Page:A Biographical Dictionary of the Celebrated Women of Every Age and Country (1804).djvu/831

Rh Pragmatic Sanction. Her object, in investing her husband with fresh dignities, was not to derive any assistance from him in the management of her affairs, but to render him, in the eyes of the electors, more worthy of the imperial crown. But though this princess was permitted peaceably to take possession of her vast inheritance, it was not long before various competitors appeared. Charles Albert, elector of Bavaria, asserted his right to Bohemia, the King of Sardinia resumed his claim to Milan, the kings of Spain and Poland urged their pretensions to the whole succession, and Lewis the XVth, that he might not awaken the jealousy of Europe, sought to aggrandize himself by gaining, in conjunction with the king of Prussia, the votes of the principal electors for placing the Imperial crown on the head of the elector of Bavaria. The king of Prussia had demanded a part of Silesia, in virtue of some obsolete and annulled treaties, and on those terms had proffered his friendship. These having been rejected with disdain by the queen, he entered Silesia with a powerful army, and pursued his conquests with great rapidity. A treaty was formed between Prussia, France, the elector of Bavaria, and Poland, to place the crown on the head of the elector, and strip the queen of the greater part of her dominions; and after a few months he made his public entry into the capital, and was inaugurated with the usual solemnities. At this period the Queen of Hungary found herself abandoned by all her allies, and apparently resigned as a prey to the ambition and rapacity of the neighbouring powers. Her courage, however, never forsook her, and she was fortunately provided with good officers and an able ministry. She retired to Presburg; having assembled the states, addressed them in a pathetic Latin speech, and holding in her arms her infant son, "I place