The Queen was far from desiring that the bishops should be so treated as to make them in settled antagonism with the Crown. She one day ventured to say something in this spirit to the King. It was at a time when he was peevishly impatient to get away to Hanover, to the society of Madame Walmoden, and to the young son born there since his departure. He is reported to have exclaimed to Caroline, when she was gently urging a more courteous treatment of the bishops--‘I am sick to death of all this foolish stuff, and wish, with all my heart, that the devil may take all your bishops, and the devil take your minister, and the devil take the parliament, and the devil take the whole island, provided I can get out of it and go to Hanover.’[26] What Caroline meant by moderation of behaviour towards the bishops it is hard to understand; for when Drs. Sherlock and Hare complained to her that, in spite of their loyalty to the Crown they were nightly treated with great coarseness and indignity by lords closely connected with the court, Caroline spoke immediately, in the harsh tone and strong terms ordinarily employed by her consort, and said, that she could more easily excuse Lord Hervey, who was chiefly complained of as speaking sharply against them in parliament--‘I can easier excuse him,’ exclaimed her Majesty, ‘for throwing some of the Bishop of London’s dirt upon you than I can excuse _all you other fools_ (who love the Bishop of London no better than he does) for taking the Bishop of London’s dirt upon yourselves.’ She claimed a right to chide the prelates soundly, upon the ground that she loved them deeply; and she made very liberal use of the privilege she claimed. Bishop Hare, in replying, called Lord Hinton, one of Lord Hervey’s imitators, his ‘ape.’ The Queen told this to Lord Hervey, who answered, that his ape, if he came to know that such a term had been applied to him, would certainly knock down the Queen’s ‘baboon.’ Caroline, with a childish spirit of mischief, communicated to Hare what _she_ had done, and what her vice-chancellor had said upon it. The terrified prelate immediately broke the third commandment, exclaiming, ‘Good God! madam, what have you done! As for Lord Hervey, he will satisfy himself, perhaps, with playing his wit off upon me, and calling me _Old Baboon_; but for my Lord Hinton, who has no wit, he will knock me down.’ The vice-chamberlain, who reports the scene, says--‘This tallied so ridiculously with what Lord Hervey had said to the Queen that she burst into a fit of laughter, which lasted some minutes before she could speak; and then she told the bishop, “That is just, my good lord, what Lord Hervey did do, and what he said the ape would do.”’ The Queen, however, promised that no harm should come to the prelate.