wance, mainly remote from Court. Which he did, for
perhaps six or eight years, till the Great Elector's death; henceforth
in a peaceful manner, or at least without open explosions.

His young Hessen-Cassel Wife died suddenly in 1683; and again there was
mad rumor of poisoning; which Electress Dorothee disregarded as below
her, and of no consequence to her, and attended to industrial operations
that would pay. That poor young Wife, when dying, exacted a promise from
Prince Friedrich that he would not wed again, but be content with the
Daughter she had left him: which promise, if ever seriously given,
could not be kept, as we have seen. Prince Friedrich brought his Sophie
Charlotte home about fifteen months after. With the Stepmother and with
the Court there was armed neutrality under tolerable forms, and no open
explosion farther.

In a secret way, however, there continued to be difficulties. And such
difficulties had already been, that the poor young man, not yet come
to his Heritages, and having, with probably some turn for expense, a
covetous unamiable Stepmother, had fallen into the usual difficulties;
and taken the methods too usual. Namely, had given ear to the Austrian
Court, which offered him assistance,--somewhat as an aged Jew will to a
young Christian gentleman in quarrel with papa,--upon condition of his
signing a certain bond: bond which much surprised Prince Friedrich when
he came to understand it! Of which we shall hear more, and even much
more, in the course of time!--

Neither after his accession (year 1688; his Cousin Dutch William, of the
glorious and immortal memory, just lifting anchor towards these shores)
was the new Elector's life an easy one. We may say, it was replete with
troubles rather; and unhappily not so much with great troubles, which
could call forth antagonistic greatness of mind or of result, as with
never-ending shoals of small troubles, the antagonism to which is apt to
become itself of smallish character. Do not search into his history;
you will remember almost nothing of it (I hope) after never so many
readings! Garrulous Pollnitz and others have written enough about him;
but it all runs off from you again, as a thing that has no affinity
with the human skin. He had a court _ "rempli d'intrigues, _ full of
never-ending cabals," [Forster, i. 74 (quoting _ Memoires du Comte de
Dohna); _ &c. &c.]--about what?

One question only are we a little interested in: How he came by the
Kin