astrous results. Never did persons in such a position write in a manner more entirely calculated to defeat their professed object. They have played in Germany the part played by Mr. Whalley in the English Parliament, and the Newdegates of their party, if there are any, may well enough complain of them as tools of the Jesuits. We have stated in this paper the reasons which, as we think, must deprive them even of a chance of being listened to by any right-minded Catholic. At the same time, we see in the book itself, apart from the professed object of its authors, a fresh and most virulent attack on Rome, and, to put it simply, Catholicism. As such it will have its answer in the ordinary course of controversy, and we must repeat our impression that there is very little in it that has not been answered already, and that that little is of no importance at all. As such, also, it is another proof of the force with which Catholic evidences are pressing on the mind of Europe-a force which makes it necessary for the enemies of the Church to give themselves not a moment's respite in their delightful and congenial work of calumniating and reviling her.

γ.

With the Red Leaves.

THE year was dying flushed with hectic hues,
And all the western sky was flame of gold,
With purple interchange, beside fresh lakes
Of purest turquoise fading into green.
The crested headlands, clad with russet oaks,
Red beech, and golden-dropping elm and birch,
Lay bathed in filmy light as we two sped
To scent the dying fragrance of the woods.
We two the Child and Mistress of the house,
Whom I have watched a puling babe, pale elf,
And boyish playfellow; but thence shot up
To all the gracefulness of girlhood's spring-
Now Child, and Friend, and Comrade all in one!
Our way was through a holly-bordered lane,
All hung with scarlet fruitage, spindle-pods
And "Travellers' Joy," below a mat of fern;

Thence upward to the fir wood, thickly strewed
With cones, a noiseless track, whence spiring up
The furrowed, bronze-limbed pines spread dark above,
And swept their harps with mingled ruth and joy.
No word we spoke; we felt, that Child and I,
A kindred need of silence: what availed
Our foolish talk when all around was speech?
Speech of those royal Psalms which sing of God
Among the "goodly cedar trees" and firs,
On mountains hoary and in rushing wind,
When all creation, with its bated breath

Stands mute to hear His word: "Be still, and know
That I am God." So paced we through the wood.
But when we reached its bound and gained the hill-
The limit of our strength-the silence broke
Into a cry of glad surprise; for far

Below our feet the tinted world lay broad,

And richly fertile; folded gradual back

Towards the purple hills and velvet downs,

Towards the wooded weald and wide sea-marge;
Studded with spire and hamlet, park and grange,

With herdmen's cots and homesteads, stacks and barns,
And all the appanage of rural toil.

Beside each hearth were gathered hearts that loved,
That plained and suffered; weaving dark or bright
Their web of light, their warp of silk or wool;
Drinking their cup of failure or of joy;
Waging their fight of victory or dark death.
Below us lay-all steeped in golden sheen—
Bestreaked with rose and purple, mysteries
Beyond all power of speech or written word,
Or poet's heart to feel, or time to solve.
Confessing this, we reverently gazed
On all that silent epic, saying once

And once again, "Be still, for I am God!"

Count bon Tilly.

PART THE SECOND.

We pass now to the events which preceded and attended the fall of Magdeburg. To understand these it is necessary to bear in mind the chief actors of the drama. In May, 1630, Gustavus. Adolphus landed in Germany. He relied for supplies of money upon Cardinal Richelieu. This connection at once cut him off from any public attempt at raising a religious war-cry. His own private views show more of the spirit of the conqueror than of the religious enthusiast. "If I am victorious they are my prey," was his saying to those who had his confidence. His relation Bogislav, Duke of Pomerania, could only be brought to espouse his cause by having his capital Stettin treacherously taken and his duchy laid under contribution. Brandenburg was equally indisposed to join the Swede. John George of Saxony was desirous of a peaceful settlement of differences with the Emperor. In fine Adolphus was in danger of perishing from want of German support, or of falling before the victorious troops of Tilly. From the last part of this dilemma he escaped by avoiding battle, from the first part by the unprincipled craft of which he was so consummate The remainder of this article will justify this second

a master. charge.

The German Princes themselves were disunited; they distrusted the Emperor and the League, but they disliked the interference of a stranger more. The latter they would not join against their feudal chief, whom however they were unwilling to help in expelling the Swede from the country. In fine, they desired to remain neutral. This did not suit the plans of Adolphus. "He that is not with me is against me," was his motto. His alliance with Richelieu was an obstacle to a declaration to Europe, that he entered Germany as the saviour of the Evangelicals; but it was no obstacle to the secret intrigues of his agents, who went about the country scattering broad-cast appeals to the "only salutary principles of Lutheranism" against the enslaving Antichrist of Rome. He strove to identify Catholicism and the League, so that the acts of the latter might be popularly held as the outcome of the maxims of the former. The

political acts of Ferdinand and the League were to be considered as the injunctions of their religion. And this, be it remembered, was becoming a matter of life and death for the Swedish conqueror. He had been on German soil for some months before he had brought over to his holy cause any place not within the range of his cannon. On the 11th of February, 1631, Neubrandenburg fell through the cowardice of its commandant into the King's hands. On March 14th Tilly was before it. Here was an opportunity for raising the people of Germany on the side of the stranger. The shrewdness of the Swede did not fail to mark it. He had put two regiments into the town, with Kniphausen at their head, to hold it. It was Tilly's custom before an attack to send a trumpeter to summon the place attacked. This he did in the present case. Though the place was unfortified Kniphausen refused to surrender. Tilly then opened fire, and in a short time effected an entrance. By the rules of war in force at the time, and repeatedly acted upon by Adolphus, troops which persisted in holding an untenable position in face of an enemy were put to the sword. Shortly before this Adolphus had hurled down from the battlements a body of men who had defended a town in Mecklenburg against him. The case was the stronger against Kniphausen in the mind of Tilly, as a letter written by the King to his officer, ordering him to leave the place, had fallen into Tilly's hands. Again Tilly summoned the place, and was assisted by the inhabitants, who entreated Kniphausen to yield and to save them from the horrors of a storm. Kniphausen, showing them his private instructions, chose to sacrifice himself, his family, his soldiers and the citizens, rather than disobey the strict commands of the King. According to his wont, Tilly gave him a third chance; this, with the answer that his orders did not allow a surrender, was rejected. What was the meaning then of these contradictory letters of the Swede? It cannot be for a moment supposed that Tilly concealed from Kniphausen the intercepted despatch. Doubtless the scheme was formed and executed in order to carry out the more general plan laid down by Gustavus Adolphus himself, of convincing the German people that there can be no union between Catholics and Evangelicals, and that one or the other of them must perish. He strove to rouse the indignation of the people by publishing to the world that Tilly had committed atrocities contrary to the usages of war; though he had given his own testimony to the well-known mildness of the old General but a few months before. He was ready to immolate two regiments of mercenaries in order that the wrath of an outraged people might raise him legions to avenge

their blood. This we learn from accounts written before the revising hand of the unprincipled King had distorted the materials from which the paid writer put together the "authentic" Soldat Suédois.

But Gustavus' plan failed: the great General who had grown old with a spotless reputation was not so easily defamed, nor did the calumnies about the fanaticism of an enemy, who was known to be at least as much Protestant as Catholic, gain such easy credence. Shortly after the taking of Neubrandenburg, Tilly appeared before the walls of Magdeburg. This city, from its position on the Elbe, gave the command of that river to the party which was its own possessor, and was therefore one of the first prizes which Gustavus Adolphus strove to win. The internal dissensions arising from the different interests of the imperialist and the Swedish party seemed to be about to put the place into his hands. The town council however, while rejecting his demand that they should admit his troops into the city, were unable to stem the torrent of passions raised in the lower classes by Swedish agents. Under these circumstances Adolphus resolved to occupy Tilly with Magdeburg. If the advantages to be derived from the possession of the town were not to be his, at least there should be those flowing from an obstinate defence, and, if need be, from its ruin. In Magdeburg a large number of his friends had been introduced into the council, and those most hostile to him ousted. The disloyal connection of the town with the invaders, whom they had requested to assist them against the Emperor, their refusal to comply with the demands of Ferdinand to expel the outlawed Christian William of Magdeburg, who had sold himself to the Swedes, and the rebellious attempts of a large section of the lower classes to put the town into the hands of Adolphus, had brought the army of Tilly before their walls. From the beginning of the siege Gustavus Adolphus had assured them, that as truly as he was King in Sweden he would come to their relief, and that he was ready to sacrifice all for his friends. The pledge of his sincerity was the sending of Falkenberg, one of his most trusty officers, who entered Magdeburg about November 20th, 1630. This man was destined to seal the fate of the city; his arrival was the crisis in its history. He appeared before the council, and read to it the letters of his master. He represented that he had been sent to give the citizens the benefit of his experience, and to hold out the town till the King himself raised the blockade, who, he asserted, had told him on his departure that he expected to reach Magdeburg before his officer.