As a punishment for certain indiscretions, she was not allowed to appear at court for a few months; and when she returned an aged lady kindly said that she hoped it would not be necessary for her to be dismissed again, whereupon she pertly replied: "Gone is gone, and will never return, and what is to come will come of itself." Caroline delighted in making dashing, fearless remarks that too often excited a smile and encouraged a repetition. After a lesson in natural history, her governess once asked, "In what country is the lion to be found?" "Well," answered the princess deliberately, "I should say, you may find him in the heart of a Brunswicker." When taking part in any boisterous game, of which she was very fond, if her attendant warned her of danger, she would reply: "A Brunswicker dares do anything!" or, "A Brunswicker does not know that thing,--fear." [[A.D. 1780.]] "How would you define time and space?" asked her father, when she was not more than twelve years of age. "Space is in the mouth of Madame von L----------," she answered, "and time is in her face." When told that it was not becoming for so young a lady to have opinions of her own, she rather cleverly returned, "People without opinions of their own are like those barren tracts which will not bear grass." This young princess's religious education was as sadly neglected as her home-training. Like many other royal German ladies, she could not decide what church she was to join, until she knew what prince she was to marry; and then, having been taught morality, but no creed, the princesses were ready to adapt their consciences to the Greek, Roman Catholic, or Protestant faith, just as it happened. Two offers of marriage had been refused by Princess Caroline, {210}when the Duke of York, commander of the English force in Holland, made a visit to his aunt at the court of Brunswick, and was so favorably impressed with his young cousin that he went back home with quite a flattering report about her. George III. had never seen his niece; but, when he heard so much about her, he began to consider what sort of a match he could manage between her and his eldest son, the Prince of Wales.