"
These frank and energetic words opened
?
These frank and energetic words opened
?
Abelous - Gustavus Adolphus - Hero of the Reformation
Scarcely
had he put to flight the left wing, than he
directed his army corps and that of Gen-
eral Teufel toward the heights on which
Tilly liad placed his artillery. He seized
them after a short struggle, and the enemy
had to endure the fire of their own cannon.
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 109
Its flank, battered by the artillery, and
exposed, in front, to the impetuous charges
of the Swedes, the imperial army, called
the invincible, finally broke. Tilly was
obliged to order a retreat ; but this retreat
could only be made through the ranks of
the vanquished. Suddenly a general dis-
order seized the imperial army; it disband-
ed and fled. Four regiments alone, com-
posed of old soldiers, who had never turned
their back to an enemy, kept in order and
opposed a brazen wall to the redoubled
attacks of the Swedes. . . . Convinced of
the inutility of a longer resistance, and
reduced to six hundred men, they with-
drew from the battle field, which, from this
moment, was no longer disputed against
the Swedes ; their victory was complete. "
Gustavus Adolphus threw himself on
his knees, in the midst of the dead and
wounded, and, surrounded by his men,
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? 110 GusTAYus Adolphus.
poured forth aloud his gratitude to God,
in an ardent prayer, for his wonderful tri-
umph. Then, mounting his horse, and
passing from rank to rank, he thanked his
brave soldiers.
The same day he sent the news to his
chancellor and his kingdom, in these sim-
ple words : " Although we have to deplore
the loss of many brave men, we should be-
fore all and above all, thank God for his
divine protection ; for we were never in so
great danger. "
This never failing disposition to look
upon the bright side, keeps ever in our
view the Christian in the hero. This is
the secret of that continual joy which one
of his historians so much admires, and
which St. Paul recommends as one of the
most precious of faith's privileges, and as
the purest reflection of Christian charity.
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? CHAPTER V.
His sojourn at Frankfort -- His entrance into Nuremberg -- Bat-
tle of the Lech.
THE results of tlie victory at Leipsic
were immense. That day, Gustavus
Adolphus gathered the fruit of more than
a year's labors and fatigues, of many un-
important struggles, and of privations of
every kind. The reunited forces of the
Catholic League and of the emperor were
annihilated. Of a formidable army, there
remained no more than two thousand
combatants, and Tilly was disgraced and
discouraged by an irreparable misfortune.
" Gustavus," says Michelet, " could do
what he wished, could go whithersoever it
seemed to him good. " The Swedish tor-
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? 112 GusTAvus Adolphus.
rent had swept all the dikes which Austria
opposed to it, and nothing could longer
arrest it.
But the Swedish king showed his noble
character by acts still grander than his
victory. His first thought, after having
rendered thanks to God, was a thought
of reparation and justice. From Halle,
whither he had followed and dispersed the
remainder of the hostile army, he wrote
a letter, dated September 17, in which he
desired his chancellor to rejoin him, in
order to oversee the reparations which he
wished to have made to his despoiled breth-
ren in the faith. He maintained unrelaxed
discipline among his soldiers, as to order
and religious observances. Every morn-
ing, after prayer, they sang a hymn that
the king especially loved, and which ex-
presses in a simple, faithful manner the
condition of a Christian soul before God.
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? GusTAvus Adolpiius. 113
The following are a few of the stanzas,
with a loss of beauty in translating :
" O Eternal One, this morning, as dur-
ing my whole life, I wish to praise thee,
and to send up, even to thy throne, the
homage of a grateful heart.
" It is thou, O my God, who, during the
night just past, hast helped me by thy
grace, and preserved me from harm and
danger. I humbly pray thee to forgive
the sins which fill my days and merit thy
wrath.
" It is to God that I would leave the di-
rection of all my affairs ; for he alone can
accomplish all.
"It is he who blesses my actions, my
hopes, and gives me my success. It is into
his hands who gave, that I replace my
body, my soul, my life, and all that he has
given. Let him do according to his good
pleasure.
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? 114 GusTAvus Adolphus.
" And now I say amen, in the assiii^ance
that God will do all for the best. My
arm is still extended, and I am ready to
continue the work he has confided to me,
at the post, and in the career where he has
placed me. "
How touching the spectacle of a camp
where both commander and commanded
have such a reveille !
At Halle, Gnstavus divided his army.
He charged his ally, the Elector of Saxony,
to penetrate into Bohemia, impatient to
shake off the imperial yoke. He set to
himself the task of conquering all of west-
ern Germany, in order to deprive Austria
of the rich countries from whence she drew
her greatest resources, and to smother the
Catholic League in its several centers.
Even the Catholics, victims, like the
Protestants, of the cupidity and bad treat-
ment of the imperials, received Gustavus
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? GusTAVus Adolphus. 115
as a liberator. His marcli from Halle
even to the Khine was, indeed, triumphal.
In Thuringia he found a new ally, the
Duke of Saxe- Weimar, who soon became
one of his ablest generals. He took the
severest measures to prevent all abuse of
power among his officers, and of excess
among his soldiers. He v^ished to show
himself the more moderate and just, where
it might naturally not be expected -- in a
country whose faith he rejected, and which
had ever been hostile to his cause.
The irreproachable conduct of his army
inspired admiration and confidence. A
historian relates that a Swede, forgetting
the example of his comrades and the com-
mands of his general, was on his way to
camp with a cow that he had taken from
a peasant, when a strong hand was laid
upon his shoulder. He turned and saw
that it was none other than his good gen-
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? 116
GusTAvus Adolphus.
GUSTAVUR ARRESTIXG A PLUXBERER.
eral, who said to him, in a firm tone, but
with a look of fraternal pity, " My son, my
son, you must go to be judged. " The
penalty for such offenses was death.
At the approach of the Swedish troops
the Bishop of Wurtzburg, one of the most
ardent and active enemies of Protestantism
and a member of the Catholic League, fled,
and left his followers without defense and
without a chief, to the mercy of a powerful
and offended army. The capital of this
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 117
archbishopric, Wurtzburg, made no at-
tempt at resistance and submitted imme-
diately. The other cities of this State
followed its example. Gustavns Adol-
phus regarded as his own a country which
its ruler had abandoned. Inviting the
local authorities to swear allegiance to him,
he immediately organized a government,
composed of an equal number of Catholics
and Protestants. He rendered back to the
latter their possessions and opened their
places of worship, but left the Catholics
also in possession of the same freedom,
and, as an historian expresses it, " avenged
by not a single retaliation^ the long and
cruel oppression to which the Protestants
had been subjected. "
He practiced the same tolerance every-
where, and thus had the imperishable
honor of being the first prince who com-
prehended the grand principle of liberty
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? 118 GusTAvus Adolphus.
of worship, and, in the midst even of a
war, kindled by religious fanaticism, he
proclaimed in Europe the sacred rights of
conscience. And so, even from the testi-
mony of a Catholic, so much uprightness
and gentleness disarmed the most invet-
erate hatred, and Gustavus was, for the
greater part of the Catholics, if not a savior,
as he was for the Protestants, at least a
just and good master, who respected their
rights and preserved their liberties.
At the taking of a certain Catholic city
his officers urged him to use some severity
toward the inhabitants, who had been very
hostile to him and at times very cruel
to the Protestants. The king replied, "I
have come to break the chains of bondage
and not to forge new ones. Let them
live as they have lived. "
Surrounded by affectionate Protestant
populations, and accepted by even the
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 119
Catholic countries, Gustavus Adolphus was
in a sure way of success, and Germany
stood no longer in his way. The hinder-
ance to a perfect success came from else-
where. Richelieu, who had wished to
diminish the power and influence of Aus-
tria, trembled at seeing the increasing
grandeur of the King of Sweden. A pre-
ponderance of the Protestant party suc-
ceeded to that of the Austrians. Over the
ruins of the old empire there would rise,
perhaps, a new empire, whose head would
be the greatest general of the epoch. This
peril which threatened all Europe with a
revolution must be averted. Richelieu,
ally as he was, became almost an enemy of
Gustavus Adolphus. He declared himself
protector of the German Catholic princes,
and, as regarded them, declared himself
neutral; thus offering them the means of
arming themselves for Austria, while pre-
8
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? 120 GusTAvus Adolphus.
tending to take sides with no one. He
thus awakened, by his intrigues and infidel-
ity, the jealousy of the Protestant princes,
? iid caused them to have fears of finding a
master in one who proclaimed himself their
friend. The northern hero was again to
find himself alone, as at his arrival in Ger-
many. However, he pursued his march,
and in a very short time conquered Fran-
conia. Arrived before Frankfort-on-the-
Main, he found an unexpected resistance.
This opulent and populous city had ever
been attached to the imperials on account
of commercial privileges which accrued to
it through them. Its fairs had great celeb-
rity, and it feared to lose much if it should
open its gates to the Swedes. Summoned
to surrender, it sent a deputation to the
king to explain the embarrassment of its
position, and its wholly material reasons
for not being favorable to him.
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 121
Gustavus Adolphus was indignant. " I
am astonished," said he, "to learn that
Frankfort prizes more highly its wealth,
than it does the duties which religion and
patriotism impose upon it; it is, indeed,
little to its honor to talk of its sale-shops
and its fairs when the liberty of Germany
and the future of the Reformation are at
stake. Moreover, from the Isle of Rligen
to the banks of the Rhine, I have found
the keys of all the fortresses ; I can also find
those of Frankfort. It is for the well-being
of Germany, and for the independence of
the Protestant faith, that I do battle; no
obstacle can stop me, for I am conscious of
the justice and nobleness of my cause. I see
plainly that the inhabitants of Frankfort
think it sufficient to extend to me a finger,
but I must have the entire hand; on this
condition alone will I protect them.
"
These frank and energetic words opened
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? 122 GusTAvus Adolphus.
the gates ; and Gnstavus Adolphus entered
Frankfort with the pomp of an emperor
who, according to ancient usage, was about
to be crowned. " During his short sojourn
in that city," says Schiller, " he ceased not
to receive visits of princes and embassa-
dors who came to pay homage to his glory,
to appease his wrath, or to implore his as-
sistance. " These brilliant displays were
displeasing to the Queen, Maria Eleanor,
and to the chancellor, Oxenstiern, both of
whom had come to rejoin, the one, her be-
loved husband, the other, his prince and
friend. Under all these outside protesta-
tions of friendship, the former, guided by
her womanly tenderness and instinct, the
latter by his long experience and pru-
dence in business affairs, had discovered the
distrust and envy that Gustavus inspired
in all these sovereigns, and the discord
that reigned among themselves.
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? GusTAVUs Adolphus. 123
Nor did the king himself fail to read his
allies; and he was deeply afflicted with
what he discovered in them, if not indeed
cast down. It was a real sorrow to him
to see the noble cause which he was de-
fending, compromised every moment for
petty, trivial, and personal interests. One
day, before several assembled princes, he
said, with some bitterness, "I am inclined
to make peace, if we may have honorable
conditions, which will assure the well-be-
ing of the Protestant princes and their
oppressed subjects; for it was with this
end in view that I undertook this war for
which I have shed my blood. But, know
this, first of all, that I will never conclude
a peace like the preceding, (that of Lli-
beck,) which sacrificed the honor of the
Protestant princes, placed their unfor-
tunate subjects under an iron yoke, and
gravely compromised our religion. "
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? 124 GusTAvus Adolphus.
The Landgrave George of Hesse Darm-
stadt was among tlie number that hung
around the Mug at Frankfort. It was his
ambition to bring together the two parties.
He held secret relations with the emperor,
at the same time that he appeared to be
greatly attached to the King of Sweden.
Gustavus Adolphus one day said, in the
presence of this prince, "If the emperor
does not trouble me, I will not trouble
him; your lordship can tell him so, for I
know that you are a good subject of the
emperor.
The landgrave, somewhat in confusion,
stammered out some words of justification.
" When a man," said the king, " gives you
thirty thousand thalers a year, you may
well afford to be his friend. If I should
make such a gift, the man would, indeed,
have to merit it. "
But Gustavus had to do, not only with
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? GusTAVUs Adolphus. 125
traitors, but he saw himself exposed, as in
Pomerania, to the assassin's blade. One
evening an individual was found in his
chamber, armed. He was seized, and
proved to be a Catholic priest of Ant-
werp. About the same time, it was said
that a Jesuit, for two successive Sabbaths,
encouraged his hearers to pray for the suc-
cess of a project which God and one man
alone knew, and whose aim was to insure
repose to the Roman Church.
Under these circumstances, the friends
of the king besought him to be more upon
his guard than he had ever been, to insure
his personal safety. "A king," replied
Gustavus, " cannot live shut up in a box.
The wicked have not so much power as
ill-will, and confidence in God is the best
safeguard. Then I do not consider this
danger to be so formidable. Besides, if
the project of this man had succeeded, the
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? 126 GusTAYus Adolphus.
loss of me would not have caused you so
much misfortune as you believed, for God
knows perfectly well how long he wishes
to employ my frail arm. If I fall, he will
raise up another instrument more worthy
and more powerful than I. His work
does not depend upon the life of one man. "
His friends insisting still that he should
take some precautions, "Will you then,"
replied he, " that I should learn to distrust
Providence ? "
Urged by Eichelieu, Gustavus Adolphus
consented to make peace with Bavaria.
He promised not to march upon their ter-
ritory, provided they should restore to the
Protestants the property of which they
had deprived them, and allow them lib-
erty of worship.
Maximilian, in order to gain time, en-
tered into a conference with the King of
Sweden; but during the negotiations, he
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 127
prepared himself for war, aod concerted
with Ferdinand to attack the Swedes. A
letter which he wrote to Pappenheim was
intercepted, and Gusta\rus, indignant at
this false play, warned France of it and
declared that he would invade Bavaria.
On hearing of this determination, Pope
Urban YIII. said, "The King of Sweden
has chosen the wiser and surer part. He
would commit a great mistake if he should
turn elsewhere before having conquered
Maximilian. "
While awaiting a favorable moment
Gustavus Adolphus crossed the Rhine,
vainly opposed by the Spaniards, and, on
December 13, 1631, Mayence, after four
days of siege, opened to him its gates. He
stopped a short time in the city, leaving
the conquest of the surrounding country
to some of his generals.
His repose was of no long duration.
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? 128 GusTAVus Adolphus.
Kecalled into Franconia by the success of
Tilly, who had driven the Swedish troops
from the Bishopric of Bamberg, and was
marching upon Nuremberg, he hastened to
meet the Bavarian general, and forced him
to withdraw toward the Danube.
He thus reached Nuremberg, March 21,
where he was received with great enthusi-
asm. He entered with a simple escort of
Swedish dragoons, having left his army at
some distance from the city. The generals
and German princes whom he had rescued
accompanied him. The magistrates and
principal citizens went to meet him and to
offer him the keys, as a sign of obedience
and fidelitv. The streets were filled with
an applauding and enthusiastic crowd.
The thunder of cannon and the ringing of
bells mingled with the loud acclamations
of the people. This enthusiastic welcome
deeply moved the heart of the king. He
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 129
was in tbe center of Germany, in one of
the most powerful cities of the empire,
among a people of his own faith, and one
that had long been devoted to his cause.
The future smiled hopefully toward him,
and he, with all that happy population,
thanked God from the depths of his heart,
and responded very affectingly to all these
demonstrations of which he was the honored
object. All eyes overflowed with tears.
When the king came to the apartments
destined for him, he was presented with
the gifts which the city had prepared for
him. They consisted of considerable sums
of money and of two silver globes of
wonderful workmanship. Gustavus then
addressed to the mao:istrates and citizens
the following words, which were soon
spread abroad by thousands of printed
copies :
"I thank you, both you and your city,
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? 130 GusTAvus Adolphus.
for these rich gifts. I can wisli you noth-
ing better in return than perseverance in
the evangelical faith. Let nothing turn
you from it ; neither threats, nor promises,
nor any of the passions to which human
nature is subject. You have presented me
with the emblems of heaven and earth;
let not the riches of earth make you foi'-
getful of the still more precious treasures
of heaven. This favor I beseech God for
you. You have wicked and wily enemies,
whose aim is the annihilation of Protest-
antism. Their hope is to found a peace
upon the ruin of all Protestants, and they
seek their end by the destruction of
millions of souls. God has confided to
you the administration of an opulent and
powerful city. . . . I doubt not that you
so govern it as not to fear to give the
account which you will, one day, have to
render at the tribunal of God.
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? GusTAVus Adolphus. 131
"Your city, up to tMs time, has been
miraculously preserved from the dangers
and persecutions which surround and beset
it. I, too, have been the object of a not
less wonderful ^^rotection since setting my
feet on these shores. . . . In the misfor-
tunes of those professing the Protestant
faith around you, as well as in your own
sufferings, God has aimed to make us feel
how much we are sinners. For you, for
the defense of the Gospel, I left my peace-
ful home and came into your agitated
country. I have sacrificed the resources
of my poor subjects, their blood, my life,
and the love of my family. I will do for
you all that the grace of God will give me
power to do. On your side, be willing to
suffer for awhile, if need be, for our sacred
cause. Kemain faithful to it. Then God
will bless you ; he will cause your city to
flourish. His name will be every-where
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? 132 GusTAvus Adolphus.
revered, and after the glory and honor of
earth, will come that of heaven. "
After having dined, the king departed
from the city in the midst of a population
still more enthusiastic than at his entrance.
In order to perpetuate the memory of his
visit, they multiplied his features on cloth
and in bronze. Poesy chanted his virtues,
and the following are some stanzas writ-
ten on that occasion, bearing the biblical
stamp and coloring, found in almost all
Protestant authors of that epoch :
" With delight he enters here, this war-
rior adorned with so many virtues, whom
old and young have for so long a time de-
sired ; the good King of Sweden, our glori-
ous protector ; with delight he enters here
for the welfare of us all.
"With delight he enters here, this new
Gideon, whose brow is radiant; this sec-
ond Joshua, the dear and invincible hero,
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 133
whose triumphs are known in all the
world.
" With delight he enters here, that one
who directs the battles of the Lord ; this
other David who has brought Goliath
low ; this valiant man whose heart is with-
out fraud, and who seeks only the glory
of God. Where is there an object more
worthy of admiration ! "
On leaving Nuremberg, Gustavus pre-
sented himself and his army before Dona-
werth, noted for the misfortunes which its
ardent zeal for the Reformation had drawn
upon it. A strong Bavarian garrison de-
fended it, but it could not resist the im-
petuosity of the Swedes. The evangelical
worship w^as soon re-established there.
The king now found himself on the
frontiers of Bavaria and was master of the
Danube. The little river Lech was the
only barrier separating him from the States
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?
had he put to flight the left wing, than he
directed his army corps and that of Gen-
eral Teufel toward the heights on which
Tilly liad placed his artillery. He seized
them after a short struggle, and the enemy
had to endure the fire of their own cannon.
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 109
Its flank, battered by the artillery, and
exposed, in front, to the impetuous charges
of the Swedes, the imperial army, called
the invincible, finally broke. Tilly was
obliged to order a retreat ; but this retreat
could only be made through the ranks of
the vanquished. Suddenly a general dis-
order seized the imperial army; it disband-
ed and fled. Four regiments alone, com-
posed of old soldiers, who had never turned
their back to an enemy, kept in order and
opposed a brazen wall to the redoubled
attacks of the Swedes. . . . Convinced of
the inutility of a longer resistance, and
reduced to six hundred men, they with-
drew from the battle field, which, from this
moment, was no longer disputed against
the Swedes ; their victory was complete. "
Gustavus Adolphus threw himself on
his knees, in the midst of the dead and
wounded, and, surrounded by his men,
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? 110 GusTAYus Adolphus.
poured forth aloud his gratitude to God,
in an ardent prayer, for his wonderful tri-
umph. Then, mounting his horse, and
passing from rank to rank, he thanked his
brave soldiers.
The same day he sent the news to his
chancellor and his kingdom, in these sim-
ple words : " Although we have to deplore
the loss of many brave men, we should be-
fore all and above all, thank God for his
divine protection ; for we were never in so
great danger. "
This never failing disposition to look
upon the bright side, keeps ever in our
view the Christian in the hero. This is
the secret of that continual joy which one
of his historians so much admires, and
which St. Paul recommends as one of the
most precious of faith's privileges, and as
the purest reflection of Christian charity.
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? CHAPTER V.
His sojourn at Frankfort -- His entrance into Nuremberg -- Bat-
tle of the Lech.
THE results of tlie victory at Leipsic
were immense. That day, Gustavus
Adolphus gathered the fruit of more than
a year's labors and fatigues, of many un-
important struggles, and of privations of
every kind. The reunited forces of the
Catholic League and of the emperor were
annihilated. Of a formidable army, there
remained no more than two thousand
combatants, and Tilly was disgraced and
discouraged by an irreparable misfortune.
" Gustavus," says Michelet, " could do
what he wished, could go whithersoever it
seemed to him good. " The Swedish tor-
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? 112 GusTAvus Adolphus.
rent had swept all the dikes which Austria
opposed to it, and nothing could longer
arrest it.
But the Swedish king showed his noble
character by acts still grander than his
victory. His first thought, after having
rendered thanks to God, was a thought
of reparation and justice. From Halle,
whither he had followed and dispersed the
remainder of the hostile army, he wrote
a letter, dated September 17, in which he
desired his chancellor to rejoin him, in
order to oversee the reparations which he
wished to have made to his despoiled breth-
ren in the faith. He maintained unrelaxed
discipline among his soldiers, as to order
and religious observances. Every morn-
ing, after prayer, they sang a hymn that
the king especially loved, and which ex-
presses in a simple, faithful manner the
condition of a Christian soul before God.
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? GusTAvus Adolpiius. 113
The following are a few of the stanzas,
with a loss of beauty in translating :
" O Eternal One, this morning, as dur-
ing my whole life, I wish to praise thee,
and to send up, even to thy throne, the
homage of a grateful heart.
" It is thou, O my God, who, during the
night just past, hast helped me by thy
grace, and preserved me from harm and
danger. I humbly pray thee to forgive
the sins which fill my days and merit thy
wrath.
" It is to God that I would leave the di-
rection of all my affairs ; for he alone can
accomplish all.
"It is he who blesses my actions, my
hopes, and gives me my success. It is into
his hands who gave, that I replace my
body, my soul, my life, and all that he has
given. Let him do according to his good
pleasure.
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? 114 GusTAvus Adolphus.
" And now I say amen, in the assiii^ance
that God will do all for the best. My
arm is still extended, and I am ready to
continue the work he has confided to me,
at the post, and in the career where he has
placed me. "
How touching the spectacle of a camp
where both commander and commanded
have such a reveille !
At Halle, Gnstavus divided his army.
He charged his ally, the Elector of Saxony,
to penetrate into Bohemia, impatient to
shake off the imperial yoke. He set to
himself the task of conquering all of west-
ern Germany, in order to deprive Austria
of the rich countries from whence she drew
her greatest resources, and to smother the
Catholic League in its several centers.
Even the Catholics, victims, like the
Protestants, of the cupidity and bad treat-
ment of the imperials, received Gustavus
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? GusTAVus Adolphus. 115
as a liberator. His marcli from Halle
even to the Khine was, indeed, triumphal.
In Thuringia he found a new ally, the
Duke of Saxe- Weimar, who soon became
one of his ablest generals. He took the
severest measures to prevent all abuse of
power among his officers, and of excess
among his soldiers. He v^ished to show
himself the more moderate and just, where
it might naturally not be expected -- in a
country whose faith he rejected, and which
had ever been hostile to his cause.
The irreproachable conduct of his army
inspired admiration and confidence. A
historian relates that a Swede, forgetting
the example of his comrades and the com-
mands of his general, was on his way to
camp with a cow that he had taken from
a peasant, when a strong hand was laid
upon his shoulder. He turned and saw
that it was none other than his good gen-
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? 116
GusTAvus Adolphus.
GUSTAVUR ARRESTIXG A PLUXBERER.
eral, who said to him, in a firm tone, but
with a look of fraternal pity, " My son, my
son, you must go to be judged. " The
penalty for such offenses was death.
At the approach of the Swedish troops
the Bishop of Wurtzburg, one of the most
ardent and active enemies of Protestantism
and a member of the Catholic League, fled,
and left his followers without defense and
without a chief, to the mercy of a powerful
and offended army. The capital of this
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 117
archbishopric, Wurtzburg, made no at-
tempt at resistance and submitted imme-
diately. The other cities of this State
followed its example. Gustavns Adol-
phus regarded as his own a country which
its ruler had abandoned. Inviting the
local authorities to swear allegiance to him,
he immediately organized a government,
composed of an equal number of Catholics
and Protestants. He rendered back to the
latter their possessions and opened their
places of worship, but left the Catholics
also in possession of the same freedom,
and, as an historian expresses it, " avenged
by not a single retaliation^ the long and
cruel oppression to which the Protestants
had been subjected. "
He practiced the same tolerance every-
where, and thus had the imperishable
honor of being the first prince who com-
prehended the grand principle of liberty
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? 118 GusTAvus Adolphus.
of worship, and, in the midst even of a
war, kindled by religious fanaticism, he
proclaimed in Europe the sacred rights of
conscience. And so, even from the testi-
mony of a Catholic, so much uprightness
and gentleness disarmed the most invet-
erate hatred, and Gustavus was, for the
greater part of the Catholics, if not a savior,
as he was for the Protestants, at least a
just and good master, who respected their
rights and preserved their liberties.
At the taking of a certain Catholic city
his officers urged him to use some severity
toward the inhabitants, who had been very
hostile to him and at times very cruel
to the Protestants. The king replied, "I
have come to break the chains of bondage
and not to forge new ones. Let them
live as they have lived. "
Surrounded by affectionate Protestant
populations, and accepted by even the
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 119
Catholic countries, Gustavus Adolphus was
in a sure way of success, and Germany
stood no longer in his way. The hinder-
ance to a perfect success came from else-
where. Richelieu, who had wished to
diminish the power and influence of Aus-
tria, trembled at seeing the increasing
grandeur of the King of Sweden. A pre-
ponderance of the Protestant party suc-
ceeded to that of the Austrians. Over the
ruins of the old empire there would rise,
perhaps, a new empire, whose head would
be the greatest general of the epoch. This
peril which threatened all Europe with a
revolution must be averted. Richelieu,
ally as he was, became almost an enemy of
Gustavus Adolphus. He declared himself
protector of the German Catholic princes,
and, as regarded them, declared himself
neutral; thus offering them the means of
arming themselves for Austria, while pre-
8
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? 120 GusTAvus Adolphus.
tending to take sides with no one. He
thus awakened, by his intrigues and infidel-
ity, the jealousy of the Protestant princes,
? iid caused them to have fears of finding a
master in one who proclaimed himself their
friend. The northern hero was again to
find himself alone, as at his arrival in Ger-
many. However, he pursued his march,
and in a very short time conquered Fran-
conia. Arrived before Frankfort-on-the-
Main, he found an unexpected resistance.
This opulent and populous city had ever
been attached to the imperials on account
of commercial privileges which accrued to
it through them. Its fairs had great celeb-
rity, and it feared to lose much if it should
open its gates to the Swedes. Summoned
to surrender, it sent a deputation to the
king to explain the embarrassment of its
position, and its wholly material reasons
for not being favorable to him.
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 121
Gustavus Adolphus was indignant. " I
am astonished," said he, "to learn that
Frankfort prizes more highly its wealth,
than it does the duties which religion and
patriotism impose upon it; it is, indeed,
little to its honor to talk of its sale-shops
and its fairs when the liberty of Germany
and the future of the Reformation are at
stake. Moreover, from the Isle of Rligen
to the banks of the Rhine, I have found
the keys of all the fortresses ; I can also find
those of Frankfort. It is for the well-being
of Germany, and for the independence of
the Protestant faith, that I do battle; no
obstacle can stop me, for I am conscious of
the justice and nobleness of my cause. I see
plainly that the inhabitants of Frankfort
think it sufficient to extend to me a finger,
but I must have the entire hand; on this
condition alone will I protect them.
"
These frank and energetic words opened
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? 122 GusTAvus Adolphus.
the gates ; and Gnstavus Adolphus entered
Frankfort with the pomp of an emperor
who, according to ancient usage, was about
to be crowned. " During his short sojourn
in that city," says Schiller, " he ceased not
to receive visits of princes and embassa-
dors who came to pay homage to his glory,
to appease his wrath, or to implore his as-
sistance. " These brilliant displays were
displeasing to the Queen, Maria Eleanor,
and to the chancellor, Oxenstiern, both of
whom had come to rejoin, the one, her be-
loved husband, the other, his prince and
friend. Under all these outside protesta-
tions of friendship, the former, guided by
her womanly tenderness and instinct, the
latter by his long experience and pru-
dence in business affairs, had discovered the
distrust and envy that Gustavus inspired
in all these sovereigns, and the discord
that reigned among themselves.
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? GusTAVUs Adolphus. 123
Nor did the king himself fail to read his
allies; and he was deeply afflicted with
what he discovered in them, if not indeed
cast down. It was a real sorrow to him
to see the noble cause which he was de-
fending, compromised every moment for
petty, trivial, and personal interests. One
day, before several assembled princes, he
said, with some bitterness, "I am inclined
to make peace, if we may have honorable
conditions, which will assure the well-be-
ing of the Protestant princes and their
oppressed subjects; for it was with this
end in view that I undertook this war for
which I have shed my blood. But, know
this, first of all, that I will never conclude
a peace like the preceding, (that of Lli-
beck,) which sacrificed the honor of the
Protestant princes, placed their unfor-
tunate subjects under an iron yoke, and
gravely compromised our religion. "
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? 124 GusTAvus Adolphus.
The Landgrave George of Hesse Darm-
stadt was among tlie number that hung
around the Mug at Frankfort. It was his
ambition to bring together the two parties.
He held secret relations with the emperor,
at the same time that he appeared to be
greatly attached to the King of Sweden.
Gustavus Adolphus one day said, in the
presence of this prince, "If the emperor
does not trouble me, I will not trouble
him; your lordship can tell him so, for I
know that you are a good subject of the
emperor.
The landgrave, somewhat in confusion,
stammered out some words of justification.
" When a man," said the king, " gives you
thirty thousand thalers a year, you may
well afford to be his friend. If I should
make such a gift, the man would, indeed,
have to merit it. "
But Gustavus had to do, not only with
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? GusTAVUs Adolphus. 125
traitors, but he saw himself exposed, as in
Pomerania, to the assassin's blade. One
evening an individual was found in his
chamber, armed. He was seized, and
proved to be a Catholic priest of Ant-
werp. About the same time, it was said
that a Jesuit, for two successive Sabbaths,
encouraged his hearers to pray for the suc-
cess of a project which God and one man
alone knew, and whose aim was to insure
repose to the Roman Church.
Under these circumstances, the friends
of the king besought him to be more upon
his guard than he had ever been, to insure
his personal safety. "A king," replied
Gustavus, " cannot live shut up in a box.
The wicked have not so much power as
ill-will, and confidence in God is the best
safeguard. Then I do not consider this
danger to be so formidable. Besides, if
the project of this man had succeeded, the
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? 126 GusTAYus Adolphus.
loss of me would not have caused you so
much misfortune as you believed, for God
knows perfectly well how long he wishes
to employ my frail arm. If I fall, he will
raise up another instrument more worthy
and more powerful than I. His work
does not depend upon the life of one man. "
His friends insisting still that he should
take some precautions, "Will you then,"
replied he, " that I should learn to distrust
Providence ? "
Urged by Eichelieu, Gustavus Adolphus
consented to make peace with Bavaria.
He promised not to march upon their ter-
ritory, provided they should restore to the
Protestants the property of which they
had deprived them, and allow them lib-
erty of worship.
Maximilian, in order to gain time, en-
tered into a conference with the King of
Sweden; but during the negotiations, he
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 127
prepared himself for war, aod concerted
with Ferdinand to attack the Swedes. A
letter which he wrote to Pappenheim was
intercepted, and Gusta\rus, indignant at
this false play, warned France of it and
declared that he would invade Bavaria.
On hearing of this determination, Pope
Urban YIII. said, "The King of Sweden
has chosen the wiser and surer part. He
would commit a great mistake if he should
turn elsewhere before having conquered
Maximilian. "
While awaiting a favorable moment
Gustavus Adolphus crossed the Rhine,
vainly opposed by the Spaniards, and, on
December 13, 1631, Mayence, after four
days of siege, opened to him its gates. He
stopped a short time in the city, leaving
the conquest of the surrounding country
to some of his generals.
His repose was of no long duration.
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? 128 GusTAVus Adolphus.
Kecalled into Franconia by the success of
Tilly, who had driven the Swedish troops
from the Bishopric of Bamberg, and was
marching upon Nuremberg, he hastened to
meet the Bavarian general, and forced him
to withdraw toward the Danube.
He thus reached Nuremberg, March 21,
where he was received with great enthusi-
asm. He entered with a simple escort of
Swedish dragoons, having left his army at
some distance from the city. The generals
and German princes whom he had rescued
accompanied him. The magistrates and
principal citizens went to meet him and to
offer him the keys, as a sign of obedience
and fidelitv. The streets were filled with
an applauding and enthusiastic crowd.
The thunder of cannon and the ringing of
bells mingled with the loud acclamations
of the people. This enthusiastic welcome
deeply moved the heart of the king. He
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 129
was in tbe center of Germany, in one of
the most powerful cities of the empire,
among a people of his own faith, and one
that had long been devoted to his cause.
The future smiled hopefully toward him,
and he, with all that happy population,
thanked God from the depths of his heart,
and responded very affectingly to all these
demonstrations of which he was the honored
object. All eyes overflowed with tears.
When the king came to the apartments
destined for him, he was presented with
the gifts which the city had prepared for
him. They consisted of considerable sums
of money and of two silver globes of
wonderful workmanship. Gustavus then
addressed to the mao:istrates and citizens
the following words, which were soon
spread abroad by thousands of printed
copies :
"I thank you, both you and your city,
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? 130 GusTAvus Adolphus.
for these rich gifts. I can wisli you noth-
ing better in return than perseverance in
the evangelical faith. Let nothing turn
you from it ; neither threats, nor promises,
nor any of the passions to which human
nature is subject. You have presented me
with the emblems of heaven and earth;
let not the riches of earth make you foi'-
getful of the still more precious treasures
of heaven. This favor I beseech God for
you. You have wicked and wily enemies,
whose aim is the annihilation of Protest-
antism. Their hope is to found a peace
upon the ruin of all Protestants, and they
seek their end by the destruction of
millions of souls. God has confided to
you the administration of an opulent and
powerful city. . . . I doubt not that you
so govern it as not to fear to give the
account which you will, one day, have to
render at the tribunal of God.
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? GusTAVus Adolphus. 131
"Your city, up to tMs time, has been
miraculously preserved from the dangers
and persecutions which surround and beset
it. I, too, have been the object of a not
less wonderful ^^rotection since setting my
feet on these shores. . . . In the misfor-
tunes of those professing the Protestant
faith around you, as well as in your own
sufferings, God has aimed to make us feel
how much we are sinners. For you, for
the defense of the Gospel, I left my peace-
ful home and came into your agitated
country. I have sacrificed the resources
of my poor subjects, their blood, my life,
and the love of my family. I will do for
you all that the grace of God will give me
power to do. On your side, be willing to
suffer for awhile, if need be, for our sacred
cause. Kemain faithful to it. Then God
will bless you ; he will cause your city to
flourish. His name will be every-where
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? 132 GusTAvus Adolphus.
revered, and after the glory and honor of
earth, will come that of heaven. "
After having dined, the king departed
from the city in the midst of a population
still more enthusiastic than at his entrance.
In order to perpetuate the memory of his
visit, they multiplied his features on cloth
and in bronze. Poesy chanted his virtues,
and the following are some stanzas writ-
ten on that occasion, bearing the biblical
stamp and coloring, found in almost all
Protestant authors of that epoch :
" With delight he enters here, this war-
rior adorned with so many virtues, whom
old and young have for so long a time de-
sired ; the good King of Sweden, our glori-
ous protector ; with delight he enters here
for the welfare of us all.
"With delight he enters here, this new
Gideon, whose brow is radiant; this sec-
ond Joshua, the dear and invincible hero,
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? GusTAvus Adolphus. 133
whose triumphs are known in all the
world.
" With delight he enters here, that one
who directs the battles of the Lord ; this
other David who has brought Goliath
low ; this valiant man whose heart is with-
out fraud, and who seeks only the glory
of God. Where is there an object more
worthy of admiration ! "
On leaving Nuremberg, Gustavus pre-
sented himself and his army before Dona-
werth, noted for the misfortunes which its
ardent zeal for the Reformation had drawn
upon it. A strong Bavarian garrison de-
fended it, but it could not resist the im-
petuosity of the Swedes. The evangelical
worship w^as soon re-established there.
The king now found himself on the
frontiers of Bavaria and was master of the
Danube. The little river Lech was the
only barrier separating him from the States
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?
