with the Prince, he would not accept for his son the hand of Princess Amelia, declaring that he ought to espouse the Princess Royal. Neither party would give way, and the dislike of the potentates for each other resulted in 1730 in a definite rupture of the negotiations. [5] Carlyle: _History of Frederick the Great_. In Books V, VI and VII of this work is a full account of "The Double Marriage Project." [Illustration: _Photo by Emery Walker_ _From a painting by B. Dandridge_ FREDERICK, PRINCE OF WALES] On his arrival in England Frederick[6] was received with acclamation by the populace, but his relations with his parents were strained from the start. The original cause of quarrel is unknown to the present generation, and even at the time few were acquainted with it, though Sir Robert Walpole knew it, and Lord Hervey,[7] who wrote it down, only for his memorandum to be destroyed by his son, the Earl of Bristol.[8] It may be assumed, however, that his father's conduct in the negotiations for the marriage with the Princess of Prussia widened the breach. The Prince of Wales was certainly not an agreeable person. In Hanover he had indulged to excess in "_Wein, Weib, und Gesang_," and he was the unfortunate possessor of a mean, paltry, despicable nature that revolted those with whom he was brought into contact. His mother hated him--"He is such an ass that one cannot tell what he thinks"; his sister Amelia loathed him and wished he were dead--"He is the greatest liar that ever spoke, and will put one arm round anybody's neck to kiss them, and then stab them with the other if he can"; and his father detested him. "My dear first born is the greatest ass, the greatest liar, the greatest _canaille_ and the greatest beast in the whole world, and I heartily wish he was out of it," so said George II, and it must be conceded that in the main he was right. [6] Created Duke of Gloucester, 1717; Duke of Edinburgh, 1727; Prince of Wales, January 9, 1729. [7] John Hervey, younger son of John Hervey, first Earl of Bristol, styled after the death of his elder brother, Baron Hervey of Ickworth (1696-1743). [8] George William Hervey, second Earl of Bristol (1721-1775).