登陆注册
5244000000064

第64章 Book II(32)

However surprised he should be, he added, "to see an imperial army on its march against his territories, when that army had enough to do in watching the operations of the King of Sweden, nevertheless he did not expect, instead of the promised and well merited rewards, to be repaid with ingratitude and the ruin of his country." To Tilly's deputies, who were entertained in a princely style, he gave a still plainer answer on the occasion. "Gentlemen," said he, "I perceive that the Saxon confectionery, which has been so long kept back, is at length to be set upon the table. But as it is usual to mix with it nuts and garnish of all kinds, take care of your teeth."Tilly instantly broke up his camp, and, with the most frightful devastation, advanced upon Halle; from this place he renewed his demands on the Elector, in a tone still more urgent and threatening. The previous policy of this prince, both from his own inclination, and the persuasions of his corrupt ministers had been to promote the interests of the Emperor, even at the expense of his own sacred obligations, and but very little tact had hitherto kept him inactive. All this but renders more astonishing the infatuation of the Emperor or his ministers in abandoning, at so critical a moment, the policy they had hitherto adopted, and by extreme measures, incensing a prince so easily led. Was this the very object which Tilly had in view? Was it his purpose to convert an equivocal friend into an open enemy, and thus to relieve himself from the necessity of that indulgence in the treatment of this prince, which the secret instructions of the Emperor had hitherto imposed upon him?

Or was it the Emperor's wish, by driving the Elector to open hostilities, to get quit of his obligations to him, and so cleverly to break off at once the difficulty of a reckoning? In either case, we must be equally surprised at the daring presumption of Tilly, who hesitated not, in presence of one formidable enemy, to provoke another; and at his negligence in permitting, without opposition, the union of the two.

The Saxon Elector, rendered desperate by the entrance of Tilly into his territories, threw himself, though not without a violent struggle, under the protection of Sweden.

Immediately after dismissing Tilly's first embassy, he had despatched his field-marshal Arnheim in all haste to the camp of Gustavus, to solicit the prompt assistance of that monarch whom he had so long neglected. The king concealed the inward satisfaction he felt at this long wished for result.

"I am sorry for the Elector," said he, with dissembled coldness, to the ambassador; "had he heeded my repeated remonstrances, his country would never have seen the face of an enemy, and Magdeburg would not have fallen. Now, when necessity leaves him no alternative, he has recourse to my assistance. But tell him, that I cannot, for the sake of the Elector of Saxony, ruin my own cause, and that of my confederates. What pledge have I for the sincerity of a prince whose minister is in the pay of Austria, and who will abandon me as soon as the Emperor flatters him, and withdraws his troops from his frontiers? Tilly, it is true, has received a strong reinforcement;but this shall not prevent me from meeting him with confidence, as soon as I have covered my rear."The Saxon minister could make no other reply to these reproaches, than that it was best to bury the past in oblivion.

He pressed the king to name the conditions, on which he would afford assistance to Saxony, and offered to guarantee their acceptance.

"I require," said Gustavus, "that the Elector shall cede to me the fortress of Wittenberg, deliver to me his eldest sons as hostages, furnish my troops with three months' pay, and deliver up to me the traitors among his ministry.""Not Wittenberg alone," said the Elector, when he received this answer, and hurried back his minister to the Swedish camp, "not Wittenberg alone, but Torgau, and all Saxony, shall be open to him; my whole family shall be his hostages, and if that is insufficient, I will place myself in his hands. Return and inform him I am ready to deliver to him any traitors he shall name, to furnish his army with the money he requires, and to venture my life and fortune in the good cause.

The king had only desired to test the sincerity of the Elector's new sentiments. Convinced of it, he now retracted these harsh demands.

"The distrust," said he, "which was shown to myself when advancing to the relief of Magdeburg, had naturally excited mine;the Elector's present confidence demands a return. I am satisfied, provided he grants my army one month's pay, and even for this advance I hope to indemnify him."Immediately upon the conclusion of the treaty, the king crossed the Elbe, and next day joined the Saxons. Instead of preventing this junction, Tilly had advanced against Leipzig, which he summoned to receive an imperial garrison. In hopes of speedy relief, Hans Von der Pforta, the commandant, made preparations for his defence, and laid the suburb towards Halle in ashes. But the ill condition of the fortifications made resistance vain, and on the second day the gates were opened.

Tilly had fixed his head quarters in the house of a grave-digger, the only one still standing in the suburb of Halle: here he signed the capitulation, and here, too, he arranged his attack on the King of Sweden.

Tilly grew pale at the representation of the death's head and cross bones, with which the proprietor had decorated his house; and, contrary to all expectation, Leipzig experienced moderate treatment.

Meanwhile, a council of war was held at Torgau, between the King of Sweden and the Elector of Saxony, at which the Elector of Brandenburg was also present. The resolution which should now be adopted, was to decide irrevocably the fate of Germany and the Protestant religion, the happiness of nations and the destiny of their princes.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 武氏春秋录

    武氏春秋录

    “不曾想,我武维义穿越却都穿得这么不巧。穿到春秋也就罢了,居然还穿到这个连确凿史书记载都没的国度!”“那现在到底应该是什么时间点?”十几年前:周王畿内乱,王子朝奔楚。数年前:牛逼哄哄的楚国,被一个小小的吴国给锤爆了。数年后:中原大乱斗正是开始,晋国内乱,齐晋争霸,齐吴大战,吴越争霸。再过几年:晋国又乱了......不过,这下是真的乱了......但是,这些都不是重点,重点是我该怎么办?旁观者?缔造者?不……我只是想回家……
  • 假婚不昏

    假婚不昏

    夏青威逼胁迫青梅竹马的于泽与自己成婚,只因为撞破他与“另一个男人”的好事。沾沾自喜的夏青并不知道自己已经一步步掉进了某人早设计好的圈套,只因为他对她有怨,结局到底谁才是最后的赢家?
  • 九零学霸俏神医

    九零学霸俏神医

    新书《神医祖宗回来了》已经开…………前夫和双胞胎的妹妹害死女儿,李少瑾把她们全杀了,大仇得报,可是吧唧吧唧嘴,还是很遗憾赶赴刑场,因为那个偏心的妈妈还活着。倏然睁开眼,李少瑾又回到高考前夕,这时候她还没有被劝婚,李莹雪还蹲在她身后准备捡漏,而她才是真的学霸。少瑾撸起袖子加油干,学自己的习,找学渣报仇!小狼狗的同桌:“李医生,请帮我打针。”李少瑾:“不会。”小狼狗同桌:“李医生,请帮我开西药。”李少瑾:“没有。”小狼狗同桌:“既不会打针,也不会开药,你当什么医生啊?”李少瑾怒吼:“我是中医,我是中医,我是中医。”ps:正版订阅vip群号:一,六,三,258,九四九。
  • 重生枭女归来

    重生枭女归来

    他抓住她精致的下巴,微微低下头,他眯着充满冷意的寒眸,全身散发出危险的气息,“小猫,我给你三年,三年后我等你,别让我失望。”她勾起唇角,美丽的脸上扬起一抹自信,狂傲不羁笑容,挥开他的手,“我的命运,从来都掌握在自己手中。”他看着她离去的背影,嘴角露出一抹势在必得的笑意,“你会是我的。”沐冉沐氏将来的继承人,她睿智、自信、美丽、大方.有着南辕北辙的双重性格。温文尔雅的未婚夫雷撃凡把她捧在手心中呵护备至,她享受着至亲疼爱,挚爱的浓情。没想到在她未婚夫生日的当天,她看似可爱单纯的双胞胎妹妹沐灵,却精心的策划了一场阴谋。。。再次醒来她重生在一个家境贫寒的单亲家庭,成为有着赌鬼妈妈和混混哥哥的普通高中生。在学校有着‘猪小妹’之称,愚笨、丑陋,老师想尽办法要把她踢出学校,同学们闲来无事欺负、嘲笑、愚弄的对象。但是不管身份如何的改变,灰尘是永远无法掩去钻石光芒的。当她本身的自信、冷然、狂傲、优雅的气质散发出来时,她成为了学校最为闪亮的那颗星。老师的称赞,同学们的崇拜,校草学长的青睐。。。雷撃凡由╭(╯3╰)╮错爱813领走,撃凡乖乖别哭!爱爱会对你很好的。女主季悠然由╭(╯3╰)╮qq宝贝最爱领,常常联系哦!
  • 武道成天

    武道成天

    经典仙侠,一样的经典,不一样的故事。他是个废柴,却要被生活压迫的起身反抗。
  • 决定你人生的不是智商,而是情商

    决定你人生的不是智商,而是情商

    著名心理学家霍华·嘉纳曾经说:“一个人最后在社会上占据什么位置,绝大部分取决于非智力因素。”的确,一个人一生真正成败更多得于情商的开发!本书从逆境、竞合、自控等不同的角度讲述普通人拥有高情商,才更容易取得成功。所以,我们要学会提升个人情商,使我们能够用有限的知识去运作无限的世界。
  • 水灵

    水灵

    江宇文提着旅行袋,肩扛着一大捆的书籍,来到渔村里的小木屋,他不知自己会不会厌倦这里的单纯与孤寂,但至少可暂时拋却城市里复杂的感情纠缠,和那炙心的折磨……。云霏华厦、风铃、心香数朵、水灵……多篇精彩绝伦、感人至深的故事,值得您一一品赏……
  • 中华五千年(上)

    中华五千年(上)

    本书按照时间先后划分为上下两册,基本反映了中华文明发展演变的脉络主线。语言浅显而生动,故事中不乏启迪,可加深小读者对历史发展的印象和理解。
  • 重生之荒唐王爷

    重生之荒唐王爷

    一瓶假酒吹到清庭,从此开始许荣跃的不归路。一个荒诞王爷,宗室之宴,不苟之行。他成了荒唐之人,诚然一笑了之。酒醒只在花前坐,酒醉还来花下眠。世人笑我太疯癫,我笑他人看不穿。
  • Ancient Poems

    Ancient Poems

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。