Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1859-10-08


numerous to be specified, combined with IL
opulence derived from the lavish expenditu
of the great aristocratic families, have give
the Viennese degree of personal indepei
dence, and disposition to act energeticall
when called upon, which is not equally cha
acteristic of the lowland inhabitants of I'll
hereditary states.
The burgomaster, (burg-meister, who
the head and representative of these wealth
citizens, in many respects resembles the Lor
Mayor of London, and is in his own spher
even more important person. His election
indeed, must be confirmed by the Emperor
which puts him much more than the Englis
dignitary under the control of the government
but, OH the other hand, when he is elected
his power is much greater. His office is TO
life, and he cannot be removed from it, HI
has the personal liberty of every citizen sub
ject to him the absolute command of tn
police; the colonelship of the city militia
which, by the by, is the finest and best drill
ed force of the kind in Europe and many
patent offices besides. Prince Metternicl
himself is less than him in Cat least nominal)
dignity, so long as he remains at Vienna, and
the Emperor also can give him orders.
The city privileges in their turn are curtail-
ed and interrupted by others of an equally
historical origin, attaching mostly to different
military bodies. One of these, from the
singularity of its Observance, and of the in
cident with which it is connected, is deserv-
ingof more attention than it has met with
hitherto.
The Emperor Ferdinand II. had hardly seat
ed himself on the throne of his predecessor
Matthias, when the religious storm which had
been gathering over Germany, and which end
ed in the famous Thirty Years. War, burst on
him at once. Bohemia, under the Count
Thurn, the dissidents of Silesia and Moravia,
those of Upper and Lower Austria-nearly
all his German subjects in short-either took
up arms, or openly wavered in their fidelity.
on the side of Hungary, and the Protestants
of Carinthia and Carniolaj oined the insurgents.
Alone amid enemies-for the inhabitants OF
Vienna, at that time, were either Protestants
or favorers of the reformmed faith--thc En-
peror was at last fairly blockaded in his palace
but remained unsubdued. He despatched his
children to the Tyrol for safety, and remained
himself with the famous Father Lamorain,
his confessor, waiting to all appearance, till
his insurgent subjects should formally come
to take his crown.
The Protestant barons, emboldened by the
rapid progress of their party in Bohemia, de-
tcrmined by bold stroke, to bring the crisis
to a conclusion. The town-guard consisted
entirely of citizens, and made no difficulty
about surrendering to them the charge of the
Emp sror's person. All the regiments which
might have stood in their way were removed
to posts at distance, and, one by one, the
in whom he had any confidence
were withdrawn. Their purpose was at once
to compel Ferdinand by force to sign their de-
mands, which he had hitherto steadily refus-
ed. These demands embraced a national re-
absolute liberty of conscience,
and equality of privileges for Catholics and
Protestants in all matters civil and political.
Not that they expected that that Emperor,
knowing what his character was, would con-
sent, but his refusal would give them tangi-
BILE pretext for eifecting his deposition.
Early one morning, when all was ready, the
sixteen in number, with Thou
radl, the leader of the citizens, at their head,
entered the imperial palace, and made their
way without difficulty to the emperor's cham
ber. Ferdinand was alone, but nothing could
shake his determination not to sign the paper.
Thouradl, at last, exasperated beyond patience,
and fixed to stick at nothing in the execution
of his purpose, seized the diminutive emperor
by the collar of his dress, and shook him vio
lently in his powerful hands. s'Little Ferdi-
nand, wilt thou sign 7" he said, in voice
half choked with fury-''sign this moment,
Or, little as thou art, will find means to shor-
ten thee still.''
AT this very moment, (the story here sa-
vors of the marvellous,) blast of trumpets
rose from the court below. All rushed to the
and there they beheld, drawn up in
squadron, with their sabres barred, the cuiras-
siers of the Dampierre regiment, five hundred
strong. The sight was the more unlocked
for, as these very men had, on account of
their known loyalty, been sent only few
days before to Linz, more than a hundred
miles off.
Almost at the same instant, before they
could conjecture even how the regiment could
be there, when, only two days before. their
agents had written them word that it was at
Linz, three raps were heard at the door, an
the arrival of some new actor in
this extraordinary scene. The door opened,
and the Marquis de st. Hilaire, the colonel OF
the cuirassiers, entered in complete armor
Bending reverentially to the emperor, he in
quired his orders.
Ferdinand till now had been pale as ashes,
but the color now rushed to his cheeks. His
eyes sparkled, and he commanded the sixteen
to be seized on the spot. No
sooner said than done-twenty cnirassiers
rushed up the staircase, and they, who five
minutes before had been his masters, were
now borne hurriedly away to execution.
by some means or other, was lucky
enough to escape, but the others all were hung
the same day outside the town. A beautiful
suburb since then has sprung up ON the spot,
the name of which, ("Herrnhals, !" Lords'-
neck,) indirectly recalls the memory Of this
terrible act of retribution.
OF the authenticity of this story there is no
doubt, but nothing is known TO account for its