unds were heard on earth and in the heavens. In
Ummerstadt for example, in the dukedom of Hildburghausen, white crosses
illuminated the heavens when the enemy entered; when they forced their
way into the court of chancery, a spirit clothed in white met them and
motioned them back, and no one could advance; after their departure, a
violent breathing and sighing was heard for eight days in the choir of
the church which had been burnt. At Gumpershausen a maid-servant made a
great sensation through the whole country; she rejoiced in the visits
of a little angel, who appeared, sometimes in a blue, sometimes in a
red shirt sitting on the bed or by the table, cried out "Woe," warned
against cursing and blasphemy, and predicted horrible bloodshed if men
would not give up their vices, their pride, and their stiff blue
ruffs,--then a new fashion. When we look at the zealous protocols which
were drawn up by the ecclesiastics concerning the half-witted maiden,
we find that the only circumstance which was matter of surprise to
them, was that the angel did not visit themselves instead of a simple
maiden.

Not only terror, but a spirit of defiance and wild despair possessed
all souls. A moral recklessness prevailed fearfully among the country
people. Wives abandoned their husbands, children their parents; the
customs, vices, and maladies of the passing armies left lasting traces,
even when the pillagers had quitted the desolated and half-ruined
villages. The brandy drinking, which had been introduced among the
people since the Peasant war, became a general vice; respect for the
property of others disappeared. In the beginning of the war the
neighbouring villages were disposed to help one another; if the
soldiers had driven away the cattle from one village, and disposed of
them again at their next night-quarters, the buyers often returned
their new purchase to the former proprietors at the purchase price.
This was done in Franconia, by both Catholic and Protestant
communities, out of pure kindness. Gradually, however, the country
people began to rob and plunder like the soldiers; armed bands combined
together, passed the frontiers into other villages, and carried off
whatever they needed. They waylaid the stragglers of the regiments in
dense woods or mountain passes, and often after a severe struggle took
a bloody revenge on the vanquished; indeed, they far surpassed the
skill of the soldiers in the contrivance of barbarities; and ther