The appeal produced its effect; and the crowd grew dense as the students marched into the narrow Herren Gasse.  They passed under the archway which led into the courtyard of the Landhaus; there, in front of the very building where the Assembly was sitting, they came to a dead halt; and, with the strange hesitation which sometimes comes over crowds, no man seemed to know what was next to be done.  Suddenly in the pause which followed, the words “Meine Herren” were heard from a corner of the crowd.  It was evident that some one was trying to address them; and the students nearest to the speaker hoisted him upon their shoulders.  Then the crowd saw a quiet-looking man, with a round, strong head, short-cropped hair, and a thick beard.  Each man eagerly asked his neighbor who this could be; and, as the speech proceeded, the news went round that this was Doctor Fischhof, a man who had been very little known beyond medical circles and hitherto looked upon as quite outside political movements.  Such was the speaker who now uttered what is still remembered as the “first free word” in Vienna.

He began by dwelling on the importance of the day and on the need of “encouraging the men who sit there,” pointing to the Landhaus, “by our appeal to them, of strengthening them by our adherence, and leading them to the desired end by our cooeperation in action.  He,” exclaimed Fischhof, “who has no courage on such a day as this is only fit for the nursery.”  He then proceeded to dwell at some length on the need for freedom of the press and trial by jury.  Then, catching, as it were, the note of Kossuth’s speech of March 3d, he went on to speak of the greatness which Austria might attain by combining together “the idealist Germans, the steady, industrious, and persevering Slavs, the knightly and enthusiastic Magyars, the clever and sharp-sighted Italians.”  Finally he called upon them to demand freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of teaching and learning, a responsible ministry, representation of the people, arming of the people, and connection with Germany.

In the mean time the Estates were sitting within.  They had gathered in unusually large numbers, being persuaded by their President that they were bound to resist the stream of opinion.  Representatives as they were of the privileged classes, they had little sympathy with the movement that was going on in Vienna.  Nor does it appear that there was anyone among them who was disposed to play the part of a Confalonieri or Szechenyi, much less of a Mirabeau or a Lafayette.  Many of them had heard rumors of the coming deputation; but Montecuccoli, their President, refused to begin the proceedings before the regular hour.  While they were still debating this point they heard the rush of the crowd outside; then the sudden silence, and then Fischhof’s voice.  Several members were seized with a panic and desired to adjourn.  Again Montecuccoli refused to yield, and one of their Liberal members urged them to take courage from the fact of this deputation to make stronger demands on the Government.