Prince Charles took the opportunity of bright moonshine to repass the
Rhine; and Noailles, who had early intelligence of his motions, gave
him very little disturbance, but contented himself with attacking the
rearguard, and, when they retired to the main body, ceased his
pursuit.
The king, upon the reduction of Prague, struck a medal, which had on
one side a plan of the town, with this inscription:
"Prague taken by the king of Prussia,
September 16, 1744;
For the third time in three years."
On the other side were two verses, in which he prayed, "that his
conquests might produce peace." He then marched forward with the
rapidity which constitutes his military character; took possession of
almost all Bohemia, and began to talk of entering Austria and
besieging Vienna.
The queen was not yet wholly without resource. The elector of Saxony,
whether invited or not, was not comprised in the union of Frankfort;
and, as every sovereign is growing less as his next neighbour is
growing greater, he could not heartily wish success to a confederacy
which was to aggrandize the other powers of Germany. The Prussians
gave him, likewise, a particular and immediate provocation to oppose
them; for, when they departed to the conquest of Bohemia, with all the
elation of imaginary success, they passed through his dominions with
unlicensed and contemptuous disdain of his authority.
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