became divided into factions; the Imperialists, though defeated, were transported with joy, and prepared to push the war with vigour; while the Swedes, though victorious, were overwhelmed with sorrow for the loss of their heroic prince, whose daughter and successor, Christina, was only six years of age. A council of regency, however, being appointed, and the management of the war in Germany, committed to the chancellor Oxenstiern, a man of great political talents, the Protestant confederacy again wore a formidable aspect. The alliance between France and Sweden was renewed, and hostilities were pushed with vigour and success by the duke of Saxe-Weymar, and the generals Bannier and Horn.

A. D. 1633.

Notwithstanding these favourable appearances, the war became every day more burthensome and disagreeable, both to the Swedes and their German allies; and Oxenstiern, who had hitherto successfully employed his genius in finding resources for the support of the common cause, saw it in danger of sinking, when an unexpected event gave new hopes to the confederates. The emperor, became jealous of the vast powers he had granted to Walstein, whose insolence and ambition knew no bounds, resolved to deprive him of the command; and Walstein, in order to prevent his disgrace, is said to have concerted the means of a revolt. It is at least certain, that he attempted to secure himself by winning the attachment of his soldiers; and Ferdinand, afraid of the delay of a legal trial, or having no proof of his treason, and dreading his resentment, had recourse to the dishonourable expedient of assassination66.

A. D. 1634.

66. Barre, tom. ix. Annal. de l'Emp. tom. ii. Harte, vol. ii. If Wal. stein had formed any treasonous design, it seems to be after he had discovered his ruin to be otherwise inevitable. He was too great and haugh. ty for a subject; and the death of Gustavus had rendered him less necessary to the emperor,

but

But the fall of this great man, who had chiefly obstructed the progress of the Swedish arms, both before and since the death of Gustavus, was not followed by all those advantages which the confederates expected from it. The Imperialists, animated by the presence of the king of Hungary, the emperor's eldest son, who succeeded Walstein in the command of the army, made up in valour what their general wanted in experience. Twenty thousand Spanish and Italian troops arrived in Germany under the duke of Feria; the cardinal Infant, the new governor of the Low Countries, likewise brought a reinforcement to the Catholic cause the duke of Lorrain, a soldier of fortune, joined the king of Hungary with ten thousand men ; and the duke of Bavaria, whom the Swedes had deprived of the Palatinate, also found himself under the necessity of uniting his forces to those of the emperor.

Meanwhile the Swedish generals, Bannier, Horn, and the duke of Saxe-Weymar, maintained a superiority on the Oder, the Rhine, and the Donube; and the elector of Saxony, in Bohemia and Lusatia. Horn, and the duke of SaxeWeymar unitad their forces, in order to oppose the progress of the king of Hungary, who had already made himself master of Ratisbon. They came up with him near Nordlingen, where was fought one of the most obstinate and bloody battles recorded in history; and where the Swedes were totally routed, in spite of their most vigorous efforts67. In vain did the duke of Saxe-Weymar remind them of Leipsic and Lutzen: though a consummate general, he wanted that all-inspiring spirit of Gustavus, which communicated his own heroism to his troops, and made them irresistible, unless when opposed to insuperable bulwarks.

This defeat threw the members of the Evangelical Union into the utmost consternation and despair. They accused the Swedes, whom they had lately extolled as their deliver

67. Loccen. lib. ix. Puffend. lib, vi.

ers,

ers, of all the calamities which they felt or dreaded; and the emperor taking advantage of these discontents and his own success, did not fail to divide the confederates yet more by negociation. The elector of Saxony first deserted the alliance; and a treaty with the court of Vienna, to the following purport was at length signed at Prague, by all the Protestant princes, except the landgrave of Hesse Cassel. "The Protestants shall retain for ever the "mediate ecclesiastical benefices, which did not depend im"mediately upon the emperor, and were seized before the

A. D. 1635.

pacification of Passau; and they shall retain, for the space "of forty years, the immediate ecclesiastical benefices, "though seized since the treaty of Passau, if actually enjoy"ed before the 12th day of November, in the year 1627; "the exercise of the Protestant religion shall be freely per"mitted in all the dominions of the empire, except the king"dom of Bohemia, and the provinces belonging to the house "of Austria: the duke of Bavaria shall be maintained in possession of the Palatinate, on condition of paying the jointure of Frederic's widow, and granting a proper sub"sistence to his son, when he shall return to his duty; and "there shall be, between the emperor and the confederates "of the Augsburg Confession, who shall sign this treaty, "a mutual restitution of every thing taken since the irrup"tion of Gustavus into the empire68."

In consequence of this pacification, almost the whole weight of the war devolved upon the Swedes and the French, between whom a fresh treaty had been concluded by Richelieu and Oxenstiern; and a French army marched into Germany, in order to support the duke of Saxe-Weymar. But the success of these new hostilities, which France, Sweden, and the United Provinces maintained against both branches of the house of Austria, must furnish the subject of another letter.

68. Londorp. Act. Pub. tom. iv. Du Mont, Corp. Diplom. tom v.

LET

LETTER LXXV.

THE GENERAL VIEW OF THE EUROPEAN CONTINENT CONTINUED, FROM THE TREATY OF PRAGUE, IN 1635, TO THE PEACE OF WESTPHALIA, IN 1648.

WHILE Germany was a scene of war and desolation, cardinal Richelieu ruled France with a rod of iron. Though universally hated, he continued to hold the reins of government. Several conspiracies were formed against him, at the instigation of the duke of Orleans and the queenmother; but they were all defeated by his vigilance and vigour, and terminated in the ruin of their contrivers. The widow of Henry IV. was banished the kingdom; her son, Gaston, was obliged to beg his life; the mareschals Marillac and Montmorency were brought to the block; and the gibbets were every day loaded with inferior criminals, condemned by the most arbitrary sentences, and in a court, erected for the trial of the cardinal's enemies. In order to render himself more necessay to the throne, as well as to complete his political scheme, he now resolved to engage France in open hostilities with the whole house of Austria; and had this step been taken while the power of the Swedes was unbroken, and the Protestant princes united, it could not have failed of extraordinary success. But Richelieu's jealousy of Gustavus prevented him, during the life of that monarch, from joining the arms of France to those of Sweden; and Oxenstiern, before the unfortunate battle of Nordlingen, was unwilling to give the French any footing in Germany. That overthrow altered his way of thinking: he offered to put Lewis XIII. immediately in possession of Philips

burg

burg and Alsace, on condition that France should take an active part in the war against the emperor. Richelieu readily embraced a proposal that corresponded so entirely with his views. He also concluded an alliance with the United Provinces, in hopes of sharing the Low Countries; and he sent a herald to Brussels, in the name of his master, to denounce war against Spain'. A treaty was at the same time entered into with the duke of Savoy, in order to strengthen the French interest in Italy.

If France had not taken a decided part in the war, the treaty of Prague, would have completed the destruction of the Swedish forces in Germany. But Lewis XIII. or rather cardinal Richelieu, now began to levy troops with great diligence, and five considerable armies were soon in the field. The first and largest of these were sent into the Low Countries, under the mareschals de Chatillon and Brezé; the second, commanded by the duke de la Force, marched into Lorrain: the third took the route of the duchy of Milan, under the mareschal de Crequi; the duke of Rohan led the fourth into the Valteline; and the fifth acted upon the Rhine, under Bernard duke of Saxe-Weymar. In order to oppose the opperations of the French on the side of Lorrain, the emperor sent thither general Galas, an experienced officer, at the head of a powerful army, to join the duke of that territory, who intended to besiege Colmar, and had already made himself master of almost all the towns in its neighbourhood. The design against Colmar, however, was defeated by the severity of the season; and la Force obliged the duke of Lorrain to abandon Burgundy, which he had entered in the spring, with a view of reducing Monbelliard. This check, and the fatigues of his march, dimi

1. Auberi, Hist. du Card. Rich. Le Vassor, Hist. Louis XIII. This is said to be the last declaration of war made by a herald at arms. Since that time each party has thought it sufficient to publish a declaration at home, without sending into an enemy's country a cartel of defiance.

VOL. III.

Χ

nished