,
near Avein, in the province of Luxemburg, on the 20th of May,
1635, with the loss of four thousand men. The victors soon made
a junction with the Prince of Orange; and the towns of Tirlemont,
St. Trond, and some others, were quickly reduced. The former of
these places was taken by assault, and pillaged with circumstances
of cruelty that recall the horrors of the early transactions of
the war. The Prince of Orange was forced to punish severely the
authors of these offences. The consequences of this event were
highly injurious to the allies. A spirit of fierce resistance was
excited throughout the invaded provinces. Louvain set the first
example. The citizens and students took arms for its defence; and
the combined forces of France and Holland were repulsed, and forced
by want of supplies to abandon the siege, and rapidly retreat. The
prince-cardinal, as Ferdinand was called, took advantage of this
reverse to press the retiring French; recovered several towns;
and gained all the advantages as well as glory of the campaign.
The remains of the French army, reduced by continual combats,
and still more by sickness, finally embarked at Rotterdam, to
return to France in the ensuing spring, a sad contrast to its
brilliant appearance at the commencement of the campaign.

The military events for several ensuing years present nothing
of sufficient interest to induce us to record them in detail. A
perpetual succession of sieges and skirmishes afford a monotonous
picture of isolated courage and skill; but we see none of those
great conflicts which bring out the genius of opposing generals, and
show war in its grand results, as the decisive means of enslaving
or emancipating mankind. The prince-cardinal, one of the many who
on this bloody theatre displayed consummate military talents,
incessantly employed himself in incursions into the bordering
provinces of France, ravaged Picardy, and filled Paris with fear
and trembling. He, however, reaped no new laurels when he came
into contact with Frederick Henry, who, on almost every occasion,
particularly that of the siege of Breda, in 1637, carried his object
in spite of all opposition. The triumphs of war were balanced; but
Spain and the Belgian provinces, so long upheld by the talent
of the governor-general, were gradually become exhausted. The
revolution in Portugal, and the succession of the duke of Braganza,
under the title of John IV., to the throne of his ancestors,
struck a fat