dragged her over the Elbe bridge, she begged leave to have the use of her hands to take out her handkerchief and wipe her eyes, and that instant plunged herself into the river, and there expired. Twenty young girls, who were assembled together at a house near the banks of the Elbe, rushed out of the doors all at once, and, embracing each other, threw themselves into the river. By this time the whole city was in flames. Most historians attribute this to accident; but as the fire began in various places at once, many may be inclined to consider it as a part of the besiegers cruelty. Thus, the few perished who had concealed themselves, and, by the justice of Providence, the Imperialists lost the greater part not only of what they had plundered, but of what the inhabitants had hidden. Nothing remained of the town but the cathedral, the church and convent of Notre Dame, some few houses that stood round it, and about eighty or a hundred fishermen's cottages on the banks of the Elbe. Out of forty thousand inhabitants, it is thought hardly the number of eight hundred escaped. Some retired to the cathedral, some obtained quarter, in hopes of ransom, some escaped over the walls, some were dug out of the ruins, and some few were preserved by the seeming interposition of Providence. A handful of the garrison, which held out to the very last man, obtained conditions; but all the officers were put to the sword excepting Amsteroth, who was taken prisoner, and died the next day; and a lieutenant-colonel and major, whose lives were spared."

In the conducting of this terrific carnage, Tilly was outdone in cruelty by Count Pappenheim, one of his generals, who had already figured in the war, particularly at the battle of Prague. Of the horrors enacted by order of these two commanders, language can bring up no sufficient picture in the mind. We can, however, attain a slight idea of the scene of wholesale rapine and murder at the taking of Magdeburg, by perusing the following accounts left us by two of the sufferers. The first is that of a poor man, a fisherman, who died at a very advanced age in 1720, and who was therefore a mere child at the time of the siege. His account, however, is very graphic:-“The 10th of May, early in the morning, at the time the regent or master of our school was reading prayers, a report flew through the streets that the town was taken, which was confirmed by the ringing of the alarm-bells. Our regent dismissed us all in a moment, saying, 'My dear children, hasten to your homes, and recommend yourselves to the protection of God; for it is highly probable we shall meet no more except in heaven.' In an instant we all disappeared, some one way, and some another. my own part, took my course with speed along the High Street, and found, where the public steelyards are (and where the grand guard of the city was kept), a considerable body of troops with their swords drawn; and saw near them, and at a distance round them, a great number of soldiers stretched dead on the pavement.

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Terrified with so melancholy a sight, I shaped my course down the street called Pelican, with a view to conceal myself in my father's house; but had hardly advanced a few steps, before I fell in with a band of soldiers, who had that moment murdered a man, whom I saw weltering in his blood. This sight shocked me to such a degree, that I had not power to move forwards, but, sheltering myself in a house opposite to the Pelican Inn, found a kind-speaking aged man, who said to me, 'Child, why comest thou hither? Save thyself before the soldiers seize thee.' I was strongly tempted to put his advice in practice; but in that moment a party of Croatians rushed in, and, holding a sabre to his throat, demanded his wealth. The old man immediately opened a coffer to them full of gold, and silver, and precious stones. They crammed their pockets with his riches; yet, as the coffer was not emptied, they filled a small basket with the part that remained, and then shot the poor old man through the head. I stole away behind them, hoping to seek a place of safety amongst some empty casks, and found there a young lady, perfectly handsome, who conjured me to remove, and make no mention of her. Anxiously reflecting where to dispose of myself, the same Croatians surprised me again, and one of them bade me carry a basket for them. I took up the basket immediately, and followed them wherever they went. They entered several cellars, and rifled all persons who fell into their hands without remorse. As we ascended from one of these cellars, we saw with astonishment that the flames had seized the whole forepart of the house. We rushed through the fire, and saved ourselves. In all probability, every soul was destroyed that remained within doors. As to my father, mother, and relations, I never heard a syllable concerning them from that time to the present." The other account of the siege, which is more minute, is that left us by M. Theodanus, then a clergyman in the town. "Going out of church," says he, "immediately after sermon, some people of St James's parish passed by, and told me the enemy had entered the town. With difficulty could I persuade myself that this was anything more than a false alarm; but the news unfortunately proved too true. I then lost my presence of mind; and as my wife and maid-servant were with me, we ran directly to my colleague, M. Malsio's house, and left our own house open. At M. Malsio's we found many people, who had fled to him in great perplexity. We comforted and exhorted each other as far as the terror of our minds would give us leave. I was summoned thence to discharge the last duties to a colonel, who lay dangerously wounded. I resolved to go, and sent my maid to fetch my gown; but before my departure from my wife and neighbours, I told them that the affair appeared to me to be concluded, and that we should meet no more in this world. My wife reproached me in a flood of tears, crying, Can you prevail on yourself to leave me to perish all alone? You must answer

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for it before God.' I represented to her the obligations of my function, and went. As I crossed the great street, a multitude of matrons and young women flocked round me, and besought me, in all the agonies of distress, to advise them what to do. I told them my best advice was to recommend themselves to God's protecting grace, and prepare for death. At length I entered the colonel's lodging, and found him stretched on the floor, and very weak. I gave him such consolation as the disorder of my mind would permit me: he heard me with great attention, and ordered a small present of gold to be given me; which I left on the table. In the interval, the enemy poured in by crowds at the Hamburg gate, and fired upon the multitude as upon beasts of prey. Suddenly my wife and maid-servant entered the room, and persuaded me to remove immediately, alleging that we should meet with no quarter if the enemy found us in an apartment filled with arms. We ran down into the courtyard of the house, and placed ourselves in the gateway. Our enemies soon burst the gate open with an eagerness that cannot be described. The first address they bestowed on me was, 'Priest, deliver thy money!' I gave them about four-and-twenty shillings in a little box, which they accepted with good-will; but when they opened the box, and found only silver, they raised their tone, and demanded gold. I represented to them that I was at some distance from my house, and that at present I could not possibly give them more. They were reasonable enough to be contented with my answer, and left us, after having plundered the house, without offering us any insult. There was a well-looking youth among the crowd, to whom my wife addressed herself, and besought him in God's name to protect us. My dear child,' said he, it is a thing impossible; we must pursue our enemies;' and so they retired.

"At that moment another party of soldiers rushed in, who demanded also our money. "We contented them with seven shillings and a couple of silver spoons, which the maid fortunately had concealed in her pocket. They were scarce gone, before a soldier entered alone, with the most furious countenance I ever saw. Each cheek was puffed out with a musket ball; and he carried two muskets on his shoulder. The moment he perceived me, he cried with a voice of thunder, 'Priest, give me thy money, or thou art dead!' As I had nothing to give him, I made my apology in the most affecting manner. He levelled a piece to shoot me; but my wife luckily turned it with her hand, and the ball passed over my head. At length, finding we had no money, he asked for plate; my wife gave him some silver trinkets, and he went away. A little after came four or five soldiers, who only said, 'Wicked priest, what dost thou here?' and then departed. We were now inclined to shelter ourselves in the uppermost apartments of the house, hoping to be there less exposed. We entered a chamber that had several beds in it, and passed some time

there in the most insupportable agonies. Nothing was heard in the streets but the discharge of muskets and the cries of expiring people; nor were the houses much more quiet; everything was burst open, or cut to pieces. We were soon discovered in our retirement. A number of soldiers poured in, and one who carried a hatchet made an attempt to cleave my skull; but a companion hindered him, and said, Comrade, what are you doing? Don't you perceive that he is a clergyman?' When these were gone, a single soldier came in, to whom my wife gave a crape handkerchief off her neck; upon which he retired without offering us any injury. His successor was not so reasonable; for, entering the chamber with his sword drawn, he immediately aimed a blow at my head, saying, 'Priest, give me thy money!' The stroke stunned me; the blood gushed out in abundance, and frightened my wife and servant to that degree that they both continued motionless. The barbarian turned round to my wife, aimed a blow at her, but it glanced fortunately on her gown, which happened to be lined with furs, and wounded her not. Amazed to see us so submissive and patient, he looked at us fixedly for some moments. I laid hold of this interval to represent to him that I was not in my own house; but if he would grant us quarter, and protect us to our home, I would then bestow upon him all I had. 'Agreed, priest,' said he; 'give me thy wealth, and I will give thee the watchword: it is Jesu-Maria! Pronounce that, and no one will hurt thee.' We went down stairs directly, highly contented to have found such a protector. The street was covered with the dead and dying; the cries of the wounded were enough to have pierced the hearts of the greatest barbarians. We walked over the bodies, and when we arrived at the church of St Catharine, met an officer of distinction on horseback. This generous person soon discovered us, and seeing me covered with blood, said to the person who conducted us, 'Fellow-soldier, fellow-soldier, take care what you do to these persons!' At the same time he said to my wife, 'Madam, is yonder house yours?' My wife having answered that it was, 'Well,' added he, 'take hold of my stirrup; conduct me thither, and you shall have quarter.' The soldier who had used me ill, took this opportunity to steal away. Upon entering my house, we found it filled with a multitude of plunderers, whom the officer, who was a colonel, ordered away. He then said he would take up his lodging with us; and having posted two soldiers for a guard to us, left us with a promise to return forthwith. We gave, with great cheerfulness, a good breakfast to our sentinels, who complimented us on our good fortune in falling into their colonel's hands; at the same time representing to us that their fellow-soldiers were making a considerable booty, whilst they continued inactive, and beseeching us, therefore, to render them some equivalent. Upon this I gave them four rose nobles, with which they were well-contented, and showed us so much huma

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nity, as to offer to go and search for any acquaintance whom we desired to place in safety with us. I told them I had one particular friend, who had escaped to the cathedral, as I conjectured, and promised them a good gratuity on his part if they saved his life. One of them, accompanied by my servant-maid, went to the church, and called my friend often by name. But it was all in vain; no one answered; and we never heard mention of him from that period. Some moments after, our colonel returned, and demanded whether any person had offered us the least incivility. After we had exculpated the soldiers in this respect, he hastened abroad to see if there was any possibility to extinguish the fire, which had already seized great part of the city. He had hardly got into the street, when he returned with uncommon hastiness, and said, 'Show me the way out of town, for I see plainly we shall perish in the flames if we stay here a few minutes longer.' Upon this we threw the best of our goods and movables into a vaulted cellar, covered the trap-door with earth, and made our escape. My wife took nothing with her but my robe; my maid seized a neighbour's infant child by the hand, whom we found crying at his father's door, and led him away. We found it impossible to pass through the gates of the town, which were all in a flame, and the streets burned with great fury on either side. In a word, the heat was so intense, that it was with difficulty we were able to breathe. Having made several unsuccessful attempts, we determined at last to make our escape on the side of the town next the Elbe. The streets were clogged with dead bodies, and the groans of the dying were insupportable. The Walloons and Croatians attacked us every moment, but our generous colonel protected us from their fury. When we gained the bastion, which stands on the banks of the Elbe, we descended by the scaling-ladders which the Imperialists had made use of in the assault, and arrived at length in the enemy's camp near Rottensee, thoroughly fatigued, and extremely alarmed. The colonel made us enter into his tent, and presented us some refreshments. That ceremony being over, 'Well,' said he, 'having saved your lives, what return do you make me?' We told him that for the present we had nothing to bestow, but that we would transfer to him all the money and plate that we had buried in the cellar, which was the whole of our worldly possessions. Next day the colonel sent one of his domestics with my maid-servant to search for the treasure we had buried in the cellar; but they returned without success, because, as the fire still continued, they could not approach the trap-door. In the meanwhile the colonel made us his guests at his own table, and during our whole stay treated us not as prisoners, but as intimate friends. At length I ventured one day to ask our colonel to give us leave to depart; he complied immediately, upon condition we paid our ransom. Next morning I sent my maid into town to try if there was any possibility of penetrating into the cellar. She was more fortunate