صفحة 452 من 3800

"That's just it, my dear fellow. You see it's hurrah for the

Tsar, for Russia, for the Orthodox Greek faith! All that is

beautiful, but what do we, I mean the Austrian court, care for

your victories? Bring us nice news of a victory by the Archduke

Karl or Ferdinand (one archduke's as good as another, as you

know) and even if it is only over a fire brigade of Bonaparte's,

that will be another story and we'll fire off some cannon! But

this sort of thing seems done on purpose to vex us. The Archduke

Karl does nothing, the Archduke Ferdinand disgraces himself. You

abandon Vienna, give up its defense-as much as to say: 'Heaven is

with us, but heaven help you and your capital!' The one general

whom we all loved, Schmidt, you expose to a bullet, and then you

congratulate us on the victory! Admit that more irritating news

than yours could not have been conceived. It's as if it had been

done on purpose, on purpose.