740 ^ FRA 
that To favourable an opportunity never again would offer 
of raifing the eiedtor of Bavaria to the imperial throne. 
The a (lent; of a monarch, whofe vanity was great, and 
dilcernment little, waseafily obtained to this fplendid pro- 
je£t. The count of Belleille negociated a treaty with the 
king of Pruftia, by which the elector of Bavaria, with the 
imperial crown, was to poflefs Bohemia, Upper Auftria, 
and theTyrolefe ; the king of Poland was to have Mo¬ 
ravia and the Upper Silefia ; and Frederic was to retain 
Lower Silefia, the town of Neifs, and the county of Glatz. 
Toenforce thefeconditions an immenfe army, in 1741, was 
put in motion ; and Louis appointed the elector of Ba¬ 
varia his lieutenant-general, with the marefchals Belleifie 
and Broglio to a6t under him. 
The fuccefs of the French was rapid, fplendid, and 
tranfient; the king of England was reduced to conclude 
a neutrality, as elector of Hanover, for his German domi¬ 
nions; the confederates furprifed PalTau, potfelTed them- 
l'elves of Lintz, and menaced Vienna. Maria Therefa 
retired from her capital to Pretburgh in Hungary ; and 
that generous people vowed to conquer or die in the fer- 
vice of their fovereign. New and formidable armies were 
inaninflant fupplied by their entluifiaftic loyalty ; the 
French declined the dangerous neighbourhood of Vienna, 
directed their march into Bohemia, and in conjunftion 
with the Saxons reduced the city of Prague : from that 
important acquifition the elector of Bavaria purfued his 
rout to Frankfort; and was there elefted emperor, under 
the title of Charles VII. and inverted with theenligns of 
imperial authority. But from the moment he attained 
this dignity, jealoufies prevailed among the confederates; 
the French army was continually diminiflied by ficknefs 
or defertion ; George II. diftinguirtiing between his ca¬ 
pacity of king of Great Britain and eledlor of Hanover, 
refolved as the former to fupport the queen of Hungary ; 
and the very day that Charles was proclaimed emperor at 
Frankfort, he received intelligence that Lintz had been re¬ 
covered by the Aurtrian general Khevenhuller, though 
defended by ten thoufand troops of France. This dil'af- 
ter was followed by another more important and more 
fatal. The king of Prurtia had penetrated into Molda¬ 
via, but was compelled to retire before prince Charles of 
Lorrain ; but reinforced by the prince of Anhalt Deflau, 
he fuddenly turned on his purfuers. At Czaflaw he en¬ 
gaged and defeated the Auftrians; but with his ufual 
fagacity, he feized the moment of victory to conclude an 
advantageous peace at Breflaw, which left him in poflef- 
fion of the Upper and Lower Silefia, and the county of 
Glatz. At the fame time a treaty was figned between the 
queen of Hungary and Auguftus III. king ot Poland, 
which transferred to the latter a confiderable extent of 
country in the kingdom of Bohemia. 
Louis received with aftonifhment and difguft the intel¬ 
ligence of the treaty of Breflaw. Deferted by their two 
moft powerful allies, and prefled by the fuperior numbers 
of the Auftrians, the French re treated precipitately under 
the walls of Prague. A fecond army under marfhal Maille- 
bois, was detached to their afliftance ; but prince Charles 
had already occupied the pafles of the intervening moun¬ 
tains : Maillebois was obliged to retreat ; and the French 
in Prague were only faved from the difgrace of furren¬ 
dering by the (kill and courage of marfhal Belleifle ; who 
conducted his army through a hoftile country above 
ninety miles to the town of Egra. 
Italy prefented to the contending powers a campaign 
equally vigorous and diffufive with that of Germany. 
Philip V. who had eftablifhed one fon on the throne of the 
two Sicilies, was defirous of placing a crown on the head 
of Philip his fon, by a fecond marriage with Elizabeth 
F'arnefe, daughter of the duke of Parma. Parma, Pla¬ 
centia, and the Milanefe, were the territories he afpired 
to. The king of Sardinia, in 1742, was alarmed at the 
progrefs of the houfe of Bourbon, renounced his alliance 
with the courts of Verfaillesand Madrid, and entered into 
engagements with the queen of Hungary and the king of 
N C E. 
England ; but the king of the two Sicilies, while he pro- 
felled himfelf neuter, fecretly prepared to fupport the 
ambitious deflgns of his family. From this intention he 
was diverted by the appearance of an Englifti fquadron in 
the bay of Naples ; commodore Martin, to whom was in¬ 
tro rtea the commiflion of humbling the enemies of Great 
Britain, threatened to bombard Naples, unlefs he received 
a fatisfadlory anfwer in the fpace of an hour; and the 
king, to avert the deftrudtion of his capital, engaged to 
preferve a ftricl neutrality during the war. 
The hoftile armies, by the evacuation of Prague, were 
transferred from the banks of the Danube to thofe of the 
Rhine ; and cardinal Fleury, opprefled by increafing 
years, clofed a life, in 1743, that would have been termi¬ 
nated With more glory before the commencement of the 
war. The king, on the death of Fleury, determined to be 
his own minifter, and to put himfelf at the head of the 
army. The king of England had already taken the field 
with forty thoufand Englifti, Hanoverian, and Auftrians. 
At the village of Dettingen, near the banks of the Mayne, 
he was attacked by marfhal Noailles. Had the French 
patiently occupied the neighbouring heights, the confede¬ 
rates muft have furrendered at diferetion ; but their ar¬ 
dour precipitated them on the allies, and their temerity 
was chaftifed by a fevere defeat. The king of England, 
inftead of improving his advantage, profecuted his march 
to Hanau ; and the duke of Noailles, after collecting his 
fcattered forces, haftened to join marfhal Coigny in Up¬ 
per Alface, who was threatened by prince Charles of 
Lorrain. 
Todiftract the affairs of the Englifh, Louis, in r744, re¬ 
folved to efpoufe the fortunes of the exiled houfe of 
Stuart. Charles Edward, eldeft fon to the chevalier de 
St. George, the grandfon of the unfortunate James II. 
had, for this purpofe, been invited into France. An army 
of fifteen thoufand men was aflembled in Picardy under 
count Saxe ; a number of tranfports were collected at 
Calais, Dunkirk, and Boulogne; and Charles, to whom 
his father had delegated his pretenflons, left Rome, and 
arrived in the French camp. But an Englifh fquadron, 
under fir John Norris, rode triumphant in the channel j 
and the young pretender was obliged to wait a more fa¬ 
vourable opportunity. Louis in the mean time invaded 
Flanders in perfon, and, feconded by the duke of Noailles 
and count Saxe, fucceflively reduced Menin, Ypres, and 
Furnes. From this feene of conqueft he was foon recalled 
to the defence of his own dominions; prince Charles of 
Lorrain had parted the Rhine at the head of 60,coo Auf¬ 
trians, had taken Weiflenberg, and laid all Lower Alface 
under contribution. To repel this invaiion, marfhal 
Noailles was detached witli forty thoufand choice troops ; 
while marfhal Saxe in Flanders, by his mafterly move¬ 
ments, baffled the deflgns of the allies, though far fupe¬ 
rior in numbers. With a confiderable reinforcement 
Louis prepared to follow Noailies ; but at Metz he was 
feized with a putrid fever that threatened his life. His 
danger difFufed confternation throughout the kingdom ; 
and the uncommon joy with which his recovery was at¬ 
tended, touched the heart of the monarch himfelf,; 
who could not help exclaiming, “What a pleafure is it 
to be thus beloved ! What have I done to deierve it!” 
But the king depended not alone on his own arms for 
the defence of Alface; lie had negociated a new alliance 
with the king of Pruflia; and Frederic once more pene¬ 
trated into Bohemia, and extended his ravages as far as 
Maldaw. Prince Charles repaired the Rhine, to check 
the progrefs of this formidable enemy; and Frederic, in 
his turn, was obliged to evacuate Bohemia with precipi¬ 
tation, and retire into Silefia; while Louis, availing him¬ 
felf of the retreat of the Auftrians, inverted and reduced 
Friburg. In Italy, the prince of Conti effected a junc¬ 
tion with don Philip, and attacked the ftrong port of 
Chateau Dauphin, where the king of Sardinia commanded 
in perfon. It was carried after an obftinate conflict, and 
the confederates immediately laid fiege to Coni, tiie pof- 
fellion 
