were fruitless. He was himself forced to leave the room. Diepold of Lobkowitz, who attempted to assist Martinic and Slavata, was also induced to retire by his cousin William of Lobkowitz, one of the Protestant leaders. Slavata was now seized by Thurn and Martinic by William of Lobkowitz. Aided by other nobles, Thurn and Lobkowitz gradually forced the two councillors nearer to the wall, and after a short struggle threw them from two adjoining windows into the moat below. Fabricius, the secretary of the Royal Council, who was unknown to the nobles, having attempted to remonstrate with them, was also thrown from the windows of the castle. To those who know the scene of this drama (little changed at the present day), it seems well-nigh marvellous that they should all three have escaped almost without injury.[1] When the nobles who were watching them from the windows above noticed that they moved, numerous shots were fired at them, but with little result; Martinic only was slightly wounded. Aided by their servants, Martinic and Slavata succeeded in making their escape, and eventually in leaving Prague in safety.
Immediately after the Defenestration—an event memorable not only in Bohemia but in European history, for it marks the beginning of the Thirty Years' War—the Bohemians established what may be called a provisional Government consisting of thirty "Directors," chosen (as the "Defenders" had been) in equal proportions by the three Estates. Venceslas of Ruppa, one of the ablest of the Bohemian nobles, became president of this body. Thurn contented himself with the command of the army. His foreign origin and particularly his insufficient knowledge of the national language—which has already been noted—undoubtedly rendered it impossible for him to attempt to obtain a more prominent position. No movement unconnected with their national aspirations has ever carried away the whole mass of the Bohemian people. It was only by a general uprising that the new Government could hope to resist the inevitable attack of its enemies. The new Government from the first displayed considerable diplomatic activity. Despatches, expressed in nearly
- ↑ The pious Romanists afterwards attributed their escape to a miracle. The height of the windows from the ground is about forty feet.
