d
determined to dethrone this monarch, and to transfer the crown of Sweden
to Sigismond, his brother-in-law, King of Poland, who was almost as
zealous a Roman Catholic as was the emperor himself.

He drove the two Dukes of Mecklenburg from their territory, and gave the
rich and beautiful duchy, extending along the south-eastern shore of the
Baltic, to his renowned general, Wallenstein. This fierce, ambitious
warrior was made generalissimo of all the imperial troops by land, and
admiral of the Baltic sea. Ferdinand took possession of all the ports,
from the mouth of the Keil, to Kolberg, at the mouth of the Persante.
Wismar, on the magnificent bay bearing the same name, was made the great
naval depot; and, by building, buying, hiring and robbing, the emperor
soon collected quite a formidable fleet. The immense duchy of Pomerania
was just north-east of Mecklenburg, extending along the eastern shore of
the Baltic sea some hundred and eighty miles, and about sixty miles in
breadth. Though the duke had in no way displeased Ferdinand, the emperor
grasped the magnificent duchy, and held it by the power of his
resistless armies. Crossing a narrow arm of the sea, he took the rich
and populous islands of Rugen and Usedom, and laid siege to the city of
Stralsund, which almost commanded the Baltic sea.

The kings of Sweden and Denmark, appalled by the rapid strides of the
imperial general, united all their strength to resist him. They threw a
strong garrison into Stralsund, and sent the fleets of both kingdoms to
aid in repelling the attack, and succeeded in baffling all the attempts
of Wallenstein, and finally in driving him off, though he had boasted
that "he would reduce Stralsund, even if it were bound to heaven with
chains of adamant." Though frustrated in this attempt, the armies of
Ferdinand had swept along so resistlessly, that the King of Denmark was
ready to make almost any sacrifice for peace. A congress was accordingly
held at Lubec in May, 1629, when peace was made; Ferdinand retaining a
large portion of his conquests, and the King of Denmark engaging no
longer to interfere in the affairs of the empire.

Ferdinand was now triumphant over all his foes. The Protestants
throughout the empire were crushed, and all their allies vanquished. He
now deemed himself omnipotent, and with wild ambition contemplated the
utter extirpation of Protestantism, and the subjugation of nearly all of
Europe to his sway. He formed the most