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 walked before him, his heart swelled with pride at the thought that the whole nobility of Prague were beholding his intimate footing with the sovereign.

The Hapsburgs had long conferred favors on the Felsenburk family for its faithfulness and devotion, but they had bestowed on none of the nobles as high honors as they now heaped upon Francis Václav. Undoubtedly he deserved the distinction, for he had proved most faithful in the conflict following the death of Charles VI., the father of Maria Theresa, when nearly all the rulers of Europe denied her the right to the Bohemian throne. The young Felsenburk at that time was so enthusiastic a partisan of the twenty-three-year-old Empress that he persuaded the Bohemian nobles who had deserted her to renew their allegiance; he sacrificed so much for the cause, he decided by his strategy and valor so many battles in favor of her armies, he contributed so wonderfully to the final triumph of the Austrian army, that when peace was declared titles and ranks were showered upon