LETTER LIII.
SIR,London, April 12, 1733.
’Tis not possible for me to be insensible how greatly I am obliged to you for that Uneasiness which you seem to be under, till you can hear of my Arrival in some safe Harbour of this Kingdom, tho’ ’tis no more than what I expected from such a Friend as you. I should have prevented your Anxiety upon this Score, if I had not thought it proper to take a little View of this Country, before I wrote one Word to you about it; and now I flatter myself that I am able to satisfy your Curiosity.
I had one of the most favourable Passages that could be; for in less than eighteen Hours, I came from Helvoetsluys to Harwich, which is the Harbour for the Packet-Boats that pass betwixt this Kingdom and Holland.
Harwich not seeming to me to be worth a Traveller’s Notice, I only stopped to hire Horses, and came with all Speed to London. That City, which for its Extent, the Number of its Inhabitants, and their Wealth, may pass, not only for the Capital of a powerful Kingdom, but even for the Capital of Europe: That City, where True Liberty bears Rule; where the Arts and Sciences are cultivated and protected; where the Inhabitants
enjoy the Goods of Fortune without vain Ostentation; where Merit is considered, and Birth highly valued, when ’tis accompanied with Virtue: That City, in fine, where are still to be found those Roman Souls, which other Nations admire, but know not how to imitate.
Yet London, with all the Attributes I have now given it, with its magnificent Structures, both sacred and profane, cannot be rank’d among the finest Cities; for many of its Streets being dirty and ill-paved, its Houses of Brick, not very high, nor adorn’d with Architecture, but blacken’d with the unmerciful Smoke of Coal-fires, gives it a dark Hue, which renders it far less agreeable than it would be otherwise.
The Riches of London, if not of all England, are owing to the Thames, and the Citizens set more Value by this River, than by any other Advantage that they enjoy: Of this a certain old Alderman had the Courage to give King Charles II. a convincing Proof, at a Time when that Monarch was so extremely angry with the City of London, that when the Lord Mayor and Aldermen went to Court, with a View to pacify him, he exclaimed bitterly against them, and told ’em, that he knew how to make them feel the whole Weight of his Resentment, and that he would for that End remove his Court to Oxford. At this the old Alderman, who pretended to be hard of Hearing, said to a Nobleman that was present at the Audience, loud enough to be over-heard by the King, What says his Majesty, my Lord? Will he in his Wrath take the Thames from us? Meaning thereby, that since the King could not take that River from the City, the Inhabitants would not be sorry for his going to Oxford. Indeed, in all my Travels I never saw a finer Sight than this River, from its Mouth to London-Bridge:
For besides its being continually covered with Ships, Barges, Boats, &c. going up and down with the Tide, its Banks are adorned with a Variety of fine Scenes, such as Towns, Villages, and Country-Houses. Among others, there’s the great and magnificent Hospital of Greenwich, founded in the Reign of Charles II. for disabled Seamen, or the Invalids of the Navy. Tho’ this Structure is not yet finish’d, it may be rank’d amongst the most considerable in Europe, and is not inferior in Grandeur to many Royal Palaces. Its Situation also is so charming, that were it for that alone, it were worth while to take a Turn on Purpose to see it.
London stands on the Left-side of the River, where it forms a Crescent. The famous Bridge upon which Queen Elizabeth caused the Head of the Earl of Essex to be exposed, after having flatter’d him that he should one Day be a Partner in her Throne, is eight hundred Feet long, and sixty broad; but the Prospect of the River is stopp’d by Houses on both Sides, which are neither fine nor lofty.
St. Paul’s Church, the Cathedral of London, is, next to St. Peter’s at Rome, the greatest and most stately Temple in Europe; and I even question, whether it would not be more magnificent than St. Peter’s, if it had such a Square or Colonnade before it, as that has; but I mean only the Outside of it; for as to the Inside, they are not to be compar’d. The principal Front of St. Paul’s is of that sort of Architecture which the old Romans, those Masters in the Art of Building, would not perhaps have thought unworthy of their Time; tho’ ’tis certain this beautiful Front is render’d the less majestic by two little Towers or Steeples of a very Gothic Taste, which are placed upon the two Angles of the Building. This whole Fabric stands by itself,
and is built in the Form of a Cross, with a great Dome in the middle. The Entrance to it is by three grand Porticos on the North, South, and West. Opposite to the principal Front there’s an Area, encompass’d with an Iron Palisado, in the midst of which is a white marble Statue of Queen Anne, in whose Reign this Church was finish’d; which was begun so long ago as after the Great Fire, in the Reign of Charles II. The Queen is there represented standing with all her Regalia. She holds in her Right hand a Sceptre; but ’tis so much like a Wax Taper, that one would almost swear she was performing an[123] Amende honorable: And really, this Statue is unworthy of the Queen whom it represents; of the Church before which it stands, and of the City of London, by whose Order ’twas erected. All the Church is of very white Stone, which the Smoke, that Bane of London, has rendered black on one Side. The Inside of it is as plain as the Outside is magnificent. The Dome only is painted of an Ash Colour. The Choir (for the Church of England retains the Use of Choirs) is separated from the Nave, by a Wall of just such a Height as to support the Organs, which by this Means serve the Choir and the Nave of the Church alike, but disfigure both. The Seats, or Stalls of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, when they assist at Te Deum, are of Wood, and built like those of the Canons in our Churches. The subterraneous Parts are very magnificent, and contain Vaults,
in which are interred such People as they belong to.
The famous Monument erected in Memory of that sad Conflagration which consumed one Third of the City, in the Reign of King Charles II. is a very lofty Pillar of the Doric Order, fluted, and has a Stair-case in the Inside of it, which goes up to a Platform at the Top, from whence there’s a Prospect of the whole City, and a great many fine Scenes.
The Royal-Exchange, where the Merchants meet at One o’Clock every Day, is a large square Building of Free-stone. The grand Portico is adorned with Columns, and has a Tower on the Top, with Chimes in it. The Inside of it consists of a Court surrounded with Piazzas, over which are placed the Statues of the Kings that have reigned in England; which are of Free-stone, and all done by bad Hands. The Statue of King Charles II. in whose Reign this Edifice was built, stands in the midst of this Court, and is of white Marble, representing the King in the Habit of a Roman Emperor. This is not one of the worst Statues in London; where indeed Sculpture is of all Arts the least cultivated; but why, I can’t conceive; since most of the English Nobility have been in Italy, and have there acquired a Taste for what is fine and curious.
The famous Tower of London, which is, as it were, the Citadel of this Metropolis, stands on the Bank of the Thames, at the Extremity of the City, going down the River. It contains several Buildings, but without Uniformity. Here are kept the Jewels of the Crown, and the Crown itself, Lions, and other outlandish Creatures, and the Arsenal of Arms; and in this Tower are confined certain Prisoners of State; but thro’ good Fortune, the Reign of King George II. now upon
the Throne, has been so free from Punishment or Severity, that the Tower is empty of Prisoners.
As one goes up the Thames towards St. James’s, End of the Town, where the King and most of the Nobility reside, one passes along by a Palace called the Savoy, because it was built by the Princes of Savoy, Uncles of Queen Eleanor of Provence, Wife to Henry III. This Building has nothing in it from one End to the other, but what is very deformed. The Chamber is still to be seen here in which John II. King of France was imprisoned, who, like Regulus, came and re-delivered himself into the Custody of his Conqueror, when he found the Estates of his Kingdom not disposed to perform the Terms of Peace, which he had signed, and which were the Condition of his having obtained Leave to go to France.
The Palace of Whitehall, which is the common Landing-place for People that come out of the City by Water, is nothing to what it was possibly before the unhappy Fire began, by which it was consumed in the Reign of William and Mary. There’s a Pile of Building yet standing, which is magnificent, and is called the Banquetting-House. I was here shewn the very Window which the unfortunate Charles I. came out of, when the Usurper Cromwel made him walk from the Throne to the Scaffold. All the Buildings called by the Name of Whitehall, are now in the Hands of private Owners, by Grants of the late King George I.
St. James’s Palace, where the King lives, is only separated from Whitehall by St. James’s Park. This House has nothing in it answerable to the Majesty of the Prince who resides in it, and there are few Princes in Europe worse lodged than the King of England. I have been assured, that the Nation offered the late King George I. to build him a
new Palace; but that he made Answer, that since so many Kings, his Predecessors, had lived in that Palace, and been content with it, he thought it would do as well for him; and that he did not desire, that, for the sake of accommodating him, the Nation should be put to any sort of Inconvenience; but that its Funds might be employed in something that was more urgent, and more useful.
St. James’s Park is the same Thing here as the Thuilleries are at Paris; only this Park is more plain and artless; for here is Meadow Ground, with Walks of Trees, and a Canal in the middle of the whole. Mean time this Simplicity has a certain Beauty, which cannot be describ’d, tho’ the Spectator feels it, and prefers it to the finest Gardens. Charles II. who was vastly fond of walking out for the Air, had a mind to make Embellishments in the Park, and for this End sent to Paris for the famous Le Neautre, the Man that laid out the Garden of the Thuilleries, and the Park at Versailles. But this Frenchman, after having viewed the Park well, advised the King to let it stand as it did, assuring him that he could not make any thing better than it was. The grand Walk called the Mall, is full of People every Hour of the Day, but especially in the Morning and Evening; and their Majesties often walk in it with the Royal Family, who are attended only by half a dozen Yeomen of the Guard, and permit all Persons, without Distinction of Rank or Character, to walk there at the same Time with ’em; for which Reason the Crowd of People here is sometimes too great; but then it forms one of the most diversified Scenes imaginable: The Ladies and Gentlemen always appear here in rich Dresses; for the English, who Twenty Years ago did not wear Gold lace, but in their Army, are now embroidered and bedawb’d as much as the French; I
speak of Persons of Quality; for the Citizen still contents himself with a Suit of fine Cloth, a good Hat and Wig, and fine Linen: Every body in general is well clad here, and even the Beggars don’t make so ragged an Appearance as they do elsewhere.
Of the fine Houses that open to the Park, those of Marlborough and Buckingham are the most considerable. The former is very richly furnished, and adorned with admirable Paintings. ’Tis occupied by the Dowager of that great Duke of Marlborough, who led the English to triumph where-ever he came, and made the proudest of Kings to tremble.
Buckingham House is not so big as Marlborough House, but infinitely better situate; for it fronts the great Walk of St. James’s Park, and is only separated from it by Grates of Iron. ’Tis one grand Building, with two advanced Wings, one on each Side, that are united to the main Body of the Building, by two open Galleries, forming a Semi-circle. In the middle of the Court there’s a fine Water-work, and behind the House a great and magnificent Garden, at the End whereof there was to be a Canal, which was actually begun, but remains unfinish’d. This fine House is occupied by the Duchess Dowager of Buckingham, a natural Daughter of King James II.
St. James’s Quarter of the Town, and all the Out-parts of London in general, are very regularly built, the Streets strait, broad and airy, and want nothing but to be better paved; which is a great Misfortune, that cannot be remedied but by an excessive Expence. They say, that Lewis XIV. offered Charles II. to furnish him Stones enough to pave London, provided Charles would furnish him with Gravel from England, to lay in the Gardens of his Royal Palaces. Whether this be true, I
know not; but it seems to me that the Advantage would have been for the English Prince. Be it as it will, the Bargain was not struck, and London is still the Sufferer for want of it.
There are several great and fine Squares here, some of which, in my Opinion, would be more beautiful, were it not for the Fancy of adorning them with Gardens, which perhaps is owing to the Want of Stones for paving them. As these are encompassed with Iron Palisadoes, they look very much like Church-yards. St. James’s Square is the most considerable in London, not only for its Bigness, but for the Residence of Persons of the greatest Quality. Instead of a Garden, it contains a great fine Piece of Water, surrounded with an iron Balustrade. Three Sides of this Square are very regular; and it were to be wished, that the Proprietors of the fourth Side would be prevailed to build that in the same Manner. In this Square live the Earl of Strafford, Ambassador from Queen Anne to the Congress at Utrecht; and the Duke of Norfolk, a Roman Catholic, Earl Marshal, first Duke, and first Baron of England, Chief of the Illustrious Family of Howard; from whence was descended Catharine the Fifth Wife of Henry VIII. who had not a more happy Fate than the unfortunate Anne Bullen, who preceded her. The Duke of Norfolk’s House here has very fine Furniture, and most magnificent Pictures.
Grosvenor’s Square, which is just finished, is even larger than St. James’s Square, and its Houses are much more magnificent. In the middle of the Garden is the Statue of King George I. on Horseback, of Lead, gilt, and indeed very ill executed. Of the many Statues that there are in London, the best is that of Charles I. represented on Horseback in Brass. It owes its Preservation to a sort of Miracle: The Usurper Cromwell having caused it to
be pulled down, and exposed to Sale, a Founder, who happen’d to be a zealous Royalist, bought it, and buried it under Ground, till the Restoration of Charles II. to whom he made a Present of it; and this Prince caused it to be set up at Charing-Cross, where it still continues. When I see it, I always look upon it as an Image that has escap’d the Fury of the Iconoclastes.
Since, the Accession of the Hanover Family to the Throne of Great Britain, London is infinitely larger than it was. There’s one intire Quarter goes by the Name of Hanover. The Parliament being apprehensive, that in Process of Time the Town would grow too big to support itself, pass’d an Act some Years ago for restraining the building on new Foundations; and if this had been done twenty Years ago, this City would nevertheless have been too large.
I say nothing to you of the other Squares, because my Design is only to give you a general Idea of London, and not a very exact Plan, that being a Business which I leave to some Traveller who is better instructed. Besides, to tell you the plain Truth, I am quite weary of entertaining you with Towers and Walls. Therefore I shall only say a Word or two more as to Houses and Churches. The House of the Duke of Montagu, Son-in-Law to the late Duke of Marlborough, is the most considerable. The Apartments are large and well laid out, and the Cielings exceeding fine, particularly those of the great Stair-case and Salon, wherein the Story of Phaethon is represented in a wonderful Manner. But all these fine Apartments are not furnish’d, and ’tis even said, that the Duke intends to lett his House to the Count de Montijo, the Spanish Ambassador.
Of the modern Churches that of St. James, which is the Parochial Church of the Court, is the
finest, having a Portico before it, supported by Columns, after the Manner of the Rotunda at Rome.
The Abby Church of Westminster, in which the Kings are crown’d and interred, is a great Fabric, which contains the Tombs of several Kings, and other Persons illustrious either for their Birth or Merit. Henry the VIIth’s Chapel, wherein that wise King is interred with his Queen, is very magnificent, as is also the Tomb of the Dukes of Newcastle. That of the late Mr. Craggs, who was Secretary of State to King George the Ist, is plain, but of a beautiful Contrivance: It represents that Minister in the Grecian Manner, and leaning in a very noble Attitude upon an Urn. The famous St. Evremont has a Place here amongst the Men of Learning: The Representation of him is in Form of a large Medal, on which there is a short Inscription, denoting that this Mausoleum was erected for him by his Friend my Lord Galloway.
Amongst the Reliques which are still preserved in this Church, there is one, which for its Antiquity, I believe, has not its Equal, it being the Stone which served for Jacob’s Pillar, when he dreamt of that mysterious Ladder which reached up to Heaven. This precious Relique is very much neglected, and I cannot imagine how it came to be so abandoned by that pious King James II. The English would do well to make a Present of it to the Republic of Venice, where this Stone would quadrate exactly with the Piece of Moses’s Rock in St. Mark’s Church. The Cardinal Cienfuegos shew’d me a Piece of it, when I was last at Rome: He told me, that he stole it in his Return from Portugal, where he had been Ambassador, when he came to London with a Commission from the Emperor to King George I. He added, that it was the only Robbery he was ever guilty of in his Life; and that he should have been exceeding
scrupulous of committing it, if this Stone had been as much honour’d in England as it deserved; but that finding it neglected and despised, he could not help filching a Piece of it, which he was so fortunate as to strike off with a Key, at the very Nick of Time when the Keeper of it happen’d to be looking another way. I told him, that I did not think that he needed to have been so very scrupulous of this Theft; that I was persuaded, that if he had given the Keeper a Guinea at most, he might have had a much greater Piece; and that perhaps for a Trifle more he might have brought away the whole Stone. O Lord! cry’d the Cardinal, lifting up his Eyes to Heaven, I wish then I had purchased it.
In Westminster Abbey I also saw the Stone Chair which Edward I. that proud Conqueror of Scotland, caused to be brought from the Abbey of Scoon to that of Westminster, in order to give the Scots to understand that they had no longer any Sovereign Power in their Country. Ever since that Time the Kings of England have made it a Rule to be seated in that Chair on the Day of their Coronation.
The Palace of Westminster, tho’ formerly noted for the Residence of the Kings, and now for the Assembly of the Parliament, is altogether plain. The Hall where the Royal Feast is celebrated on the Coronation-Day, is one of the largest in Europe.
The Room where the Lords meet, which is called the House of Peers, is not much ornamented, nor is the King’s Throne in it at all magnificent: They say, that a new Parliament-House is speedily to be erected; which is an Undertaking that deserves an able Hand to conduct it, the Parliament of Great Britain being, next to the Dyet of the Empire, the most august Body in the Universe.
When the King goes to meet his Parliament, ’tis with all the Splendor of Royalty, and he appears there with the Crown on his Head, dress’d in Royal Robes. His Throne is at the Bottom of the Room, whereas that of the King of France, when he holds his Courts of Justice, is plac’d in a Corner, with his Peers on each Side of him. But here the Prince of Wales alone, as Heir of the Crown, sits in the same Line with the King, and the Peers sit upon Benches by the Sides of the Room, and across it. I have not yet had the Honour to see his present Majesty in his Parliament; but I saw the late King his Father there; and I assure you, that the Sight of this august Assembly inspired me with such Sentiments of Respect, as I don’t know that I was ever impress’d with before. When I saw that King, the Best and most Just of Monarchs, come to give the Royal Assent to what the Peers of the Kingdom, or rather the Fathers of the People, had agreed to, I thought I saw Augustus in the Capitol approving the Decrees of the Senate, and the Senate applauding the Actions of the Emperor. Nevertheless the Parliament does not always applaud the King’s Measures; but on the contrary makes a noble Stand against them when they tend to incroach upon the public Liberty. ’Tis true, that since the late Revolution, which depriv’d the Stuart Family of the Throne, the Kings and their Parliaments have always agreed very well. Such is the Genius of the Nation, that a mild just King is sure of their Love and Respect, and he finds them as obedient to his Will, as a Tyrant King finds them reluctant. All that find Fault with the English for Disaffection to their Kings, have not duly read their History, or are fond of Slavery; and they who think a King of Great Britain is to be pity’d because he is not absolute, have a false Notion of kingly Power. A Monarch
of England is capable of doing as much Good as any King in the World; but he can do no Wrong. And what can a King, if he be an honest Man, (pardon me this Expression, ’tis a Character not unworthy of a King) desire more? What needs there more to satisfy his Ambition? And is it possible, that a Man can be pitied, because ’tis not in his Power to make Millions of People miserable? For my part, I think that the English, who do not stand up for their Laws and Liberties, are altogether as criminal, as they who oppose the Will of their Sovereign in a State where Arbitrary Power is once established.
What I admire in the English, is not only the Firmness with which they plead for their Rights, but their Manner of doing it. In other Nations we see Deputies from Parliaments or States makeing Remonstrances to their Sovereign, which are studied and concerted. An Englishman, on the contrary, makes his upon the Spot: He first hearkens attentively to what the Court Party has to propose, and if he finds it detrimental to the State, he opposes it solidly; not with Expressions that are flourish’d and far-fetch’d, but strongly represents the Inconveniencies of the Thing, and enforces what he says by the Quotation of Laws and Precedents. A true English Nobleman or Gentleman sacrifices every thing he has, for his Country: The Court and its Favours are not strong enough to captivate him: He can renounce both, when he thinks himself engaged in Honour to oppose the Court Measures in Parliament, and he lays down his Employments. A King has seldom the Pleasure of turning a Man out, and much less that of being solicited by the Person in Disgrace to restore him to Favour. An Englishman who should write such Letters as Bussi Rabutin wrote to Lewis XIV. would, I believe, be as much despised in
England, as Bussi was esteemed in France. They that are out of Favour, are not shunn’d here as they are elsewhere; and they are so far from being abandoned by their Friends, that a Nobleman has often a greater Levee in his Disgrace than he had when in Favour. At the same Time I can’t but think, that this Indifference for standing well or ill with the Court, is sometimes push’d too far. I have been told, a propos, that Queen Catharine of Portugal, Wife of Charles II. having forbad a certain Lady to come to Court, for having behav’d in a Manner that gave Offence, the Lady made her Answer, That she would obey her, and that she assured her Majesty, she would never give herself the Trouble to visit her again, ’till she could see her for Six-pence; by which she meant, when the Queen was dead, and exposed to View at Westminster.
His present Majesty having some Years ago forbad the D——ess of Q——y to come to Court, for some disrespectful Behaviour, the Duke who was that Lady’s Husband, and likewise disapproved her Conduct, immediately resign’d his Employment of V——e A——l of Sc——d, and absented himself from Court; but the D——ss and he were nevertheless seen as public Abroad as ever, and received abundance of Visits at Home. In short, a Man is only shunn’d here for being a Criminal, or a Coward.
There’s no King serv’d with greater Respect than a King of Great Britain: Even the Peers minister to him upon the Knee. His Family is very numerous; his Guards, which are spruce, form a considerable Body; his Court is always very much throng’d; and in short, he wants nothing of the Honours of Royalty. Since the late Revolution, a King is not accountable for any Thing he does; and the Ministers alone are culpable, and responsible
to the Parliament for any Thing that happens wrong.
The present King is not tall, but very well shap’d, has a stately Port, a very grave Countenance, and speaks little, but with great Propriety. The French, English, and the Italian Languages are as familiar to him as the German. He reads a vast deal, and knows more than most do, who wear the Royal Diadem. Being not puffed up with Pageantry, and vain Grandeur, he does not give into superfluous Magnificence; but is an Œconomist, without Avarice; liberal, without being profuse; an Enemy to Vice, and a Friend to Virtue; sober and regular in his Ways and Manners; of a lively Temper, full of Spirit and Ambition, but submitting both the one and the other to Reason. He is active and laborious; understands Affairs, has a quick Apprehension, and a wonderful Memory. As Electoral Prince of Hanover, he gave Proofs of his Valour in the Netherlands at the Battles of Oudenarde and Malplaquet; as Prince of Wales, he shew’d that Adversity could not abate his Courage; and as King and Elector, he makes it evident, that he can both forgive an Injury, and forget it. His People are happy under his Reign. In England his only Study is to maintain the Peace and Balance of Europe, to make Commerce flourish, and to render the Nation one of the most powerful in the World. At Hanover he endeavours, by good Offices to his Subjects there, to alleviate their Sorrow for his Absence. He has not made any miserable since he begun his Reign; and if the Blessings of the People help to prolong the Days of their Kings, his Britannic Majesty may hope for one of the longest of Reigns.
The Queen is a Princess in whose Person every thing that challenges Respect does at the same time command Affection. Her Presence is majestic,
but accompany’d with Modesty and Good-nature; her Behaviour is the most courteous that can be; and her Wit, which is both solid and sparkling, is adorn’d with a thousand fine Accomplishments. She ever look’d upon all the trifling Amusements of her Sex with Disdain; and particularly never affected Ornament in Dress. The reading of choice Authors was always one of her greatest Pleasures; and her Majesty may be said to be one of the most learned Princesses in Europe. Having lost the Margrave of Brandenburg Anspach her Father, when she was very young, and her Mother the Princess of Saxe-Eysenach marrying again to John George IV. Elector of Saxony, she was left under the Guardianship of Frederic Elector of Brandenburg, afterwards King of Prussia; by which means she spent Part of her early Days at the Court of Berlin, where the Electoress, who was Sister to the late King George I. gave her a Tincture of her own Politeness, and inspired her with those sublime Sentiments, for which she was admired by all that approach’d her. The young Princess of Anspach had at that time all the Charms of Nature; and the Fame of her Beauty attracted the Addresses of Charles III. King of Spain, our august Emperor, who offered her his Hand and his Crown: But the Princess was so strongly attach’d to her Religion, that she refused both. God reserv’d her, no doubt, to make Great Britain happy, and she married the Electoral Prince of Brunswic-Lunenbourg. Not many Years after this, she saw (but without any visible Emotion of Joy) her Father-in-Law and her Husband call’d to the Possession of one of the chief Thrones in the World. I was then at Hanover, and will venture to assure you, that the whole Electoral Family heard of this new Addition to their Greatness with a Moderation which render’d them worthy of their Fortune; and the
Princess in particular demonstrated, that she was thoroughly satisfy’d in her Mind, that she could be happy without a Crown, and that both her Father-in-Law and her Husband were already Kings in her Eye, because they so highly deserved that Title. When she became Princess of Wales, she was so prudent as to keep fair with both the Parties which then divided the Royal Family. The late King had a sincere Esteem for her, and she in return paid him very great Respect. And[124]now that she is Queen, her Majesty contributes all that’s in her Power to make the Subjects happy. The King lets her into a Share of Affairs, and leaves the Regency of the Kingdom to her in his Absence.
Among the Joys of their Britannic Majesties we ought to reckon the numerous Family with which Heaven has bless’d ’em. It consists of two Princes and five Princesses. The eldest, who has the Style and Title of Prince of Wales, tho’ he is not very tall, has a majestic Air, and when among the Courtiers, is easily distinguish’d to be the chief Personage. He is extremely civil, affable, good-natured and polite. It may be truly said of him, that he has the Soul of a King; for few Princes are more generous. He loves Pleasures and Magnificence; he is gallant, has a penetrating Genius, talks very much, but always with Judgment, and to the Point. He is Master of several Languages, and understands History and Geography. He is perfect in all his Exercises, and really is not ignorant of any one Thing that a Prince of his Rank ought to know. The Hanoverians, among whom he was educated, ador’d him, and the English seem altogether as fond of him.
The young Duke of Cumberland, second Son to their Majesties, resembles what the Painters represent
to us by the Name of Cupid. He has Sense infinitely superior to his Age, is very dexterous, and an apt Scholar. He speaks English, High-Dutch, Latin, and French; and I think more than this cannot be expected of a Prince who is not yet full thirteen Years of Age[125].
Of the five Princesses I shall only mention the three eldest, the other two being as yet too young for a Character. The eldest, whom they call the Princess Royal[126], has an excellent Shape, and an Aspect of Modesty and Goodness, which wins the Hearts of all that see her. Her Temper is as engaging as her Physiognomy; and her Mind, which is disengaged from all Trifles, is more solid than might be expected from her Age. The reading of good Books, Conversation with Persons of Merit, and her Application to Music, are her chief Employments. She is extremely civil, and obligeing; and they say, she is generous and beneficent. ’Tis a Pleasure to see her on Horseback; she dances with a very good Grace, and really has all the Virtues becoming her high Birth.
The Princesses Amelia and Caroline, were they not the most shining Beauties, have personal Charms, and such Qualities of the Mind as cannot fail in time of making some Prince or other happy.
With these Characters of the Royal Family I shall conclude my Letter, which is already long enough: I shall give you the rest of my Remarks without Delay. In the mean time be assured, that I am always with an inviolable Attachment, &c.
