s, by long
hereditary descent, archduke, his sway was almost omnipotent. In Bohemia
he was powerful, though much less so than in Austria, and it was
necessary for him to move with caution there, and not to disturb the
ancient usages of the realm lest he should excite insurrection. In
Hungary, where the laws and customs were entirely different, Leopold
held merely a nominal, hardly a recognized sway. The bold Hungarian
barons, always steel-clad and mounted for war, in their tumultuous
diets, governed the kingdom. There were other remote duchies and
principalities, too feeble to stand by themselves, and ever changing
masters, as they were conquered or sought the protection of other
powers, which, under the reign of Leopold, were portions of wide
extended Austria. Another large and vastly important accession was now
made to his realms. The Tyrol, which, in its natural features, may be
considered but an extension of Switzerland, is a territory of about one
hundred miles square, traversed through its whole extent by the Alps.
Lying just south of Austria it is the key to Italy, opening through its
defiles a passage to the sunny plains of the Peninsula; and through
those fastnesses, guarded by frowning castles, no foe could force his
way, into the valleys of the Tyrol. The most sublime road in Europe is
that over Mount Brenner, along the banks of the Adige. This province had
long been in the hands of members of the Austrian family.

On the 15th of June, 1665, Sigismond Francis, Duke of Tyrol, and cousin
of Leopold, died, leaving no issue, and the province escheated with its
million of inhabitants to Leopold, as the next heir. This brought a
large accession of revenue and of military force, to the kingdom.
Austria was now the leading power in Europe, and Leopold, in rank and
position, the most illustrious sovereign. Louis XIV. had recently
married Maria Theresa, eldest daughter of Philip IV., King of Spain.
Philip, who was anxious to retain the crown of Spain in his own family,
extorted from Maria Theresa, and from her husband, Louis XIV., the
renunciation of all right of succession, in favor of his second
daughter, Margaret, whom he betrothed to Leopold. Philip died in
September, 1665, leaving these two daughters, one of whom was married to
the King of France, and leaving also an infant son, who succeeded to the
throne under the regency of his mother, Ann, daughter of Ferdinand III.,
of Austria. Margaret was then too young to