As was to be expected, such wrongs and perils called out an avenger.  Matthew Henry, Count of Thurn, was one of the most illustrious and wealthy of the Bohemian nobles.  He had long been a warm advocate of the doctrines of the Reformation; and having, in the wars with the Turks, acquired a great reputation for military capacity and courage, and being also a man of great powers of eloquence, and of exceedingly popular manners, he had become quite the idol of the Protestant party.  He had zealously opposed the election of Ferdinand to the throne of Bohemia, and had thus increased that jealousy and dislike with which both Matthias and Ferdinand had previously regarded so formidable an opponent.  He was, in consequence, very summarily deprived of some very important dignities.  This roused his impetuous spirit, and caused the Protestants more confidingly to rally around him as a martyr to their cause.

The Count of Thurn, as prudent as he was bold, as deliberate as he was energetic, aware of the fearful hazard of entering into hostilities with the sovereign who was at the same time king of all the Austrian realms, and Emperor of Germany, conferred with the leading Protestant princes, and organized a confederacy so strong that all the energies of the empire could with difficulty crush it.  They were not disposed to make any aggressive movements, but to defend their rights if assailed.  The inhabitants of a town in the vicinity of Prague began to erect a church for Protestant worship.  The Roman Catholic bishop, who presided over that diocese, forbade them to proceed.  They plead a royal edict, which authorized them to erect the church, and continued their work, regardless of the prohibition.  Count Thurn encouraged them to persevere, promising them ample support.  The bishop appealed to the Emperor Matthias.  He also issued his prohibition; but aware of the strength of the Protestants, did not venture to attempt to enforce it by arms.  Ferdinand, however, was not disposed to yield to this spirit, and by his influence obtained an order, demanding the immediate surrender of the church to the Catholics, or its entire demolition.  The bishop attempted its destruction by an armed force, but the Protestants defended their property, and sent a committee to Matthias, petitioning for a revocation of the mandate.  These deputies were seized and imprisoned by the king, and an imperial force was sent to the town, Brunau, to take possession of the church.  From so small a beginning rose the Thirty Years’ War.

Count Thurn immediately summoned a convention of six delegates from each of the districts, called circles in Bohemia.  The delegates met at Prague on the 16th of March, 1618.  An immense concourse of Protestants from all parts of the surrounding country accompanied the delegates to the capital.  Count Thurn was a man of surpassing eloquence, and seemed to control at will all the passions of the human heart.  In the boldest strains of eloquence he addressed the