A PAGE FROM HISTORY.
Maria Theresa's worst apprehensions were realized, and the marching of
the Austrian troops into Bavaria was the signal for war. While all the
petty sovereigns of Germany clamored over the usurpation of Austria,
pamphlet upon pamphlet issued from the hands of Austrian jurists to
justify the act. These were replied to by the advocates of every other
German state, who proved conclusively that Austria was rapacious and
unscrupulous, and had not a shadow of right to the Bavarian succession.
A terrible paper war ensued, during which three hundred books were
launched by the belligerents at each other's heads. [Footnote:
Schlosser's History of the Eighteenth Century, vol. iv., p. 363.] This
strife was productive of one good result; it warmed up the frozen
patriotism of all the German races. Bavarians, Hessians, Wurtembergers,
and Hanoveriana, forgot their bickerings to join the outcry against
Austria; and the Church, to which Joseph was such an implacable enemy,
encouraged them in their resistance to the "innovator," as he was called
by his enemies.
Of all the malcontents, the noisiest were the Bavarians. The elector
palatine, whose advent all had dreaded, was greeted upon his entrance
into Munich with glowing enthusiasm; and the people forgot his
extravagance and profligacy to remember that upon him devolved the
preservation of their independence as a nation.
But Charles Theodore was very little edified by the sentiments which
were attributed to him by the Bavarians. He longed for nothing better
than to relieve himself of Bavaria and the weight of Austrian
displeasure, to return to the palatinate, and come into possession of
the flesh-pots that awaited his children in the form of titles, orders,
and florins. He lent a willing ear to Joseph's propositions, and a few
days after his triumphant entrance into Munich, he signed a contract
relinquishing in favor of Austria two-thirds of his Bavarian
inheritance. Maria Theresa, in the joy of her heart, bestowed upon him
the order of the Golden Fleece, and on January 3, 1778, entered into
possession of her newly acquired territory.
Meanwhile, in Bavaria, arose a voice which, with the fire of genuine
patriotism, protested against the cowardly compliance of the elector
palatine. It was that of the Duchess Clemens, of Bavaria. She hastened
to give information of his pusillanimity to the next heir, the Dune of
Zweibrucken, and dispatched a courier to Berlin asking succor and
protection from the crown of Prussia.
The energy of this Bavarian patriot decided the fate of the Austrian
claim. The Duke of Zweibrucken protested against the cession of the
smallest portion of his future inheritance, and declared that he would
never relinquish it to any power on earth. Frederick pronounced himself
ready to sustain the duke, and threatened a declaration of war unless
the Austrian troops were removed. In vain Maria Theresa sought to
indemnify the duke by offers of orders, florins, and titles, which had
been so successful with Charles Theodore--in vain she offered to make
him King of Burgundy--he remained incorruptible. He coveted nothing she
could bestow, but was firm in his purpose, to preserve the integrity of
Bavaria, and called loudly for Frederick to come to the rescue.
Frederick responded: "He was ready to defend the rights of the elector
palatine against the unjust pretensions of the court of Vienna,"
[Footnote: Dohm's Memoirs, vol. i.] and removed his troops from Upper
Silesia to the confines of Bohemia and Saxony. This was the signal for
the advance of the Austrian army; and despite her repugnance to the act,
Maria Theresa was compelled to suffer it. She was also forced to allow
Joseph to take command in person. This time her representations and
entreaties had been vain; Joseph was thirsting for military glory, and
he bounded like a war-horse to the trumpet's call. The empress felt that
her hands were now powerless to restrain him, and she was so much the
feebler, that Kaunitz openly espoused the side of the ambitious emperor.
With convulsive weeping Maria Theresa saw her son assume his command,
and when Joseph bade her farewell, she sank insensible from his arms to
the floor.