startled the Spanish student that night with an exhibition such as he had never seen beneath any of the unroofed houses of Madrid!

It sounds singular to hear that the young husband's first serious occupation, on thus beginning life, was the settlement of his debts. These were enormous, and their amount only proved the reckless dishonesty of him who had incurred them. Mr. Pitt proposed that the income of the Prince should be 125,000l. a-year, exclusive of the revenue of the Duchy of Cornwall, some 13,000l. more. This was eventually agreed to. In addition, parliament fixed the jointure of the Princess of Wales at 50,000l. per annum; and the smaller, but present items of 20,000l. for jewels, and 26,000l. for furnishing Carlton House, were also agreed upon. Out of the above-named revenue, however, a yearly deduction was to be made, in order that the debts of the Prince should be discharged within nine years. This deduction he denounced, and his brothers joined him in the denunciation, as a breach of contract, he having married solely upon the promise that his debts should be paid off at once. He immediately claimed the amount of the accumulation of the receipts of the Duchy of Cornwall during his minority. He was answered, on the part of the King, that the receipts had been expended on his education and establishment. The consequent debates were a scandal to the nation, a disgrace to royalty, in the person of the Prince, and cruelly insulting to the Princess, as they betrayed to her the fact that the heirapparent had accepted her as a consort, solely on condition that his debts should be paid off. When the old Romans made a bargain, they confirmed it by breaking a bit of straw between them. This straw was called "stipula," and the Princess Caroline was the bit of straw that was broken, the stipulation, in fact, whereby it was agreed that if the Prince married the woman whom he already detested, his creditors should have satisfaction in full of all demands!

Some of these were found heavy. There was a bill of 40,000l. to his farrier! Bills like these were allowed. Not so an annuity of 1,4007. a-year to Mrs. Crouch, the actress. The

parliament took a commercial view of the matter, and disallowed the claim, on the ground that no valuable consideration had been given for the liability which the Prince had voluntarily incurred. For the allowed debts, debentures payable with interest were given, and the Prince immediately withdrew into comparative retirement, in order, as Lord Moira stated in the House of Lords, that he might be able to save enough to discharge certain claims upon his honour. These claims were supposed to exist on the part of the Landgrave of Hesse Cassel and the Duke of Orleans, from whom the Prince had borrowed money. Perhaps they included the 10,000l. per annum which he had engaged himself to pay to Mrs. Fitzherbert, whom he had settled in a superb mansion in Park Lane, and comforted with assurances that his attentions to her would be as devoted now as before his marriage! All this was an outrage on the poor bride, whom the Prince took down to Windsor on a visit to the King and Queen. That persons might not suppose this was a commencement of positive domestic and virtuous life, the husband took with him his mistress, Lady Jersey. The first gentleman in Europe was, in this case, not even the most refined of ruffians.

The usual formality, which George III. loved, of visiting the public at the theatre, was observed on this occasion, and a short time after the royal marriage, the wedded couple were accompanied to Covent Garden by the whole of the royal family. They were very dully entertained with the very worst of O'Keefe's comedies, "Life's Vagaries," in which two cousins fall in love and marry; and so perhaps the piece was thought appropriate. It was followed by "Windsor Castle," a pièce d'occasion by Pearce, who brought together in it, Edward III., Peleus, the Prince of Wales, Minerva, Thetis, and the Countess of Kent. The last lady is represented as expected at the castle, she is detained on her way by an overflow of the Thames which threatens to drown her, and from which she is rescued by the Prince of Wales; whereupon all the heathen gods and goddesses are as much delighted as if they formed an Olympian Royal Humane Society, and

exhibit their ecstasy by dancing and singing. In such wise were our rulers entertained when George III. was king.

Queen Charlotte had looked grimly cold upon the Princess, but she gave an entertainment in honour of the event which made Caroline of Brunswick a Princess of Wales. The locality was Frogmore, and the scene was brilliant, except that the hostess looked, as Lord Malmesbury once described her, "civil, but stiff," and her daughter-in-law, superbly dressed, and black as midnight.

CHAPTER III.

THE FIRST YEAR OF MARRIED LIFE.

The Princess's letters to her family intercepted-Unkindness exhibited to her -The Prince seeks a separation-Acceded to by the Princess-She removes to Blackheath-Her income settled-Merry hours spent by the Princess at Blackheath - Intercourse between the Princess and her daughter-The Princess's unfortunate acquaintance with Lady DouglasThe boy Austin-Lady Douglas's communication to the Prince attacking the Princess-The delicate investigation - Witnesses examined — The Princess hardly dealt with-Her memorial to the King-Delay in doing her justice-The Monarch's decision-Exculpated from the grave charges -Comparison of Caroline Queen of George II. and Caroline of Brunswick-The Prince and Lady Hertford-Miss Seymour, and the Prince's subornation of witnesses-Persecution of the Princess by her husbandHer appeal to the King-Menace of publishing the book-The Princess received at the Queen's drawing-room-Meeting of the Prince and Princess -Death of the Duke of Brunswick at the battle of Jena-The Duchess a fugitive The Princess's debts.

THE Princess had cause then, and stronger reason soon after, for her melancholy. She had written a number of letters to her family and friends in Germany. These she intrusted to the Rev. Dr. Randolph, who was about to proceed to Brunswick, for delivery. The illness of Mrs. Randolph kept the doctor in England, and he returned the letters to the Princess of Wales, under a cover addressed to Lady Jersey. The letters fell into the Queen's hands. This, however, was only discovered later; and the discovery accounted for the cold reserve of Queen Charlotte towards the Princess, for the letters contained some sarcastic remarks upon the Queen's appearance and manners. In the mean time, on the packet failing to reach its proper owner, due inquiry was made, but nothing further was discovered, except that the reverend doctor declared that he had transmitted it to Lady Jersey, and that individual solemnly protested she had never received it. That it reached

Queen Charlotte, was opened, and the contents read, was only ascertained at a later period.

In whatever rudeness of expression the Princess may have indulged, her fault was a venial one compared with those of her handsome and worthless husband. While she was in almost solitary confinement at Brighton, he was in London, the most honoured guest at many a brilliant party, with Mrs. Fitzherbert for a companion. On several occasions, these two were together even when the Princess was present. The latter, by this time, knew of the private marriage of her husband with the lady, and that he had denied, through Fox, who was made the mouthpiece of the lie, that his "friendship" with Mrs. Fitzherbert had ever gone to the extent of marriage. If we have to censure the after-conduct of the Princess, let us not forget this abominable provocation.

Except from the kindly-natured old King, Caroline experienced little kindness, even during the time immediately previous to the birth of her only child, the Princess Charlotte. This event took place at ten in the morning of the 7th of January, 1796, amid the usual solemn formalities and the ordinary witnesses. Addresses of congratulation were not lacking. Among them the city of London prepared one for the Prince, but the conventionally "happy father," who had looked down upon his legitimate child with the simply fond critical remark that "it was a fine girl," declined to receive the congratulations of the City, unless in private. Coriolanus had wounds which he would only show in private, and if the London corporation insisted on alluding to the Prince's alleged joys, he was resolved that it, also, should only be in private. The pretext given was that a public reception was too expensive a matter in the Prince's reduced condition; and the pretext was so insulting to the common sense of the corporation, that the members very properly refused to "go up" at all.

The truth was, that the Prince shrunk from being congratulated upon his prospects as a husband, seeing that he was about to separate himself for ever from the society of his wife. The latter had caused the removal of Lady Jersey from her