登陆注册
5426900000002

第2章

My heart long yearned for love, confidence, and friendship. I have got over these yearnings now, and resigned myself to be lonely, and remain so all my life long. That is to say," added the archduke, with a gentle smile, holding out his hand to the count, "lonely, without a sister, without a brother--lonely in my family. However, Ihave found a most delightful compensation for this loneliness, for Icall you and Hormayr friends; I have my books, which always comfort, divert, and amuse me; and last, I have my great and glorious hopes regarding the future of the fatherland. Ah, how could I say that Iwas poor and lonely when I am so rich in hopes, and have two noble and faithful friends? I am sure, Nugent, you will never desert me, but stand by me to the end--to the great day of victory, or to the end of our humiliation and disgrace?""Your imperial highness knows full well that my heart will never turn from you; that I love and revere you; that you are to me the embodiment of all that is noble, great, and beautiful; that I would be joyfully ready at any hour to suffer death for you; and that neither prosperity nor adversity could induce me to forsake you. You are the hope of my heart, you are the hope of my country--nay, the hope of all Germany. We all need your assistance, your heart, your arm; for we expect that you will place yourself at the head of 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 pen. That I am young, that I have a heart for the sufferings of my country, a heart not only for the honor of Austria, but for that of Germany--that is what gives umbrage to them, what renders me suspicious in their eyes, and causes them to regard me as a revolutionist. I had to suffer a good deal for my convictions; a great many obstacles were raised against all my plans; and yet Idesired only to contribute to the welfare of the whole; I demanded nothing for myself, but every thing for the fatherland. To the fatherland I wished to devote my blood and my life; for the fatherland I wished to conquer in the disastrous campaign of 1805.

However, such were not the plans of my adversaries; they did not wish to carry on the war with sufficient energy and perseverance;they would not give my brother Charles and me an opportunity to distinguish ourselves and gain a popular name. Whenever I planned a vigorous attack, I was not permitted to carry it into effect.

Whenever, with my corps, I might have exerted a decisive influence upon the fortunes of the war, I was ordered to retreat with my troops to some distant position of no importance whatever; and when I remonstrated, they charged me with rebelling against the emperor's authority. Ah, I suffered a great deal in those days, and the wounds which my heart received at that juncture are bleeding yet. I had to succumb, when the men who had commenced the war at a highly unfavorable time, conducted it at an equally unfavorable moment, and made peace. And by that peace Austria lost her most loyal province, the beautiful Tyrol, one of the oldest states of the Hapsburgs; and her most fertile province, the territory of Venetia and Dalmatia, for which I did not grieve so much, because it always was a source of political dissensions and quarrels for the hereditary provinces of Austria. What afflicted me most sorely was the loss of the Tyrol, and even now I cannot think of it without the most profound emotion.

同类推荐
  • 逸老堂诗话

    逸老堂诗话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 古清凉传

    古清凉传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 小栖霞说稗

    小栖霞说稗

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 净土全书

    净土全书

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • Hippolytus

    Hippolytus

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 触手可及的那一份温暖(连载二)

    触手可及的那一份温暖(连载二)

    温晴千里迢迢来到南京拯救小贱于水火,却也将朦胧心事的窗户纸捅开了,爱情就是一件简单的事情吧,不管以前有怎样不耐烦甚至反感的情绪,都会在爱情的搅拌中变成甜蜜。温晴落水时陈阳不计后果的拼命相救,陈阳来看她时温晴毫不犹豫的从二楼窗口跳下来,这些都成了深情的一个侧影。可是爱情永远是浪漫主义,在现实主义成为主流的今天,温晴还是选择了更加适合结婚的对象,而小贱却心想事成,但是心想事成得令我们难过。打架,拼命,无奈,妥协,幸好有友情的陪伴,可还是绝望于感情的背叛,这是怎样一出剧目呢?我们一起来看。
  • 阿莲:章衣萍作品精选

    阿莲:章衣萍作品精选

    文学作品是以语言为手段塑造形象来反映社会生活、表达作者思想感情的一种艺术,是我们的一面镜子,对于我们的人生具有潜移默化的巨大启迪作用,能够开阔我们的视野,增长我们的知识,陶冶我们的情操。文学大师是一个时代的开拓者和各种文学形式的集大成者,他们的作品来源于他们生活的时代,记载了那个时代社会生活的缩影,包含了作家本人对社会、生活的体验与思考,影响着社会的发展进程,具有永恒的魅力。他们是我们心灵的工程师,能够指导我们的人生发展,给予我们心灵鸡汤般的精神滋养。这正如泰戈尔在谈到文学与我们人类未来的关系时所说:“用文学去点燃未来的万家灯火。”
  • 笑林广记

    笑林广记

    《笑林广记》,集民族传统笑话之大成者。以机趣、夸张的眼光审视世界,以诙谐幽默、通俗易懂的语言来反映炎凉世态、情趣人生。全书多取自明清笑话,语言风趣、文字简练隽永,是中国民间针对“世情”的幽默与讽刺之书,是民间智慧的独特展现。
  • 绝世小神农

    绝世小神农

    工地搬砖意外开启一纸神秘画轴,少年得圣土,获仙水,修传承,做人上人,成就传奇人生。绿树荫浓、瓦台倒影,阵阵蛙鸣入耳,好一处绝妙圣地!
  • 醒龙剑侠

    醒龙剑侠

    蛮兵南侵,叶应天在机缘巧合下修炼得极高造诣的内功剑法,一直默默守着北疆门户,直至一同对抗溪谷巫人时的结拜义弟,大辉国皇帝宋子明请他担任征蛮大元帅。叶应天的一身武功,与甘潇潇的恩怨情仇,以及与孤女胡冰倩的爱情......
  • 晚宴

    晚宴

    《晚宴》一场晚宴,半生荣华;跨越半个世纪的沧海桑田,再现上海滩权贵家族的沉浮史。
  • 洞真太上仓元上录

    洞真太上仓元上录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 天枢

    天枢

    如果说上帝创造了人间,那么是谁创造了上帝? 阿蒙站在古老的神像遗迹前,听一位老者对过往的行人讲述久远的阿蒙神传说。没有人知道,这默默无语的年轻人就是阿蒙,眼前倒卧沙丘中残缺不全的遗迹,曾是供奉他的神像。 这宏伟的神像,在漫长的历代战乱中饱受摧残,争杀的人们都宣称这为了信仰他,他在人间已有很多名字——阿蒙、阿罗诃、弥赛亚、摩柯末德……。 今天的人们或已忘却,人间曾有一位叫阿蒙的少年。 —— 本人已在起点中文网连载完成《神游》、《鬼股》、《人欲》、《灵山》、《地师》五部长篇,信誉保证,稳定更新、完美全本,敬请广大书友放心阅读。
  • 雁翔红楼

    雁翔红楼

    此文已半价红楼一出,为之辗转反侧痛彻心扉之人不知几许!“情”之一字,千回百转,却又有谁能料得到,参得透?林雪,以一个弱女子的身份穿越到红楼,成为那个世外仙姝林黛玉的婢女----雪雁.熟知历史进程的她,竭尽全力去改写红楼女儿的悲情命运。到最后,她能否于愿以偿呢?谁又是她最终停驻呢?看秀丽睿智的女子翱翔红楼,如何在红楼闯出一片自在广阔的天空!
  • 素衣锦食

    素衣锦食

    这是一个假文案:一开始,阿柳仅仅只是想当个食神;然而谁让她有一对逆天父母,皇后、王妃是亲妈闺蜜,名士舅舅是姐控;皇帝、亲王是亲爸异性兄弟,名将义父视他为神,大佬们个个拿她当宝!他们医术超绝的朋友成了她的师父,他们富可敌国的曾下属认她为主!还让不让她当个单纯的厨娘了?以下为真文案:前世英年早逝,今生格外惜命,山野长大的阿柳是奴身,所以这辈子是不打算有什么出息了,种种粮食,挖挖野菜,今日河里捞一道小鱼小虾,明日上山捡个龙凤汤,小日子无聊又惬意。被主子点名进府当厨娘,赶紧先找个大腿抱抱。可是这大腿怎么越抱越粗了……这是个正经文案:素衣巧手,一把金刀可镂月;色香为魂,铜勺独运饪锦食。