r those in Switzerland; while the magnificent new acquisition, the
Tyrol, lying between the two countries, bounding Switzerland on the
east, and Austria on the west, was shared between them.

Nothing can more clearly show the moderate qualities of Albert than that
he should have assented to such a plan. He did, however, with easy good
nature, assent to it, and the two brothers applied to the Emperor
Charles to ratify the division by his imperial sanction. Charles, who
for some time had been very jealous of the rapid encroachments of
Austria, rubbed his hands with delight.

"We have long," said he, "labored in vain to humble the house of
Austria, and now the dukes of Austria have humbled themselves."

Leopold the First inherited all the ambition and energy of the house of
Hapsburg, and was ever watching with an eagle eye to extend his
dominions, and to magnify his power. By money, war, and diplomacy, in a
few years he obtained Friburg and the little town of Basle; attached to
his dominions the counties of Feldkirch, Pludenz, Surgans and the
Rienthal, which he wrested from the feeble counts who held them, and
obtained the baillages of Upper and Lower Suabia, and the towns of
Augsburg and Gingen. But a bitter disappointment was now encountered by
this ambitious prince.

Louis, the renowned King of Hungary and Poland, had two daughters, Maria
and Hedwige, but no sons. To Maria he promised the crown of Hungary as
her portion, and among the many claimants for her hand, and the
glittering crown she held in it, Sigismond, son of the Emperor Charles,
King of Bohemia, received the prize. Leopold, whose heart throbbed in
view of so splendid an alliance, was overjoyed when he secured the
pledge of the hand of Hedwige, with the crown of Poland, for William,
his eldest son. Hedwige was one of the most beautiful and accomplished
princesses of the age. William was also a young man of great elegance of
person, and of such rare fascination of character, that he had acquired
the epithet of William the Delightful. His chivalrous bearing had been
trained and polished amidst the splendors of his uncle's court of
Vienna. Hedwige, as the affianced bride of William, was invited from the
more barbaric pomp of the Hungarian court, to improve her education by
the aid of the refinements of Vienna. William and Hedwige no sooner met
than they loved one another, as young hearts, even in the palace, will
sometimes love, as well as in the cottage. In