The Emperor in 1736, had married the Archduchess _Mary Teresa_, his eldest Daughter, to the Duke of _Lorrain_, for whom, by the succeeding Treaty of _Vienna_, he obtain'd the Grand Duchy of _Tuscany_. The eminent Services his august House had received from this Prince and his Ancestors, very well entitled him to this illustrious Alliance. Had this monarch liv'd a little longer, it is thought he would have procured his Son-in-Law the Dignity of King of the _Romans_, a Step that would, in a great measure, have prevented the Confusions that follow'd, and which almost brought his Family to the Brink of Ruin. This fatal Neglect was owing to the Empress's Youth, and the Hopes conceived she might still have a Male Heir. The Emperor was no sooner dead, than pursuant to his will, Mary Teresa, his eldest Daughter, was declared Queen of _Hungary_ and _Bohemia_, and peaceably invested in the Sovereignty of all his hereditary Dominions. This Princess immediately took care to notify her Accession to the different Courts of _Europe_, by whom she was acknowledged, and especially by that of _France_, who on this occasion renew'd its Assurance, in the strongest Terms, of performing its Guarantee of the _Pragmatic Sanction_. But her Letters of Notification to the Court of _Munich_ were returned unopen'd, the Elector declaring he could not acknowledge the Princess's Titles, without Prejudice to his own Claim, as founded on the Will of _Ferdinand I._, which imported, "That the eldest Archduchess, Daughter of the said _Ferdinand_, who should be alive when the said Succession should be _open_, should succeed to the two Crowns of _Hungary_ and _Bohemia_, in case there be no _Male Heir_ of any of the three Brothers of that Emperor." Now the Male Line of that House being extinct by the Death of _Charles_ VI., the Elector being descended from _Anne_, second daughter to _Ferdinand I._ (the eldest dying issueless) claimed the Succession as now _open_ by the Terms of the Will. On the other hand, the Court of _Vienna_ maintain'd that the Succession was not _open_, the last Words of the Will, according to the original Copy in the _Austrian_ Archives being "in case there shall be no _lawful Heir_ living of any of the Emperor's three Brothers." It is easy to see, the Elector's Claim was to no less than the _Whole_ of the late Emperor's succession. The King of _Spain_ also publish'd his Pretensions to all the late Emperor's Dominions, and made Preparations for invading _Italy_. In short the new Queen beheld that Storm gathering, which quickly overspread _Germany_, and which gave her but too much Occasion for exerting that Magnanimity and Constancy of Mind, which heighten her eminent Virtues, and have render'd her justly the Admiration of her Enemies themselves.