History of Frederick the Second, Called Frederick the Great.Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
History
History of Frederick the Second, Called Frederick the Great.
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
Frederick II, King of Prussia, 1712-1786; Prussia (Germany) -- History -- Frederick II, 1740-1786
On Monday, the 8th of June, 1733, the Crown Prince left Ruppin, and,
joining his father and mother, set out, with a suitable retinue, for
the ducal palace of Salzdahlum, in Brunswick, where the marriage
ceremony was to be solemnized. Fritz was twenty-one years of age.
Elizabeth was not quite eighteen. The wedding took place at noon of
Friday, the 12th, in the beautiful chapel of the palace, with the usual
display of splendor and rejoicing. The mansion, situated a few miles
from Wolfenbüttel, was renowned for its gardens and picture-galleries,
and was considered one of the finest in Europe.
The ceremony was performed by the Reverend Johann Lorenz Mosheim,
favorably known throughout Christendom for his treatise upon
Ecclesiastical History. Immediately after the nuptial benediction had
been pronounced, Fritz wrote as follows to Wilhelmina:
“Salzdahlum, Noon, June 12, 1733.
“MY DEAR SISTER,--A minute since the whole ceremony was
finished. God be praised, it is over. I hope you will take it as
a mark of my friendship that I give you the first news of it. I
hope that I shall have the honor to see you again soon, and to
assure you, my dear sister, that I am wholly yours. I write in
great haste, and add nothing that is merely formal. Adieu.
“FREDERICK.”
The queen behaved very unamiably, “plunged in black melancholy,” and
treating her new daughter-in-law with great contempt. There have been
many sad weddings, but this was surely one of the saddest. Frederick
had often declared that he never would receive the princess as his
wife. In the evening, just after the newly-married couple had retired
to their room, through the arrangement of the prince, a false alarm of
fire was raised by some of his friends. This furnished him with the
opportunity to rush from the apartment. He did not return. Ever after
he saw the princess but unfrequently, treating her with cold politeness
when they met, though on public occasions giving her, with all external
forms of civility, the position of honor to which, as his wedded wife,
she was entitled.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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