XV 



Tyrol and the Tyrolese 



" Sind die Tyroler, ein Volk von Shutzen, nicht das treuste 



aller Volker ? " 



W.V. Burgsdorff. 



FROM the year 1363, when Margaretha 

 Maultasche (Pocket-mouthed Meg), the 

 last successor of the Counts of Tyrol, 

 granted Tyrol to Duke Rudolph IV. of Austria, 

 the country has always remained devoted to Austria 

 and the House of Hapsburg. 



Mutterings of discontent might rise from other 

 parts of the Empire, Bohemia might struggle in 

 vain for freedom, and the standard of rebellion float 

 on the plains of Hungary, but the Tyrolese were 

 always loyal, always faithful to their Sovereign. 



" We have no traitors in my country," the great 

 national hero, Andreas Hofer, once said. 



It was on the eve of the rising of 1809 against 



the French that he thus replied to those who 



blamed his childlike trust in all who came to him. 



And Hofer knew his countrymen. It was not 



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