eir cause. The Silesians, Lusatians and
Moravians were in open revolt. The Hungarian Protestants, animated by
the success of the Bohemians, were eager to follow their example and
throw off the yoke of Ferdinand. With iron tyranny he had silenced every
Protestant voice in the Styrian provinces, and had crushed every
semblance of religious liberty. But the successful example of the
Bohemians had roused the Styrians, and they also were on the eve of
making a bold move in defense of their rights. Even in Austria itself,
and beneath the very shadow of the palaces of Vienna, conspiracies were
rife, and insurrection was only checked by the presence of the army
which had been driven out of Bohemia.

Even Ferdinand could not be blind to the difficulties which were
accumulating upon him, and to the precarious tenure of his power. He saw
the necessity of persevering in the attempt at conciliation which he had
so reluctantly commenced. And yet, with strange infatuation, he proposed
an accommodation in a manner which was deemed insulting, and which
tended only to exasperate. The very day of his accession to the throne,
he sent a commission to Prague, to propose a truce; but, instead of
conferring with the Protestant leaders, he seemed to treat them with
intentional contempt, by addressing his proposal to that very council of
regency which had become so obnoxious. The Protestants, justly regarding
this as an indication of the implacable state of his mind, and conscious
that the proposed truce would only enable him more effectually to rally
his forces, made no reply whatever to his proposals. Ferdinand,
perceiving that he had made a great mistake, and that he had not rightly
appreciated the spirit of his foes, humbled himself a little more, and
made still another attempt at conciliation. But the Protestants had now
resolved that Ferdinand should never be King of Bohemia. It had become
an established tenet of the Catholic church that it is not necessary to
keep faith with heretics. Whatever solemn promises Ferdinand might make,
the pope would absolve him from all sin in violating them.

Count Thurn, with sixteen thousand men, marched into Moravia. The people
rose simultaneously to greet him. He entered Brunn, the capital, in
triumph. The revolution was immediate and entire. They abolished the
Austrian government, established the Protestant worship, and organized a
new government similar to that which they had instituted in Bohemia.
Cr