Historic Tales: the Romance of Reality. Vol. 05 (of 15), German

Part 1

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Edition d'Elite

Historical Tales

The Romance of Reality

CHARLES MORRIS

Author of "Half-Hours with the Best American Authors," "Tales from the Dramatists," etc.

IN FIFTEEN VOLUMES

Volume V

German

J.B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY

PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON

Copyright, 1893, by J.B. Lippincott Company.

Copyright, 1904, by J.B. Lippincott Company.

Copyright, 1908, by J.B. Lippincott Company.

CONTENTS

PAGE

HERMANN, THE HERO OF GERMANY 7

ALBION AND ROSAMOND 19

THE CAREER OF GRIMOALD 28

WITTEKIND, THE SAXON PATRIOT 37

THE RAIDS OF THE SEA-ROVERS 47

THE CAREER OF BISHOP HATTO 58

THE MISFORTUNES OF DUKE ERNST 64

THE REIGN OF OTHO II 69

THE FORTUNES OF HENRY THE FOURTH 77

THE ANECDOTES OF MEDIAEVAL GERMANY 92

FREDERICK BARBAROSSA AND MILAN 105

THE CRUSADE OF FREDERICK II 118

Part 2

THE FALL OF THE GHIBELLINES 129

THE TRIBUNAL OF THE HOLY VEHM 138

WILLIAM TELL AND THE SWISS PATRIOTS 148

THE BLACK DEATH AND THE FLAGELLANTS 162

THE SWISS AT MORGARTEN 170

A MAD EMPEROR 176

SEMPACH AND ARNOLD WINKELRIED 187

ZISKA, THE BLIND WARRIOR 198

THE SIEGE OF BELGRADE 210

LUTHER AND THE INDULGENCES 217

SOLYMAN THE MAGNIFICENT AT GUNTZ 229

THE PEASANTS AND THE ANABAPTISTS 238

THE FORTUNES OF WALLENSTEIN 252

THE END OF TWO GREAT SOLDIERS 265

THE SIEGE OF VIENNA 277

THE YOUTH OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 288

VOLTAIRE AND FREDERICK THE GREAT 305

SCENES FROM THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR 315

THE PATRIOTS OF THE TYROL 328

THE OLD EMPIRE AND THE NEW 343

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

GERMAN.

PAGE

MAXIMILIAN RECEIVING VENETIAN DELEGATION 7

RETURN OF HERMANN AFTER HIS VICTORY OVER THE ROMANS 13

THE BAPTISM OF WITTEKIND 43

THE MOUSE-TOWER ON THE RHINE 61

PEASANT WEDDING PROCESSION 65

Part 3

SCENE OF MONASTIC LIFE 78

THUSNELDA IN THE GERMANICUS TRIUMPH 94

THE AMPHITHEATRE AT MILAN 109

STATUE OF WILLIAM TELL 153

THE CASTLE OF PRAGUE 175

STATUE OF ARNOLD WINKELRIED 193

STATUE OF LUTHER AT WORMS 225

THE MOSQUE OF SOLYMAN, CONSTANTINOPLE 236

OLD HOUSES AT MUeNSTER 246

WALLENSTEIN 252

THE PARLIAMENT HOUSE IN VIENNA 278

STATUE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT, UNTER DEN LINDEN, BERLIN 289

SANS SOUCI, PALACE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT 315

THE LAST DAY OF ANDREAS HOFER 340

A GERMAN MILK WAGON 347

HERMANN, THE HERO OF GERMANY.

In the days of Augustus, the emperor of Rome in its golden age of prosperity, an earnest effort was made to subdue and civilize barbarian Germany. Drusus, the step-son of the emperor, led the first army of invasion into this forest-clad land of the north, penetrating deeply into the country and building numerous forts to guard his conquests. His last invasion took him as far as the Elbe. Here, as we are told, he found himself confronted by a supernatural figure, in the form of a woman, who waved him back with lofty and threatening air, saying, "How much farther wilt thou advance, insatiable Drusus? It is not thy lot to behold all these countries. Depart hence! the term of thy deeds and of thy life is at hand." Drusus retreated, and died on his return.

Tiberius, his brother, succeeded him, and went far to complete the conquest he had begun. Germany seemed destined to become a Roman province. The work of conquest was followed by efforts to civilize the free-spirited barbarians, which, had they been conducted wisely, might have led to success. One of the Roman governors, Sentius, prefect of the Rhine, treated the people so humanely that many of them adopted the arts and customs of Rome, and the work of overcoming their barbarism was well begun. He was succeeded in this office by Varus, a friend and confidant of the emperor, but a man of very different character, and one who not only lacked military experience and mental ability, but utterly misunderstood the character of the people he was dealing with. They might be led, they could not be driven into civilization, as the new prefect was to learn.

All went well as long as Varus remained peacefully in his head-quarters, erecting markets, making the natives familiar with the attractive wares of Rome, instructing them in civilized arts, and taking their sons into the imperial army. All went ill when he sought to hasten his work by acts of oppression, leading his forces across the Weser into the land of the Cherusci, enforcing there the rigid Roman laws, and chastising and executing free-born Germans for deeds which in their creed were not crimes. Varus, who had at first made himself loved by his kindness, now made himself hated by his severity. The Germans brooded over their wrongs, awed by the Roman army, which consisted of thirty thousand picked men, strongly intrenched, their camps being impregnable to their undisciplined foes. Yet the high-spirited barbarians felt that this army was but an entering wedge, and that, if not driven out, their whole country would gradually be subdued.

A patriot at length arose among the Cherusci, determined to free his country from the intolerable Roman yoke. He was a handsome and athletic youth, Arminius, or Hermann as the Germans prefer to name him, of noble descent, and skilled alike in the arts of war and of oratory, his eloquence being equal to his courage. He was one of the sons of the Germans who had served in the Roman armies, and had won there such distinction as to gain the honors of knighthood and citizenship. Now, perceiving clearly the subjection that threatened his countrymen, and filled with an ardent love of liberty, he appeared among them, and quickly filled their dispirited souls with much of his own courage and enthusiasm. At midnight meetings in the depths of the forests a conspiracy against Varus and his legions was planned, Hermann being the chosen leader of the perilous enterprise.

It was not long before this conspiracy was revealed. The German control over the Cherusci had been aided by Segestus, a treacherous chief, whose beautiful and patriotic daughter, Thusnelda, had given her hand in marriage to Hermann, against her father's will. Filled with revengeful anger at this action, and hoping to increase his power, Segestus told the story of the secret meetings, which he had discovered, to Varus, and bade him beware, as a revolt against him might at any moment break out. He spoke to the wrong man. Pride in the Roman power and scorn of that of the Germans had deeply infected the mind of Varus, and he heard with incredulous contempt this story that the barbarians contemplated rising against the best trained legions of Rome.

Autumn came, the autumn of the year 9 A.D. The long rainy season of the German forests began. Hermann decided that the time had arrived for the execution of his plans. He began his work with a deceitful skill that quite blinded the too-trusting Varus, inducing him to send bodies of troops into different parts of the country, some to gather provisions for the winter supply of the camps, others to keep watch over some tribes not yet subdued. The Roman force thus weakened, the artful German succeeded in drawing Varus with the remainder of his men from their intrenchments, by inducing one of the subjected tribes to revolt.

The scheme of Hermann had, so far, been completely successful. Varus, trusting to his representations, had weakened his force, and now prepared to draw the main body of his army out of camp. Hermann remained with him to the last, dining with him the day before the starting of the expedition, and inspiring so much confidence in his faithfulness to Rome that Varus refused to listen to Segestus, who earnestly entreated him to take Hermann prisoner on the spot. He even took Hermann's advice, and decided to march on the revolted tribe by a shorter than the usual route, oblivious to the fact that it led through difficult mountain passes, shrouded in forests and bordered by steep and rocky acclivities.

The treacherous plans of the patriotic German had fully succeeded. While the Romans were toiling onward through the straitened passes, Hermann had sought his waiting and ambushed countrymen, to whom he gave the signal that the time for vengeance had come. Then, as if the dense forests had borne a sudden crop of armed men, the furious barbarians poured out in thousands upon the unsuspecting legionaries.

A frightful storm was raging. The mountain torrents, swollen by the downpour of rain, over--flowed their banks and invaded the passes, along which the Romans, encumbered with baggage, were wearily dragging onward in broken columns. Suddenly, to the roar of winds and waters, was added the wild war-cry of the Germans, and a storm of arrows, javelins, and stones hurtled through the disordered ranks, while the barbarians, breaking from the woods, and rushing downward from the heights, fell upon the legions with sword and battle-axe, dealing death with every blow.

Only the discipline of the Romans saved them from speedy destruction. With the instinct of their training they hastened to gather into larger bodies, and their resistance, at first feeble, soon became more effective. The struggle continued until night-fall, by which time the surviving Romans had fought their way to a more open place, where they hastily intrenched. But it was impossible for them to remain there. Their provisions were lost or exhausted, thousands of foes surrounded them, and their only hope lay in immediate and rapid flight.

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