The Lion of the North

The Lion of the North

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Lion of the North, by G.A. Henty
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Title: The Lion of the North
Author: G.A. Henty
Release Date: February, 2004 [EBook #5075] [Yes, we are more than
one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on April 16,
2002]
Edition: 10

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OF THE NORTH ***

The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Lion of The North: A Tale of the
Times of Gustavus Adolphus, by G. A. Henty
This etext was produced by Martin Robb ([email protected])
PREFACE.
MY DEAR LADS,
You are nowadays called upon to acquire so great a mass of learning
and information in the period of life between the ages of twelve and
eighteen that it is not surprising that but little time can be spared for the
study of the history of foreign nations. Most lads are, therefore,
lamentably ignorant of the leading events of even the most important
epochs of Continental history, although, as many of these events have
exercised a marked influence upon the existing state of affairs in
Europe, a knowledge of them is far more useful, and, it may be said, far
more interesting than that of the comparatively petty affairs of Athens,
Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes.
Prominent among such epochs is the Thirty Years' War, which arose
from the determination of the Emperor of Austria to crush out
Protestantism throughout Germany. Since the invasion of the Huns no
struggle which has taken place in Europe has approached this in the
obstinacy of the fighting and the terrible sufferings which the war
inflicted upon the people at large. During these thirty years the
population of Germany decreased by nearly a third, and in some of the
states half the towns and two-thirds of the villages absolutely
disappeared.
The story of the Thirty Years' War is too long to be treated in one
volume. Fortunately it divides itself naturally into two parts. The first
begins with the entry of Sweden, under her chivalrous monarch
Gustavus Adolphus, upon the struggle, and terminates with his death
and that of his great rival Wallenstein. This portion of the war has been

treated in the present story. The second period begins at the point when
France assumed the leading part in the struggle, and concluded with the
peace which secured liberty of conscience to the Protestants of
Germany. This period I hope to treat some day in another story, so that
you may have a complete picture of the war. The military events of the
present tale, the battles, sieges, and operations, are all taken from the
best authorities, while for the account of the special doings of Mackay's,
afterwards Munro's Scottish Regiment, I am indebted to Mr. J. Grant's
Life of Sir John Hepburn.
Yours sincerely,
G. A. HENTY

CHAPTER I
THE INVITATION
It was late in the afternoon in the spring of the year 1630; the hilltops
of the south of Scotland were covered with masses of cloud, and a
fierce wind swept the driving rain before it with such force that it was
not easy to make way against it. It had been raining for three days
without intermission. Every little mountain burn had become a boiling
torrent, while the rivers had risen above their banks and flooded the low
lands in the valleys.
The shades of evening were closing in, when a lad of some sixteen
years of age stood gazing across the swollen waters of the Nith rushing
past in turbid flood. He scarce seemed conscious of the pouring rain;
but with his lowland bonnet pressed down over his eyes, and his plaid
wrapped tightly round him, he stood on a rising hummock of ground at
the edge of the flood, and looked across the stream.
"If they are not here soon," he said