The party of the nobles, although it was obvious that the Republic was no more, especially after the departure of the English, did not yet abandon all hope. On February 15 the civil officials swore fealty to the Emperor of Austria as King of Dalmatia, Ragusa, and Cattaro, and on March 2 the clergy did the same. The latter had sworn fealty a short time before to Napoleon, but Milutinović had won them over by his respect for Catholic ceremonies, although he himself was a member of the Orthodox Church. The Austrians now wished to round off their Dalmatian possessions by occupying the Ragusan islands; but Count Natali declared that the government of them had been entrusted to him by the British before Austria had joined the coalition, and that he would not surrender them until he received an authorisation from Admiral Fremantle. Count Caboga was appointed by Austria provisional Intendant of Ragusa, with instructions to follow the ordinances established by the French. The bourgeoisie accepted Austrian rule as a _pis aller_ rather than return under the oligarchy. The peasants were overawed by the troops, and gave no further trouble. The nobles, however, were profoundly dissatisfied, and still continued to agitate in secret for a return to the _status quo_. General Tomasić instructed Milutinović to spare their feelings as much as possible. “In dealing with them,” he wrote, “you must not use the words _müssen_ and _sollen_, but instead _bitten_, _ersuchen_.”[541] In January Marchese Bona had gone to Vienna to plead the cause of Ragusan independence. He was at first received at the Imperial Chancery with great courtesy, but obtained no promises. When, however, the Ragusan intrigues at Constantinople and the double game played by the nobles were disclosed, he received orders from the police to quit the town within a fortnight. He then departed, leaving a dignified protest against the insults offered to him, and against the denial of justice to the claims of his fellow-citizens. At Ragusa the nobles continued in their opposition, and assailed all the magistrates who did not belong to their own order. General Tomasić, to please them, dismissed three officials who were of the bourgeoisie and put nobles in their places. Emboldened by this concession, they went about declaring that the Congress of Vienna was going to proclaim the independence of Ragusa, like that of the Republic of Cracow. “The Ragusans,” as Pisani writes, “had but too much reason to compare their own fate to that of Poland, and in seeking the causes of their misfortunes one may find more than one feature of resemblance between them and the Poles.”[542]