Prince Frederick had pleasing manners, which endeared him to the people, a love of music and art, and a taste for literature. In character he was obstinate, and some say false and treacherous, but his peculiar bringingup would not tend to bring out many noble qualities. According to Lord Hervey, "he had a father who abhorred him, a mother who despised him, sisters that betrayed him, a brother set up against him, and a set of servants who neglected him."

An income of £5000 was voted by Parliament for the prince, but he held this sum entirely at the King's pleasure, an arrangement sure to entail friction sooner or later. The young man got into wild company, and consequently into debt.

The persecution on the part of the King and Queen was enough to awaken the Duchess of Marlborough's sympathies. Hearing of his money difficulties, and not being averse to establishing her granddaughter in so eded a position, the Duchess of Marlborough asked, him to honour her with a call, and proposed that the prince should marry her granddaughter, Lady Diana Spencer, on whom she would settle £100,000. The impecunious young prince willingly consented to this proposal, and the ceremony was arranged to take place privately at Windsor Lodge, but Walpole got wind of the affair and took steps to prevent it. Possibly before this negotiation, the exact date of which is not available, but is somewhere about the year 1729 or 1730, the Duchess of Marlborough lost a favourite grandson, Robert, eldest son of her daughter, Lady Sunderland. He died in Paris in 1729, seven years after his father. Sarah was greatly concerned, and said, if she had only known of his illness, notwithstanding her age and infirmities, she would have gone to Paris to nurse him; she felt sure he was not well treated by the doctors, or

nursed as he ought to have been. The Duchess of Marlborough had much experience in illness, as we have seen, and considered herself a good authority on these

matters.

She wrote to an unknown correspondent :

"WINDSOR LODGE, September 22, 1729.

"In all conditions it must be a very sensible pleasure to receive a very kind letter from so valuable a friend as your Lordship has allways been to me, and I am entirely satisfy'd that the Characters which you are pleased to give of both the dear brothers are very just. I saw myself all that you describe of the Present Lord Sunderland, and I am sure that he had much rather have dyed a younger Brother than have succeeded to a Crown by the loss of one he so dearly and so justly loved. He is perfectly honest, and has his Mother's good nature, with a great many other very good qualities. However, it is a heavy misfortune to me to lose so valuable a man from the only branch in my family that I could ever hope for any satisfaction or the least comfort; but, after the terrible misfortunes that have befallen me (some of which were very uncommon), I believe nothing but distemper will kill. Your Lordship has many relations that will travel, and therefore I will trouble you with some account of a paper, signed by two men that are called Physicians in France, from which I hope those that you wish well will take warning, and rather trust to nature than be directed by men that are so ignorant, as I believe Doctors are abroad, who have acted directly contrary to all the best Physicians that I ever knew in England, who I never saw bleed or Purge but at the very beginning of a feaver; but from the 13th September to the 24th, which is as far as the account mentions, they