"If any man is hindered by some lawful impediment from attending his
suit, time will be granted him upon the representation of his case."
Such is the order according to which civil justice is administered
through the extensive dominions of the king of Prussia; which, if it
exhibits nothing very subtle or profound, affords one proof more that
the right is easily discovered, and that men do not so often want
ability to find, as willingness to practise it.
We now return to the war.
The time at which the queen of Hungary was willing to purchase peace
by the resignation of Silesia, though it came at last, was not come
yet. She had all the spirit, though not all the power of her
ancestors, and could not bear the thought of losing any part of her
patrimonial dominions to the enemies which the opinion of her weakness
raised every where against her.
In the beginning of the year 1742, the elector of Bavaria was invested
with the imperial dignity, supported by the arms of France, master of
the kingdom of Bohemia; and confederated with the elector Palatine,
and the elector of Saxony, who claimed Moravia; and with the king of
Prussia, who was in possession of Silesia.
Such was the state of the queen of Hungary, pressed on every side, and
on every side preparing for resistance: she yet refused all offers of
accommodation, for every prince set peace at a price which she was not
yet so far humbled as to pay.
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