صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني

I.

When monarchs give a grace to fate,

And rise as princes shou❜d,
Less highly born, than truly great,
Less dignified, than good:

II.

What joy the natal day can bring,
From whence our hopes began,
Which gave the nation such a king,
And being, such a man!

III.

The sacred source of endless pow'r,
Delighted sees him born,

And kindly marks the circling hour,
That spoke him into morn.

IV.

Beholds him with the kindest eye

Which goodness can bestow;

And shows a brighter crown on high
Than e'er he wore below.

There was a good old custom in the house of Hanover of giving their daughters family names: just as Frederick and William belong to the royal house of Prussia. Such were Augusta, Sophia, Amelia, Elizabeth, etc. These good old names have a character, and when her present gracious Majesty was being christened, the regent, who often displayed a sense of propriety in matters of etiquette, reminded his brothers of this custom, and made a sort of protest against the names chosen— Victoria Alexandrina-but without effect. For there were reasons of la haute politique.

The queen, as is known, was destined in the course of years to furnish the nation with one of the largest royal families on record, having had no less than fifteen children. Of these, Princess Mary, who was married to the

the Duke of Gloucester, her cousin, was the longest lived, and survived till the year 1857. What strange far-off scenes could she reveal, even to the dreadful episodes at Kew which she witnessed as a child! The Duchess of Cambridge survived even longer, dying some ten years ago aged ninety-one.

The servant trouble now began to grow more acute, mainly owing to the intrigues of the princess's retainers. There was no authority to control the two, or rather the three parties. The poor queen seemed helpless. Her own faithful attendants whom she had brought from Germany were discontented and wished to go home.

1 This royal roll is as follows:

George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales, b. 1762; d. 1830.
Frederick, Duke of York, b. 1763; d. 1827.

William, b. 1765; d. 1837.

Edward, Duke of Kent, b. 1767; d. 1820.

Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, b. 1771; d. 1851.

Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, b. 1773; d. 1843.

Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge, b. 1774; d. 1850.

Octavius, b. Feb. 1779; d. 1783.

Alfred, b. Sept. 1780; d. Aug. 1782.

Charlotte Augusta Matilda, b. 1766; m. 18th May, 1797, Frederick,

then Duke, later King, of Wurtemburg, d. Oct. 1828.

Augusta Sophia, b. Nov. 1768; d. 1840.

Elizabeth, b. May, 1770; m. 1818; he d. 1829; shed. 1840.

Mary, b. 1776; m. Duke of Gloucester, 1816; d. 1857.

Sophia, b. 1777; d. 1848.

Amelia, b. 1783; d. 1810.

They resented, too, the economies which were being made in the royal establishment. But now their young mistress was beginning to show a certain independence and intention to take matters into her own hands. One Albert, whom she had induced to leave Mecklenburg with her under great promises, was in revolt, and it is strange to read the plain, free terms in which he vented his grievances. He begged to be allowed to go away either on pension or with some appointment in the house of the reigning duke. The queen refused, on which he reminded her very plainly of all her promises which had induced him to quit his country, of her suggestion that he should marry, his own rooted objections to going with her, and her assurance that she would always be his friend. He claimed that he had done his part. The queen acknowledged all this, lamented a certain groom incident, but said she could not interfere, as the king had shown no disapprobation of the matter. She then told him that as it was necessary to be most economical in their civil list, all "perquisites" would be less, and for the future persons would be taken into their service "whom they could more generally employ ;" that they were compelled to suffer privations themselves, and would be obliged to make some others, which those who had hitherto been in every way considered and had lived like gentlemen would, she feared, feel also. The dependent then spoke of his daughter who was growing up, saying that he hoped she would be provided for about the princesses,

and that he had been training her up for the purpose. The queen replied that instead of keeping their own people and conferring favours as before, they felt it more suitable to have strangers. "Less was expected—much more generally done. Fatal mistake!" On this Albert

adds from his point of view: "The new appointments felt no interest, neither duty nor respect; and as to fidelity, such was not understood."

Early in the year 1764 Princess Augusta, one of the king's sisters, was married to the Prince of Brunswick Lunenberg—an alliance in every way unsuitable, like that of another sister, the ill-fated Caroline Matilda, which was soon to follow. No one there dreamed that the future daughter of the Brunswick pair was to become the wife of the child so recently born-the baby Prince of Wales, and to come to the throne-nor did the family anticipate the sore trials that were in store for them, the loss of dominions, the death of husband and son on the field of battle.

The court fancied "the Brunswicks" were hunting for popularity, and there were many stories of the coldness. with which the guests were treated. The mob continued to follow the pair, and at theatres and other public places greeted them with hurrahs. It was suspected they were intriguing against the court. It was said that almost the first question put to them on their arrival was, "When do you go?" Even the Royal servants were forbidden to wear their new liveries, and there was no salute of guns. When the young king and queen

went to the play they were received in silence. The crowd suspected what was going on.

The Duchess of Brunswick long remembered this unhandsome treatment. Thirty years later when Lord Malmesbury was at Brunswick, she opened herself to him freely-abused her Majesty heartily—said she was an envious, intriguing spirit-told anecdotes of her first coming over from Strelitz-accused her of disliking her mother (the Princess of Wales) and herself: she was quite jealous of both. She had even seized the opportunity, when the princess was dying, of altering the rank of her ladies of the bedchamber, all which was prejudiced exaggeration—not unnatural, however; but the truth is, it was only after all the precedents of human nature and party feeling that she should fancy that the person she disliked should have the same feeling to her.

It is amusing to read that, among other household. difficulties, their Majesties in 1775 had to encounter a sort of strike among the maids of honour! These young ladies were entitled to their supper every evening at the royal charges, but being generally absent, owing to their duties at the palace or elsewhere, they were seldom able to partake of it. They accordingly met and drew up a petition requesting that some pecuniary compensation should be made to them. The goodnatured king went into the matter, and decided that the ladies should each have seventy pounds a year additional salary.

The royal family of England has always been noted for

« السابقةمتابعة »