Germany, and lead us to glorious victories!"

"God grant that the hour when we shall take the field may soon come!
Then, my friend, I shall prove that I am ready, like all of you, to
shed my heart's blood for the fatherland, and conquer or die for the
liberty of Austria, the liberty of Germany. For in the present state
of affairs the fate of Germany, too, depends on the success of our
arms. If we succumb and have to submit to the same humiliations as
Prussia, the whole of Germany will be but a French province, and the
freedom and independence of our fatherland will be destroyed for
long years to come. I am too weak to survive such a disgrace. If
Austria falls, I shall fall too; if German liberty dies, I shall die
too." [Footnote: The Archduke John's own words.--See "Forty-eight
Letters from Archduke John of Austria to Johannes von Muller," p.
90.]

"German liberty will not die!" exclaimed Count Nugent,
enthusiastically; "it will take the field one day against all the
powerful and petty tyrants of the fatherland. Then it will choose
the Archduke John its general-in-chief, and he will lead it to
victory!"

"No, no, my friend," said John, mournfully; "Fate refuses to let me
play a decisive part in the history of the world. My role will
always be but a secondary one; my will will always be impeded, my
arm will be paralyzed forever. You know it. You know that I am
constantly surrounded by secret spies and eavesdroppers, who watch
me with lynx-eyed mistrust and misrepresent every step I take. It
was always so, and will remain so until I die or become a decrepit
old man, whose arm is no longer able to wield the sword or even the