Page:History of the Thirty Years' War - Gindely - Volume 1.djvu/187

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THE IMPERIAL ELECTION
149

that they attend first still another solemn religious service; and then, when he found no sympathy with his unseasonable piety, he wished that the election take place precisely as in earlier instances, naming that of Ferdinand I., that is, by a committee, and as he did not carry this proposition either, he still further proposed that the voting be by Electors,[1] and not individual. In all these propositions his design was to prepare the way of an endless debate, and as he did not succeed in carrying any one of them through, he finally moved simply the adjournment of the election. After Ruppa had declared in excitement that he was opposed to all waste of time, the Diet, by a decisive majority, declared against the motion for adjournment. This episode finished, Berka again called upon the Field Marshal for his vote, which he gave for the Elector of Saxony. Carl Mracky, who next followed, voted for the same; as also, after some interruption, still two others of the nobles, Count Albin Schlick and Ulrich Kinský. All the other members of the nobility, thirty-four in number, voted for the Palsgrave; two of these, Paul von R̃ic̃an and Ruppa, stated the grounds of their views in extended speeches, in which they not only praised the excellent traits of their candidate, but also called attention to his merits hitherto in the cause of Bohemia, and especially to the surprise which he had inflicted a few days before upon the cavalry enlisted for Ferdinand’s service. Ruppa emphasized the alliances of the Palsgrave with the Union, with England, Savoy, and Switzerland, and mentioned also his wealth, as enabling him to give lasting aid to the Bohemians. This speech may in the last moment have brought a considerable


  1. Nach Kurien und nicht einzeln.