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+ line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 3em; } + .ph2 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; + page-break-before: always; } + .blackletter {font-family: 'Old English Text MT', serif; font-weight:bold; + font-style: normal; } + .x-ebookmaker p.dropcap:first-letter { float: left; } + </style> + </head> + <body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77398 ***</div> + +<div class='tnotes covernote'> + +<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> + +<p class='c000'>New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.</p> + +</div> + +<div class='titlepage'> + +<div> + <h1 class='c001'><span class='xlarge'>CRIMES</span><br> <span class='small'>OF THE</span><br> HOUSE OF AUSTRIA<br> <span class='large'>AGAINST MANKIND.</span></h1> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c002'> + <div>PROVED BY EXTRACTS</div> + <div class='c002'><span class='small'>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.</span></div> + <div class='c002'><span class='small'>EDITED</span></div> + <div><span class='large'>BY E. P. PEABODY.</span></div> + <div class='c002'><span class='blackletter'>Second Edition.</span></div> + <div class='c002'>NEW-YORK:</div> + <div>G. P. PUTNAM, 10 PARK PLACE.</div> + <div>1852.</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c003'> + <div><span class='small'>Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1852,</span></div> + <div><span class='small'><span class='sc'>By</span> RODOLPHE GARRIQUE,</span></div> + <div><span class='small'>In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New-York.</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <h2 class='c004'>PREFACE<br> <span class='small'>OF</span><br> <span class='large'>SECOND EDITION.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c005'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + <h2 class='c004'>ANALYTICAL INDEX.</h2> +</div> + +<ul class='index c007'> + <li class='c008'>Biographical Notices of Rodolphe of Hapsburgh, <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>; + <ul> + <li>of Albert I., <a href='#Page_15'>15</a>;</li> + <li>Frederic & Leopold, <a href='#Page_22'>22</a>;</li> + <li>Albert II., <a href='#Page_24'>24</a>;</li> + <li>Rodolphe & Frederic, <a href='#Page_31'>31</a>;</li> + <li>Albert III. & Leopold II., <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>;</li> + <li>Albert V., <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>;</li> + <li>Sigismund, <a href='#Page_40'>40</a>;</li> + <li>Charles V., <a href='#Page_51'>51</a>;</li> + <li>Ferdinand I., <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>;</li> + <li>Philip II., <a href='#Page_143'>143</a>;</li> + <li>Ferdinand II., <a href='#Page_79'>79</a>;</li> + <li>Leopold I., Emperor, <a href='#Page_188'>188</a>;</li> + <li>Joseph I., <a href='#Page_190'>190</a>;</li> + <li>Charles VI., <a href='#Page_191'>191</a>;</li> + <li>Maria Theresa, <a href='#Page_179'>179</a> & <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>;</li> + <li>Joseph II., <a href='#Page_160'>160</a> & <a href='#Page_192'>192</a>;</li> + <li>Leopold II., <a href='#Page_193'>193</a>;</li> + <li>Francis, <a href='#Page_196'>196</a>.</li> + </ul> + </li> + <li class='c008'>Destruction of Constitutional Rights of Austria and Styria, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>; <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>; <a href='#Page_44'>44</a>.</li> + <li class='c008'>Attempted destruction of those of Switzerland, <a href='#Page_16'>16</a>; <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>; <a href='#Page_32'>32</a>; <a href='#Page_40'>40</a> to 48.</li> + <li class='c008'>Destruction of those of Bohemia, <a href='#Page_17'>17</a>; <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>; <a href='#Page_64'>64</a>.</li> + <li class='c008'>Italy and its Conquered Rights, <a href='#Page_91'>91</a>–110.</li> + <li class='c008'>Netherlands do. do., <a href='#Page_136'>136</a>–174.</li> + <li class='c008'>Poland and its Partition, <a href='#Page_176'>176</a>–181.</li> + <li class='c008'>Hungary, and the War upon its Constitution, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>; <a href='#Page_39'>39</a>; <a href='#Page_62'>62</a>; <a href='#Page_182'>182</a>–230.</li> +</ul> + +<div class='chapter'> + <h2 class='c004'>ERRATA.</h2> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b c007'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Rulhire for <i>Rulhière</i>, pp. <a href='#Page_176'>176</a> & <a href='#Page_177'>177</a>.</div> + <div class='line'>Philip II. for <i>III.</i>, last line of p. <a href='#Page_148'>148</a>.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span> + <h2 class='c004'><span class='large'>CRIMES</span><br> <span class='xsmall'>OF</span><br> THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA<br> <span class='small'>AGAINST MANKIND.</span></h2> +</div> + +<p class='c005'>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 <i>Christendom</i>.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <span class='sc'>Schlegel</span> 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!</p> + +<p class='c006'>That “Might makes Right” is a principle asserted not exclusively +by the House of Austria, or rather by the <i>House of +Hapsburgh</i>; (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).</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“<i>Conscious</i>,” says Rodolph, in that memorable document, “<i>of +my own deficiency, and trembling with astonishment and fear, +I hesitated whether I should accept so eminent a station</i>; until, +at length, <i>trusting in Him</i>, who in the high and ineffable decrees +of his Providence, changes as He wills the condition of +mortals, <i>adds strength to the feeble and gives eloquence to the +simple, I assumed courage sufficient to venture, weak as I am</i>, +upon so laborious and difficult an office, hoping that neither +<i>the grace of God</i>, nor the favour <i>of His Holy Church</i>, nor your +paternal affection will be wanting to me. <i>Turning, therefore, +all my thoughts to Him</i> 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 <i>by your mediation +with the Most High</i> to support <i>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</i>. That I may be enabled +therefore, successfully to perform <i>what is most acceptable to Him +and to His</i> 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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 “<i>seeketh not her own</i>,” 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>material resource of the countries they inhabit, and of every intellectual +and moral opportunity that the Past, the Present, and +the Future shall present?</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>incidentally</i> +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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>and rapacity which forms the life of each successive head of the +family, he always appends an <span class='fss'>EULOGY</span>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>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, +<i>and sought to aggrandise their fortunes by pillage or +conquest</i>. 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 <i>under various pretences invading the possessions of others</i>, +and defending his own property from the encroachments of +ambitious neighbours.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>by bribing the sentinels</i>, and made himself master of +the place, notwithstanding the desperate valour of Hugh, who +was killed in the defence.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>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. <i>By this violence</i> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, <i>penetrated into the suburbs of the city by night, +and burnt a nunnery</i>, 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, <i>who were defending their liberties</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>compelled the citizens</i> 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“By espousing the cause of the citizens, Rodolph acted with +<i>equal prudence and judgment</i>. 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. <i>Assisted by +their spirit, and supported by their riches, he was enabled to +humble the rivals of his power.</i></p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, <i>which highly contributed to his subsequent greatness</i>.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>We omit the details of his success in this instance, and of his +surprising the castles of Balder, and of Utleberg.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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!’”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>joyfully accepted the proffered +dignity</i>. 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>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!”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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>i. e.</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>Emperors</i>, 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 <i>should lead him</i> +in the ways <i>of His commandments, to successfully perform +what is most acceptable to Him</i>!</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>the nations</i>, the possession +<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“In order to reward his retainers,” says Coxe, “<i>he was compelled +to lay considerable impositions on his new subjects</i>, and +to obtain free gifts from the bishops and clergy; and the discontents +<span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>as fiefs of +the</i> <span class='fss'>EMPIRE</span>, 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>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, <i>as a fief of +the empire</i>, 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 (<i>if +claims</i> they could be called); and Andrew III. maintained himself +on the throne of his grandfather, to which the Hungarians +had called him.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>his own pretensions of serving God and His +Church</i><a id='r1'></a><a href='#f1' class='c009'><sup>[1]</sup></a> 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 <i>legitimacy</i> of the claim? Does the +God of humanity admit it?</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>famine “to propose a surrender, when he accepted their submission.” +We always quote the words of Coxe:—“<i>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.</i>” 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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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,<a id='r2'></a><a href='#f2' class='c009'><sup>[2]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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<a id='r3'></a><a href='#f3' class='c009'><sup>[3]</sup></a>, widow of Wenceslaus II., +and was supported by a powerful party of the nobles.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“He likewise engaged in a war for the possession of Misnia +and Thuringia, which he endeavoured to appropriate as fiefs of +the empire.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“But at this juncture the insurrection of the Swiss called his +attention to another quarter.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>an army into Switzerland, when his life and reign were closed +by the hand of violence.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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; <a href='#Page_4'>4</a>,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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Among his allies, Albert summoned the people of Glarus to +his standard; but these husbandmen, who were animated with +<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>“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 <i>amused the +Swiss by offers of perpetual peace, and splendid promises</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>alarmed +lest their vassals should follow the example of those of Austria</i>, +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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>of rustics.’ His petulancy was received with applause, and +preparations were made for an immediate attack.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Such was the deplorable state of Austria, till the death of +Leopold in 1411, at the age of forty.”</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>the populace, headed by the burgomaster Hulzer, a restless +demagogue, espoused the cause of Albert.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>We close our mention of Frederic with an amusing anecdote, +sufficiently characteristic.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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; +<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>till the <i>important</i> 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.’</p> + +<div class='figcenter id001'> +<img src='images/i049.jpg' alt='(Austria Est Imperare Orbi Universo.) (Alles Erdreich Ist Oesterreich Unterthan.) Fugger, p. 1080.' class='ig001'> +</div> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>With respect to the Reformation, Coxe observes:</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>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, <i>from pique against Frederic of Saxony for +opposing the election of his grandson</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Although Maximilian did not illustrate his name and reign +by conquest, or even considerable acquisitions by the sword, he +<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>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:—</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span lang="la">Bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria <i>nube</i>;</span></div> + <div class='line'><span lang="la">Nam quæ <span class='sc'>Mars</span> aliis, dat tibi regna <span class='sc'>Venus</span>.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>Turks, and still more circumscribed by the reformation in religion, +which was commenced and perfected by the efforts and +perseverance of Luther.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>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</i>.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>will not violate my safe conduct, and will cause him to be reconducted +to Wittemberg in safety.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“The reformed doctrines spread likewise over the kingdoms +of the north: Christian II., the brother-in-law of Charles, had +<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Hence the emperor summoned, in 1529, a second diet at +Spire, for the usual purpose of opposing the Turks, who had +<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>protest</i> the Lutherans acquired the name of Protestants, +which has been since applied to all who separated from the +church of Rome.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>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 <a id='t63'></a>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“We have already seen that Bohemia was an elective monarchy.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>which the Bohemians had so long sacrificed the blessings of +peace and tranquillity.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>other enemies of the kingdom</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>of the capital flocked in crowds to offer their personal services.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“In the midst of these transactions the diet assembled at +Prague, and the importance of the occasion drew such numbers +<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“At the close of this tragedy, the assembly, which, from these +executions, was stigmatised with the name of the <i>Bloody Diet</i>, +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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<i>hereditary</i> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>which excited an insurrection, and occasioned the Thirty Years’ +War.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>were allowed to participate in the choice, a right before often +claimed, but never admitted.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>The closing catastrophe of the hostilities that immediately +followed the election of Frederic, is all we have room to insert.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>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.”<a id='r4'></a><a href='#f4' class='c009'><sup>[4]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The picturesque pages of Schiller can be consulted for these +details. We extract only his account of the sack of Magdeburg.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Here commenced a scene of horrors for which history has +no language—poetry no pencil; neither innocent childhood +<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”<a id='r5'></a><a href='#f5' class='c009'><sup>[5]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>We have been led somewhat out of chronological order, in +order to give a unity of impression with respect to the wrongs +of Bohemia.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>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, <i>by the simple nomination of the people</i>, +all the prerogatives of imperial vicars. The cities of Lombardy +were further authorised to <i>strengthen their confederation</i> 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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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:</p> + +<p class='c006'>“The cities, surrounded with thick walls, terraced, and guarded +by towers, were, for the most part, paved with broad flagstones; +<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>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, <i>luxury was unknown</i>, and the future +was not forestalled by accumulated debt.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The league of Cambray was an agreement between the Pope, +Louis XII., and Maximilian I., to divide all the <i>terra firma</i> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<i>terra firma</i> 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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>The war began, January 1509, by the Pope’s excommunicating +the Doge and the Republic, and France commencing hostilities. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>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 <i>to the torture</i> 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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>And Maximilian personally made himself responsible for +these horrors.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>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, <a href='#Page_20'>20</a>,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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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!</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>We must, however, go back from these generalities, to a +statement of the facts which we shall take from Sismondi’s Italian +Republics.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>treason of Pescara, who died on the 30th of November, 1525 +at the age of thirty-six, abhorred by all Italy.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, <i>but was prolonged for more than</i> <span class='fss'>NINE</span> <i>months</i>: 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <span class='fss'>ALL</span> <i>the inhabitants</i> 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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 “<span lang="fr">Le traité des dames</span>.” +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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>French made themselves masters of Vienna, she was obliged by +the treaty of Presburg to restore Venice to the kingdom of +Italy.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Thus, after Italy lost its liberty, in the first half of the fifteenth +century, four of the five nominal republics became narrow aristocracies.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>“It has been the work of the <i>coalition</i> 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 <i>unaccustomed +to act together</i>: 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>But we must now turn our regards upon <span class='sc'>Spain</span>, which the +Austrian family, in the person of the ruthless conqueror of +Italy, had taken into its <i>Christian</i> (?) guardianship, by right of +his mother, Joanna of Castile.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>In Spain also, as in other countries where the germs of constitutional +liberty existed, as the best legacy of their northern +<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>as prepared them to approve of such extraordinary proceedings, +or to acquiesce in them.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The Aragonese seem to have been solicitous that their monarchs +should know and feel this state of impotence to which +they were reduced.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>one event. Upon the death of John I., a council of regency +was appointed to govern the kingdom during the minority of +his son.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“In all of them, the dignity and independence of the nobles +were great; the immunities and power of the cities were considerable.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Several of these cities, during a longer or shorter course of +years, were the capitals of little states, and enjoyed all the advantages +<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>which accelerate the increase of the inhabitants in +every place that is the seat of government.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Whoever was guilty of murder, robbery, or of any act that +violated the public peace, and was seized by the troops of the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“During a considerable part of the reign of his successor, +Charles V., the prerogative of the Spanish Crown was equally +circumscribed.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>The Cortes of Castile were indeed prevailed on to proclaim +him king, on condition that his mother should resume her authority, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>From Aragon Charles proceeded to Catalonia, where he +wasted as much time, encountered more difficulties, and gained +less money.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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:</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>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; <i>that the Cortes shall assemble once in +three years at least, whether summoned by the king or not</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“The Junta, meanwhile, expected with impatience the emperor’s +answer to their remonstrance, which they had appointed +<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<div> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span> + <h3 class='c011'><i>The Letter of Don John Padilla to the City of Toledo.</i></h3> +</div> + +<p class='c012'>“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.”</p> + +<h3 class='c011'><i>The Letter to his Wife.</i></h3> + +<p class='c013'>“<span class='sc'>Senora</span>,</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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. <i>That</i> +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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c005'>Padilla’s widow, Donna Maria Pacheco, showed herself worthy +of her husband, and prosecuted that cause in defence of +which he had suffered.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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; <i>their commerce began from this +period to decline</i>; and becoming less wealthy and less populous, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>they lost that power and influence which they had acquired in +the Cortes.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>Thus coolly, and without a groan of sympathy, does Robertson +relate a crime which extinguished a great nation.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>have made</i> Right; this last +outrage was not resisted. When Charles V. thus coolly +drove the ploughshare of destruction over the constitutional +<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>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, <i>except after its kind</i>? 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Liberty, that uncontained, uncontainable <i>spirit</i>, which is the +life of all life, at once its origin and its end, <i>what</i> is it, <i>where</i> is +it? <i>Where the Spirit of the Lord is</i>, says the apostle, <i>there is +liberty</i>. 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 <i>incarnated</i>; +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 <i>manliness</i>. It exists for no nation any longer +than <i>manliness</i> pervades the people. It is <span class='fss'>ITSELF EVOLVED</span> from +<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>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 <span class='fss'>NO</span> to the demand of an encroaching royal prerogative, +there are <i>ghouls</i> 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 <i>material</i> ‘fountain +of immortal youth,’ that the <i>body</i> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>We have said and seen, in the foregoing pages, that the +stronghold of liberty is ever in <span class='fss'>THE COMMONS</span> 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?</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>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 <span class='fss'>LEARN</span> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>Gilden</i>, and in the Latin of the times <i>Gildonia</i>. 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>Thus, to draw an example from Great Britain, the corporative +charter of Berwick still bears the title of <cite>Charta Gildoniæ</cite>. 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>With respect to Flanders, Grattan also says:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“It was about the year 1100 that the commons began to +possess the privilege of regulating their internal affairs: they +<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>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.’”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>impaled</i>. But, fortunately for the country, +he died in 1500, without having succeeded in his projects of +usurpation.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>We quote the words of Robertson:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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:</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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; <i>the city was declared to have forfeited all its privileges +and immunities</i>; the revenues belonging to it were confiscated; +<i>its ancient form of government was abolished</i>; the +nomination of its magistrates was vested for the future in the +emperor and his successors; <i>a new system of laws and political +administration was prescribed</i>; 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, <i>partly the effect, partly the cause of their extensive +commerce</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“To complete the execution of this system of perfidy, Philip +convened an assembly of all the states at Ghent, in the month +<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Philip was utterly astounded at all this. In the first moment +of his vexation he imprudently cried out, ‘Would ye, +then, also bereave <i>me</i> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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!’”</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>voyage, he arrived in that which permitted a free indulgence +to his ferocious and sanguinary career.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>We cannot give a complete account of the contest which +Philip II. waged with the people of these rich and free provinces. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>“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 <i>inquisition</i>; 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“His design of establishing this horrible tribunal so impiously +named <i>holy</i> 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 <i>can</i>, but if I <i>ought</i>.’ 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“The affright of the government during the short reign of +anarchy and terror was without bounds.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Several of the Belgian nobility went forward to meet Alva, +to render him the accustomed honours, and endeavour thus early +<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“After <i>three months</i> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>governor replied in the same strain, and such was the effect of +this correspondence, that Philip resolved to remove him.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>unyielding energy and courage gained them so proud a place +among the independent nations of Europe.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>the facts</i> 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, “<i>he yet introduced a still greater evil, by +making the basis of the administration</i>, <span class='fss'>THE ABSOLUTE WILL</span> <i>of +the sovereign, from which there could be</i> <span class='fss'>NO APPEAL</span>.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>Here Coxe strikes upon the Hapsburghs, the character <i>in +the blood</i>, (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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>falseness of his position. He said that his “greatest honour +would be to reign over freemen,”<a id='r6'></a><a href='#f6' class='c009'><sup>[6]</sup></a> but the point he could +not give up was precisely that of “reigning,” and to <i>reign</i> over +<i>freemen</i> is <i><span lang="la">reductio ad absurdum</span></i>. Joseph never used the word +<i>reign</i> 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 <i>republican</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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. <i>Joseph gave the same +solemn sanction to the existing constitution.</i></p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, <i>but even laid +the axe to the root of the constitution itself</i>. 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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; +<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>ceasing to press his demands, and by declaring that the general +had drawn out the troops without his concurrence.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>“In the present temper of the country such an arbitrary +project excited general indignation; and the whole province +became a scene of civil commotion.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Of this confusion and alarm the patriot chiefs availed +themselves with equal vigour, skill, and promptitude. Vander-Mersch, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>constitutional rights</i> 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?</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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—<i>and +no more</i>,’ 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 <i>seeing</i>, to say nothing of declaring +that nations have the same interest in international law, which +individuals have in the laws of their country.</p> + +<p class='c006'>When the individuality of nations, and the law that at once +individualizes and unites them, is promulgated in the light of +reason,<a id='r7'></a><a href='#f7' class='c009'><sup>[7]</sup></a> in which flourish all the ‘humanities’ of science, art, +virtue, and love, as well as in the dark depths of instinctive +<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>feeling, whose issues are war, and all terrible retributions—there +is some ground for hope that the nations may</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line in14'>“keep the heights</div> + <div class='line'>Which they are competent to gain.”</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>life-in-death</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 <i>no-government</i>. That a civilized +country, he says, should go on for centuries, improving in all +human culture, <i>without a government</i>, shows the extraordinary +goodness of the people. It were well <a id='t176'></a>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>him. While he hesitated about the <i>pacta conventa</i>, 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 <i>pacta conventa</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>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 <i>affected to feel</i>,” 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>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:</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>and declared infamous those who accepted titles from foreign +powers.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<p class='c006'>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, <cite>De l’Esprit +publique en Hongrie depuis la Revolution Française</cite>, and intended +to rectify the false statements made in an article in the +N. A. Review of January, 1850, where the Hungarian movement +<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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,<a id='r8'></a><a href='#f8' class='c009'><sup>[8]</sup></a> 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>of their constitutional rights against all the attacks of a power +before which the liberties of so many other nations have fallen.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>Vezér</i>, 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:—”<i><span lang="la">Omnes homines unius sunt conditionis.</span></i>“<a id='r9'></a><a href='#f9' class='c009'><sup>[9]</sup></a> +It is in the following terms that he prescribed the duty of a +king towards his subjects:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.’”<a id='r10'></a><a href='#f10' class='c009'><sup>[10]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>“He recognizes the right of the people to depose an unworthy +prince:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.’”<a id='r11'></a><a href='#f11' class='c009'><sup>[11]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>bestowed +important offices in the kingdom upon foreigners</i>; that he had +<i>prevented the states from holding their diet and their accustomed +assemblies</i>. 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 <i>freemen</i>. The provisions of the Golden Bull were, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_185'>185</span>in like manner, considered as applicable only to the class of +<i>nobles</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“By the constitution of Hungary, the power of making laws +belongs to the king and the people conjointly:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘The king, having convened the people, shall ask them +whether such or such laws are pleasing to them or not. If the +people answer, <i>Yes</i>, these decrees shall pass into laws. But it +will most commonly happen, that the people (<i>populus</i>) 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘It is decreed that the king shall observe the peace, and +cause it to be observed; <i>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</i>.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“The king was not allowed, even under the most urgent +circumstances, to raise subsidies or contributions without the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_186'>186</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_187'>187</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_188'>188</span>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.<a id='r12'></a><a href='#f12' class='c009'><sup>[12]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_189'>189</span>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.<a id='r13'></a><a href='#f13' class='c009'><sup>[13]</sup></a> 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 <cite>Histoire des Revolutions de Hongrie</cite><a id='r14'></a><a href='#f14' class='c009'><sup>[14]</sup></a> +will give the reader some idea of the horrors of this time:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_190'>190</span>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.’”</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“It was under these circumstances, that Leopold summoned +the diet of Hungary to crown ‘the most serene Archduke +Joseph, as their <i>hereditary</i> 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 +<i>Judex Curiæ</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_191'>191</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>in the order of primogeniture</i>, 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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_192'>192</span>the flash of sabres, and the emphatic words, ‘<i>Vitam et sanguinem</i>,’<a id='r15'></a><a href='#f15' class='c009'><sup>[15]</sup></a> +answered the appeal of the betrayed and deserted +queen.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_193'>193</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_194'>194</span>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:</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘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.’</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘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.’</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘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.’</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘Art. 19. The impost shall never be levied by the king, +but freely voted by the diet.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“Thus, in 1790, the fundamental laws of the kingdom of +Hungary were solemnly reënacted by the diet, and confirmed +by the king.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_195'>195</span>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:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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 <i>privileges</i> +ought to be abolished, to be replaced by a word applicable to +all,—<i>rights</i>. 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.’—<cite>De +l’Esprit Public en Hongrie</cite>, p. 96.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_196'>196</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“The same diet passed many laws renewing and confirming +the ancient laws, which established entire freedom of religious +faith.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.’<a id='r16'></a><a href='#f16' class='c009'><sup>[16]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_197'>197</span>“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:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.’<a id='r17'></a><a href='#f17' class='c009'><sup>[17]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_198'>198</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_199'>199</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>congregations</i>, 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 <i>Director +causarum regalium</i> 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_200'>200</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_201'>201</span>years. On their part, the states voted to raise the amount of +the impost to four millions.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_202'>202</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_203'>203</span>by a series of works, which had a great effect in enlightening +the public mind.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.<a id='r18'></a><a href='#f18' class='c009'><sup>[18]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_204'>204</span>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, +<i>Divide et impera</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“But the cause of liberty was not without its advocates in +the upper house. The younger magnates,<a id='r19'></a><a href='#f19' class='c009'><sup>[19]</sup></a> 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_205'>205</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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!’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>robot</i>, or soccage labour, reduced +to fifty-two days in the year. The most important measure +<span class='pageno' id='Page_206'>206</span>was that which decreed to the peasant the right of redeeming +the <i>tized</i> (tithes) and <i>robot</i> (<i>corvées</i> 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.<a id='r20'></a><a href='#f20' class='c009'><sup>[20]</sup></a> +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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_207'>207</span>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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.<a id='r21'></a><a href='#f21' class='c009'><sup>[21]</sup></a> 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_208'>208</span>by the government, Kossuth made application to the county of +Pest, and was formally authorized to continue it.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_209'>209</span>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.<a id='r22'></a><a href='#f22' class='c009'><sup>[22]</sup></a> 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_210'>210</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.’<a id='r23'></a><a href='#f23' class='c009'><sup>[23]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>“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:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘As we have no greater desire than to testify to you, by +our entire confidence, a love equal to that of our ancestors of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_211'>211</span>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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“This prefaced, after the ancient fashion of the Austrian +kings of Hungary, a demand for subsidies.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <cite>Pesti +Hirlap</cite>. 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 <cite>Pesti Hirlap</cite>. 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 <cite>Pesti Hirlap</cite>. The minute knowledge +which the editor displayed of the affairs of every part of +the kingdom,—the vigilance from which it seemed that nothing +<span class='pageno' id='Page_212'>212</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.<a id='r24'></a><a href='#f24' class='c009'><sup>[24]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_213'>213</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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. +<span class='pageno' id='Page_214'>214</span>‘There is not a county,’ says De Gerando, ‘in which the +liberals have not, in crowds, given this proof of their patriotism.’<a id='r25'></a><a href='#f25' class='c009'><sup>[25]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 <i>aviticitas</i>, and +the introduction of trial by jury. The states likewise passed +some decrees favourable to Hungarian commerce;<a id='r26'></a><a href='#f26' class='c009'><sup>[26]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_215'>215</span>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, <i>at the instance of the county</i>, 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.<a id='r27'></a><a href='#f27' class='c009'><sup>[27]</sup></a> +<span class='pageno' id='Page_216'>216</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_217'>217</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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....</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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:—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘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.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘2. Participation of the non-nobles, of the inhabitants +<span class='pageno' id='Page_218'>218</span>of the royal cities, and of the free districts, in legislative and +municipal rights.<a id='r28'></a><a href='#f28' class='c009'><sup>[28]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘3. Equality before the law.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘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.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘5. Security given to credit and property by the abolition +of the <i>aviticitas</i>.</p> + +<p class='c005'>“‘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....</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, ‘<i>Mit kiván a magyar +nemzet?</i>’—‘What asks the Magyar nation?’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“This manifesto sets forth twelve points of reform:—</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘1. We ask freedom of the press, and the abolition of +the censorship.</p> + +<p class='c014'><span class='pageno' id='Page_219'>219</span>“‘2. A responsible ministry at Buda.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘3. Annual diet at Pest.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘4. Equality before the law, both as regards religious and +civil rights.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘5. A national guard.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘6. An equal distribution of the public burdens.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘7. Abolition of the urbarial relations.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘8. Trial by jury.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘9. Representation on the principle of equality.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘10. A national bank.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘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.</p> + +<p class='c014'>“‘12. Union with Transylvania.’<a id='r29'></a><a href='#f29' class='c009'><sup>[29]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>“To these articles, at the suggestion of Vahot, was added, +the release of prisoners confined for political offences.<a id='r30'></a><a href='#f30' class='c009'><sup>[30]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>“It is to be observed that these demands for equality before +the law, and an equal distribution of the taxes, were not made +<span class='pageno' id='Page_220'>220</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.’<a id='r31'></a><a href='#f31' class='c009'><sup>[31]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>“Another eyewitness thus describes the effect produced on the +people of Pest by the announcement of the royal assent:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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.’<a id='r32'></a><a href='#f32' class='c009'><sup>[32]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_221'>221</span>“But this apparent triumph of their rights did but hasten +the crisis which Austria had been for <a id='t221'></a>years preparing for the +Hungarian nation.<a id='r33'></a><a href='#f33' class='c009'><sup>[33]</sup></a> While they were returning thanks to God +for their freedom, redeemed without blood, Jellachich was receiving +his orders from the Austrian cabinet.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_222'>222</span>with a strong hand, in such a manner as circumstances may +require.’<a id='r34'></a><a href='#f34' class='c009'><sup>[34]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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:—</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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, <i>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</i>.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘We find ourselves deceived in you,—<i>you, who have not +only always shared equally in all the rights and privileges of +the Hungarian constitution</i>, 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_223'>223</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘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 <i>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</i>.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘Calumniators have endeavoured to persuade you that the +Hungarian nation wishes to suppress your language, or to +hinder its further development. <i>We ourselves assure you these +reports are entirely false.</i></p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘<i>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?...</i></p> + +<p class='c006'>“‘The law is holy, and must be holy. <i>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.</i>’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“On the opening of the diet, on the 5th of July, the Palatine, +in the name of the king, expressed his reprobation of the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_224'>224</span>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 <i>on the defence of the country and the state of the +finances</i>. 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“In the mean time the southern provinces of Hungary were +already a prey to fire and massacre,<a id='r35'></a><a href='#f35' class='c009'><sup>[35]</sup></a> 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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 ‘<i>indubitable +proofs of fidelity and attachment which the Freiherr von Jellachich +had repeatedly displayed since he has been named Ban of +Croatia</i>.’</p> + +<p class='c006'>“The Hungarians made yet one more attempt to avoid an +open collision with the Austrian government. On the 9th of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_225'>225</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> + +<div class='lg-container-r'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>M.L.P.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_226'>226</span>come into contact, demonstrates, that it is an enemy to all international +law which deserves the name of <i>Public Right</i>; 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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<a id='r36'></a><a href='#f36' class='c009'><sup>[36]</sup></a> 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.<a id='r37'></a><a href='#f37' class='c009'><sup>[37]</sup></a> 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.<a id='r38'></a><a href='#f38' class='c009'><sup>[38]</sup></a></p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_227'>227</span>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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,<a id='r39'></a><a href='#f39' class='c009'><sup>[39]</sup></a> 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,<a id='r40'></a><a href='#f40' class='c009'><sup>[40]</sup></a>) 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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_228'>228</span>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?</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_229'>229</span>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.<a id='r41'></a><a href='#f41' class='c009'><sup>[41]</sup></a> 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:</p> + +<div class='lg-container-b c010'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'>Aye call it holy ground!</div> + <div class='line in2'>The spot whereon they trod—</div> + <div class='line'>They keep unstained what there they found—</div> + <div class='line in2'>Freedom to worship God.</div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c006'>A second time in the world’s history have spirit and matter +met on the battle-field, at fearful apparent odds,—and spirit +triumphed!</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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 +<span class='pageno' id='Page_230'>230</span>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?</p> + +<div class='chapter'> + +</div> + +<hr class='c015'> +<div class='footnote' id='f1'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. 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 <i>The Church</i>.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f2'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r2'>2</a>. The legend of <span class='sc'>William Tell</span> gives the spirit of the whole.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f3'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r3'>3</a>. Blanch, the first wife of Rodolph, died in April, 1305.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f4'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r4'>4</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f5'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r5'>5</a>. Schiller’s Thirty Years’ War.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f6'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r6'>6</a>. Coxe, Chap. <span class='fss'>XXCIV.</span></p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f7'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r7'>7</a>. Coleridge has well defined Christianity to be “the perfection of +Reason.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f8'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r8'>8</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f9'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r9'>9</a>. Sancti Stephani Regis Decretum <span class='fss'>I.</span> cap. <span class='fss'>IV.</span></p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f10'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r10'>10</a>. Sanct. Stephan. Decret. <span class='fss'>I.</span> cap. <span class='fss'>X.</span></p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f11'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r11'>11</a>. Respublica et Status Regni Hungariæ.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f12'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r12'>12</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f13'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r13'>13</a>. See Fessler, <cite>Die Geschichten der Ungern</cite>.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f14'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r14'>14</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f15'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r15'>15</a>. “For,” says the Hungarian historian, Fessler, “the highest enthusiasm +is only strong in deeds, not rich in words.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f16'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r16'>16</a>. Fessler, <cite>Die Geschichten der Ungern</cite>, 10ter Bd., S. 658.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f17'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r17'>17</a>. <i>Ibid.</i>, 10ter Bd., S. 660.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f18'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r18'>18</a>. See De Gerando, <cite>De l’Esprit Public</cite>, p. 174, for the account of the +elections in the county of Bars.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f19'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r19'>19</a>. The diet of Hungary is composed of two chambers, or “tables,” +as they are there called.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f20'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r20'>20</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f21'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r21'>21</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f22'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r22'>22</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f23'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r23'>23</a>. <cite><span lang="fr">La Transylvanie.</span></cite></p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f24'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r24'>24</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f25'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r25'>25</a>. 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f26'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r26'>26</a>. Very severe restrictions were imposed by Austria on Hungarian +commerce.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f27'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r27'>27</a>. 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.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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....</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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.”</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f28'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r28'>28</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f29'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r29'>29</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f30'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r30'>30</a>. “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.”—<cite>Pesti Forradalom</cite>, Pest, 1848.</p> + +<p class='c006'>“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, <cite>Ein Blatt Volksgeschichte</cite>. Pest, 1848.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f31'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r31'>31</a>. Berffi. Der 15. März, 1848, in Pest. <cite>Ein Blatt Volksgeschichte.</cite></p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f32'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r32'>32</a>. <cite>Pesti Forradalom.</cite> <cite>Irta Birányi Akos.</cite> Pesten, 1848.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f33'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r33'>33</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f34'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r34'>34</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f35'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r35'>35</a>. 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.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f36'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r36'>36</a>. See <span class='sc'>Heeren’s</span> Researches among the monuments and concerning +the commercial relations of the ancient nations of Asia and Europe.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f37'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r37'>37</a>. <span class='sc'>Landseer’s</span> Sabæan Researches.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f38'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r38'>38</a>. Herodotus, § 89 of Thalia.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f39'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r39'>39</a>. See Herodotus, <a href='#Page_108'>108</a> of Erato.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f40'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r40'>40</a>. Herodotus.</p> +</div> +<div class='footnote' id='f41'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r41'>41</a>. See Dr. <span class='sc'>Teft’s</span> Hungary and Kossuth, p. 337.</p> +</div> + +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c002'> +</div> +<div class='tnotes x-ebookmaker'> + +<div class='chapter ph2'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c003'> + <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<table class='table0'> + <tr> + <th class='c016'>Page</th> + <th class='c016'>Changed from</th> + <th class='c017'>Changed to</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c018'><a href='#t63'>63</a></td> + <td class='c019'>of the princess; and Ferdinand, prudently waving his pretensions</td> + <td class='c020'>of the princess; and Ferdinand, prudently waiving his pretensions</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c018'><a href='#t176'>176</a></td> + <td class='c019'>goodness of the people. It were well of this pleasant book</td> + <td class='c020'>goodness of the people. It were well if this pleasant book</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class='c018'><a href='#t221'>221</a></td> + <td class='c019'>the crisis which Austria had been for year preparing for the</td> + <td class='c020'>the crisis which Austria had been for years preparing for the</td> + </tr> +</table> + + <ul class='ul_1'> + <li>Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + + </li> + <li>Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last chapter. + </li> + </ul> + +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77398 ***</div> + </body> + <!-- created with ppgen.py 3.57e (with regex) on 2025-10-12 15:01:50 GMT --> +</html> diff --git a/77398-h/images/cover.jpg b/77398-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c8b8a87 --- /dev/null +++ b/77398-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/77398-h/images/i049.jpg b/77398-h/images/i049.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..13d8a7d --- /dev/null +++ b/77398-h/images/i049.jpg |
