Prescott journal. [volume] (Prescott, Wis.) 1861-1871, 1866-01-06
QUEEN CAROLINE.

gossips:
QUEEN CAROLINE.
Her beauty, which had been great at
the time of her marriage, had fallen a
victim to the fatal ravages of the terrible
distemper, which was then so little un-
derstood and so unscientifcally treated,
that it is a matter for wonder that any
survived to bear upon their counter
ances tor life the distinguished sign and
seal with which smallpox" marked the
victims who had escaped its clutches
alive.
The beaming eyes of the queen,
indeed. were as expressive as ever, and
could kindle with interest. melt in sym
pathy, or burn with Indignation and
afiront d majesty from under the royal
brow. Another great beauty which the
queen could boast was the marvellous
symmetry of her ''smali, plump and
graceful hands," a charm by no means
to be despised, and one far less common
than that of pretty face or bright,
rosy complexion. Her personal attri
butes, indeed, were so far from con-
temptible that the king himself, though
a tyTannical and unfaithful husband, fire.
quently declared in public that he had
never yet seen woman whose charms
equalled those of the queen /; and when
he described his own idea of beauty, he
always literally described that of his
own wife. Upon m IRE than one occa-
sion, indeed, he subjected the "good
Howard" herself to exquisite mortifica-
ton on thequeen's account for coming
into't the room as that lady was manipu-
lating the royal head, Ia mental occupa-
ton to which the wife had the power OF
submitting the mistress,) he snatched
off the handkerchief which concealed
the fair and beautifully modelled throat
of the former, saying angrily to Mrs.
Howard as he did SO, .'because You have
an ugly neck yourself, you hide the
queens.
But majesty also has its moments of
self-imposed humiliation and at such
times we hear OF the queen herself rising
meekly aud Offering to retire when the
king and his prime minister, Sir Robert
Walpole, for whom she had great per-
sonal regard. consulted upon business
of the State-.'matters which," says
Horace Walpole, ''she and my father
had previously settled between them.
She was fond of laying out and improv-
ing her garden at Richmond /; and she
managed e(being a clever woman) to
hoodwiBk the king into believing that
the expenses of these improvements
were betrayed out of her privy purse,
while she was, In fact, supplied with
the necessary funds by the aid and con-
nivauce of the first minister of State.
She understood perfectly the art of
managing coarse and tyrannical hus-
band, by an assumed appearance of the
most profound submission and respect
She died, indeed, martyr to this prin-
ciple of implicit and unquesticning ODE
dience to the arbitrary rule of her exact
ing spouse for rather than oppose any
wish or command of his, she under
went hours of fierce torture, and kept
secret within her own breast the pro-
gress of the malady which was soon to
terminate in death.
When suffering from the govt in her
leg she did not hesitate to plunge the
limb SO affected into cold water, that
she might be enabled to attend the king
in his morning walk.
A HIGH TEMPERED DUCHESS.
ssOld Marlborough, she was in Hor-
ace Waltpole's time. zone of her
principal charms" he tells us, twas her
fine, fair hair"
These fair, showering, golden locks
were themselves doomed to be sacrificed
to the passionate temper of their mis-
tress; for Zone day at her toilette, in
anger to her husband, she cut off all
these commanding tresses and flung
them at his face" This curious out
burst of conjugal malce was practiced
| in later years by celebrated beauty
whose husband, like the great duke,
took pride in his wife's magnificent
hair. She cut it off in anger, on pur-
pose to vex him, and was stung to the
heart at his death TO find the fading
relics of that beauty, which with women
is power, carefully concealed IN his
most private and sacred depository.
The temper of this celebrated duchess
was that of an ulmitigated vixen-pas
sionate, violent and malicious. She
feared her superior and trampled hel
interiors and her children. under hel
feet. With her eldest daughter-whc
succeeded her by act of Parliament al
Duchess of Marlborough-she was a
open war. With her youngest, th,
Duchess of Montague, she agreed ne
better. 4 ~ Ga ~
WONDER" said the Duke, her hus
band, with less knowledge of human
nature than of the art iof war, s'tha
Won two cannot agree, you are SO mucl
alike" .a'sf6oSZ EA'fss1
Lady Bateman.,' daughter of th,
Duchess, persuaded her to marry /
handsome young lady. who unlnckily
was the daughter of Lord Trevor, who
had been bitter enemy of his grand
father, the victorious duke. 10 Th,
granddam's. rage exceeded all bounds
Having portrait of Lady Bateman, sh,
bisckened her face, and wrote on it
ssNow her outside is as black as hel
inside" - vtg1A
e This is the last We hear of her from
his graphic pen, excepting few lines
announcing her death, which took plac,
soon after. ''Old Marlborough is dyine
but who can tellp' Last year she hat
lain i'll for great while without speak
ing; her physician said: "She must b,
blistered or she will die" She called
out. ST won't be blistered and I won
die"