XXI. THE WIFE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT. TOU may read some large books about Frederick II, King of Prussia, without knowing that he had a wife. You might have been his guest for three months, and neither have seen nor heard of her. And yet, strange to say, they had for one another a good deal of regard, which increased from year to year, and ripened at last into a kind of affectionate respect. The truth is that the Princess Elizabeth Christine of .Brunswick was forced upon Frederick by his tyrannical old father, and unfortunately she Avas precisely the kind of woman that he most disliked. When he learned that his father was looking about among the princely houses of Germany to find a wife for him, he wrote to a minister who was much in the King's confidence that he did not much care what sort of wife his father chose for him, if only she were not stupid, or awkward in her manners. Now, the Princess Elizabeth Christine appeared at first to be a woman of just that kind, and the Prince heard, too, that she was given to pouting. It was in vain for the young man to remonstrate. Indeed, he knew that it was of no use to say a word to his father, but he endeavored to prevail upon the favorites and confidants of the King to use their influence to prevent the marriage. It was all in vain, however. He was obliged to have her, and he did have her. When it was all concluded and settled, he was allowed to see the young lady, then seventeen years of age. In order to reconcile him to his fate, care had been taken to describe her to him as being (280)
