cal bands filled the air with their
triumphal strains as the regal diadem was placed upon the brow of
Botskoi, and he was proclaimed King of Hungary. The Sultan Achment sent,
with his congratulations to the victorious noble, a saber of exquisite
temper and finish, and a gorgeous standard. The grand vizier himself
placed the royal diadem upon his brow.

Botskoi was a nobleman in every sense of the word. He thought it best
publicly to accept these honors in gratitude to the sultan for his
friendship and aid, and also to encourage and embolden the Hungarians to
retain what they had already acquired. He knew that there were bloody
battles still before them, for the emperor would doubtless redouble his
efforts to regain his Hungarian possessions. At the same time Botskoi,
in the spirit of true patriotism, was not willing even to appear to have
usurped the government through the energies of the sword. He therefore
declared that he should not claim the crown unless he should be freely
elected by the nobles; and that he accepted these honors simply as
tokens of the confidence of the allied army, and as a means of
strengthening their power to resist the emperor.

The campaign was now urged with great vigor, and nearly all of Hungary
was conquered. Such was the first great disaster which the intolerance
and folly of Rhodolph brought upon him. The Turks and the Hungarians
were now good friends, cordially cooeperating. A few more battles would
place them in possession of the whole of Hungary, and then, in their
alliance they could defy all the power of the emperor, and penetrate
even the very heart of his hereditary dominions of Austria. Rhodolph, in
this sudden peril, knew not where to look for aid. The Protestants, who
constituted one half of the physical force, not only of Bohemia and of
the Austrian States, but of all Germany, had been insulted and oppressed
beyond all hope of reconciliation. They dreaded the papal emperor more
than the Mohammedan sultan. They were ready to hail Botskoi as their
deliverer from intolerable despotism, and to swell the ranks of his
army. Botskoi was a Protestant, and the sympathies of the Protestants
all over Germany were with him. Elated by his advance, the Protestants
withheld all contributions from the emperor, and began to form
combinations in favor of the Protestant chief. Rhodolph was astonished
at this sudden reverse, and quite in dismay. He had no resource but to
implore the aid of the Sp