The National Register. — London, England, 1809-11-19 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER. NOV. 19. 104 to 114—State, 'iliac no Diet cart be of longer duration Ilion three months, except business shall require it. No man, while a member of the Diet, can be accused, or deprived of his liberty, for his actions or expressions in his respective state, un less the particular state to which he belong shall demand it. No Officer of the Crown must influence, by his authority, in the 41ection of a Member of the Diet, &c. SUBSTANCE OF THE STATEMENT OF THE TYROL DEPUTIES. The county of Tyrol and the seven principalities of Voral berg have, for a series of centuries, constituted an hereditary portion of the Imperial House of Austria. The people inha biting these countries distinguished themselves in every war by such umiaunted valour, that the Emperors successively con ferred upon them very considerable privileges. During the seventeelita and last centuries, when the Swedes, French, and Bavarians made such rapid advances in the German Empire, these provinces al ways revised the enemy with considerable loss. In the year 1703, particularly, when the Bavarian army had penetrated into the Tyrol, it was so ill received; that scarce ly a few remained to attend their Elector back. The attach ment of the Tyrolese and Voralbergers to their Emperors was always firm ; for they governed them with signal and paternal mildness, faithfully preserving their privileges. Thus, though lint blessed 'either with a delicious climate, or a fertile soil, these pastoral nations, not aware of their poverty, led a very contented and happy life in their cottages, until the war of the French Revolution broke out. The vallies were inhabited by thousands of persons, who, before that period, had never seen a soldier ; but thenceforward whole armies traversed their coup try, some proceeding to the interior of Germany, and others to Italy. The poor inhabitants furnished them gratuitously with provisions and all sorts of necessaries, and thereby put them selves to great ineonvenieace. Still, they not only refrained from murmurs, but evinced their loyalty by the erection of a corps of Tyrol and Varalbeeg ehasseurs called " the Tyrol Fieldyagers," all of them volunteers and natives ; who, in ad dition to their pay, were allo wed by their country 9 creutzers each man daily. It is to be observed, that the male population in those mountains is, from its eighth year, trained to the use of the gun, by hunting, as well as firing at targets. Such superior marksmen, as this ancient practise makes them, must, it may easily be supposed, prove a great addition to any army. In fact, they have ever uncommonly 'signalized themselves in all Austrian wars. Yet they could not stem the current of disaster which overwhelmed the arms of their government, and in 1794 the enemy approached their frontiers. The Emperor now sununoned his brave and beloved Tyrol or Voratberg subjects, reminding them of their ancient fame for sharp-shooting. But they had anticipated the summons by or ganizing, of their own accord, a levy eri masse. Tbey hastened to the defence of the frontiers, and thus preserved their coun tries free from Invasion. In 1798, the enemy again attempted to make inroads from Italy, Switzerland, the Orisons, and Swabia. He only suc ceeded on the side of the Orisons, where the passes were hut weakly guarded, as the main force had been Oispatched towards Swabia and Italy, where the enemy, likewise, was strongest. — Still the invaders kept only four days possession of the Ptiutsch g!in, when they were vig,orously driven back upon the Grisons ;110 Engadine, thnugh, in their retreat, they pillaged and burnt the to of Mats and Glurens. • War having again broke out in 1799, their frontiers were also menaced. The inhabitants immedidtely repaired thither to guard them, and in 1500, when Marshal Mamma had crossed the Rhine, near Felelkirk, iu the Voralberg, with a very supe rior and victorious force, he was there, as well-as near the al most impregnable mountain-fortress of St. Luciensteig, so com pletely defeated, as to lose several thousand in killed and prisoners, besides a great quantity of field-pieces and ammuni tion. They also dispossessed him of the (;risons, and pursued him, in company with other troops, as far as Zurich. After a few years quiet, the flames of war rekindled more furiously than ever in ISOI. The inhabitants of the Tyrol and Voralberg were at once attacked on every side, so as to be ren dered dubious w hither to carry relief first. Notwithstanding, the enemy was valorously checked at every point, and suffered, especially on the banks of the Scharnitz, a dreadful discomfiture. ‘hifot tunately their individual bravery coald not retreive the ge- 733 neral cause. By the term: of the armistice entered into after the disastrous battle of Holtenlinden, the Tyrol and V oralberg, countries that had constantly bid defiance to the victorious troops of France, were surrendered as pledges ! It was then that the real hardships of these poor mountaineers began. Their barren countries, even before drained of their little pitiance, were now obliged to maiutain a body of French troops, in addition to a corps of Austrians. The savage foreigners were destitute of every thing, and all their wants to be supplied. This dreadful calamity lasted three months, a calamity w hick the ever un. subdued Tyrolese and Voratbergers imagined to ha% e little de:. served by their firm attachment to their Emperor:. Buonaparte's insatiable ambition having stirred up war once • more in 1805, he ordered the Tyrolese and Vorallwrgerb to be attacked in every point. Marshal Ney, on the hanks of the Scharnitz, repeated his attack thrice. Ile was dri‘en back with immense slaughter. The same fate shared the Bavarian Generals Deroy and Siebbein, who made a vigorous assault upon Kufstein and the pass of St rub. _ _ These efforts, however, were unable to counterpoise the dis astrous surrender of Ulm by General Mack, and the calamitous issue of the engagement of Austerlitz ; in consequence of w Lich, Buonaparte, in the peace of Presburg, made the cession of the Tyrol and Voralberg an express condition. It is not in the power of language to describe the feelings of • the honest Tyroleans and Voralbervrs at the receipt of this melancholy intelligence. Ever since 1794, when the Revolu tionary war began, their brilliant victories had not been sullied by any defeat. They were an heroic people in the literal sense 'of the word. Yet the reward of their loyalty was a fate which usually falls to the lot of the dastardly. To render their cala mity more poignant, these indigent shepherds found themselves involved in the immense debt of twenty millions of florins. The Emperor of Austria did what he could to alleviate this heavy misfortune; he stipulated, that the privileges of the Tyrolese and Voralbergers should remain entire. But is there any one so credulous, or so uninformed of the grand events of :he day, as to suppose, that Buonaparte could be bound by tiny engagements ? Faithful only to his usual treachery, keno sooner had the invincible Tyrolese and Voralbergers in his grasp, than he imposed upon them contributions of every kind. without re mitting a single creutzer; and having taken this barl.irous re venge, he surrendered them to his recently created King of Bavaria. This prince, in his turn, made a point of impoverishirn; • andoppressing his new acquisitions. Not satisfied with 'Tieing heavy contributions, he overthrew their ancient constitution, which they had observed for a series of age•; abolishui the representative States, in order to obstruct the way to all popu lar remonstraneeS„ and seized the provincial, papillary. and credit-funds. He moreover confiscated all ecclessia,ticai pro perty, libolished the prelacies and convents, and sold all public buildings to replenish his empty corers. What proved utore painful to the inhabitants than all these oppressions. was the disposal of the ancient and original castle of the Counts of the Tyrol. Every successive month was marked with a list of new exac tions and taxes, that were levied with the utmost rig our. Coin had become uncommonly scarce, suet the Bavarian novernmeut enhanced the embarrassment, arising from this circumstance, by depreciating the Austrian bank-bills, which were still in circa cation, to one half of their nominal value. This operation caused to the countries in question a fresh loss, amounting to at least twenty millions of florins. To crown all these oppressive measures, Bavaria had it in contemplation to change the very names of the provinces of Tyrol and Voralkerg, by calling them after the principal rivers, and incorporating them with her own dominions. These excessive hardships lasted three year , . Petitions and complaints were riot only rejected, but by an express law abso lutely prohibited. • When, therefore, in the beginning of the current yeur, it up— . geared certain that .a new contest between Austria and Frame I was inevitable, the intelligence was greeted by the poor Tyro leans and Voralbergers, as the rising 'on is :ailed by the siiep herd. Scarcely had they received the news of the actoal mo‘e silents of the two - hostile armies, before they rose in a mtts#. Their outset was brilliant beyond expectation. The trqops of. • the enemy sent against them conskted of 4Z1,001 men, whim,' they resolutely attacked in all points. The victory was com plete; those of the enemy who escaped w ;heir lives being either wounded or taken prisoners. Aiming the latter were Generals; the sharpstooters took besides, a quantity of cianauet