Matthias, the son of Hunyadi, was indebted for his elevation to the throne to the prestige of his father, who was the idol of the nation, but it was through his own genius alone that he strengthened the throne and became famous, mighty, and, perhaps, the greatest king of whom his country could boast. He excelled alike as a soldier and leader of armies, as a statesman and diplomatist, and as a man delighting in science and art. In those warlike days it would not have been possible for him to become conspicuous among his contemporaries and to become a powerful king, unless he had, in the first place, shown ability as a soldier. Matthias inherited the courage and soldierly qualities of his great father, and, following in his footsteps, became the foremost general of his age, combining rare personal gallantry with a remarkable capacity for military organization. The splendid example of his father had been before his eyes since his most tender years; it was his father who initiated him into the skilful handling of arms and into the secrets of strategy, and both his father and his famous mother, Elizabeth Szilágyi, vied with each other in inuring his body and mind to the struggles and dangers of which, since his earliest childhood, so large a share had been his lot. Trained amid warlike games, he very soon had to face serious struggles, for the men who had looked upon John Hunyadi with envy and jealousy extended their ill feeling to his two handsome boys, Matthias and his elder brother, Ladislaus. No secret was made before the youths of the dangers that surrounded them; they were taught rather to brave than to avoid them. Ladislaus, less fortunate than his brother, soon fell a victim to the machinations directed against both. Ladislaus was threatened with assassination in his own castle at the hands of Czilley, who was a foreigner and the guardian and friend of the boy-king. His men, attracted by the noise of the scuffle which ensued, rushed in and killed the would-be murderer. The king vowed that he would not molest Ladislaus for this act of self-defence, but he had him afterwards seized, thrown into prison, and executed without warrant of law or judicial sentence. This was the work of the enemies of the house of Hunyadi, but very soon they had to pay the penalty of their iniquity. The mass of the nation was roused, and upon the sudden death of Ladislaus V. in his other kingdom, amongst the Czechs, Matthias, the surviving son of Hunyadi, was proclaimed king of Hungary. [Illustration: PRESBURG.]