This was exclusively the result of the indulgence and grace shown by my forbears to the great and mighty in those Provinces, although it was the same leniency and benevolence that had brought them to their high estate, especially since certain families pushed matters so far that so long as one member of them was there, these high offices always reverted to him, and thus these excessive powers were transmitted from father to son. The complete suppression of this office of Supreme Chancellor is thus most advantageous to the advancement of the service. It is true that the Bohemian Chancellery kept much better order than the Austrian, and did not lightly allow the Estates to encroach on its authority, but it itself had no scruples about keeping the internal government of the Provinces a secret from the sovereign, and seeing to it that he was not too exactly informed of it. This veil had to be drawn to prevent the Crown’s financial services from interfering in the administration. And thus it was impossible to secure respect and obedience for the Crown’s authority and orders without the consent of the Chancellor, and so the Supreme Chancellors were able continuously to strengthen their own influence and authority, and often to exercise it to the disadvantage of the other Provinces, which applied conversely to the Austrian Provinces when their heads were more influential than the men governing Bohemia.
And since the Ministry was usually composed of more Austrian Ministers than Bohemian, the former usually predominated over the latter.
These circumstances led to a deep-rooted and unremitting hatred between the two nations, which reached such a pitch that everyone in each national Ministry, down to the lowest member or Councillor, invariably used every possible lawful device to surpass the other. The Austrian team, however, got the better of all the others and were the most overbearing of all.
This was felt especially by the Hungarians, whom the others tried to keep in permanent subjection, and also excluded members of that nation from all services. The excuse given was the disorder and rebellions which prevailed in Hungary up to the time of Charles VI. But equity and fair policy require that the black sheep should be segregated from the rest, and thus those deserving of reward should not be kept in the same condemnation as the undeserving, which must necessarily drive them to depression and despair.
Such are the proofs that the Ministers of my predecessors in no wise followed a wise policy, conducive to the advantage of the service, but only used the power-positions which they had achieved to serve their own interests, to transmit the Ministerial offices to their families and friends, and to follow the old, deep-rooted practices of their forbears.
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