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The Swedes had pursued the Imperialists into Brandenburg; and only the Elector's refusal to open to him the fortress of Custrin for his march, obliged the king to lay aside his design of besieging Frankfort on the Oder. He therefore returned to complete the conquest of Pomerania, by the capture of Demmin and Colberg.
Very soon afterwards the Palatine, a man of mature age and of considerable talents, openly announced his conversion to the ancient church. Obviously the sympathies of the States could not thenceforth fail to be on the side of Brandenburg. The Elector's brother died and was succeeded in the governorship of the Condeminium by the Elector's brother, a youth of eighteen.
And hence, at the risk of the Elector's displeasure and at the peril of his life, Luther came forth from his covert to withstand the violence which was putting everything in jeopardy. Grandly also did he reason out the genuine Gospel principles against all these parties. He comprehended his ground from centre to circumference, and he held it alike against erring friends and menacing foes.
Marlborough stormed their entrenched camp, crossed the Danube, took several strong places in Bavaria, and made himself completely master of the Elector's dominions, except the fortified cities of Munich and Augsburg.
Cardinal Richelieu and the French Ministers, to justify this conduct, gave out that it was not allowable for a foreign Prince to pass through the kingdom without the King's permission; that the Elector's conduct shewed that he had some bad design; that they knew he wanted to go to Geneva, to proceed from thence to the Duke of Weymar's army, to seize the towns of Alsace, and exchange them afterwards with the Emperor in order to obtain restitution of the Palatinate; and that such a project must be very prejudicial to France, to whom the conquest of Alsace had cost so many men and so much money.
Several canons of Cologne had also already embraced the Protestant confession, and were on the elector's side, while, in the city itself, he could depend upon the support of a numerous Protestant party.
In the meantime the Austrian general, Khevenhuller, ravaged his electorate, and made himself master of Munich the capital of Bavaria; he likewise laid part of the palatinate under contribution, in resentment for that elector's having sent a body of his troops to reinforce the Imperial army.
"The chamberlain, Baron von Marwitz, has arrived from Berlin." "Marwitz, the Elector's first chamberlain?" cried the baron. "Quick, my clothes, quick! Help me to dress myself. Run and tell Baron von Marwitz that I will be at his service directly. But first tell me whether his highness is already visible. Has he already ordered his breakfast?"
"I can tell you, young lady, if he were to succeed, we should all rue it bitterly before long. His triumph is the triumph of Rome the triumph of persecution and martyrdom and agony for God's people." "I know that," said I. "But right is right, for all that! The Crown is his, not the Elector's. On that principle, any man might steal money, if he meant to do good with it."
The Margrave, thus defeated, surrendered the "gate of honor" to the Elector, who maintained, it the rest of the day against all comers. It is fair to suppose, although the fact is not recorded, that the Elector's original band had received some reinforcement.
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