AMELIA SOPHIA, DAUGHTER OF GEORGE THE SECOND. Second daughter of George the Second.-Born in 1711.—Her beauty and accomplishments.-Her favourable inclinations towards the Duke of Grafton. Leading features of her character. Extract from a letter of Horace Walpole.-And from "Opinions of the Duchess of Marlborough."— The Princess's love of hunting and of card-playing.-Anecdote of her love of snuff-And of gaming. She tries to exclude the public from Richmond Park. Anecdote related by Horace Walpole.-His verses on the Princess.--Her answer. -Her death in 1786. AMELIA SOPHIA ELEONORA, Second daughter of George the Second and his Queen, was born at the palace of Herenhausen in Hanover, on the 10th of June, 1711. She was handsome and accomplished, and though she showed a determination to lead a life of celibacy, by refusing offers of marriage from several German Princes, is said to have been far from indifferent to admiration. The Dukes of Newcastle * and Grafton † * Thomas Pelham Duke of Newcastle, the celebrated minister. + Charles Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton, grandson of Charles the Second, was born on the 25th of October, 1683, and consequently was twenty-eight years older than the Princess. VOL. III. P were rivals for her favour; the former apparently from motives of vanity, and a desire to advance his own interests; the latter, it is believed, with more sincerity, and with better success. The favour with which the Princess received the attentions of the Duke of Grafton was the source of great annoyance to Queen Caroline, who personally disliked the Duke, not only for his presumption in addressing her daughter as a lover, but on account of other liberties, which he was accustomed to take in conversation with herself. Though gifted with some shrewdness, and considerable wit, he contrived, according to Walpole, to pass through life as a fool. By this means, if his repartees were not deprived of their sting, they at least protected him from any disagreeable retaliation. Like many persons of an even temper, his feelings were not over-refined. He followed his numerous sons to the grave without any apparent distress; and though exorbitant in his ambitious views, is said to have seen them blighted without a complaint and without a sigh. As Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and also in his seat in the House of Lords, he showed considerable capabilities for business. In the latter situation, if his eloquence failed to procure attention from its brilliancy, it at least obtained it from the hereditary humour with which he lightened the heaviness of a debate. In his heart he seems to have been attached to the cause of the Stuarts. Pelham one day hinting to him, during the progress of the Rebellion, that he himself should retire from office at its close: "God!" said the Duke, "I hope my friend will see it twinkle a good while in the Highlands yet." The Duke had succeeded to the family honours in his nonage, shortly after which he married Henrietta, daughter of the Marquess of Worcester. He died on the 6th of May, 1757, in his seventy-fifth year. His character is ably drawn by his contemporary, Lord Waldegrave; Memoirs, p. 114. The Princess and the Duke were in the habit of hunting together two or three times a-week; and, on one occasion, having lost their attendants, remained out till a very late hour, and, as afterwards appeared, had gone together to a private house in Windsor Forest. The Queen was, of course, highly displeased at her daughter's imprudence; and it was only through the interposition of Sir Robert Walpole, that she was dissuaded from making a complaint to the King. In the circle of her own family, and among her immediate friends, the Princess Amelia bore the reputation of possessing many estimable qualities. She was a kind mistress and a steady friend, and was also extremely generous and charitable. In regard to her intercourse, however, with the world in general, a more disagreeable or offensive person can scarcely be conceived. She is said to have been meanly inquisitive into the affairs of others; to have been false without pleasing; to have lowered herself by communicating the commonest tittle-tattle to her dependents and friends; to have been mischievous where there was no motive, and insolent where there was not the slightest provocation. In a letter from Horace Walpole to Sir Horace Mann, there occurs an instance of her displaying this kind of uncalled-for impertinence. The writer, after making a remark on the extreme emptiness of London, observes, "Princess Emily remains, saying civil things: for example, the second time she saw Madame de Mirepoix, she cried out,' Ah! Madame, vous n'avez pas tant de rouge aujourd'hui : la première fois que vous êtes venue ici, vous aviez une quantité horrible.' This the Mirepoix herself repeated to me; you may imagine her astonishment." The same writer informs us, that though the Princess grew to be extremely deaf and shortsighted, she had so much quickness of perception that she seemed to hear and see better than other persons. On the death of Queen Caroline, in 1737, it fell to the lot of the Princess Amelia, as the eldest unmarried daughter of George the Second, to perform the honours of his court. "Princess Amelia," says the Duchess of Marlborough, "is to perform the Queen's part in the drawing-room, but by all I have either seen or heard of her, I do not believe her behaviour will create many friends to the family." It was thought that the Princess would succeed to the influence as well as to the functions of the deceased Queen, and consequently that she would become the centre of political intrigue: however, either she wanted ambition, or the King was unwilling to concede powers to a daughter, which he had yielded, somewhat jealously, to a wife. The Princess, in her youth, was passionately fond of the pleasures of the field; and, in the pursuit of her favourite amusement, adopted some rather masculine tastes, together with a costume which more nearly resembled that of the male * Opinions of Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, edited by Lord Hailes. than the female sex. In the gallery at Hardwicke there is a curious portrait of her, (in a round hunting-cap and laced coat,) which those who are unacquainted with her peculiarities, would hardly persuade themselves could be intended for a woman. It was the custom of the Princess to pay frequent visits to her horses, and, when any of them happened to be ill, she was in the habit of passing a considerable portion of her time in the stables. Another passion of the Princess Amelia was the card-table; which, at an advanced period of her life, seems to have been almost her nightly amusement. Horace Walpole, who appears to have been a favourite with her, was frequently invited to her private parties; and in more than one graphic passage in his charming letters, places the old Princess and her associates very amusingly before our eyes. Notwithstanding that the prosecution of her favourite occupation frequently kept her from rest till a very late hour, she continued an early riser through life. It was her custom never to sit down to breakfast, but to pace the apartment while drinking her coffee or chocolate. Another of her habits was to take an inordinate quantity of snuff. On one occasion, when playing at cards in the public rooms at Bath, a general officer, with something of presumption as well as ill-breeding, took a pinch of snuff from her box, which happened to be lying near him. The Princess, in a very pointed manner, showed her sense of the liberty which |