e, that
if the English princess became Queen of France she would be expected to
conform to the religion of the State. Political rather than religious
considerations made this settle the matter in the English Court.
George and Caroline had certainly no prejudices themselves in favor of
one form of religion over another, or of any form of religion over
none; but, as they held the English Crown by virtue of their at least
professing to be Protestants, and as the Pretender would most assuredly
have got that Crown if he had even professed to be a Protestant, it did
not seem possible that they could countenance a change of Church on the
part of their daughter. Years passed away and no husband was offering
himself to Anne. Now at last she was determined that she would wait no
longer. Suddenly the Prince of Orange was induced to ask her to be his
wife. She had never seen him; he was known to be ugly and deformed;
King George was opposed to the proposition, and told his daughter that
the prince was the ugliest man in Holland. Anne was determined not to
refuse the offer; she said she would marry him if he were a Dutch
baboon. "Very well," retorted the King, angrily; "you will find him
baboon enough, I can tell you."

The princess persevered, however; she was as firmly resolved to get
married as Miss Hoyden in Vanbrugh's "Relapse." The King sent a
message to Parliament announcing the approaching marriage of his
daughter to the Prince of Orange, and graciously intimating that he
expected the House of Commons to help him to give the princess a
marriage-portion. The loyal Commons undertook to find eighty thousand
pounds, although George was surely rich enough to have paid his
daughter's dowry out {42} of his own pocket. George, however, had not
the remotest notion of doing anything of the kind. The Bill was run
through the House of Commons in a curious sort of way, the vote for the
dowry being thrown in with a little bundle of miscellaneous votes, as
if the House of Commons were rather anxious to keep it out of public
sight, as indeed they probably were. The bridegroom came to England in
November, 1732, and began his career in this country by falling very
ill. It took him months to recover, and it was not until March 24,
1733, that the marriage was celebrated. It must have been admitted by
Anne that her father had not misrepresented the personal appearance of
the Prince of Orange. The Queen shed abundance of tears at t