It of course excited great curiosity, as it everywhere met the eye of the public.

After his death the riddle was solved by finding among his papers the following interpretation-- _Austri Est Imperare Orbi Universo._ Austria Is To govern The world Universal.
Maximilian, in the prime of manhood, energetic, ambitious, and invested with the imperial dignity, now assumed the government of the Austrian States.

The prospect of greatness was brilliant before Maximilian.

The crowns of Bohemia and Hungary were united in the person of Ladislaus, who was without children.

As Maximilian already enjoyed the title of King of Hungary, no one enjoyed so good a chance as he of securing both of those crowns so soon as they should fall from the brow of Ladislaus.
Europe was still trembling before the threatening cimeter of the Turk.
Mahomet II., having annihilated the Greek empire, and consolidated his vast power, and checked in his career by the warlike barons of Hungary, now cast a lustful eye across the Adriatic to the shores of Italy.