The evening was spent in revelry and debauchery by the prince and his companions, and his royal highness swore "I will marry the Princess of Brunswick, which," said he, "will be no marriage at all, and desert her, of which I will give her timely notice." The miniature was painted _flatteringly_, and the following letter from the prince accompanied it to his intended wife: _Copy of a letter written to the Princess Caroline of Brunswick, by George Prince of Wales._ "1794. "MADAM, "The king my father, whom I highly respect and esteem, has just announced to me that your hand is destined for me. I am obliged, by the imperious force of circumstances to own, that this intelligence has thrown me into despair, and my candour does not allow me to conceal my sentiments from you. I hope that when you are acquainted with them, you will aid me in breaking the ties which would unite us only to render us unhappy; and which will be in your power to oppose, since _I_ am unable to do so. You, Madam, are adored by your parents; I am aware that they have allowed you the liberty of refusing all the princes who have been proposed to you in marriage; refuse _me_ also, I conjure you in the name of pity, to which I know you are no stranger. You do not _know_ me, Madam; you therefore can have no cause to lament my loss. Learn, then, the _secret_ and _unhappy_ situation of the prince whom they wish you to espouse. I cannot love you; I cannot make you happy; my heart has long ceased to be free. She who possesses it is the only woman to whom I could unite myself agreeably to my inclinations. _You_ would find in me a husband who places all his affections upon another. If this _secret_, which I name to you in _confidence_, does not cause you to reject me; if ambition, or any other motive of which I am ignorant, cause you to condescend to the arrangements of my family, learn that, as soon as you shall have given an heir to the _throne, I will abandon you_, never to meet you more in public. I will then attach myself to that lady whom I love, and whom I will not leave. Such is, Madam, my last and irrevocable resolution; if you are the victim of it, you will be a _willing victim_, and you cannot accuse me of having deceived you. "I am, Madam, "With great truth, "Your's sincerely, "GEORGE P." After reading this very curious epistle, the reader may presume that the princess was _indiscreet_ in her acceptance of the hand of a prince who so _boldly_ professed himself averse to the union; but the following letters of George the Third to herself and her mother, (the king's sister) which accompanied the one of the prince, will afford some explanation of her conduct: _Copy of a Letter to Caroline, Princess of Brunswick, from her uncle, George the Third._