As a sect they have long since
vanished, while the only trace of their influence is to be seen in those
recent sects that hold the doctrine of adult baptism.
The history of mankind presents no parallel tale to that we have told.
It was an instance of insanity placed in power, of lunacy ruling over
ignorance and fanaticism; and the doings of John of Leyden in Muenster
may be presented as an example alike of the mad extremes to which
unquestioned power is apt to lead, and the vast capabilities of faith
and trust which exist in uneducated man.
_THE FORTUNES OF WALLENSTEIN._
[Illustration: WALLENSTEIN.]
Wallenstein was in power, Wallenstein the mysterious, the ambitious, the
victorious; soldier of fortune and arbiter of empires; reader of the
stars and ally of the powers of darkness; poor by birth and rich by
marriage and imperial favor; an extraordinary man, surrounded by mystery
and silence, victorious through ability and audacity, rising from
obscurity to be master of the emperor, and falling at length by the hand
of assassination.
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