The Lion of the North | Page 5

thought more of musty dogmatic treatises
than of the glory and credit of the country he ruled over, or the
sufferings of his co-religionists in Germany, has left no career open to a
lad of spirit."
"Well, I will think it over by the morning," Graheme said. "And now
tell me a little more about the merits of this quarrel in Germany. If I am
going to fight, I should like at least to know exactly what I am fighting
about."
"My dear fellow," Hume laughed, "you will never make a soldier if you
always want to know the ins and outs of every quarrel you have to fight
about; but for once the tenderest conscience may be satisfied as to the
justice of the contention. But Munro is much better versed in the
history of the affair than I am; for, to tell you the truth, beyond the fact
that it is a general row between the Protestants and Catholics, I have
not troubled myself much in the matter."
"You must know," Colonel Munro began, "that some twenty years ago
the Protestant princes of Germany formed a league for mutual
protection and support, which they called the Protestant Union; and a
year later the Catholics, on their side, constituted what they called the
Holy League. At that time the condition of the Protestants was not
unbearable. In Bohemia, where they constituted two-thirds of the
population, Rudolph II, and after him Mathias, gave conditions of
religious freedom.
"Gradually, however, the Catholic party about the emperor gained the
upper hand; then various acts in breach of the conditions granted to the
Protestants were committed, and public spirit on both sides became
much embittered. On the 23d of May, 1618, the Estates of Bohemia

met at Prague, and the Protestant nobles, headed by Count Thurn, came
there armed, and demanded from the Imperial councillors an account of
the high handed proceedings. A violent quarrel ensued, and finally the
Protestant deputies seized the councillors Martinitz and Slavata, and
their secretary, and hurled them from the window into the dry ditch,
fifty feet below. Fortunately for the councillors the ditch contained a
quantity of light rubbish, and they and their secretary escaped without
serious damage. The incident, however, was the commencement of war.
Bohemia was almost independent of Austria, administering its own
internal affairs. The Estates invested Count Thurn with the command of
the army. The Protestant Union supported Bohemia in its action.
Mathias, who was himself a tolerant and well meaning man, tried to
allay the storm; but, failing to do so, marched an army into Bohemia.
"Had Mathias lived matters would probably have arranged themselves,
but he died the following spring, and was succeeded by Ferdinand II.
Ferdinand is one of the most bigoted Catholics living, and is at the
same time a bold and resolute man; and he had taken a solemn vow at
the shrine of Loretto that, if ever he came to the throne, he would
re-establish Catholicism throughout his dominions. Both parties
prepared for the strife; the Bohemians renounced their allegiance to
him and nominated the Elector Palatine Frederick V, the husband of
our Scotch princess, their king.
"The first blow was struck at Zablati. There a Union army, led by
Mansfeldt, was defeated by the Imperial general Bucquoi. A few days
later, however, Count Thurn, marching through Moravia and Upper
Austria, laid siege to Vienna. Ferdinand's own subjects were estranged
from him, and the cry of the Protestant army, `Equal rights for all
Christian churches,' was approved by the whole population -- for even
in Austria itself there were a very large number of Protestants.
Ferdinand had but a few soldiers, the population of the city were hostile,
and had Thurn only entered the town he could have seized the emperor
without any resistance.
"Thurn hesitated, and endeavoured instead to obtain the conditions of
toleration which the Protestants required; and sixteen Austrian barons
in the city were in the act of insisting upon Ferdinand signing these
when the head of the relieving army entered the city. Thurn retired
hastily. The Catholic princes and representatives met at Frankfort and

elected Ferdinand Emperor of Germany. He at once entered into a strict
agreement with Maximilian of Bavaria to crush Protestantism
throughout Germany. The Bohemians, however, in concert with
Bethlem Gabor, king of Hungary, again besieged Vienna; but as the
winter set in they were obliged to retire. From that moment the
Protestant cause was lost; Saxony and Hesse-Darmstadt left the Union
and joined Ferdinand. Denmark, which had promised its assistance to
the Protestants, was persuaded to remain quiet. Sweden was engaged in
a war with the Poles.
"The Protestant army was assembled at Ulm; the army of the League,
under the order of Maximilian of Bavaria, was at Donauworth.
Maximilian worked