own zeal and courage, he did not dare to venture upon such a step without the advice of a superior.  He therefore consulted the Duke of Friedland, whose approbation might supply the want of authority from the Emperor and to whom the Bohemian generals were referred by an express edict of the court in the last extremity.  He, however, artfully excused himself on the plea of holding no official appointment and his long retirement from the political world; while he weakened the resolution of the subalterns by the scruples which he suggested and painted in the strongest colors.  At last, to render the consternation general and complete, he quitted the capital with his whole court, however little he had to fear from its capture; and the city was lost, because, by his departure, he showed that he despaired of its safety.  His example was followed by all the Roman Catholic nobility, the generals with their troops, the clergy, and all the officers of the crown.  All night the people were employed in saving their persons and effects.  The roads to Vienna were crowded with fugitives, who scarcely recovered from their consternation till they reached the imperial city.  Maradas himself, despairing of the safety of Prague, followed the rest, and led his small detachment to Tabor, where he awaited the event.

[Illustration:  WALLENSTEIN VAN DYCK]

Profound silence reigned in Prague, when the Saxons next morning appeared before it; no preparations were made for defence; not a single shot from the walls announced an intention of resistance.  On the contrary, a crowd of spectators from the town, allured by curiosity, came flocking round to behold the foreign army; and the peaceful confidence with which they advanced, resembled a friendly salutation more than a hostile reception.  From the concurrent reports of these people, the Swedes learned that the town had been deserted by the troops, and that the government had fled to Budweiss.  This unexpected and inexplicable absence of resistance excited Arnheim’s distrust the more, as the speedy approach of the Silesian succors was no secret to him, and as he knew that the Saxon army was too indifferently provided with materials for undertaking a siege and by far too weak in numbers to attempt to take the place by storm.  Apprehensive of stratagem, he redoubled his vigilance; and he continued in this conviction until Wallenstein’s house-steward, whom he discovered among the crowd, confirmed to him this intelligence.  “The town is ours without a blow!” exclaimed he in astonishment to his officers, and immediately summoned it by a trumpeter.