This seemed to be the finishing blow.  Rhodolph, now sixty years of age, enfeebled and emaciated by disease and melancholy, threw himself upon his bed to die.  Death, so often invoked in vain by the miserable, came to his aid.  He welcomed its approach.  To those around his bed he remarked,

“When a youth, I experienced the most exquisite pleasure in returning from Spain to my native country.  How much more joyful ought I to be when I am about to be delivered from the calamities of human nature, and transferred to a heavenly country where there is no change of time, and where no sorrow can enter!”

In the tomb let him be forgotten.

CHAPTER XV.

MATTHIAS.

From 1612 to 1619.

Matthias Elected Emperor of Germany.—­His despotic Character.—­His Plans thwarted.—­Mulheim.—­Gathering Clouds.—­Family Intrigue.—­Coronation of Ferdinand.—­His Bigotry.—­Henry, Count of Thurn.—­Convention at Prague.—­The King’s Reply.—­The Die cast.—­Amusing Defense of an Outrage.—­Ferdinand’s Manifesto.—­Seizure of Cardinal Kleses.—­The King’s Rage.—­Retreat of the King’s Troops.—­Humiliation of Ferdinand.—­The Difficulties referred.—­Death of Matthias.

Upon the death of Rhodolph, Matthias promptly offered himself as a candidate for the imperial crown.  But the Catholics, suspicious of Matthias, in consequence of his connection with the Protestants, centered upon the Archduke Albert, sovereign of the Netherlands, as their candidate.  Many of the Protestants, also, jealous of the vast power Matthias was attaining, and not having full confidence in his integrity, offered their suffrages to Maximilian, the younger brother of Matthias.  But notwithstanding this want of unanimity, political intrigue removed all difficulties and Matthias was unanimously elected Emperor of Germany.

The new emperor was a man of renown.  His wonderful achievements had arrested the attention of Europe, and it was expected that in his hands the administration of the empire would be conducted with almost unprecedented skill and vigor.  But clouds and storms immediately began to lower around the throne.  Matthias had no spirit of toleration in his heart, and every tolerant act he had assented to, had been extorted from him.  He was, by nature, a despot, and most reluctantly, for the sake of grasping the reins of power, he had relinquished a few of the royal prerogatives.  He had thus far evaded many of the claims which had been made upon him, and which he had partially promised to grant, and now, being both king and emperor, he was disposed to grasp all power, both secular and religious, which he could attain.