WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
IN TWO VOLUMES
VOL. II.
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
1901
CONTENTS.
| BOOK III. Queen Consort and Queen Regent. | |
| CHAPTER I. | |
| PAGE | |
| The New Reign | [3] |
| CHAPTER II. | |
| The Queen and Walpole | [29] |
| CHAPTER III. | |
| The Court of Queen Caroline | [53] |
| CHAPTER IV. | |
| The Royal Family | [83] |
| CHAPTER V. | |
| Caroline’s First Regency | [112] |
| CHAPTER VI. | |
| The Queen and the Nation | [136] |
| CHAPTER VII. | |
| The Queen and Literature | [156] |
| CHAPTER VIII. | |
| The Excise Scheme | [184] |
| CHAPTER IX. | |
| Frederick, Prince of Wales | [203] |
| CHAPTER X. | |
| Caroline and the Church | [223] |
| CHAPTER XI. | |
| The Marriage of the Princess Royal | [249] |
| CHAPTER XII. | |
| The Marriage of the Prince of Wales | [269] |
| CHAPTER XIII. | |
| Caroline’s Last Regency | [296] |
| CHAPTER XIV. | |
| The Prince and the Patriots | [325] |
| CHAPTER XV. | |
| The Queen’s Illness and Death | [344] |
| CHAPTER XVI. | |
| Illustrissima Carolina | [361] |
| Appendix | [369] |
| Index | [373] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
| Queen Caroline and the Duke of Cumberland | |
| [Frontispiece] | |
| to face page | |
| King George II. From the painting by John Shackleton in the National Portrait Gallery | [14] |
| The Coronation Banquet of George II. and Queen Caroline | [34] |
| Sir Robert Walpole. From the painting by J. B. Van Loo in the National Portrait Gallery | [46] |
| Hampton Court, temp. George II. | [60] |
| Henrietta Howard (Countess of Suffolk) | [78] |
| The Princess Amelia (Second Daughter of George II.) | [96] |
| Letter of Queen Caroline to the King of France | [114] |
| The Altstadt, Hanover | [130] |
| The Princess Clementina (Consort of Prince James Francis Edward Stuart). From the painting in the National Portrait Gallery | [146] |
| Mrs. Clayton (Viscountess Sundon) | [162] |
| John, Lord Hervey | [178] |
| Philip Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield. From the painting in the National Portrait Gallery | [194] |
| Frederick, Prince of Wales | [214] |
| Benjamin Hoadley, Bishop of Winchester. From a painting by Mrs. Hoadley in the National Portrait Gallery | [238] |
| Anne, Princess Royal, and the Prince of Orange | [256] |
| Augusta, Princess of Wales, at the Time of Her Marriage | [284] |
| The Old Tolbooth, Edinburgh, temp. 1736. From an old print | [308] |
| The Princesses Mary and Louisa (Daughters of George II.) | [328] |
| The Princess Caroline (Third Daughter of George II.) | [348] |
| Henry VII.’s Chapel, Westminster Abbey, temp. 1737 | [364] |
BOOK III.
QUEEN CONSORT AND QUEEN REGENT.
CHAPTER I.
THE NEW REIGN. 1737.
The news of George the First’s death reached England four days after he had breathed his last at Osnabrück. A messenger, bearing sealed despatches from Lord Townshend, arrived at Sir Robert Walpole’s house in Arlington Street at noon on Wednesday, June 14th. He was told that the Prime Minister was at Chelsea, and he at once repaired thither. He found the great man at dinner. Walpole was thunderstruck at the news, for the old King was of so strong a constitution that, despite his occasional fainting fits, every one expected him to live to a green old age, as his mother had done before him. His sudden death, too, might mean the end of the Prime Minister’s political career. But there was no time for vain regrets—the King was dead, long live the King. So ordering his horse to be saddled, Walpole rode off at full speed to Richmond, where George Augustus then was, to announce the tidings and pay homage to his new Sovereign. The day was hot, and so furiously did he ride that he killed, his son tells us, two horses between Chelsea and Richmond; but then his son was given to exaggeration.