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diff --git a/77398-0.txt b/77398-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c9ef4b7 --- /dev/null +++ b/77398-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9182 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77398 *** + + + + + CRIMES + OF THE + HOUSE OF AUSTRIA + AGAINST MANKIND. + + PROVED BY EXTRACTS + + FROM THE HISTORIES OF COXE, SCHILLER, ROBERTSON, GRATTAN, AND SISMONDI, + WITH MRS. M. L. PUTNAM’S HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF HUNGARY, AND ITS + RELATIONS WITH AUSTRIA, PUBLISHED IN MAY, 1850. + + EDITED + BY E. P. PEABODY. + + =Second Edition.= + + NEW-YORK: + G. P. PUTNAM, 10 PARK PLACE. + 1852. + + + + + Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1852, + BY RODOLPHE GARRIQUE, + In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the + Southern District of New-York. + + + + + PREFACE + OF + SECOND EDITION. + + +This work was first published for the benefit of the Hungarian Fund, on +the understanding (which proved a misunderstanding), of a certain +autograph acknowledgment which failed to arrive at the time expected. + +Those who had the care of the publication consequently took the liberty, +without the leave or knowledge of the Editor, who was absent, to +mutilate the correspondence that formed the Preface, making it +irrelevant within itself, and insignificant altogether. The Preface is +therefore wholly left out in this edition, and an Analytic Index is +prefixed; and the stereotypes have passed into the hands of the present +publisher, who republishes it, confident that these important passages +of unquestionable history will benefit the Hungarian cause, by showing +its necessity and justice, although it is impossible to benefit the +Hungarian Fund by the proceeds of the work. + + + + + ANALYTICAL INDEX. + + + Biographical Notices of Rodolphe of Hapsburgh, 4; + of Albert I., 15; + Frederic & Leopold, 22; + Albert II., 24; + Rodolphe & Frederic, 31; + Albert III. & Leopold II., 32; + Albert V., 39; + Sigismund, 40; + Charles V., 51; + Ferdinand I., 62; + Philip II., 143; + Ferdinand II., 79; + Leopold I., Emperor, 188; + Joseph I., 190; + Charles VI., 191; + Maria Theresa, 179 & 192; + Joseph II., 160 & 192; + Leopold II., 193; + Francis, 196. + + Destruction of Constitutional Rights of Austria and Styria, 16; 20; 44. + + Attempted destruction of those of Switzerland, 16; 20; 32; 40 to 48. + + Destruction of those of Bohemia, 17; 39; 64. + + Italy and its Conquered Rights, 91–110. + + Netherlands do. do., 136–174. + + Poland and its Partition, 176–181. + + Hungary, and the War upon its Constitution, 20; 39; 62; 182–230. + + + + + ERRATA. + + + Rulhire for _Rulhière_, pp. 176 & 177. + Philip II. for _III._, last line of p. 148. + + + + + CRIMES + OF + THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA + AGAINST MANKIND. + + +Frederic Schlegel, in that extraordinary piece of sophistry, called the +Philosophy of History, would have it “that the final cause of the +Universe was to build up the Romano-Germanic Empire as the Metropolis +and bulwark of _Christendom_.” + +This work, the substance of a course of eighteen lectures, delivered in +Vienna, has little chance of making any great impression on mankind; for +the genius which in his younger days guided SCHLEGEL in surveying the +literatures of the world, and inspired his eloquent account of them, +seems naturally enough to have deserted him, when he yoked himself as a +drayhorse to the car of despotism and superstition. Nothing short of +imperial authority could have compelled any human audience to have +endured eighteen lectures of such dark metaphysics; but this, as we are +exultingly told, was abundantly exerted, even by example, for the +Imperial family attended in person! + +That “Might makes Right” is a principle asserted not exclusively by the +House of Austria, or rather by the _House of Hapsburgh_; (for we must +not entirely absorb Austria in the House of Hapsburgh. Recent events +have shown that Austria also has an entity of its own, and that so far +as it exists, it has interests antagonistic to those of the reigning +family). + +But the Imperial House makes pretensions which especially challenge +mankind to bring it to the bar for righteous judgment. From the day when +Rodolph the First wrote to Pope Gregory X. to confirm his election to +the Empire, even to the present hour, this family has professed to be +the elect Servant of the Most High, for the benefit of Mankind. Out of +its own mouth shall it be judged. + +“_Conscious_,” says Rodolph, in that memorable document, “_of my own +deficiency, and trembling with astonishment and fear, I hesitated +whether I should accept so eminent a station_; until, at length, +_trusting in Him_, who in the high and ineffable decrees of his +Providence, changes as He wills the condition of mortals, _adds strength +to the feeble and gives eloquence to the simple, I assumed courage +sufficient to venture, weak as I am_, upon so laborious and difficult an +office, hoping that neither _the grace of God_, nor the favour _of His +Holy Church_, nor your paternal affection will be wanting to me. +_Turning, therefore, all my thoughts to Him_ under whose authority we +live, and placing all my expectations on you alone, I fall down before +the feet of your Holiness, beseeching you, with the most earnest +supplications, to favour me with your accustomed kindness in my present +undertaking; and that you will deign _by your mediation with the Most +High_ to support _my cause, which I may truly call the cause of the +whole German Empire, that He may condescend to direct my steps according +to His will, and lead me in the ways of His commandments_. That I may be +enabled therefore, successfully to perform _what is most acceptable to +Him and to His_ Holy Church, may it graciously please your Holiness to +crown me with the Imperial Diadem, for I trust I am both able and +willing to undertake and accomplish whatever you and the Holy Church +shall think proper to impose upon me.” + +Such is the great and solemn pretension. And now in the first place +mankind asks, who art thou, Rodolph of Hapsburgh, professing thyself +humbly and unwillingly to be taking upon thyself the cares of Empire, +out of mere devotion to God and to the human race whom God would lead, +as a bridegroom leads his bride to the altar, giving himself to her and +for her? Has then the Christian Charity which is greater than Faith and +Hope and “_seeketh not her own_,” marked thy life’s conduct up to this +time? And what are the conditions of the compact between thyself and the +earthly representative of the Divine Providence? Are they that thou +shalt enquire into the genius and institutions of all the nations that +shall be united under thee, with a view to vindicate to every man the +liberty wherewith Christ would make him free; to give scope for the +perfect development of every material resource of the countries they +inhabit, and of every intellectual and moral opportunity that the Past, +the Present, and the Future shall present? + +Thine own words challenge the enquiry; the pretensions of all thy +posterity, ever renewed, repeat the challenge. From the mountains of +Switzerland, from the plains of Italy, from the rocks of Catalonia, from +ruined and emasculated Bohemia, from partitioned Poland, from long +betrayed though ever generous Hungary, even from thine own Tyrol and +Styria, and Austria, come up the accusers, and impartial History gives +utterance in some small measure to the voice of their manifold +accusation. + +The present volume will principally consist of a series of extracts from +different historical works, in which the crimes of the House of +Hapsburgh against liberty and law are _incidentally_ related. There +seems to be a call, just now, that the testimony of History upon this +subject should be laid before the American people. Their heart is +touched by the events of the last three years, and it is well that their +sensibility should have the support of their reason, enlightened by the +truth, that they may not be the victims of every newspaper paragraph +which venal partisans of the cause of legitimacy in Europe may have the +art to insinuate into the current periodicals; and which presume upon +the common ignorance in this country, of the details of European +history, that comes to us at best only through books written more or +less in the spirit of monarchy. A history of Europe written from the +republican point of view, a history of nations and not of their +governors, is the desideratum for the people of these United States. But +such a work requires both genius and integrity of soul to conceive, and +a vast industry properly to execute, the discovery of the exact truth +being infinitely the greatest part of the labor required. We may only +avail ourselves at this moment of such history as is written, and if +something of the force of the statement is lost by the fragmentary +nature of our work, on the other hand something will be gained to the +argument from the consideration, that the passages brought as witnesses +were not written primarily to serve the object to which we direct them. +They are largely taken from conservative writings. Archdeacon Coxe +gathered his materials in Vienna, and himself states that “to this +family Europe owes its preservation,” and that it has “formed the great +bulwark of political freedom!” To the tissue of violence and rapacity +which forms the life of each successive head of the family, he always +appends an EULOGY, sometimes ludicrously in contrast with the facts he +has related, but which is presumptive evidence that he would not make +those facts worse than they were. From the first chapter of his History +of the House of Austria we extract the origin of the family, with a +memoir which elucidates the personal character of the author of the +letter to the pope, quoted above. We abridge all we extract by making as +many omissions as possible; but the exploring of the sources from which +we make our extracts will show that the omissions in no instance falsify +the facts related. We purposely leave out the false coloring which the +author’s own remarks sometimes give to these facts, together with the +numerous episodes which make the narrative heavy, and weaken the moral +impression of it, by scattering and wearying the attention. + +Ethico, Duke of Alsace in the seventh century, and Guntram, Count of +Alsace and Brisgau in the tenth century, were the most important +ancestors of the House of Hapsburgh. Guntram’s grandson Werner, bishop +of Strasburg, built the castle which gives name to the House, near +Windisch, the site of the Roman colony, Vindonessa; and a nephew of his, +likewise named Werner, took the title of Count of Hapsburgh in 1046. A +Count of Hapsburgh, called Albert IV., went on a crusade in 1232, and +died at Askalon in 1240. He was the father of the great founder of the +imperial power of the family. + +“Rodolph was born in 1218, probably at the ancient castle of Limburgh, +or Limper in Brisgau, on the confines of Alsace, and was presented at +the font by the Emperor Frederic II., to whose house he was distantly +allied. Under the auspices of his warlike father he passed his youth in +the court and camp of Frederic II., and was initiated at an early age in +the use of arms. He was trained to wrestling and running, was skilled in +horsemanship, excelled in throwing the javelin, and being endowed with +great strength and vigor, gave eminent proofs of superiority over his +companions in all military exercises. + +“On the death of his father, Rodolph inherited only the Landgraviate of +Upper Alsace, the Burgraviate of Rheinfelden, and in conjunction with +his brothers, succeeded to the County of Hapsburgh, the inhabitants of +which being free, were exempted from arbitrary taxes; to some scattered +domains in Suabia and Brisgau; and the advocacies or prefectureships of +a few of the neighboring towns and districts. Though in possession of +such confined territories, Rodolph followed the example of the German +princes, who considered peace as inglorious, _and sought to aggrandise +their fortunes by pillage or conquest_. He maintained a splendid +establishment, formed a chosen band of troops, collected adventurers +from all nations, more than his scanty revenues would support; and eager +to signalise himself in arms, gave full scope to his enterprising +genius. For some time he found no respite from war; he was either +engaged in protecting the surrounding states from the incursions of +banditti and depredations of the powerful barons, or _under various +pretences invading the possessions of others_, and defending his own +property from the encroachments of ambitious neighbours. + +“The first of his exploits in his native country was in 1242, against +Hugh of Tuffenstein, a young baron, who had provoked his resentment by +contumelious expressions. Rodolph invested a fortress of considerable +strength belonging to his adversary, and having failed in attempting to +take it by storm, obtained entrance _by bribing the sentinels_, and made +himself master of the place, notwithstanding the desperate valour of +Hugh, who was killed in the defence. + +“He next turned his arms against his uncle and guardian Rodolph of +Lauffenburg, whom he accused of embezzling a part of his patrimony. He +found, however, an intrepid and enterprising opponent in his cousin +Godfrey, the son of Rodolph: and after carrying havoc into each other’s +territories, the two relatives effected a reconciliation, by which +Rodolph obtained some compensation for his demands. This accommodation +was succeeded by an intimate friendship between the two youthful heroes, +who in this short contest had learned to admire and emulate each other. + +“We next find Rodolph engaged in hostilities with his uncle Hartman, +count of Kyburgh. The dominions of the House of Kyburgh were at this +time jointly possessed by Hartman the elder, second son of Ulric, and +his nephew Hartman the younger. In order to find resources for the pay +of his retainers, Rodolph had obtained from his uncle a sum of money as +the arrears of his mother’s portion. Encouraged by the facility with +which he succeeded in this demand, and pressed by his necessities, he +made further exactions, and at length claimed a considerable part of the +territories belonging to the two Hartmans. This claim being rejected he +instantly invaded, in 1244, the dominions of Hartman the elder, occupied +Baden, Winterthur, and Mersburgh, extorted a considerable largess as the +price of their restoration, and a promise, that should his uncle and +cousin die without issue male, the possessions of the House of Kyburgh +should revert to him. _By this violence_ he indeed obtained a sum of +money for his immediate necessities; but forfeited the affections of his +uncle, and nearly lost the territories which he was entitled to inherit; +for Hartman, with the consent of his nephew, transferred to the bishop +of Strasburgh the counties of Baden, Lentzburgh, and Kyburgh, and +received them in return for himself and his nephew as fiefs of the see. + +“The chronicles, which detail his minutest actions, scarcely again +mention him till the year 1253, when he, engaged with other nobles of +the Imperial or Ghibeline party against Bertold, bishop of Basle, +_penetrated into the suburbs of the city by night, and burnt a nunnery_, +for which he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV. It was probably to +obtain the revocation of this sentence, that we find him serving under +Ottocar, king of Bohemia, against the Prussians, a (Slavonian) people +then in a state of paganism, _who were defending their liberties_, in +opposition to the Teutonic knights, and against whom the pope had +published a crusade. He afterwards assisted Ottocar in his war with +Bela, king of Hungary; and perhaps had a share in the complete victory +which insured to the king of Bohemia the possession of Austria and +Styria, and confined Bela within the limits of Hungary. + +“On his return to his native country he was involved in a series of wars +in Alsace and Switzerland. Finding the bishop and citizens of Strasburgh +in open hostilities against each other, he assisted the bishop, +signalised himself by his valour and activity, and _compelled the +citizens_ to conclude a truce. At the same time he effected a +reconciliation with his uncle Hartman, who, pleased with his change of +conduct, and struck with his rising fame, endeavoured to recover from +the bishop of Strasburgh the deed of donation which he had made of his +territories. Rodolph urged the same request to the bishop during the +truce, recapitulated his services, and tendered his future assistance; +but meeting with a refusal, he replied, “Since you pay no regard to the +greatest services, and seem inclined rather to offend than conciliate +your friends, Rodolph of Hapsburgh, instead of your ally, is become your +most inveterate enemy.” Laying his hand on his sword, he added, “While I +am master of this weapon, neither you nor any other person shall wrest +from me those dominions, which I am to inherit by right of my mother; +and since, in contradiction to every principle of justice, you grasp at +the possessions of others, know that you shall shortly lose your own.” +Nor was this threat uttered in vain; for in 1259 the citizens of +Strasburgh, availing themselves of the breach, requested Rodolph to +accept the supremacy of their city, and the command of their troops. He +joyfully received this well-timed offer, and repairing to take +possession of his new charge, the inhabitants went out in crowds to meet +their deliverer, hailed him as a person sent by heaven, and considered +his presence as a sure omen of victory. + +“By espousing the cause of the citizens, Rodolph acted with _equal +prudence and judgment_. The citizens in those days were mostly soldiers, +accustomed to defend their liberties against the vexations of their own +nobles, and of the neighboring barons. They were animated with an +undaunted spirit; from the nature of their governments, they were more +subject to control, and more obedient to military order than the lawless +retainers of the nobles; and their industry and commerce supplied the +means of supporting the burdens of war. From their instruction in public +schools, and from the force of example, their minds were more +enlightened, their comprehension keener, and they were more calculated +for those ambuscades, feints, and stratagems, of which the art of war at +that time principally consisted. Rodolph, in the character of their +captain, general, or advocate, won their confidence and esteem. +_Assisted by their spirit, and supported by their riches, he was enabled +to humble the rivals of his power._ + +“Among others the citizens of Zurich, in 1265, chose him as their +prefect, and invested him with the command of their troops; and this +appointment involved him in a war with the count of Regensberg, and a +formidable confederacy of the neighboring barons, _which highly +contributed to his subsequent greatness_. + +“During the troubles of the interregnum in the German empire, the +burghers of Zurich, which was an imperial city, had gradually acquired +considerable privileges, and began to assume the administration of their +own affairs. In order to strengthen themselves against the power of the +nobles, they contracted alliances with the sister republics, and +endeavored to secure a protector among their neighboring princes. For +this purpose they despatched an embassy to Lutold, baron of Regensberg, +whose territories almost surrounded Zurich, and extended along the +eastern shore of the lake, as far as Rapperschwyl. Lutold answered the +messengers with scorn: ‘Tell your citizens that Zurich is surrounded by +my subjects as a fish in a net; let the inhabitants surrender themselves +to me, and I will govern them with mildness.’ In this strait the +citizens turned to Rodolph of Hapsburgh, who accepted their offer, +repaired to Zurich, and assumed the command. Undaunted by the +confederacy which Lutold had formed with the count of Tockenburgh, and +other neighboring barons, he placed his hopes of success in celerity and +decision. He collected his own troops and those of Zurich; drew +assistance from the cities of Alsace, and the circle of the Lower Rhine; +summoned to his standard the mountaineers of Uri, Schwyz, and +Underwalden, and marched against the enemy.” + +We omit the details of his success in this instance, and of his +surprising the castles of Balder, and of Utleberg. + +“After a series of similar stratagems, sieges, and other engagements, +his arms were crowned with repeated successes; and the confederate +barons, struck with terror, exclaimed, ‘All opposition is fruitless! +Rodolph is invincible!’” + +It was when Rodolph was engaged in a war, growing out of his possession +of Kyburgh, whose details we omit, that having retired to his tent, he +was awakened at midnight by his nephew Frederic of Hohenzollern, +burgrave of Nuremberg, with the intelligence that he was unanimously +chosen King of the Romans by the electors of Germany. In the first +moments of surprise, Rodolph could not give credit to this unexpected +intelligence; and even expressed his indignation against the burgrave +for attempting to deceive and insult him. “Convinced, however, by his +solemn protestations, and by letters from the electors, he recovered +from his surprise, and _joyfully accepted the proffered dignity_. The +news of his election being quickly disseminated, the citizens of Basle +opened their gates, notwithstanding the remonstrances of the bishop. ‘We +have taken arms,’ they said, ‘against Rodolph, Count of Hapsburgh, and +not against the King of the Romans.’ The bishop acceded to terms of +peace, the prisoners on both sides were released, and Rodolph’s +followers admitted in triumph. The new sovereign was received amidst +general acclamations; the citizens took the oath of fidelity, and +presented him with a considerable largess towards defraying the expenses +of his coronation. The bishop, chagrined at the success and elevation of +his rival, struck his forehead with vexation, and profanely exclaimed, +“Sit fast, great God, or Rodolph will occupy thy throne!” + +We omit the account which Coxe gives of the general state of Germany as +aside from our purpose. He proceeds to tell us that in an unfavorable +aspect of affairs, the electors met at Frankfort in September 1273, and +two candidates presented themselves, Alphonso King of Castile, and +Ottocar King of Bohemia; but, contrary to all expectation, the +nomination fell on Rodolph, Count of Hapsburgh. + +“Many circumstances contributed to favor his advancement, among which +the most effectual were the views and interests of the seven electors, +by whom the right of nomination was at this time assumed; namely, the +Archbishops of Mentz, Cologne, and Treves, the King of Bohemia, Otho +Margrave of Brandenburgh, Albert Duke of Saxony, and Louis Duke of +Bavaria and Count Palatine, who seems to have possessed a joint vote +with his brother Henry. Of these, the most strenuous in the cause of +Rodolph was Werner of Eppenstein, Elector of Mentz. On his nomination to +the archiepiscopal see of Mentz, Werner had repaired to Rome, in order +to receive the confirmation of his office, and the pallium from the +hands of the Pope; and as the road was infested with banditti, he was +escorted by Rodolph himself across the Alps, and treated on his return +with equal cordiality and magnificence. Werner, captivated by his +attentions, character, and talents, expressed a wish that he might live +to repay the obligation. Such an opportunity now presented itself, and +Werner used all his influence to secure the nomination of Rodolph. He +secretly gained the Electors of Cologne and Treves; and found means to +influence the secular Electors, by the prospect of a matrimonial +alliance with their future chief, who had six daughters unmarried. His +intrigues and recommendation were strongly supported by Frederic of +Hohenzollern, the friend and relation of Rodolph, who had great +influence with the secular electors, contributed to remove all +obstacles, and concluded the negotiation in his name. + +“The peculiar situation of Louis the Severe, Duke of Bavaria, induced +him to accept the hand of Matilda, eldest daughter of Rodolph. He had +espoused Mary, princess of Brabant, and on a vague suspicion of +infidelity had put her to death. Although he had received absolution +from Pope Alexander IV., on condition of founding a convent of +Chartreux, yet discontents still prevailing among the Bavarian nobles, +who were convinced of Mary’s innocence, rendered him apprehensive of the +interference of a future emperor. For this reason he received with joy +the proposal of Matilda in marriage; and agreed to support the +nomination of a prince, whose interests would be thus strongly connected +with his own. Two of the other secular Electors, Albert of Saxony and +Otho of Brandenburgh, were likewise gained by the hope of espousing +Agnes and Hedwig. + +“The character and situation of the Count of Hapsburgh were admirably +suited for the emergency, and to the views of the Electors, who desired +an emperor, but dreaded a master. His great civil and military talents +rendered him a fit person to direct the reins of government, while from +the comparatively small extent of his possessions, he was not deemed +sufficiently powerful to wrest from the Electors those fiefs which they +had appropriated during the troubles of the empire, or to rule Germany +with the same despotic sway as the great chiefs of the Houses of +Franconia and Suabia. + +“Werner having succeeded in obtaining six voices, artfully proposed that +the princes should abide by the nomination of Louis of Bavaria. He +either gained the consent of the Bohemian ambassadors to this +compromise, by insinuating that the choice would fall on Ottocar, or +prevailed on the other Electors to reject his vote, and to allow two +voices to the Bavarian princes. Louis accordingly nominated Rodolph of +Hapsburgh; the protests and remonstrances of the Bohemian ambassadors +were disregarded, and the election of Rodolph declared unanimous by the +concurrence of the seven Electors. The new King of the Romans was +inaugurated at Aix-la-Chapelle, with the ancient crown of Charlemagne; +and the ceremony was followed by the marriage of his two daughters, +Matilda and Agnes, with Louis of Bavaria and Albert Duke of Saxony, +which increased his weight and influence, and secured to him the +assistance of those powerful princes. + +“His situation was full of difficulty and danger. He was threatened with +the vengeance of his disappointed rival Ottocar, and he was opposed by +the Anti-Cæsar, Alphonso of Castile; both of whom refused to acknowledge +his election, and sent ambassadors with large presents, to obtain the +countenance of the Pope. Fully sensible therefore of the perils with +which he was surrounded, Rodolph did not rely on the unanimity of his +election, nor on his coronation at Aix-la-Chapelle; but turned his first +and principal attention to secure the ratification of the reigning +pontiff. It was on this occasion he wrote the letter to Gregory X. +already quoted. + +“The ambassadors of Rodolph were received with complacency by the Pope, +and obtained his sanction by agreeing in the name of their master to the +same conditions which Otho IV. and Frederic II. had sworn to observe, +_i. e._, by confirming all the donations of the emperors, his +predecessors, to the papal see; by promising to accept no office or +dignity in any of the papal territories, particularly in the city of +Rome, without the consent of the Pope; by agreeing not to disturb, nor +permit the house of Anjou to be disturbed in the possession of Naples +and Sicily, which they held as fiefs from the Roman see; and by engaging +to undertake in person a crusade against the infidels. In consequence of +these concessions, Gregory gave the new King of the Romans his most +cordial support, refused to listen to the overtures of Ottocar, and +after much difficulty finally succeeded in persuading Alphonso to +renounce his pretensions to the Imperial dignity.” + +The foregoing extract is a commentary on the letter to the Pope first +quoted. We must now proceed to illustrate the career of Rodolph and his +successors, as _Emperors_, in order to show how the system of rapine +which had marked his private action, became the rule thereafter, in +spite of the prayers which he craved from the Pope, that the most High +_should lead him_ in the ways _of His commandments, to successfully +perform what is most acceptable to Him_! + +And here we must draw a distinction. Rodolph contended in the spirit of +rapine with other kings animated by the same spirit, and his successors +do the same. We do not care to examine all these struggles of +selfishness with selfishness. What we wish to select from history, is +the contest of these rulers with the liberty and welfare of _the +nations_, the possession of which was the subject matter of dispute. It +is impossible by means of any history yet written, or indeed for any +thing short of the imagination of a humane heart, to conceive all the +sufferings and oppressions and injustice done to the people, whose +territories were the theatres of these struggles, whose laboriously +acquired property supported the combatants, and who themselves were +constrained to become combatants in battles where even victory brought +them no benefits. We shall especially dwell upon the direct invasion of +the Constitutions and natural rights of nations, and the most salient +calamities inflicted in these ever renewing wars of selfish ambition. + +Rodolph’s first contest was with Ottocar, king of Bohemia, his old +friend, but who had been a rival for the imperial crown, and now refused +to accept Rodolph as Emperor. + +Ottocar was then the most powerful prince of Europe. “For his dominions +extended from the confines of Bavaria to Raab in Hungary, and from the +Adriatic to the shores of the Baltic.” He had himself acquired Styria, +Austria, Carniola, and Carinthia. He had also the alliance of Henry of +Bavaria. + +But Rodolph was not daunted by Ottocar’s power. He began upon Henry of +Bavaria, and forcing him to renounce his alliance with Ottocar, attached +him to himself by giving his daughter Hedwig to Otho, son of Henry, +promising a part of Upper Austria for her portion. He then conquered +Austria, while he employed Meinhard of Tyrol to conquer Styria and +Carinthia, and ended with himself laying siege to Vienna. The result of +all in the end was nothing less than that Ottocar renounced all his +claims to Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, and Windischmark, and +delivered up to the king of Hungary all the places he had formerly +wrested from him with Rodolph’s own assistance, doing homage to Rodolph, +kneeling, for Bohemia and Moravia, of which he obtained from him the +investiture. + +Immediately after this Rodolph established his own family in the +Austrian dominions, by persuading the Archbishop of Saltzburgh and the +bishops of Passau, Freysinger, and Bamberg, to confer on his sons, +Albert, Hartman, and Rodolph, the ecclesiastical fiefs held by the duke +of Austria. + +“In order to reward his retainers,” says Coxe, “_he was compelled to lay +considerable impositions on his new subjects_, and to obtain free gifts +from the bishops and clergy; and the discontents arising from this, +probably induced Ottocar to attempt the recovery of the territories +which he had lost. So desperate did Rodolph then find his affairs, and +so little had he gained of real power, or made his allies and new people +feel that their interests were identified with his success, that he +frequently exclaimed, says Coxe, “that there was not one in whom he +could confide, or on whose advice he could depend,” and, in the words of +a contemporary chronicle, “all his family ran to confessors, arranged +their affairs, forgave their enemies, and received the communion.” + +In these desperate circumstances he roused himself to conciliate the +city of Vienna by declaring it an imperial city, and then, with the +assistance of the king of Hungary, at the battle of Marchfield, defeated +Ottocar, who was taken prisoner and killed in cold blood, (not, however, +by the hand or with the consent of Rodolph). A peace ensued, for Rodolph +was afraid to retain the Hungarian army in his dominions, and he could +not fight without it. He obtained Moravia for five years by the treaty +of peace; his son-in-law Otho became regent for the infant son of +Ottocar, while his son Rodolph married the Bohemian princess Agnes, and +his two daughters were affianced to the young king of Bohemia, and to +Otho the Less. After this, some time was spent in transferring the +Austrian territories to his family, in which operation he found many +difficulties; but at length he succeeded, and with the consent of the +States of Austria, declared that duchy and Styria an indivisible domain, +and vested its sole administration in his son Albert. + +But even before the second war with Ottocar was over, we find Rodolph in +Italy. He had indeed yielded to the conditions made by Pope Gregory X. +not to interfere with the house of Anjou in Naples, or to claim any +authority over the papal territories; but in less than two years after +Gregory’s death, he attempted, the revival of the imperial authority in +Italy. The decided action of Nicholas III. who threatened him with +excommunication, induced him, however, to give up this enterprise; and +to reward his compliance, Nicholas induced Charles, King of Naples, to +resign the vicariate of Tuscany to Rodolph, receiving in exchange the +investiture of Provence and Tourcalquier _as fiefs of the_ EMPIRE, for +which acts of homage Rodolph, on the other hand, affianced his daughter +Clementia to Charles Martel of Naples. But, after all, Rodolph could not +revive the imperial authority in Tuscany, on account of the secret +action of Naples, and not being sure of success, he with great judgment +let the matter rest, “and indemnified himself,” says Coxe, “by drawing +considerable sums from Lucca and other cities, for the confirmation and +extension of their privileges;” thus making them pay for retaining their +own rights. + +The rest of Rodolph’s life was taken up in what Coxe calls “establishing +the internal tranquillity of the empire,” for which he is much lauded: +for, in doing this, he put down the power of many oppressive barons. At +one time “he condemned to death nine and twenty nobles of the most +illustrious families in Thuringia, who had broken the public peace; and +he razed in one year seventy castles and strongholds, the habitation of +banditti, or of powerful nobles worse than banditti.” He was also +“zealous to wrest from the princes those fiefs which they had +appropriated during the troubles of the war.” Coxe gives an account of +these expeditions, and the circumstances of each particular case. We +extract one paragraph, which seems to indicate that, in all this action +for the “tranquillity of the empire,” Rodolph was animated by something +else than the pure motive of saving the people from the exactions of the +barons. + +“With the view of extending his influence in Switzerland, Rodolph +endeavored to gain possession of Berne, which was built by the dukes of +Zæringen, but was afterwards declared an imperial city, and during the +interregnum had obtained the protection of the house of Savoy. Under the +pretext that the Bernese had assisted the house of Savoy, and oppressed +the Jews who were fiscals of the empire, he led, in 1288, an army of +30,000 men against the city. But this great man, who had humbled the +pride of Ottocar, and depressed the powerful house of Savoy and +Burgundy, was foiled by the firmness and spirit of this rising republic; +and after an ineffectual attempt to set fire to the town, he +relinquished his enterprise. Another expedition in the following year +under his son Albert, though made with the utmost secrecy and address, +was equally frustrated; and his aggrandisement was alone effectually +checked by a petty republic, on the borders of his own territories.” + +The settling of the affairs of Bohemia, which had become intolerable +through the mal-administration of Otho, the regent whom Rodolph had +appointed, seems to have been for the advantage of Bohemia, or at least +of its king; who became distracted at that time (1290) by the contest +for the throne of Charles Martel with Ladislaus, proposed nothing better +for Hungary than his conferring the investiture of it, _as a fief of the +empire_, upon his son Albert! This, it is true, resulted in nothing, as +Albert was too much occupied in settling the dissensions in his own +dominions, to make good his claims (_if claims_ they could be called); +and Andrew III. maintained himself on the throne of his grandfather, to +which the Hungarians had called him. + +It was in vain that Rodolph, when he saw his end approaching, assembled +the German Diet, to choose his son Albert Emperor. He died on the 15th +of July, 1291, with this purpose unfulfilled; having been himself +Emperor nineteen years. Coxe calls his reign glorious, and closes his +memoir of him with a description of his person, and anecdotes to +illustrate his chivalric character. + +It may readily be conceded that Rodolph had the noble qualities and +manners possible to his position and circumstances. But we have given +his life to be judged by another standard than that usually applied to +measure princes; a standard, however, that _his own pretensions of +serving God and His Church_[1] make an equitable one. The House of +Hapsburgh can show nothing better than the life and actions of Rodolph, +its founder, on which to ground its pretensions of divine right. Does +mankind admit the _legitimacy_ of the claim? Does the God of humanity +admit it? + +At the time of the death of Rodolph, Albert, his son, was engaged in +quelling an insurrection in Austria, which he had provoked, says Coxe, +“by his stern and unconciliating manners,” and by arbitrarily conferring +the principal offices of state, and the richest heiresses in the +country, upon his Suabian followers, rather than upon the magnates of +Austria and Styria. The details of the contest it is not worth while to +relate. The end was, that he besieged Vienna, and reduced the +inhabitants by famine “to propose a surrender, when he accepted their +submission.” We always quote the words of Coxe:—“_He commanded the +principal magistrates to repair bareheaded and barefooted to his camp +with their charters, tore them in pieces with his own hands, and +abrogated all those privileges which he deemed injurious to his +authority._” He then reduced the nobles to obedience by means of the +military succour he received from Alsace and Suabia. Immediately +afterwards he put down an insurrection in Styria, by similar means and +with similar success. Albert was, however, disappointed of the imperial +crown. “His splendid talents, powerful connections, and affinity to four +of the electors, seemed to insure the possession of it; but his +arrogance and rapacity, his unconciliating manners and despotic temper, +had alienated some of the electors, while his power excited the jealousy +and alarmed the apprehension of all.” + +On the election of Adolphus of Nassau he was however prudent. The +disappointment disciplined his pride to his advantage, and it was by +means of the wisdom with which he then acted for his own future +interests rather than from his present angry passions that he was +enabled to take advantage of the faults and mistakes of Adolphus, and +form a confederacy of the Electors against him, by which that Emperor +was finally ruined. On the death of Adolphus, Albert was elected. In the +meanwhile he had subdued the first confederacy formed against him by the +Helvetian Republics. The details of this war is a tissue of violence and +cruelty,[2] which was only interrupted by the general amnesty proclaimed +by Adolphus, and which Albert was too prudent to openly defy, surrounded +as he then was by enemies within and without, who would easily have been +encouraged to combine against him. + +The history of Albert next details the beginning of an intrigue made +against Pope Boniface VIII., who had not confirmed his election to the +Empire. This was an alliance with Philip the Handsome, of France, with +whom Boniface was at variance. On his return from the journey Albert +made to France, at this time, 1299, to negotiate this alliance, and +confirm it by affiancing his son Rodolph to Philip’s sister Blanche, he +was induced, by the death of the Count of Holland, to turn aside and +lead an army against the Low Countries, to make good a claim which he +laid to the counties of Holland, Zealand, and Friesland, that really +belonged to John de Avesdes. But the inveterate enmity of the Pope, and +the rising discontents of the Electors of the Rhine, called him to save +his authority in the Empire. He therefore, being defeated by John de +Avesdes, concluded an accommodation, and invested him with the +territories in dispute. + +The promptness and energy with which he reduced the Electors of the +Rhine opened the way to a reconciliation with the Pope, who had asserted +that there was no other sovereign or King of the Romans but the +sovereign pontiff of Christendom. It is true Boniface at first not only +refused to confirm Albert’s authority, but inveighed against him as the +murderer of Adolphus, and released the electors, vassals, and subjects +of the Empire from their oath of allegiance; yet finding himself foiled +in his attempt to shake the authority of the King of France, he changed +his policy, to detach Albert from Philip, by making overtures that +Albert was glad to meet. In short his Boniface removed, by a sovereign +act, all the irregularities of election, and declared him a faithful son +of the Church; while Albert acknowledged on his side that the right of +the electors to choose an emperor was derived from the See of Rome; and +bound himself, by oath, to defend the supremacy of the Church against +all the world; to oppose its enemies, whether kings or emperors; to +renounce the alliances which he had contracted with powers inimical to +the Holy See, and to declare war against them at the orders of Boniface +or his successors. Boniface even excommunicated the King of France, and +gave his crown to Albert! We do not know to what lengths the Pope would +have induced the emperor to go against Philip, to make good this gift, +but the latter prevented any movement by seizing Boniface violently, and +treating him so harshly that he died. + +Albert was now obliged to turn his attention to matters nearer home than +the crown of France. There had long been causes of misunderstanding with +Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia, who in 1300 was elected King of Poland, +where he had previous claims on the duchies of Cracow and Sandomir by +the gift of Griffina, widow of the late duke Lesko. As his first wife, +Albert’s sister, was dead, he married the daughter of Premislaus II. of +Poland, who had died in 1296. Hardly had he obtained this new throne +than his son Wenceslaus was chosen King of Hungary, over Charobert, who +had been invested with that kingdom by Pope Boniface VIII. as a fief of +the Roman see; an interference strongly resented by the Hungarians. +Boniface had thundered a bull of excommunication against the Hungarians +on this occasion; but it being despised, and his legate expelled, he +called on Albert to support Charobert’s cause, who was also his own +nephew. Albert eagerly listened to these overtures, and laid Wenceslaus +under the ban of the empire, seconding the act by arms. The death of +Wenceslaus II. and the accession of his inexperienced and feeble son, +enabled Albert to arrange this affair in his own way; and in a few +years, the death of Wenceslaus III. without issue, awakened in him new +aspirations for power, and he prepared to transfer the crown of Bohemia +into his own family. + +“Like many other kingdoms of Europe, at that period, Bohemia was +considered as an elective monarchy, though the crown was always +continued in the same line, and the eldest son was chosen or confirmed +during the lifetime of the father. Wenceslaus being the last male of the +ancient dynasty, the throne was open to different pretenders. Henry of +Carinthia became a candidate in virtue of his marriage with Anne, eldest +sister of the deceased monarch; but Albert claimed the disposal of the +crown, both as a fief of the empire, and in virtue of the compact +between Rodolph and Wenceslaus II., which entailed Bohemia on the +Austrian family, in default of issue male. He accordingly proposed his +eldest son Rodolph, who strengthened his claims by promising to espouse +Elizabeth[3], widow of Wenceslaus II., and was supported by a powerful +party of the nobles. + +“The States assembled at Prague, and the votes were divided between +Henry of Carinthia, and Rodolph of Austria. The sisters of the late king +came barefooted into the assembly, and supplicated with tears for Henry +of Carinthia; but their entreaties were disregarded, and Rodolph was +chosen on the 1st of April, 1306. Accompanied by his father, and at the +head of a considerable force, he entered Prague in triumph, and +fulfilled his promise of marrying the widowed queen. At the same time +Albert obtained the formal renewal of the compact, which seemed to +insure the succession of his own family. + +“A mild and moderate system of conduct would have conciliated the +natives, and fulfilled the accomplishment of his wishes, but such a +conduct was not consonant to the character of Albert. By his influence +Rodolph, though naturally mild and amiable, imposed heavy taxes on his +subjects, disregarded their prejudices and customs, stripped the +churches of their costly ornaments, and prosecuted the bishop of Prague, +who remonstrated against this sacrilege. A large party of nobles broke +into open revolt, the spirit of discontent spread with rapidity, and the +whole nation seemed eager to take up arms against the Austrian +despotism. To quell these commotions, Rodolph collected an army; but +while he was besieging the fortress of Horazdovitz, he was hurried to +the grave by a dysentery, in July, 1307, at the age of twenty-two, and +before he had completed the first year of a precarious and disputed +sovereignty. + +“On this event, Frederic, the second son of Albert, was proposed to the +states, who met in the episcopal palace of Prague. When Tobias of +Bechnia, a nobleman of high rank, named Frederic of Austria, the +assembly exclaimed, “We will have no Austrian king!” Bechnia tauntingly +observing, “You will perhaps again choose a peasant from the village of +Staditz, and marry him to the widowed queen,” a tumult arose; the most +violent drew their sabres; Bechnia, with two others of the Austrian +party were massacred, and Henry of Carinthia raised to the throne by +unanimous acclamation. + +“The haughty spirit of Albert, affected with the loss of Bohemia, was +still more deeply wounded by the contemptuous rejection of his son. He +accordingly asserted his claims in arms, and accompanied by Frederic, +whom he declared King of Bohemia, led a powerful body of troops from +Germany into the kingdom, and laid siege to Kuttenberg and Colin. But +the approach of winter, the desultory attacks of the Bohemian forces, +the obstinate resistance of the garrisons, and the severity of the +season, at length compelled him to retire. He did not, however +relinquish his object, but placing garrisons in Königsgratz, and other +fortified towns, which had been yielded to him by Elizabeth, drew his +troops into Austria, and determined to return in spring with a still +more powerful army. + +“Albert had availed himself of the short interval during which his son +held quiet possession of Bohemia, to support the pretensions of his +nephew Charles of Naples, in opposition to Otho of Bavaria, who was +lineally descended from Bela IV., and had been raised to the throne of +Hungary by the anti-papal party in 1306. He entered Hungary with a +considerable army, but did little more than devastate the country, till +he was called to defend his own territories against an irruption of the +Hungarians. + +“He likewise engaged in a war for the possession of Misnia and +Thuringia, which he endeavoured to appropriate as fiefs of the empire. + +“But at this juncture the insurrection of the Swiss called his attention +to another quarter. + +“Helvetia, or, as it is now called, Switzerland, at this period was +divided into small sovereignties and baronial fiefs, the imperial cities +of Zurich, Berne, Basle, and Schaffhausen, the demesnes of the church, +and the small states or cantons of Schwyz, Uri, and Underwalden, which, +though dependent on the empire, enjoyed a democratic form of government. +Among the sovereigns, the most conspicuous were the counts of Savoy, and +the house of Hapsburgh, which had considerably increased in power and +territory by the elevation of Rodolph and Albert, who, as chiefs of the +empire, possessed the right of appointing bailiffs in the imperial +cities and districts, for the purpose of administering the criminal +jurisdiction. + +“At the suggestion of Albert, Rodolph seems to have formed the design of +acquiring the sovereignty of the ecclesiastical and baronial +territories, and having thus encompassed the free cities and democratic +states, either to obtain their voluntary submission, or compel the +refractory to acknowledge his authority. In consequence of this design, +Rodolph made considerable purchases, particularly of Friburgh from the +house of Kyburg, and of the town of Lucern from the abbey of Murbach, +with the seignorial rights in several villages of the district of +Schwyz. These acquisitions excited jealousies and discontent among the +natives of Uri, Schwyz, and Underwalden, and gave birth to an +association by which they bound themselves not to submit to foreign +jurisdiction. The temperate spirit of Rodolph yielded to the opposition +of a people so jealous of their liberties, and from whom he had received +such essential services; he accordingly quieted their apprehensions by a +solemn confirmation of their privileges, as head of the empire, and this +act was confirmed by Adolphus. + +“Soon after the death of Rodolph, Albert manifested his intention of +appropriating or subjugating the free districts of Helvetia. The natives +of Uri, Schwyz, and Underwalden, justly apprehensive of his rapacious +character and powerful resources, held a general assembly to renew their +confederacy, and assert their independence. They also espoused the cause +of Adolphus, and assisted him with a small but chosen body of their +bravest troops. On the death of Adolphus, and the election of Albert, a +general panic spread through all the people of the Alps; and their +alarms were increased by the declaration of Albert to their deputies, +who requested him, as chief of the empire, to confirm their privileges, +that he intended to propose an alteration in their government. + +“Before, however, he attempted to subjugate these brave and spirited +people, he increased his influence and acquisitions in Switzerland. He +pacified the citizens of Zurich by confirming their privileges, obtained +the advocacies of the abbeys of St. Gallen and Einsidlin, demolished the +castles of the petty lords in the district of Glarus, who had adhered to +Adolphus, and by purchase and intrigue, acquired the supreme authority +in various parts, from the lake of Thun, to the heart of the country +inhabited by the Grisons. Having thus nearly surrounded the Swiss by his +extensive domains, he summoned them to submit to his authority. His +haughty spirit was little affected by the simple answer of these free +mountaineers: “We are partial to the condition of our forefathers, and +only desire the confirmation of our privileges.” He disdained to listen +to their remonstrances, and placed over them governors, whose tyrannical +and capricious administration at length roused the natives to assert +their injured rights. + +“Under the auspices of three patriots, Fürst, Melchthal, and +Stauffacher, the plan of a general insurrection was secretly formed, and +the revolution, which gave liberty to Switzerland burst forth in Uri, +Schwyz, and Underwalden, on the 13th of January, 1308. The governors +were expelled, their castles seized, and the whole people rose, as with +one accord, to defy the power of the house of Austria, and of the head +of the empire. + +“Albert, confident of his superior force, rejoiced at this insurrection +as affording a pretext for subjugating the natives of a territory which +he had long coveted, postponed the intended invasion of Bohemia and +Thuringia, and was preparing to lead an army into Switzerland, when his +life and reign were closed by the hand of violence.” + +The Austrian princes, Frederic and Leopold, were unquestionably +disappointed at the election of Henry of Luxembourg to the imperial +throne, instead of one of themselves; but, after some intrigues, they +concluded to accept quietly from him the investiture of their hereditary +dominions, and Leopold faithfully served the Emperor in Italy and +elsewhere. At his death there was a contested election, and both +Frederic of Austria and Louis of Bavaria were chosen. In the wars that +ensued between these rivals, Switzerland was again invaded by Leopold, +who commenced hostilities against the three Swiss cantons, who had +espoused the Bavarian party. + +“Leopold seized the pretext of a dispute between the convent of +Einsidlin, of which he was advocate, and the natives of Schwyz, who had +surrounded the abbey, and seized four of the canons and the +schoolmaster, in revenge for an insult on some Swiss pilgrims. He +considered the reduction of this country as an easy task, and vain of +his military skill and superior force, boasted that he would trample the +audacious rustics under his feet. He assembled 20,000 men, and hastened +to put his threat in execution; 4,000 on the side of Oberhasli were to +pass by Mount Brunig into Underwalden; a body of 1000 from Lucern was to +make a diversion by Stantz, and he himself intended to march from Zug +with 15,000, and penetrate to Schwyz. + +“The northern inlets of the country being fortified with strong +entrenchments and towers, only two passages led towards Schwyz. The +first was the pass of Art, along the foot of the crags which border the +lake of Zug, impracticable for armed cavalry; the other led through the +straits of Morgarten, about three miles in length, between the lake +Egeri and the heights rising above the village of Morgarten, from which +it derives its name. + +“The Swiss, hardy and brave from their modes of life and forms of +government, disdained to submit to a foreign power, and beheld the +gathering of the storm without dismay, though with the interest due to +the importance of the cause in which they were engaged. Fourteen hundred +men, the flower of their youth, grasped their arms and assembled at the +town of Schwyz. A solemn fast being proclaimed, they passed the day in +religious exercises and chanting hymns and kneeling down in the open +air, petitioned “the God of heaven and earth to listen to their lowly +prayers, and humble the pride and arrogance of their enemies.” By the +advice of an experienced veteran they took post on the heights of +Morgarten, and with the same spirit which had animated the Greeks at the +strait of Thermopylæ, waited the approach of the enemy. Fifty outlaws +also, who had been expelled from Schwyz, petitioned the magistrates that +they might share the danger of the day with their countrymen; and, +though rejected, occupied an eminence commanding the entrance of the +pass. + +“At the dawn of the morning (November 16.) the Austrians were seen +advancing in all the pomp of war, and flushed with the hope of certain +conquest. The cavalry, on whom the warriors of that day placed their +principal reliance, armed from head to foot, led the way, and were +followed by the infantry in a compact body. When they began to fill the +strait, and stretch along the borders of the lake, the fifty exiles +raised a sudden shout, and hurled among them huge blocks of timber, +heaps of stones, and fragments of rock. This unexpected assault threw +the column into confusion; and the confederates perceiving the +impression, rushed down from the heights, and charged the enemy in close +array with their clubs, halberts, and pikes. Cramped by the narrowness +of the defile, the Austrians were unable to make any evolution, and +their embarrassment was increased by the effects of a hoar frost. Many +of the horse leaped into the lake, and the remainder recoiled on their +infantry, who, unaware of the attack, and unable to open their files, +were run over, dispersed, or trampled to death; numbers were driven into +the lake, crushed by their companions, or fell by the hands of an +enraged enemy. Not less than fifteen hundred, most of whom were nobles +or knights, were slain in the rout, and Leopold himself with difficulty +escaped under the guidance of a peasant to Winterthur, where he arrived +in the evening, gloomy, exhausted, and dismayed. + +“At the close of evening the Unterwalders, apprised of the advance of +the body from Lucern, embarked with a hundred Swiss on the lake, and +landing at Buchs, attacked and dispersed the enemy. Notwithstanding the +exertions of this arduous day, the victorious troops, joined by a few of +their countrymen, hastened to Alpnach, where the four thousand had taken +a strong position. The Austrians, beholding the victorious banners of +the Swiss, and hearing the shouts of exultation, were panic struck, and +began to retreat; but were attacked by the confederates, and, +notwithstanding the exertions of their commander, driven back in +disorder over the mountains towards Lucern. + +“The three cantons in a public assembly declared the anniversary of this +day, ‘in which the God of Hosts had visited his people, and given them +the victory over their enemies,’ a solemn festival, and ordered the +names and heroic deeds of those champions, who had fallen in defence of +their country, to be annually recited to the people. They also rendered +perpetual their ancient league, which had hitherto been renewed every +tenth year, and obtained a confirmation of their confederacy from the +head of the empire.” + +We omit the rest of the history of these two brothers, on account of +their too great complication with the interests of other princes, +including the Pope, who pursued their objects with the same recklessness +of the welfare of the countries which were the theatre of the disputes, +that is the ever continued course of the House of Austria, and with no +shadow of a better purpose than family aggrandisement, ever manifested +by every one of them, whether in peace or war. + +They both died before 1330, leaving their younger brothers, Albert II. +and Otho, heads of the family, who immediately concluded peace with the +Emperor Louis. Hardly was this effected before we find the brothers +engaged in war for the succession of Carinthia and the Tyrol. Being +invested with both by Louis, they took forcible possession of Carinthia, +but were obliged to renounce the Tyrol, so effectually were they opposed +by its nobles and magistrates. + +“While Albert was thus on the whole extending his possessions, and +consolidating his power on the side of Austria his paternal domains and +influence in Switzerland were curtailed by the three petty republics of +the Alps, who had already resisted the efforts and humbled the pride of +his house. + +“At the commencement of their administration, Albert, in conjunction +with his brother Otho, had made considerable acquisitions in the +neighborhood of the Rhine; they had obtained possession of Schaffhausen, +Rheinfelden, and Brisach; and had purchased from the House of +Lauffenburgh the feudal rights over the town and country of +Rapperschwyl. By these acquisitions, and by the extent of their paternal +inheritance, the Austrian princes almost surrounded and isolated the +three republics: they possessed nearly the whole of that part of the +canton of Berne which is now called the Argau; they were masters of the +Thurgau; they held the sovereignty of Zug and Lucern, including the +Entlibuch, and the towns of Sempach and Reichensee; and, as advocates of +the abbeys of Einsidlin and Seckingen, their authority was paramount in +the district to the south of the lake of Zurich, and over the town and +canton of Glarus. + +“By the death of Otho, and of his two sons, who deceased in 1344, the +whole possessions and power of the House of Austria devolved on Albert. +But he was at first too much embarrassed in contests on the side of +Austria and the empire to give the necessary attention to the affairs of +Helvetia, where a concurrence of events had begun to diminish the +authority of his family. + +“Since the battle of Morgarten, the power and influence of the Swiss had +increased with their success; and the spirit of that liberty which they +had so courageously defended was diffused over the neighboring Alps, and +among the towns and districts on the borders of Germany. The surrounding +people were eager to obtain an exemption from feudal despotism; and +panted for an equal participation of those rights which had raised the +three democratic cantons to such reputation and prosperity. Lucern set +the first example. In consequence of the unceasing disputes and contests +between the Austrian feudatories and the confederated republics, Lucern +was exposed to perpetual inroads; her commerce to Italy was interrupted, +her fairs deserted, and her citizens, continually under arms, were +unable to protect their territories from depredations, or their walls +from insult. In these depressing circumstances the flower of her youth +was summoned to the field under the Austrian standard, her citizens +loaded with excessive contributions, and, the authority of the Austrian +princes being supported by the nobles, the town was agitated with +discordant factions. At length the majority of the burghers obtained +from the emperor Louis the protection of the empire, and with his +approbation concluded an armistice of twenty years with the Swiss +cantons. The nobles applied to the baron of Ramschlag, the Austrian +castellan of Rotenburgh, who advanced with a body of 300 horse to +surprise the town; but this project being defeated by the vigilance and +firmness of the burghers, many of the Austrian partisans retired, and +the remaining inhabitants entered into an alliance with the Swiss +cantons. In forming this alliance, however, both parties observed the +most rigid dictates of justice, and confirmed all the rights and +prerogatives of the House of Austria. Albert and Otho, failing in their +attempts to recover Lucern by intrigue or arms, took advantage of their +reconciliation with Louis, and solicited him to dissolve the alliance of +Lucern with the Swiss cantons. The cause was accordingly submitted to +arbitrators, selected from Zurich, Berne, and Basle: but the confederacy +was confirmed, and a truce for thirty months concluded between the dukes +of Austria and Lucern, which was renewed at different intervals. + +“The four cantons, which, from this period, are called the four Forest +Cantons, took an active share in the subsequent transactions, and, after +vindicating their own independence, assisted in extending and +maintaining the liberty of the neighboring towns and districts, who +sought their alliance and protection. + +“Zurich next became a member of the Helvetic confederacy. The House of +Austria had more than once endeavoured in vain to annex Zurich to their +other territories; and in the peace of Hagenau, it was one of the four +imperial towns mortgaged by the emperor to Albert and Otho. But the +inhabitants claiming the privilege granted to them by Adolphus, of never +being separated from the empire, Louis yielded to their remonstrances, +and instead of Zurich ceded Brisach, a town of the Brisgau. The Austrian +princes, however, did not relinquish their purpose, and gained a +considerable party of the nobles, who had gradually acquired the +principal share in the administration of affairs. But their views were +thwarted by a revolution which annihilated the influence of the nobles, +and established a popular form of government; and Rodolph Brun, by whose +influence and intrigues this revolution was effected, under the title of +perpetual burgomaster, secured the chief authority. The nobles who +opposed the change were driven into exile, their estates confiscated, +and the severest measures were adopted to prevent the restoration of the +ancient government. The tyrannical proceedings of Brun having excited +great discontents, the exiles united with John of Hapsburgh, lord of +Rapperschwyl, who had afforded them an asylum, to recover their lost +ascendancy. In 1351 they succeeded in introducing a considerable body of +men into the town; but at midnight, when the explosion was about to take +place, the plot was accidentally discovered. The conspirators were put +to death, or dispersed; and John of Hapsburgh, with Ulrich of +Bonstetten, the two leaders, made prisoners. Many of their adherents +among the burghers were afterwards executed; and the authority of Brun +was more firmly established than ever. He led a party against +Rapperschwyl, made himself master of the town, expelled the inhabitants, +levelled every house to the ground, and demolished the walls of the +castle; but, aware that these proceedings would expose him to the +vengeance of Albert, he saw no other resource than the protection of the +Swiss cantons, and succeeded in procuring the admission of Zurich into +the Helvetic confederacy, which took place on the 7th of May, 1351. + +“Albert, at length relieved from his embarassments in Germany, hastened +to recover his declining authority. He assembled at Bruck all his +governors, barons, and magistrates, from the Thurgau, Argau, Alsace, the +Black Forest, and Suabia, and roused their indignation by expatiating on +the flagitious conduct of Zurich. He then summoned the deputies of +Zurich, who came to congratulate him on his arrival, into his presence, +and, after rebuking them with severity, dismissed them with an order +that the towns of old and new Rapperschwyl should be rebuilt, the +marshes restored, and his people indemnified for their losses. On the +refusal of the burghers to comply with these conditions, he invested the +town with 16,000 men. + +“On the first appearance of danger, the people of Zurich applied to the +Forest Cantons, and a body of Swiss prepared to march, without delay, to +the assistance of their new ally. The burghers, however, panic struck +with the force and menaces of the Austrians, requested an arbitration to +arrange the dispute, and yielded sixteen hostages as pledges for the +fulfilment of the award. The arbitrators chose Agnes, queen of Bohemia, +the sister of Albert, as final umpire, who decided in favour of her +brother. A treaty was accordingly concluded; but a dispute arising in +regard to the release of John of Hapsburgh, and the Swiss disapproving +the conditions, both parties had again recourse to arms. + +“Among his allies, Albert summoned the people of Glarus to his standard; +but these husbandmen, who were animated with the same spirit as their +Alpine neighbours, refused to obey the summons; and when he despatched a +body of troops, as well to awe them into compliance as to annoy the +Forest Cantons, the Swiss, bursting in the depth of winter into the +valley, were joyfully received by the inhabitants, and expelled the +governor. The people, grateful for this deliverance, entered into a +treaty of alliance with the Forest Cantons, and 200 of their bravest +youth marched to the defence of Zurich. At the commencement of the +ensuing year they repulsed and defeated with great slaughter an Austrian +force in the field of Rutly, and soon after this event Glarus was +formally admitted into the Helvetic confederacy. In a similar manner the +Swiss expelled the Austrians from Zug, and the natives of that town and +district were received into the confederacy; the two cantons however did +not yet throw off their feudal subjection to the house of Austria, but +reserved, in their full latitude, all the rights and revenues of the +duke. + +“During these transactions, four thousand Austrian troops had been +defeated by fifteen hundred burghers of Zurich, at Tatwyl, and a corps +of a thousand by forty-two Swiss at Kussnacht. Albert, unwilling to +continue this predatory warfare, in which all the advantage lay on the +side of the active and light-armed peasants of the Alps, and which +dispirited his own troops while it increased the courage and skill of +the enemy, collected from all quarters an army sufficient, as he +imagined, to humble the confederates by a single effort. He drew out the +whole force of his own hereditary dominions, and persuaded the nobles of +Burgundy, Suabia, and Helvetia that their interests were equally +concerned in punishing refractory subjects, and checking the progress of +the Helvetic union; he likewise succeeded in obtaining the support of +the elector of Brandenburgh, and many other princes of the empire; and +was assisted even by the republic of Berne, and its allies of Oberland, +Hasli, and the Pays de Vaud. Having in 1352 assembled 30,000 foot, and +4000 horse he intrusted the command to an experienced warrior, Everhard, +count of Wirtemberg, who laid siege to Zurich. Albert himself was +indefatigable in forwarding the siege, and either on a litter, or on +horseback, assiduously visited and encouraged the different posts; but +the invincible spirit of the burghers, assisted by a corps of the +confederates, baffled all his efforts. In consequence of an alarming +scarcity of provisions, his auxiliaries successively retired, and Albert +at length gladly accepted an accommodation, which was concluded by the +intervention of the elector of Brandenburgh, with the plenipotentiaries +of the confederates assembled at Lucern. All prisoners, conquests, and +hostages were to be restored on both sides; the prerogatives and +revenues of the duke in Lucern, Schwyz, and Underwalden were to be +preserved; Zug and Glarus agreed to render him due allegiance; and the +duke in return promised to be their friend. The confederates were to +conclude no alliance with an Austrian town or country; Zurich and Lucern +were to admit no Austrian subject into their burghership; John of +Hapsburgh was to be released; and all former alliances, immunities, and +established regulations to remain inviolate. + +“The signal proofs of spirit, valor, and perseverance, displayed by the +confederates in this arduous and apparently unequal contest, increased +their former reputation; and before the close of 1352, their union was +strengthened by the accession of Berne, the most powerful republic in +Helvetia, which, by purchase or arms, had enlarged her frontiers, and +acquired a considerable domain; but was still more formidable from the +military skill and prowess of her warlike citizens. + +“The treaty which Albert, from his necessities rather than from +inclination, had concluded with the confederate cantons, was a +suspension of arms instead of a solid peace; for disputes soon arose +relative to the interpretation of the articles. Albert insisted that the +engagements of Glarus and Zug to pay him due allegiance dissolved their +alliance with the Swiss cantons; and the Swiss urged that the article in +which the maintenance of all former alliances was stipulated +comprehended the Helvetic union. Albert had recourse to the mediation of +the emperor, who was anxious to compose the troubles of the empire, that +he might receive the crown from the hands of the Pope at Rome. Charles +repaired to Zurich, and endeavoured to effect an accommodation; but as +he displayed an evident partiality in favour of Albert, the Swiss +cantons declared their resolution to reject any award before their +confederacy was acknowledged; and at the same time they tendered a +compensation for the ducal prerogatives, which was to be fixed by the +emperor. Charles, irritated by this mark of disrespect, declared the +Helvetic union null and void, and all confederacies illegal, which were +formed without the consent of the head of the empire. + +“In consequence of the unshaken resolution displayed by the Swiss, an +Austrian force passed the Glatt, and fortified Rapperschwyl, which +Albert had purchased from the house of Lauffenburgh; and from that +central post annoyed both the Swiss and the town of Zurich. Soon +afterwards Charles himself summoned the contingents of the empire, and, +accompanied by all his princes, spiritual and temporal, joined the army +of Albert, which was encamped before Zurich. But the hopes of Albert +were again frustrated; the garrison, though amounting to only four +thousand men, were all animated by the same undaunted spirit; while the +heterogeneous and unwieldy mass of the besieging army was agitated with +disputes and jealousies. The imperial cities were unwilling to assist in +reducing another city of the empire; the princes and states were jealous +of the increasing power of Austria, and averse to enforce the maxims +promulgated by Charles, that all confederacies were illegal which were +concluded without the consent of their chief; Charles himself also was +disinclined to support so unpopular a cause, and to waste his time in +aggrandising a family, of which he dreaded the ascendancy. A frivolous +dispute about precedence in the assault afforded a pretext for retiring; +the besiegers struck their tents, and withdrew in such haste and +disorder that, according to the expressions of an ancient chronicle, +none knew who went first, or who last, and Albert was left to prosecute +the war with his own forces. + +“Albert, thus deserted, changed his plan of operations, devastated the +country in the neighbourhood of Zurich, and let loose a lawless band of +Hungarian auxiliaries, who, like the Croats and Pandours of modern +times, committed the most horrible excesses, and spared neither friend +nor foe. At length his own subjects, and the neighbouring barons, +harassed and exhausted with perpetual depredations, unanimously +clamoured for peace, and testified a resolution to terminate +hostilities, even without his consent. Albert was reduced to make +overtures of accommodation, and admitted, at the diet of Ratisbon, that +the reservation of the Swiss league should be a preliminary of the +future award, which was left to the decision of the emperor. He +endeavoured, however, to gain by artifice what he could not effect by +force. At his instigation the emperor drew up articles of accommodation, +containing an ambiguous clause, which virtually annulled the alliance, +and would have ultimately again subjected Zug and Glarus to the +domination of the house of Austria. With this view the Austrian +commissaries, instead of presenting the instrument to a general assembly +of the confederates, endeavoured to divide them, and to extort their +separate concurrence. Brun, bribed by Albert, exerted his powerful +influence; and Zurich, which had been the principal cause of the war, +not only ratified the imperial award, but entered into a defensive +alliance with Austria, to enforce the execution even against the +confederates. + +“The people of Schwyz, however, refused to ratify the obnoxious clause, +and resisted with firmness and indignation the urgent representations of +Albert, and the mandates of the emperor. Nor did their firmness forsake +them on the arrival of an Austrian commissary to demand the homage of +Zug and Glarus, although Zurich remained neuter, and even Lucern, Uri, +and Underwalden seemed inclined to shrink from the contest. A body of +troops marched from Schwyz under the banner of their forefathers, which +had triumphed at Morgarten, entered the two cantons, drove out the +Austrian commissary, and renewed the reciprocal engagements of perpetual +amity and mutual defence. + +“At length Albert, worn out with age, afflicted by the increase of his +paralytic disorder, which was aggravated by arthritic complaints, and +the disappointment of his hopes, returned in disgust to Vienna, where he +fell into such a state of despondency, that the very name of a Swiss was +never mentioned in his presence. His son Rodolph, who was intrusted with +the administration of the Suabian territories, agreed to an armistice of +eleven years, which was mediated by the baron of Thorberg, the Austrian +commissary in Helvetia, and thus terminated a ruinous and fruitless +contest. + +“This event was soon followed by the decease of Albert, who died on the +16th of August, 1358, after a reign of twenty-eight years.” + +The successor of Albert II. was his son Rodolph IV., who had a fancy for +antiquities; a fancy made important by his undertaking to assume all the +titles which had ever pertained to his family, among the rest that of +the Archduke Palatine; but the most important acquisition that marked +his own reign was that of the Tyrol, ceded by Margaret Maultasch, whom +he had laid under obligation to himself, by procuring from the Pope the +legitimation of her son Meinhard. He also obtained various advantages in +a contest with the patriarch of Aquilea; but, in the midst of his +attempts to aggrandise his family, he died untimely, aged 26, in 1365. + +As his brother Frederic had died immediately before this time, the +administration of the family interests fell upon a younger brother, +Albert III., who was only seventeen years of age. He also had a brother +Leopold, two years younger than himself, and it was his ambition that +divided the hitherto united territories of the family. With the sanction +of the Emperor, Leopold II. took possession of all the provinces except +Austria, and he then proceeded to add to his possessions from the world +without. He succeeded in getting Trieste by taking part with Francis of +Carrara against the Venetians, but he was disappointed of his hopes of +procuring the crown of Poland for his son William, and he sunk into a +depression of spirits which incapacitated him for bodily or mental +exertion. “He neglected the administration of affairs, and his bailiffs +and feudal chiefs, who were freed from his control, were guilty of great +tyranny and excessive exactions. Symptoms of discontent soon broke out +in Suabia, of which Leopold was imperial bailiff; above forty of the +towns renewed the confederacy which they had formerly established +against the oppressions of the princes and nobles, and were joined by +Strasburgh, Mentz, and the principal cities on the Rhine. To strengthen +their league, and to secure allies in the heart of the Austrian +possessions, they sought the accession of the Helvetic confederates, +whom they considered as the enemies of the House of Austria, from +prejudice, interest, and situation. + +“Many causes of misunderstanding had contributed to aggravate the +natural jealousy between the House of Austria and the Helvetic states. +Leopold had evinced an inclination to recover the authority of his +ancestors, and had recently shackled the commerce of the Forest Cantons +and Zurich, by the imposition of additional tolls at Rapperschwyl and +Rotemberg; he had likewise taken part in a contest between Berne and a +collateral branch of the family of Hapsburgh. The interference of +Leopold in this instance disgusted the confederates, and Berne, Zurich, +and Zug, with the town of Soleure, joined the union of the Suabian +cities, and warmly solicited the accession of the other cantons. + +“Alarmed with this formidable league, Leopold roused himself from his +lethargy, and repaired to Zurich, pacified the people of Schwyz, by +abolishing the tolls imposed at Rapperschwyl, and by their means gained +the three other Forest Cantons; he also conciliated the burghers of +Zurich, and detached them from the confederacy. He then appeased the +discontents in Suabia, by repressing the exactions of the bailiffs, and +by threats and promises dissolved the league of the cities on the Rhine. +During these events he had smoothed and _amused the Swiss by offers of +perpetual peace, and splendid promises_, but having pacified the +imperial cities, he became less compliant, and his governors and +bailiffs renewed their oppressions. The inveterate aversion which the +Swiss people had fostered against the Austrian family again revived, and +a trifling dispute soon occasioned an open rupture. Leopold had pledged +the castle and town of Wolhausen, with the Entlibuch, to Peter of +Thorberg, and Rotemberg to Herman of Graunberg. These lords oppressing +the inhabitants, the latter, instead of appealing to the duke their +sovereign, sent their deputies to seek the protection of Lucern, and +were admitted into the co-burghership. The citizens of Lucern, also, who +were aggrieved by imposition of heavy tolls at Rotemberg, seized this +opportunity to attack and raze the castle and the walls of the town; +and, instead of giving satisfaction for the outrage, admitted into their +burghership the Entlibuch, with the Austrian towns of Sempach and +Richensee. + +“Leopold, irritated by the defection of his subjects and the loss of his +territories, was still further exasperated by the clamors of the +neighboring princes and nobles, who, being _alarmed lest their vassals +should follow the example of those of Austria_, offered to assist in +crushing so dangerous a confederacy. Both parties prepared for +hostilities; and although Berne declined engaging in the contest, and +the Suabian cities refused their assistance, Zurich, Zug, and the three +Forest Cantons, armed in defence of Lucern. A desultory but sanguinary +warfare took place; the confederates anticipated their enemies by razing +the castles of Wolhausen, Meyenburgh, and Caffenberg, and placed +garrisons in Sempach and Richensee; and, on the other side, the +Austrians having recovered Richensee, sated their vengeance by +demolishing the town, and putting the inhabitants to the sword, without +distinction of sex or age. + +“The crisis now rapidly approached, and twenty successive messengers +arrived in one day, with the declarations of war from different lords +against the confederates. Leopold soon collected a considerable army at +Baden, and detached John de Bonstetten with a corps to Bruck, as if he +meditated an attack on Zurich; but his views were in reality directed to +penetrate by Sempach and Rotemberg, and make himself master of Lucern. +The Forest Cantons, deceived by his dispositions, at first despatched +1,400 men for the defence of Zurich; but, being apprised of his plan, +they prevailed on the burghers to undertake their own defence; and the +greater part of the auxiliaries crossing the Reuss, directed their march +towards Sempach. In their progress they were joined by bodies from +Glarus, the Entlibuch, and the villages through which they passed, and +on the 9th of July, 1396, arriving at Sempach, took post in the woods +which skirt the lake and crown the neighboring eminences, with a force +of only 1,300 men. + +“On the evening of the preceding day, Leopold had occupied Sursee, and +early in the morning advanced with a corps of 4000 horse and 1,400 foot, +with the hope of surprising Sempach. Confident of success, his troops +rode up to the walls, and insulted the citizens with taunts and threats. +One held up a halter, exclaiming, ‘This is for your Avoyer!’ and others, +alluding to the stragglers who were lying waste the fields, cried, ‘Send +a breakfast to the reapers.’ The burgomaster, pointing to the woods, +replied, ‘My masters of Lucern, and their allies, will bring it.’ + +“The duke, surprised at the appearance of the confederates, instantly +held a council of war, to decide whether the attack should be postponed +till the arrival of the other forces. But the nobles unanimously +exclaimed, ‘God has delivered these peasants into our hands; it would be +shameful, armed as we are, to wait for succors against an ill-armed and +almost naked rabble.’ The baron de Hasenberg, an experienced veteran, +who had often witnessed the prowess of the Swiss, in vain represented +the folly of despising the enemy, expatiated on the uncertainty of the +fortune of war, and urged the duke to wait the arrival of Bonstetten. +But his prudence only drew from the younger knights the censure of +cowardice: one of them, calling him a hare in heart, as in name, turned +to the duke, and exultingly said, ‘This very noon we will deliver up to +you this handful of rustics.’ His petulancy was received with applause, +and preparations were made for an immediate attack. + +“As the horses were fatigued by the march, and the woods were +impracticable for cavalry, the knights dismounted, ordered the foot into +the rear, and formed themselves into a solid and compact body. At this +moment the Swiss, according to their custom, threw themselves on their +knees, and with uplifted hands, implored the assistance of the Most +High. Some of the Austrians observing this action, exclaimed, ‘They are +supplicating for pardon!’ but they were soon undeceived, for the +confederate troops instantly quitted the woods, and with shouts and +exclamations poured down into the plain. A few only were in armour; some +brandished the halberts which their forefathers had wielded at +Morgarten; others bore two-handed swords and battle-axes, and instead of +shields, wore boards fastened to their left arms; the Austrian host, on +the contrary, covered from head to foot with blazing armour, presented a +solid range of shields, and a horrent front of projecting spears. + +“The Swiss drew up in the form of a wedge, and rushed with their usual +impetuosity to the attack, but made no impression on this formidable +phalanx; the banner of Lucern was exposed to imminent danger, and the +landamman, with sixty of their most adventurous warriors, fell before a +single enemy received a wound. They hesitated for a moment, regarding +their enemies with a mixture of indignation and despair; while the +flanks of the phalanx advancing in a crescent, endeavoured to close on +their rear. At this awful crisis, Arnold de Winkelried, a knight of +Underwalden, bursting from the ranks, exclaimed ‘I will open a passage +into the line; protect, dear countrymen and confederates, my wife and +children!’ Then throwing himself on the enemy, he seized as many pikes +as he could grasp, and burying them in his bosom, bore them by his +weight to the ground. His companions rushed over his expiring body, and +forced themselves into the heart of the line, others with equal +intrepidity penetrated into the intervals occasioned by the shock, and +the whole unwieldy mass was thrown into confusion and dismay. The +knights, oppressed with their ponderous armour, and incumbered with +their long spears, were unable to withstand the impetuous assault of the +Swiss, or to recover from their disorder; and their servants, perceiving +the general consternation, mounted the horses of their masters, and left +them no hope of safety by flight. The fight was for a while sustained by +the efforts of personal valour, and the undaunted spirit of chivalry; +but the havoc soon became general; numbers fell by the sword of the +enemy; many perished by the pressure of their companions and the intense +heat, and not less than 2,000, of whom almost one third were counts, +barons, and knights, were numbered among the slain. + +“Two hundred only of the confederates fell in this memorable battle, +among whom were their most distinguished chiefs. Fatigued with +slaughter, and the excessive heat, they did not pursue the fugitives; +but returned their usual thanksgiving to Heaven on the field, and the +following day agreed to an armistice for burying the dead. The remains +of Leopold and twenty-seven of his most illustrious followers were +conveyed to the abbey of Königsfelden, and the bodies of the lords of +Argau were deposited in the tombs of their ancestors. Those of inferior +note were buried on the spot; the two hundred confederates received +funeral honours at Lucern, and as at Morgarten a solemn anniversary was +established in commemoration of the victory. + +“The defeat of Leopold and the battle of Sempach did not terminate the +war, or depress the courage of the Austrian princes and their allies; +for six days after the battle, not less than fifty nobles, among whom +was the burgrave of Nuremberg, the archbishop of Mentz, and the bishop +of Bamberg, sent declarations of war to the victorious confederates; and +Leopold, second son of the late duke, though scarcely fifteen, hastened +to superintend the preparations, to avenge the death of his father, and +retrieve the honour of his family. A desultory war was continued in +various parts of Helvetia; the Swiss, encouraged by their astonishing +success, prosecuted hostilities with spirit and vigour, and by the +accession of Bern, acquired additional strength. The important post of +Wesen on the lake of Wallenstadt, which commanded the passes into the +cantons of Glarus, and cut off the communication with Zurich, was +surprised and garrisoned by the Swiss; and the men of Gaster and +Sargens, subjects of Austria, accepted the protection of Glarus. The +citizens of Bern repelled the aggressions of the people of Kyburgh, who +had continued invariably attached to their sovereigns, and took several +forts in the vicinity belonging to the vassals of the House of Austria. +The sons of the deceased Leopold being dispirited by these reverses, +distressed for the means of supporting the war, and weakened by the loss +of their principal nobility at the battle of Sempach, concluded an +armistice of eighteen months. + +“During this interval of tranquillity, both parties employed their +efforts in fortifying and securing the strong places, and preparing for +the renewal of hostilities. The people of Glarus acknowledged the +supreme authority of the abbess of Seckingen, and the rights of the +family of Austria, as advocates of that abbey; but emulating the example +of the Swiss, they established regulations which greatly reduced their +power and influence. The innovation displeased the Austrian princes, and +the truce was scarcely expired, before they renewed hostilities, and +directed their principal efforts against Glarus. Early in the spring of +1388 their troops surprised the town of Wesen, massacred the garrison, +and in April an army of 8000 men, commanded by the count of Tockenburgh, +forced the intrenchments which protected the frontier, and devastating +the country with fire and sword, penetrated as far as Naefels. Here only +350 men of Glarus, with 50 of Schwyz, who had crossed the mountains by +night, waited their approach, on the hill of Ruti. Despising so +inconsiderable a body, part of the Austrian troops dispersed themselves +to plunder, and burnt Naefels; the remainder attacked the Swiss, and +experienced the same fate as their forefathers at Morgarten. The Swiss +hurled down on them large stones and fragments of rock, and having +thrown the horse into confusion, rushed from the heights, and attacked +them with their characteristic impetuosity. At this critical juncture, +the mountains resounded with shouts of exultation, and a band of +warriors descending from the Upper Valley, assailed the Austrians, +already in confusion. Seized with a panic, they fled in all directions, +and were pursued by the assailants with redoubled ardor; many were slain +in the flight, and more drowned in the lake of Wallenstadt, by the +breaking of the bridge of Wesen. One hundred and eighty knights, and two +thousand soldiers perished in the conflict, or the flight; and eleven +banners, with a thousand suits of armor, were preserved as trophies of +the victory. The conquerors, after their customary devotions, passed the +night on the field of battle, and advancing the next morning, sacked and +burnt Wesen. + +“The troops of Zurich, which had assembled too late for the succor of +Glarus, joined the victors, and besieged Rapperschwyl: on the other +side, Berne took the Austrian towns of Nidau, Buren, and Unterseven, and +extended her conquest as far as Bruck, and the valley of Frick on the +Rhine. The counts of Tockenburgh made a separate peace with the Swiss; +and at length the dukes of Austria, apprehensive of the defection of the +Thurgau, which was agitated with discontents, and dreading the loss of +the Argau, which was threatened by the arms of Berne and Zurich, engaged +in wars and troubles on the side of Austria, and disunited by family +quarrels, concluded, in 1388, a truce for seven years. The Swiss were to +maintain their alliances, and preserve their possessions during the +continuance of the truce, with all their conquests, except Wesen; the +dukes of Austria agreed to establish no fresh tolls or imposts, and the +confederates were not to admit any subjects of Austria, not residing +within their boundaries, into their co-burghership. Future disputes were +to be adjusted by arbitration. + +“This trace was prolonged in 1394, for twenty years, at the request of +Leopold, who had succeeded to the dominions of his father in Helvetia; +and on this occasion he renounced all claims to the conquests of the +confederates, promised not to fortify Wesen, limited the contributions +of Zug and Glarus, and confirmed their league with the Swiss, together +with that of Entlibuch, and Sempach with Lucern.” + +The children of Albert II. and Leopold II. made no additions to the +family territories. But the consequences of the division of these +territories between the two branches of the family were frightful for +the Austrians. + +“Both parties, by a species of legal tyranny, sated their vengeance and +avidity with the treasures and lives of their opponents, and alternately +sacrificed the adherents of each other as they gained the ascendancy. +The nobles availed themselves of these contests to indulge the spirit of +misrule and licentiousness, which had been repressed by the preceding +sovereigns; robbers and banditti again infested the highways, insulted +the towns and villages with impunity, and the whole country became a +scene of pillage, devastation, and carnage. + +“Such was the deplorable state of Austria, till the death of Leopold in +1411, at the age of forty.” + +Albert V. procured the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia, by marrying the +daughter of the Emperor Sigismond, who was also King of these nations, +and of whom he had gained the favor, by the effectual assistance he had +given him in the Hussite war. He was crowned in Hungary by the Diet, +after having promised by oath never to accept the imperial diadem. In +Bohemia he was acknowledged by the capital and by the town of +Kuttenburg; but the Hussites refused their assent, and falling back upon +the privileges of the Bohemian constitution, they sent to Poland for +Kasimir, brother of the Polish King. Albert nevertheless proceeded to +Prague, and was crowned in the cathedral by the Catholic party. Then, +assisted by some of the princes of the empire, he led an army of 30,000 +men against the Hussites and Poles, and besieged Tabor. + +“He would have compelled the fortress to surrender, had not George +Podiebrad, who first distinguished himself on this occasion, by a +successful sally, forced him to raise the siege, and retire to Prague, +while Uladislaus made an irruption into Silesia. Notwithstanding this +check, the margrave of Brandenburgh drove the king of Poland from +Silesia; and the auxiliary Poles, after killing their horses for food, +returned to their country on foot. In consequence of this success a +congress was held at Breslau, and a truce concluded with Uladislaus; the +Hussites agreed to a cessation of arms, and peace was once more restored +to Bohemia. + +“In the midst of these conflicts, Albert was chosen king of the Romans, +as a prince who, by his extensive possessions and distinguished talents, +was most capable of allaying the dissentions of Germany, and arresting +the alarming progress of the Turks. He at first declined the proffered +dignity from a regard to his oath, but being liberated from his +engagements by the Hungarian states, and absolved by the council of +Basle, he yielded to the exhortations of his relatives and the instances +of the electors; and, though never crowned, obtained and deserved a +place among the emperors.” + +Albert V. died of the dysentery, caught in an expedition against the +Turks, which he made in 1439; and a long period of distraction followed +in Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary, while his posthumous son Ladislaus was +growing up. These troubles were in 1452, somewhat composed, by the queen +mother’s giving the administration of Hungary to John Hunniades; that of +Bohemia to George Podiebrad; and that of Austria to Count Cilli; until +the young king should reach his majority. It is not within the scope of +our purpose to enter into the details of the events of this period, +rendered a brilliant page of history, by the splendid administration of +John Hunniades, and his victories over the Turks, by which he saved not +only his native Hungary, but all the rest of the dominions of Ladislaus. +Yet we can hardly resist giving the whole chapter of Coxe (XIV.), since +it shows one of those great services which Hungary did for the house of +Austria, and even for all Europe. + +Ladislaus Posthumus died before his marriage, and thus one branch of the +Hapsburgh family became extinct. Within the same century the line of +Tyrol also ended with Sigismond, son of Frederic IV., fourth son of +Leopold II. + +“From the circumstances of his sudden decease, and the doubtful nature +of his disorder, his death was attributed to poison, and Podiebrad was +charged with the atrocious crime. This imputation, which arose from the +reports of the Germans, and obtained credit only from the accession of +Podiebrad to the throne, has, however, been ably refuted by the Bohemian +historians, who incontestably prove that the death of Ladislaus was +occasioned by the plague. + +“The reign of Sigismond is memorable in the history of the House of +Austria, for the loss of all the dominions which yet remained to his +family in Switzerland, and which were reduced to Lower Sargans, Kyburgh, +Winterthur, and Rapperschwyl. As he inherited the claims of his family +to their former territories, he naturally fostered an antipathy to the +Helvetic confederates; he was still further irritated by the loss of +Rapperschwyl, the inhabitants of which town throwing off their +allegiance, were received under the protection of Schwyz, Uri, +Underwalden, and Glarus. He therefore augmented the garrison of +Winterthur, and seemed inclined to seize the first opportunity of +attacking the confederates, when he was involved in disputes with +Nicholas de Cusa, cardinal archbishop of Brixen, for the possession of +some silver mines recently discovered at Schwartz; hostilities +commenced, but were suspended by the intervention of Pius II., who in +1460 summoned both parties before his tribunal. Before the decision of +the cause, however, the war was renewed, and Sigismond investing the +castle of Brunic, took the bishop prisoner. The pope irritated by this +contempt of his authority, fulminated a sentence of excommunication +against Sigismond, and instigated the Swiss to invade his territories. +They eagerly obeyed the summons, overran the Thurgau without opposition, +received the voluntary allegiance of the natives at Frauenfield, +besieged Winterthur, and made incursions into the Austrian territories +in the vicinity of the lake of Constance. Sigismond, unable to resist +the forces of the confederates, obtained a peace by the cession of the +conquered territories; and being stripped of the greater part of his +possessions, sold Kyburgh and Winterthur to Zurich, and thus alienated +the remnant of the Austrian inheritance in Switzerland. + +“In imitation of his father, he was no sooner emancipated from his +guardians than he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where he received +the order of Cyprus, and of the Holy Sepulchre. So eager was he to +gratify his curiosity, that he accompanied some Jew merchants, in +disguise, into the Turkish territories, examined with attention the +manners and customs of a people so different from the Christian world, +and collected jewels and other valuable curiosities. Of this pilgrimage +the celebrated Æneas Sylvius thus speaks in his oration to Pope Nicholas +V., when he was recommending a crusade against the infidels:—‘The +princes of the sublime house of Austria, which ranks among its members +many kings and emperors, deemed themselves secure of success only when +they served the Supreme Being with fidelity and constancy. Frederic, +following their example, was no sooner delivered from the care of his +guardians than, despising the dangers and tempests of the deep, he +repaired to Jerusalem, anxious to kiss the earth sanctified by the +footsteps of our blessed Redeemer. He visited the sepulchre of our Lord, +beheld Mount Calvary, and the palace of Pilate, and ascended the Mount +of Olives. He entered the desert; crossed the river Jordan; reached +Bethlehem; penetrated into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and, by the sight +of these sacred places, was inspired with an incredible and ardent +devotion.’ + +“At the age of twenty, Frederic assumed the reins of government as duke +of Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, in conjunction with his brother +Albert. On the death of his uncle Frederic of Tyrol, in 1435, he became +guardian of Sigismond, and, on the decease of the emperor Albert, was +appointed regent by the states of Austria, and guardian of Ladislaus +Posthumus. + +“The imperial throne being vacant by the death of Albert II., the +electors nominated Louis landgrave of Hesse; and that prince declining +the crown, their choice unanimously fell on Frederic, as the eldest +member of his illustrious house; but he hesitated to accept a dignity, +however exalted, which was surrounded by difficulties and dangers.” + +After the death of Sigismond, the house of Austria was reduced to the +Styrian line, founded by Ernest, third son of Leopold I., who was killed +at the battle of Sempach. This Ernest had married a niece of Ladislas +Jagellon, king of Poland. She was remarkable for her beauty and +accomplishments; yet, says Coxe, “historians record that Cymburga was +endowed with such masculine strength, that she could crack nuts with her +fingers, and with her hand drive a nail as far as others with a hammer! +She was the mother of several children, some of whom died in their +infancy, and from her are said to have been derived the thick lips—the +characteristic feature of the Austrian family.” + +“During his continuance at Frankfort, Frederic endeavored to avail +himself of the divisions subsisting among the Swiss Cantons, to attempt +the recovery of the dominions which had been wrested from the house of +Austria. The contest which had arisen for the succession to the +Tockenburgh, had terminated unfavorably for Zurich; for Schwyz and +Glarus had gained the widow and the collateral heirs of the count, and, +by intrigue or persuasion, had finally succeeded in obtaining the +support of the other confederates; Zurich, invested and pressed on all +sides, was reduced to accept their mediation, and submit to the award of +the five remaining cantons. + +“The burghers of Zurich, irritated by the loss of their territories, and +the disgrace to which they had been reduced, were eager to avenge +themselves; they sent ambassadors to Frederic to apologise for their +incursions into the county of Sargans during the war, and offered to +purchase his alliance, by restoring the county of Kyburgh. Frederic +eagerly accepted the offer; as head of the house of Austria, he +concluded an alliance with them on the very day of his coronation, and +secretly promised to assist them in recovering a part of the Tockenburgh +inheritance. + +“The confederates, jealous of his intentions, and suspicious of his new +connection, required Zurich to renounce her alliance with the house of +Austria, as contrary to an article of the union, stipulating that no +connection was to be formed by any canton with other powers, except by +common consent. The refusal was the signal for war, which raged for four +years with a degree of fury and animosity which is only displayed in +civil broils; till both parties, fatigued with their exertions, and +recoiling from the enormities which they had committed, equally panted +for the termination of the contest. The dispute being submitted to +arbitration, a peace was arranged in May, 1447, between the house of +Austria, Zurich, and the other Swiss confederates. Affairs on both sides +were to be restored to the same situation as before the renewal of +hostilities; but Zurich renounced her alliance with the house of +Austria; and thus the grand principle of the Helvetic confederacy, that +no league was valid unless concluded with the consent of the other +cantons, was acknowledged and established. At the same time, arbitrators +were chosen to the dispute between the house of Austria and Basle; but +the war was prolonged by the refusal of the burghers to dismiss the +council. They at length yielded to the threats of Frederic, who menaced +them with the ban of the empire; and after various skirmishes, and the +recovery of Rheinfelden by the Austrians, an accommodation was effected +in 1449, which placed both parties in the same situation as before the +commencement of hostilities.” + +The most important act of Frederic III., so far as our purpose is +concerned, was his confirmation to the family, by means of the imperial +powers of the archducal title, which had first been assumed by Rodolph +IV; and which “raised the house of Austria to a dignity only inferior to +that of the electors, and invested it with privileges greater than those +possessed by any other prince of the empire. The grant was capriciously +founded on letters patent of Julius Cæsar and Nero, and the diplomas of +Frederic I., Henry VI., and Frederic II., in favor of the Bamberg line, +confirmed by Rodolph of Hapsburgh, when he invested his two sons with +the Austrian territories. In virtue of these privileges, the archdukes +of Austria were to be considered as having obtained the investiture of +their dominions, if they did not receive it after thrice demanding it +from the emperor. They were not to be required to pass the limits of +their territories, but were to be invested within the borders of Austria +on horseback, clad in a regal mantle, wearing a ducal coronet surmounted +with the imperial diadem and cross, and holding a staff of command. The +archdukes were declared by birth privy-counsellors of the emperor, and +their territories could not be put under the ban of the empire. All +attempts against their persons were to be punished as crimes of high +treason; and they could not be challenged to single combat: they were +exempted from the necessity of attending at the diet, and from all +contributions and public charges, except the maintenance of twelve +men-at-arms for one month against the Turks in Hungary; they were +empowered to levy taxes, to grant letters of legitimation, and to create +counts, barons, and other inferior titles; in failure of issue male, the +females were to enjoy the right of succession, and in failure of heirs, +the archdukes were allowed to dispose of their territories by will. Any +lands of the empire might be alienated in their favor, and their +subjects could not be summoned out of their territories on account of +lawsuits, to give testimony, or to receive the investiture of fiefs.” + +The death of Ladislaus Posthumus, of whom Frederic had been guardian, +had involved him in many disputes and contests, one of which was for the +crown of Bohemia; but this he lost in favor of the Bohemian nobleman, +George Podiebrad; another was for the crown of Hungary, to which he +urged his right as possessor of the crown of St. Stephen, that he had +had in safe keeping for eighteen years. But this also he lost to +Matthias Corvinus, although he gained a victory over him at Kormund in +Styria, for he could not follow up that advantage on account of a civil +war with his brother Albert in Austria. + +“The terms which had been concluded between Frederic and Albert, for the +partition of Austria, and their joint residence at Vienna, gave rise to +disputes. Frederic soon became unpopular to the citizens, and the +haughty nobles of Austria displayed that turbulence and discontent +natural to feudal governments under an indolent sovereign. These +discontents being fomented by Albert, soon broke out into open war; and +although a temporary reconciliation was effected by the king of Bohemia, +neither party was sincerely desirous of peace; the emperor was indignant +at the restraints imposed on his authority; and the rapacity of Albert +was not gratified by his share of the Austrian possessions. Another and +more dreadful contest ensued; the whole country became a scene of +intestine discord, and the capital itself was divided into hostile +factions; the senate and the most moderate of the burghers, adhered to +the emperor; while the populace, headed by the burgomaster Hulzer, a +restless demagogue, espoused the cause of Albert. + +“Frederic, alarmed for the safety of the empress, and his infant son +Maximilian, who were in the citadel, appeared before the gates at the +head of a body of Styrian horse. By his eloquence and address, he +succeeded in conciliating the most violent of his opponents, and after +an altercation which lasted three days, was admitted into the city. +Refusing, however, to accede to all the demands of the disaffected, the +populace again rose, pillaged the houses of his adherents, compelled him +to take refuge in the citadel, and after a formal declaration of war, +invested that fortress. At the same time Albert repairing to Vienna, +concluded a treaty with the insurgents, and was intrusted with the +conduct of the siege. But Frederic, though at the head of only two +hundred men, held out with great firmness, and evinced a resolution +rather to be buried under the ruins of the fortress, than surrender to +his rebellious subjects. He appealed to the states of the empire, and +when they were assembled at Nuremberg, a messenger arrived announcing +that he was reduced to only three weeks provisions. The states +displayed, indeed, a readiness to rescue him from his danger; but the +proverbial tardiness of their succours would have rendered their +resolutions ineffectual, had not Frederic been relieved by the king of +Bohemia, who promptly despatched his son with 5000 men, and followed, in +person, with an additional force of 8000. The advance of this timely +succour relieved the emperor; both parties submitted their dispute to +the arbitration of the Bohemian monarch, and the terms of an +accommodation were adjusted. Both were to liberate their prisoners; +Albert was to restore the towns, fortresses, and countries which he had +occupied, and to enjoy the government of Lower Austria for eight years, +on condition of paying the annual sum of 4000 ducats to the emperor. + +“On the conclusion of this agreement, Frederic, escorted by a thousand +Bohemian horse, met his deliverer at Corn-Neuburgh; he gratefully +conferred several privileges on the kingdom of Bohemia, raised the two +sons of Podiebrad to the dignity of princes of the empire, and in +recompence to the inhabitants of Prague, who had furnished troops on +this occasion, he granted them an exemption from the tolls at Vienna, +and every part of the imperial territories. + +“This accommodation was no less unavailing than former agreements; the +hatred and suspicion of the two brothers were too inveterate to be +eradicated, and the ambition of Albert too grasping to be satisfied. New +disputes arose relative to the fulfilment of the terms: Albert +endeavoured to appropriate Lower Austria, received the oath of +allegiance from the citizens of Vienna, and made preparations for the +renewal of hostilities; while Frederic procured the publication of the +ban of the empire, and the sentence of excommunication from the pope +against his brother. The pope, the princes of the empire, and the common +friends of the two brothers, interposed to terminate this unnatural +contest; but Albert rejected all offers of accommodation, and was with +difficulty persuaded to conclude even a temporary armistice. In this +interval, however, his arbitrary government and continual exactions had +alienated the citizens of Vienna, and a strong party, among whom was +even Hulzer himself, reconciled themselves with Frederic, and +endeavoured to effect his restoration. Their designs being discovered, +Albert sated his vengeance by condemning Hulzer to the scaffold, and by +confiscating the property of the disaffected. At length Frederic was +delivered from an active and turbulent rival, by the sudden death of +Albert, who expired on the 4th of December, 1463, at the moment when he +was preparing to renew hostilities.” + +Frederic was engaged in other wars for personal objects with other +antagonists, as selfish in their aims as himself; although they +illustrate the family character, they do not especially illustrate our +particular subject. The most important act of his life, and most +fruitful of consequences, was his bringing about the marriage of his son +Maximilian with Mary of Burgundy. + +“Before 1477, France and the house of Austria had no subject of rivalry +or jealousy, and their political interests were as distinct as their +respective dominions. But the marriage of Maximilian with the heiress of +Burgundy, entailed on the two powers an hereditary enmity, which deluged +Europe with blood for more than three centuries. This enmity arising +from jarring interests and contiguity of dominion, was rendered personal +by the rupture of the marriage of Maximilian with Anne of Brittany, and +the dismission of the archduchess Margaret; and though suspended by +treaties and temporary expedients, was continually breaking out on every +trifling occasion. + +“From the time in which the house of Austria had been deprived of all +its territories in Helvetia, the Swiss confederacy had increased in +power and influence. Their union had been strengthened in 1481 by the +accession of Soleure and Friburgh. Except the Pays de Vaud, which +belonged to the house of Savoy, Neufchatel, subject to its own counts +and the Italian baillages, which were dependent on Milan, they or their +allies possessed almost the whole country which is now called +Switzerland. The Helvetic body thus becoming an important link in the +chain of European powers, their alliance was courted with much +solicitude and intrigue by the greatest potentates, and they were +induced to take an active part in the wars of the continent. + +“The disputes between the house of Austria and France, for the +succession of Burgundy and the possession of Brittany, and the almost +constant hostilities to which these disputes gave rise, occasioned +earnest and repeated solicitations from the house of Austria and France +for an intimate union with the Swiss confederates. Louis XI. gained +considerable influence among the Cantons by his private largesses to the +leading men, his public subsidies, and the great privileges which he +granted to those who served in his armies and settled in France. During +the latter part of his reign, indeed, he forfeited the confidence of the +Cantons, by withholding his bounties and subsidies; but his son Charles +regained their friendship by discharging the arrears and renewing the +former connections. Maximilian, from the moment of his accession, was +likewise desirous to form an alliance with the Swiss, and to obtain a +renewal of the hereditary union; but the superior influence of France, +as well as their natural jealousy of the house of Austria, induced them +to reject all his offers. + +“That part of Rhætia called the country of the Grisons, was originally a +dependency of the German empire, and subject to feudal lords, the bishop +of Coire, the abbot of Disentis, the counts of Werdenberg, Sax and +Masox, the barons of Retzuns, and the count of Tockenburgh. Towards the +middle of the fifteenth century the people emancipated themselves from +feudal jurisdiction; but their chiefs consenting to this emancipation +were suffered to retain considerable prerogatives; and thus the +government became a singular mixture of aristocracy and democracy. The +country was divided into a number of little communities under different +forms of government: a few aristocratical, others popular, and some more +democratical than even the rural cantons of Switzerland. These +communities composed three leagues, called the Grey League, the League +of God’s House, and the League of Ten Jurisdictions; and these by means +of a general diet formed one republic. The people, hardened amidst the +rugged rocks and perpetual snows of the Rhætian Alps, were a rude, +hardy, and warlike race, froward and licentious, impatient of control, +and no less distinguished from the rest of mankind by their singular +customs and manners, than by their situation and forms of government. + +“The bishop of Coire, the principal member of the League of God’s House, +had been engaged in perpetual contests with the sovereigns of the Tyrol, +relative to the demarcation of the frontiers, the profits of mines and +territorial possessions; and those disputes were aggravated by rival +pretensions to the advocacy of the abbey of Munster, which had been +claimed by the sovereigns of the Tyrol. Another object of dispute was +the valley of Prettigau, which forming the intermediate link between the +Tyrol and the League of Ten Jurisdictions, was coveted by both parties. +Amidst these contrary pretensions and jarring interests, various feudal +privileges in the barony of Retzuns, a community of the League of God’s +House, and in the whole League of Ten Jurisdictions, purchased by +Sigismond, and transmitted to Maximilian, contributed to render him +obnoxious to the Grison republics. These contests with Maximilian had +overcome the jealousy which the Grisons had hitherto fostered against +the Swiss, and soon after his accession, the Rhætian leagues united with +the Swiss states in a formal confederacy, a union from which the house +of Austria experienced the most fatal effects.” + +We close our mention of Frederic with an amusing anecdote, sufficiently +characteristic. + +“Like his great uncle Rodolph, he was attached to the study of +antiquities and heraldry, and like him formed alphabets of mysterious +characters, and whimsical devices. A species of anagram, consisting of +the five vowels, he adopted as indicative of the future greatness of the +house of Austria, imprinted it on all his books, carved it on all his +buildings, and engraved it on all his plate. This riddle occupied the +grave heads of his learned contemporaries, and gave rise to many +ridiculous conjectures; till the _important_ secret was disclosed after +his death by an interpretation written in his own hand, in which the +vowels form the initials of a sentence in Latin and German, signifying +‘the house of Austria is to govern the whole world.’ + + (Austria Est Imperare Orbi Universo. ) + (Alles Erdreich Ist Oesterreich Unterthan.) + Fugger, p. 1080.” + +The age of Maximilian was remarkable as the period in which the +boundaries of the nations of Europe were strongly defined. It witnessed +the union of Brittany with France; of Castille with Aragon; of Burgundy +with Austria. It was also the epoch of the union of Norway, Sweden, and +Denmark, under Margaret at Calmar; of the rise of Russia, under Ivan +Vassilevitch; of the greatest glory of Portugal, under John; of the +prosperity of Poland, under Albert; of the union of Bohemia and Hungary, +under Ladislas; of a confederacy of the Grisons and Swiss, more +especially directed against Austria; of the revival of literature and +the arts in Italy, under the fostering care of the Medici and other +merchant princes, who brought the Italian republics to their highest +point of splendour; finally, it was the acme of the Turkish power in +Europe, signalised by their taking Constantinople on the one hand, and +the beginning of decline through the sudden death of Mahomet in 1431 on +the other. But more important than all political attitudes of nations, +were the consequences of the invention of powder, and of printing. For +these peaceful events were big with a revolution, which is not even yet, +in five hundred years, fully developed, but which will unquestionably +bear the ultimate fruits in America, which was also at that epoch just +discovered. + +But Maximilian did not desert the hereditary character and line of +action, to enter into the new ideas of the time. He struggled for means +to drive both Spain and France from Italy, not in order to give Italy +independence and freedom, but to revive the imperial power there; a +project he was at length compelled to abandon. But this portion of his +action belongs to the history of Austrian influence in Italy, to which +our narrative will return bye and bye, and view it as a whole. + +With respect to the Reformation, Coxe observes: + +“This controversy had attracted the attention of Maximilian, who was +naturally fond of bold and novel opinions, and anxious to reform the +abuses and curb the encroachments of the church. Far from opposing the +first attacks of Luther against indulgences, he was pleased with his +spirit and acuteness, declared that he deserved protection, and treated +his adversaries with contempt and ridicule. In the progress of the +dispute he was, however, gradually drawn from this favourable opinion, +and from conviction, _from pique against Frederic of Saxony for opposing +the election of his grandson_, or from a desire of conciliating the +Pope, was induced to interfere in the controversy. In a letter to Leo +X., dated August 5, 1519, he stigmatised the principles of Luther as +heretical, and alluded to his numerous and powerful supporters. He urged +the necessity of terminating these rash disputes and captious arguments, +by which the Christian church was scandalised, and offered to support +and enforce the measures which the Pope should think necessary to adopt. + +“In consequence of this letter, Leo was induced to pursue more vigorous +measures: he enjoined the cardinal of Gaeta, his legate at the diet of +Augsburgh, to summon the heretic Luther in person; if he refused to +recant, to detain him in custody; and, if he did not obey the summons, +to denounce the sentence of excommunication against him and all his +protectors or adherents. At the same time Leo wrote to the elector of +Saxony, requesting him to withdraw his protection from Luther, and +promising that if not found guilty, he should be liberated and absolved. + +“But at this critical moment the emperor Maximilian died, before the +papal bull could be presented to him, and the government devolved on the +elector of Saxony, as vicar of the empire. The proceedings against the +great reformer were thus suspended, and he was enabled to improve his +knowledge of the Holy Scriptures in silence and safety, to propagate his +opinions, and, by study and meditation, to prepare himself for those +hostilities against the authority of the Pope, which he had proclaimed +by his recent appeal. + +“Notwithstanding the exhortatory letter of Maximilian to the Pope, he +seemed so little interested in the Lutheran controversy, that he +dissolved the diet and quitted Augsburgh two days before the arrival of +the Saxon reformer; and so rapid was the progress of that disorder which +hurried him to the grave, that he had no opportunity, had he possessed +the inclination, to interfere in the subsequent discussion. + +“Although Maximilian did not illustrate his name and reign by conquest, +or even considerable acquisitions by the sword, he may justly be +considered as the second founder of the house of Austria. By his own +marriage with the princess Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, he +secured the inheritance of the house of Burgundy; by the marriage of +Philip with Johanna he brought into his family the succession of the +Spanish monarchy, and by the intermarriage of his grandson, the archduke +Ferdinand, with Anne, daughter of Ladislaus, he entailed on his +posterity the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. These and other vast +acquisitions which the house of Austria obtained by marriage and not by +arms, gave birth to a sarcastic epigram which has been attributed, +though perhaps erroneously, to Matthias Corvinus, the celebrated king of +Hungary:— + + Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria _nube_; + Nam quæ MARS aliis, dat tibi regna VENUS. + +“Since the reign of Charlemagne, no sovereign united such extensive +territories and possessed such influence as Charles V., nor seemed more +likely to realise the phantom of universal monarchy, which has never +failed to fill the imagination of ambitious, or excite the apprehensions +of weak and timid princes. + +“He inherited the vast domains of the Spanish monarchy, including Naples +and Sicily, and the recently discovered territories in the new world, +and the seventeen provinces of the Low Countries, with Franche Comté and +Artois, at that time the richest, most populous, and most flourishing +country in Europe. In conjunction with his brother Ferdinand, he also +succeeded to the whole possessions of the house of Austria. To these he +united the highest dignity in Europe, and although the crown of the +empire had proved a burden to weak sovereigns, in his powerful hands it +became a formidable engine for territorial acquisitions, in consequence +of numerous claims on all the surrounding districts, its extensive +jurisdiction, and the force which the influence of so powerful a prince +could still draw from the vast and heterogeneous mass of the Germanic +body. + +“Sovereign of such extensive territories, endowed with the most eminent +talents, civil and military, and possessing almost universal influence +by his connections and alliances, Charles seemed born to domineer over +Europe; nor could the union of the princes and states of Germany have +secured their liberties, had not his power been weakened by the +separation of the Austrian and Spanish dominions, by his wars with +France and the Turks, and still more circumscribed by the reformation in +religion, which was commenced and perfected by the efforts and +perseverance of Luther. + +“After the death of Maximilian the Austrian territories were possessed +in common by Charles and Ferdinand; but in 1521 a partition was made. +Charles ceded to his brother Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, +with their dependencies, and in the ensuing year, the Tyrol, and the +exterior provinces in Suabia and Alsace, reserving to himself only the +reversion of Brisgau and the Alsatian territories, which he afterwards +relinquished. By this cession the house of Austria was divided into two +separate and independent branches; the Spanish branch under Charles, and +the German under Ferdinand. + +“As Ferdinand, soon after the partition, became king of the Romans, as +he finally succeeded to the imperial crown, it becomes necessary, for +the elucidation of the subject, not to omit the affairs of Germany under +Charles, and particularly to dwell on the rise and progress of the +Reformation, which produced such important effects to the house of +Austria and to Europe.” + +Charles immediately convoked the diet of the empire, and “among the +causes enumerated by Charles for the convocation of a diet, one of the +most important was, ‘to concert with the princes of the empire effectual +measures for _checking the progress of those new and dangerous opinions, +which threatened to disturb the peace of Germany, and to overturn the +religion of their ancestors_.’ + +“Charles had already given evident proofs of an hostile disposition +towards the Lutheran doctrines, as well from conviction, as from a +desire of obliging the pope, and an apprehension of alienating his +subjects in Spain and the Low Countries, who were zealously attached to +the religion of their ancestors. Before his departure from Spain he had +declared his intention to suppress the new opinions, and on his arrival +in the Low Countries had permitted the universities of Louvaine and +Antwerp to burn the writings of Luther, and even supported the instances +of the pope in urging the elector of Saxony to banish him from his +territories. With these sentiments he opened the diet of Worms, +permitted the papal legates to inveigh against Luther, and proposed that +the German states should also condemn his doctrines, and commit his +writings to the flames. + +“Charles, however, was astonished to find that the proscribed opinions +had taken a deep root, and spread over a great part of the empire. The +diet itself displayed an evident disposition to favour an attack on the +pretensions and exactions of the pope; and the states presented a long +list of grievances against the Roman see, of which they required the +emperor, in virtue of his capitulation, to obtain redress. In opposition +to all the remonstrances of the legates, the members of the diet, at the +instigation of the elector of Saxony, refused to proscribe Luther before +he had acknowledged himself as the author of the propositions condemned +by the papal bull, and had refused to recant, as a measure no less +contrary to the principles of justice than to the laws of the empire; +and they declared, that if he was convicted of error, and refused to +retract, they would then assist the emperor in punishing his contumacy. +The legates, who probably expected the same implicit obedience which had +so long been paid to the dictates of the church, in vain contended that +an affair, already decided by the pope, could never be again brought +into deliberation, and that a dispute with Luther would be endless, +because he refused to acknowledge the authority of the church. They had +the mortification to find that all their remonstrances were ineffectual, +and that their assertions of papal infallibility were heard by the +majority with indifference or contempt. + +“Charles, perceiving the sentiments of the diet, and unwilling to offend +the elector of Saxony, to whom he owed the imperial crown, affected +great candour and moderation, and, on the 6th of March, despatched a +respectful summons and safe conduct to Luther; though, to appease the +legate, he promised that Luther should not be suffered to defend, but +simply to acknowledge or recant his doctrines. The undaunted reformer +obeyed the summons with alacrity. His journey to Worms was like a +triumphal procession, and his reception, from all orders of men, evinced +the highest respect and admiration. Greater crowds assembled to behold +him than had been drawn together by the public entry of the emperor; and +his apartments were crowded daily and hourly with persons of the highest +rank and consequence. On his appearance before the diet he behaved with +great propriety, and acted with equal prudence and firmness. He +acknowledged without hesitation, the works published under his name, but +divided them into three classes. The first, he adroitly observed, +relating to faith and good works, contained doctrines which were not +disapproved even by his adversaries; the second, relating to the power +and decrees of the pope, he could not retract without injuring his +conscience, and contributing to the support of papal tyranny; and, in +the third, consisting of his writings against his opponents, he +acknowledged, with regret, that the provocation of his adversaries had +urged him beyond the bounds of moderation. He concluded, as usual, with +declining to retract the condemned propositions, until convinced by +arguments from reason and Scripture, not by the fallible authority of +popes and councils, which experience had proved to be frequently +erroneous and contradictory. When again required to recant, he persisted +in his resolution, and concluded with exclaiming. ‘Here I stand, I can +do no more. God be my help. Amen.’ + +“The papal legate, and some of the members of the diet, provoked at his +contumacy, exhorted the emperor to imitate the example of his +predecessor, Sigismond, by withdrawing his protection from an heretic; +but Charles rejected their advice with becoming disdain. He was, +however, no less exasperated at the refusal of Luther to recant; and, +after the second examination, retired in the evening to his cabinet, and +drew up, with his own hand, a declaration of his attachment to the +church, and of his resolution to proscribe the condemned doctrines. +‘Descended as I am,’ he said, ‘from the Christian emperors of Germany, +the Catholic kings of Spain, and from the archdukes of Austria and the +dukes of Burgundy, all of whom have preserved, to the last moment of +their lives, their fidelity to the church, and have always been the +defenders and protectors of the Catholic faith, its decrees, ceremonies, +and usages, I have been, am still, and will ever be devoted to those +Christian doctrines, and the constitution of the church, which they have +left to me as a sacred inheritance. And as it is evident that a single +monk has advanced opinions contrary to the sentiments of all Christians, +past and present, I am firmly determined to wipe away the reproach which +a toleration of such errors would cast on Germany, and to employ all my +power and resources, my body, my blood, my life, and even my soul, in +checking the progress of this sacrilegious doctrine. I will not, +therefore, permit Luther to enter into any further explanation, and will +instantly dismiss, and afterwards treat him as an heretic; but I will +not violate my safe conduct, and will cause him to be reconducted to +Wittemberg in safety.’ + +“The edict of Worms was passed on the 28th of May, but, to give it the +appearance of unanimity, was antedated the 8th. It declared Luther a +heretic and schismatic, confirmed the sentence of the pope, and +denounced the ban of the empire against all who should defend, maintain, +or protect him. To prevent also the dissemination of his opinions, it +prohibited the impression of any book on matters of faith, without the +approbation of the ordinary, and of some neighbouring university. + +“Fortunately for the Reformation, the emperor was prevented from +executing the edict of Worms by his absence from Germany, by the civil +commotions in Spain, and still more by the war with Francis I., which +extended into Spain, the Low Countries, and Italy, and for above eight +years involved him in a continued series of contests and negotiations at +a distance from Germany. + +“Even in the hereditary countries of the house of Austria the +Reformation found numerous advocates. Notwithstanding Ferdinand had +endeavoured to enforce the edict of Worms, the evangelical principles +were not only received by the people, but were adopted by many of the +higher orders, and by the professors of the university of Vienna. The +same spirit pervaded Bohemia; and that country, so feebly connected with +the church and the empire, seemed again likely to become the scene of +those religious troubles by which it had been desolated during the +Hussite wars. + +“The Reformation, thus successful in Germany, spread with equal rapidity +in the neighbouring countries. Zuingle, the illustrious head of the +reformed church in Switzerland, who had preceded Luther in his attacks +against the Roman see, who equalled him in zeal and intrepidity, and +surpassed him in learning and candor, had advanced with more daring +steps; and free from the restraints which subjection to the will of a +sovereign had imposed on the German divine, had overturned the whole +fabric of the established worship. So early as 1524, the canton of +Zurich renounced the supremacy of the pope; and, in 1528, Bern, Basle, +and Schaffhausen, and part of the Grisons, Glarus, and Appenzel, +followed the example. + +“The reformed doctrines spread likewise over the kingdoms of the north: +Christian II., the brother-in-law of Charles, had been driven from the +throne of Sweden by Gustavus Vasa, and from that of Denmark by Frederic +of Oldenburgh; and in both countries the jurisdiction of the pope was +abolished, and the Lutheran declared the established religion. In +England, also, the influence and authority of the church experienced a +similar decline; the Reformation was received by the people with an +eagerness which all the despotism of the sovereign could not repress, +and even Henry VIII. himself, who, by writing against Luther, had +acquired the title of Defender of the Faith, was preparing to undermine +the authority of the pope, and was suing for that divorce from his +queen, Catherine of Arragon, which soon afterwards occasioned the +separation of England from the see of Rome. In France a similar schism +took place, notwithstanding the efforts of Francis I., who, while he +encouraged the reformers of Germany, persecuted them in his own +dominions: a considerable party which had seceded from the church, had +been already formed under the auspices of Farell, and afterwards +increased by the labours of Calvin, from whom they received the +denomination of Calvinists. + +“The progress of the reformed doctrines, and the conduct of the reformed +princes, was not likely to allay the animosity which subsisted between +the two religious parties. The Catholics presented urgent and continual +representations to the emperor; and, on the other hand, the Lutherans +exerted every effort to maintain and extend their cause, by entering +into associations, and making preparations to resist aggression. Above +all, Philip, landgrave of Hesse, a prince perhaps sincere in his +attachment to the new religion, but violent, ambitious, and interested, +collected troops, and after alarming all Germany by dubious threats, +commenced aggression by invading the territories of the bishops of +Wurtzburg and Bamberg. The Catholic princes, being ill-prepared to +retaliate, the civil war which now threatened Germany, and which +afterwards burst forth with such fury, was suspended by their moderate +language and pacific assurances; and Philip disbanded his troops, after +receiving considerable sums of money in disbursement of his expenses. +The reformed party were thus encouraged by the timidity and irresolution +of their adversaries, and the animosity of the Catholics was augmented +by their own humiliation. + +“Hence the emperor summoned, in 1529, a second diet at Spire, for the +usual purpose of opposing the Turks, who had overrun Hungary, and even +threatened the Austrian territories; but principally for terminating the +contests relating to religion. It was opened on the 15th of March, and +in the absence of the emperor, presided over by Ferdinand, who had +recently succeeded to the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. Every other +consideration yielded to the affairs of religion; and the Catholics, +sensible of the fatal consequences derived from the vote passed at the +preceding diet of Spire, united the influence of their whole body to +procure its repeal or modification. By a majority of voices a decree was +passed, under the pretence of explaining, but virtually repealing the +former edict of toleration, which was declared to have been +misunderstood, and to have given rise to a variety of new doctrines. It +was enacted, that in all places where the edict of Worms had been +executed, it should be still observed, till the meeting of a council; +that those who had adopted the new opinions should desist from all +further innovations; that the mass should be re-established in all +places where it had been abolished, and the Catholic subjects of +reformed princes be suffered to enjoy unlimited toleration. The +ministers of the Gospel were to preach the word of God, according to the +interpretation of the church, and to abstain from promulgating new +doctrines. No hostilities were to be committed under pretence of +religion, and no prince was to protect the subjects of another. The +severest penalties were denounced against the Anabaptists; and +regulations were established against the reformed sect called +Sacramentarians, who, in the doctrine of the real presence in the +sacrament, differed both from the Catholics and Lutherans. + +“The Lutherans could not avoid perceiving the intent of this decree, and +were justly alarmed with its probable consequences. After in vain +endeavouring to prevent it from receiving the approbation of the diet, +they published their dissent by a regular protest. They declared that +what had been decided unanimously in one diet, ought not to be revoked +in another by a majority: and as the mass had been proved by their +ministers to be contrary to the institution of Christ, they could not +conscientiously permit its use among their subjects, or allow the absurd +practice of administering the communion according to two different forms +in the same place. They reprobated the clause which enacted the +preaching of the Gospel according to the interpretations of the church, +because it did not determine which was the true church. They argued that +the Scripture, as the only certain and infallible rule of life, ought to +be explained by itself alone, and not by human traditions, which are +doubtful and uncertain; and they, therefore, declared their resolution +to suffer nothing to be taught except the Old and New Testament in their +pristine purity. They readily acceded to the proscription of the +Anabaptists; but with a liberality of sentiment, which they afterwards +belied, they refused to join in proscribing the Sacramentarians, on the +same principle which they had claimed for themselves, that no doctrines +ought to be condemned until they had been heard and refuted. They +concluded with professing their earnest desire to maintain tranquillity, +and their acquiescence in the prosecution of those who were said to have +violated the peace, before equitable judges. + +“This protest was signed by John, elector of Saxony, George, margrave of +Brandenburgh Anspach, Ernest and Francis, dukes of Brunswick Lunenberg, +Philip, landgrave of Hesse Cassel, Wolfgang, prince of Anhalt, and +fourteen imperial cities, who thus appealed to the emperor and to a +future council. From this _protest_ the Lutherans acquired the name of +Protestants, which has been since applied to all who separated from the +church of Rome. + +“Notwithstanding the remonstrance of the Protestants, the decree of the +diet of Spire was but the prelude to still severer measures, which the +emperor was determined to enforce by his presence, when relieved from +the war in which he was then engaged. He had, therefore, no sooner +concluded the treaty of Barcelona with the pope, and that of Cambray +with Francis, than he quitted Spain with a resolution to restore the +unity of the church. At Placentia, being met by a deputation with the +protest of the Lutherans, he arrested the deputies, and arrogantly +required its revocation. He continued his route to Bologna, where he was +met on the 21st of February, 1520, by Clement VII., and received the +crowns of Lombardy and of the empire with more than usual solemnity. + +“During his stay at Bologna he was induced, by the advice of his +chancellor Gattinara, to assume at least the appearance of more mildness +and moderation than he had before displayed, and to fulfil his repeated +promises of endeavouring to procure the convocation of a general +council. With this view he held frequent and private conferences with +Clement; but he was unable to overcome his repugnance, and was persuaded +by the pontiff to resume his intention of employing force, if he failed +in effecting the re-union of the church by mild and moderate measures. +In consequence of this determination, he summoned a diet to meet at +Augsburgh in April, in a circular letter, dated January 1, which +breathes the spirit of conciliation and Christianity. ‘I have convened,’ +he observed, ‘this assembly, to consider the difference of opinions on +the subject of religion; and it is my intention to hear both parties +with candour and charity, to examine their respective arguments, to +correct and reform what requires to be corrected and reformed, that the +truth being known, and harmony re-established, there may, in future, be +only one pure and simple faith, and, as all are disciples of the same +Jesus, all may form one and the same church.’ + +“A subsequent letter, in which he prorogued the meeting till the 15th of +May, was couched in expressions equally temperate and equitable. Yet, +notwithstanding these specious declarations of impartiality and +moderation, the Protestant princes had just reason to doubt his +sincerity. They recollected his earnest endeavours to enforce the edict +of Worms, and the exertion of all his influence and authority in the +empire to obtain the edict of the second diet of Spire. The preamble of +the treaty of Madrid, in which he had unequivocally announced his +hostility to their doctrines, and the arrest of the deputies who carried +their protest, were the most public proofs of his intentions. They were +also alarmed at his long residence at Bologna, and his frequent +conferences and good understanding with the pope; and they had already +learned to dread and suspect his dissimulation. In fact, the Protestant +princes were so convinced that the emperor covered, under fair words, +the most intolerant and despotic designs, that they deliberated whether +they should not instantly assemble their forces, conclude an alliance +with Zurich and Berne, and attack him before he was in a situation to +subjugate them. But this resolution, of which subsequent events proved +the expediency, was counteracted by the divines of Wittemberg, and by +none more than Luther, who, though fierce in debate, and overbearing in +controversy, was averse to war, and exhorted the elector to leave to God +the defence of his own cause.” + +Coxe goes on to tell all the action of Charles against the Protestants, +first under the mask of moderation and then in open violence, until he +was compelled to the religious truce of 1532 by an eruption of the Turks +into Hungary, threatening Austria also with invasion, an event requiring +the union of the Protestant and Catholic States against a common enemy. + +Meanwhile the Catholics had obtained from Charles the appointment of a +king of the Romans, who being attached “to the Church, might by his +presence give force to the government, and support to the Catholic +cause. With a natural partiality he proposed his brother Ferdinand, who, +in addition to the hereditary countries of the house of Austria, had +recently obtained the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. He positively +refused to accept any other coadjutor; and his powerful influence +concurring with the wishes of the Catholic electors, Ferdinand was +regularly chosen by the whole college, except the elector of Saxony, on +the 5th of January, 1531. + +“The religious feuds being thus suspended, the German states were +enabled to turn their whole force against the enemy of Christendom. The +Protestants, eager to prove that their recent opposition had been merely +derived from motives of conscience, exerted themselves with unusual +alacrity, doubled and even trebled their contingents; and by their +assistance Charles was principally enabled to lead an army in person +against the infidels, and expel them from the Austrian dominions. He +displayed, however, but little gratitude for this assistance; for he was +no sooner relieved from his apprehensions of the Turks, than he +encouraged the imperial chamber to recommence its proceedings against +the Protestants, under the plea that the agreement of Nuremberg regarded +the toleration of religious opinions, and not the possession of +ecclesiastical property. The Protestants, roused by these proceedings, +again renewed the confederacy of Smalkalde, and their engagements with +foreign states; while their active and enterprising chief, the landgrave +of Hesse, entered, with a considerable army, into the territories of +Wirtemberg, defeated the Austrian troops at Lauffen, and restored the +duchy to duke Ulric, who had embraced the Protestant doctrines. + +“At this juncture the more timid or moderate of the Catholics +interfered, and, through their interposition, and the mediation of the +elector of Mentz and George duke of Saxony, with the chiefs of the +Protestant party, a convention was concluded, on the 29th of July, 1534, +at Cadan, in Bohemia. The convention of Nuremberg was renewed and +confirmed, and the Protestants acknowledged Ferdinand as king of the +Romans. To save the honour of the emperor, the duke of Wirtemberg and +the landgrave of Hesse were to demand pardon on their knees; but the +duke was allowed to retain possession of his territories on the +condition that the duchy should become a mesne fief of the house of +Austria, and that he should tolerate all religious opinions. John +Frederic, the new elector of Saxony, who had recently succeeded his +father, John the Constant, and was, like him, attached to the Protestant +doctrines, was to receive the investiture of his dominions; and all +processes in the imperial chamber, against the Protestants, were to be +again suspended. Both parties agreed to exclude from the benefit of this +treaty the Sacramentarians, and all other sects who maintained tenets +contrary to the confession of Augsburgh and the Roman Catholic church. + +“Charles was anxious to support the Catholics from attachment to the +religion of his ancestors, from his interests as king of Spain and +sovereign of the Netherlands, and from his desire to recover his +authority as emperor; and for these reasons he was determined to exert +his whole force in effecting the restoration of the Catholic cause. But +duly appreciating the delicacy and difficulty of his situation, he +prepared for the contest with his usual foresight, art, and sagacity. +Sensible that violent measures would only unite the Protestants and +alienate the most moderate of the Catholics, he endeavoured to adopt +such a line of conduct, that to the Protestants he should appear only to +prosecute a civil contest, and to the Catholics, to vindicate the honour +of the church and of the empire, and compel refractory schismatics to +submit their objections to the impartial decisions of a general council. +He pursued this plan with unabated perseverance, notwithstanding all the +clamours of the zealous Catholics, and all the remonstrances, +reproaches, and intrigues of the new pontiff, Paul III., who reprobated +the slightest degree of toleration, and was averse to the interference +of a lay prince in ecclesiastical affairs. + +“From the edict of Worms to the private act of toleration at the diet at +Ratisbon, Charles had either granted or withheld liberty of conscience, +as he was in friendship or at enmity with the pope and the Turks; yet he +never abandoned his design of compelling the Lutherans to return to the +church, and considered his occasional concessions only as temporary +expedients which he was justified in resuming. With these views he +concluded the peace of Crespy with Francis, on the 18th of September, +1544; and introduced into the treaty a secret article, binding the +French monarch to assist in crushing the Lutheran heresy, and in +enforcing the decree of the council which was about to be summoned; and +he was, in 1506, relieved from all other foreign embarrassments, by the +conclusion of a truce for five years, between his brother, as king of +Hungary, and Solyman the Magnificent, sultan of the Turks.” + +It is not necessary to state here the events of this well known war, +every turn of which shows that the worst qualities of the house of +Hapsburgh were concentrated in Charles and made effective by his +military and diplomatic talents. In 1555 the war was concluded by “the +religious peace of Passau,” presided over by Ferdinand, who was +interested to conciliate the Protestant powers, that he might obtain +assistance against the Turks. From all this portion of history we may +see that if the house of Austria did not suppress the Reformation, it +was through no scruples of respect for the rights of conscience. + +Before speaking of the destruction of Italy, for it was nothing less, by +Charles VI., and his destruction of the constitution of Spain, we will +turn to consider that of Ferdinand in the East of Europe. + +After having obtained from Charles the cession of Austria, and +suppressed a rebellion there by the execution of its leaders, his +marriage with Anne, princess of Bohemia and Hungary, paved the way for +his final triumphs over those countries. The marriage of Louis of +Hungary with his sister also gave colour to claims on that country which +in the course of time he made good. For he claimed the crowns of Hungary +and Bohemia on the death of Louis, who fell in a war with Solyman the +Magnificent, when, having in vain appealed to the pope, the emperor and +the German states for aid, that unfortunate monarch undertook to meet at +Mohatz an army of 200,000 with 30,000 men. Ferdinand presumed on “a +double title: the one derived from family compacts, which secured the +reversion to the house of Austria, in failure of male issue to the +reigning family; and the other in right of his wife Anna, the only +sister of the deceased monarch. But the natives of Hungary and Bohemia +were too much attached to their rights of election to respect these +compacts, or even to acknowledge his claims as husband of the princess; +and Ferdinand, prudently waiving his pretensions, offered himself as a +candidate according to the usual mode of election. Being only opposed in +Bohemia by Albert, duke of Bavaria, he was, on the 26th of October, +1526, elected by a committee of twenty persons, who were appointed by +the states to choose a king. + +“The new sovereign, in his letters of thanks to the states, promised to +ratify all their rights and privileges, to observe the religious +compacts, to raise no foreigners to any office of state, to coin good +money, to govern the kingdom according to ancient customs and laws, and +to reside at Prague. He also acknowledged, by public act, his election +to the monarchy, as the free choice of the barons, nobles, and states of +Bohemia, and disowned all other rights and pretensions. He soon +afterwards repaired to Iglau, where he took the usual oaths; and, +continuing his journey to the capital, was crowned with his wife Anne in +the cathedral, on the 4th of February, 1527. + +“After taking possession of Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia, at that time +dependencies on Bohemia, he proceeded to Hungary, where the succession +to the crown was contested by a more powerful rival than the duke of +Bavaria. + +“John of Zapoli, count of Zips, and waivode of Transylvania, being at +the head of 40,000 men, whom he had led into the field to join his +sovereign before the battle of Mohatz, offered himself as a candidate +for the crown; and having convened the states at Tokay, was chosen by a +large party of the nobles, who were averse to the rule of a foreigner. +In November, 1526, he was crowned at Alba Regia with the sacred diadem +of St. Stephen, by the Archbishop of Gran, and took up his residence at +Buda, the capital of the kingdom, which had been recently evacuated by +the Turks. + +“On the other hand, Mary, the widow of the deceased monarch, and sister +of Ferdinand, summoned, in conjunction with the palatine, a diet at +Presburgh; and a party of the nobles, after declaring the election of +John illegal, because the assembly at Tokay was not regularly convoked +by the palatine, raised Ferdinand to the throne. The new sovereign +supported his election by marching to Presburgh with a powerful army of +Germans and Bohemians, was joyfully received by his party, took an oath +to confirm the rights and privileges of the nation, and proceeded, +without delay, towards Buda. Raab, Commorn, Gran, and Alba Regia +surrendered without opposition; John retired from the capital, and +Ferdinand made his triumphant entry. A numerous meeting of the states, +assembled in a new diet, confirmed the proceedings at Presburgh, +declared Ferdinand king, and proclaimed John and his adherents enemies +of their country if they did not, within twenty-six days, desist from +their contumacy. Ferdinand gained many of the nobles by favours and +promises; his troops defeated those of his rival in various encounters; +and John himself was compelled to take refuge in Poland, under the +protection of Sigismond I., who had married his sister. + +“Ferdinand was accordingly crowned by the archbishop of Gran, whom he +had detached from the party of John; and after obtaining the ban of the +diet against his rival, and appointing a council of regency during his +absence, quitted Hungary in full possession of the whole kingdom.” + +But before going on with Ferdinand’s transactions in Hungary, which we +defer to the end of the book, we shall hear Coxe relate his destruction +of the constitutional rights of Bohemia, in the XXXIVth chapter of his +history. + +“We have already seen that Bohemia was an elective monarchy. + +“On his accession to the throne, the king was always constrained to +acknowledge the right of election, and all the privileges of his +subjects, and promise to govern according to the ancient constitution +and statutes, particularly those of the Emperor Charles IV. The power of +the crown was extremely limited, as well by the privileges of the +different orders, as by the authority of the diet, without which he +could not impose taxes, raise troops, make war or peace, coin money, or +institute and abrogate laws. + +“The diet, which shared with the king the executive and legislative +authorities, consisted of the three estates of the realm; the barons, +the knights or equestrian order, and deputies from certain privileged +cities. By the laws the king alone possessed the right of convocation, +but in turbulent times the states frequently assembled at the +instigation of the principal barons, or by a common impulse in which the +capital bore a considerable share. The number of members, instead of +being uniform, depended on the exigency of the moment, or the importance +of affairs, sometimes consisting only of a few, and at others forming a +turbulent and heterogeneous assemblage of several hundred. + +“Besides all these restrictions which had more or less controlled the +preceding sovereigns, there were others arising from religious affairs, +which particularly shocked the prejudices and thwarted the views of +Ferdinand. + +“From the accession of George Podiebrad, the equipoise established +between the Catholics and Calixtins produced continual struggles and +confusion, until his successor Ladislaus, in a diet holden at +Kuttenberg, in 1485, procured the conclusion of a religious peace for +thirty-three years, by which the Catholics and Calixtins agreed to +abstain from mutual persecution; the priests were allowed to preach +freely the word of God; and the compacts approved by the council of +Basle, which had been revoked by the popes, were to be restored and +maintained. These wise regulations suppressed the public dissensions; +but the new opinions of Luther spreading from the contiguous parts of +Saxony, found a ready reception among a people habituated to religious +discussions, and divided into almost as many different sects as there +were priests and preachers. The introduction of the reformed opinions +exciting a new ferment induced the government, which administered the +affairs of Bohemia during the reign of Louis, to prevent their diffusion +by persecution and banishment. Many of the most remarkable Lutherans +were driven from the kingdom; but the majority taking refuge under the +name of Calixtins, carried their own principles into that body, while +their numbers increased its weight and influence. So great, indeed, was +the preponderance of Lutheranism in that sect, that in a committee +selected for the purpose of establishing among themselves uniformity of +opinion, they chose, as their chief or administrator, Howel Czahera, +pastor of one of the churches of Prague, who had been educated at +Wittemberg, and had distinguished himself in the propagation of the +Lutheran doctrines. + +“By this similarity of religious sentiments, a more powerful bond than +the frail connections of policy or interest was formed between the +Bohemians and Saxons. The reformers of Germany courted the sectaries of +Bohemia as a body who, by weight and numbers, gave an essential support +to their cause; while the sectaries of Bohemia favoured every new +opinion and approved every innovation, which tended to depress the +hierarchy and diminish the influence of the Roman see. + +“Such was the civil and religious state of Bohemia when Ferdinand +ascended the throne. He did not attempt to infringe the privileges +secured by the constitution to the Calixtins; but, as in his other +dominions, he laboured to check the progress of the Reformation, and +exercised the utmost rigour against those who disseminated religious +opinions not tolerated by law; in particular, he obtained from the diet +of Budeweiss a decree of proscription against all sects, not tolerated +by the compacts, and a sentence of banishment against the Calixtine +administrator Czahera, who had distinguished himself for his zeal and +turbulence. As the means of diminishing the influence of the capital, he +removed several magistrates, and again separated the magistracy of the +old and new towns, which had been united since the time of Ladislaus, +and forbade all attempts for effecting their re-union under the penalty +of high treason. + +“Notwithstanding these innovations, he obtained considerable support +from the Bohemians during the Turkish war; and a long absence for ten +years, during which no remarkable event occurred, seems to have weakened +the impression occasioned by such acts of authority. During this time he +made a fruitless attempt to disarm the nobles by requiring their +artillery, under the pretext of employing it against the Turks; but +having concluded the peace with Solyman, he ventured on more decisive +innovations. He re-established the archiepiscopal see of Prague, and +empowered the archbishop to consecrate the Calixtine as well as Catholic +priests; and he excited the jealousy of the whole kingdom by formally +revoking the reversal, by which he had acknowledged the right of +election in the states, and declaring himself hereditary sovereign, in +virtue of his marriage with Anne, and of the exploded compacts between +the Bohemian and Austrian princes. + +“This unpopular and glaring breach of faith could not fail to excite the +highest indignation among a people so jealous of their privileges; and +the religious war in Germany brought on a crisis, which was equally +dangerous to the sovereign and the subject, and occasioned the loss of +that darling liberty for which the Bohemians had so long sacrificed the +blessings of peace and tranquillity. + +“When Charles had determined to reduce by force the league of Smalkalde, +and to subdue the elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse Cassel, +Ferdinand raised a considerable number of troops in the Austrian +dominions, and prepared to collect an army in Bohemia, to co-operate +with his brother. But as he was well aware of the tendency of his +Bohemian subjects to the Lutheran opinions, and knew that a compact of +hereditary friendship and amity with the elector of Saxony, concluded at +Egra in 1459, was still in force, he endeavoured to elude the privileges +of the states, by entangling them with opposite engagements, and +involving them in the war before they could suspect or thwart his +designs. He accordingly summoned a diet at Prague, on the 27th of July, +1546, and obtained their consent to raise a certain number of troops for +the purpose of defending the country, or, if necessary, of marching +against the Turks, or _other enemies of the kingdom_, according to the +direction of the king, his governor, or the burgrave of Prague. As +Maurice of Saxony was then at Prague, he also persuaded the states to +renew with him the ancient compact between Bohemia and the house of +Saxony, in order to counteract their engagements with the electoral +branch. + +“During these transactions, he published, in the Bohemian tongue, the +ban which the emperor had issued against the elector of Saxony and the +landgrave of Hesse; declared that, in consequence of this ban, all +alliances with those princes were dissolved; and forbade, under pain of +death, all his Bohemian subjects from supplying them with succours or +provisions. + +“The troops, however, who had been voted by the diet, and assembled at +Kathen, rose into mutiny on receiving orders from their general, +Wertmuhle, to make an irruption into the Voigtland, a part of the +electoral dominions. They clamorously urged, that by the vote of the +diet, they were collected to defend the country, not to pass the +frontiers; they therefore refused to march against their ally, the +elector of Saxony; declared the war to be unjust, and expressed their +reluctance to commit hostilities against their fellow Christians, who, +as well as themselves, received the holy communion under both kinds. The +greater part, however, being at length prevailed upon by emissaries from +Ferdinand to obey their orders, they marched into the Voigtland, laid +waste the country, defeated the electoral troops in two engagements, and +after remaining in the field till the beginning of December, returned +into Bohemia. At the close of the campaign, Ferdinand punished the +disobedience of those troops who had refused to pass the frontiers; he +arrested the ringleaders, condemned them to death, and after executing +the most factious, pardoned the rest at the intercession of his queen. + +“At the commencement of the next year, he hastened to mature his plan, +and to liberate himself from the shackles imposed by the constitution, +by an extraordinary act of authority, which none of his predecessors had +ventured to exercise without the consent of the states. + +“In a mandate bearing date the 12th day of January, 1547, he declared, +‘John Frederic, late elector of Saxony, is preparing to invade Bohemia, +and the territory of Maurice, duke of Saxony, and margrave of Misnia, +and has with this view occupied the convent of Dobroluc, and two +villages. The states of Lower Lusatia, as members of the crown of +Bohemia, and prince Maurice, in virtue of the hereditary compact +recently concluded at the diet of Prague, require succours. We, as king +of Hungary, will bring into the field 14,000 men; our brother, the +emperor, has sent troops to our assistance, and the Lusatians, +Silesians, and Moravians are in motion. The Bohemians must also send an +army into the field.’ It then ordered certain levies of men to be raised +according to the feudal tenures; and to appear at Leutmeritz, with a +month’s provisions and pay. It concluded, ‘Either we the king, or our +son the archduke, will lead the army in person; and all who do not obey +these our commands, shall, according to the laws of the land, be +deprived of their honours, lives, and property.’ + +“This unprecedented act of authority excited general indignation, and +the three towns of Prague were the foremost to resist its execution. +When the deputies presented their remonstrance, Ferdinand indignantly +replied, ‘What we have commanded is for your advantage, and ye are +culpable in acting contrary to our orders. We declare that you are +guilty of all the former and present misfortunes in this war. God will +punish your disobedience.’ The deputies excusing themselves, by replying +that they could not control the inclinations of the people, the king +rejoined, ‘We have told you our opinion, and we will give you no other +answer, since we have commanded nothing that is unjust. This is not the +first time that you have been disobedient.’ When the deputies presented +a memorial, stating that the levy of troops ought to be approved by a +general diet, he endeavoured to stimulate their pride by reproaches of +disobedience and pusillanimity, and by recalling to their recollection +the heroic courage of their ancestors. He concluded by saying, ‘We are +determined to prosecute this warfare, whether you will go with us or +not. If you accompany us, you do us a favour, and we shall be inclined +to treat you with kindness; but, if you persist in your disobedience, +you are alone accountable for all the misfortunes which may overwhelm +you.’ These reproaches, being attended with no effect, Ferdinand quitted +the city, full of indignation, and repaired to Leutmeritz. Here he found +a numerous assembly of nobles, knights, and deputies of the towns who +formed the states of that province which he had convoked. But from them +he was assailed with the same remonstrances as had been made by the +burghers of Prague. When the proposal for raising troops was laid before +the meeting, they requested him to convoke a general diet, which could +alone authorise the levy, and promised to support the proposition, if +made according to custom and law; and they declared that the mandate of +the 12th of January was contrary to their privileges and liberties. This +remonstrance, conveyed in mild but firm expressions, convinced the king +that it was necessary to have recourse to soothing measures. Having +summoned the principal deputies into his presence, he condescended to +inform them that the danger was too pressing to admit of delay, or to +allow time for the convocation of a diet. He had promised assistance, he +said, to Maurice of Saxony, who was encamped within only four miles of +the enemy; he had already begun his march, and could not retreat without +forfeiting his honour. He therefore entreated them not to forsake him, +or compel him to disgrace himself by a breach of his promise. He engaged +to recall the mandate of the 12th of January, and offered to give full +security that no violation of their privileges should in future result +from this step, and to declare that they took the field not from +obligation, but from compliance with the request of their sovereign. The +assembly, overcome by these professions, fulfilled his wishes as far as +was consistent with the laws of their country. They gave to every baron, +knight, and burgher, liberty to follow, or not to follow the king to the +field, freely and uncompelled, not for the purpose of succouring prince +Maurice, not in obedience to the mandate of the 12th of January, nor in +virtue of the recent compact with Maurice, but solely to defend the +person of the king, and to protect him from danger. They also promised +to persuade the other states of the kingdom to follow their example; and +Ferdinand, after tendering his acknowledgments for these resolutions, +continued his march to Dresden. + +“During these transactions, the capital was the scene of tumult and +alarm. The Calixtine members of nine circles, as well nobles and knights +as deputies from the towns, flocking to Prague, united themselves with +the citizens in a solemn confederacy, to defend those rights and +privileges, ancient laws and customs, which had been granted by their +sovereigns, and recently confirmed by Ferdinand. They also signed a +memorial to the king, in which they earnestly requested him to convoke a +diet at Prague, for the purpose of laying before all the states the +affair of the levies; and they concluded by observing, that if he did +not himself summon the diet, the states would of their own authority +assemble on that day, and deliberate on the business. + +“To their memorial the king made the same reply as to the states +assembled at Leutmeritz; he promised to hold a diet in person at Prague, +eight days after Easter; forbade them in the interim to assemble, and at +the same time issued his summons to all the circles and towns. + +“This measure might have pacified the states, had not the elector of +Saxony gained a considerable advantage over the margrave of +Brandenburgh, who was marching to the assistance of prince Maurice. The +victory encouraged the Bohemians to persist in their opposition, while +it filled Ferdinand with new apprehensions. He instantly despatched +general Wertmuhle to Commotau, and ordered all the states of the kingdom +to send troops under his command, and to supply with provisions the army +of the emperor, who was advancing to Egra to protect Bohemia, and +succour prince Maurice. But this mandate was not obeyed; the states, +which had assembled at Prague, declared the summons of the king and +Wertmuhle illegal, and expressed their resolution to maintain the +hereditary compact with the elector of Saxony; they dispersed a printed +letter through all the circles, exhorting the nobles, knights, and +towns, to join in their confederacy, and declared that those who did not +present themselves before Easter should not be admitted. ‘As numerous +bodies of men were collecting in the neighbouring countries,’ they gave +directions for assembling an army to defend Bohemia, their native land, +from all foreign attacks; to protect their wives and children, property +and vassals, from the hand of violence, and to support each other +against all aggressors. They even imposed a tax on all property for the +maintenance of the national army, appointed a commander-in-chief, and +made arrangements according to ancient custom. In case of extreme +necessity, they summoned all who were capable of bearing arms into the +field, and denounced confiscation of property and banishment against all +who should refuse to serve. They moreover named a committee consisting +of four nobles, four knights, and the magistrates of Prague, to act as +delegates, with full powers, in the name of the three estates. + +“Notice being brought that prince Maurice and his brother Augustus of +Saxony had marched with more than 7000 troops to Brix, they issued +instant orders throughout all the circles, to assemble levies for the +purpose of resisting this invasion. They sent a remonstrance to the +king, in which they expressed their surprise that foreign troops had +entered Bohemia without the knowledge and approbation of the states, and +with an implied threat of resistance, they exhorted him to induce the +two dukes of Saxony to return. They also despatched messengers to the +states of Moravia and Lusatia, announcing their common danger, and +requesting succours. + +“Ferdinand, in reply to these remonstrances, informed them that he was +arrived at Brix, and in company with the two dukes of Saxony, was +marching through Bohemia, to join the army of the emperor. His object, +he declared, was to protect the kingdom against the elector of Saxony, +who had been put under the ban of the empire, and who had not only +occupied Joachimsthal and Presnitz, but had extorted an oath from the +inhabitants to arm in his defence. The irruption of the emperor, with +20,000 Spanish veterans, into the province of Egra, excited general +indignation and alarm; and the committee circulated their mandates, +ordering all persons to repair to Prague for the purpose of marching +against the enemy, while the burghers of the capital flocked in crowds +to offer their personal services. + +“Ferdinand, informed of these movements, testified his surprise and +dissatisfaction that troops should be levied when no enemy was at hand, +and when he himself was marching to join the emperor at Egra. He +promised to prevail on the emperor not to pass through the kingdom, +assured the states that he had no inclination to infringe their +liberties, and again exhorted them to lay down their arms, and to wait +in tranquillity his arrival at Prague. These representations from a +sovereign who had excited the jealousy of his subjects by his +innovations, were attended with no effect; the delegates justified their +proceedings, and declared that they had taken up arms because the states +had certain information of a design to overturn the constitution, +destroy the kingdom, and extirpate the language of Bohemia. And, as the +king and the chief burgrave to whom the defence of the crown belonged, +were absent, they were compelled for their own security to levy an army, +and appoint a commander, not to act against the king, but for the +purpose of protecting his daughter, the archduchess, who was consigned +to their care, and to secure their country from the invasion of foreign +troops. They could not, they observed, revoke the summons, and prevent +the levies; they therefore entreated his majesty to divert the emperor +from the effusion of Christian blood, and to return to the capital +without delay. At the same time the delegates assured the elector of +Saxony of their fixed resolution to maintain and renew the ancient +compact, summoned the states to come forward in defence of the crown, of +their liberties, and native tongue; and earnestly exhorted them to +remain true to the electoral house of Saxony, since the hereditary +compact was a principal prerogative of the crown, and a rock of defence +to the subjects. To the emperor, who remonstrated against their taking +up arms, they replied they did not rise against him or their king, but +in defence of their privileges, and in support of their ancient +alliances. They exhorted him, as the head of Christendom, to spare the +effusion of Christian blood, to be reconciled to the elector, and lead +his own forces, with those of the Christian world, against the Turks, +the inveterate enemies of the Christian faith. + +“In the midst of these transactions the diet assembled at Prague, and +the importance of the occasion drew such numbers of deputies, that they +overflowed the place of assembly, and crowded in the square before the +palace. The hereditary compact between George Podiebrad and the elector +of Saxony was read, and the public discontents were inflamed by the +complaints of several officers, that the king had threatened to punish +them with death if they refused to pass the frontiers. + +“Two days afterwards, the royal commissaries being introduced, required +the states in the king’s name to dismiss their troops, and dissolve +their confederacy. These commands were enforced by an embassy from the +emperor, who exhorted the states to lay down their arms, and pay due +obedience to their lawful sovereign. + +“Instead, however, of paying attention to these representations, the +states drew up an apology for their conduct, and appointed ambassadors +to the king and the emperor, who were commissioned to represent that the +state of Bohemia had been, from time immemorial, accustomed for the sake +of peace and unanimity, to contract confederacies with each other, of +which the documents had been recently destroyed by fire. In regard to +the levy of forces, their forefathers, they said, had always raised +troops whenever a foreign army approached the frontiers, and they +themselves had only acted in conformity with this ancient custom without +the least intention of injuring the emperor or the king, their +sovereign. They concluded by observing, that as the states had prorogued +their meeting till the ensuing Whitsuntide, they hoped the ambassadors +would, in the interim, obtain the king’s approbation, and induce him to +mediate a peace between the emperor and the elector of Saxony, and then +to lead an army against the Turks. + +“Before the departure of the ambassadors, a messenger from Ferdinand +announced the total defeat and capture of the elector of Saxony at +Muhlberg; and, to discourage the states, the intelligence was publicly +read before the diet. On this occasion, this numerous assembly evinced +all the versatility of a popular body, easily roused, and as suddenly +depressed. Those very men, who, with the hope of foreign assistance, had +displayed such resolution to assert their liberties, the descendants of +those who under Ziska had singly resisted or deposed their sovereigns, +and spread terror throughout Germany, no sooner saw themselves deprived +of foreign support, than they sank into a servility and despondency as +degrading as their former presumption and petulance were imprudent. Many +of the members hastened from Prague, others who had unwillingly united +in the confederacy, rejoiced, and all affected to join the royalists in +their eager demonstrations of loyalty. The states congratulated the king +on the victory, and represented, that as the war was now concluded, and +as they fully confided in his gracious promise not to introduce foreign +troops into Bohemia, they were willing to dismiss their levies, and +permit the free transport of provisions to the imperial army. On the +following day orders were issued to their commander-in-chief to disband +their forces. + +“Ferdinand made no other reply to these tardy offers of submission than +threats and reproaches; and without a moment’s delay prepared to avail +himself of the advantages which he possessed over his humiliated +subjects. He took his departure from Wittemberg with a considerable body +of troops and heavy artillery, and on the 3rd of June reached +Leutmeritz, where he received the submission of the inhabitants. Here he +issued a circular letter to the towns of Prague and the provincial +states, in which he reproached them for their recent misconduct, +commanded them to renounce their confederacy, summoned those who were +well affected to repair to Leutmeritz, under the promise of pardon, and +threatened those with punishment who persisted in their contumacy. + +“In consequence of these letters, nobles, knights, and deputies flocked +in great numbers to Leutmeritz. The citizens of Prague alone gave +symptoms of their former resolution; they proposed to occupy the castle, +and fortify the White Mountain; and were not, without much difficulty, +prevailed upon to renounce their fruitless opposition, and to dispatch +their deputies. The states assembled at Leutmeritz, presented to the +king a memorial, in which they declared that their only object in +joining the confederacy was to promote the advantage of their country, +and protect the prerogatives of the crown; and they promised that they +would the next day erase their signatures, tear off their seals, and +defend their king against all his enemies with their lives and fortunes. +The king thanked them for this proof of returning loyalty, and granted +them his pardon, but reserved his severest vengeance against the +contumacious citizens of Prague. He refused to admit their deputies into +his presence; he announced his intention to give an answer in person, on +the Sunday following, in the palace; he commanded the magistrates to +prepare quarters for his troops, and, before the departure of the +deputies, despatched a corps of Germans, who, entering Prague by night, +anticipated the design of the citizens by occupying the castle. + +“On the 2d of July, Ferdinand himself made his public entry, at the head +of a numerous army. His troops occupied the gates and the bridge, +quartered themselves in different parts of the city, and encamped on the +banks of the Moldau. But even his own presence, and the awe inspired by +so great a force, could not repress the indignation of the citizens. A +wanton insult of the Germans, who fired on the burghers of the old town, +and the sacking of a neighbouring village by the hussars, provoked the +populace into a tumult, which nearly occasioned the renewal of the civil +war. The burghers dislodged the royal troops from the bridge, and drew +cannon to the banks of the Moldau to batter the castle where the king +resided; they even prepared to renew the national confederacy, and sent +letters to their adherents in the different circles, exhorting them to +furnish speedy and effectual succours. But the revival of a contest +which would have deluged the kingdom in blood, was prevented by the +intervention of those leaders who were inclined to more moderate +measures, and by the policy and affected mildness of the king, who +disavowed the perpetrators of the outrages, and promised redress. + +“The whole conduct of Ferdinand was calculated to increase the terror of +the inhabitants; he prohibited the usual demonstrations of joy paid to +the sovereign on his arrival, and forbade the magistrates to approach +his person. On the 3rd, he summoned to the palace, the mayor, +burgomasters, magistrates, councillors, jurors, elders, and two hundred +and forty of the most distinguished citizens of the three towns. On the +day appointed, these persons, amounting to more than six hundred, +repaired to the palace, and had no sooner entered than the gates were +closed and guarded. The king being thus master of the principal members +of the three towns, and those who by their talents or influence might +have roused the people to a desperate resistance, was enabled to impose +his own terms. To impress them with additional terror, he appeared in +all the parade of majesty, and with all the pomp of justice. He was +habited in his royal robes, and seated on a lofty throne; beneath him +was his second son the archduke Ferdinand; and he was surrounded by the +magnates of Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia, who bore the highest offices +of state, the duke of Teschen, the bishops of Olmutz and Troppau; the +count of Lobcowitz stood before him with a drawn sword. Silence being +proclaimed, numerous charges against the prisoners were read, after +which the king expatiated on their rebellious proceedings, and commanded +them to give an answer to each article of accusation. + +“Unable to justify themselves against the abrupt and heavy charge, +Sixtus of Ottersdorf, secretary of the old town, humbly replied, in the +name of all, that they would not presume to enter into any defence of +their conduct with their king and master; but submitted themselves to +his royal mercy, beseeching the intercession of the nobles, bishops, and +counsellors, who were present; and the whole body falling on their +knees, entreated pardon for their disobedience. They were suffered to +continue for some time in this posture, and at length commanded by one +of the officers of state to retire into the hall of justice, and therein +remain imprisoned until the king had taken the advice of his judges. +They retired, and, after several hours of suspense and agitation, the +same officer of state informed them that the king, at the intercession +of the archduke, princes, and lords, and of his own natural clemency, +graciously pardoned their offences under certain conditions. They were +to renounce their confederacy with the other states, and at the next +diet to break their seals, erase their signatures, and to deliver up +their letters and writings relating to their confederacy; to surrender +without exception all the acts of their privileges and immunities, and +to be satisfied with whatever the king should ordain or graciously +restore; to bring all their artillery and ammunition to the palace, and +the burghers their muskets, and all other arms except swords to the town +house; to resign all their vassals and property to the king, and to his +heirs the sovereigns of Bohemia; to cede all the tolls of the three +towns, and to bind themselves to pay his majesty and his successors for +ever a certain tax on beer and malt. They were informed, that if they +would agree to these conditions, the king would pardon the whole people, +and would punish none except a few persons who had behaved +disrespectfully, and whom he had determined to chastise for the sake of +justice and the welfare of the kingdom. + +“On the recital of these hard terms, the prisoners required a short +interval to obtain the consent of their fellow burghers. But it was too +dangerous and too critical a moment for Ferdinand to permit the terror +which he had impressed on their minds to subside, or allow men driven to +despair, an opportunity of rousing the people by a public discussion of +these rigorous articles. He therefore sternly rejected their request, +and extorted from them an immediate ratification. Several of the least +dangerous were then deputed to conciliate the burghers, and the +remainder closely guarded in the apartments and vaults of the palace. + +“On the following morning some of the prisoners were restored to +liberty, on the condition of not retiring from Prague, and others +released in the ensuing days. At length the remainder were all +liberated, except forty of the most tumultuous and most dangerous, who +were reserved as objects of public punishment. + +“During this period, Ferdinand had sent a similar summons to all the +towns of the kingdom, except the loyal towns of Pilsen, Budweiss, and +Aussig. The chief burgomasters, counsellors, and elders were compelled +to repair to the palace, and, like those of Prague, were imprisoned +until they had surrendered all their estates, tolls, revenues, and +privileges, and paid considerable penalties. But so rigorous was the +confinement experienced by these unfortunate victims, and so deeply were +their minds affected by the terrors of their situation, that many died, +and others became frantic. Many of the nobles were also summoned before +a court of justice to be tried for the crimes of which they were +accused. Some flying from the terrors of such a tribunal, their goods +were confiscated, and they were condemned to death; others appearing and +surrendering themselves, twenty-six were selected and imprisoned; of +these some were deprived of their possessions, others were compelled to +pay heavy fines and to hold their estates as fiefs from the king; and +two only were sentenced to public execution. + +“As a close to these proceedings, a diet was summoned by the king, to +meet at the palace of Prague on the 22d of August, 1547, and was +attended by a numerous assembly, as all were now eager to give proofs of +their loyalty. With a view to strike additional terror, Ferdinand opened +the diet with the execution of four of his principal prisoners, two of +whom were knights, and the others of the third estate, of whom one Jacob +Fikar, high judge of the kingdom, and burgrave of the old town, was in +the seventieth year of his age. + +“At the close of this tragedy, the assembly, which, from these +executions, was stigmatised with the name of the _Bloody Diet_, was +opened, and the king experienced the fullest submission to his decrees. +The burgrave, or president, declared in the name of the lords and +knights, that they had entered into the confederacy with no other view +than to maintain peace and union in the kingdom; and as it was the +pleasure of their sovereign that the confederacy should be dissolved, +they were ready to obey his commands. Instantly a committee of nobles +tore the seals from the acts of the confederacy, which contained the +signatures of one thousand seven hundred and thirty-six lords and +knights, besides those of the towns. The high chancellor then declared, +in the king’s name, to the deputies of the towns, that on account of +their disobedience they deserved to be deprived of their seat at the +diet, but, as a particular mark of favour, they were allowed to retain +that right. All their privileges were to be examined, and those only +restored which the king thought proper to confirm. The artillery, arms, +and ammunition, which had been delivered up, were sent in thirty wagons +to Vienna, and an additional fine was laid on the corporation of Prague. + +“The forty prisoners who still remained in confinement were now brought +from their dungeons. Eight were publicly whipped in each of the three +towns; and, before each flagellation, the executioner proclaimed, ‘These +men are punished because they were traitors, and because they excited +the people against their _hereditary_ master,’ a title which Ferdinand +now thought proper to assume. These eight, with a similar number, were +banished, and the remaining four-and-twenty, after paying heavy fines, +were restored to liberty. + +“Having thus restored tranquillity and suppressed almost all seeds of +future insurrections, Ferdinand introduced various regulations, which +were calculated to strengthen his authority. He appointed in each town a +court judge, who was to assist in all public meetings, and to take care +that the royal authority received no detriment; and, as he attributed +the opposition made to his designs to the influence of the Lutheran +doctrines, he used every means to prevent their diffusion. He +accordingly, in 1556, established in Bohemia the order of Jesuits, which +he had introduced into his Austrian territories, and encouraged them to +undertake the care of public education, which was the great instrument +of their power. He appointed a committee for the revision and censure of +all publications, and forbade the importation of all foreign works +without their consent. + +“Finally, he changed Bohemia from an elective to an hereditary monarchy; +he obtained the consent of the diet that his son Maximilian should be +declared his successor, and in 1562 the prince was crowned as eldest son +and heir to his father. By these measures, Ferdinand greatly extended +the regal prerogative, and abolished the evils arising from elective +monarchy; he also restored tranquillity, and suppressed the factions of +a volatile and turbulent people; yet he, at the same time, depressed +that energy of mind and military ardour which are inseparable from a +free government and are fostered by civil contests, and checked that +active commercial spirit which flourishes in the consciousness of +independence. From this cause the towns, which had hitherto been +remarkable for their commerce, wealth, and population, exhibited under +his reign the first symptoms of decline, and the Bohemians began to lose +that military fame which had rendered them the example and the terror of +Europe.” + +Thus was Bohemia subdued in 1547. But in the reign of Ferdinand II., +seventy-two years after, at the beginning of the Thirty Years’ War, +there was a second conquest of this unhappy country, by the Austrian +power, which seems still more atrocious, inasmuch as then the Bohemians +did not fail in heart, but were overpowered when exerting themselves to +the utmost. It seems to have been wholly owing, in fact, to the want of +skill and energy of their elected king, Frederic, Count Palatine, that +they sustained a defeat at White Mountain, two years after the +commencement of their movement, which was both for religious and +political freedom. We cannot here enter into the whole history of the +rise of the Thirty Years’ War, but must refer our readers to Coxe, +Schiller, and others. It arose directly from the character of Ferdinand +II., whose intolerance and inveteracy were its occasion, if not its +cause. Educated by Jesuits, “from their instructions he derived that +inflexible bigotry and intolerance, and that hostility to the +Protestants, which, at this period, formed the great characteristics of +their order. He frequently expressed a resolution to live with his +family in banishment, to beg his bread from door to door, to submit to +every insult and calamity, to lose even his life, rather than suffer the +true church to be injured. When he assumed the reins of government, he +proved that these declarations were not the effusions of idle +enthusiasm. He refused to confirm the privileges which his father +Charles had granted to his Protestant subjects, and sent his +commissaries to eject their preachers from the archducal domains; these +commissaries being expelled, he collected troops to enforce the +execution of his orders. In the interim he made a pilgrimage to Loretto, +and bound himself by the most solemn vows, before the miraculous image, +not to rest till he had extirpated all heresy in his dominions; at Rome +he was consecrated by the hands of Clement VIII, and his resolutions +were strengthened by the exhortations of the pontiff. + +“Animated with a new spirit of intolerance, he returned in 1598 to his +dominions. The first act of his government was a new order for the +banishment of all the Protestant preachers and schoolmasters, and, in +opposition to the remonstrances of the states, he carried this rigorous +measure into execution by force. He supplied the place of the Protestant +seminaries, by founding two convents of Capuchins at Gratz and Bruck, +and colleges of Jesuits at Gratz, Laybach and Clagenfurth. Although two +thirds of his subjects were Protestants, he ordered all who would not +embrace the Catholic faith, to quit his dominions; and supplied the +places of those who preferred banishment to the desertion of their +faith, by introducing numbers of Catholics from Wallachia and the +neighbouring provinces. To complete the expulsion of heresy, his +commissaries, accompanied by an escort, passed from town to town, and +from village to village, restoring the ancient temples to the Catholics, +and demolishing the new churches and schoolhouses, which had been +erected by the Protestants. + +“The first symptoms of those troubles, which commenced in the Austrian +territories and afterwards overspread all Europe, appeared in Bohemia. +Ferdinand had not long received the crown before the Protestants +perceived that the alarms derived from his principles and former conduct +were not without foundation; for, from that moment, a new spirit seemed +to animate the counsels of the sovereign, and various acts of hostility +to their doctrines evinced his baneful influence. Slavata and Martinetz, +the two nobles who had proved their zeal for the Catholic faith by +refusing to sign the peace of religion, were introduced into the council +of regency, honoured with an unusual degree of confidence, and displayed +their attachment to their future sovereign by persecuting their +Protestant vassals. The zealous Catholics followed the example, and +exulted in the prospect of a change of government which was likely to +restore their ascendency; the Jesuits presumptuously proclaimed the new +influence and favour which they had attained; and one of the +confidential ministers of Ferdinand himself did not scruple to point out +the future objects of their vengeance, and to declare, that the +restoration of tranquillity could only be effected by executions and +confiscations, and by the revocation of the royal edict which had been +extorted by force. These threats and rumours were aggravated by fear and +religious antipathy; and the Protestants looked forward to the +commencement of the new reign as an era no less pregnant with horrors +than the abominable massacre of St. Bartholomew. In the midst of this +ferment the disclosure of the treaty with Spain contributed to add civil +to religious grievances; the illegal engagement for the eventual +transfer of the crown to the Spanish branch, without even the knowledge +of the states, alarmed a great part of the Catholics, who were no less +tenacious of their elective rights than the Protestants of their +religious privileges. In this situation it was impossible to restrain so +turbulent a people as the Bohemians, animated with all the fury of +political and religious animosity, and in count Thurn appeared another +Ziska, who was capable of rousing, directing, and organising an +insurrection. + +“The impolicy and intolerance of the court soon furnished him with an +opportunity to inflame a trivial discussion into open hostilities. It is +a misfortune attending religious disputes in a peculiar degree, in which +all parties act and reason on such discordant principles, that no public +instrument can be worded in terms sufficiently clear and explicit to +prevent all occasions of cavil. This was the case of the royal edict, +[of Ferdinand’s predecessor] which seems by the spirit to grant liberty +of worship with the privilege of constructing churches and schools only +to the Calixtine or Protestant members of the states, whether nobles, +knights, or towns. But an explanatory clause in general terms, instead +of rendering the meaning more specific, only made it more doubtful, and +furnished the towns and vassals of ecclesiastics and lay Catholics with +a pretext for claiming the same privilege. In consequence of this +interpretation, the Protestant inhabitants of the town of Brunau and of +Clostergraben, a village in the vicinity of Prague, began to erect +churches and to perform divine service according to the Protestant +ritual. The archbishop of Prague and the abbot of Brunau, to whom the +respective places belonged, considering these acts as an infringement of +their feudal rights, obtained a prohibition from the government. The +Protestants, however, instead of obeying the order, were encouraged by +the defenders of their religion to persevere; and these and other +prohibitions of the sovereign induced the Protestant states of Bohemia +and its dependencies to enter into a formal confederacy for the security +and defence of their rights and privileges. They followed this +engagement by a petition for redress in the affair of Brunau and +Clostergraben; and at the same time renewed their compacts and treaties +with some of the Protestant princes of Germany. + +“Encouraged by this confederacy, the Protestants proceeded with new +vigour, and the churches were completed, notwithstanding Matthias +himself expressed his disapprobation to count Thurn, and declared their +conduct an infraction of the royal edict. But though he was disposed to +connive at this disobedience, Ferdinand was not inclined to the same +acquiescence, and soon after his coronation, an order, obtained by his +influence, was issued by the court, commanding the surrender or +demolition of the newly constructed churches. The archbishop instantly +executed the order at Clostergraben; but at Brunau the people opposed +their abbot, and sent deputies to Matthias, requesting the revocation of +his mandate. Instead, however, of obtaining redress, their deputies were +arrested, and an imperial commission despatched to shut up the church, +and suppress the Protestant worship in Brunau. + +“These acts, of which numerous precedents had been given in Germany and +in the Austrian territories, might at any other time have produced a +trifling dispute, which would have soon sunk into oblivion; but amidst +the general ferment, and in the powerful hands of count Thurn, they +became the instrument which excited an insurrection, and occasioned the +Thirty Years’ War.” + +We omit the account of the ensuing hostilities, and of the process by +which the Bohemians came to the point of making an effort to eject +Ferdinand from the throne of their kingdom, just at the moment that he +attained the imperial dignity. + +“A general diet of the states of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia +assembled at Prague, soon after the departure of Ferdinand from Vienna. +Having formed a confederacy for the maintenance of their civil and +religious privileges, they were joined by the Protestants of Upper and +Lower Austria, as well as by many of the discontented magnates of +Hungary, and were encouraged by assurances of immediate support from +Bethlehem Gabor. They then proceeded to draw up a list of their +grievances, in which they urged that the election of Ferdinand had been +informal, that he had broken his coronation oath, by interfering in the +government during the life of Matthias, had commenced the war by his own +authority, and sent foreign troops to devastate their country; finally, +that he had infringed their right of election, by entering into +engagements, without the consent of the states, to transfer the eventual +succession of the crown to the Spanish princes, and thus to reduce them +under a foreign, hateful, and despotic yoke. On these grounds they +declared that Ferdinand had forfeited his dignity, and, in virtue of +their supposed right of election, proceeded to nominate a new sovereign. + +“On this important article, they were, however, less unanimous than on +the point of exclusion. The Catholics being too weak and inconsiderable +to take any essential share in the election, the remainder of the states +were divided between the choice of a Lutheran or Calvinist sovereign. +The Lutherans were the most numerous, the Calvinists the most active and +artful, and supported by the Picards, or Bohemian brethren, a remnant of +the ancient Hussites. The Calvinists suffered the Lutherans to offer the +crown to the elector of Saxony, who, they were aware, would refuse the +proffered dignity; and he had no sooner declined it than they turned the +choice of the states in favour of the elector Palatine, who was +nominated with only six dissenting voices, two days before Ferdinand was +raised to the imperial throne. To give an appearance of greater weight +to the new election, the states of Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia were +allowed to participate in the choice, a right before often claimed, but +never admitted. + +“Although Frederic had anxiously laboured to secure this dignity, and +had previously resolved to accept it, yet he had no sooner gained his +object, than he hesitated to encounter the dangers with which the crown +was surrounded. He sought advice and encouragement from those with whom +he was connected by blood or interest. He was earnestly dissuaded by his +mother, by the electors of Saxony and Brandenburgh, by the duke of +Bavaria, and, above all, by his father-in-law, the king of England, who +declared, that he would not patronise revolted subjects against their +lawful sovereign, and would neither acknowledge his title nor afford him +support. On the other hand, the wavering resolutions of Frederic were +strengthened by his uncles, Maurice, prince of Orange, and the duke of +Bouillon, by his favourite counseller, Christian of Anhalt, by the +majority of the Protestant league, and by Bethlehem Gabor, with whom he +had entered into the closest connection.” + +The closing catastrophe of the hostilities that immediately followed the +election of Frederic, is all we have room to insert. + +“They took post on the White Mountain, as the last resource for the +defence of the capital, and behind its ravines and declivities began to +construct intrenchments, in order to defy the assaults of the enemy. The +duke of Bavaria, however, did not allow them time to prepare for +defence; he resolved to drive them from their last refuge before they +had recovered from the confusion of a retreat, and while his own troops +were warm in the pursuit. He reached the vicinity of Prague on the +morning of the 8th of November, 1620, and ere noon had reconnoitred +their position and commenced his attack. His troops overcame all +obstacles; the Hungarian cavalry was instantly defeated and dispersed: +and although the Moravians, under the prince of Anhalt and the young +count Thurn, balanced the fortune of the day by their heroic resistance, +the victory was decided in favour of the imperialists within the short +space of an hour. With the loss of only three hundred men, they took all +the artillery, a hundred standards, left 4000 of the enemy dead on the +field, and drove 1000 into the Moldau; and thus, at one blow, dissipated +the short-lived hopes of Frederic, and decided the fate of Bohemia. + +“The citizens of Prague, deserted by their elected sovereign, had no +other alternative than to submit themselves to the mercy of the emperor, +and on the following day opened their gates to the conqueror. All the +indulgence they could obtain was an exemption from plunder; the states +who were immediately convened, took an unconditional oath of allegiance, +dissolved their confederacy, and surrendered their arms. These +arrangements being completed, the duke of Bavaria delivered the reins of +government to prince Charles of Lichtenstein, in obedience to the +appointment of the emperor; and after leaving a garrison in the town +under the command of Tilly, returned triumphantly to Munich, laden with +the spoils of the unfortunate kingdom. + +“Three months elapsed without the slightest act of severity against the +insurgents of Bohemia. Many, lulled into security by this doubtful calm, +emerged from their hiding places, and the greater part remained quiet at +Prague, though secretly warned of their danger even by Tilly himself, +who was no pattern of lenity or forbearance. But in an evil hour all the +fury of the tempest burst upon their heads. Forty of the principal +insurgents were arrested in the night of the 21st of January, 1621, and +after being imprisoned four months, and tried before an imperial +committee of inquiry, twenty-three were publicly executed, their +property confiscated, and the remainder either banished or condemned to +perpetual imprisonment. A sentence of proscription and confiscation of +goods was published against count Thurn, and twenty-seven of the other +chiefs, who had fled from the country. Nor were these examples confined +only to those who had been openly concerned in the rebellion; for a +mandate of more than inquisitorial severity was issued, commanding all +landholders who had participated in the insurrection to confess their +delinquencies, and threatening the severest vengeance if they were +afterwards convicted. This dreadful order spread general consternation: +not only those who had shared in the insurrection acknowledged their +guilt, but even the innocent were driven by terror to self-accusation; +and above seven hundred nobles and knights, almost the whole body of +landholders, placed their names on this list of proscription. By a +mockery of the very name of mercy, the emperor granted to these +unfortunate victims their lives and honours, which they were declared to +have forfeited by their own confession; but gratified his vengeance and +rapacity by confiscating the whole or part of their property, and thus +reduced many of the most loyal and ancient families to ruin, or drove +them to seek a refuge from their misfortunes in exile or death.”[4] + +We might naturally suppose that this was the end of Bohemia; but “in the +lowest deep a lower deep, still threatening to devour them, opened +wide.” + +Not ten years had elapsed before in a temporary truce of the Thirty +Years’ War, Ferdinand II. commenced a persecution of his Protestant +subjects everywhere. + +“But it was in Bohemia, so long exposed to his antipathy as the seat of +religious liberty, and where three-fourths of the natives were +Protestants, that he acted with a rigour and cruelty which surpassed all +the horrors of the inquisition itself. He commenced his persecutions by +ejecting the preachers, schoolmasters, and professors, and delivering +the churches to monks, whom he collected indiscriminately from all +quarters of Europe. He then prohibited all persons who were not +Catholics from exercising any trade or handicraft, laid the severest +fines on those who preserved even in secret the slightest remnant of +their former worship, declared Protestant marriages and baptisms null, +wills made by Protestants invalid, and even drove the poor, the sick, +and the distressed from the almshouses and hospitals. Then began a +series of persecutions, from the recollection of which the mind recoils +with horror. In the capital the Protestant burghers were expelled with +their wives and children, and the poorer orders compelled to become +Catholics. The other towns, and even the remotest villages, were visited +by missionary deputations of Jesuits and Capuchin friars, accompanied by +a military force, and were abandoned to every species of monkish +barbarity and military licentiousness. Those who were enabled to seek a +refuge in exile were comparatively fortunate. The slightest degree of +persecution inflicted on those who remained was, to imprison the men, +give up their houses to pillage, and expose their wives and children to +all the outrages of the soldiery. Some were massacred without mercy; +some hunted and driven like wild beasts to the woods and mountains, some +dragged to processions and masses with every species of insult and +cruelty, and those who ventured to oppose these enormities were racked +and mutilated, or put to death with tortures too shocking for humanity +to describe. + +“In the midst of these horrors Ferdinand himself repaired to Prague to +nominate and crown his son as his successor. After affecting to display +his clemency, by confirming to the states their power of taxation and +other civil privileges, he abolished their right to elect a king, +forbade the use of the Bohemian tongue in all public transactions, and +set the seal to all the enormities which had been perpetrated under his +authority, by abrogating the royal edict of toleration. He formally +restored the order of the clergy to their rank in the states, from which +they had been expelled during the Hussite wars; finally, he consummated +his vengeance against the Protestants, by declaring that he would +tolerate no religion except the Catholic; and he banished all those who +within a specified time refused to return to the bosom of the church. By +this act of persecution he drove 30,000 families, with all their +servants and retainers, from the kingdom, including the most learned, +the richest, and most industrious portion of the community, and thus +inflicted on Bohemia a wound from which it has never recovered. + +“It is a tribute of justice to sound policy, as well as to humanity, to +finish this picture by introducing the reflections of the native +historian, who, being a Catholic and a subject of the house of Austria, +cannot be suspected of exaggeration or partiality. The records of +history scarcely furnish a similar example of such a change as Bohemia +underwent during the reign of Ferdinand II. In 1620, the monks, and a +few of the nobility only excepted, the whole country was entirely +Protestant; at the death of Ferdinand it was, in appearance at least, +Catholic. Till the battle of the White Mountain the states enjoyed more +exclusive privileges than the parliament of England; they enacted laws, +imposed taxes, contracted alliances, declared war and peace, and chose +or confirmed their kings; but all these they now lost. Previous to that +period the Bohemians were considered as a warlike nation, and had often +won military fame; the annals of history recorded, ‘The Bohemians took +the field; the Bohemians stormed the fortifications; the Bohemians +gained the victory;’ but they are now blended with other people, they +are no longer distinguished as a nation in the field of battle, and no +historian has consigned their posterity to glory. Till this fatal period +the Bohemians were daring, undaunted, enterprising, emulous of fame; now +they have lost all their courage, their national pride, their +enterprising spirit. They fled before the Swedes like sheep, or suffered +themselves to be trampled under foot. Their courage lay buried on the +White Mountain. Individuals still possessed personal valour, military +ardour, and a thirst of glory, but, blended with other nations, they +resembled the waters of the Moldau which join those of the Elbe. These +united streams bear ships, overflow lands, and overturn rocks; yet the +Elbe only is mentioned, and the Moldau forgotten. The Bohemian language, +which was used in all the courts of justice, and was in high estimation +among the nobles, fell into contempt; the German was introduced, became +the general language among the nobles and citizens, and was used by the +monks in their sermons; the inhabitants of the towns began to be ashamed +of their native tongue, which was confined to the villages, and called +the language of peasants. The arts and sciences, so highly cultivated +and esteemed under Rodolph, sank beyond recovery. During the period +which immediately followed the banishment of the Protestants, Bohemia +scarcely produced one man who became eminent in any branch of learning. +The Caroline university was under the direction of the Jesuits, or +suppressed; by order of the pope all promotions were stopped, and no +academical honours conferred. A few patriots, both among the clergy and +laity, murmured openly, though ineffectually; others sighed in secret +over the downfall of literature. The greater part of the schools were +conducted by Jesuits and other monkish orders, and nothing taught +therein but bad Latin. It cannot be denied, that several of the Jesuits +were men of great learning and science; but their system was, to keep +the people in ignorance; agreeably to this principle, they gave their +scholars only the rind, and kept to themselves the pulp of literature. +With this view they travelled from town to town as missionaries, and +went from house to house, examining all books, which the landlord was +compelled, under pain of eternal damnation, to produce. The greater part +they confiscated and burnt, so that a Bohemian and a rare book are +synonymous terms. They thus endeavoured to extinguish the ancient +literature of the country, laboured to persuade the students that, +before the introduction of their order into Bohemia, nothing but +ignorance prevailed, and carefully concealed the learned labours, and +even the names of our ancestors. Such was their despotism, that the +collections and writings of the patriotic Balbinus, on the literature of +the ancient Bohemians, could not be published till after the extinction +of their order. In a word, from this period the history of Bohemia +ceases, and the history of every nation in Bohemia begins.” + +We must content ourselves with giving only so much of the atrocities of +the Thirty Years’ War. Nothing less than a detail of all its events +would truly fill out the programme suggested by the title of our little +book. It was in this war that was first invented the terrible system of +provisioning an army at the expense of the country invaded or defended, +which was acted out so terrifically by Tilly and Wallenstein, and served +to increase a hundredfold all the former horrors of war. + +The picturesque pages of Schiller can be consulted for these details. We +extract only his account of the sack of Magdeburg. + +“Two gates were now opened by the storming party for the main body, and +Tilly marched in with part of his infantry. Immediately occupying the +principal streets, he drove the citizens with pointed cannon into their +dwellings, there to await their destiny. They were not long held in +suspense; a word from Tilly decided the fate of Magdeburg. + +“Even a more humane general would in vain have recommended mercy to such +soldiers; but Tilly never made the attempt. Left by their general’s +silence masters of the lives of all the citizens, the soldiery broke +into the houses to satiate their most brutal appetites. The prayers of +innocence excited some compassion in the hearts of the Germans, but none +in the rude breasts of Pappenheim’s Walloons. Scarcely had the savage +cruelty commenced, when the other gates were thrown open, and the +cavalry, with the fearful hordes of the Croats, poured in upon the +devoted inhabitants. + +“Here commenced a scene of horrors for which history has no +language—poetry no pencil; neither innocent childhood nor helpless old +age, neither youth, sex, rank, nor beauty, could disarm the fury of the +conquerors. Wives were abused in the arms of their husbands, daughters +at the feet of their parents, and the defenceless sex exposed to the +double sacrifice of virtue and life. No situation, however obscure, or +however sacred, escaped the rapacity of the enemy. In a single church +fifty-three women were found beheaded. The Croats amused themselves with +throwing the children into the flames; Pappenheim’s Walloons with +stabbing infants at the mother’s breast. Some officers of the league, +horror-struck at the dreadful scene, ventured to remind Tilly that he +had it in his power to stop the carnage. “Return in an hour,” was his +answer; “I will see what I can do; the soldier must have some reward for +his danger and toils.” These horrors lasted with unabated fury, till at +last the smoke and flames proved a check to the plunderers. To augment +the confusion and to divert the resistance of the inhabitants, the +imperialists had, in the commencement of the assault, fired the town in +several places. The wind rising rapidly, spread the flames, till the +blaze became universal. Fearful indeed was the tumult amid clouds of +smoke, heaps of dead bodies, the clash of swords, the crash of falling +ruins, and streams of blood. The atmosphere glowed; and the intolerable +heat forced at last even the murderers to take refuge in their camp. In +less than twelve hours that strong, populous, and flourishing city, one +of the finest in Germany, was reduced to ashes, with the exception of +two churches and a few houses. The Administrator, Christian William, +after receiving several wounds, was taken prisoner with three of the +burgomasters. Most of the officers and magistrates had already met an +enviable death. The avarice of the officers had saved four hundred of +the richest citizens, in the hope of extorting from them an exorbitant +ransom. But this humanity was confined to the officers of the league, +whom the ruthless barbarity of the imperialists caused to be regarded as +guardian angels. + +“Scarcely had the fury of the flames abated, when the Imperialists +returned to renew the pillage amid the ruins and ashes of the town. Many +were suffocated by the smoke; many found rich booty in the cellars, +where the citizens had concealed their more valuable effects. On the +13th of May Tilly himself appeared in the town, after the streets had +been cleared of ashes and dead bodies. Horrible and revolting to +humanity, was the scene that presented itself. The living crawling from +under the dead, children wandering about with heart-rending cries, +calling for their parents; and infants still suckling the breasts of +their lifeless mothers. More than six thousand bodies were thrown into +the Elbe to clean the streets; a much greater number had been consumed +by the flames. The whole number of the slain was reckoned at not less +than thirty thousand. + +“The entrance of the general, which took place on the 14th, put a stop +to the plunder, and saved the few who had hitherto contrived to escape. +About a thousand people were taken out of the cathedral, where they had +remained three days and two nights, without food, and in momentary fear +of death. Tilly promised them quarter, and commanded bread to be +distributed among them. The next day a solemn mass was performed in the +cathedral, and a Te Deum sung amidst the discharge of artillery. The +imperial general rode through the streets, that he might be able, as an +eyewitness, to inform his master that no such conquest had been made +since the destruction of Troy and Jerusalem. Nor was this an +exaggeration, whether we consider the greatness, importance, and +prosperity of the city razed, or the fury of its ravagers.”[5] + +We have been led somewhat out of chronological order, in order to give a +unity of impression with respect to the wrongs of Bohemia. + +We now turn to Italy, among the stationary nations the mother country of +constitutional liberty. And here we shall take for our guide the wise, +the just, the liberal Sismondi, whose larger work upon the Republics of +Italy ought to be translated into English, and studied by every +American. We cannot take time and space here to introduce the history of +the influence of the House of Austria upon Italy, by even a succinct +account of the origin of the imperial claims there. It may be +maintained, with some justice, that owing to previous circumstances of +situation, the Constitution of the kingdom of Italy, its prosperity, and +even its freedom, grew together, under the earlier German Emperors. +“But,” says Sismondi, “the war of investitures, which lasted more than +sixty years, having accomplished the dissolution of every tie between +the different members of the kingdom of Italy, the peace of Constance, +in 1183, by the establishment of a legal liberty, brought to a close the +first and most noble struggle which the nations of modern Europe have +ever maintained against despotism.” “By this peace, the emperor +renounced all the regal privileges which he had hitherto claimed in the +interior of towns. He acknowledged the right of the confederate cities +to levy armies, to enclose themselves within fortifications, and to +exercise, by their commissioners, within their own walls, both civil and +criminal jurisdiction. The consuls of towns acquired, _by the simple +nomination of the people_, all the prerogatives of imperial vicars. The +cities of Lombardy were further authorised to _strengthen their +confederation_ for the defence of these just rights. On the other side, +they engaged to maintain certain rights of the Emperor, which were +defined at the same time; and in order to avoid all disputes, it was +agreed that these rights might always be bought off by the annual sum of +2000 marks of silver.” + +There were, it is true, some struggles afterwards, with regard to these +same rights, but the result of these struggles was, in the end, the +greater independence of Italy; and it was in consequence of domestic +troubles, of the ambition of the Popes within Italy, that the French +were first called thither. When Rodolph of Hapsburgh became Emperor, he +sacrificed imperial rights in Italy, which, on the whole, were more +favourable to its freedom than the influence of the house of Anjou, +which replaced them. But he did it without knowing it, and because his +sole object at the moment was to gain from Pope Gregory X. a recognition +of his title to the Empire. When he afterwards discovered what he had +ignorantly done, he made some movements to resume them, but he was +obliged, by Nicholas III., to acknowledge his own diplomas, and from +that period, 1278, the republics as well as the principalities, situated +in the whole extent of what is now called the States of the Church, held +of the Holy See, and not of the Emperor. + +It was at the period when the Austrian family was first growing in +power, by preying on those parts of Europe nearer at hand, that, from a +variety of concurring causes, the Republics of Italy became the +paramount power in the Peninsula. Sismondi has given a beautiful picture +of its aspect at this time in his Italian Republics, Chap. V. We make a +single extract: + +“The cities, surrounded with thick walls, terraced, and guarded by +towers, were, for the most part, paved with broad flagstones; while the +inhabitants of Paris could not stir out of their houses without plunging +into the mud. Stone bridges of an elegant and bold architecture were +thrown over rivers; aqueducts carried pure water to the fountains. The +palaces of the podestas and signorie united strength with majesty. The +most admirable of those of Florence, the Palazzo Vecchio, was built in +1298. The Loggia in the same city, the church of Santa Croce, that of +Santa Maria del Fiore, with its dome, so admired by Michæl Angelo, were +begun by the architect Arnolfo, scholar of Nicolas di Pisa, between the +years 1254 and 1300. The prodigies of this first born of the fine arts +multiplied in Italy: a pure taste, boldness, and grandeur struck the eye +in all the public monuments, and finally reached even private dwellings; +while the princes of France, England, and Germany, in building their +castles, seemed to think only of shelter and defence. Sculpture in +marble and bronze soon followed the progress of architecture: in 1300, +Andrea de Pisa, son of the architect Nicolas, cast the admirable bronze +gates of the Baptistery at Florence: about the same time, Cimabue and +Giotti revived the art of painting, Casella music, and Dante gave to +Italy his divine poem, unequalled in succeeding generations. History was +written honestly, with scrupulous research and with a graceful +simplicity, by Giovanni Villani, and his school; the study of morals and +philosophy began; and Italy, ennobled by freedom, enlightened nations +till then sunk in darkness. + +“The arts of necessity and luxury had been cultivated with not less +success than the fine arts; in every street, warehouses and shops +displayed the wealth that Italy and Flanders only knew how to produce. +It excited the astonishment and cupidity of the French or German +adventurer, who came to find employment in Italy, and who had no other +exchange to make than his blood, against the rich stuffs and brilliant +arms which he coveted. The Tuscan and Lombard merchants, however, +trafficked in the barbarous regions of the West, to carry there the +produce of their industry. Attracted by the franchises of the fairs of +Champagne and Lyons, they went thither, as well to barter their goods, +as to lend their capital at interest to the nobles, habitually loaded +with debt; though at the risk of finding themselves suddenly arrested, +their wealth confiscated, by order of the king of France, and their +lives, too, sometimes endangered by sanctioned robbers, under the +pretext of repressing usury. Industry, the employment of a superabundant +capital, the application of mechanism and science to the production of +wealth, secured the Italians a sort of monopoly through Europe; they +alone offered for sale what all the rich desired to buy; and +notwithstanding the various oppressions of the barbarian kings, +notwithstanding the losses occasioned by their own often repeated +revolutions, their wealth was rapidly renewed. The workmen, the interest +of capital, and the profit of trade, rose simultaneously, while every +one gained much and spent little; manners were still simple, _luxury was +unknown_, and the future was not forestalled by accumulated debt.” + +We might go on farther to speak of Pisa and Genoa. “It is difficult to +comprehend how two simple cities could put to sea such prodigious fleets +as those of Pisa and Genoa.” But we merely wish to point attention +towards what Italy was, when left to develop its genius, unrestrained by +foreign influence. We pass from this period of prosperity over two +hundred years, to the time when Maximilian entered into the league of +Cambray. In 1301, Boniface VIII. called Charles of Valois to intervene +in the affairs of Tuscany; and the same year the Papal Court was +transferred into France. In 1313, the emperor Henry VII. invaded Italy, +to intervene in the affairs of Lombardy. In 1327, Louis IV. followed, +for the same purpose; and later, Charles IV., his successor. This +foreign influence was against republicanism, in favour of the +aristocratical families who wished to tyrannise in their respective +states. When Charles VIII. of France invaded Italy, in 1492, there was +no longer to be found, throughout the peninsula, “that power of a +people, whose every individual will tends to the public weal; whose +efforts are all combined for the public benefit and the common safety. +The princes of that country could appeal only to order and the obedience +of the subject, not to the enthusiasm of the citizen, for the protection +of Italian independence.” + +The league of Cambray, (we here translate rather freely from Sismondi’s +larger work), was the first enterprise in which all the civilised states +of Europe joined, after the crusades. For the first time, the sovereigns +of nations made an agreement to partition between themselves an +independent state; reviving, by means of pedantic erudition, +superannuated pretensions; and claiming imprescriptable rights of +legitimacy. The crusades had united Europe on the foundation of +religious zeal and enthusiasm;—in the league of Cambray was developed a +new principle of union, the personal and momentary interest of the +strong to despoil the weak. To this event we must assign the origin of +the international law (du droit public), which, for the last three +hundred and fifty years, has governed Europe. It commenced by the most +crying injustice; and the diplomatic science which was, as it were, born +with the sixteenth century, has served ever since to give pretexts to +rapacity and bad faith. + +The league of Cambray was an agreement between the Pope, Louis XII., and +Maximilian I., to divide all the _terra firma_ of the Venetian states. +Pope Julius II. had the best foundation for his claims, which were for a +restitution to the States of the Church of what the Venetians had taken +from them by violence and treachery, in the preceding century. As he +could not obtain it from themselves, however, he consented to receive it +from the hands of Louis XII. and Maximilian, who combined to despoil the +republic. The claims of Louis XII. were made for provinces, which, when +he had subjugated Milan, he had himself ceded to the Venetians as the +price of their assistance to him, but which he now claimed on the score +of the imprescriptable right of the Visconti family, of which he had +become heir. Maximilian, on his side, regarded himself as the legitimate +successor, not only of the most powerful German monarchs, but of the +Roman emperors; and claimed all the powers which had been exercised by +Frederic Barbarossa, Otho the Great, and even by Trajan and Augustus. + +It is difficult to do justice to the absurdity of these claims. As to +imprescriptible rights, says Sismondi: “Venice, which presented itself +as the most ancient state of Christendom, as the only legitimate +daughter of the Roman republic could plead rights anterior to those of +all the sovereigns.” “The only basis of international law (du droit +public), which can sustain profound examination, is that of national +compact. The interest of nations requires the preservation of their +repose; and to guarantee this repose, it may, in some instances, admit +legitimacy, not as a right, but as a presumption of the national will. +It may also admit prescription, not as a right, but as a presumption of +the mutual satisfaction of all parties. It may admit treaties as the +only means of disarming popular hatred, and of saving the vanquished +from the rage of the vanquisher; but then it must admit also the +violation of these same treaties, as the only and the necessary remedy, +when cruel and dishonorable conditions have been imposed by the abuse of +force. In this case the violation can even become just; for neither the +government which has stipulated has the right to bind the nation to a +shameful and ruinous thing, nor has the present generation a right, for +its own advantage, to bind posterity to their ruin. National interest, +which leaves a hope to the vanquished, on whom a dishonouring treaty has +been imposed, teaches the vanquishers, for their own sake, not to abuse +victory.” “But with whatever fallacious arguments the potentates who +despoiled Venice coloured their pretensions, cupidity, jealousy, and +envy, were the true motives which armed them. With less than three +millions of subjects, upon a territory of less extent than a sixth part +of France, of Spain, or of Germany, Venice ranked with the greatest +empires. It had sustained in turn, the attacks of Muselmen, French, and +Spaniards, without giving any signs of weakness; the richest commerce +animated the capital; numerous manufactories flourished in all the +surrounding cities; the fields prospered by an industrious agriculture; +immense water-works had been achieved, which enriched the soil; and the +people were happy. The subjects of the neighbouring monarchs, comparing +their own poverty with so much strength, opulence, and security, were +tempted to ask in what consisted the difference; and to answer to +themselves, that, in Venice were seen neither the senseless luxury of a +voluptuous court; nor the depradations of courtier-ministers and their +subalterns; nor the petulant ignorance, and ruinous intrigues, of their +young favourites. Venice, without pretending to give lessons, without +being near perfection, was yet a living satire upon other governments; +and the latter, by instinct and without being able to render an account +of their motives, had long desired to destroy it.” + +To give all an interest in the destruction of the only state +sufficiently strong to maintain the independence of Italy, Louis and +Maximilian agreed to divide between themselves all the _terra firma_ of +the Venetians; to abandon to Ferdinand all the fortresses in Apulia; to +the pope, the lordships in Romagna, and to the houses of Este and +Gonzaga, the small districts near the Po.” + +The war began, January 1509, by the Pope’s excommunicating the Doge and +the Republic, and France commencing hostilities. In the war, there was +nothing so terrible to the Venetians as the action of the German army of +Maximilian. “No sooner did the Germans enter the Venetian cities, than +they plunged into the most brutal debauchery; offending public decency, +and exercising their cruelty and rapacity on all those who came within +their reach.” At the siege of Padua, after great efforts on the part of +Maximilian, the incredible valour of the Venetians, who had driven into +the city most of their forces, induced him to raise the siege. “But +these barbarians, who came to dispute with the Italians the sovereignty +of their country, did not need success to prove their ferocity. After +having taken from the poor peasant, or the captive, all that he +possessed, they put him _to the torture_ to discover hidden treasure, or +to extort ransom from the compassion of friends.—In this abuse of brute +force, the Germans showed themselves the most savage, &c.” + +And Maximilian personally made himself responsible for these horrors. + +“Pope Julius II. soon began to hate his accomplices in the league of +Cambray. Violent and irascible, he had often shown in his fits of +passion that he could be as cruel as the worst of them. But he had the +soul of an Italian. He could not brook the humiliation of his country +and its being enslaved by those whom he called barbarians. Having +recovered the cities of Romagna, the subject of his quarrel with the +Venetians, he began to make advances to them. At the end of the first +campaign, he entered into negotiations, and on the 21st of February, +1510, granted them absolution. He was aware that he could never drive +the barbarians out of Italy but by arming them against each other; and +as the French were those he most feared, he had recourse to the Germans. +It was necessary to begin with reconciling the Venetians to the emperor; +but Maximilian, always ready to undertake everything, and incapable of +bringing anything to a conclusion, would not relax in a single article +of what he called his rights. As emperor, he considered himself monarch +of all Italy, and although he was always stopped on its frontier, he +refused to renounce the smallest part of what he had purposed +conquering. He asserted that the whole Venetian territory had been +usurped from the empire; and before granting peace to the republic, +demanded almost its annihilation.” + +War, of course, was continued, and in the course of three years the +French were driven from Italy, and an alliance formed between Venice and +France, for the purpose of driving out the Germans. This alliance was +inherited, or renewed by Francis I., who encountered the enemy at +Marignano, in the battle of which Marshal Trivulzio declared that every +other of the eighteen pitched battles he had seen seemed to him +children’s play in comparison. At this battle of the giants, as he +termed it, 20,000 dead were left on the field. “This horrible butchery +hastened the conclusion of the wars which arose from the league of +Cambray. On the 15th of January, 1516, a peace was signed between France +and Spain, and Maximilian alone remained at war with the republic. +During the campaign of that year, his German army continued to commit +the most enormous crimes in the Veronese March. Want of money, however, +in the end, compelled Maximilian to consent to the treaty of Noyon, +already signed by the French king. He evacuated Verona on the 14th of +December, and the Venetians were once more put by the French in +possession of all the states of which the league of Cambray had proposed +the partition; but their wealth was annihilated, their population +reduced to one half, their constitution itself broken; and they were +never after in a state to make those efforts for the independence of +Italy, which might have been expected from them before this devastating +war.” + +When Maximilian died, January 19th, 1519, leaving his hereditary states +of Austria to his grandson Charles, already sovereign of Spain, the two +Sicilies, the Low Countries and Burgundy, Italy, indeed the whole of +Europe, was endangered by the immeasurable growth of this young +monarch’s power. “Leo X. therefore made preliminaries for an alliance +with Francis I., in order to strengthen himself against him. But +suddenly, with characteristic want of reflection, changing sides, he +signed a secret treaty with Charles V. to engage him to drive the French +out of Italy. The question for Italy was now no longer the distribution +of its provinces between different potentates, but its very existence. +Foreign nations for the future were to fight their battles on its +ground, and at its expense. Leo’s inconsiderate action compromised the +independence even of the States of the Church, where perhaps yet +remained a germ of the individuality of Italy among the nations. Of all +the misfortunes that ever came upon Italy, none was so terrible in its +instant barbarity, or so hopeless for its future, (for it sealed its +ruin,) as this war in Italy of Charles V. against Francis I. As our +purpose is more especially to illustrate the character of Charles, as a +member of the House of Hapsburgh, it is of no consequence that the +object aimed at in this instance was the aggrandizement of Spain, rather +than of the archduchy of Austria, which was now ceded to Ferdinand I. We +are obliged, from this time, to look in two directions for the crimes of +the family. While Ferdinand, in the East of Europe, was destroying +Bohemian liberties, and encroaching upon Hungary, Charles began his +successes in Lombardy with the siege of Pavia, which ended in the defeat +of the French, and the imprisonment of Francis I.; and soon Italy fully +comprehended that it was at the mercy of the conqueror. + +It is not possible, in this slight work of ours, to explain +intelligibly, to those not familiar with the history of this period, how +it was, that at this moment all things concurred to put Italy so much +into the power of a single man. Sismondi, in his larger work on the +Italian republics, makes it perfectly clear. We must content ourselves +with stating the fact; and alas for the country that had no hope for its +rights but in the mercy and the justice of a member of the House of +Hapsburgh! + +“The evil destiny of Italy was accomplished by Charles V., although it +was the French Charles VIII., who, by invading the country thirty-six +years before, had opened its gates to the transalpine nations. They +inflicted on her calamities beyond example in history; calamities so +much the more keenly felt, as the sufferers were more civilized, the +authors more barbarous. The French invasion ended in giving to the +greatest enemies of France the dominion of that country, so rich, so +industrious, and of which the possession was sought ardently by all. +Never would the House of Austria have achieved the conquest of Italy, if +Charles VIII., Louis XII., and Francis I., had not previously destroyed +the wealth and military organization of the nation; if they had not +themselves introduced the Spaniards into the kingdom of Naples, and the +Germans into the states of Venice; forgetful that both must soon after +be subject to Charles V.” + +We must, however, go back from these generalities, to a statement of the +facts which we shall take from Sismondi’s Italian Republics. + +“The secret treaty between Leo and the Emperor Charles V. was signed on +May 8th, 1521.” “The Pope united his army to that of the Emperor in the +kingdom of Naples; the command of it was given jointly to Prospero +Colonna and the marquis Pescara: war was declared on the 1st of August, +and the imperial and pontifical troops entered Milan on the 19th +November: but in the midst of the joy of this first success, Leo X. +died,” leaving “his successors in a state of distress, which was +unjustly attributed to them, and which rendered them odious to the +people; for the war into which he had plunged them, without any +reasonable motive, was the most disastrous of all those which had yet +afflicted unhappy Italy. There remained no power truly Italian that +could take any part in it for her defence. Venice was so exhausted by +the war of the league of Cambray, that she was forced to limit her +efforts to the maintenance of her neutrality, and was hardly powerful +enough to make even her neutral position respected. Florence remained +subject to Giulio de’ Medici. The republics of Sienna and Lucca were +tremblingly prepared to obey the strongest.” “The kingdom of Naples was +governed and plundered by the Spaniards. After the French had lost the +duchy of Milan, Francesco Sforza, who had been brought back by the +imperialists, possessed only the name of sovereign. He had never been +for a moment independent; he had never been able to protect his subjects +from the tyranny of the Spanish and German soldiers, who were his +guards. Finally, the marquis de Montferrat and the duke of Savoy had +allowed the French to become masters in their states, and had no power +to refuse them passage to ravage oppressed Italy anew.” + +The first hostilities resulted in the French General’s evacuating +Lombardy, partly through the defection of his Swiss allies. The next +year Francis I. made himself master of Milan, and attempted the siege of +Pavia, where he was attacked by Pescara, and, after a murderous battle, +made prisoner. These transactions occupied more than two years, during +which time the imperial army, unpaid and unprovisioned by Charles, lived +at free quarters upon unhappy Lombardy. In the course of the year 1525, +there was much negotiation with respect to the ransom of Francis, and +efforts, nearly successful, were made by Jerome Molone of Milan, to arm +all Italy in vindication of her independence; these were frustrated +through the duplicity and treason of Pescara, who died on the 30th of +November, 1525 at the age of thirty-six, abhorred by all Italy. + +“Charles, abusing the advantages which he had obtained, imposed on +Francis the treaty of Madrid, signed on the 14th of January, 1526, by +which the latter abandoned Italy and the duchy of Burgundy. He was set +at liberty on the 18th of March following, and almost immediately +declared to the Italians that he did not regard himself bound by a +treaty extorted from him by force. On the 22nd of May, he signed a +league for the liberty of Italy with Clement VII., the Venetians, and +Francesco Sforza, but still did not abandon the policy of his mother; +instead of thinking in earnest of restoring Italian independence, and +thus securing the equilibrium of Europe, he had only one purpose, that +of alarming Charles with the Italians; and was ready to sacrifice them +as soon as the emperor should abandon Burgundy. At the same time his +supineness, love of pleasure, distrust of his fortune, and repugnance to +violate the treaty of Madrid, hindered him from fulfilling any of the +engagements which he had contracted towards the Italians; he sent them +neither money, French cavalry, nor Swiss forces. Charles, on the other +hand, sent no supplies to pay his armies to Antonio de Leyva, the +constable Bourbon, and Hugo de Monçada, their commanders. These troops +were therefore obliged to live at free quarters, and the oppression of +the whole country was still more dreadful than it had ever been. + +“The defection of the duke of Milan, in particular, gave a pretence to +Antonio de Leyva to treat the wretched Milanese with redoubled rigour, +as if they could be responsible for what Leyva called the treachery of +their master. The Spanish army was quartered on the citizens of Milan; +and there was not a soldier who did not make his host a prisoner, +keeping him bound at the foot of the bed, or in the cellar, for the +purpose of having him daily at hand, to force him, by blows or fresh +torture, to satisfy some new caprice; as soon as one wretched person +died of his sufferings, or broke his bond and ended his sufferings by a +voluntary death, either precipitating himself through a window or into a +well, the Spaniard passed into another house to recommence on its +proprietor the same torture. The Venetians and the Pope had united their +forces, under the command of the duke of Urbino, who, exaggerating the +tactics of Prospero Colonna, was ambitious of no other success in war +than that of avoiding battle. He announced to the Senate of Venice, that +he would not approach Milan till the French and Swiss, whose support he +had been promised, joined him. This inaction, while witnessing so many +horrors, reduced the Italians to despair. Sforza, who had been nine +months blockaded in the castle of Milan, and who always hoped to be +delivered by the duke of Milan, whose colours were in sight, supported +the last extremity of hunger before he surrendered to the Spaniard, on +the 24th of July, 1526. The Pope, meanwhile, was far from suspecting +himself in any danger, but his personal enemy, Pompeo Colonna, took +advantage of the name of the Imperial party to raise in the papal state +8000 armed peasants, with whom, on the 20th of September, he surprised +the Vatican, pillaged the palace, as well as the temple of St. Peter, +and constrained the Pope to abjure the alliance of France and Venice. +About the same time, George de Frundsberg, a German condottiere, entered +Lombardy with 13,000 adventurers, whom he had engaged to follow him, and +serve the emperor without pay, contenting themselves with the pillage of +that unhappy country. + +The constable Bourbon, to whom Charles had given the chief command of +his forces in Italy, determined to take advantage of this new army, and +unite it to that for which at Milan he had now no further occasion; but +it was not without great difficulty that he could persuade the Spaniards +to quit that city, where they had enjoyed the savage pleasure of +inflicting torture on their hosts. At length, however, he succeeded in +leading them to Pavia. On the 30th of January, 1527, he joined +Frundsberg, who died soon after of apoplexy. Bourbon now remained alone +charged with the command of this formidable army, already exceeding +25,000 men, and continually joined on its route by disbanded soldiers +and brigands intent on pillage. The constable had neither money, +equipments, nor artillery, and very few cavalry; every town shut its +gates on his approach, and he was often on the point of wanting +provisions. He took the road of Southern Italy, and entered Tuscany, +still uncertain whether he should pillage Florence or Rome. The marquis +of Saluzzo, with a small army, retreated before him; the duke of Urbino +followed in his rear, but always keeping out of reach of battle. At +last, Bourbon took the road to Rome, by the valley of the Tiber. On the +5th of May, 1527, he arrived before the Capital of Christendom. Clement, +long alarmed at his march, had, on the 15th of March, signed a truce of +eight months with the viceroy of Naples, and dismissed his troops, never +imagining that one of the emperor’s lieutenants would not respect the +engagements of the other. On the approach of Bourbon, however, the walls +of Rome were again mounted with the engines of war. The next day, the +6th of May, this renegade prince led his troops to the assault of the +city. He was killed near the Janiculum, while mounting the first scaling +ladder. His fall did not stop the terrific band of robbers which he led. +The victorious army scaled the walls, which were ill defended, and +spread terror through the quarters of the Borgo, Vatican, and +Trastevere. In a few hours they were masters of the whole city, Clement +having neglected to destroy the bridges of the Tiber. + +“The capital of Christendom was then abandoned to a pillage unparalleled +in that most calamitous period of the first triumph of barbarism over +civilization: neither Alaric the Goth, nor Genseric the Vandal, had +treated it with like ferocity. Not only was all that could be seized in +every house and every shop carried off, but the peasants of the fiefs of +Colonna took possession of the heavy furniture which did not tempt the +cupidity of the soldier. From the day when these barbarians entered the +city, all personal protection was withdrawn; women were abandoned to the +outrages of the victors; and sanctuaries, enriched by the veneration of +Christendom for twelve centuries, were devoted to spoliation. Men, +women, and children were seized, whenever their captors could flatter +themselves that they had concealed some treasure, or that there was any +one sufficiently interested for them to pay their ransom. Every house +resounded with the cries and lamentations of wretched persons thus +subjected to the torture; and this dreadful state of crime and agony +lasted not merely days, _but was prolonged for more than_ NINE _months_: +it was not till the 17th of February, 1528, that the prince of Orange, +one of the French lords, who had accompanied Bourbon in his rebellion, +finally withdrew from Rome all of this army that vice and disease had +spared. The Germans, indeed, after the first few days, had sheathed +their swords to plunge into drunkenness and the most cruel debauchery; +but the Spaniards, up to the last hour of their stay in Rome, +indefatigable in their cold-blooded cruelty, continued to invent fresh +torture to extort new ransoms from all who fell into their hands; even +the plague, the consequence of so much suffering, moral and physical, +which broke out amidst all these horrors, did not make the rapacious +Spaniard loose his prey. + +“A struggle between the Italians, feebly seconded by the French, and the +generals of Charles V., was prolonged yet more than two years after the +sack of Rome; but it only added to the desolation of Italy, and +destroyed alike in all the Italian provinces, the last remains of +prosperity.” “The banditti whom Charles V. called his soldiers, whom he +never paid, and who showed no disposition to obedience, were cantoned at +Milan, Rome, and the principal cities of Italy: they divided their time +between debauchery, and the infliction of torture on their hosts; their +officers were unable to induce them to leave the towns, and advance +towards the enemy. The people, in the excess of suffering, met every +change with eagerness, and received Lantrec (the French commander) as a +deliverer.” He passed the Tronto on the 10th of February, 1528; lost +valuable time in Apulia, where he took and sacked Melfi on the 23d of +March, and did not arrive till the 1st of May before Naples. + +“The prince of Orange had just entered the city with the army which had +sacked Rome, but of which the greater part had been carried off by a +dreadful mortality, the consequence and punishment of its vices and +crimes. Instead of vigorously attacking them, Lantrec, in spite of the +warm remonstrances of his officers, persisted in reducing Naples by +blockade; thus exposing his army to the influence of a destructive +climate.”... “The inhabitants of Naples experienced the most cruel +privations, and sickness soon made great havoc amongst them: but a +malady not less fatal broke out in the French camp.” “In the middle of +June, the French reckoned 25,000 men; by the 2d of August not 4000 were +left fit for service.” “Lantrec himself died on the 15th of August, and +almost all his officers.” The marquis de Saluces, on whom the command +devolved, felt the necessity of a retreat, but knew not how to secure it +in presence of such a superior force. He tried to escape from the +imperialists, by taking advantage of a tremendous storm in the night of +the 29th of August: but was soon pursued and overtaken at Aversa, where, +on the 30th, he was forced to capitulate. The magazines and hospitals at +Capua were, at the same time, given up to the Spaniards. The prisoners +and the sick were crowded together in the stables of the Magdalen, where +contagion acquired new force. The Spaniards foresaw it, and watched with +indifference the agony and death of all; for nearly all of that +brilliant army perished—a few invalids only ever returned to France. + +“During this campaign, another French army, conducted by François de +Bourbon, Count de St. Pol, had entered Lombardy, at the moment when +Henry, duke of Brunswick, led thither a German army. Henry, finding +nothing more to pillage, announced that his mission was to punish a +rebellious nation, and put to the sword ALL _the inhabitants_ of the +villages through which he passed. Milan was at once a prey to famine and +the plague, aggravated by the cupidity and the cold-blooded ferocity of +Leyva, who seized ALL the provisions brought in from the country; and to +profit by the general misery, resold them at an enormous price.” + +“The winter passed in suffering and inaction. The following year, Leyva +surprised the Count de St. Pol, at Landriano, on the 21st of June, 1529, +and made him prisoner with all his principal officers. This was the last +military incident of this dreadful war.” + +“Peace was ardently desired on both sides; negotiations were actively +carried on; but every potentate sought to deceive his ally, in order to +obtain better conditions from his adversary. Margaret of Austria, the +sister of the emperor’s father, and Louisa of Savoy, the mother of the +king of France, met at Cambray; and in a conference, to which no +witnesses were admitted, arranged what was called “Le traité des dames.” +Clement VII. had, at the same time, a nuncio at Barcelona, who +negotiated with the emperor. The latter was impatient to arrange the +affairs of Italy, in order to pass into Germany. On the 20th of June, +1529, Charles signed at Barcelona a treaty of perpetual alliance with +the Pope: by it he engaged to sacrifice the republic of Florence to the +Pope’s vengeance, and to place in the service of Clement, in order to +accomplish it, all the brigands who had previously devastated Italy. +Florence was to be given in sovereignty to the bastard Alexander de’ +Medici, who was to marry an illegitimate daughter of Charles V. On the +5th of August following, Louis and Margaret signed the treaty of +Cambray, by which Francis abandoned, without reserve, all his Italian +allies to the caprices of Charles; who, on his side, renounced Burgundy, +and restored to Francis his two sons, who had been retained as hostages. +Charles arrived at Genoa, on board the fleet of Andrea Doria, on the +12th of August. The Pope awaited him at Bologna, into which he made his +entry on the 5th of November. He summoned thither all the princes of +Italy, or their deputies, and treated them with more moderation than +might have been expected after the shameful abandonment of them by +France. As he knew the health of Francesco Sforza, duke of Milan, to be +in a declining state, which promised but few years of life, he granted +him the restitution of his duchy, for the sum of 900,000 ducats, which +Sforza was to pay at different times; they had not all fallen due when +that prince died, on the 24th of October, 1535, without issue, and his +estates escheated to the emperor. On the 23d of December, 1529, Charles +granted peace to the Venetians, who restored him only some places in +Apulia, and gave up Ravenna and Cernia to the Pope. + +“On the 20th of March, Alphonso d’Este also signed a treaty, by which he +referred his differences with the Pope to the arbitration of the +emperor. Charles did not pronounce on them till the following year. He +conferred on Alphonso the possession of Modena, Reggio, and Rubbiera, as +fiefs of the empire; and he made the Pope give him the investiture of +Ferrara. On the 15th of March, 1530, a diploma of the emperor raised the +marquisate of Mantua to a duchy, in favor of Frederick de Gonzaga. The +duke of Savoy and the marquis de Montferrat, till then protected by +France, arrived at Bologna, to place themselves under the protection of +the emperor. The duke of Urbino was recommended to him by the Venetians, +and obtained some promises of favor. The republics of Genoa, Sienna, and +Lucca, had permission to vegetate under the imperial protection; and +Charles, having received from the Pope at Bologna, on the 22d of +February and 24th of March, the two crowns of Lombardy and of the +empire, departed in the beginning of April for Germany, in order to +escape witnessing the odious service, in which he consented that his +troops should be employed against Florence.” + +“A period of three centuries of weakness, humiliation, and suffering, in +Italy, began in the year 1530: from that time she has been always +oppressed by foreigners, and enervated and corrupted by her masters. +These last have reproached her with the vices of which they were +themselves the authors. After having reduced her to the impossibility of +resisting, they have accused her of cowardice when she submitted, and of +rebellion when she made efforts to vindicate herself. The Italians, +during this long period of slavery, have been agitated with the desire +of becoming once more a nation; as, however, they had lost the direction +of their own affairs, they ceased to have any history which could be +called theirs; their misfortunes have become but episodes in the +histories of other nations.” + +Sismondi closes his history of the Italian Republics, with an account of +the successive fall of all the republics, which still remained +independent after the coronation of Charles V. Florence had been on the +point of recovering its liberty from the tyranny of the Medici, when the +constable Bourbon approached the walls in his march to Rome, on the 26th +of April, 1527; but the terror inspired by that army of brigands, +repressed the movement. When they heard, however, of the taking of Rome, +the Florentines rose with firmness, expelled the Medici, and restored +the republic. Michæl Angelo completed the fortifications of Florence, in +1529. On the other hand, “Clement VII. sent against his native city that +very prince of Orange, the successor of Bourbon, who had made him +prisoner at Rome; and with him that very army of robbers which had +overwhelmed the Holy See, and its subjects, with misery and every +outrage. This army entered Tuscany, September, 1529.” Florence +capitulated, after immense but vain efforts at defence, on the 12th of +August, 1530. + +Into Sienna, Charles V. introduced a Spanish garrison, but the Siennese, +unable to bear the pride, cupidity, and ferocity of the Spanish, drove +them out the 11th of August, 1552. In 1555, after incredible sufferings, +it capitulated, the 2nd of April, 1555. The Spaniards retained +possession, nevertheless, for two years, and death and exile were the +lot of the generous citizens to whom amnesty had been promised. + +In 1556 Burtamachi of Lucca made an attempt to restore liberty to the +Tuscan cities, which were all to be organized with popular constitutions +and confederate. The plot was discovered, Burtamachi executed, and the +city given up to a small oligarchy for the next two hundred and fifty +years. “Genoa, which had received the name of republic through Charles +V.’s connivance (who had needed its services in the war of 1528), was +governed by a narrow aristocracy, founded by Andrea Doria, who at the +same time “attached his country to the house of Austria, with a +submission which the greater number of Genoese felt as a deep +humiliation.” In 1547 the conspiracy of the French nearly destroyed this +government; Vachero’s conspiracy, in 1628, was also abortive. “But the +spirit of the ancient Italian republics was not extinguished among the +people of Genoa, as among the nobles.” In the war of the Austrian +succession, in 1746, they made alliance with the Bourbons. “The +Austrians appeared before Genoa; and the senate, which dared not arm the +population, opened their gates to them. The Austrians abused, as they +have ever done, the favours of fortune. They exacted from Genoa a +contribution of 9,000,000 of florins to the empire, a sum which that +city was not in a condition to pay. They seized all the money in the +bank, all the plate of the churches, and even the property of +individuals.” To these injuries they added insults which at length +roused the people, who, having no other arms, attacked their oppressors +with stones from the streets, and tiles torn from the houses, till, +notwithstanding a firing by the soldiers that filled many houses with +the dead, the streets were covered with dead Austrians, and the rest +fled in terror. These mostly perished on the barren mountains around the +city; for the Genoese retained their advantage till the treaty of +Aix-la-Chapelle secured their republic against Austria, under the +protection of the French. + +Venice employed all the sixteenth century in endeavouring to repair the +disasters of the league of Cambray. Its policy was, especially during +the seventeenth century, to throw off the yoke of Austria, but it knew +its own weakness too well to make an open movement. During the Thirty +Years’ War, however, it gave succour to the Protestants of Germany, to +Bethlehem Gabor, and to Ragotski in Hungary. “But the attacks of the +Turks made it necessary for the Venetians to make friendly advances to +Austria; and as its own government grew more aristocratic, and odious +with despotism, it became more and more timid. It attempted to be +neutral in the war of the Spanish succession. In the French war of 1796 +it actually took the side of Austria; but when Bonaparte declared war +against it, in 1797, Austria, with characteristic ingratitude, refused +all assistance; and at the peace of Santo Formio took possession of +Venice, and part of its states. But after the French made themselves +masters of Vienna, she was obliged by the treaty of Presburg to restore +Venice to the kingdom of Italy. + +Thus, after Italy lost its liberty, in the first half of the fifteenth +century, four of the five nominal republics became narrow aristocracies. + +In the beginning of the nineteenth century Napoleon Bonaparte effected a +momentary resurrection of this beautiful country. “Five millions and a +half of inhabitants in the kingdom of Italy were put in possession of a +constitution, securing the participation of numbers in the government, +which is the essence of a republic.” Six millions and a half in the +kingdom of Naples received institutions less advanced, it is true; but +even there the law had succeeded arbitrary power; public and oral +evidence had succeeded secret information and the torture; equality, the +feudal system of education, instead of retrograding, had been rendered +progressive; and thought, as well as religious conscience, had recovered +freedom. Finally, five millions and a half, (Piedmontese, Genoese, +Parmesans, Tuscans, and Romans,) were temporarily united to France, +“secure that at no very distant period, when their political education +should be accomplished, they would again be incorporated in that Italy +to the future liberty and glory of which they now directed every +thought.” + +“It has been the work of the _coalition_ to destroy all; to place Italy +again under the galling yoke of Austria; to take from her, with +political liberty, civil and religious freedom, and even freedom of +thought; to corrupt her morals, and to heap upon her the utmost degree +of humiliation. Italy is unanimous in abhorring this ignominious yoke; +Italy, to break it, has done all that could be expected of her. In a +struggle between an established government and a nation, the former has +all the advantage; it has in its favour rapidity of communication, +certainty of information, soldiers, arsenals, fortresses, and finances. +The people have only their unarmed hands, and their masses _unaccustomed +to act together_: nevertheless, in every struggle with its oppressors, +during these fifteen years, in Italy, (Sismondi wrote in 1832,) the +victory has remained with the people. At Naples, in Sicily, in Piedmont, +in the states of the Church, at Modena and Parma, unarmed masses have +seized the arms of the soldiers; men chosen by the people have taken the +places of the despots in their palaces. The Italians, everywhere +victorious over their own tyrants, have, it is true, been everywhere +forced back under the yoke, with redoubled cruelty, by the league of +foreign despots. Attacked before they could have given themselves a +government, or formed a treasury, arsenals, or an army, by the sovereign +of another nation, who reckons not less than 30,000,000 of subjects, +they did not attempt a hopeless resistance, which would have deprived +them of every chance for the future.” + +“Europe will know no repose till the nation which, in the dark ages, +lighted the torch of civilization with that of liberty, shall be enabled +herself to enjoy the light which she created.” + +But we must now turn our regards upon SPAIN, which the Austrian family, +in the person of the ruthless conqueror of Italy, had taken into its +_Christian_ (?) guardianship, by right of his mother, Joanna of Castile. + +It is not perhaps sufficiently well known, that Spain, as well as the +other countries of Europe, received from its Gothic and Vandalic +ancestors the germs of constitutional government, which, from peculiar +circumstances attending the Saracen conquest, were preserved in singular +purity in the several kingdoms of Spain, that were afterwards united +under Ferdinand and Isabella. Robertson, in a view of the state of +Europe, which he prefixes to his biography of Charles V., says:— + +“Notwithstanding the singular revolution which the invasion of the Moors +occasioned in Spain, and the peculiarity of its fate, in being so long +subject to the Mahomedan yoke, the customs introduced by the Vandals and +Goths had taken such deep root, and were so thoroughly incorporated with +the frame of its government, that in every province which the Christians +recovered from the Moors, we find the condition of individuals, as well +as the political constitution, nearly the same as in other nations of +Europe.” + +“The royal prerogative was circumscribed within such narrow bounds as +reduced the power of the sovereign almost to nothing. The privileges of +the nobility were great in proportion, and extended so far as to border +on absolute independance. The immunities of the cities were likewise +greater than in other feudal kingdoms; they possessed considerable +influence in the arts, and they aspired at obtaining more.” + +In Spain also, as in other countries where the germs of constitutional +liberty existed, as the best legacy of their northern ancestry, there +was a struggle for development, which the conservative historians +uniformly stigmatize as “turbulence” and “want of respect to law,” +though in fact it is an aspiration for a government of laws rather than +of persons. + +“In 1492,” says Robertson, “in the principality of Catalonia, which was +annexed to the kingdom of Aragon, the impatience of the people to obtain +the redress of their grievances having prompted them to take arms +against their sovereign John II., they, by a solemn deed, recalled the +oath of allegiance which they had sworn to him, declared him and his +posterity to be unworthy of the throne, and endeavoured to establish a +republican form of government, in order to secure the perpetual +enjoyment of that liberty after which they aspired. Nearly about the +same period, the indignation of the Castilian nobility against the weak +and flagitious administration of Henry IV. having led them to combine +against him, they arrogated, as one of the privileges belonging to their +order, the right of trying and of passing sentence on their sovereign. +That the exercise of this power might be as public and solemn, as the +pretension to it was bold, they summoned all the nobility of their party +to meet at Avila; a spacious theatre was erected in a plain, without the +walls of the town; an image, representing the king, was seated on a +throne, clad in royal robes, with a crown on its head, a sceptre in its +hand, and the sword of justice by its side. + +“The accusation against the king was read, and the sentence of +deposition was pronounced, in presence of a numerous assembly. At the +close of the first article of the charge, the archbishop of Toledo +advanced, and tore the crown from the head of the image; at the close of +the second, the Conde de Placentia snatched the sword of justice from +its side; at the close of the third, the Conde de Beneventi wrested the +sceptre from its hand; at the close of the last, Don Diego Lopez de +Stuniga tumbled it headlong from the throne. At the same instant, Don +Alphonso, Henry’s brother, was proclaimed king of Castile and Leon, in +his stead. + +“The most daring leaders of faction would not have ventured on these +measures, nor have conducted them with such public ceremony, if the +sentiments of the people concerning the royal dignity had not been so +formed by the laws and policy, to which they were accustomed both in +Castile and Catalonia, as prepared them to approve of such extraordinary +proceedings, or to acquiesce in them. + +“In Aragon, the form of government was monarchical, but the genius and +maxims of it were purely republican. The kings, who were long elective, +retained only the shadow of power; the real exercise of it was in the +Cortes or parliament of the kingdom. This supreme assembly was composed +of four different arms or members. The nobility of the first rank; the +equestrian order, or nobility of the second class; the representatives +of the cities and towns, whose right to a place in the Cortes, if we may +give credit to the historians of Aragon, was coëval with the +constitution; the ecclesiastical order, composed of the dignitaries of +the church, together with the representatives of the inferior clergy. No +law could pass in this assembly without the assent of every single +member who had a right to vote. Without the permission of the Cortes, no +tax could be imposed; no war could be declared; no peace could be +concluded; no money could be coined; nor could any alteration be made in +the current specie. The power of reviewing the proceedings of all +inferior courts, the privilege of inspecting every department of +administration, and the right of redressing all grievances, belonged to +the Cortes. Nor did those who conceived themselves to be aggrieved, +address the Cortes in the humble tone of suppliants, and petition for +redress; they demanded it as the birthright of freemen, and required the +guardians of their liberty to decide with respect to the points which +they laid before them. This sovereign court was held during several +centuries, every year; but in consequence of a regulation introduced +about the beginning of the fourteenth century, it was convoked from that +period only once in two years. After it was assembled, the king had no +right to prorogue or dissolve it without its own consent; and the +session continued forty days. + +“Not satisfied with having erected such formidable barriers against the +encroachments of the royal prerogative, nor willing to commit the sole +guardianship of their liberties entirely to the vigilance and authority +of an assembly, similar to the diets, states-general, and parliaments, +in which the other feudal nations have placed so much confidence, the +Aragonese had recourse to an institution peculiar to themselves, and +elected a Justiza or supreme judge. + +“This magistrate, whose office bore some resemblance to that of the +Ephori in ancient Sparta, acted as the protector of the people and the +comptroller of the prince. + +“The person of the Justiza was sacred, his power and jurisdiction almost +unbounded. He was the supreme interpreter of the laws. Not only inferior +judges, but the kings themselves, were bound to consult him in every +doubtful case, and to receive his responses with implicit deference. An +appeal lay to him from the royal judges, as well as from those appointed +by the barons within their respective territories. Even when no appeal +was made to him, he could interpose by his own authority, prohibit the +ordinary judge to proceed, take immediate cognizance of the cause +himself, and remove the party accused to the Manifestation or prison of +the state, to which no person had access but by his permission. His +power was exerted with no less vigour and effect in superintending the +administration of government, than in regulating the course of justice. + +“It was the prerogative of the Justiza to inspect the conduct of the +King. He had a title to review all the royal proclamations and patents, +and to declare whether or not they were agreeable to law, and ought to +be carried into execution. He, by his sole authority, could exclude any +of the king’s ministers from the conduct of affairs, and call them to +answer for their mal-administration. + +“He himself was accountable to the Cortes only, for the manner in which +he discharged the duties of this high office; and performed functions of +the greatest importance that could be committed to a subject.” + +It is evident from the bare enumeration of the privileges of the +Aragonese Cortes, as well as of the rights belonging to the Justiza, +that a very small portion of power remained in the hands of the King. + +The Aragonese seem to have been solicitous that their monarchs should +know and feel this state of impotence to which they were reduced. + +Even in swearing allegiance to their sovereign, an act which ought +naturally to be accompanied with professions of submission and respect, +they devised an oath, in such a form, as to remind him of his dependence +on his subjects. “We,” said the Justiza to the king in the name of his +high-spirited barons, “who are each of us as good, and who are +altogether more powerful than you, promise obedience to your government, +if you maintain our rights and liberties; but if not, not.” Conformably +to this oath they established it as a fundamental article in their +constitution, that if the king should violate their rights and +privileges it was lawful for the people to disclaim him as their +sovereign, and to elect another, even though a heathen, in his place. +The attachment of the Aragonese to this singular constitution of +government was extreme, and their respect for it approached to +superstitious veneration. In the preamble to one of their laws, they +declare, that such was the barrenness of their country, and the poverty +of the inhabitants, that, if it were not on account of the liberties by +which they were distinguished from other nations, the people would +abandon it, and go in quest of a settlement to some more fruitful +region. + +“In Castile, there were not such peculiarities in the form of +government, as to establish any remarkable distinction between it and +that of the other European nations. The executive part of government was +committed to the king, but, with a prerogative extremely limited. The +legislative authority resided in the Cortes, which was composed of the +nobility, the dignified ecclesiastics, and the representatives of the +cities. The assembly of the Cortes in Castile was very ancient, and +seems to have been almost coëval with the constitution. The members of +the three different orders, who had a right of suffrage, met in one +place, and deliberated as one collective body; the decisions of which +were regulated by the sentiments of the majority. The right of imposing +taxes, of enacting laws, and of redressing grievances, belonged to this +assembly; and in order to secure the assent of the king to such statutes +and regulations as were deemed salutary or beneficial to the kingdom, it +was usual in the Cortes to take no step towards granting money, until +all business relative to the public welfare was concluded. The +representatives of cities seem to have obtained a seat very early in the +Cortes of Castile, and soon acquired such influence and credit as were +very uncommon, at a period when the splendor and pre-eminence of the +nobility had eclipsed or depressed all other orders of men. The number +of members from cities bore such a proportion to that of the whole +collective body, as rendered them extremely respectable in the Cortes. +The degree of consideration which they possessed in the state may be +estimated by one event. Upon the death of John I., a council of regency +was appointed to govern the kingdom during the minority of his son. + +“It was composed of an equal number of noble men and of deputies chosen +by the cities; the latter were admitted to the same rank, and invested +with the same powers, as prelates and grandees of the first order. But +though the members of communities in Castile were elevated above the +condition wherein they were placed in other kingdoms of Europe; though +they had attained to such political importance that even the proud and +jealous spirit of the feudal aristocracy could not exclude them from a +considerable share in the government; yet the nobles, notwithstanding +these acquisitions of the commons, continued to assert the privileges of +their order, in opposition to the crown, in a tone extremely high. There +was not any body of nobility in Europe more distinguished for +independence of spirit, haughtiness of deportment, and bold pretensions, +than that of Castile. The history of that monarchy affords the most +striking examples of the vigilance with which they observed, and of the +vigour with which they opposed, every measure of their kings that tended +to encroach on their jurisdiction, to diminish their dignity, or to +abridge their power. Even in their ordinary intercourse with their +monarchs, they preserved such a consciousness of their rank, that the +nobles of the first order claimed it as a privilege to be covered in the +royal presence, and approached their sovereign rather as equals than as +subjects. + +“The constitutions of the subordinate monarchies, which depended upon +the crowns of Castile and Aragon, nearly resembled those of the kingdoms +to which they were annexed. + +“In all of them, the dignity and independence of the nobles were great; +the immunities and power of the cities were considerable. + +“An attentive observation of the singular situation of Spain, as well as +the various events which occurred there, from the invasion of the Moors +to the union of the kingdom, under Ferdinand and Isabella, will discover +the causes to which all the peculiarities in its political constitution +I have pointed out, ought to be ascribed. + +“As the provinces of Spain were wrested from the Mahomedans gradually +and with difficulty, the nobles who followed the standard of any eminent +leader in these wars, conquered not for him alone but for themselves. +They claimed a share in the lands which their valour had won from the +enemy, and their prosperity and power increased, in proportion as the +territory of the prince extended. + +“During their perpetual wars with the Moors, the monarchs of the several +kingdoms in Spain depended so much on their nobles, that it became +necessary to conciliate their good will by successive grants of new +honours and privileges. By the time that any prince could establish his +dominions in a conquered province, the greater part of the territory was +parcelled out by him among his barons, with such jurisdiction and +immunities as raised them almost to sovereign power. + +“At the same time, the kingdoms erected in so many different corners of +Spain, were of inconsiderable extent. The petty monarch was but little +elevated above his nobles. They, feeling themselves to be almost his +equals, acted as such; and could not look up to the kings of such +limited domains with the same reverence that the sovereigns of the great +monarchies in Europe were viewed by their subjects. While these +circumstances concurred in exalting the nobility, and in depressing the +royal authority, there were other causes which raised the cities in +Spain to consideration and power. + +“As the open country, during the wars with the Moors, was perpetually +exposed to the excursions of the enemy, with whom no peace or truce was +so permanent as to prove any lasting security, self-preservation obliged +persons of all ranks to fix their residence in places of strength. The +castles of the barons, which in other countries afforded a commodious +retreat from the depredations of banditti, or from the transient +violence of any interior commotion, were unable to resist an enemy whose +operations were conducted with regular and persevering vigour. Cities, +in which great numbers united for their mutual defence, were the only +places in which people could reside with any prospect of safety. To this +was owing the rapid growth of those cities in Spain of which the +Christians recovered possession. All who fled from the Moorish yoke +resorted to them, as to an asylum; and in them the greater part of those +who took the field against the Mahomedans established their families. + +“Several of these cities, during a longer or shorter course of years, +were the capitals of little states, and enjoyed all the advantages which +accelerate the increase of the inhabitants in every place that is the +seat of government. + +“From these concurring causes, the number of cities in Spain at the +beginning of the fifteenth century had become considerable, and they +were peopled far beyond the proportion which was common in other parts +of Europe, except in Italy and the Low Countries. The Moors had +introduced manufactures into those cities while under their dominion. +The Christians who, by intermixture with them, had learned their arts, +continued to cultivate them. + +“Trade, in several of the Spanish towns, appears to have been carried on +with vigour; and the spirit of commerce continued to preserve the number +of their inhabitants, as the sense of danger had first induced them to +crowd together. As the Spanish cities were populous, many of the +inhabitants were of a rank superior to those who resided in towns in +other countries in Europe. + +“That cause, which contributed chiefly to their population, affected +equally persons of every condition, who flocked thither promiscuously, +in order to find shelter there, or in hopes of making a stand against +the enemy, with greater advantage than in any other station. The persons +elected as their representatives in the Cortes by the cities, or +promoted to offices of trust and dignity in the government of the +community, were often of such considerable rank in the kingdom, as +reflected lustre on their constituents, and on the stations wherein they +were placed. + +“As it was impossible to carry on a continual war against the Moors +without some other military force than that which the barons were +obliged to bring into the field, in consequence of the feudal tenures, +it became necessary to have some troops, particularly a body of light +cavalry, in constant pay. It was one of the privileges of the nobles, +that their lands were exempt from the burden of taxes. The charge of +supporting the troops requisite for the public safety fell wholly on the +cities; and their kings being frequently obliged to call upon them for +aid, found it necessary to gain their favour by concessions, which not +only extended their immunities, but added to their wealth and power. + +“When the influence of all these circumstances, peculiar to Spain, is +added to the general and common causes which contributed to aggrandize +cities in other countries of Europe, this will fully account for the +extensive privileges which they acquired, as well as for the +extraordinary consideration to which they attained, in all the Spanish +kingdoms. + +“By these exorbitant privileges of the nobility, and this unusual power +of the cities in Spain, the royal prerogative was hemmed in on every +side, and reduced within very narrow bounds. Sensible of this, and +impatient of such restraint, several monarchs endeavoured, at various +junctures, and by different means, to enlarge their own jurisdiction. +Their power, however, or their abilities, were so unequal to the +undertaking, that their efforts were attended with little success.” + +But when Ferdinand and Isabella found themselves at the head of the +united kingdoms of Spain, and delivered from the danger and interruption +of domestic wars, they were not only in a condition to resume, but were +able to prosecute with advantage, the schemes of extending the +prerogative, which their ancestors had attempted in vain. Ferdinand’s +profound sagacity in concerting his measures, his persevering industry +in conducting them, and his uncommon address in carrying them into +execution, fitted him admirably for an undertaking which required all +these talents. He undertook to extend the royal prerogative, by +abridging the privileges and power of the nobility, and circumscribing +their jurisdiction. He also annexed the grandmasterships of the three +religious orders to the crown. + +“By address, by promises, and by threats, he prevailed on the knights of +each order to place Isabella and himself at their head. Innocent VIII. +and Alexander VI. gave this election the sanction of papal authority, +and subsequent pontiffs rendered the annexation of these masterships to +the crown perpetual.” But Ferdinand also did something of a very +opposite nature, in order to abridge, and at length be able to +annihilate the territorial jurisdiction of the nobility. He countenanced +and supported the association of the cities of Aragon and Castile, +called the Holy Brotherhood, and which dated as far back as 1260. + +“This brotherhood exacted a certain contribution from each of the +associated towns; they levied a considerable body of troops, in order to +protect travellers and to pursue criminals; they appointed judges, who +opened their courts in various parts of the kingdom. + +“Whoever was guilty of murder, robbery, or of any act that violated the +public peace, and was seized by the troops of the Brotherhood, was +carried before judges of their nomination, who, without paying any +regard to the exclusive and sovereign jurisdiction which the lord of the +place might claim, tried and condemned the criminal. By the +establishment of this fraternity, the prompt and impartial +administration of justice was restored, and, together with it, internal +tranquillity and order began to return. The nobles alone murmured at +this salutary institution. They complained of it as an encroachment on +one of their most valuable privileges. They remonstrated against it in a +high tone; and, on some occasions, refused to grant any aid to the +crown, unless it were abolished. + +“Ferdinand, however, not only saw the good effects of the Holy +Brotherhood, with respect to the police of his kingdoms, but perceived +its tendency to abridge, and at length to annihilate, the territorial +jurisdiction of the nobility. He countenanced it on every occasion. He +supported it with the whole force of royal authority; and, besides the +expedients employed by him in common with the other monarchs of Europe, +he availed himself of this institution, which was peculiar to his +kingdom, in order to limit and abolish that independent jurisdiction of +the nobility, which was no less inconsistent with the authority of the +prince than with the order of society. + +“But though Ferdinand by these measures considerably enlarged the +boundaries of the prerogative, and acquired a degree of influence and +power far beyond what any of his predecessors had enjoyed, yet the +limitations of the royal authority, as well as the barriers against its +encroachments, continued to be many and strong. The spirit of liberty +was vigorous among the people of Spain; the spirit of independence was +high among the nobility; and though the love of glory, peculiar to the +Spaniards in every period of their history, prompted them to support +Ferdinand with zeal in his foreign operations, and to afford him such +aid as enabled him not only to undertake, but to execute great +enterprises, he reigned over his subjects with a jurisdiction less +extensive than that of any of the great monarchs of Europe. + +“During a considerable part of the reign of his successor, Charles V., +the prerogative of the Spanish Crown was equally circumscribed.” + +The Cortes of Castile were indeed prevailed on to proclaim him king, on +condition that his mother should resume her authority, if she ever +recovered her reason, and at the same time they voted him a free gift of +600,000 ducats, to be paid in three years; a sum more considerable than +had ever been granted to any former monarch. + +But the Castilians speedily became discontented with Charles, on account +of the favour he bestowed exclusively upon the Flemings, who engrossed +all honours, offices, and benefices, and who remitted into the Low +Countries, in the course of ten months, no less a sum than a million one +hundred thousand ducats. + +The opposition Charles had to struggle with in the Cortes of Aragon was +more violent and obstinate than that which he had overcome in Castile; +after long delays, however, and with much difficulty, he persuaded the +members to confer on him the title of king in conjunction with his +mother. At the same time he bound himself by that solemn oath, which the +Aragonese exacted of their kings, never to violate any of their rights +or liberties. When a donation was demanded they were still more +intractable. Many months elapsed before they would agree to grant +Charles 200,000 ducats. + +From Aragon Charles proceeded to Catalonia, where he wasted as much +time, encountered more difficulties, and gained less money. + +Meanwhile the oppressive schemes of the Flemings provoked a confederacy +of Segovia, Toledo, Seville, and several other cities of the first rank, +for the defence of their rights and privileges; “and notwithstanding the +silence of the nobility who, on this occasion,” says Robertson, +“testified neither the public spirit nor the resolution which became +their order, the confederates laid before the king a full view of the +kingdom and of the mal-administration of his favourites. The confederacy +of these cities, at this juncture, was the beginning of that famous +union among the commons of Castile, which not long after threw the +kingdom into such violent convulsions as shook the throne, and almost +overturned the constitution. + +“Charles’s election to the imperial crown increased the dissatisfaction. +To be deprived of the presence of their sovereign, and to be subjected +to the government of a viceroy and his council, were the immediate +consequences of this new dignity. To see the blood of their countrymen +shed in quarrels wherein the nation had no concern, to behold its +treasures wasted in supporting the splendor of a foreign title; to be +plunged into the chaos of Italian and German politics, were effects of +this event almost as unavoidable.” + +An insurrection in Valencia, directed against the oppression of the +grandees, which was great in that kingdom, gave rise to an association +that laid their grievances before Charles, who, irritated at the moment +against the nobles who had opposed his going to Germany, authorized them +to continue in arms. Upon which they expelled all the nobles from the +city, and committed the government to magistrates of their own election, +and distinguished their conviction by the name of Germanada. + +The cities of Castile also associated to crave redress of wrongs from +Charles, but he artfully avoided admitting their deputation, and +summoned the Cortes of Castile to meet at Compostella, in Galicia. He +called this assembly only to obtain another donative, in order to appear +in Germany with splendour suited to the Imperial dignity. To appoint a +meeting of the Cortes in so remote a province, and to demand a new +subsidy before the time for paying the former was expired, were +innovations of a most dangerous tendency; and among a people not only +jealous of their liberties, but accustomed to supply the wants of their +sovereigns with a very frugal hand, excited an universal alarm. The +magistrates of Toledo remonstrated against both these measures in a very +high tone; the inhabitants of Valladolid, who expected that the Cortes +would have been held in that city, were so enraged, that they took arms +in a tumultuary manner; and if Charles, with his foreign counsellors, +had not fortunately made their escape during a violent tempest, they +would have massacred all the Flemings, and have prevented him from +continuing his journey towards Compostella. + +“Every city through which he passed petitioned against holding a Cortes +in Galicia, a point with regard to which Charles was inflexible. But +though the utmost influence had been exerted by the ministers, in order +to procure a choice of representatives favourable to their designs, such +was the danger, that, at the opening of the assembly, there appeared +among many of the members unusual symptoms of ill-humour which +threatened a fierce opposition to all the measures of the court. No +representatives were sent by Toledo; for the lot, according to which, by +ancient custom, the election was determined in that city, having fallen +upon two persons devoted to the Flemish ministers, their fellow-citizens +refused to grant them a commission in the usual form, and in their stead +made choice of two deputies, whom they empowered to repair to +Compostella, and to protest against the lawfulness of the Cortes +assembled there. The representatives of Salamanca refused to take the +usual oath of fidelity, unless Charles consented to change the place of +meeting. Those of Toro, Madrid, Cordova, and several other places, +declared the demand of another donative to be unprecedented, +unconstitutional, and unnecessary. All the arts, however, which +influence popular assemblies, bribes, promises, threats, and even force, +were employed, in order to gain members. The nobles, soothed by the +respectful assiduity with which Chievres and the other Flemings paid +court to them, or instigated by a mean jealousy of that spirit of +independence which they saw rising among the commons, openly favoured +the pretensions of the court, or at the utmost did not oppose them; and +at last, in contempt not only of the sentiments of the nation, but of +the ancient forms of the constitution, a majority voted to grant the +donative for which the emperor had applied. Together with this grant, +the Cortes laid before Charles a representation of those grievances +whereof his people complained, and in their name craved redress; but he, +having obtained from them all that he could expect, paid no attention to +this ill-timed petition, which it was no longer dangerous to disregard.” + +No sooner was it known that the Cortes in Galicia had granted Charles a +free gift without obtaining the redress of any one grievance, than it +produced a civil war. There was an insurrection at Toledo, Segovia, +Burgos, and other cities, which Adrian, whom Charles had left regent in +Spain, failed to put down, and after having been defeated at Segovia, +disbanded his troops. Robertson says: + +“Nor were the proceedings of the commons the effects merely of popular +and tumultuary rage; they aimed at obtaining redress of their political +grievances, and an establishment of public liberty on a secure basis, +objects worthy of all the zeal which they discovered in contending for +them. The feudal government in Spain was at that time in a state more +favourable to liberty than in any other of the great European kingdoms. +This was owing chiefly to the number of great cities in that country, a +circumstance I have already taken notice of, and which contributes more +than any other to mitigate the rigour of the feudal institutions, and to +introduce a more liberal and equal form of government. The inhabitants +of every city formed a great corporation, with valuable immunities and +privileges; they were delivered from a state of subjection and +vassalage; they were admitted to a considerable share in the +legislature; they had acquired the arts of industry, without which +cities cannot subsist; they had accumulated wealth, by engaging in +commerce; and being free and independent themselves, were ever ready to +act as the guardians of the public freedom and independence. The genius +of the internal government established among the inhabitants of cities, +which, even in countries where despotic power prevails most, is +democratical and republican, rendered the idea of liberty familiar and +dear to them. Their representatives in the Cortes were accustomed, with +equal spirit, to check the encroachments of the king and the oppression +of the nobles. They endeavoured to extend the privileges of their own +order; they laboured to shake off the remaining incumbrances with which +the spirit of feudal policy, favourable only to the nobles, had burdened +them; and conscious of being the most considerable orders in the state, +were ambitious of becoming the most powerful.” + +Hence a general convention was held for a new association, that assumed +the name of the Holy Junta; which, through the resolution of their +leader Padilla, obtained possession of the person of Joanna, and carried +on the government in her name; “as the Castilians,” says Robertson, “who +idolized the memory of Isabella, retained a wonderful attachment to her +daughter, no sooner was it known that she had consented to assume the +reins of government, than the people expressed the most universal and +immoderate joy; and believing her recovery to be complete, ascribed it +to a miraculous interposition of Heaven, in order to rescue their +country from the oppression of foreigners. The Junta, conscious of the +reputation and power which they had acquired by seeming to act under the +royal authority, were no longer satisfied with requiring Adrian to +resign the office of regent; they detached Padilla to Valladolid with a +considerable body of troops, ordering him to seize such members of the +council as were still in that city, to conduct them to Tordesillas, and +to bring away the seals of the kingdom, the public archives and treasury +books. Padilla, who was received by the citizens as the deliverer of his +country, executed his commission with great exactness; permitting +Adrian, however, still to reside in Valladolid, though only as a private +person, and without any shadow of power. + +“The emperor, to whom frequent accounts of these transactions were +transmitted while he was still in Flanders, was sensible of his own +imprudence and that of his ministers, in having despised too long the +murmurs and remonstrances of the Castilians. He beheld, with deep +concern, a kingdom, the most valuable of any he possessed, and in which +lay the strength and sinews of his power, just ready to disown his +authority, and on the point of being plunged in to all the miseries of +civil war. But though his presence might have averted this calamity, he +could not, at that time, visit Spain without endangering the Imperial +crown, and allowing the French king full leisure to execute his +ambitious schemes. The only point now to be deliberated upon, was, +whether he should attempt to gain the malcontents by indulgence and +concessions, or prepare directly to suppress them by force; and he +resolved to make trial of the former, while, at the same time, if that +should fail of success, he prepared for the latter. For this purpose, he +issued circular letters to all the cities of Castile, exhorting them in +most gentle terms, and with assurance of full pardon, to lay down their +arms; he promised such cities as had continued faithful, not to exact +from them the subsidy granted in the late Cortes, and offered the same +favour to such as returned to their duty; he engaged that no office +should be conferred for the future upon any but native Castilians. On +the other hand, he wrote to the nobles, exciting them to appear with +vigour in defence of their own rights, and those of the crown, against +the exorbitant claims of the commons; he appointed the high admiral Don +Fadrique Enriquez, and the high constable of Castile, Don Inigo de +Velasco, two noblemen of great abilities as well as influence, regents +of the kingdom in conjunction with Adrian; and he gave them full power +and instructions, if the obstinacy of the malcontents should render it +necessary, to vindicate the royal authority by force of arms. + +“These concessions, which, at the time of his leaving Spain, would have +fully satisfied the people, came now too late to produce any effect. The +Junta, relying on the unanimity with which the nation submitted to their +authority, elated with the success which hitherto had accompanied all +their undertakings, and seeing no military force collected to defeat or +obstruct their designs, aimed at a more thorough reformation of +political abuses. They had been employed for some time in preparing a +remonstrance, containing a large enumeration, not only of the grievances +of which they craved redress, but of such new regulations as they +thought necessary for the security of their liberties. This +remonstrance, which is divided into many articles relating to all the +different members of which the constitution was composed, as well as the +various departments in the administration of government, furnishes us +with more authentic evidence concerning the intentions of the Junta, +than can be drawn from the testimony of the later Spanish historians, +who lived in times when it became fashionable and even necessary to +represent the conduct of the malcontents in the worst light, and as +flowing from the worst motives. After a long preamble concerning the +various calamities under which the nation groaned, and the errors and +corruption in government to which these were to be imputed, they take +notice of the exemplary patience wherewith the people had endured them, +until self-preservation, and the duty which they owed to their country, +had obliged them to assemble, in order to provide in a legal manner for +their own safety, and that of the constitution: For this purpose they +demanded that the king would be pleased to return to his Spanish +dominions and reside there, as all their former monarchs had done; that +he would not marry but with consent of the Cortes; that if he should be +obliged at any time to leave the kingdom, it shall not be lawful to +appoint any foreigner to be regent; that the present nomination of +Cardinal Adrian to that office shall instantly be declared void; that he +would not, at his return, bring along with him any Flemings or other +strangers; that no foreign troops shall, on any pretence whatever, be +introduced into the kingdom; that none but natives shall be capable of +holding any office or benefice either in church or state; that no +foreigner shall be naturalized; that free quarters shall not be granted +to soldiers, nor to the members of the king’s household, for any longer +time than six days, and that only when the court is in progress; that +all the taxes shall be reduced to the same state they were in at the +death of queen Isabella; that all alienations of the royal demesnes or +revenues since that queen’s death shall be resumed; that all new offices +created since that period shall be abolished; that the subsidy granted +by the late Cortes in Galicia shall not be exacted; that in all future +Cortes each city shall send one representative of the clergy, one of the +gentry, and one of the commons, each to be elected by his own order; +that the crown shall not influence or direct any city with regard to the +choice of its representatives; that no member of the Cortes shall +receive an office or pension from the king, either for himself or for +any of his family, under pain of death, and confiscation of his goods; +that each city or community shall pay a competent salary to its +representative for his maintenance during his attendance on the Cortes; +_that the Cortes shall assemble once in three years at least, whether +summoned by the king or not_, and shall then enquire into the +observation of the articles now agreed upon, and deliberate concerning +public affairs; that the rewards which have been given or promised to +any of the members of Cortes held in Galicia, shall be revoked; that it +shall be declared a capital crime to send gold, silver, or jewels out of +the kingdom; that judges shall have fixed salaries assigned them, and +shall not receive any share of the fines and forfeitures of persons +condemned by them; that no grant of the goods of persons accused shall +be valid, if given before sentence was pronounced against them; that all +privileges which the nobles have at any time obtained, to the prejudice +of the commons, shall be revoked; that the government of cities or towns +shall not be put into the hands of noblemen; that the possessions of the +nobility shall be subject to all public taxes in the same manner as +those of the commons; that such prelates as do not reside in their +dioceses six months in the year, shall forfeit their revenues during the +time they are absent; that the ecclesiastical judges and their officers +shall not exact greater fees than those which are paid in the secular +courts; that the king shall ratify and hold, as good service done to him +and to the kingdom, all the proceedings of the Junta, and pardon any +irregularities which the cities may have committed from an excess of +zeal in a good cause; that he shall promise and swear in the most solemn +manner to observe all these articles, and on no occasion attempt either +to elude, or to repeal them; and that he shall never solicit the pope or +any other prelate to grant him a dispensation or absolution from this +oath and promise. + +“Such were the chief articles presented by the Junta to their sovereign. +As the feudal institutions in the several kingdoms of Europe were +originally the same, the genius of those governments which arose from +them bore a strong resemblance to each other, and the regulations which +the Castilians attempted to establish on this occasion, differ little +from those which other nations have laboured to procure in their +struggles with their monarchs for liberty. The grievances complained of, +and the remedies proposed by the English commons in their contests with +the princes of the house of Stuart, particularly resemble those upon +which the Junta now insisted. But the principles of liberty seem to have +been better understood, at this period, by the Castilians, than by any +other people in Europe; they had acquired more liberal ideas with +respect to their own rights and privileges; they had formed more bold +and generous sentiments concerning government; and discovered an extent +of political knowledge to which the English themselves did not attain +until more than a century afterwards. + +“But the spirit of reformation among the Castilians, hitherto +unrestrained by authority, and emboldened by success, prompted the Junta +to propose innovations which, by alarming the other members of the +constitution, proved fatal to their cause. The nobles, who, instead of +obstructing, had favoured or connived at their proceedings, while they +confined their demands of redress to such grievances as had been +occasioned by the king’s want of experience, and by the imprudence and +rapaciousness of his foreign ministers, were filled with indignation +when the Junta began to touch the privileges of their order, and plainly +saw that the measures of the commons tended no less to break the power +of the aristocracy, than to limit the prerogatives of the crown. The +resentment which they had conceived on account of Adrian’s promotion to +the regency, abated considerably upon the emperor’s raising the +constable and admiral to joint power with him in that office; and as +their pride and dignity were less hurt by suffering the prince to +possess an extensive prerogative, than by admitting the high pretensions +of the people, they determined to give their sovereign the assistance +which he had demanded of them, and began to assemble their vassals for +that purpose. + +“The Junta, meanwhile, expected with impatience the emperor’s answer to +their remonstrance, which they had appointed some of their number to +present. The members intrusted with this commission set out immediately +for Germany, but having received at different places certain +intelligence from court, that they could not venture to appear there +without endangering their lives, they stopped short in their journey, +and acquainted the Junta with the information which had been given them. +This excited such violent passions as transported the whole party beyond +all bounds of prudence or of moderation. That a king of Castile should +deny his subjects access into his presence, or refuse to listen to their +humble petitions, was represented as an act of tyranny so unprecedented +and intolerable, that nothing now remained but with arms in their hands +to drive away that ravenous band of foreigners which encompassed the +throne, who, after having devoured the wealth of the kingdom, found it +necessary to prevent the cries of an injured people from reaching the +ears of their sovereign. Many insisted warmly on approving a motion +which had formerly been made, for depriving Charles, during the life of +his mother, of the regal titles and authority which had been too rashly +conferred upon him, from a false supposition of her total inability for +government. Some proposed to provide a proper person to assist her in +the administration of public affairs, by marrying the queen to the +prince of Calabria, the heir of the Aragonese kings of Naples, who had +been detained in prison since the time that Ferdinand had dispossessed +his ancestors of their crown. All agreed that, as the hopes of obtaining +redress and security merely by presenting their requests to their +sovereign, had kept them too long in a state of inaction, and prevented +them from taking advantage of the unanimity with which the nation +declared in their favour, it was now necessary to collect their whole +force, and to exert themselves with vigour, in opposing this fatal +combination of the king and the nobility against their liberties. + +“They soon took the field with twenty thousand men. After some success +and many mistakes in their military operations, the Junta was finally +defeated at Villalar, April 22d, 1522, and Padilla, their General, was +taken prisoner, and put to death the next day without even the form of a +trial. He spent the night in writing two letters, one to the city of +Toledo, and one to his wife.” They are his sufficient eulogy, and we +shall insert them here. + + + _The Letter of Don John Padilla to the City of Toledo._ + +“To thee, the crown of Spain, and the light of the whole world, free +from the time of the mighty Goths: to thee, who, by shedding the blood +of strangers, as well as thy own blood, hast recovered liberty for +thyself and thy neighbouring cities, thy legitimate son, Juan de +Padilla, gives information, how by the blood of his body, thy ancient +victories are to be refreshed. If fate hath not permitted my actions to +be placed among your successful and celebrated exploits, the fault hath +been in my ill fortune, not in my good will. This I request of thee as +of a mother, to accept, since God hath given me nothing more to lose for +thy sake, than that which I am now to relinquish. I am more solicitous +about thy good opinion than about my own life. The shiftings of fortune, +which never stands still, are many. But this I see with infinite +consolation, that I, the least of thy children, suffer death for thee, +and that thou hast nursed at thy breasts such as may take vengeance for +my wrongs. Many tongues will relate the manner of my death, of which I +am still ignorant, though I know it to be near. My end will testify what +was my desire. My soul I recommend to thee as to the patroness of +Christianity. Of my body I say nothing, for it is not mine. I can write +nothing more, for at this very moment I feel the knife at my throat, +with greater dread of thy displeasure, than apprehension of my own +pain.” + + + _The Letter to his Wife._ + + “SENORA, + +“If your grief did not afflict me more than my own death, I should deem +myself perfectly happy. For the end of life being certain to all men, +the Almighty confers a mark of distinguishing favour upon that person, +for whom he appoints a death such as mine, which though lamented by +many, is nevertheless acceptable unto him. It would require more time +than I now have, to write anything that could afford you consolation. +_That_ my enemies will not grant me, nor do I wish to delay the +reception of that crown which I hope to enjoy. You may bewail your own +loss, but not my death, which, being so honourable, ought not to be +lamented by any. My spirit, for nothing else is left to me, I bequeath +to you. You will receive it, as the thing in this world which you value +most. I do not write to my father Pero Lopez, because I dare not; for +though I have shown myself to be his son in daring to lose my life, I +have not been the heir of his good fortune. I will not attempt to say +anything more, that I may not tire the executioner, who waits for me; +and that I may not excite a suspicion, that, in order to prolong my +life, I lengthen out my letter. My servant Sosia, an eyewitness, and to +whom I have communicated my most secret thoughts, will inform you of +what I cannot now write, and thus I rest, expecting the instrument of +your grief, and of my deliverance.” Sandov. Hist. vol. i. p. 478. + + +Padilla’s widow, Donna Maria Pacheco, showed herself worthy of her +husband, and prosecuted that cause in defence of which he had suffered. + +“Respect for her sex, or admiration for her courage and abilities, as +well as sympathy with her misfortunes, and veneration for the memory of +her husband, secured her the same ascendant over the people which he had +possessed. The prudence and vigour with which she acted, justified that +confidence they placed in her. She wrote to the French general in +Navarre, encouraging him to invade Castile by the offer of powerful +assistance. She endeavoured by her letters and emissaries to revive the +spirit and hopes of the other cities. She raised soldiers, and exacted a +great sum from the clergy belonging to the cathedral, in order to defray +the expense of keeping them on foot. She employed every artifice that +could interest or inflame the populace. For this purpose she ordered +crucifixes to be used by her troops instead of colours, as if they had +been at war with the infidels and enemies of religion; she marched +through the streets of Toledo with her son, a young child, clad in deep +mourning seated on a mule, having a standard carried before him, +representing the manner of his father’s execution. By all these means +she kept the minds of the people in such perpetual agitation as +prevented their passions from subsiding, and rendered them insensible of +the dangers to which they were exposed, by standing alone in opposition +to the royal authority. While the army was employed in Navarre, the +regents were unable to attempt the reduction of Toledo by force; and all +their endeavours, either to diminish Donna Maria’s credit with the +people, or to gain her by large promises and the solicitations of her +brother the Marquis de Mondecar, proved ineffectual. Upon the expulsion +of the French out of Navarre, part of the army returned into Castile, +and invested Toledo. Even this made no impression on the intrepid and +obstinate courage of Donna Maria. She defended the town with vigour, her +troops in several sallies beat the royalists, and no progress was made +towards reducing the place, until the clergy, whom she had highly +offended by invading their property, ceased to support her. As soon as +they received information of the death of William de Croy, archbishop of +Toledo, whose possession of that see was their chief grievance, and that +the emperor had named a Castilian to succeed him, they openly turned +against her, and persuaded the people that she had acquired such +influence over them, by the force of enchantments, that she was assisted +by a familiar dæmon which attended her in the form of a Negro-maid, and +that by its suggestions she regulated every part of her conduct. The +credulous multitude, whom their impatience of a long blockade, and +despair of obtaining succours either from the cities formerly in +confederacy with them, or from the French, rendered desirous of peace, +took arms against her, and driving her out of the city, surrendered it +to the royalists. She retired to the citadel, which she defended with +amazing fortitude four months longer; and when reduced to the last +extremities, she made her escape in disguise, and fled to Portugal, +where she had many relations. + +“Upon her flight, the citadel surrendered. Tranquillity was +re-established in Castile; and this bold attempt of the commons, like +all unsuccessful insurrections, contributed to confirm and extend the +power of the crown, which it was intended to moderate and abridge. The +Cortes still continued to make a part of the Castilian constitution, and +was summoned to meet whenever the king stood in need of money; but +instead of adhering to their ancient and cautious form of examining and +redressing public grievances, before they proceeded to grant any supply, +the more courtly custom of voting a donative in the first place was +introduced, and the sovereign having obtained all that he wanted, never +allowed them to enter into any inquiry, or to attempt any reformation +injurious to his authority. The privileges which the cities had enjoyed +were gradually circumscribed or abolished; _their commerce began from +this period to decline_; and becoming less wealthy and less populous, +they lost that power and influence which they had acquired in the +Cortes.” + +Meanwhile there was civil war in Valencia, carried on by the Germanada, +to whom Charles had formerly granted the use of arms, against the +nobility, with whom he was, at the time of the grant, angry. At first he +left the nobles to fight their own battle, but after the victory of +Villalar he dispatched to their assistance a body of Castilian cavalry; +the insurrection was put down, and the republican government that had +been established was overthrown, the leaders suffering most cruel +deaths. + +There were also disaffections in Aragon, and a formidable insurrection +in Majorca, and it seems as if it was only to the circumstance, that the +several kingdoms of Spain did not make common cause, that Charles owed +the preservation of his Spanish crowns. + +On his return to Spain, after these commotions, he acted with the cool +prudence characteristic of him. After a rebellion so general, scarcely +twenty persons were punished capitally, and this clemency, together with +his care to avoid giving more offence, conciliated the war-wearied +people. The nobles also supported his authority against the commons, +whose late movements had been to them no less terrific than to the +emperor. + +But it was only because Charles had not the power to do otherwise, that +he showed this clemency. In 1539, when wanting money to pay the Imperial +army, which had served him in Italy and elsewhere, “he assembled the +Cortes of Castile at Toledo, and having represented to them the +extraordinary expense of his military operations, together with the +great debts in which these had necessarily involved him, he proposed to +levy such supplies as the present exigency of his affairs demanded, by a +general excise on commodities. But the Spaniards already felt themselves +oppressed with a load of taxes unknown to their ancestors. They had +often complained that their country was drained not only of its wealth +but of its inhabitants, in order to prosecute quarrels in which it was +not interested, and to fight battles from which it could reap no +benefit, and they determined not to add voluntarily to their own +burdens, or to furnish the Emperor with the means of engaging in new +enterprises, no less ruinous to the kingdom than most of those which he +had hitherto carried on. The nobles, in particular, inveighed with great +vehemence against the imposition proposed, as an encroachment upon the +valuable and distinguishing privilege of their order, that of being +exempted from the payment of any tax. They demanded a conference with +the representatives of the cities concerning the state of the nation. +They contended that if Charles would imitate the example of his +predecessors, who had resided constantly in Spain, and would avoid +entangling himself in a multiplicity of transactions foreign to the +concerns of his Spanish dominions, the stated revenues of the crown +would be fully sufficient to defray the necessary expenses of +government. They represented to him, that it would be unjust to lay new +burdens upon the people, while this prudent and effectual method of +reëstablishing public credit, and securing national opulence, was +totally neglected. Charles, after employing arguments, entreaties, and +promises, but without success, in order to overcome their obstinacy, +dismissed the assembly with great indignation. From that period neither +the nobles nor the prelates have been called to these assemblies, on +pretence that such as pay no part of the public taxes, should not claim +any vote in laying them on. None have been admitted to the Cortes but +the procurators or representatives of eighteen cities. These, to the +number of thirty-six, being two from each community, form an assembly +which bears no resemblance either in power, or dignity, or independence, +to the ancient Cortes, and are absolutely at the devotion of the court +in all their determinations. Thus the imprudent zeal with which the +Castilian nobles had supported the regal prerogative, in opposition to +the claims of the commons during the commotions in the year 1521, proved +at last fatal to their own body. By enabling Charles to depress one of +the orders in the state, they destroyed that balance to which the +constitution owed its security, and put it in his power, or in that of +his successors, to humble the other, and to strip it gradually of its +most valuable privileges.” + +Thus coolly, and without a groan of sympathy, does Robertson relate a +crime which extinguished a great nation. + +But in this instance, it must be confessed, that the crime is less +liable to awaken the indignation of the historian and his readers, +because Might seems to _have made_ Right; this last outrage was not +resisted. When Charles V. thus coolly drove the ploughshare of +destruction over the constitutional rights of Spain, we cannot but +wonderingly inquire, where are those proud and turbulent Aragonese, +Catalonians, Castilians, from whom he and his courtiers so narrowly +escaped with life, when, in order to force from them 200,000 ducats, he +removed the Cortes from Valladolidto Compostella, by an exertion of his +royal prerogative? Where are those “Children of Toledo,” invoked by the +dying Padilla to take vengeance for the wrongs he suffered in their +cause? Whither, oh, whither has fled the spirit of the Holy Junta? What +has Spain been doing in these last score of years, that it should be so +changed? The ruthless will to destroy their constitutional rights in +Charles V.—that can surprise us no longer; that is the inherited spirit, +the essence of the family of Hapsburgh. How can any finite thing grow, +_except after its kind_? What is wonderful is not that Charles, with the +Pope, and Italy, and Flanders at his feet with the imperial army of +Germany to execute his behests, so managing by his cold diplomacy and +cunning hypocrisy all these forces, that they know not well what they +are doing it is not wonderful that all this was too much for the +material forces of Spain, or of any nation whatever, but it is +wonderful, and it needs explanation, that, in Spain itself, not a battle +was fought to sow the blood-seeds of a future harvest, not a solitary +voice even uttered the death-shriek of freedom over their +blood-honoured, time-honoured constitutional rights at the moment they +were finally strangled. + +We must, in fact, look in another quite different direction for the +explanation of this fact, and, though it takes us a little out of the +course of our appointed work, we shall take leave to do so. + +Liberty, that uncontained, uncontainable _spirit_, which is the life of +all life, at once its origin and its end, _what_ is it, _where_ is it? +_Where the Spirit of the Lord is_, says the apostle, _there is liberty_. +But let us not repeat these words technically; let us at once, ‘clearing +our minds of cant,’ seize upon their meaning. In vain for us is the +Spirit of the Lord, unless it is _incarnated_; and yet, when it becomes +incarnate, let us realize that none the less is it the uncontained and +uncontainable, and to be worshipped as such, neither in the temple nor +on the mountain, but in spirit and in truth. Liberty is nothing if it is +not the element of _manliness_. It exists for no nation any longer than +_manliness_ pervades the people. It is ITSELF EVOLVED from the manliness +of a people, and whatever may have been its triumphs on any soil, if the +men of that soil change or become no longer manly, we may wander among +the palaces or the cottages where they formerly dwelt, and inquire for +its whereabout in vain. Man cannot serve two masters, God and mammon. +When the moment for Charles V.’s master-stroke came, instead of those +men who once startled the echoes of the Sierras of Spain with their NO +to the demand of an encroaching royal prerogative, there are _ghouls_ +only, that inhabit castle and cottage, city palace and city bizarre; the +activity, the energy, the life-blood of the country, has gone over the +sea;—for America has been discovered; the gold and silver mines of +Mexico and Peru have been opened a far off Eldorado, a _material_ +‘fountain of immortal youth,’ that the _body_ may imbibe, has seized the +imagination and addressed every passion of the young men of the commons +of Spain. The trees of the garden are so fine for the eyes, that the +tree of life, which stands in the midst of the garden, is passed by, +until at last the words of doom have been pronounced, and there is no +winning the way back, but to fight with the flaming sword which turns +every way. + +We have said and seen, in the foregoing pages, that the stronghold of +liberty is ever in THE COMMONS of a nation; and no nobility is +strengthened by manliness any farther, or any longer, than it makes +common cause with the rights of the commons. The nobility of Spain +deserted the commons in 1521, and this enabled Charles, in 1539, to do, +as far as their order was concerned, what we have just recorded. Still +there would have been hope for Spain, if—which is a fact very commonly +overlooked—the commons had not been far away from sacred fatherland, +drinking themselves drunk with the gold they had madly quaffed, after +having waded through seas of Indian blood to seize it. But it may be +asked, how could so base a quest have carried off noble men? How could +manly priests of the spirit of liberty have let the wine of immortality +be spilled, while they were rushing madly after what could, at best, be +of no value but as the chalice to hold it? + +It is the child’s question, who wonders over the story of the chosen +people of the Bible, that they could stray away from their invisible God +and King after the stone and metal gods of the Pagans. Never was the +most sordid of objects so enveloped in the robes of an angel of light. +Who does not know that every innocent and lawful affection, every noble +and generous plan of usefulness to others, that the interests of +science, nay, even those of religion itself, can most easily take on +this garb of foreign adventure, after means to attain their object? And +were not the emblems of religion—the crosier and the bread of the +Lord—used freely by pope and prelate, to mystify and consecrate to the +imaginative and superstitious their own desire of action and adventure, +even their sordid lust of gold? Let us not revile, but LEARN that +liberty is a jealous god, who will have no other gods before her, but +inexorably visit on the children’s children the faithlessness of their +fathers to the Invisible Source, Guardian, Element, and End of a +nation’s life. + +We do not pursue the history of Spain through the reigns of the other +kings of the House of Austria, although there might be much gathered to +illustrate our subject, even as late as the time of the War of +Succession, when the Catalonians were faithful to the House of Austria, +yet were heartlessly abandoned at last to the House of Bourbon, without +any stipulations for mercy made for them by those whose interests they +had defended so heroically. We must turn to the history of the +Netherlands. + +The Netherlands came under the House of Austria, as we have already +seen, by the marriage of Maximilian I. with Mary, daughter of Charles +the Bold. The constitutional liberties of the people, in some instances, +dated as far back as the ninth century. Mr. Grattan, in his History of +the Netherlands, says:— + +“From the time of Charlemagne, the people of the ancient Menapia formed +political associations to raise a barrier against the despotic violence +of the Franks. These associations were called _Gilden_, and in the Latin +of the times _Gildonia_. They comprised, besides their covenants for +mutual protection, an obligation which bound every member to give +succour to any other, in cases of illness, conflagration, or shipwreck. +But the growing force of these social compacts alarmed the quick-sighted +despotism of Charlemagne, and they were, consequently, prohibited both +by him and his successors. To give a notion of the importance of this +prohibition to the whole of Europe, it is only necessary to state that +the most ancient corporations (all which had preceded and engendered the +most valuable municipal rights) were nothing more than gilden. + +Thus, to draw an example from Great Britain, the corporative charter of +Berwick still bears the title of _Charta Gildoniæ_. But the ban of the +sovereigns was without efficacy, when opposed to the popular will. The +gilden stood their ground; and within a century after the death of +Charlemagne, all Flanders was covered with corporate towns. + +“This popular opposition took, however, another form in the northern +parts of the country, which still bore the common name of Friesland; for +there it was not merely local but national. The Frisons succeeded in +obtaining the sanction of the monarch to consecrate, as it were, those +rights which were established under the ancient forms of government. The +fact is undoubted; but the means which they employed are uncertain. It +appears most probable that this great privilege was the price of their +military services; for they held a high place in the victorious armies +of Charlemagne; and Turpin, the old French romancer, alluding to the +popular traditions of his time, represents the warriors of Friesland as +endowed with the most heroic valor. + +“These rights, which the Frisons secured, according to their own +statements, from Charlemagne, but most undoubtedly from some one or +other of the earliest emperors, consisted, first, in the freedom of +every order of citizens; secondly, in the right of property,—a right +which admitted no authority of the sovereign to violate by confiscation, +except in cases of downright treason; thirdly, in the privilege of trial +by none but native judges, and according to their national usages; +fourthly, in a very narrow limitation of the military services which +they owed to the king; fifthly, in the hereditary title to feudal +property, in direct line, on payment of certain dues or rents. These +five principal articles sufficed to render Friesland, in its political +aspect, totally different from the other portions of the monarchy. Their +privileges secured, their property inviolable, their duties limited, the +Frisons were altogether free from the servitude which weighed down +France. It will soon be seen that these special advantages produced a +government nearly analogous to that which Magna Charta was the means of +founding at a later period in England.” + +With respect to Flanders, Grattan also says:— + +“It was about the year 1100 that the commons began to possess the +privilege of regulating their internal affairs: they appointed their +judges and magistrates, and attached to their authority the old custom +of ordering all the citizens to assemble or march when the summons of +the feudal lord sounded the signal for their assemblage or service. By +this means each municipal magistracy had the disposal of a force far +superior to those of the nobles, for the population of the towns +exceeded both in number and discipline the vassals of the seigniorial +lands. And these trained bands of the towns made war in a way very +different from that hitherto practised; for the chivalry of the country, +making the trade of arms a profession for life, the feuds of the +chieftains produced hereditary struggles, almost always slow, and +mutually disastrous. But the townsmen, forced to tear themselves from +every association of home and its manifold endearments, advanced boldly +to the object of the contest; never shrinking from the dangers of war, +from fear of that still greater one to be found in a prolonged struggle. +It is thus that it may be remarked, during the memorable conflicts of +the thirteenth century, that when even the bravest of the knights +advised their counts or dukes to grant or demand a truce, the citizen +militia never knew but one cry—‘To the charge.’” + +With such a background of privilege in their history, it is not strange +that the Netherlands should have wished to make terms with Maximilian, +before acknowledging his authority. They stipulated for their rights, +and in a war which broke out in consequence of his attempt, after the +death of Mary, to usurp power, his person was actually seized and +imprisoned at Bruges; nor was he released until all Europe interposed; +and then, only on conditions which, with the perfidy characteristic of +his house, he violated as soon as he was free. “For,” as Mr. Grattan +says, “these kind of compacts were never observed by the princes of +those days, beyond the actual period of their capacity to violate them. +The emperor having entered the Netherlands at the head of 40,000 men, +Maximilian, so supported, soon showed his contempt for the obligations +he had sworn to, and had recourse to force for the extension of his +authority. The valour of the Flemings and the military talents of their +leader, Philip of Cleves, thwarted all his projects, and a new +compromise was entered into. Flanders paid a large subsidy, and held +fast her rights. The German troops were sent into Holland, and employed +for the extinction of the Hoeks; who, as they formed by far the weaker +faction, were now soon destroyed. That province, which had been so long +distracted by its intestine feuds, and which had consequently played but +an insignificant part in the transactions of the Netherlands, now +resumed its place; and acquired thenceforth new honor, till it at length +came to figure in all the importance of historical distinction.” + +On obtaining the imperial crown, Maximilian was able to leave the scene +of trouble, and invest Philip I. with the government of the Netherlands. +The latter ensured his quiet possession of the place by renouncing all +pretensions to Friesland, re-establishing commercial relations with +England, whom Maximilian had offended, and taking care to consult the +States-General on his projects of marriage with Joanna of Castile. His +reign was rendered remarkable by the war of Friesland in defence of its +independence against Albert of Saxony, to whom Maximilian had, as +emperor, granted the stadtholdership, as reward for services rendered. +In this war Albert took by assault the town of Leuwaarden, on which +occasion he had all the chief burghers _impaled_. But, fortunately for +the country, he died in 1500, without having succeeded in his projects +of usurpation. + +In what spirit Charles V. treated his paternal heritage, may be judged +by his conduct towards Ghent, when it attempted, in 1529, “to vindicate +its rights and privileges against the exactions of his sister Margaret, +whom Maximilian had made Governess of the Netherlands,” after the death +of Philip. + +We quote the words of Robertson:— + +“Having received orders from her brother to invade France, with all the +forces she could raise, she assembled the States of the United +Provinces, and obtained from them a subsidy of 1,200,000 florins, to +defray the expense of that undertaking. Of this sum, the county of +Flanders was obliged to pay a third part as its proportion. But the +citizens of Ghent, the most considerable city in that country, averse to +a war with France, with which they carried on an extensive and gainful +commerce, refused to pay their quota, and contended, that in consequence +of stipulations between them and the ancestors of their present +sovereign, the Emperor, no tax could be levied upon them, unless they +had given their express consent to the imposition of it. The governess, +on the other hand, maintained, that as the subsidy of 1,200,000 florins +had been granted by the States of Flanders, of which their +representatives were members, they were bound, of course, to conform to +what was enacted by them, as it is the first principle in society on +which the tranquillity and order of government depend, that the +inclinations of the minority must be overruled by the judgment and +decision of the superior number. The citizens of Ghent, however, were +not willing to relinquish a privilege of such high importance as that +which they claimed. Having been accustomed, under the government of the +house of Burgundy, to enjoy extensive immunities, and to be treated with +much indulgence, they disdained to sacrifice to the delegated power of a +regent, those rights and liberties which they had often and successfully +asserted against their greatest princes. The queen, though she +endeavoured at first to soothe them, and to reconcile them to their duty +by various concessions, was at last so much irritated by the obstinacy +with which they adhered to their claim, that she ordered all the +citizens of Ghent, on whom she could lay hold, in any part of the +Netherlands, to be arrested. But this rash action made an impression +very different from what she expected, on men whose minds were agitated +with all the violent passions which indignation at oppression and zeal +for liberty inspire. Less affected with the danger of their friends and +companions, than irritated at the governess, they openly despised her +authority and sent deputies to the other towns of Flanders, conjuring +them not to abandon their country at such a juncture, but to concur with +them in vindicating its rights against the encroachments of a woman who +either did not know or did not regard their immunities. All but a few +inconsiderable towns declined entering into a confederacy against the +governess; they joined, however, in petitioning her to put off the term +for payment of the tax so long, that they might have it in their power +to send some of their number into Spain, in order to lay their title to +exemption before their sovereign. This she granted with some difficulty. +But Charles received their commissioners with an haughtiness to which +they were not accustomed from their ancient princes, and enjoining them +to yield the same respectful obedience to his sister, which they owed to +him in person, remitted the examination of their claim to the council of +Malines. This court, which is properly a standing committee of the +parliament, or States of the country, and which possesses the supreme +jurisdiction in all matters, civil as well as criminal, pronounced the +claim of the citizens of Ghent to be ill-founded, and appointed them +forthwith to pay their proportion of the tax.” + +An insurrection was the consequence, in which the Netherlanders relied +upon the assistance of Charles’s enemy, the king of France. But it was +the interest or the humour of Francis, at the moment, rather to +communicate their intentions to the emperor, to whom he at the same time +granted a free passage through his dominions to the Netherlands. Thus +abandoned, as Robertson continues: + +“The near approach of danger made them at last so sensible of their own +folly, that they sent ambassadors to Charles, imploring his mercy, and +offering to set open their gates at his approach. The emperor, without +vouchsafing any other answer, than that he would appear among them as +their sovereign, with sceptre and sword in his hand, began his march at +the head of his troops. Though he chose to enter the city on the +twenty-fourth of February, his birth-day, he was touched with nothing of +that tenderness or indulgence which was natural toward the place of his +nativity. Twenty-six of the principal citizens were put to death; a +greater number was sent into banishment; _the city was declared to have +forfeited all its privileges and immunities_; the revenues belonging to +it were confiscated; _its ancient form of government was abolished_; the +nomination of its magistrates was vested for the future in the emperor +and his successors; _a new system of laws and political administration +was prescribed_; and, in order to bridle the seditious spirit of the +citizens, orders were given to erect a strong citadel, for defraying the +expense of which a fine of 180,000 florins was imposed on the +inhabitants, together with an annual tax of 6,000 florins for the +support of the garrison. By these rigorous proceedings, Charles not only +punished the citizens of Ghent, but set an awful example of severity +before the other subjects in the Netherlands, whose immunities and +privileges, _partly the effect, partly the cause of their extensive +commerce_, circumscribed the prerogative of their sovereign within very +narrow bounds, and often stood in the way of measures which he wished to +undertake, or fettered and retarded him in his operations.” + +We do not relate the shameful conduct of Charles to Francis, at this +time, being obliged by the limitations of our plan to confine ourselves +principally to the crimes of the House of Austria against liberty and +law, and to omit its bad faith towards brother despots. + +Before we go on to speak of the atrocious reign of Philip II. over the +Netherlands, we will copy a paragraph from Mr. Grattan, in which is +described the condition of the country at the time of his accession, +which he introduces with some references to the causes of its +prosperity. + +“The amazing increase of commerce was, above all other considerations, +the cause of the growth of liberty in the Netherlands. The Reformation +opened the minds of men to that intellectual freedom, without which +political enfranchisement is a worthless privilege. The invention of +printing opened a thousand channels to the flow of erudition and talent, +and sent them out from the reservoirs of individual possession to +fertilise the whole domain of human nature. War, which seems to be an +instinct of man, and which particular instances of heroism often raise +to the dignity of a passion, was reduced to a science, and made +subservient to those great principles of policy in which society began +to perceive its only chance of durable good. Manufactures attained a +state of high perfection, and went on progressively with the growth of +wealth and luxury. The opulence of the towns of Brabant and Flanders was +without any previous example in the state of Europe. A merchant of +Bruges took upon himself alone the security for the ransom of John the +Fearless, taken at the battle of Nicopolis, amounting to 200,000 ducats. +A provost of Valenciennes repaired to Paris at one of the great fairs +periodically held there, and purchased on his own account every article +that was for sale. At a repast given by one of the counts of Flanders to +the Flemish magistrates, the seats they occupied were unfurnished with +cushions. Those proud burghers folded their sumptuous cloaks and sat on +them. After the feast they were retiring without retaining these +important and costly articles of dress; and on a courtier reminding them +of their apparent neglect, the burgomaster of Bruges replied, ‘We +Flemings are not in the habit of carrying away the cushions after +dinner!’ The meetings of the different towns for the sports of archery +were signalised by the most splendid display of dress and decoration. +The archers were habited in silk, damask, and the finest linen, and +carried chains of gold of great weight and value. Luxury was at its +height among women. The queen of Philip the Fair of France, on a visit +to Bruges, exclaimed, with astonishment not unmixed with envy, I thought +myself the only queen here; but I see six hundred others who appear more +so than I. + +“The external relations of the country presented an aspect of prosperity +and peace. England was closely allied to it by queen Mary’s marriage +with Philip; France, fatigued with war, had just concluded with it a +five years’ truce; Germany, paralyzed by religious dissensions, +exhausted itself in domestic quarrels; the other states were too distant +or too weak to inspire any uneasiness; and nothing appeared wanting for +the public weal. Nevertheless there was something dangerous and alarming +in the situation of the Low Countries; but the danger consisted wholly +in the connection between the monarch and the people, and the alarm was +not sounded till the mischief was beyond remedy. + +“Philip had only once visited the Netherlands before his accession to +sovereign power. Being at that time twenty-two years of age, his +opinions were formed and his prejudices deeply rooted. Everything that +he observed on this visit was calculated to revolt both. The frank +cordiality of the people appeared too familiar. The expression of +popular rights sounded like the voice of rebellion. Even the +magnificence displayed in his honor offended his jealous vanity. From +that moment he seems to have conceived an implacable aversion to the +country, in which alone, of all his vast possessions, he could not +display the power or inspire the terror of despotism. + +“The sovereign’s dislike was fully equalled by the disgust of his +subjects. His haughty severity and vexatious etiquette revolted their +pride as well as their plain dealing; and the moral qualities of their +new sovereign were considered with loathing. The commercial and +political connection between the Netherlands and Spain had given the two +people ample opportunities for mutual acquaintance. The dark, vindictive +dispositions of the latter inspired a deep antipathy in those whom +civilisation had softened and liberty rendered frank and generous; and +the new sovereign seemed to embody all that was repulsive and odious in +the nation of which he was the type. + +“Philip knew well that force alone was insufficient to reduce such a +people to slavery. He succeeded in persuading the states to grant him +considerable subsidies, some of which were to be paid by instalments +during a period of nine years. That was gaining a great step towards his +designs, as it superseded the necessity of a yearly application to the +three orders, the guardians of the public liberty. At the same time he +sent secret agents to Rome, to obtain the approbation of the pope to his +insidious but most effective plan for placing the whole of the clergy in +dependence upon the crown. He also kept up the army of Spaniards and +Germans which his father had formed on the frontiers of France; and +although he did not remove from their employments the functionaries +already in place, he took care to make no new appointments to office +among the natives of the Netherlands. + +“In the midst of these cunning preparations for tyranny, Philip was +suddenly attacked in two quarters at once; by Henry II. of France, and +by Pope Paul IV.” + +The important results of these two wars, the alliance of France, and the +support of the Pope, results brought about by the incredible baseness +and hypocrisy of Philip; together with the hostility of Elizabeth of +England, which he provoked by the treaty of Chateau-Cambresis, (1559,) +were all made subservient to the grand design of consolidating despotism +in the Netherlands. + +“To lead his already deceived subjects the more surely into the snare, +he announced his intended departure on a short visit to Spain; and +created for the period of his absence a provisional government, chiefly +composed of the leading men among the Belgian nobility. He flattered +himself that the states, dazzled by the illustrious illusion thus +prepared, would cheerfully grant to this provisional government the +right of levying taxes during the temporary absence of the sovereign. He +also reckoned on the influence of the clergy in the national assembly, +to procure the revival of the edicts against heresy, which he had gained +the merit of suspending. These, with many minor details of profound +duplicity, formed the principal features of a plan, which, if +successful, would have reduced the Netherlands to the wretched state of +colonial dependence by which Naples and Sicily were held in the tenure +of Spain. + +“As soon as the states had consented to place the whole powers of +government in the hands of the new administration for the period of the +king’s absence, the royal hypocrite believed his scheme secure, and +flattered himself he had established an instrument of durable despotism. +The composition of this new government was a masterpiece of political +machinery. It consisted of several councils, in which the most +distinguished citizens were entitled to a place, in sufficient numbers +to deceive the people with a show of representation, but not enough to +command a majority, which was sure on any important question to rest +with the titled creatures of the court. The edicts against heresy, soon +adopted, gave to the clergy an almost unlimited power over the lives and +fortunes of the people. But almost all the dignitaries of the church +being men of great respectability and moderation, chosen by the body of +the inferior clergy, these extraordinary powers excited little alarm. +Philip’s project was suddenly to replace these virtuous ecclesiastics by +others of his own choice, as soon as the states broke up from their +annual meeting; and for this intention he had procured the secret +consent and authority of the court of Rome. + +“In support of these combinations, the Belgian troops were completely +broken up and scattered in small bodies over the country. The whole of +this force, so redoubtable to the fears of despotism, consisted of only +3000 cavalry. It was now divided into fourteen companies (or squadrons +in the modern phraseology,) under the command of as many independent +chiefs, so as to leave little chance of any principle of union reigning +among them. But the German and Spanish troops in Philip’s pay were +cantoned on the frontiers, ready to stifle any incipient effort in +opposition to his plans. In addition to these imposing means for their +execution, he had secured a still more secret and more powerful +support;—a secret article in the treaty of Chateau-Cambresis obliged the +king of France to assist him with the whole armies of France against his +Belgian subjects, should they prove refractory. Thus the late war, of +which the Netherlands had borne all the weight, and earned all the +glory, only brought about the junction of the defeated enemy with their +own king for the extinction of their national independence. + +“To complete the execution of this system of perfidy, Philip convened an +assembly of all the states at Ghent, in the month of July, 1559. This +meeting of the representatives of the three orders of the state offered +no apparent obstacle to Philip’s views. The clergy, alarmed at the +progress of the new doctrines, gathered more closely round the +government of which they required the support. The nobles had lost much +of their ancient attachment to liberty; and had become, in various ways, +dependent on the royal favour. Many of the first families were then +represented by men possessed rather of courage and candour than of +foresight and sagacity. That of Nassau, the most distinguished of all, +seemed the least interested in the national cause. A great part of its +possessions were in Germany and France, where it had recently acquired +the sovereign principality of Orange. It was only from the third +order—that of the commons—that Philip had to expect any opposition. +Already, during the war, it had shown some discontent, and had insisted +on the nomination of commissioners to control the accounts and the +disbursements of the subsidies. But it seemed improbable, that among +this class of men, any would be found capable of penetrating the +manifold combinations of the king, and disconcerting his designs. + +“Anthony Perrenotte de Granvelle, bishop of Arras, who was considered as +Philip’s favourite counsellor, but who was in reality no more than his +docile agent, was commissioned to address the assembly in the name of +his master, who spoke only Spanish. His oration was one of cautious +deception, and contained the most flattering assurances of Philip’s +attachment to the people of the Netherlands. It excused the king for not +having nominated his only son Don Carlos to reign over them in his name; +alleging, as a proof of his royal affection, that he preferred giving +them as governant a Belgian princess, Madame Marguerite, duchess of +Parma, the natural daughter of Charles V. by a young lady, a native of +Audenarde. Fair promises and fine words were thus lavished in profusion +to gain the confidence of the deputies. + +“But notwithstanding all the talent, the caution, and the mystery of +Philip and his minister, there was among the nobles one man who saw +through all. This individual, endowed with many of the highest +attributes of political genius, and pre-eminently with judgment, the +most important of all, entered, fearlessly into the contest against +tyranny—despising every personal sacrifice for the country’s good. +Without making himself suspiciously prominent, he privately warned some +members of the states of the coming danger. Those in whom he confided +did not betray the trust. They spread among the other deputies the +alarm, and pointed out the danger to which they had been so judiciously +awakened. The consequence was, a reply to Philip’s demand, in vague and +general terms, without binding the nation by any pledge; and an +unanimous entreaty that he would diminish the taxes, withdraw the +foreign troops, and entrust no official employments to any but natives +of the country. + +“Philip was utterly astounded at all this. In the first moment of his +vexation he imprudently cried out, ‘Would ye, then, also bereave _me_ of +my place; I, who am a Spaniard?’ But he soon recovered his self-command, +and resumed his usual mask; expressed his regret at not having sooner +learned the wishes of the state; promised to remove the foreign troops +within three months; and set off for Zealand, with assumed composure, +but filled with the fury of a discovered traitor and humiliated despot. + +“A fleet under the command of count Horn, the admiral of the United +Provinces, waited at Flessingue to form his escort to Spain. At the very +moment of his departure, William of Nassau, prince of Orange and +governor of Zealand, waited on him to pay his official respects. The +king, taking him apart from the other attendant nobles, recommended him +to hasten the execution of several gentlemen and wealthy citizens +attached to the newly introduced religious opinions. Then, quite +suddenly, whether in the random impulse of suppressed rage, or that his +piercing glance discovered William’s secret feelings in his countenance, +he accused him with having been the means of thwarting his designs. +‘Sire,’ replied Nassau, ‘it was the work of the national states.’—‘No!’ +cried Philip, grasping him furiously by the arm; ‘it was not done by the +states, but by you, and you alone!’” + +“This glorious accusation was not repelled. He who had saved his country +in unmasking the designs of its tyrant, admitted by his silence his +title to the hatred of the one and the gratitude of the other. On the +20th of August, Philip embarked and set sail; turning his back for ever +on the country which offered the first check to his despotism; and, +after a perilous voyage, he arrived in that which permitted a free +indulgence to his ferocious and sanguinary career. + +“For some time after Philip’s departure, the Netherlands continued to +enjoy considerable prosperity. From the period of the peace of +Chateau-Cambresis, commerce and navigation had acquired new and +increasing activity. The fisheries, but particularly that of herrings, +became daily more important; that one alone occupying 2000 boats. While +Holland, Zealand, and Friesland made this progress in their peculiar +branches of industry, the southern provinces were not less active or +successful. Spain and the colonies offered such a mart for the objects +of their manufacture, that in a single year they received from Flanders +fifty large ships, filled with articles of household furniture and +utensils. The exportation of woollen goods amounted to enormous sums. +Bruges alone sold annually to the amount of 4,000,000 florins of stuffs +of Spanish, and as much of English, wool; and the least value of the +florin then was quadruple its present worth. The commerce with England, +though less important than that with Spain, was calculated yearly at +24,000,000 florins, which was chiefly clear profit to the Netherlands, +as their exportations consisted almost entirely of objects of their own +manufacture. Their commercial relations with France, Germany, Italy, +Portugal, and the Levant, were daily increasing. Antwerp was the centre +of this prodigious trade. Several sovereigns, among others Elizabeth of +England, had recognized agents in that city, equivalent to consuls of +the present times; and loans of immense amount were frequently +negotiated by them with wealthy merchants, who furnished them, not in +negotiable bills or for unredeemable debentures, but in solid gold, and +on a simple acknowledgment. + +“Flanders and Brabant were still the richest and most flourishing +portions of the state. Some municipal fêtes given about this time afford +a notion of their opulence. On one of these occasions the town of +Mechlin sent a deputation to Antwerp, consisting of 326 horsemen dressed +in velvet and satin with gold and silver ornaments; while those of +Brussels consisted of 340 as splendidly equipped, and accompanied by +seven huge triumphal chariots and seventy-eight carriages of various +constructions,—a prodigious number for those days.” + +We cannot give a complete account of the contest which Philip II. waged +with the people of these rich and free provinces. That contest brought +before the world the consummate ability and virtue of the first William +of Orange, who at an early day penetrated, as we have seen, the designs +of the tyrant, and until the unfortunate day in which he was murdered by +the third assassin whom Philip had educated for the purpose, stood for +the rights of his nation, glorious both in victory and defeat. We will +make a few extracts to show the character of the events, happy if we +succeed in sending our readers to study out all the details in +Schiller’s Revolt of the Netherlands, and Mr. Grattan’s more extensive +history of the country from its origin to the battle of Waterloo. + +“The new bishops were to a man most violent, intolerant, and it may be +conscientious, opponents to the wide-spreading doctrines of reform. The +execution of the edicts against heresy was confided to them. The +provincial governors and inferior magistrates were commanded to aid them +with a strong arm; and the most unjust and frightful persecution +immediately commenced. But still some of these governors and +magistrates, considering themselves not only the officers of the prince, +but the protectors of the people, and the defenders of the laws rather +than of the faith, did not blindly conform to those harsh and illegal +commands. The prince of Orange, stadtholder of Holland, Zealand, and +Utrecht, and count of Egmont, governor of Flanders and Artois, permitted +no persecutions in those five provinces. But in various places the very +people, even when influenced by their superiors, openly opposed it. +Catholics as well as Protestants were indignant at the atrocious +spectacles of cruelty presented on all sides. The public peace was +endangered by isolated acts of resistance, and fears of a general +insurrection soon became universal. + +“The public fermentation subsided; the patriot lords re-appeared at +court; and the prince of Orange acquired an increasing influence in the +council and over the government, who by his advice adopted a +conciliatory line of conduct—a fallacious but still a temporary hope for +the nation. But the calm was of short duration. Scarcely was this +moderation evinced by the government, when Philip, obstinate in his +designs, and outrageous in his resentment, sent an order to have the +edicts against heresy put into most rigorous execution, and to proclaim +throughout the seventeen provinces the furious decree of the council of +Trent. + +“Not satisfied with the hitherto established forms of punishment, Philip +now expressly commanded that the more revolting means decreed by his +father in the rigour of his early zeal, such as burning, living burial, +and the like, should be adopted; and he somewhat more obscurely directed +that the victims should be no longer publicly immolated, but secretly +destroyed. He endeavoured, by this vague phraseology, to avoid the +actual utterance of the word _inquisition_; but he thus virtually +established that atrocious tribunal, with attributes still more terrific +than even in Spain; for there the condemned had at least the consolation +of dying in open day, and of displaying the fortitude which is rarely +proof against the horror of a private execution. Philip had thus +consummated his treason against the principles of justice and the +practices of jurisprudence, which had heretofore characterized the +country; and against the most vital of those privileges which he had +solemnly sworn to maintain. + +“His design of establishing this horrible tribunal so impiously named +_holy_ by its founders, had been long suspected by the people of the +Netherlands. The expression of those fears had reached him more than +once. He as often replied by assurances that he had formed no such +project, and particularly to count d’Egmont during his recent visit to +Madrid. But at the very time he assembled a conclave of his creatures, +doctors of theology, of whom he formally demanded an opinion as to +whether he could conscientiously tolerate two sorts of religion in the +Netherlands. The doctors, hoping to please him, replied, that ‘he might, +for the avoidance of a greater evil.’ Philip trembled with rage, and +exclaimed, with a threatening tone, ‘I ask not if I _can_, but if I +_ought_.’ The theologians read in this question the nature of the +expected reply; and it was amply conformable to his wish. He immediately +threw himself on his knees before a crucifix, and raising his hands +towards heaven, put up a prayer for strength in his resolution to pursue +as deadly enemies all who viewed that effigy with feelings different +from his own. If this were not really a sacrilegious farce, it must be +that the blaspheming bigot believed the Deity to be a monster of cruelty +like himself. + +“And now in reality began the awful revolution of the Netherlands +against their tyrant. In a few years this so lately flourishing and +happy nation presented a frightful picture; and in the midst of European +peace, prosperity, and civilization, the wickedness of one prince drew +down on the country he misgoverned more evils than it had suffered for +centuries from the worst effects of his foreign foes. + +“The confederation acquired its perfect organization in the month of +February, 1566, on the 10th of which month its celebrated manifesto was +signed by its numerous adherents. + +“This remarkable proclamation of general feeling consisted chiefly in a +powerful reprehension of the illegal establishment of the inquisition in +the Low Countries, and a solemn obligation on the members of the +confederacy to unite in the common cause against this detested nuisance. +Men of all ranks and classes offered their signatures, and several +Catholic priests among the rest. + +“Even while the council of state held its sittings, the report was +spread through Brussels, that the confederates were approaching. And at +length they did enter the city, to the amount of some hundreds of the +representatives of the first families in the country. On the following +day, the 5th of April, 1556, they walked in solemn procession to the +palace. Their demeanour was highly imposing, from their mingled air of +forbearance and determination. All Brussels thronged out, to gaze and +sympathise with this extraordinary spectacle of men whose resolute step +showed they were no common suppliants, but whose modest bearing had none +of the seditious air of faction. The government received the +distinguished petitioners with courtesy, listened to their detail of +grievances, and returned a moderate, conciliatory, but evasive answer. + +“Having presented two subsequent remonstrances to the government, and +obtained some consoling promises of moderation, the chief confederates +quitted Brussels, leaving several directors to sustain their cause in +the capital; while they themselves spread into the various provinces, +exciting the people to join the legal and constitutional resistance with +which they were resolved to oppose the march of bigotry and despotism. + +“The confederation gained ground every day. Its measures had totally +changed the face of affairs in all parts of the nation. The general +discontent now acquired stability, and subsequent importance. The chief +merchants of many of the towns enrolled themselves in the patriot band.” + +The result of these first measures was a deputation from Marguerite to +Philip, praying for redress of the grievances named by the +confederation; and even Philip’s Spanish Councillors advised gentleness +and the abolition of the Inquisition. + +“The king’s first care on receiving this advice was to order, in all the +principal towns of Spain and the Netherlands, prayer and processions, to +implore the divine approbation on the resolutions which he had formed. +He appeared then in person at the council of state, and issued a decree, +by which he refused his consent to the convocation of the +states-general, and bound himself to take several German regiments into +his pay. He ordered the duchess of Parma, by a private letter, to +immediately cause to be raised 3000 cavalry and 10,000 foot, and he +remitted to her for this purpose 300,000 florins gold. He next wrote +with his own hand to several of his partisans in the various towns, +encouraging them in their fidelity to his purposes, and promising them +his support. He rejected the adoption of the moderation recommended to +him; but he consented to the abolition of the inquisition in its most +odious sense, reëstablishing that modified species of ecclesiastical +tyranny which had been introduced into the Netherlands by Charles V. The +people of that devoted country were thus successful in obtaining one +important concession from the king, and in meeting unexpected +consideration from this Spanish council. Whether these measures had been +calculated with a view to their failure, it is not now easy to +determine; at all events they came too late. When Philip’s letters +reached Brussels, the iconoclasts or image-breakers were abroad. + +“It requires no profound research to comprehend the impulse which leads +a horde of fanatics to the most monstrous excesses. That the deeds of +the iconoclasts arose from the spontaneous outburst of mere vulgar fury, +admits of no doubt. The aspersion which would trace those deeds to the +meeting of St. Trond, and fix the infamy on the body of nobility there +assembled, is scarcely worthy of refutation. The very lowest of the +people were the actors as well as the authors of the outrages, which +were at once shocking to every friend of liberty, and injurious to that +sacred cause. Artois and western Flanders were the scenes of the first +exploits of the iconoclasts. A band of peasants, intermixed with beggars +and various other vagabonds, to the amount of about 300, urged by +fanaticism and those baser passions which animate every lawless body of +men, armed with hatchets, clubs, and hammers, forced open the doors of +some of the village churches in the neighbourhood of St. Omer, and tore +down and destroyed not only the images and relics of saints, but those +very ornaments which Christians of all sects hold sacred, and essential +to the most simple rites of religion. + +“The cities of Ypres, Lille, and other places of importance, were soon +subject to similar visitations; and the whole of Flanders was in a few +days ravaged by furious multitudes, whose frantic energy spread terror +and destruction on their route. Antwerp was protected for a while by the +presence of the prince of Orange; but an order from the government +having obliged him to repair to Brussels, a few nights after his +departure the celebrated cathedral shared the fate of many a minor +temple, and was utterly pillaged. The blind fury of the spoilers was not +confined to the mere effigies which they considered the types of +idolatry, nor even to the pictures, the vases, the sixty-six altars, and +their richly wrought accessories; but it was equally fatal to the +splendid organ, which was considered the finest at that time in +existence. The rapidity and the order with which this torchlight scene +was acted, without a single accident among the numerous doers, has +excited the wonder of almost all its early historians. One of them does +not hesitate to ascribe the ‘miracle’ to the absolute agency of demons. +For three days and nights these revolting scenes were acted, and every +church in the city shared the fate of the cathedral, which, next to St. +Peter’s at Rome, was the most magnificent in Christendom. + +“Ghent, Tournay, Valenciennes, Mechlin, and other cities, were next the +theatres of similar excesses; and in an incredibly short space of time +above 400 churches were pillaged in Flanders and Brabant. Zealand, +Utrecht, and others of the northern provinces, suffered more or less; +Friesland, Guelders, and Holland alone escaped, and even the latter but +in partial instances. + +“These terrible scenes extinguished every hope of reconciliation with +the king. An inveterate and interminable hatred was now established +between him and the people; for the whole nation was identified with +deeds which were in reality only shared by the most base, and were +loathsome to all who were enlightened. It was in vain that the patriot +nobles might hope or strive to exculpate themselves; they were sure to +be held criminal either in fact or by implication. No show of loyalty, +no efforts to restore order, no personal sacrifice, could save them from +the hatred or screen them from the vengeance of Philip. + +“The affright of the government during the short reign of anarchy and +terror was without bounds. + +“Necessity now extorted almost every concession which had been so long +denied to justice and prudence. The confederates were declared absolved +from all responsibility relative to their proceedings. The suppression +of the inquisition, the abolition of the edicts against heresy, and a +permission for the preachings, were simultaneously published. + +“Philip was ill at Segovia when he received accounts of the excesses of +the image-breakers, and of the convention concluded with the heretics. +Dispatches from the government, with private advices from Viglius, +Egmont, Mansfield, Megham, de Berlaimont, and others, gave him ample +information as to the real state of things, and they thus strove to +palliate their having acceded to the convention. The emperor even wrote +to his royal nephew, imploring him to treat his wayward subjects with +moderation, and offered his mediation between them.” + +But all was in vain. Philip proceeded with his usual dissimulation. His +artifices succeeded in disuniting the Protestants, but hostilities +commenced, and there were victories and losses on both sides; new +preliminaries of reconciliation, falsely intended, and resulting only in +the self-banishment of the patriot lords and an immense emigration; +until at last Philip fully developed his plans by sending Alva to +supersede Marguerite. + +“On the 5th May, 1567, this celebrated captain, whose reputation was so +quickly destined to sink into the notoriety of an executioner, began his +memorable march; and on the 22d of August, he, with his two natural +sons, and his veteran army consisting of about 15,000 men, arrived at +the walls of Brussels. The discipline observed on this march was a +terrible fore-warning to the people of the Netherlands of the influence +of the general and the obedience of the troops. They had little chance +of resistance against such soldiers so commanded. + +“Several of the Belgian nobility went forward to meet Alva, to render +him the accustomed honours, and endeavour thus early to gain his good +graces. Among them was the infatuated Egmont, who made a present to Alva +of two superb horses, which the latter received with a disdainful air of +condescension. Alva’s first care was the distribution of his +troops—several thousands of whom were placed in Antwerp, Ghent, and +other important towns, and the remainder reserved under his own +immediate orders at Brussels. His approach was celebrated by universal +terror; and his arrival was thoroughly humiliating to the duchess of +Parma. He immediately produced his commission as commander-in-chief of +the royal armies in the Netherlands; but he next showed her another, +which confided to him powers infinitely more extended than any +Marguerite herself had enjoyed, and which proved to her that the almost +sovereign power over the country was virtually vested in him. + +“Alva first turned his attention to the seizure of those patriot lords +whose pertinacious infatuation left them within his reach. He summoned a +meeting of all the members of the council of state and the knights of +the order of the Golden Fleece, to deliberate on matters of great +importance. Counts Egmont and Horn attended, among many others; and at +the conclusion of the council they were both arrested (some historians +assert by the hands of Alva and his eldest son), as was also Van +Straeten, burgomaster of Antwerp, and Casambrot, Egmont’s secretary. The +young count of Mansfield appeared for a moment at this meeting; but, +warned by his father of the fate intended him, as an original member of +the confederation, he had time to fly. The count of Hoogstraeten was +happily detained by illness, and thus escaped the fate of his friends. +Egmont and Horn were transferred to the citadel of Ghent, under an +escort of 3000 Spanish soldiers. Several other persons of the first +families were arrested; and those who had originally been taken in arms +were executed without delay. + +“The next measures of the new governor were the reëstablishment of the +inquisition, the promulgation of the decrees of the council of Trent, +the revocation of the duchess of Parma’s edicts, and the royal refusal +to recognize the terms of her treaties with the Protestants. He +immediately established a special tribunal, composed of twelve members, +with full powers to inquire into and pronounce judgment on every +circumstance connected with the late troubles. He named himself +president of this council, and appointed a Spaniard, named Vargas, as +vice-president—a wretch of the most diabolical cruelty. Several others +of the judges were also Spaniards, in direct infraction of the +fundamental laws of the country. This council, immortalized by its +infamy, was named by the new governor (for so Alva was in fact, though +not yet in name), the Council of Troubles. By the people it was soon +designated the Council of Blood. In its atrocious proceedings no respect +was paid to titles, contracts, or privileges, however sacred. Its +judgments were without appeal. Every subject of the state was amenable +to its summons; clergy and laity, the first individuals of the country, +as well as the most wretched outcasts of society. Its decrees were +passed with disgusting rapidity and contempt of form. Contumacy was +punished with exile and confiscation. Those who, strong in innocence, +dared to brave a trial, were lost without resource. The accused were +forced to its bar without previous warning. Many a wealthy citizen was +dragged to trial four leagues’ distance, tied to a horse’s tail. The +number of victims was appalling. On one occasion, the town of +Valenciennes alone saw fifty-five of its citizens fall by the hands of +the executioner. Hanging, beheading, quartering, and burning, were the +every-day spectacles. The enormous confiscations only added to the +thirst for gold and blood by which Alva and his satellites were parched. +History offers no example of parallel horrors: for while party vengeance +on other occasions had led to scenes of fury and terror, they arose, in +this instance, from the vilest cupidity and the most cold-blooded +cruelty. + +“After _three months_ of such atrocity, Alva, fatigued rather than +satiated with butchery, resigned his hateful functions wholly into the +hands of Vargas, who was chiefly aided by the members Delrio and Dela +Torre. Even at this remote period we cannot repress the indignation +excited by the mention of those monsters, and it is impossible not to +feel satisfaction in fixing upon their names the brand of historic +execration. One of these wretches, called Hesselts, used at length to +sleep during the mock trials of the already doomed victims; and as often +as he was roused up by his colleagues, he used to cry out mechanically, +“To the gibbet! to the gibbet!” so familiar was his tongue with the +sounds of condemnation. + +“The despair of the people may be imagined from the fact, that until the +end of the year 1567 their only consolation was the prospect of the +king’s arrival! He never dreamt of coming. Even the delight of feasting +in horrors like these could not conquer his indolence. The good duchess +of Parma,—for so she was in comparison with her successor,—was not long +left to oppose the feeble barrier of her prayers between Alva and his +victims. She demanded her dismissal from the nominal dignity, which was +now but a title of disgrace. Philip granted it readily, accompanied by a +hypocritical letter, a present of 30,000 crowns, and the promise of an +annual pension of 20,000 more. She left Brussels in the month of April, +1568, raised to a high place in the esteem and gratitude of the people, +less by any actual claims from her own conduct, than by its fortuitous +contrast with the infamy of her successor. She retired to Italy, and +died at Naples in the month of February, 1586. + +“In addition to the horrors acted by the Council of Blood, Alva +committed many deeds of collateral but minor tyranny: among others, he +issued a decree forbidding, under severe penalties, any inhabitant of +the country to marry without his express permission. His furious edicts +against emigration were attempted to be enforced in vain. Elizabeth of +England opened all the ports of her kingdom to the Flemish refugees, who +carried with them those abundant stores of manufacturing knowledge which +she wisely knew to be the elements of national wealth. + +“Alva soon summoned the prince of Orange, his brothers, and all the +confederate lords, to appear before the council and answer to the charge +of high treason. The prince gave a prompt and contemptuous answer, +denying the authority of Alva and his council, and acknowledging for his +judges only the emperor, whose vassal he was, or the king of Spain in +person, as president of the order of the Golden Fleece. The other lords +made replies nearly similar. The trials of each were, therefore, +proceeded on, by contumacy; confiscation of property being an object +almost as dear to the tyrant viceroy as the death of his victims. +Judgments were promptly pronounced against those present or absent, +alive or dead. Witness the case of the unfortunate marquess of Bergues, +who had previously expired at Madrid, as was universally believed, by +poison; and his equally ill-fated colleague in the embassy, the baron +Montigny, was for a while imprisoned at Segovia, where he was soon after +secretly beheaded, on the base pretext of former disaffection. + +“The departure of the duchess of Parma having left Alva undisputed as +well as unlimited authority, he proceeded rapidly in his terrible +career. The count of Beuren was seized at Louvain, and sent prisoner to +Madrid; and wherever it was possible to lay hands on a suspected +patriot, the occasion was not neglected. It would be a revolting task to +enter into a minute detail of all the horrors committed, and impossible +to record the names of the victims who so quickly fell before Alva’s +insatiate cruelty. The people were driven to frenzy. Bands of wretches +fled to the woods and marshes; whence, half famished and perishing for +want, they revenged themselves with pillage and murder. Pirates infested +and ravaged the coast; and thus, from both sea and land, the whole +extent of the Netherlands was devoted to carnage and ruin. The +chronicles of Brabant and Holland, chiefly written in Flemish by +contemporary authors, abound in thrilling details of the horrors of this +general desolation, with long lists of those who perished. Suffice it to +say, that on the recorded boast of Alva himself, he caused 18,000 +inhabitants of the Low Countries to perish by the hands of the +executioner, during his less than six years’ sovereignty in the +Netherlands. + +“The most important of these tragical scenes was now soon to be acted. +The counts Egmont and Horn, having submitted to some previous +interrogatories by Vargas and others, were removed from Ghent to +Brussels, on the 3d of June, under a strong escort. The following day +they passed through the mockery of a trial before the Council of Blood; +and on the 5th, they were both beheaded in the great square of Brussels, +in the presence of Alva, who gloated on the spectacle from a balcony +that commanded the execution. The same day Vanstraelen and Casambrot +shared the fate of their illustrious friends, in the castle of Vilvorde, +with many others, whose names only find a place in the local chronicles +of the times.” + +All Europe at last burst out into execration and remonstrance, and an +army was raised in Germany, which William of Orange headed, but which, +after some victories, was dispersed by Alva. A frightful inundation +aided him; for “no suffering could affect his inflexible sternness; and +to such excess did he carry his persecution, that Philip himself began +to be discontented, and reproached him sharply in some of his +despatches. The governor replied in the same strain, and such was the +effect of this correspondence, that Philip resolved to remove him.” + +We will not follow the history through the short term of Requesens’s +rule, or even through that of Don John of Austria, and of the Prince of +Parma, though the latter would be well suited to our purpose. The +happiest result of Philip’s obstinacy was the Declaration of National +Independence by the States-General, assembled at Antwerp, who, after one +or two trials of other princes, at length conferred the Sovereignty on +the Prince of Orange. + +In the end, the independence of Holland was maintained; but Philip +conferred on Albert of Austria, and Isabella, the sovereignty of the +reconciled southern provinces. Grattan gives a picture of the country at +this time, which contrasts mournfully with the one given of it thirty +years before. + +“The reconciled provinces presented the most deplorable spectacle. The +chief towns were almost depopulated. The inhabitants had in a great +measure fallen victims to war, pestilence, and famine. Little inducement +existed to replace by marriage the ravages caused by death, for few men +wished to propagate a race which divine wrath seemed to have marked for +persecution. The thousands of villages which had covered the face of the +country were absolutely abandoned to the wolves, which had so rapidly +increased, that they attacked not merely cattle and children, but +grown-up persons. The dogs, driven abroad by hunger, had become as +ferocious as other beasts of prey, and joined in large packs to hunt +down brutes and men. Neither fields, nor woods, nor roads, were now to +be distinguished by any visible limits. All was an entangled mass of +trees, weeds, and grass. The prices of the necessaries of life were so +high, that people of rank, after selling every thing to buy bread, were +obliged to have recourse to open beggary in the streets of the great +towns. + +“From this frightful picture, and the numerous details which imagination +may readily supply, we gladly turn to the contrast afforded by the +northern states. Those we have just described have a feeble hold upon +our sympathies; we cannot pronounce their sufferings to be unmerited. +The want of firmness or enlightenment, which preferred such an existence +to the risk of entire destruction, only heightens the glory of the +people whose unyielding energy and courage gained them so proud a place +among the independent nations of Europe.” + +The assassination of the noble William of Orange, at the instigation of +Philip, forms a fitting crime with which to close this section of the +subject. + +But before leaving the subject of the Netherlands, we must speak of one +more passage of its history, viz: that which is connected with the name +of Joseph II. + +In the mean time, if it did, by its own internal energies, recover +somewhat from the condition in which Philip II. left it, it had suffered +through its connection with Austria, all the horrors of being the +battle-ground of the rival houses of Bourbon and Hapsburgh, especially +during the disastrous ten years of the War of Succession, in Spain. + +With Joseph II., a new species of oppression commenced. This emperor’s +character has been made the subject of a great deal of disquisition. He +is the first, the only monarch of his race who ever seems to have +entertained in his brain, the idea of a duty owing from a monarch to the +nations under his sway; if indeed it were not after all rather a notion +of the free grace of benevolence, that impelled him to make a plan of +benefiting the people, under him by a new organization of the large part +of Europe which the centralising selfishness and rapacity of his +ancestors had connected into a heterogenoeous whole. But it is a very +different thing to have an idea of reform, whether it calls itself duty +or beneficence, and to have the character of a reformer. Out of the +heart are the issues of life. Even Coxe (the apologist of the House of +Austria, although he admits _the facts_ which make against that aim of +his work and which have been so largely quoted in this volume) says, in +the very chapter in which he speaks of the specific reforms of Joseph, +and among many others of his abolition of useless tribunals and feudal +offices, which were dilatory and oppressive, “_he yet introduced a still +greater evil, by making the basis of the administration_, THE ABSOLUTE +WILL _of the sovereign, from which there could be_ NO APPEAL.” + +Here Coxe strikes upon the Hapsburghs, the character _in the blood_, (or +is it in the spiritual tradition of families?) Without supposing Joseph +consciously insincere in his idea of reform, beneficence, or duty; yet +here we see that he was incapable of the principle, no less from +personal character than from the falseness of his position. He said that +his “greatest honour would be to reign over freemen,”[6] but the point +he could not give up was precisely that of “reigning,” and to _reign_ +over _freemen_ is _reductio ad absurdum_. Joseph never used the word +_reign_ in a limited sense. It is only possible, in this work, to give +one illustration of Joseph’s character as a reformer and promoter of the +welfare of his subjects. We shall give it in the words of Coxe himself, +that no one may say it is the one-sided view of a _republican_, who is +acting the part of an advocate rather than of an historian. We give the +whole of Coxe’s hundred and twenty-ninth chapter. + +“That rich and fertile territory, usually known by the synonymous +appellations of the Netherlands and the Low Countries, formed part of +the vast dominions which had been attached to the Spanish monarchy. +Conquered by the joint forces of the Maritime Powers, it was +transferred, at the peace of Utrecht, under their guaranty, to the house +of Austria, on condition that the ancient laws, customs, and +constitutions should be inviolably preserved. The late emperor, Charles +VI., was inaugurated on these terms. His daughter, Maria Theresa, +entered into similar engagements on her accession; but during her reign +some changes, with the consent, if not at the request, of the states, +were introduced in the mode of representation in Brabant, and in the +system of taxation. _Joseph gave the same solemn sanction to the +existing constitution._ + +“Perhaps there was no country on the surface of the globe so small in +extent, under the government of one prince, of which the component parts +differed so widely in manners, government, and laws. Each of the +provinces not only formed a separate sovereignty, enjoying a peculiar +constitution, but the same variation extended to the cities and +districts. In most of the provinces the rights and privileges were +founded on tradition or prescription; but in Brabant and Limburgh they +were detailed in a charter called La Joyeuse Entrée, which contained +fifty-nine articles, a collection of ancient usages and immunities +granted by the former dukes of Brabant. The sovereign was restrained +from conferring charges on any except natives, no inhabitant was to be +tried out of the country, and full liberty of speech was to be allowed +in the assembly of the states, with many other privileges; the charter +was also concluded with a declaration similar to the celebrated clause +in the coronation oath of Andrew II., king of Hungary, that if the +sovereign should cease to observe the articles, his subjects should also +cease to obey him, until the breaches in the constitution were repaired, +and the immunities restored. + +“The power of the clergy was almost unbounded; the hierarchy consisted +of one archbishop and seven bishops; there were also a hundred and eight +abbeys, each endowed with annual revenues from 60,000 to 300,000 +florins, numerous convents, and the number of religious persons, regular +and secular, of both sexes, amounted to 30,000. The clergy possessed a +considerable part of the landed property, and being the first order of +the states, were enabled to relieve themselves from a considerable part +of the public burdens, by fixing the land-tax at a low rate, and +throwing the imposts on articles of consumption. + +“Their predominant influence was extended by the system of public +education, which was subjected to the immediate control of the +hierarchy. The university of Louvain had long been celebrated for its +numerous and richly-endowed colleges, and was formerly distinguished for +learning and discipline. It possessed extraordinary privileges, with the +patronage of numerous benefices, both in the Netherlands and in the +bishopric of Liege; and above all, its academical honours were +indispensable qualifications for the possession of every civil and +ecclesiastical office. The members devoted to the papal see, maintained +a blind adherence to the system of the ancient schoolmen, and proscribed +all innovations adopted in other seminaries. + +“In this country, and among a people so tenacious of their customs, +liberties, and religion, Joseph did not merely attempt to reform abuses +and lop superfluous branches, _but even laid the axe to the root of the +constitution itself_. He purposed to force on the natives what he termed +a simple and efficient form of government, and to establish yearly the +same system of ecclesiastical polity, finance, and jurisprudence, as he +had introduced into his hereditary countries. He commenced his +innovations at an early period of his reign by abolishing several +convents, prohibiting processions, jubilees, and confraternities, and +removing statues, images, and offerings from the churches. + +“But in 1786 his plans were fully developed. He reformed the system of +public education, by abrogating the privileges of the university of +Louvain, and instituting a new seminary for the study of theology, over +which he placed foreigners as directors, independent of the control of +the bishops, and at which he ordered all youths destined for the church +to pursue their studies. The innovation was vehemently opposed, and in +December, 1786, gave rise to a tumult among the students, which was not +suppressed without a military force. The archbishop of Mechlin, who took +an active part, was summoned to Vienna, and the papal nuncio, who had +countenanced the opposition to the imperial decrees, was abruptly +ordered to quit the Netherlands. This attempt was followed by similar +changes in the civil government. + +“The abolition of their venerated constitution excited universal +indignation and alarm among the people of the Netherlands. The clergy +and laity formed a common cause for mutual security. Brabant became the +focus of opposition; the states, in the terms of their constitution, +refused to grant the customary subsidies, until their grievances were +redressed; they forbade the collectors of the revenue to acknowledge the +authority of the new intendants, and presented a spirited remonstrance +to the governors-general. They suppressed also the new seminary at +Louvain, dismissed the foreign professors, invited the other states to +form a general confederacy, and claimed the guaranty of foreign powers, +particularly of France. Their example was followed by the other +provinces. Tumults burst forth in different places, the populace assumed +the national cockade in imitation of the French, and the aspect of the +whole country portended an insurrection. + +“On the 28th of May, 1787, Joseph received the first account of the +tumults at Pereslaf, as he was preparing to cross the Dnieper. But +infatuated with his plans, despising the danger, and employed in paying +court to Catherine, he slighted the intelligence, and gave orders that +no letters should be forwarded to him during the journey. He determined, +however, to pursue rigorous measures, and in answer to strong +representations in favour of lenity and caution, replied, “the flame of +rebellion can only be extinguished by blood.” On his return to Pereslaf, +he learnt with astonishment and agitation the progress of the +insurrection; and after taking a hasty leave of Catherine, returned to +Vienna in the beginning of July. New mortifications awaited his arrival. +He was thunderstruck with the intelligence that the Flemings, instead of +awaiting the repeal of the obnoxious edicts, had risen in arms, and +obtained concessions from the governors-general; and that prince Kaunitz +had not only approved these lenient measures, but pledged himself for +the acquiescence of his sovereign. + +“Joseph highly reprobated the conduct of the governors-general, and of +his minister, as feeble and pusillanimous, and expressed his inflexible +resolution to enforce the execution of his plans. He ordered troops to +march to the Netherlands; summoned the governors-general and count +Belgiojoso to Vienna; and at the same time despatched an angry mandate +to the contumacious states, commanding them, as a mark of obedience, to +submit their complaints, and apologise for their misconduct at the foot +of the throne. + +“The states did not refuse to give the required proof of obedience, but +charged their deputies to express the loyalty of the nation and +represent its grievances. On the 15th of August they were admitted to an +audience, and their chief addressed the emperor in a speech replete with +professions of loyalty, accompanied with firmness and spirit; and, at +the conclusion, they were permitted to read the list of their +grievances. + +“The emperor, who had scarcely restrained his indignation during the +recital, replied sternly: ‘The great dissatisfaction which I feel from +all the late proceedings in my Belgic provinces cannot be effaced by a +vain parade of words: nothing but a series of actions can prove the +sincerity of your professions. I have charged prince Kaunitz to +communicate to you in writing, for the information of the states, +certain articles, the execution of which must precede any deliberation. +Your instant and entire obedience is not only necessary to restore all +things to their proper order, but to put a stop to the present +interruption of commerce. I give you daily proofs that the good of my +subjects is the sole object of all my actions, and you must be convinced +that I have no thought of overturning your constitution, as in the +moment of your greatest outrages, and when you have deserved my utmost +indignation, with all the power which I possess, I only reiterate to you +my assurances that I will preserve your liberties.’ + +“The conditions announced with this parade of liberality, comprised the +restoration of all innovations, the payment of the subsidies, and the +revocation of all orders issued by the states contrary to the views of +the sovereign. In case of an immediate compliance, the emperor promised +that the ancient tribunals and administration of justice should be +restored, that the intendancies should not be established, nor the +abbeys deprived of their privileges. He promised also that the +territorial impost of forty per cent., and the military conscription +should not be introduced into the Netherlands. + +“Promises so vague, accompanied by demands so contradictory, did not +satisfy the Belgic states, and they announced their resolution not to +comply with the preliminary articles without full security for the +redress of their grievances. But while the people were expecting the +march of the imperial troops, and were making preparations for +resistance, a sudden change took place in the conduct of Joseph. As he +could not venture to drive his subjects of the Netherlands to +desperation while embarrassed with the Turkish war, he endeavoured to +attain by artifice what he could not effect by force. He therefore +treated the deputies with the greatest condescension, and affected a +willingness to accede to most of their demands. These concessions +produced the desired effect, and the objects in dispute were amicably +arranged. The states announced their compliance with the wishes of their +sovereign, the volunteers laid down their arms, and, in return, the +march of the imperial troops was countermanded. Count Murray issued the +edict which suppressed the new ordinances, and promised that conferences +should be held with the states, to adjust the subjects remaining in +dispute. + +“These measures occasioned a temporary restoration of tranquillity. But +it was soon evident that Joseph only suspended his projects to deceive +his subjects. He dismissed Count Murray, who had tranquillised the minds +of the people. The army in the Netherlands was silently augmented, and +the command intrusted to general d’Alton, a man of undaunted and +inflexible temper, united to the spirit of a rigid disciplinarian. Count +Trautmansdorf was appointed minister plenipotentiary ad interim, with +instructions which proved the views and insincerity of the emperor. He +was ordered to consider the declaration of count Murray as extorted by +fear, and consequently invalid; to hold no conference with the states on +the subjects in dispute; to remove gradually all disaffected persons +from their employments; but above all, to effect a complete reform in +the supreme council of Brabant, ‘without which,’ to use the words of the +emperor, ‘nothing could be done.’ He was no less positively enjoined to +commence his administration with the re-establishment of the general +seminary at Louvain. + +“On the arrival of Trautmansdorf at Brussels, in October, 1787, he found +the people in a state of general agitation, and with suspicions +naturally inspired by the prevarications of the sovereign, watching all +his proceedings with a jealous eye. He therefore suspended the execution +of the decree for the suppression of the university during three months, +and gained great popularity by this act of indulgence. The other demands +were obtained without difficulty, and the subsidies which had been +refused unanimously voted, with a declaration that this compliance was a +testimony of gratitude for the appointment of a minister so agreeable to +the nation. + +“Joseph, too ardent and arbitrary to listen to the dictates of prudence +or justice, disapproved the suspension, and issued peremptory orders to +establish the general seminary, whatever might be the consequence. His +views were warmly supported by general d’Alton, who was eager to bring +the military force into action, and boasted that he could subjugate the +whole Netherlands in six weeks. Trautmansdorf, reluctantly fulfilling an +order of which he deplored the fatal consequences, commanded the rector +and other members of the university to submit to the plan of reform. The +whole body appealing to the council of Brabant, he required the latter +to enforce the imperial decree, allowed only two hours for deliberation, +and threatened, in case of refusal, to employ force, and revoke the +recent concessions. At the same time d’Alton drew out a body of troops, +with artillery, near the house in which the council was assembled, and +sent a detachment through the streets to awe the populace. The states, +however, still undaunted, disdained to return an answer, and only +ordered the message to be entered on their journals. The detachment +which patrolled the streets being insulted, fired on the populace; a +tumult ensued, in which six persons were killed and several wounded, and +d’Alton poured a body of troops into the Town-house. But at this awful +crisis Trautmansdorf again suspended the rising commotion by ceasing to +press his demands, and by declaring that the general had drawn out the +troops without his concurrence. + +“Intelligence of these proceedings being transmitted to Vienna, the +emperor rewarded the officer who had ordered the troops to fire, and +encouraged d’Alton to persist in coercive measures; yet, with the same +duplicity as before, he held forth to the natives the offer of a general +amnesty and complete restitution of his favour. The governor-general, +who returned at this juncture, found the country in a state of apparent +tranquillity, and the people impressed with hopes that Joseph had at +length relinquished his impolitic designs. But within a few days after +this public declaration, the university was again closed, the rector +banished for three years, and the refractory members expelled; while a +body of troops, stationed in Louvain, slaughtered many of the +inhabitants, who assembled to deplore the overthrow of that university +which had been their pride and support. The general seminary was +reëstablished; the colleges of Mechlin and Antwerp, celebrated for the +education of youth destined to the ecclesiastical profession, were +likewise closed, and the same measures of coercion employed against the +inhabitants. + +“Soon after these violent proceedings, the states of the different +provinces assembled to grant the ordinary subsidies, and notwithstanding +the causes of dissatisfaction, all complied with the usual custom except +those of Hainault and Brabant. Their refusal drew from the emperor a +severe address, in which he threatened to revoke the amnesty, to +prosecute all who had taken part in the late troubles, to annul their +privileges, and to abrogate the Joyous Entry. The states of Brabant, +alarmed by these threats, sent on the 26th of January, 1789, a petition +to deprecate the anger of the sovereign, and procured the suspension of +the impending punishment. Those of the Hainault, persisting in their +resolution, their assembly was dissolved on the 31st by the military +force, their chiefs arrested, and their constitution abolished. +Confident that this severe example would intimidate the refractory +states of Brabant, Joseph announced his intention to make a change in +their government, which should prevent a repetition of their contumacy, +and secure the regular grant of a permanent subsidy, by extending the +right of representation to other towns and districts. + +“In the present temper of the country such an arbitrary project excited +general indignation; and the whole province became a scene of civil +commotion. + +“While Brabant was thus divided by internal feuds, Joseph seized the +opportunity to overthrow the constitution. By his command, Trautmansdorf +summoned an extraordinary meeting of the states, and required their +concurrence in the proposition for increasing the third order, and +establishing a permanent subsidy. The deputies, however, boldly refused +their consent, exclaiming with one accord, ‘though the emperor may +dissolve us, we will not violate a constitution which we have solemnly +pledged ourselves to preserve.’ In consequence of this refusal, the +edict was enforced, the assembly dissolved, and the Joyous Entry +annulled. The deputies repaired to the hall of the council of Brabant, +and protested against these proceedings; but their protests were +disregarded, and on the ensuing morning three imperial edicts proclaimed +the dissolution of the ancient constitution, the new arrangement for the +administration of justice, and various alterations in the imposition and +collection of the taxes. + +“Joseph fondly considered this event as the termination of the struggle; +and d’Alton reëchoed his sentiments when he said, ‘the 18th of June is a +happy epoch for the house of Austria; for on that day, the victory of +Kolin saved the monarchy, and the emperor became master of the +Netherlands.’ But neither the infatuated monarch nor his sanguine +general were acquainted with the resolution and sentiments of a free +nation. Although the presence of the military prevented an immediate +tumult, this apparent tranquillity was the calm which precedes the +storm. The licentious spirit, which at this time agitated France, spread +like an electric shock among a people who were provoked by repeated +insults and oppressions; the patriots daily augmenting in numbers +exulted in the hope of being assisted by their neighbours, and of +forming a similar constitution on the ruins of the Austrian government. +Vengeance and retaliation were denounced against the royalists; the +walls, churches, and houses were covered with placards, calling on the +people to imitate the example set by the citizens of Paris. + +“Trautmansdorf, who had before averted the danger by prudence and +lenity, was now anxious to meet it with firmness. Conscious that the +imperial troops, who scarcely amounted to 20,000, were too few to awe a +whole nation, he earnestly requested an accession of force. His +apprehensions were ridiculed by d’Alton, who boasted that after sending +a battalion of each regiment to the army in Hungary, he should still be +able to maintain internal tranquillity; and Joseph reluctantly +despatched only a single regiment, ‘not because he deemed it necessary, +but to encourage a timid government.’ The forebodings of the minister +were too soon realised. Scarcely a month elapsed after the dissolution +of the ancient constitution, before the people tumultuously rose, in +various districts released the arrested persons, attacked the military, +and plundered the houses of the magistrates. In these commotions many +lives were lost at Tirlemont, Louvain, Antwerp, and Mons, before +tranquillity could be restored, and at Diest, the patriots led on by the +monks, expelled the imperial troops and the magistrates. Brussels being +likewise the scene of a momentary effervescence, the minister proposed +to disarm the citizens; but this measure was rejected by d’Alton, who, +presuming on the force of military discipline, contemptuously exclaimed, +‘If they want arms, I will supply them.’ + +“At this period many young men of Brussels, who had uttered seditious +speeches, were sent without trial to serve in the army of Hungary; and +in the agitated state of the public mind, this arbitrary act spread +through the nation indignant and sullen despondency. Emigrations took +place from all quarters; the fugitives repairing to the frontiers of +Holland and Liege, joined those who had quitted their country in the +preceding troubles, and formed a numerous body, ready to act offensively +against the government. They found an able chief in Van-der-Noot, a +factious advocate of Brussels, who had taken an active part during the +troubles, and at whose instigation the third estate had refused to grant +the annual subsidy. Being arrested and condemned for treason, he had in +1787 escaped into England. After ineffectually endeavouring to obtain +for his countrymen the protection and assistance of the British cabinet, +he repaired to Berlin. Receiving from the king of Prussia only dubious +promises, he went to Holland, where he was permitted to reside under a +feigned name, by the connivance of the Dutch government, which on this +occasion imitated the conduct of Joseph towards the exiles in the late +revolution. He returned in 1789 to Breda, whither he drew the archbishop +of Mechlin, the abbot of Tongaloo, Crumpiper, the chancellor of Brabant, +many of the nobility of Brussels, almost all the members from the +states, and Van Eupen, canon of Antwerp. By their efforts, the emigrants +were disciplined, distributed in different parts of the neighbouring +country, arms and ammunition secured, and a force amounting to 10,000 +men organised and appointed. A committee was established at Breda for +the regulation of their proceedings, and their views seconded by another +secret committee at Brussels. + +“In the midst of this ferment, the emperor strangely blending +conciliation and severity, published a decree reëstablishing the +university of Louvain, in all its rights and privileges. This ridiculous +versatility excited contempt instead of giving satisfaction, and +produced no effect in allaying internal disaffection, or checking the +efforts of the party in Holland. A regular plan of hostilities was +digested by the chiefs of the insurgents, and Van-der-Mersch, an officer +who had signalised himself in the imperial service during the seven +years’ war, was appointed commander. Van-der-Noot assumed the title of +plenipotentiary agent of the people of Brabant, and a manifesto, under +his signature, was published ‘in the name of the clergy and third estate +of Brabant, in union with many of the nobility, renouncing their +allegiance and declaring that they no longer considered Joseph as their +sovereign.’ This manifesto, as a declaration of war, was sent to the +government, and followed by the march of the patriot army into Brabant. + +“With a view to counteract its effects, the government of Brussels +ordered it to be burnt by the common executioner, and published a long +vindication of the emperor; urging that although he had abrogated the +Joyous Entry, yet he had confirmed the essential principles of the +constitution, the security of persons and property. To awe the +disaffected within the walls, many persons of the first rank were +arrested on a charge of conspiracy, the gates were shut, palisadoes +planted on the fortifications, the citizens disarmed, and active +preparations made for defence. + +“Meanwhile hostilities commenced. A party of patriots, marching from the +neighbourhood of Breda, surprised, on the 25th of October, the forts of +Lillo and Liefgenshoek, on the Scheld, made the scanty garrison +prisoners, and conveyed the guardship to Bergen-op-Zoom. Another body of +3000 men, under the command of Van-der-Mersch, penetrated to Turnhout, +and though many were armed only with bludgeons, pitchforks, and staves, +and without cannon, they repulsed the imperial general Schroeder, who +attacked them with 1500 men. This unexpected victory, proclaimed a +miracle by the monks, increased the spirit and numbers of the +insurgents, while it disheartened the royalists. But on the approach of +general d’Arberg with 7000 men, the patriots retired within the Dutch +territories, and concealing their arms, as usual, dispersed themselves +in Dutch Brabant and the neighbouring districts of Liege, waiting for a +more favourable opportunity to renew their incursions. + +“While the imperial general remained at Hogstraten, the insurgents made +a new and more effectual attempt on the side of Flanders. A body +despatched by Van-der-Mersch approached Ghent, seized two of the gates, +and forcing their way into the town, were joined by the burghers with +cannon and ammunition; the garrison of 1200 men was overpowered by +numbers, driven across the Scheld, and blockaded in the barracks of the +fort of St. Pierre. D’Arberg with 3000 men hastened to the scene of +action, and occupied the citadel; but he was unable to stem the torrent +of revolt. Bruges and Courtray declared for the rebels; new succours +poured into Ghent; the fort of St. Pierre was stormed, the troops in the +barracks made prisoners, and d’Arberg himself forced to retire in the +night to Brussels. All Flanders was instantly emancipated; the states +assembling at Ghent, in November, 1789, published a declaration of +independence, and invited the other provinces to form a general +alliance. Terror and despondency spread to the seat of government, the +governors-general quitted Brussels; d’Alton and Trautmansdorf, whose +disputes were increased by the impending dangers, acted without concert; +d’Alton concentrated his troops to make a last effort for the +preservation of the capital, Trautmansdorf liberated the arrested +persons, restored arms to the citizens, and issued no less than +twenty-two declarations in the name of the emperor, hoping to conciliate +the people by suppressing the seminary at Antwerp, reëstablishing the +Joyous Entry, and declaring an amnesty. + +“Of this confusion and alarm the patriot chiefs availed themselves with +equal vigour, skill, and promptitude. Vander-Mersch, assembling a body +of insurgents, made a new irruption into Brabant, seized Diest, and +advancing to Tirlemont, threatened Louvain. D’Alton instantly marched +against the rebels, but pressed by the insurgents of Flanders, and +unwilling to risk a battle which, if unfortunate, would have left him no +hope of retreat, he suddenly concluded, with the acquiescence of +Trautmansdorf, an armistice for ten days, which was to be provisionally +extended, with the consent of the states of Brabant. In this interval he +hoped to turn his forces against Flanders, but every moment of delay was +fatal to the imperial cause; the patriots anticipated his designs, +seduced whole troops of his soldiers, augmented their party by new +accessions of force, and organised an insurrection at Brussels, which +terminated the struggle. On the 8th of December the women and children +endeavored to demolish the intrenchments, and tore up the palisadoes. +The people assumed a national cockade; the streets resounded with the +cries of “Long live the patriots! Long live Van-der-Noot!” The soldiers +began to desert, and two companies of the regiment of Murray at once +joined the patriots. + +“On the 11th, an officer imprudently attempting to snatch a cockade from +the hat of a burgher, a tumult ensued, and the inhabitants flew to arms. +The imperial troops, separated and discouraged, were attacked by +different bands of the populace, assisted by the deserters, and, after a +conflict which continued the greater part of the night, were driven into +the upper town. D’Alton, fallen from his former presumption, dreading +the approach of Van-der-Mersch on one side, and the Flemish army on the +other, doubtful of his troops, who were reduced to 5000 men, surrounded +by secret and declared enemies, was happy to secure his retreat by a +capitulation. He quitted Brussels on the evening of the 12th, leaving +the cannon, military chests and stores in the hands of the insurgents, +and took the route to Luxemburgh, pillaging, plundering, and wasting the +country as he passed. The example of the capital was followed by the +other towns; the imperial troops successively retired from Antwerp, +Louvain, and Mechlin into Luxemburgh, and the governor-general Bender, +assuming the command, prepared to defend that duchy, which alone +continued faithful to the house of Austria. + +“The news of the revolution affected Joseph to an alarming degree, and +made a deep impression on his mind, already weakened by bodily and +mental infirmities. He burst into tears, complaining bitterly that he +had been deceived by the intelligence from Brussels; he acknowledged his +total inability to devise measures for the recovery of those valuable +dominions, and demanded the advice of Kaunitz, whom he had yet scarcely +deigned to consult on these momentous events. By his suggestions he +consented to adopt conciliatory measures, and count Philip Cobenzl, who +was supposed to possess great influence in the Netherlands, was +despatched to Brussels to tranquillise the people, by revoking the late +edicts, and restoring their privileges. These measures were, however, +adopted too late. When Cobenzl reached the frontier, all the provinces, +except Luxemburgh, were in the possession of the insurgents, the +congress was convoked to form a new constitution, and his overtures were +rejected with disdain. + +“In this moment of distress Joseph found no resource. He in vain +appealed to the empire; he in vain obtained a circular letter from the +pope to the prelates of the Netherlands recommending them to return to +obedience. Embarrassed by the Turkish war, deriving no assistance from +the courts of Versailles and Petersburgh, his sole allies on the +Continent, he was reduced to the alternative of courting the +interposition of Prussia, his inveterate enemy, England, whom he had +betrayed and insulted, and Holland, whom he had despised and humbled. +His haughty spirit was broken by calamity and disease; he grasped even +at the shadow of a hope, and was eager to embrace any measure, however +degrading, for the recovery of the Netherlands, even though he should +reduce them again to that dependence on the Maritime Powers from which +it had been his boast to emancipate them. He hoped to conciliate Prussia +by cessions on the side of Poland; he trusted that England would gladly +tender her assistance to obtain the renewal of the Barrier Treaty; he +relied on the jealousy which the independence of the Netherlands would +excite in Holland; he flattered himself that the chiefs of the different +provinces would return to their allegiance, and accept a free +constitution under the guaranty of the triple alliance. But he was again +deceived. England refused to interfere in a cause which was opposed by +her great continental ally; Holland beheld his distress with +indifference, if not with satisfaction; Frederic William, who was +maturing a grand system for the reduction of Austria, fomented the +discontents in the Netherlands, and exerted all his efforts to inflame +that hostile spirit which pervaded every part of the hereditary +dominions, and was rising against Joseph in the different courts of +Europe.” + +We have preferred taking this account from Coxe, not only because we +wish to strengthen our argument for the justice of the title of our book +by giving, whenever it is possible, the testimony of the conservative +historian, who cannot be suspected of colouring too darkly the acts of +what he considers the legitimate government; but because we think Mr. +Grattan has not done justice to the Netherlanders in his account of the +same transactions. In his sympathy with the special reforms of Joseph, +(his toleration acts, and abolition of old evils,) he overlooks the fact +that all along he was breaking the highest of all laws, and that which +entered in to the very fountains of the nation’s life, by setting aside +the _constitutional rights_ which were born with their birth, and which +can never be arbitrarily abolished by any foreign power without fatal +effects. Constitutional reform must be always a Phœnix death-birth. All +Joseph’s political philosophy was a mere maggot of his brain, fevered +into being by the exciting atmosphere of the eighteenth century, an +influence wholly external; it had no part or lot with that eternal +progressive force, which develops itself through the heart of men, and +acts because it must, in spite of all individual fancies, being rarely +understood in full by the very individuals by whom it manifests itself +the most strongly. George Washington indeed seems to have acted in sight +of his principle in his majestic self-abnegations, although we are +unable to pronounce with entire certainty on those secrets of the +individual heart and soul, which, in his case, were covered with such a +veil of natural and habitual reserve, as no friend was intimate enough +to dare lift up. Was it that there was too much of the future there, to +be appreciable in those days, by eyes profane? + +It may be that as the race makes progress, there is a growing +recognition between those irresistible impulses of humanity, which are +deeper than all selfish emotions or volitions, and those higher ideas, +which correspond to them in the intellectual spheres; and hence a +consciousness, which is not weakening but strengthening, (inasmuch as it +repudiates all personalities,) may show itself in the great men of the +present and future. When Washington, risking everything upon a certain +battle, and being asked what was to be done if it was lost, calmly +replied, ‘it will then be necessary to retreat (he meant the people and +not merely the army) behind the Alleghanies, and defend ourselves +there;’ there was in his heart, if not in his head, the truth, that +there is nothing impossible to him that wills the right. Kossuth, sixty +years later, carries this grand will into the intellectual sphere, and +explains the coincidence of absolute justice, not only with this +instinct of the brave, but with interest—well understood, yet without +lowering the first to the limitations of the last, and thereby losing +the power to remove mountains, which comes only from the principle which +is the evidence of things unseen. + +Reform is a great thing. It must work from within outward. If it +commences on the outside, while the principle that made all the abuses +is unchanged, as in the case of Joseph II., the bad is made worse, and +the futile agent is the first victim of the inevitable reaction. But +there is some reason to believe that the day of reform is dawning,—when +the old world—and the old world’s law—is brought face to face with the +new world, almost unconscious of any principle but self-help, and the +thorn-crowned martyr of the one, who represents the outraged +individuality and rights of nations, explains the meaning of the hour to +the other, by the words: ‘Thou hast as much religion as humanity—_and no +more_,’ adding, with the supreme grace of self-abnegation, ‘the works +which I do, and the words that I speak, are not mine, but His who sent +me.’ It is indeed an era in the political world, when not only the +experienced victim of the old system, but the nonchalant, unsentimental, +self-asserting politician of the new, unite in _seeing_, to say nothing +of declaring that nations have the same interest in international law, +which individuals have in the laws of their country. + +When the individuality of nations, and the law that at once +individualizes and unites them, is promulgated in the light of +reason,[7] in which flourish all the ‘humanities’ of science, art, +virtue, and love, as well as in the dark depths of instinctive feeling, +whose issues are war, and all terrible retributions—there is some ground +for hope that the nations may + + “keep the heights + Which they are competent to gain.” + +We will here observe that it is plain from the foregoing and the +subsequent pages, that the Anglo-Saxon race is not the only one whose +life has blossomed out into constitutional liberty. Other races have put +forth the same forms of life quite as vigorously, and as broadly, and if +we are to escape the same disastrous chances as have for three hundred +years sunk them into a _life-in-death_, it will be from no inherent +superiority in the germs of ours, but because the age of the world is +come which corresponds to that period of the life of man, when thought +meets feeling, and, recognising each other, instinct may become for +evermore one with wisdom. + +Is it not possible that this national integrity and international +justice and love, is the ultimate attainment of humanity on earth; the +fullest realisation in this sphere of the prophetic vision, and the +poet’s dream; while the individual men which compose the nations, are +ever to exhibit that personal imperfection which is but the necessary +correlative of a sublimer destiny than may be within the scope of the +finite mind to comprehend? Could this be established, a vast deal of the +finest intellect and character, whose energies are now dissipated in +visionary theories of personal perfection, would be concentrated to +organise a perfect political system, which can only be just for each +when it is for all; and without which in each nation, no personal +integrity can be unfolded to become the subject of culture. + +In considering the crimes of the house of Austria, we must not forget +Poland, although here the guilt is shared by the Brandenburgs and +Romanoffs. + +Ruthière’s, “Anarchie de Pologne” gives, in an entertaining form, a +tolerably fair picture of its character, and the working of what an +absolutist calls its _no-government_. That a civilized country, he says, +should go on for centuries, improving in all human culture, _without a +government_, shows the extraordinary goodness of the people. It were +well if this pleasant book, which contains also the most authentic +account of Catherine II.’s accession to the Russian throne, were +translated into English. But a grave work, and the highest authority +respecting Poland, is Lelewel’s history, also yet untranslated. We are +sorry that our limits allow us to give but a few observations to correct +some current errors. It has been the policy of the European governments +around Poland, to misrepresent, as well as to interfere with, the +operations of its constitution. This necessarily arose from a principle +of self-protection; nothing was so disastrous for them, as the peace, +prosperity, and progress of a republican country in their midst. All the +motives which impelled to the League of Cambray, would operate to this +end respecting Poland, whose partition was the supreme act of the +diplomacy which, as Sismondi said, began in Europe in 1508. + +Poland was never a feudal country. The nobles and peasants are of the +same race; and service in war, or a university education availed to give +nobility to the child of the meanest peasant. The veto power, by the +abuse of which the country was made weak, when it needed to be strongest +against foreign influence, was only developed into disastrous action +through foreign influence, brought to bear upon the Diet; because, as +has been already intimated, it was a life and death interest of the +surrounding despotisms to prevent the national progress and purification +of a government in their midst, essentially republican, although its +chief magistrate was named king. The same veto power existed in the +Arragonese constitution, and never seemed to have had any irregular +action. Of course, this, or almost any other safety-valve of liberty, +may be used for the worst end, as soon as a nation is vitiated by bad +faith within, whether of indigenous growth, or of foreign planting. In +the case of Poland, it is obvious, from Ruthière, that it was of foreign +planting. + +But our object is not political disquisition, but history. When the +Poles first began to elect kings from foreign nations, it was partly in +order that the equality of their own families should be preserved, and +some should have the prestige of sovereignty connected with them. At the +first election, after the death of the last Jagellon, Maximilian II. +endeavoured to obtain the crown for his son Ernest, but Henry of Anjou +was chosen. After the latter abandoned Poland, to succeed his brother in +France, Maximilian made new efforts for Ernest, and was himself chosen +by one party. This was no great gratification to him, for the limited +monarchy of Poland had few charms for him. While he hesitated about the +_pacta conventa_, his more active opponent, Stephen Batory, hastened +into Poland, and signed this capitulation, which so greatly increased +his party that he was forcibly chosen, although Maximilian did at length +accede to the _pacta conventa_, and, secure of the Czar, appealed to the +empire, and endeavoured to excite the kings of Denmark and Sweden +against his rival, “whom he stigmatized,” says Coxe, “as a vassal of the +Turks.” But death interrupted his operations on the 12th of October, +1576, and Stephen Batory was elected. + +The next Polish election, in which the house of Austria interfered, was +in the beginning of the eighteenth century, when the Emperor, Charles +VI., with the aid of the Czarina, placed Augustus II. upon the throne, +on condition of his giving his sanction to the Pragmatic Sanction. By +this intrigue, the choice of the nation, Stanislaus Leczynski, was set +aside. This was in 1720. + +In 1763, on the death of Augustus II., Maria Theresa encouraged his son +Xavier to become a candidate for the crown of Poland, in opposition to +Stanislaus Poniatowski and other Polish noblemen. Through the powerful +influence of Catherine II., Stanislaus was certain of success. But Maria +Theresa, seeing that by this a preponderance was given to Russian +influence in Poland, published a manifesto, declaring that the Poles had +the right of appointing a sovereign by a free and voluntary election, +and, with the aid of France, prepared to second the claims of the Saxon +house. Catherine, on the other hand, gained the king of Prussia, and the +Porte, and they jointly issued a proclamation exhorting, “or rather,” +says Coxe, “commanding the Poles to elect none but a Piast for their +king.” A Russian army enforced this, and Stanislaus Augustus was +elected. Maria Theresa, ill-seconded by France, concluded to push the +matter no further. + +The wrongs of Poland are due not wholly to the House of Austria. Prussia +and Russia were indeed the principal aggressors. Frederic the Great +undoubtedly first projected the partition, but his first step was to +gain Austria, because he was aware that Russia was so sure of the whole +of the prey, she would oppose dismemberment. The emperor Joseph I. went +to Neiss, to negotiate with him upon the subject. Two years after, a +second interview took place, and the map of Poland was laid out before +them, when the limits of the respective portions were adjusted, the +largest share being assigned to Russia, in order to secure her +concurrence. The Austrian and Prussian troops entered Poland on the +pretence of preventing the plague, and Maria Theresa first presented her +vague claims on certain Polish districts, on the specious pretext of +protecting them from Russia and Prussia. The Austrian troops first +occupied sixteen towns of the county of Zips; and upon this, Frederic +proposed to Catherine the dismemberment; and the respective portions +were specified at St. Petersburgh, in February, 1772. “Maria Theresa +felt or _affected to feel_,” says Coxe, “great scruples of conscience, +in participating in the disgrace of this infamous transaction; but she +was not the less exorbitant in her demands, and extended her claims +almost to the half of Poland.” She afterwards made a merit of yielding +something, but retained Red Russia, Galicia, and parts of the +palatinates of Cracow, Sandomir, Lublen, Bezk, Volhynia, and Podolia, a +fertile and extensive country, with a population of ten millions and a +half, and the valuable salt mines of Wieliczka, whose revenue to the +republic was 90,000 pounds a year. This territory was consolidated and +annexed to the Austrian dominions under the ancient appellation of the +kingdoms of Galicia and Lodomeria. + +The plunder of these countries by Maria Theresa’s troops was immense. +Even Catherine of Russia reproached the Court of Vienna for the +exactions of their troops, and extorted from the emperor a humiliating +disavowal of their conduct. When we read of the wagon-loads of gold, +among which were the spoils of churches, candelabras of the size of a +grown man, of solid gold, carried into Austria, we are led to ask, +whence came this prodigious wealth? and this question leads us to +remember that from time immemorial there had been a land trade extending +into Persia and other rich Asiatic territories, and that the +constitutional law, prohibiting Poles from engaging on either side in a +sectarian war, had made the fertile plains of Poland the granary of +Europe, during the terrible religious wars that raged over the West of +Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Poland, too, from its +constitutional laws of toleration, was the asylum for the persecuted +merchants and mechanics of the Jewish and Protestant sects, driven for +many centuries from other more bigoted countries. + +In giving an account of the state of the several parts of Poland, after +the partition, Lelewel, having enumerated oppressions common to all of +them, makes the following remarks: + +“There was, however, this difference between the Austrian government and +the Prussian, that the latter, more fond of peace, more economical, +favoured the propagation of knowledge, augmented the number of primary +schools, carried instruction to the poorest, and tolerated the +manifestations of national sentiments, that the Poles did not know how +to repress. Without speaking of liberty, the Prussian government +respected individual liberty and property. Justice was equally +administered to nobles and peasants, without distinction of class; both +were subjected to military service. No exception was made except in +favour of the Jews. At Warsaw they were permitted to have a national +theatre; the polytechnic society, founded by some patriots for the end +of conserving the Polish nationality, was authorised by the king of +Prussia. It was not so in Galicia. There the emperor proclaimed the +liberty of the peasants, forgetting or ignoring that long before the +fall of Poland, the quatriennial or constituent diet had guaranteed it +to them. But he erected it into a principle that everything belonged to +the emperor, property and persons, and that he could dispose of them +according to his good pleasure, as of things that were his. Occupied by +continual wars with France, the emperor exhausted his estates, and +especially Galicia, by exactions. Whoever could bear arms, whether +Gipsies, Jews, or Christians, were enrolled, and forced to serve as +soldiers, under German counts and barons. His enormous imposts not only +took away their money, but forced them to give up their landed property. +To repair the immense losses of his campaigns, he had recourse to paper +money of which he reduced the value afterwards, or suppressed it +altogether; and he circulated copper money qualified with silver, and +forced it to be received as silver. In short, it was an odious +spoliation and a degrading slavery. In order to attach the magistrates +and principal inhabitants to himself, he sold to them titles of counts +and barons; as the price of this imperial complaisance they were obliged +to pay very dear. + +“There were many who did not blush to buy these honours, and to disgrace +their posterity with them, forgetting that the ancient laws of the +republic deprived of the rights of citizenship, and declared infamous +those who accepted titles from foreign powers. + +“That the dismemberment of Poland, by Austria, Prussia, and Russia, did +not destroy it, Lelevel’s faithful history proves. Not only Kosciusko’s +struggles, and the revolution of 1831, suppressed mainly through the +perfidy of Louis Philippe, acting in combination with the generous +confidence of Skrzynecki, but the previous educational efforts of +Czartoryski at the university of Wilna, and the energy with which the +Poles repulsed the archduke Ferdinand from Warsaw in 1809; and generally +fought for Napoleon, in the vain confidence that he would restore their +republic. It may be that had Napoleon justified their long cherished +hopes, and kept the faith he promised by the agents whom he sent to +Warsaw to negotiate for assistance, previous to his Russian campaign, +the result of that extraordinary movement would have been far different, +and when he fell back into Lithuania, he would have found himself +sustained; but his cold-blooded evasions, when he had passed through +Warsaw, after it had risked Alexander’s fury for his sake, had finally +convinced the Poles that they should ‘put no trust in princes;’ and they +left him to the elements which were as humane as himself. The +republicanism which is to be established by autocracy is as futile as +the reforms which come from the same quarter; and Napoleon Bonaparte’s +history is as clear a lesson upon the former pretence, as Joseph II.’s +was upon the latter.” + +We must leave, however, the history of Poland, so illustrative of our +subject, in order to come to the history of Hungary. There is no +complete work on this subject extant in the English language. In the +Spring of 1850, there was republished in Boston, by Ticknor, Fields and +Co., from the London edition, a pamphlet by J. Toulmin Smith, called +“Parallels of the Constitutional History of England and Hungary,” which +should be studied by those persons who fancy and assert that +Anglo-Saxons are the only people to whom constitutional liberty is +natural. In the May of the same year, there appeared also in the +Christian Examiner of Boston, an article upon Hungary, referring to a +recent publication of A. de Gerando, _De l’Esprit publique en Hongrie +depuis la Revolution Française_, and intended to rectify the false +statements made in an article in the N. A. Review of January, 1850, +where the Hungarian movement of 1848–9, as well as all the past history +of Hungary, were vilified. This article in the Examiner, which exhibited +a wonderful familiarity with the Hungarian language and literature, as +well as a profound and accurate knowledge of the history of modern +Europe in general, and an extraordinary acquaintance with the periodical +literature of the day, and the influences under which each individual +contributor to it had written, when the subject matter touched the +politics of Hungary, contains a masterly treatment of the +misrepresentations which despotism makes of the history of freedom; and +this part of the subject was pursued still farther in two successive +articles in the same periodical, one published in November, 1850, and +the other in March, 1851, from which also may be gathered an authentic +account of the actual transactions in Hungary during 1848–9. All three +articles, together with those in the N. A. Review which called them +forth, would make a valuable volume, if for nothing else, to show the +difference between writing history as a gossip, and writing it as a +critic. + +We confine ourselves now to extracting a portion of the first article, +which carries the history up to the time that the war between Hungary +and Austria began. It was from the same article, that Mr. Secretary +Webster quoted the Hungarian statistics with which he illustrated the +speech he made at the congressional dinner given at Washington in honour +of Kossuth, January, 1852. + +“The Hungarian nation has been distinguished, from its first appearance +in history, for uniting to a passionate love of liberty a scrupulous +reverence for law. The Magyars did not enter the plains of Dacia an +undisciplined rabble. From the first, they possessed a fixed form of +government, and were distinguished for their subordination to their +leaders and their laws. To these habits of discipline in which the +Magyars were trained,[8] to their love of order, and regard for law, it +is to be ascribed, that they did not pass away, like the common hordes +of barbarian adventurers, but established a permanent kingdom in the +country they invaded. To these qualities, not less than to their +courage, is to be ascribed their successful maintenance of their +constitutional rights against all the attacks of a power before which +the liberties of so many other nations have fallen. + +“The ancient institutions of the Magyars were eminently democratic. +Their chief ruler was elected by the votes of the people. For the first +century after their establishment in the country, he received only the +title of _Vezér_, or leader. In the year 1000, they bestowed the title +of king on Stephen, of the family of Arpad, the leader under whose +guidance they had entered Pannonia. The power of the king was, however, +strictly limited. The consent of the people was necessary to give +efficacy to every royal act. The excellent prince who first filled the +throne of Hungary had no disposition to infringe the liberties of the +people. On the contrary, he endeavoured to guard them against the +encroachments of future sovereigns. He framed a code of laws, founded on +the ancient institutions of the Magyars, which have ever since been +regarded as of the highest authority. These statutes were drawn up for +the guidance of his son Emeric, whom he educated as his successor in the +kingdom. The enlightened and humane spirit in which these decrees are +composed gives a very high idea of the civilization and political +advancement of Hungary at this period. We find in them an express +recognition of the principle of universal equality:—”_Omnes homines +unius sunt conditionis._“[9] It is in the following terms that he +prescribed the duty of a king towards his subjects:— + +“‘Let them be to thee, my son, as brothers and fathers; reduce none of +them to servitude, neither call them thy servants. Let them fight for +thee, not serve thee. Govern them without violence and without pride, +peacefully, humbly, humanely. Remembering that nothing elevates but +humility, that nothing abases but pride and an evil will. + +“‘My son, I pray thee, I command thee, to show thyself propitious, not +only to thy kindred, not only to princes, to leaders, to the rich, not +only to thy country people, but likewise to strangers, and to all that +come unto thee. Be patient with all, not only with the powerful, but +with those lacking power. Bear ever in thy mind this precept of the +Lord:—I will have mercy and not sacrifice.’”[10] + +“He recognizes the right of the people to depose an unworthy prince:— + +“‘If thou art mild and just, then shalt thou be called a king, and the +son of a king; but if thou art proud and violent, they will deliver thy +kingdom to another.’”[11] + +“This right was exercised in the reign of his immediate successor. +Emeric, the son of Stephen, died before his father. The people elected, +after the death of Stephen, chiefly through the influence of his widow, +her brother, Peter, a German prince. They had reason to repent their +choice of a foreigner, who had no comprehension of the nature of free +institutions. He was deposed in the third year of his reign. The grounds +of his expulsion were, that he had banished and put to death many, +without observing the due forms of law; that he had _bestowed important +offices in the kingdom upon foreigners_; that he had _prevented the +states from holding their diet and their accustomed assemblies_. After +this experience of foreign rule, the Hungarians returned to the House of +Arpad, and chose their kings from this family, until its extinction, in +the person of Andrew III., in 1301. The princes of this dynasty, with +few exceptions, were just and patriotic kings, who understood the origin +and true objects of government, and held their power for the benefit of +the people, not for their own selfish aggrandizement. There are traits +recorded of many of them, which prove them to have been the worthy +successors of St. Stephen. ‘The republic is not mine,’ said Gèza II., +‘it is I who belong to the republic. God has raised me to the throne, in +order that I may maintain the laws.’ In 1222, Andrew II. issued the +celebrated code of statutes known by the name of the ‘Golden Bull,’ by +which the decrees of St. Stephen were confirmed, and some new laws added +to them, designed to secure yet further the liberties of the people. The +Golden Bull has been termed a charter of aristocratic privileges. It was +so, in the same sense that the great charter of English liberties may be +called so. The Golden Bull corresponds very closely to the Magna Charta +of King John, both in its provisions, and as regards the class of +persons whose liberties it was designed to protect. The privileges of +Magna Charta were expressly restricted to _freemen_. The provisions of +the Golden Bull were, in like manner, considered as applicable only to +the class of _nobles_, as those possessed of the rights of citizenship +were called in Hungary. At the period when these edicts were +promulgated, the rights of the lowest class of the people were very +little considered in any part of Europe. But the recognition of the +principles of just government in the laws of a country is of infinite +value, however the circumstances of the time may allow only of their +partial application. + +“We will here transcribe some of the most important of the ancient laws +which, in Hungary, guarded the liberties of the subject from the +encroachments of the prince. These laws have never been repealed, but +repeatedly confirmed. It is to these, the fundamental laws of the +kingdom of Hungary,—to whose observance and maintenance the kings of +Hungary are bound by their coronation oath,—that the Hungarians have +constantly appealed in their long struggle against royal usurpation; and +it is by these that the cause between them and their sovereign is to be +judged. + +“By the constitution of Hungary, the power of making laws belongs to the +king and the people conjointly:— + +“‘The king, having convened the people, shall ask them whether such or +such laws are pleasing to them or not. If the people answer, _Yes_, +these decrees shall pass into laws. But it will most commonly happen, +that the people (_populus_) will themselves decide unanimously on many +things which they think conducive to the public welfare. If the prince +shall accept these decrees, they shall, in like manner, have the force +of law. + +“‘It is to be known, in the first place, that the laws bind the prince +who has made them, at the request of the people; according to the maxim, +‘Suffer the law which thou hast made thyself.’ + +“‘The king is bound to answer, in the presence of the Lord Palatine of +this kingdom, to all those who have any complaint to make, or any cause +to plead against him. + +“‘It is decreed that the king shall observe the peace, and cause it to +be observed; _neither shall he make war, nor introduce any foreign +troops into Hungary, and the parts which are annexed to it, without the +knowledge and consent of the states of the kingdom_.’ + +“The king was not allowed, even under the most urgent circumstances, to +raise subsidies or contributions without the consent of the diet. It was +even provided, that if any particular county should, by its own motion, +and without the consent of the whole kingdom, offer the king any subsidy +or contribution, the nobles of that county, being by this act convicted +of treason and perjury, should lose the rights and privileges of the +nobility, and be denied all intercourse with the other counties. It was +likewise interdicted to the king, to employ foreigners in the offices of +the state, or to give them the command of garrisons in Hungary. + +“No Hungarian could be tried out of the kingdom, even if the king had +with him the ordinary judges of the kingdom. Nor could any one be +condemned without being cited and convicted according to the forms of +law. + +“Our readers may judge, by these provisions of the Hungarian +constitution, whether it was indeed a mere heap of feudal rubbish, or +whether it is worthy of a place beside the old constitution of England, +which, with all its imperfections, we revere as the source from which +our wider liberties have sprung. + +“If Hungary had continued under the government of upright and wise +kings, it would, doubtless, at the present day, have been one of the +most powerful states in Europe,—powerful, not only by extent and wealth, +but by the character of the people whose love of freedom, and generosity +united, would have developed a very high order of civilization. All that +was contrary to justice and sound policy in their institutions would, +under a government disposed to further their efforts for improvement, +long since have been reformed, and they would have kept pace with, if +they had not surpassed, the most enlightened nations of Europe in social +and political progress. But, early in the sixteenth century, they passed +under the sway of a dynasty, the most selfish and unprincipled that ever +controlled the destinies of a nation. This dynasty has for three hundred +years pursued one undeviating system of policy,—a system of perfidy and +cruelty, transmitted, with the sceptre, from father to son. Never have +the Austrian kings of Hungary given a thought to the prosperity and +advancement of the nation confided to their charge. Their only aim has +been to reduce it to absolute subjection, and to obliterate every trace +of its ancient liberties. When foreign wars have threatened the safety +of the empire, the Austrian government has been lavish of concessions +and promises, to be retracted and forgotten the moment the return of +peace left the king of Hungary at leisure to turn his forces against the +liberties of his own subjects. The Hungarians, on their part, have +displayed towards their perfidious rulers all the generosity and loyalty +that could have been due to the most patriotic princes. A hundred times +deceived, they have again trusted, again to become victims of new +perfidy. Through a course of three centuries, the Hungarians have been +alternately pouring out their blood and treasure in wars, whose honour +and profit were not for them, and, in the intervals of outward +tranquillity, maintaining a struggle for national existence with their +own king. Thus the season of peace was for them the period of greatest +danger; the prosperity of the prince was the misfortune of the people. + +“Ferdinand of Austria was invested with the sacred crown of St. Stephen +on the 1st of November, 1527. He took the oath of allegiance to the +constitution of Hungary, and voluntarily added words of assurance to the +assembled people, of his love for the Hungarian nation, and his respect +for the laws. He did not owe his election to the throne of Hungary to +the preference of the nation, but to the cruel circumstances in which it +found itself placed. The designs of the Archdukes of Austria on this +kingdom had long been manifest, and had, hitherto, been effectually +repelled. But after the death of Louis II., in the fatal battle of +Mohács, it was judged impracticable to maintain, in addition to the war +in which they were already engaged with the Turks, a contest with the +Austrian pretender to the crown. It was decided to convert one of their +enemies into an ally, by voluntarily accepting him as their king. This +measure was effected chiefly through the instrumentality of some +powerful nobles, and did not receive the approbation of the great body +of the nation. None of the desired results were obtained by it. The +German troops pillaged the country more mercilessly than the Turks had +done, and extended their ravages through parts of the kingdom where +these could never have penetrated. Nor did the Hungarians find, in the +Austrian alliance, that protection against their Ottoman enemies which +they had promised themselves. It was no part of the Austrian policy to +succour Hungary; its aim was rather to weaken and impoverish it, by +whatever means. The victories which the emperors of Germany gained over +the Turks, by Hungarian money and arms, brought no advantage to the +Hungarian nation. The Turks were allowed to make constant predatory +incursions into Hungary, in time of supposed peace. All representations +to the king on this subject were unheeded. He would neither remonstrate +with the Sultan on these infractions of the treaties, nor suffer the +Hungarians themselves to enter into any composition with the Turks. Thus +they maintained, alone, a constant border warfare, while, at the same +time, they were forced to support large bodies of foreign troops, more +cruel and more destructive than the Turks themselves. To such +destitution were the common people reduced, that parents even sold their +children to the infidels to save them from starvation. The contributions +in money, extorted by the Austrian government in one year, exceeded the +amount of the tribute which had been exacted by the Turks in ten. Such +was the condition of Hungary for the space of nearly two hundred +years.[12] + +“The Archdukes of Austria were not content to wear the crown of Hungary +by the election of the people. It was their aim, from the first, to make +it the absolute property of their house. Ferdinand I. had already +declared the crown hereditary, but he did not succeed in having this +claim allowed by the nation. In order to secure the succession to his +son, he caused him to be crowned in his own lifetime. His successors for +one hundred and fifty years were forced to take the same precaution. In +every case the form of election by the people was observed, and the +prince was required to take the coronation oath which bound him to +maintain the Hungarian constitution. Thus the monarchy remained elective +until the time of Leopold I. This prince had been crowned at Presburg in +1655, during the life of his father. Before his coronation, the +conditions upon which he was to receive the crown were offered him, +according to custom. He accepted and swore to them, and caused a diploma +to be made of them and inserted in the public acts. All these +conditions, like his predecessors, he had constantly violated; and at +length, in 1687, at the close of a successful war with the Turks, of +which, as usual, Hungary had borne the expense and the suffering, he +felt himself strong enough to carry into effect the long-deferred +project of his house. He knew, however, that he was to encounter no +slight obstacle in the resistance of the Hungarian nobles, the +patriotism and courage of many of whom he had already proved. He +provided against this difficulty beforehand. Immediately before he +summoned the diet that was to sanction this change in the constitution +of the kingdom, the discovery of a fabulous conspiracy against the +government gave him an excuse for ridding himself of all those whose +courage or patriotism might offer hindrance to his designs. A court was +opened at Debreczin, presided over by Caraffa, a name more infamous than +that of Jeffreys, and here, under the most horrible tortures, numberless +victims perished. The trials were conducted secretly; the public never +knew of what the sufferers were accused, or on what evidence they were +condemned. A yet more terrible tribunal was established at Epéries. +Caraffa repaired thither, and to this bar were dragged, from every part +of the kingdom, all whose virtue rendered them suspected, or whose +wealth offered a temptation to the cupidity of their judges.[13] A +scaffold was erected in the midst of the city, where, from March to +December, the executioners were kept constantly at work. The following +passage from the _Histoire des Revolutions de Hongrie_[14] will give the +reader some idea of the horrors of this time:— + +“‘There were seen in this city thirty men, dressed in green, all +executioners, or servants of executioners, employed in administering the +torture, in beheading, breaking on the wheel, and quartering. Dragoons +traversed the country, to seek for persons of condition, whether +Catholics or Protestants. These were seized, some in the church, some in +the streets, others in their houses, wherever they could be found. It +was in vain that some alleged their innocence, and that others had +recourse to the amnesty which they had received for past offences. They +were cast into dungeons, and underwent the torture, ordinary and +extraordinary, to compel them to avow the crime of which they were +accused, and to declare their accomplices.... The sons, brothers, and +relations of those who were thus tortured cast themselves at the feet of +Caraffa, to conjure him to follow, at least, some rules prescribed by +the laws of the country, or any others which are in use among +Christians.’” + +“Caraffa referred them to the court of Vienna. Here they found a +gracious hearing, and received promises of mercy for their friends; but +the executions continued, and when the petitioners returned to Epéries, +it was to find those whose pardon they thought they had obtained already +dead, or to have their remonstrances unheeded by the judges, who had +been furnished with private instructions. + +“It was under these circumstances, that Leopold summoned the diet of +Hungary to crown ‘the most serene Archduke Joseph, as their _hereditary_ +lord and king.’ It was not in the power of the Hungarians to disregard +this summons. The troops of the emperor occupied all the fortified +places of Hungary and Transylvania, and the scaffold at Epéries remained +standing even to the day of the coronation. Yet, with all this, the diet +did not yield without a remonstrance. In their reply to the king’s +demand, they first set forth the grievances of the nation, and demanded +the withdrawal of the foreign troops. They then expressed their +willingness to elect the Archduke Joseph according to the ancient forms, +but declined to acknowledge him as their hereditary king. The court now +made use of every art to win the diet to consent. Every thing was +promised. The patriotic members were bribed with assurances of the +speedy redress of the grievances of the nation; the selfish with the +promise of office and emolument for themselves. But there were among +them still men who were not to be blinded by falsehood, and who were +unassailable by motives of fear or interest. Among the most +distinguished and the most influential was the Count Drascowich, who +held the office of _Judex Curiæ_, Grand Judge of the kingdom. This +nobleman fell suddenly dead on quitting a banquet where he had just +received a letter from the hands of a messenger from the king. The +servants of Austria saw in his death the just judgment of Heaven on the +head of the opposer of the will of royalty. The Hungarians gave it +another interpretation. + +“The diet at length succumbed to the wishes of the king. But his triumph +was only partial. The states yielded their consent only on conditions +from which they firmly refused to depart. They stipulated, first, that +in case of the failure of male heirs of the house of Hapsburgh, the +Hungarian nation should recover its rights over the crown, and the +kingdom should become once more elective. The second condition was, that +the king should still be obliged to take the oath to maintain the +constitution, and that the people of Hungary “should preserve, under the +hereditary monarchy, all the privileges, immunities, rights, customs, +and liberties, which they had enjoyed under the elective monarchy.” The +emperor assented to these stipulations, requiring only the exception +from the chapter of their privileges of the thirty-first article of the +Golden Bull, which gave to the nobles the right of armed resistance, +without incurring the penalties of treason, in case of an open attack on +their liberties by the king. This article was rescinded. On the 9th of +December, 1687, the ceremony of the coronation took place. Thus did the +crown of Hungary become hereditary in the House of Hapsburgh. + +“Charles III., the successor of Joseph, had no son. By the terms of the +act of the diet of Presburg, of 1687, the crown must therefore become, +at his death, once more elective. This prince had reigned with somewhat +more moderation than his predecessors. He had, indeed, like them, +infringed the laws and trifled with the interests of Hungary, but his +government had been less insupportably cruel than theirs. This +comparative clemency of the reigning prince, and yet more, the dread of +the civil wars which would result from a contested succession, induced +the Hungarian nation to give their consent to the Pragmatic Sanction, by +which the right of succession was assured to the daughters of Charles +and their descendants. By the term of the Pragmatic Sanction, the +succession was to be transmitted _in the order of primogeniture_, and +without division of the kingdom. It was accepted by the Hungarians only +on the same conditions that were attached to the act of 1687. The sacred +crown of Hungary was not to be carried out of the kingdom, and no prince +was to assume it until he had taken the oath to observe and maintain the +laws, customs, privileges, etc., of the kingdom. This instrument was +guaranteed by all the principal powers of Europe. Hungary alone was +faithful to the engagement. We need not dwell here on that celebrated +scene, better known than any other passage in Hungarian history, where +in the place of labored harangues, the flash of sabres, and the emphatic +words, ‘_Vitam et sanguinem_,’[15] answered the appeal of the betrayed +and deserted queen. + +“Maria Theresa was the first of her house who can be said to have +ascended the Hungarian throne by the free choice of the nation. In her +reign, for the first time since the accession of the House of Austria, a +sentiment of loyalty to their sovereign sprang up in the breasts of the +Hungarian people. They entertained for their queen that affection which +generous minds feel towards those whom they have benefited. Maria +Theresa was not insensible to the devotion of her people. But the +gratitude of the woman could not overcome the selfishness of the despot. +She expressed her sense of her obligations to the Hungarians in every +way in which she could do so without any sacrifice of her convenience, +or of the schemes of absolute dominion never lost sight of by any +sovereign of the Austrian dynasty. She pursued these schemes with a +prudence unknown to her predecessors. She avoided giving any violent +shock to the national feeling of the Magyars by a direct attack upon +their institutions; she won them by fair words and lavish encomiums, +which a generous and confiding people, unused to even so much +consideration for their rights as they received from her, accepted as if +they had been substantial benefits. Even in the promotion of measures +really advantageous to the kingdom, Maria Theresa took care to bring +herself a step nearer to the accomplishment of her designs. She put +forth decrees of her own authority, without the concurrence of the diet; +as, for example, those regulating the urbarial relations, which the +nobles, in consideration of their manifest justice and expediency, +accepted, notwithstanding the illegal manner of their promulgation. + +“Joseph II., the son and successor of Maria Theresa, was a man of more +activity of intellect and greater individuality of character than often +fall to the lot of princes in modern times. He possessed, together with +these qualities, an obstinate and imperious temper. He had been +carefully educated by a Hungarian tutor, a man of extensive learning and +enlightened views, and had thus acquired certain philanthropic and +liberal ideas, which, engrafted on his original disposition, and forced +to reconcile themselves with his schemes of usurpation, made him a +strange compound of tyrant and reformer. From the commencement of his +reign, he declared his intention of governing by his own absolute +authority. He disdained to receive the crown from the Hungarian nation, +and refused to take the oath of fidelity to the laws. His reign was one +continued contest with the Hungarian people. He decreed the entire +subversion of their ancient constitution and laws, which he would +replace by model institutions of his own. He gave the Hungarians three +years in which to learn the German language, at the expiration of which +time no man could hold an office or serve his country in any capacity +who had not made himself master of that tongue. The Hungarians resisted, +by petitions, by remonstrances, and by the refusal of subsidies. At +length they spoke a language to which he was forced to listen. The +contest ended, as all former contests of this sort had ended, in the +defeat of the usurper. Joseph was forced to cancel the work of his whole +reign. He revoked all his decrees, and declared that the kingdom was to +be regarded, in respect to its political institutions, as standing in +the same position as when he began his reign. He announced his intention +of assembling the diet. He promised to submit to the ceremony of +coronation, and to take the oath of allegiance to the Hungarian +constitution. He restored the regalia of Hungary to the charge of the +nation. But he was not destined to wear these emblems of royalty by +their gift. On the day when the sacred crown of St. Stephen was received +at Buda, in the midst of universal acclamations and the roar of cannon, +the monarch lay dead in his palace at Vienna. + +“Leopold, the brother of Joseph, warned by the example of his +predecessor, began his reign with voluntary assurances to the Hungarian +people of his earnest intention to govern according to the laws. He +immediately convened the diet, the first which had been called for +twenty-five years. He was solemnly crowned according to the ancient +customs, and took the oath to maintain the constitution. But this was +not deemed by the nation a sufficient guarantee for the safety of their +institutions. The diet, accordingly, passed a number of decrees, +defining the powers and duties of the king, and the rights of the +nation. These decrees contained nothing new. All the articles already +made part of the law of the kingdom. But the diet deemed it essential, +in view of the danger which the liberties of Hungary had so recently +incurred, that these statutes should be once more solemnly confirmed by +the diet, and receive the royal sanction. Of these acts we will cite +some of the most important: + + “‘Articles 2 and 3. Within six months after the death of the king, his + successor shall be crowned at Presburg, and shall take the oath to + observe the laws, liberties, and privileges of the kingdom.’ + + “‘Art. 10. Hungary is a free and independent kingdom, in no way + subordinate to any other people or kingdom, and is to be governed by + its lawfully crowned king, not according to the customs of the other + hereditary dominions, but according to its own laws, rights, and + customs.’ + + “‘Art. 12. The right of making, repealing, and interpreting the laws + belongs to the lawfully crowned king, and to the states of the realm + in the diet assembled, conjointly; and this right cannot be exercised + except in the diet of the nation. The king shall never attempt to + govern by edicts or patents, which, moreover, it shall not be lawful + for any authorities to receive, except where such patents are merely + designed for the more effectual publication of ordinances legally + enacted.’ + + “‘Art. 19. The impost shall never be levied by the king, but freely + voted by the diet.’ + +“It was likewise decreed, that the diet was for the future to be +assembled every three years, and oftener, if the public welfare demanded +it. The right of free discussion was likewise asserted. The sacred crown +of the kingdom was to be kept in the castle of Buda, and never to be +taken thence without the consent of the diet. + +“Thus, in 1790, the fundamental laws of the kingdom of Hungary were +solemnly reënacted by the diet, and confirmed by the king. + +“But the diet of 1790 did not confine its labours to the confirmation of +the ancient laws, or the defence of nationality. From this period we are +to behold the Hungarian nation under a new aspect. Hitherto we have seen +the nobility of the country successfully contending for the preservation +of their chartered rights and privileges against the usurpations of +Austria. We are now to see them engaging with equal energy and +resolution in a yet nobler contest. The attack which Joseph II. had made +on the constitution of Hungary had, in the course of the discussions +which it excited, turned the attention of the nation back upon the +earlier periods of their history, and roused inquiry into the original +nature and design of their institutions. In this investigation it was +impossible for the Hungarians not to become aware that these +institutions had not only been tampered with and defaced by Austrian +policy, but that many abuses had been suffered to creep into them, with +the connivance of the nation itself, whether from the example of +neighbouring countries, or the exigencies of barbarous times. They +perceived, moreover, that many customs which, in their origin, had been +reasonable and convenient, were now wholly unsuited to the needs of the +age, and were inconsistent with the prosperity and advancement of the +nation. They became sensible, above all, that the position in which the +privileged classes stood with regard to the great body of the people was +an unjust one, and wholly at variance with those principles of liberty +and universal equality which lay at the foundation of their political +constitution. With a people possessed of so high a sense of honour as +the Magyars, to perceive this injustice was to resolve to repair it. Of +this liberal movement in Hungary, whose first public demonstration was +made in the diet of 1790, De Gerando thus speaks:— + +“‘From this time they (the patriots of Hungary) declared that, in a +modern state, liberty ought to be the portion, not of a few, but of all. +They asserted that the old word _privileges_ ought to be abolished, to +be replaced by a word applicable to all,—_rights_. This comprehension of +their epoch led them to accomplish an unexampled act, to give to the +world the new spectacle which now meets our eyes;—an aristocracy +demolishing, of its own accord, stone by stone, the aristocratic +edifice; a nobility, under the eyes of an inert government, taking the +initiative in pronouncing the word of civil equality, and pursuing its +task with order and perseverance, in spite of all obstacles.’—_De +l’Esprit Public en Hongrie_, p. 96. + +“The conduct of the Hungarian reformers is rendered yet more worthy of +admiration by the fact, that no discontent on the part of the peasants +themselves had called the attention of the nobles to the question of +their wrongs. The reformers of Hungary were led by their own sense of +justice, without any external impulse, to undertake the work of the +emancipation and elevation of the people. But, while it was conceded by +all that a change must take place in the relations between the people +and their manorial lords, the manner in which this change was to be +effected was matter for grave consideration. The most ardent reformers +proposed the immediate abolition of the urbarial dues, without +compensation to the proprietor, declaring it to be a simple reparation +of an ancient injustice. Others were of opinion that such an act would +be inconsistent with the rights of property, since the dues paid by the +peasant were simply a form of rent for the use of the land. The subject +was submitted to a committee, who were instructed to report upon it at +the next assembly of the diet. Other committees were appointed to report +on the reform of the administration, on the education of the people, on +the liberty of the press, and on the national grievances. + +“The same diet passed many laws renewing and confirming the ancient +laws, which established entire freedom of religious faith. + +“Leopold, on closing the diet, renewed his assurances to the nation, of +his intention to govern according to the constitution. He did not live +long enough either to give proof of his sincerity, or to disappoint the +expectations of the nation. He died in February, 1792, and was followed +to the tomb by the deep regrets of his people. + +“The moderation which he had shown in his short reign had done much to +appease the minds of his Hungarian subjects, and they were prepared to +receive his son and successor with very different feelings from those +with which they had looked forward to his own accession to the throne. +The first acts of the young prince seemed to justify their confidence. +He convened the diet at Buda within sixteen days after his father’s +death, and offered the assembled states the assurance of his intention +to respect their institutions and laws. + +“‘I will myself,’ said he, ‘be the most diligent guardian of the +constitution. Rest assured that my will shall always be subjected to the +law, and that, in all my aims, I will be guided only by justice, honour, +and confidence in the Hungarian people.’[16] + +“The royal propositions addressed to the diet confirmed the favourable +impressions with which the nation already regarded their young king. The +first two articles interpreted the diploma of the coronation in a manner +favourable to the constitution. The king then called the attention of +the diet to the subjects left undecided at their last meeting, and +concluded with a request for subsidies and the augmentation of the army. +The diet, eager to express its confidence in the sovereign, immediately +voted the increase of the army, and a subsidy of four millions to be +paid by the nobles. This done, they were proceeding to transact the +business of the nation, when the king suddenly dissolved the diet. The +most important affairs, and among them the contemplated reform, were +left uncompleted. He did not fail, however, to renew his promises of +governing according to the constitution:— + +“‘I go from you richer than I came among you; but not by reason of the +subsidies I have received from you. These belong to the state, not to +me. That which I call my own, that in the possession of which I place my +happiness, is your affection. The kingdom I have received by +inheritance, but this love and mutual confidence is my own work and +yours. I will never cease from my sincere and zealous exertions for the +good of our common fatherland.... Bear to your fellow-citizens the +solemn assurance that, always mindful of my pledged faith, I will be the +true guardian and fulfiller of the laws.’[17] + +“The diet was summoned again in November, 1796. The expenses of the war +with France forced the king to ask his Hungarian subjects for supplies. +On this occasion he dispensed with all circumlocution. The royal +propositions simply contained a demand for troops and money. In addition +to the subsidies which had been voted at the last diet, the Hungarians +had testified their affection for their young king by large voluntary +offerings. The sum of the contributions in money and produce, which had +in this way been furnished to the king since the last assembly of the +diet, amounted to more than fourteen millions of guldens. + +“The diet of 1796 again acceded to the demands of the king. They granted +him large supplies in money, and fifty thousand recruits for the army, +on the condition that these should be incorporated only into Hungarian +regiments, and should be commanded by Hungarian officers. The diet had +trusted that, when they had fulfilled the wishes of the king, he would +show himself ready to listen to the ‘representations’ of the nation. +These expectations were disappointed. The diet was dissolved before any +thing had been done for the interests of the country. It was summoned +again in 1802. Peace had been declared; the hopes of the nation revived. +The king, in his opening speech, informed the diet that, peace being +established, he was now ready to advise with them on matters touching +the public welfare. He expressed his sense of the generosity of the +Hungarian nation, and assured them that the recollection of their +devotion would never be extinguished in his heart. ‘And now,’ said he, +‘that peace is concluded, I wish to bestow my cares on this country, +which, by its extent, its resources, and the noble character of the +people, is the chief bulwark of the empire.’ This was the preface to a +declaration that the royal treasury was empty, and that it concerned the +Hungarian honour that the crown should not be left without defence. +‘Peace,’ said he, ‘can be maintained only by a state of preparation for +war.’ The demands of the king were again granted, but no longer in the +same spirit of affection and loyalty as formerly. Distrust began to take +possession of the nation, as they saw their grievances unattended to, +and the most important reforms delayed. A number of measures which had +been discussed and accepted by the diet were prevented from passing into +law, for want of the royal sanction. The diet separated with a feeling +of deep dissatisfaction. The same scenes were repeated in the diets of +1805 and 1807. The confidence of the Hungarians in their king was +shaken, but appeals to Hungarian honour and loyalty had not yet lost +their effect upon them. They again voted the required supplies, again +presented their grievances, and again saw the consideration of them +deferred. + +“But though the Hungarians had so little reason to place confidence in +their king, their loyalty was still capable of standing a severe proof. +Napoleon, who was aware that the war against France was very unpopular +in Hungary, and that great dissatisfaction prevailed in regard to the +Austrian policy, addressed a proclamation to the Hungarian nation (May, +1809.) He offered to establish them as an independent kingdom, if they +would withdraw their allegiance from the emperor of Austria, and assist +the French in the overthrow of that empire. But the high sense of honour +of the Hungarians shrank from what had the appearance of treason. It was +not in the season of danger that they would desert their king. The +proposals of Napoleon were rejected. + +“The return of peace, in 1815, left the Hungarians at leisure to devote +themselves to the internal improvement of their country, and to +prosecute the reforms begun in 1790, of which the enlightened portion of +the nation felt more and more the necessity. The Hungarians had now +reason to expect some proof, on the part of their king, of that +affection and gratitude, of whose expression he had been so lavish in +the season of danger. But the return of peace gave the Austrian cabinet, +likewise, opportunity to unfold its plans. Francis, now feeling himself +firmly seated on his imperial throne, resolved thenceforth to reign in +Hungary without the assistance of the diet. The convention of this +assembly having been delayed beyond the prescribed time, the counties +addressed letters to the king, representing the urgent wants of the +nation, and declaring that the public welfare absolutely demanded the +convocation of the national assembly. These letters remained unanswered. +The circulars which the _congregations_, or county assemblies, addressed +to each other were seized and suppressed. While affairs were in this +position, the empire was threatened with new disturbances on the side of +Italy. It was necessary to strengthen the army and replenish the +treasury. As formerly, it is in Hungary that these supplies are to be +sought, but it is not, as formerly, by the free gift of the people that +they are to be furnished. The emperor, by the advice of his cabinet, +resolved to levy the required supplies by his own absolute authority. +There were not wanting in the royal council men who had courage and +firmness enough to oppose the opinion of the majority and the wishes of +the king. Német, who held the office of _Director causarum regalium_ in +Hungary, expressed himself with true Magyar frankness. He declared in +the royal presence, that the king would violate the constitution of +Hungary and his own royal oath, if he suffered himself to be led by his +Austrian counsellors to these rash and illegal measures. ‘Do you +forget,’ exclaimed the king, ‘that I am emperor and king, and that your +head is at my disposal?’ ‘I know it well,’ replied the Hungarian, ‘but +the liberty of my country and the honour of my king are dearer to me +than my life.’ The counsel of injustice and aggression prevailed. The +levying of recruits was ordered, and the increase of the impost to four +millions of florins. Hungary did not submit quietly to this invasion of +her rights. The counties refused compliance. Imperial commissioners were +then appointed, who were to carry into effect the royal commands. It was +in vain. The news spread rapidly through the country, and everywhere +excited the most lively indignation. All possible embarrassments were +thrown in the way of the commissioners. They could with great difficulty +obtain horses for their journeys. At their approach, the public +functionaries laid down their offices and disappeared. This passive +opposition was encountered everywhere. In some counties it took a yet +more decided character. In the end, Francis was forced to yield, as +Joseph had been; he had outraged the feelings of his subjects to no +purpose. However reluctantly, he found himself constrained to convene +the diet in 1825. + +“At the opening of the diet Francis endeavoured, by a conciliatory +speech, to appease the resentments of the assembly. But the members were +not satisfied. They required the names of the traitors who had misled +the king by their counsels. One of the magnates being prosecuted for the +freedom of his expressions, all the deputies supported him, and declared +that he had expressed the sentiments of all. The prosecution was +withdrawn. The deputies then addressed to the king a representation of +the grievances of the nation. To the long list of ancient griefs were +now added the recent attempt to levy money without the consent of the +diet, and the acts of violence committed by the royal commissioners. +Francis, in his reply, began with reproving the deputies for bringing +forward their own grievances, before considering the royal proposition +on the subject of the impost. He declared that he would protect the +faithful subjects who had executed his will. At the same time, he +expressed regret for what had occurred, but justified it by the plea of +necessity. In conclusion, he left the question of the impost to the +decision of the diet. This body, before acceding to his demands, +required and obtained of the king a renewed confirmation of the +fundamental laws of the kingdom. He bound himself never more to raise +money without the concurrence of the diet, and engaged to convoke this +assembly every three years. On their part, the states voted to raise the +amount of the impost to four millions. + +“The national assembly, dissolved in 1827, was to be convoked anew in +1830. This was not done without great reluctance on the part of the +Austrian cabinet, which perceived with apprehension the effect that the +events which took place in France in July of that year had produced on +the Hungarians. But it was necessary to raise subsidies; and it was no +time to revolt the minds of the people, at the moment when the country +was resounding with enthusiastic expressions of its sympathy with the +triumph, in a neighbouring state, of the cause of constitutional rights +over despotism. The diet was therefore convened. But the king, at the +same time, gave notice that, after a short session devoted to the +consideration of the most urgent affairs, it would be dissolved, to be +convened again the following year. The diet met on the 11th of +September. The king required the raising of recruits, and, the late +events having somewhat lessened his confidence in the success of +arbitrary measures, he accompanied his demand with all those flattering +expressions which the Austrian kings of Hungary were accustomed to +bestow so liberally on their subjects as often as they stood in need of +them, and which had but too much effect on a people highly sensitive on +the point of national honour, and devotedly loyal, whenever their duty +to their country did not come in collision with their deference for +their king. The diet acceded to the royal demands. It voted the +recruits, with the usual stipulation, that they should be placed in +Hungarian regiments, and should be commanded by Hungarian officers. The +king replied evasively, that the Hungarians should be placed in these +regiments, in preference to any other inhabitants of the empire. The +diet refused to vote for the raising of the recruits without some more +positive assurance. The emperor had recourse to the Palatine, and +desired him to use his personal influence to overcome the resistance of +the diet. + +“The Archduke Joseph, called to the dignity of Palatine in 1796, at the +age of twenty, had filled his difficult post of mediator between the +king and the people with great discretion. If he had been the +independent king of Hungary, the nation might have found in him one of +the wisest and most patriotic of its princes, and, under the auspices of +an administration, prudent, and, at the same time, liberal, might have +followed, with sure steps, the path of political reform, and have taken, +once more, a high place among the powers of Europe. As it was, placed as +mediator between a people jealous of its liberties, and a sovereign +watchful for an occasion to subvert them,—a sovereign to whom he owed, +at the same time, the respect of a subject and the affection of a +brother,—Joseph was forced to guide himself by a system of compromises, +and, not unfrequently, to play on the generous feelings which he knew so +well how to excite. The Hungarians, on their part, knew, or believed, +that the regard which the Archduke Joseph had displayed for their +interests had lessened his favour with the imperial court. He had, then, +suffered for them. They repaid him with an enthusiastic affection, and +the Palatine not seldom won from their gratitude concessions which he +would in vain have expected from their compliance. On the present +occasion, called upon by the court for aid in an attempted encroachment +on the rights of Hungary, he felt that it was on this attachment for his +person that he could alone rely for success. He addressed the diet in a +speech skilfully framed, which concluded with these words:—‘Let, then, +the states, in remembrance of thirty-five years of services, of efforts +consecrated to this kingdom, which I proudly regard as my country, and +in consideration of my position as mediator between the king and the +nation,—let the states, I say, consent to show me some manifestation of +their gratitude, by withdrawing their motion.’ These words did not fail +of their intended effect. The recruits were voted; the condition was +withdrawn. In three days, the king dissolved the diet. + +“But the nation was no longer to be trifled with. The necessity for +reform was, every day, more strongly and more extensively felt. The +interval between the dissolution of the diet of 1830 and the assembling +of that of 1832, was not lost by the patriots of Hungary. They employed +it in determining on the measures of reform to be introduced at the next +diet, and in concerting their plan of action. The condition of the +peasantry was felt to be the subject which most urgently demanded +attention. One of the most zealous advocates of the cause of the people +was found in Count Széchényi, one of the large landed proprietors of the +kingdom. He prepared the way for the reception of the question of the +emancipation of the peasantry, by a series of works, which had a great +effect in enlightening the public mind. + +“The Austrian cabinet, in the mean time, had not been idle. Having been +reluctantly compelled to convene the diet, it took its own measures to +put a check on the designs of the liberal party. It gave orders to its +agents to leave no arts unemployed, and to spare no expense, to defeat +the election of the liberal candidates.[18] These efforts were vain. The +spirit of liberty and the virtue of the people resisted all attempts. +The chamber of deputies was almost wholly composed of liberal members. + +“The Austrian cabinet, too prudent to enter into open contest with a +movement which was evidently becoming national, affected to adopt the +views of the liberal party, hoping, by an apparent and partial +acquiescence, to allay the excitement of the public mind, and to +restrain and direct a movement which it could not suppress. The royal +propositions, therefore, embodied some of the principal measures of +reform projected by the liberals. Among the most important of the +subjects to which the attention of the diet was called, were the +creation of the urbarial code, delayed since 1790, the reform of the +judiciary, and a more equitable division of the imposts. + +“Notwithstanding the enthusiasm for liberty which pervaded the Hungarian +people, and the generous ardour with which her enlightened patriots +approached the work of reform, it is not to be supposed that measures, +involving important changes in the constitution of the country, were +passed without encountering opposition. This opposition sprang from two +very different sources. It arose, on the one hand, from the conservative +spirit of the elder magnates, old Magyar patriots, who regarded the +institutions of their country with a superstitious affection, and in +whose eyes it was a sacrilege to lay a finger on one stone of this +venerable edifice. The organ of this party, composed of men who had been +the patriots of twenty years before, and to whom it is impossible to +refuse our respect, was Dessewffy. ‘In my youth,’ cried the venerable +noble, ‘I defended my country against the usurpations of Austria; in my +old age, I will defend her against the ingratitude of her sons.’ The +other and more dangerous source of opposition which the plans of the +reform party encountered, arose from the influence of the Austrian +cabinet. This government, true to its constant principle, _Divide et +impera_, while it gave apparent countenance to one party, lent its real +support to the other. It was not ill pleased to see these impracticable +Hungarian magnates engaged in a contest for their institutions with +their own countrymen, and those forces divided which had hitherto been +concentrated in the defence of Hungarian nationality against Austrian +encroachment. Thus, while affecting to take the initiative in the +reforms contemplated by the liberal members of the diet, the Austrian +government opposed the success of these measures with all the weight of +its influence. It was no longer as in those times when the monarchs +found their interest in raising the condition of the common people. In +this nineteenth century, it is not the king who shields his prerogatives +against the encroachments of an ambitious nobility; it is king and +aristocracy who tremble together, before the advance of a new power, +which threatens them both with extinction. + +“But the cause of liberty was not without its advocates in the upper +house. The younger magnates,[19] with the exception of those who held +places under the government, shared warmly in the liberal spirit of the +time, and, with the generous ardour of youth, were ready to make any +sacrifice which the welfare of their country demanded. At their head was +the noble Széchényi, who supported the cause of freedom and justice with +the double power of eloquence and reason. It was he who gave the first +blow to the peculiar privileges of the aristocratic class. He brought +forward a project for a suspension bridge between Pest and Buda. He +proposed that all who passed this bridge, whether peasant or noble, +should be subjected to the toll. This question assumed importance from +the principle involved in it. The exemption from all public charges was +one of the most cherished privileges of the nobles. It was a question in +which their pride was more concerned than their pecuniary interest. +Széchényi knew how to combat the pride of the Magyars by calling on +their generosity. + +“‘Do you call it a privilege,’ said he, ‘to be debarred from +contributing to the advancement of your country? Is it a privilege to be +obliged to devote your wealth only to your own selfish gratification, +while your country languishes in perpetual poverty? Will you build +houses, and plant trees, and lay out walks through your grounds, while +the country has neither roads, nor public buildings, nor navigation, nor +commerce? After all, what is the question before you? Are you called to +sacrifice your constitution to a foreign power? No; it is yourselves who +are to pronounce the decision. The right to give ourselves laws, the +right to restrain our own liberties, is not that, in itself, the highest +liberty!’ + +“The measure was carried. The diet then proceeded to pass several other +laws, which touched yet more nearly the prerogatives of the aristocracy. +The constitutional right of the noble to be exempted from arrest, except +on a charge of high treason, was abolished. The judicial power was taken +from the lord of the manor. The peasant received the right of +instituting a suit against a noble, and even against his own manorial +lord. It was especially to the improvement of the peasantry that the +diet of 1832–36 devoted its energies. The right of free migration, which +had been repeatedly adjudged to the peasant by former diets, and had as +often fallen into disuse, was confirmed. The amount of land which he had +a right to hold for his own use was increased; the vexatious exactions, +known by the name of the little tithes, abolished; and the _robot_, or +soccage labour, reduced to fifty-two days in the year. The most +important measure was that which decreed to the peasant the right of +redeeming the _tized_ (tithes) and _robot_ (_corvées_ or soccage-work), +by means of contracts passed between him and the manorial proprietor, +and of thus becoming the owner of the soil he tilled.[20] In addition to +these important measures, the diet of 1832 passed several bills for +internal improvements. This diet was not, however, content with +providing only for the material wants of the country. The friends of +reform had long been desirous of establishing a system of public +instruction. They had repeatedly called the attention of the government +to this subject, but always without effect. The representations offered +by the present diet were not more successful. The education of the +people was too dangerous a power to be trusted in the hands of +reformers; and the Austrian cabinet, emboldened by the support of the +conservative party in the upper house, felt itself strong enough to +venture on open acts of opposition to the views of the liberal party. +This conduct of the government called forth the liveliest indignation in +the chamber of deputies. + +“‘The government,’ said Bezerédy, ‘sins against its own conscience in +refusing to permit us to secure instruction to our children and our +fellow-countrymen. But patience has its limits. Let the government look +to its acts. Its conduct forces the nation to rely on itself. I call +upon you, then, I call upon the whole nation, to unite in paying to our +country this most necessary duty; to unite in fulfilling a sublime, a +holy work, that of elevating the people.’ + +“‘Let us thank the government,’ said Deák, ‘let us thank the government. +There are among us those who cherish, if not a full confidence, at least +a hope, that the government is not hostile to the welfare of our +country. But all the answers of the court have been calculated to dispel +these illusions. Let us, then, thank the government, for illusion is the +worst of evils. We ask of the government neither money nor counsel; we +make no attempt on the royal prerogative; we simply ask to be allowed to +frame a law for the moral and material development of the people. And +the government interferes to prevent us. But what will it gain by this +interference? In more than one heart will be planted the bitter +conviction, that the Austrian government dreads the prosperity of +Hungary, and labours to repress it. False calculations! Can there be +more short-sighted policy than to excite in us such bitter feelings, at +the very moment of the dissolution of the diet, that we may communicate +to our constituents these feelings, which will, in three years, again +animate the representatives of the country? It is not necessary to be a +prophet, to predict that this policy of the government will favour the +development of the national faculties more than all polytechnic +institutions.’ + +“The diet separated in May, 1836. The result of its labours fell short +of the wishes and plans of the reformers, yet they must be regarded as +having gained a signal victory. This victory was not achieved without +cost. Every triumph of truth and justice has had its martyrs. + +“It was during the sitting of the diet of 1832–36, that the name of +Kossuth was heard for the first time. He attended the diet as scribe for +some of the deputies. He had learned the art of short-hand writing, in +order the better to qualify himself for making reports of the +discussions in the diet. These reports he lithographed and circulated as +a newspaper. The government declared the publication of the proceedings +of the diet in this way to be illegal.[21] Kossuth then organized a +society of young men, composed chiefly of the scribes who attended the +deputies; these copied the journal by hand, and it was then transmitted +to the subscribers through the post, in the form of a letter. These +letters were seized in the post-office, and destroyed. This infringement +of their rights only served to rouse the indignation of the people, and +to give celebrity to the journal. The papers were thenceforth carried by +the county messengers, and delivered at the doors of the subscribers. +After the closing of the diet, Kossuth continued to edit his journal, +giving, in the place of the deliberations of the diet, the discussions +in the county assemblies. This journal being interdicted by the +government, Kossuth made application to the county of Pest, and was +formally authorized to continue it. + +“The censorship of the press has never existed by law in Hungary, but, +since the awakening of liberal ideas in that country, the Austrian +government has exercised a censorship of the most formidable kind. It +could not attack the publisher or author by process of law; but by a +sudden act of arbitrary power, it cut off from the world the utterer of +dangerous doctrines, and smothered his voice in the silence of the +dungeon. Since the beginning of the present century, not less than forty +Hungarian patriots had met this fate. It was thus that Kossuth was now +dealt with. He was seized in the middle of the night, and consigned to a +dungeon in Buda. The government arrested, at the same time, the leaders +of a debating society, formed by some young men, who met for the purpose +of political and literary discussions. Among these was Lovassy, a young +man of brilliant talents and an ardent patriot. When the amnesty of 1840 +restored him to liberty, he was no longer to be recognized; the horrors +of the dungeon had deprived him of reason. + +“Another victim of the vengeance of the government was the Baron +Wesselényi. This nobleman was born of a family which had already made +sacrifices to liberty. His ancestor, the Palatine, had defended the +liberties of Hungary against the encroachments of Leopold, and would +have lost his life on the scaffold, if he had not found refuge in +Transylvania. The father of Wesselényi had sustained in his castle, for +a whole day, the attack of a regiment of dragoons sent against him by +Joseph II. His mother was a noble woman, who early impressed on his mind +the principles of justice and benevolence. Wesselényi had long been an +object of fear to the Austrian government. He possessed large estates +both in Hungary and Transylvania; this gave him a right to sit in the +diet of both kingdoms. + +“The Transylvanians, not less attached to their liberties than the +Hungarians, had seen them even more boldly infringed. The constitution +of that kingdom requires that the king shall summon the diet every year. +During the war with Napoleon, its convention had been suspended, and, +after the return of peace, the Austrian cabinet still continued to +govern the kingdom as a province of the empire. The dissatisfaction of +the people was great. They watched with deep interest the movements of +the patriots in the sister kingdom. They had seen these succeed in +forcing from the government the restoration of their political rights, +after a suspension of thirteen years. The news of the revolution of +July, in Paris, which seemed at that time an event full of good augury +for all who were engaged, whether openly or silently, in a struggle for +their rights, spread rapidly through the country, and added to the +popular excitement. It was then that Wesselényi appeared on the scene. +He was a man peculiarly fitted to guide and control a popular movement. +He possessed a vigorous intellect, improved by the highest degree of +cultivation, invincible firmness, and a disinterestedness which his +enemies have never impugned. He was not less endowed with all those +qualities which possess a peculiar influence over the popular mind. To +the prestige of high birth, he added the advantages of wealth, an +imposing person, and a captivating eloquence. He possessed Herculean +strength,—a gift held in high respect by a simple and martial +people,—and an intrepid, almost reckless courage, which shrank from no +form of danger, now leading him to brave the vengeance of a despotic +government, now to put off alone at midnight in a frail boat, to save +from the waters of the Danube the victims of an inundation.[22] +Wesselényi might as easily have roused the Szeklers and Magyars of +Transylvania to armed insurrection, as to a constitutional vindication +of their rights. But while he called them to action, he restrained their +enthusiasm within the bounds of law. He passed rapidly through the +country, haranguing the congregations. He turned the excitement and +unfixed purposes of the people to a single point. He brought the +different counties into communication with each other, and led them to +combine to demand the restoration of their political rights. The people +rose at his summons, and the counties unanimously demanded of the king +the convocation of the diet. The government did not venture to refuse +the demand. The convocation of the diet was proclaimed. Wesselényi had +gained a victory over the Austrian cabinet; but one which they would not +fail to make him expiate. With this ardent and fearless temper, he was +not long in offering them an occasion. During the diet of 1832–36, at +the time when the government was endeavouring, through its emissaries, +to misrepresent the views of the liberal party, and to excite the +jealousies and prejudices of the nobles in opposition to reform, +Wesselényi, in the county meeting of Szathmár, detailed and explained +the measures which were contemplated by the reform party. In the course +of his speech, he spoke bitterly of the injustice which the people +suffered from the privileges of the aristocracy, and the check which the +prosperity of the nation received from the policy of the government. +Some of his expressions were pronounced to be treasonable, and he was +condemned to three years’ imprisonment. It was immediately after his +noble exertions during the inundation, and while his name was on all +lips, that this decree was carried into execution. Three years’ +imprisonment in an Austrian dungeon is a sentence whose terrors, in this +country, cannot be easily comprehended. On a vigorous frame and +energetic temperament, like Wesselényi’s, the damp and squalor of the +dungeon, the privation of light and air, seem to act even more +powerfully than on frailer and more elastic constitutions. In a year and +a half, their work was done on Wesselényi. The government had no longer +anything to apprehend from him. Blind and decrepit, he was permitted to +leave his dungeon, on parole, to repair to Gräfenberg. He was finally +released by the amnesty of 1840. + +“‘It is with a noble serenity,’ says De Gerando, ‘that Wesselényi has +borne the persecutions which have followed him. Proscribed for many +years, broken by moral and physical pain, he has been able at length to +return to his country, and it is to her that, prematurely old through +suffering, he consecrates his last wishes and his last thoughts.’[23] + +“The diet was again convened in 1839. The Austrian cabinet had returned +to its old policy. The royal propositions contained no allusion to the +topics which chiefly occupied the public mind. The royal speech at the +opening of the diet concluded with these words:— + +“‘As we have no greater desire than to testify to you, by our entire +confidence, a love equal to that of our ancestors of glorious memory, +so, likewise, we do not doubt, in any manner, of the zeal of our +faithful states, nor of their eagerness to show themselves the worthy +sons of those who have assured to the Hungarians the reputation of a +generous nation. Among the subjects of which we shall treat with you, +there is one which has its guarantee in the noble Hungarian character, +since it tends to maintain the army in a condition worthy of its honour +and glory.’ + +“This prefaced, after the ancient fashion of the Austrian kings of +Hungary, a demand for subsidies. + +“The first of the royal propositions demanded the reinforcement of the +army; the second, supplies for its support. The only point affecting the +interests of the country to which it called the attention of the diet, +was the regulation of the course of the Danube. + +“The liberal party did not, however, lose ground in the diet of 1839. +Some new advantages were acquired for the peasant, and the privileges of +the nobles were still further retrenched. The diet was dissolved on the +3d of May, 1840. The government, convinced by the result of this diet, +of the strength of the liberal party, returned once more into the path +of concession. At the closing of the diet, an amnesty for political +offences was proclaimed. The prosecutions were stopped, and the +prisoners set at liberty. Among these was Kossuth. He left his dungeon, +with his bodily frame wasted and enfeebled, but with his mental +faculties unimpaired and his energy unsubdued. He was released in May, +1840. On the 12th of July, of the same year, appeared the first number +of the _Pesti Hirlap_. It was published by the bookseller Heckenast. The +name of the editor was concealed. Never, since the rise of periodical +literature, did journalist exercise such a power as that swayed by the +unknown editor of the _Pesti Hirlap_. He attacked wrong and injustice in +whatever quarter they showed themselves. He not only maintained a +contest with the government for the constitutional liberties of the +kingdom, but brought to light all malpractices which took place in the +administration of public affairs throughout the country. Abuses to which +the diet had in vain attempted to bring a remedy, fell before the +attacks of the _Pesti Hirlap_. The minute knowledge which the editor +displayed of the affairs of every part of the kingdom,—the vigilance +from which it seemed that nothing could be hid,—above all, his rigorous +justice,—inspired both admiration and fear, and gave a force to his +judgments which nothing could withstand. In six months after its first +publication, this journal numbered eleven thousand subscribers. These +were of all classes and of all races. It was sought with equal eagerness +by the Slaves and the Germans, as by the Magyars. + +“But with the increased diffusion of liberal opinions, the opposition to +them strengthened, and was gradually assuming a more selfish character. +It became apparent that the advocates of reform would not be content +with merely removing the most flagrant abuses. When the untitled +nobility had laid down all the privileges which separated them from the +common people, it was not to be supposed that the nation would see with +indifference the enormous influence exerted in the state by a few +families.[24] Already some of the liberal party had recalled the fact +that the chamber of magnates was an innovation introduced under the +Austrian administration, and there were many indications that the titled +aristocracy would be called on to make some sacrifices in their turn. +Experience has shown, again and again, that men who are capable, +individually, of making the greatest sacrifices, become selfish and +tenacious as members of an order. The interests of the magnates of +Hungary, and those of the emperor of Austria, became every day more +closely intertwined. There were still, however, among them noble +examples of patriotism and disinterestedness. Széchényi was still true +to the principles of his youth. The name of Batthyányi has been already +consecrated by martyrdom. + +“The diet was again convened for 1843. The Austrian cabinet had now +abandoned the idea of intimidation, and returned to the line of policy +it had adopted in 1832. The royal propositions called the attention of +the diet to some of the principal measures of reform demanded by the +liberal party. The charge of defeating them was left to the upper house. +The two parties in the state, that adverse and that favourable to +reform, were already known by the names of the government party and the +opposition. Among the opponents of reform were found all who held +offices by the appointment of the crown, and likewise—with regret it +must be spoken—the dignitaries of the Church, who gave their influence +and their votes constantly on the side of the Austrian government. +Meanwhile, the same means were put in requisition, as in the case of the +former diet, to defeat the election of the liberal candidates. Money was +not spared. All the influence of the government and of the conservative +magnates was called into exercise. But without effect. The voice of the +nation pronounced itself, with decision, for the liberal side. The party +of reform had, as before, a very large majority in the lower house. New +victories were obtained for the cause of freedom. The most important +measure which was passed during this session of the diet was that which +gave the peasant the right to become the possessor of landed property, +without restriction. The law of 1836 had given him the power of +acquiring the property of the land which he held as tenant, by means of +contracts between himself and the manorial lord. The act of 1843 +permitted him to become the owner, by purchase, of noble property, as if +himself noble. The advocates of this bill took the ground, that, by +their ancient constitution, the peasant possessed this right, and that +it was but a revival and confirmation of a law already existing, though +long unrecognized. While this question was under debate, one of the +members proposed, as an amendment, that this right should be extended +only to such peasants as understood the Hungarian language; but he was +instantly reminded by his colleagues, that ‘the law gave all the +inhabitants of Hungary the title of Hungarians, and that all, having +equally shed their blood for the defence of the country, had a right to +share in the same advantages.’ The act was passed without any condition. +It was likewise carried in the upper house, where it owed its success +chiefly to the exertions of Count Széchényi. + +“Another very important measure, which likewise originated at the second +table, was carried during the diet of 1843. This was a law by which all +public functions were rendered accessible to the non-nobles. + +“The liberal party could not, however, yet succeed in obtaining the +passage of a law for the equal distribution of the taxes. It was in vain +that Széchényi exerted all his eloquence. The victory was still delayed. +But, in the mean time, in anticipation of the law, great numbers of the +liberal party caused themselves to be inscribed on the list of those +subject to taxation. ‘There is not a county,’ says De Gerando, ‘in which +the liberals have not, in crowds, given this proof of their +patriotism.’[25] + +“The chamber of deputies attempted several other measures of reform, +which were lost through the opposition of the upper house. Among these +were, the abolition of the _aviticitas_, and the introduction of trial +by jury. The states likewise passed some decrees favourable to Hungarian +commerce;[26] these having, with some difficulty, passed the upper +house, were by the government ‘deferred to the next diet,’—a common +mode, with the Austrian cabinet, of disposing of measures to which it +does not venture to give a direct veto. + +“The liberal members of the diet had not succeeded in carrying all their +measures, but, during the short time they had been in session, they had +rendered great service to the country, and they were confident of +obtaining yet greater victories at the next convention of the national +assembly, which was to take place in 1847. + +“The government in 1845, finding all its attempts to arrest the progress +of the liberal party unsuccessful, resolved to renew the attempt which +had been made in the time of Joseph, and attack the liberty of Hungary +in its very stronghold,—the municipal governments. Hungary has been, +from the earliest times, divided into counties, each of which possesses +an independent administration; so that the kingdom may be said to be +composed of a number of small states, united by a federal compact, and +represented, by their deputies, in the general diet of the nation. Each +of these counties is presided over by a Föispán, or supreme count, who +is usually one of the large landed proprietors of the county. Under him +is an Alispán (Viscount), on whom the principal business of the county +devolves. The salaries of these officers are, on the true republican +principle, very moderate. The honour of serving the country is regarded +as sufficient recompence. The law provides, that, in case of neglect of +duty on the part of the Föispán, the king may, _at the instance of the +county_, oblige him to resign his office into the hands of an +administrator, to be named by the king. The government made the absence +of some of these magistrates from the counties over which they presided +the pretext for a general displacement. This was done without the +consent of the counties, and even in cases where the Föispán had +resigned his other offices for the purpose of devoting himself to the +affairs of his county. The new administrators brought with them a +complete set of under officers, and, instead of receiving the moderate +stipend awarded by the county to its chief magistrate, had very large +salaries from the Austrian government. It was the intention of the +cabinet, by this illegal measure, to overrule the elections, as it had +already done in Croatia.[27] The appointment of these administrators +excited an indignation, which their conduct did not tend to allay. It +was in vain, however, that the counties presented remonstrances to the +king against the mal-administration of these functionaries. All +complaints were disregarded, and this new encroachment on their rights +was added to the list of grievances for whose redress the nation was to +combat at the next meeting of the diet. + +“In June, 1847, the opposition party issued a programme of the measures +which they intended to advocate at the next meeting of the diet. They +begin with declaring that, in giving their opposition or their support, +they shall have regard, not to persons, but to acts; that they shall +disapprove of those acts of the government only which are, in their form +or their essence, illegal, or which are calculated to affect injuriously +the interests of the country. They proceed to recount some of the most +serious of the long-neglected grievances of the nation:— + +“‘Our heavy grievances, so many times exposed, after a long course of +years, in which we have asked, urged, waited, have remained even to this +day without a remedy. They have become more bitter, because our +legitimate complaints, so often heard, have never produced any result. +It is for this reason that confidence and hope begin to fail. + +“‘In the mass of our grievances there are some on which the opinion of +the whole nation is unanimous, including the men who are now members of +the Hungarian government. Nevertheless, the government does not seek to +remedy the evil; we cannot see, on their part, any intention of +relieving it.... In addition to our complaints of long standing, we find +new grievances in recent acts of the government. We have no need to +relate them in full; the public consultations of the counties, their +representations and their circulars, have already fully exposed and +registered them.... In this alarming situation of our country, we must +strive to increase and strengthen the legal guarantees of our +constitutional existence. We regard the responsibility of the government +as one of these guarantees. This belongs to the very nature of +constitutional government, and will form the best defence of the +Hungarian government against the pernicious influence of foreign +elements. + +“‘Among the constitutional guarantees we count publicity. This we will +maintain, with all our force, in regard to every branch of public life. +We regard as a constitutional guarantee, and as a necessary means to our +future national development, the liberty of the press, limited by +suitable laws. We shall therefore insist upon the abolition of the +censorship, which has been introduced contrary to law. + +“‘We regard it as legal, equitable, and as important for the increase of +the national strength and the security of our independence, that +Transylvania and Hungary should be fully and legally united; that the +two nations may be restored to each other, and the claims of kindred and +the long-expressed wishes of both countries satisfied. + +“‘But we shall not regard our mission as accomplished when we have +fortified the guarantees of our constitutional existence. We believe +ourselves called to labour continually for the accomplishment of all +just reforms. We therefore resolutely declare, that we shall remain, for +the future, on the ground on which the history of the last years has +made the name of opposition synonymous with that of reform.... + +“‘In conformity with all that precedes, while we regard it as our +indispensable duty to guard the right of the initiative, we also hold it +our duty openly and clearly to point out the principal questions whose +prompt solution we believe necessary for the good of the country:— + + “‘1. The equal distribution of the public burdens. We regard it as our + principal duty to lighten the burdens of the people, who have hitherto + been alone subjected to taxation. We wish in this respect, also, to + strengthen our constitutional guarantees. We desire that the diet + should decide as to the disposition of the impost. + + “‘2. Participation of the non-nobles, of the inhabitants of the royal + cities, and of the free districts, in legislative and municipal + rights.[28] + + “‘3. Equality before the law. + + “‘4. The abolition of the urbarial dues, with indemnity to the landed + proprietors. We think it desirable that steps should be taken to + render the redemption of these universal, through the assistance of + the state. + + “‘5. Security given to credit and property by the abolition of the + _aviticitas_. + + +“‘We shall labour strenuously to call into life all that can tend to the +material and intellectual development of the country. We shall endeavour +to give to popular education, that powerful engine of national +development, such a direction as shall form able and patriotic citizens, +that the people may, by this means, likewise attain to personal +independence.... + +“‘While labouring for the accomplishment of these ends, we shall never +forget the relations which, by the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, +exist between Hungary and the hereditary states of Austria. But at the +same time, we shall hold fast to the tenth article of 1790, by which the +royal word, sanctified by an oath, guaranteed to our nation that Hungary +is a free country, independent in its whole system of legislation and of +administration, and that it is not subordinate to any other country.’ + +“The events which took place in France and Austria in the spring of 1848 +gave to the cause of liberal principles a speedier triumph than its +advocates had anticipated for it. Ferdinand, in the midst of a crumbling +empire, was in no condition to refuse the demands of his people. +Immediately after the revolution of the 13th of March in Vienna, the +opposition party in Hungary issued a proclamation, headed, ‘_Mit kiván a +magyar nemzet?_’—‘What asks the Magyar nation?’ + +“This manifesto sets forth twelve points of reform:— + + “‘1. We ask freedom of the press, and the abolition of the censorship. + + “‘2. A responsible ministry at Buda. + + “‘3. Annual diet at Pest. + + “‘4. Equality before the law, both as regards religious and civil + rights. + + “‘5. A national guard. + + “‘6. An equal distribution of the public burdens. + + “‘7. Abolition of the urbarial relations. + + “‘8. Trial by jury. + + “‘9. Representation on the principle of equality. + + “‘10. A national bank. + + “‘11. The army shall be required to take the oath to the constitution; + the Magyar troops shall not be taken out of the country; the foreign + troops shall be withdrawn. + + “‘12. Union with Transylvania.’[29] + +“To these articles, at the suggestion of Vahot, was added, the release +of prisoners confined for political offences.[30] + +“It is to be observed that these demands for equality before the law, +and an equal distribution of the taxes, were not made by those who +suffered by the existing injustice,—until these reforms were carried, +these had no voice in any public matter,—but by the very persons whose +privileges were to be abrogated. + +“These measures of reform were rapidly passed by the diet. A deputation +of Hungarian nobles then proceeded to Vienna, to lay them before the +king, and obtain his sanction. + +“On the 19th of March, placards, affixed to the walls of Pest, announced +to the people that the royal assent to their demands had been obtained. +A copy of a letter was given, addressed by the Palatine to Count +Batthyányi, empowering him to form the long-desired Hungarian ministry. +This announcement seemed to give the final pledge of the reality and +permanence of their newly gained freedom. The people were satisfied. +They had never had any other desire than to live quietly under just and +equal laws. They believed their end accomplished. A partaker in the +scenes of the 15th to the 19th of March, writing while the hopes of the +people were still fresh, and before they had even a foreboding of the +terrible disenchantment which was to follow, speaks thus:— + +“‘That which in Italy has cost streams of blood, that to which, in +France, hundreds and hundreds of men fell as sin-offerings, that which +Germany must buy with blood, and again blood,—that have we Hungarians, +who have been decried, through all Europe, as a seditious, lawless, +turbulent people, gained without any disturbance of the public order. +Our victory was no victory of force, but a victory of right,—a victory +of intelligence. Our revolution was a revolution against disorder, to +obtain the highest good of a free people,—order.’[31] + +“Another eyewitness thus describes the effect produced on the people of +Pest by the announcement of the royal assent:— + +“‘It would be impossible to describe the joy which everywhere manifested +itself. With deeply penetrated, devout hearts, we hastened to the +church, to give thanks to the Omnipotent for this speedy bloodless +accomplishment of our transformation. The church, when we entered, was +filled with people, the sight of whose deep, enthusiastic devotion +elevated the heart with a sublime feeling. When we left the church, I +felt as if newly born, newly baptized.’[32] + +“But this apparent triumph of their rights did but hasten the crisis +which Austria had been for years preparing for the Hungarian nation.[33] +While they were returning thanks to God for their freedom, redeemed +without blood, Jellachich was receiving his orders from the Austrian +cabinet. + +“On the 24th of March, only five days after the date of the letter to +Count Batthyányi, which had excited so much joy and gratitude among the +people, the Palatine Stephen, son of the old, beloved Palatine Joseph, +and who was himself possessed of the affection and confidence of the +Hungarian people, addressed to the emperor a letter, in which he set +forth the ‘three measures’ through which ‘alone’ he ‘hoped to accomplish +anything in Hungary.’ + +“The first measure was to withdraw all the military force from the +country, and to ‘abandon it to entire devastation,’ (dieses der +gänzlichen Verwüstung zu überlassen,) to ‘pillage and fire,’ while the +government was to look passively on. The second measure was to make an +attempt upon Count Batthyányi, the President of the Hungarian ministry, +and, through his means, ‘to save all that is to be saved.’ The third +measure was to recall the Palatine, and to send a royal commissioner, +invested with extraordinary powers, with a considerable armed force, to +Presburg, who should repair to Pest, after the dissolution of the diet, +and there carry on the government with a strong hand, in such a manner +as circumstances may require.’[34] The Austrian cabinet adopted each of +these measures in turn. The first was already in progress of +preparation. Until their plans were matured for carrying the third into +execution, it was necessary still to temporize. The good faith of the +Hungarian ministry was not to be tampered with, but their credulity +might be practised upon. They were, for a time, not less deceived than +the rest of the nation. + +“On the 11th of April, Ferdinand gave in person, at Presburg, his solemn +sanction to the laws which had been promulgated in March. On the 10th of +the following month, he issued a proclamation, addressed to the +rebellious Croats and Servians, in which Jellachich was denounced as a +traitor, and deprived of his banship, and all his military employments. +In this proclamation, Ferdinand himself exposes the futility of the +accusations which had been brought against the Hungarians as oppressors +of the other races. He upbraids the rebels with their treason, in the +following terms:— + +“‘We have been deceived in you,—in you, Croats and Slavonians, who, for +eight hundred years, under the same crown, sharing the destinies of +Hungary, _have owed to this bond the constitutional freedom which you +alone, among all Slavonian people, have been through a course of +centuries in a condition to retain_. + +“‘We find ourselves deceived in you,—_you, who have not only always +shared equally in all the rights and privileges of the Hungarian +constitution_, but also, by the favour of our illustrious ancestors, in +reward of your spotless fidelity, have been invested with greater +privileges than any other subjects of our sacred Hungarian crown. + +“‘We have been deceived in you to whom the last diet of Hungary and its +dependent states granted, agreeably to our royal will, a brotherly share +in all the benefits of constitutional freedom and equality before the +law. The right of constitutional representation has, with you, as in +Hungary, been extended to the people, so that not only the nobility, but +also the other inhabitants, and the frontier regiments, through their +deputies, may take part, as well in the general legislation as also in +your municipal assemblies, and thus you yourselves, through your own +immediate action, can forward your own prosperity. Hitherto the noble +has had little share in the public burdens; henceforward the uniform +distribution of the same among all the inhabitants, without distinction +of class, is established by law, and thereby an oppressive burden has +been taken from your shoulders. + +“‘Your nationality and municipal rights, in regard to which an attempt +has been made, by malicious, false reports, to inspire you with +apprehensions, are not in any way threatened; on the contrary, they have +been extended and strengthened, secured against all attacks; for _the +use of your mother tongue has not only been secured to you by law in +your schools and churches, for all future time, but has also been +introduced into your public assemblies, in place of the Latin, hitherto +in use_. + +“‘Calumniators have endeavoured to persuade you that the Hungarian +nation wishes to suppress your language, or to hinder its further +development. _We ourselves assure you these reports are entirely false._ + +“‘_For eight hundred years have you been united with Hungary; during all +this time, the legislature has acted with a regard to your nationality; +how could you, then, believe that this same legislature would now show +itself hostile to your mother tongue, which it has protected for eight +hundred years?..._ + +“‘The law is holy, and must be holy. _We have sworn by the living God, +that we will preserve the integrity of our Hungarian crown, that we will +maintain and obey the constitution and the laws, and cause others to +obey them._’ + +“This proclamation had the effect of confirming the Hungarians in their +false security. It had no other effect. Jellachich continued to raise +troops, and complete his preparations for the invasion of Hungary. The +other agents of Austria in Southern Hungary incited the peasants with +the hope of the rich plunder of the Hungarian towns and villages. The +work of devastation began immediately after the promulgation of this +edict. + +“On the opening of the diet, on the 5th of July, the Palatine, in the +name of the king, expressed his reprobation of the rebels in Croatia and +Slavonia, who, as he said, had even dared to use the royal name, and to +resist the laws under the pretext that they were not the free expression +of the royal will. He assured them that it was his majesty’s desire that +the representatives of the nation should consider it their first duty to +take the necessary measures for restoring the tranquillity of the +country, for preserving the integrity of the Hungarian kingdom, and for +maintaining the sacred inviolability of the law. With this view, he +recommended them to bestow their earliest attention _on the defence of +the country and the state of the finances_. He declared that the king +regarded with signal displeasure the audacious conduct of those who had +ventured to assert that any act of disobedience to the law could be +pleasing to his Majesty. + +“In the mean time the southern provinces of Hungary were already a prey +to fire and massacre,[35] while the Austrian generals looked quietly on. +It was not until the 11th of July, that the nation was roused to a sense +of its danger, and, on the motion of Kossuth, ordered a levy of men to +defend the country against invasion. + +“In August, the Austrian cabinet threw off the mask: the imperial troops +began to march towards Zágráb, and to place themselves under the command +of Jellachich. In their reply to the remonstrances of the Hungarian +diet, the ministry at Vienna now spoke openly of the Croatian and +Servian rebels as the brothers in arms of the imperial army. + +“On the 4th of September, the emperor addressed a letter to the same +Jellachich whom, not two months before, he had denounced as a traitor, +in which he speaks of the ‘_indubitable proofs of fidelity and +attachment which the Freiherr von Jellachich had repeatedly displayed +since he has been named Ban of Croatia_.’ + +“The Hungarians made yet one more attempt to avoid an open collision +with the Austrian government. On the 9th of September, a deputation of +one hundred and sixty Hungarians, at whose head was Pazmandy, the +president of the chamber of deputies, repaired to Vienna, to entreat the +emperor of Austria to show himself the king of Hungary, and ‘to +contribute to the rescue of the fatherland by throwing the weight of his +royal authority into the scale.’ The king drew from his pocket a written +paper, and read them, in an indifferent voice, a cold and evasive +answer. + +“The deputation returned to Pest, to announce to the Hungarian people, +that they were to rely only on themselves. On the same day, Jellachich, +at the head of the imperial forces, passed the Drave. + +“It was thus that the war between Hungary and Austria began. From this +period, the eyes of the world have been turned upon Hungary. Our readers +have yet fresh in their recollection the scene of this war, in which the +Hungarians extorted admiration even from their enemies. It is not our +intention to retrace them here. We have designed only, in this rapid +sketch, to place in a condensed form before those of our readers who had +not, previous to the breaking out of the late contest, directed their +attention towards Hungary, such a statement of the antecedent relations +of that country with Austria as shall enable them to form an equitable +judgment of the events of which they have been witness, and of those +which the next decade is to develop.” + + M.L.P. + +It may seem remarkable, that the History of the Crimes of the House of +Austria should be closed just with the stirring up a war, which +concentrates and epitomizes all the crimes of five hundred years, +against a virtue, which, for eight hundred years, had been one long +struggle for the development of the noblest constitution of the Eastern +Continent, a Constitution thirteen times all but overthrown by despots, +and thirteen times reinstated by the patriotic energy of its liberty and +law-loving people. + +But the object of this compilation is especially to show, that the +Austrian house has been acting, in the war of Hungary, wholly according +to its nature; for that its whole conduct from Rodolph downwards, with +reference not merely to Hungary, but to every nation and province of a +nation, with which it has come into contact, demonstrates, that it is an +enemy to all international law which deserves the name of _Public +Right_; and imperatively calls upon all constitutional nations, in +self-defence, or, at least in defence of the principle which is their +strength, to withdraw from it their support and countenance. + +It would be unjust to give less than a volume to the history of this +war; a war unrivalled since the days, when Athens and Sparta, at the +gate of Europe, stemmed the millions of Asia, that were threatening to +overwhelm the only spot on Earth, where Freedom was self-conscious and +intelligent. + +Indeed, the historian cannot fail to see a certain parallel between this +crisis of the world’s history, and that culminating point of antiquity, +the world-renowned, time-honoured Persian war. For more than two +thousand years had Syria, Babylon, Media, Nineveh, Egypt, Ethiopia and +Persia been developing every resource of the gardens of the world, from +the banks of the Nile to the Indus; and they had formed a commercial +web[36] of power and wealth, which stretched from China (the ancient +Serica) in the East, to the Gulf of Guinea, along the North of Africa to +Spain, and thence coastwise to Britain on the West, and concentrated in +their great capitals the material resources of the Earth, as may be +discerned, with the eyes of the present day, upon the monuments that yet +remain to astonish us by their colossal proportions, and their +historical memorials, and by the gem cylinders, whose date seems as +endless as their influence was deep.[37] At the end of the sixth century +before Christ, those vast regions had been centralized by the military +genius of Cyrus, and the administrative skill more than the military +genius of Darius Hystaspes, so that all their productions, and their +inhabitants, with all their time and labour, physical strength and +genius, were at his personal command.[38] + +At the same period, on the borders of this mighty empire, was a small +state, not so large in area as the State of Rhode Island, in which dwelt +a people, rich only in ideas, but ideas that had cherished the instinct +of liberty into a divine inspiration; for it had lifted them into the +conception and faith, that intelligences finer than could be discerned +with the gross material organs, and purer than could be brought into +circumscription by the material forces with which men make war, were +allied to them, and had received into their august companionship +Hercules and Theseus, their heroes of labour and patriotism, and would +not suffer Greeks to admit as equals, but empowered them to despise as +barbarians, all who bore the form of men but had debased themselves from +the stature of manliness, by slaving for another man, although he did +command the material resources of the Universe. + +The Persian power had not spared in its rapacity a few little commercial +colonies which shared the blood and culture of Athens; but indirectly, +through its victory over Crœsus, who was Grecian by culture if not by +race, had made them also tributary, and included them in its centralised +empire. A word from these colonies to Athens, intimating that it was +neither pious nor Hellenic to allow a barbarian to lord it over a +kindred people, with identical gods,—was enough to rouse up that little +state, which had just developed the old free constitution of Theseus +into Solon’s republic, by the expulsion of the Pisistratidae,—and it +rose, on the principle of a fraternity, and attacked “the Great King;” +provoking his vengeance and risking in self-respect, the worst he could +do. + +And when he did do his worst, and poured upon the devoted little state +his hundreds of thousands, did it flinch? No! but strong in their gods, +strong by the shade of Theseus,[39] whom, with the creative enthusiasm +of a faith deeper than sense, and which raised the spiritual vision +above the material, they saw visibly marshalling their bands, their ten +thousand met and vanquished the hundred and ten thousand Persians in the +one great battle of Marathon. And again, after ten years of rest from +that defeat, when Darius’s son led up his million (not a man less,[40]) +was it not able to raise the sister states to intervene, on the mere +principle that spiritual was not to be submitted to material forces? And +were not three hundred allies found who could deliberately choose to die +on the nation’s threshold as the barbarian was about to cross it, for +the mere purpose of showing him the difference between the owners of a +Penates-guarded homestead, and the bond-servants of a despot under whom +no homestead was sacred? And even when their little country was +desolated, and their city burned, the temples of their gods not spared, +and although no miraculous interposition had saved these consecrated +places, did their faith and confidence falter? Did they not rather rally +on the sea, still confiding in the oracles of their god, which echoed +the sentiment of their own hearts, that themselves, without a foot of +land on the earth, were Athens? And thus inspired, did they not vanquish +a fleet three times as great as their own, a fleet in which were the +mariners of Phœnicia? And when, after a winter’s rest, the selected +three hundred thousand bravest of that invading million came down for +another attack, led by the greatest captain of his nation, did not all +the worshippers of the Grecian Olympus (where was embodied to their +imaginations every distinctively human attribute, and the moral harmony +of the Universe itself, as Phœbus Apollo) rally, presenting indeed +numerically but one third the force, but, by that which was within, +outmeasuring a thousand times the Persian three hundred thousand? And +almost at the first blow did they not destroy it, so that scarce one was +left to go home and tell the tale? Were they satisfied with even this? +Did not another twenty years of unwavering action on the same principle, +by land and sea, end with a complete victory, in which the son of the +victor of Marathon, having ended the war ten years before, by the battle +of the Eurymedon, dictated to the great king a peace, whose articles +bore that no Persian should come within thirty miles of the Grecian +seas, and that the colonies of the Greeks on the Asiatic coast should be +free and self-governed? + +So was it of old, with a nation whose gods were no greater or more +beautiful than their own best thoughts, but just as great and just as +beautiful as those best thoughts believed in and allowed to carry them +whither they would,—which is the secret of the whole wonderful history. +More than two thousand years have passed by, and we behold the material +wealth and power of Europe combined against a nation, which bears to the +Holy Alliance the same relation that Greece bore to Darius Hystaspes. + +Hungary combines in this modern time the cause of both Ionia and Athens, +and Nicholas of Russia leads the conservative nations against her, like +Darius of old. Single-handed, has she already done battle on a hundred +Marathons. There is nothing more wonderful in human history than Hungary +in 1849 retreating into the heart of her own dominion, while the armies +of Russia and Austria, with the Serbs and Croats which the latter power +had infuriated to join them, form the cordon round Hungary, contracting +it every day, and crowding the nation nearer to each other, like a troop +of hunters who are driving in to the death of their game. The Hungarians +stand back to back, facing the foe all round, determined to shed their +last blood rather than yield their right to national independence. But +this is not all. In that devoted phalanx, which, unlike the phalanx of +old, is a circle bristling round its whole circumference and threatening +death to the hundred thousands who menace it, is an angel of life. He +bears a silver trumpet, through which he speaks, and the ringing music +turns the statues of men into statues of the soul. They are no longer +vulgar flesh and blood; they are transfigured with the spirit of liberty +and law. At the word of command, they start into action. The iron circle +breaks: North, South, East, West, shoot forth thousands to their +work.[41] They break the contracting cordon that was pressing them in, +though it were deep by tens of thousands of the paid soldiers of +despotism, and they return on their steps; and they sweep from their +native land the invaders, till hardly a foot of an enemy is left to +profane the holy ground: + + Aye call it holy ground! + The spot whereon they trod— + They keep unstained what there they found— + Freedom to worship God. + +A second time in the world’s history have spirit and matter met on the +battle-field, at fearful apparent odds,—and spirit triumphed! + +Sparta was not at Marathon. She was wisely at home, performing the holy +rites that had been handed down through noble generations, and +consecrating laws which guarded liberty. But she came up, when Marathon +was won, to rejoice in the victory, and to pledge her future +coöperation. Nobly was the pledge redeemed at Thermopylæ and at Platæa. + +But where was Hungary’s Sparta, even when the vanquished enemy rallied +in still greater numbers and again stormed in upon her? Did not the +Earth contain an older republic, “the model republic,” that might send a +new Leonidas with some devoted “three hundred” out of whose bosoms +should go a fire that should pass with lightning quickness through the +golden linked chain of despotism which binds the Holy Alliance together, +and make it a rope of ashes? And if it were not enough to show the Czar +of Russia a new Thermopylæ, to rally to a new Salamis and a new Platæa? + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + For the theory of the Catholic Church, whatever may be its practice, + is that all men are born into it. It asserts a right over every child + who sees the light where it is acknowledged: consequently he who bound + himself to serve the Church at that time bound himself to serve + humanity, at least within the precincts over which the Church extended + its authority. For three hundred years after this time the people of + Europe was considered to be _The Church_. + +Footnote 2: + + The legend of WILLIAM TELL gives the spirit of the whole. + +Footnote 3: + + Blanch, the first wife of Rodolph, died in April, 1305. + +Footnote 4: + + Pelzel, p. 731–742. Several native and Catholic writers endeavour to + extenuate the cruelty of Ferdinand, by declaring that he was with + difficulty induced to make these dreadful examples; and was overborne + by the representations of his ministers and the Jesuits. Admitting + this fact, it is no exculpation of his conduct to assert that he acted + unjustly by the advice of his ministers. But the preceding and + subsequent transactions, as well as the general character, the + relentless disposition, and the deep-rooted prejudices of Ferdinand, + furnish ample evidence that he wanted no external impulse to commit + acts of persecution and cruelty against the Protestants. + +Footnote 5: + + Schiller’s Thirty Years’ War. + +Footnote 6: + + Coxe, Chap. XXCIV. + +Footnote 7: + + Coleridge has well defined Christianity to be “the perfection of + Reason.” + +Footnote 8: + + The accounts given, by their own writers, of the ancient Magyars, + recall forcibly the description given by Sallust of the manners of the + Romans in the first years of the Republic. + +Footnote 9: + + Sancti Stephani Regis Decretum I. cap. IV. + +Footnote 10: + + Sanct. Stephan. Decret. I. cap. X. + +Footnote 11: + + Respublica et Status Regni Hungariæ. + +Footnote 12: + + See the representations of the grievances of the Hungarian nation made + by the diets of 1559 and 1563. See also the letter addressed by the + Bishop of Colócza to Joseph I., through Baron Scalvinioni, 1703.—The + manifesto of Prince Rakóczy, 1703.—Memoirs of Prince Rakóczy, by + himself, 1739. + +Footnote 13: + + See Fessler, _Die Geschichten der Ungern_. + +Footnote 14: + + A very valuable work, written by a Hungarian, in the French language, + published in 1739. The Hungarians commonly write in French, German, or + Latin, when they desire to give their works a European circulation. In + the eighteenth century, prior to the time of Maria Theresa, they used + French in preference to German. + +Footnote 15: + + “For,” says the Hungarian historian, Fessler, “the highest enthusiasm + is only strong in deeds, not rich in words.” + +Footnote 16: + + Fessler, _Die Geschichten der Ungern_, 10ter Bd., S. 658. + +Footnote 17: + + _Ibid._, 10ter Bd., S. 660. + +Footnote 18: + + See De Gerando, _De l’Esprit Public_, p. 174, for the account of the + elections in the county of Bars. + +Footnote 19: + + The diet of Hungary is composed of two chambers, or “tables,” as they + are there called. + + At the first table sit the dignitaries of the church and the state, + and the titled nobility, or magnates. This table is presided over by + the Palatine. + + The second table is composed of the deputies of the counties. Each + county sends two deputies. The royal cities, and certain chapters and + privileged districts, send also their deputies to the diet. These, + however, before the extension of representation in 1848, had but one + collective vote. Croatia sent three deputies to the diet, one of which + sat in the upper and two in the lower house. The chamber of magnates + did not form a part of the ancient constitution of Hungary. Before the + accession of the Archdukes of Austria, the diets were held in the open + air, and all the noble inhabitants of the country had a right to be + present at them, and take part in the deliberations. The foreign + government found its account in raising up a class whose interests + were separated from those of the main body of the nation. The “second + table,” or chamber of deputies, is still called, by distinction, “the + States.” The initiative belongs to the king and the second table of + the diet. The deputies are bound to vote according to the instruction + of their constituents, and can be recalled if they fail to satisfy + them. + +Footnote 20: + + Many proprietors had already made contracts of this kind with their + peasants, though the only security for their fulfilment was the good + faith of the parties. + +Footnote 21: + + It was of great importance to the government to prevent the + publication of the debates in the diet. Every art was put in practice + by the Austrian cabinet, to deceive the people in regard to the views + of the opposition party. Emissaries were employed to diffuse among the + peasantry an impression that the nobles were unfriendly to their + interests, and prevented the benefits which their ‘good father, the + emperor,’ wished to bestow on them. Nothing could tend more + effectually to disabuse them, than giving publicity to the proceedings + of the diet. + +Footnote 22: + + During the terrible inundation which took place on the breaking up of + the ice in the Danube, in 1838, it is said that Wesselényi saved the + lives of not less than two hundred persons. He remained on the river + for several days and nights, in an open boat, in continual danger from + the masses of ice which were floating down the river. + +Footnote 23: + + _La Transylvanie._ + +Footnote 24: + + Every member of a magnate family, after he has attained the age of + twenty-four, has a right to a seat at the first table of the diet.—De + Gerando. + +Footnote 25: + + Bezerédy was one of the first to set this honorable example. The + following letter, addressed to him by the peasants of the village of + Bitske in the county of Fejér, dated April 5, 1845, will give an idea + of the character of the Hungarian peasantry, and the feeling which + subsists between them and the nobles. In this country, the great + majority of the inhabitants are of the Magyar race. + + “The patriotic act by which, faithful to holy and eternal justice, you + have been the first to renounce the right of exemption from + taxation,—this act, truly worthy of a noble, has already, to the + honour of our aristocracy be it said, found many imitators. Those who + have followed your example have made the most worthy recognition of + your action. We also, who believe that, in taking part in our burdens, + you have not lowered yourself to our level, but have raised us to + yourselves, all regard it as a sacred duty to express to you our + ardent gratitude for this noble sacrifice, which opens a new era to + our country. May God grant, for the glory of the country and for our + happiness, that your life may be long, and that your spirit may + inspire the whole world.” + +Footnote 26: + + Very severe restrictions were imposed by Austria on Hungarian + commerce. + +Footnote 27: + + Kossuth, in March, 1845, soon after this arbitrary act of government + was carried into effect, addressed the county of Pest in a speech in + which he pointed out all the dangers to the country which were + involved in this measure, and all the evils which must result, and + which actually did afterwards result, from it. We have not room for + this speech. We give the opening and closing passages. + + “Although the future of our country appears to me covered by a dark + veil, I cannot deny that the hope of a better destiny has sometimes + beamed before my eyes. One of these moments of illusion presented + itself when the government seemed ready to unite in our views, and to + walk with us on the path of progress which had been smoothed by our + efforts; when it seemed to offer us its assistance in repairing the + faults of our fathers, and raising the people from their sad + condition. We were then ready to banish the remembrance of three + centuries of sorrow, and to give ourselves to the labours which were + to replace this mournful but sacred struggle in which we had been + engaged for the defence of our rights and our liberties. Alas! the + illusion quickly vanished, and we found ourselves still alone on the + path of progress. One step more and the struggle recommenced. So be it + then; those who were ready to reconcile themselves with power will + again defend their rights as men and citizens.... + + “It has been said,—what has not been said to justify the + government?—that order rendered these illegal measures necessary. + Order! I do not know a word of which despotism has made a more + insolent abuse. It is in the name of order that Nicholas has effaced + Poland from the rank of nations, and that king Ernest has annihilated + the constitution of Hanover. It was in the name of order that Philip + II. made a cemetery of Belgium. This order, thanks be to God, Hungary + does not know, nor does she desire to know it. Hungary is governed + only by laws, and, if order requires a change in the government, the + nation must assemble and assent to the change. Any measure which is + arbitrarily imposed is not order, but illegality, despotism, that is + to say, disorder.” + +Footnote 28: + + It has been said, among other things, by those writers who support the + Austrian views, that the abolition of the disabilities of the + unprivileged class, decreed by the diet in 1848, was a measure of + policy intended to secure the coöperation of the people in a projected + revolution. This programme, published eight months before the + revolution in Paris, which gave occasion to that at Vienna, offers a + sufficient answer to this assertion. + +Footnote 29: + + Before the union of Transylvania with Hungary, there were some + important differences in the political constitutions of the two + countries. In Transylvania a distinction of races was recognized. In + the Transylvanian diet, the Magyars, the Szeklers, and the Saxons were + represented as distinct nationalities, by their respective deputies. + The Wallachian inhabitants of the country were not represented in the + diet as a distinct race; they were counted as Magyars. A Wallachian + noble might be elected to the diet, but he sat there as a Magyar. + Among the Szeklers, a race closely kindred to the Magyars, the + distinction between noble and non-noble has never been introduced. + They have preserved their ancient institutions in greater purity than + the Magyars. By the union of Transylvania with Hungary, all political + distinctions founded on difference of race were abolished: the same + system of representation was established in Transylvania as in + Hungary; all the inhabitants, without distinction of race, were + admitted in the right of suffrage, the possession of a very small + amount of yearly income being the only qualification required. + +Footnote 30: + + “We have state prisoners,” says Birányi, “who, victims of an arbitrary + act of power, have been pining for years in horrible dungeons. It + would have been shameful to have forgotten them in the list of the + national demands.”—_Pesti Forradalom_, Pest, 1848. + + “An inconsiderate word, or a single passage in a perhaps prudently + written book, torn out of its connection, and invested with an + arbitrary meaning, was all that was needed to stamp a man as a + political criminal. This was the easiest means of putting out of the + way men of distinguished abilities, who might have been able to + further the welfare of their country.”—Berffi, _Ein Blatt + Volksgeschichte_. Pest, 1848. + +Footnote 31: + + Berffi. Der 15. März, 1848, in Pest. _Ein Blatt Volksgeschichte._ + +Footnote 32: + + _Pesti Forradalom._ _Irta Birányi Akos._ Pesten, 1848. + +Footnote 33: + + Our limits will not allow us, at the present time, to enter into the + history of the intrigues and illegal proceedings of Austria in the + southern provinces of Hungary, and more especially in Croatia, for + many years before the breaking out of hostilities. The citizens of + this latter kingdom were, in many places, debarred from the exercise + of their political rights. They were attacked and driven from the + place of election by the members of the Illyrian faction, furnished + with arms from the public arsenals. It was in vain they appealed to + the king. Their remonstrances were unheard. During the sitting of the + Hungarian diet of 1843–44, the district of Turopolya, in Croatia, + addressed a petition to that assembly on this subject. The county of + Zágráb, the largest county in Croatia, likewise addressed to the + county of Pest in Hungary, February 20, 1846, a very earnest letter, + relating the acts of illegality and violence which had been committed + in that county, with the connivance and assistance of the authorities, + and calling on the Hungarians, in the name of the ancient ties which + bound the two countries, to join with them in earnestly petitioning + the king for the redress of this injustice, their own appeals having + been wholly without effect. + +Footnote 34: + + The young prince confesses to some scruples with regard to the first + project. He suggests, that it might “perhaps” not be thought + “suitable” for a government to abandon its subjects, “a portion of + whom, at least, are well disposed, to all the horrors of an + insurrection.” It is probable that these plans did not originate with + the Palatine, but were dictated to him at Vienna. + +Footnote 35: + + An attempt was likewise made, by the emissaries from Vienna, to excite + an insurrection in the North of Hungary, among the Slovacs; but with + little success. A band of marauders was, by the aid of money from + Vienna, got together, who committed some depredations in the county of + Trencsén; but they were speedily suppressed. A company of three + hundred of the Presburg National Guard was sufficient for this + purpose. + +Footnote 36: + + See HEEREN’S Researches among the monuments and concerning the + commercial relations of the ancient nations of Asia and Europe. + +Footnote 37: + + LANDSEER’S Sabæan Researches. + +Footnote 38: + + Herodotus, § 89 of Thalia. + +Footnote 39: + + See Herodotus, 108 of Erato. + +Footnote 40: + + Herodotus. + +Footnote 41: + + See Dr. TEFT’S Hungary and Kossuth, p. 337. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + + Page Changed from Changed to + + 63 of the princess; and Ferdinand, of the princess; and Ferdinand, + prudently waving his pretensions prudently waiving his + pretensions + + 176 goodness of the people. It were goodness of the people. It were + well of this pleasant book well if this pleasant book + + 221 the crisis which Austria had the crisis which Austria had + been for year preparing for the been for years preparing for the + + ● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + ● Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last + chapter. + ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. + ● Enclosed blackletter font in =equals=. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77398 *** |