marched into the doomed country, leaving behind him a wake +of fire and blood. Cities and villages were burned; the soil was +drenched with the blood of fathers and sons, his bugle blasts were +echoed by the agonizing groans of widows and orphans, until at last, in +an awful battle of three days, under the walls of Warsaw, the Polish +army, struggling in self-defense, was cut to pieces, and Charles +Gustavus was crowned a conqueror. Elated by this infernal deed, the most +infernal which mortal man can commit, he began to look around to decide +in what direction to extend his conquests. + +Ferdinand III., anxious as he was to preserve peace, could not but look +with alarm upon the movements which now threatened the States of the +empire. It was necessary to present a barrier to the inroads of such a +ruffian. He accordingly assembled a diet at Frankfort and demanded +succors to oppose the threatened invasion on the north. He raised an +army, entered into an alliance with the defeated and prostrate, yet +still struggling Poles, and was just commencing his march, when he was +seized with sudden illness and died, on the 3d of March, 1657. Ferdinand +was a good man. He was not responsible for the wars which desolated the +empire during the first years of his reign, for he was doing every thing +in his power to bring those wars to a close. His administration was a +blessing to millions. Just before his death he said, and with truth +which no one will controvert, "During my whole reign no one can reproach +me with a single act which I knew to be unjust." Happy is the monarch +who can go into the presence of the King of kings with such a +conscience. + +The death of the emperor was caused by a singular accident. He was not +very well, and was lying upon a couch in one of the chambers of his +palace. He had an infant son, but a few weeks old, lying in a cradle in +the nursery. A fire broke out in the apartment of the young prince. The +whole palace was instantly in clamor and confusion. Some attendants +seized the cradle of the young prince, and rushed with it to the chamber +of the emperor. In their haste and terror they struck the cradle with +such violence against the wall that it was broken to pieces and the +child fell, screaming, upon the floor. The cry of fire, the tumult, the +bursting into the room, the dashing of the cradle and the shrieks of the +child, so shocked the debilitated king that he died within an hour. + +Leopold was but eighteen years of age when he succeeded to the +sovereignty of all the Austrian dominions, including the crowns of +Hungary and Bohemia. It was the first great object of his ambition to +secure the imperial throne also, which his father had failed to obtain +for him. Louis XIV. was now the youthful sovereign of France. He, +through his ambitious and able minister, Mazarin, did every thing in his +power to thwart the endeavors of Ferdinand, and to obtain the brilliant +prize for himself. The King of Sweden united with the French court in +the endeavor to abase the pride of the house of Austria. But +notwithstanding all their efforts, Leopold carried his point, and was +unanimously elected emperor, and crowned on the 31st of July, 1657. The +princes of the empire, however, greatly strengthened in their +independence by the articles of the peace of Westphalia, increasingly +jealous of their rights, attached forty-five conditions to their +acceptance of Leopold as emperor. Thus, notwithstanding the imperial +title, Leopold had as little power over the States of the empire as the +President of the United States has over the internal concerns of Maine +or Louisiana. In all such cases there is ever a conflict between two +parties, the one seeking the centralization of power, and the other +advocating its dispersion into various distant central points. + +The flames of war which Charles Gustavus had kindled were still blazing. +Leopold continued the alliance which his father had formed with the +Poles, and sent an army of sixteen thousand men into Poland, hoping to +cut off the retreat of Charles Gustavus, and take him and all his army +prisoners. But the Swedish monarch was as sagacious and energetic as he +was unscrupulous and ambitious. Both parties formed alliances. State +after State was drawn into the conflict. The flame spread like a +conflagration. Fleets met in deadly conflict on the Baltic, and +crimsoned its waves with blood. The thunders of war were soon again +echoing over all the plains of northern and western Germany--and all +this because a proud, unprincipled young man, who chanced to be a king, +wished to be called a _hero_. + +He accomplished his object. Through burning homes and bleeding hearts +and crushed hopes he marched to his renown. The forces of the empire +were allied with Denmark and Poland against him. With skill and energy +which can hardly find a parallel in the tales of romance, he baffled all +the combinations of his foes. Energy is a noble quality, and we may +admire its exhibition even though we detest the cause which has called +it forth. The Swedish fleet had been sunk by the Danes, and Charles +Gustavus was driven from the waters of the Baltic. With a few transports +he secretly conveyed an army across the Cattegat to the northern coast +of Jutland, marched rapidly down those inhospitable shores until he came +to the narrow strait, called the Little Belt, which separates Jutland +from the large island of Fyen. He crossed this strait on the ice, +dispersed a corps of Danes posted to arrest him, traversed the island, +exposed to all the storms of mid-winter, some sixty miles to its eastern +shore. A series of islands, with intervening straits clogged with ice, +bridged by a long and circuitous way his passage across the Great Belt. +A march of ten miles across the hummocks, rising and falling with the +tides, landed him upon the almost pathless snows of Langeland. Crossing +that dreary waste diagonally some dozen miles to another arm of the sea +ten miles wide, which the ices of a winter of almost unprecedented +severity had also bridged, pushing boldly on, with a recklessness which +nothing but success redeems from stupendous infatuation, he crossed this +fragile surface, which any storm might crumble beneath his feet, and +landed upon the western coast of Laaland. A march of thirty-five miles +over a treeless, shelterless and almost uninhabited expanse, brought him +to the eastern shore. Easily crossing a narrow strait about a mile in +width, he plunged into the forests of the island of Falster. A dreary +march of twenty-seven miles conducted him to the last remaining arm of +the sea which separated him from Zealand. This strait, from twelve to +fifteen miles in breadth, was also closed by ice. Charles Gustavus led +his hardy soldiers across it, and then, with accelerated steps, pressed +on some sixty miles to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark. In sixteen +days after landing in Jutland, his troops were encamped in Zealand +before the gates of the capital. + +The King of Denmark was appalled at such a sudden apparition. His allies +were too remote to render him any assistance. Never dreaming of such an +attack, his capital was quite defenseless in that quarter. Overwhelmed +with terror and despondency, he was compelled to submit to such terms as +the conqueror might dictate. The conqueror was inexorable in his +demands. Sweden was aggrandized, and Denmark humiliated. + +Leopold was greatly chagrined by this sudden prostration of his faithful +ally. In the midst of these scenes of ambition and of conquest, the +"king of terrors" came with his summons to Charles Gustavus. The passage +of this blood-stained warrior to the world of spirits reminds us of the +sublime vision of Isaiah when the King of Babylon sank into the grave: + +"Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to meet thee at thy coming; it +stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it +hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. All they +shall speak and say unto thee, + +"'Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us? Thy +pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols; the worm +is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. How art thou fallen from +heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the +ground which didst weaken the nations!' + +"They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee and consider thee, +saying, 'Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, and didst shake +kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities +thereof, that opened not the house of his prisoners?'" + +The death of Charles Gustavus was the signal for the strife of war to +cease, and the belligerent nations soon came to terms of accommodation. +But scarcely was peace proclaimed ere new troubles arose in Hungary. The +barbarian Turks, with their head-quarters at Constantinople, lived in a +state of continual anarchy. The cimeter was their only law. The palace +of the sultan was the scene of incessant assassinations. Nothing ever +prevented them from assailing their neighbors but incessant quarrels +among themselves. The life of the Turkish empire was composed of bloody +insurrections at home, and still more bloody wars abroad. Mahomet IV. +was now sultan. He was but twenty years of age. A quarrel for ascendency +among the beauties of his harem had involved the empire in a civil war. +The sultan, after a long conflict, crushed the insurrection with a +blood-red hand. Having restored internal tranquillity, he prepared as +usual for foreign war. By intrigue and the force of arms they took +possession of most of the fortresses of Transylvania, and crossing the +frontier, entered Hungary, and laid siege to Great Wardein. + +Leopold immediately dispatched ten thousand men to succor the besieged +town and to garrison other important fortresses. His succors arrived too +late. Great Wardein fell into the hands of the Turks, and they commenced +their merciless ravages. Hungary was in a wretched condition. The king, +residing in Vienna, was merely a nominal sovereign. Chosen by nobles +proud of their independence, and jealous of each other and of their +feudal rights, they were unwilling to delegate to the sovereign any +efficient power. They would crown him with great splendor of gold and +jewelry, and crowd his court in their magnificent display, but they +would not grant him the prerogative to make war or peace, to levy taxes, +or to exercise any other of the peculiar attributes of sovereignty. The +king, with all his sounding titles and gorgeous parade, was in reality +but the chairman of a committee of nobles. The real power was with the +Hungarian diet. + +This diet, or congress, was a peculiar body. Originally it consisted of +the whole body of nobles, who assembled annually on horseback on the +vast plain of Rakoz, near Buda. Eighty thousand nobles, many of them +with powerful revenues, were frequently convened at these tumultuous +gatherings. The people were thought to have no rights which a noble was +bound to respect. They lived in hovels, hardly superior to those which a +humane farmer now prepares for his swine. The only function they +fulfilled was, by a life of exhausting toil and suffering, to raise the +funds which the nobles expended in their wars and their pleasure; and to +march to the field of blood when summoned by the bugle. In fact history +has hardly condescended to allude to the people. We have minutely +detailed the intrigues and the conflicts of kings and nobles, when +generation after generation of the masses of the people have passed +away, as little thought of as billows upon the beach. + +These immense gatherings of the nobles were found to be so unwieldy, and +so inconvenient for the transaction of any efficient business, that +Sigismond, at the commencement of the fifteenth century, introduced a +limited kind of representation. The bishops, who stood first in wealth, +power and rank, and the highest dukes, attended in person. The nobles of +less exalted rank sent their delegates, and the assembly, much +diminished in number, was transferred from the open plain to the city of +Presburg. The diet, at the time of which we write, was assembled once in +three years, and at such other times as the sovereign thought it +necessary to convene it. The diet controlled the king, unless he chanced +to be a man of such commanding character, that by moral power he could +bring the diet to his feet. A clause had been inserted in the coronation +oath, that the nobles, without guilt, could oppose the authority of the +king, whenever he transgressed their privileges; it was also declared +that no foreign troops could be introduced into the kingdom without the +consent of the diet. + +Under such a government, it was inevitable that the king should be +involved in a continued conflict with the nobles. The nobles wished for +aid to repel the Turks; and yet they were unwilling that an Austrian +army should be introduced into Hungary, lest it should enable the king +to enlarge those prerogatives which he was ever seeking to extend, and +which they were ever endeavoring to curtail. + +Leopold convened the diet at Presburg. They had a stormy session. +Leopold had commenced some persecution of the Protestants in the States +of Austria. This excited the alarm of the Protestant nobles of Hungary; +and they had reason to dread the intolerance of the Roman Catholics, +more than the cimeter of the Turk. They openly accused Leopold of +commencing persecution, and declared that it was his intention to reduce +Hungary to the state to which Ferdinand II. had reduced Bohemia. They +met all the suggestions of Leopold, for decisive action, with so many +provisos and precautions, that nothing could be done. It is dangerous to +surrender one's arms to a highway robber, or one whom we fear may prove +such, even if he does promise with them to aid in repelling a foe. The +Catholics and the Protestants became involved in altercation, and the +diet was abruptly dissolved. + +The Turks eagerly watched their movements, and, encouraged by these +dissensions, soon burst into Hungary with an army of one hundred +thousand men. They crossed the Drave at Esseg, and, ascending the valley +of the Danube, directly north one hundred and fifty miles, crossed that +stream unopposed at Buda. Still ascending the stream, which here flows +from the west, they spread devastation everywhere around them, until +they arrived nearly within sight of the steeples of Vienna. The capital +was in consternation. To add to their terror and their peril, the +emperor was dangerously sick of the small-pox, a disease which had so +often proved fatal to members of the royal family. One of the imperial +generals, near Presburg, in a strong position, held the invading army in +check a few days. The ministry, in their consternation, appealed to all +the powers of Christendom to hasten to the rescue of the cross, now so +seriously imperiled by the crescent. Forces flowed in, which for a time +arrested the further advance of the Moslem banners, and afforded time to +prepare for more efficient action. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +LEOPOLD I. + +From 1662 to 1697. + +Invasion of the Turks.--A Treaty concluded.--Possessions of Leopold.-- +Invasion of the French.--League of Augsburg.--Devastation of the +Palatinate.--Invasion of Hungary.--Emeric Tekeli.--Union of Emeric +Tekeli with the Turks.--Leopold applies to Sobieski.--He immediately +marches to his Aid.--The Turks conquered.--Sobieski's triumphal +Receptions.--Meanness of Leopold.--Revenge upon Hungary.--Peace +concluded.--Contest for Spain. + + +While Europe was rousing itself to repel this invasion of the Turks, the +grand vizier, leaving garrisons in the strong fortresses of the Danube, +withdrew the remainder of his army to prepare for a still more +formidable invasion the ensuing year. Most of the European powers seemed +disposed to render the emperor some aid. The pope transmitted to him +about two hundred thousand dollars. France sent a detachment of six +thousand men. Spain, Venice, Genoa, Tuscany and Mantua, forwarded +important contributions of money and military stores. Early in the +summer the Turks, in a powerful and well provided army, commenced their +march anew. Ascending the valley of the Save, where they encountered no +opposition, they traversed Styria, that they might penetrate to the seat +of war through a defenseless frontier. The troops assembled by Leopold, +sixty thousand in number, under the renowned Prince Montecuculi, +stationed themselves in a very strong position at St. Gothard, behind +the river Raab, which flows into the Danube about one hundred miles +below Vienna. Here they threw up their intrenchments and prepared to +resist the progress of the invader. + +The Turks soon arrived and spread themselves out in military array upon +the opposite side of the narrow but rapid stream. As the hostile armies +were preparing for an engagement, a young Turk, magnificently mounted, +and in gorgeous uniform, having crossed the stream with a party of +cavalry, rode in advance of the troop, upon the plain, and in the spirit +of ancient chivalry challenged any Christian knight to meet him in +single combat. The Chevalier of Lorraine accepted the challenge, and +rode forth to the encounter. Both armies looked silently on to witness +the issue of the duel. It was of but a few moments' duration. Lorraine, +warding off every blow of his antagonist, soon passed his sword through +the body of the Turk, and he fell dead from his horse. The victor +returned to the Christian camp, leading in triumph the splendid steed of +his antagonist. + +And now the signal was given for the general battle. The Turks +impetuously crossing the narrow stream, assailed the Christian camp in +all directions, with their characteristic physical bravery, the most +common, cheap and vulgar of all earthly virtues. A few months of +military discipline will make fearless soldiers of the most ignominious +wretches who can be raked from the gutters of Christian or heathen +lands. The battle was waged with intense fierceness on both sides, and +was long continued with varying success. At last the Turks were routed +on every portion of the field, and leaving nearly twenty thousand of +their number either dead upon the plain or drowned in the Raab, they +commenced a precipitate flight. + +Leopold was, for many reasons, very anxious for peace, and immediately +proposed terms very favorable to the Turks. The sultan was so +disheartened by this signal reverse that he readily listened to the +propositions of the emperor, and within nine days after the battle of +St. Gothard, to the astonishment of all Europe, a truce was concluded +for twenty years. The Hungarians were much displeased with the terms of +this treaty; for in the first place, it was contrary to the laws of the +kingdom for the king to make peace without the consent of the diet, and +in the second place, the conditions he offered the Turks were +humiliating to the Hungarians. Leopold confirmed to the Turks their +ascendency in Transylvania, and allowed them to retain Great Wardein, +and two other important fortresses in Hungary. It was with no little +difficulty that the emperor persuaded the diet to ratify these terms. + +Leopold is to be considered under the twofold light of sovereign of +Austria and Emperor of Germany. We have seen that his power as emperor +was quite limited. His power as sovereign of Austria, also varied +greatly in the different States of his widely extended realms. In the +Austrian duchies proper, upon the Danube, of which he was, by long +hereditary descent, archduke, his sway was almost omnipotent. In Bohemia +he was powerful, though much less so than in Austria, and it was +necessary for him to move with caution there, and not to disturb the +ancient usages of the realm lest he should excite insurrection. In +Hungary, where the laws and customs were entirely different, Leopold +held merely a nominal, hardly a recognized sway. The bold Hungarian +barons, always steel-clad and mounted for war, in their tumultuous +diets, governed the kingdom. There were other remote duchies and +principalities, too feeble to stand by themselves, and ever changing +masters, as they were conquered or sought the protection of other +powers, which, under the reign of Leopold, were portions of wide +extended Austria. Another large and vastly important accession was now +made to his realms. The Tyrol, which, in its natural features, may be +considered but an extension of Switzerland, is a territory of about one +hundred miles square, traversed through its whole extent by the Alps. +Lying just south of Austria it is the key to Italy, opening through its +defiles a passage to the sunny plains of the Peninsula; and through +those fastnesses, guarded by frowning castles, no foe could force his +way, into the valleys of the Tyrol. The most sublime road in Europe is +that over Mount Brenner, along the banks of the Adige. This province had +long been in the hands of members of the Austrian family. + +On the 15th of June, 1665, Sigismond Francis, Duke of Tyrol, and cousin +of Leopold, died, leaving no issue, and the province escheated with its +million of inhabitants to Leopold, as the next heir. This brought a +large accession of revenue and of military force, to the kingdom. +Austria was now the leading power in Europe, and Leopold, in rank and +position, the most illustrious sovereign. Louis XIV. had recently +married Maria Theresa, eldest daughter of Philip IV., King of Spain. +Philip, who was anxious to retain the crown of Spain in his own family, +extorted from Maria Theresa, and from her husband, Louis XIV., the +renunciation of all right of succession, in favor of his second +daughter, Margaret, whom he betrothed to Leopold. Philip died in +September, 1665, leaving these two daughters, one of whom was married to +the King of France, and leaving also an infant son, who succeeded to the +throne under the regency of his mother, Ann, daughter of Ferdinand III., +of Austria. Margaret was then too young to be married, but in a year +from this time, in September, 1666, her nuptials were celebrated with +great splendor at Madrid. The ambitious French monarch, taking advantage +of the minority of the King of Spain, and of the feeble regency, and in +defiance of the solemn renunciation made at his marriage, resolved to +annex the Spanish provinces of the Low Countries to France, and invaded +the kingdom, leading himself an army of thirty thousand men. The Spanish +court immediately appealed to Leopold for assistance. But Leopold was so +embarrassed by troubles in Hungary, and by discontents in the empire +that he could render no efficient aid. England, however, and other +powers of Europe, jealous of the aggrandizement of Louis XIV. combined, +and compelled him to abandon a large portion of the Netherlands, though +he still retained several fortresses. The ambition of Louis XIV. was +inflamed, not checked by this reverse, and all Europe was involved again +in bloody wars. The aggressions of France, and the devastations of +Tarenne in the Palatinate, roused Germany to listen to the appeals of +Leopold, and the empire declared war against France. Months of +desolating war rolled on, decisive of no results, except universal +misery. The fierce conflict continued with unintermitted fury until +1679, when the haughty monarch of France, who was as sagacious in +diplomacy as he was able in war, by bribes and threats succeeded in +detaching one after another from the coalition against him, until +Leopold, deserted by nearly all his allies, was also compelled to accede +to peace. + +France, under Louis XIV., was now the dominant power in Europe. Every +court seemed to be agitated by the intrigues of this haughty sovereign, +and one becomes weary of describing the incessant fluctuations of the +warfare. The arrogance of Louis, his unblushing perfidy and his +insulting assumptions of superiority over all other powers, exasperated +the emperor to the highest pitch. But the French monarch, by secret +missions and abounding bribes, kept Hungary in continued commotion, and +excited such jealousy in the different States of the empire, that +Leopold was compelled to submit in silent indignation to wrongs almost +too grievous for human nature to bear. + +At length Leopold succeeded in organizing another coalition to resist +the aggressions of Louis XIV. The Prince of Orange, the King of Sweden +and the Elector of Brandenburg were the principal parties united with +the emperor in this confederacy, which was concluded, under the name of +the "League of Augsburg," on the 21st of June, 1686. An army of sixty +thousand men was immediately raised. From all parts of Germany troops +were now hurrying towards the Rhine. Louis, alarmed, retired from the +Palatinate, which he had overrun, and, to place a barrier between +himself and his foes, ordered the utter devastation of the unhappy +country. The diabolical order was executed by Turenne. The whole of the +Palatinate was surrendered to pillage and conflagration. The elector, +from the towers of his castle at Mannheim, saw at one time two cities +and twenty-five villages in flames. He had no force sufficient to +warrant him to leave the walls of his fortress to oppose the foe. He +was, however, so moved to despair by the sight, that he sent a challenge +to Turenne to meet him in single combat. Turenne, by command of the +king, declined accepting the challenge. More than forty large towns, +besides innumerable villages, were given up to the flames. It was +mid-winter. The fields were covered with snow, and swept by freezing +blasts. The wretched inhabitants, parents and children, driven into the +bleak plains without food or clothing or shelter, perished miserably by +thousands. The devastation of the Palatinate is one of the most cruel +deeds which war has ever perpetrated. For these woes, which no +imagination can gauge, Louis XIV. is responsible. He has escaped any +adequate earthly penalty for the crime, but the instinctive sense of +justice implanted in every breast, demands that he should not escape the +retributions of a righteous God. "After death cometh the judgment." + +This horrible deed roused Germany. All Europe now combined against +France, except Portugal, Russia and a few of the Italian States. The +tide now turned in favor of the house of Austria. Germany was so alarmed +by the arrogance of France, that, to strengthen the power of the +emperor, the diet with almost perfect unanimity elected his son Joseph, +though a lad but eleven years of age, to succeed to the imperial throne. +Indeed, Leopold presented his son in a manner which seemed to claim the +crown for him as his hereditary right, and the diet did not resist that +claim. France, rich and powerful, with marvelous energy breasted her +host of foes. All Europe was in a blaze. The war raged on the ocean, +over the marshes of Holland, along the banks of the Rhine, upon the +plains of Italy, through the defiles of the Alps and far away on the +steppes of Hungary and the shores of the Euxine. To all these points the +emperor was compelled to send his troops. Year after year of carnage and +woe rolled on, during which hardly a happy family could be found in all +Europe. + + "Man's inhumanity to man + Made countless millions mourn." + +At last all parties became weary of the war, and none of the powers +having gained any thing of any importance by these long years of crime +and misery, for which Louis XIV., as the aggressor, is mainly +responsible, peace was signed on the 30th of October, 1697. One +important thing, indeed, had been accomplished. The rapacious Louis XIV. +had been checked in his career of spoliation. But his insatiate ambition +was by no means subdued. He desired peace only that he might more +successfully prosecute his plans of aggrandizement. He soon, by his +system of robbery, involved Europe again in war. Perhaps no man has ever +lived who has caused more bloody deaths and more wide-spread destruction +of human happiness than Louis XIV. We wonder not that in the French +Revolution an exasperated people should have rifled his sepulcher and +spurned his skull over the pavements as a foot-ball. + +Leopold, during the progress of these wars, by the aid of the armies +which the empire furnished him, recovered all of Hungary and +Transylvania, driving the Turks beyond the Danube. But the proud +Hungarian nobles were about as much opposed to the rule of the Austrian +king as to that of the Turkish sultan. The Protestants gained but little +by the change, for the Mohammedan was about as tolerant as the papist. +They all suspected Leopold of the design of establishing over them +despotic power, and they formed a secret confederacy for their own +protection. Leopold, released from his warfare against France and the +Turks, was now anxious to consolidate his power in Hungary, and justly +regarding the Roman Catholic religion as the great bulwark against +liberty, encouraged the Catholics to persecute the Protestants. + +Leopold took advantage of this conspiracy to march an army into Hungary, +and attacking the discontented nobles, who had raised an army, he +crushed them with terrible severity. No mercy was shown. He exhausted +the energies of confiscation, exile and the scaffold upon his foes; and +then, having intimidated all so that no one dared to murmur, declared +the monarchy of Hungary no longer elective but hereditary, like that of +Bohemia. He even had the assurance to summon a diet of the nobles to +confirm this decree which defrauded them of their time-honored rights. +The nobles who were summoned, terrified, instead of obeying, fled into +Transylvania. The despot then issued an insulting and menacing +proclamation, declaring that the power he exercised he received from +God, and calling upon all to manifest implicit submission under peril of +his vengeance. He then extorted a large contribution of money from the +kingdom, and quartered upon the inhabitants thirty thousand troops to +awe them into subjection. + +This proclamation was immediately followed by another, changing the +whole form of government of the kingdom, and establishing an unlimited +despotism. He then moved vigorously for the extirpation of the +Protestant religion. The Protestant pastors were silenced; courts were +instituted for the suppression of heresy; two hundred and fifty +Protestant ministers were sentenced to be burned at the stake, and then, +as an act of extraordinary clemency, on the part of the despot, their +punishment was commuted to hard labor in the galleys for life. All the +nameless horrors of inquisitorial cruelty desolated the land. + +Catholics and Protestants were alike driven to despair by these civil +and religious outrages. They combined, and were aided both by France and +Turkey; not that France and Turkey loved justice and humanity, but they +hated the house of Austria, and wished to weaken its power, that they +might enrich themselves by the spoils. A noble chief, Emeric Tekeli, who +had fled from Hungary to Poland, and who hated Austria as Hannibal hated +Rome, was invested with the command of the Hungarian patriots. Victory +followed his standard, until the emperor, threatened with entire +expulsion from the kingdom, offered to reestablish the ancient laws +which he had abrogated, and to restore to the Hungarians all those civil +and religious privileges of which he had so ruthlessly defrauded them. + +But the Hungarians were no longer to be deceived by his perfidious +promises. They continued the war; and the sultan sent an army of two +hundred thousand men to cooperate with Tekeli. The emperor, unable to +meet so formidable an army, abandoned his garrisons, and, retiring from +the distant parts of the kingdom, concentrated his troops at Presburg. +But with all his efforts, he was able to raise an army of only forty +thousand men. The Duke of Lorraine, who was intrusted with the command +of the imperial troops, was compelled to retreat precipitately before +outnumbering foes, and he fled upon the Danube, pursued by the combined +Hungarians and Turks, until he found refuge within the walls of Vienna. +The city was quite unprepared for resistance, its fortifications being +dilapidated, and its garrison feeble. Universal consternation seized the +inhabitants. All along the valley of the Danube the population fled in +terror before the advance of the Turks. Leopold, with his family, at +midnight, departed ingloriously from the city, to seek a distant refuge. +The citizens followed the example of their sovereign, and all the roads +leading westward and northward from the city were crowded with +fugitives, in carriages, on horseback and on foot, and with all kinds of +vehicles laden with the treasures of the metropolis. The churches were +filled with the sick and the aged, pathetically imploring the protection +of Heaven. + +The Duke of Lorraine conducted with great energy, repairing the +dilapidated fortifications, stationing in posts of peril the veteran +troops, and marshaling the citizens and the students to cooeperate with +the garrison. On the 14th of July, 1682, the banners of the advance +guard of the Turkish army were seen from the walls of Vienna. Soon the +whole mighty host, like an inundation, came surging on, and, surrounding +the city, invested it on all sides. The terrific assault from +innumerable batteries immediately commenced. The besieged were soon +reduced to the last extremity for want of provisions, and famine and +pestilence rioting within the walls, destroyed more than the shot of the +enemy. The suburbs were destroyed, the principal outworks taken, several +breaches were battered in the walls, and the terrified inhabitants were +hourly in expectation that the city would be taken by storm. There can +not be, this side of the world of woe, any thing more terrible than such +an event. + +The emperor, in his terror, had dispatched envoys all over Germany to +rally troops for the defense of Vienna and the empire. He himself had +hastened to Poland, where, with frantic intreaties, he pressed the king, +the renowned John Sobieski, whose very name was a terror, to rush to his +relief. Sobieski left orders for a powerful army immediately to commence +their march. But, without waiting for their comparatively slow +movements, he placed himself at the head of three thousand Polish +horsemen, and, without incumbering himself with luggage, like the sweep +of the whirlwind traversed Silesia and Moravia, and reached Tulen, on +the banks of the Danube, about twenty miles above Vienna. He had been +told by the emperor that here he would find an army awaiting him, and a +bridge constructed, by which he could cross the stream. But, to his +bitter disappointment, he found no army, and the bridge unfinished. +Indignantly he exclaimed, + +"What does the emperor mean? Does he think me a mere adventurer? I left +my own army that I might take command of his. It is not for myself that +I fight, but for him." + +Notwithstanding this disappointment, he called into requisition all his +energies to meet the crisis. The bridge was pushed forward to its +completion. The loitering German troops were hurried on to the +rendezvous. After a few days the Polish troops, by forced marches, +arrived, and Sobieski found himself at the head of sixty thousand men, +experienced soldiers, and well supplied with all the munitions of war. +On the 11th of September the inhabitants of the city were overjoyed, in +descrying from the towers of the city, in the distance, the approaching +banners of the Polish and German army. Sobieski ascended an elevation, +and long and carefully scrutinized the position of the besieging host. +He then calmly remarked, + +"The grand vizier has selected a bad position. I understand him. He is +ignorant of the arts of war, and yet thinks that he has military genius. +It will be so easy to conquer him, that we shall obtain no honor from +the victory." + +Early the next morning, the 12th of September, the Polish and German +troops rushed to the assault, with such amazing impetuosity, and guided +by such military skill, that the Turks were swept before them as by a +torrent. The army of the grand vizier, seized by a panic, fled so +precipitately, that they left baggage, tents, ammunition and provisions +behind. The garrison emerged from the city, and cooeperated with the +victors, and booty of indescribable value fell into their hands. As +Sobieski took possession of the abandoned camp, stored with all the +wealth and luxuries of the East, he wrote, in a tone of pleasantry to +his wife, + +"The grand vizier has left me his heir, and I inherit millions of +ducats. When I return home I shall not be met with the reproach of the +Tartar wives, 'You are not a man, because you have come back without +booty.'" + +The inhabitants of Vienna flocked out from the city to greet the king as +an angel deliverer sent from heaven. The next morning the gates of the +city were thrown open, the streets were garlanded with flowers, and the +King of Poland had a triumphal reception in the streets of the +metropolis. The enthusiasm and gratitude of the people passed all +ordinary bounds. The bells rang their merriest peals; files of maidens +lined his path, and acclamations, bursting from the heart, greeted him +every step of his way. They called him their father and deliverer. They +struggled to kiss his feet and even to touch his garments. With +difficulty he pressed through the grateful crowd to the cathedral, where +he prostrated himself before the altar, and returned thanks to God for +the signal victory. As he returned, after a public dinner, to his camp, +he said, "This is the happiest day of my life." + +Two days after this, Leopold returned, trembling and humiliated to his +capital. He was received in silence, and with undisguised contempt. His +mortification was intense, and he could not endure to hear the praises +which were everywhere lavished upon Sobieski. Jealousy rankled in his +heart, and he vented his spite upon all around him. It was necessary +that he should have an interview with the heroic king who had so nobly +come to his rescue. But instead of meeting him with a warm and grateful +heart, he began to study the punctilios of etiquette, that the dreaded +interview might be rendered as cold and formal as possible. + +Sobieski was merely an elective monarch. Leopold was a hereditary king +and an emperor. Leopold even expressed some doubt whether it were +consistent with his exalted dignity to grant the Polish king the honor +of an audience. He inquired whether an _elected monarch_ had ever been +admitted to the presence of an _emperor_; and if so, with what forms, in +the present case, the king should be received. The Duke of Lorraine, of +whom he made the inquiry, disgusted with the mean spirit of the emperor, +nobly replied, "With open arms." + +But the soulless Leopold had every movement punctiliously arranged +according to the dictates of his ignoble spirit. The Polish and Austrian +armies were drawn up in opposite lines upon the plain before the city. +At a concerted signal the emperor and the king emerged from their +respective ranks, and rode out upon the open plain to meet each other. +Sobieski, a man of splendid bearing, magnificently mounted, and dressed +in the brilliant uniform of a Polish warrior, attracted all eyes and the +admiration of all hearts. His war steed pranced proudly as if conscious +of the royal burden he bore, and of the victories he had achieved. +Leopold was an ungainly man at the best. Conscious of his inability to +vie with the hero, in his personal presence, he affected the utmost +simplicity of dress and equipage. Humiliated also by the cold reception +he had met and by the consciousness of extreme unpopularity in both +armies, he was embarrassed and deject. The contrast was very striking, +adding to the renown of Sobieski, and sinking Leopold still deeper in +contempt. + +The two sovereigns advanced, formally saluted each other with bows, +dismounted and embraced. A few cold words were exchanged, when they +again embraced and remounted to review the troops. But Sobieski, frank, +cordial, impulsive, was so disgusted with this reception, so different +from what he had a right to expect, that he excused himself, and rode to +his tent, leaving his chancellor Zaluski to accompany the emperor on the +review. As Leopold rode along the lines he was received in contemptuous +silence, and he returned to his palace in Vienna, tortured by wounded +pride and chagrin. + +The treasure abandoned by the Turks was so abundant that five days were +spent in gathering it up. The victorious army then commenced the pursuit +of the retreating foe. About one hundred and fifty miles below Vienna, +where the majestic Danube turns suddenly from its eastern course and +flows toward the south, is situated the imperial city of Gran. Upon a +high precipitous rock, overlooking both the town and the river, there +had stood for centuries one of the most imposing fortresses which mortal +hands have ever reared. For seventy years this post had been in the +hands of the Turks, and strongly garrisoned by four thousand troops, had +bid defiance to every assault. Here the thinned and bleeding battalions +of the grand vizier sought refuge. Sobieski and the Duke of Lorraine, +flushed with victory, hurled their masses upon the disheartened foe, and +the Turks were routed with enormous slaughter. Seven thousand gory +corpses of the dead strewed the plain. Many thousands were driven into +the river and drowned. The fortress was taken, sword in hand; and the +remnant of the Moslem army, in utter discomfiture, fled down the Danube, +hardly resting, by night or by day, till they were safe behind the +ramparts of Belgrade. + +Both the German and the Polish troops were disgusted with Leopold. +Having reconquered Hungary for the emperor, they were not disposed to +remain longer in his service. Most of the German auxiliaries, +disbanding, returned to their own countries. Sobieski, declaring that he +was willing to fight against the Turks, but not against Tekeli and his +Christian confederates, led back his troops to Poland. The Duke of +Lorraine was now left with the Austrian troops to struggle against +Tekeli with the Hungarian patriots. The Turks, exasperated by the +defeat, accused Tekeli of being the cause. By stratagem he was seized +and sent in chains to Constantinople. The chief who succeeded him turned +traitor and joined the imperialists. The cause of the patriots was +ruined. Victory now kept pace with the march of the Duke of Lorraine. +The Turks were driven from all their fortresses, and Leopold again had +Hungary at his feet. His vengeance was such as might have been expected +from such a man. + +Far away, in the wilds of northern Hungary, at the base of the +Carpathian, mountains, on the river Tarcza, one of the tributaries of +the Theiss, is the strongly fortified town of Eperies. At this remote +spot the diabolical emperor established his revolutionary tribunal, as +if he thought that the shrieks of his victims, there echoing through the +savage defiles of the mountains, could not awaken the horror of +civilized Europe. His armed bands scoured the country and transported to +Eperies every individual, man, woman and child, who was even suspected +of sympathizing with the insurgents. There was hardly a man of wealth or +influence in the kingdom who was not dragged before this horrible +tribunal, composed of ignorant, brutal, sanguinary officers of the king. +Their summary trial, without any forms of justice, was an awful tragedy. +They were thrown into dungeons; their property confiscated; they were +exposed to the most direful tortures which human ingenuity could devise, +to extort confession and to compel them to criminate friends. By scores +they were daily consigned to the scaffold. Thirty executioners, with +their assistants, found constant employment in beheading the condemned. +In the middle of the town, the scaffold was raised for this butchery. +The spot is still called "The Bloody Theater of Eperies." + +Leopold, having thus glutted his vengeance, defiantly convoked a diet +and crowned his son Joseph, a boy twelve years of age, as King of +Hungary, practically saying to the nobles, "Dispute his hereditary right +now, if you dare." The emperor had been too often instructed in the +vicissitudes of war to feel that even in this hour of triumph he was +perfectly safe. He knew that other days might come; that other foes +might rise; and that Hungary could never forget the rights of which she +had been defrauded. He therefore exhausted all the arts of threats and +bribes to induce the diet to pass a decree that the crown was no longer +elective but hereditary. It is marvelous that in such an hour there +could have been any energy left to resist his will. But with all his +terrors he could only extort from the diet their consent that the +succession to the crown should be confirmed in the males, but that upon +the extinction of the _male_ line the crown, instead of being hereditary +in the female line, should revert to the nation, who should again confer +it by the right of election. + +Leopold reluctantly yielded to this, as the most he could then hope to +accomplish. The emperor, elated by success, assumed such imperious airs +as to repel from him all his former allies. For several years Hungary +was but a battle field where Austrians and Turks met in incessant and +bloody conflicts. But Leopold, in possession of all the fortresses, +succeeded in repelling each successive invasion. + +Both parties became weary of war. In November, 1697, negotiations were +opened at Carlovitz, and a truce was concluded for twenty-five years. +The Turks abandoned both Hungary and Transylvania, and these two +important provinces became more firmly than ever before, integral +portions of the Austrian empire. By the peace of Carlovitz the sultan +lost one half of his possessions in Europe. Austria, in the grandeur of +her territory, was never more powerful than at this hour: extending +across the whole breadth of Europe, from the valley of the Rhine to the +Euxine sea, and from the Carpathian mountains to the plains of Italy. A +more heterogeneous conglomeration of States never existed, consisting of +kingdoms, archduchies, duchies, principalities, counties, margraves, +landgraves and imperial cities, nearly all with their hereditary rulers +subordinate to the emperor, and with their local customs and laws. + +Leopold, though a weak and bad man, in addition to all this power, +swayed also the imperial scepter over all the States of Germany. Though +his empire over all was frail, and his vast dominions were liable at any +moment to crumble to pieces, he still was not content with consolidating +the realms he held, but was anxiously grasping for more. Spain was the +prize now to be won. Louis XIV., with the concentrated energies of the +French kingdom, was claiming it by virtue of his marriage with the +eldest daughter of the deceased monarch, notwithstanding his solemn +renunciation of all right at his marriage in favor of the second +daughter. Leopold, as the husband of the second daughter, claimed the +crown, in the event, then impending, of the death of the imbecile and +childless king. This quarrel agitated Europe to its center, and deluged +her fields with blood. If the _elective_ franchise is at times the +source of agitation, the law of _hereditary_ succession most certainly +does not always confer tranquillity and peace. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +LEOPOLD I. AND THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. + +From 1697 to 1710. + +The Spanish Succession.--The Impotence of Charles II.--Appeal to the +Pope.--His Decision.--Death of Charles II.--Accession of Philip +V.--Indignation of Austria.--The outbreak of War.--Charles III. +crowned.--Insurrection in Hungary.--Defection of Bavaria.--The Battle of +Blenheim.--Death of Leopold I.--Eleonora.--Accession of Joseph +I.--Charles XII. of Sweden.--Charles III. in Spain.--Battle of +Malplaquet.--Charles at Barcelona.--Charles at Madrid. + + +Charles II., King of Spain, was one of the most impotent of men, in both +body and mind. The law of hereditary descent had placed this semi-idiot +upon the throne of Spain to control the destinies of twenty millions of +people. The same law, in the event of his death without heirs, would +carry the crown across the Pyrenees to a little boy in the palace of +Versailles, or two thousand miles, to the banks of the Danube, to +another little boy in the gardens of Vienna. Louis XIV. claimed the +Spanish scepter in behalf of his wife, the Spanish princess Maria +Theresa, and her son. Leopold claimed it in behalf of his deceased wife, +Margaret, and her child. For many years before the death of Philip II. +the envoys of France and Austria crowded the court of Spain, employing +all the arts of intrigue and bribery to forward the interests of their +several sovereigns. The different courts of Europe espoused the claims +of the one party or the other, accordingly as their interests would be +promoted by the aggrandizement of the house of Bourbon or the house of +Hapsburg. + +Louis XIV. prepared to strike a sudden blow by gathering an army of one +hundred thousand men in his fortresses near the Spanish frontier, in +establishing immense magazines of military stores, and in filling the +adjacent harbors with ships of war. The sagacious French monarch had +secured the cooeperation of the pope, and of some of the most influential +Jesuits who surrounded the sick and dying monarch. Charles II. had long +been harassed by the importunities of both parties that he should give +the influence of his voice in the decision. Tortured by the incessant +vacillations of his own mind, he was at last influenced, by the +suggestions of his spiritual advisers, to refer the question to the +pope. He accordingly sent an embassage to the pontiff with a letter +soliciting counsel. + +"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, 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 God. We are anxious +to act rightly, and we have recourse to your holiness, as to an +infallible guide, intreating you to consult with the cardinals and +divines, and, after having attentively examined the testaments of our +ancestors, to decide according to the rules of right and equity." + +Pope Innocent XII. was already prepared for this appeal, and was engaged +to act as the agent of the French court. The hoary-headed pontiff, with +one foot in the grave, affected the character of great honesty and +impartiality. He required forty days to examine the important case, and +to seek divine assistance. He then returned the following answer, +admirably adapted to influence a weak and superstitious prince: + +"Being myself," he wrote, "in a situation similar to that of his +Catholic majesty, the King of Spain, on the point of appearing at the +judgment-seat of Christ, and rendering an account to the sovereign +pastor of the flock which has been intrusted to my care, I am bound to +give such advice as will not reproach my conscience on the day of +judgment. Your majesty ought not to put the interests of the house of +Austria in competition with those of eternity. Neither should you be +ignorant that the French claimants are the rightful heirs of the crown, +and no member of the Austrian family has the smallest legitimate +pretension. It is therefore 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 succession of the +Spanish monarchy to the French claimants." + +Charles, as fickle as the wind, still remained undecided, and his +anxieties preying upon his feeble frame, already exhausted by disease, +caused him rapidly to decline. He was now confined to his chamber and +his bed, and his death was hourly expected. He hated the French, and all +his sympathies were with Austria. Some priests entered his chamber, +professedly to perform the pompous and sepulchral service of the church +of Rome for the dying. In this hour of languor, and in the prospect of +immediate death, they assailed the imbecile monarch with all the terrors +of superstition. They depicted the responsibility which he would incur +should he entail on the kingdom the woes of a disputed succession; they +assured him that he could not, without unpardonable guilt, reject the +decision of the holy father of the Church; and growing more eager and +excited, they denounced upon him the vengeance of Almighty God, if he +did not bequeath the crown, now falling from his brow, to the Bourbons +of France. + +The dying, half-delirious king, appalled by the terrors of eternal +damnation, yielded helplessly to their demands. A will was already +prepared awaiting his signature. With a hand trembling in death, the +king attached to it his name; but as he did so, he burst into tears, +exclaiming, "I am already nothing." It was supposed that he could then +survive but a few hours. Contrary to all expectation he revived, and +expressed the keenest indignation and anguish that he had been thus +beguiled to decide against Austria, and in favor of France. He even sent +a courier to the emperor, announcing his determination to decide in +favor of the Austrian claimant. The flickering flame of life, thus +revived for a moment, glimmered again in the socket and expired. The +wretched king died the 1st of November, 1699, in the fortieth year of +his age, and the thirty-sixth of his reign. + +On the day of his death a council of State was convened, and the will, +the very existence of which was generally unknown, was read. It declared +the Dauphin of France, son of the Spanish princess Maria Theresa, to be +the successor to all the Spanish dominions; and required all subjects +and vassals of Spain to acknowledge him. The Austrian party were +astounded at this revelation. The French party were prepared to receive +it without any surprise. The son of Maria Theresa was dead, and the +crown consequently passed to her grandson Philip. Louis XIV. immediately +acknowledged his title, when he was proclaimed king, and took quiet +possession of the throne of Spain on the 24th of November, 1700, as +Philip V. + +It was by such fraud that the Bourbons of France attained the succession +to the Spanish crown; a fraud as palpable as was ever committed; for +Maria Theresa had renounced all her rights to the throne; this +renunciation had been confirmed by the will of her father Philip IV., +sanctioned by the Cortes of Spain, and solemnly ratified by her husband, +Louis XIV. Such is "legitimacy--the divine right of kings." All the +great powers of Europe, excepting the emperor, promptly acknowledged the +title of Philip V. + +Leopold, enraged beyond measure, dispatched envoys to rouse the empire, +and made the most formidable preparations for war. A force of eighty +thousand men was soon assembled. The war commenced in Italy. Leopold +sent down his German troops through the defiles of the Tyrol, and, in +the valley of the Adige, they encountered the combined armies of France, +Spain and Italy. Prince Eugene, who had already acquired great renown in +the wars against the Turks, though by birth a French noble, had long +been in the Austrian service, and led the Austrian troops. William, of +England, jealous of the encroachments of Louis XIV., and leading with +him the States of Holland, formed an alliance with Austria. This was +pretty equally dividing the military power of Europe, and a war of +course ensued, almost unparalleled in its sanguinary ferocity. The +English nation supported the monarch; the House of Lords, in an address +to the king, declared that "his majesty, his subjects and his 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 reason." +Forty thousand sailors and forty thousand land troops were promptly +voted for the war. + +William died on the 16th of March, in consequence of a fall from his +horse, and was succeeded by Anne, daughter of James II. She was, +however, but nominally the sovereign. The infamously renowned Duke of +Marlborough became the real monarch, and with great skill and energy +prosecuted the eleven years' war which ensued, which is known in history +as the War of the Spanish Succession. For many months the conflict raged +with the usual fluctuations, the Austrian forces being commanded on the +Rhine by the Duke of Marlborough, and in Italy by Prince Eugene. +Portugal soon joined the Austrian alliance, and Philip V. and the French +becoming unpopular in Spain, a small party rose there, advocating the +claims of the house of Austria. Thus supported, Leopold, at Vienna, +declared his son Charles King of Spain, and crowned him as such in +Vienna. By the aid of the English fleet he passed from Holland to +England, and thence to Lisbon, where a powerful army was assembled to +invade Spain, wrest the crown from Philip, and place it upon the brow of +Charles III. + +And now Leopold began to reap the bitter consequences of his atrocious +conduct in Hungary. The Hungarian nobles embraced this opportunity, when +the imperial armies were fully engaged, to rise in a new and formidable +invasion. Francis Ragotsky, a Transylvanian prince, led in the heroic +enterprise. He was of one of the noblest and wealthiest families of the +realm, and was goaded to action by the bitterest wrongs. His grandfather +and uncle had been beheaded; his father robbed of his property and his +rank; his cousin doomed to perpetual imprisonment; his father-in-law +proscribed, and his mother driven into exile. The French court +immediately opened a secret correspondence with Ragotsky, promising him +large supplies of men and money, and encouraging him with hopes of the +cooeperation of the Turks. Ragotsky secretly assembled a band of +determined followers, in the savage solitudes of the Carpathian +mountains, and suddenly descended into the plains of Hungary, at the +head of his wild followers, calling upon his countrymen to rise and +shake off the yoke of the detested Austrian. Adherents rapidly gathered +around his standard; several fortresses fell into his hands, and he soon +found himself at the head of twenty thousand well armed troops. The +flame of insurrection spread, with electric rapidity, through all +Hungary and Transylvania. + +The tyrant Leopold, as he heard these unexpected tidings, was struck +with consternation. He sent all the troops he could collect to oppose +the patriots, but they could make no impression upon an indignant nation +in arms. He then, in his panic, attempted negotiation. But the +Hungarians demanded terms both reasonable and honorable, and to neither +of these could the emperor possibly submit. They required that the +monarchy should no longer be hereditary, but elective, according to +immemorial usage; that the Hungarians should have the right to resist +_illegal_ power without the charge of treason; that foreign officers and +garrisons should be removed from the kingdom; that the Protestants +should be reestablished in the free exercise of their religion, and that +their confiscated estates should be restored. The despot could not +listen for one moment to requirements so just; and appalled by the +advance of the patriots toward Vienna, he recalled the troops from +Italy. + +About the same time the Duke of Bavaria, disgusted with the arrogance +and the despotism of Leopold, renounced allegiance to the emperor, +entered into an alliance with the French, and at the head of forty +thousand troops, French and Bavarians, commenced the invasion of Austria +from the west. Both Eugene and Marlborough hastened to the rescue of the +emperor. Combining their forces, with awful slaughter they mowed down +the French and Bavarians at Blenheim, and then overran all Bavaria. The +elector fled with the mutilated remnants of his army to France. The +conquerors seized all the fortresses, all the guns and ammunition; +disbanded the Bavarian troops, took possession of the revenues of the +kingdom, and assigned to the heart-broken wife of the duke a humble +residence in the dismantled capital of the duchy. + +The signal victory of Blenheim enabled Leopold to concentrate his +energies upon Hungary. It was now winter, and the belligerents, during +these stormy months, were active in making preparations for the campaign +of the spring. But Leopold's hour was now tolled. That summons came +which prince and peasant must alike obey, and the emperor, after a few +months of languor and pain, on the 5th of May, 1705, passed away to that +tribunal where each must answer for every deed done in the body. He was +sixty-five years of age, and had occupied the throne forty-six years. +This is the longest reign recorded in the Austrian annals, excepting +that of Frederic III. + +The reign of Leopold was eventful and woeful. It was almost one +continued scene of carnage. In his character there was a singular +blending of the good and the bad. In what is usually called moral +character he was irreproachable. He was a faithful husband, a kind +father, and had no taste for any sensual pleasures. In his natural +disposition he was melancholy, and so exceedingly reserved, that he +lived in his palace almost the life of a recluse. Though he was called +the most learned prince of his age, a Jesuitical education had so +poisoned and debauched his mind, that while perpetrating the most +grievous crimes of perfidy and cruelty, he seemed sincerely to feel that +he was doing God service. His persecution of the Protestants was +persistent, relentless and horrible; while at the same time he was +scrupulous in his devotions, never allowing the cares of business to +interfere with the prescribed duties of the Church. _The Church_, the +human church of popes, cardinals, bishops and priests, was his guide, +not the _divine Bible_. Hence his darkness of mind and his crimes. Pope +Innocent XI. deemed him worthy of canonization. But an indignant world +must in justice inscribe upon his tomb, "Tyrant and Persecutor." + +He was three times married; first, to Margaret, daughter of Philip IV. +of Spain; again, to Claudia, daughter of Ferdinand of Tyrol; and a third +time, to Eleonora, daughter of Philip, Elector Palatine. The character +and history of his third wife are peculiarly illustrative of the kind of +religion inculcated in that day, and of the beautiful spirit of piety +often exemplified in the midst of melancholy errors. + +In the castle of her father, Eleonora was taught, by priests and nuns, +that God was only acceptably worshiped by self-sacrifice and +mortification. The devout child longed for the love of God more than for +any thing else. Guided by the teachings of those who, however sincere, +certainly misunderstood the spirit of the gospel, she deprived herself +of every innocent gratification, and practiced upon her fragile frame +all the severities of an anchorite. She had been taught that celibacy +was a virtue peculiarly acceptable to God, and resolutely declined all +solicitations for her hand. + +The emperor, after the death of his first wife, sought Eleonora as his +bride. It was the most brilliant match Europe could offer. Eleonora, +from religious scruples, rejected the offer, notwithstanding all the +importunities of her parents, who could not feel reconciled to the loss +of so splendid an alliance. The devout maiden, in the conflict, exposed +herself, bonnet-less, to sun and wind, that she might render herself +unattractive, tanned, sun burnt, and freckled, so that the emperor might +not desire her. She succeeded in repelling the suit, and the emperor +married Claudia of the Tyrol. The court of the Elector Palatine was +brilliant in opulence and gayety. Eleonora was compelled to mingle with +the festive throng in the scenes of pomp and splendor; but her thoughts, +her affections, were elsewhere, and all the vanities of princely life +had no influence in leading her heart from God. She passed several +hours, every day, in devotional reading and prayer. She kept a very +careful register of her thoughts and actions, scrutinizing and +condemning with unsparing severity every questionable emotion. Every +sick bed of the poor peasants around, she visited with sympathy and as a +tender nurse. She groped her way into the glooms of prison dungeons to +convey solace to the prisoner. She wrought ornaments for the Church, and +toiled, even to weariness and exhaustion, in making garments for the +poor. + +Claudia in three years died, and the emperor again was left a widower. +Again he applied for the hand of Eleonora. Her spiritual advisers now +urged that it was clearly the will of God that she should fill the first +throne of the universe, as the patroness and protectress of the Catholic +church. For such an object she would have been willing to sweep the +streets or to die in a dungeon. Yielding to these persuasions she +married the emperor, and was conveyed, as in a triumphal march, to the +gorgeous palaces of Vienna. But her character and her mode of life were +not changed. Though she sat at the imperial table, which was loaded with +every conceivable luxury, she condemned herself to fare as humble and +abstemious as could be found in the hut of the most impoverished +peasant. It was needful for her at times to appear in the rich garb of +an empress, but to prevent any possible indulgence of pride, she had her +bracelets and jewelry so arranged with sharp brads as to keep her in +continued suffering by the laceration of the flesh. + +She was, notwithstanding these austerities, which she practiced with the +utmost secrecy, indefatigable in the discharge of her duties as a wife +and an empress. She often attended the opera with the emperor, but +always took with her the Psalms of David, bound to resemble the books of +the performance, and while the tragic or the comic scenes of the stage +were transpiring before her, she was studying the devout lyrics of the +Psalmist of Israel. She translated all the Psalms into German verse; and +also translated from the French, and had printed for the benefit of her +subjects, a devotional work entitled, "Pious Reflections for every Day +of the Month." During the last sickness of her husband she watched with +unwearied assiduity at his bed-side, shrinking from no amount of +exhaustion or toil, She survived her husband fifteen years, devoting all +this time to austerities, self-mortification and deeds of charity. She +died in 1720; and at her express request was buried without any parade, +and with no other inscription upon her tomb than-- + + ELEONORA, + + A POOR SINNER, + + Died, January 17, 1720. + +Joseph, the eldest son of Leopold, was twenty-five years of age when, by +the death of his father, he was called to the throne as both king and +emperor. He immediately and cordially cooeperated with the alliance his +father had formed, and pressed the war against France, Spain and Italy. +Louis XIV. was not a man, however, to be disheartened by disaster. +Though thousands of his choicest troops had found a grave at Blenheim, +he immediately collected another army of one hundred and sixty thousand +men, and pushed them forward to the seat of war on the Rhine and the +Danube. Marlborough and Eugene led Austrian forces to the field still +more powerful. The whole summer was spent in marches, countermarches and +bloody battles on both sides of the Rhine. Winter came, and its storms +and snows drove the exhausted, bleeding combatants from the bleak plains +to shelter and the fireside. All Europe, through the winter months, +resounded with preparations for another campaign. There was hardly a +petty prince on the continent who was not drawn into the strife--to +decide whether Philip of Bourbon or Charles of Hapsburg, was entitled by +hereditary descent to the throne of Spain. + +And now suddenly Charles XII. of Sweden burst in upon the scene, like a +meteor amidst the stars of midnight. A more bloody apparition never +emerged from the sulphureous canopy of war. Having perfect contempt for +all enervating pleasures, with an iron frame and the abstemious habits +of a Spartan, he rushed through a career which has excited the wonder of +the world. He joined the Austrian party; struck down Denmark at a blow; +penetrated Russia in mid-winter, driving the Russian troops before him +as dogs scatter wolves; pressed on triumphantly to Poland, through an +interminable series of battles; drove the king from the country, and +placed a new sovereign of his own selection upon the throne; and then, +proudly assuming to hold the balance between the rival powers of France +and Austria, made demands of Joseph I., as if the emperor were but the +vassal of the King of Sweden. France and Austria were alike anxious to +gain the cooeperation of this energetic arm. + +Early in May, 1706, the armies of Austria and France, each about seventy +thousand strong, met in the Netherlands. Marlborough led the allied +Austrian troops; the Duke of Bavaria was in command of the French. The +French were again routed, almost as disastrously as at Blenheim, losing +thirteen thousand men and fifty pieces of artillery. On the Rhine and in +Italy the French arms were also in disgrace. Throughout the summer +battle succeeded battle, and siege followed siege. When the snows of +another winter whitened the plains of Europe, the armies again retired +to winter quarters, the Austrian party having made very decided progress +as the result of the campaign. Marlborough was in possession of most of +the Netherlands, and was threatening France with invasion. Eugene had +driven the French out of Italy, and had brought many of the Italian +provinces under the dominion of Austria. + +In Spain, also, the warfare was fiercely raging. Charles III., who had +been crowned in Vienna King of Spain, and who, as we have mentioned, had +been conveyed to Lisbon by a British fleet, joined by the King of +Portugal, and at the head of an allied army, marched towards the +frontiers of Spain. The Spaniards, though they disliked the French, +hated virulently the English and the Dutch, both of whom they considered +heretics. Their national pride was roused in seeing England, Holland and +Portugal marching upon them to place over Spain an Austrian king. The +populace rose, and after a few sanguinary conflicts drove the invaders +from their borders. December's storms separated the two armies, +compelling them to seek winter quarters, with only the frontier line +between them. It was in one of the campaigns of this war, in 1704, that +the English took the rock of Gibraltar, which they have held from that +day till this. + +The British people began to remonstrate bitterly against this boundless +expenditure of blood and treasure merely to remove a Bourbon prince, and +place a Hapsburg prince upon the throne of Spain. Both were alike +despotic in character, and Europe had as much to fear from the +aggressions of the house of Austria as from the ambition of the King of +France. The Emperor Joseph was very apprehensive that the English court +might be induced to withdraw from the alliance, and fearing that they +might sacrifice, as the price of accommodation, his conquests in Italy, +he privately concluded with France a treaty of neutrality for Italy. +This secured to him what he had already acquired there, and saved France +and Spain from the danger of losing any more Italian States. + +Though the allies were indignant, and remonstrated against this +transaction, they did not see fit to abandon the war. Immense +preparations were made to invade France from the Netherlands and from +Piedmont, in the opening of the spring of 1707. Both efforts were only +successful in spreading far and wide conflagration and blood. The +invaders were driven from the kingdom with heavy loss. The campaign in +Spain, this year, was also exceedingly disastrous to the Austrian arms. +The heterogeneous army of Charles III., composed of Germans, English, +Dutch, Portuguese, and a few Spanish refugees, were routed, and with the +loss of thirteen thousand men were driven from the kingdom. Joseph, +however, who stood in great dread of so terrible an enemy as Charles +XII., succeeded in purchasing his neutrality, and this fiery warrior +marched off with his battalions, forty-three thousand strong, to drive +Peter I. from the throne of Russia. + +Joseph I., with exhausted resources, and embarrassed by the claims of so +wide-spread a war, was able to do but little for the subjugation of +Hungary. As the campaign of 1708 opened, two immense armies, each about +eighty thousand strong, were maneuvering near Brussels. After a long +series of marches and combinations a general engagement ensued, in which +the Austrian party, under Marlborough and Eugene, were decisively +triumphant. The French were routed with the loss of fifteen thousand in +killed, wounded and prisoners. During the whole summer the war raged +throughout the Low Countries with unabated violence. In Spain, Austria +was not able to make any progress against Philip and his forces. + +Another winter came, and again the wearied combatants, all of whom had +received about as many blows as they had given, sought repose. The +winter was passed in fruitless negotiations, and as soon as the buds of +another spring began to swell, the thunders of war were again pealing +over nearly all the hills and valleys of Europe. The Austrian party had +resolved, by a gigantic effort, to send an army of one hundred thousand +men to the gates of Paris, there to dictate terms to the French monarch. +On the 11th of September, 1709, the Austrian force, eighty thousand +strong, with eighty pieces of cannon, encountered the French, seventy +thousand in number, with eighty pieces of cannon, on the field of +Malplaquet. The bloodiest battle of the Spanish succession was then +fought. The Austrian party, guided by Marlborough and Eugene, justly +claimed the victory, as they held the field. But they lost twenty +thousand in killed and wounded, and took neither prisoners nor guns. The +loss of the French was but ten thousand. All this slaughter seemed to be +accomplishing nothing. Philip still stood firm upon the Spanish throne, +and Charles could scarcely gain the slightest foothold in the kingdom +which he claimed. On the side of the Rhine and of Italy, though blood +flowed like water, nothing was accomplished; the plan of invading France +had totally failed, and again the combatants were compelled to retire to +winter quarters. + +For nine years this bloody war had now desolated Europe. It is not easy +to defend the cause of Austria and her allies in this cruel conflict. +The Spaniards undeniably preferred Philip as their king. Louis XIV. had +repeatedly expressed his readiness to withdraw entirely from the +conflict. But the Austrian allies demanded that he should either by +force or persuasion remove Philip from Spain, and place the kingdom in +the hands of the Austrian prince. But Philip was now an independent +sovereign who for ten years had occupied the throne. He was resolved not +to abdicate, and his subjects were resolved to support him. Louis XIV. +said that he could not wage warfare against his own grandson. The +wretched old monarch, now feeble, childless, and woe crushed, whose soul +was already crimsoned with the blood of countless thousands, was so +dispirited by defeat, and so weary of the war, that though he still +refused to send his armies against his grandson, he even offered to pay +a monthly subsidy of two hundred thousand dollars (one million livres) +to the allied Austrian party, to be employed in the expulsion of Philip, +if they would cease to make war upon him. Even to these terms, after +blood had been flowing in torrents for ten years, Austria, England and +Holland would not accede. "If I must fight either Austria and her +allies," said Louis XIV., "or the Spaniards, led by their king, my own +grandson, I prefer to fight the Austrians." + +The returning sun of the summer of 1710, found the hostile armies again +in the field. The allies of Austria, early in April, hoping to surprise +the French, assembled, ninety thousand in number, on the Flemish +frontiers of France, trusting that by an unexpected attack they might +break down the fortresses which had hitherto impeded their way. But the +French were on the alert to resist them, and the whole summer was again +expended in fruitless battles. These fierce conflicts so concentrated +the energies of war in the Netherlands, that but little was attempted in +the way of invading Spain. The Spanish nobles rallied around Philip, +melted their plate to replenish his treasury, and led their vassals to +fight his battles. The ecclesiastics, as a body, supported his cause. +Philip was a zealous Catholic, and the priests considered him as the +defender of the Church, while they had no confidence in Charles of +Austria, whose cause was advocated by heretical England and Holland. + +Charles III. was now in Catalonia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. +He had landed at Barcelona, with a strong force of English and Germans. +He was a man of but little character, and his military operations were +conducted entirely by the English general Stanhope and the German +general Staremberg. The English general was haughty and domineering; the +German proud and stubborn. They were in a continued quarrel contesting +the preeminence. The two rival monarchs, with forces about equal, met in +Catalonia a few miles from Saragossa, on the 24th of July, 1710. Though +the inefficient Charles was very reluctant to hazard a battle, the +generals insisted upon it. The Spaniards were speedily and totally +routed. Philip fled with a small body-guard to Lerida. His array was +thoroughly dispersed. The conquerors pressed on toward Madrid, crossed +the Ebro at Saragossa, where they again encountered, but a short +distance from the city, an army strongly posted upon some heights. +Philip was already there. The conflict was short but bloody, and the +generals of Charles were again victorious. Philip, with a disheartened +remnant of his troops, retreated to Madrid. The generals dragged the +timid and reluctant Charles on to Madrid, where they arrived on the 28th +of September. There was no force at the capital to oppose them. They +were received, however, by the citizens of the metropolis as foreign +conquerors. Charles rode through the deserted streets, meeting only with +sullen silence. A few who were hired to shout, were pelted, by the +populace, with mud, as traitors to their lawful king. None flocked to +his standard. Nobles, clergy, populace, all alike stood aloof from him. +Charles and his generals were embarrassed and perplexed. They could not +compel the nation to receive the Austrian king. + +Philip, in the meantime, who had much energy and popularity of +character, was rapidly retrieving his losses, and troops were flocking +to his camp from all parts of Spain. He established his court at +Yalladolid, about one hundred and fifty miles north-east from Madrid. +His troops, dispersed by the two disastrous battles, were reassembled at +Lerida. The peasants rose in large numbers and joined them, and cut off +all communication between Charles at Madrid and his ships at Barcelona. +The Spanish grandees sent urgent messages to France for succors. General +Yendome, at the head of three thousand horse, swept through the defiles +of the Pyrenees, and, with exultant music and waving banners, joined +Philip at Valladolid. Universal enthusiasm was excited. Soon thirty +thousand infantry entered the camp, and then took positions on the +Tagus, where they could cut off any reinforcements which might attempt +to march from Portugal to aid the invaders. + +Charles was apparently in a desperate situation. Famine and consequent +sickness were in his camp. His army was daily dwindling away. He was +emphatically in an enemy's country. Not a soldier could stray from the +ranks without danger of assassination. He had taken Madrid, and Madrid +was his prison. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +JOSEPH I. AND CHARLES VI. + +From 1710 to 1717. + +Perplexities in Madrid.--Flight of Charles.--Retreat of the Austrian +Army.--Stanhope's Division Cut Off.--Capture of Stanhope.--Staremberg +Assailed.--Retreat to Barcelona.--Attempt to Pacify Hungary.--The +Hungarian Diet.--Baronial Crowning of Kagotsky.--Renewal of the +Hungarian War.--Enterprise of Herbeville.--The Hungarians +Crushed.--Lenity of Joseph.--Death of Joseph.--Accession of Charles +VI.--His Career in Spain.--Capture of Barcelona.--The Siege.--The +Rescue.--Character of Charles.--Cloisters of Montserrat.--Increased +Efforts for the Spanish Crown.--Charles Crowned Emperor of Austria and +Hungary.--Bohemia.--Deplorable Condition of Louis XIV. + + +Generals Stanhope and Staremberg, who managed the affairs of Charles, +with but little respect for his judgment, and none for his +administrative qualities, were in great perplexity respecting the course +to be pursued. Some recommended the transference of the court from +Madrid to Saragossa, where they would be nearer to their supplies. +Others urged removal to Barcelona, where they would be under the +protection of the British fleet. It was necessary to watch over Charles +with the utmost care, as he was in constant danger of assassination. +While in this state of uncertainty, tidings reached Madrid that the Duke +of Noailles was on the march, with fifteen thousand men, to cut off the +retreat of the Austrians, and at the same time Philip was advancing with +a powerful army from Valladolid. This intelligence rendered instant +action necessary. The Austrian party precipitately evacuated Madrid, +followed by the execrations of the people. As soon as the last +battalions had left the city, the ringing of bells, the firing of +artillery, and the shouts of the people, announced the popular +exultation in view of the departure of Charles, and the cordial greeting +they were giving to his rival Philip. The complications of politics are +very curious. The British government was here, through years of war and +blood, endeavoring to drive from his throne the acknowledged King of +Spain. In less than a hundred years we find this same government again +deluging Europe in blood, to reseat upon the throne the miserable +Ferdinand, the lineal descendant of this Bourbon prince. + +Charles put spurs to his horse, and accompanied by a glittering +cavalcade of two thousand cavaliers, galloped over the mountains to +Barcelona. His army, under the leadership of his efficient English +general, followed rapidly but cautiously on, hoping to press through the +defiles of the mountains which separated them from Arragon before their +passage could be obstructed by the foe. The troops were chagrined and +dispirited; the generals in that state of ill humor which want of +success generally engenders. The roads were bad, provisions scarce, the +inhabitants of the country bitterly hostile. It was the middle of +November, and cold blasts swept through the mountains. Staremberg led +the van, and Stanhope, with four thousand English troops, occupied the +post of peril in a retreat, the rear. As the people of the country would +furnish them with no supplies, the pillage of towns and villages became +a necessity; but it none the less added to the exasperation of the +Spaniards. + +A hurried march of about eighty miles brought the troops to the banks of +the Tagus. As General Staremberg, at the head of the advance guard, +pressed eagerly on, he left Stanhope at quite a distance behind. They +encamped for a night, the advance at Cifuentes, the rear at Brihuega. +The hostility of the natives was such that almost all communication was +cut off between the two sections of the army. In the confusion of the +hasty retreat, and as no enemy was apprehended in that portion of the +way, the importance of hourly communication was forgotten. In the +morning, as Stanhope put his troops again in motion, he was surprised +and alarmed in seeing upon the hills before him the banners of an +opposing host, far outnumbering his own, and strongly intrenched. The +Earl of Stanhope at once appreciated the nearly utter hopelessness of +his position. He was cut off from the rest of the army, had no +artillery, but little ammunition, and was almost entirely destitute of +provision. Still he scorned to surrender. He threw his troops behind a +stone wall, and vigorously commenced fortifying his position, hoping to +be able to hold out until Staremberg, hearing of his situation, should +come to his release. + +During the whole day he beat back the assaults of the Spanish army. In +the meantime Staremberg was pressing on to Barcelona. In the evening of +that day he heard of the peril of his rear guard. His troops were +exhausted; the night of pitchy blackness, and the miry roads, cut to +pieces by the heavy artillery and baggage wagons, were horrible. Through +the night he made preparations to turn back to aid his beleaguered +friends. It was, however, midday before he could collect his scattered +troops, from their straggling march, and commence retracing his steps. +In a few hours the low sun of a November day sunk below the hills. The +troops, overtaken by darkness, stumbling through the gloom, and +apprehensive of a midnight attack, rested upon their arms, waiting, +through the weary hours, for the dawn of the morning. The second day +came, and the weary troops toiled through the mire, while Stanhope, from +behind his slight parapet, baffled all the efforts of his foes. + +The third morning dawned. Staremberg was within some fifteen miles of +Briehuga. Stanhope had now exhausted all his ammunition. The inhabitants +of the town rose against him and attacked him in the rear, while the foe +pressed him in front. A large number of his troops had already fallen, +and no longer resistance was possible. Stanhope and the remnant of his +band were taken captive and conducted into the town of Briehuga. +Staremberg, unaware of the surrender, pushed on until he came within a +league of Briehuga. Anxiously he threw up signals, but could obtain no +response. His fears of the worst were soon confirmed by seeing the +Spanish army, in brilliant battle array, approaching to assail him. +Philip himself was there to animate them by his presence; and the heroic +French general, the Duke of Vendome, a descendant of Henry IV., led the +charging columns. + +Though the troops of Staremberg were inferior in number to those of the +Spanish monarch, and greatly fatigued by their forced marches, a retreat +at that moment, in the face of so active an enemy, was not to be thought +of. The battle immediately commenced, with its rushing squadrons and its +thunder peals. The Spaniards, sanguine of success, and inspired with the +intensest hatred of their _heretical_ foes, charged with irresistible +fury. The left wing of Staremberg was speedily cut to pieces, and the +baggage taken. The center and the right maintained their ground until +night came to their protection. Staremberg's army was now reduced to +nine thousand. His horses were either slain or worn out by fatigue. He +was consequently compelled to abandon all his artillery and most of his +baggage, as he again commenced a rapid retreat towards Barcelona. The +enemy pressed him every step of the way. But with great heroism and +military skill he baffled their endeavors to destroy him, and after one +of the most arduous marches on record, reached Barcelona with a feeble +remnant of but seven thousand men, ragged, emaciated and bleeding. +Behind the walls of this fortified city, and protected by the fleet of +England, they found repose. + +We must now turn back a few years, to trace the progress of events in +Hungary and Austria. Joseph, the emperor, had sufficient intelligence to +understand that the rebellious and anarchical state of Hungary was owing +to the cruelty and intolerance of his father. He saw, also, that there +could be no hope of permanent tranquillity but in paying some respect to +the aspirations for civil and religious liberty. The troubles in Hungary +distracted his attention, exhausted the energies of his troops, and +deprived him of a large portion of his political and military power. He +now resolved to try the effect of concessions. The opportunity was +propitious, as he could throw upon his father the blame of all past +decrees. He accordingly sent a messenger to the Hungarian nobles with +the declaration that during his father's lifetime he had never +interfered in the government, and that consequently he was in no respect +responsible for the persecution of which they complained. And he +promised, on the honor of a king, that instead of attempting the +enforcement of those rigorous decrees, he would faithfully fulfill all +the articles he had sworn to observe at his coronation; and that he +accordingly summoned a diet for the redress of their grievances and the +confirmation of all their ancient privileges. As proof of his sincerity, +he dismissed those ministers who had advised the intolerant decrees +enacted by Leopold, and appointed in their place men of more mild and +lenient character. + +But the Hungarians, deeming themselves now in a position to enforce +their claims by the energies of their army, feared to trust to the +promises of a court so often perjured. Without openly renouncing +allegiance to Austria, and declaring independence, they, through +Ragotsky, summoned a diet to meet at Stetzim, where their session would +be protected by the Hungarian army. There was a large gathering of all +the first nobility of the realm. A spacious tent was spread for the +imposing assembly, and the army encircled it as with a sheltering +embrace. The session was opened with prayer and the administration of +the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Will the time ever come when the +members of the United States Congress will meet as Christian brethren, +at the table of our Saviour, as they commence their annual deliberations +for the welfare of this republic? The nobles formed a confederacy for +the government of the country. The legislative power was committed to a +senate of twenty-four nobles. Ragotsky was chosen military chief, with +the title of Dux, or leader. Four of the most illustrious nobles raised +Ragotsky upon a buckler on their shoulders, when he took the oath of +fidelity to the government thus provisionally established, and then +administered the oath to his confederates. They all bound themselves +solemnly not to conclude any peace with the emperor, until their ancient +rights, both civil and religious, were fully restored. + +In reply to the advances made by the emperor, they returned the very +reasonable and moderate demands that their chief, Ragotsky, should be +reinstated in his ancestral realms of Transylvania, that the claim of +_hereditary_ sovereignty should be relinquished, and that there should +be the restoration of those ancient civil and religious immunities of +which Leopold had defrauded them. Upon these conditions they promised to +recognize Joseph as their sovereign during his lifetime; claiming at his +death their time-honored right of choosing his successor. Joseph would +not listen for one moment to these terms, and the war was renewed with +fury. + +The Hungarian patriots had seventy-five thousand men under arms. The +spirit of the whole nation was with them, and the Austrian troops were +driven from almost every fortress in the kingdom. The affairs of Joseph +seemed to be almost desperate, his armies struggling against +overpowering foes all over Europe, from the remotest borders of +Transylvania to the frontiers of Portugal. The vicissitudes of war are +proverbial. An energetic, sagacious general, Herbeville, with great +military sagacity, and aided by a peculiar series of fortunate events, +marched down the valley of the Danube to Buda; crossed the stream to +Pesth; pushed boldly on through the heart of Hungary to Great Waradin, +forced the defiles of the mountains, and entered Transylvania. Through a +series of brilliant victories he took fortress after fortress, until he +subjugated the whole of Transylvania, and brought it again into +subjection to the Austrian crown. This was in November, 1705. + +But the Hungarians, instead of being intimidated by the success of the +imperial arms, summoned another diet. It was held in the open field in +accordance with ancient custom, and was thronged by thousands from all +parts of the kingdom. With great enthusiasm and public acclaim the +resolution was passed that Joseph was a tyrant and a usurper, animated +by the hereditary despotism of the Austrian family. This truthful +utterance roused anew the ire of the emperor. He resolved upon a +desperate effort to bring Hungary into subjection. Leaving his English +and Dutch allies to meet the brunt of the battle on the Rhine and in the +Netherlands, he recalled his best troops, and made forced levies in +Austria until he had created an army sufficiently strong, as he thought, +to sweep down all opposition. These troops he placed under the most +experienced generals, and sent them into Hungary in the summer of 1708. +France, weakened by repeated defeats, could send the Hungarians no aid, +and the imperial troops, through bloody battles, victoriously traversed +the kingdom. Everywhere the Hungarians were routed and dispersed, until +no semblance of an army was left to oppose the victors. It seems that +life in those days, to the masses of the people, swept incessantly by +these fiery surges of war, could only have been a scene, from the cradle +to the grave, of blood and agony. For two years this dismal storm of +battle howled over all the Hungarian plains, and then the kingdom, like +a victim exhausted, prostrate and bleeding, was taken captive and firmly +bound. + +Ragotsky, denounced with the penalty of high treason, escaped to Poland. +The emperor, anxious no longer to exasperate, proposed measures of +unusual moderation. He assembled a convention; promised a general +amnesty for all political offenses, the restitution of confiscated +property, the liberation of prisoners, and the confirmation of all the +rights which he had promised at his coronation. Some important points +were not touched upon; others were passed over in vague and general +terms. The Hungarians, helpless as a babe, had nothing to do but to +submit, whatever the terms might be. They were surprised at the +unprecedented lenity of the conqueror, and the treaty of peace and +subjection was signed in January, 1711. + +In three months after the signing of this treaty, Joseph I. died of the +small-pox, in his palace of Vienna. He was but thirty-three years of +age. For a sovereign educated from the cradle to despotic rule, and +instructed by one of the most bigoted of fathers, he was an unusually +good man, and must be regarded as one of the best sovereigns who have +swayed the scepter of Austrian despotism. + +The law of hereditary descent is frequently involved in great +embarrassment. Leopold, to obviate disputes which he foresaw were likely +to arise, had assigned Hungary, Bohemia, and his other hereditary +estates, to Joseph. To Charles he had assigned the vast Spanish +inheritance. In case Joseph should die without male issue he had decreed +that the crown of the Austrian dominions should also pass to Charles. In +case Charles should also die without issue male, the crown should then +revert to the daughters of Joseph in preference to those of Charles. +Joseph left no son. He had two daughters, the eldest of whom was but +twelve years of age. Charles, who was now in Barcelona, claiming the +crown of Spain as Charles III., had no Spanish blood in his veins. He +was the son of Leopold, and of his third wife, the devout and lovely +Eleonora, daughter of the Elector Palatine. He was now but twenty-eight +years of age. For ten years he had been struggling for the crown which +his father Leopold had claimed, as succeeding to the rights of his first +wife Margaret, daughter of Philip IV. + +Charles was a genteel, accomplished young man of eighteen when he left +his father's palace at Vienna, for England, where a British fleet was to +convey him to Portugal, and, by the energy of its fleet and army, place +him upon the throne of Spain. He was received at Portsmouth in England, +when he landed from Holland, with much parade, and was conducted by the +Dukes of Maryborough and Somerset to Windsor castle, where he had an +interview with Queen Anne. His appearance at that time is thus described +by his partial chroniclers: + +"The court was very splendid and much thronged. The queen's behavior +toward him was very noble and obliging. The young king charmed all who +were present. He had a gravity beyond his age, tempered with much +modesty. His behavior in all points was so exact, that there was not a +circumstance in his whole deportment which was liable to censure. He +paid an extraordinary respect to the queen, and yet maintained a due +greatness in it. He had the art of seeming well pleased with every +thing, without so much as smiling once all the while he was at court, +which was only three days. He spoke but little, and all he said was +judicious and obliging." + +Young Charles was engaged to the daughter of the King of Portugal; but +the young lady died just before his arrival at Lisbon. As he had never +seen the infanta, his grief could not have been very deep, however great +his disappointment might have been. He made several attempts to +penetrate Spain by the Portuguese frontier, but being repelled in every +effort, by the troops of Philip, he again embarked, and with twelve +thousand troops in an English fleet, sailed around the Peninsula, +entered the Mediterranean and landed on the shores of Catalonia, where +he had been led to believe that the inhabitants in a body would rally +around him. But he was bitterly disappointed. The Earl of Peterborough, +who was intrusted with the command of this expedition, in a letter home +gave free utterance to his disappointment and chagrin. + +"Instead of ten thousand men, and in arms," he wrote, "to cover our +landing and strengthen our camp, we found only so many higglers and +sutlers flocking into it. Instead of finding Barcelona in a weak +condition, and ready to surrender upon the first appearance of our +troops, we found a strong garrison to oppose us, and a hostile army +almost equal to our own." + +In this dilemma a council of war was held, and though many were in favor +of abandoning the enterprise and returning to Portugal, it was at last +determined, through the urgency of Charles, to remain and lay siege to +the city. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, was then the principal +sea-port of the Spanish peninsula on the Mediterranean. It contained a +population of about one hundred and forty thousand. It was strongly +fortified. West of the city there was a mountain called Montjoy, upon +which there was a strong fort which commanded the harbor and the town. +After a short siege this fort was taken by storm, and the city was then +forced to surrender. + +Philip soon advanced with an army of French and Spaniards to retake the +city. The English fleet had retired. Twenty-eight French ships of war +blockaded the harbor, which they could not enter, as it was commanded by +the guns of Montjoy. The siege was very desperate both in the assault +and the defense. The young king, Charles, was in the most imminent +danger of falling into the bands of his foes. There was no possibility +of escape, and it seemed inevitable that the city must either surrender, +or be taken by storm. The French and Spanish army numbered twenty +thousand men. They first attempted to storm Montjoy, but were repulsed +with great slaughter. They then besieged it, and by regular approaches +compelled its capitulation in three weeks. + +This noble resistance enabled the troops in the city greatly to multiply +and increase their defenses. They thus succeeded in protracting the +siege of the town five weeks longer. Every day the beleagured troops +from the crumbling ramparts watched the blue expanse of the +Mediterranean, hoping to see the sails of an English fleet coming to +their rescue. Two breaches were already effected in the walls. The +garrison, reduced to two thousand, and exhausted by superhuman exertions +by day and by night, were almost in the last stages of despair, when, in +the distant horizon, the long looked-for fleet appeared. The French +ships, by no means able to cope with such a force, spread their sails, +and sought safety in flight. + +The English fleet, amounting to fifty sail of the line, and transporting +a large number of land troops, triumphantly entered the harbor on the +3rd of May, 1708. The fresh soldiers were speedily landed, and marched +to the ramparts and the breaches. This strong reinforcement annihilated +the hopes of the besiegers. Apprehensive of an immediate sally, they +retreated with such precipitation that they left behind them in the +hospitals their sick and wounded; they also abandoned their heavy +artillery, and an immense quantity of military stores. + +Whatever energy Charles might have shown during the siege, all seemed +now to evaporate. When the shot of the foe were crumbling the walls of +Barcelona, he was in danger of the terrible doom of being taken a +captive, which would have been the annihilation of all his hopes. +Despair nerved him to effort. But now his person was no longer in +danger; and his natural inefficiency and dilatoriness returned. +Notwithstanding the urgent intreaties of the Earl of Peterborough to +pursue the foe, he insisted upon first making a pilgrimage to the shrine +of the holy Virgin at Montserrat, twenty-four miles from Barcelona. + +This curious monastery consists of but a succession of cloisters or +hermitages hewn out of the solid rock. They are only accessible by steps +as steep as a ladder, which are also hewn upon the face of the almost +precipitous mountain. The highest of these cells, and which are occupied +by the youngest monks, are at an elevation of three or four thousand +feet above the level of the Mediterranean. Soon after Charles's +pilgrimage to Montserrat, he made a triumphal march to Madrid, entered +the city, and caused himself to be proclaimed king under the title of +Charles III. But Philip soon came upon him with such force that he was +compelled to retreat back to Barcelona. Again, in 1710, he succeeded in +reaching Madrid, and, as we have described, he was driven back, with +accumulated disaster, to Catalonia. + +Three months after this defeat, when his affairs in Spain were assuming +the gloomiest aspect, a courier arrived at Barcelona, and informed him +that his brother Joseph was dead; that he had already been proclaimed +King of Hungary and Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria; and that it was a +matter of the most urgent necessity that he should immediately return to +Germany. Charles immediately embarked at Barcelona, and landed near +Genoa on the 27th of September. Rapidly pressing on through the Italian +States, he entered Milan on the 16th of October, where he was greeted +with the joyful intelligence that a diet had been convened under the +influence of Prince Eugene, and that by its unanimous vote he was +invested with the imperial throne. He immediately proceeded through the +Tyrol to Frankfort, where he was crowned on the 22d of December. He was +now more than ever determined that the diadem of Spain should be added +to the other crowns which had been placed upon his brow. + +In the incessant wars which for centuries had been waged between the +princes and States of Germany and the emperor, the States had acquired +virtually a constitution, which they called a capitulation. When Charles +was crowned as Charles VI., he was obliged to promise that he would +never assemble a diet or council without convening all the princes and +States of the empire; that he would never wage war, or conclude peace, +or enter into alliance with any nation without the consent of the +States; that he would not, of his own authority, put any prince under +the ban of the empire; that confiscated territory should never be +conferred upon any members of his own family, and that no successor to +the imperial crown should be chosen during his lifetime, unless absence +from Germany or the infirmities of age rendered him incapable of +administering the affairs of the empire. + +The emperor, invested with the imperial crown, hastened to Vienna, and, +with unexpected energy, entered upon the administration of the +complicated interests of his widespread realms. After passing a few +weeks in Vienna, he repaired to Prague, where, in May, he was, with much +pomp, crowned King of Hungary. He then returned to Vienna, and prepared +to press with new vigor the war of the Spanish succession. + +Louis XIV. was now suffering the earthly retribution for his ill-spent +life. The finances of the realm were in a state of hopeless +embarrassment; famine was filling the kingdom with misery; his armies +were everywhere defeated; the imprecations of a beggared people were +rising around his throne; his palace was the scene of incessant feuds +and intrigues. His children were dead; he was old, infirm, sick, the +victim of insupportable melancholy--utterly weary of life, and yet +awfully afraid to die. France, in the person of Louis XIV., who could +justly say, "I am the State," was humbled. + +The accession of Charles to the throne of the empire, and to that of +Austria, Hungary and Bohemia, while at the same time he claimed +sovereignty over the vast realms of the Spanish kingdom, invested him +with such enormous power, that England, which had combined Europe +against the colossal growth of France, having humbled that power, was +disposed to form a combination against Austria. There was in consequence +an immediate relaxation of hostilities just at the time when the French +batteries on the frontiers were battered down, and when the allied army +had apparently an unobstructed way opened to the gates of Paris. In this +state of affairs the British ministry pressed negotiations for peace. +The preliminaries were settled in London on the 8th of October, 1711. By +this treaty Louis XIV. agreed to make such a change in the law of +hereditary descent, as to render it impossible for any king to wear at +the same time the crowns of France and of Spain, and made various other +important concessions. + +Charles, whose ambition was roused by his sudden and unexpected +elevation, exerted all his energies to thwart the progress of +negotiations, and bitterly complained that the allies were dishonorably +deserting the cause which they had espoused. The emperor dispatched +circular letters to all the courts of Europe, and sent Prince Eugene as +a special ambassador to London, to influence Queen Anne, if possible, to +persevere in the grand alliance. But he was entirely unsuccessful. The +Duke of Marlborough was disgraced, and dismissed from office. The peace +party rendered Eugene so unpopular that he was insulted in the streets +of London. The Austrian party in England was utterly defeated, and a +congress was appointed to meet at Utrecht to settle the terms of peace. +But Charles was now so powerful that he resolved to prosecute the war +even though abandoned by England. He accordingly sent an ambassador to +Utrecht to embarrass the proceedings as much as possible, and, in case +the grand alliance should be broken up, to secure as many powers as +possible in fidelity to Austria. + +The States of the Netherlands were still warmly with Austria, as they +dreaded so formidable a power as France directly upon their frontier. +The other minor powers of the alliance were also rather inclined to +remain with Austria. The war continued while the terms of peace were +under discussion. England, however, entered into a private understanding +with France, and the Duke of Ormond, who had succeeded Marlborough, +received secret orders not to take part in any battle or siege. The +developments, upon fields of battle, of this dishonorable arrangement, +caused great indignation on the part of the allies. The British forces +withdrew, and the French armies, taking advantage of the great +embarrassments thus caused, were again gaining the ascendency. Portugal +soon followed the example of England and abandoned the alliance. The +Duke of Savoy was the next to leave. The alliance was evidently +crumbling to pieces, and on the 11th of April, 1713, all the +belligerents, excepting the emperor, signed the treaty of peace. Philip +of Spain also acceded to the same articles. + +Charles was very indignant in being thus abandoned; and unduly +estimating his strength, resolved alone, with the resources which the +empire afforded him, to prosecute the war against France and Spain. +Having nothing to fear from a Spanish invasion, he for a time +relinquished his attempts upon Spain, and concentrating his armies upon +the Rhine, prepared for a desperate onset upon France. For two years the +war raged between Austria and France with war's usual vicissitudes of +defeat and victory on either side. It was soon evident that the +combatants were too equally matched for either party to hope to gain any +decisive advantage over the other. On the 7th of September, 1714, France +and Austria agreed to sheathe the sword. The war had raged for fourteen +years, with an expenditure of blood and treasure, and an accumulation of +misery which never can be gauged. Every party had lost fourfold more +than it had gained. "A war," says Marshal Villers, "which had desolated +the greater part of Europe, was concluded almost on the very terms which +might have been procured at the commencement of hostilities." + +By this treaty of peace, which was signed at Baden, in Switzerland, the +States of the Netherlands were left in the hands of Austria; and also +the Italian States of Naples, Milan, Mantua and Sardinia. The thunders +of artillery had hardly ceased to reverberate over the marshes of +Holland and along the banks of the Rhine, ere the "blast of war's loud +organ" and the tramp of charging squadrons were heard rising anew from +the distant mountains of Sclavonia. The Turks, in violation of their +treaty of peace, were again on the march, ascending the Danube along its +southern banks, through the defiles of the Sclavonian mountains. In a +motley mass of one hundred and fifty thousand men they had passed +Belgrade, crossed the Save, and were approaching Peterwarden. + +Eugene was instantly dispatched with an efficient, compact army, +disciplined by twelve years of warfare, to resist the Moslem invaders. +The hostile battalions met at Karlowitz, but a few miles from +Peterwarden, on the 5th of August, 1716. The tempest blazed with +terrific fury for a few hours, when the Turkish host turned and fled. +Thirty thousand of their number, including the grand vizier who led the +host, were left dead upon the field. In their utter discomfiture they +abandoned two hundred and fifty pieces of heavy artillery, and baggage, +tents and military stores to an immense amount. Fifty Turkish banners +embellished the camp of the victors. + +And now Eugene led his triumphant troops, sixty thousand in number, down +the river to lay siege to Belgrade. This fortress, which the labor of +ages had strengthened, was garrisoned by thirty thousand troops, and was +deemed almost impregnable. Eugene invested the place and commenced the +slow and tedious operations of a siege. The sultan immediately +dispatched an army of two hundred thousand men to the relief of his +beleaguered fortress. The Turks, arriving at the scene of action, did +not venture an assault upon their intrenched foes, but intrenched +themselves on heights, outside of the besieging camp, in a semicircle +extending from the Danube to the Save. They thus shut up the besiegers +in the miasmatic marshes which surrounded the city, cut off their +supplies of provisions, and from their advancing batteries threw shot +into the Austrian camp. "A man," said Napoleon, "is not a soldier." The +Turks had two hundred thousand _men_ in their camp, raw recruits. Eugene +had sixty thousand veteran _soldiers_. He decided to drive off the Turks +who annoyed him. It was necessary for him to detach twenty thousand to +hold in check the garrison of Belgrade, who might sally to the relief of +their companions. This left him but forty thousand troops with whom to +assail two hundred thousand strongly intrenched. He did not hesitate in +the undertaking. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +CHARLES VI. + +From 1716 to 1727. + +Heroic Decision of Eugene.--Battle of Belgrade.--Utter Rout of the +Turks.--Possessions of Charles VI.--The Elector of Hanover Succeeds to +the English Throne.--Preparations for War.--State of Italy.--Philip V. +of Spain.--Diplomatic Agitations.--Palace of St. Ildefonso.--Order of +the Golden Fleece.--Rejection of Maria Anne.--Contest for the Rock of +Gibraltar.--Dismissal of Ripperda.--Treaty of Vienna.--Peace Concluded. + + +The enterprise upon which Eugene had resolved was bold in the extreme. +It could only be accomplished by consummate bravery aided by equal +military skill. The foe they were to attack were five to one, and were +protected by well-constructed redoubts, armed with the most formidable +batteries. They were also abundantly supplied with cavalry, and the +Turkish cavalry were esteemed the finest horsemen in the world. There +was but one circumstance in favor of Eugene. The Turks did not dream +that he would have the audacity to march from the protection of his +intrenchments and assail them behind their own strong ramparts. There +was consequently but little difficulty in effecting a surprise. + +All the arrangements were made with the utmost precision and secrecy for +a midnight attack. The favorable hour came. The sun went down in clouds, +and a night of Egyptian darkness enveloped the armies. The glimmer of +innumerable camp-fires only pointed out the position of the foe, without +throwing any illumination upon the field. Eugene visited all the posts +of the army, ordered abundant refreshment to be distributed to the +troops, addressed them in encouraging words, to impress upon them the +importance of the enterprise, and minutely assigned to each battalion, +regiment, brigade and division its duty, that there might be no +confusion. The whole plan was carefully arranged in all its details and +in all its grand combination. As the bells of Belgrade tolled the hour +of twelve at midnight, three bombs, simultaneously discharged, put the +whole Austrian army in rapid and noiseless motion. + +A dense fog had now descended, through which they could with difficulty +discern the twinkling lights of the Turkish camp. Rapidly they traversed +the intervening space, and in dense, solid columns, rushed over the +ramparts of the foe. Bombs, cannon, musketry, bayonets, cavalry, all +were employed, amidst the thunderings and the lightnings of that +midnight storm of war, in the work of destruction. The Turks, roused +from their slumber, amazed, bewildered, fought for a short time with +maniacal fury, often pouring volleys of bullets into the bosoms of their +friends, and with bloody cimeters smiting indiscriminately on the right +hand and the left, till, in the midst of a scene of confusion and horror +which no imagination can conceive, they broke and fled. Two hundred +thousand men, lighted only by the flash of guns which mowed their ranks, +with thousands of panic-stricken cavalry trampling over them, while the +crash of musketry, the explosions of artillery, the shouts of the +assailants and the fugitives, and the shrieks of the dying, blended in a +roar more appalling than heaven's heaviest thunders, presented a scene +which has few parallels even in the horrid annals of war. + +The morning dawned upon a field of blood and death. The victory of the +Austrians was most decisive. The flower of the Turkish army was cut to +pieces, and the remnant was utterly dispersed. The Turkish camp, with +all its abundant booty of tents, provisions, ammunition and artillery, +fell into the hands of the conqueror. So signal was the victory, that +the disheartened Turks made no attempt to retrieve their loss. Belgrade +was surrendered to the Austrians, and the sultan implored peace. The +articles were signed in Passarovitz, a small town of Servia, in July, +1718. By this treaty the emperor added Belgrade to his dominions, and +also a large part of Wallachia and Servia. + +Austria and Spain were still in heart at war, as the emperor claimed the +crown of Spain, and was only delaying active hostilities until he could +dispose of his more immediate foes. Charles, soon after the death of his +cousin, the Portuguese princess, with whom he had formed a matrimonial +engagement, married Elizabeth Christina, a princess of Brunswick. The +imperial family now consisted of three daughters, Maria Theresa, Maria +Anne and Maria Amelia. It will be remembered that by the family compact +established by Leopold, the succession was entailed upon Charles in +preference to the daughters of Joseph, in case Joseph should die without +male issue. But should Charles die without male issue, the crown was to +revert to the daughters of Joseph in preference to those of Charles. The +emperor, having three daughters and no sons, with natural parental +partiality, but unjustly, and with great want of magnanimity, was +anxious to deprive the daughters of Joseph of their rights, that he +might secure the crown for his own daughters. He accordingly issued a +decree reversing this contract, and settling the right of succession +first upon his daughters, should he die without sons, then upon the +daughters of Joseph, one of whom had married the Elector of Saxony and +the other the Elector of Bavaria. After them he declared his sister, who +had married the King of Portugal, and then his other sisters, the +daughters of Leopold, to be in the line of succession. This new law of +succession Charles issued under the name of the Pragmatic Sanction. He +compelled his nieces, the daughters of Joseph, to give their assent to +this Sanction, and then, for the remainder of his reign, made the +greatest efforts to induce all the powers of Europe to acknowledge its +validity. + +Charles VI. was now, as to the extent of territory over which he reigned +and the population subject to his sway, decidedly the most powerful +monarch in Christendom. Three hundred princes of the German empire +acknowledged him as their elected sovereign. By hereditary right he +claimed dominion over Bohemia, Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, Servia, +Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the Tyrol, and all the rich and populous +States of the Netherlands. Naples, Sicily, Mantua and Milan in Italy, +also recognized his sovereignty. To enlightened reason nothing can seem +more absurd than that one man, of very moderate capacities, luxuriating +in his palace at Vienna, should pretend to hold dominion over so many +millions so widely dispersed. But the progress of the world towards +intelligent liberty has been very slow. When we contrast the +constitution of the United States with such a political condition, all +our evils and difficulties dwindle to utter insignificance. + +Still the power of the emperor was in many respects apparent rather than +real. Each of these States had its own customs and laws. The nobles were +tumultuary, and ever ready, if their privileges were infringed, to rise +in insurrection. Military force alone could hold these turbulent realms +in awe; and the old feudal servitude which crushed the millions, was but +another name for anarchy. The peace establishment of the emperor +amounted to one hundred thousand men, and every one of these was +necessary simply to garrison his fortresses. The enormous expense of the +support of such an army, with all the outlays for the materiel of war, +the cavalry, and the structure of vast fortresses, exhausted the +revenues of a kingdom in which the masses of the people were so +miserably poor that they were scarcely elevated above the beasts of the +field, and where the finances had long been in almost irreparable +disorder. The years of peace, however, were very few. War, a maelstrom +which ingulfs uncounted millions, seems to have been the normal state of +Germany. But the treasury of Charles was so constantly drained that he +could never, even in his greatest straits, raise more than one hundred +and sixty thousand men; and he was often compelled to call upon the aid +of a foreign purse to meet the expense which that number involved. +Within a hundred years the nations have made vast strides in wealth, and +in the consequent ability to throw away millions in war. + +Charles VI. commenced his reign with intense devotion to business. He +resolved to be an illustrious emperor, vigorously superintending all the +interests of the empire, legislative, judicial and executive. For a few +weeks he was busy night and day, buried in a hopeless mass of diplomatic +papers. But he soon became weary of this, and leaving all the ordinary +affairs of the State in the hands of agents, amused himself with his +violin and in chasing rabbits. As more serious employment, he gave +pompous receptions, and enveloped himself in imperial ceremony and the +most approved courtly etiquette. He still, however, insisted upon giving +his approval to all measures adopted by his ministers, before they were +carried into execution. But as he was too busy with his entertainments, +his music and the chase, to devote much time to the dry details of +government, papers were accumulating in a mountainous heap in his +cabinet, and the most important business was neglected. + +Charles XII. was now King of Sweden; Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia; +George I., King of England; and the shameful regency had succeeded, in +France, the reign of Louis XIV. For eighteen years a bloody war had been +sweeping the plains of Poland, Russia and Sweden. Thousands had been +torn to pieces by the enginery of war, and trampled beneath iron hoofs. +Millions of women and children had been impoverished, beggared, and +turned out houseless into the fields to moan and starve and die. The +claims of humanity must ever yield to the requisitions of war. This +fierce battle of eighteen years was fought to decide which of three men, +Peter of Russia, Charles of Sweden, or Augustus of Poland, should have +the right to exact tribute from Livonia. This province was a vast +pasture on the Baltic, containing about seventeen thousand square miles, +and inhabited by about five hundred thousand poor herdsmen and tillers +of the soil. + +Peter the Great was in the end victorious in this long conflict; and +having attached large portions of Sweden to his territory, with a navy +upon the Baltic, and a disciplined army, began to be regarded as a +European power, and was quite disposed to make his voice heard in the +diplomacy of Europe. Queen Anne having died, leaving no children, the +law of hereditary descent carried the crown of England to Germany, and +placed it upon the brow of the Elector of Hanover, who, as grandson of +James I., was the nearest heir, but who could not speak a word of +English, who knew nothing of constitutional law, and who was about as +well qualified to govern England as a Patagonian or Esquimaux would have +been. But obedience to this law of hereditary descent was a political +necessity. There were thousands of able men in England who could have +administered the government with honor to themselves and to the country. +But it is said in reply that the people of England, as a body, were not +then, and probably are not even now, sufficiently enlightened to be +intrusted with the choice of their own rulers. Respect for the +ballot-box is one of the last and highest attainments of civilization. +Recent developments in our own land have led many to fear that barbarism +is gaining upon the people. If the _ballot-box_ be overturned, the +_cartridge-box_ must take its place. The great battle we have to fight +is the battle against popular ignorance. The great army we are to +support is the army of teachers in the schools and in the pulpit, +elevating the mind to the highest possible intelligence, and guiding the +heart by the pure spirit of the gospel. + +The emperor was so crowded with affairs of immediate urgency, and it was +so evident that he could not drive Philip from the throne, now that he +was recognized by all Europe, that he postponed the attempt for a +season, while he still adopted the title of King of Spain. His troops +had hardly returned from the brilliant campaign of Belgrade, ere the +emperor saw a cloud gathering in the north, which excited his most +serious apprehension. Russia and Sweden, irritated by some of the acts +of the emperor, formed an alliance for the invasion of the German +empire. The fierce warriors of the north, led by such captains as +Charles XII. and Peter the Great, were foes not to be despised. This +threatened invasion not only alarmed the emperor, but alarmed George I. +of England, as his electorate of Hanover was imperiled; and also excited +the fears of Augustus, the Elector of Saxony, who had regained the +throne of Poland. England and Poland consequently united with the +emperor, and formidable preparations were in progress for a terrible +war, when one single chance bullet, upon the field of Pultowa, struck +Charles XII., as he was looking over the parapet, and dispersed this +cloud which threatened the desolation of all Europe. + +Austria was now the preponderating power in degenerate Italy. Even those +States which were not in subjection to the emperor, were overawed by his +imperious spirit. Genoa was nominally independent. The Genoese arrested +one of the imperial officers for some violation of the laws of the +republic. The emperor sent an army to the gates of the city, threatening +it with bombardment and utter destruction. They were thus compelled +immediately to liberate the officer, to pay a fine of three hundred +thousand dollars, and to send a senator to Vienna with humble +expressions of contrition, and to implore pardon. + +The kingdom of Sardinia was at this time the most powerful State in +Italy, if we except those united Italian States which now composed an +integral part of the Austrian empire. Victor Asmedeus, the energetic +king, had a small but vigorous army, and held himself ready, with this +army, for a suitable remuneration, to engage in the service of any +sovereign, without asking any troublesome questions as to the +righteousness of the expedition in which he was to serve. The Sardinian +king was growing rich, and consequently ambitious. He wished to rise +from the rank of a secondary to that of a primary power in Europe. There +was but one direction in which he could hope to extend his territories, +and that was by pressing into Lombardy. He had made the remark, which +was repeated to the emperor, "I must acquire Lombardy piece by piece, as +I eat an artichoke." Charles, consequently, watched Victor with a +suspicious eye. + +The four great powers of middle and southern Europe were Austria, +England, France, and Spain. All the other minor States, innumerable in +name as well as number, were compelled to take refuge, openly or +secretly, beneath one or another of these great monarchies. + +In France, the Duke of Orleans, the regent during the minority of Louis +XV., whose court, in the enormous expenditures of vice, exhausted the +yearly earnings of a population of twenty millions, was anxious to unite +the Bourbon' branches of France and Spain in more intimate alliance. He +accordingly affianced the young sovereign of France to Mary Anne, +daughter of Philip V. of Spain. At the same time he married his own +daughter to the king's oldest son, the Prince of Asturias, who was heir +to the throne. Mary Anne, to whom the young king was affianced, was only +four years of age. + +The personal history of the monarchs of Europe is, almost without +exception, a melancholy history. By their ambition and their wars they +whelmed the cottages in misery, and by a righteous retribution misery +also inundated the palace. Philip V. became the victim of the most +insupportable melancholy. Earth had no joy which could lift the cloud of +gloom from his soul. For months he was never known to smile. Imprisoning +himself in his palace he refused to see any company, and left all the +cares of government in the hands of his wife, Elizabeth Farnese. + +Germany was still agitated by the great religious contest between the +Catholics and the Protestants, which divided the empire into two nearly +equal parties, bitterly hostile to each other. Various fruitless +attempts had been made to bring the parties together, into _unity of +faith_, by compromise. Neither party were reconciled to cordial +_toleration_, free and full, in which alone harmony can be obtained. In +all the States of the empire the Catholics and the Protestants were +coming continually into collision. Charles, though a very decided +Catholic, was not disposed to persecute the Protestants, as most of his +predecessors had done, for he feared to rouse them to despair. + +England, France, Austria and Spain, were now involved in an inextricable +maze of diplomacy. Congresses were assembled and dissolved; treaties +made and violated; alliances formed and broken. Weary of the conflict of +arms, they were engaged in the more harmless squabbles of intrigue, each +seeking its own aggrandizement. Philip V., who had fought so many bloody +battles to acquire the crown of Spain, now, disgusted with the cares +which that crown involved, overwhelmed with melancholy, and trembling in +view of the final judgment of God, suddenly abdicated the throne in +favor of his son Louis, and took a solemn oath that he would never +resume it again. This event, which surprised Europe, took place on the +10th of February, 1724. Philip retired to St. Ildefonso. + +The celebrated palace of St. Ildefonso, which became the retreat of the +monarch, was about forty miles north of Madrid, in an elevated ravine +among the mountains of Gaudarruma. It was an enormous pile, nearly four +thousand feet above the level of the sea, and reared by the Spanish +monarchs at an expense exceeding thirty millions of dollars. The palace, +two stories high, and occupying three sides of a square, presents a +front five hundred and thirty feet in length. In this front alone there +are, upon each story, twelve gorgeous apartments in a suite. The +interior is decorated in the richest style of art, with frescoed +ceilings, and splendid mirrors, and tesselated floors of variegated +marble. The furniture was embellishcd with gorgeous carvings, and +enriched with marble, jasper and verd-antique. The galleries were filled +with the most costly productions of the chisel and the pencil. The +spacious garden, spread out before the palace, was cultivated with the +utmost care, and ornamented with fountains surpassing even those of +Versailles. + +To this magnificent retreat Philip V. retired with his imperious, +ambitious wife. She was the step-mother of his son who had succeeded to +the throne. For a long time, by the vigor of her mind, she had dominated +over her husband, and had in reality been the sovereign of Spain. In the +magnificent palace of St. Ildefonso, she was by no means inclined to +relinquish her power. Gathering a brilliant court around her, she still +issued her decrees, and exerted a powerful influence over the kingdom. +The young Louis, who was but a boy, was not disposed to engage in a +quarrel with his mother, and for a time submitted to this interference; +but gradually he was roused by his adherents, to emancipate himself from +these shackles, and to assume the authority of a sovereign. This led to +very serious trouble. The abdicated king, in his moping melancholy, was +entirely in subjection to his wife. There were now two rival courts. +Parties were organizing. Some were for deposing the son; others for +imprisoning the father. The kingdom was on the eve of a civil war, when +death kindly came to settle the difficulty. + +The young King Louis, but eighteen years of age, after a nominal reign +of but eight months, was seized with that awful scourge the small-pox, +and, after a few days of suffering and delirium, was consigned to the +tomb. Philip, notwithstanding his vow, was constrained by his wife to +resume the crown, she probably promising to relieve him of all care. +Such are the vicissitudes of a hereditary government. Elizabeth, with +woman's spirit, now commanded the emperor to renounce the title of King +of Spain, which he still claimed. Charles, with the spirit of an +emperor, declared that he would do no such thing. + +There was another serious source of difficulty between the two monarchs, +which has descended, generation after generation, to our own time, and +to this day is only settled by each party quietly persisting in his own +claim. + +In the year 1430 Philip III., Duke of Burgundy, instituted a new order +of knighthood for the protection of the Catholic church, to be called +the order of the Golden Fleece. But twenty-four members were to be +admitted, and Philip himself was the grand master. Annual meetings were +held to fill vacancies. Charles V., as grand master, increased the +number of knights to fifty-one. After his death, as the Burgundian +provinces and the Netherlands passed under the dominion of Spain, the +Spanish monarchs exercised the office of grand master, and conferred the +dignity, which was now regarded the highest order of knighthood in +Europe, according to their pleasure. But Charles VI., now in admitted +possession of the Netherlands, by virtue of that possession claimed the +office of grand master of the Golden Fleece. Philip also claimed it as +the inheritance of the kings of Spain. The dispute has never been +settled. Both parties still claim it, and the order is still conferred +both at Vienna and Madrid. + +Other powers interfered, in the endeavor to promote reconciliation +between the hostile courts, but, as usual, only increased the acrimony +of the two parties. The young Spanish princess Mary Anne, who was +affianced to the Dauphin of France, was sent to Paris for her education, +and that she might become familiar with the etiquette of a court over +which she was to preside as queen. For a time she was treated with great +attention, and child as she was, received all the homage which the +courtiers were accustomed to pay to the Queen of France. But amidst the +intrigues of the times a change arose, and it was deemed a matter of +state policy to marry the boy-king to another princess. The French court +consequently rejected Maria Anne and sent her back to Spain, and married +Louis, then but fifteen years of age, to Maria Lebrinsky, daughter of +the King of Poland. The rejected child was too young fully to appreciate +the mortification. Her parents, however, felt the insult most keenly. +The whole Spanish court was roused to resent it as a national outrage. +The queen was so indignant that she tore from her arm a bracelet which +she wore, containing a portrait of Louis XV., and dashing it upon the +floor, trampled it beneath her feet. Even the king was roused from his +gloom by the humiliation of his child, and declared that no amount of +blood could atone for such an indignity. + +Under the influence of this exasperation, the queen resolved to seek +reconciliation with Austria, that all friendly relations might be +abandoned with France, and that Spain and Austria might be brought into +intimate alliance to operate against their common foe. A renowned +Spanish diplomatist, the Baron of Ripperda, had been for some time a +secret agent of the queen at the court of Vienna, watching the progress +of events there. He resided in the suburbs under a fictitious name, and +eluding the vigilance of the ministry, had held by night several secret +interviews with the emperor, proposing to him, in the name of the queen, +plans of reconciliation. Letters were immediately dispatched to Ripperda +urging him to come to an accommodation with the emperor upon almost any +terms. + +A treaty was soon concluded, early in the spring of 1725. The emperor +renounced all claim to the Spanish crown, entered into an alliance, both +offensive and defensive, with Philip, and promised to aid, both with men +and money, to help recover Gibraltar from the English, which fortress +they had held since they seized upon it in the war of the Spanish +succession. In consideration of these great concessions Philip agreed to +recognize the right of the emperor to the Netherlands and to his +acquisitions in Italy. He opened all the ports of Spain to the subjects +of the emperor, and pledged himself to support the Pragmatic Sanction, +which wrested the crown of Austria from the daughters of Joseph, and +transmitted it to the daughters of Charles. It was this last clause +which influenced the emperor, for his whole heart was set upon the +accomplishment of this important result, and he was willing to make +almost any sacrifice to attain it. There were also some secret articles +attached which have never been divulged. + +The immediate demand of Spain for the surrender of the rock of Gibraltar +was the signal for all Europe to marshal itself for war--a war which +threatened the destruction of hundreds of thousands of lives, millions +of property, and which was sure to spread far and wide over populous +cities and extended provinces, carnage, conflagration, and unspeakable +woe. The question was, whether England or Spain should have possession +of a rock seven miles long and one mile broad, which was supposed, but +very erroneously, to command the Mediterranean. To the rest of Europe it +was hardly a matter of the slightest moment whether the flag of England +or Spain waved over those granite cliffs. It seems incredible that +beings endowed with reason could be guilty of such madness. + +England, with great vigor, immediately rallied on her side France, +Hanover, Holland, Denmark and Sweden. On the other side were Spain, +Austria, Russia, Prussia and a large number of the minor States of +Germany. Many months were occupied in consolidating these coalitions, +and in raising the armies and gathering the materials for the war. + +In the meantime Ripperda, having so successfully, as he supposed, +concluded his negotiations at Vienna, in a high state of exultation +commenced his journey back to Spain. Passing down through the Tyrol and +traversing Italy he embarked at Genoa and landed at Barcelona. Here he +boasted loudly of what he had accomplished. + +"Spain and the emperor now united," he said, "will give the law to +Europe. The emperor has one hundred and fifty thousand troops under +arms, and in six months can bring as many more into the field. France +shall be pillaged. George I. shall be driven both from his German and +his British territories." + +From Barcelona Ripperda traveled rapidly to Madrid, where he was +received with almost regal honors by the queen, who was now in reality +the sovereign. She immediately appointed him Secretary of State, and +transferred to him the reins of government which she had taken from the +unresisting hands of her moping husband. Thus Ripperda became, in all +but title, the King of Spain. He was a weak man, of just those traits of +character which would make him a haughty woman's favorite. He was so +elated with this success, became so insufferably vain, and assumed such +imperious airs as to disgust all parties. He made the most extravagant +promises of the subsidies the emperor was to furnish, and of the powers +which were to combine to trample England and France beneath their feet. +It was soon seen that these promises were merely the vain-glorious +boasts of his own heated brain. Even the imperial ambassador at Madrid +was so repelled by his arrogance, that he avoided as far as possible all +social and even diplomatic intercourse with him. There was a general +combination of the courtiers to crush the favorite. The queen, who, with +all her ambition, had a good share of sagacity, soon saw the mistake she +had made, and in four months after Ripperda's return to Madrid, he was +dismissed in disgrace. + +A general storm of contempt and indignation pursued the discarded +minister. His rage was now inflamed as much as his vanity had been. +Fearful of arrest and imprisonment, and burning with that spirit of +revenge which is ever strongest in weakest minds, he took refuge in the +house of the British ambassador, Mr. Stanhope. Hostilities had not yet +commenced. Indeed there had been no declaration of war, and diplomatic +relations still continued undisturbed. Each party was acting secretly, +and watching the movements of the other with a jealous eye. + +Ripperda sought protection beneath the flag of England, and with the +characteristic ignominy of deserters and traitors, endeavored to +ingratiate himself with his new friends by disclosing all the secrets of +his negotiations at Vienna. Under these circumstances full confidence +can not be placed in his declarations, for he had already proved himself +to be quite unscrupulous in regard to truth. The indignant queen sent an +armed force, arrested the duke in the house of the British ambassador, +and sent him, in close imprisonment, to the castle of Segovia. He, +however, soon escaped from there and fled to England, where he +reiterated his declarations respecting the secret articles of the treaty +of Vienna. The most important of these declarations was, that Spain and +the emperor had agreed to drive George I. from England and to place the +Pretender, who had still many adherents, upon the British throne. It was +also asserted that marriage contracts were entered into which, by +uniting the daughters of the emperor with the sons of the Spanish +monarch, would eventually place the crowns of Austria and Spain upon the +same brow. The thought of such a vast accumulation of power in the hands +of any one monarch, alarmed all the rest of Europe. Both Spain and the +emperor denied many of the statements made by Ripperda. But as _truth_ +has not been esteemed a diplomatic virtue, and as both Ripperda and the +sovereigns he had served were equally tempted to falsehood, and were +equally destitute of any character for truth, it is not easy to decide +which party to believe. + +England and France took occasion, through these disclosures, to rouse +the alarm of Europe. So much apprehension was excited in Prussia, +Bavaria, and with other princes of the empire, who were appalled at the +thought of having another Spanish prince upon the imperial throne, that +the emperor sent ambassadors to these courts to appease their anxiety, +and issued a public declaration denying that any such marriages were in +contemplation; while at the same time he was promising the Queen of +Spain these marriages, to secure her support. England and France accuse +the emperor of deliberate, persistent, unblushing falsehood. + +The emperor seems now to have become involved in an inextricable maze of +prevarication and duplicity, striving in one court to accomplish +purposes which in other courts he was denying that he wished to +accomplish. His embarrassment at length became so great, the greater +part of Europe being roused and jealous, that he was compelled to +abandon Spain, and reluctantly to sign a treaty of amity with France and +England. A general armistice was agreed upon for seven years. The King +of Spain, thus abandoned by the emperor, was also compelled to smother +his indignation and to roll back his artillery into the arsenals. Thus +this black cloud of war, which threatened all Europe with desolation, +was apparently dispelled. This treaty, which seemed to restore peace to +Europe, was signed in June, 1727. It was, however, a hollow peace. The +spirit of ambition and aggression animated every court; and each one was +ready, in defiance of treaties and in defiance of the misery of the +world, again to unsheath the sword as soon as any opportunity should +offer for the increase of territory or power. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +CHARLES VI. AND THE POLISH WAR. + +From 1727 to 1735. + +Cardinal Fleury.--The Emperor of Austria Urges the Pragmatic Sanction.-- +He Promises His Two Daughters to the Two Sons of the Queen of +Spain.--France, England and Spain Unite Against Austria.--Charles VI. +Issues Orders to Prepare for War.--His Perplexities.--Secret Overtures +to England.--The Crown of Poland.--Meeting of the Polish Congress.-- +Stanislaus Goes to Poland.--Augustus III. Crowned.--War.--Charles Sends +an Army to Lombardy.--Difficulties of Prince Eugene.--Charles's +Displeasure with England.--Letter to Count Kinsky.--Hostilities Renewed. + + +The young King of France, Louis XV., from amidst the orgies of his court +which rivaled Babylon in corruption, was now seventeen years of age, and +was beginning to shake off the trammels of guardianship and to take some +ambitious part in government. The infamous regent, the Duke of Orleans, +died suddenly of apoplexy in 1723. Gradually the king's preceptor, +Fleury, obtained the entire ascendency over the mind of his pupil, and +became the chief director of affairs. He saw the policy of reuniting the +Bourbons of France and Spain for the support of each other. The policy +was consequently adopted of cultivating friendly relations between the +two kingdoms. Cardinal Fleury was much disposed to thwart the plans of +the emperor. A congress of the leading powers had been assembled at +Soissons in June, 1728, to settle some diplomatic questions. The +favorite object of the emperor now was, to obtain from the European +powers the formal guarantee to support his decree of succession which +conveyed the crown of Austria to his daughters, in preference to those +of his brother Joseph. + +The emperor urged the Pragmatic Sanction strongly upon the congress, as +the basis upon which he would enter into friendly relations with all the +powers. Fleury opposed it, and with such influence over the other +plenipotentiaries as to secure its rejection. The emperor was much +irritated, and intimated war. France and England retorted defiance. +Spain was becoming alienated from the emperor, who had abandoned her +cause, and was again entering into alliance with France. The emperor had +promised his eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, to Carlos, son of the Queen +of Spain, and a second daughter to the next son, Philip. These were as +brilliant matches as an ambitious mother could desire. But while the +emperor was making secret and solemn promises to the Queen of Spain, +that these marriages should be consummated, which would secure to the +son of the queen the Austrian, as well as the Spanish crown, he was +declaring to the courts of Europe that he had no such plans in +contemplation. + +The Spanish queen, at length, annoyed, and goaded on by France and +England, sent an ambassador to Vienna, and demanded of the emperor a +written promise that Maria Theresa was to be the bride of Carlos. The +emperor was now brought to the end of his intrigues. He had been careful +heretofore to give only verbal promises, through his ministers. After +his reiterated public denials that any such alliance was anticipated, he +did not dare commit himself by giving the required document. An +apologetic, equivocal answer was returned which so roused the ire of the +queen, that, breaking off from Austria, she at once entered into a +treaty of cordial union with England and France. + +It will readily be seen that all these wars and intrigues had but little +reference to the welfare of the masses of the people. They were hardly +more thought of than the cattle and the poultry. The only purpose they +served was, by unintermitted toil, to raise the wealth which supported +the castle and the palace, and to march to the field to fight battles, +in which they had no earthly interest. The written history of Europe is +only the history of kings and nobles--their ambitions, intrigues and +war. The unwritten history of the dumb, toiling millions, defrauded of +their rights, doomed to poverty and ignorance, is only recorded in the +book of God's remembrance. When that page shall be read, every ear that +hears it will tingle. + +The frail connection between Austria and Spain was now terminated. +England, France and Spain entered into an alliance to make vigorous war +against Charles VI. if he manifested any hostility to any of the +articles of the treaty into which they had entered. The Queen of Spain, +in her spite, forbade the subjects of the emperor from trading at all +with Spain, and granted to her new allies the exclusive right to the +Spanish trade. She went so far in her reconciliation with England as to +assure the king that he was quite welcome to retain the rock of +Gibraltar which he held with so tenacious a grasp. + +In this treaty, with studied neglect, even the name of the emperor was +not mentioned; and yet the allies, as if to provoke a quarrel, sent +Charles VI. a copy, peremptorily demanding assent to the treaty without +his having taken any part whatever in the negotiation. + +This insulting demand fell like a bomb-shell in the palace at Vienna. +Emperor, ministers, courtiers, all were aroused to a frenzy of +indignation. "So insulting a message," said Count Zinzendorf, "is +unparalleled, even in the annals of savages." The emperor condescended +to make no reply, but very spiritedly issued orders to all parts of the +empire, for his troops to hold themselves in readiness for war. + +And yet Charles was overwhelmed with anxiety, and was almost in despair. +It was a terrible humiliation for the emperor to be compelled to submit, +unavenged, to such an insult. But how could the emperor alone, venture +to meet in battle England, France, Spain and all the other powers whom +three such kingdoms could, either by persuasion or compulsion, bring +into their alliance? He pleaded with his natural allies. Russia had not +been insulted, and was unwilling to engage in so distant a war. Prussia +had no hope of gaining any thing, and declined the contest. Sardinia +sent a polite message to the emperor that it was more for her interest +to enter into an alliance with her nearer neighbors, France, Spain and +England, and that she had accordingly done so. The treasury of Charles +was exhausted; his States were impoverished by constant and desolating +wars. And his troops manifested but little zeal to enter the field +against so fearful a superiority of force. The emperor, tortured almost +beyond endurance by chagrin, was yet compelled to submit. + +The allies were quite willing to provoke a war with the emperor; but as +he received their insults so meekly, and made no movement against them, +they were rather disposed to march against him. Spain wanted Parma and +Tuscany, but France was not willing to have Spain make so great an +accession to her Italian power. France wished to extend her area north, +through the States of the Netherlands. But England was unwilling to see +the French power thus aggrandized. England had her aspirations, to which +both France and Spain were opposed. Thus the allies operated as a check +upon each other. + +The emperor found some little consolation in this growing disunion, and +did all in his power to foment it. Wishing to humble the Bourbons of +France and Spain, he made secret overtures to England. The offers of the +emperor were of such a nature, that England eagerly accepted them, +returned to friendly relations with the emperor, and, to his extreme +joy, pledged herself to support the Pragmatic Sanction. + +It seems to have been the great object of the emperor's life to secure +the crown of Austria for his daughters. It was an exceedingly +disgraceful act. There was no single respectable reason to be brought +forward why his daughters should crowd from the throne the daughters of +his elder deceased brother, the Emperor Joseph. Charles was so aware of +the gross injustice of the deed, and that the ordinary integrity of +humanity would rise against him, that he felt the necessity of +exhausting all the arts of diplomacy to secure for his daughters the +pledged support of the surrounding thrones. He had now by intrigues of +many years obtained the guarantee of the Pragmatic Sanction from Russia, +Prussia, Holland, Spain and England. France still refused her pledge, as +did also many of the minor States of the empire. The emperor, encouraged +by the success he had thus far met with, pushed his efforts with renewed +vigor, and in January, 1732, exulted that he had gained the guarantee of +the Pragmatic Sanction from all the Germanic body, with the exception of +Bavaria, Palatine and Saxony. + +And now a new difficulty arose to embroil Europe in trouble. When +Charles XII., like a thunderbolt of war, burst upon Poland, he drove +Augustus II. from the throne, and placed upon it Stanislaus Leczinski, a +Polish noble, whom he had picked up by the way, and whose heroic +character secured the admiration of this semi-insane monarch. Augustus, +utterly crushed, was compelled by his eccentric victor to send the crown +jewels and the archives, with a letter of congratulation, to Stanislaus. +This was in the year 1706. Three years after this, in 1709, Charles XII. +suffered a memorable defeat at Pultowa. Augustus II., then at the head +of an army, regained his kingdom, and Stanislaus fled in disguise. After +numerous adventures and fearful afflictions, the court of France offered +him a retreat in Wissembourg in Alsace. Here the ex-king remained for +six years, when his beautiful daughter Mary was selected to take the +place of the rejected Mary of Spain, as the wife of the young dauphin, +Louis XV. + +In the year 1733 Augustus II. died. In anticipation of this event +Austria had been very busy, hoping to secure the elective crown of +Poland for the son of Augustus who had inherited his father's name, and +who had promised to support the Pragmatic Sanction. France was equally +busy in the endeavor to place the scepter of Poland in the hand of +Stanislaus, father of the queen. From the time of the marriage of his +daughter with Louis XV., Stanislaus received a handsome pension from the +French treasury, maintained a court of regal splendor, and received all +the honors due to a sovereign. All the energies of the French court were +now aroused to secure the crown for Stanislaus. Russia, Prussia and +Austria were in natural sympathy. They wished to secure the alliance of +Poland, and were also both anxious to destroy the republican principle +of _electing_ rulers, and to introduce hereditary descent of the crown +in all the kingdoms of Europe. But an election by the nobles was now +indispensable, and the rival powers were, with all the arts known in +courts, pushing the claims of their several candidates. It was an +important question, for upon it depended whether warlike Poland was to +be the ally of the Austrian or of the French party. Poland was also +becoming quite republican in its tendencies, and had adopted a +constitution which greatly limited the power of the crown. Augustus +would be but a tool in the hands of Russia, Prussia and Austria, and +would cooperate with them in crushing the spirit of liberty in Poland. +These three great northern powers became so roused upon the subject, +that they put their troops in motion, threatening to exclude Stanislaus +by force. + +This language of menace and display of arms roused France. The king, +while inundating Poland with agents, and lavishing the treasure of +France in bribes to secure the election of Stanislaus, assumed an air of +virtuous indignation in view of the interference of the Austrian party, +and declared that no foreign power should interfere in any way with the +freedom of the election. This led the emperor to issue a +counter-memorial inveighing against the intermeddling of France. + +In the midst of these turmoils the congress of Polish nobles met to +choose their king. It was immediately apparent that there was a very +powerful party organized in favor of Stanislaus. The emperor was for +marching directly into the kingdom with an army which he had already +assembled in Silesia for this purpose, and with the bayonet make up for +any deficiency which his party might want in votes. Though Prussia +demurred, he put his troops in motion, and the imperial and Russian +ambassadors at Warsaw informed the marshal of the diet that Catharine, +who was now Empress of Russia, and Charles, had decided to exclude +Stanislaus from Poland by force. + +These threats produced their natural effect upon the bold warrior barons +of Poland. Exasperated rather than intimidated, they assembled, many +thousands in number, on the great plain of Wola, but a few miles from +Warsaw, and with great unanimity chose Stanislaus their king. This was +the 12th of September, 1733. Stanislaus, anticipating the result, had +left France in disguise, accompanied by a single attendant, to undertake +the bold enterprise of traversing the heart of Germany, eluding all the +vigilance of the emperor, and of entering Poland notwithstanding all the +efforts of Austria, Russia and Prussia to keep him away. It was a very +hazardous adventure, for his arrest would have proved his ruin. Though +he encountered innumerable dangers, with marvelous sagacity and heroism +he succeeded, and reached Warsaw on the 9th of September, just three +days before the election. In regal splendor he rode, as soon as informed +of his election, to the tented field where the nobles were convened. He +was received with the clashing of weapons, the explosions of artillery, +and the acclamations of thousands. + +But the Poles were not sufficiently enlightened fully to comprehend the +virtue and the sacredness of the ballot-box. The Russian army was now +hastening to the gates of Warsaw. The small minority of Polish nobles +opposed to the election of Stanislaus seceded from the diet, mounted +their horses, crossed the Vistula, and joined the invading array to make +war upon the sovereign whom the majority had chosen. The retribution for +such folly and wickedness has come. There is no longer any Poland. They +who despise the authority of the ballot-box inevitably usher in the +bayonets of despotism. Under the protection of this army the minority +held another diet at Kamien (on the 5th of October), a village just +outside the suburbs of Warsaw, and chose as the sovereign of Poland +Augustus, son of the deceased king. The minority, aided by the Russian +and imperial armies, were too strong for the majority. They took +possession of Warsaw, and crowned their candidate king, with the title +of Augustus III. Stanislaus, pressed by an overpowering force, retreated +to Dantzic, at the mouth of the Vistula, about two hundred miles from +Warsaw. Here he was surrounded by the Russian troops and held in close +siege, while Augustus III. took possession of Poland. France could do +nothing. A weary march of more than a thousand miles separated Paris +from Warsaw, and the French troops would be compelled to fight their way +through the very heart of the German empire, and at the end of the +journey to meet the united armies of Russia, Prussia, Austria and Poland +under her king, now in possession of all the fortresses. + +Though Louis XV. could make no effectual resistance, it was not in human +nature but that he should seek revenge. When shepherds quarrel, they +kill each other's flocks. When kings quarrel, they kill the poor +peasants in each other's territories, and burn their homes. France +succeeded in enlisting in her behalf Spain and Sardinia. Austria and +Russia were upon the other side. Prussia, jealous of the emperor's +greatness, declined any active participation. Most of the other powers +of Europe also remained neutral. France had now no hope of placing +Stanislaus upon the throne; she only sought revenge, determined to +humble the house of Austria. The mercenary King of Sardinia, Charles +Emanuel, was willing to serve the one who would pay the most. He first +offered himself to the emperor, but upon terms too exorbitant to be +accepted. France and Spain immediately offered him terms even more +advantageous than those he had demanded of the emperor. The contract was +settled, and the Sardinian army marched into the allied camp. + +The King of Sardinia, who was as ready to employ guile as force in +warfare, so thoroughly deceived the emperor as to lead him to believe +that he had accepted the emperor's terms, and that Sardinia was to be +allied with Austria, even when the whole contract was settled with +France and Spain, and the plan of the campaign was matured. So utterly +was the emperor deluded by a fraud so contemptible, in the view of every +honorable mind, that he sent great convoys of grain, and a large supply +of shot, shells and artillery from the arsenals of Milan into the +Sardinian camp. Charles Emanuel, dead to all sense of magnanimity, +rubbed his hands with delight in the successful perpetration of such +fraud, exclaiming, "_An virtus an dolos, quis ab hoste requirat_." + +So cunningly was this stratagem carried on, that the emperor was not +undeceived until his own artillery, which he had sent to Charles +Emanuel, were thundering at the gates of the city of Milan, and the shot +and shells which he had so unsuspectingly furnished were mowing down the +imperial troops. So sudden was the attack, so unprepared was Austrian +Lombardy to meet it, that in twelve weeks the Sardinian troops overran +the whole territory, seized every city and magazine, with all their +treasures, leaving the fortress of Mantua alone in the possession of the +imperial troops. It was the policy of Louis XV. to attack Austria in the +remote portions of her widely-extended dominions, and to cut off +province by province. He also made special and successful efforts to +detach the interests of the German empire from those of Austria, so that +the princes of the empire might claim neutrality. It was against the +possessions of Charles VI., not against the independent States of the +empire, that Louis XV. urged war. + +The storms of winter were now at hand, and both parties were compelled +to abandon the field until spring. But during the winter every nerve was +strained by the combatants in preparation for the strife which the +returning sun would introduce. The emperor established strong defenses +along the banks of the Rhine to prevent the passage of the French; he +also sent agents to all the princes of the empire to enlist them in his +cause, and succeeded, notwithstanding the remonstrances of many who +claimed neutrality, in obtaining a vote from a diet which he assembled, +for a large sum of money, and for an army of one hundred and twenty +thousand men. + +The loss of Lombardy troubled Charles exceedingly, for it threatened the +loss of all his Italian possessions. Notwithstanding the severity of the +winter he sent to Mantua all the troops he could raise from his +hereditary domains; and ordered every possible effort to be made to be +prepared to undertake the offensive in the spring, and to drive the +Sardinians from Lombardy. In the beginning of May the emperor had +assembled within and around Mantua, sixty thousand men, under the +command of Count Merci. The hostile forces soon met, and battle after +battle thundered over the Italian plains. On the 29th of June the two +armies encountered each other in the vicinity of Parma, in such numbers +as to give promise of a decisive battle. For ten hours the demoniac +storm raged unintermitted. Ten thousand of the dead covered the ground. +Neither party had taken a single standard or a single prisoner, an event +almost unparalleled in the history of battles. From the utter exhaustion +of both parties the strife ceased. The Sardinians and French, mangled +and bleeding, retired within the walls of Parma. The Austrians, equally +bruised and bloody, having lost their leader, retired to Reggio. Three +hundred and forty of the Austrian officers were either killed or +wounded. + +The King of Sardinia was absent during this engagement, having gone to +Turin to visit his wife, who was sick. The morning after the battle, +however, he joined the army, and succeeded in cutting off an Austrian +division of twelve hundred men, whom he took prisoners. Both parties now +waited for a time to heal their wounds, repair their shattered weapons, +get rested and receive reinforcements. Ten thousand poor peasants, who +had not the slightest interest in the quarrel, had now met with a bloody +death, and other thousands were now to be brought forward and offered as +victims on this altar of kingly ambition. By the middle of July they +were again prepared to take the field. Both parties struggled with +almost superhuman energies in the work of mutual destruction; villages +were burned, cities stormed, fields crimsoned with blood and strewn with +the slain, while no decisive advantage was gained. In the desperation of +the strife the hostile battalions were hurled against each other until +the beginning of January. They waded morasses, slept in drenching +storms, and were swept by freezing blasts. Sickness entered the camp, +and was even more fatal than the bullet of the foe. Thousands moaned and +died in their misery, upon pallets of straw, where no sister, wife or +mother could soothe the dying anguish. Another winter only afforded the +combatants opportunity to nurse their strength that they might deal +still heavier blows in another campaign. + +While the imperial troops were struggling against Sardinia and France on +the plains of Lombardy, a Spanish squadron landed a strong military +force of French and Spaniards upon the peninsula of southern Italy, and +meeting with no force sufficiently powerful to oppose them, speedily +overran Naples and Sicily. The Spanish troops silenced the forts which +defended the city of Naples, and taking the garrison prisoners, entered +the metropolis in triumphal array, greeted by the acclamations of the +populace, who hated the Austrians. After many battles, in which +thousands were slain, the Austrians were driven out of all the +Neapolitan States, and Carlos, the oldest son of Philip V. of Spain, was +crowned King of Naples, with the title of Charles III. The island of +Sicily was speedily subjugated and also attached to the Neapolitan +crown. + +These losses the emperor felt most keenly. Upon the Rhine he had made +great preparations, strengthening fortresses and collecting troops, +which he placed under the command of his veteran general, Prince Eugene. +He was quite sanguine that here he would be abundantly able to repel the +assaults of his foes. But here again he was doomed to bitter +disappointment. The emperor found a vast disproportion between promise +and performance. The diet had voted him one hundred and twenty thousand +troops; they furnished twelve thousand. They voted abundant supplies; +they furnished almost none at all. + +The campaign opened the 9th of April, 1734, the French crossing the +Rhine near Truerbuch, in three strong columns, notwithstanding all the +efforts of the Austrians to resist them. Prince Eugene, by birth a +Frenchman, reluctantly assumed the command. He had remonstrated with the +emperor against any forcible interference in the Polish election, +assuring him that he would thus expose himself, almost without allies, +to all the power of France. Eugene did not hesitate openly to express +his disapprobation of the war. "I can take no interest in this war," he +said; "the question at issue is not important enough to authorize the +death of a chicken." + +Eugene, upon his arrival from Vienna, at the Austrian camp, found but +twenty-five thousand men. They were composed of a motley assemblage from +different States, undisciplined, unaccustomed to act together and with +no confidence in each other. The commanders of the various corps were +quarreling for the precedence in rank, and there was no unity or +subordination in the army. They were retreating before the French, who, +in numbers, in discipline, and in the materiel of war, were vastly in +the superiority. Eugene saw at once that it would be folly to risk a +battle, and that all he could hope to accomplish was to throw such +embarrassments as he might in the path of the victors. + +The young officers, ignorant, impetuous and reckless, were for giving +battle, which would inevitably have resulted in the destruction of the +army. They were so vexed by the wise caution of Eugene, which they +regarded as pusillanimity, that they complained to the emperor that the +veteran general was in his dotage, that he was broken both in body and +mind, and quite unfit to command the army. These representations induced +the emperor to send a spy to watch the conduct of Eugene. Though deeply +wounded by these suspicions, the experienced general could not be +provoked to hazard an engagement. He retreated from post to post, merely +checking the progress of the enemy, till the campaign was over, and the +ice and snow of a German winter drove all to winter quarters. + +While recruiting for the campaign of 1735, Prince Eugene wrote a series +of most earnest letters to his confidential agent in London, which +letters were laid before George II., urging England to come to the help +of the emperor in his great extremity. Though George was eager to put +the fleet and army of England in motion, the British cabinet wisely +refused to plunge the nation into war for such a cause, and the emperor +was left to reap the bitter fruit of his despotism and folly. The +emperor endeavored to frighten England by saying that he was reduced to +such an extremity that if the British cabinet did not give him aid, he +should be compelled to seek peace by giving his daughter, with Austria +in her hand as her dowry, to Carlos, now King of Naples and heir +apparent to the crown of Spain. He well knew that to prevent such an +acquisition of power on the part of the Spanish monarch, who was also in +intimate alliance with France, England would be ready to expend any +amount of blood and treasure. + +Charles VI. waited with great impatience to see the result of this +menace, hardly doubting that it would bring England immediately to +terms. Bitter was his disappointment and his despair when he received +from the court of St. James the calm reply, that England could not +possibly take a part in this war, and that in view of the great +embarrassments in which the emperor was involved, England would take no +offense in case of the marriage of the emperor's second daughter to +Carlos. England then advised the emperor to make peace by surrendering +the Netherlands. + +The emperor was now greatly enraged, and inveighed bitterly against +England as guilty of the grossest perfidy. He declared that England had +been as deeply interested as he was in excluding Stanislaus from the +throne of Poland; that it was more important for England than for +Austria to curb the exorbitant power of France; that in every step he +had taken against Stanislaus, he had consulted England, and had acted in +accordance with her counsel; that England was reaping the benefit of +having the father-in-law of the French king expelled from the Polish +throne; that England had solemnly promised to support him in these +measures, and now having derived all the advantage, basely abandoned +him. There were bitter charges, and it has never been denied that they +were mainly true. The emperor, in his indignation, threatened to tell +the whole story to the _people_ of England. It is strange that the +emperor had found out that there were _people_ in England. In no other +part of Europe was there any thing but _nobles_ and _peasants_. + +In this extraordinary letter, addressed to Count Kinsky, the imperial +ambassador in London, the emperor wrote: + +"On the death of Augustus II., King of Poland, my first care was to +communicate to the King of England the principles on which I acted. I +followed, in every instance, his advice.... England has never failed to +give me promises, both before and since the commencement of the war, but +instead of fulfilling those promises, she has even favored my +enemies.... Let the king know that I never will consent to the plan of +pacification now in agitation; that I had rather suffer the worst of +extremities than accede to such disadvantageous proposals, and that even +if I should not be able to prevent them, I will justify my honor and my +dignity, by publishing a circumstantial account of all the transaction, +together with all the documents which I have now in possession.... If +these representations fail, means must be taken to publish and circulate +throughout England our answer to the proposal of good offices which was +not made till after the expiration of nine months. Should the court of +London proceed so far as to make such propositions of peace as are +supposed to be in agitation, you will not delay a moment to circulate +throughout England a memorial, containing a recapitulation of all +negotiations which have taken place since 1710, together with the +authentic documents, detailing my just complaints, and reclaiming, in +the most solemn manner, the execution of the guaranties." + +One more effort the emperor made, and it was indeed a desperate one. He +dispatched a secret agent, an English Roman Catholic, by the name of +Strickland, to London, to endeavor to overthrow the ministry and bring +in a cabinet in favor of him. In this, of course, he failed entirely. +Nothing now remained for him but to submit, with the best grace he +could, to the terms exacted by his foes. In the general pacification +great interests were at stake, and all the leading powers of Europe +demanded a voice in the proceedings. For many months the negotiations +were protracted. England and France became involved in an angry dispute. +Each power was endeavoring to grasp all it could, while at the same time +it was striving to check the rapacity of every other power. There was a +general armistice while these negotiations were pending. It was, +however, found exceedingly difficult to reconcile all conflicting +interests. New parties were formed; new combinations entered into, and +all parties began to aim for a renewal of the strife. England, +exasperated against France, in menace made an imposing display of her +fleet and navy. The emperor was delighted, and, trusting to gain new +allies, exerted his skill of diplomacy to involve the contracting +parties in confusion and discord. + +Thus encouraged, the emperor refused to accede to the terms demanded. He +was required to give up the Netherlands, and all his foreign +possessions, and to retire to his hereditary dominions. "What a severe +sentence," exclaimed Count Zinzendorf, the emperor's ambassador, "have +you passed on the emperor. No malefactor was ever carried with so hard a +doom to the gibbet." + +The armies again took the field. Eugene, again, though with great +reluctance, assumed the command of the imperial forces. France had +assembled one hundred thousand men upon the Rhine. Eugene had but thirty +thousand men to meet them. He assured the emperor that with such a force +he could not successfully carry on the war. Jealous of his reputation, +he said, sadly, "to find myself in the same condition as last year, will +be only exposing myself to the censure of the world, which judges by +appearance, as if I were less capable, in my old age, to support the +reputation of my former successes." With consummate generalship, this +small force held the whole French army in check. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +CHARLES VI. AND THE TURKISH WAR RENEWED. + +From 1735 to 1730. + +Anxiety Of Austrian Office-Holders.--Maria Theresa.--The Duke Of +Lorraine.--Distraction Of The Emperor.--Tuscany Assigned To The Duke Of +Lorraine.--Death Of Eugene.--Rising Greatness Of Russia.--New War With +The Turks.--Condition Of The Army.--Commencement Of Hostilities.-- +Capture Of Nissa.--Inefficient Campaign.--Disgrace Of Seckendorf.--The +Duke Of Lorraine Placed In Command.--Siege Of Orsova.--Belgrade Besieged +By The Turks.--The Third Campaign.--Battle Of Crotzka.--Defeat Of The +Austrians.--Consternation In Vienna.--Barbarism Of The Turks.--The +Surrender Of Belgrade. + + +The emperor being quite unable, either on the Rhine or in Italy, +successfully to compete with his foes, received blow after blow, which +exceedingly disheartened him. His affairs were in a desperate condition, +and, to add to his grief, dissensions filled his cabinet; his +counsellors mutually accusing each other of being the cause of the +impending ruin. The Italian possessions of the emperor had been thronged +with Austrian nobles, filling all the posts of office and of honor, and +receiving rich salaries. A change of administration, in the transference +of these States to the dominion of Spain and Sardinia, "reformed" all +these Austrian office-holders out of their places, and conferred these +posts upon Spaniards and Sardinians. The ejected Austrian nobles crowded +the court of the emperor, with the most passionate importunities that he +would enter into a separate accommodation with Spain, and secure the +restoration of the Italian provinces by giving his eldest daughter, +Maria Theresa, to the Spanish prince, Carlos. This would seem to be a +very simple arrangement, especially since the Queen of Spain so +earnestly desired this match, that she was willing to make almost any +sacrifice for its accomplishment. But there was an inseparable obstacle +in the way of any such arrangement. + +Maria Theresa had just attained her eighteenth year. She was a young +lady of extraordinary force of character, and of an imperial spirit; and +she had not the slightest idea of having her person disposed of as a +mere make-weight in the diplomacy of Europe. She knew that the crown of +Austria was soon to be hers; she understood the weakness of her father, +and was well aware that she was far more capable of wearing that crown +than he had ever been; and she was already far more disposed to take the +reins of government from her father's hand, than she was to submit +herself to his control. With such a character, and such anticipations, +she had become passionately attached to the young Duke of Lorraine, who +was eight years her senior, and who had for some years been one of the +most brilliant ornaments of her father's court. + +The duchy of Lorraine was one of the most extensive and opulent of the +minor States of the German empire. Admirably situated upon the Rhine and +the Meuse, and extending to the sea, it embraced over ten thousand +square miles, and contained a population of over a million and a half. +The duke, Francis Stephen, was the heir of an illustrious line, whose +lineage could be traced for many centuries. Germany, France and Spain, +united, had not sufficient power to induce Maria Theresa to reject +Francis Stephen, the grandson of her father's sister, the playmate of +her childhood, and now her devoted lover, heroic and fascinating, for +the Spanish Carlos, of whom she knew little, and for whom she cared +less. Ambition also powerfully operated on the very peculiar mind of +Maria Theresa. She had much of the exacting spirit of Elizabeth, +England's maiden queen, and was emulous of supremacy which no one would +share. She, in her own right, was to inherit the crown of Austria, and +Francis Stephen, high-born and noble as he was, and her recognized +husband, would still be her subject. She could confer upon him dignity +and power, retaining a supremacy which even he could never reach. + +The emperor was fully aware of the attachment of his daughter to +Francis, of her inflexible character; and even when pretending to +negotiate for her marriage with Carlos, he was conscious that it was all +a mere pretense, and that the union could never be effected. The British +minister at Vienna saw very clearly the true state of affairs, and when +the emperor was endeavoring to intimidate England by the menace that he +would unite the crowns of Spain and Austria by uniting Maria and Carlos, +the minister wrote to his home government as follows: + +"Maria Theresa is a princess of the highest spirit; her father's losses +are her own. She reasons already; she enters into affairs; she admires +his virtues, but condemns his mismanagement; and is of a temper so +formed for rule and ambition, as to look upon him as little more than +her administrator. Notwithstanding this lofty humor by day, she sighs +and pines all night for her Duke of Lorraine. If she sleeps, it is only +to dream of him; if she wakes, it is but to talk of him to the lady in +waiting; so that there is no more probability of her forgetting the very +individual government, and the very individual husband which she thinks +herself born to, than of her forgiving the authors of her losing +either." + +The empress was cordially cooeperating with her daughter. The emperor was +in a state of utter distraction. His affairs were fast going to ruin; he +was harassed by counter intreaties; he knew not which way to turn, or +what to do. Insupportable gloom oppressed his spirit. Pale and haggard, +he wandered through the rooms of his palace, the image of woe. At night +he tossed sleepless upon his bed, moaning in anguish which he then did +not attempt to conceal, and giving free utterance to all the mental +tortures which were goading him to madness. The queen became seriously +alarmed lest his reason should break down beneath such a weight of woe. +It was clear that neither reason nor life could long withstand such a +struggle. + +Thus in despair, the emperor made proposals for a secret and separate +accommodation with France. Louis XV. promptly listened, and offered +terms, appallingly definite, and cruel enough to extort the last drop of +blood from the emperor's sinking heart. "Give me," said the French king, +"the duchy of Lorraine, and I will withdraw my armies, and leave Austria +to make the best terms she can with Spain." + +How could the emperor wrest from his prospective son-in-law his +magnificent ancestral inheritance? The duke could not hold his realms +for an hour against the armies of France, should the emperor consent to +their surrender; and conscious of the desperation to which the emperor +was driven, and of his helplessness, he was himself plunged into the +deepest dismay and anguish. He held an interview with the British +minister to see if it were not possible that England might interpose her +aid in his behalf. In frantic grief he lost his self control, and, +throwing himself into a chair, pressed his brow convulsively, and +exclaimed, "Great God! will not England help me? Has not his majesty +with his own lips, over and over again, promised to stand by me?" + +The French armies were advancing; shot and shell were falling upon +village and city; fortress after fortress was surrendering. "Give me +Lorraine," repeated Louis XV., persistently, "or I will take all +Austria." There was no alternative but for the emperor to drink to the +dregs the bitter cup which his own hand had mingled. He surrendered +Lorraine to France. He, however, succeeded in obtaining some slight +compensation for the defrauded duke. The French court allowed him a +pension of ninety thousand dollars a year, until the death of the aged +Duke of Tuscany, who was the last of the Medici line, promising that +then Tuscany, one of the most important duchies of central Italy, should +pass into the hands of Francis. Should Sardinia offer any opposition, +the King of France promised to unite with the emperor in maintaining +Francis in his possession by force of arms. Peace was thus obtained with +France. Peace was then made with Spain and Sardinia, by surrendering to +Spain Naples and Sicily, and to Sardinia most of the other Austrian +provinces in Italy. Thus scourged and despoiled, the emperor, a humbled, +woe-stricken man, retreated to the seclusion of his palace. + +While these affairs were in progress, Francis Stephen derived very +considerable solace by his marriage with Maria Theresa. Their nuptials +took place at Vienna on the 12th of February, 1736. The emperor made the +consent of the duke to the cession of Lorraine to France, a condition of +the marriage. As the duke struggled against the surrender of his +paternal domains, Cartenstein, the emperor's confidential minister, +insultingly said to him, "Monseigneur, point de cession, point +d'archiduchesse." _My lord, no cession, no archduchess._ Fortunately for +Francis, in about a year after his marriage the Duke of Tuscany died, +and Francis, with his bride, hastened to his new home in the palaces of +Leghorn. Though the duke mourned bitterly over the loss of his ancestral +domains, Tuscany was no mean inheritance. The duke was absolute monarch +of the duchy, which contained about eight thousand square miles and a +population of a million. The revenues of the archduchy were some four +millions of dollars. The army consisted of six thousand troops. + +Two months after the marriage of Maria Theresa, Prince Eugene died +quietly in his bed at the age of seventy-three. He had passed his whole +lifetime riding over fields of battle swept by bullets and plowed by +shot. He had always exposed his own person with utter recklessness, +leading the charge, and being the first to enter the breach or climb the +rampart. Though often wounded, he escaped all these perils, and breathed +his last in peace upon his pillow in Vienna. + +His funeral was attended with regal honors. For three days the corpse +lay in state, with the coat of mail, the helmet and the gauntlets which +the warrior had worn in so many fierce battles, suspended over his +lifeless remains. His heart was sent in an urn to be deposited in the +royal tomb where his ancestors slumbered. His embalmed body was interred +in the metropolitan church in Vienna. The emperor and all the court +attended the funeral, and his remains were borne to the grave with +honors rarely conferred upon any but crowned heads. + +The Ottoman power had now passed its culminating point, and was +evidently on the wane. The Russian empire was beginning to arrest the +attention of Europe, and was ambitious of making its voice heard in the +diplomacy of the European monarchies. Being destitute of any sea coast, +it was excluded from all commercial intercourse with foreign nations, +and in its cold, northern realm, "leaning," as Napoleon once said, +"against the North Pole," seemed to be shut up to barbarism. It had been +a leading object of the ambition of Peter the Great to secure a maritime +port for his kingdom. He at first attempted a naval depot on his extreme +southern border, at the mouth of the Don, on the sea of Azof. This would +open to him the commerce of the Mediterranean through the Azof, the +Euxine and the Marmora. But the assailing Turks drove him from these +shores, and he was compelled to surrender the fortresses he had +commenced to their arms. He then turned to his western frontier, and, +with an incredible expenditure of money and sacrifice of life, reared +upon the marshes of the Baltic the imperial city of St. Petersburg. +Peter I. died in 1725, leaving the crown to his wife Catharine. She, +however, survived him but two years, when she died, in 1727, leaving two +daughters. The crown then passed to the grandson of Peter I., a boy of +thirteen. In three years he died of the small-pox. Anna, the daughter of +the oldest brother of Peter I., now ascended the throne, and reigned, +through her favorites, with relentless rigor. + +It was one of the first objects of Anna's ambition to secure a harbor +for maritime commerce in the more sunny climes of southern Europe. St. +Petersburg, far away upon the frozen shores of the Baltic, where the +harbor was shut up with ice for five months in the year, presented but a +cheerless prospect for the formation of a merchant marine. She +accordingly revived the original project of Peter the Great, and waged +war with the Turks to recover the lost province on the shores of the +Euxine. Russia had been mainly instrumental in placing Augustus II. on +the throne of Poland; Anna was consequently sure of his sympathy and +cooeperation. She also sent to Austria to secure the alliance of the +emperor. Charles VI., though his army was in a state of decay and his +treasury empty, eagerly embarked in the enterprise. He was in a +continued state of apprehension from the threatened invasion of the +Turks. He hoped also, aided by the powerful arm of Russia, to be able to +gain territories in the east which would afford some compensation for +his enormous losses in the south and in the west. + +While negotiations were pending, the Russian armies were already on the +march. They took Azof after a siege of but a fortnight, and then overran +and took possession of the whole Crimea, driving the Turks before them. +Charles VI. was a very scrupulous Roman Catholic, and was animated to +the strife by the declaration of his confessor that it was his duty, as +a Christian prince, to aid in extirpating the enemies of the Church of +Christ. The Turks were greatly alarmed by these successes of the +Russians, and by the formidable preparations of the other powers allied +against them. + +The emperor hoped that fortune, so long adverse, was now turning in his +favor. He collected a large force on the frontiers of Turkey, and +intrusted the command to General Seckendorf. The general hastened into +Hungary to the rendezvous of the troops. He found the army in a +deplorable condition. The treasury being exhausted, they were but poorly +supplied with the necessaries of war, and the generals and contractors +had contrived to appropriate to themselves most of the funds which had +been furnished. The general wrote to the emperor, presenting a +lamentable picture of the destitution of the army. + +"I can not," he said, "consistently with my duty to God and the emperor, +conceal the miserable condition of the barracks and the hospitals. The +troops, crowded together without sufficient bedding to cover them, are a +prey to innumerable disorders, and are exposed to the rain, and other +inclemencies of the weather, from the dilapidated state of the caserns, +the roofs of which are in perpetual danger of being overthrown by the +wind. All the frontier fortresses, and even Belgrade, are incapable of +the smallest resistance, as well from the dilapidated state of the +fortifications as from a total want of artillery, ammunition and other +requisites. The naval armament is in a state of irreparable disorder. +Some companies of my regiment of Belgrade are thrust into holes where a +man would not put even his favorite hounds; and I can not see the +situation of these miserable and half-starved wretches without tears. +These melancholy circumstances portend the loss of these fine kingdoms +with the same rapidity as that of the States of Italy." + +The bold Commander-in-chief also declared that many of the generals were +so utterly incapable of discharging their duties, that nothing could be +anticipated, under their guidance, but defeat and ruin. He complained +that the governors of those distant provinces, quite neglecting the +responsibilities of their offices, were spending their time in hunting +and other trivial amusements. These remonstrances roused the emperor, +and decisive reforms were undertaken. The main plan of the campaign was +for the Russians, who were already on the shores of the Black sea, to +press on to the mouth of the Danube, and then to march up the stream. +The Austrians were to follow down the Danube to the Turkish province of +Wallachia, and then, marching through the heart of that province, either +effect a junction with the Russians, or inclose the Turks between the +two armies. At the same time a large Austrian force, marching through +Bosnia and Servia, and driving the Turks out, were to take military +possession of those countries and join the main army in its union on the +lower Danube. + +Matters being thus arranged, General Seckendorf took the command of the +Austrian troops, with the assurance that he should be furnished with one +hundred and twenty-six thousand men, provided with all the implements of +war, and that he should receive a monthly remittance of one million two +hundred thousand dollars for the pay of the troops. The emperor, +however, found it much easier to make promises than to fulfill them. The +month of August had already arrived and Seckendorf, notwithstanding his +most strenuous exertions, had assembled at Belgrade but thirty thousand +infantry and fifteen thousand cavalry. The Turks, with extraordinary +energy, had raised a much more formidable and a better equipped army. +Just as Seckendorf was commencing his march, having minutely arranged +all the stages of the campaign, to his surprise and indignation he +received orders to leave the valley of the Danube and march directly +south about one hundred and fifty miles into the heart of Servia, and +lay siege to the fortress of Nissa. The whole plan of the campaign was +thus frustrated. Magazines, at great expense, had been established, and +arrangements made for floating the heavy baggage down the stream. Now +the troops were to march through morasses and over mountains, without +suitable baggage wagons, and with no means of supplying themselves with +provisions in so hostile and inhospitable a country. + +But the command of the emperor was not to be disobeyed. For twenty-eight +days they toiled along, encountering innumerable impediments, many +perishing by the way, until they arrived, in a state of extreme +exhaustion and destitution, before the walls of Nissa. Fortunately the +city was entirely unprepared for an attack, which had not been at all +anticipated, and the garrison speedily surrendered. Here Seckendorf, +having dispatched parties to seize the neighboring fortress, and the +passes of the mountains, waited for further orders from Vienna. The army +were so dissatisfied with their position and their hardships, that they +at last almost rose in mutiny, and Seckendorf, having accomplished +nothing of any moment, was compelled to retrace his steps to the banks +of the Danube, where he arrived on the 16th of October. Thus the +campaign was a total failure. + +Bitter complaints were uttered both by the army and the nation. The +emperor, with the characteristic injustice of an ignoble mind, +attributed the unfortunate campaign to the incapacity of Seckendorf, +whose judicious plans he had so ruthlessly thwarted. The heroic general +was immediately disgraced and recalled, and the command of the army +given to General Philippi. The friends of General Seckendorf, aware of +his peril, urged him to seek safety in flight. But he, emboldened by +conscious innocence, obeyed the imperial commands and repaired to +Vienna. Seckendorf was a Protestant. His appointment to the supreme +command gave great offense to the Catholics, and the priests, from their +pulpits, inveighed loudly against him as a heretic, whom God could not +bless. They arraigned his appointment as impious, and declared that, in +consequence, nothing was to be expected but divine indignation. +Immediately upon his arrival in Vienna the emperor ordered his arrest. A +strong guard was placed over him, in his own house, and articles of +impeachment were drawn up against him. His doom was sealed. Every +misadventure was attributed to negligence, cupidity or treachery. He +could offer no defense which would be of any avail, for he was not +permitted to exhibit the orders he had received from the emperor, lest +the emperor himself should be proved guilty of those disasters which he +was thus dishonorably endeavoring to throw upon another. The unhappy +Seckendorf, thus made the victim of the faults of others, was condemned +to the dungeon. He was sent to imprisonment in the castle of Glatz, +where he lingered in captivity for many years until the death of the +emperor. + +Charles now, in accordance with the clamor of the priests, removed all +Protestants from command in the army and supplied their places with +Catholics. The Duke of Lorraine, who had recently married Maria Theresa, +was appointed generalissimo. But as the duke was young, inexperienced in +war, and, as yet, had displayed none of that peculiar talent requisite +for the guidance of armies, the emperor placed next to him, as the +acting commander, Marshal Konigsegg. The emperor also gave orders that +every important movement should be directed by a council of war, and +that in case of a tie the casting vote should be given, not by the Duke +of Lorraine, but by the veteran commander Konigsegg. The duke was an +exceedingly amiable man, of very courtly manners and winning address. He +was scholarly in his tastes, and not at all fond of the hardships of +war, with its exposure, fatigue and butchery. Though a man of perhaps +more than ordinary intellectual power, he was easily depressed by +adversity, and not calculated to brave the fierce storms of disaster. + +Early in March the Turks opened the campaign by sending an army of +twenty thousand men to besiege Orsova, an important fortress on an +island of the Danube, about one hundred miles below Belgrade. They +planted their batteries upon both the northern and the southern banks of +the Danube, and opened a storm of shot and shell upon the fortress. The +Duke of Lorraine hastened to the relief of the important post, which +quite commanded that portion of the stream. The imperial troops pressed +on until they arrived within a few miles of the fortress. The Turks +marched to meet them, and plunged into their camp with great fierceness. +After a short but desperate conflict, the Turks were repulsed, and +retreating in a panic, they broke up their camp before the walls of +Orsova and retired. + +This slight success, after so many disasters, caused immense exultation. +The Duke of Lorraine was lauded as one of the greatest generals of the +age. The pulpits rang with his praises, and it was announced that now, +that the troops were placed under a true child of the Church, Providence +might be expected to smile. Soon, however, the imperial army, while +incautiously passing through a defile, was assailed by a strong force of +the Turks, and compelled to retreat, having lost three thousand men. The +Turks resumed the siege of Orsova; and the Duke of Lorraine, quite +disheartened, returned to Vienna, leaving the command of the army to +Konigsegg. The Turks soon captured the fortress, and then, ascending the +river, drove the imperial troops before them to Belgrade. The Turks +invested the city, and the beleaguered troops were rapidly swept away by +famine and pestilence. The imperial cavalry, crossing the Save, rapidly +continued their retreat. Konigsegg was now recalled in disgrace, as +incapable of conducting the war, and the command was given to General +Kevenhuller. He was equally unsuccessful in resisting the foe; and, +after a series of indecisive battles, the storms of November drove both +parties to winter quarters, and another campaign was finished. The +Russians had also fought some fierce battles; but their campaign was as +ineffective as that of the Austrians. + +The court of Vienna was now in a state of utter confusion. There was no +leading mind to assume any authority, and there was irremediable +discordance of counsel. The Duke of Lorraine was in hopeless disgrace; +even the emperor assenting to the universal cry against him. In a state +almost of distraction the emperor exclaimed, "Is the fortune of my +empire departed with Eugene?" The disgraceful retreat to Belgrade seemed +to haunt him day and night; and he repeated again and again to himself, +as he paced the floor of his apartment, "that unfortunate, that fatal +retreat." Disasters had been so rapidly accumulating upon him, that he +feared for every thing. He expressed the greatest anxiety lest his +daughter, Maria Theresa, who was to succeed him upon the throne, might +be intercepted, in the case of his sudden death, from returning to +Austria, and excluded from the throne. The emperor was in a state of +mind nearly bordering upon insanity. + +At length the sun of another spring returned, the spring of 1739, and +the recruited armies were prepared again to take the field. The emperor +placed a new commander, Marshal Wallis, in command of the Austrian +troops. He was a man of ability, but overbearing and morose, being +described by a contemporary as one who hated everybody, and who was +hated by everybody in return. Fifty miles north of Belgrade, on the +south bank of the Danube, is the fortified town of Peterwardein, so +called as the rendezvous where Peter the Hermit marshaled the soldiers +of the first crusade. This fortress had long been esteemed one of the +strongest of the Austrian empire. It was appointed as the rendezvous of +the imperial troops, and all the energies of the now exhausted empire +were expended in gathering there as large a force as possible. But, +notwithstanding the utmost efforts, in May but thirty thousand men were +assembled, and these but very poorly provided with the costly +necessaries of war. Another auxiliary force of ten thousand men was +collected at Temeswar, a strong fortress twenty-five miles north of +Peterwardein. With these forces Wallis was making preparations to +attempt to recover Orsova from the Turks, when he received positive +orders to engage the enemy with his whole force on the first +opportunity. + +The army marched down the banks of the river, conveying its baggage and +heavy artillery in a flotilla to Belgrade, where it arrived on the 11th +of June. Here they were informed that the Turkish army was about twenty +miles below on the river at Crotzka. The imperial army was immediately +pressed forward, in accordance with the emperor's orders, to attack the +foe. The Turks were strongly posted, and far exceeded the Austrians in +number. At five o'clock on the morning of the 21st of July the battle +commenced, and blazed fiercely through all the hours of the day until +the sun went down. Seven thousand Austrians were then dead upon the +plain. The Turks were preparing to renew the conflict in the morning, +when Wallis ordered a retreat, which was securely effected during the +darkness of the night. On the ensuing day the Turks pursued them to the +walls of Belgrade, and, driving them across the river, opened the fire +of their batteries upon the city. The Turks commenced the siege in form, +and were so powerful, that Wallis could do nothing to retard their +operations. A breach was ere long made in one of the bastions; an +assault was hourly expected which the garrison was in no condition to +repel. Wallis sent word to the emperor that the surrender of Belgrade +was inevitable; that it was necessary immediately to retreat to +Peterwardein, and that the Turks, flushed with victory, might soon be at +the gates of Vienna. + +Great was the consternation which pervaded the court and the capital +upon the reception of these tidings. The ministers all began to +criminate each other. The general voice clamored for peace upon almost +any terms. The emperor alone remained firm. He dispatched another +officer, General Schmettan, to hasten with all expedition to the +imperial camp, and prevent, if possible, the impending disaster. He +earnestly pressed the hand of the general as he took his leave, and +said-- + +"Use the utmost diligence to arrive before the retreat of the army; +assume the defense of Belgrade, and save it, if not too late, from +falling into the hands of the enemy." + +The energy of Schmettan arrested the retreat of Wallis, and revived the +desponding hopes of the garrison of Belgrade. Bastion after bastion was +recovered. The Turks were driven back from the advance posts they had +occupied. A new spirit animated the whole Austrian army, and from the +depths of despair they were rising to sanguine hopes of victory, when +the stunning news arrived that the emperor had sent an envoy to the +Turkish camp, and had obtained peace by the surrender of Belgrade. Count +Neuperg having received full powers from the emperor to treat, very +imprudently entered the camp of the barbaric Turk, without requiring any +hostages for his safety. The barbarians, regardless of the flag of +truce, and of all the rules of civilized warfare, arrested Count +Neuperg, and put him under guard. He was then conducted into the +presence of the grand vizier, who was arrayed in state, surrounded by +his bashaws. The grand vizier haughtily demanded the terms Neuperg was +authorized to offer. + +"The emperor, my master," said Neuperg, "has intrusted me with full +powers to negotiate a peace, and is willing, for the sake of peace, to +cede the province of Wallachia to Turkey provided the fortress of Orsova +be dismantled." + +The grand vizier rose, came forward, and deliberately spit in the face +of the Count Neuperg, and exclaimed, + +"Infidel dog! thou provest thyself a spy, with all thy powers. Since +thou hast brought no letter from the Vizier Wallis, and hast concealed +his offer to surrender Belgrade, thou shalt be sent to Constantinople to +receive the punishment thou deservest." + +Count Neuperg, after this insult, was conducted into close confinement. +The French ambassador, Villeneuve, now arrived. He had adopted the +precaution of obtaining hostages before intrusting himself in the hands +of the Turks. The grand vizier would not listen to any terms of +accommodation but upon the basis of the surrender of Belgrade. The Turks +carried their point in every thing. The emperor surrendered Belgrade, +relinquished to them Orsova, agreed to demolish all the fortresses of +his own province of Media, and ceded to Turkey Servia and various other +contiguous districts. It was a humiliating treaty for Austria. Already +despoiled in Italy and on the Rhine, the emperor was now compelled to +abandon to the Turks extensive territories and important fortresses upon +the lower Danube. + +General Schmettan, totally unconscious of these proceedings, was +conducting the defense of Belgrade with great vigor and with great +success, when he was astounded by the arrival of a courier in his camp, +presenting to him the following laconic note from Count Neuperg: + +"Peace was signed this morning between the emperor, our master, and the +Porte. Let hostilities cease, therefore, on the receipt of this. In half +an hour I shall follow, and announce the particulars myself." + +General Schmettan could hardly repress his indignation, and, when Count +Neuperg arrived, intreated that the surrender of Belgrade might be +postponed until the terms had been sent to the emperor for his +ratification. But Neuperg would listen to no such suggestions, and, +indignant that any obstacle should be thrown in the way of the +fulfillment of the treaty, menacingly said, + +"If you choose to disobey the orders of the emperor, and to delay the +execution of the article relative to Belgrade, I will instantly dispatch +a courier to Vienna, and charge you with all the misfortunes which may +result. I had great difficulty in diverting the grand vizier from the +demand of Sirmia, Sclavonia and the bannat of Temeswar; and when I have +dispatched a courier, I will return into the Turkish camp and protest +against this violation of the treaty." + +General Schmettan was compelled to yield. Eight hundred janissaries took +possession of one of the gates of the city; and the Turkish officers +rode triumphantly into the streets, waving before them in defiance the +banners they had taken at Crotzka. The new fortifications were blown up, +and the imperial army, in grief and shame, retired up the river to +Peterwardein. They had hardly evacuated the city ere Count Neuperg, to +his inexpressible mortification, received a letter from the emperor +stating that nothing could reconcile him to the idea of surrendering +Belgrade but the conviction that its defense was utterly hopeless; but +that learning that this was by no means the case, he intreated him on no +account to think of the surrender of the city. To add to the chagrin of +the count, he also ascertained, at the same time, that the Turks were in +such a deplorable condition that they were just on the point of +retreating, and would gladly have purchased peace at almost any +sacrifice. A little more diplomatic skill might have wrested from the +Turks even a larger extent of territory than the emperor had so +foolishly surrendered to them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +MARIA THERESA. + +From 1739 to 1741. + +Anguish of the King.--Letter to the Queen of Russia.--The imperial +Circular.--Deplorable Condition of Austria.--Death of Charles +VI.--Accession of Maria Theresa.--Vigorous Measures of the Queen.--Claim +of the Duke of Bavaria.--Responses from the Courts.--Coldness of the +French Court.--Frederic of Russia.--His Invasion of Silesia.--March of +the Austrians.--Battle of Molnitz.--Firmness of Maria Theresa.--Proposed +Division of Plunder.--Villainy of Frederic.--Interview with the +King.--Character of Frederic.--Commencement of the General Invasion. + + +Every intelligent man in Austria felt degraded by the peace which had +been made with the Turks. The tidings were received throughout the ranks +of the army with a general outburst of grief and indignation. The troops +intreated their officers to lead them against the foe, declaring that +they would speedily drive the Turks from Belgrade, which had been so +ignominiously surrendered. The populace of Vienna rose in insurrection, +and would have torn down the houses of the ministers who had recommended +the peace but for the interposition of the military. The emperor was +almost beside himself with anguish. He could not appease the clamors of +the nation. He was also in alliance with Russia, and knew not how to +meet the reproaches of the court of St. Petersburg for having so +needlessly surrendered the most important fortress on the Turkish +frontier. In an interview which he held with the Russian ambassador his +embarrassment was painful to witness. To the Queen of Russia he wrote in +terms expressive of the extreme agony of his mind, and, with +characteristic want of magnanimity cast the blame of the very measures +he had ordered upon the agents who had merely executed his will. + +"While I am writing this letter," he said, "to your imperial majesty, my +heart is filled with the most excessive grief. I was much less touched +with the advantages gained by the enemy and the news of the siege of +Belgrade, than with the advice I have received concerning the shameful +preliminary articles concluded by Count Neuperg. + +"The history of past ages exhibits no vestiges of such an event. I was +on the point of preventing the fatal and too hasty execution of these +preliminaries, when I heard that they were already partly executed, even +before the design had been communicated to me. Thus I see my hands tied +by those who ought to glory in obeying me. All who have approached me +since that fatal day, are so many witnesses of the excess of my grief. +Although I have many times experienced adversity, I never was so much +afflicted as by this event. Your majesty has a right to complain of some +who ought to have obeyed my orders; but I had no part in what they have +done. Though all the forces of the Ottoman empire were turned against me +I was not disheartened, but still did all in my power for the common +cause. I shall not, however, fail to perform in due time what avenging +justice requires. In this dismal series of misfortunes I have still one +comfort left, which is that the fault can not be thrown upon me. It lies +entirely on such of my officers as ratified the disgraceful +preliminaries without my knowledge, against my consent, and even +contrary to my express orders." + +This apologetic letter was followed by a circular to all the imperial +ambassadors in the various courts of Europe, which circular was filled +with the bitterest denunciation of Count Neuperg and Marshal Wallis. It +declared that the emperor was not in any way implicated in the shameful +surrender of Belgrade. The marshal and the count, thus assailed and held +up to the scorn and execration of Europe, ventured to reply that they +had strictly conformed to their instructions. The common sense of the +community taught them that, in so rigorous and punctilious a court as +that of Vienna, no agent of the emperor would dare to act contrary to +his received instructions. Thus the infamous attempts of Charles to +brand his officers with ignominy did but rebound upon himself. The +almost universal voice condemned the emperor and acquitted the +plenipotentiaries. + +While the emperor was thus filling all the courts of Europe with his +clamor against Count Neuperg, declaring that he had exceeded his powers +and that he deserved to be hung, he at the same time, with almost +idiotic fatuity, sent the same Count Neuperg back to the Turkish camp to +settle some items which yet required adjustment. This proved, to every +mind, the insincerity of Charles. The Russians, thus forsaken by +Austria, also made peace with the Turks. They consented to demolish +their fortress of Azof, to relinquish all pretensions to the right of +navigating the Black sea, and to allow a vast extent of territory upon +its northern shores to remain an uninhabited desert, as a barrier +between Russia and Turkey. The treaty being definitively settled, both +Marshal Wallis and Count Neuperg were arrested and sent to prison, where +they were detained until the death of Charles VI. + +Care and sorrow were now hurrying the emperor to the grave. Wan and +haggard he moved about his palace, mourning his doom, and complaining +that it was his destiny to be disappointed in every cherished plan of +his life. All his affairs were in inextricable confusion, and his empire +seemed crumbling to decay. A cotemporary writer thus describes the +situation of the court and the nation: + +"Every thing in this court is running into the last confusion and ruin; +where there are as visible signs of folly and madness, as ever were +inflicted upon a people whom Heaven is determined to destroy, no less by +domestic divisions, than by the more public calamities of repeated +defeats, defenselessness, poverty and plagues." + +Early in October, 1740, the emperor, restless, and feverish in body and +mind, repaired to one of his country palaces a few miles distant from +Vienna. The season was prematurely cold and gloomy, with frost and +storms of sleet. In consequence of a chill the enfeebled monarch was +seized with an attack of the gout, which was followed by a very severe +fit of the colic. The night of the 10th of October he writhed in pain +upon his bed, while repeated vomitings weakened his already exhausted +frame. The next day he was conveyed to Vienna, but in such extreme +debility that he fainted several times in his carriage by the way. +Almost in a state of insensibility he was carried to the retired palace +of La Favourite in the vicinity of Vienna, and placed in his bed. It was +soon evident that his stormy life was now drawing near to its close. +Patiently he bore his severe sufferings, and as his physicians were +unable to agree respecting the nature of his disease, he said to them, +calmly, + +"Cease your disputes. I shall soon be dead. You can then open my body +and ascertain the cause of my death." + +Priests were admitted to his chamber who performed the last offices of +the Church for the dying. With perfect composure, he made all the +arrangements relative to the succession to the throne. One after another +the members of his family were introduced, and he affectionately bade +them adieu, giving to each appropriate words of counsel. To his +daughter, Maria Theresa, who was not present, and who was to succeed +him, he sent his earnest blessing. With the Duke of Lorraine, her +husband, he had a private interview of two hours. On the 20th of +October, 1740, at two o'clock in the morning, he died, in the +fifty-sixth year of his age, and the thirtieth of his reign. Weary of +the world, he willingly retired to the anticipated repose of the grave. + + "To die,--to sleep;-- + To sleep! perchance to dream;--ay, there's the rub; + For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, + When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, + Must give us pause." + +By the death of Charles VI. the male line of the house of Hapsburg +became extinct, after having continued in uninterrupted succession for +over four hundred years. His eldest daughter, Maria Theresa, who now +succeeded to the crown of Austria, was twenty-four years of age. Her +figure was tall, graceful and commanding. Her features were beautiful, +and her smile sweet and winning. She was born to command, combining in +her character woman's power of fascination with man's energy. Though so +far advanced in pregnancy that she was not permitted to see her dying +father, the very day after his death she so rallied her energies as to +give an audience to the minister of state, and to assume the government +with that marvelous vigor which characterized her whole reign. + +Seldom has a kingdom been in a more deplorable condition than was +Austria on the morning when the scepter passed into the hands of Maria +Theresa. There were not forty thousand dollars in the treasury; the +state was enormously in debt; the whole army did not amount to more than +thirty thousand men, widely dispersed, clamoring for want of pay, and +almost entirely destitute of the materials for war. The vintage had been +cut off by the frost, producing great distress in the country. There was +a famine in Vienna, and many were starving for want of food. The +peasants, in the neighborhood of the metropolis, were rising in +insurrection, ravaging the fields in search of game; while rumors were +industriously circulated that the government was dissolved, that the +succession was disputed, and that the Duke of Bavaria was on the march, +with an army, to claim the crown. The distant provinces were anxious to +shake off the Austrian yoke. Bohemia was agitated; and the restless +barons of Hungary were upon the point of grasping their arms, and, under +the protection of Turkey, of claiming their ancestral hereditary rights. +Notwithstanding the untiring endeavors of the emperor to obtain the +assent of Europe to the Pragmatic Sanction, many influential courts +refused to recognize the right of Maria Theresa to the crown. The +ministers were desponding, irresolute and incapable. Maria Theresa was +young, quite inexperienced and in delicate health, being upon the eve of +her confinement. The English ambassador, describing the state of affairs +in Vienna as they appeared to him at this time, wrote: + +"To the ministers, the Turks seem to be already in Hungary; the +Hungarians in insurrection; the Bohemians in open revolt; the Duke of +Bavaria, with his army, at the gates of Vienna; and France the soul of +all these movements. The ministers were not only in despair, but that +despair even was not capable of rousing them to any desperate +exertions." + +Maria Theresa immediately dispatched couriers to inform the northern +powers of her accession to the crown, and troops were forwarded to the +frontiers to prevent any hostile invasion from Bavaria. The Duke of +Bavaria claimed the Austrian crown in virtue of the will of Ferdinand +I., which, he affirmed, devised the crown to his daughters and their +descendants in case of the failure of the male line. As the male line +was now extinct, by this decree the scepter would pass to the Duke of +Bavaria. Charles VI. had foreseen this claim, and endeavored to set it +aside by the declaration that the clause referred to in the will of +Ferdinand I. had reference to _legitimate heirs_, not _male_ merely, and +that, consequently, it did not set aside female descendants. In proof of +this, Maria Theresa had the will exhibited to all the leading officers +of state, and to the foreign ambassadors. It appeared that _legitimate +heirs_ was the phrase. And now the question hinged upon the point, +whether females were _legitimate heirs_. In some kingdoms of Europe they +were; in others they were not. In Austria the custom had been variable. +Here was a nicely-balanced question, sufficiently momentous to divide +Europe, and which might put all the armies of the continent in motion. +There were also other claimants for the crown, but none who could +present so plausible a plea as that of the Duke of Bavaria. + +Maria Theresa now waited with great anxiety for the reply she should +receive from the foreign powers whom she had notified of her accession. +The Duke of Bavaria was equally active and solicitous, and it was quite +uncertain whose claim would be supported by the surrounding courts. The +first response came from Prussia. The king sent his congratulations, and +acknowledged the title of Maria Theresa. This was followed by a letter +from Augustus of Poland, containing the same friendly recognition. +Russia then sent in assurances of cordial support. The King of England +returned a friendly answer, promising cooeperation. All this was +cheering. But France was then the great power on the continent, and +could carry with her one half of Europe in almost any cause. The +response was looked for from France with great anxiety. Day after day, +week after week passed, and no response came. At length the French +Secretary of State gave a cautious and merely verbal declaration of the +friendly disposition of the French court. Cardinal Fleury, the +illustrious French Secretary of State, was cold, formal and excessively +polite. Maria Theresa at once inferred that France withheld her +acknowledgment, merely waiting for a favorable opportunity to recognize +the claims of the Duke of Bavaria. + +While matters were in this state, to the surprise of all, Frederic, King +of Prussia, drew his sword, and demanded large and indefinite portions +of Austria to be annexed to his territories. Disdaining all appeal to +any documentary evidence, and scorning to reply to any questionings as +to his right, he demanded vast provinces, as a highwayman demands one's +purse, with the pistol at his breast. This fiery young prince, +inheriting the most magnificent army in Europe, considering its +discipline and equipments, was determined to display his gallantry as a +fighter, with Europe for the arena. As he was looking about to find some +suitable foe against which he could hurl his seventy-five thousand men, +the defenseless yet large and opulent duchy of Silesia presented itself +as a glittering prize worth the claiming by a royal highwayman. + +The Austrian province of Silesia bordered a portion of Prussia. "While +treacherously professing friendship with the court of Vienna, with great +secrecy and sagacity Frederic assembled a large force of his best troops +in the vicinity of Berlin, and in mid-winter, when the snow lay deep +upon the plains, made a sudden rush into Silesia, and, crushing at a +blow all opposition, took possession of the whole duchy. Having +accomplished this feat, he still pretended great friendship for Maria +Theresa, and sent an ambassador to inform her that he was afraid that +some of the foreign powers, now conspiring against her, might seize the +duchy, and thus wrest it from her; that he had accordingly taken it to +hold it in safety; and that since it was so very important, for the +tranquillity of his kingdom, that Silesia should not fall into the hands +of an enemy, he hoped that Maria Theresa would allow him to retain the +duchy as an indemnity for the expense he had been at in taking it." + +This most extraordinary and impertinent message was accompanied by a +threat. The ambassador of the Prussian king, a man haughty and +semi-barbaric in his demeanor, gave his message in a private interview +with the queen's husband, Francis, the Duke of Lorraine. In conclusion, +the ambassador added, "No one is more firm in his resolutions than the +King of Prussia. He must and will take Silesia. If not secured by the +immediate cession of that province, his troops and money will be offered +to the Duke of Bavaria." + +"Go tell your master," the Duke of Lorraine replied with dignity, "that +while he has a single soldier in Silesia, we will rather perish than +enter into any discussion. If he will evacuate the duchy, we will treat +with him at Berlin. For my part, not for the imperial crown, nor even +for the whole world, will I sacrifice one inch of the queen's lawful +possessions." + +While these negotiations were pending, the king himself made an +ostentatious entry into Silesia. The majority of the Silesians were +Protestants. The King of Prussia, who had discarded religion of all +kinds, had of course discarded that of Rome, and was thus nominally a +Protestant. The Protestants, who had suffered so much from the +persecutions of the Catholic church, had less to fear from the +infidelity of Berlin than from the fanaticism of Rome. Frederic was +consequently generally received with rejoicings. The duchy of Silesia +was indeed a desirable prize. Spreading over a region of more than +fifteen thousand square miles, and containing a population of more than +a million and a half, it presented to its feudal lord an ample revenue +and the means of raising a large army. Breslau, the capital of the +duchy, upon the Oder, contained a population of over eighty thousand. +Built upon several islands of that beautiful stream, its situation was +attractive, while in its palaces and its ornamental squares, it vied +with the finest capitals of Europe. + +Frederic entered the city in triumph in January, 1741. The small +Austrian garrison, consisting of but three thousand men, retired before +him into Moravia. The Prussian monarch took possession of the revenues +of the duchy, organized the government under his own officers, +garrisoned the fortresses and returned to Berlin. Maria Theresa appealed +to friendly courts for aid. Most of them were lavish in promises, but +she waited in vain for any fulfillment. Neither money, arms nor men were +sent to her. Maria Theresa, thus abandoned and thrown upon her own +unaided energies, collected a small army in Moravia, on the confines of +Silesia, and intrusted the command to Count Neuperg, whom she liberated +from the prison to which her father had so unjustly consigned him. But +it was mid-winter. The roads were almost impassable. The treasury of the +Austrian court was so empty that but meager supplies could be provided +for the troops. A ridge of mountains, whose defiles were blocked up with +snow, spread between Silesia and Moravia. + +It was not until the close of March that Marshal Neuperg was able to +force his way through these defiles and enter Silesia. The Prussians, +not aware of their danger, were reposing in their cantonments. Neuperg +hoped to take them by surprise and cut them off in detail. Indeed +Frederic, who, by chance, was at Jagerndorf inspecting a fortress, was +nearly surrounded by a party of Austrian hussars, and very narrowly +escaped capture. The ground was still covered with snow as the Austrian +troops toiled painfully through the mountains to penetrate the Silesian +plains. Frederic rapidly concentrated his scattered troops to meet the +foe. The warlike character of the Prussian king was as yet undeveloped, +and Neuperg, unconscious of the tremendous energies he was to encounter, +and supposing that the Prussian garrisons would fly in dismay before +him, was giving his troops, after their exhausting march, a few days of +repose in the Vicinity of Molnitz. + +On the 8th of April there was a thick fall of snow, filling the air and +covering the fields. Frederic availed himself of the storm, which +curtained him from all observation, to urge forward his troops, that he +might overwhelm the Austrians by a fierce surprise. While Neuperg was +thus resting, all unconscious of danger, twenty-seven battalions, +consisting of sixteen thousand men, and twenty-nine squadrons of horse, +amounting to six thousand, were, in the smothering snow, taking their +positions for battle. On the morning of the 10th the snow ceased to +fall, the clouds broke, and the sun came out clear and bright, when +Neuperg saw that another and a far more fearful storm had gathered, and +that its thunderbolts were about to be hurled into the midst of his +camp. + +The Prussian batteries opened their fire, spreading death through the +ranks of the Austrians, even while they were hastily forming in line of +battle. Still the Austrian veterans, accustomed to all the vicissitudes +of war, undismayed, rapidly threw themselves into columns and rushed +upon the foe. Fiercely the battle raged hour after hour until the middle +of the afternoon, when the field was covered with the dead and crimsoned +with blood. The Austrians, having lost three thousand in slain and two +thousand in prisoners, retired in confusion, surrendering the field, +with several guns and banners, to the victors. This memorable battle +gave Silesia to Prussia, and opened the war of the Austrian succession. + +The Duke of Lorraine was greatly alarmed by the threatening attitude +which affairs now assumed. It was evident that France, Prussia, Bavaria +and many other powers were combining against Austria, to rob her of her +provinces, and perhaps to dismember the kingdom entirely. Not a single +court as yet had manifested any disposition to assist Maria Theresa. +England urged the Austrian court to buy the peace of Prussia at almost +any price. Francis, Duke of Lorraine, was earnestly for yielding, and +intreated his wife to surrender a part for the sake of retaining the +rest. "We had better," he said, "surrender Silesia to Prussia, and thus +purchase peace with Frederic, than meet the chances of so general a war +as now threatens Austria." + +But Maria Theresa was as imperial in character and as indomitable in +spirit as Frederic of Prussia. With indignation she rejected all such +counsel, declaring that she would never cede one inch of her territories +to any claimant, and that, even if her allies all abandoned her, she +would throw herself upon her subjects and upon her armies, and perish, +if need be, in defense of the integrity of Austria. + +Frederic now established his court and cabinet at the camp of Molnitz. +Couriers were ever coming and going. Envoys from France and Bavaria were +in constant secret conference with him. France, jealous of the power of +Austria, was plotting its dismemberment, even while protesting +friendship. Bavaria was willing to unite with Prussia in seizing the +empire and in dividing the spoil. These courts seemed to lay no claim to +any higher morality than that of ordinary highwaymen. The doom of Maria +Theresa was apparently sealed. Austria was to be plundered. Other +parties now began to rush in with their claims, that they might share in +the booty. Philip V. of Spain put in his claim for the Austrian crown as +the lineal descendant of the Emperor Charles V. Augustus, King of +Poland, urged the right of his wife Maria, eldest daughter of Joseph. +And even Charles Emanuel, King of Sardinia, hunted up an obsolete claim, +through the line of the second daughter of Philip II. + +At the camp of Molnitz the plan was matured of giving Bohemia and Upper +Austria to the Duke of Bavaria. Frederic of Prussia was to receive Upper +Silesia and Glatz. Augustus of Poland was to annex to his kingdom +Moravia and Upper Silesia. Lombardy was assigned to Spain. Sardinia was +to receive some compensation not yet fully decided upon. The whole +transaction was a piece of as unmitigated villainy as ever transpired. +One can not but feel a little sympathy for Austria which had thus fallen +among thieves, and was stripped and bleeding. Our sympathies are, +however, somewhat alleviated by the reflection that Austria was just as +eager as any of the other powers for any such piratic expedition, and +that, soon after, she united with Russia and Prussia in plundering +Poland. And when Poland was dismembered by a trio of regal robbers, she +only incurred the same doom which she was now eager to inflict upon +Austria. When pirates and robbers plunder each other, the victims are +not entitled to much sympathy. To the masses of the people it made but +little difference whether their life's blood was wrung from them by +Russian, Prussian or Austrian despots. Under whatever rule they lived, +they were alike doomed to toil as beasts of burden in the field, or to +perish amidst the hardships and the carnage of the camp. + +These plans were all revealed to Maria Theresa, and with such a +combination of foes so powerful, it seemed as if no earthly wisdom could +avert her doom. But her lofty spirit remained unyielding, and she +refused all offers of accommodation based upon the surrender of any +portion of her territories. England endeavored to induce Frederic to +consent to take the duchy of Glogau alone, suggesting that thus his +Prussian majesty had it in his power to conclude an honorable peace, and +to show his magnanimity by restoring tranquillity to Europe. + +"At the beginning of the war," Frederic replied, "I might perhaps have +been contented with this proposal. At present I must have four duchies. +But do not," he exclaimed, impatiently, "talk to me of _magnanimity_. A +prince must consult his own interests. I am not averse to peace; but I +want four duchies, and I will have them." + +Frederic of Prussia was no hypocrite. He was a highway robber and did +not profess to be any thing else. His power was such that instead of +demanding of the helpless traveler his watch, he could demand of +powerful nations their revenues. If they did not yield to his demands he +shot them down without compunction, and left them in their blood. The +British minister ventured to ask what four duchies Frederic intended to +take. No reply could be obtained to this question. By the four duchies +he simply meant that he intended to extend the area of Prussia over +every inch of territory he could possibly acquire, either by fair means +or by foul. + +England, alarmed by these combinations, which it was evident that France +was sagaciously forming and guiding, and from the successful prosecution +of which plans it was certain that France would secure some immense +accession of power, granted to Austria a subsidy of one million five +hundred thousand dollars, to aid her in repelling her foes. Still the +danger from the grand confederacy became so imminent, that the Duke of +Lorraine and all the Austrian ministry united with the British +ambassador, in entreating Maria Theresa to try to break up the +confederacy and purchase peace with Prussia by offering Frederic the +duchy of Glogau. With extreme reluctance the queen at length yielded to +these importunities, and consented that an envoy should take the +proposal to the Prussian camp at Molnitz. As the envoy was about to +leave he expressed some apprehension that the Prussian king might reject +the proffer. + +"I wish he may reject it," exclaimed the queen, passionately. "It would +be a relief to my conscience. God only knows how I can answer to my +subjects for the cession of the duchy, having sworn to them never to +alienate any part of our country." + +Mr. Robinson, the British ambassador, as mediator, took these terms to +the Prussian camp. In the endeavor to make as good a bargain as +possible, he was first to offer Austrian Guelderland. If that failed he +was then to offer Limburg, a province of the Netherlands, containing +sixteen hundred square miles, and if this was not accepted, he was +authorized, as the ultimatum, to consent to the cession of the duchy of +Glogau. The Prussian king received the ambassadors, on the 5th of +August, in a large tent, in his camp at Molanitz. The king was a blunt, +uncourtly man, and the interview was attended with none of the amenities +of polished life. After a few desultory remarks, the British ambassador +opened the business by saying that he was authorized by the Queen of +Austria to offer, as the basis of peace, the cession to Prussia of +Austrian Guelderland. + +"What a beggarly offer," exclaimed the king. "This is extremely +impertinent. What! nothing but a paltry town for all my just pretensions +in Silesia!" + +In this tirade of passion, either affected or real, he continued for +some time. Mr. Robinson waited patiently until this outburst was +exhausted, and then hesitatingly remarked that the queen was so anxious +to secure the peace of Europe, that if tranquillity could not be +restored on other terms she was even willing to cede to Prussia, in +addition, the province of Limburg. + +"Indeed!" said the ill-bred, clownish king, contemptuously. "And how can +the queen think of violating her solemn oath which renders every inch of +the Low Countries inalienable. I have no desire to obtain distant +territory which will be useless to me; much less do I wish to expend +money in new fortification. Neither the French nor the Dutch have +offended me; and I do not wish to offend them, by acquiring territory in +the vicinity of their realms. If I should accept Limburg, what security +could I have that I should be permitted to retain it?" + +The ambassador replied, "England, Russia and Saxony, will give their +guaranty." + +"Guaranties," rejoined the king, sneeringly. "Who, in these times, pays +any regard to pledges? Have not both England and France pledged +themselves to support the Pragmatic Sanction? Why do they not keep their +promises? The conduct of these powers is ridiculous. They only do what +is for their own interests. As for me, I am at the head of an invincible +army. I want Silesia. I have taken it, and I intend to keep it. What +kind of a reputation should I have if I should abandon the first +enterprise of my reign? No! I will sooner be crushed with my whole army, +than renounce my rights in Silesia. Let those who want peace grant me my +demands. If they prefer to fight again, they can do so, and again be +beaten." + +Mr. Robinson ventured to offer a few soothing words to calm the +ferocious brute, and then proposed to give to him Glogau, a small but +rich duchy of about six hundred square miles, near the frontiers of +Prussia. + +Frederic rose in a rage, and with loud voice and threatening gestures, +exclaimed, + +"If the queen does not, within six weeks, yield to my demands, I will +double them. Return with this answer to Vienna. They who want peace with +me, will not oppose my wishes. I am sick of ultimatums; I will hear no +more of them. I demand Silesia. This is my final answer. I will give no +other." + +Then turning upon his heel, with an air of towering indignation, he +retired behind the inner curtain of his tent. Such was the man to whom +Providence, in its inscrutable wisdom, had assigned a throne, and a +highly disciplined army of seventy-five thousand men. To northern Europe +he proved an awful scourge, inflicting woes, which no tongue can +adequately tell. + +And now the storm of war seemed to commence in earnest. The Duke of +Bavaria issued a manifesto, declaring his right to the whole Austrian +inheritance, and pronouncing Maria Theresa a usurper. He immediately +marched an army into one of the provinces of Austria. At the same time, +two French armies were preparing to cross the Rhine to cooperate with +the Bavarian troops. The King of Prussia was also on the march, +extending his conquests. Still Maria Theresa remained inflexible, +refusing to purchase peace with Prussia by the surrender of Silesia. + +"The resolution of the queen is taken," she said. "If the House of +Austria must perish, it is indifferent whether it perishes by an Elector +of Bavaria, or by an Elector of Brandenburg." + +While these all important matters were under discussion, the queen, on +the 13th of March, gave birth to a son, the Archduke Joseph. This event +strengthened the queen's resolution, to preserve, not only for herself, +but for her son and heir, the Austrian empire in its integrity. From her +infancy she had imbibed the most exalted ideas of the dignity and +grandeur of the house of Hapsburg. She had also been taught that her +inheritance was a solemn trust which she was religiously bound to +preserve. Thus religious principle, family pride and maternal love all +now combined to increase the inflexibility of a will which by nature was +indomitable. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +MARIA THERESA. + +From 1741 to 1743. + +Character of Francis, Duke of Lorraine.--Policy of European +Courts.--Plan of the Allies.--Siege of Prague.--Desperate Condition of +the Queen.--Her Coronation in Hungary.--Enthusiasm of the Barons.-- +Speech of Maria Theresa.--Peace with Frederic of Prussia.--His +Duplicity.--Military Movement of the Duke of Lorraine.--Battle of +Chazleau.--Second Treaty with Frederic.--Despondency of the Duke of +Bavaria.--March of Mallebois.--Extraordinary Retreat of +Belleisle.--Recovery of Prague by the Queen. + + +Maria Theresa, as imperial in spirit as in position, was unwilling to +share the crown, even with her husband. Francis officiated as her chief +minister, giving audience to foreign ambassadors, and attending to many +of the details of government, yet he had but little influence in the +direction of affairs. Though a very handsome man, of polished address, +and well cultivated understanding, he was not a man of either brilliant +or commanding intellect. Maria Theresa, as a woman, could not aspire to +the imperial throne; but all the energies of her ambitious nature were +roused to secure that dignity for her husband. Francis was very anxious +to secure for himself the electoral vote of Prussia, and he, +consequently, was accused of being willing to cede Austrian territory to +Frederic to purchase his support. This deprived him of all influence +whenever he avowed sentiments contrary to those of the queen. + +England, jealous of the vast continental power of France, was anxious to +strengthen Austria, as a means of holding France in check. Seldom, in +any of these courts, was the question of right or wrong considered, in +any transaction. Each court sought only its own aggrandizement and the +humiliation of its foes. The British cabinet, now, with very +considerable zeal, espoused the cause of Maria Theresa. Pamphlets were +circulated to rouse the enthusiasm of the nation, by depicting the +wrongs of a young and beautiful queen, so unchivalrously assailed by +bearded monarchs in overwhelming combination. The national ardor was +thus easily kindled. On the 8th of August the King of England, in an +animated speech from the throne, urged Parliament to support Maria +Theresa, thus to maintain the _balance of power_ in Europe. One million +five hundred thousand dollars were immediately voted, with strong +resolutions in favor of the queen. The Austrian ambassador, in +transmitting this money and these resolutions to the queen, urged that +no sacrifice should be made to purchase peace with Prussia; affirming +that the king, the Parliament, and the people of England were all roused +to enthusiasm in behalf of Austria; and that England would spend its +last penny, and shed its last drop of blood, in defense of the cause of +Maria Theresa. This encouraged the queen exceedingly, for she was +sanguine that Holland, the natural ally of England, would follow the +example of that nation. She also cherished strong hopes that Russia +might come to her aid. + +It was the plan of France to rob Maria Theresa of all her possessions +excepting Hungary, to which distant kingdom she was to be driven, and +where she was to be left undisturbed to defend herself as she best could +against the Turks. Thus the confederates would have, to divide among +themselves, the States of the Netherlands, the kingdom of Bohemia, the +Tyrol, the duchies of Austria, Silesia, Moravia, Carinthia, Servia and +various other duchies opulent and populous, over which the vast empire +of Austria had extended its sway. + +The French armies crossed the Rhine and united with the Bavarian troops. +The combined battalions marched, sweeping all opposition before them, to +Lintz, the capital of upper Austria. This city, containing about thirty +thousand inhabitants, is within a hundred miles of Vienna, and is one of +the most beautiful in Germany. Here, with much military and civic pomp, +the Duke of Bavaria was inaugurated Archduke of the Austrian duchies. A +detachment of the army was then dispatched down the river to Polten, +within twenty-four miles of Vienna; from whence a summons was sent to +the capital to surrender. At the same time a powerful army turned its +steps north, and pressing on a hundred and fifty miles, over the +mountains and through the plains of Bohemia, laid siege to Prague, which +was filled with magazines, and weakly garrisoned. Frederic, now in +possession of all Silesia, was leading his troops to cooperate with +those of France and Bavaria. + +The cause of Maria Theresa was now, to human vision, desperate. Immense +armies were invading her realms. Prague was invested; Vienna threatened +with immediate siege; her treasury was empty; her little army defeated +and scattered; she was abandoned by her allies, and nothing seemed to +remain for her but to submit to her conquerors. Hungary still clung +firmly to the queen, and she had been crowned at Presburg with boundless +enthusiasm. An eyewitness has thus described this scene:-- + +"The coronation was magnificent. The queen was all charm. She rode +gallantly up the Royal Mount, a hillock in the vicinity of Presburg, +which the new sovereign ascends on horseback, and waving a drawn sword, +defied the four corners of the world, in a manner to show that she had +no occasion for that weapon to conquer all who saw her. The antiquated +crown received new graces from her head; and the old tattered robe of +St. Stephen became her as well as her own rich habit, if diamonds, +pearls and all sorts of precious stones can be called clothes," + +She had but recently risen from the bed of confinement and the delicacy +of her appearance added to her attractions. A table was spread for a +public entertainment, around which all the dignitaries of the realm were +assembled--dukes who could lead thousands of troops into the field, bold +barons, with their bronzed followers, whose iron sinews had been +toughened in innumerable wars. It was a warm summer day, and the cheek +of the youthful queen glowed with the warmth and with the excitement of +the hour. Her beautiful hair fell in ringlets upon her shoulders and +over her full bosom. She sat at the head of the table all queenly in +loveliness, and imperial in character. The bold, high-spirited nobles, +who surrounded her, could appreciate her position, assailed by half the +monarchies of Europe, and left alone to combat them all. Their +chivalrous enthusiasm was thus aroused. + +The statesmen of Vienna had endeavored to dissuade the queen from making +any appeal to the Hungarians. When Charles VI. made an effort to secure +their assent to the Pragmatic Sanction, the war-worn barons replied +haughtily, "We are accustomed to be governed by men, not by women." The +ministers at Vienna feared, therefore, that the very sight of the queen, +youthful, frail and powerless, would stir these barons to immediate +insurrection, and that they would scorn such a sovereign to guide them +in the fierce wars which her crown involved. But Maria Theresa better +understood human nature. She believed that the same barons, who would +resist the demands of the Emperor Charles VI., would rally with +enthusiasm around a defenseless woman, appealing to them for aid. The +cordiality and ever-increasing glow of ardor with which she was greeted +at the coronation and at the dinner encouraged her hopes. + +She summoned all the nobles to meet her in the great hall of the castle. +The hall was crowded with as brilliant an assemblage of rank and power +as Hungary could furnish. The queen entered, accompanied by her retinue. +She was dressed in deep mourning, in the Hungarian costume, with the +crown of St. Stephen upon her brow, and the regal cimiter at her side. +With a majestic step she traversed the apartment, and ascended the +platform or tribune from whence the Kings of Hungary were accustomed to +address their congregated lords. All eyes were fixed upon her, and the +most solemn silence pervaded the assemblage. + +The Latin language was then, in Hungary, the language of diplomacy and +of the court. All the records of the kingdom were preserved in that +language, and no one spoke, in the deliberations of the diet, but in the +majestic tongue of ancient Rome. The queen, after a pause of a few +moments, during which she carefully scanned the assemblage, addressing +them in Latin, said:-- + +"The disastrous situation of our affairs has moved us to lay before our +dear and faithful States of Hungary, the recent invasion of Austria, the +danger now impending over this kingdom, and a proposal for the +consideration of a remedy. The very existence of the kingdom of Hungary, +of our own person, of our children and our crown, is now at stake. +Forsaken by all, we place our sole resource in the fidelity, arms and +long tried valor of the Hungarians; exhorting you, the states and +orders, to deliberate without delay in this extreme danger, on the most +effectual measures for the security of our person, of our children and +of our crown, and to carry them into immediate execution. In regard to +ourself, the faithful states and orders of Hungary shall experience our +hearty cooeperation in all things which may promote the pristine +happiness of this ancient kingdom, and the honor of the people." + +(Some may feel interested in reading this speech in the original Latin, +as it is now found recorded in the archives of Hungary. It is as +follows: + +"Allocutio Reginae Hungariae Mariae Theresiae, anno 1741. Afflictus rerum +nostrarum status nos movit, ut fidelibus perchari regni Hungariae +statibus de hostili provinciae nostrae hereditariae, Austriae invasione, et +imminente regno huic periculo, adeoque de considerando remedio +propositionem scripto faciamus. Agitur de regno Hungaria, de persona +nostra, prolibus nostris, et corona, ab omnibus derelicti, unice ad +inclytorum statuum fidelitatem, arma, et Hungarorum priscam virtutem +confugimus, impense hortantes, velint status et ordines in hoc maximo +periculo de securitate personae nostrae, prolium, coronae, et regni quanto +ocius consulere, et ea in effectum etiam deducere. Quantum ex parte +nostra est, quaecunque pro pristina regni hujus felicitate, et gentis +decore forent, in iis omnibus benignitatem et clementiam nostram regiam +fideles status et ordines regni experturi sunt.") + +The response was instantaneous and emphatic. A thousand warriors drew +their sabers half out of their scabbards, and then thrust them back to +the hilt, with a clangor like the clash of swords on the field of +battle. Then with one voice they shouted, "Moriamur pro nostra rege, +Maria Theresa"--_We will die for our sovereign, Maria Theresa_. + +The queen, until now, had preserved a perfectly calm and composed +demeanor. But this outburst of enthusiasm overpowered her, and +forgetting the queen, she pressed her handkerchief to her eyes and burst +into a flood of tears. No manly heart could stand this unmoved. Every +eye was moistened, every heart throbbed with admiration and devotion, +and a scene of indescribable enthusiasm ensued. Hungary was now +effectually roused, and Maria Theresa was queen of all hearts. Every +noble was ready to march his vassals and to open his purse at her +bidding. All through the wide extended realm, the enthusiasm rolled like +an inundation. The remote tribes on the banks of the Save, the Theiss, +the Drave, and the lower Danube flocked to her standards. They came, +semi-savage bands, in uncouth garb, and speaking unintelligible +tongues--Croats, Pandours, Sclavonians, Warusdinians and Tolpaches. +Germany was astounded at the spectacle of these wild, fierce men, +apparently as tameless and as fearless as wolves. The enthusiasm spread +rapidly all over the States of Austria. The young men, and especially +the students in the universities, espoused the cause of the queen with +deathless fervor. Vienna was strongly fortified, all hands engaging in +the work. So wonderful was this movement, that the allies were alarmed. +They had already become involved in quarrels about the division of the +anticipated booty. + +Frederic of Prussia was the first to implore peace. The Elector of +Bavaria was a rival sovereign, and Frederic preferred seeing Austria in +the hands of the queen, rather than in the hands of the elector. He was, +therefore, anxious to withdraw from the confederacy, and to oppose the +allies. The queen, as anxious as Frederic to come to an accommodation, +sent an ambassador to ascertain his terms. In laconic phrase, +characteristic of this singular man, he returned the following answer:-- + +"All lower Silesia; the river Neiss for the boundary. The town of Neiss +as well as Glatz. Beyond the Oder the ancient limits to continue between +the duchies of Brieg and Oppelon. Breslau for us. The affairs of +religion in _statu quo_. No dependence on Bohemia; a cession forever. In +return we will proceed no further. We will besiege Neiss for form. The +commandant shall surrender and depart. We will pass quietly into winter +quarters, and the Austrian army may go where they will. Let the whole be +concluded in twelve days." + +These terms were assented to. The king promised never to ask any further +territory from the queen, and not to act offensively against the queen +or any of her allies. Though the queen placed not the slightest +confidence in the integrity of the Prussian monarch, she rejoiced in +this treaty, which enabled her to turn all her attention to her other +foes. The allies were now in possession of nearly all of Bohemia and +were menacing Prague. + +The Duke of Lorraine hastened with sixty thousand men to the relief of +the capital. He had arrived within nine miles of the city, when he +learned, to his extreme chagrin, that the preceding night Prague had +been taken by surprise. That very day the Elector of Bavaria made a +triumphal entry into the town, and was soon crowned King of Bohemia. And +now the electoral diet of Germany met, and, to the extreme +disappointment of Maria Theresa, chose, as Emperor of Germany, instead +of her husband, the Elector of Bavaria, whom they also acknowledged King +of Bohemia. He received the imperial crown at Frankfort on the 12th of +February, 1742, with the title of Charles VII. + +The Duke of Lorraine having been thus thwarted in his plan of relieving +Prague, and not being prepared to assail the allied army in possession +of the citadel, and behind the ramparts of the city, detached a part of +his army to keep the enemy in check, and sent General Kevenhuller, with +thirty thousand men, to invade and take possession of Bavaria, now +nearly emptied of its troops. By very sagacious movements the general +soon became master of all the defiles of the Bavarian mountains. He then +pressed forward, overcoming all opposition, and in triumph entered +Munich, the capital of Bavaria, the very day Charles was chosen emperor. +Thus the elector, as he received the imperial crown, dropped his own +hereditary estates from his hand. + +This triumph of the queen's arms alarmed Frederic of Prussia. He reposed +as little confidence in the honesty of the Austrian court as they +reposed in him. He was afraid that the queen, thus victorious, would +march her triumphant battalions into Silesia and regain the lost duchy. +He consequently, in total disregard of his treaty, and without troubling +himself to make any declaration of war, resumed hostilities. He entered +into a treaty with his old rival, the Elector of Bavaria, now King of +Bohemia, and Emperor of Germany. Receiving from the emperor large +accessions of territory, Frederic devoted his purse and array to the +allies. His armies were immediately in motion. They overran Moravia, and +were soon in possession of all of its most important fortresses. All the +energies of Frederic were consecrated to any cause in which he enlisted. +He was indefatigable in his activity. With no sense of dishonor in +violating a solemn treaty, with no sense of shame in conspiring with +banded despots against a youthful queen, of whose youth, and feebleness +and feminine nature they wished to take advantage that they might rob +her of her possessions, Frederic rode from camp to camp, from capital to +capital, to infuse new vigor into the alliance. He visited the Elector +of Saxony at Dresden, then galloped to Prague, then returned through +Moravia, and placed himself at the head of his army. Marching vigorously +onward, he entered upper Austria. His hussars spread terror in all +directions, even to the gates of Vienna. + +The Hungarian troops pressed forward in defense of the queen. Wide +leagues of country were desolated by war, as all over Germany the +hostile battalions swept to and fro. The Duke of Lorraine hastened from +Moravia for the defense of Vienna, while detached portions of the +Austrian army were on the rapid march, in all directions, to join him. +On the 16th of May, 1742, the Austrian army, under the Duke of Lorraine, +and the Prussian army under Frederic, encountered each other, in about +equal numbers, at Chazleau. Equal in numbers, equal in skill, equal in +bravery, they fought with equal success. After several hours of awful +carnage, fourteen thousand corpses strewed the ground. Seven thousand +were Austrians, seven thousand Prussians. The Duke of Lorraine retired +first, leaving a thousand prisoners, eighteen pieces of artillery and +two standards, with the foe; but he took with him, captured from the +Prussians, a thousand prisoners, fourteen cannon, and two standards. As +the duke left Frederic in possession of the field, it was considered a +Prussian victory. But it was a victory decisive of no results, as each +party was alike crippled. Frederic was much disappointed. He had +anticipated the annihilation of the Austrian army, and a triumphant +march to Vienna, where, in the palaces of the Austrian kings, he +intended to dictate terms to the prostrate monarchy. + +The queen had effectually checked his progress, new levies were crowding +to her aid, and it was in vain for Frederic, with his diminished and +exhausted regiments, to undertake an assault upon the ramparts of +Vienna. Again he proposed terms of peace. He demanded all of upper as +well as lower Silesia, and the county of Glatz, containing nearly seven +hundred square miles, and a population of a little over sixty thousand. +Maria Theresa, crowded by her other enemies, was exceedingly anxious to +detach a foe so powerful and active, and she accordingly assented to the +hard terms. This new treaty was signed at Breslau, on the 11th of June, +and was soon ratified by both sovereigns. The Elector of Saxony was also +included in this treaty and retired from the contest. + +The withdrawal of these forces seemed to turn the tide of battle in +favor of the Austrians. The troops from Hungary fought with the most +romantic devotion. A band of Croats in the night swam across a river, +with their sabers in their mouths, and climbing on each other's +shoulders, scaled the walls of the fortress of Piseck, and made the +garrison prisoners of war. The Austrians, dispersing the allied French +and Bavarians in many successful skirmishes, advanced to the walls of +Prague. With seventy thousand men, the Duke of Lorraine commenced the +siege of this capital, so renowned in the melancholy annals of war. The +sympathies of Europe began to turn in favor of Maria Theresa. It became +a general impression, that the preservation of the Austrian monarchy was +essential to hold France in check, which colossal power seemed to +threaten the liberties of Europe. The cabinet of England was especially +animated by this sentiment, and a change in the ministry being effected, +the court of St. James sent assurances to Vienna of their readiness to +support the queen with the whole power of the British empire. Large +supplies of men and money were immediately voted. Sixteen thousand men +were landed in Flanders to cooperate with the Austrian troops. Holland, +instigated by the example of England, granted Maria Theresa a subsidy of +eight hundred and forty thousand florins. The new Queen of Russia, also, +Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, adopted measures highly +favorable to Austria. + +In Italy affairs took a singular turn in favor of the Austrian queen. +The King of Sardinia, ever ready to embark his troops in any enterprise +which gave him promise of booty, alarmed by the grasping ambition of +France and Spain, who were ever seizing the lion's share in all plunder, +seeing that he could not hope for much advantage in his alliance with +them, proposed to the queen that if she would cede to him certain of the +Milanese provinces, he would march his troops into her camp. This was a +great gain for Maria Theresa. The Sardinian troops guarding the passes +of the Alps, shut out the French, during the whole campaign, from +entering Italy. At the same time the Sardinian king, with another +portion of his army, aided by the Austrian troops, overran the whole +duchy of Modena, and drove out the Spaniards. The English fleet in the +Mediterranean cooperated in this important measure. By the threat of a +bombardment they compelled the King of Naples to withdraw from the +French and Spanish alliance. Thus Austria again planted her foot in +Italy. This extraordinary and unanticipated success created the utmost +joy and exultation in Vienna. The despondency of the French court was +correspondingly great. A few months had totally changed the aspect of +affairs. The allied troops were rapidly melting away, with none to fill +up the dwindling ranks. The proud army which had swept over Germany, +defying all opposition, was now cooped up within the walls of Prague, +beleaguered by a foe whom victory had rendered sanguine. The new +emperor, claiming the crown of Austria, had lost his own territory of +Bavaria; and the capital of Bohemia, where he had so recently been +enthroned, was hourly in peril of falling into the hands of his foes. + +Under these circumstances the hopes of the Duke of Bavaria sank rapidly +into despair. The hour of disaster revealed a meanness of spirit which +prosperity had not developed. He sued for peace, writing a dishonorable +and cringing letter, in which he protested that he was not to blame for +the war, but that the whole guilt rested upon the French court, which +had inveigled him to present his claim and commence hostilities. Maria +Theresa made no other reply to this humiliating epistle than to publish +it, and give it a wide circulation throughout Europe. Cardinal Fleury, +the French minister of state, indignant at this breach of confidence, +sent to the cabinet of Vienna a remonstrance and a counter statement. +This paper also the queen gave to the public. + +Marshal Belleisle was in command of the French and Bavarian troops, +which were besieged in Prague. The force rapidly gathering around him +was such as to render retreat impossible. The city was unprepared for a +siege, and famine soon began to stare the citizens and garrison in the +face. The marshal, reduced to the last extremity, offered to evacuate +the city and march out of Bohemia, if he could be permitted to retire +unmolested, with arms, artillery and baggage. The Duke of Lorraine, to +avoid a battle which would be rendered sanguinary through despair, was +ready and even anxious to assent to these terms. His leading generals +were of the same opinion, as they wished to avoid a needless effusion of +blood. + +The offered terms of capitulation were sent to Maria Theresa. She +rejected them with disdain. She displayed a revengeful spirit, natural, +perhaps, under the circumstances, but which reflects but little honor +upon her character. + +"I will not," she replied, in the presence of the whole court; "I will +not grant any capitulation to the French army. I will listen to no +terms, to no proposition from Cardinal Fleury. I am astonished that he +should come to me now with proposals for peace; _he_ who endeavored to +excite all the princes of Germany to crush me. I have acted with too +much condescension to the court of France. Compelled by the necessities +of my situation I debased my royal dignity by writing to the cardinal in +terms which would have softened the most obdurate rock. He insolently +rejected my entreaties; and the only answer I obtained was that his most +Christian majesty had contracted engagements which he could not violate. +I can prove, by documents now in my possession, that the French +endeavored to excite sedition even in the heart of my dominions; that +they attempted to overturn the fundamental laws of the empire, and to +set all Germany in a flame. I will transmit these proofs to posterity as +a warning to the empire." + +The ambition of Maria Theresa was now greatly roused. She resolved to +retain the whole of Bavaria which she had taken from the elector. The +duchy of Lorraine, which had been wrested from her husband, was +immediately to be invaded and restored to the empire. The dominions +which had been torn from her father in Italy were to be reannexed to the +Austrian crown, and Alsace upon the Rhine was to be reclaimed. Thus, far +from being now satisfied with the possessions she had inherited from her +father, her whole soul was roused, in these hours of triumph, to conquer +vast accessions for her domains. She dreamed only of conquest, and in +her elation parceled out the dominions of France and Bavaria as +liberally and as unscrupulously as they had divided among themselves the +domain of the house of Austria. + +The French, alarmed, made a great effort to relieve Prague. An army, +which on its march was increased to sixty thousand men, was sent six +hundred miles to cross rivers, to penetrate defiles of mountains crowded +with hostile troops, that they might rescue Prague and its garrison from +the besiegers. With consummate skill and energy this critical movement +was directed by General Mallebois. The garrison of the city were in a +state of great distress. The trenches were open and the siege was pushed +with great vigilance. All within the walls of the beleaguered city were +reduced to extreme suffering. Horse flesh was considered a delicacy +which was reserved for the sick. The French made sally after sally to +spike the guns which were battering down the walls. As Mallebois, with +his powerful reenforcement, drew near, their courage rose. The Duke of +Lorraine became increasingly anxious to secure the capitulation before +the arrival of the army of relief, and proposed a conference to decide +upon terms, which should be transmitted for approval to the courts of +Vienna and of Paris. But the imperious Austrian queen, as soon as she +heard of this movement, quite regardless of the feelings of her husband, +whom she censured as severely as she would any corporal in the army, +issued orders prohibiting, peremptorily, any such conference. + +"I will not suffer," she said "any council to be held in the army. From +Vienna alone are orders to be received. I disavow and forbid all such +proceedings, _let the blame fall where it may_." + +She knew full well that it was her husband who had proposed this plan; +and he knew, and all Austria knew, that it was the Duke of Lorraine who +was thus severely and publicly reprimanded. But the husband of Maria +Theresa was often reminded that he was but the subject of the queen. So +peremptory a mandate admitted of no compromise. The Austrians plied +their batteries with new vigor, the wan and skeleton soldiers fought +perseveringly at their embrasures; and the battalions of Mallebois, by +forced marches, pressed on through the mountains of Bohemia, to the +eventful arena. A division of the Austrian army was dispatched to the +passes of Satz and Caden, which it would be necessary for the French to +thread, in approaching Prague. The troops of Mallebois, when they +arrived at these defiles, were so exhausted by their long and forced +marches, that they were incapable of forcing their way against the +opposition they encountered in the passes of the mountains. After a +severe struggle, Mallebois was compelled to relinquish the design of +relieving Prague, and storms of snow beginning to incumber his path, he +retired across the Danube, and throwing up an intrenched camp, +established himself in winter quarters. The Austrian division, thus +successful, returned to Prague, and the blockade was resumed. There +seemed to be now no hope for the French, and their unconditional +surrender was hourly expected. Affairs were in this state, when Europe +was astounded by the report that the French general, Belleisle, with a +force of eleven thousand foot and three thousand horse, had effected his +escape from the battered walls of the city and was in successful +retreat. + +It was the depth of winter. The ground was covered with snow, and +freezing blasts swept the fields. The besiegers were compelled to +retreat to the protection of their huts. Taking advantage of a cold and +stormy night, Belleisle formed his whole force into a single column, +and, leaving behind him his sick and wounded, and every unnecessary +incumbrance, marched noiselessly but rapidly from one of the gates of +the city. He took with him but thirty cannon and provisions for twelve +days. It was a heroic but an awful retreat. The army, already exhausted +and emaciate by famine, toiled on over morasses, through forests, over +mountains, facing frost and wind and snow, and occasionally fighting +their way against their foes, until on the twelfth day they reached Egra +on the frontiers of Bavaria, about one hundred and twenty miles east +from Prague. + +Their sufferings were fearful: They had nothing to eat but frozen bread, +and at night they sought repose, tentless, and upon the drifted snow. +The whole distance was strewed with the bodies of the dead. Each morning +mounds of frozen corpses indicated the places of the night's bivouac. +Twelve hundred perished during this dreadful march. Of those who +survived, many, at Egra, were obliged to undergo the amputation of their +frozen limbs. General Belleisle himself, during the whole retreat, was +suffering from such a severe attack of rheumatism, that he was unable +either to walk or ride. His mind, however, was full of vigor and his +energies unabated. Carried in a sedan chair he reconnoitred the way, +pointed out the roads, visited every part of the extended line of march, +encouraged the fainting troops, and superintended all the minutest +details of the retreat. "Notwithstanding the losses of his army," it is +recorded, "he had the satisfaction of preserving the flower of the +French forces, of saving every cannon which bore the arms of his master, +and of not leaving the smallest trophy to grace the triumph of the +enemy." + +In the citadel of Prague, Belleisle had left six thousand troops, to +prevent the eager pursuit of the Austrians. The Prince Sobcuitz, now in +command of the besieging force, mortified and irritated by the escape, +sent a summons to the garrison demanding its immediate and unconditional +surrender. Chevert, the gallant commander, replied to the officer who +brought the summons,-- + +"Tell the prince that if he will not grant me the honors of war, I will +set fire to the four corners of Prague, and bury myself under its +ruins." + +The destruction of Prague, with all its treasures of architecture and +art, was too serious a calamity to be hazarded. Chevert was permitted to +retire with the honors of war, and with his division he soon rejoined +the army at Egra. Maria Theresa was exceedingly chagrined by the escape +of the French, and in the seclusion of her palace she gave vent to the +bitterness of her anguish. In public, however, she assumed an attitude +of triumph and great exultation in view of the recovery of Prague. She +celebrated the event by magnificent entertainments. In imitation of the +Olympic games, she established chariot races, in which ladies alone were +the competitors, and even condescended herself, with her sister, to +enter the lists. + +All Bohemia, excepting Egra, was now reclaimed. Early in the spring +Maria Theresa visited Prague, where, on the 12th of May, 1743, with +great splendor she was crowned Queen of Bohemia. General Belleisle, +leaving a small garrison at Egra, with the remnant of his force crossed +the Rhine and returned to France. He had entered Germany a few months +before, a conqueror at the head of forty thousand men. He retired a +fugitive with eight thousand men in his train, ragged, emaciate and +mutilated. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +MARIA THERESA. + +From 1743 to 1748. + +Prosperous Aspect of Austrian Affairs.--Capture of Egra.--Vast Extent of +Austria.--Dispute with Sardinia.--Marriage of Charles of Lorraine with +The Queen's Sister.--Invasion of Alsace.--Frederic Overruns Bohemia.-- +Bohemia Recovered by Prince Charles.--Death of the Emperor Charles +VII.--Venality of the Old Monarchies.--Battle of Hohenfriedberg.--Sir +Thomas Robinson's Interview with Maria Theresa.--Hungarian +Enthusiasm.--The Duke of Lorraine Elected Emperor.--Continuation of the +War.--Treaty of Peace.--Indignation of Maria Theresa. + + +The cause of Maria Theresa, at the commencement of the year 1743, was +triumphant all over her widely extended domains. Russia was cordial in +friendship. Holland, in token of hostility to France, sent the queen an +efficient loan of six thousand men, thoroughly equipped for the field. +The King of Sardinia, grateful for his share in the plunder of the +French and Spanish provinces in Italy, and conscious that he could +retain those spoils only by the aid of Austria, sent to the queen, in +addition to the cooeperation of his armies, a gift of a million of +dollars. England, also, still anxious to check the growth of France, +continued her subsidy of a million and a half, and also with both fleet +and army contributed very efficient military aid. The whole force of +Austria was now turned against France. The French were speedily driven +from Bavaria; and Munich, the capital, fell into the hands of the +Austrians. The emperor, in extreme dejection, unable to present any +front of resistance, sent to the queen entreating a treaty of +neutrality, offering to withdraw all claims to the Austrian succession, +and consenting to leave his Bavarian realm in the hands of Maria Theresa +until a general peace. The emperor, thus humiliated and stripped of all +his territories, retired to Frankfort. + +On the 7th of September Egra was captured, and the queen was placed in +possession of all her hereditary domains. The wonderful firmness and +energy which she had displayed, and the consummate wisdom with which she +had conceived and executed her measures, excited the admiration of +Europe. In Vienna, and throughout all the States of Austria, her +popularity was unbounded. After the battle of Dettingen, in which her +troops gained a decisive victory, as the queen was returning to Vienna +from a water excursion, she found the banks of the Danube, for nine +miles, crowded with her rejoicing subjects. In triumph she was escorted +into the capital, greeted by every demonstration of the most +enthusiastic joy. + +Austria and England were now prepared to mature their plans for the +dismemberment of France. The commissioners met at Hanau, a small +fortified town, a few miles east of Frankfort. They met, however, only +to quarrel fiercely. Austrian and English pride clashed in instant +collision. Lord Stair, imperious and irritable, regarded the Austrians +as outside barbarians whom England was feeding, clothing and protecting. +The Austrian officers regarded the English as remote islanders from whom +they had hired money and men. The Austrians were amazed at the impudence +of the English in assuming the direction of affairs. The British +officers were equally astounded that the Austrians should presume to +take the lead. No plan of cooeperation could be agreed upon, and the +conference broke up in confusion, + +The queen, whose heart was still fixed upon the elevation of her husband +to the throne of the empire, was anxious to depose the emperor. But +England was no more willing to see Austria dominant over Europe than to +see France thus powerful. Maria Theresa was now in possession of all her +vast ancestral domains, and England judged that it would endanger the +balance of power to place upon the brow of her husband the imperial +crown. The British cabinet consequently espoused the cause of the +Elector of Bavaria, and entered into a private arrangement with him, +agreeing to acknowledge him as emperor, and to give him an annual +pension that he might suitably support the dignity of his station. The +wealth of England seems to have been inexhaustible, for half the +monarchs of Europe have, at one time or other, been fed and clothed from +her treasury. George II. contracted to pay the emperor, within forty +days, three hundred thousand dollars, and to do all in his power to +constrain the queen of Austria to acknowledge his title. + +Maria Theresa had promised the King of Sardinia large accessions of +territory in Italy, as the price for his cooeperation. But now, having +acquired those Italian territories, she was exceedingly reluctant to +part with any one of them, and very dishonorably evaded, by every +possible pretense, the fulfillment of her agreement. The queen +considered herself now so strong that she was not anxious to preserve +the alliance of Sardinia. She thought her Italian possessions secure, +even in case of the defection of the Sardinian king. Sardinia appealed +to England, as one of the allies, to interpose for the execution of the +treaty. To the remonstrance of England the queen peevishly replied, + +"It is the policy of England to lead me from one sacrifice to another. I +am expected to expose my troops for no other end than voluntarily to +strip myself of my possessions. Should the cession of the Italian +provinces, which the King of Sardinia claims, be extorted from me, what +remains in Italy will not be worth defending, and the only alternative +left is that of being stripped either by England or France." + +While the queen was not willing to give as much as she had agreed to +bestow, the greedy King of Sardinia was grasping at more than she had +promised. At last the king, in a rage threatened, that if she did not +immediately comply with his demands, he would unite with France and +Spain and the emperor against Austria. This angry menace brought the +queen to terms, and articles of agreement satisfactory to Sardinia were +signed. During the whole of this summer of 1743, though large armies +were continually in motion, and there were many sanguinary battles, and +all the arts of peace were destroyed, and conflagration, death and woe +were sent to ten thousand homes, nothing effectual was accomplished by +either party. The strife did not cease until winter drove the weary +combatants to their retreats. + +For the protection of the Austrian possessions against the French and +Spanish, the queen agreed to maintain in Italy an army of thirty +thousand men, to be placed under the command of the King of Sardinia, +who was to add to them an army of forty-five thousand. England, with +characteristic prodigality, voted a million of dollars annually, to aid +in the payment of these troops. It was the object of England, to prevent +France from strengthening herself by Italian possessions. The cabinet of +St. James took such an interest in this treaty that, to secure its +enactment, one million five hundred thousand dollars were paid down, in +addition to the annual subsidy. England also agreed to maintain a strong +squadron in the Mediterranean to cooeperate with Sardinia and Austria. + +Amidst these scenes of war, the usual dramas of domestic life moved on. +Prince Charles of Lorraine, had long been ardently attached to Mary +Anne, younger sister of Maria Theresa. The young prince had greatly +signalized himself on the field of battle. Their nuptials were attended +in Vienna with great splendor and rejoicings. It was a union of loving +hearts. Charles was appointed to the government of the Austrian +Netherlands. One short and happy year passed away, when Mary Anne, in +the sorrows of child-birth, breathed her last. + +The winter was passed by all parties in making the most vigorous +preparations for a new campaign. England and France were now thoroughly +aroused, and bitterly irritated against each other. Hitherto they had +acted as auxiliaries for other parties. Now they summoned all their +energies, and became principals in the conflict. France issued a formal +declaration of war against England and Austria, raised an army of one +hundred thousand men, and the debauched king himself, Louis XV., left +his _Pare Aux Cerfs_ and placed himself at the head of the army. Marshal +Saxe was the active commander. He was provided with a train of artillery +superior to any which had ever before appeared on any field. Entering +the Netherlands he swept all opposition before him. + +The French department of Alsace, upon the Rhine, embraced over forty +thousand square miles of territory, and contained a population of about +a million. While Marshal Saxe was ravaging the Netherlands, an Austrian +army, sixty thousand strong, crossed the Rhine, like a torrent burst +into Alsace, and spread equal ravages through the cities and villages of +France. Bombardment echoed to bombardment; conflagration blazed in +response to conflagration; and the shrieks of the widow, and the moans +of the orphan which rose from the marshes of Burgundy, were reechoed in +an undying wail along the valleys of the Rhine. + +The King of France, alarmed by the progress which the Austrians were +making in his own territories, ordered thirty thousand troops, from the +army in the Netherlands, to be dispatched to the protection of Alsace. +Again the tide was turning against Maria Theresa. She had become so +arrogant and exacting, that she had excited the displeasure of nearly +all the empire. She persistently refused to acknowledge the emperor, +who, beyond all dispute, was legally elected; she treated the diet +contemptuously; she did not disguise her determination to hold Bavaria +by the right of conquest, and to annex it to Austria; she had compelled +the Bavarians to take the oath of allegiance to her; she was avowedly +meditating gigantic projects in the conquest of France and Italy; and it +was very evident that she was maturing her plans for the reconquest of +Silesia. Such inordinate ambition alarmed all the neighboring courts. +Frederic of Prussia was particularly alarmed lest he should lose +Silesia. With his accustomed energy he again drew his sword against the +queen, and became the soul of a new confederacy which combined many of +the princes of the empire whom the haughty queen had treated with so +much indignity. In this new league, formed by Frederic, the Elector +Palatine and the King of Sweden were brought into the field against +Maria Theresa. All this was effected with the utmost secrecy, and the +queen had no intimation of her danger until the troops were in motion. +Frederic published a manifesto in which he declared that he took up arms +"to restore to the German empire its liberty, to the emperor his +dignity, and to Europe repose." + +With his strong army he burst into Bohemia, now drained of its troops to +meet the war in the Netherlands and on the Rhine. With a lion's tread, +brushing all opposition away, he advanced to Prague. The capital was +compelled to surrender, and the garrison of fifteen thousand troops +became prisoners of war. Nearly all the fortresses of the kingdom fell +into his hands. Establishing garrisons at Tabor, Budweiss, Frauenberg, +and other important posts, he then made an irruption into Bavaria, +scattered the Austrian troops in all directions, entered Munich in +triumph, and reinstated the emperor in the possession of his capital and +his duchy. Such are the fortunes of war. The queen heard these tidings +of accumulated disaster in dismay. In a few weeks of a summer's +campaign, when she supposed that Europe was almost a suppliant at her +feet, she found herself deprived of the Netherlands, of the whole +kingdom of Bohemia, the brightest jewel in her crown, and of the +electorate of Bavaria. + +But the resolution and energy of the queen remained indomitable. Maria +Theresa and Frederic were fairly pitted against each other. It was Greek +meeting Greek. The queen immediately recalled the army from Alsace, and +in person repaired to Presburg, where she summoned a diet of the +Hungarian nobles. In accordance with an ancient custom, a blood-red flag +waved from all the castles in the kingdom, summoning the people to a +levy _en masse_, or, as it was then called, to a general insurrection. +An army of nearly eighty thousand men was almost instantly raised. A +cotemporary historian, speaking of this event, says: + +"This amazing unanimity of a people so divided amongst themselves as the +Hungarians, especially in point of religion, could only be effected by +the address of Maria Theresa, who seemed to possess one part of the +character of Elizabeth of England, that of making every man about her a +hero." + +Prince Charles re-crossed the Rhine, and, by a vigorous march through +Suabia, returned to Bohemia. By surprise, with a vastly superior force, +he assailed the fortresses garrisoned by the Prussian troops, gradually +took one after another, and ere long drove the Prussians, with vast +slaughter, out of the whole kingdom. Though disaster, in this campaign, +followed the banners of Maria Theresa in the Netherlands and in Italy, +she forgot those reverses in exultation at the discomfiture of her great +rival Frederic. She had recovered Bohemia, and was now sanguine that she +soon would regain Silesia, the loss of which province ever weighed +heavily upon her heart. But in her character woman's weakness was allied +with woman's determination. She imagined that she could rouse the +chivalry of her allies as easily as that of the Hungarian barons, and +that foreign courts, forgetful of their own grasping ambition, would +place themselves as pliant instruments in her hands. + +In this posture of affairs, the hand of Providence was again interposed, +in an event which removed from the path of the queen a serious obstacle, +and opened to her aspiring mind new visions of grandeur. The Emperor +Charles VII., an amiable man, of moderate abilities, was quite crushed +in spirit by the calamities accumulating upon him. Though he had +regained his capital, he was in hourly peril of being driven from it +again. Anguish so preyed upon his mind, that, pale and wan, he was +thrown upon a sick bed. While in this state he was very injudiciously +informed of a great defeat which his troops had encountered. It was a +death-blow to the emperor. He moaned, turned over in his bed, and died, +on the 20th of January, 1745. + +The imperial crown was thus thrown down among the combatants, and a +scramble ensued for its possession such as Europe had never witnessed +before. Every court was agitated, and the combinations of intrigue were +as innumerable as were the aspirants for the crown. The spring of 1745 +opened with clouds of war darkening every quarter of the horizon. +England opened the campaign in Italy and the Netherlands, her whole +object now being to humble France. Maria Theresa remained uncompromising +in her disposition to relinquish nothing and to grasp every thing. The +cabinet of England, with far higher views of policy, were anxious to +detach some of the numerous foes combined against Austria; but it was +almost impossible to induce the queen to make the slightest abatement of +her desires. She had set her heart upon annexing all of Bavaria to her +realms. That immense duchy, now a kingdom, was about the size of the +State of South Carolina, containing over thirty thousand square miles. +Its population amounted to about four millions. The death of the Emperor +Charles VII., who was Elector of Bavaria, transmitted the sovereignty of +this realm to his son, Maximilian Joseph. + +Maximilian was anxious to withdraw from the strife. He agreed to +renounce all claim to the Austrian succession, to acknowledge the +validity of the queen's title, to dismiss the auxiliary troops, and to +give his electoral vote to the Duke of Lorraine for emperor. But so +eager was the queen to grasp the Bavarian dominions, that it was with +the utmost difficulty that England could induce her to accede even to +these terms. + +It is humiliating to record the readiness of these old monarchies to +sell themselves and their armies to any cause which would pay the price +demanded. For seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars England purchased +the alliance of Poland, and her army of thirty thousand men. Before the +treaty was formally ratified, the Emperor Charles VII. died, and there +were indications that Bavaria would withdraw from the French alliance. +This alarmed the French ministry, and they immediately offered Poland a +larger sum than England had proffered, to send her army to the French +camp. The bargain was on the point of being settled, when England and +Austria again rushed in, and whispered in the ear of Augustus that they +intended to chastise the King of Prussia thoroughly, and that if Poland +would help them, Poland should be rewarded with generous slices of the +Prussian territory. This was a resistless bribe, and the Polish banners +were borne in the train of the Austrian alliance. + +The Duke of Lorraine was much annoyed by the imperial assumption of his +wife. She was anxious to secure for him the crown of Germany, as adding +to her power and grandeur. But Francis was still more anxious to attain +that dignity, as his position in the court, as merely the docile subject +of his wife, the queen, was exceedingly humiliating. The spring of 1745 +found all parties prepared for the renewal of the fight. The drama was +opened by the terrible battle of Fontenoy in the Netherlands. On the +11th of May eighty thousand French met the Austrian allied army of fifty +thousand. After a few hours of terrific slaughter the allies retreated, +leaving the French in possession of the field. In Italy, also, the tide +of war set against the queen. The French and Spaniards poured an army of +seventy thousand men over the Alps into Italy. The queen, even with the +aid of Sardinia, had no force capable of resisting them. The allies +swept the country. The King of Sardinia was driven behind the walls of +his capital. In this one short campaign Tortona, Placentia, Parma, +Pavia, Cazale and Aste were wrested from the Austrians, and the citadels +of Alexandria and Milan were blockaded. + +The queen had weakened her armies both in the Netherlands and Italy that +she might accumulate a force sufficient to recover Silesia, and to crush, +if possible, her great antagonist Frederic. Maria Theresa was greatly +elated by her success in driving the Prussians from Bavaria, and +Frederic was mortified and irritated by this first defeat of his arms. +Thus animated, the one by hope, the other by vengeance, Maria and +Frederic gathered all their resources for a trial of strength on the +plains of Silesia. France, fully occupied in the Netherlands and in +Italy, could render Frederic no assistance. His prospects began to look +dark. War had made sad ravages in his army, and he found much difficulty +in filling up his wasted battalions. His treasury was exhausted. Still +the indomitable monarch indulged in no emotions of dejection. + +Each party was fully aware of the vigilance and energy of its +antagonist. Their forces were early in the field. The month of April was +passed in stratagems and skirmishes, each endeavoring in vain to obtain +some advantage over the other in position or combinations. Early in May +there was a pretty severe conflict, in which the Prussians gained the +advantage. They feigned, however, dejection and alarm, and apparently +commenced a retreat. The Austrians, emboldened by this subterfuge, +pursued them with indiscreet haste. Prince Charles pressed the retiring +hosts, and followed closely after them through the passes of the +mountains to Landshut and Friedburg. Frederic fled as if in a panic, +throwing no obstacle in the path of his pursuers, seeming only anxious +to gain the ramparts of Breslau. Suddenly the Prussians turned--the +whole army being concentrated in columns of enormous strength. They had +chosen their ground and their hour. It was before the break of day on +the 3d of June, among the hills of Hohenfriedberg. The Austrians were +taken utterly by surprise. For seven hours they repelled the impetuous +onset of their foes. But when four thousand of their number were mangled +corpses, seven thousand captives in the hands of the enemy, seventy-six +standards and sixty-six pieces of artillery wrested from them, the +broken bands of the Austrians turned and fled, pursued and incessantly +pelted by Frederic through the defiles of the mountains back to Bohemia. +The Austrians found no rest till they had escaped beyond the +Riesengeberg, and placed the waves of the Elbe between themselves and +their pursuers. The Prussians followed to the opposite bank, and there +the two armies remained for three months looking each other in the face. + +Frederic, having gained so signal a victory, again proposed peace. +England, exceedingly desirous to detach from the allies so energetic a +foe, urged the queen, in the strongest terms, to accede to the +overtures. The queen, however, never dismayed by adversity, still +adhered to her resolve to reconquer Silesia. The English cabinet, +finding Maria Theresa deaf to all their remonstrances and entreaties, +endeavored to intimidate her by the threat of withdrawing their +subsidies. + +The English ambassador, Sir Thomas Robinson, with this object in view, +demanded an audience with the queen. The interview, as he has recorded +it, is worthy of preservation. + +"England," said the ambassador to the queen, "has this year furnished +five million, three hundred and ninety-three thousand seven hundred and +sixty-five dollars. The nation is not in a condition to maintain a +superiority over the allies in the Netherlands, Italy and Silesia. It +is, therefore, indispensable to diminish the force of the enemy. France +can not be detached from the alliance. Prussia can be and must be. This +concession England expects from Austria. What is to be done must be done +immediately. The King of Prussia can not be driven from Bohemia this +campaign. By making peace with him, and thus securing his voluntary +withdrawal, your majesty can send troops to the Netherlands, and check +the rapid progress of the French, who now threaten the very existence of +England and Holland. If they fall, Austria must inevitably fall also. If +peace can be, made with Prussia France can be checked, and the Duke of +Lorraine can be chosen emperor." + +"I feel exceedingly grateful," the queen replied, "to the king and the +English nation, and am ready to show it in every way in my power. Upon +this matter I will consult my ministers and acquaint you with my answer. +But whatever may be the decision, I can not spare a man from the +neighborhood of the King of Prussia. In peace, as well as in war, I need +them all for the defense of my person and family." + +"It is affirmed," Sir Thomas Robinson replied, "that seventy thousand +men are employed against Prussia. From such a force enough might be +spared to render efficient aid in Italy and in the Netherlands." + +"I can not spare a man," the queen abruptly replied. + +Sir Thomas was a little touched, and with some spirit rejoined, "If your +majesty can not spare her troops for the general cause, England will +soon find it necessary to withdraw her armies also, to be employed at +home." + +This was a home thrust, and the queen felt it, and replied, "But why may +we not as well detach France from the alliance, as Prussia?" + +"Because Prussia," was the reply, "can be more easily induced to accede +to peace, by allowing her to retain what she now has, than France can be +induced to yield, by surrendering, as she must, large portions of her +present acquisitions." + +"I must have an opportunity," Maria Theresa continued, "to strike +Prussia another blow. Prince Charles has still enough men to give +battle." + +"But should he be the victor in the battle," Sir Thomas replied, +"Silesia is not conquered. And if the battle be lost, your majesty is +well nigh ruined." + +"If I had determined," said the queen, "to make peace with Frederic +to-morrow, I would give him battle to-night. But why in such a hurry? +Why this interruption of operations which are by no means to be +despaired of? Give me only to October, and then you may do as you +please." + +"October will close this campaign," was the answer. "Our affairs are +going so disastrously, that unless we can detach Prussia, by that time +France and Prussia will be able to dictate terms to which we shall be +compelled to accede." + +"That might be true," the queen replied, tartly, "if I were to waste my +time, as you are urging me to do, in marching my troops from Bohemia to +the Rhine, and from the Rhine to the Netherlands. But as for my troops, +I have not a single general who would condescend to command such merely +_machinery_ armies. As for the Duke of Lorraine, and my brother, Prince +Charles, they shall not thus degrade themselves. The great duke is not +so ambitious of an empty honor, much less to enjoy it under the +patronage of Prussia. You speak of the imperial dignity! Is it +compatible with the loss of Silesia? Great God! give me only till +October. I shall then at least be able to secure better conditions." + +The English ambassador now ventured, in guarded phrase, but very +decisively, to inform the queen that unless she could accede to these +views, England would be constrained to withdraw her assistance, and, +making the best terms she could for herself with the enemy, leave +Austria to fight her own battles; and that England requested an +immediate and a specific answer. Even this serious menace did not move +the inflexible will of the queen. She, with much calmness, replied, + +"It is that I might, with the utmost promptness, attend to this +business, that I have given you so expeditious an audience, and that I +have summoned my council to meet so early. I see, however, very clearly, +that whatever may be my decisions, they will have but little influence +upon measures which are to be adopted elsewhere." + +The queen convened her council, and then informed England, in most +courteous phrase, that she could not accede to the proposition. The +British cabinet immediately entered into a private arrangement with +Prussia, guaranteeing to Frederic the possession of Silesia, in +consideration of Prussia's agreement not to molest England's Hanoverian +possessions. + +Maria Theresa was exceedingly indignant when she became acquainted with +this treaty. She sent peremptory orders to Prince Charles to prosecute +hostilities with the utmost vigor, and with great energy dispatched +reenforcements to his camp. The Hungarians, with their accustomed +enthusiasm, flocked to the aid of the queen; and Frederic, pressed by +superior numbers, retreated from Bohemia back to Silesia, pursued and +pelted in his turn by the artillery of Prince Charles. But Frederic soon +turned upon his foes, who almost surrounded him with double his own +number of men. His army was compact and in the highest state of +discipline. A scene of terrible carnage ensued, in which the Austrians, +having lost four thousand in killed and two thousand taken prisoners, +were utterly routed and scattered. The proud victor, gathering up his +weakened battalions, one fourth of whom had been either killed or +wounded in this short, fierce storm of war, continued his retreat +unmolested. + +While Maria Theresa, with such almost superhuman inflexibility, was +pressing her own plans, the electoral diet of Germany was assembled at +Frankfort, and Francis, Duke of Lorraine, was chosen emperor, with the +title of Francis I. The queen was at Frankfort when the diet had +assembled, and was plying all her energies in favor of her husband, +while awaiting, with intense solicitude, the result of the election. +When the choice was announced to her, she stepped out upon the balcony +of the palace, and was the first to shout, "Long live the emperor, +Francis I." The immense concourse assembled in the streets caught and +reechoed the cry. This result was exceedingly gratifying to the queen; +she regarded it as a noble triumph, adding to the power and the luster +of her house. + +The duke, now the emperor, was at Heidelberg, with an army of sixty +thousand men. The queen hastened to him with her congratulations. The +emperor, no longer a submissive subject, received his queenly spouse +with great dignity at the head of his army. The whole host was drawn up +in two lines, and the queen rode between, bowing to the regiments on the +right hand and the left, with majesty and grace which all admired. + +Though the queen's treasury was so exhausted that she had been compelled +to melt the church plate to pay her troops, she was now so elated that, +regardless of the storms of winter, she resolved to send an army to +Berlin, to chastise Frederic in his own capital, and there recover long +lost Silesia. But Frederic was not thus to be caught napping. Informed +of the plan, he succeeded in surprising the Austrian army, and dispersed +them after the slaughter of five thousand men. The queen's troops, who +had entered Silesia, were thus driven pell-mell back to Bohemia. The +Prussian king then invaded Saxony, driving all before him. He took +possession of the whole electorate, and entered Dresden, its capital, in +triumph. This was a terrible defeat for the queen. Though she had often +said that she would part with her last garment before she would consent +to the surrender of Silesia, she felt now compelled to yield. Accepting +the proffered mediation of England, on the 25th of December, 1745, she +signed the treaty of Dresden, by which she left Silesia in the hands of +Frederic. He agreed to withdraw his troops from Saxony, and to +acknowledge the imperial title of Francis I. + +England, in consequence of rebellion at home, had been compelled to +withdraw her troops from the Netherlands; and France, advancing with +great vigor, took fortress after fortress, until nearly all of the Low +Countries had fallen into her hands. In Italy, however, the Austrians +were successful, and Maria Theresa, having dispatched thirty thousand +troops to their aid, cherished sanguine hopes that she might recover +Milan and Naples. All the belligerent powers, excepting Maria Theresa, +weary of the long war, were anxious for peace. She, however, still +clung, with deathless tenacity, to her determination to recover Silesia, +and to win provinces in Italy. England and France were equally desirous +to sheathe the sword. France could only attack England in the +Netherlands; England could only assail France in her marine. They were +both successful. France drove England from the continent; England drove +France from the ocean. + +Notwithstanding the most earnest endeavors of the allies, Maria Theresa +refused to listen to any terms of peace, and succeeded in preventing the +other powers from coming to any accommodation. All parties, +consequently, prepared for another campaign. Prussia entered into an +alliance with Austria, by which she agreed to furnish her with thirty +thousand troops. The queen made gigantic efforts to drive the French +from the Netherlands. England and Holland voted an army of forty +thousand each. The queen furnished sixty thousand; making an army of one +hundred and forty thousand to operate in the Netherlands. At the same +time the queen sent sixty thousand men to Italy, to be joined by +forty-five thousand Sardinians. All the energies of the English fleet +were also combined with these formidable preparations. Though never +before during the war had such forces been brought into the field, the +campaign was quite disastrous to Austria and her allies. Many bloody +battles were fought, and many thousands perished in agony; but nothing +of any importance was gained by either party. When winter separated the +combatants, they retired exhausted and bleeding. + +Again France made overtures for a general pacification, on terms which +were eminently honorable. England was disposed to listen to those terms. +But the queen had not yet accomplished her purposes, and she succeeded +in securing the rejection of the proposals. Again the belligerents +gathered their resources, with still increasing vigor, for another +campaign. The British cabinet seemed now to be out of all patience with +Maria Theresa. They accused her of not supplying the contingents she had +promised, they threatened to withhold their subsidies, many bitter +recriminations passed, but still the queen, undismayed by the +contentions, urged forward her preparations for the new campaign, till +she was thunderstruck with the tidings that the preliminaries of peace +were already signed by England, France and Holland. + +Maria Theresa received the first formal notification of the terms agreed +to by the three contracting powers, from the English minister, Sir +Thomas Robinson, who urged her concurrence in the treaty. The indignant +queen could not refrain from giving free vent to her displeasure. +Listening for a moment impatiently to his words, she overwhelmed him +with a torrent of reproaches. + +"You, sir," she exclaimed, "who had such a share in the sacrifice of +Silesia; you, who contributed more than any one in procuring the +cessions to Sardinia, do you still think to persuade me? No! I am +neither a child nor a fool! If you will have an instant peace, make it. +I can negotiate for myself. Why am I always to be excluded from +transacting my own business? My enemies will give me better conditions +than my friends. Place me where I was in Italy before the war; but _your +King of Sardinia_ must have all, without one thought for me. This treaty +was not made for me, but for him, for him singly. Great God, how have I +been used by that court! There is _your King of Prussia_! Indeed these +circumstances tear open too many old wounds and create too many new +ones. Agree to such a treaty as this!" she exclaimed indignantly. "No, +no, I will rather lose my head." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +MARIA THERESA. + +From 1748 to 1759. + +Treaty of Peace.--Dissatisfaction of Maria Theresa.--Preparation for +War.--Rupture between England and Austria.--Maria Theresa.--Alliance +with France.--Influence of Marchioness of Pompadour.--Bitter Reproaches +Between Austria and England.--Commencement of the Seven Years' +War.--Energy of Frederic of Prussia.--Sanguinary Battles.--Vicissitudes +of War.--Desperate Situation of Frederic.--Elation of Maria Theresa.-- +Her Ambitious Plans.--Awful Defeat of the Prussians at Berlin. + + +Notwithstanding the bitter opposition of Maria Theresa to peace, the +definitive treaty was signed at Aix-la-Chapelle on the 18th of October, +1748, by France, England and Holland. Spain and Sardinia soon also gave +in their adhesion. The queen, finding it impossible to resist the +determination of the other powers, at length reluctantly yielded, and +accepted the terms, which they were ready unitedly to enforce should she +refuse to accede to them. By this treaty all the contracting powers gave +their assent to the Pragmatic Sanction. The queen was required to +surrender her conquests in Italy, and to confirm her cessions of Silesia +to Prussia. Thus terminated this long and cruel war. Though at the +commencement the queen was threatened with utter destruction, and she +had come out from the contests with signal honor, retaining all her vast +possessions, excepting Silesia and the Italian provinces, still she +could not repress her chagrin. Her complaints were loud and reiterated. +When the British minister requested an audience to congratulate her upon +the return of peace, she snappishly replied, + +"A visit of condolence would be more proper, under these circumstances, +than one of congratulation. The British minister will oblige me by +making no allusion whatever to so disagreeable a topic." + +The queen was not only well aware that this peace could not long +continue, but was fully resolved that it should not be permanent. Her +great rival, Frederic, had wrested from her Silesia, and she was +determined that there should be no stable peace until she had regained +it. With wonderful energy she availed herself of this short respite in +replenishing her treasury and in recruiting her armies. Frederic himself +has recorded the masculine vigor with which she prepared herself for the +renewal of war. + +"Maria Theresa," he says, "in the secrecy of her cabinet, arranged those +great projects which she afterwards carried into execution. She +introduced an order and economy into the finances unknown to her +ancestors; and her revenues far exceeded those of her father, even when +he was master of Naples, Parma, Silesia and Servia. Having learned the +necessity of introducing into her army a better discipline, she annually +formed camps in the provinces, which she visited herself that she might +animate the troops by her presence and bounty. She established a +military academy at Vienna, and collected the most skillful professors +of all the sciences and exercises which tend to elucidate or improve the +art of war. By these institutions the army acquired, under Maria +Theresa, such a degree of perfection as it had never attained under any +of her predecessors; and a woman accomplished designs worthy of a great +man." + +The queen immediately organized a standing army of one hundred and eight +thousand men, who were brought under the highest state of discipline, +and were encamped in such positions that they could, at any day, be +concentrated ready for combined action. The one great object which now +seemed to engross her mind was the recovery of Silesia. It was, of +course, a subject not to be spoken of openly; but in secret conference +with her ministers she unfolded her plans and sought counsel. Her +intense devotion to political affairs, united to a mind of great +activity and native strength, soon placed her above her ministers in +intelligence and sagacity; and conscious of superior powers, she leaned +less upon them, and relied upon her own resources. With a judgment thus +matured she became convinced of the incapacity of her cabinet, and with +great skill in the discernment of character, chose Count Kaunitz, who +was then her ambassador at Paris, prime minister. Kaunitz, son of the +governor of Moravia, had given signal proof of his diplomatic abilities, +in Rome and in Paris. For nearly forty years he remained at the head of +foreign affairs, and, in conjunction with the queen, administered the +government of Austria. + +Policy had for some time allied Austria and England, but there had never +been any real friendship between the two cabinets. The high tone of +superiority ever assumed by the court of St. James, its offensive +declaration that the arm of England alone had saved the house of Austria +from utter ruin, and the imperious demand for corresponding gratitude, +annoyed and exasperated the proud court of Vienna. The British cabinet +were frequently remonstrated with against the assumption of such airs, +and the employment of language so haughty in their diplomatic +intercourse. But the British government has never been celebrated for +courtesy in its intercourse with weaker powers. The chancellor Kaunitz +entreated them, in their communications, to respect the sex and temper +of the queen, and not to irritate her by demeanor so overbearing. The +emperor himself entered a remonstrance against the discourtesy which +characterized their intercourse. Even the queen, unwilling to break off +friendly relations with her unpolished allies, complained to the British +ambassador of the arrogant style of the English documents. + +"They do not," said the queen, "disturb me, but they give great offense +to others, and endanger the amity existing between the two nations. I +would wish that more courtesy might mark our intercourse." + +But the amenities of polished life, the rude islanders despised. The +British ambassador at Vienna, Sir Robert Keith, a gentlemanly man, was +often mortified at the messages he was compelled to communicate to the +queen. Occasionally the messages were couched in terms so peremptory and +offensive that he could not summon resolution to deliver them, and thus +he more than once incurred the censure of the king and cabinet, for his +sense of propriety and delicacy. These remonstrances were all +unavailing, and at length the Austrian cabinet began to reply with equal +rancor. + +This state of things led the Austrian cabinet to turn to France, and +seek the establishment of friendly relations with that court. Louis XV., +the most miserable of debauchees, was nominally king. His mistress, +Jeanette Poisson, who was as thoroughly polluted as her regal paramour, +governed the monarch, and through him France. The king had ennobled her +with the title of Marchioness of Pompadour. Her power was so boundless +and indisputable that the most illustrious ladies of the French court +were happy to serve as her waiting women. Whenever she walked out, one +of the highest nobles of the realm accompanied her as her attendant, +obsequiously bearing her shawl upon his arm, to spread it over her +shoulders in case it should be needed. Ambassadors and ministers she +summoned before her, assuming that air of royalty which she had +purchased with her merchantable charms. Voltaire, Diderot, Montesquieu, +waited in her ante-chambers, and implored her patronage. The haughty +mistress became even weary of their adulation. + +"Not only," said she one day, to the Abbe de Bernis, "have I all the +nobility at my feet, but even my lap-dog is weary of their fawning." + +With many apologies for requiring of the high-minded Maria Theresa a +sacrifice, Kaunitz suggested to her the expediency of cultivating the +friendship of Pompadour. Silesia was engraved upon the heart of the +queen, and she was prepared to do any thing which could aid her in the +reconquest of that duchy. She stooped so low as to write a letter with +her own hand to the marchioness, addressing her as "our dear friend and +cousin." + +This was a new triumph for Pompadour, and it delighted her beyond +measure. To have the most illustrious sovereign of Europe, combining in +her person the titles of Queen of Austria and Empress of Germany, +solicit her friendship and her good offices, so excited the vanity of +the mistress, that she became immediately the warm friend of Maria +Theresa, and her all powerful advocate in the court of Versailles. +England was now becoming embroiled with France in reference to the +possessions upon the St. Lawrence and Ohio in North America. In case of +war, France would immediately make an attack upon Hanover. England was +anxious to secure the Austrian alliance, that the armies of the queen +might aid in the protection of Hanover. But Austria, being now in secret +conference with France, was very reserved. England coaxed and +threatened, but could get no definite or satisfactory answer. Quite +enraged, the British cabinet sent a final declaration that, "should the +empress decline fulfilling the conditions required, the king can not +take any measures in cooeperation with Austria, and the present system of +European policy must be dissolved." + +The reply of the empress queen develops the feelings of irritation and +bitterness which at that time existed between the two cabinets of +Austria and England. + +"The queen," Maria Theresa replied, "has never had the satisfaction of +seeing England do justice to her principles. If the army of Austria were +merely the hired soldiers of England, the British cabinet could not more +decisively assume the control of their movements than it now does, by +requiring their removal from the center of Austria, for the defense of +England and Hanover. We are reproached with the great efforts England +has made in behalf of the house of Austria. But to these efforts England +owes its present greatness. If Austria has derived useful succors from +England, she has purchased those succors with the blood and ruin of her +subjects; while England has been opening to herself new sources of +wealth and power. We regret the necessity of uttering these truths in +reply to unjust and unceasing reproaches. Could any consideration +diminish our gratitude towards England, it would be thus diminished by +her constant endeavor to represent the aid she has furnished us as +entirely gratuitous, when this aid has always been and always will be +dictated by her own interests." + +Such goading as this brought back a roar. The British envoy was ordered +to demand an explicit and categorical reply to the following questions: + +1. If the French attack Hanover, will the queen render England +assistance? + +2. What number of troops will she send; and how soon will they be in +motion to join the British and Hanoverian troops? + +The Austrian minister, Kaunitz, evaded a reply, coldly answering, "Our +ultimatum has been given. The queen deems those declarations as ample as +can be expected in the present posture of affairs; nor can she give any +further reply till England shall have more fully explained her +intentions." + +Thus repulsed, England turned to Prussia, and sought alliance with the +most inveterate enemy of Austria. Frederic, fearing an assault from +united Russia and Austria, eagerly entered into friendly relations with +England, and on the 16th of January, 1756, entered into a treaty with +the cabinet of Great Britain for the defense of Hanover. + +Maria Theresa was quite delighted with this arrangement, for affairs +were moving much to her satisfaction at Versailles. Her "dear friend and +cousin" Jeanette Poisson, had dismissed all the ministers who were +unfriendly to Austria, and had replaced them with her own creatures who +were in favor of the Austrian alliance. A double motive influenced the +Marchioness of Pompadour. Her vanity was gratified by the advances of +Maria Theresa, and revenge roused her soul against Frederic of Prussia, +who had indulged in a cutting witticism upon her position and character. + +The marchioness, with one of her favorites, Cardinal Bernis, met the +Austrian ambassador in one of the private apartments of the palace of +the Luxembourg, and arranged the plan of the alliance between France and +Austria. Maria Theresa, without the knowledge of her ministers, or even +of her husband the emperor, privately conducted these negotiations with +the Marchioness du Pompadour. M. Kaunitz was the agent employed by the +queen in this transaction. Louis XV., sunk in the lowest depths of +debauchery, consented to any arrangements his mistress might propose. +But when the treaty was all matured it became necessary to present it to +the Council of State. The queen, knowing how astounded her husband would +be to learn what she had been doing, and aware of the shock it would +give the ministry to think of an alliance with France, pretended to +entire ignorance of the measures she had been so energetically +prosecuting. + +In very guarded and apologetic phrase, Kaunitz introduced the delicate +subject. The announcement of the unexpected alliance with France struck +all with astonishment and indignation. Francis, vehemently moved, rose, +and smiting the table with his hand, exclaimed, "Such an alliance is +unnatural and impracticable--it never shall take place." The empress, by +nods and winks, encouraged her minister, and he went on detailing the +great advantages to result from the French alliance. Maria Theresa +listened with great attention to his arguments, and was apparently +convinced by them. She then gave her approbation so decisively as to +silence all debate. She said that such a treaty was so manifestly for +the interest of Austria, that she was fearful that France would not +accede to it. Since she knew that the matter was already arranged and +settled with the French court, this was a downright lie, though the +queen probably regarded it as a venial fib, or as diplomacy. + +Thus curiously England and Austria had changed their allies. George II. +and Frederic II., from being rancorous foes became friends, and Maria +Theresa and Louis XV. unfurled their flags together. England was +indignant with Austria for the French alliance, Austria was indignant +with England for the Prussian alliance. Each accused the other of being +the first to abandon the ancient treaty. As the British ambassador +reproached the queen with this abandonment, she replied, + +"I have not abandoned the old system, but Great Britain has abandoned me +and that system, by concluding the Prussian treaty, the first +intelligence of which struck me like a fit of apoplexy. I and the King +of Prussia are incompatible. No consideration on earth shall induce me +to enter into any engagement to which he is a party. Why should you be +surprised if, following your example in concluding a treaty with +Prussia, I should enter into an engagement with France?" + +"I have but two enemies," Maria Theresa said again, "whom I have to +dread--the King of Prussia and the Turks. And while I and the Empress of +Russia continue on the same good terms as now subsist between us, we +shall, I trust, be able to convince Europe that we are in a condition to +defend ourselves against those adversaries, however formidable." + +The queen still kept her eye anxiously fixed upon Silesia, and in secret +combination with the Empress of Russia made preparation for a sudden +invasion. With as much secrecy as was possible, large armies were +congregated in the vicinity of Prague, while Russia was cautiously +concentrating her troops upon the frontiers of Livonia. But Frederic was +on the alert, and immediately demanded of the empress queen the +significance of these military movements. + +"In the present crisis," the queen replied, "I deem it necessary to take +measures for the security of myself and my allies, which tend to the +prejudice of no one." + +So vague an answer was of course unsatisfactory, and the haughty +Prussian king reiterated his demand in very imperious tones. + +"I wish," said he, "for an immediate and categorical answer, not +delivered in an oracular style, ambiguous and inconclusive, respecting +the armaments in Bohemia, and I demand a positive assurance that the +queen will not attack me either during this or the following year." + +The answer returned by the queen to this demand was equally +unsatisfactory with the first, and the energetic Prussian monarch, +wasting no more words, instantly invaded Saxony with a powerful army, +overran the duchy, and took possession of Dresden, its capital. Then +wheeling his troops, with twenty-four thousand men he marched boldly +into Bohemia. The queen dispatched an army of forty thousand to meet +him. The fierce encounter took place at Lowositz, near the banks of the +Elbe. The military genius of Frederic prevailed, and the Austrians were +repulsed, though the slaughter was about equal on each side, six +thousand men, three thousand upon each side, being left in their blood. +Frederic took possession of Saxony as a conquered province. Seventeen +thousand soldiers, whom he made prisoners, he forced into his own +service. Eighty pieces of cannon were added to his artillery train, and +the revenues of Saxony replenished his purse. + +The anger of Maria Theresa, at this humiliation of her ally, was roused +to the highest pitch, and she spent the winter in the most vigorous +preparations for the campaign of the spring. She took advantage of +religious fanaticism, and represented, through all the Catholic courts +of Europe, that there was a league of the two heretical powers, England +and Prussia, against the faithful children of the Church. Jeanette +Poisson, Marchioness of Pompadour, who now controlled the destinies of +France, raised, for the service of Maria Theresa, an army of one hundred +and five thousand men, paid all the expenses of ten thousand Bavarian +troops, and promised the queen an annual subsidy of twelve millions of +imperial florins. The emperor, regarding the invasion of Saxony as an +insult to the empire, roused the States of Germany to cooeperate with the +queen. Europe was again ablaze with war. + +It was indeed a fearful combination now prepared to make a rush upon the +King of Prussia. France had assembled eighty thousand men on the Rhine. +The Swedes were rallying in great numbers on the frontiers of Pomerania. +The Russians had concentrated an army sixty thousand strong on the +borders of Livonia. And the Queen of Austria had one hundred and fifty +thousand men on the march, through Hungary and Bohemia, to the frontiers +of Silesia. Frederic, with an eagle eye, was watching all these +movements, and was employing all his amazing energies to meet the +crisis. He resolved to have the advantage of striking the first blow, +and adopted the bold measure of marching directly into the heart of the +Austrian States. To deceive the allies he pretended to be very much +frightened, and by breaking down bridges and establishing fortresses +seemed intent upon merely presenting a desperate defense behind his +ramparts. + +Suddenly, in three strong, dense columns, Frederic burst into Bohemia +and advanced, with rapid and resistless strides, towards Prague. The +unprepared Austrian bands were driven before these impetuous assailants +as chaff is dispersed by the whirlwind. With great precipitation the +Austrian troops, from all quarters, fled to the city of Prague and +rallied beneath its walls. Seventy thousand men were soon collected, +strongly intrenched behind ramparts, thrown up outside of the city, from +which ramparts, in case of disaster, they could retire behind the walls +and into the citadel. + +The king, with his army, came rushing on like the sweep of the tornado, +and plunged, as a thunderbolt of war, into the camp of the Austrians. +For a few hours the battle blazed as if it were a strife of demons--hell +in high carnival. Eighteen thousand Prussians were mowed down by the +Austrian batteries, before the fierce assailants could scale the +ramparts. Then, with cimeter and bayonet, they took a bloody revenge. +Eight thousand Austrians were speedily weltering in blood. The shriek of +the battle penetrated all the dwellings in Prague, appalling every ear, +like a wail from the world of woe. The routed Austrians, leaving nine +thousand prisoners, in the hands of Frederic, rushed through the gates +into the city, while a storm of shot from the batteries on the walls +drove back the pursuing Prussians. + +Prague, with the broken army thus driven within its walls, now contained +one hundred thousand inhabitants. The city was totally unprepared for a +siege. All supplies of food being cut off, the inhabitants were soon +reduced to extreme suffering. The queen was exceedingly anxious that the +city should hold out until she could hasten to its relief. She succeeded +in sending a message to the besieged army, by a captain of grenadiers, +who contrived to evade the vigilance of the besiegers and to gain +entrance to the city. + +"I am concerned," said the empress, "that so many generals, with so +considerable a force, must remain besieged in Prague, but I augur +favorably for the event. I can not too strongly impress upon your minds +that the troops will incur everlasting disgrace should they not effect +what the French in the last war performed with far inferior numbers. The +honor of the whole nation, as well as that of the imperial aims, is +interested in their present behavior. The security of Bohemia, of my +other hereditary dominions, and of the German empire itself, depends on +a gallant defense and the preservation of Prague. + +"The army under the command of Marshal Daun is daily strengthening, and +will soon be in a condition to raise the siege. The French are +approaching with all diligence. The Swedes are marching to my +assistance. In a short space of time affairs will, under divine +Providence, wear a better aspect." + +The scene in Prague was awful. Famine strode through all the streets, +covering the pavements with the emaciate corpses of the dead. An +incessant bombardment was kept up from the Prussian batteries, and shot +and shell were falling incessantly, by day and by night, in every +portion of the city. Conflagrations were continually blazing; there was +no possible place of safety; shells exploded in parlors, in chambers, in +cellars, tearing limb from limb, and burying the mutilated dead beneath +the ruins of their dwellings. The booming of the cannon, from the +distant batteries, was answered by the thunder of the guns from the +citadel and the walls, and blended with all this uproar rose the +uninterrupted shrieks of the wounded and the dying. The cannonade from +the Prussian batteries was so destructive, that in a few days one +quarter of the entire city was demolished. + +Count Daun, with sixty thousand men, was soon advancing rapidly towards +Prague. Frederic, leaving a small force to continue the blockade of the +city, marched with the remainder of his troops to assail the Austrian +general. They soon met, and fought for some hours as fiercely as mortals +can fight. The slaughter on both sides was awful. At length the fortune +of war turned in favor of the Austrians, though they laid down nine +thousand husbands, fathers, sons, in bloody death, as the price of the +victory. Frederic was almost frantic with grief and rage as he saw his +proud battalions melting away before the batteries of the foe. Six times +his cavalry charged with the utmost impetuosity, and six times they were +as fiercely repulsed. Frederic was finally compelled to withdraw, +leaving fourteen thousand of his troops either slain or prisoners. +Twenty-two Prussian standards and forty-three pieces of artillery were +taken by the Austrians. + +The tidings of this victory elated Maria Theresa almost to delirium. +Feasts were given, medals struck, presents given, and the whole empire +blazed with illuminations, and rang with all the voices of joy. The +queen even condescended to call in person upon the Countess Daun to +congratulate her upon the great victory attained by her husband. She +instituted, on the occasion, a new military order of merit, called the +order of Maria Theresa. Count Daun and his most illustrious officers +were honored with the first positions in this new order of knighthood. + +The Prussians were compelled to raise the siege of Prague, and to +retreat with precipitation. Bohemia was speedily evacuated by the +Prussian troops. The queen was now determined to crush Frederic +entirely, so that he might never rise again. His kingdom was to be taken +from him, carved up, and apportioned out between Austria, Sweden, Poland +and Russia. + +The Prussians retreated, in a broken band of but twenty-five thousand +men, into the heart of Silesia, to Breslau, its beautiful and strongly +fortified capital. This city, situated upon the Oder, at its junction +with the Ohlau, contained a population of nearly eighty thousand. The +fugitive troops sought refuge behind its walls, protected as they were +by batteries of the heaviest artillery. The Austrians, strengthened by +the French, with an army now amounting to ninety thousand, followed +closely on, and with their siege artillery commenced the cannonade of +the city. An awful scene of carnage ensued, in which the Austrians lost +eight thousand men and the Prussians five thousand, when the remnant of +the Prussian garrison, retreating by night through a remote gate, left +the city in the hands of the Austrians. + +It was now mid-winter. But the iron-nerved Frederic, undismayed by these +terrible reverses, collected the scattered fragments of his army, and, +finding himself at the head of thirty thousand men, advanced to Breslau +in the desperate attempt to regain his capital. His force was so +inconsiderable as to excite the ridicule of the Austrians. Upon the +approach of Frederic, Prince Charles, disdaining to hide behind the +ramparts of the city on the defensive, against a foe thus insulting him +with inferior numbers, marched to meet the Prussians. The interview +between Prince Charles and Frederic was short but very decisive, lasting +only from the hour of dinner to the going down of a December's sun. The +twilight of the wintry day had not yet come when seven thousand +Austrians were lying mangled in death on the blood-stained snow. Twenty +thousand were made prisoners. All the baggage of the Austrian army, the +military chest, one hundred and thirty-four pieces of cannon, and +fifty-nine standards fell into the hands of the victors. For this +victory Frederic paid the price of five thousand lives; but _life_ to +the poor Prussian soldier must have been a joyless scene, and death must +have been a relief. + +Frederic now, with triumphant banners, approached the city. It +immediately capitulated, surrendering nearly eighteen thousand soldiers, +six hundred and eighty-six officers and thirteen generals as prisoners +of war. In this one storm of battle, protracted through but a few days, +Maria Theresa lost fifty thousand men. Frederic then turned upon the +Russians, and drove them out of Silesia. The same doom awaited the +Swedes, and they fled precipitately to winter quarters behind the cannon +of Stralsund. Thus terminated the memorable campaign of 1757, the most +memorable of the Seven Years' War. The Austrian army was almost +annihilated; but the spirit of the strife was not subdued in any breast. + +The returning sun of spring was but the harbinger of new woes for +war-stricken Europe. England, being essentially a maritime power, could +render Frederic but little assistance in troops; but the cabinet of St. +James was lavish in voting money. Encouraged by the vigor Frederic had +shown, the British cabinet, with enthusiasm, voted him an annual subsidy +of three million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. + +Austria was so exhausted in means and in men, that notwithstanding the +most herculean efforts of the queen, it was not until April of the year +1758 that she was able to concentrate fifty thousand men in the field, +with the expensive equipments which war demands. Frederic, aided by the +gold of England, was early on the move, and had already opened the +campaign by the invasion of Moravia, and by besieging Olmutz. + +The summer was passed in a series of incessant battles, sweeping all +over Germany, with the usual vicissitudes of war. In the great battle of +Hockkirchen Frederic encountered a woful defeat. The battle took place +on the 14th of October, and lasted five hours. Eight thousand Austrians +and nine thousand Prussians were stretched lifeless upon the plain. +Frederic was at last compelled to retreat, abandoning his tents, his +baggage, one hundred and one cannon, and thirty standards. Nearly every +Prussian general was wounded. The king himself was grazed by a ball; his +horse was shot from under him, and two pages were killed at his side. + +Again Vienna blazed with illuminations and rang with rejoicing, and the +queen liberally dispensed her gifts and her congratulations. Still +nothing effectual was accomplished by all this enormous expenditure of +treasure, this carnage and woe; and again the exhausted combatants +retired to seek shelter from the storms of winter. Thus terminated the +third year of this cruel and wasting war. + +The spring of 1759 opened brightly for Maria Theresa. Her army, flushed +by the victory of the last autumn, was in high health and spirits. All +the allies of Austria redoubled their exertions; and the Catholic States +of Germany with religious zeal rallied against the two heretical +kingdoms of Prussia and England. The armies of France, Austria, Sweden +and Russia were now marching upon Prussia, and it seemed impossible that +the king could withstand such adversaries. More fiercely than ever the +storm of war raged. Frederic, at the head of forty thousand men, early +in June met eighty thousand Russians and Austrians upon the banks of the +Oder, near Frankfort. For seven hours the action lasted, and the allies +were routed with enormous slaughter; but the king, pursuing his victory +too far with his exhausted troops, was turned upon by the foe, and was +routed himself in turn, with the slaughter of one half of his whole +army. Twenty-four thousand of the allies and twenty thousand Prussians +perished on that bloody day. + +Frederic exposed his person with the utmost recklessness. Two horses +were shot beneath him; several musket balls pierced his clothes; he was +slightly wounded, and was rescued from the foe only by the almost +superhuman exertions of his hussars. In the darkness of the night the +Prussians secured their retreat. + +We have mentioned that at first Frederic seemed to have gained the +victory. So sanguine was he then of success that he dispatched a courier +from the field, with the following billet to the queen at Berlin:-- + +"We have driven the enemy from their intrenchments; in two hours expect +to hear of a glorious victory." + +Hardly two hours had elapsed ere another courier was sent to the queen +with the following appalling message:-- + +"Remove from Berlin with the royal family. Let the archives be carried +to Potsdam, and the capital make conditions with the enemy." + +In this terrible battle the enemy lost so fearfully that no effort was +made to pursue Frederic. Disaster never disheartened the Prussian king. +It seemed but to rouse anew his energies. With amazing vigor he rallied +his scattered forces, and called in reenforcements. The gold of England +was at his disposal; he dismantled distant fortresses and brought their +cannon into the field, and in a few days was at the head of twenty-eight +thousand men, beneath the walls of his capital, ready again to face the +foe. + +The thunderings of battle continued week after week, in unintermitted +roar throughout nearly all of Germany. Winter again came. Frederic had +suffered awfully during the campaign, but was still unsubdued. The +warfare was protracted even into the middle of the winter. The soldiers, +in the fields, wading through snow a foot deep, suffered more from +famine, frost and sickness than from the bullet of the foe. In the +Austrian army four thousand died, in sixteen days of December, from the +inclemency of the weather. Thus terminated the campaign of 1759. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +MARIA THERESA. + +From 1759 to 1780. + +Desolations of War.--Disasters of Prussia.--Despondency of Frederic.-- +Death of the Empress Elizabeth.--Accession of Paul III.--Assassination +of Paul III.--Accession of Catharine.--Discomfiture of the Austrians.-- +Treaty of Peace.--Election of Joseph to the Throne of the Empire.--Death +of Francis.--Character of Francis.--Anecdotes.--Energy of Maria +Theresa.--Poniatowski.--Partition of Poland.--Maria Theresa as a +Mother.--War With Bavaria.--Peace.--Death of Maria Theresa.--Family of +the Empress.--Accession of Joseph II.--His Character. + + +The spring of 1760 found all parties eager for the renewal of the +strife, but none more so than Maria Theresa. The King of Prussia was, +however, in a deplorable condition. The veteran army, in which he had +taken so much pride, was now annihilated. With despotic power he had +assembled a new army; but it was composed of peasants, raw recruits, but +poorly prepared to encounter the horrors of war. The allies were +marching against him with two hundred and fifty thousand men. Frederic, +with his utmost efforts, could muster but seventy-five thousand, who, to +use his own language, "were half peasants, half deserters from the +enemy, soldiers no longer fit for service, but only for show." + +Month after month passed away, during which the whole of Prussia +presented the aspect of one wide field of battle. Frederic fought with +the energies of desperation. Villages were everywhere blazing, squadrons +charging, and the thunders of an incessant cannonade deafened the ear by +night and by day. On the whole the campaign terminated in favor of +Frederic; the allies being thwarted in all their endeavors to crush him. +In one battle Maria Theresa lost twenty thousand men. + +During the ensuing winter all the continental powers were again +preparing for the resumption of hostilities in the spring, when the +British people, weary of the enormous expenditures of the war, began to +be clamorous for peace. The French treasury was also utterly exhausted. +France made overtures to England for a cessation of hostilities; and +these two powers, with peaceful overtures, addressed Maria Theresa. The +queen, though fully resolved to prosecute the war until she should +attain her object, thought it not prudent to reject outright such +proposals, but consented to the assembling of a congress at Augsburg. +Hostilities were not suspended during the meeting of the congress, and +the Austrian queen was sanguine in the hope of being speedily able to +crush her Prussian rival. Every general in the field had experienced +such terrible disasters, and the fortune of war seemed so fickle, now +lighting upon one banner and now upon another, that all parties were +wary, practicing the extreme of caution, and disposed rather to act upon +the defensive. Though not a single pitched battle was fought, the +allies, outnumbering the Prussians, three to one, continually gained +fortresses, intrenchments and positions, until the spirit even of +Frederic was broken by calamities, and he yielded to despair. He no +longer hoped to be able to preserve his empire, but proudly resolved to +bury himself beneath its ruins. His despondency could not be concealed +from his army, and his bravest troops declared that they could fight no +longer. + +Maria Theresa was elated beyond measure. England was withdrawing from +Prussia. Frederic was utterly exhausted both as to money and men; one +campaign more would finish the work, and Prussia would lie helpless at +the feet of Maria Theresa, and her most sanguine anticipations would be +realized. But the deepest laid plans of man are often thwarted by +apparently the most trivial events. One single individual chanced to be +taken sick and die. That individual was Elizabeth, the Empress of +Russia. On the 5th of January, 1762, she was lying upon her bed an +emaciate suffering woman, gasping in death. The departure of her last +breath changed the fate of Europe. + +Paul III., her nephew, who succeeded the empress, detested Maria +Theresa, and often inveighed bitterly against her haughtiness and her +ambition. On the contrary, he admired the King of Prussia. He had +visited the court of Berlin, where he had been received with marked +attention; and Frederic was his model of a hero. He had watched with +enthusiastic admiration the fortitude and military prowess of the +Prussian king, and had even sent to him many messages of sympathy, and +had communicated to him secrets of the cabinet and their plans of +operation. Now, enthroned as Emperor of Russia, without reserve he +avowed his attachment to Frederic, and ordered his troops to abstain +from hostilities, and to quit the Austrian army. At the same time he +sent a minister to Berlin to conclude an alliance with the hero he so +greatly admired. He even asked for himself a position in the Prussian +army as lieutenant under Frederic. + +The Swedish court was so intimately allied with that of St. Petersburg, +that the cabinet of Stockholm also withdrew from the Austrian alliance, +and thus Maria Theresa, at a blow, lost two of her most efficient +allies. The King of Prussia rose immediately from his despondency, and +the whole kingdom shared in his exultation and his joy. The Prussian +troops, in conjunction with the Russians, were now superior to the +Austrians, and were prepared to assume the offensive. But again +Providence interposed. A conspiracy was formed against the Russian +emperor, headed by his wife whom he had treated with great brutality, +and Paul III. lost both his crown and his life, in July 1762, after a +reign of less than six months. + +Catharine II., wife of Paul III., with a bloody hand took the crown from +the brow of her murdered husband and placed it upon her own head. She +immediately dissolved the Prussian alliance, declared Frederic an enemy +to the Prussian name, and ordered her troops, in cooeperation with those +of Austria, to resume hostilities against Frederic. It was an +instantaneous change, confounding all the projects of man. The energetic +Prussian king, before the Russian troops had time so to change their +positions as to cooeperate with the Austrians, assailed the troops of +Maria Theresa with such impetuosity as to drive them out of Silesia. +Pursuing his advantage Frederic overran Saxony, and then turning into +Bohemia, drove the Austrians before him to the walls of Prague. +Influenced by these disasters and other considerations, Catharine +decided to retire from the contest. At the same time the Turks, excited +by Frederic, commenced anew their invasion of Hungary. Maria Theresa was +in dismay. Her money was gone. Her allies were dropping from her. The +Turks were advancing triumphantly up the Danube, and Frederic was +enriching himself with the spoils of Saxony and Bohemia. Influenced by +these considerations she made overtures for peace, consenting to +renounce Silesia, for the recovery of which province she had in vain +caused Europe to be desolated with blood for so many years. A treaty of +peace was soon signed, Frederic agreeing to evacuate Saxony; and thus +terminated the bloody Seven Years' War. + +Maria Theresa's eldest son Joseph was now twenty-three years of age. Her +influence and that of the Emperor Francis was such, that they secured +his election to succeed to the throne of the empire upon the death of +his father. The emperor elect received the title of King of the Romans. +The important election took place at Frankfort, on the 27th of May, +1764. The health of the Emperor Francis I., had for some time been +precarious, he being threatened with apoplexy. Three months after the +election of his son to succeed him upon the imperial throne, Francis was +at Inspruck in the Tyrol, to attend the nuptials of his second son +Leopold, with Maria Louisa, infanta of Spain. He was feeble and +dejected, and longed to return to his home in Vienna. He imagined that +the bracing air of the Tyrol did not agree with his health, and looking +out upon the summits which tower around Inspruck exclaimed, + +"Oh! if I could but once quit these mountains of the Tyrol." + +On the morning of the 18th of August, his symptoms assumed so +threatening a form, that his friends urged him to be bled. The emperor +declined, saying, + +"I am engaged this evening to sup with Joseph, and I will not disappoint +him; but I will be blooded to-morrow." + +The evening came, and as he was preparing to go and sup with his son, he +dropped instantly dead upon the floor. Fifty-eight years was his +allotted pilgrimage--a pilgrimage of care and toil and sorrow. Even when +elevated to the imperial throne, his position was humiliating, being +ever overshadowed by the grandeur of his wife. At times he felt this +most keenly, and could not refrain from giving imprudent utterance to +his mortification. Being at one time present at a levee, which the +empress was giving to her subjects, he retired, in chagrin, from the +imperial circle into a corner of the saloon, and took his seat near two +ladies of the court. They immediately, in accordance with regal +etiquette, rose. + +"Do not regard me," said the emperor bitterly, and yet with an attempt +at playfulness, "for I shall remain here until the _court_ has retired, +and shall then amuse myself in contemplating the crowd." + +One of the ladies replied, "As long as your imperial majesty is present +the court will be here." + +"You are mistaken," rejoined the emperor, with a forced smile; "the +empress and my children are the court. I am here only as a private +individual." + +Francis I., though an impotent emperor, would have made a very good +exchange broker. He seemed to be fond of mercantile life, establishing +manufactories, and letting out money on bond and mortgage. When the +queen was greatly pressed for funds he would sometimes accept her paper, +always taking care to obtain the most unexceptionable security. He +engaged in a partnership with two very efficient men for farming the +revenues of Saxony. He even entered into a contract to supply the +_Prussian_ army with forage, when that army was expending all its +energies, during the Seven Years' War, against the troops of Maria +Theresa. He judged that his wife was capable of taking care of herself. +And she was. Notwithstanding these traits of character, he was an +exceedingly amiable and charitable man, distributing annually five +hundred thousand dollars for the relief of distress. Many anecdotes are +related illustrative of the emperor's utter fearlessness of danger, and +of the kindness of his heart. There was a terrible conflagration in +Vienna. A saltpeter magazine was in flames, and the operatives exposed +to great danger. An explosion was momentarily expected, and the firemen, +in dismay, ventured but little aid. The emperor, regardless of peril, +approached near the fire to give directions. His attendants urged him +not thus to expose his person. + +"Do not be alarmed for me," said the emperor, "think only of those poor +creatures who are in such danger of perishing." + +At another time a fearful inundation swept the valley of the Danube. +Many houses were submerged in isolated positions, all but their roofs. +In several cases the families had taken refuge on the tops of the +houses, and had remained three days and three nights without food. +Immense blocks of ice, swept down by the flood, seemed to render it +impossible to convey relief to the sufferers. The most intrepid boatmen +of the Danube dared not venture into the boiling surge. The emperor +threw himself into a boat, seized the oars, and saying, "My example may +at least influence others," pushed out into the flood and successfully +rowed to one of the houses. The boatmen were shamed into heroism, and +the imperiled people were saved. + +Maria Theresa does not appear to have been very deeply afflicted by the +death of her husband; or we should, perhaps, rather say that her grief +assumed the character which one would anticipate from a person of her +peculiar frame of mind. The emperor had not been faithful to his kingly +spouse, and she was well acquainted with his numerous infidelities. +Still she seems affectionately to have cherished the memory of his +gentle virtues. With her own hands she prepared his shroud, and she +never after laid aside her weeds of mourning. She often descended into +the vault where his remains were deposited, and passed hours in prayer +by the side of his coffin. + +Joseph, of course, having been preelected, immediately assumed the +imperial crown. Maria Theresa had but little time to devote to grief. +She had lost Silesia, and that was a calamity apparently far heavier +than the death of her husband. Millions of treasure, and countless +thousands of lives had been expended, and all in vain, for the recovery +of that province. She now began to look around for territory she could +grasp in compensation for her loss. Poland was surrounded by Austria, +Russia and Prussia. The population consisted of two classes--the nobles +who possessed all the power, and the _people_ who were in a state of the +most abject feudal vassalage. By the laws of Poland every person was a +noble who was not engaged in any industrial occupation and who owned any +land, or who had descended from those who ever had held any land. The +government was what may perhaps be called an aristocratic republic. The +masses were mere slaves. The nobles were in a state of political +equality. They chose a chieftain whom they called _king_, but whose +power was a mere shadow. At this time Poland was in a state of anarchy. +Civil war desolated the kingdom, the nobles being divided into numerous +factions, and fighting fiercely against each other. Catharine, the +Empress of Russia, espoused the cause of her favorite, Count +Poniatowski, who was one of the candidates for the crown of Poland, and +by the influence of her money and her armies placed him upon the throne +and maintained him there. Poland thus, under the influence of the +Russian queen, became, as it were, a mere province of the Russian +empire. + +Poniatowski, a proud man, soon felt galled by the chains which Catharine +threw around him. Frederic of Prussia united with Catharine in the +endeavor to make Poniatowski subservient to their wishes. Maria Theresa +eagerly put in her claim for influence in Poland. Thus the whole realm +became a confused scene of bloodshed and devastation. Frederic of +Prussia, the great regal highwayman, now proposed to Austria and Russia +that they should settle all the difficulty by just dividing Poland +between them. To their united armies Poland could present no resistance. +Maria Theresa sent her dutiful son Joseph, the emperor, to Silesia, to +confer with Frederic upon this subject. The interview took place at +Neiss, on the 25th of August, 1769. The two sovereigns vied with each +other in the interchange of courtesies, and parted most excellent +friends. Soon after, they held another interview at Neustadt, in +Moravia, when the long rivalry between the houses of Hapsburg and +Brandenburg seemed to melt down into most cordial union. The map of +Poland was placed before the two sovereigns, and they marked out the +portion of booty to be assigned to each of the three imperial +highwaymen. The troops of Russia, Austria and Prussia were already in +Poland. The matter being thus settled between Prussia and Austria, the +Prussian king immediately conferred with Catharine at St. Petersburg. +This ambitious and unprincipled woman snatched at the bait presented, +and the infamous partition was agreed to. Maria Theresa was very greedy, +and demanded nearly half of Poland as her share. This exorbitant claim, +which she with much pertinacity adhered to, so offended the two other +sovereigns that they came near fighting about the division of the spoil. +The queen was at length compelled to lower her pretensions. The final +treaty was signed between the three powers on the 5th of August, 1772. + +The three armies were immediately put in motion, and each took +possession of that portion of the Polish territory which was assigned to +its sovereign. In a few days the deed was done. By this act Austria +received an accession of twenty-seven thousand square miles of the +richest of the Polish territory, containing a population of two million +five hundred thousand souls. Russia received a more inhospitable region, +embracing forty-two thousand square miles, and a population of one +million five hundred thousand. The share of Frederic amounted to +thirteen thousand three hundred and seventy-five square miles, and eight +hundred and sixty thousand souls. + +Notwithstanding this cruel dismemberment, there was still a feeble +Poland left, upon which the three powers were continually gnawing, each +watching the others, and snarling at them lest they should get more than +their share. After twenty years of jealous watchings the three powers +decided to finish their infamous work, and Poland was blotted from the +map of Europe. In the two divisions Austria received forty-five thousand +square miles and five million of inhabitants. Maria Theresa was now upon +the highest pinnacle of her glory and her power. She had a highly +disciplined army of two hundred thousand men; her treasury was +replenished, and her wide-spread realms were in the enjoyment of peace. +Life had been to her, thus far, but a stormy sea, and weary of toil and +care, she now hoped to close her days in tranquillity. + +The queen was a stern and stately mother. While pressed by all these +cares of state, sufficient to have crushed any ordinary mind, she had +given birth to sixteen children. But as each child was born it was +placed in the hands of careful nurses, and received but little of +parental caressings. It was seldom that she saw her children more than +once a week. Absorbed by high political interests, she contented herself +with receiving a daily report from the nursery. Every morning her +physician, Van Swieter, visited the young imperial family, and then +presented a formal statement of their condition to the strong-minded +mother. Yet the empress was very desirous of having it understood that +she was the most faithful of parents. Whenever any foreign ambassador +arrived at Vienna, the empress would contrive to have an interview, as +it were by accident, when she had collected around her her interesting +family. As the illustrious stranger retired the children also retired to +their nursery. + +One of the daughters, Josepha, was betrothed to the King of Naples. A +few days before she was to leave Vienna the queen required her, in +obedience to long established etiquette, to descend into the tomb of her +ancestors and offer up a prayer. The sister-in-law, the Emperor Joseph's +wife, had just died of the small-pox, and her remains, disfigured by +that awful disease, had but recently been deposited in the tomb. The +timid maiden was horror-stricken at the requirement, and regarded it as +her death doom. But an order from Maria Theresa no one was to disobey. +With tears filling her eyes, she took her younger sister, Maria +Antoinette, upon her knee, and said, + +"I am about to leave you, Maria, not for Naples, but to die. I must +visit the tomb of our ancestors, and I am sure that I shall take the +small-pox, and shall soon be buried there." Her fears were verified. The +disease, in its most virulent form, seized her, and in a few days her +remains were also consigned to the tomb. + +In May, 1770, Maria Antoinette, then but fifteen years of age, and +marvelously beautiful, was married to the young dauphin of France, +subsequently the unhappy Louis XVI. As she left Vienna, for that throne +from which she was to descend to the guillotine, her mother sent by her +hand the following letter to her husband: + +"Your bride, dear dauphin, is separated from me. As she has ever been my +delight so will she be your happiness. For this purpose have I educated +her; for I have long been aware that she was to be the companion of your +life. I have enjoined upon her, as among her highest duties, the most +tender attachment to your person, the greatest attention to every thing +that can please or make you happy. Above all, I have recommended to her +humility towards God, because I am convinced that it is impossible for +us to contribute to the happiness of the subjects confided to us, +without love to Him who breaks the scepters and crushes the thrones of +kings according to His own will." + +In December, 1777, the Duke of Bavaria died without male issue. Many +claimants instantly rose, ambitious of so princely an inheritance. Maria +Theresa could not resist the temptation to put in her claim. With her +accustomed promptness, she immediately ordered her troops in motion, +and, descending from Bohemia, entered the electorate. Maria Theresa had +no one to fear but Frederic of Prussia, who vehemently remonstrated +against such an accession of power to the empire of Austria. After an +earnest correspondence the queen proposed that Bavaria should be divided +between them as they had partitioned Poland. Still they could not agree, +and the question was submitted to the cruel arbitrament of battle. The +young Emperor Joseph was much pleased with this issue, for he was +thirsting for military fame, and was proud to contend with so renowned +an antagonist. The death of hundreds of thousands of men in the game of +war, was of little more moment to him than the loss of a few pieces in a +game of chess. + +The Emperor Joseph was soon at the head of one hundred thousand men. The +King of Prussia, with nearly an equal force, marched to meet him. Both +commanders were exceedingly wary, and the whole campaign was passed in +maneuvers and marchings, with a few unimportant battles. The queen was +weary of war, and often spoke, with tears in her eyes, of the +commencement of hostilities. Without the knowledge of her son, who +rejoiced in the opening strife, she entered into a private +correspondence with Frederic, in which she wrote, by her secret +messenger, M. Thugut: + +"I regret exceedingly that the King of Prussia and myself, in our +advanced years, are about to tear the gray hairs from each other's +heads. My age, and my earnest desire to maintain peace are well known. +My maternal heart is alarmed for the safety of my sons who are in the +army. I take this step without the knowledge of my son the emperor, and +I entreat that you will not divulge it. I conjure you to unite your +efforts with mine to reestablish harmony." + +The reply of Frederic was courteous and beautiful. "Baron Thugut," he +wrote, "has delivered me your majesty's letter, and no one is, or shall +be acquainted with his arrival. It was worthy of your majesty to give +such proofs of moderation, after having so heroically maintained the +inheritance of your ancestors. The tender attachment you display for +your son the emperor, and the princes of your blood, deserves the +applause of every heart, and augments, if possible, the high +consideration I entertain for your majesty. I have added some articles +to the propositions of M. Thugut, most of which have been allowed, and +others which, I hope, will meet with little difficulty. He will +immediately depart for Vienna, and will be able to return in five or six +days, during which time I will act with such caution that your imperial +majesty may have no cause of apprehension for the safety of any part of +your family, and particularly of the emperor, whom I love and esteem, +although our opinions differ in regard to the affairs of Germany." + +But the Emperor Joseph was bitterly opposed to peace, and thwarted his +mother's benevolent intentions in every possible way. Still the empress +succeeded, and the articles were signed at Teschen, the 13th day of May, +1779. The queen was overjoyed at the result, and was often heard to say +that no act of her administration had given her such heartfelt joy. When +she received the news she exclaimed, + +"My happiness is full. I am not partial to Frederic, but I must do him +the justice to confess that he has acted nobly and honorably. He +promised me to make peace on reasonable terms, and he has kept his word. +I am inexpressibly happy to spare the effusion of so much blood." + +The hour was now approaching when Maria Theresa was to die. She had for +some time been failing from a disease of the lungs, and she was now +rapidly declining. Her sufferings, as she took her chamber and her bed, +became very severe; but the stoicism of her character remained unshaken. +In one of her seasons of acute agony she exclaimed, + +"God grant that these sufferings may soon terminate, for, otherwise, I +know not if I can much longer endure them." + +Her son Maximilian stood by her bed-side. She raised her eyes to him and +said, + +"I have been enabled thus far to bear these pangs with firmness and +constancy. Pray to God, my son, that I may preserve my tranquillity to +the last." + +The dying hour, long sighed for, came. She partook of the sacrament of +the Lord's Supper, and then, assembling her family around her, addressed +to them her last words. + +"I have received the sacraments," said she, "and feel that I am now to +die." Then addressing the emperor, she continued, "My son, all my +possessions after my death revert to you. To your care I commend my +children. Be to them a father. I shall die contented, you giving me that +promise." Then looking to the other children she added, "Regard the +emperor as your sovereign. Obey him, respect him, confide in him, and +follow his advice in all things, and you will secure his friendship and +protection." + +Her mind continued active and intensely occupied with the affairs of her +family and of her kingdom, until the very last moment. During the night +succeeding her final interview with her children, though suffering from +repeated fits of suffocation, she held a long interview with the emperor +upon affairs of state. Her son, distressed by her evident exhaustion, +entreated her to take some repose; but she replied, + +"In a few hours I shall appear before the judgment-seat of God; and +would you have me lose my time in sleep?" + +Expressing solicitude in behalf of the numerous persons dependent upon +her, who, after her death, might be left friendless, she remarked, + +"I could wish for immortality on earth, for no other reason than for the +power of relieving the distressed." + +She died on the 29th of November, 1780, in the sixty-fourth year of her +age and the forty-first of her reign. + +This illustrious woman had given birth to six sons and ten daughters. +Nine of these children survived her. Joseph, already emperor, succeeded +her upon the throne of Austria, and dying childless, surrendered the +crown to his next brother Leopold. Ferdinand, the third son, became +governor of Austrian Lombardy. Upon Maximilian was conferred the +electorate of Cologne. Mary Anne became abbess of a nunnery. Christina +married the Duke of Saxony. Elizabeth entered a convent and became +abbess. Caroline married the King of Naples, and was an infamous woman. +Her sister Joanna, was first betrothed to the king, but she died of +small-pox; Josepha was then destined to supply her place; but she also +fell a victim to that terrible disease. Thus the situation was vacant +for Caroline. Maria Antoinette married Louis the dauphin, and the story +of her woes has filled the world. + +The Emperor Joseph II., who now inherited the crown of Austria, was +forty years of age, a man of strong mind, educated by observation and +travel, rather than by books. He was anxious to elevate and educate his +subjects, declaring that it was his great ambition to rule over freemen. +He had many noble traits of character, and innumerable anecdotes are +related illustrative of his energy and humanity. In war he was ambitious +of taking his full share of hardship, sleeping on the bare ground and +partaking of the soldiers' homely fare. He was exceedingly popular at +the time of his accession to the throne, and great anticipations were +cherished of a golden age about to dawn upon Austria. "His toilet," +writes one of his eulogists, "is that of a common soldier, his wardrobe +that of a sergeant, business his recreation, and his life perpetual +motion." + +The Austrian monarchy now embraced one hundred and eighty thousand +square miles, containing twenty-four millions of inhabitants. It was +indeed a heterogeneous realm, composed of a vast number of distinct +nations and provinces, differing in language, religion, government, +laws, customs and civilization. In most of these countries the feudal +system existed in all its direful oppression. Many of the provinces of +the Austrian empire, like the Netherlands, Lombardy and Suabia, were +separated by many leagues from the great central empire. The Roman +Catholic religion was dominant in nearly all the States, and the clergy +possessed enormous wealth and power. The masses of the people were sunk +in the lowest depths of poverty and ignorance. The aristocratic few +rejoiced in luxury and splendor. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +JOSEPH II. AND LEOPOLD II. + +From 1780 to 1792. + +Accession of Joseph II.--His Plans of Reform.--Pius VI.--Emancipation of +the Serfs.--Joseph's Visit to his Sister, Maria Antoinette.--Ambitions +Designs.--The Imperial Sleigh Ride.--Barges on the Dneister.--Excursion +to the Crimea.--War with Turkey.--Defeat of the Austrians.--Great +Successes.--Death of Joseph.--His Character.--Accession of Leopold +II.--His Efforts to confirm Despotism.--The French Revolution.--European +Coalition.--Death of Leopold.--His Profligacy.--Accession of Francis +II.--Present Extent and Power of Austria.--Its Army.--Policy of the +Government. + + +When Joseph ascended the throne there were ten languages, besides +several dialects, spoken in Austria--the German, Hungarian, Sclavonian, +Latin, Wallachian, Turkish, modern Greek, Italian, Flemish and French. +The new king formed the desperate resolve to fuse the discordant kingdom +into one homogeneous mass, obliterating all distinctions of laws, +religion, language and manners. It was a benevolent design, but one +which far surpassed the power of man to execute. He first attempted to +obliterate all the old national landmarks, and divided the kingdom into +thirteen States, in each of which he instituted the same code of laws. +He ordered the German language alone to be used in public documents and +offices; declared the Roman Catholic religion to be dominant. There were +two thousand convents in Austria. He reduced them to seven hundred, and +cut down the number of thirty-two thousand idle monks to twenty-seven +hundred; and nobly issued an edict of toleration, granting to all +members of Protestant churches the free exercise of their religion. All +Christians, of every denomination, were declared to be equally eligible +to any offices in the State. + +These enlightened innovations roused the terror and rage of bigoted +Rome. Pope Pius VI. was so much alarmed that he took a journey to +Vienna, that he might personally remonstrate with the emperor. But +Joseph was inflexible, and the Pope returned to Rome chagrined and +humiliated that he had acted the part of a suppliant in vain. + +The serfs were all emancipated from feudal vassalage, and thus, in an +hour, the slavery under which the peasants had groaned for ages was +abolished. He established universities, academies and public schools; +encouraged literature and science in every way, and took from the +priests their office of censorship of the press, an office which they +had long held. To encourage domestic manufactures he imposed a very +heavy duty upon all articles of foreign manufacture. New roads were +constructed at what was called enormous expense, and yet at expense +which was as nothing compared with the cost of a single battle. + +Joseph, soon after his coronation, made a visit to his sister Maria +Antoinette in France, where he was received with the most profuse +hospitality, and the bonds of friendship between the two courts were +much strengthened. The ambition for territorial aggrandizement seems to +have been an hereditary disease of the Austrian monarchs. Joseph was +very anxious to attach Bavaria to his realms. Proceeding with great +caution he first secured, by diplomatic skill, the non-intervention of +France and Russia. England was too much engaged in the war of the +American Revolution to interfere. He raised an army of eighty thousand +men to crush any opposition, and then informed the Duke of Bavaria that +he must exchange his dominions for the Austrian Netherlands. He +requested the duke to give him an answer in eight days, but declared +peremptorily that in case he manifested any reluctance, the emperor +would be under the painful necessity of compelling him to make the +exchange. + +The duke appealed to Russia, France and Prussia for aid. The emperor had +bought over Russia and France. Frederic of Prussia, though seventy-four +years of age, encouraged the duke to reject the proposal, and promised +his support. The King of Prussia issued a remonstrance against this +despotic act of Austria, which remonstrance was sent to all the courts +of Europe. Joseph, on encountering this unexpected obstacle, and finding +Europe combining against him, renounced his plan and published a +declaration that he had never intended to effect the exchange by force. +This disavowal, however, deceived no one. A confederacy was soon formed, +under the auspices of Frederic of Prussia, to check the encroachments of +the house of Austria. This Germanic League was almost the last act of +Frederic. He died August 17, 1786, after a reign of forty-seven years, +in the seventy-fifth year of his age. + +The ambitious Empress of Russia, having already obtained the Crimea, was +intent upon the subversion of the Ottoman empire, that she might acquire +Constantinople as her maritime metropolis in the sunny south. Joseph was +willing to allow her to proceed unobstructed in the dismemberment of +Turkey, if she would not interfere with his plans of reform and +aggrandizement in Germany. + +In January, 1787, the Empress of Russia set out on a pleasure excursion +of two thousand miles to the Crimea; perhaps the most magnificent +pleasure excursion that was ever attempted. She was accompanied by all +the court, by the French, English and Austrian ministers, and by a very +gorgeous retinue. It was mid-winter, when the imperial party, wrapped in +furs, and in large sledges richly decorated, and prepared expressly for +the journey, commenced their sleigh ride of a thousand miles. Music +greeted them all along the way; bonfires blazed on every hill; palaces, +brilliant with illuminations and profusely supplied with every luxury, +welcomed them at each stage where they stopped for refreshment or +repose. The roads were put in perfect order; and relays of fresh horses +every few miles being harnessed to the sledges, they swept like the wind +over the hills and through the valleys. + +The drive of a few weeks, with many loiterings for pleasure in the +cities on the way, took them to Kief on the Dnieper. This ancient city, +the residence of the grand dukes of Russia, contained a population of +about twenty-six thousand. Here the imperial court established itself in +the ducal palaces, and with music, songs and dances beguiled the days +until, with the returning spring, the river opened. In the meantime an +immense flotilla of imperial barges had been prepared to drift down the +stream, a thousand miles, to its mouth at Kherson, where the river flows +into the Black sea. These barges were of magnificent dimensions, +floating palaces, containing gorgeous saloons and spacious sleeping +apartments. As they were constructed merely to float upon the rapid +current of the stream, impelled by sails when the breeze should favor, +they could easily be provided with all the appliances of luxury. It is +difficult to conceive of a jaunt which would present more of the +attractions of pleasure, than thus to glide in saloons of elegance, with +imperial resources and surrounded by youth, beauty, genius and rank, for +a thousand miles down the current of one of the wildest and most +romantic streams of Europe. + +It was a beautiful sunny morning of May, when the regal party, +accompanied by the music of military bands, and with floating banners, +entered the barges. The river, broad and deep, rolls on with majestic +flow, now through dense forests, black and gloomy, where the barking of +the bear is heard and wolves hold their nightly carousals; now it winds +through vast prairies hundreds of miles in extent; again it bursts +through mountain barriers where cliffs and crags rise sublimely +thousands of feet in the air; here with precipitous sides of granite, +bleak and scathed by the storms of centuries, and there with gloomy firs +and pines rising to the clouds, where eagles soar and scream and rear +their young. Flocks and herds now graze upon the banks; here lies the +scattered village, and its whole population, half civilized men, and +matrons and maidens in antique, grotesque attire, crowd the shores. Now +the pinnacles and the battlements of a great city rise to view. Armies +were gathered at several points to entertain the imperial pleasure-party +with all the pomp and pageantry of war. At Pultowa they witnessed the +maneuverings of a battle, with its thunderings and uproar and apparent +carnage--the exact representation of the celebrated battle of Pultowa, +which Peter the Great gained on the spot over Charles XII. of Sweden. + +The Emperor Joseph had been invited to join this party, and, with his +court and retinue, was to meet them at Kherson, near the mouth of the +Dneister, and accompany the empress to the Crimea. But, perhaps +attracted by the splendor of the water excursion, he struck across the +country in a north-east direction, by the way of Lemberg, some six +hundred miles, to intercept the flotilla and join the party on the +river. But the water of the river suddenly fell, and some hundred miles +above Kherson, the flotilla ran upon a sand bar and could not be forced +over. The empress, who was apprised of the approach of the emperor, too +proud to be found in such a situation, hastily abandoned the flotilla, +and taking the carriages which they had with them, drove to meet Joseph. +The two imperial suites were soon united, and they swept on, a +glittering cavalcade, to Kherson. Joseph and Catharine rode in a +carriage together, where they had ample opportunity of talking over all +their plans of mutual aggrandizement. As no one was permitted to listen +to their conversations, their decisions can only be guessed at. + +They entered the city of Kherson, then containing about sixty thousand +inhabitants, surrounded by all the magnificence which Russian and +Austrian opulence could exhibit. A triumphal arch spanned the gate, upon +which was inscribed in letters of gold, "The road to Byzantium." Four +days were passed here in revelry. The party then entered the Crimea, and +continued their journey as far as Sevastopol, where the empress was +delighted to find, within its capacious harbor, many Russian frigates at +anchor. Immense sums were expended in furnishing entertainments by the +way. At Batcheseria, where the two sovereigns occupied the ancient +palace of the khans, they looked out upon a mountain in a blaze of +illumination, and apparently pouring lava floods from its artificial +volcanic crater. + +Joseph returned to Vienna, and immediately there was war--Austria and +Russia against Turkey. Joseph was anxious to secure the provinces of +Bosnia, Servia, Moldavia and Wallachia, and to extend his empire to the +Dneister. With great vigor he made his preparations, and an army of two +hundred thousand men, with two thousand pieces of artillery, were +speedily on the march down the Danube. Catharine was equally energetic +in her preparations, and all the north of Europe seemed to be on the +march for the overthrow of the Ottoman empire. + +Proverbially fickle are the fortunes of war. Joseph commenced the siege +of Belgrade with high hopes. He was ignominiously defeated, and his +troops were driven, utterly routed, into Hungary, pursued by the Turks, +who spread ruin and devastation widely around them. Disaster followed +disaster. Disease entered the Austrian ranks, and the proud army melted +away. The emperor himself, with about forty thousand men, was nearly +surrounded by the enemy. He attempted a retreat by night. A false alarm +threw the troops into confusion and terror. The soldiers, in their +bewilderment fired upon each other, and an awful scene of tumult ensued. +The emperor, on horseback, endeavored to rally the fugitives, but he was +swept away by the crowd, and in the midnight darkness was separated from +his suite. Four thousand men perished in this defeat, and much of the +baggage and several guns were lost. The emperor reproached his +aides-de-camp with having deserted him. One of them sarcastically +replied, + +"We used our utmost endeavors to keep up with your imperial majesty, but +our horses were not so fleet as yours." + +Seventy thousand Austrians perished in this one campaign. The next year, +1789, was, however, as prosperous as this had been adverse. The Turks at +Rimnik were routed with enormous slaughter, and their whole camp, with +all its treasures, fell into the hands of the victors. Belgrade was +fiercely assailed and was soon compelled to capitulate. But Joseph was +now upon his dying bed. The tidings of these successes revived him for a +few hours, and leaving his sick chamber he was conveyed to the church of +St. Stephen, where thanksgivings were offered to God. A festival of +three days in Vienna gave expression to the public rejoicing. + +England was now alarmed in view of the rapid strides of Austria and +Russia, and the cabinet of St. James formed a coalition with Holland and +Prussia to assist the Turks. France, now in the midst of her +revolutionary struggle, could take no part in these foreign questions. +These successes were, however, but a momentary gleam of sunshine which +penetrated the chamber of the dying monarch. Griefs innumerable +clustered around him. The inhabitants of the Netherlands rose in +successful rebellion and threw off the Austrian yoke. Prussia was making +immense preparations for the invasion of Austria. The Hungarians were +rising and demanding emancipation from the court of Vienna. These +calamities crushed the emperor. He moaned, and wept and died. In his +last hours he found much solace in religious observances, devoutly +receiving the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and passing much of his +time in prayer. He died on the 20th of February, 1790, in the +forty-ninth year of his age, and the tenth of his reign. + +Joseph had been sincerely desirous of promoting the best interests of +his realms; but had been bitterly disappointed in the result of most of +his efforts at reform. Just before he died, he said, "I would have +engraven on my tomb, 'Here lies the sovereign who, with the best +intentions, never carried a single project into execution.'" He was +married twice, but both of his wives, in the prime of youth, fell +victims to the small-pox, that awful disease which seems to have been a +special scourge in the Austrian royal family. As Joseph II. died without +children, the crown passed to his next brother, Leopold, who was then +Grand Duke of Tuscany. + +Leopold II., at his accession to the throne, was forty-three years of +age. He hastened to Vienna, and assumed the government. By prudent acts +of conciliation he succeeded in appeasing discontents, and soon +accomplished the great object of his desire in securing the election to +the imperial throne. He was crowned at Frankfort, October 9, 1790. With +frankness very unusual in the diplomacy of kings, he sought friendly +relations with all the neighboring powers. To Frederic William, who was +now King of Prussia, he wrote: + +"In future, I solemnly protest, no views of aggrandizement will ever +enter into my political system. I shall doubtless employ all the means +in my possession to defend my country, should I unfortunately be driven +to such measures; but I will endeavor to give no umbrage. To your +majesty in particular, I will act as you act towards me, and will spare +no efforts to preserve perfect harmony." + +To these friendly overtures, Frederic William responded in a similar +spirit; but still there were unsettled points of dispute between the two +kingdoms which threatened war, and large armies were gathered on their +respective frontiers in preparation for the commencement of hostilities. +In 1790, after much correspondence, they came to terms, and articles of +peace were signed. At the same time an armistice was concluded with the +Turks. + +The spirit of liberty which had emancipated the colonies of North +America from the aristocratic sway of England, shivering the scepter of +feudal tyranny in France, had penetrated Hungary. Leopold was +endeavoring to rivet anew the shackles of despotism, when he received a +manly remonstrance from an assembly of Hungarians which had been +convened as Pest. In the following noble terms they addressed the king. + +"The fame, august sovereign, which has preceded you, has declared you a +just and gracious prince. It says that you forget not that you are a +man; that you are sensible that the king was made for the people, not +the people for the king. From the rights of nations and of man, and from +that social compact whence states arose, it is incontestable that the +sovereignty originates from the people. This axiom, our parent Nature +has impressed on the hearts of all. It is one of those which a just +prince (and such we trust your majesty ever will be) can not dispute. It +is one of those inalienable imprescriptible rights which the people can +not forfeit by neglect or disuse. Our constitution places the +sovereignty jointly in the king and people, in such a manner that the +remedies necessary to be applied according to the ends of social life, +for the security of persons and property, are in the power of the +people. + +"We are sure, therefore, that at the meeting of the ensuing diet, your +majesty will not confine yourself to the objects mentioned in your +rescript, but will also restore our freedom to us, in like manner as to +the Belgians, who have conquered theirs with the sword. It would be an +example big with danger, to teach the world that a people can only +protect or regain their liberties by the sword and not by obedience." + +But Leopold, trembling at the progress which freedom was making in +France, determined to crush this spirit with an iron heel. Their +petition was rejected with scorn and menace. + +With great splendor Leopold entered Presburg, and was crowned King of +Hungary on the 10th of November, 1790. Having thus silenced the murmurs +in Hungary, and established his authority there, he next turned his +attention to the recovery of the Netherlands. The people there, +breathing the spirit of French liberty, had, by a simultaneous rising, +thrown off the detestable Austrian yoke. Forty-five thousand men were +sent to effect their subjugation. On the 20th of November, the army +appeared before Brussels. In less than one year all the provinces were +again brought under subjection to the Austrian power. + +Leopold, thus successful, now turned his attention to France. Maria +Antoinette was his sister. He had another sister in the infamous Queen +Caroline of Naples. The complaints which came incessantly from +Versailles and the Tuilleries filled his ear, touched his affections, +and roused his indignation. Twenty-five millions of people had ventured +to assert their rights against the intolerable arrogance of the French +court. Leopold now gathered his armies to trample those people down, and +to replace the scepter of unlimited despotism in the hands of the +Bourbons. With sleepless zeal Leopold cooeperated with nearly all the +monarchs in Europe, in combining a resistless force to crush out from +the continent of Europe the spirit of popular liberty. An army of ninety +thousand men was raised to cooeperate with the French emigrants and all +the royalists in France. The king was to escape from Paris, place +himself at the head of the emigrants, amounting to more than twenty +thousand, rally around his banners all the advocates of the old regime, +and then, supported by all the powers of combined Europe, was to march +upon Paris, and take a bloody vengeance upon a people who dared to wish +to be free. The arrest of Louis XVI. at Varennes deranged this plan. +Leopold, alarmed not only by the impending fate of his sister, but lest +the principles of popular liberty, extending from France, should +undermine his own throne, wrote as follows to the King of England: + +"I am persuaded that your majesty is not unacquainted with the unheard +of outrage committed by the arrest of the King of France, the queen my +sister and the royal family, and that your sentiments accord with mine +on an event which, threatening more atrocious consequences, and fixing +the seal of illegality on the preceding excesses, concerns the honor and +safety of all governments. Resolved to fulfill what I owe to these +considerations, and to my duty as chief of the German empire, and +sovereign of the Austrian dominions, I propose to your majesty, in the +same manner as I have proposed to the Kings of Spain, Prussia and +Naples, as well as to the Empress of Russia, to unite with them, in a +concert of measures for obtaining the liberty of the king and his +family, and setting bounds to the dangerous excesses of the French +Revolution." + +The British _people_ nobly sympathized with the French in their efforts +at emancipation, and the British government dared not _then_ shock the +public conscience by assailing the patriots in France. Leopold +consequently turned to Frederic William of Prussia, and held a private +conference with him at Pilnitz, near Dresden, in Saxony, on the 27th of +August, 1791. The Count d'Artois, brother of Louis XVI., and who +subsequently ascended the French throne as Charles X., joined them in +this conference. In the midst of these agitations and schemes Leopold +II. was seized with a malignant dysentery, which was aggravated by a +life of shameless debauchery, and died on the 1st of March, 1792, in the +forty-fifth year of his age, and after a reign of but two years. + +Leopold has the reputation of having been, on the whole, a kind-hearted +man, but his court was a harem of unblushing profligacy. His +broken-hearted wife was compelled to submit to the degradation of daily +intimacy with the mistress of her husband. Upon one only of these +mistresses the king lavished two hundred thousand dollars in drafts on +the bank of Vienna. The sums thus infamously squandered were wrested +from the laboring poor. His son, Francis II., who succeeded him upon the +throne, was twenty-two years of age. In most affecting terms the widowed +queen entreated her son to avoid those vices of his father which had +disgraced the monarchy and embittered her whole life. + +The reign of Francis II. was so eventful, and was so intimately blended +with the fortunes of the French Revolution, the Consulate and the +Empire, that the reader must be referred to works upon those subjects +for the continuation of the history. During the wars with Napoleon +Austria lost forty-five thousand square miles, and about three and a +half millions of inhabitants. But when at length the combined monarchs +of Europe triumphed over Napoleon, the monarch of the people's choice, +and, in the carnage of Waterloo, swept constitutional liberty from the +continent, Austria received again nearly all she had lost. + +This powerful empire, as at present constituted, embraces: + + square miles inhabitants + 1 The hereditary States of Austria, 76,199 9,843,490 + 2 The duchy of Styria, 8,454 780,100 + 3 Tyrol, 11,569 738,000 + 4 Bohemia, 20,172 3,380,000 + 5 Moravia 10,192 1,805,500 + 6 The duchy of Auschnitz in Galicia, 1,843 335,190 + 7 Illyria, 9,132 897,000 + 8 Hungary, 125,105 10,628,500 + 9 Dalmatia, 5,827 320,000 +10 The Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom, 17,608 4,176,000 +11 Galicia, 32,272 4,075,000 + +Thus the whole Austrian monarchy contains 256,399 square miles, and a +population which now probably exceeds forty millions. The standing army +of this immense monarchy, in time of peace, consists of 271,400 men, +which includes 39,000 horse and 17,790 artillery. In time of war this +force can be increased to almost any conceivable amount. + +Thus slumbers this vast despotism, in the heart of central Europe, the +China of the Christian world. The utmost vigilance is practiced by the +government to seclude its subjects, as far as possible, from all +intercourse with more free and enlightened nations. The government is in +continual dread lest the kingdom should be invaded by those liberal +opinions which are circulating in other parts of Europe. The young men +are prohibited, by an imperial decree, from leaving Austria to prosecute +their studies in foreign universities. "Be careful," said Francis II. to +the professors in the university at Labach, "not to teach too much. I do +not want learned men in my kingdom; I want good subjects, who will do as +I bid them." Some of the wealthy families, anxious to give their +children an elevated education, and prohibited from sending them abroad, +engaged private tutors from France and England. The government took the +alarm, and forbade the employment of any but native teachers. The Bible, +the great chart of human liberty, all despots fear and hate. In 1822 a +decree was issued by the emperor prohibiting the distribution of the +Bible in any part of the Austrian dominions. + +The censorship of the press is rigorous in the extreme. No printer in +Austria would dare to issue the sheet we now write, and no traveler +would be permitted to take this book across the frontier. Twelve public +censors are established at Vienna, to whom every book published within +the empire, whether original or reprinted, must be referred. No +newspaper or magazine is tolerated which does not advocate despotism. +Only those items of foreign intelligence are admitted into those papers +which the emperor is willing his subjects should know. The _freedom_ of +republican America is carefully excluded. The slavery which disgraces +our land is ostentatiously exhibited in harrowing descriptions and +appalling engravings, as a specimen of the degradation to which +republican institutions doom the laboring class. + +A few years ago, an English gentleman dined with Prince Metternich, the +illustrious prime minister of Austria, in his beautiful castle upon the +Rhine. As they stood after dinner at one of the windows of the palace, +looking out upon the peasants laboring in the vineyards, Metternich, in +the following words, developed his theory of social order: + +"Our policy is to extend all possible _material_ happiness to the whole +population; to administer the laws patriarchaly; to prevent their +tranquility from being disturbed. Is it not delightful to see those +people looking so contented, so much in the possession of what makes +them comfortable, so well fed, so well clad, so quiet, and so +religiously observant of order? If they are injured in persons or +property, they have immediate and unexpensive redress before our +tribunals, and in that respect, neither I, nor any nobleman in the land, +has the smallest advantage over a peasant." + +But volcanic fires are heaving beneath the foundations of the Austrian +empire, and dreadful will be the day when the eruption shall burst +forth. + + + + +INDEX. + + +ADOLPHUS (of Nassau) election of over the Germanic empire, 36. + summoned to answer charges against him, 37. + deposed by the diet, 37. + death of, 37. + +ADRIAN assumes the tiara, 114. + +AENEAS SYLVIUS, remarks of, 72. + +AGNES (daughter of Cunegunda) to marry Rhodolph's son, 31. + engaged in the massacre, 40. + enters a convent, 41. + +AIX-LA-CHAPELLE, coronation of Albert I. at, 88. + coronation of Charles V. at, 107. + taken possession of by Rhodolph, 193. + peace of, 461. + +ALBERT (fourth Count of Hapsburg), 17. + departure of for the holy war, 17. + address of to his sons, 18. + death of, 18. + the favorite captain of Frederic II., 19. + +ALBERT I. succeeds his father, 35. + his character, 35. + elected Emperor of Germany, 37. + victor at Gelheim, 37. + assassination of, 40. + +ALBERT III. rules with Otho, 46. + acquisitions of, 47. + +ALBERT IV., succession of, 51. + improvements projected by, 58. + +ALBERT V. declared of age, 59. + accepted King of Hungary, 62. + death of, 65. + +ALBERT (of Bavaria) declines the throne of Hungary, 66. + +ALBERT (Archduke) the candidate of the Catholics, 229. + +ALLIANCE of barons to crush Rhodolph of Hapsburg, 21. + same dissolved, 22. + +ALPHONSO (of Castile) candidate for crown of Germany, 23. + +ALPHONSO (King of Naples), abdication of, 84. + +AMURATH, conquests of, 64. + +ANABAPTISTS, rise of the sect of, 115. + +ANHALT (Prince of), dispatched with a list of grievances to the emperor, + 211. + address to the emperor, 212. + ban of the empire declared against, 265. + +ANN (Princess of Hungary and Bohemia), marriage of to Ferdinand I., 145. + +ANNA (of Russia), desire of to secure a harbor for Russia, 400. + +ANECDOTES of Rhodolph, 33. + of Charles V., 144. + +APOLOGY of Maximilian, 96. + +ASCHHAUSEN, confederacy at, 194. + +AUGSBURG, diet of, 24. + bold speech of the diet at, 102. + triumphal reception of Maurice at, 133. + Confession of, 118. + +AUGUSTUS II. loses and regains his empire, 382. + death of, 382. + +AULIC COUNCIL, establishment of the, 102. + +AUSTRIA, a portion of given as dowry to Hedwige, 25. + nucleus of the empire of, 27. + invasion of by John of Bohemia, 49. + wonderful growth of, 52. + division of, 72. + accession of Ladislaus over, 81. + the house of invested with new dignity, 101. + becomes a part of Spain, 108. + the empire of apparently on the eve of dissolution, 286. + the leading power in Europe, 314. + dispute as to the succession to the crown of, 352. + treaty between Spain and, 373. + Maria Theresa ascends the throne of, 415. + deplorable state of at that time, 415. + defeat of by Frederic, 420. + the proposed division of, 422. + prosperity of, 444. + important territory wrested from, 453. + alliance of with Prussia, 459. + Joseph II. ascends the throne of, 491. + situation and character of, 492. + languages spoken in, 493. + Leopold ascends the throne of, 500. + acquisitions of by the battle of Waterloo, 504 + present constitution of, 504. + doctrines of the government of, 503. + its future, 506. + +AUSTRIANS, triumph of the at Brussels, 340. + triumph of the at Malplaquet, 341. + evacuation of Madrid by the, 345. + prohibited from trading-with Spain, 380. + the, driven from the Neapolitan States, 388. + the, defeated at Crotzka, 407. + + +BADEN, peace of, 359. + +BAJAZET, victory achieved by, 64. + +BALDER, attack of Rhodolph upon, 22. + +BALLOT-BOX, its authority in Poland, 385. + +BALNE (Lord), followers of put to death, 40. + +BANDITTI, companies of put down by Rhodolph, 32. + +BARBARIA, wife of Sigismond, 60. + +BARCELONA, capture of by Charles, 354. + +BASLE, attack upon the city of, 20. + demands of the Bishop of upon Rhodolph, 22. + impious remark of the Bishop of, 23 + aid of the Bishop of to Rhodolph, 29. + +BAVARIA (Henry, Duke of), intimidated by Rhodolph, 25. + marriage of Hedwige to Otho of, 25. + agrees to carry the edict of Worms into effect, 114. + his hatred of Wallenstein, 275. + urged as a candidate for the imperial crown, 279. + dishonorable despair of, 438. + death of, 488. + +BAVARIA (Charles of), death of, 451. + +BAVARIA, Maximilian Joseph ascends the throne of, 451. + +BAYARD (Chevalier De), the knight without fear or reproach, 90. + +BELGRADE, relief of, 69. + siege of, 360. + capture of by Eugene, 363. + surrendered to the Turks, 408. + +BELLEISLE (General), heroic retreat of, 441. + +BLENHEIM, massacre at, 334. + +BLOODY diet, the, 158. + theater of Eperies, 325. + +BOHEMIA, triumphal march of Rhodolph into, 30. + the crown of demanded by Albert I., 39. + revolt in, 89. + rise of the nobles of against Ferdinand, 127. + the monarchy of, 154. + religious conflicts in, 155. + resistance of to Ferdinand, 156. + symptoms of the decay of, 160. + Ferdinand's blow at, 263. + severity of Ferdinand towards, 270. + son of Ferdinand crowned king of, 271. + change of prosperity of during reign of Ferdinand II., 272. + rise of the Protestants in, 286. + the Elector of Bavaria crowned king of, 434. + the Prussians driven from, 450. + (King of), chosen Emperor of Germany, 431. + +BRANDENBURG, reply of the Marquis of to Charles V., 118. + +BRITISH MINISTER, letter of the in regard to Maria Theresa, 295. + letter of the in regard to the affairs in Hungary, 416. + +BRUNAU, the Protestant church of, 235. + +BRUNSWICK, marriage of Charles VI. to Elizabeth Christina of, 164. + +BRUSSELS, diet at, 139. + +BUDA taken by the Turks, 147. + +BULL (see Pope). + +BURGHERS prevented from attending Protestant worship, 188. + +BURGUNDY (Duke of), ambition of the, 77. + +BURGUNDY (Mary of), marriage of by proxy, 79. + death of, 79. + + +CAESAR BORGIA, plans for, 89. + +CALENDAR, the Julian and Gregorian, 192. + +CAMPEGIO, a legate from the Pope to, 114. + +CAPISTRUN, JOHN, rousing eloquence of, 69. + +CARDINAL KLESES, counselor to the king, 241. + abduction of, 242. + +CARINTHIA, dukedom of, 48. + +CARLOS crowned as Charles III., 388. + +CARLOVITZ, treaty of, 326. + +CASSAU captured by Botskoi, 198. + +CASTLE (Hawk's), situation of, 17. + (Oeltingen), the dowry of Gertrude of Hohenburg, 19. + +CATHARINE II. ascends the throne of Russia, 480. + cooperates with Austria. 481. + desire of to acquire Constantinople, 495. + grand excursion of, 496. + places Count Poniatowski on the throne of Poland, 484. + +CATHERINE BORA, marriage of to Luther, 114. + +CHANCELLOR OF SAXONY, reading of the Confession of Augsburg by, 118. + reply of to the emperor, 118. + +CHARLES OF BOHEMIA, succession of to the kingdom of Austria, 47. + death of, 47. + +CHARLES EMANUEL (King of Sardinia) character of, 386. + +CHARLES GUSTAVUS succeeds Christina, Queen of Sweden, 302. + his invasion of Poland, 303. + energy of, 305. + +CHARLES (Prince), defeat of by Frederic, 254. + +CHARLES (Prince of Lorraine) marriage of, 447. + +CHARLES II., the throne of Spain held by, 328. + sends embassage to the pope, 329. + induced to bequeath the crown to France, 330. + death of, 331. + +CHARLES III. crowned King of Spain, 332. + army of routed, 340. + arrival of at Barcelona, 342. + desperate condition of, 344. + flight of, 346. + description of his appearance, 353. + dilatoriness of, 355. + crowned king, 356. + Carlos crowned as, 388. + (See also Charles VI.) + +CHARLES V. (of Spain) inherits the Austrian States, 106. + petitions to, 106. + required to sign a constitution, 108. + ambition of, 109. + apologetic declaration of, 112. + refusal of to violate his safe conduct, 112. + attempts of to bribe Luther, 113. + determination of to suppress religious agitation, 115. + interview of with the pope at Bologna, 117. + call of for the diet at Augsburg, 117. + intolerance of, 119. + appeal of to the Protestants for aid, 122. + in violation of his pledge, turns against the Protestants, 122. + secret treaty of with the King of France, 123. + treaty of with the Turks, 123. + forces secured by against the Protestants, 124. + alarm of at the preparations of the Protestants, 125. + preparations of to enforce the Council of Trent, 125. + march of to Ingolstadt, 126. + flight of to Landshut, 126. + triumph of over the Protestants, 126. + conquers the Elector of Saxony, 128. + revenge of towards the Elector of Saxony, 128. + march to Wittemberg, 128. + visit to the grave of Luther, 129. + attempts of to settle the religious differences, 129. + attempt of to establish the inquisition in Burgundy, 129. + power of over the pope, 130. + calls a diet at Augsburg. 130. + failure of to accomplish the election of Philip, 131. + confounded at the success of the Protestants. 133. + flight of from Maurice, 133. + unconquerable will of, 135. + urged to yield, 136. + fortune deserting, 137. + extraordinary despondency of, 138. + abdication of in favor of Philip, his son, 139. + enters the convent of St. Justus, 141. + convent life of, 141. + death of, 143. + anecdotes of, 144. + attempt of to abdicate the elective crown of Germany to Ferdinand, 160. + +CHARLES VI. (see also Charles III. for previous information), + limitations imposed on the power of, 356. + desertion of by his allies, 357. + addition of Wallachia and Servia to the dominion of, 364. + marriage of, 364. + his alteration of the compact established by Leopold, 364. + power of, 365. + involved in duplicity, 377. + insult to, 380. + ambition of to secure the throne of Spain for his daughters, 382. + the loss of Lombardy felt by, 387. + attempt of to force assistance from France, 390. + his first acknowledgment of the people, in his letter to Count Kinsky, + 391. + interference of in Poland, 393. + sends Strickland to London to overthrow the cabinet, 391. + troubles of in Italy, 394. + distraction of, 396. + proposal of for a settlement with France, 397. + humbled by loss of empire. 398. + a scrupulous Romanist, 400. + removal of all the Protestants from the army, 404. + fears of for the safety of Maria Theresa, 406. + anguish of at the surrender of Belgrade, 411. + letter of to the Queen of Russia, 412. + death of, 414. + +CHARLES VII., death of, 451. + +CHARLES VIII. informed of the league against him, 88. + death of, 89. + +CHARLES XII. joins the Austrian party, 335. + death of, 368. + conquests of, 382. + +CHAZLEAU, battle of, 435. + +CHRISTIANA, the succession of Sweden conferred upon, 280. + abdicates in favor of Charles Gustavus, 302. + +CHRISTIAN IV. (of Denmark), leader of the Protestants, declares war, 267. + conquered by Ferdinand, 268. + +CHURCH, exactions of the, 102. + +CILLI, influence of Count over Ladislaus, 68. + driven from the empire, 68. + +CLEMENT VII. succeeds Adrian as pope, 116. + +CLEVES, duchy of put in sequestration, 213. + +COLOGNE, the Archbishop of joins the Protestants, 124. + deposition of the Archbishop of, 126. + +CONDUCT, Luther presented with a safe, 110. + +CONFESSION OF AUGSBURG, 118. + reading of, 119. + +CONGRESS at Rothenburg, 226. + at Hanau, 445. + at Prague, 1618, and letter of to Matthias, 236. + of electors at Frankfort, 35. + +CONSPIRACY against Albert, 36. + formed by Albert against Adolphus, 37. + +CONSTANTINOPLE, capture of by the Turks, 64. + +CONSTITUTION, Charles V. required to sign a, 108. + +COUNCIL of Trent, 124. + of Trent in 1562, 164. + of State convened in Spain, 331. + +CREMNITZ, resistance of, 148. + +CREMONIA to be disposed of as plunder, 89. + +CROATIA invaded by the Turks, 195. + +CROTZKA. battle of, 407. + +CRUSADE against the Turks, 64. + +CUNEGUNDA (wife of Ottocar), her taunts, 27. + offer of to place Bohemia under the protection of Rhodolph, 31. + + +DANUBE, position of Austria on the, 25. + +DAUN (Count), honors of at his victory, 473. + +DENMARK, the King of obliged to yield to Charles Gustavus, 306. + +DIEPOLD thrown from the palace by the mob, 328. + +DIET, command of the of Augsburg to Ottocar, 14. + at Augsburg, 118. + at Augsburg, 130. + at Brussels. 139. + at Lubec, 269. + at Prague, in 1547, 158. + at Prague, 179. + the Protestant at Prague, 209. + decrees of the, 210. + at Passau, 137. + its agreement as to the rights of the Protestants, 138. + at Pilgram, 66. + at Presburg, accusation of Leopold by the, 309. + at Ratisbon, 179. + at Spires, 116. + at Stetzim, 349. + demands of, 350. + at Worms, 86. + refusal of the at Worms to cooperate with Maximilian, 96. + at Znaim, 61. + power of the Hungarian, 308. + +DOCTRINE of the three parties, 190. + ancient and modern, contention about shadowy points of, 255. + +DRESDEN, treaty of, 458. + + +ERNEST, death of, 202. + +ELEONORA (wife of Leopold), her character, 335. + marriage of, 336. + her death, 337. + +ELFSNABEN, a fleet assembled at by Gustavus Adolphus, 281, + +ELIZABETH (wife of Philip V.), ambition of, 371. + demands of on Charles VI., 372. + +ELIZABETH (of Russia), death of, 479. + +EMERIO TEKELI invested with the Hungarian forces, 319. + +ENGLAND, assistance of against the Turks, 94. + supports the house of Austria against France, 332. + curious contradictory conduct of, 346. + pledge of to support the Pragmatic Sanction, 380. + supports Austria to check France, 428. + determines to support Maria Theresa, 436. + prodigality of, 447. + war declared against by France, 448. + purchases the aid of Poland, 452. + private arrangement of with Prussia, 457. + remonstrated with for its treatment of the queen, 463. + alliance of with Prussia, 466. + a subsidy voted Prussia by, 475. + alarmed at the strides of Austria and Russia, 499. + +EPERIES, tribunal at, 324. + +ERNEST, conquests of, 59. + +EUGENE (Prince) commands the Austrian army, 332. + his heroic capture of Belgrade, 363. + his disapproval of the war, 389. + death of, 398. + funeral honors of. 399. + +EUROPE, condition of the different powers of, 269. + +EXCOMMUNICATION of the Venetians, 97. + + +FAMILY of Rhodolph, 25. + the three daughters of the imperial, 364. + +FERDINAND (of Austria) invested with the government of the Austrian + States, 113. + determines to arrest Protestantism, 114. + assumes some impartiality, 116. + chosen King of the Romans, 120. + Bohemia and Hungary added to his kingdom, 146. + demands the restitution of Belgrade, 146. + his siege of Buda, 153. + tribute of to the Turks, 153. + his attempts to weaken the power of the Hungarian nobles, 155. + conditions of his pardon of the Hungarian nobles, 157. + his punishment of the revolters, 158. + his establishment of the Jesuits in Bohemia, 158. + his inconsistencies, 158. + obtains the crown of Germany, 161. + opposed by the pope, 162. + elected Emperor of Germany, 233. + character of, 234. + rich spoils of, 273. + he assembles a diet at Eatisbon, 275. + perplexity of in regard to the demands of the diet, 277. + +FERDINAND (King of Arragon) furnishes supplies for the war against the + Venetians, 95. + +FERDINAND (of Naples), flight of to Ischia, 85. + +FERDINAND (King of the Romans) + crowned at Ratisbon, 302. + his death, 302. + +FERDINAND I. + illustrious birth of, 145. + marriage of, 145. + efforts of to unite Protestants and Catholics, 164. + attempts of to prevent the spread of Protestantism, 167. + the founder of the Austrian empire, 168. + death of, 168. + +FERDINAND II. + manifesto of, 240. + abduction of Cardinal Kleses by, 242. + troops of defeated by the Protestants, 243. + refers the complaints of the Protestants to arbitration, 343. + unpopularity of with the Catholics, 247. + unexpected rescue of, 249. + elected King of Germany, 250. + concludes an alliance with Maximilian, 254. + secures the cooeperation of the Elector of Saxony and Louis XIII., 256. + subdues Austria, 257. + barbarity of the troops of, 258. + vengeance of, 263. + meeting at Ratisbon to approve the acts of, 265. + victories of, 268. + capture of the duchies of Mecklenburg, 268. + seizes Pomerania, 268. + revokes all concessions to the Protestants, 270. + son of crowned King of Bohemia, 271. + manifesto of against Gustavus Adolphus, 283. + decorous appreciation of to the memory of Gustavus Adolphus, 296. + outwitted by a Capuchin friar, 279. + succeeds in securing the election of his son Ferdinand, 299. + his death, 299. + +FERDINAND III. + ascends the throne, 245. + his proposal for a truce with Prague, 246. + desire of for peace, 300. + succeeds in securing the election of his son as Ferdinand King of the + Romans, 302. + death of, 303. + +FLEURY (Cardinal), ascendancy of over Louis XV., 378. + +FLORENCE threatened by Louis XII., 90. + +FRANCE + influence of in wresting sacrifices from the emperor, 279. + the dominant power, 315. + fraud by which obtained possession of Spain, 331. + condition of under Louis XIV., 357. + refusal of to engage in the Polish war, 390. + design of to deprive Maria Theresa of her kingdom, 428. + declares war against England, 448. + alliance of effected with Austria. 467. + +FRANCIS (of France) + claims Austria, 106. + perfidy of, 127. + death of, 128. + +FRANCIS I. (Duke of Lorraine) elected Emperor of Germany, 457. + +FRANCIS II. ascends the throne, 504. + +FRANCIS RAVAILLAC, the assassin of Henry IV., 215. + +FRANKFORT, congress at, 35. + +FREDERIC (King of Naples), doom of, 92. + +FREDERIC (of Saxony) + friendly seizure of Luther by, 113. + death of, 114. + +FREDERIC I. (the Handsome) + capture of 43. + surrender of, 44. + death of, 45. + +FREDERIC II. (of Germany) + renown of, 18. + death of, 482. + curious occupations of, 483. + +FREDERIC II. (of Austria) + treachery of, 75. + wanderings of, 77. + death of, 81. + +FREDERIC V., character of, 251. + accepts the crown of Bohemia, 251. + inefficiency of, 258. + his feast during the assault, 258. + renounces all claim to Bohemia, 259. + flight of, 262. + his property sequestrated, 264. + +FREDERIC (King of Bohemia, Elector of Palatine), + death of, 296. + +FREDERIC (of Prussia), + demands of, 417. + seizure of Silesia by, 418. + triumphal entrance into Breslau, 419. + his defeat of Neuperg, 420. + opinions of on magnanimity, 423. + his indignation at the small concessions of Austria, 424. + implores peace, 433. + violation of his pledge, 435. + capture of Prague by, 419. + surprises and defeats Prince Charles, 454. + invasion of Saxony by, 458. + explanation demanded from Austria by, 469. + artifice of to entrap the allies, 470. + defeat of at Prague, 473. + recklessness of, 476. + undaunted perseverance of, 477. + despair of, 479. + secures an alliance with Prussia, 480. + letter of to Maria Theresa, 488. + peaceful reply of, 500. + +FRENCH, the, driven out of Italy, 94. + the, routed near Brussels, 340. + rout of at Brussels, 340. + defeat of the at Malplaquet, 341. + + +GABRIEL BETHLEHEM + chosen leader in the Hungarian revolution, 152. + he retires to Presburg, 253. + compelled to sue for peace, 268. + +GELHEIM, battle of, 37. + +GALLAS appointed commander in place of Wallenstein, 268. + +GENOA, aid furnished Leopold by, 311. + +GERMANY, + its conglomeration of States, 18. + independence of each State of, 18. + position of the Emperor of, 19. + decline of the imperial dignity of, 85. + its division into ten districts, 101. + growing independence in of the pope, 162. + tranquillity of under Ferdinand, 172. + rejoicing in at the downfall of Rhodolph, 225. + divided into two leagues, 253. + distracted state of, 299. + religious agitation in, 370. + the Elector of Bavaria chosen Emperor of, 434. + +GERTRUDE (of Hohenburg), + marriage of to Rhodolph of Hapsburg, 19. + her dowry, 19. + +GHIARADADDA to be bestowed on Venice, 89. + +GIBRALTAR taken by the English, 339. + +GOLDEN FLEECE, establishment of the order of the, 372. + +GRAN, capture of the fortress at, 324. + +GREAT WARDEIN, + siege of, 307. + the Turks retain, 313. + +GRENADER, the plot at, 92. + +GRIEVANCES complained of by the confederacy at Heilbrun, 192. + +GUICCIARDINI, remark of Charles V. about, 144. + +GUNPOWDER, its introduction, 82. + +GUNTZ, triumphant resistance of the fortress of, 150. + +GUSTAVUS YASA (King of Sweden), + league with against Charles V., 127. + +GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, + rouses the country against Ferdinand II., 280. + assembles a fleet at Elfsnaben, 281. + Stettin captured by, 281. + Mark of Brandenburg taken possession of by, 281. + conquers at the battle of Leipsic, 285. + his tranquil campaign, 286. + his intrenchment at Nuremberg, 290. + his attack on Wallenstein, 293. + his death, 293. + relics of, 295. + + +HANAU, conference at, 445. + +HANOVER, title of the Elector of to the crown of England, 367. + +HAWK'S Castle. (See Castle.) + +HEDWIGE, + wife of Albert of Hapsburg, 18. + betrothal of, 53. + +HELVETIC STATES, independence of acknowledged, 89. + +HENRY (Duke of Anjou), + abdication of the throne of Poland, 180. + succeeds Charles IX., 180. + +HENRY (Duke of Carinthia) chosen king, 39. + +HENRY (Count of Luxemburg) + elected Emperor of Austria, 41. + his death, 41. + +HENRY (of Valois) succeeds Charles IX., 171. + +HENRY VIII. (of England) claims Austria, 107. + +HENRY IV. (of France), + efforts of to unite Lutherans and Calvinists, 190. + political course of, 214. + assassination of, 215. + his plans for remodeling Europe, 216. + +HOCKKIRCHEN, battle of, 475. + +HOLY LEAGUE, formation of, 116. + +HUNGARIANS, the, summons a diet, 349. + the, remonstrate with Leopold, 501. + (see also Hungary.) + +HUNGARY, despotism of Rhodolph III. in, 196. + new revolt in, 307. + attempt of Leopold to establish despotic power in, 317. + rise of against Leopold, 333. + troubles in observed by Joseph I., 349. + enthusiastic support of Maria Theresa in, 432. + (see also Hungarian.) + +HUNNLADES (John), regent of Hungary, 68, + popularity of, 68. + death of, 71. + +HYMN, singing of a by the army of Gustavus on the field of battle, 292. + + +ISABELLA (wife of Frederic), death of, 45. + +ISABELLA (of Spain), determination of to obtain for her son the crown of + Hungary, 152. + propositions of to Ferdinand for peace, 154. + +IMPERIAL CHAMBER, creation of the, 87. + +INGOLSTADT, Charles V. marches to, 126. + +INNSPRUCK, arrival of the Duke of Ludovico at, 90. + the emperor sick at, 103. + the palace at surrendered to pillage, 134. + +INSURRECTION in Vienna, 36. + of Suabia, 55. + +INZENDORF, the Lord of arrested by Matthias, 206. + +ISCHIA, flight of Ferdinand to the island of, 85. + +ITALY, invasion of by Mahomet II., 82. + victories of Henry of France in, 136. + invaded by the Spaniards, 388. + invaded by the French and Spaniards, 452. + + +JAGHELLON, the Grand Duke, 53. + marriage of Hedwige to, 54. + baptism of, 54. + (for further reference see Ladislaus.) + +JAMES I., matrimonial negotiations of, 266. + +JEANETTE POISSON (see Marchioness of Pompadour). + +JESUITS, the, expelled from Prague, 239. + +JOANNA (of Spain), insanity of, 106. + +JOHN (of Bohemia), character of, 46. + his invasion of Austria, 49. + +JOHN SIGISMOND, death of, 178. + +JOHN SOBIESKI goes to the relief of Vienna, 320. + enthusiastic reception of, 322. + refuses to fight Tekeli, 324. + +JOHN (the Constant) succeeds Frederic, Elector of Saxony, 114. + +JOHN (of Tapoli), negotiations of with the Turks for the throne of + Hungary, 151. + marriage and death of, 52. + +JOHN (of Medici) elected pope, 100. + +JOSEPH (of Germany) elected as successor of Leopold, 316. + +JOSEPH I. secures a treaty with France for neutrality for Italy, 339. + continues the war against Spain, 338. + political concessions of in Hungary, 349. + refusal of to grant the demands of the diet, 350. + Transylvania again subject to, 351. + rout of the Hungarians by, 351. + death of, 352. + +JOSEPH II. (of Austria) elected to succeed the Emperor Francis, 481. + assumes the crown of Germany, 484. + succeeds Maria Theresa, 491. + character of, 492. + death of, 500. + attempt of to obliterate distinctions in Austria, 493. + emancipates the serfs of, 494. + joins the excursion of Catherine II., 497. + defeat of at Belgrade, 498. + successes of, 499. + +JULIUS III. ascends the pontifical throne, 130. + + +KAUNITZ (Count) appointed prime minister, 462. + +KEVENHULLER (General) given the command of the Austrian army, 405. + +KING, nominal power of the, 308. + +KINSKY, letter of Charles VI. to, 391. + +KLESES. (See Cardinal.) + +KONIGSEGG (General), power of in a counsel of war, 404. + recalled in disgrace, 405. + + +LADISLAUS I., coronation of, 65. + visit of to the pope, 67. + inglorious flight of, 69. + tyranny of towards the family of Hunniades, 71. + flight of from Buda, 71. + his projected marriage to Magdalen, 71. + death of, 72. + +LADISLAUS II. elected King of Hungary, 79. + assumes the government of Austria, 81. + +LANDAU, the Austrians checked at, 47. + +LANDSHUT, flight of Charles V. to, 126. + +LEAGUE against France, 85. + of Augsburg, 315. + +LEIPSIC captured by Tilly, 285. + +LEO X., John of Medici assumes the name of, 100. + +LEOPOLD I. (of Austria) succeeds Ferdinand III., 304. + convenes the diet at Presburg, 309. + accused by the diet of persecution, 309. + his desire for peace, 312. + organizes a coalition against Louis XIV., 315. + attempt of to establish despotic power in Hungary, 317. + driven from Hungary, 317. + flight of with his family, 319. + humiliation of, 322. + disgust of the people with, 324. + vengeance of, 324. + efforts of to obtain a decree that the crown was hereditary, 325. + claims Spain, 326. + declares war against France, 331. + deserted by the Duke of Bavaria, 334. + death of, 334. + canonization of, 335. + his various marriages, 336. + +LEOPOLD II. ascends the Austrian throne, 500. + despotism of in Hungary meets with a remonstrance, 501. + interposes against France, 502. + letter of to the King of England, 502. + death of, 502. + +LEOPOLD I. (of Germany), character and death of, 45. + +LEOPOLD I. (of Switzerland), character of, 52. + death of, 57. + +LEOPOLD II., succession of, 57. + assumes the guardianship of Albert V., 59. + death of, 59. + +LEOPOLD (Archduke) invasion of Upper Austria by, 220. + defeat of by Matthias, 221. + +LEWIS II., excommunication of, 50. + +LIBERTY, the spirit of acting in France, 501. + +LITHUANIA, duchy of, 53. + annexation of to Poland, 54. + +LOREDO, arrival of Charles V. at, 141. + +LORRAINE (Chevalier De), duel between the and the young Turk, 312. + +LORRAINE, duchy of demanded by France, 397. + +LORRAINE (Francis Stephen, Duke of) compelled to flee from Hungary, 319. + his engagement with Maria Theresa, 395. + deprived of his kingdom, 397. + his marriage, 398. + appointed commander of the army, 404. + reply of the to the demand of Frederic, 418. + +LOUIS XII., succession of to the throne of France, 89. + inaugurated Duke of Milan, 90. + diplomacy of, 91. + +LOUIS XIII. espouses the cause of Ferdinand I., 256. + +LOUIS XIV., attempt of to thwart Leopold, 304. + marriage of, 314. + resolve of to annex a part of Spain, 314. + responsible for devastation of the Palatinate, 316. + rapacious character of, 317. + claims Spain, 326. + preparations of to invade Spain, 329. + desire of to retire from the conflict, 341. + melancholy situation of, 357. + +LOUIS XV. begins to take part in the government, 378. + +LOUIS XVI., plans of, 502. + +LOUIS (of Bavaria) elected emperor, 42. + excommunication of, 47. + death of, 47. + +LOUIS (of Hungary), death of, 146. + +LOUIS (son of Philip V.), death of, 371. + +LUBEC, peace of, 269. + +LUDOVICO, escape of the Duke of, 90. + +LUDOVICO (Duke of Milan), recovery of Italy by the Duke of, 90. + mutiny of the troops of, 91. + death of, 92. + +LUTHER summoned to repair to Rome, 102. + bull of the pope against, 108. + works of burned, 109. + support of at the diet of Worms, 110. + summoned to appear before the diet, 110. + triumphal march of, 111. + memorable reply of, 111. + triumph of, 112. + attempts of Charles V. to bribe, 113. + his Patmos, 113. + his German Bible, 113. + the party of encouraged by Adrian the pope, 114. + marriage of, 114. + the Confession of Augsburg too mild for, 119. + visit of Charles V. to grave of, 128. + +LUTHERANS, reply of to Henry IV., 191. + (see also Luther.) + +LUTZEN, meeting of the armies at, 291. + battle of, 292. + + +MADRID, evacuation of, by the Austrians, 345. + +MAGDEBURG, the city of, espouses Gustavus, 282. + sacking of, by the imperial troops, 283. + +MAHOMET II., siege of Belgrade by, 69. + +MAHOMET IV., his foreign war, 307. + +MARLBOROUGH (Duke of), the guardian of Anne, 332. + +MALPLAQUET, battle at, 341. + +MANTUA, aid furnished Leopold by, 311. + battle at, 387. + +MARCHIONESS OF POMPADOUR, arrogance of, 464. + +MARIA ANTOINETTE, history of, 487. + letter of Maria Theresa to, 488. + +MARIA THERESA (of Spain), marriage of to Louis XIV., 314. + +MARIA THERESA (of Austria), character of, 395. + her attachment for the Duke of Lorraine, 395. + marriage of, 398. + ascends the Austrian throne, 415. + solicitations of to foreign powers, 417. + her apparent doom, 421. + consents to part with Glogau, 424. + a son born to her, 426. + desire of that her husband should obtain the imperial crown, 427. + her coronation at Presburg, 429. + address of to the diet, 431. + reinforcements of, 436. + ambitious dreams of, 439. + forbids the conference for the relief of Prague, 440. + attempt of to evade her promise to Sardinia, 446. + arrogance of excites indignation of the other powers, 449. + rouses the Hungarians, 450. + recovers Bohemia, 450. + interview of the English ambassador with, 454. + signs the treaty of Dresden, 458. + indignation of at peace being signed by England, 460. + chagrin of, 461. + her energetic discipline, 462. + secures the friendship of the Marchioness of Pompadour, 465 + reproaches towards England, 466. + her diplomatic fib, 468. + victories of, 475. + loses Russia and Sweden, 480. + recovers the cooeperation of Russia, 481. + children of, 486. + letter of to Maria Antoinette, 488. + letter to Frederic desiring peace, 489. + charge to her son, 490. + death of, 491. + fate of her children, 491. + +MARY ANNE (of Spain) affianced to the dauphin of France, 372. + insulting rejection of, 373. + +MARGARET (of Bohemia), engagement of, 46. + marriage and flight of, 49. + divorce of, 49. + +MARGARET, celebration of the nuptials of, 314. + +MARK OF BRANDENBURG, taken possession of by Gustavus Adolphus, 281. + +MARTINETS thrown from the palace by the mob, 328. + +MASSACRE, the, of St. Bartholomew, 171. + +MATHEW HENRY (Count of Thurn), leader of the Protestants, 234. + convention called by, 236. + +MATTHIAS (of Hungary), invasion of Austria by, 75. + death of, 79. + +MATTHIAS, character of, 201. + chosen leader of the revolters in the Netherlands, 202. + increasing popularity of, 203. + announces his determination to depose Rhodolph III., 204. + his demand that Rhodolph should abdicate, 205. + distrust of by the Protestants, 205. + arrest of the Lord of Inzendorf by, 206. + reluctance of to sign the conditions, 207. + elected king, 207. + haughtiness of towards the Austrians, 208. + political reconciliation between Rhodolph III. and, 219. + march of against Leopold, 221. + limitations affixed to the offer of the crown to, 222. + coronation of, 224. + marriage of, 225. + suspicions of the Catholics against, 229. + elected Emperor of Germany, 229. + thwarted in his attempts to levy an army, 230. + concludes a truce with Turkey, 231. + his revival of the ban against the Protestants, 231. + efforts of to secure the crown of Germany for Ferdinand, 232. + opposed by the Protestants, 233. + defiant reply of to the congress at Prague, 236. + disposition of to favor toleration, 239. + death of, 344. + +MAURICE (of Saxony), Protestant principles of, 131. + treaty of with the King of France, 132 + capture of the Tyrol by, 133. + demands of from Charles V., 135 + death of, 137. + +MAXIMILIAN I., ambition of, 84. + efforts of to rouse the Italians, 88. + efforts to secure the Swiss estates, 89. + defeat of at the diet of Worms, 87. + roused to new efforts, 92. + superstitious fraud of, 93. + drawn into a war with Bavaria, 94. + league formed by against the Venetians, 95. + abandoned by his allies, 97. + perseverance of rewarded, 98. + confident of success against Italy, 99. + letter of to his daughter, 99. + success beginning to attend, 100. + plans of to secure the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, 101. + contempt of for the pope, 103. + peculiarities of exhibited, 103. + death of, 104. + accomplishments of, 105. + +MAXIMILIAN II. allowed to assume the title of emperor elect, 161. + character of, 169. + his letter to the Elector Palatine, 170. + profession of the Catholic faith, 170. + address of to Henry of Valois, 172. + liberal toleration maintained by, 172. + answer of to the complaints of the diet, 173. + offer of to pay tribute to the Turks, 174. + elected King of Poland, 180. + death of, 181. + character and acquirements of, 182. + tribute of honor by the ambassadors to, 183. + wife of, 183. + fate of his children, 184. + +MAXIMILIAN (brother of Matthias), the candidate of the Protestants, 229. + +MAXIMILIAN JOSEPH, ascends the throne of Bavaria, 451. + +MEINHARD, legitimate rights of, 50. + death of, 50. + +MELANCTHON, character of, 119. + +MENTZ, taunts of the Elector of, 38. + +METTERNICH, his theory of social order, 506. + +METZ, siege of, 137. + +MILAN, captured by Louis XII., 90. + Louis XII. created Duke of, 90. + +MINISTER (see the countries for which the minister acted). + +MOHATZ, battle of, 146. + +MOLNITZ, the court of Frederic established at, 421. + +MONTECUCULI (Prince), commander of the troops of Leopold, 311. + +MONTSERRAT, shrine of the holy Virgin at, 355. + +MORAVIA, to be held five years by Rhodolph, 81. + the province of, 208. + triumphal march of Count Thurn into, 247. + +MOSES TZEKELI crowned Prince of Transylvania, 196. + +MULHEIM, the fortifications of demolished, 232. + +MUNICH captured by Frederic, 449. + +MURCHFIELD, meeting of the armies on the field of, 29. + + +NAPLES, subjugation of, 84. + +NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, similarity of the plans of Henry IV. and, 216. + remark of verified, 262. + remark of concerning Russia, 399. + +NETHERLANDS, revolt in the, 201. + Marlborough in possession of the, 339. + +NEUPERG (General), imprudence and insult of, 408. + arrested by Charles, 413. + +NEUSTADT, the emperor's remains to be deposited at, 104. + +NICHOLAS (Count of Zrini), heroic defense of Zigeth by, 175. + +NISSA, capture of, 402. + +NOBLES, the, of Bohemia banished, 271. + +NOVARRA, defense of the citadel of, 90. + +NUREMBURG, congress at, 227. + request of, that Rhodolph should abdicate, 228. + battle of, 290. + famine in the city of, 290. + + +OFFICERS, ignorance of the Austrian, 389. + +ORLEANS (Duke of), matrimonial arrangements of the, 369. + death of the, 378. + +ORSOVA captured by the Turks, 405. + surrendered to the Turks, 408. + +OTHO marries Hedwige, of Hapsburg, 25. + harmonious rule of, 46. + +OTTOCAR (of Bohemia), candidate for crown of Germany, 23. + opposition of Rhodolph, 24. + command of the diet to, 24. + message of, to Rhodolph, 24. + power of, 25. + his contempt for Rhodolph, 25. + his excommunication by the pope, 26. + his performance of feudal homage, 27. + violates his oath, 28. + the body of found after battle, 30. + +OXENSTIERN (Chancellor), appointed commander of the Swedish army, 297. + + +PALATINATE, territory of the, 250. + +PAPPENHEIM (General), death of, 293. + +PASSAU, diet at, 187. + +PATMOS, Luther's, 113. + +PAUL III. (of Russia), alliance of with Prussia, 480. + assassination of, 480. + +PAUL IV. (Pope), death of, 162. + +Peace of Passarovitz, 364 + +PEOPLE, contempt for the, 95. + +PEST taken by the Turks, 147. + +PETER THE GREAT, ambition of, 399. + death of, 399. + +PETERWARDEIN, strength of, 406. + +PHILIP (of Burgundy), obtains the dukedom of Burgundy, 84. + +PHILIP III. institutes the order of the Golden Fleece, 372. + +PHILIP IV. (of Spain) obtains renunciation of succession in favor of + Margaret, 314. + resolve of, to maintain his throne, 341. + supported by his subjects, 342. + flight of, from Catalona, 343. + +PHILIP V. despondency of, 369. + abdication of, 370. + resumes his crown, 371. + +PILGRAM, diet at, 66. + +PIUS IV. elected pope, 162. + +PODIEBRAD (George), assumes regal authority, 66. + intrusted with the regency of Bohemia, 68. + elected King of Bohemia, 73. + +POLAND, conditions affixed to the throne of, 180. + Stephen Barthori chosen king of, by the minority, 181. + attempts of France to place Stanislaus on the throne of, 383. + Count Poniatowski secures the crown of, 484. + to be carved out, 485. + annihilation of, 486. + +POMERANIA, seizure of, by Ferdinand, 269. + +POMPADOUR (Marchioness of), arrogance of the, 464. + +PONIATOWSZI (Count), elected King of Poland, 484. + +POPE, the, letter of Rhodolph to, 24. + character of Pope Gregory N., 24. + indignation of the, 38. + capitulation of the, 84. + (Alexander VI.) bribery of, 89. + (Julius II.) the, bought over, 92. + bull of the, deposing the King of Naples, 93. + demands of the, as booty, 95. + infamy of, 95. + infamous acquisitions of, 98. + proclamation against the, by Maximilian, 98. + death of, 100. + John of Medici elected as, 100. + (Leo X.), command of the, to Luther to repair to Rome, 102. + Maximilian's contempt for the, 103. + bull of the, against Luther, 108. + bull of the, burned by Luther, 109. + death of Leo X., the, 113. + (Adrian), accession of, as, 113. + (Clement VII.) succeeds Adrian, 116. + offer of pardon by the, for those who assist in enforcing the + Council of Trent, 125. + disgust of the, against Charles V., 129. + (Julius III.) elected as, 130. + indignation of the, at the toleration of the diet at Passau, 138. + the, allows Maximilian to assume the title of emperor elect, 161. + intolerant pride of, 161. + (Pius IV.) elected as, 162. + dependence on the, dispensed with, 163. + refusal of the, to reform abuses, 165. + attempts of the, to influence Maximilian II., 174. + aid extended to Leopold by the, 311. + embassage from Charles II. to the, 329. + alarm of the, at the innovations of Joseph II., 494. + +PRAGMATIC SANCTION, the, 364. + the, supported by various powers, 461. + +PRAGUE, Ferdinand crushes the revolt in. 156. + diet at, 158. + seizure of, by Leopold, 221. + archbishop of, expelled from the city, 239. + indignation of the inhabitants of, against Frederic, 262. + surrender of, to Ferdinand, 262. + surrender of, to the Austrians, 443. + suffering in, on account of the siege, 472. + +PRAUNSTEIN (Lord of), reasons for the, declaring war, 80. + +PRECOCITY, not a modern innovation, 108. + +PRESBURG, diet at, 309. + +PRESS, success of the, in diffusing intelligence, 102. + +PRINTING, the influence of, beginning to be felt, 83. + +PRIVILEGES confined to the nobles, 187. + +PROTEST of the minority at the diet of Spires, 116. + +PROTESTANTISM, spread of, in Europe, 163. + its working for liberty, 264. + +PROTESTANTS, assembly of, at Smalkalde, 121. + refusal of the, to assist Charles V, 122. + contributions of the, to expel the Turks, 122. + increase of the, 123. + the, reject the council of Trent, 124. + ruin of the army of the, by Charles V., 126. + party of the, predominant in Germany, 183. + shameful quarreling among the, 190. + union of, at Aschhausen, 194. + opposition of the, to Matthias, 206. + their demands on Matthias, 207. + reasonable demands of, 211. + forces of the, vanquished at Pritznitz, 259. + secret combinations of the, for the rising of the, 267. + concessions to, revoked by Ferdinand, 276. + the, prefer the Duke of Bavaria to any of the family of Ferdinand, 279. + loss of the, in the death of Gustavus, 296. + pleasure of the, at the entry of Frederic into Silesia, 419. + +PRUSSIA, inhabited by a pagan race, 20. + alliance of, with Austria, 459. + alliance of, with England, 466. + a subsidy voted to, by England, 475. + formidable preparations against, 470. + +PRUSSIANS, the, driven from Bohemia, 450. + + +RAAB taken by the Turks, 147. + +RAGOTSKY (Francis), leader of the rebellion, 333. + assembles a diet, 349. + chosen dux, or leader, 350. + outlawed, and escape of, 351. + +RATISBON, diet at, in 1629, 275. + refusal of, to accept Ferdinand's word, 276. + +REFORMATION, commencement of the, 103. + +RELIGION, remarkable solicitude for the reputation of, 98. + +REWARD offered for the head of Rhodolph, 30. + +RHODOLPH (of Hapsburg), at the time of his father's death, 18. + presentation of, by the emperor for baptism, 19, + his incursions, 19. + marriage, 19. + excommunication of, 20. + engaged in Prussian crusade, 20. + a monument reared to, by the city of Strasburg, 21. + principles of honor, 21. + chosen chief of Uri, Schweitz, and Underwalden, 21. + chosen mayor of Zurich, 21. + elected Emperor of Germany, 23. + power of, as emperor, 25. + family of, 25. + gathering clouds around, 28. + address of the citizens of Vienna to, 28. + death of, 35. + +RHODOLPH II., character and court of, 48. + ostentatious titles of, 51. + death of, 51. + +RHODOLPH III, crowned King of Hungary, 178. + obtains the imperial throne, 180. + bigotry of, 187. + his infringement of the rights of the burghers, 188. + his blows against Protestantism, 189. + intolerance of in Bohemia, 193. + superstition of, 200. + his favor to Ferdinand; 204. + demands of the Protestants on, 205. + his encouragement of filibustering expeditions, 208. + remarkable pliancy of, 210. + his terror at the chance of assassination, 212. + political reconciliation between Matthias and, 219. + his plot with Leopold, 220. + Rhodolph taken prisoner, 221. + his abdication, 222. + required to absolve his subjects from their oath of allegiance, 223. + retains the crown of Germany, 225. + supplication of to the congress at Rothemberg, 226. + a congress at Nuremberg summoned by, 227. + death of, 228. + +RHODOLPH (of Bohemia), death of, 39. + +RHINE, separating Basle from Rhodolph, 23. + +RICHELIEU, motives influencing, 267. + ambassadors of urge the Duke of Bavaria as candidate for the imperial + crown, 279. + +RIPPERDA (Baron), the secret agent of the Queen of Spain at Vienna, 373. + rise and fall of, 375. + escape of to England, 376. + +ROBINSON (Sir Thomas), interview of with Maria Theresa, 454. + +ROTHENBURG, congress at, 226. + +RUSSIA, growing power of, 399. + succession of the crown of, 399. + instrumental in placing Augustus II on the throne, 400. + + +SARAGOSSA, battle of, 343. + +SAXONY, defeat of the Elector of, 128. + nobility of, 128. + degradation of, 129. + power of, 132. + the electorate of, passes to Augustus, 137. + +SCHARTLIN (General), the Protestants march under, 125. + +SCHWEITZ, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, 21. + +SCLAVONIA, marriage of the Duke of to the daughter of Rhodolph, 25. + +SECKENDORF, (General), the Austrian army intrusted to, 400. + his plans of campaign broken up by Charles, 402. + capture of Nissa by, 402. + condemned to the dungeon, 402. + +SECRET ARTICLES of the treaty with Austria, 376. + +SEGEBERG, league at, 267. + +SCHMETTAU (General), the retreat of Wallis arrested by, 407. + compelled to yield Belgrade, 409. + +SELIM succeeds Solyman, 177. + +SEMENDRIA, defense of, 64. + its capture, 65. + +SEMPACH, battle of, 55. + +SERFS emancipated by Joseph II., 494. + his plan for seizing Bavaria frustrated, 495. + +SEVEN YEARS' WAR, termination of the, 481. + +SICILY, subjugated and attached to the Neapolitan crown, 388. + +SIGISMOND (Francis, Duke of Tyrol), his alliance with Rhodolph, 195. + representation in the diet introduced by, 308. + death of, 314. + +SIGISMOND (of Bohemia), power of, 60. + address of to the diet at Znaim, 61. + death of, 62. + +SILESIA sold to Rhodolph, 195. + taken possession of by Frederic, 418. + +SISECK, Turks routed at, 195. + +SLAVATA thrown from the palace by the mob, 238. + +SMALKALDE, assembly of the Protestants at, 121. + +SOLYMAN (the Magnificent), victories of, 146. + reply of to the demand made by Ferdinand, 147. + his method of overcoming difficulties, 149. + his attack upon Guntz, 150. + his price of peace with Hungary, 153. + death of from rage, 176. + +SPAIN decreed by the will of Charles II. to succeed to France, 331. + espouses the cause of Ferdinand II., 256. + assistance furnished Leopold by, 311. + invasion of by the British and Charles III., 354. + treaty between Austria and, 373. + the Austrians forbidden to trade in, 380. + invasion of Italy by, 388. + +SPANIARDS, the, routed at Catalonia, 343. + +ST. BARTHOLOMEW, massacre of, 171. + +ST. GOTHARD, troops stationed at, 311. + battle of, 312. + +ST. ILDEFONSO, the palace of, 370. + +ST. JUSTUS, convent of, 140. + +ST. PETERSBURG, rearing of the city of, 399. + +STANHOPE (General), bearing of, 342. + desperate position of, 347. + +STANISLAUS LECZINSKI, career of, 382. + daughter of married to Louis XV., 382. + receives a pension from France, 383. + elected King of Poland, 383. + his marvelous journey through Germany, 384. + +STAREMBERG (General), bearing of, 342. + +STATE, the independence of each German, 18. + +STEPHEN, crowning of the infant as king, 152. + +STEPHEN BOTSKOI, indignity offered to, 197. + his manifesto, 198. + proclaimed King of Hungary, 199. + +STETTIN captured by Gustavus Adolphus, 281. + +STETZIM, diet at, 349. + +STRALSUND, defense of, 269. + +STRICKLAND sent to London to overthrow the cabinet, 392. + +STYRIA traversed by the Turks, 311. + +SWEDEN roused by Gustavus Adolphus + against Ferdinand II., 280. + prudent conduct of on death of Gustavus, 297. + +SWEDES, sorrow of the at the death of Gustavus, 294. + +SWITZERLAND, divisions of, 40. + + +THURN (Count) leads the mob to the king's council, 237. + appointed commander of the Protestants, 338. + invades Austria, 247. + +TILLY (Count), the imperial troops intrusted to, 282. + +TITIAN, graceful compliment of Charles V to, 144. + +TRAUSNITZ, Frederic I. a prisoner at the castle of, 43. + +TRANSYLVANIA, rebellion in, 333. + +TREASURE abandoned by the Turks, 323. + +TREATY of Passau, 136. + +TRENT, Council of, 124. + the second council at, 130. + council at in 1562, 164. + declarations of, 166 + +TRIBUNAL at Eperies, 324. + +TRIESTE, arrival of troops at, 94. + +TURENNE, the Palatinate devastated by, 315. + challenged by the Elector of Palatinate, 316. + +TURIN, the court of bribed, 89. + +TURKS, origin and increase of the, 63. + defeat of at Belgrade, 70. + spread of the, 121. + invasion of Hungary by the, 122. + the, driven from Hungary, 122. + treaty of Charles V. with the, 123. + victorious in Hungary, 136. + invasion of Europe by the, 145. + compelled to return home, 148. + the, retire from Hungary, 177. + peace made by Maximilian with the, 178. + invasion of Croatia by the, 195. + union of the with the forces of Botskoi, 199. + truce of Hungary with the, 203. + the, conclude a peace with Austria, 231. + invasion of Hungary by the, 310. + defeat of on the field of St. Gothard, 312. + favorable treaty secured by the, 313. + the invasion of Sclavonia by the, 360. + destruction of the army of the, 363. + the, implore peace, 364. + Orsova besieged by the, 404. + the, routed at Einmik, 499. + +TUSCANY, subjugation of by Charles VIII, 84. + aid furnished Leopold by, 311. + death of the Duke of, 398. + +TYROL, marriage of Albert to Elizabeth, + daughter of the Count of, 25. + possession of obtained by Rhodolph II., 50. + its power as the key to Italy, 313. + death of the Duke of, 314. + + +ULADISLAUS obtains the throne of Hungary, 66. + +ULM, rendezvous of the Protestants at, 257. + +ULRIC, the Protestant Duke of restored to Wirtemberg, 122. + +UNDERWALDEN, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, 21. + +URI, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, 21. + +UTTLEBERG, capture of the castle of by Rhodolph, 22. + + +VALERIUS BARTHOLOMEW, the king's confessor, 248. + +VALLADOLID, court of Philip established at, 343. + +VENDOME (General) joins Philip, 313. + +VENICE bribed, 89. + Maximilian bound by truce with, 95. + aid furnished Leopold by, 311. + +VICTOR ASMEDEUS, business of, 369. + +VIENNA one of the strongest defenses of the empire, 26. + the king's residence at, 27. + address of the citizens of to Rhodolph, 28. + siege of, 74. + the professors of the university at avow the doctrines of Luther, 114. + assault of, 320. + delivered by Sobieski, 322. + + +WALLENSTEIN made generalissimo of all the forces, 268. + arrogance of, 273. + matrimonial alliances of, 274. + his dismissal from the army demanded, 276. + he retires from the army 278. + his regal mode of living, 287. + his humiliating exactions from the emperor, 289. + superstition of, 291. + urges Ferdinand to make peace, 297. + traitorous offer to surrender to the Swedes, 298. + his assassination, 299. + +WALLIS (Marshal) given the command of the army, 406. + arrested by Charles, 413. + +WAR, its debit and credit account, 359. + (see also the various campaigns.) + +WATERLOO, its advantage to Austria, 404. + +WENCESLAUS acknowledged king, 31. + marriage to Judeth, 31. + death of, 38. + +WESTPHALIA, signing of the peace of, 300. + conditions of the treaty of, 301. + +WHITE MOUNTAIN, battle of, 259. + +WILLIAM (son of Leopold), demand of for the government, 58. + marriage of, 59. + +WINKELREID (Arnold), heroism of, 56. + +WISMAR, the naval depot of Ferdinand, 268. + +WITTEMBERG, procession of the students of, 109. + +WORMS, diet at in 1521, 108. + the diet of inveighs Luther, 110. + + +ZEALAND, encampment of Charles Gustavus in, 306. + +ZIGETH, heroic defense of by Nicholas, 176. + noble death of the garrison of, 177. + +ZINZENDORF, remark of, 393. + +ZNAIM, diet at, 61. + +ZURICH, Rhodolph of Hapsburg chosen chief of, 21. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMPIRE OF AUSTRIA; ITS RISE AND +PRESENT POWER*** + + +******* This file should be named 16070.txt or 16070.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/6/0/7/16070 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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