ter, Gautsch, a man
popular with all parties, held office for three months; he proclaimed the
budget and the Ausgleich, and in February replaced the language ordinances
by others, under which Bohemia was to be divided into three districts--one
Czech, one German and one mixed. The Germans, however, were not satisfied
with this; they demanded absolute repeal. The Czechs also were offended;
they arranged riots at Prague; the professors in the university refused to
lecture unless the German students were defended from violence; Gautsch
resigned, and Thun, who had been governor of Bohemia, was appointed
minister. Martial law was proclaimed in Bohemia, and strictly enforced.
Thun then arranged with the Hungarian ministers a compromise about the
Ausgleich.

[Sidenote: Renewed conflict between Germans and Czechs.]

The Reichsrath was again summoned, and the meetings were less disturbed
than in the former year, but the Germans still prevented any business from
being done. The Germans now had a new cause of complaint. Paragraph 14 of
the Constitutional law of 1867 provided that, in cases of pressing
necessity, orders for which the assent of the Reichsrath was required
might, if the Reichsrath were not in session, be proclaimed by the emperor;
they had to be signed by the whole ministry, and if they were not laid
before the Reichsrath within four months of its meeting, or if they did not
receive the approval of both Houses, they ceased to be valid. The Germans
contended that the application of this clause to the Ausgleich was invalid,
and demanded that it should be repealed. Thun had in consequence to retire,
in September 1899. His successor, Count Clary, began by withdrawing the
ordinances which had been the cause of so much trouble, but it was now too
late to restore peace. The Germans were not sufficiently strong and united
to keep in power a minister who had brought them the relief for which they
had been clamouring for two years. The Czechs, of course, went into
opposition, and used obstruction. The extreme German party, however, took
the occasion to demand that paragraph 14 should be repealed. Clary
explained that this was impossible, but he gave a formal pledge that he
would not use it. The Czechs, however, prevented him passing a law on
excise which was a necessary part of the agreements with Hungary; it was,
therefore, impossible for him to carry on the government without breaking
his word; there was nothing left for him