ople, and
gain the support of their enthusiasm by identifying its interests with
theirs, why might not an ancient dynasty, with vigorous stock and
numerous shoots, do likewise? Moreover, Napoleon no longer respected
the limits of natural physical boundaries, or the restrictions of
birth, speech, religion, and custom, which inclosed a nation: his
empire was to disdain such influences, to found itself on the
universal brotherhood of man, and to secure the regeneration of
humanity by liberal ideas of universal validity. Austria would offset
this alluring summons by a trumpet-call to the brotherhood of Germans,
to the strong forces of national feeling, to the respect for tradition
and history which would animate her soldiers and justify her course.

If she needed a concrete illustration she could point to the Tyrolese.
Since the treaty of Presburg their chains had chafed their limbs to
the raw; at this very moment they were again in open rebellion. The
administrative reforms introduced by Maximilian of Bavaria were in
reality most salutary; his determined stand against priestly
domination over the Tyrolese people proved in the end their salvation.
But the evils of feudalism were always least among mountaineers, and
relations of patriarchal tenderness existed between the aristocracy
and the peasantry. The devotion of both classes to their institutions,
their habits, their clothes, their customs, their local names, was
intense. They had no mind to see the name of their country disappear
forever, to lose their pleasant, easy-fitting institutions, or to
submit to the conscription and join in the great leveling movement
which compelled them to serve in the ranks as ordinary soldiers. With
their local assemblies they meant to keep their military exclusiveness
as scouts, skirmishers, and sharp-shooters, in all of which lines they
excelled.

The more enlightened citizens of the towns were well pleased with
Bavarian rule, but the impulsive, ignorant, and superstitious
peasantry were the glad instruments of Austrian emissaries. When they
learned that war was inevitable and would soon be formally declared,
they at once rose, seized Innsbruck, and held it against the Bavarian
troops. When an Austrian garrison marched in, their reception was
enthusiastic. This was in the middle of April; simultaneously the
Archduke John defeated Prince Eugene in Italy and drove him back upon
the Adige, while Ferdinand overpowered all resistance in Pol