s of the papal church, to
invade, with an army of sixteen thousand men, Rhodolph's own kingdom of
Bohemia, under the plea that the wages of the soldiers had not been
paid. It was his object, by thus introducing an army of Roman Catholics
into his kingdom, and betraying into their hands several strong
fortresses, then to place himself at their head, rally the Catholics of
Bohemia around him, annul all the edicts of toleration, crush the
Protestants, and then to march to the punishment of Matthias.

The troops, in accordance with their treacherous plan, burst into Upper
Austria, where the emperor had provided that there should be no force to
oppose them. They spread themselves over the country, robbing the
Protestants and destroying their property with the most wanton cruelty.
Crossing the Danube they continued their march and entered Bohemia.
Still Rhodolph kept quiet in his palace, sending no force to oppose, but
on the contrary contriving that towns and fortresses, left defenseless,
should fall easily into their hands. Bohemia was in a terrible state of
agitation. Wherever the invading army appeared, it wreaked dire
vengeance upon the Protestants. The leaders of the Protestants hurriedly
ran together, and, suspicious of treachery, sent an earnest appeal to
the king.

The infamous emperor, not yet ready to lay aside the vail, called Heaven
to witness that the irruption was made without his knowledge, and
advised vigorous measures to repel the foe, while he carefully thwarted
the execution of any such measures. At the same time he issued a
proclamation to Leopold, commanding him to retire. Leopold understood
all this beforehand, and smiling, pressed on. Aided by the treason of
the king, they reached Prague, seized one of the gates, massacred the
guard, and took possession of the capital. The emperor now came forward
and disclosed his plans. The foreign troops, holding Prague and many
other of the most important towns and fortresses in the kingdom, took
the oath of allegiance to Rhodolph as their sovereign, and he placed in
their hands five pieces of heavy artillery, which were planted in
battery on an eminence which commanded the town. A part of Bohemia
rallied around the king in support of these atrocious measures.

But all the Protestants, and all who had any sympathy with the
Protestants, were exasperated to the highest pitch. They immediately
dispatched messengers to Matthias and to their friends in Moravia,
implo