been captured would have been ruin to himself and his kingdom. In the meantime, however, the steady courage of the Prussian infantry under Marshal Schwerin had retrieved the day; the Austrians were repulsed and broken, and a messenger was sent in haste to recall the King to his victorious army! The result of the defeat was terrible, for every one who had any claim on the Austrian accumulation of states began to uplift a voice. Spain called for the Netherlands, Sardinia for North Italy, Saxony for the German possessions. Only England was ready to befriend the heiress. The King, as elector of Hanover, had sworn to the Pragmatic Sanction, and there was a spirit of enthusiasm in the country for the persecuted princess. A subsidy of £300,000, and an assistant force of 12,000 men were voted for her in Parliament; but Walpole still hoped to mediate between the two contending powers, and instructed his ambassadors to do all in their power to bring about a treaty. But, when Lord Hyndford spoke of magnanimity, Frederick exclaimed, "Donot talk to me, my lord, of magnanimity ! A prince ought first to consult his own interests. I am not averse to a peace; but I expect to have four duchies, and I will have them !"

On her side, Maria Theresa was almost as impracticable. To the British envoy, Mr. Robinson, she consented so far as to say that she would give up Guelderland, but never Silesia. "Oh, the King your master, let him only march-let him march only!" she cried; and, when her proposal to Frederick was at last signed, she cried, "I hope he will reject it!"

As, indeed, he did. "Still beggarly offers!" he cried. My ancestors would rise out of their tombs to reproach me should I abandon my just rights!"

Old Cardinal Fleury would have kept France out of the war; but the brilliant Marshal de Belleisle had fascinated the King; and had been permitted to start on a tour to the German electoral courts to prevent the choice of Maria Theresa's husband as Emperor. He came to the camp of Frederick, and there talked, as that King said, as if all the provinces of Austria were put up to auction, securing to France the Austrian Netherlands. Moreover, a French army under Marshal de Maillebois crossed the Rhine, towards Hanover, where George II. was collecting troops for the aid of the Queen of Hungary; but the approach of the French so much alarmed him for his beloved Hanover that he hastily signed a promise of neutrality for the duchy for a whole year, and also not to vote, as Elector, for Francis of Lorraine as Emperor : a cowardly proceeding which gave great offence alike in England and Austria.

Charles of Bavaria, the husband of the Emperor Joseph's eldest daughter, was the candidate for the Empire, as well as for the Austrian dominions, and a declaration of war was sent to the Queen of Hungary under the title of Grand Duchess of Tuscany; while the Elector of Bavaria, with 35,000 French troops under Marshals Belleisle and Broglie, marched into Austria, took the strong fortress of Lintz, and advanced to within three leagues of Vienna.

CAMEO XXXVIII.

Frederick

II.

1741.

344

CAMEO XXXVIII.

Queen of Hungary. 1741.

However, Maria Theresa was not in Vienna. She had a few months before gone to Hungary to receive the crown of the sainted King Stephen at Presburg, and to throw herself on the protection of the high-spirited Magyars. It was a grand and beautiful coronation, when, according to the ancient ceremony, the beautiful young queen, with her fair hair flowing in curls over her shoulders, rode gallantly up the royal mount, and waved her sword to all the four quarters of the horizon. Then she had won all hearts, and, when she came again, as a fugitive, and summoned her nobles to Vienna, and she met them in the castle hall, her crown on her head, and her little son Joseph in her arms, every heart was moved; and after she had made them a speech in Latin, appealing to their loyalty, they all broke out into a simultaneous shout The Diet of enthusiasm, "Moriamur pro rege Maria Theresia." granted liberal supplies of money, and were equally enthusiastic when they met to receive the oaths of the Duke of Lorraine, who had been 'My blood and life for the Queen appointed Regent of the kingdom. Queen stood by him with their The Slavonic tribes of fierce

66

and kingdom!" he cried; and as the
little son, the shouts were renewed.
warriors flocked in, and Vienna was put in a state of defence.

Meanwhile, the enemies of Austria were beginning to quarrel. Marshal Belleisle's haughtiness and dictatorialness offended the German princes; there were jealousies between Saxony and Bavaria, and the Elector Charles went off on his own account to conquer Bohemia and besiege Prague. This excited Frederick's alarm lest he should go on to seize Silesia; and on the other hand the Queen of Hungary felt the need of coming to terms, and permitted Lord Hyndford to offer the cession of Lower Silesia; and accordingly a treaty was set on foot, which Frederick was anxious to keep from the knowledge of his allies.

The Duke of Lorraine and his brother set out to relieve Prague; but when within three leagues of the city, they learnt that it had been taken by surprise, and that the Elector of Bavaria had entered it. He was there crowned King of Bohemia on the same day as the Electors chose him as Emperor, the vote of George II. not being given according to promise, and all the others being unanimous against the husband of the Queen of Hungary.

In England, George II.'s pledge of neutrality had been met with much displeasure, though it was only for Hanover; and this added to the general unpopularity of Walpole. After various struggles in Parliament, it became plain that the minister must resign; and this he did on The King was deeply moved at the loss of the 1st of February, 1742. his old servant of twenty years, embraced him, shed tears, and begged him to see him frequently. He deserved such confidence, for he was far better as a minister than he was as a man; his morality was lax, and he was most mischievous to the Church, his one idea evidently being that earnestness was perilous and uncomfortable, and might lead to Jacobitism. He was created Earl of Orford, and retired to Houghton, while his place was taken by Mr. Pulteney, and the Duke of Newcastle, and war in the

cause of the Queen of Hungary was decided on, though at first not energetically pursued.

1742.

However, Prince Charles of Lorraine had entered Bohemia, and had Resignation shut up Belleisle within the walls of Prague, while another division of the of Walpole. Austrian army overran Bavaria, and actually entered Munich on the 14th of February, 1742, the very day on which its Elector was being crowned as the Emperor Charles VII. at Frankfurt, when the poor man was so ill with gout as hardly to be able to stand upright, while the petty princes and their wives were in the midst of endless quarrels about their titles, their precedence, and their right to sit on chairs or stools in the Imperial presence..

The King of Prussia was disturbed at the interference of the French, and as the treaty had not been signed, he advanced into Bohemia, in company with some Saxon forces, whose generals so obstructed his movements that he had to retire into Bohemia; but there he beat Prince Charles of Lorraine at Chotusitz. After this victory he offered terms to Maria Theresa, and she consented to the cession of Silesia, excepting a few fortress towns. The inhabitants were chiefly Protestant, and the Austrians had persecuted them in vain, so that they were happy in the transfer, though it was scarcely just.

The treaty between Maria Theresa and Frederick was a great disappointment to the French. Old Cardinal Fleury, who was ninetythree, could not recover from the shock, though he retained his faculties to the last. He died on the 29th of January, 1743. The nation was tired of him; but he was much regretted by the King, whom he had saved from the trouble of thinking for himself.

Louis XV. was thirty-three years old at this time, and in imitation of his great-grandfather, he declared that he was going to govern for himself; but he was too indolent to exert himself to attend to his ministers, and everything was soon in confusion.

CAMEO XXXIX.

Dettingen.

1743.

THOUGH Prussia had for the time retired from the contest, England and France were equally determined to continue the war. George II., with the Duke of Cumberland, crossed over to Hanover on the 21st of April, 1743, to take the command of the army, which they found encamped at Aschaffenberg, on the river Maine, in a very unsatisfactory condition, owing to the blunders of Lord Stair, and his quarrels with the Austrian general, Aremberg.

The numbers were 37,000, and these, both men and horses, were nearly starved, and were cooped up in a narrow valley along the Maine, about eight miles long, between the town of Aschaffenberg and the A force of Russians and Hanoverians, whom the village of Dettingen. general had intended to join them, had advanced as far as Hanau, but could get no further, and Marshal de Noailles, with a very considerable army, hitherto much better handled than the English, was in sight on the opposite bank of the Maine.

The King decided on falling back on Hanau, for provisions had entirely failed. On the 27th of June, at midnight, he broke up the camp and marched, and the French immediately sent a body across the river to occupy Aschaffenberg. In full security of victory, Noailles sent his nephew, the Duke of Grammont, to occupy Dettingen, through which the English must pass on the way to Hanau, so that he expected to have them shut in and forced to surrender. His artillery on his own bank was ready to play on them.

There was a stream and a marsh between the English and Dettingen, and there seemed no hope for them; they were in as bad a condition as the starving soldiers before Agincourt, and they had not a Henry V. at their head, but still they were in good spirits and ready to fight.

Just then the Marshal de Noailles crossed to the other side of the river to give some orders, and in his absence, Grammont, presuming on an easy victory, instead of waiting at his post, guarding the little beck or stream of Dettingen, charged across it, thus giving up all his advantage of ground, and the Duke of Harcourt, with all the gentlemen of the King's household, followed his example.

At sight of them, King George's horse ran away, and had nearly carried him into the midst of the enemy before it was stopped. He dismounted, and drawing his sword, waved it crying out, Now, boys, now for the honour of England. Fire and behave bravely, and the French will soon run."

The charge of the French was, however, so furious, that the English wavered a little, but were rallied by their King and the Duke of Cumberland, who, though wounded in the leg, refused to leave the field. Marshal de Noailles was in consternation at the imprudent movement of his nephew. He had to stop his batteries which were doing as much harm to his own troops as to the British, and he hastened across the river to take the command, and retrieve the mischief his nephew's impetuosity had done.

By this time it was too late. The King had drawn up his troops in a compact body, and was charging the enemy, who gave way, and the slaughter was dreadful. De Noailles gave the word for retreat across the river, but his retreat became a rout; the bridges over the Maine were overcrowded 'and broke down, the fugitives were many of them drowned, and others captured while trying to escape up the mountains. Six thousand men altogether were lost on the French side, only half the number on the English.

Lord Stair wanted to follow up the success by attacking the French in their entrenchments, but as quite half their army were fresh and had never been engaged at all, King George judged this imprudent with his exhausted troops, who had neither victuals, drink, nor tents, and he, therefore, after a brief rest, continued his march to Hanau. A letter was sent to Noailles requesting him to let the English wounded be taken care of, and this was generously done. Indeed, on the English side, the Duke of Cumberland had refused to let his wound be attended to, till after a more severely hurt prisoner had been dressed.

Frederick II., who hated King George, thought proper to describe his conduct thus: "All through the battle he stood before his Hanoverian battalion, his left foot drawn back, sword in hand, his arm extended, like a fencing-master about to give a stroke en carte, showing courage, but giving no orders."

This was plainly malice, for George did exactly the right thing under the circumstances, and kept up the English steadiness which won the day against French vivacity. Stair wished to cross the Maine, and pursue the French, who were retreating to Speyerbach, but the jealousies of the German princes and his own unconciliating temper rendered this impossible.

CAMEO

XXXIX.

Battle of Dettingen.

1743.