The Young Carpenters of Freiberg

The Young Carpenters of
Freiberg, by
by J. Latchmore

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Title: The Young Carpenters of Freiberg A Tale of the Thirty Years'
War
Author: Anonymous

Release Date: August 21, 2006 [eBook #19097]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE YOUNG CARPENTERS OF FREIBERG.
A Tale of the Thirty Years' War.
Translated from the German by
J. Latchmore, Jun.

[Frontispiece: 'She seized the robber unexpectedly by the legs, and
tipped him head first into the mighty chest.']

Edinburgh: William Oliphant & Co. 1880.

CONTENTS.
CHAP.
I. THE MILLER'S WIFE OF ERBISDORF II. THE FAMILY AT
HOME III. PRIVATE RIGHTS MUST GIVE PLACE TO PUBLIC
NECESSITIES IV. THE ENEMY BEFORE THE TOWN V. THE
SOWER OF TARES VI. THE SECOND ASSAULT VII. CONRAD
UNDER THE WINDOW-SEAT VIII. ORDINARY INCIDENTS OF
A SIEGE IX. DIVERSE HUMAN HEARTS X. WAR OFTEN
OPPOSES THE TEACHINGS OF CHRISTIANITY XI.
HISTORICAL XII. TREACHERY AND DELIVERANCE

ILLUSTRATIONS
'She seized the robber unexpectedly by the legs, and tipped him head
first into the mighty chest.' . . . . . . Frontispiece
Conrad recognized an old comrade, John Hillner.
Promise me that I shall have an honourable burial; and let the lads say,
"A good journey to thee, old comrade!"
Nothing but the moustache on the pale face indicated the warlike
calling of the man who now addressed Conrad.

THE YOUNG CARPENTERS OF FREIBERG.
CHAPTER I.
THE MILLER'S WIFE OF ERBISDORF.
The ancient and free mountain city of Freiberg lies only about
five-and-twenty miles south-west of Dresden, yet has a far more severe
climate than the Saxon capital--a fact that may be understood if we
remember that the road which leads from Dresden to Freiberg is up hill
almost all the way. The Saxon Erzgebirge must not be pictured as a
chain of separate mountains, with peaks rising one behind the other and
closing in the horizon. Hills and valleys lie mingled, assuming such
long, wave-like forms that in some parts of the district it is difficult to
fancy oneself in a mountain-land at all. Immediately around Freiberg
the landscape takes the form of a wide table-land, which has an upward
slope only on the south-west of the city, so that from a short distance
but little is seen of the town save the tops of its towers and a confused
glimpse of house-roofs. In former days it was the residence of the Duke
of Saxony, and before the Thirty Years' War contained 32,000
inhabitants, a number which has now dwindled to 19,000. Its ancient
fortifications, which of late years have been rapidly giving place to
modern improvements, consisted of a double line of walls, guarded by

towers, pierced by strongly-fortified gates, and surrounded by a deep
and wide moat. The ramparts were built of quarried stone, which,
though much harder than sandstone, was far more difficult to bind
together with mortar. In view of this fact, we may well be surprised that
a place so weakly fortified was able for two long months to withstand
the vehement siege operations of the whole Swedish army--an army so
brave and so highly trained in the art of war, that it had subdued many
far stronger fortresses. Yet so it was: how the thing came about, and
what an important part young Conrad, the carpenter's apprentice,
played in these great events, will be found narrated in the following
pages.
* * * * * *
On the 1st of November in the year 1642, a carpenter's apprentice,
Conrad Schmidt by name, passed out at the Erbis Gate of Freiberg,
pushing before him a covered hand-truck. This contained a piece of
carpenter's work that always tells its own sad story--a little child's
coffin. As the truck with its sorrowful burden jolted along over the
rough pavement, the sentry stepped forward from the gate, and asked
inquisitively, 'What have you there, youngster, and where are you off
to?'
'Only a child's coffin for the mill at Erbisdorf.'
'What! has the plague been gleaning among the little brood down
there?'
'The plague!' repeated Conrad, bringing his truck to a stand. 'Well, yes,
something like it. Now-a-days the soldiers are the worst plague, and it
was one of them that put an end to