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sovereigns and France (llth of November, 1634). The 

 kin? of France being one of the first Catholic princes, he 

 durst not assume the title of protector of the Protestant 

 church, as the king of Sweden had done, and he there- 

 fore styled himself the protector of the liberties of the 

 states of Germany against the tyranny of the emperor. 

 His policy was nevertheless severely blamed by his fellow- 

 believers. Jacob Keller, a German Jesuit, wrote a book 

 concerning the policy of Louis XIII., who, at the same 

 time, protected the Protestants in Germany, and persecuted 

 them in his own kingdom ; but this book was burnt in 

 Paris by order of the Sorbonne. Duke Bernhard of Saxe- 

 Weimar at the same time having sold himself and his 

 army to France, Saxony and Brandenburg saw at last that 

 any longer adherence to the Swedish alliance would be the 

 ruin of themselves and of all Germany. Saxony concluded 

 peace with the emperor on the 30th of May, 1635, at 

 Prague ; and Brandenburg gave in its adherence to this 

 peace on the 27th of August following : the favourable con- 

 ditions which they obtained proved that the emperor had 

 given up all schemes of oppressing the Protestant 

 church. The landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, the dukes of 

 Mecklenburg, of Brunswick, and of Saxe-Weimar (duke 

 William), the cities of Frankfort, of Erfurt, &c., the Hanse 

 towns, and at last the whole circle of Lower Saxony, 

 became parties to the peace of Prague in the course of 

 the same year. Among all the Protestant states of im- 

 portance, Hesse-Cassel, Wiirtemberg, and Baden were the 

 only states which continued their alliance with the foreign 

 invaders. This fact also proves that the Swedes had 

 not armed for the sake of the Protestant religion, as they 

 pretended ; and that their sole purpose was conquest. 

 If they had taken arms for the liberty of their faith, they 

 would have made that liberty a principle, and they would 

 have withdrawn from Germany as soon as this principle 

 had ceased to be interfered with. Such disinterested conduct 

 is indeed rare in history, and is often regarded as contrary 

 to the substantial welfare of that nation which adopts 

 it. But is the rarity of the fact a proof of its absurdity ? 

 To veil ambition with moral or religious pretexts is a 

 common practice, but it deserves to be stigmatized with 

 the name of public hypocrisy ; and such was the Swedish 

 interference in the Thirty Years' War. 



The most important event from the year 1635 to 1639 

 was the conquest of Alsace by duke Bernhard of Saxe- 

 Weimar, who hoped to posses-, that Austrian province as an 

 hereditary dnchy. His plans however were contrary to 

 the policy of France, who herself aimed at the possession 

 of Alsace, and had bribed the duke for the sole purpose of 

 employing him as an instrument. No sooner had the 

 duke's intentions become manifest, than he fell suddenly 

 ill, and died on the 8th of July, 1639. His army, a strong 

 and experienced body, was bought by France, who imme- 

 diately occupied Alsace. The Imperialists however, rein- 

 forced by the Saxon troops, gained a victory at Haseliinre 

 over the Swedish general Knyphausen, who was killed 

 (December, 1635); and they forced Magdeburg to sur- 

 render H636 . They and the Saxons were beaten in their 

 turn at Wittstock by the Swedish general Baner (24th of 

 S j.tember, 1636); and duke Bernhard defeated them at 

 Kheinfelden (21st of February, 1638), and made prisoners 

 generals Savelli and the celebrated John von Werth. 

 Previously to this the emperor Ferdinand II. died (15th of 

 February, 1637), and was succeeded by his son Ferdinand 

 III., who had been king of the Romans since 1636. Leo- 

 pold William, the brother of Ferdinand III., was appointed 

 generalissimo of the Imperial army ; and as early as the 

 spring (if 1640 he succeeded in driving the Swedes, under 

 iian'r, from Bohemia, and he pursued them as far a.s Hesse 

 and Hanover. In the autumn of 1640 the emperor issued 

 a proclamation, granting to the rebellious Protestant 

 princes a general amnesty and the sovereignty over their 

 temporal dominions on the status quo of 1630, and over 

 their ecclesiastical territories on the status quo of 1627. 

 But these princes treated the proclamation with neglect, 

 still hoping that by their alliance with the foreigners they 

 would acquire some privileges and some little territory 

 more. They sent new contingencies to the army of Bane>, 

 who, in January, 1641. advanced as far as Hegensburg. 

 He was reinforced by a French corps, commanded by the 

 Marshi'.l <le (tm'briand, but their united forces were de- 

 feated by the Imperialists, and on their retreat they lost 



half of their troops. Baner died in the month of May, 

 1641, and his successor was Torstenson, who led the Swedes 

 to new triumphs. 



The war had now lasted for twenty-three years. 

 Swedes, Danes, Spaniards, Dutchmen, Frenchmen, half- 

 savage warriors from Hungary, Transylvania, and Croatia, 

 had ravaged Germany from one sea to the other. Adven- 

 turers from all the countries of Europe flocked to Germany 

 to learn warfare, and to enrich themselves by the plunder 

 of the country. The foreigners pretended to protect the 

 churches, but the churches were laid in ruins; they pro- 

 fessed to defend the liberties of the cities, but the cities 

 were deserted ; they promised to maintain the privileges 

 of the princes, and they robbed them of their dominions, 

 and led them to disobedience and anarchy. 



Before the war commenced, the people were told that 

 they were on the eve of a religious contest, but they hesi- 

 tated to believe it ; no deep religious hatred, no fanaticism 

 disturbed their domestic peace. After the war had lasted 

 some years, their passions were roused, and their warlike 

 spirit excited them to take up arms, some for the defence 

 of their hearths, and others to follow Waldstein or any 

 other leader of the time. The pretext which the princes 

 made of religion was shown by their attacks on the pro- 

 perty of the church, and thus the people lost their respect 

 for religion. The example of Christian of Halberstadt, 

 of Mansfekl, of Waldstein, who supported their armies by 

 robbing indifferently Roman Catholics and Protestants, 

 corrupted both peasants and citizens ; and commerce and 

 industry being ruined, and agriculture becoming an uncer- 

 tain means of living, they formed bands of robbers, who 

 ravaged the country. From these bands the Swedes re- 

 cruited their troops, who, after the death of Gustavus 

 Adolphus, were chiefly composed of Germans. The armies 

 presented an aspect like those of the Goths when they 

 invaded the Roman empire. One-third and often only one- 

 fifth of them were soldiers : the remainder were vagabonds, 

 women, and children, who followed the army, carrying with 

 them on carts the property which they had stolen on their 

 march. The greater part of the women were prostitutes, 

 who, in the army of Waldstein, had a perfect military 

 organization. They were divided into regiments, companies, 

 and sections, each body being commanded by a prostitute, 

 and the women having the same rank among these female 

 adventurers which their lovers had in the army. The pro- 

 vinces which were the principal theatre of war were laid 

 waste, and the inhabitants fled, or were killed, or died of 

 hunger and disease. Of 500,000 individuals, the population 

 of the duchy of Wiirtemberg in 1618, only 48,000 remained 

 at the end of the war in 1648. 



Torstenson, the new generalissimo of the Swedes, con- 

 quered, or rather traversed, in the spring of 1612, Saxony, 

 Silesia, and Moravia, and his light horse appeared in the 

 neighbourhood of Vienna. At the same time the Marshal 

 de Guebriand penetrated into Suabia, in hope of joining 

 the Swedish army under the walls of the emperor's capital. 

 The Imperial generals however succeeded in delivering the 

 hereditary states of Ferdinand ; and while Torstenson re- 

 tired to the north, where his presence became urgent on 

 account of a new war with Denmark, the French army was 

 compelled to cross the Rhine. Gu6hriand was killed in an 

 engagement near Rotweil, and his successor, the count of 

 Rantzau, a German nobleman in the French service, who 

 had again appeared on the right bank of the Rhine, was 

 surprised by the Imperialists under John von Werth, Mercy, 

 and the duke of Lorraine. The battle was fought on the 

 24th of November, 1643, near Duttlingen, and the French 

 army was almost annihilated. Christian IV. of Denmark 

 was not more fortunate in his war with the Swedes than he 

 had been against Tilly and Waldstein ; but while he was 

 fighting with Torstenson in Jutland, Gallas, the general of the 

 emperor, suddenly appeared in Holstein, with the view of 

 placing the Swedes between two fires. From this dangerous 

 position Torstenson escaped by a bold manoeuvre, which he 

 executed with his usual rapidity. He advanced as if to 

 attack Gallas, but suddenly turned to the right, crossed 

 Holstein, and penetrated by rapid marches into the heart 

 of Germany, thus obliging the Imperial army to follow him 

 in order to protect the hereditary states of the emperor. The 

 Swedes often made a stand to engage in skirmishes which 

 proved disastrous to the Imperialists, and Gallas brought 

 only half his army back to Austria. In the mean time 



