[A.D. 1743.] For twelve years Sir Robert Walpole had kept England at peace, but the era of war began soon after Queen Caroline's death. George II. espoused the cause of Marie Theresa when the French tried to deprive her of her inheritance. During that campaign the Earl of Stair, who commanded the British troops, allowed himself to be surrounded by the enemy near the village of Dettingen, and but for the bravery of George II., who was present, would have lost the battle. His majesty rode a vicious horse, which during the conflict carried him out of the way. At length with the assistance of a soldier the animal was stopped, and the king dismounted, saying in his broken English, "Aha! now dat I am upon my own legs, I am sure dat I sal not run away!" {131}The Duke of Cumberland had accompanied his father to Flanders, and when they got back to England they met with a most enthusiastic reception. The Prince of Wales stood at the head of the stairs of St. James's Palace with his two sisters to receive the king, who passed him by as he would a dog. The next year the Duke of Cumberland met with a signal defeat at Fontenoy, and in 1748 peace was restored to England once more. The Prince of Wales continued to oppose his father all the time, but that did not prevent his son, Prince George, from having the Order of the Garter conferred on him. On that occasion the little knight was carried to the king's door in his father's arms. The Duke of Dorset received him, and he made a speech that had been taught him by his tutor. [[A.D. 1749.]] The dissension between George II. and his eldest son was put an end to at last by the death of the latter, which occurred as a result of great imprudence in 1751. The king was at Kensington when the news reached him looking at a game of cards. "Dead, is he? Why, they told me he was better," and that is all the regret, if it may be so called, that the royal father felt at the loss of his first-born. But he sent kind messages to the widow, who behaved with a great deal of sense and courage. She was then the mother of eight children, and her husband's death was a severe blow. She sat beside his body for four hours before she would believe that he was dead; then, after taking a brief repose, she went to his writing-desk and burned all his private papers. [[A.D. 1751.]] Frederick had had his friends, and his death was lamented by many, though his own family were not of the number. A preacher said of him, "He had no great parts, but he had great virtues,--indeed, they degenerated into vices. He was very generous; but I hear his generosity ruined a great many people; and, then, his condescension {132}was such that he kept very bad company." It is rather hard to decide whether this was intended for praise or censure; but a Jacobite epitaph that appeared at the time is decidedly more conclusive. It was to this effect:-- "Here lies Fred, Who was alive and is dead