Descendants of the Stuarts

OF THE STUARTS. 171
and her tastes but little accorded with those of her
licentious brother, notwithstanding he cloaked his
failings under the specious mask of religious zeal.
Indeed, so opposed were his practices to his profes-
sions, that Elizabeth openly lectured him for his
inconsistency, and her arguments had so much the
greater weight, as they were corroborated by the
unsullied purity of her life. This lecturing parti-
cularly annoyed the Elector, who, as he was unable
to rebut his sister's charges, felt all the more
chagrined with her for exposing him.
With Sophia he was on very different terms ; she
was ten years younger than Elizabeth, and whilst
possessing all the charms and personal graces of her
elder sister, she combined with them a sprightliness
and naivete which endeared her to all beholders. On
two points only was she inferior to Elizabeth ; she
possessed not her ardent religious faith, and she was
devoid of her intense love of learning. She was
decidedly the Elector's favourite sister, and it was in
compliance with his wishes, or rather orders, that she
accepted the addresses of Prince Ernest Augustus,
youngest brother of the Duke of Hanover, a match
considered every way disproportionate to her.* She
was married in 1658, and on her departure from
Heidelberg, Charles Louis confided his little daughter
to her care.
* See the letters addi'essed by the Queen of Bohemia to her son, in
which she bitterly reproaches him for consenting to so unsuitable an
alliance for his youngest sister. — Bromley's Royal Letters. Benger's
Queen of Bohemia.