lav’s Committee, taking special care to provide work and give aid to the poor, succeeded in preserving perfect order both in Prague and in other cities.
On the 27th of March the delegation returned to Prague. The whole city, in holiday attire, turned out to welcome the delegates and to hear what success they had met in Vienna. There being no hall large enough, to accommodate the crowds of curious spectators, a meeting was called in the open air, by the statue of St. Václav, on the avenue of the same name. The archbishop and the attendant priests chanted a grand Te Deum, after which the chairman of the deputation read the decision of the emperor. Some of the demands had already been granted by the patents issued for the whole empire. Some he granted, the most important of which was the abolition of socage; and some he postponed for further consideration. From the report of the delegates it was evident that the government did not intend to grant to the Bohemians what they most desired; that is, home rule, or the privilege of being governed according to the ancient State law.
In the vast crowd assembled to hear the reading of the report, one idea took possession of all minds, and that was that the emperor was not sincere in regard to Bohemia; and the expression of joy that had but a moment before lighted every countenance, now was changed to one of sorrow and gloomy foreboding.
To allay the public discontent, another committee was appointed to draw up another petition to the court. A party of students demanded arms and ammunition from the imperial magazines, which Archduke Charles Ferdinand, the commander-in-chief, granted, wishing to
