ere were also other claimants for the crown, but none who could
present so plausible a plea as that of the Duke of Bavaria.

Maria Theresa now waited with great anxiety for the reply she should
receive from the foreign powers whom she had notified of her accession.
The Duke of Bavaria was equally active and solicitous, and it was quite
uncertain whose claim would be supported by the surrounding courts. The
first response came from Prussia. The king sent his congratulations, and
acknowledged the title of Maria Theresa. This was followed by a letter
from Augustus of Poland, containing the same friendly recognition.
Russia then sent in assurances of cordial support. The King of England
returned a friendly answer, promising cooeperation. All this was
cheering. But France was then the great power on the continent, and
could carry with her one half of Europe in almost any cause. The
response was looked for from France with great anxiety. Day after day,
week after week passed, and no response came. At length the French
Secretary of State gave a cautious and merely verbal declaration of the
friendly disposition of the French court. Cardinal Fleury, the
illustrious French Secretary of State, was cold, formal and excessively
polite. Maria Theresa at once inferred that France withheld her
acknowledgment, merely waiting for a favorable opportunity to recognize
the claims of the Duke of Bavaria.

While matters were in this state, to the surprise of all, Frederic, King
of Prussia, drew his sword, and demanded large and indefinite portions
of Austria to be annexed to his territories. Disdaining all appeal to
any documentary evidence, and scorning to reply to any questionings as
to his right, he demanded vast provinces, as a highwayman demands one's
purse, with the pistol at his breast. This fiery young prince,
inheriting the most magnificent army in Europe, considering its
discipline and equipments, was determined to display his gallantry as a
fighter, with Europe for the arena. As he was looking about to find some
suitable foe against which he could hurl his seventy-five thousand men,
the defenseless yet large and opulent duchy of Silesia presented itself
as a glittering prize worth the claiming by a royal highwayman.

The Austrian province of Silesia bordered a portion of Prussia. "While
treacherously professing friendship with the court of Vienna, with great
secrecy and sagacity Frederic assembled a large force of his best troops