As soon as I was in a Condition to go abroad, I waited on the Queen, who had just receiv'd Tydings, that the Elector of Hanover, her Father, was then call'd over by the English to succeed the deceas'd Queen Anne. No doubt, Madame, you remember the Joy there was at Court upon this News. The King made an Offer to the new Monarch of any Assistance that he might have occasion for, to support him on the Throne. Some days after the Arrival of this great News, I took leave of the Queen, and set out for Hambourg.
I was very well receiv'd in this City by L——, who was at that time Envoy from Prussia to the Circle of Lower Saxony. I knew him at a time when Fortune, as it were, frown'd upon him; but now it might be said, that she had loaded him with her Favors. He was glad to see me, and that he had an Opportunity of shewing me in what Grandure he liv'd. Since he had married a Woman, who was, indeed, very old, but very rich, he had been so wise as to make an Acquaintance with such as were capable of serving him; and whether 'twas owing to Money, or to mere Favor, he was quickly made a Minister of State; and in a little time after receiv'd the Key as one of the King's Chamberlains. I was very well pleas'd to see him in
so splendid a Situation; but could not help taking pity on him for being yok'd to a Wife so disagreeable. She was a Person, who with the Obstinacy and Ill-nature of Old Age, had all the Mettle of Youth, besides her being a perfect Original both in her Apparel, and in the Furniture of her House. Her Husband could never prevail upon her to dress as became a Person of her Rank, nor to alter any thing in her Furniture, tho' ever so unpolite. I had the Pleasure one day that I was invited thither to Supper, of examining the Inside of the House at my Leisure. The Apartment where we supp'd was furnish'd in a very whimsical Manner. The first Room was lin'd with black Leather gilt, and round it were plac'd Chairs of green Taffety, adorn'd with Furbelows of a Rose Color. The second Chamber was hung with green Tapestry. The Chairs were of black Velvet, lac'd with Gold, and the Room was full of Crystal Sconces. At one End of it there was an Alcove hung with white Leather gilded, and in the Middle of the Alcove there was a Bed of a very extraordinary Fashion, which had no Curtains, but had four Pillars to support the Tester, and a Wooden Cornish at the top gilded; and the Whole was cover'd with Mother of Pearl and Tortoise-shell. The Bed had a Counterpane on it of black Velvet and Gold-Lace. In the four Corners of the Alcove were four Statues of white Marble, each holding a Wax-Candle. There were other Wax-Candles upon gilded Sconces, and a very fine Branch. The Whole, I assure you, look'd much more like a Room for lying in State, than a Chamber for Entertainment. We sat down, however, to Table; but this amiable Lady refus'd to be of the Company, and
chose to stay behind a Door, which was in the Alcove, from whence she resolv'd to be a Spectatress of the Entertainment through the Chinks.
We were all heartily at Supper, and in very little pain for the Absence of our Landlady, when on a sudden there came from the Alcove a very ugly Figure, dress'd all in white. I was the first that perceiv'd it; and really, if I had given ever so little Credit to the haunting of Houses by Spirits, I should have thought I then saw one. The Whole perfectly resembled that Scene of the Knight in the Festin de Pierre, excepting nevertheless that we were not honor'd with the least Obeisance. I heard swearing and scolding at the Domestics, which made me suspect that it might be the Mistress of the House. Nor was I mistaken, we were obliged for this Apparition to a Wax-Candle that drop'd upon a Velvet Chair, which she perceiv'd from the Place where she was conceal'd, and stay'd some time, thinking that one or other of the Domestics would have remedied this Evil; but at last seeing that no body minded it, she resolv'd to come out her self to the Relief of the Chair. This Apparition was the Cause of a great Hurly-burly; the Lackeys excus'd themselves, because they were employ'd in waiting; and there were long and warm Disputes on both sides, betwixt the Mistress and the Servants, during which, the Guests, who rose in Respect to the Lady, were all the while standing. The Husband endeavor'd to pacify his dear Spouse, and made her sensible of the Situation in which she kept us; upon which, without making the least Compliment, she sate down at the Table, and I thought the Rage of the Storm was over; but far from it, she was no sooner seated than she began again to rave with more Fury than before. A
Lackey, to whom, it seems, all this Bawling was more distasteful than it was to us, thought fit to tell her very bluntly, That she made a great Noise for nothing. Then the Lady was quite outragious, and went to give the Lackey a Blow with all the Weight of her Arm; but the Droll cunningly parry'd it, by receiving the Stroke upon a Plate he had in his Hand; which, as he manag'd it, serv'd him for a Shield. The Gentlewoman gave herself such a terrible Blow, that for one while she could not speak; and when she came to her self, she made a worse Racket than before. At length, the Lackey was turn'd out of the Room; and at that very instant, luckily for us, the Pain which the Lady felt for the Blow, increas'd to such a degree, that she was forc'd to retire. She was no sooner gone but we all burst out in a Laugh. The Husband himself was ready to split his Sides, and desir'd the Company to be under no manner of Restraint, but to talk as gayly of this Adventure as we pleas'd. Indeed we were heartily merry at the Expence of the Old Lady; but yet we were the greatest Losers by it in the end; for while we thought her a good way out of Hearing, she thought fit to stay at the Door to listen to what we said, which not being to her liking, she took an immediate Revenge, for she deprived us of the Dessert, and the poor Husband had not Interest enough to get another.
I was so gorg'd at this charming Repast, that for fear of a second Invitation I set out next Day for Hanover, where I arriv'd the very Day before the new King set out for England. The Electoress, his Mother, to whom the Crown first belong'd of Right, died suddenly, as she was walking in Herrenhausen Garden, not long
before Queen Anne died. The Elector her Son was recogniz'd King by the English, as the next Protestant Heir; for if the Catholics could have had any Right to the Crown, this Elector would have been but the 23d or 24th in the direct Line. The Nobleman who acquainted the Elector of his Advancement to the Crown was my Lord Clarendon, Envoy from the Queen of England at the Court of Hanover. Perhaps it was with some Regret that he executed this Commission, being related to the Stuart Family; and as it was generally thought, not very much inclin'd to the Family which now governs England. Be this as it will, he discharg'd the Commission with a good Grace. My Lord receiv'd the News that the English had proclaim'd the Elector for their King, one Evening as he had been at Supper with that Prince at a House called The Whim, belonging to Madame de K——, now my Lady L——. As his Lordship came home he found a Courier just arriv'd with the Privy Council's Orders to him, to recognize the Elector for King of England. He immediately got into his Coach, and went to Herrenhausen, where he found the Elector a-bed. His Lordship thinking 'twas worth while to awake the Elector, for the sake of telling him the News that so great a Diadem was fallen to him, enter'd his Bed-Chamber, and kneeling on the Floor, was the first that recogniz'd the Elector for King. This Prince immediately summon'd his Council. Many People were pleas'd to say, that the Elector hesitated for a good while, whether or no he should accept of the August Dignity that was offer'd to him; but for my part, I fancy, that the Voyage to England was more the Subject of the Council's Deliberation, than
the Question, whether its Crown should be accepted.
After the Council was over, the new King was complimented upon his Accession to the Throne; and that very Instant he gave Orders to get every thing ready for his Departure, which was fix'd for the 11th of September. The Time between the Elector's assuming the Royal Stile and his Departure, was spent in sending and receiving Couriers to and from the principal Courts of Europe. All the Nobility and Gentry, Subjects to the new Monarch, flock'd from all Parts to see him before he went away. This Prince was so well belov'd, that his Subjects were very sorry that he was going to leave them; but for his part, tho' his People were not a little dear to him, he preserv'd that Tranquillity of Mind, and that Discretion, which govern'd all his Actions; and he seem'd no more concerned at parting with them, than he was elated with his new Dignity: but it was otherwise with the Prince his Son, who was so impress'd with the Fortune added to his Family, that I heard him say to an English Gentleman, the Day before he went, That he had not one Drop of Blood in his Veins but what was English, and at the Service of his new Subjects.