Andreas Hofer | Page 6

my will will always be impeded, my arm will be
paralyzed forever. You know it. You know that I am constantly
surrounded by secret spies and eavesdroppers, who watch me with
lynx-eyed mistrust and misrepresent every step I take. It was always so,
and will remain so until I die or become a decrepit old man, whose arm
is no longer able to wield the sword or even the pen. That I am young,
that I have a heart for the sufferings of my country, a heart not only for
the honor of Austria, but for that of Germany--that is what gives

umbrage to them, what renders me suspicious in their eyes, and causes
them to regard me as a revolutionist. I had to suffer a good deal for my
convictions; a great many obstacles were raised against all my plans;
and yet I desired only to contribute to the welfare of the whole; I
demanded nothing for myself, but every thing for the fatherland. To the
fatherland I wished to devote my blood and my life; for the fatherland I
wished to conquer in the disastrous campaign of 1805. However, such
were not the plans of my adversaries; they did not wish to carry on the
war with sufficient energy and perseverance; they would not give my
brother Charles and me an opportunity to distinguish ourselves and
gain a popular name. Whenever I planned a vigorous attack, I was not
permitted to carry it into effect. Whenever, with my corps, I might have
exerted a decisive influence upon the fortunes of the war, I was ordered
to retreat with my troops to some distant position of no importance
whatever; and when I remonstrated, they charged me with rebelling
against the emperor's authority. Ah, I suffered a great deal in those days,
and the wounds which my heart received at that juncture are bleeding
yet. I had to succumb, when the men who had commenced the war at a
highly unfavorable time, conducted it at an equally unfavorable
moment, and made peace. And by that peace Austria lost her most loyal
province, the beautiful Tyrol, one of the oldest states of the Hapsburgs;
and her most fertile province, the territory of Venetia and Dalmatia, for
which I did not grieve so much, because it always was a source of
political dissensions and quarrels for the hereditary provinces of
Austria. What afflicted me most sorely was the loss of the Tyrol, and
even now I cannot think of it without the most profound emotion. It
seemed as though Fate were bent on blotting out from our memory all
that might remind us of our ancestors, their virtues, their patriotism,
and their perseverance in the days of universal adversity; and as though,
in consequence of this, the spirit, of the Hapsburgs had almost become
extinct, and we were to lose all that they bad gained in the days of their
greatness. [Footnote: John's own words.--See "Forty-eight Letters from
Archduke John to Johannes von Muller," p. 103.] But now Fate is
willing to give us another opportunity to repair our faults and show that
we are worthy of our ancestors. If we allow this to pass too, all is lost,
not only the throne of the Hapsburgs, but also their honor!"
"This opportunity will not pass!" exclaimed the count. "The throne of

the Hapsburgs will be preserved, for it is protected by the Archdukes
John and Charles, a brave army that is eager for a war with France, and
a faithful, intrepid people, which is sincerely devoted to its imperial
dynasty, which never will acknowledge another ruler, and which never
will desert its Hapsburgs."
"Yes, the people will not desert us," said John, "but worse things may
happen; we may desert ourselves. Just look around, Nugent, and see
how lame we have suddenly become again; how we have all at once
stopped half way, unable to decide whether it might not be better for us
to lay down our arms again and surrender at discretion to the Emperor
of the French."
"Fortunately, it is too late now to take such a resolution; for Austria has
already gone so far that a hesitating policy at this juncture will no
longer succeed in pacifying the Emperor of the French. And it is owing
to the efforts of your imperial highness that it is so; we are indebted for
it to your zeal, your energy, and your enthusiasm for the good cause,
which is now no longer the cause of Austria, but that of Germany. And
this cause will not succumb; God will not allow a great and noble
people to be trampled under foot by a foreign tyrant, who bids defiance
to the most sacred treaties and the law of nations, and who would like
to overthrow