"old town" on the right bank of the river. A large part of the soldiery also hastily sought refuge on the right bank of the Vltava, while many more dispersed in various directions. On the same evening Frederick assembled his principal councillors and generals, to deliberate what steps to take. The king himself was strongly in favour of completely abandoning a cause he believed hopeless, and had but one wish—to leave Bohemia instantly. He displayed, however, a certain amount of courage, probably through the influence of the queen, and attempted to dissemble his opinion. Tschernembl spoke strongly in favour of further resistance. Pie suggested holding the town at least for a few days, collecting the scattered troops, and then making an orderly retreat. It was left to Tschernembl, a foreigner and a German, to remind the Bohemians of the glorious victory which their ancestors had achieved on +Žižka's Hill, close to the spot where the deliberation took place. The younger Count Thurn, who alone of the Bohemian officers had fought not ingloriously during the battle, spoke in the same sense as Tschernembl. Christian of Anhalt, the originator of the intrigues and negotiations which had raised Frederick to his precarious throne, now spoke in favour of immediate flight; he had been in constant conflict with the Bohemian generals, and wished to leave the country as soon as possible. The principal argument of Anhalt was that the mutinous condition of the troops rendered it impossible to induce them to face the enemy again. He even suggested the possibility of their entering into independent negotiations with the Catholic leaders. Anhalt's former antagonist. Count Thurn, to whose influence the Defenestration and the beginning of the war were due, now also lost all courage, and spoke in favour of evacuating Bohemia. This was the king's opinion also, but he still attempted to postpone his decision. He therefore requested the English envoys, Conway and Weston, to enter into negotiations with the Duke of Bavaria and Bouquoi. The ministers undertook this mission, and sent a message to the Bavarian camp requesting an interview with Maximilian. This message remained unanswered, as did also a second one, which they forwarded on the following morning. It was well known to the Catholic princes that King James had no sympathy with the enterprise of his son-in-law, or indeed with the Protestant cause, and at
