to her conquerors. Hungary still clung
firmly to the queen, and she had been crowned at Presburg with boundless
enthusiasm. An eyewitness has thus described this scene:--

"The coronation was magnificent. The queen was all charm. She rode
gallantly up the Royal Mount, a hillock in the vicinity of Presburg,
which the new sovereign ascends on horseback, and waving a drawn sword,
defied the four corners of the world, in a manner to show that she had
no occasion for that weapon to conquer all who saw her. The antiquated
crown received new graces from her head; and the old tattered robe of
St. Stephen became her as well as her own rich habit, if diamonds,
pearls and all sorts of precious stones can be called clothes,"

She had but recently risen from the bed of confinement and the delicacy
of her appearance added to her attractions. A table was spread for a
public entertainment, around which all the dignitaries of the realm were
assembled--dukes who could lead thousands of troops into the field, bold
barons, with their bronzed followers, whose iron sinews had been
toughened in innumerable wars. It was a warm summer day, and the cheek
of the youthful queen glowed with the warmth and with the excitement of
the hour. Her beautiful hair fell in ringlets upon her shoulders and
over her full bosom. She sat at the head of the table all queenly in
loveliness, and imperial in character. The bold, high-spirited nobles,
who surrounded her, could appreciate her position, assailed by half the
monarchies of Europe, and left alone to combat them all. Their
chivalrous enthusiasm was thus aroused.

The statesmen of Vienna had endeavored to dissuade the queen from making
any appeal to the Hungarians. When Charles VI. made an effort to secure
their assent to the Pragmatic Sanction, the war-worn barons replied
haughtily, "We are accustomed to be governed by men, not by women." The
ministers at Vienna feared, therefore, that the very sight of the queen,
youthful, frail and powerless, would stir these barons to immediate
insurrection, and that they would scorn such a sovereign to guide them
in the fierce wars which her crown involved. But Maria Theresa better
understood human nature. She believed that the same barons, who would
resist the demands of the Emperor Charles VI., would rally with
enthusiasm around a defenseless woman, appealing to them for aid. The
cordiality and ever-increasing glow of ardor with which she was greeted
at the coronat