ses and the clergy
opposed them with sullen discontent. The opposition was all the more
successful, as the Emperor had contrived to insult the moral
susceptibilities of the common people by some of his measures.

Thus, with a view to economizing the boards required for coffins, he
ordered the dead to be sewed up in sacks and to be buried in this
apparel. This uncalled-for meddling with the prejudices of the lower
classes had the effect of creating a great indignation among them and of
driving them into the camp of the opposition. Trifling and thoughtless
measures of a similar nature impaired the credit of the most salutary
innovations. The people looked with suspicion at every change, and,
heedless of the lofty endeavors of the Emperor, everybody, including the
officials themselves, rejected the entire governmental system of Joseph.

The Emperor also wounded the national feeling of piety by his action
concerning the crown he had spurned. According to ancient custom and law
the sacred crown was kept in safety in Presburg, in a building provided
for that purpose. In 1784 the Emperor ordered the crown to be removed to
Vienna, in order to be placed there in the royal treasury side by side
with the crowns of his other lands. The nation revolted at this
profanation of their hallowed relic, and the highest official
authorities throughout the land protested against a measure which, while
it created such widespread ill-feeling, was not justified by any
necessity. A dreadful storm, accompanied by thunder and lightning, was
raging when the crown was removed to Vienna, and the people saw in this
a sign that Nature herself rebelled against the sacrilege committed by
the Emperor. The counties continued to urge the return of the crown, in
addresses which were sometimes humbly suppliant in their tone and
sometimes threatening, but Joseph did not yield either to supplications
or menaces.

When the edict which made German the official language of the country
was published, the minds of men all over the country were greatly
disturbed. It is true that hitherto the Latin, and not the Hungarian,
language had been the medium of communication employed by the state. But
the national spirit and the native tongue, which during the first
seventy years of the eighteenth century had sadly degenerated, were
awakening to new life during Joseph's reign. The literature of the
country began to be assiduously cultivated in different spheres. Royal
body