e
"Thirty Years' War." During its earlier period Wallenstein greatly
distinguished himself, and was created by the Emperor Ferdinand Duke of
Friedland and generalissimo of the imperial forces. In the course of a
few months Wallenstein raised an army of forty thousand men in the
Emperor's service. The strictest discipline was preserved _within_ his
camp, but his troops supported themselves by a system of rapine and
plunder unprecedented even in those days of military license. Merit was
rewarded with princely munificence, and the highest offices were within
the reach of every common soldier who distinguished himself;--trivial
breaches of discipline were punished with death. The dark and ambitious
spirit of Wallenstein would not allow him to rest satisfied with the
rewards and dignities heaped upon him by his imperial master. He
temporised and entered into negotiations with the enemy; and during an
interview with a Swedish general (Arnheim), is even said to have proposed
an alliance to "hunt the Emperor to the devil." It is supposed that he
aspired to the sovereignty of Bohemia. Ferdinand was informed of the
ambitious designs of his general, and at length determined that
Wallenstein should die. He despatched one of his generals, Gallas, to
the commander-in-chief, with a mandate depriving him of his dignity of
generalissimo, and nominating Gallas as his successor. Surprised before
his plans were ripe, and deserted by many on whose support he had relied,
Wallenstein retired hastily upon Egra. During a banquet in the castle,
three of his generals who remained faithful to their leader were murdered
in the dead of night. Roused by the noise, Wallenstein leapt from his
bed, and encountered three soldiers who had been hired to despatch him.
Speechless with astonishment and indignation, he stretched forth his
arms, and receiving in his breast the stroke of a halbert, fell dead
without a groan, in the fifty-first year of his age.

The following anecdote, curiously illustrative of the state of affairs in
Wallenstein's camp, is related by Schiller in his _History of the Thirty
Years' War_, a work containing a full account of the life and actions of
this extraordinary man. "The extortions of Wallenstein's soldiers from
the peasants had at one period reached such a pitch, that severe
penalties were denounced against all marauders; and every soldier who
should be convicted of theft was threatened with a halter. Shortly
aft