In Hungary nothing was ready. All the land was seized with alarm. The most enlightened men did not deceive themselves. In the assembly at Tolna it had been asserted that ‘every kingdom is in need of two things for its defence, armies and laws; now our Hungary has neither of these.’[541] Division among the grandees and the pretensions of the clergy had weakened the country. Places were bestowed only as matter of personal favor; soldiers were parading and showing themselves off in the streets of the capital, while the frontiers were left without defenders. The young queen strove in vain to establish order in the state, for the grandees opposed it. At their head was the powerful Zapolya, who proudly relied on his seventy-two castles. This high and sovereign lord, of whom a prediction had been uttered that the crown would one day be placed on his head, asked for nothing better than to see the discomfiture of his native land, for he hoped that it would thus become easier for him to get himself proclaimed king.[542] Louis was entreated to exercise his authority and to reform abuses; but things remained in that mournful state of confusion which precedes the ruin of a nation. Solyman had called upon the king, by a message of the 20th February, to pay him tribute, threatening at the same time that if he refused to do so he would annihilate the Christian faith, and bring both his princes and his people into subjection to himself. The king, young and thoughtless, had paid little attention to the summons. But when he learnt that the Sultan had left Constantinople, he was excited and perplexed; and he understood that it was necessary to put Hungary in a state of defence. But it was now too late. He wished to levy taxes, but money did not come in. He endeavored to form an army, but recruits did not make their appearance; he appealed to the rich, but these chose rather to employ their wealth in decorating churches. He issued the most stringent orders; all Hungary was to rise, even the students, priests, and monks; in the country one priest only was to remain for the service of two parishes. But hardly a man moved. At last, when the enemy was drawing near, when it was known that he was marching on Pesth, the necessity was felt of occupying the passes on which it might be possible to check his advance. But the prince had only an army of three thousand men, and only fifty thousand florins to cover the expenses of the war. This sum had been lent him by the banker Fugger on solid securities. Young, inexperienced, and unenergetic, he was not at all inclined to go to meet Solyman. But the magnates refused to march without the king. Louis then formed a bold resolution. ‘I see well,’ he said sorrowfully, ‘that my head must answer for theirs, and I am going to take it to the enemy.’ He took leave of his young wife in the island of Csepel, near Buda. Although they were not much in agreement, they loved each other. Their hearts were torn;