of the dependent condition of the peasantry had been swept
away; taxation had been made universal; and freedom of the press and
universal military service had been promised. Szechenyi alone had
ventured to raise a note of warning, and it had fallen unheeded.

In Vienna Kossuth was welcomed almost as cordially as in Presburg; for
the German movement in Vienna had tended to produce in its supporters a
willingness to lose the eastern half of the empire in order to obtain
the union of the western half with Germany. So the notes of Arndt's
"_Deutsches Vaterland_" were mingled with the cry of "_Batthyanyi Lajos,
Minister Praesident!_" Before such a combination as this, Ferdinand had
no desire, Windischgraetz no power, to maintain an obstinate resistance;
and, on March 16th, Sedlnitzky, the hated head of the police, was
dismissed from office. On the 18th a responsible ministry was appointed;
and on the 22d Windischgraetz announced that national affairs would now
be guided on the path of progress.

In the mean time that German movement from which the Viennese derived so
much of their impulse had been gaining a new accession of force in the
north of Germany. In Berlin the order of the Viennese movements had been
to some extent reversed. There the artisans, instead of taking their
tone from the students, had given the first impulse to reform. The King
indeed had begun his concessions by granting freedom of the press on
March 7th; but it seemed very unlikely that this concession would be
accompanied by any securities that would make it a reality. The King
even refused to fulfil his promise of summoning the Assembly; and it was
in consequence of this refusal that the artisans presented to the Town
Council of Berlin a petition for the redress of their special
grievances. The same kind of misery which prevailed in Vienna had shown
itself, though in less degree, in Berlin; and committees had been formed
for the relief of the poor. The Town Council refused to present the
petition of the workmen, and, in order to take the movement out of their
hands, presented a petition of their own in favor of freedom of the
press, trial by jury, representation of the German people in the
Bundestag, and the summoning of all the Provincial Assemblies of the
kingdom. This petition was rejected by the King; and thereupon, on March
13th, the people gathered in large numbers in the streets. General Pfuel
fired on them; but instead of yielding, they threw u