A few months after her father’s death the first attempt was made to deprive the girl of the attire she had hitherto worn, and substituted petticoats for their masculine equivalents. Little Ida, then ten years old, was so indignant at this measure that she absolutely fell ill from grief and indignation. By the doctor’s advice her former costume was restored to her, and it was resolved that the girl’s obstinacy must gradually be subdued by remonstrance.
The boy’s garments were received by Ida with a burst of enthusiasm, her health returned, and she behaved more like a boy than ever. She learned every thing that she thought a boy should know with industry and zeal, and, on the other hand, looked with the greatest contempt on every female occupation. Piano-forte playing, for instance, she despised as a feminine accomplishment, and would actually cut her fingers, or burn them with sealing-wax, to escape the hated task of practicing. For playing the violin, on the contrary, she showed a great predilection. But her mother would not allow her to have her way in this matter, and the piano-forte was formally subsidized and maintained at its post by maternal authority.
When the year 1809 came, a most eventful period for Austria, Ida was twelve years old. From what has been said of her ideas and inclinations, it will readily be believed that she took great interest in the fortunes of the war. She read the newspaper eagerly, and often traced out on the map the relative positions of the two armies. She danced and shouted with glee, like a good patriot, when the Austrians conquered, and wept bitter tears when the fortune of war brought victory to the enemy’s standard. Her mother’s house was situated in one of the busiest streets of the capital; and the frequent marching past of troops caused many interruptions to study, and gave many opportunities for the expression of ardent wishes that the Austrian banners might triumph. When Ida, looking from the window, saw her fellow-countrymen march past to battle, she would vehemently deplore her youth that prevented her from taking part in the impending struggle. She considered her youth the only obstacle that prevented her from going to war.