nna, and sent
his light cavalry to the banks of the Inn, and came wellnigh succeeding
in his undertaking, and would have done so but for the coming in of John
Sobieski and his Poles,--when the French and Bavarians, in 1704, had
brought the Empire to the brink of destruction, so that it could be
saved only through the combined exertions of such men as Eugene and
Marlborough,--when almost all Continental Europe that was possessed of
power directed that power against the Imperial house immediately after
the death of Charles VI., last male member of the line of
Hapsburg,--when Napoleon I. destroyed an Austrian army at Ulm, and took
Vienna, and beat to pieces the Austro-Russian army at Austerlitz,--when
the same Emperor took Vienna the second time, in 1809, after a series of
brilliant victories, wonderful even in his most wonderful history, and
won the victory of Wagram, and allowed the Austrian monarchy to exist
only because he thought of marrying a daughter of its head,--when
Hungarians, Italians, Germans, and others of its subjects were in arms
against it, in 1848-49,--when Montebello and Palestro were followed by
Magenta and Solferino,--the condition of the house of Austria was nearly
as low as it is to-day, and on some of these occasions probably it was
even more reduced than it is at present. Men were ready in 1529, in
1552, in 1619, in 1632, in 1683, in 1704, in 1741, in 1805, in 1809, in
1849, and in 1859 to say, as now they say, that the last hour of the
fortunate dynasty was about to strike on the clock of Time, forgetting
all its earlier escapes from the last consequences of defeat,
recollection of which would have enabled them to form better judgments.
On a dozen occasions Austria has risen superior to the effects of the
direst misfortunes, and she may do so again. And her triumphs,
proceeding out of failures, have not been won over common men or in
ordinary contests. She has rarely had to deal with mean antagonists, and
her singular victories have been enhanced in value by the high grade of
her enemies. Francis I., Sultan Solyman, Gustavus Adolphus, Wallenstein,
Richelieu, Louis XIV., Napoleon I., and Kossuth are conspicuous in the
list of her enemies. They were all great men,--deriving greatness some
of them from their intellectual powers, others from their positions as
sovereigns, and yet others from both their positions and their powers of
mind. Yet she got the better of them all,[31] and some of them fell
mis