the time of which we write, was assembled once in
three years, and at such other times as the sovereign thought it
necessary to convene it. The diet controlled the king, unless he chanced
to be a man of such commanding character, that by moral power he could
bring the diet to his feet. A clause had been inserted in the coronation
oath, that the nobles, without guilt, could oppose the authority of the
king, whenever he transgressed their privileges; it was also declared
that no foreign troops could be introduced into the kingdom without the
consent of the diet.

Under such a government, it was inevitable that the king should be
involved in a continued conflict with the nobles. The nobles wished for
aid to repel the Turks; and yet they were unwilling that an Austrian
army should be introduced into Hungary, lest it should enable the king
to enlarge those prerogatives which he was ever seeking to extend, and
which they were ever endeavoring to curtail.

Leopold convened the diet at Presburg. They had a stormy session.
Leopold had commenced some persecution of the Protestants in the States
of Austria. This excited the alarm of the Protestant nobles of Hungary;
and they had reason to dread the intolerance of the Roman Catholics,
more than the cimeter of the Turk. They openly accused Leopold of
commencing persecution, and declared that it was his intention to reduce
Hungary to the state to which Ferdinand II. had reduced Bohemia. They
met all the suggestions of Leopold, for decisive action, with so many
provisos and precautions, that nothing could be done. It is dangerous to
surrender one's arms to a highway robber, or one whom we fear may prove
such, even if he does promise with them to aid in repelling a foe. The
Catholics and the Protestants became involved in altercation, and the
diet was abruptly dissolved.

The Turks eagerly watched their movements, and, encouraged by these
dissensions, soon burst into Hungary with an army of one hundred
thousand men. They crossed the Drave at Esseg, and, ascending the valley
of the Danube, directly north one hundred and fifty miles, crossed that
stream unopposed at Buda. Still ascending the stream, which here flows
from the west, they spread devastation everywhere around them, until
they arrived nearly within sight of the steeples of Vienna. The capital
was in consternation. To add to their terror and their peril, the
emperor was dangerously sick of the small-pox, a disease which had