A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Caroline Wilhelmina Dorothea
CAROLINE WILHELMINA DOROTHEA,
Wife of George the Second, of England, was the daughter of John Frederic, Marquis of Brandenburg-Anspach, and was born March 1st., 1683. She was sought in marriage by Charles the Third of Spain, afterwards Emperor of Germany, whom the fame of her beauty had attracted; but she refused to change her religion, which she would have to do if she accepted this splendid alliance; and so the offer was rejected. Her resolution on this occasion procured her the esteem of the Elector of Hanover, afterwards George the First, and induced him to select her as the wife of his son, to whom she was married, at Hanover, August 22nd., 1705.
Caroline was crowned (with her husband) Queen consort of Great Britain, on the 11th. of October, 1727. Four sons and five daughters were the fruit of this union. She took a great interest in the political affairs of the kingdom, and her interposition was often beneficial for the country. She was well acquainted with the English constitution; and often prevailed upon the king to consent to measures which he had at first opposed. Notwithstanding the infidelity of the king towards her, he seems to have loved her as much as he was capable of loving any one; a distinction she well merited, for she united much feminine gentleness with a masculine strength of understanding, which often came in aid of the king's feebler intellect, and quietly indicated the right course, without assuming any merit for the service. She had also the rare good sense to see and acknowledge her errors, without feeling any irritation towards those who opposed them. She once formed a design of shutting up St. James' Park, and asked Sir Robert Walpole what it would cost to do it. "Only a crown, madam," was the reply; and she instantly owned her imprudence with a smile. When, during the king's absence on the continent, she found her authority as regent insulted, by the outrageous proceedings of the Edinburgh mob, who had violently put Captain Porteus to death, she expressed herself with great indignation. "Sooner," said she to the Duke of Argyle, "than submit to such an insult, I would make Scotland a hunting-field!" "In that case, madam," answered the high-spirited nobleman, "I will take leave of your majesty, and go down to my own country to get my hounds ready." Such a reply would have irritated a weak mind, but it calmed that of the queen. She disclaimed the influence she really possessed over her husband, always affecting, if any one were present, to act the humble and ignorant wife. Even when the prime minister, Walpole, came on business which had previously been settled between him and the queen, she would rise and offer to retire. "There, you see," the king would exclaim, "how much I am governed by my wife, as they say I am." To this the queen would reply, "Oh! sir, I must be vain indeed to pretend to govern your majesty."
Queen Caroline died November 20th., 1737, at the age of fifty-five, of an illness brought on by imprudence and over-exertion. She made it an invariable rule never to refuse a desire of the king, who was very fond of long walks; so that more than once, when she had the gout in her foot, she would plunge her whole leg in cold water to drive it away, so as to be ready to attend him. The king showed the greatest sorrow at her death, and often dwelt on the assistance he had found in her noble and calm disposition, in governing the English people.