solved to commence a war by sea against that power; he fitted out
eight frigates which had been employed against Sweden, and sent them in
1680 to capture Spanish ships, and they actually took some rich
merchantmen.

We have not space, nor is it necessary, to detail the proceedings of
this great prince in consolidating the prosperity of his dominions and
the welfare of his subjects. He died in April, 1688, leaving to his son
a much enlarged and highly cultivated territory, a well-filled treasury,
and an army of 30,000 excellent troops. He was twice married: first, in
1647, to Louisa Henrietta, Princess of Orange, an amiable and
accomplished person, author of the celebrated German hymn "Jesus meine
Zuversicht." She died in 1667. In the following year Frederick married
Dorothea, Duchess Dowager of Brunswick Lueneberg; but though an excellent
and virtuous princess, she was not liked by the people, chiefly because
she was on ill terms with her step-children, especially the
crown-prince. The character of Frederick, both in public and private
life, has always been highly esteemed. He was kind, generous, fond of
society, and, though rather quick in his temper, extremely placable. He
was the real founder of the Prussian monarchy; and as a sovereign he
appears to have justly merited the surname of the Great Elector.

LOUIS XIV.[17]

By OLIVER OPTIC

(1638-1715)

[Footnote 17: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.]

[Illustration: Louis XIV. [TN]]

On September 16, 1638, Paris was in a state of intense excitement and
rejoicing. The booming of cannon resounded through the city, the people
gave thanks in their churches, all the palaces of the nobility were
illuminated, and so brilliant were the bonfires and torches in the
evening that one could see to read on both sides of the Seine. The poor
were feasted as never before, and there was no limit to the enthusiasm.

The occasion of this unbounded rejoicing was the birth of an heir to the
throne of France. Louis XIII., the son of Henry IV., the first of the
Bourbons, was king. He had married the daughter of Philip III. of Spain,
who was called Anne of Austria, after her mother. She was one of the
most beautiful women of her time; but for twenty-two years she had lived
nearly in a state of separation from her husband, and no living heir to
the throne had been born. The king and the queen were not harmonious;
and after the lapse of this long period, the birth of a so