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294 POLITICAL CONSEQUENCESpeared to be at an end. But the ease with which successhad been obtained, led to new projects.The conquered partyin Bohemia was in connexion withthe Protestants of the empire, and had chosen a king in theperson of the unfortunate Frederic of the Palatinate, whowas chief of the Protestant union. This prince, deprived ofhis hereditary possessions,and under the ban of the empire,was now wanderingas an exile, attended by two adventurers, and a handful of troops. His territory lay openforattack, and seemed to promise a secure booty. Not onlyhis own incapacity, but also that of the other members ofthe union, had been so clearly proved, that it did not seemto require even another battle such as that of Prague, to annihilate the Protestant party especiallyas it had already beenweak enoughto allow itself to be disarmed without opposition.It is probable, however, that the latter object may nothave entered directlyinto the views of the emperorat thattime ;but the more it could be brought forward the greaterwas his temptation and the more :speedily he was opposed,the more confident became the opinion that the supremacywas at stake.But about this time (1621) war broke out again in anof Germanyother country. After a twelve years' truce between Spainand the Netherlands, Philip IV., although but lately cometo the throne, began the contest afresh. And this new waralmost necessarily fed, as it was in turn fed by, the troublesin Germany.In this case, as in the other, religion was the cause ofdifference ;while the houses of Spain and Austria, whichhad long been estranged, had at the accession of FerdinandII. become again so closely united that the interests of thetwo were now the same. The war, then, was carried onhere and in Germany at the same time but with its change:of object it had acquired a higher degree of importancethe subjection of Bohemia was a matter which touchedAustria alone ;that of Germany and the Netherlands was asubject of interest to all Europe.The interference of foreign powers in the German war,was naturally to be expected under these circumstances ;and France, above all, must have found in its ancient rivalrywith Austria abundant reasons for preventing the supe-