double that sum in the present day. "It cannot be denied, wrote a contemporary," who had belonged to the court of James II., "that the king was a very kind parent to the princess Anne: he inquired into her debts at Christmas 1685, and took care to clear her of every one. Yet she made some exceedings the year after, and lord Godolphin complained and grumbled; still her father paid all she owed, without a word of reproach." The princess Anne, from the hour that another husband was provided for her, wisely thought no more of the accomplished earl of Mulgrave, who subsequently married her illegitimate sister, Catharine.3 The prince of Denmark was considered an example of the domestic affections, and proved a kind, quiet husband. His easy and sensual life in England very soon stifled his warlike energies under an excess of corpulence. He could imbibe much wine without visible signs of inebriation, yet a small portion of his potations would have reversed the reason of a temperate man. Charles II. reproved the prince, in his jocose manner, for his tendency to sluggish indulgence. Unfortunately, the partiality of her Danish consort for the pleasures of the table encouraged the same propensities in his princess. He induced her, if not to drink, at least to persist in eating more than did good to her health; instead of suppressing, he caused her to exaggerate her early propensities to gluttony. Although the princess Anne and the prince of Denmark were nearly every twelvemonth the parents of children, yet their little ones either expired as soon as they saw the light, or lingered only five or six months. Their deaths were probably occasioned by hydrocephalus, which, when constitutional, sweeps off whole families of promising infants. The 1 James II.'s allowance to his daughter Anne, (Lansdowne MS.)— Prince and princess of Denmark, out of y Excise £15,000 0 0 Postage Ditto more by privy-seal, during pleasure 15,000 0 0 2,000 0 0 £32,000 0 Roger Coke's Detection, vol. iii. p. 187. third daughter of the princess Anne and prince George of Denmark was born in May 1686, at Windsor-castle. Lady Churchill and lady Roscommon were godmothers to this infant, and gave it the name of Anne Sophia. The babe was healthy: although the little lady Mary was weakly and languishing, yet the youngest gave every hope of reaching maturity. These hopes were cruelly blighted six months afterwards. Prince George was taken very ill at that time, and remained many days in actual danger of death. The princess nursed him most assiduously. Scarcely was she relieved from the hourly dread of seeing her husband expire, when first the little lady Sophia suddenly fell ill, and died on her mother's birthday,' and the second anniversary of the decease of Charles II. The eldest infant had for months been in a consumption; she expired within a few hours. Thus the princess was left childless in one day. Rachel lady Russell draws a pathetic picture of Anne's feelings, divided as they were between grief for the bereavement of her offspring and anxiety for her husband. Her letters are dated February 9th and 18th, 1686-7: "The good princess has taken her chastisement heavily: the first relief of that sorrow proceeded from calming of a greater, the prince being so ill of a fever. I never heard any relation more moving than that of seeing them together. Sometimes they wept, sometimes they mourned in words, but hand-in-hand; he sick in his bed, she the carefullest nurse to him that can be imagined. As soon as he was able, they went to Richmond-palace, which was Thursday last. The poor princess is still wonderful sad. The children were opened: the eldest was all consumed away, as expected, but the youngest quite healthy, and every appearance for long life." The infants were buried in St. George's-chapel, Windsor. At the interment of the little lady Sophia, the burial-place of her grandfather, Charles I., was discovered in the chapel. Although the date does not agree with the demise of these infants, yet this letter of Mary princess of Orange to her brother-in-law, 1 Dangeau's Memoirs, vol. i. p. 255. 2 MS. letters of Rachel lady Russell; Birch Collections, Plut. cvi. p. 43. prince George of Denmark, could not have pertained to any other occasion: "MARY PRINCESS OF ORANGE TO PRINCE GEORGE OF DENMARK.1 "MONSIEUR MY BROTHER, "I have learned with extreme concern (déplessir) the misfortune of my sister by your letter, and I assure you that it touches me as nearly as if it had happened to myself; but since it is the will of God, it must be submitted to with patience. We have great cause to praise this good God that my sister is in such a good state, and I hope will re-establish her health entirely, and bless you together with many other infants, who may live to console their parents for those who are dead. I wish for some better occasion to testify to you how much I am, monsieur my brother, Uffre try afectionee "From Loo, this 13th Novr. "A Monsieur mon Frère, le Prince George de Danmark.” At the succeeding Christmas, notwithstanding the liberality of her allowance, the princess Anne was found to be overwhelmed with debt.2 As there was no outlay commensurate with a second extravagant defalcation, Lawrence Hyde, lord Rochester, the uncle of the princess, began to suspect that some greedy favourites secretly drained her funds. He did not keep his suspicions to himself, and the person who testified consciousness by furious resentment, was Sarah Churchill. The favourite, in consequence, visited him through life with active hatred. Few pages of her copious historical apologies occur without violent railings 1 From the original, in French, in the possession of William Upcott, esq. The fac-simile, entirely in the hand of the princess Mary, is published by Mr. Netherclift. It is in rather a fair Italian hand: her signature is very like that of Mary queen of Scots. There is no yearly date; it is probable that this condolence was written on the death of the name-child of the princess of Orange. 2 The Other Side of the Question, 47. This author is fully corroborated by the duchess herself, and by Roger Coke. against this lord treasurer, his wife, or some of the Clarendon family. "Lady Clarendon," says Sarah Churchill, in one of her inedited papers,1 "aunt by marriage to the princess, Anne, was first lady of her bedchamber when the princess was first established at the Cockpit. When lord Clarendon was made lord-lieutenant of Ireland, which obliged my lady Clarendon to leave her service, the princess was very glad, because, though she was considered a good woman, the princess had taken an aversion to her. It was soon guessed that I must succeed her in her post; and at this time the princess wrote to me that she intended to take two new pages of the backstairs, she having then but two, one of whom was extreme old and past service; but that she would not do it till my lady Clarendon was gone, that I might have the advantage of putting in the two pages,' meaning that I should sell these two places, for in those times it was openly allowed to sell all employments in every office. And upon this established custom and direction from the princess, (as it was not to be expected that I should immediately set up to reform the court in this respect,) I did sell these places: with some other advantage, they came to 12007.,"—a tolerably round sum of money before the national debt was instituted. The new pages were Roman-catholics, and were probably privately assisted into their situations of keeping the backstairs of the dwelling rooms of the princess by some official in the court of king James of that religion, whose interest was concerned in the proceedings of Anne, to know all persons who came to her, and what they said and did. That king James had placed them himself is impossible, for he had no suspicion of Anne; and had he taken any underhand measures to watch her conduct, his ruin could not have fallen on him unawares as it did, accelerated by his children. But as soon as Sarah Churchill had comfortably pocketed her 1200l., the prince and princess of Orange by some means discovered the fact that the two new pages of their sister Anne's backstairs were Roman-catholics. Their vigilance on 1 Coxe MSS. vol. xliv.; letter of the duchess of Marlborough to Mr. Hutchinson, inedited. Brit. Mus. a point important to the good success of the coming revolution, roused the princess Anne from the supine satisfaction in which she reposed. Although her needy favourite had made so excellent a market, she was forced to command the instant dismissal of her Roman-catholic attendants at the door-stairs of her sitting rooms. The warning of the princess of Orange not only displaced these dangerous watchers on the conduct of the princess Anne, but had the consecutive result of obliging Sarah Churchill to refund eight hundred of the twelve hundred pounds she mentions having recently netted on the occasion. However, four hundred pounds clung to her fingers, which was a goodly gain for an ineffectual recommendation. It is nevertheless to be feared, that the personal hatred which avowedly had previously subsisted between the princess of Orange and Sarah Churchill, was not soothed by the painful but inevitable process of refunding the eight hundred pounds. It is worth remarking, that the lady herself quotes the anecdote1 in support of her own warm self-praises, as an instance of her scorn of making money by selling offices in her mistress's household. One of these Roman-catholic pages, of the name of Gwynn, had been a servant of the princess Anne of some standing; she secured to him a salary for life, in compensation for the loss of his place on account of his religion. In pecuniary transactions, Anne was always generous to the utmost of her ability. She discharged her old servitor for political reasons, but left him not to starve. Whether by gambling or by gifts to the Churchills, the princess Anne again impaired her revenue and overwhelmed herself with debts. Since the favourite of Anne previously appeared on these pages, she had become lady Churchill. By the influence of the king when duke of York, her husband had been created lord Churchill, December 1683, and given more substantial marks of favour, which, though trifling in comparison with the enormous wealth this pair afterwards drew from their country, deserved their gratitude. 1 Coxe MSS. vol. xliv.; letter of the duchess of Marlborough to Mr. Hutchinson, inedited. Brit. Mus. |