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pubOne.info present you this new edition. The year 1809 had come; but the war against France, so intensely longed for by all Austria, had not yet broken out, and the people and the army were vainly waiting for the war-cry of their sovereign, the Emperor Francis. It is true, not a few great things bad been accomplished in the course of the past year: Austria had armed, organized the militia, strengthened her fortresses, and filled her magazines; but the emperor still hesitated to take the last and most decisive step by crowning his military preparations with a formal declaration of war.

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Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	06 novembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819949749
Langue	English

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ANDREAS HOFER
An HISTORICAL NOVEL
by Lousia Mühlbach
CHAPTER I.
1809.
The year 1809 had come; but the war against France,so intensely longed for by all Austria, had not yet broken out, andthe people and the army were vainly waiting for the war-cry oftheir sovereign, the Emperor Francis. It is true, not a few greatthings bad been accomplished in the course of the past year:Austria had armed, organized the militia, strengthened herfortresses, and filled her magazines; but the emperor stillhesitated to take the last and most decisive step by crowning hismilitary preparations with a formal declaration of war.
No one looked for this declaration of war moreintensely than the emperor's second brother, the Archduke John, ayoung man of scarcely twenty-seven. He had been the soul of all thepreparations which, since the summer of 1808, had been madethroughout Austria; he had conceived the plan of organizing themilitia and the reserves; and had drawn up the proclamation of the12th of May, 1808, by which all able-bodied Austrians were calledupon to take up arms. But this exhausted his powers; he couldorganize the army, but could not say to it, “Take the field againstthe enemy! ” The emperor alone could utter this word, and he wassilent.
“And he will be silent until the favorable momenthas passed, ” sighed the Archduke John, when, on returning from avery long interview with the emperor, he was alone with his friend,General Nugent, in his cabinet.
He had communicated to this confidant the fulldetails of his interview with the emperor, and concluded his reportby saying, with a deep sigh, “The emperor will be silent until thefavorable moment has passed! ”
Count Nugent gazed with a look of heart-feltsympathy into the archduke's mournful face; he saw the tearsfilling John's large blue eyes; he saw that he firmly compressedhis lips as if to stifle a cry of pain or rage, and that heclinched his hands in the agony of his despair. Animated by tendercompassion, the general approached the archduke, who had sunk intoa chair, and laid his hand gently on his shoulder. “Courage,courage! ” he whispered; “nothing is lost as yet, and your imperialhighness— ”
“Ah, why do you address me with `imperial highness'?” cried the archduke, almost indignantly. “Do you not see, then,that this is a miserable title by which Fate seems to mock me, andwhich it thunders constantly, and, as it were, sneeringly into myears, in order to remind me again and again of my deplorablepowerlessness? There is nothing 'imperial' about me but the yokeunder which I am groaning; and my `highness' is to be compared onlywith the crumbs of Lazarus which fell from the rich man's table.And yet there are persons, Nugent, who envy me these crumbs— menwho think it a brilliant and glorious lot to be an 'imperialhighness, ' the brother of a sovereign emperor! Ah, they do notknow that this title means only that I am doomed to everlastingdependence and silence, and that the emperor's valet de chambre andhis private secretary are more influential men than the ArchdukeJohn, who cannot do anything but submit, be silent, and look on inidleness. ”
“Now your imperial highness slanders yourself, ”exclaimed Count Nugent. “You have not been silent, you have notlooked on in idleness, but have worked incessantly and courageouslyfor the salvation of your people and your country. Who drew up theoriginal plan for the organization of the militia and the reserves?Who elaborated its most minute details with admirable sagacity? Itwas the Archduke John— the archduke in whom all Austria hopes, andwho is the last refuge and comfort of all patriots! ”
“Ah, how much all of you are to be pitied, myfriend, if you hope in me! ” sighed John. “What am I, then? A pooratom which is allowed to move in the glare of the imperial sun, butwhich would be annihilated so soon as it should presume to be anindependent luminary. Pray, Nugent, do not speak of such hopes;for, if the emperor should hear of it, not only would my liberty beendangered, but also yours and that of all who are of your opinion.The emperor does not like to see the eyes of his subjects fixedupon me; every kind word uttered about me sours him and increasesthe ill-will with which he regards me. ”
“That is impossible, your highness, ” exclaimed thecount. “How can our excellent emperor help loving his brother, whois so gifted, so high-minded and learned, and withal so modest andkind-hearted? How can he help being happy to see that others loveand appreciate him too? ”
“Does the emperor love my brother Charles, who ismuch more gifted and high-minded than I am? ” asked John, shrugginghis shoulders. “Did he not arrest his victorious career, and recallhim from the army, although, or rather BECAUSE, he knew that thearmy idolized him, and that all Austria loved him and hoped in him?Ah, believe me, the emperor is distrustful of all his brothers, andall our protestations of love and devotedness do not touch him, butrebound powerlessly from the armor of jealousy with which he hassteeled his heart against us. You see, I tell you all this withperfect composure, but I confess it cost me once many tears andinward struggles, and it was long before my heart became calm andresigned. My heart long yearned for love, confidence, andfriendship. I have got over these yearnings now, and resignedmyself to be lonely, and remain so all my life long. That is tosay, ” added the archduke, with a gentle smile, holding out hishand to the count, “lonely, without a sister, without a brother—lonely in my family. However, I have found a most delightfulcompensation for this loneliness, for I call you and Hormayrfriends; I have my books, which always comfort, divert, and amuseme; and last, I have my great and glorious hopes regarding thefuture of the fatherland. Ah, how could I say that I was poor andlonely when I am so rich in hopes, and have two noble and faithfulfriends? I am sure, Nugent, you will never desert me, but stand byme to the end— to the great day of victory, or to the end of ourhumiliation and disgrace? ”
“Your imperial highness knows full well that myheart will never turn from you; that I love and revere you; thatyou are to me the embodiment of all that is noble, great, andbeautiful; that I would be joyfully ready at any hour to sufferdeath for you; and that neither prosperity nor adversity couldinduce me to forsake you. You are the hope of my heart, you are thehope of my country— nay, the hope of all Germany. We all need yourassistance, your heart, your arm; for we expect that you will placeyourself at the head of Germany, and lead us to glorious victories!”
“God grant that the hour when we shall take thefield may soon come! Then, my friend, I shall prove that I amready, like all of you, to shed my heart's blood for thefatherland, and conquer or die for the liberty of Austria, theliberty of Germany. For in the present state of affairs the fate ofGermany, too, depends on the success of our arms. If we succumb andhave to submit to the same humiliations as Prussia, the whole ofGermany will be but a French province, and the freedom andindependence of our fatherland will be destroyed for long years tocome. I am too weak to survive such a disgrace. If Austria falls, Ishall fall too; if German liberty dies, I shall die too. ” [Footnote: The Archduke John's own words. — See “Forty-eightLetters from Archduke John of Austria to Johannes von Muller, ” p.90. ]
“German liberty will not die! ” exclaimed CountNugent, enthusiastically; “it will take the field one day againstall the powerful and petty tyrants of the fatherland. Then it willchoose the Archduke John its general-in-chief, and he will lead itto victory! ”
“No, no, my friend, ” said John, mournfully; “Faterefuses to let me play a decisive part in the history of the world.My role will always be but a secondary one; my will will always beimpeded, my arm will be paralyzed forever. You know it. You knowthat I am constantly surrounded by secret spies and eavesdroppers,who watch me with lynx-eyed mistrust and misrepresent every step Itake. It was always so, and will remain so until I die or become adecrepit old man, whose arm is no longer able to wield the sword oreven the pen. That I am young, that I have a heart for thesufferings of my country, a heart not only for the honor ofAustria, but for that of Germany— that is what gives umbrage tothem, what renders me suspicious in their eyes, and causes them toregard me as a revolutionist. I had to suffer a good deal for myconvictions; a great many obstacles were raised against all myplans; and yet I desired only to contribute to the welfare of thewhole; I demanded nothing for myself, but every thing for thefatherland. To the fatherland I wished to devote my blood and mylife; for the fatherland I wished to conquer in the disastrouscampaign of 1805. However, such were not the plans of myadversaries; they did not wish to carry on the war with sufficientenergy and perseverance; they would not give my brother Charles andme an opportunity to distinguish ourselves and gain a popular name.Whenever I planned a vigorous attack, I was not permitted to carryit into effect. Whenever, with my corps, I might have exerted adecisive influence upon the fortunes of the war, I was ordered toretreat with my troops to some distant position of no importancewhatever; and when I remonstrated, they charged me with rebellingagainst the emperor's authority. Ah, I suffered a great deal inthose days, and the wounds which my heart received at that junctureare bleeding yet. I had to succumb, when the men who had commencedthe war at a highly unfavorable time, conducted it at an equallyunfavorable moment, and made peace. And by that peace Austria losther most loyal province, the beautiful Tyrol, one of the oldeststates of the Hapsburgs; and her most fertile province, theterritory of Venetia and Dalmatia, for which I did not grieve somuch, because it always was a source of political dissensi