Historical Characters in the Reign of Queen Anne — John Shaqi
Historical Characters in the Reign of Queen AnneOliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
History
Historical Characters in the Reign of Queen Anne
Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret)
Addison, Joseph, 1672-1719; Anne, Queen of Great Britain, 1665-1714; Defoe, Daniel, 1661?-1731; Swift, Jonathan, 1667-1745
interest in the diagrams that drop from Lewis Jenkins’s pocket-book, and
in all the bits of history he can induce his Welsh usher to tell him,
and all the rest of his innocent childlike perversities, awaken in us an
amused yet pathetic interest. A troublesome, lovable, perverse,
delightful child, not always easy to manage, constantly asking the most
awkward questions, full of ambition and energy and spirit and
foolishness, the dull prince’s somewhat tedious house brightens into
hope and sweetness so long as he is there.
In every respect this was the brightest moment of Anne’s life. There was
no longer any possibility of treating the next heir to the crown, the
mother of the only prince in whom the imagination of England could take
pleasure, with slighting or contumely. She was permitted to have her
share of the honors and comforts of English royalty. St. James’s old
red-brick palace was given over to her as became her position; and, what
was more wonderful, Windsor Castle, one of the noblest of royal
dwellings, became the country-house of Anne and her boy. King William
preferred Hampton Court, with its Dutch gardens, in which he could
imagine himself at home: the great feudal castle, erecting its massive
towers from the crest of the gentle hill which has the value of a much
greater eminence in the midst of the broad plain that sweeps forth in
every direction round, was not, apparently, to his taste. And few
prettier or more innocent scenes have been associated with its long
history than those in which little Gloucester was the chief actor. He
had a little regiment of boys of his own age whom it was his delight to
drill and lead through a hundred mock battles and rapid skirmishings,
mischievous little urchins who called themselves the Duke of
Gloucester’s men, and played their little pranks like their elders, as
favorites will. When he went to Windsor, four Eton boys were sent for to
be his playmates, one of them being young Churchill, the son of Lady
Marlborough. The little prince chose St. George’s Hall for the scene of
his mimic battles, and there the little army stormed and besieged one
another to their hearts’ content. When his mother’s marriage-day was
celebrated, he received his parents with salvos of his small artillery,
and, stepping forth in his little birthday-suit, paid them his
compliment: “Papa, I wish you and Mama unity, peace, and concord, not
for a time, but forever,” said the serious little hero. One can fancy
Anne, smiling and triumphant in her joy of motherhood, with her
beautiful chestnut curls and sweet complexion and placid roundness,
leaning on good George’s arm,--her peaceful companion, with whom she had
never a quarrel,--and admiring her son’s infant wisdom. It was their
happy time: no cares of state upon their heads, no quarrels on hand,
Sarah of Marlborough, let us hope, smiling too, and at peace with
everybody, her own boy taking part in the ceremonial.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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