PRINCESS ELIZABETH, (QUEEN OF BOHEMIA,) [THE amiable daughter of James I. to whom lord Harington was preceptor, and whose marriage with the prince palatine, afterwards king of Bohemia, was solemnized with a profuseness of expense and pageantry, that materially contributed to drain her father's exchequer. But this match, as Hume observes, 2 2 Rapin cites a book on the state of the revenue, which makes the total of expense on this occasion 93,2781. Hist. of Eng. vol. ii. p. 286. Arthur Wilson dilates with flowery fancy in his description of the feastings, maskings, and matrimonial solemnities; though he acknowledges that such splendour and gaiety are fitter to appear in princes' courts than histories. Hist. of James I. p. 64. Among the royal manuscripts, (18 A. xxii.) William Vener has a poem written at this period, and inscribed to James the first, which contains the following metrical farewell and replication: GREATE BRITTAINE TO LA. ELIZABETH. Place of thie birth and breedinge, royall dame, Springe to the highest of eternall fame, That I thie princelye issue soone may see, In service for thie love my liffe I 'le spende, That thou mayest knowe thou art Greate Brittaines frinde. PRINCESS ELIZABETH, QUEEN OF BOHEMIA. 147 though celebrated with great joy and festivity, proved itself a very unhappy event to the king, as well as to his son-in-law, and had ill consequences on the reputation and fortunes of both. The elector, trusting to so great an alliance, engaged in enterprises beyond his strength and the king, not being able to support him in his distress, lost entirely in the end of his life, what remained of the affections and esteem of his subjects. In 1619, the elector palatine was made king of Bohemia. He received his crown from a brave people, but they were oppressed and overwhelmed by the superior power of the house of Austria, and James had too little zeal for the protestant cause, or was too much blinded by the projected marriage of his son with the infanta of Spain, to take any timely or effective measures in his behalf. James, instead of supporting Frederick, and the Bohemian protestants by whom he was elected, suffered him not only to be deprived of his new kingdom, but even of his hereditary dominions. After enduring a variety of difficulties and hardships, he died in exile, on the THE LA. ELIZABETH TO GREATE BRITTAINE. Yf love may possiblie devided bee Into three partes, then thus I will devide it ;— My chosen prince hath greatest share in me, My royall parents nexte, they both have tryed it; The last, my countrie, by whose love l'ame guided No saye, farwell! and mayst thou constant proove To thie dreade souenge, as I to my deare love. 3 29th of Nov. 1632. Much of his correspondence with the electress has been printed in sir George Bromley's collection of "Original Royal Letters,” and expresses a very strong and tender attachment to his admirable wife. In one place he says, most fondly and affectingly, "Croyez, mon cher cœur, que je me souhaite bien auprès de vous. Je vous ai déjà mandé ce qui m'en retient: plut à Dieu qu'eussions un petit coin au monde, pour y vivre contents ensemble ! c'est tout le bonheur que je me souhaite." So engaging was the behaviour of the princess, that, according to Granger, she was called, in the Low Countries, the queen of hearts. The same writer remarks, that when she enjoyed only a phantom of royalty, and had nothing more than the empty title of queen, she bore her misfortunes with decency and even magnanimity; for poverty and distress seemed to have no other effect upon her, but to render her more an object of admiration than she was before. This admiration did not however extend itself to vitiated minds or vulgar understandings, since Arthur Wilson relates, that in Antwerp they pictured the queen of Bohemia like a poor Irish mantler, with her hair hanging about her ears, a child at her back, and the king, her father, carrying the cradle after her. She died in 1662, aged 66.7 5 Sir Geo. Bromley's Introduction, p. ix. 4 Royal Letters, p. 16. 5 Biog. Hist. of Eng. vol. i. p. 317. 6 Hist. of James I. The three daughters of this accomplished princess were singularly illustrious for their learning |