George I. was fond of seeing the play of “Henry VIII.,” and on one occasion when it was being acted at Hampton Court, he paid particular attention to that part of the play where Henry VIII. commands his minister, Wolsey, to write circular letters of indemnity to every county where the payment of certain heavy taxes had been disputed-- “Let there be letters writ to every shire Of the King’s grace and pardon. The grieved commons Hardly conceive of me. Let it be noised That through our intercession, this revokement And pardon comes. I shall, anon, advise you Further in the proceeding.” The story goes that on one occasion when the above lines were spoken, the King said to the Prince of Wales, who had not yet been expelled from Court, “You see, George, what you have one day to expect.” George II. has been censured for encouraging the representation of immoral dramas, “a perverted taste,” which, it is said, “was strong upon him from the first.”[139] When Prince of Wales he witnessed the acting of Otway’s “Venice Preserved,” but, on discovering afterwards that certain scenes had been omitted, he commanded them to be restored. In the later part of his life, George II. took advantage of his position to make loud remarks on the performances at which he was present, a recorded instance of which occurred at Drury Lane, when his Majesty commanded Farquhar’s “Beaux Stratagem” and Fielding’s “Intriguing Chambermaid” to be performed. But the representation does not appear to have given satisfaction, for Walpole, writing to Mann, says: “A certain king that, whatever airs you may give yourself, you are not at all like, was last week at the play. The intriguing chambermaid in the farce says to the old gentleman, ‘You are villainously old, you are sixty-six; you cannot have the impudence to think of living above two years.’ The old gentleman on the stage here turned about in a passion and said, ‘This is d--d stuff!’ and the royal critic was energetically right.” One of the greatest honours ever rendered to a dramatist by royalty was conferred by Queen Caroline, wife of George II., on Mottley, an obscene playwright. But when his benefit night was announced “as to take place soon after the Queen’s drawing-room had been held, the Queen herself, in that very drawing-room, sold Mottley’s tickets, delivering them with her own royal hand to the purchasers, and condescending to receive gold for them in return.”[140] Frederick Prince of Wales, father of George III., was fond of private theatricals, and endeavoured to instil his taste for dramatic performances into his children.