Page:History of the Thirty Years' War - Gindely - Volume 1.djvu/149

 would trust in the support of Spain and in the auxiliary force which Philip III. had given him reason to expect, for he would have no more to do with the Eger mediation, but seek to settle in his own way the contest with the Bohemians. He therefore executed a copy of the articles in regard to the Bohemian privileges, which he had obligated himself at his coronation to conserve, and sent them to Prague, with a notification to the chief functionaries who had carried on the government under Matthias, before the outbreak, confirming them in their places, and accordingly denying the right of existence to the usurpation of the Directors. Knowing, however, that the opposition against him was still on the rise in the other provinces, and that it would be long before the Spanish auxiliaries would arrive, he made use of mild terms and sent a new dispatch to the Bohemian Estates, in which he invited them to send envoys to Vienna to treat of the questions at issue. He thus confessed the existence of a contest and his willingness to enter into negotiations in regard to it, but gave no clue to the manner in which he would conduct these. As appearances upon the theatre of the war were growing still more unfavorable, he went a step further, and consented to the mediation of two men of princely rank, naming the Dukes of Bavaria and Saxony as the persons, which he regarded as a movement of the character of the projected meeting at Eger.

All these overtures were, however, declined in Bohemia, because, after the death of the Emperor, all thought of negotiations had been given up. The plan there was very simple; it was to revolutionize the other lands of the Bohemian crown, together with Austria and Hungary, and the hope was that this would soon be effected. The first step was taken in Silesia. The Silesians had really,