[32] The Countess of Pomfret to Mrs. Clayton, 22nd April, 1728. Sundon Correspondence.
[33] Thackeray says in his Four Georges: “As for Bath, all history went and bathed and drank there; George II. and his Queen,” etc. In point of fact, neither George II. nor Queen Caroline went to Bath. Princess Amelia went in 1728; the Prince of Orange in 1734, the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1738, and Princesses Caroline and Mary in 1840.
[34] The Countess of Pomfret to Mrs. Clayton, Bath, 6th May 1728.
[35] In the Manuscript Department, British Museum.
[36] Daily Advertiser, 3rd March, 1731.
[37] The Hon. Peter Wentworth to the Earl of Strafford, 10th August, 1730.
[38] The Hon. Peter Wentworth to the Earl of Strafford, London 3rd June, 1735.
CHAPTER V.
CAROLINE’S FIRST REGENCY. 1729.
In May, 1729, the King, who had been for some time anxious to visit his Hanoverian dominions, which he had not seen since 1714, got a short Act passed through Parliament appointing the Queen to act as Regent in his absence. The King’s visit to Hanover was very unpopular with his English subjects, who hoped that they had heard of the last of these journeys when George the First died. As Prince of Wales, George the Second had always declared that he loved England far better than Hanover, but this was only in opposition to his father, and soon after he ascended the throne he avowed himself strongly Hanoverian in his tastes and found fault with everything in England. In this mood the best thing for him to do was to return to his own country for a time, and Walpole no doubt was glad to get him out of the way, while the Queen eagerly grasped at the authority which the deed of regency granted her. But she showed none of this eagerness to the King, and when he announced his intention of leaving England she deplored his absence with tears, and received his commission on her knees with all due humility. The King gave the royal assent to the Act of Regency on May 14th, and three days later he set out for Hanover, accompanied by a numerous retinue, and Lord Townshend as Minister in attendance.
The Queen appointed the Speaker of the House of Commons, Onslow, to be her Chancellor during her Regency, and Keeper of the Great Seal. She held her first Council as Regent five days after the King left. It was reported in the London Gazette as follows:—