Page:History of the Thirty Years' War - Gindely - Volume 1.djvu/151

 mians had hitherto so constantly and yet so vainly hoped, Z̃erotínŽerotín [sic] having thrown all his influence on the imperial side. In Bohemia it was thought that this end could not be gained otherwise than by attempting an armed invasion of the land, thereby offering the Estates an opportunity to give a free expression of their sympathies with the movement. Z̃erotín, having been by a friend informed of this plan for injuring the house of Hapsburg, was indeced startled by the intelligence, but did not lay upon it the weight which it deserved. In Bohemia preparation was made to strike the intended blow, not only by continuing secret negotiations with friends of the cause, but by making another attempt to win Z̃erotín himself. The attempt could not, however, have been more unskilfully made, for the letter which Budowec addressed to him was couched in cutting terms, cast reproaches upon the Moravian magnate, and wounded him with its ironies. The course was unwise, and but irritated this man, proud as he was of his opinion, so that he violently repelled the reproaches; and when Budowec, in a second letter, sought by milder and flattering language to win his old friend from the way upon which he had entered, he met with no better success.

On the 18th of April the Bohemian Directors sent to Count Thurn, in the camp before Budweis, an order to start upon an expedition to Moravia. Leaving there with Count Hohenloe the greater part of the troops, he marched at the head of the smaller part to Deutschbrod, and upon the way thither received a portion of the newly-organized levy, so that his entire force numbered from 8,000 to 10,000 men. As he entered Iglau, the inhabitants most earnestly welcomed him, some of the Bohemian nobility also having gathered there to participate in the