FREDERICK THE GREAT.

185

renounced her right to Silesia in favour of the King of Prussia; while some Italian provinces, as Parma and Piacenza, were abandoned to Philip of Spain.

This peace enabled Maria-Theresa to turn her attention to the social state of Hungary, and to take measures for the promotion of education and general culture. The more easily to gain the sympathy of the people, the queen spent a great part of her time in Hungary, taking up her abode in the towns of Presburg and Buda. The latter, which had lain waste since the expulsion of the Turks, assumed a brighter appearance from the residence of the queen, who was sagacious enough to make her infant son, the Archduke Joseph, wear the Hungarian costume, learn the Hungarian tongue, and be placed under the guardianship of Prince Charles Batthyany. Hence it hap

pened, that a few years later the Hungarians were again ready to march to her rescue with unabated enthusiasm. The diet of 1751, however, was far from being satisfied with her rule. The chief grounds of complaints raised against her policy, were, the rules of the Austrian toll-system, which greatly checked the exportation of Hungarian products, as well as the state of the Cumans and Jasiges, not yet restored to their former liberties. Without getting any redress the diet was dissolved, after having elected Louis Batthyany palatine. In the meantime Maria-Theresa could not forget the loss of Silesia; and instigated by her allpotent minister Kaunitz, she prepared for a new war. With the assistance of Madame de Pompadour, the real ruler of France under Louis XV., the Austrian minister succeeded in concluding an alliance between these two countries, to be acceded to by Elizabeth, Czarina of Russia; the object of this alliance was to

186

THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR.

efface Prussia from the map of Europe.' Having anticipated the secret intrigues and preparations, Frederick the Great broke suddenly into Saxony, and soon after defeated the Austrians at Lowositz. The Hungarian queen, as usual, had again recourse to the Diet, when the States, besides voting new subsidies, ordained another levy of 40,000 men. The palatine Louis Batthyany went so far in his zeal as to equip several squadrons at his own expense, an example which found imitators. It would be superfluous to narrate here the events of the Seven Year's War, brought to a termination in 1763; but to show the inconstant operations of diplomacy, it may be mentioned, that during these bloody conflicts English and Hungarian blood was now shed under different standards, England taking, in this second part of the war between Austria and Prussia, the side of the latter. Nor did the assistance which George II. now gave to the adversary of Austria influence in any way the state of Hungary, which had suffered so much from the victories that the Duke of Marlborough had half a century before gained for the Austrian emperor.

In 1764, the queen again convoked the Diet, though amid loud discontent, in consequence of many unredressed grievances. The statute issued by that queen for the mitigation of the feudal institutions, and known by the name of Urbarium, contains the following judi

1 This treaty was signed at Versailles, 1756, and was called by the witty king of Prussia l'alliance des trois cotillions, from its being the work of women. He, however, soon found half a million of arms ready to attempt his destruction.

2 Some of the readers will perhaps remember how the zeal of this palatine was repaid by Francis Joseph on his descendant and namesake, the prime minister of Hungary, in 1848.

REFORMS OF MARIA-THERESA.

187

cious provisions: 1st, The serf was allowed to leave his master if dissatisfied with his condition; 2d, The labour, to be done by the serfs, was fixed with due regard to the extent of their tenures; 3d, The peasants were licensed to retail their wines; 4th, The children of the peasants were declared competent to fill the public offices of teachers, etc.; and, furthermore, a peasant who had earned for himself the title of nobility, might receive his patent independent of the sanction of his feudal master. These reforms, though slight in themselves, were great in reference to the time when they were effected, and are more creditable to the queen from the circumstance of her having introduced them in opposition to the will of the nobles. The abolition of the tolls between the different parts of Hungary itself, as well as the patents given to foreign trading companies, were the means of encouraging the commerce of the country, if, indeed, it deserve that name. For it must be remembered that at that time Hungary was nothing more than a cattle-breeding country, as is evident from the thousands of vast purztas (pasturing plains) which existed then. The breed of live stock, especially of sheep, was also much improved by the measures of the queen, who introduced into Hungary the finest specimens of Spanish stock.

The rule of Maria-Theresa was thus, upon the whole, beneficial for Hungary, despite her disregard of many laws of the country, and the fact that she was strongly influenced by the insinuations of her Jesuitical confessors, which led her to adopt many oppressive measures against the Protestants. Another reform of no less importance, introduced by this queen, was the organization of the military frontiers, begun by her father, Charles VI. The number of the border regiments

188

DEATH OF MARIA-THERESA.

in Croatia, Slavonia, the Banat, and Transylvania, amounted to twenty-two, and constituted a force of 60,000 men. But the crowning act of Maria-Theresa in the way of military reform, was the establishment of the Hungarian Guard, a measure which, though promising much for Hungary, ended in merely furnishing an idle pageant for the court of Vienna. Under these circumstances Maria-Theresa continued her reign till her death in 1780.1

1 One of her last acts was to declare Transylvania a separate principality, ruled by its own diet and municipal authorities, and entirely independent of the Hungarian government.

CHAPTER VII.

JOSEPH II.-LEOPOLD II.-CORONATION OF FRANCIS I.

-THE FRENCH WAR—(1780-1825.)

JOSEPH II., who acted as a co-regent in Hungary before the death of his mother, assumed the reins of government in 1780. This monarch, more enlightened than his mother, and bent on the entire re-organization of the Austrian empire, was carried away by his zeal to many acts of imprudence and tyranny. It would, however, be unjust to withhold from Joseph a place among well-intentioned rulers, and to deny his claims to the title of a most philosophic prince. Unlike the rest of the Austrian monarchs, Joseph did not confine himself to the narrow sphere of the court-life, but seized every opportunity to improve his intellect by observing actual life. With his knapsack on his shoulders, Joseph made a tour incognito to France, and did not neglect, while there, to visit the distressed and philosophic author of the Contrat Sociale. From France he proceeded to Italy, to feed his eyes on the arts and monuments of the city of the Cæsars; and, after returning home, he undertook a journey to the distant north. It was, indeed, no common sight to see a Hapsburg monarch proclaim philosophy the lawgiver of his state, earnestly endeavour to suppress fanaticism, prejudice, and slavery of mind, and attempt to