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CHAPTER XIX

From the Accession of the Empress Theresa, of Austria, to the Peace of Aix-la- Chapelle.

We now return to the state of affairs in northern Europe. On the death of the emperor, Charles VI., his daughter, Maria Theresa, by virtue of the pragmatic sanc- , Charles VI., his daughter, Maria Theresa, by virtue of the pragmatic sanction, took possession of his hereditary dominions; but she found that she was not likely to retain peaceable possession of them. The kings of Poland, France, and Spain exhibited their respective claims to the whole Austrian succession; and Frederic the Great, king of Prussia , who had just ascended his throne, looking only to the aggrandizement of his dominions, joined her enemies in the hope of obtaining a share of the spoil. At the head of a well-appointed army he entered Silesia, took Breslau, its capital, and soon conquered the province; and in order to retain his acquisition he offered to support Maria Theresa against all her enemies, A. D. 1741. This proposal was steadily and indignantly rejected by the princess; though she was well aware that the French and Bavarians were on the point of invading her territories for the express purpose of elevating Charles Albert, elector of Bavaria, to the imperial dignity. Under the command of the prince, assisted by the marshals of Belleisle and Broglio, the united armies entered Upper Austria, took Lintz and menaced Vienna. Maria Theresa being compelled to abandon her capital, fled to Hungary; and having convened the states she appeared before the assembly with her infant son in her arms, and made such an eloquent appeal that the nobles with one accord swore to defend her cause till death. "Moriamur pro REGE nostro Maria Theresa." Nor were these mere idle words: her patriotic subjects rushed to arms; and, to the astonishment of her enemies, a large Hungarian army, under the command of Prince Charles of Lorraine, marched to the relief of Vienna , and the elector was obliged to raise the siege. A subsidy was at the same time voted to her by the British parliament, and the war assumed a more favorable aspect. The Austrians took Munich after defeating the Bavarians at Meniberg; and the prince of Lorraine expelled the Prussians and Saxons from Moravia.