e Swedish regiments, "now is the time to prove your discipline and
courage, confirmed in many a fight. Yonder is the enemy you have sought
so long, not now sheltered by strong ramparts nor posted on inaccessible
heights, but ranged in fair and open field. Advance, then, by God's
help, not so much to fight as to conquer. Spare not your blood, your
lives, for your king, your country, your God; and the present and
eternal blessing of the Almighty, and an illustrious name throughout the
Christian world, await you. But if, which God forbid, you prove cowards,
I swear that not a bone of you shall return to Sweden. The Lord preserve
you all!"

To the Germans he said: "My brave allies and fellow-soldiers, I adjure
you by your fame, your honor, and your conscience; by the interests
temporal and eternal now at stake; by your former exploits, by the
remembrance of Tilly and the Breitenfeld--bear yourselves bravely
to-day. Let the field before you become illustrious by a similar
slaughter. Forward! I will this day not only be your general, but your
comrade. I will not only command you, I will lead you on. Add your
efforts to mine. Extort from the enemy, by God's help, that victory, of
which the chief fruits will be to you and to your children. But if you
shrink from the contest, remember that religion, liberty--all will be
lost, and that by your remissness."

Having finished his addresses, to which both Swedes and Germans
responded by hearty cheers and acclamations, the King cast up his eyes
to heaven and said, "O my Lord Jesus! Son of God, bless these our arms,
and this day's battle, for thine own glory and holy name's sake." Then,
drawing his sword, and waving it over his head, advanced, the foremost
of all his army.

The numbers of the two armies at this moment were probably nearly equal.
Diodati, indeed, who carried to the Emperor from Wallenstein a verbal
report of the battle, which by Ferdinand's order he afterward drew up in
writing, stated the Swedish army to have been 25,000 strong, the
Imperial 12,000 only. This is to be understood as referring to the
beginning of the engagement, before Pappenheim had come up, at which
time, on the other hand, Harte and Mauvillon estimate the Imperial force
at from 28,000 to 30,000 men, Gfrorer at 25,000--estimates which are as
certainly exaggerations as Diodati's diminution of the truth. Gustavus
would not only have departed from his avowed maxims and previous
practice, he would have