War，andhadsplendidlylostittoGustavusAdolphus，andthengotitbackagainandheldittillNapoleontookitfromthem。HegaveitwiththeirflocktotheBavarians，whointurnbrieflyyieldedittothePrussiansin1866，andwerenowinapparentlyfinalpossessionofit。
Beforetheprince-bishops，CharlemagneandBarbarossahadcomeandgone，andsincetheprince-bishopstherehadbeenvisitingthronesandkingdomsenoughintheancientcity，whichwassoontobeillustratedbythepresenceofimperialGermany，royal，WirtembergandSaxony，grand-ducalBadenandWeimar，andasurfeitofalltheminorpotentatesamongthosewhospeakthebeautifullanguageoftheJa。
Butnoneofthesecoulddislodgetheprince-bishopsfromthatsupremeplacewhichtheyhadatoncetakeninMrs。March’sfancy。Thepotentateswereallgoingtobehousedinthevastpalacewhichtheprince-bishopshadbuiltthemselvesinWurzburgassoonastheyfounditsafetocomedownfromtheirstrongholdofMarienburg，andbegintoadorntheircity，andtoconfirmitinitsintensefidelitytotheChurch。TiepolohadcomeupoutofItalytofrescotheirpalace，wherehewroughtyearafteryear，inthatworldlytastewhichhassomehowcometoexpressthemostsovereignmomentofecclesiasticism。ItprevailedsouniversallyinWurzburgthatitleftherwiththenameoftheRococoCity，intrenchedinaperiodoftimeequallyremotefromearlyChristianityandmodernProtestantism。Outofhersixtythousandsouls，onlytenthousandarenowofthereformedreligion，andthesebearaboutthesamerelationtotheCatholicspiritoftheplacethattheGothicarchitecturebearstothebaroque。
Aslongastheprince-bishopslastedtheWurzburgersgotonverywellwithbutonenewspaper，andperhapsthesmallestamountofmerrymakingknownoutsideofthecolonyofMassachusettsBayatthesameepoch。Theprince-bishopshadtheirfingerineverybody’spie，andtheyportionedoutthecakesandale，whichweremadeaccordingtoformulasoftheirown。Thedistractionswereallofareligiouscharacter；churches，convents，monasteries，abounded；ecclesiasticalprocessionsandsolemnitieswerethespectaclesthatedifiediftheydidnotamusethedevoutpopulation。
ItseemedtoMarchanironicaloutcomeofallthisspiritualseveritythatoneofthegreatestmodernscientificdiscoveriesshouldhavebeenmadeinWurzburg，andthattheRoentgenraysshouldnowbegivinghernameasplendordestinedtoeclipsethegloriesofherpast。