Biography of William Augustus Hanover 1st Duke Cumberland 1721-1765

Letters of Horace Walpole. 27th July 1752. There are great civil wars in the neighbourhood of Strawberry Hill: [his sister] Princess Emily [aged 41], who succeeded my brother in the rangership of Richmond Park, has imitated her brother William's [aged 31] unpopularity, and disobliged the whole country, by refusal of tickets and liberties, that had always been allowed. They are at law with her, and have printed in the Evening Post a strong Memorial, which she had refused to receive-.³²² The High Sheriff of Surrey, to whom she had denied a ticket, but on better thought had sent one, refused it, and said he had taken his part. Lord Brooke [aged 32]³²³ who had applied for one, was told he could not have one-and to add to the affront, it was signified. that the Princess had refused one to my Lord Chancellor-your old nobility don't understand such comparisons! But the most remarkable event happened to her about three weeks ago. One Mr. Bird, a rich gentleman near the park, was applied to by the late Queen for a piece of ground that lay convenient for a walk she was making: he replied, it was not proper for him to pretend to make a Queen a present; but if she would do what she pleased with the ground, he would be content with the acknowledgment of a key and two bucks a-year. This was religiously observed till the era of her Royal Highness's reign; the bucks were denied, and he himself once shut out, on pretence it was fence-month (the breeding-time, when tickets used to be excluded, keys never.) The Princess soon after was going through his grounds to town; she found a padlock on his gate; she ordered it to be broke open: Mr. Shaw, her deputy, begged a respite, till he could go for the key. He found Mr. Bird at home-"Lord, Sir! here is a strange mistake; the Princess is at the gate, and it is padlocked!" "Mistake! no mistake at all - I made the road: the ground is my own property: her Royal Highness has thought fit to break the agreement which her Royal Mother made with me: nobody goes through my grounds but those I choose should. Translate this to your Florentinese; try if you can make them conceive how pleasant it is to treat blood royal thus!

There are dissensions of more consequence in the same neighbourhood. The tutorhood at Kew is split into factions: the Bishop of Norwich [aged 50] and Lord Harcourt [aged 38] openly at war with Stone [aged 49] and Scott, who are supported by Cresset [aged 38], and countenanced by the Princess and Murray-so my Lord Bolinbroke dead, will govern, which he never could living! It is believed that the Bishop will be banished into the rich bishopric of Durham, which is just vacant-how pleasant to be punished, after teaching the boys a year, with as much as he could have got if he had taught them twenty! Will they ever expect a peaceable prelate, if untractableness is thus punished?

Note 322. The memorial will be found in the Gentleman's Magazine for this year. In December the park was opened by the King's order.-E.

Note 323. Francis Greville, Earl Brooke.

Letters of Horace Walpole. The Opposition set out this winter with trying to call for several negotiations during the war; but the great storm which has so much employed us of late, was stirred up by Colonel Lyttelton; (5) who, having been ill-treated by the Duke, has been dealing with the Prince. He discovered to the House some innovations in the Mutiny-bill, of which, though he could not make much, the Opposition have, and fought the bill for a whole fortnight; during the course of which the world has got much light into many very arbitrary proceedings of the Commander-in-chief,(6) which have been the more believed too by the defection of my Lord Townshend's eldest son, who is one of his aide-de-camps. Though the ministry, by the weight of numbers, have carried their point in a great measure, yet you may be sure great heats have been raised; and those have been still more inflamed by a correspondent practice in a new Navy-bill, brought in by the direction of Lord Sandwich and Lord Anson, but vehemently opposed by half the fleet, headed by Sir Peter Warren, the conqueror of Cape Breton, richer than Anson, and absurd as Vernon. The bill has even been petitioned against, and the mutinous were likely to go great lengths, if' the admiralty had not bought off some by money, and others by relaxing in the material points.- We began upon it yesterday, and are still likely to have a long affair of it-so much for politics: and as for any thing else, I scarce know any thing else. My Lady Huntingdon,(8) the Queen of the Methodists, has got her daughter named for lady of the bedchamber to the Princesses; but it is all off again as she will not let her play at cards on Sundays. It is equally absurd on both sides, to refuse it, or to insist upon it.

(5) Richard, third son of Sir Thomas, and brother of Sir George Lyttelton: he married the Duchess-dowager of Bridgewater, and was afterwards made a knight of the Bath.

(6) William Duke of Cumberland. He was "Captain-general of the Forces," having been so created in 1745.-D.

(7) George Townshend, afterwards the first Marquis of that name and title.-D.

(8) Selina, daughter of Washington, Earl Ferrers, and widow of Theophilus, Earl of Huntingdon.