_CAROLINE WILHELMINA DOROTHEA_, WIFE OF GEORGE II. Da seufzt sie, da presst sie das Herz--es war Ja Lieb und Glück nur geträumet. GEIBEL. CHAPTER I. BEFORE THE ACCESSION. Birth of Princess Caroline--Her early married life--Eulogised by the poets--Gaiety of the Court of the Prince and Princess at Leicester House--Beauty of Miss Bellenden--Mrs. Howard, the Prince’s favourite--Intolerable grossness of the Court of George the First--Lord Chesterfield and the Princess--The mad Duchess--Buckingham House--Rural retreat of the Prince at Richmond; the resort of wit and beauty--Swift’s pungent verses --The fortunes of the young adventurers, Mr. and Mrs. Howard-- The Queen at her toilette--Mrs. Clayton, her influence with Queen Caroline--The Prince ruled by his wife--Dr. Arbuthnot and Dean Swift--The Princess’s regard for Newton and Halley--Lord Macclesfield’s fall--His superstition, and that of the Princess --Prince Frederick’s vices--Not permitted to come to England --Severe rebuff to Lord Hardwicke--Dr. Mead--Courage of the Prince and Princess--The Princess’s friendship for Dr. Friend-- Swift at Leicester House--Royal visit to ‘Bartlemy Fair.’ Caroline Wilhelmina Dorothea was the daughter of John Frederick, Marquis of Brandenburg Anspach, and of Eleanor Erdmuth Louisa, his second wife, daughter of John George, Duke of Saxe Eisenach. She was born in 1683, and married the Electoral Prince of Hanover, afterwards George II., in the year 1705. Her mother having re-married, after her father’s death, when Caroline was very young, the latter left the court of her step-father, George IV., Elector of Saxony, for that of her guardian, Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, afterwards King of Prussia. The Electress of Brandenburg was the daughter of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, and sister of George I. The young Caroline was considered fortunate in being placed under the care of a lady, who, it was said at the time, would assuredly give her a ‘tincture of her own politeness.’