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 ance on account of the extreme youthfulness of his son, who was but fourteen, while Elizabeth was eighteen years of age.

This was indeed a strange turn in the affairs of the State. Not long before, a Bohemian nobleman had been openly murdered because he dared espouse the cause of the house of Austria, and now a deputation of Bohemian lords go to the German court to implore the emperor to let his fourteen-year-old boy rule over them. And yet the principle of desiring a native to rule over them was a true one; and it would have been well for the country had their leaders been consistent, and now had chosen a native, rather than a German.

The Princess Elizabeth had endured many a slight and hardship from her royal brother-in-law; and, indeed, for a while it was feared that he cherished evil designs against her, and she was placed under the protection of the city of Nimburg, that had been founded by her father. Now, when she was betrothed to Prince John, it seemed that her trials had ended, and that a life of happiness and usefulness to her nation was opening before her. The marriage was to be celebrated at Spires, where the German king and queen, with all their court, were waiting the arrival of the bride. The emperor met her at the threshold, and, giving her his right hand while he held his son with the Ieft, he said, deeply moved: “Welcome, royal child of Bohemia! Thou hast thus far been an orphan; henceforth thou shalt be my daughter, and I shall be thy father. Here is my only son, thy future husband. Forget the trials thou hast endured at home, and rejoice with us!” Queen Margaret stood by, im-