MEMOIES OF THE PRINCESS PALATINE PEINCESS OF BOHEMIA; KTCLUDISTG HER COREESPONDENCE WT^H THE GREAT MEN OF HER DAY, AND MEMOmS OF THE COUET OE HOLLAND UNDER THE PRINCES OF ORANGE. BY THE ^AEONESS BLAZE DE BTJET. "Cette illustre princesse, pax Men des c6t^s, avait du caractere de son aieul, Guillaume le Tacitume." — Sobbieke, Voyage en Hollande. "The race of Nassau, The world's great patriots." Addison. LONDON : RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, |xtblis^^r in #rbmarg ia Jer Pajjestg. 1853. ^ -S)^ y^.^ x-^ PRINTED BY I1A£R1S0N AND SONS, LONDON GAZETTE OmCE, ST. MAKTIN'S LANK. TO THE COUNTESS OF WESTMORLAND; LEARNED AS NOBLE, GENTLE AS WISE, AND, BY THE LUSTRE OF HER TALENTS AND GRACE OF HER VIRTUES, WORTHY OF THE GLORIOUS RACE WHENCE SHE DESCENDS; THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED, IN TOKEN OF THE WRITER'S DEEP ADMIRATION AND LOVING RESPECT. PREFACE. Among the various events of the great struggle which raged so furiously in Holland and Ger- many during the fourteenth and fifteenth cen- turies, none have a greater interest than the unhappily-renowned war in the Palatinate^, as connected with the fortunes of its ruling family ; a line not only aUied to our own Sovereigns by blood, but deriving a peculiar interest from being one of the most constant supports of the Protestant cause. One of its members, the Princess Palatine, forms the subject of the following work; and for many reasons is she well worthy of attention. Her noble descent — the blood of the Nassau and Stuart races — might alone render her illus- trious j her learning and high inteUigence in an age when learning and research were unknoAvn to the fair sex, and to be met with only VI PREFACE. among bearded professors, would equally make her name celebrated ; but the high esteem in which, both for virtue and genius, she was held bj such men as Descartes, Leibnitz, and Male- branche, as well as a host of minor literati, must for ever render her an object of admiration in all lands. In another point of view the Princess Pala- tine deserves peculiar notice — namely, for the remarkable degree in which her vigorous mind guided and trained the younger scions of her family — ^those who in after - years ascended thrones, and whose descendants at the present moment rule the destinies of Europe. How far this was the case will be seen in the following pages ; but no fitter place can be found for briefly pointing out the existing personages in the Royal Houses of Europe who have two such remarkable characters as William of Orange and Mary Stuart for progenitors, and the Princess Palatine for ancestress. The sister of the Princess Palatine, Sophia, was married to Count Augustus, Elector of Hanover : her daughter, Sophia Charlotte, was married to William, first King of Prussia, and thus descends the House op Brandenburg. From William of Orange, the Great Stadtholder, descended PREFACE. Vll our William III, married to King James II's daughter, Mary, and also the present reigning King of Holland, a daughter of whom (by Paulowna, daughter of Alexander, Emperor of Russia) is married to the Grand Duke of Saxe- Weimar. A granddaughter of the Elector Frederick V, and Elizabeth Stuart, Elizabeth Charlotte of Hesse Cassel, was married to Philip, Duke of Orleans, from whom descended Philip of Orleans (the Regent) j Philip Egalite ; the late King of the French, Louis Philippe ; and the present repre- sentatives of the House of Orleans. The filiation of the House of Brunswick from Sophia, the sister of the Princess Palatine, and the Elector of Hanover before-mentioned, from whom sprang George I, and his descendants, the Royal Family of England, completes this record of the descendants on one side of Mary Stuart and of William of Orange on the other. Nov. 25th, 1853. CONTENTS. CHAPTEE I. Page What Holland was in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries — The Palatine Eamily — William " the Taci- turn" — Little known of his private life — His Mar- riages — His son, Maurice — His Separation from Anne of Saxony — Letter of this Princess — Her Hypocrisy — Her Letter to her Lover — ^Letter from the latter' s wife — Anne of Saxony's "jealous rage" — Her Letter to Count John of Nassau — Her cunning — The Land- graf of Hesse — His indignation — His Letter — The "Eunaway Nun" — "Out of the fryingpan into the fire" — The enmity of Erance — The Sublimate of Arsenic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 CHAPTEE IL Legality of the Marriage of the Prince of Orange with Charlotte de Bourbon — Enemies it created for him — The "Eunaway Nun" — The Court of the Elector Palatine Erederick "the Pious" — Instructions to Count Hohenloo — "Je passeray oultre" — William's Letter to the Elector of Saxony — Lettter to his brother, Count John — The vocation for "Single- blessedness" — Charlotte de Bourbon to her husband — The Countess Dowager of Nassau, Juliana — Queen Elizabeth's Present — The little Juliana, William's Daughter — Effect of Charlotte's death on William — His Letter to the Prince de Conde — Marriage with Madame de Teligny — Announce- ment of it by Maurice — How Charlotte died — Char- lotte's last Letter and Louise de Coligny's first — The Prince's wound . . , . . . , . . ^ 19 h X CONTENTS. CHAPTEE III. Page William's feelings towards his Children — Beadiness to separate from them — Letter to the Due de Mont- pensier — " Quelque coche ou litiere " — Indifference to Maurice — "She of Saxony" — The " divinum in- genium" of young Maurice — Mary of Nassau's request — Maurice to his Uncle — The Dowager- Countess of Nassau to her son, John — Mary of Nassau and her cousin, WiUiam-Louis — Count John's affection for his Nieces — The "Medicines and Pre- serves " — A Prince's " Hausfrau " in the sixteenth century — Mary of Nassau's Letter to her Father — "Lots of Stags"— What to give the Steward.— The Spelling of a Lady in the year 1576 — John of Nassau absent at the moment of his Brother's Assassination — The Prince's Will — Philip of Buren and the Principality of Orange — Queen Elizabeth to the Due de Montpensier — The same to Catherine de Medicis — Louise de Coligny and her stepchildren — Young Louise Julienne — Gravity of the future Electress Palatine . . . . . . .... 53 CHAPTER IV. To what degree of Power William of Orange had aspired — The Eorty-nine Articles — The embarass- ment of the States — Leicester's Governor- Oeneral- ship — Young Maurice's Accession to Power — The Treaty of Peace — Internal Dissenions — Barneveldt — Why Maurice admired the Queen of Bohemia — His monarchical tendencies — Barneveldt' s Death — Louise de Coligny — The little Princess Palatine and Louise Julienne — The two Visits of the Palatine Eamily to Holland — Henry Erederick's Memoirs- How Maurice admired Elizabeth Stuart — His Kind- ness to his sister Emilia — His conduct to his brother Erederick Henry — His voluntary consent to the Marriage with Amelia de Salms — His Death — Opinion of Basnage on Maurice de Nassau . . . . 79 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTEE Y. Page The Ambitious K'ature of Amelia de Salms — Her in- fluence — Her Dissensions with her Son — Marriage of William II with Mary of England — How brought about — Marie de Medicis — Charles I, Henrietta Maria, and the United Provinces — Projected Mar- riage of the Prince of Wales with Louise d' Orange — Prince of Orange's (Frederick Henry's) Letter to Lord Jermyn — Eupture of the Negotiations — Soreness of the States about money given to the Stuarts — Elizabeth of Bohemia — Frederick Henry's daughters — Friends of the Princess Palatine — The Wife of the Grreat Elector of Brandenburg — Christine of Sweden and Oxenstieiii. — The Electress of Bran- denburg's two Sisters — The Princess of Anhalt- Dessau — Mary of England's disdain for her Aunt — The Entourage of the young Princess Palatine . . 94 CHAPTEE YI. Sorbiere — His Account of the Ladies of the Hague — The Princess of Bohemia— Her Birth — Heidelberg — The "Medicines and Preserves" of former times — Frederick Y more Gaul than Teuton — Preference of French Habits and Manners — Brutality and Debauchery of German Princes — Charles Y at Table — Eoast Pig and Calf's Head — Temperance Societies —Philip II— The Drinking Code— Markgraf Albert of Brandenburg — The Duke of Liegnitz — Yisit to the Duke of Brunswick — "Under the Table" — Horror of the Elector Palatine for German Manners — Battles of the Weissenberg — Flight of the Palatine Family — The Princess of Bohemia joins her Mother in Holland — Frederick Henry of Bohemia's Intel- lectual Superiority — ^His Death in the Zuyder Zee . . Ill CHAPTEE YII. Death of the Elector Palatine— The " CanaiUe of Hol- land " — Charles I and his Sister — The Queen of 6 2 XU CONTENTS. Page Boliemia's Firmness -^ Her G-race — The Princes and Princesses of the Palatine family — Their Talents — Grerard Honthorst — Louise Hollandine — Difference of Tastes between Elizabeth Stuart and her eldest Daughter — Beauty of the younger ones — Peace of Prague — ^Exclusion of the Palatine Princes from their Hereditary Eights — Matrimonial Projects of the King of Poland — B-efusal of the Princess of Bohemia 126 CHAPTEE YIII. Baillet*s erroneous Opinion on the Princess Palatine's Eefusal of the King of Poland — Polish Chronicles — Ladislas pretends to the Throne of Sweden — His Ambassador Zawadzki — First mention of the Princess of Bohemia — Humrad — Obstacles to the Marriage — Grreat qualities of Ladislas — Dissensions with the Aristocracy and Clergy — Paul Piasecki — The Diet of Warsaw — Eadziwill — " Pestilential Words !" — The King's Promises — Archbishop Kannikorski and Queen Anna — The Heretical Nurse — The " Eng- lishwoman ! " — The " Matrimonium Infame " — The King's Defeat — His Propositions for Elizabeth's Conversion — Instructions to Zawadzki — Henrietta Maria— The Secret divulged — Charles Louis and Rupert in London — The Palatine's Letter to his Mother — Charles Louis's Opinion on the King of Poland — Eussdorf's Accusations — The Princess of Bohemia's own Conduct — Her Answer to Zawadzki — Marriage of Ladislas IV — Why the Princess Palatine never married . . . . . . . . 135 CHAPTEE IX. Frederick William of Brandenburg in Holland — His Mother Elizabeth Charlotte — Her attachment to the Protestant Cause and to her Brother, Frederick Y — The young Prince of Brandenburg at Leyden and CONTENTS. Xlll Page at tke Hague — Project of a Marriage between him and Louise Hollandine -^ Adam Schwartzenberg's Letter to the Markgraf-Elector — The " Pack of "Women" — Departure of Frederick William for Berlin — Lasting Priendship between the Princess Palatine and the G-reat Elector — Misfortunes of the Year 1638 — Eupert's Defeat at Plothe — Captivity in Vienna — Commencement of Eevolu- tion in England — Charles Louis's unnatural conduct — Comparison with his Great-great-grandson Philippe Egalite of Orleans — Eeproaches of Elizabeth Stuart to her Son — The Princess Palatine's Eepublicanism — Her ardent Love of Study — Philosophia . . . . 153 CHAPTEE X. The Condition of Women in the Sixteenth and Seven- teenth Centuries— Peter Martyr and the "Lords of the Creation" — G-ervinus' Opinion — Anna Maria von Schiirmann — Her influence on the Princess Elizabeth — Her Talents — Her Education at Utrecht — ^Yoetius — Mademoiselle de Schurmann's submis- sion to him — His Pedantry — Visit of the Queen of Poland, Marie de G-onzague, to ' Holland — Corre- spondence between the Princess Palatine and Anna Schiirmann — The latter' s Defence of Scholasticism — Her dislike of the Cartesians— Descartes' cessation of intercourse with her — Admiration of the Princess of Bohemia for the New Method — Friendship for Descartes . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 CHAPTEE XL First Acquaintance of the Princess Palatine with Descartes — By whom presented to the Queen of Bohemia — The Dhoua Family — Descartes' Birth — His early Military Life — G othe's Eemarks on Descartes — Sorbiere's Description of Descartes at Eyndegeest — Sorbiere on the Cartesians — The h 3 xiv (CoSlS^S. Three; CpiJ^ j of ^ M^'Ha^ — liesscai^tes' Vision — "Quod vitge sectabor iter ?" — First Publica- tion — The Pedants of the School— Their Hatred of Descartes — His Idealism — Protection of the Princes of Orange — .Frederick Henry's Conduct — Summons of the Magistrates of Utrecht — " Entourage "of the Princess Palatine — Zuytlichem — His Son Chris- tian Huyghens — Madame de Zuytlichem — M. de Pollot — Samson Jousson — Descartes' change of Residence — His stay at Eyndegeest— " Principles of Philosophy" inscribed to the Princess Palatine — Dedicatory Epistle — His Opinion of the Perfec- tions of the Princess — ^Her Beauty, her Intelligence, her Modesty, amd her Tm^ei^ / -^ijJtae^KA giH^ ^^^ CHAPTEE XII. .,,^^^^ Sorbiere's Irony •— Henricus Morus^— The Princess Palatine's Counsels — Descartes' "docility" — ^^ The Queen of Sweden — Descartes' firm support of Eliza- beth before Christina — " Treatise on the Passions" — Love and Joy — Sir Kenelm Digby's Book— Influ- ence of the Princess Palatine-— Her, Character — "What she drew from her Nassau Ancestors — The Practicalness of Descartes — His consolatory Advice to Elizabeth— His application of Philosophical Pre- cepts — His own Experience of his Theories — The absolute Power of Will — Action of Prosperity and Adversity on the Mind — Descartes' devotion to Eliza- beth—Comparison between Descartes and Grothe . . 200 CHAPTEE ±[IL Seneca's " De "Vita Beata " commented on by Descartes and the Princess Palatine — How Season may be fortified — Questions proposed by the Princess — Whether Selfishness be a proof of Intelligence — Certain Members of the Palatine Family — Provi- dence and Free Agency — Theological differences between Descartes and his Pupil ^^ Inconsistencies CONTENTS. XV Page — ^Moral Philosopliy of the French — Epicurism and Stoicism — Descartes and Gassendi — Illness of the Princess Palatine — Letter of Descartes . . . . 216 ^HAPTEE Xiy. Eamily Dissensions — The Eoyalists and E-epnblicans — Marriage of Prince Edward to Anne de Gronzague — Opposition of the Erench Court — The Prince's Con- version to the Catholic Eaith — Affliction of his Eamily — The Princess writes to Descartes — His Advice on the matter — His Letter — ^Another Blow — Prince Edward and Prince Philip at Paris — They are recalled by their Brother — Lieut.-Col. D'Epinay — His Adventures and Position — He quarrels with Prince Phillip — Eatal Eencontre — D'Epinay slain — Escape of the Prince, and his Death in Spain — G-rief and Anger of his Eamily — Supposed Quarrel of the Princess with her Mother — She goes to Berlin — Her stay there — Her return to the Hague . . 226 CHAPTEE Xy. Prince Edward's Marriage — His Conversion, and the joy of the Court of Erance — Anne de Gonzague's History with the Due de Guise— -Her Flight to Brussels — M. de Guise and Mdlle. de Pons — The Prince de Conde — Anne de Gonzague's early Educa- tion — Her Sisters, Marie and Benedicte — Death of the Due de ]N'evers — Death of the Princess Benedicte — Anne's fidelity to Anne of Austria — ^Her conduct to the King and Queen of Poland — Her Conversion from Sin — Her curious Dream — ^The Twelve last Tears of her Life — Her sincere Eepentance — The Princess of Bohemia's severity towards her . . . . 239 CHAPTEE XYI. The Princess Sophia — Transmission of Descartes' Letters — The Beauty and Accomplishments of the XVI CONTENTS. Duchess of Hanover — Chevreau's Admiration of her — The Princess Palatine's Visit _to Krossen — Her Cousin the Princess Hedwige — The, Princess Pala- tine at Berlin — The Electress Louisa of Nassau — "What Berlin was in the Seventeenth Century — First knowledge of Cartesianism brought to Prussia by Elizabeth — Foundation of the University of Duis- berg — The impression produced by Elizabeth-^Her Political Studies — Appreciation of Machiavel — Descartes' Letter upon "the Prince" — His recom- mendations to the Princess Palatine . . . . . . 250 CHAPTEE XVII. Hopes conceived by the Palatine Family — Christine of Sweden — The favour of Descartes with this Queen — The Minister of France, Pierre Chanut— Chris- tine's Love of Literature — Her erudition— Chanut 's determination to make her acquainted with Descartes — The latter's Letter to the Princess Palatine ^ — Situation of Chanut at Stockholm, politically speaking — Intrigues of the French Cabinet with Bavaria and against the Palatine House — The Letters on Seneca sent to Christine by Descartes — -Silence of Chanut touching the Princess of Bohemia — Eliza- beth's naivete — The Princess Palatine's Letter to Christine — No answer ! — Besentment of the Queen of Bohemia— Letter of Descartes upon Charles Louis' Acceptance of the Treaties of Peace — Disappoint- ment of the Princess Patine . . . . . . . . 261 CHAPTEE XVIII. Charles Louis and the Treaties of Peace — The Death of King Charles I — The Princess Palatine's grief and illness — Descartes' Letter to her on the subject — Descartes' invitation to Stockholm — His request to Elizabeth — His journey to Sweden, and opinion of Queen Christine — No jealousy ! — Christine's Toilette and Masculine Habits — Her Love of Q-reek — CONTENTS. XVll Page Descartes' Dislike to the Swedish Climate — His Illness and Death — M. Chanut's Letter to the Princess Palatine — Her appreciation of Descartes — Her Resolution not to let her Letters be Published — Impossibility of anj hope of aid from Sweden — Change of Circumstances in the Palatine Pamily — What the Princess Palatine lost by Descartes' Death — His Words of Consolation . . . . . . . . 275 CHAPTEE XIX. Treaties of 1650 — Return of Charles Louis to the Pala- tinate — Elizabeth and Sophia at Heidelberg- — The Queen of Bohemia in Holland — Her daughter Henrietta — George Eagotsky — Death of Henrietta — Eagotsky' s Career and Death — Louise Hollandine — Her Flight from the>Hague — The Princess of HohenzoUerri- — Her Lawsuits with the Eleetress- Queen — Louise as Abbess of Maubuisson — The Queen of Bohemia's return to England — The Elector Charles Louis — His Character — His Wedded Life — Charlotte of Hesse and Mdlle. Degenfeld — Char- lotte's Letter to the Emperor — The " Boxes on the Ear"' — The Swiss Guard and the Pistol — Eeturn of the Electress Charlotte to Cassel — Character of Charlotte of Hesse — Conduct of the Princess Pala- tine upon her Brother's Marriage with Mdlle. de Degenfeld .. .. .. .. .. .. 289 CHAPTEE XX. Palliation of the Elector's stinginess towards his Family — Situation of the Palatinate — Description of the State to which the Country was reduced — Charles Louis' want of grace — Quarrel with Prince Eupert — Elizabeth's Correspondence with the latter — Im- petuosity of both Brothers — The Inkstand — The Elector's cartel to Turenne — His Eestoration of the University of Heidelberg — Princess Palatine's posi- XVlll CONTENTS. Page tion at his Court — Her Fame and Influence — Her Lonely Situation — Marriage of her Sister Sophia with the Duke of Hanover — Elizabeth's visit to Krossen — The Princess Maria Eleonora — Keturn to Heidelberg — Flight of the Electress Charlotte — Nomination of Elizabeth as Abbess- Coadjutrix of Herford — Departure from Heidelberg — Sojourn at Cassel — The Landgravine Hedwige-Sophia — Court of Cassel — Elizabeth's influence — Landgraf Charles's Education — Elizabeth's Enthronement as Abbess of Herford ..303 CHAPTER XXI. "What an Abbess was in the Seventeenth Century — Elizabeth's Position — Misstatements of the Carte- sians — The Princess Palatine's Spiritual Tendencies — The " Apostles" of the period following the Thirty Tears' War — Their Female Slaves — Jean Labadie — His Life — Education by the Jesuits — Conduct in the South of France — Abjuration at Montauban — Residence at Orange — Adamite innocence — Mdlle. de Calouget — Labadie at G-eneva — Grottschalk and Anna Schiirmann — The latter' s Mysticism — Labadie in Holland — Mdlle. de Schiirmann's idolatry of him — Fury of the People of Amsterdam against him — First foundation of the "Community" — Labadie forced to fly from Holland — Anna Schiirmann applies to the Abbess of Herford — The latter consents to receive Labadie and his followers — The Princess Pa- latine's Letter to her Cousin, the Grreat Elector — Frederick William's tolerance — Commencement of troubles and discussions for the Princess Palatine . 317 CHAPTER XXII. Dispute between the Abbess and her subjects — Her haughty Answers to the Town Council — The "Thou- sand Dragoons" — The Abbess's Letter to the Great CONTENTS. XIX Page Elector — His Answer — Objections to the Labadists — A Commission of Inquiry named — Air and Water forbidden to tbe Sectarians by the Burghers — Another application to Frederick William by Elizabeth — La- badie's Tenets— His Pollowers— The "Light" that broke in on the Princess Palatine — The " only true Church of Christ" — Community of Groods — The story of Anna Bianda — The dilatoriaess of the Berlin Commission — Interference of the Landgravine Hed- wige Sophia of Hesse — Application of the Herford Burghers to the Imperial Tribunal — Condemnation of the Abbess — Her indignation — Anger of the Grreat Elector — Elizabeth in Berlin — Departure of Labadie and Sisterhood — Attitude of the Abbess in regard to her Subjects . . . . . . . , . . . . 335 CHAPTEB, XXIII. Elizabeth Charlotte of Orleans' opinion of the Abbess of Herford — Pamily Likenesses— The Princely Visit- ors at Herford — The Electress Sophia of Hanover and the Superintendent of Osnabriick — Sophia's clever- ness and wit — Arrival of the Electoral Prince Charles — Paul Hackenberg — The latter' s Description of the Visit — Labadie attacked — Visit to him and to Anna SchiJrmann — The Breakfast at the Abbey — Discussion — Schkuter and the Professors — The Prince's request for a Sermon — Adjournment to Labadie' s own house — The Congregation — Beauty of the Women — The Sermon — Compliments to the Electoral Prince — Emotions of the " Disciples ' — E^emarks on return- ing to dinner at the Abbey — Hypochondriasis — . Schwalbach or Pyrmont — Indignation of the Priacess Palatine — Observation of the Electress Sophia — James I's Granddaughter . . . , . . . . 357 XX CONTENTS, CH4.PTEE XXIV. Address of tlie Herford Burghers to the Great Elector — Eears of the Erench Armies — Prince de Conde — Labadie's Death in 1674 — Anna Schiirmann's Death Quakers' first visit to Holland— Embassy of Quaker- esses to the Princess Palatine — Eox's Letter to her — Elizabeth's affability — Her Answer to Eox — Wil- liam Penn — His Epistle to the Abbess — The Coun- tess van Horn — Elizabeth's Eeply to Penn — Journey of the Quakers to Holland and G-ermany — Visit to Herford — Penn's own Description of their three days' stay with the Princess Palatine CHAPTEE XXV. Penn's Correspondence with Elizabeth — His second to Herford — The Abbess's parting words to him — A Letter from the Princess to Penn — The Commis- sion she gave him — The Elector Charles Louis and his Wives — His desire for a Divorce — Refusal of Charlotte of Hesse — Bequest of her Son — ^Anger of all the Hesse Family — Intervention of Elizabeth — Hedwige Sophia's indignation — Her Letter to Count Schwerin — Eupert — Proposals made to him — Brides found for him — His Vow — Failure of Penn's negotia- tions — Latter years of Elizabeth's Life — Friendship with Leibnitz and Malebranche — Her Humility — Was she a Christian ? — The question of Eeligious Forms — Else of the House of Hanover^ — Praise of Ernest Augustus and Sophia — The Destinies of the Guelph-Stuart Eace— Death of the Princess Palatine — Her Character — How she was loved and regretted — Her Simplicity — Penn's Portrait of her — Her moral excellence — " Invicta in omni fortuna" . . 379 THE PEINOESS PALATINE. CHAPTER I. WHAT HOLLAND WAS IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES — THE PALATINE FAMILY — WILLIAM " THE TACITURN" LITTLE KNOWN OF HIS PRIVATE LIFE HIS MARRIAGES — HIS SON, MAURICE HIS SEPARATION FROM ANNE OP SAXONY — LETTER OF THIS PRINCESS — HER HYPOCRISY — HER LETTER TO HER LOVER LETTER FROM THE LATTER'S WIFE ANNE OF saxony's "jealous rage' HER LETTER TO COUNT JOHN OF NASSAU — HER CUNNING— THE LANDGRAF OF HESSE — HIS INDIG- NATION HIS LETTER— THE "RUNAWAY NUn" " OUT OF THE FRYINGPAN INTO THE FIRE" — THE ENMITY OF FRANCE — THE SUBLIMATE OF ARSENIC. During tlie religious differences and wars of the seventeenth century, and commencement of the eighteenth, Holland held a somewhat analogous position to that occupied within the last few years by our own country ; it was the refiige and asylum of every individual of whatsoever rank, whose opinions rendered a sojourn in his native B 2 THE ELECTOR PALATINE. land unsafe. Princes, philosophers, politicians and poets, all escaped to the Dutch provinces, sure of a good reception, and a peaceable existence. When the Elector Palatine, Frederick Y, had lost his Bohemian Crown by the defeat of his troops at Prague, his first stable resting-place was Holland, for amongst his German relations each vied with the other as to who should escape receiving him,'* and it was with some dif- ficulty that his wife found a roof under which to await her approaching confinement. It would appear that the King of Bohemia himself was far from appreciating at their real value the sterling quahties of his Republican hosts, whose * The Duke of Alva had small esteem for the character of German princes generally, and perhaps the excessive distaste evinced by nearly aU of them for anything in the shape of a political or personal responsibility might justify him in the following severe judgment : " The Grerman princes are mighty lords, and carry blazoned on their escutcheons a vast lot of mighty animals, lions, eagles, etc. These animals have wondrous teeth and claws, but they neither bite nor scratch." The Spanish duke was not the only person who complained of this want of manly energy in the German princes. Count John of Nassau writes to the Duke of Brunswick, 24th March, 1577 : " Their blindness and pusil- lanimity are a sure proof of God's hand being heavy on them and us." The conduct of George WiUiam of Bran- denburg refusing the Castle of Custrin to his brother-in- law's wife, the unfortunate Queen of Bohemia, is one among a thousand proofs of this pusillanimous spirit. HIS PRINCESS. 3 want of poKsh outweighed in the mind of the courtly warrior whatever other advantages they might possess. His stay in the States was short ; after the death of his eldest son, Henry Frederic, in 1629, the Palatine joined the army of Gustavus Adolphus, whose death, in 1631, was followed almost immediately by his own. Eliza- beth of England, however, and her children, continued for the space of twenty years to enjoy the hospitality of her relatives of the House of Orange, and the entire youth of the Princess Palatine was spent in the neighbourhood of her uncle's Court. Her early childhood had been also confided principally to the care of her grand- mother, Juliana, the widowed Electress Palatine, eldest daughter of the far-famed William of Orange and of his third wife, Charlotte de Bourbon, so that it is not astonishing if through- out her life, the traces of Dutch influence on character, manners, and pursuits, should have been more visible in Elizabeth than in her other brothers and sisters. Very little has been written, because very little has comparatively been known, upon the private life of the great hero of the House of Orange, and it is possible our readers may take some interest in the perusal of certain documents which throw a fresh light upon the intimate per- sonal dealings of a prince so closely connected B 2 4 WILLIAM OF ORANGE, with the subject of this memoir, and so celebrated in history for his public acts and virtues. William I, Prince of Orange, " The Taciturn," as he has been universally surnamed, was son of William, Count of Nassau, and Juliana of Stol- berg, a woman from whose strong energy of mind and clearness of judgment, was evidently derived much of what was so remarkable in his own nature, and in that, scarcely less so, of his brother, Count John. William married in youth Anne of Egmont, who died, leaving two children, Philip and Mary of Nassau. Shortly after her death he contracted a second marriage with Anne of Saxony, by whom was born to him Maurice, who worthily maintained his father's glorious name upon the exalted level whereto the latter had raised it. Unlike his father, however, in one respect, Maurice was averse from every- thing in the shape of gallantry ; and it is said that for the exiled Elizabeth Stuart only was he ever known to have experienced a sentiment which savoured of genuine admiration. For his mother-inJaw, Louisa de Coligny (the fourth wife of William I), Maurice enter- tained, it is alleged, a profound respect, but the feeling inspired in him by the fascinating elect- ress-queen appears to have approached nearer to one of a warmer, but at the same time purer AND HIS WIFE. 5 kind, than anytking his rude nature was ever destined to acknowledge. How far his father's separation from his mother/^ the latter s guilt, and the shame it drew down upon her, may have influenced the sentiments of Maurice of Nassau towards women generally, might perhaps be not without interest to trace ; but it is not at this moment with the son that lies our task, but with the most critical period of the father's private, if not public life, —his repudiation of Anne of Saxony, and mar- riage with Mademoiselle de Montpensier. The archives of the House of Orange are foil of documents concerning the separation of William and the Princess Anne ; and, assuredly, after their examination, no shadow of doubt can exist iis to the entire culpability of Anne, or the perfect legality of the union with Charlotte. We subjoin one of the most curious of these documents — namely, the expostulations ad- dressed by the Princess of Orange to her hus- band, in the earher stage of the business, when she hoped yet to be able to deceive him as to her guilt. It is dated March 22, 1571, and is as follows :f * Most historians have been mistaken upon this point; some assigning to William wives he never had ; others representing him as obliged to await their death previous to being able to legalize his third marriage. t The original is in Grerman. 6 LETTER OF THE PRINCESS j '' My Lord, '' T heard last Monday, with great surprise, from Dr. Merlin, =^ that you had had B.f taken prisoner, and had asked, or caused to be asked, of him, things which menace my honour far too | nearly. I do not believe that one limb of my whole body is exempt from a feeling of just i indignation at the insult you have thereby j offered to me, to yourself, to my entire sex, and j to our poor children. If in your heart you will i think over the matter, remembering how, for ten years, I have lived with you, and the con- \ duct I have observed, you can do no other than I bear witness to my fidehty, truth, and proper behaviour ; I should, therefore, have hoped, as i you had such strong proofs of my honour and honesty, that you would have denied all credence to any bad suspicions or reports, and that' your heart would have given them no access, for you ought certainly to better trust your own heart and your own eyes, than the light and idle inventions of other people. I can only believe that God has withdrawn from you his hand, and bhnded you with sin. .... As to what Dr. Merlin tells me from you about the pri- soner's avowals, I am by all such avowals most * Dr. Merlin was a Protestant divine, t The partner in her guilt, who is never mentioned but by this initial letter. TO HER HUSBAND. 7 astounded ; for it is a false and hideous lie, whether he may have said it or not, and I take God to witness, that 1 have never broken my bridal oath. However, I can understand, if the prisoner above alluded to has really made such confessions (which I scarcely credit), that they may have been the produce of fear of torture, or of torture itself ; for he is sufficiently pusil- lanimous by nature. If you were in the hands of the Duke of Alva, (which God forbid I) you might, perhaps, avow that white is black ; con- sequently, he is not, perhaps, so much to be blamed for saying that which is against my honour — unjust questions generally obtain lying answers — and so has it happened in this case ; but you will have to answer it to God and to all honourable men, that upon bare suspicions you have imprisoned an individual, and cast so gross a slur upon your wife's fair name I Se- condly, the before-mentioned doctor tells me you pretend to prove my guilt by letters in your possession ; that can you never do ; for it will never be found that I ever wrote a letter other than such as a true, honourable woman might write. Thirdly, he avers that witnesses are there, — witnesses selected from out iny house- hold, or having formerly belonged to it, and who are ready with their testimony ! God in Eeaven ! what false hes are those which would 8 LETTER OF THE PRINCESS effect that of which I never even dreamed ! Any one may easily recognize the lie ; for, sup- posing me to have forgotten myself (from which the Almighty has preserved and will preserve me), I fancy I should have called no one by to witness it. How often one is surrounded in one's home, by monsters worse than lions and dragons ! I wish I knew the names of such witnesses, for I should well know what to reply to them ! And so, too, you let me be counselled by this said doctor, to examine well my con- science, and, should I recognize my guilt, to avow it in time, so that means may be devised of keeping it secret, and preventing our children, when they come hither, from being despised on account of their mother's crime ! " I have examined my conscience, and find myself innocent of all the dishonour whereof you accuse me, and justly will no contempt attach to my children through my means. But I now en- treat of you that you will descend into your con- science, and will examine it and reflect upon the vast shame you are bringing upon your children and yourself, if you allow all this to go further, and become matter for people's talk ! The wisest course would be that you should let drop reports you have so lightly listened to and credited, and not permit them to circulate any further, to your own shame, and to the delight of your enemies ; TO HER HUSBAND. 9 and, moreover, to the fearfiilly heavy charge upon your conscience ; for the wrong you are doing me, is no small a load, believe me. I do not speak thus (as you may, perhaps, imagine), from fear of being proved guilty of what you have advanced. God is my witness that I act not from any such motive, seeing I know my own conscience so entirely ; but solely to spare you from shame, inasmuch as, however clearly I may prove my purity and freedom from re- proach, still all my life will a doubt fasten to my honour, one believing me innocent, another the reverse. If my advice does not persuade you, I am, nevertheless, quite ready to meet you on other ground, and defend my innocence to the last breath of my life, not only before my rela- tives, but before even the Courts of the realm ('' Kirch's Kammergericht,") in order that each one may be enabled to judge of my purity, and the injury you have done me. You sent three women to me here, with orders that no knife should be left within my reach ! This was unnecessary ; and you needed not to fear lest I should do myself a harm. Although the cross wherewith you have laden me, is the most crushing load I could be called upon to bear^ yet am I consoled, for I trust in God my Lord, and in my right, and am confident I shall be saved, even as was Susanna, and as was also b3 10 LETTER OP THE PRIKCESS Daniel. To say all this was the reason of my wishing to speak with you, and herewith I recommend you to our Lord God, to whom I pray, with all my heart, that he may give you grace to perceive what it would be most seemly and most honourable that you should do. 'V Your most unfortunate, "Anne of Saxony."^ In the face of this startling piece of hypocrisy and boldness at once we will place a few lines written by the same princess to her accomplice but three days later, March 25 th, containing the most full and complete contradiction of all that has just been read : *'I have received your letter with joy," writes she, " for it teaches me that the Lord has been pleased to give you the grace to avoid the great and heavy sin that we two have committed, and likewise that you comfort yourself with His Word, and give up to Him all care of you for life or death. It was no slight torment to me to think that, perhaps, for my sake, you would refuse to make this avowal, and that I should * "Archives of the House of Orange," collected by order of the king. The documents are principally in French, Q-erman, and Dutch ; some few are in English, and several, most important ones, in Spanish. TO HlR LOVEU. 11 thereby, in fact, be the cause of your damnation in body and soul, but now, as I perceive, the Lord has mercifully delivered me from this anxiety. In regard to myself, I have this day also confessed my crime before God, and before all men, and doubt not but the Lord who is so compassionate will forgive me. I acknow- ledge so entirely my guilt towards my husband, that I have caused my most humble pardon to be asked of him; and hope that, with his habitual goodness, he will be merciful and not just, as hitherto he has shown himself both towards you and me ; for if he had acted with more justice, he would have allowed neither of us to be so well treated as we have been, and therefore I trust the Almighty will so inspire him, that he shall show yet more pity and spare your life, which I wish with all my heart, in order that you may be once more united to your wife and children. I feel myself very ill at ease, for having so ill rewarded your wife for all her ser- vices ; and for yourself, I commend you to the Divine mercy and protection, and implore God's grace to comfort and console you, and preserve us from sin such as we have committed. ^* Anne of Saxony." From many passages relating to this mysteri- ous partner in his sovereign's guilt, we are led 12 LETTER OF THE PRINCESS to believe that he occupied a subordinate position about the Court, for in his several apphcations to Count John of Nassau, who appears to have charged himself with all the details of this shocking event, we constantly find a repetition of phrases such as this : " I have, alas ! no means of obtaining favours from the great ones of the world ; " and there is in the expressions even of his repentance something which indicates a marked inferiority of social standing. The wife to whom Anne of Saxony alludes, was pro- bably as amiable as she was ill-used; for there is a manuscript letter to her husband upon this occasion, in which, after assuring him, over and over, of her forgiveness, and even of the concern she feels for the misery his evil doings have entailed upon him, she adds, in the meekest tone : * " for my entire forgiveness and forget- ting of the past, I make but the one condition, that you shall be pleased to bear with my affec- tion for you — if I dared, I would never ask anything further from you than your affection in return — if I possessed your love, all the rest would be nothing, or follow in its right time." It might be somewhat curious to discover what species of attraction Anne of Saxony had exercised over her lover, for his attachment to * The original is in Dutch. TO HER MOTHER. 13 her seems to have been mixed up with a singu- larly clear perception of her faults : speaking of the character of this misguided princess, he, in a letter to Count John, observes, that '^ small atten- tion should be paid to whatever she may say in her anger and jealous rage. Your Lordship, and my lord the Prince," adds he, '^ being witnesses to the way in which, ujoon this point, she forgets herself, and often flies into the wildest trans- ports," The last attempt of William's faithless spouse to obtain from him an indulgence she so little merited, is contained in a letter, written by her on the 13th of May of the same year, to her mother-in-law the Countess John. It is curious, inasmuch as it shows considerable cunning on her part, and touches upon one of the clauses— namely, the promise of secrecy — that was later put forward by the Count of Saxony, as forming an obstacle to the marriage of the Prince of Orange with Mademoiselle de Bourbon. About two months after the letters we have just read, the Princess Anne writes thus : " High-bom and Dear Mother, ^^I cannot refrain from reminding your Grace of my concerns, and wish ardently to know what resolution has been taken, in all that regards me. I hve here in tortures worse than infernal, and 14 LETTER OP THE PRINCESS only want to know what has been decided upon, in order that I may conform my conduct thereto, and be enabled to judge whether less pity is my lot in the next world or in this, and whether mercy is to be found in neither God nor man. Your Grace tells me in your last letter, that it is for my Lord Husband and my friends to decide in this matter : I will hope it is for my Lord Husband, and noways for my friends ; I can sup- pose, for instance, that the Landgraf * would take all this much amiss, moreover too, as I dis- carded the advice of his father, my dear sainted grandsire, in contracting my marriage. As to what regards the Elector,^ if he be informed of the history, I am lost. I ask for no other boon — I have no claim to any in this world, and hope soon to be in the next. I ask for no boon save one, and for that I pray with all my power and might — namely, that nothing of all this may be brought to the Elector's ears, and that my honour and reputation may be spared. Is this agreed to ? It is high time to act upon it, for reports get abroad, and evil tongues are busy. I would fain, at the last judgment, not be driven to depose before God's tribunal, that my union with the Prince of Orange had cost me every- thing ; the goods of the earth, honour, body and * Of Hesse, her uncle. t Of Saxony, lier uncle. TO HER MOTHER. 15 soul ; yet so will it be, if what I beg for be not granted. I wished of your Grace to take all this matter under your especial care ; for I have trusted you cordially, and do so still; and have truly and sincerely confessed all to you, which I had no need to do, for, as on the one hand, the wit- nesses might have been easily bribed, so, on the other, it stood perfectly in my power to prove that none of their depositions were receivable in justice ; but T chose rather to confess my sin, hoping that my Lord Husband, when he should hear how, out of my simplicity of heart, and without any guile, I had voluntarily avowed every- thing, would be touched and moved to mercy. I still hope he will be so, and trust in your Grace for lending thereto a helping hand. I hope my Lord Husband, and also your Grace, will reflect, that we are all of us but weak human creatures, and that such things might have befallen you, or might still befall. Here- with I commend your Grace to the Almighty protection, and implore your Grace to answer me, for I am half dead with expectation. ^^ Your Grace's loving sister, " Anne (born Princess of Saxony), " Princess of Orange." Rightly enough did this frail lady premise, that whatever her conduct, no avowal of the 16 THE LANDGRAF OF HESSE. true motives of her repudiation by her husbaifd, could be made without occasioning considerable embarrassment to the latter. Four years later, when the Prince of Orange has resolved to take Charlotte de Bourbon to wife, and when, for that purpose, it becomes indispensable to legalize the separation from Anne of Saxony, we find the same Landgraf of Hesse, to whom this princess alludes in her last letter, giving way to such indignation on the subject, that his com- munications to Count John lose all character of princely reserve, and have a tone of violence quite extraordinary. . " I have received yours of the 28th May [1575,]" writes he, '^ announcing the arrival of the Lady of Bourbon upon the banks of the Rhine ; from the excuses wherewith you accom- pany the news, I am easily persuaded that neither you, nor any one else in their senses, can have counselled such a proceeding." And following this, at the distance of a few days, the ensuing epistle : ^'None of us can imagine what could possibly induce the prince, and that booby St. Aldegonde, and whoever else meddled in it, to enter into such a business. If you consider the religious side of the question, why she is a Frenchwoman, a nun, and a runaway nun to boot ! You can fancy all that is said there- upon ! and how it is surmised that the prince, HIS INDIGNATION. 17 changing his old wife for this new one, will be merely going out of the frying-pan into the fire. If personal attractions be thought of, 111 answer for a bitter disappointment, and will venture to say that when he sees her, he will be frightened rather than pleased. Is the idea of perpetuating his race an argument ? Surely he has got heirs and heiresses enough already ! and if he was not mad, he ought to wish to be free of wife and children* altogether ! If he dreams of alliances, he is in the wrong there ; for to judge from the threats of her own father against this new bride, he will get small thanks from him or his rela- tions ; and probably the open affront put upon the King of France, of whose blood she is, will drive the latter to revenge it on your brother and his country with fire and sword. For all these reasons, it is quite impossible for us to conceive what can push him into this mess, and induce him to enrage so many of his friends, whose friendship has been until now of no small benefit to him. Who knows what league may be entered into, what plans concocted against Holland and Zealand? and under pretence of protection, what subjection may be contemplated, what foreign * He tad already, by Anne of Egmont, Philip count of Bergen, brought up (by force) in Spain, and Marie countess of Nassau ; and by Anne of Saxony, his successor, Maurice, besides two daughters, Anne and Emily. 18 THREATS OF REVENGE. dominion assured ? You will do well to look to it all of you, that this wedding do not turn out like that of the admiral* in Paris; for such sort of offences are rarely forgiven by great potentates sine mer curio et arsenico suhlimato. * Colignj. MAERIAGE OP THE PRINCE. 19^ CHAPTER II. LEGALITY OF THE MARRIAaE OF THE PRINCE OP ORANGE WITH CHARLOTTE DE BOXTRBON ENEMIES IT CREATED FOR HIM THE "runaway nun" THE COURT OF THE ELECTOR PALATINE FREDERICK " THE PIOUS " INSTRUCTIONS TO COUNT HOHENLOO " JE PASSERAY OULTRE" — ^WILLIAM's LETTER TO THE ELECTOR OF SAXONY LETTER TO HIS BROTHER, COUNT JOHN THE VOCATION FOR '^ SINGLE-BLESSEDNESS " CHARLOTTE DE BOURBON TO HER HUSBAND — THE COUNTESS DOWAGER OF NASSAU, JULIANA QUEEN Elizabeth's present — the little juliana, William's DAUGHTER EFFECT OF CHARLOTTE's DEATH ON WILLIAM HIS LETTER TO THE PRINCE DE CONDE MARRIAGE WITH MADAME DE COLIGNY — ANNOUNCEMENT OF IT BY MAURICE— HOW CHARLOTTE DIED — charlotte's LAST LETTER AND LOUISE DE COLIGNY's FIRST — THE prince's WOUND. There can be no doubt that, disapproved of or approved, and in whatever way regarded, the marriage- of William of Orange with Char- lotte de Bourbon was among the most critical events of his whole life. That it was strictly legal and legitimate, according to the tenets of the Reformed Church, is beyond all discussion ; 20 PREJUDICES EXCITED and the written opinions upon this point of nearly all the famous judicial authorities in Europe, all concurring in this view of the case, would occupy many voluminous " in-folios 1 " But that it was impolitic there were few of those, even most nearly attached to the prince, who did not feel. By this union William secured to himself unalloyed domestic happi- ness, cut short only by the death of his devoted wife at the end of seven years ; but he also, there can be no question, embroiled himself in a series of quarrels and difficulties of which he might never have heard if he had remained unmarried. In France, his enemies were numerous, though his policy lay all along in a project of strict alliance with that country ; and in Germany the consequences of his mar- riage were undeniably prejudicial, in the highest degree, to the religious cause of which he pro- fessed himself the champion. Whether the German princes were, or were not, justified in their view of his conduct, and in the harshness wherewith they visited it upon him, is not here the point under examination : the fact was such ; and, right or wrong, William of Orange, in his own person and in that of his successors and relatives, as well as in his cause, was made to pay dearly and in many ways, for his deter- RUNAWAY NUN." 21 minafcion to espouse tlie princess whom Wilhelm of Hesse calls " a runaway nun." As, without this union with Mademoiselle de Montpensier, the subject of these memoirs would never have been born, we, as the his- torians of the Princess Palatine, cannot but feel considerably interested in all that appertains to that event, especially as the course of our researches respecting it leads us to a more intimate acquaintance with some of the most celebrated and least minutely studied characters of that period of history which ushers in the Thirty Years' War : but, at the same time, it must be admitted, that the Landgrafs words are not entirely devoid of truth, and the epithet of '^ runaway nun " may, with some justice, attach to Charlotte de Bourbon. Brought up by her mother in the Protestant faith, Charlotte was, by her father's orders, confined in the convent of Jouarre. Some historians say, the Due de Montpensier did this out of spite to his wife, who had contrived to marry their eldest daughter to the Protestant Due de Sedan (Bou- illon) . Be this as it may, Charlotte was destined to become Abbess of Jouarre, and for many years inhabited that community, though losing no opportunity of protesting against her forced confinement. At length, in 1572, the nunnery- was taken by the Huguenots, and the Princesg 22 THE COURT OF de Montpensier escaping, fled first to her sister at Sedan and later to Heidelberg, where the Elector, Frederick the Pious, as he was termed, took her under his especial protection. There she lived constantly in a circle where William of Orange was held nearly in idolatry^ and where his name was synonymous with all that was greatest and most glorious. What wonder that her enthusiasm took fire, and that, when told the Prince of Orange was free, she should have eagerly accepted the offer of his hand ! Whatever attempt might have been made at concealing the conduct of Anne of Saxony from certain German Courts, it was not in the midst of the Prince's own near relations that such concealment could be practised ; con- sequently, at Heidelberg, the possibility of Wil- liam's forming new conjugal ties was a subject often broached, and never without leaving its trace upon the heart of Charlotte de Montpen- sier. But the execution of the project was not so easy, and when William himself had brought to bear upon it all the concentrated energy of his strong will, it was only to be accomplished, as we have before stated, at a cost so heavy, that perhaps it ought not, in strict prudence, to have been incurred. By the letters contained in the following pages, it will be seen that the misfortunes of the Pala- THE ELECTOR PALATINE. 23 tine family dated, more than hasbeen generally supposed, from the offence given to the more powerfril of the German princes by the Elector, Frederick III,, and the support he lent to the marriage of his French protegee with the Prince of Orange ; and if, later, we find their mutual grandson, the King of Bohemia, vainly seeking aid and assistance on all hands, and meeting only with the coldest indifference when with the rapacious desire to become possessed of his inheritance, we are led to recognize that this uncharitableness is a sort of hereditary feeling, and that its first cause lies in the mortal wound dealt to so many illustrious houses by the public disgrace of Anne of Saxony. When William ^^ the Taciturn," in spite of all the objections made to him, had resolved upon demanding the hand of the French princess, he drew up with his own hand a paper, which he gave to Count Hohenloo, and which contained the instructions for the mission he confided to that nobleman. This document, written in French, is sufficiently curious to induce us to translate the principal passages of it. It is entitled : " A Memoir for the use of Count Hohenloo, who is deputed by the Prince of Orange to Count John of Nassau, to the Elector Palatine and his spouse, and to Mademoiselle de Bourbou;" 24 INSTRUCTIONS TO And it runs thus : '' Firstly, lie [Count H.] shall communicate amply to my brother the letters I have received from M. Zuleger,* and shall declare my inten- tion of going on with the matter, for which reason I have begged him [Count H.] to confer with Mademoiselle upon all that is necessary for the accomplishment of what is decided upon. ^^ Afterwards my brother shall advise with Count H. how Mademoiselle shall be brought hither — whether by Embden, or straight down the river Bhine. I should prefer the latter plan, as shortest and least expensive, and for many other causes more commodious. Count H. shall, therefore, agree with my said brother upon the means of descending the river without danger. '^ All this settled, my aforesaid brother shall go his way to Heidelberg, where, having deli- vered my letters to my Lord the Elector, and to my Lady his wife, he shall offer them my humble I * Zuleger was a lawyer, whom the prince had sent to obtain Charlotte's official consent, and to negotiate with the Court of Erance, and whose letters contained the answers he obtained to his several demands ; amongst others, the following from Henry III : " The king wiU noways com- promise himself in all this, as it is against his religion, but he thinks Mademoiselle would be very lucky to get so fine an establishment ; and, all things considered, the Trench , Court would not openly object to whatever Mademoiselle should do by advice of the Elector Palatine,"