Having mentioned Lord Hervey, we must tell how he stood at court. He was a great favorite with Queen Caroline, and, being many years younger than she, he was called "her child, her pupil, her charge." He generally rode by her carriage when she went hunting, on a horse that she had given him, and on such occasions they discussed politics and other matters. Hervey was treated like a pet child, and allowed to say what would have been regarded as impertinence coming from any one else; but Queen Caroline encouraged him by laughing at him, and kept him with her as much as possible. He always sat and talked to her while she ate breakfast, and presumed to give her advice on every conceivable subject, often flatly contradicting her, whereupon she would good naturedly declare that he took such liberties because he knew she could not possibly live without him. It is to the memoirs left by this lord that we are indebted for our knowledge of much of the private life of Queen Caroline. A letter which he addressed to her one summer when he was visiting at some distance in the country will give the best idea of the nature of his position in the royal household. He begins by imagining that he died on the day he left the queen, and proceeds to recount how he serves her in spirit:--{088}"On Monday, whilst you walked, my _shade_ turned on the side of the sun to guard you from its beams. "On Tuesday morning, at breakfast, I brushed away a fly that was just going to taste your chocolate. "On Wednesday, in the afternoon, I took off the chilliness of some strawberry-water your majesty was going to drink, as you came in hot from, walking; and at night I hunted a bat out of your bed-chamber, and shut a sash just as you fell asleep, which your majesty had indiscreetly ordered Mrs. Purcel to leave open. "On Thursday, in the drawing-room, I took the forms and voices of several of my acquaintances, made strange faces, put myself into awkward postures, and talked a good deal of nonsense, whilst your majesty entertained me very gravely, _recommended_ me very graciously, and laughed at me internally very heartily. "On Friday, being-post day, I proposed to get the best pen in the other world for your majesty's use, and slip it invisibly into your portfolio just as Mr. Shaw was bringing it into your gallery for you to write; and accordingly I went to _Voiture_, and desired him to hand me his pen; but when I told him for whom it was designed, he only laughed at me for a blockhead, and asked me if I had been at court for four years to so little purpose as not to know that your majesty had a much better of your own. "On Saturday, I went on the shaft of your majesty's chaise to Richmond; as you walked there I went before you, and with an invisible wand I brushed the dew and the worms out of your path all the way, and several times uncrumpled your majesty's stocking.