The times., 1901-04-21
The Honse of Hanover.

THE Love Of an UnCrowned Queen IS
the title of an interesting collection of
documents and comments relating TO the
life of Sophie Dorothea, consort of George
]. now first published from the originals.
The compiler Of the collection, and the
author Of the biography and comment
which accompanies it, is w II. Wilkins,
Fellow Of the Royal Historical Society.
The papers reproduced are mostly letters
which passed between Sophie Dorothea
aud Philip Christopher. Count Konigs-
mark. and throw much light on history
as mysterious and romantic, in many
ways, as that of Mary Stuart and far
less familiar to the general public. The
history Of the house of Hanover during
the period Immediately preceding and fol
lowing George Is accession to the throne
of England. has never been more dra-
maticaIIy told. and as the author states
in his preface. this WORK is based on many
interesting and authentic papers which
have but lately come TO light The pref
ace which explains the sources and OBJ
ject of the narrative, runs in part as fol-
lows:
In England, Notwithstanding that
Hanover is the cradle of our Kings,
and these unpublished documents have
direct ard personal bearing on the
history of our royal house nothing, or
practically nothing, has been done to
turn them to account. They have been
available for the last thirty years. yet
so far no one has written an English
monograph of that remarkable wo-
man, the Electress Sophia-at least,
not one worthy Of the name.
IN addition, therefore to the inter
est of the subject, the fact that these
HanoVerian papers are practically un-
known to the English public forms
sufficient reason for writing this book.
But apart from the papers in the
Hanoverian archives, ! claim to have
found other important documents
which shed a new light on the mys-
terry of Sophie Dorothea's life. The
dispatches of Sir William Dutton
Colt, of Cresset; Policy, and many of
those of Stepney, freely quoted in
this book, are now published for the
first time. But more important still.
and transcending all in interest, is the
correspondence of Sophie DOrOthea
and kOnigsmaTk. This correspondence
is herein translated from the French
OF the original documents in the pos
session Of the University of Lund, in
Sweden, and ! have further edited and
arranged il. With a view to
doing the work thoroughly, 1 have fol-
lowed as closely As possible the foot
steps Of the princess during her life.
l have visited Celle, where she was
born; Hanover where she lived dur
ing her unhappy married life; and
Ahlden, where, for more than thirty
years, she was consigned to a living
tomb.
The late Miss Agnes Strickland. ii is
well known. brought her lives of the
Queens Of England TO an end with Queen
Anne. In her preface to the final vol
ume. written in lS4S she advances two
reasons for not continuing them fur
ther. First. the lack Of authentic doc
uments and letters, and secondly, be-
cause 'persoBages so near our own
times are not proper subjects for his
torical investigation. The first OBJ
l1.r- far~f he
opening Of the HanOVeri8n archives
and the discovery Of other documents:
TO the second. il may be urged that as
Miss Strickland wrote fifty years ago,
her objection has lost force by the
lapse Of time a princess who died
nearly two centuries ago can hardly
be described as near our own times
For the rest. as the wife Of one of our
Kings Sophie Dorothes belongs to his
tory. There is 10 more impropriety
in writing her life than in writing one
of Anne Boleyn, who also was Queen
ConSort accused of offences which could
never be proved against her, and who
suffered cut Of all proportion TO her
errors. Indeed, there Is even less. for
posterity has learned all Ii is ever like
ly to know about Anne Boleyn, but the
secrecy and Misrepresentation with
which Sophie DOrOthea's memory is
surrounded need the light of impartial
historical investigation. In the biog
raphieS Of the unfortunate princess
hitherto given 10 the world, she ap-
pears either as an injured saint or
most incoTTgible sinner. In point of
fact she was neither, but merely q low
ing woman, very human. and, there
fore not free from faults. but FAR more
sinned against than shining.
a word in conclusion as TO the title
OF this book. In writing Sophie DoTo-
thea's life one must write Of her love,
since without her love her life was
nothing. OF course, in the strictly
legal sense. though consOrt of George
J. she was never Queen Of England any
more than she was Electress Of Han
over, though de jure she was both.
But 10 quote DOran. Sophie DOrOthea,
from the time her husband ascended
the throne. was in some sort of loving
sorrow called by the few left TO love
her. the Queen A Queen though never
acknowledged, a Queen though always
a prisoner. Queen though never
crowned-truly Queen Of tears
1t viii Ice seen from this brief summary
Of the life Of the unhappy wife Of George
/ that the book has much dramatic in
terest, and viii be fascinating to the lover
OF romance. The tnorOughness with
which the author has done his work is
particularly noticeable. Not point in
the ancestry or early surroundings OF
Sophie DorOthea, which could throw any
light upon her life or character has been
omitted, and the Character-drawing is as
careful as it would be in a fine histori-
cal novel. besides being far more accu-
rate In a word. this biography is one OF
those which may be found now and then
among a dry and dusty collection Of rec
oris a book as interesting as any work
0f fiction, and possessing the added
beauty Of truth.
The first chapters are devoted to a
Garefully drawn picture Of life as it was
at the Hanoverian Court in the seven
teenth century, and to character sketche.
of the forebears Of the unfortunate young
princess who became the ancestress Of q
line Of English Kings. There is in the
life Of this German principality, and thai
of its sister State 0f Cellc, very little oi
the glitter and romance which we asso
ciate with the court life Of England al
the same time. Yet there was romance
even here though il had 10 come through
q stranger Of alien blood.
This is the way they lived at Hanover
I'm those days:
At the Schloss Of Celle meals were
served daily IN the great hall, at in
the morning and I in the afternoon.
The retainers were summoned TO
meals by "a tFumpeter on the tower. and
ii they did not appear punctually they
had 70 go without. As they ate a page
went round bidding everyone be quiet
and orderly forbidding all swearing
and rudcness or throwing about Of
bread bones, or roast, or pockeIng OF
the same. The butler was warned
not TO permit noble or simple TO enter
the cellar; the squircs were allowed
beer and 'sleeD-drinks. but wine was
only served al the prince high table
All accounts We're carefully kept and
bills paid weekly. The court was one
big family and the prince was the
father Of his people But this well
ordered household was IN the days Of