testants by his fiend-like severity, that but few ventured to respond
to his appeal. The rulers, however, of many of the Protestant States met
at Leipsic, and without venturing to espouse the cause of Gustavus, and
without even alluding to his invasion, they addressed a letter to the
emperor demanding a redress of grievances, and informing him that they
had decided to establish a permanent council for the direction of their
own affairs, and to raise an army of forty thousand men for their own
protection.

Most of these events had occurred while the emperor, with Wallenstein,
was at Ratisbon, intriguing to secure the succession of the imperial
crown for his son. They both looked upon the march of the King of Sweden
into the heart of Germany as the fool-hardy act of a mad adventurer. The
courtiers ridiculed his transient conquests, saying, "Gustavus Adolphus
is a king of snow. Like a snowball he will melt in a southern clime."
Wallenstein was particularly contemptuous. "I will whip him back to his
country," said he, "like a truant school-boy, with rods." Ferdinand was
for a time deceived by these representations, and was by no means aware
of the real peril which threatened him. The diet which the emperor had
assembled made a proclamation of war against Gustavus, but adopted no
measures of energy adequate to the occasion. The emperor sent a silly
message to Gustavus that if he did not retire immediately from Germany
he would attack him with his whole force. To this folly Gustavus
returned a contemptuous reply.

A few of the minor Protestant princes now ventured to take arms and join
the standard of Gustavus. The important city of Magdeburg, in Saxony, on
the Elbe, espoused his cause. This city, with its bastions and outworks
completely commanding the Elbe, formed one of the strongest fortresses
of Europe. It contained, exclusive of its strong garrison, thirty
thousand inhabitants. It was now evident to Ferdinand that vigorous
action was called for. He could not, consistently with his dignity,
recall Wallenstein in the same breath with which he had dismissed him.
He accordingly concentrated his troops and placed them under the command
of Count Tilly. The imperial troops were dispatched to Magdeburg. They
surrounded the doomed city, assailed it furiously, and proclaimed their
intention of making it a signal mark of imperial vengeance.
Notwithstanding the utmost efforts of Gustavus to hasten to their
relief, he was foiled in