IF The Loyalists' Encouragement. "Beneath Vienna's ancient wall lie level plains of sand, And point the fane beneath the wall-The Spinning-Maiden's Cross." F ever a book be written entitled "The Wrong-headedness of Mankind" (and ample materials exist for its composition, in fact overwhelming in quantity), the Nonconformists will monopolize the attention of that cynical historian who attempts the stupendous narrative. The race of Puritans, devoid of any real sympathy with human love or suffering except such as suited their own atrabilious nature and creed, found a substitute for generous warmth in their inordinate sectarian zeal. So that rebellion and anarchy could be encouraged, they were ready to applaud any conflict with authority, except their own: Says the following song, they would wear "A cap of Geneva or Turkish turbant." Thus we read on p. 360, "Ruin and strife is Whigs' element still." The Royalists of England were, on principle, opposed to the Hungarian revolt under Tekeli, and his alliance with the Moslem force, which sought to overthrow the tyranny of the Austrian Emperor, and imperilled Christendom. There is a natural alliance, of affection and principle, uniting England and Austria, one that has been seldom interrupted. But since the defenders of Vienna were Roman Catholics, whom the Pope had by money and blessing assisted, the English Whigs chose to denounce them, and to praise Tekeli's revolt. (See pp. 383, 384.) Hence these Whigs were named "Teckelites." Sir John Reresby notes the outbreak of the Austrian trouble:— March 1. [1683.]-At this time all Christendom seemed to be in danger of a War, the rebels of Hungary having called in the Turks to assist them against the Emperor, and, one or two excepted, all the Princes of the Empire, the Kings of Spain and Sweden, joining in defence of the Empire against the Turk on one side, and the French King (likely to fall upon Flanders, or some of the Princes of Germany) upon the other; whilst we enjoyed a happy peace at home; and, which was the more likely to make it last, was the death of so busy and factious Lord Shaftesbury, who was fled not long before into Holland.-Memoirs, p. 273. VOL. V. 2 A The Loyalists' Encouragement. TO THE TUNE OF, Now, now the fight's done [See Note below]. YOU Loyalists all now rejoice and be glad, The day is our own, there's no cause to be sad, Though Treason they lov'd, yet for Hemp they don't care. 6 Nay, find how themselves and their pupils they cheated: Yet give them their due that such mischief did work, The fears they suggest, on a groundless pretence, 12 18 24 London: Printed by L. R., for T. Passinger, at The Three Bibles. [In White-letter. Probable date, October, 1683. Reprinted, 1686.] Frequent mention has been made of the tune belonging to this ditty (which is preserved in The Loyal Garland, song iv. of the sixth edition, 1686). The words of "Now, now the fight's done, and the great God of War," etc., have been given in our Vol. IV. pp. 243, 349. The same popular tune was used for the Roxburghe Ballad entitled "Vienna's Triumph," immediately following “The Loyalists' Encouragement," and given on our p. 359. THREE The Siege of Wienna. 1683. "Let her great Danube rolling fair Entwine her isles, unmark'd by me; With statelier progress to and fro And wheels the circled dance, and breaks Of crimson or in emerald rain.' -Tennyson's In Memoriam A.H.H., xcvi. HREE distinct Roxburghe Ballads are devoted to a consideration of the same historical event, the triumphant raising of the Siege of Vienna in September, 1683. Hitherto kept far dissevered in the Roxburghe Collection, each one in a different volume (B. H. Bright having added the most important), they are by us brought once more into close connection, and they serve to show the excitement of their day, when rejoicing over a Turkish defeat was held to be a Christian duty. Into the large question of foreign policy, or the success of an international league against the common foe, we are not called to enter. Some people boasted an immense sympathy with "the much-wronged Duke of Lorraine," owing to hatred of Louis XIV., who had taken his dominion; but they gave little assistance to the Duke Charles Leopold. Some few English volunteers are mentioned in "The Christians' New Victory : "— See how our English Volunteers charge, as men that know no fears, Where e'er they come the battle clears; Hark! how the trumpet blows, Boy! The defeat of the Turks before Vienna is one of the Decisive Battles of the World, and has been well described by Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy; not in his Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World (1851 16th ed., 1869), but in his History of the Ottoman Turks. That delightful city of Vienna is remembered joyfully by all who, like the present writer, have shared its hospitality, and revelled in its pleasures. It saw several stoutly-contested sieges, and not a few revolts. Sometimes, as in 1477, it was attacked by the Hungarians, and again in 1485 under their king Matthias. Solyman I., the Magnificent, with his Turks, besieged it later, September, 1529, but was defeated on October 14th, with the loss of 80,000 men. 356 Investment of Vienna, by the Turks. The condition of Vienna, before the crowning victory that is thus celebrated in our Roxburghe Ballad, has been well described by Edwin Hodder, whose account from Cassell's Cities here follows: The Turks again in 1683 were casting covetous eyes on Vienna and the Austrian dominion, and being tempted by the unsettled state of Hungary, Mohammed IV. was induced to make war with Austria. An army was accordingly despatched under the Grand Vizier Cara Mustapha, which penetrated to Vienna, and besieged that city, having first defeated the Austrians, under the Duke of Lorraine, before Neuhäusel, and compelled them to retire upon the Capital. The night before Lorraine's arrival at Vienna, the Emperor and his Court had fled, amid the clamours and execrations of the people. Lorraine therefore, on his arrival, found the inhabitants in a state of extreme confusion and alarm; he heard on all sides nothing but reproaches against the Emperor and his ministers, whose conduct was by all attributed to the baneful influence of the Jesuits, a party which had for a long time been prominent in the Councils of the Court. Lorraine found the city entirely unprepared for resistance, surrounded by extensive and rapidly-growing suburbs, and, in addition, such fortifications as the city then possessed were in an utterly dilapidated condition. The energy and renown of the Duke, however, somewhat calmed the general apprehension. He, with Starensberg [Count Ernest Rudiger Starhemberg, "brave Starenberg" of our p. 366], the governor left behind by the Emperor, promptly destroyed some of the more outlying suburbs, put the fortifications as far as possible in a state of repair, and so placed the city in a condition to offer some resistance to the approaching and victorious Turks. Lorraine left a reinforcement of 8,000 infantry in the city, and fell back with his cavalry beyond the Danube, with the view of harassing the movements and interrupting the communication of the Vizier's army, which, notwithstanding, arrived before Vienna on July 14th, 1683. In a very few days the investment of the city was completed. Frequent attacks were made on its walls; the inhabitants were reduced to the last extremities for want of provisions, their numbers were sorely thinned both by sickness and in combat; the enemy became possessed of the principal outworks, and the Governor was in constant dread lest the city should be taken by storm and sacked by the merciless Ottomans. In the meantime, the Duke of Lorraine had been by no means idle, and the skill and promptitude of his deeds deserve the highest admiration. Having done all that lay in his power to delay and interrupt the operations of the siege, he at length reached the King of Poland, and persuaded him to lend his assistance and push forward with his army to the aid of the Emperor's subjects, to which he was bound by promise to the Emperor. Contingents arrived at about the same time from Germany and Saxony, so that Sobieski and Lorraine were enabled to march to the relief of Vienna as joint leaders of an army of 60,000 men, and on the 12th of September, to the unspeakable joy of the citizens, the Christian standard was seen by the beleaguered city floating on the Kahlenberg. The resistance of the garrison, although apparently to themselves so nearly unsuccessful, had made considerable inroads in the ranks of Cara Mustapha's army, which became entirely disconcerted on the unexpected approach of the army of relief. Just before the arrival of Sobieski and Lorraine on the Kahlenberg, an attempt to storm the town had been repulsed with considerable slaughter, and the confusion and consternation incidental to this movement were taken advantage of by the returning force, which at once vigorously attacked the Turks. In this onslaught the Polish monarch and the Imperial general vied with each other in skill and bravery, while for coolness and intrepidity the action of the combined troops was above all praise. At nightfall, the Turkish leader, fearing the worst for his army, held a hasty consultation with his generals, and it was decided to retreat during the night. The withdrawal of the Turks was more than a retreat, for they became panic-stricken, and left enormous booty behind, consisting, among Rise and Fall of the Vizier, Black Mustapha.' 357 other material and effects, of 180 pieces of artillery, several of which were adapted for heavy siege work; tents, ammunition, provisions, and many luxuries of the East. Even the ensign of the Vizier's authority was left behind, together with a standard [erroneously] supposed to be the sacred banner of Mohammed. The entry of the King of Poland and the Duke of Lorraine into Vienna was welcomed with the wildest acclamation; the inhabitants testified to the King especially their gratitude by marks of affection that amounted almost to adoration; they hailed him as Father and Defender, and struggled among themselves to touch his garments or to kiss his feet. The enthusiasm of the welcome accorded to Sobieski was in marked contrast with that accorded to the Emperor upon his return to his capital. Feeling deeply the humiliation that [had formerly] accompanied his hasty departure in the time of their approaching trial, the inhabitants offered to him neither honours nor welcome on his passage into the city. The importance of this defeat of the Turks before Vienna cannot be dwelt upon with too much stress; it was one of the great decisive battles of the World, for the raising of the Siege of Vienna in 1683 was the first decisive symptom of Turkish decline-a decline that has been continuing from then until the present day. Luttrell's Diary-memoranda of news received from abroad prove the English interest felt in the contest with the Turks :— July 13th, 1683.-Foreign Letters say that the Grand Vizier hath given a totall overthrow to the Emperor's army in Hungary; that thereupon the Emperor, etc., was fled from Vienna to Lintz; and that the Turk was going on toward Vienna with an army of 160,000 men, which will goe near to endanger the whole Empire. A Brief Historical Relation of State Affairs, i. 269. August, 1683.-Letters from Germany speak of the fierce attacks the Turks make upon the citty of Vienna; that they push on the seige with all the vigour imaginable; but that they have gained little upon it, the beseiged makeing a brave defence, and the beseigers have lost above 10,000 before it.-Ibid. i. 275. September, 1683.-The German letters tell us that the Turks, to the number of 150,000, under the command of the Grand Vizier, had laid close seige to the citty of Vienna for 60 daies past, and that the Imperiall forces, assisted by the king of Poland, electors of Bavaria and Saxony, and several other princes, did attempt the relief thereof the 12th instant, it being brought very low, and happily effected the same, routing the Turks with an incredible slaughter, taking above 50,000 tents, the Grand Vizier's own horse, several great cannon, ammunition, and provisions, and an immense treasure: but for a more particular account thereof I refer you to the printed accounts thereof.-Ibid., i. 280. We shall find frequent mention of the Grand Vizier, Kara Mustapha, in the following ballads. His predecessor and uncle was Ahmed Kiuprili, the second Vizier of his race, described by Turkish historians as "the light and splendour of the nation;" a man of superior abilities, and entirely different character. Kara Mustapha, or "Black Mustapha," his successor, has been described by Creasy, as one whose character was in every respect the opposite of Kiuprili's; and who to slender abilities united the wildest ambition, and almost boundless presumption. He was son-in-law to the Sultan [Mahomet IV.] and, by the influence which that marriage gave him, he obtained the high office which he abused to the ruin of his master, and the deep disaster of his country. Kara Mustapha's favourite project was a new war against Austria, in which he hoped to capture Vienna, and to make himself the nominal Viceroy, but real sovereign of ample provinces between the Danube and the Rhine. But the first years of his Vizierate were occupied in an inglorious war with Russia. That empire had been no party |