cit definition of the term Church;' a clear intelligible description of the very persons who constitute the Church, and of the manner in which its members obtain admission. We require proof equally plain and definite, that to these very persons constituting the Church, if such persons can be described, a Divine promise has been given of exemption from errors in judgement and mistakes in practice. And we require the most positive proofs that such a promise has been fulfilled. We should then Till this have the whole subject before us in a tangible form. whole ease be conspicuously displayed, and every article of it be made intelligible in its definition and proof, we must treat the whole substance of Mr. Fairclough's pamphlet as an attempt to impose perfectly unmeaning terms upon the understandings of mankind, and to enslave their souls by the assertions of an alleged authority, which is a gross usurpation. The word Church, which is so much paraded in this pamphlet, is, as used by the Author and his associates, perfectly unmeaning. It is made to answer a notable purpose in their hands; but it denotes nothing real, nothing that has existence in any part of the world, or among any people.

Whatever may constitute the rule of faith, whatever may be Scripture, whatever may be tradition, wheresoever these may exist, we claim to be the judges of their pretensions and merits; the Church' has no authority to determine the one or the other. In using the writings of antiquity in connexion with our theological inquiries, we attach not the shadow of infallibility to any of them, but consider simply their character as witnesses. These are considerations which have their foundation in truth, and they are amply sufficient to set aside all Mr. Fairclough's pretensions, as they contain arguments which, in their application to the topics of the sufficiency of Scripture, and the nature and use of tradition, demonstrate the inanity of his propositions, and sweep away the entire mass of his conclusions.

Art. V. The Civil and Military History of Germany, from the Landing of Gustavus to the Conclusion of the Treaty of Westphalia. By the late Francis Hare Naylor, Esq. In Two Vols. 30s. Murray, London, 1816.

THE

(Concluded from Vol. VII. Page 545.)

HE Polish campaigns in which Gustavus Adolphus and the Swedes had been engaged previously to the more regular and momentous war in Germany, had been without doubt, of essential use in training up a school of accomplished officers, and suggesting a variety of important improvements in the distribution and discipline of the Swedish army. The Poles were principally horsemen, and their system of warfare was adapted to the irregularity of their troops. They had frequently exhausted both the patience and the vigour of the Swedes, by continual and desultory skirmishing; and sometimes

had borne them down by the weight and rapidity of a simul taneous attack. In opposition to this, Gustavus had been compelled to adopt a plan of movement and array, which, without departing too much from the strength and density of the old system, should enable him to encounter the lightly accoutred horsemen and the flying armies of the Poles, with manœuvres equally rapid, but with far more scientific combinations. He broke down the unwieldy masses of the old formation, took away part of the cumbrous haruess of the individual soldier, and rendered the machinery of the whole more simple and manageable. He employed science instead of mechanism. He relied upon skill rather than on routine, and proved the superiority of elasticity and impetus over mere weight. In the conduct of his campaign, the superiority of his system was always conspicuous, and he was mainly indebted to it for his success in his various engagements. In the battle of Leipsic, he conquered Tilly by the force of his genius, as completely as the Swedes routed the Germans by their discipline and valour; but his disadvantages were so great, by the dispersion of the Saxon auxiliaries, that nothing could have saved him from ruin, but the rapid movements of his divisions, and the precision of their manœuvres. The passage of the Lech was another decisive test of the excellence of the system which he had invented, and could not probably have been effected upon any other plan. The action of Lutzen seems to have been less scientifically fought, than any of the preceding engagements It was more of a mélée, and was at last turned against Wallenstein, less by the skill and valour of Bernard of Saxe Weimar, than by the perfect frenzy of the Swedish soldiers at the loss of their idolized monarch.

Mr. Naylor seems to have been extremely reluctant to credit the charge which has frequently been urged against Gustavus, that he sought, under the brilliant semblance of vindicating the liberties of Germany, to fix the imperial crown upon his own bead, as the chief of the Protestant league. We know not why the partisans of this great man should be peculiarly tenacious respecting this point. Even if it were undeniably established, it would detract but little from the character of the Swedish hero. If ever there was a legitimate object of ambition, surely this was one; and if as a result of the war, this event could have taken place, it might, at least in our opinion, have prevented the occurrence of many a conflict which has since disturbed the peace of Europe. But whether it affects the character of Gustavus favourably or injuriously, there are so many circumstances which combine to fix upon him the policy or the guilt of such a design, that we find it impossible to evade the force of their accumulated evidence. Schiller, always cloquent, is unusually energetic when he reaches this

point, and we are unable to comprehend on what grounds Mr. Naylor could resist his conclusions.

The intelligence of the death of Gustavus, was received at Vienna and Madrid with a perfect intoxication of delight; and shamelessly celebrated, says Bougeant, by rejouissances presque publiques. Austrian intrigue went instantly and actively to work. The chiefs of the Protestant States, were assailed by promises of the most seducing kind, and an attempt was made to corrupt even Oxenstiern, by the offer of a magnificent bribe. It is unnecessary to say more than that it was immediately rejected with the utmost scorn by the high-minded Swede, whose whole powers of intellect and determination were devoted to the accomplishment of the great work which his friend and master had so prosperously commenced. Notwithstanding the cabals and small policy of the German States, and the embarrassing pretensions and encroachments of Richelieu, Oxenstiern went steadily forward. He convened a congress at Heilbron; and in order to prevent the endless wranglings respecting precedency, with which the Germans were wont to preface the most serious business, he adopted the effectual remedy of not suffering chair, stool, or bench, to be brought into the apartment. From such an assembly as this, little good was to be expected. The poor and venal princes of Germany swarmed round Feuquieres, the French ambassador, as their descendants have since assailed the envoys of England, clamouring for subsidies, and which the more dexterous Gallic diplomatist satisfied. himself with paying either in promises or in evasions. One object, however, was gained; the convention decreed the continuation of the war, a sure proof of the poverty of Austria; for had the Emperor been able to bribe sufficiently high, the Swedes would most assuredly have been left without an effective ally. A mutiny of the Swedish army was quelled by the popularity of Duke Bernard, of Saxe Weimar; and under his command and that of the Swedish generals Banier and Horn, the campaign proceeded with activity and success.

But the most important and influential series of events in the history of these times, is to be traced throughout the conduct of Wallenstein, in such a complication of subtlety and imbecility, hesitation and enterprise, incautious frankness and disgusting treachery, as can scarcely be paralleled. The infirmities of this extraordinary man, seem to have completely neutralized his talents. He was addicted to astrology to an excess that perfectly blinded his understanding. His astrologer Seni was his infallible counsellor, and his deep designs were undertaken or abandoned, prosecuted or interrupted, at the mandate of a miserable star-gazer. Fully aware that Wallenstein was engaged in traitorous correspondence with the

Swedes and Saxons, the Court of Vienna engaged him with his own weapons, and fully proved its superiority in treachery and intrigue, though his schemes were so cautiously planned, as to require the violation of a confessor's oath of secrecy, before they could be detected. Instead of those open and legitimate measures of proscription, which a generous and enlightened policy would have suggested, the Austrian cabinet determined on assassination, and employed, for that detestable purpose, the arm of foreigners, and who, with great regret we are compelled to say, were our own countrymen, one Scotch, and two Irish officers in the army, and in the high favour of Wallenstein. On the 15th of February, 1647, they effected their object, by a massacre, after a fierce struggle, of Wallenstein's principal officers and confidents, and immediately proceeded to complete their work by destroying the chief conspirator.

،

Upon knocking rudely at the gate, Devoreux was admonished, by a page in waiting, to beware of disturbing the duke, who had just retired to his bed-chamber. "Friend," said Devoreux fiercely, "this is no time for repose," and he rushed into the house with his followers. The door of Wallenstein's apartment being locked, the leader of the banditti asked for the key, which not being brought, he attempted to burst it open. The duke, upon hearing the report of a musket, fired accidentally by one of the soldiers, rau to the window to call the guard, when his ears were assailed with shrieks and lamentations. They were the cries of conjugal affection, uttered by the wives of the slaughtered generals, imploring vengeance upon their base assassins. The height of the window rendering it impossible to escape, he called aloud for assistance: the massive door, which had hitherto resisted the efforts of its numerous assailants, at length gave way, and a host of ruffians, armed with swords and halberts, burst impetuously into the chamber. The duke was alone, and standing near a table in his night-gown. It is a singular circumstance, that there was neither sword nor pistol in the room; and, what is still more extraordinary, the door was not defended by a single centinel, though he was usually guarded by an hundred soldiers. "This," says Harte," looks as if he was not conscious of any design against his life." But does it not rather afford a strong presumption, that his attendants were implicated in the plot, and had purposely left him destitute of defence? It is clear, however, that he did not entertain the smallest mistrust, or he would otherwise have been surrounded by Tersky's horse, who were blindly devoted to his service.

Art thou the traitor," asked Devoreux sternly, "who art preparing to join the enemies of thy country, and to dethrone our beloved sovereign?" The pride of Wallenstein disdained a reply. Upon being told that a few short moments would be granted him for prayer, he uncovered his bosom, stretched forth his arms in dignified silence, and receiving the partisan of Devoreux in his heart, expired without uttering a single groan, or even betraying the slightest emotion.' Vol. II. pp. 105-106.

The command of the Austrian army was conferred upon a prince of the Imperial family, aided by Gallas and Piccolomini; and after various vicissitudes and manoeuvres, it encountered the far inferior army of the Swedes at Nordlingen. Had the Swedes been commanded by Gustavus Horn, or had his counsels been regarded by Duke Bernard, the result might have been reversed or mitigated; but the consequences were most disastrous to the Swedes, whose army was defeated a plate couture, the veteran infantry of Sweden almost annihilated, and one of her most accomplished generals, Horn, taken prisoner. Oxenstiern remained firm, undismayed by the ruin which seemed accumulating around him. He collected the troops, procured money from France, and made head against the Austrians in every quarter. Even when deserted by Saxony, and by nearly the whole of the Protestant league, he still bore up and steered right onward,' till he had consummated his work. The Saxons were defeated by Banier, who maintained the disproportioned conflict with unrivalled skill. A second time this great general defeated the Saxo-Austrian army, at Wistock, with immense loss to his antagonists, and trifling injury to his own troops. On the 15th of February, 1636, Ferdinand the Second died, in his fifty-ninth year, and his sceptre and his name, with some portion of his character, descended to his son. Of the deceased monarch Mr. Naylor remarks, that

The erroneous system pursued in his education, imprinted on his mind a propensity towards bigotry, which decided his character through life, and led him to confound the duties of a monk with those of a sovereign. Thus his piety assumed the gloomy hue of superstition, and induced him to persecute with inquisitorial severity all who questioned the infallibility of the Roman pontiff, or preferred the evangelical simplicity of the primitive church, to the idolatrous pomp of the Vatican. A slave to the vindictive passions of the Jesuits, and adopting their interests as those of the Almighty, he believed himself acting conformably to the divine command, while he kindled a war the most disastrous of any that ever desolated Europe, and rendered himself the scourge of mankind.”

Vol. II. P.

263.

His death produced little change either in the general aspect or the particular conduct of affairs. Ferdinand the Third pursued his father's measures, but his character was of a less tenacious cast; he was more 'infirm of purpose,' and his determinations were more influenced by external circumstances. The war continued, the exploits of Banier and of Saxe Weimar, emulated the adventurous achievements of the heroes of romance; but on the 18th of June, 1639, the latter, in the full career of victory, fell a premature victim either to poison or a