In Italy affairs took a singular turn in favor of the Austrian queen.  The King of Sardinia, ever ready to embark his troops in any enterprise which gave him promise of booty, alarmed by the grasping ambition of France and Spain, who were ever seizing the lion’s share in all plunder, seeing that he could not hope for much advantage in his alliance with them, proposed to the queen that if she would cede to him certain of the Milanese provinces, he would march his troops into her camp.  This was a great gain for Maria Theresa.  The Sardinian troops guarding the passes of the Alps, shut out the French, during the whole campaign, from entering Italy.  At the same time the Sardinian king, with another portion of his army, aided by the Austrian troops, overran the whole duchy of Modena, and drove out the Spaniards.  The English fleet in the Mediterranean cooperated in this important measure.  By the threat of a bombardment they compelled the King of Naples to withdraw from the French and Spanish alliance.  Thus Austria again planted her foot in Italy.  This extraordinary and unanticipated success created the utmost joy and exultation in Vienna.  The despondency of the French court was correspondingly great.  A few months had totally changed the aspect of affairs.  The allied troops were rapidly melting away, with none to fill up the dwindling ranks.  The proud army which had swept over Germany, defying all opposition, was now cooped up within the walls of Prague, beleaguered by a foe whom victory had rendered sanguine.  The new emperor, claiming the crown of Austria, had lost his own territory of Bavaria; and the capital of Bohemia, where he had so recently been enthroned, was hourly in peril of falling into the hands of his foes.

Under these circumstances the hopes of the Duke of Bavaria sank rapidly into despair.  The hour of disaster revealed a meanness of spirit which prosperity had not developed.  He sued for peace, writing a dishonorable and cringing letter, in which he protested that he was not to blame for the war, but that the whole guilt rested upon the French court, which had inveigled him to present his claim and commence hostilities.  Maria Theresa made no other reply to this humiliating epistle than to publish it, and give it a wide circulation throughout Europe.  Cardinal Fleury, the French minister of state, indignant at this breach of confidence, sent to the cabinet of Vienna a remonstrance and a counter statement.  This paper also the queen gave to the public.

Marshal Belleisle was in command of the French and Bavarian troops, which were besieged in Prague.  The force rapidly gathering around him was such as to render retreat impossible.  The city was unprepared for a siege, and famine soon began to stare the citizens and garrison in the face.  The marshal, reduced to the last extremity, offered to evacuate the city and march out of Bohemia, if he could be permitted to retire unmolested, with arms, artillery and baggage.  The Duke of Lorraine, to avoid a battle which would be rendered sanguinary through despair, was ready and even anxious to assent to these terms.  His leading generals were of the same opinion, as they wished to avoid a needless effusion of blood.