Page:History of the Thirty Years' War - Gindely - Volume 1.djvu/131

 should be referred. Then the Margrave of Jägerndorf, to whom the Silesians had assigned the command of the troops which they had enrolled, conceived the plan of marching ‘on his own responsibility to Glatz and thence to enter Bohemia, and he would have executed his plan had he not becn earnestly admonished by the Duke of Brieg not to forestall the action of the Diet.

On the receipt in Prague of the news that the hopes set upon Silesia had proved vain, there was some staggering. They had felt certain of the prompt advance of the Margrave, and saw themselves deluded. They must now specially avoid giving to the Moravian deputation that negative answer which they had originally decided, upon. The Directors therefore declared themselves ready to enter into negotiations with the Emperor; but they would not listen to the suggestions of a preliminary disarming, nor would they demand of the Emperor the withdrawal of his troops. They proposed that there should be an armistice during the negotiations. With this decision the Moravian deputation started for Vienna at the end of September.

On the 1st of October the Diet assembled in Breslau, and the anti-imperial party succeeded this time in carrying through a resolution to send a force of 3,000 men to the aid of the Bohemians. The news of this result was greeted in Prague with extreme joy; the conviction was felt there that, with the Silesian troops, and those of Mansfeld, it would be easy to repulse the imperial commander, and free the land from all further ravages of war. There was, therefore, no more thought of an armistice.

The Emperor’s fair prospects now visibly declined. The force of his enemy considerably exceeded his own in numbers as gradually the levy ranged itself under their ban-