into a state marriage, as in the union of Elizabeth Stuart of England
with Frederick, Prince of the Palatinate, better known to history as the
"Winter King" of Bohemia.

Though not German by birth, Elizabeth, through good and through evil
report, so thoroughly identified herself with her husband's interests
and people, and became the ancestress of so many famous rulers, among
whom are Frederick the Great, Queen Victoria, and Emperor William I.,
that her story properly deserves a place in any history of German
womanhood.

Elizabeth possessed the grace, beauty, and charm of manner common to the
Stuarts. To these gifts were added wit, a kindly sense of humor, and an
honest loyalty of spirit peculiarly her own. The title she won in
Germany, "the Queen of Hearts," seems to have been a spontaneous and
well-deserved tribute. Between Elizabeth Stuart and her elder brother
Henry, the beloved and manly Prince of Wales, who died at the age of
eighteen, the closest love and sympathy existed. Out of many suitors for
his sister's hand, Frederick, Prince of the Palatine, was Prince Henry's
choice. The two young men loved and respected each other. Together they
had ridden, hunted, played tennis and other athletic games, Elizabeth
often being an interested spectator of their friendly contests. The
dying prince's last words were half-delirious ramblings concerning his
sister's marriage to Prince Frederick.

Political exigencies were pressing. As usual, war loomed. Prince Henry's
death, therefore, delayed the marriage but a few days. Frederick
possessed a sweet and lovable nature. His letters, to this day,
strangely win the reader's heart. To the stricken sister, mourning the
loss of her idolized brother, the tenderness of Prince Frederick was
balm. Her bridegroom had been her dead brother's friend. To
loyal-hearted Elizabeth Stuart that memory was far more precious than
the diamond rose-wreath crown which her lover brought her from the
Palatinate. Yet the glittering coronet it may be seen to-day in Munich
was very beautiful. Clear, sparkling, as if made of ice shot through by
sunlight, it seems a fit ornament for a young "Winter Queen."

The bridal journey to the Palatine was a triumphal progress. Elizabeth
and Frederick were like two children newly escaped from school. They
cast convention to the winds. The court chamberlain was in despair. But
the two happy lovers only laughed at him and his "precedents." They said
they would mak