and German national spirit during this epoch so
perfectly photographed as in the correspondence of Elizabeth of Orleans
with her aunt, the Electress of Hanover."

At the age of nineteen, in the year 1671, Elizabeth Charlotte was
married to Philip, Duke of Orleans, only brother of Louis XIV. It was a
loveless marriage. Louis XIV. brought about the union for the sake of
securing the neutrality of the Prince of the Palatinate in an
approaching war between France and Holland. At the time of her marriage
Elizabeth was a bright, wholesome, companionable girl. Her husband, a
widower of thirty-two, was commonly suspected of being at least
accessory to the poisoning of his first wife, Henrietta, a sister of
Charles II. of England. In the correspondence of Elizabeth and her aunt,
the Duke of Orleans is always referred to as "Monsieur."

Elizabeth's ideal of manhood was the older German ideal, an honest,
fearless man, an enthusiastic hunter, a skilful horseman, a sturdy
drinker, and, withal, a stout-handed Christian, ready at a moment's
notice to knock down an old church and build a new one on its site, or,
if his faith lay the other way, to fight to the last ditch for the old
church against the new. Therefore, there must have been bitterness at
the young wife's heart when she penned the following very accurate
description of her bridegroom:

"Monsieur has extremely ladylike manners. He cares for nothing so rude
as horses and hunting. He cares for nothing, in fact, except the Court
receptions, for dainty eating, dancing, and fine toilettes. In short,
his tastes are all effeminate."

She gives an equally merciless picture of herself: "I must be very ugly.
I have little eyes, a short, thick nose, and a flat, broad face. I am
little and thickset. Naturally, I hate mirrors and never injure my
self-esteem by looking into one if I can help it." Though Elizabeth was
not beautiful, she must have possessed the charm of a thoroughly honest,
humorous, and impulsively kind nature. Her boy-cousins and young friends
in Germany called her "Comrade" and "Bub." Louis XIV. was very fond of
his German sister-in-law. She walked, rode, and hunted with him
frequently. Except when he persecuted Germany, she liked the king
extremely well.

Although no love existed at any time between the Duke of Orleans and his
wife, one point, remarkable in that universally loose age, must be
noted. They were true to each other. She writes in later years: "I never