The Duchess of Kendal at the time of the accession of George I was forty-seven years of age.  The King’s mother, the Electress Sophia, had commented on her to Mrs. Howard:  “Look at that mawkin, and think of her being my son’s passion.”  If a family portrait, now in the possession of Count Werner Schulenburg, may be trusted, she was what is called “a fine figure of a woman”; she had blue eyes and fair hair.  She was so tall that she was nicknamed in England “the May-pole.”  She was certainly determined to make the most of her opportunities, and the more eager because at the beginning of the reign she was very doubtful whether George I would not have hurriedly to retire to Hanover for good and all.  So doubtful of the likelihood of the duration of the Hanoverian line in this country was she that at first she declined to accompany the Elector, and she only changed her mind when she found the Baroness von Kielmansegg had decided to go to England.  She was in high favour with George, and took every advantage of her influence.  She left an immense fortune, which was acquired in ways into which an eulogistic biographer of the lady would not enquire.  Certainly, she received for her good offices large sums of money from the promoters of the South Sea Act, she accepted bribes to secure peerages, and, it is said on the authority of Sir Robert Walpole, that Bolingbroke presented her with L11,000 to endeavour to secure his restoration to the royal favour.  It may be remarked, en passant, that Spence records that Lady Mary Wortley Montagu said to him:  “I would never be acquainted with Lord Bolingbroke, because I always looked upon him as a vile man.”

Duchess of Kendal was not content with indulging her passion for money; she, in matters of politics, acted as the hidden hand behind the throne—­any services that she rendered were, it is certain, adequately remunerated.  Her ascendancy over the King was unquestionable, and Walpole was compelled to admit that she “was in effect as much Queen of England as ever any was, that he did everything by her.”  She not only used her power in connection with home affairs, but also in matters of foreign policy, and the Count de Broglie, French Minister of the Court of St. James, was urgent in his endeavours to secure her support.

“As the Duchess of Kendal seemed to express a wish to see me often, I have been very attentive to her, being convinced that it is highly essential to the advantage of your Majesty’s service to be on good terms with her, for she is closely united with the three ministers who now govern,” the Count wrote to Louis XV on July 6, 1724, and four days later returned to the subject:  “The more I consider state affairs, the more I am convinced that the Government is entirely in the hands of Mr. Walpole, Lord Townshend, and the Duchess of Newcastle, who are on the best terms with the Duchess of Kendal.  The King visits her every afternoon from five till eight, and it is there that she endeavours to penetrate