Andreas Hofer: An Historical Novel (Classic Reprint)

France, so intensely longed for by all A ustria, had not yet broken out, and the people and the army were vainly waiting for the warcry of their sovereign, the Emperor Francis. It is true, not a few great things had been accomplished in the course of the past year: Austria had armed, organized the militia, strengthened her fortresses, and filled her magazines; but the emperor still hesitated to take the last and most decisive step by crowning his military preparations with a formal declaration of war. No one looked for this declaration of war more intensely than the emperors second brother, the Archduke John, a young man of scarcely twenty-seven. He had been the soul of all the preparations which, since the summer of 1808, had been made throughout A ustria; he had conceived the plan of organizing the militia and the reserves; and had drawn up the proclamation of the 12th of May, 1808, by which all ablebodied Austrians were called upon to take up arms. But this exhausted his powers; he could organize the army, but could not say to it, Take the field against the enemy! The emperor alone could utter this word, and he was silent. And he will be silent until the favorable moment has passed, sighed the Archduke John, when, on returning from a very long interview with the emperor, he was alone with his friend, General Nugent, in his cabinet.
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)

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