AGNES STRICKLAND'S
QUEENS OF ENGLAND
BY ROSALIE KAUFMAN
VOL. II.
FULLY ILLUSTRATED
BOSTON
ESTES & LAURIAT
PUBLISHERS
Stack
fcnnex
Copyright, 882, 1894,
BY ESTES AND LAURIAT.
(Ulnfbrrsttg $3rcss:
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.
Stack
Annex
PREFACE.
UP to Queen Anne, this work is based upon Agnes
Strickland's "Queens of England;" but subsequent to
that period many authorities have been consulted, and
only such matter used as would seem appropriate. My
first care was to prepare a narrative which should inter-
est young people, but I have endeavored also to produce
a result that would prove a source, not only of pleasure,
but of profit. The limits of the design make it evident
that some eminent names and noteworthy events could
receive slight mention, or none at all, and that politics
could be introduced only when requisite for the compre-
hension of events that depended on them. It will be a
satisfaction to hope that my readers may be prompted to
independent inquiry.
R. K.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
MARY, FIRST QUEEN-REGNANT OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND . . 15
ELIZABETH, SECOND QUEEN-REGNANT OK ENGLAND AND IRELAND 56
ANNE OK DENMARK, QUEEN OF JAMES I. 113
HENRIETTA MARIA. QUEEN OF CHARLES 1 144
CATHARINE OF BRAGANZA, QUEEN OF CHARLES II. . . .176
MARY BEATRICE OF MODENA, QUEEN OF JAMES II. ... 238
MARY II.. QUEEN-REGENT OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND . 333
ANNE, QUEEN-REGNANT OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND . . 400
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PACE
Park at Stowe .......... Frontispiece
Mary, First Queen- Regnant of England 14
Edward VI 25
Mary refuses to give up Mass 28
Lady Jane Grey 33
Queen Mary plights her troth to Philip 49
Death of Latimer and Ridley 53
Queen Elizabeth ........... 57
Cranmer . . 59
London Street Rainy Day in time of Elizabeth ... 65
Old Palace at Hatfield ... 70
St. James Park 79
Man- Stuart 87
Sir Walter Raleigh 95
Mary's Chamber 98
Destruction of the Armada : 103
Elizabeth boxing Essex on the Ear 107
Anne of Denmark .... in
x List of Illustrations.
CAGE
Door to Holyrood , . . 1 1 5
Castle of Edinburgh 123
The Piscina 131
Drawing-room at Winchester 136
Execution of Sir Walter Raleigh . . . . . . . .141
Henrietta Maria 145
Chateau Fontainebleau . . . . . . . . . .149
The Plague 153
Maple-Durham Church and Mill 163
Catharine of Braganza ......... 179
Cathedral of Guimaraes ....... . . 187
Queen's Bed 199
The Oratory 207
King's Apartment 209
Great Fire in London . . 215
Charles II 221
Chapel in the Tower 227
The Queen's Bower 230
View of Oporto , 233
Mary Beatrice 239
Grande Monarque 247
Versailles z;i
The H6tel de Ville 259
Holyrood . . 267
James II 273
Duke of Monmouth 281
St. Germain . .......... 297
James at the Battle of the Boyne 303
Queen's Drawing-room 308
List of Illustrations, xi
PAGE
Louis XIV. in Old Age 319
Mary II 331
William and Mary 341
Scene in Holland 347
Monument of William at the Hague . . . . . . 351
The Retreat 358
Entrance of William into London 369
Bentinck, Earl of Portland 380
Gardens of William III. 382
Duke and Duchess of Marlborough ....... 391
Anne of England .......... 401
Kensington Palace ........... 405
Hunting Lodge 414
Chapel of Henry VII 427
William Thrown from 'us Horse
The Avon at Bristol
433
445
Hogarth's House . 454
Windsor Forest 470
At Malplaquet . 477
Anger of the Duchess -J Marlborough 481
Shrewsbury /ecei"ing the White Rod 495
STORIES OF THE LIVES
OF
THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND.
COMPILED FROM AGNES STRICKLAND, FOR
YOUNG PEOPLE,
BY ROSALIE KAUFMAN.
MARY, FIRST QUEEN-REGNANT OI- ENGLAND.
THE
QUEENS OF ENGLAND.
CHAPTER I.
MARY, FIRST QUEEN-REGNANT OF ENGLAND
AND IRELA.ND. (A.D. 1516-1558).
MARY was the only child of Henry VIII. and Katherine
of Arragon who lived to maturity. She was born at Green-
wich Palace in 1516, and was placed under the care of her
mother's beloved friend, Margaret Plantagenet, Countess
of Salisbury.
[A.D. 1516.] She was baptized the third day after her
birth, and named for the king's favorite sister.
Mary's mother began her education as soon as she could
speak ; and when she was only three years old she sat up
in state to receive some foreign visitors, and amused them
by playing on the virginals, a musical instrument similar to
a piano. It was in a box about four feet long, with an
ivory key-board of two or three octaves, and was placed on
a table when played upon.
At that time Mary was a bright, merry child, with rosy
complexion and brown eyes, and such a pet with her
parents that she remained with them at Greenwich until
after her fourth birthday.
[A.D. 1522.] While Mary was yet in her cradle a mar-
riage was spoken of for her with Francis I., but her mother
1 6 The Queens of England.
was anxious to see her united to her own nephew, the
Emperor Charles V., who paid a visit to the English
court when he was about twenty-three years old. He was
there nearly five weeks, during which the little princess
became very fond of him, and, young as she was, learned
to consider herself his empress.
He signed a solemn treaty at Windsor to marry her
when she was twelve years old, but was desirous that she
should be sent to Spain for her education. Her parents
would not consent to the separation, but engaged the best
instructors for her, and had a plan of study drawn up by a
Spaniard of deep learning. His rules were rigid ; he re-
quired the young princess to read religious works night
and morning, to translate English into Latin frequently,
and to converse in that language with her teacher. He
implored her never to read books of chivalry or romance,
condemned a long list of light works as injurious to
morals, and recommended instead Plato, Cicero, Seneca's
Maxims, Plutarch, the works of Erasmus, Sir Thomas
More's "Utopia," some of the classic poets, and the
tragedies of Seneca. He deemed card-playing and fine
dressing as injurious as romances, and gave rules for the
pronunciation of Greek and Latin, requiring that lessons in
those languages should be committed to memory every
day, and read over two or three times before the pupil
went to bed.
No wonder the poor child's health and spirits suffered,
for she was only six years old when this system of educa-
tion was enforced.
The Emperor Charles still continued to desire her to
spend part of her time in Spain, but Henry VIII. promised
instead that she should be brought up in England like a
Spanish lady, and should even wear the national dress of
that country. He added, that nobody in all Christendom
1525. Mary of England. 17
could be found to bring her up according to the customs
of Spain better than her mother, who came of a noble
house of that country, and, besides, that the princess was
too young to undertake the voyage.
[A.D. 1525.] During the summer of 1525 a rumor
reached England that Charles V. had engaged himself to
Isabel of Portugal. This was little Mary's first sorrow,
for her maids had persuaded her that she was really in
love. But Charles had heard of the king's intention to
divorce his wife and disinherit his daughter, and was
excessively angry; in consequence, he thought best to
revenge himself on Mary. He wrote a letter filled with
reproaches to Henry, and married Isabel before the end of
the year.
Then Mar) 7 , though only nine years of age, was estab-
lished in a court of her own at Ludlow Castle, in Wales.
She had not been called Princess of Wales, but received
the same honors as though she had.
The Welsh were pleased to have the royal family repre-
sented in their country, and the officers and nobles of
Mary's court superintended the newly-formed legislature.
Sir John Dudley, afterwards Earl of Warwick, was her
chamberlain, and the Countess of Salisbury resided with
her, as she had done from her birth, as head of her estab-
lishment. There were, besides, thirteen ladies of honor,
and a large number of other officers.
Few children are so lovely, bright, and well-behaved as
Maty was at that time, when she had her first lessons in
playing the part of queen, which she was so soon to
unlearn. Probably Henry placed her in the position of
heir-apparent of England, hoping that she would make
a grand match before he disinherited her, otherwise there
could be no reason for it, considering the poverty and con-
tempt she r.uffered later.
1 8 The Queens of England.
Her education went on steadily during the eighteen
months she spent at Ludlow, and great care was taken of
her exercise, diet, dress, and everything pertaining to her
health and morals.
Her father made a desperate attempt to marry her to
Francis I., but he was engaged to the widow of the King
of Portugal, besides he was by no means anxious to marry
a girl eleven years of age.
Spite of the methodical course of Mary's education she
took part in the revelry at her father's court when she was
not more than eleven years old, and danced a ballet with
seven other ladies and eight lords. She also performed in
one of Terence's comedies in the original Latin for the
entertainment of the French ambassadors when they were
at Hampton Court.
[A.D. 1529.] Her misfortunes dated from that period,
for it was then that her mother's divorce began to be pub-
licly discussed.
Katherine was anxious to marry her daughter to Regi-
nald Pole, son of the Countess of Salisbury, but he had no
desire to connect himself with the English court, though
he was always fond of Mary, and gave as excuse that he
had been educated for the church, though he never be-
came either a priest or a monk. He did not hesitate to
express to the king his entire disapproval of the pending
divorce, and thus incurred the royal displeasure to such a
degree that he was obliged to leave England.
For a long time Mary had been her mother's daily com-
panion, but when she was about fifteen years of age she
was separated from her, never to behold her again. This
was such a source of grief to the young girl that she be-
came seriously ill on account of it. Katherine wrote her
daughter loving letters, and tried to console her, for the
loss of her instruction in Latin by assuring her that Dr,
53 2 - Mary of England. 19
Fetherstone was a much better teacher, but she never com-
plained of the cause of their separation in any of her cor-
respondence.
[A.D. 1532.] It was not until after the birth of Eliza-
beth that the king disinherited his daughter Mary, and de-
clared her half-sister his heiress. Then orders were sent
to her to lay aside the name and dignity of princess and
remove to Hatfield, where the nursery of her infant sister
was about to be established.
Mary was but seventeen at this time, but she showed a
good deal of courage, when she told the messenger that
she should not take the slightest notice of the order unless
it were delivered to her in the king's own hand and bore
his signature.
Then she wrote a private letter to her father, asking him
whether he really meant to deprive her of her title. He
did not condescend to reply, but a couple of months later
her household, consisting of no less than three hundred
and sixty persons, was suddenly broken up, and the poor
girl was separated from the Countess of Salisbury and
others, to whose society she had been accustomed during
her whole life.
This was a blow far more bitter than being deprived of
her title. Another trial it was to find herself no more than
a dependent in her sister's household, which was fitted up
with the magnificence she herself had just been robbed of.
The comparison that she was daily forced to draw between
the position of her infant sister and her own was enough
to make her hate the child, but, strange to say, her affection
for it was strong; and good Margaret Bryan, who had been
her nurse, and was now performing the same service for
Elizabeth, did all in her power to soothe the mind of her
former charge, and encourage kindly feelings for her little
sister.
2O The Queens of England.
Mary spent two years of sorrow and suffering at Hatfield
Castle, where her stepmother treated her with extreme un-
kindness, and during that time several persons were sent
to the Tower for calling her " Princess." This no doubt
added greatly to her unhappiness. Besides, she was closely
watched, and although allowed to read and study, writing
was forbidden until after the death of Anne Boleyn, when
in one of her letters she apologized for her bad penman-
ship on the ground that she had had no practice for two
years.
[A.D. 1535.] Her position was so dreadful that most
people pitied her, and the king was heard to mutter such
harsh threats against her that it would not have occasioned
much surprise if her head had been brought to the block.
Her dying mother begged that she might have the satis-
faction of knowing that Mary was near her, even though
she were not permitted to see her, but the tyrant Henry
refused, though the poor girl's health was suffering for want
of her mother's tender care and affection. Even the sad
satisfaction of a last farewell between the dying queen and
her only child was forbidden, and Katherine of Arragon
departed from this world without laying eyes on her
daughter.
Mary wrote her father a congratulatory letter when he
married Jane Seymour, but he took no notice of it, nor
addressed her in any way until she was requested through
his privy councillor to sign a paper renouncing all right to
the throne. She could not have been induced to do this
while her mother lived, but she was so broken down from
sorrow and ill health that she no longer had the power to
resist.
Then she was settled again in a household, with her little
sister, at Hunsdon, which, though comfortable and peace-
ful, was poor and humble compared with what she had
1538- Mary of England. 21
enjoyed at Ludlow Castle. Mary was her own mistress
there for three years, and spent most of the time in study,
dividing off her day as she had been taught to do when
under her mother's care. She studied astronomy, geogra-
phy, natural philosophy, and mathematics, as well as Latin
and Greek authors ; read the church service daily with her
chaplain, did a good deal of needle-work, and practised on
three musical instruments. Latin was the universal lan-
guage, so she spoke it with ease, and could read and write
French, Spanish, and Italian besides.
[A.D. 1537.] She was not admitted to her father's pres-
ence until 1537, when, strange to say, although her tastes
were refined, and her life a busy one, her journal contained
items of high play at cards, and a fondness for betting and
gambling, which was one of the vices of Henry's court,
he himself being one of the greatest gamblers that ever
wore a crown.
[A.D. 1538.] The year 1538 was filled with horrors on
account of the serious insurrections of the Catholics, who
in every case of disturbance demanded that the Princess
Mary should be restored to her royal rank. This certainly
placed her in a dangerous position, and it is rather surpris-
ing 'that she did not have her head chopped off in conse-
quence, for the most dreadful executions took place ; peo-
ple were burnt alive or butchered in cold blood, and
members of some of the noblest families in England per-
ished on the scaffold.
The aged Countess of Salisbury, Mary's beloved friend,
was locked up in the Tower, and all her property taken
from her. She was not spared sufficient means to pur-
chase warm clothing to shelter her infirm limbs, and the
Marchioness of Exeter, with her little son, shared the same
fate, though the boy was too young to have committed any
offence.
22 The Queens of England.
The chief crime of these ladies was their friendship for
Reginald Pole, who was accused of supporting the claims
of Katherine of Arragon, Mary's mother. The existence
of the young princess was rendered miserable by the
wretched fate of those she loved, yet she was powerless to
render them the slightest assistance.
Towards the close of the following year, Wriothesley, the
privy-councillor, was sent to inform her that her father
desired her to receive Duke Philip of Bavaria as a suitor.
But Mary declined because she did not desire to marry at
all, and would on no account ally herself to a Protestant.
[A.D. 1539.] The day after Anne of Cleves made her
public entry into England, Henry appointed Philip Knight
of the Garter on account of his defence of Vienna against
the Turks, and he was the first Protestant who ever re-
ceived that honor. Before he returned to Germany he
presented Mary with a diamond cross, and expressed his
intention of coming to claim her as his bride. She was
spared the hardship of a struggle in opposing him because
Henry's ill treatment of Anne of Cleves prevented the
return of the brave German, who lived and died a bachelor.
[A.D. 1540.] In 1540 Mary was very ill at her brother's
residence ; the cause of it was probably the dreadful events
that took place in England during that and the following
year ; for it was then that all her early friends, including
Dr. Fetherstone and the Countess of Salisbury, were so
shamefully butchered. It must be remembered that these
were people whose lives were in every respect honorable
and virtuous, but they were firmly attached to Queen
Katherine and opposed to Henry in religious matters, and
that was the head and front of their offending.
[A.D. 1543.] In 1543 Mary was present at the marriage
of her father with Katherine Parr, and accompanied the
royal couple when they made their summer trip through
*547- Mary of England. 23
several counties in England. But she was seized with an
attack of her former illness, when she was sent to Ashbridge,
where, with her brother arid sister, she spent the autumn.
While there she worked a chain as a New-year's gift for
her father, and it had to be so large for that corpulent per-
sonage that the materials for it cost twenty pounds.
By the close of the year a delightful change took place
in her life; she was restored to her rightful succession
after Edward VI. by an act of parliament, and took up her
residence at court.
[A.D. 1547.] Having made friends with her father
once more, she continued in favor till the end of his
life, and when he was dying he said to her : " I know well,
my daughter, that fortune has been most adverse to you,
that I have caused you infinite sorrow, and that I have not
given you in marriage as I intended to do ; this was, how-
ever, according to the will of God, or to the unhappy state
of my affairs, or to your own ill-luck ; but I pray you to
take it all in good part, and promise me to be a kind and
loving mother to your brother, whom I shall leave a little
helpless child."
In his will he bequeathed to her the sum of ten thou-
sand pounds towards her marriage portion, and an income
of three thousand pounds a year so long as she remained
unmarried.
He requested that his son should be brought up in the
Catholic faith, which was a serious impediment to the Prot-
estant church in England, and proved the cause of a great
deal of strife among his subjects.
Before parliament met, after King Henry's death, the
Protestant protector, Somerset, had, with Cranmer's assist-
ance, taken decided steps for the establishment of the Re-
formed faith, and Bishop Gardiner was locked up in the
Fleet Prison.
24 The Queens of England.
Mary was very anxious that her brother should be
brought up a Catholic, and had a long controversy in writ-
ing with Somerset on that subject. It seems strange that
her pen should have done any work for the Protestant
church when she always opposed it, yet so it was, and her
name appeared in the preface of the Gospel of St. John as
translator.
[A.D. 1548.] Though Mary seldom attended her bro-
ther's court, she spent the following Christmas with him, and
at that time they were on the most affectionate terms. She
visited him again at St. James' Palace in 1548, and had a
regular suite of reception rooms for her own use, where she
entertained a number of friends in the most sumptuous
style.
Two years later she was so ill that her death was gen-
erally expected. Had she died then how differently would
her name have appeared in history ! The hatred between
Catholics and Protestants would have been less, and the
horrible persecutions in Great Britain for religion's sake
would never have taken place. But it was destined other-
wise.
[A.D. 1550.] During this severe illness Mary had a
long correspondence with Somerset, who urged her to join
the Protestant faith, but she remained firm until, by a sud-
den turn of events, the protector was deposed by Dudley,
Cranmer, and Northampton, who did not rest until they
had brought about his execution. But she had further
struggles to make for her religion ; for when Dudley suc-
ceeded Somerset he had her chaplains arrested, and wanted
to prevent her from having church service at all. She
made an appeal to Charles V., whose ambassador espoused
her cause, and demanded that the Princess Mary should
have her mass. It was refused, whereupon the Emperor
threatened war with England if Mary were not permitted
EDWARD VI.
i55> Mary of England. 27
to worship as she pleased. Several persons, women as
well as men, were burned to death at this period for adher-
ing to the Catholic faith, and the Emperor Charles V. had
several ships off the east coast of England to receive Mary
and convey her to his sister, the Queen of Hungary, for
protection, if necessary. King Edward gave orders that
his sister should be carefully watched lest she might be
stolen away, then invited her to visit him, saying that the
air of Essex was bad for her health, but she refused to
leave.
Throughout the winter the controversy continued with
regard to the form of worship in her chapel, the chief com-
plaint against her being that she permitted all her neigh-
bors to flock there in crowds, and that she had mass
celebrated at the parish churches by her chaplains. At
last she was so persecuted that she resolved to appeal, in
person, to her brother for relief from the interruption his
ministers were causing to her worship. She mounted her
horse, and attended by a train of ladies and gentlemen,
each wearing a black rosary and cross hanging at the side,
rode through Fleet street to Westminster. This display
was very irritating to the Protestant court, but Mary had a
two hours' interview with her brother, with whom she dined,
and with his permission returned to Newhall in Essex the
next day, after taking a most affectionate leave of him. He
treated her very kindly, and made no objection when she
assured him " that her soul was God's, and her faith she
would not change."
King Edward always felt somewhat hurt because she
refused to make long visits at his court; but even had
there been no difference in religious opinions, the forms
and ceremonies imposed on everybody would have been
irksome to one in Mary's poor health.
After the princess had seen her brother she was left
28 The Queens of England.
undisturbed for awhile, and then, without the slightest
warning, Francis Mallet, her head chaplain, was seized
and confined in the Tower, with a person in the same cell
to watch what he said and did. Mallet was a learned
man, and one whom Mary esteemed so highly that when
he was dragged off to prison she wrote to her brother and
his council, complaining of the injustice ; but they took no
notice of her whatever, and she continued to have her
religious service celebrated by her remaining chaplains.
This went on for a few months, when the king and his
council summoned the chief officers of Mary's household
before them, among whom was Rochester, her comptroller,
and charged them to inform their mistress that she must
immediately stop having mass at her court. When they
MARY REFUSES TO GIVE UP MASS.
delivered their message, which they did most unwillingly,
the princess forbade them to repeat it to her chaplains or
to anybody else in her service, and told them that if they
failed to obey her they must cease to consider her their
mistress ; moreover, she would leave the house at once.
She was so much excited during this interview that the
1550- Mary of England. 29
messengers begged her to take a few days to consider the
matter. She did so, but at the end of the specified time
she was firm as ever, and wrote her brother humbly but
decidedly that she would sacrifice her life rather than
what she conceived to be her religious duties.
Edward VI. sent for her officers again, and bade them
to use their influence with Mary's whole household in
order that she might be prevented by them from continuing
the Catholic service. They refused absolutely to interfere,
saying that it was against their consciences, and were
locked up in the Tower forthwith.
Having failed with Mary's officers, the king now decided
to try what his own could accomplish. Accordingly three
of them were sent to her, accompanied by a gentleman
who was to perform the Protestant service for her, whether
she consented or not.
When they informed Mary of their errand she said that
her health was poor and she did not wish to be troubled
with a long interview, particularly as she had already
informed the king by letter of her intention.
They wanted to read her the list of councillors who had
voted that she should not have private mass in her house,
but she would not hear it, and replied, " Rather than use
any other service than that ordained during the life of my
father I will lay my head on the block ; but I am unworthy
to suffer death in so good a cause. And though the good,
sweet king have more knowledge than others of his years,
yet it is not possible for him to be a judge of all things ;
for instance, if ships were to be sent to sea, I am sure you
would not think him able to decide what should be done,
and much less can he, at his age, judge in questions of
divinity. As for my priests, they may act as they choose,
but none of your new service shall be said in any house of
mine, and if any be said in it, I will not tarry in it an
hour."
30 The Queens of England.
When they told her how her officers had refused to
return to her with the second message, she was highly
gratified, and said, " It was not the wisest of councils that
sent her own servants to control her in her own house, for
she was least likely to obey those who had always been
used to obey her." Then she added, " If they refused to
do your message, they are the honestest men I know."
These officers were kept in prison as long as Edward
VI. reigned, but Mary remembered and rewarded their
fidelity afterwards.
After some more useless urging on the part of the king's
councillors, Mary gave them a ring to carry to her brother,
kneeling as she did so, and saying, " that she would die
his true subject and sister, and obey him in all things
except matters of religion ; " then she departed into her
bedchamber.
But the messengers were not satisfied, so they summoned
the chaplains of Mary's household and threatened them
with condign punishment if they performed any service
but that contained in the Common Prayer Book.
The chaplains objected at first, but afterwards promised
to obey. Mary was not baffled yet, for she had hidden
away one of them and he could not be found. While
search was made for him high and low, the king's messen-
gers waited in the courtyard ; and the princess threw open
her window, and laughingly called out to them, " I pray
you ask the lords of the castle that Rochester may shortly
return ; for since his departing I keep the accounts myself,
and lo, I have learned how many loaves of bread be made
of a bushel of wheat ! My father and mother never brought
me up to brewing and baking ! and to be plain with you, I
am a-weary of mine office. If my lords will send my officer
home again, they will do me a pleasure ; otherwise, if they
will send him to prison, beshrew me, if he go not to it mer-
1 S5 2 - Mary of England. 31
rily and with a good will ! And I pray God to send you
well in your souls, and in your bodies too, for some of you
have but weak ones."
The deputation did not care to hear anything more that
Mary had to say, but departed without finding the missing
chaplain, who, not having made any promise, performed
the forbidden service as usual.
[A.D. 1552.] In 1552 King Edward had both the mea-
sles and small-pox, which left him in such a low state of
health that he died the following year.
His true condition was kept secret, and while he was
dangerously ill a splendid bridal festival was held at
Durham House, on the occasion of a double marriage be-
tween Lady Jane Grey and Lord Guildford Dudley, and
between Katherine Grey, sister to Jane, and the heir of
the Earl of Pembroke.
Rather more than a month after this ceremony King
Edward expired. He left a will that disinherited his Cath-
olic sister, Mary, and his Protestant sister, Elizabeth, and
bestowed the crown on Lady Jane Grey. Then the guard
was doubled around the royal apartments, and the late
king's council sent a message to Mary that her brother
was very ill and desired to see her. She was highly
pleased that his affection should have prompted him to
send for her, and set out immediately. Before reaching
the palace, however, she was met by a mysterious messen-
ger in disguise, who informed her that the king was dead,
and that if she fell into the hands of his council she would
be imprisoned in the Tower.
Mary was sorely perplexed, for she asked herself :
" Might not this messenger have been sent by an enemy,
to draw her into a snare, and induce her to proclaim herself
queen while her brother was still alive ? " Such an act
would have been treason, and would, of course, have led
32 The Queens of England.
to her ruin. However, after mature reflection, she resolved
not to despise the warning, but turned from the London
road towards Suffolk. She spent that night at Sawston
Hall, in the neighborhood of Cambridge. Mr. Huddleston,
who was living there, was a zealous Roman Catholic, and
received the princess and her train cheerfully, though he
was well aware that he was taking a risk, for all his neigh-
bors were opposed to Mary, and would not hesitate to
attack him for extending hospitality to her.
His fears were not without foundation, for when the
princess reached the top of the hill early next morning, as
she proceeded on her way, she beheld the whole building
in which she had passed the night in flames. A party
from Cambridge, hearing of her arrival, had set the place
on fire, but had they known of her departure they might
have seized her bodily. " Let it blaze," said Mary, " I
will build Huddleston a better."
She kept her word ; for the present Sawston Hall was
built entirely at her expense.
She travelled all day, and reached her seat of Kenning-
hall, in Norfolk, the same night. By that time Edward's
death was known, and it was necessary for her to assert
her title to the throne at once.
She wrote to the council, expressing her sorrow at her
brother's death, and stating that she knew what their in-
tention had been towards her, but assured them that if they
would proclaim her in London as their sovereign they
should be pardoned.
The following day, July 10, they proclaimed Lady Jane
Grey Queen of England.
Mary was determined to maintain her right, and dis-
played both courage and prudence in the way she set to
work.
She decided to leave Kenninghall, because the country
LADY JANE GREY.
1522- Mary of England. 35
was too open, and the house not strong enough to with-
stand a siege. Two Norfolk gentlemen brought all their
tenantry to her aid, and, mounted on horseback, she pro-
ceeded towards Framlingham, in Suffolk, attended by her
faithful knights and ladies. They arrived at the -castle
before night. It was situated on a hill, surrounded by three
circles of moats, and everything was in thorough repair for
defence, which the valiant knights and armed citizens pre-
pared to undertake. Surrounded by the circling towers of
Framlingham Castle, Mary felt herself a sovereign, indeed,
and defied her enemies by displaying her standard over
the gate tower. She assumed the title of Queen-regnant
of England and Ireland.
CHAPTER II.
[A.D. 1553.] The royal standard of England had not
floated many hours over the towers of Framlingham Castle
before the knights and gentlemen of Suffolk flocked
around Queen Mary, bringing their tenants with them, all
completely armed. About five days later six ships-of-war
sailed along the Suffolk coast towards Yarmouth Roads,
with the intention of besieging Mary's castle.
Sir Henry Jerningham, one of the gentlemen who had
attended her from Norfolk, happened to be at Yarmouth
when the fleet entered the harbor, pretending that they
were forced to do so on account of stormy weather. Sir
Henry boldly went out in a boat to hail them. The sol-
diers on board the ships asked him what he wanted.
"Your captains," replied the courageous knight; "who
are rebels to their lawful Queen Man-."
" If they are," said the men, " we will throw them into
the sea, for we are her true subjects."
The captains surrendered themselves, and Sir Henry
took possession of the ships.
At the same time Sir Edward Hastings was sent to two
counties to raise four thousand men for Queen Jane. As
soon as he had secured them, he proclaimed Mary as his
rightful queen, and thus placed a large force at her disposal,
close to London.
Jane Grey's council, headed by Northumberland, were
terrified when they heard of these two events, and still
more so when placards were posted on the churches a few
36
1553- Mary of England. 37
days later, stating that Mary had been proclaimed Queen
of England and Ireland in every town and city excepting
London. A revolution was the result, which ended in the
arrest of Northumberland, who was sent to the Tower.
Then several of his party hastened to Framlingham to ex-
cuse themselves to Mary. Among these were Dr. Sandys,
Bishop Ridley, Northampton, and Lord Robert Dudley, all
of whom were arrested.
On the last day of July Mary broke up her camp, and
began her triumphant march towards London. Her sister
Elizabeth, at the head of a cavalcade of nobility and
gentry, amounting to a thousand persons, rode out to meet
her.
Queen Mary travelled slowly and stopped many times,
not arriving at her seat of Wanstead until August 3. From
thence she proceeded with great pomp to London.
One of Mary's first acts after she ascended the throne
was to forbid the lord mayor to allow any reading of the
Scriptures or preaching by the curates unless licensed by
her. This was the first blow aimed at the Protestant Church
in England by her.
The trial of Northumberland, and others of his party,
took place August 18, when eleven were condemned to die,
though only the earl and two others were really executed.
Then the ambassadors from Rome urged Mary to bring
Lady Jane Grey to trial, but she replied that she could not
find it in her heart to put her unfortunate kinswoman to
death, for she had been merely a tool in the hands of
others, and her existence could be no possible danger to
herself.
Queen Mary continued to love her sister Elizabeth, took
her with her wherever she went, and never dined in public
without her. She was extremely kind to her Cousin Cour-
tenay too, and appointed a nobleman to instruct and guide
him.
38 The Queens of England.
About the middle of August she had an interview with
the Pope's envoy, and told him that she had concluded a
league with the Emperor, and had made up her mind to
marry his heir, Prince Philip. She also expressed a wish
that her kingdom might be reconciled to Rome, and that
Cardinal Pole be sent to her.
Violent struggles were constantly taking place between
the two church parties for possession of the various
churches and pulpits, many of which were determined by
hand-to-hand rights.
Mary was anxious to restore the supremacy of the pope,
but Bishop Gardiner was opposed to it, and wanted her to
retain her title as head of the English Church. She re-
plied to him : " I have read in Scripture that women are
forbidden to speak in the church. Is it then proper that
your church should have a dumb head ? "
Mary felt the full weight of the responsibility that her
father had assumed for himself, and imposed upon his suc-
cessors by separating the Church of England from the
authority of Rome, and feared to undertake it. The party
that sided with her was the weakest in numbers of the three
that then existed in England. The other two consisted of
the Catholics opposed to the pope, established by Henry
VIII., which was the strongest, and the Protestant Church
of England, established by the regency of Edward VI.
Mary's ministers belonged to the party of Henry VIII.,
and had aided him in his religious persecutions and
his other acts of cruelty, but they had been long used
to governing, and she had no other choice than to retain
them.
It was Cranmer, aided by Somerset, who, after the death
of Henry, established a church on Protestant principles,
and then began the intense hatred between the leaders of
the two parties. If Lady Jane Grey had succeeded to the
'553- Mary of England. 39
throne. Cranmer would have remained in power as Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and the Protestant religion would
undoubtedly have gained the upper hand ; but the Catho-
lic Mary deprived him of his office, and puFGardiner in
power instead. This bishop changed a prison for the seat
of lord-chancellor in an astonishingly short space of time.
Then Cranmer was requested to retire to his house at
Lambeth and live there privately. The Protestants mis-
understood this move, and accused him of joining the
ranks of the enemy, whereupon he published an explana-
tion of his creed. The queen's council regarded this as
an attack on the government, and sent him to the Tower,
where he remained for three years, only to suffer horrible
martyrdom at last.
On one point all parties were agreed, and that was dis-
approval of the queen's engagement to the Prince of Spain.
The Emperor Charles, knowing how strongly Cardinal
Pole would oppose it, stopped him on his journey to Eng-
land and detained him in a German convent until after the
marriage had taken place.
Philip was only twenty-six years old, and would have
preferred a younger wife, but his father thought political
power of far greater importance than domestic happiness,
so he made Mary a formal offer in writing of his son's
hand on the 2oth of September, which took place with a
great deal of regal splendor, magnificent festivities, etc.
Meantime the queen occupied herself in forming her
household, and rewarding the personal friends who had
been faithful to her by placing them in high office. She
also indulged her fondness for music by selecting the best
singers and performers that could be found for her royal
chapel.
Four days after the coronation Mary opened her first
parliament in state, and Bishop Gardiner as lord-chan-
40 The Queens of England.
cellor made an oration showing causes " wherefore the
virtuous and mighty Princess Mar)', by the grace of God,
Queen of England, France, and Ireland, defender of the
faith, and iead of the church, had summoned her parlia-
ment."
They found plenty of work to do in repealing old laws
and establishing new ones. Mary retained her power as
head of the church of Henry VIII. for a year and a half,
but the cruelties of her reign did not begin until she
ceased to have that control.
While parliament sat Lady Jane Grey was brought
to trial and sentenced to death on a charge of high trea-
son. The same sentence was passed on her husband and
Cranmer.
Gardiner's influence over the queen was so powerful
that he induced her to burn the Protestant translations of
the -gospels. Thus, one of Queen Mary's first acts as
head of the church was the destruction of her own learned
work.
Considerable pains were taken by Mary's enemies to
create ill feeling between her and Elizabeth, but without
success, and when the young princess went to live at her
palace at Ashbridge the two sisters parted in the most
friendly manner.
After Elizabeth left, the queen had a severe spell of ill-
ness that confined her to her bed for several weeks.
Early in January Count Egmont came to England as
ambassador from Spain, to conclude the marriage treaty
between Mary and Philip. He was almost torn to pieces
when he landed in Kent, so opposed were all the British
subjects to this union. But the queen was determined to
marry whom she pleased, and after an interview with the
count she told him that he might confer with her minis-
ters.
1554- Mary of England. 41
On the 1 4th the articles of the queen's marriage were
communicated to the lord-mayor and the city of London.
They agreed that each sovereign was to govern his king-
dom separately. None but natives of England were to
hold offices in the queen's court or even in the service of
her husband. If the queen had a child it was to succeed
to her dominions. Her majesty was never to be carried
out of her dominions without her special request, and
Philip was not to engage England in his father's French
wars, nor to appropriate any of the revenue, ships, ammu-
nition, or crown jewels of England.
[A.D. 1554.] The week after these articles became pub-
lic three insurrections broke out in different parts of the
realm. Two of them were soon suppressed, and their
leaders, who had proclaimed Lady Jane Grey queen in
every town, fled ; but the third was headed by Sir Thomas
Wyatt, a young man of twenty-three, who was not so easily
managed. He was a Catholic, but when a boy he had
accompanied his father on an embassy to Spain, and re-
membered how nearly that parent had become a victim to
the inquisition. This made him fear and detest the Span-
ish government, and his motive of revolt was to prevent
similar tyranny from being established in England, by the
marriage of the Queen and Philip of Spain.
Wyatt's rebellion began in Kent, whither Mary sent
the aged Duke of Norfolk with her guards and artillery,
accompanied by five hundred of the London trained com-
panies of soldiers, commanded by Captain Brett. This
person was secretly in league with Wyatt, and actually
went over to his side when they met at Rochester. This
treasonable act caused the loss of the queen's artillery,
and gave such encouragement to the rebels that Wyatt
advanced to Deptford with fifteen thousand men. There
he dictated his own terms, which were that the queen and
42 The Queens of England.
her council were to be surrendered into his hands. Mary
had too much pluck and determination to listen to such an
absurd demand, and prepared for open war.
The whole city was filled with consternation when the
desertion of the Duke of Norfolk's forces was known, for
every one was aware that the defences of the royal resi-
dence at Westminster were weak. All the queen's coun-
cil, chaplains, and bishops went about with a complete
suit of armor underneath their customary clothing, pre-
pared to fight when the time came.
The queen remained calm and collected. She ordered
her horse, and attended by her ladies and councillors, rode
to London, where she made such an eloquent speech, en-
couraging the citizens to stand by her and put down the
rebellion, that the crowd who filled Guildhall and its court
shouted, "God save Queen Mary and the Prince of
Spain ! "
She was then rowed to Westminster, where she held a
council, appointing the Earl of Pembroke general of her
troops, then gathering to defend St. James's Palace and
Whitehall.
In the meantime Wyatt, finding the city too strongly
defended on the river side, decided to move his forces, but
before doing so Winchester House was plundered, and
Bishop Gardiner's books so torn to pieces as to leave not
a single one in his whole library fit for use.
At two o'clock one morning a deserter from the rebels
arrived at the palace of Whitehall with the information
that the enemy would be at Hyde Park Corner within two
hours. The bustle and alarm that ensued may be better
imagined then described. Barricades were raised at the
points liable to attack, guards were stationed at the queen's
chamber-windows and private apartments, and the palace
echoed with the sobs and cries of the ladies. But Mary
'554- Mary of England. 43
did not lose her presence of mind for a moment, and when
her ministers and councillors crowded around her implor-
ing her to take refuge in the Tower, she answered : " That
she would set no example of cowardice ; and if Pembroke
and Clinton proved true to their posts she would not
desert hers."
At four o'clock the drums beat to arms, but the rain was
pouring in torrents on that cold winter's morning, and de-
layed the rebels until nine o'clock. Wyatt divided his
army into three parts, and a desperate battle was the result
of their attack. Queen Mary stood at a window, whence
she not only saw the struggle, but spoke brave words to
the soldiers who came near enough to hear her, and scouted
at any one who approached her with a discouraging report.
Within the palace the utmost terror reigned, the women
running from place to place shrieking, banging doors and
windows, and keeping up an uproar dreadful to hear.
Just before Pembroke made the final charge, which de-
cided the fortune of the day, the queen actually came out
of the palace and stood between two armed men within
range of the enemy's shot.
At last Wyatt sank down in the street exhausted and
discouraged ; he was taken prisoner and locked up in
the Tower. Thus ended the rebellion ; but the conse-
quence of it was that the queen was beset from all sides
with requests for the execution of Lady Jane Grey, who
had been the innocent cause of it. Those who demanded
this execution said that such scenes of fighting and
bloodshed would occur again and again unless the un-
fortunate Lady Jane were put out of the way. Mary yielded
at last, and signed the death warrant of " Guildford Dudley
and his wife," to be executed on the gth of February, two
days later. To Dr. Feckenham, the queen's chaplain, fell
the duty of preparing poor Lady Jane for this hurried
44 The Queens of England.
death. He did not succeed in turning her mind from the
Protestant faith, but he won her friendship and gratitude,
and her last words were of the kindness she had received
from him. *
When told that she was to die so soon, she said: "That
she was prepared to receive her death in any manner it
would please the queen to appoint. Shj shuddered at the
thought, as was natural ; but her spirit would spring rejoic-
ingly into the eternal light, where she hoped the mercy of
God would receive it."
The execution of this lovely, innocent young woman
and her husband is a frightful stain on Mary's name,
even though she was urged to it in order to prevent further
civil wars.
The city presented a ghastly spectacle at that time ; for
the deserters under Brett were all hung, many of them at
their own doors, so that dangling corpses met the eye at
every turn of the street.
The prisoners of Wyatt's army, amounting to five hun-
dred, were led to the tilt-yard at Whitehall, with ropes
about their necks ; then the queen appeared in the gallery
above and pronounced the pardon of all. This is a proof
that Mary was far more merciful than her ministers, who
wanted them brought to trial. She was very lenient in her
conduct towards her sister, Elizabeth, too, when Sir Thomas
Wyatt's confession gave her notice that the princess was
quite as much a competitor for her crown as Lady Jane
Grey had been.
She sent her own litter for Elizabeth, who had been ill,
and had her brought to Whitehall, where she was appointed
a suite of apartments in a secure corner of the palace.
Elizabeth had deceived her sister, and had carried on a
,ecret correspondence with Wyatt and the King of France.
Vfary knew this, but remained her friend, although she
J554- Mary of England. 45
would have no communication with her whatever until she
could clear herself of having taken part in any act of
treason.
Courtenay was in disgrace, also, because he had corre-
sponded with Wyatt, and was locked up in the Tower.
The Spanish ambassador informed Mary that the marriage
treaty between her and Prince Philip could not be con-
cluded until both Elizabeth and Courtenay were punished ;
but the laws of England required an open act of treason
to be proved before a person could be sentenced, and Mary
was determined to abide by them.
However, as no nobleman could be found willing to un-
dertake the dangerous office of watching Elizabeth, she
was imprisoned in the Tower also.
In March Count Egmont returned to England, bringing
Mary an engagement ring from Philip, which he presented
before her whole court. She received it with thanks, and
sent a kind message to the prince, who, she said, had not
yet written to her.
Renaud, the Spanish ambassador, kept continually call-
ing her attention to the fact that Philip would not be safe
in England until the rebels, especially Elizabeth and
Courtenay, had been punished. But Mary put him off with
some general remark each time, and thus dismissed the
unwelcome subject. She had loved her sister from infancy,
and was too constant in her affection to destroy her now.
Gardiner was accused of protecting the princess; but it
was only because of his friendship for Courtenay, with
whom she was implicated in the rebellion, that he refrained
from showing enmity towards her. He was really a friend
to Courtenay, whose family had been martyrs to Catholi-
cism, and for some time had been his fellow-prisoner in
the Tower, where their attachment had been strengthened.
On the 5th of May the queen, having recovered from a
46 The Queens of Engla*
very severe spell of illness, dissolved parliament in person,
and made such an eloquent address that she was interrupted
five or six times by loud shouts of "Long live the queen ! "
and many persons wept.
A couple of weeks later Elizabeth was removed from the
Tower to Woodstock, where she was closely watched by
part of the queen's guard, and Courtenay was sent to
Fotheringay Castle, also under guard.
The same week a Spanish grandee arrived in England to
prepare for the reception of Prince Philip, to whom Queen
Mary had written a letter announcing the consent of her
parliament to their marriage.
The prince embarked for England July 13, and mean-
time Mary retired with her council to Richmond Palace to
decide what station her husband was to occupy. She con-
sidered it her duty to yield implicit obedience ; and this
notion was the cause of many crimes of which she was
guilty later in life.
When she asked whether her name or Philip's should be
placed first in the legal documents, Renaud replied, in-
dignantly, " that neither divine nor human laws would suf-
fer his highness to be named last." She next wished to
know whether he was to be crowned as king. Her council
objected very decidedly, but agreed that the moment he
touched English ground he should have a collar and man-
tle of the Garter worth two thousand pounds.
When the news arrived that the combined fleets of Eng-
land and Spain, amounting to one hundred and sixty sails,
had made the port of Southampton, the queen was at
Windsor Castle. Next day she set out with her bridal ret-
inue for Winchester, where she intended her marriage to
be celebrated.
Don Philip landed July 20, 1554. A crowd of noble-
men received the prince and presented him with the
^554- M.iry of England. 47
Order of the Garter, which was buckled below the knee,
and the blue velvet mantle, fringed with gold and pearls.
He mounted a horse presented by his royal bride, and
rode straight to church, where he returned thanks for his
safe voyage. Then he was conducted to the palace pre-
pared for him.
He was dressed simply in black velvet, his cap being
trimmed with gold chains and a small feather. The shape
of his head denoted ability ; but his complexion was yellow-
ish, his hair thin and sandy, and his eyes small, blue, and
weak, which, added to a most disagreeably gloomy expres-
sion of countenance, rendered Philip of Spain anything but
a handsome man.
The following day being Friday. Don Philip went to mass,
and the English nobles who attended him were much
pleased with his courteous manners.
On Sunday morning, Ruy Gomez de Silva, Philip's Grand
Chamberlain, was sent to Queen Mary with a present of
jewels valued at fifty thousand ducats. After mass the
prince dined in public, and was waited upon by his newly-
appointed English officers. He tried to make himself pop-
ular, told his attendants in Latin that he had come to live
among them like an Englishman, and praised their ale,
which he tasted for the first time in his life.
The bridegroom and his suite mounted their horses and
set out in a drenching rain on Monday morning for Win-
chester. He was escorted by the Earl of Pembroke, with
two hundred and fifty cavaliers, a hundred archers, and
four thousand spectators, who formed a procession.
Don Philip was dressed as usual in black velvet, but on
account of the rain he wore a large red-felt cloak, and a
black hat. About a mile from Winchester two noblemen
from the queen met the bridegroom, attended by six royal
pages, dressed in cloth of gold, and mounted on large Flem-
ish horses.
48 The Queens of England.
Between six and seven o'clock, the procession reached
the city-gate, where the aldermen and mayor presented Don
Philip with the keys of the city, which he returned. A vol-
ley of artillery greeted him, and twelve men, dressed in
red and gold, conducted him to the Dean of Winchester's
house, where he lived until after his marriage.
Having changed his dress for a superb black velvet robe
bordered with diamonds, he went to the cathedral, and
after prayers held his first interview with Queen Mary, who
received him very lovingly.
The next afternoon at three o'clock the queen held a
grand court, gave Don Philip a public audience, and kissed
him in the presence of a large company. Then after they
conversed for a while under the canopy of state, the prince
was conducted to his residence by a torchlight procession.
The marriage was performed next day. One of the
Spanish grandees delivered a solemn oration, in which he
announced that the emperor had resigned the kingdom of
Naples in favor of his son, so that Mary married a king,
not a prince. Then the ceremony proceeded in Latin and
English, after which the royal pair returned hand in hand
from the high altar and seated themselves until the mass
was concluded, when they walked together under the same
canopy to the hall where the banquet was spread.
The seats for Queen Mary and her husband were on a
dais under a canopy, where their table was laid. Below the
dais were various tables for the queen's ladies, the Spanish
grandees, their wives, and the English nobility. Bishop
Gardiner dined at the royal table. A band of musicians
played throughout the meal, and four heralds entered be-
tween the first and second courses and pronounced a Latin
oration in praise of matrimony.
After the banquet King Philip returned thanks to the
council and nobles, and the queen spoke very graciously
QUEEN" MARY PI.ir.HTS IIF.R TROTH TO PHILIP.
Mary of England. 51
in Spanish. At six o'clock the tables were removed and
dancing began, which lasted until nine.
The Spanish fleet sailed for Flanders next day, having
first landed eighty of the most superb horses that ever
were seen for Philip's use. Four of five hundred Span-
iards, among whom were a number of fools and buffoons,
were permitted to remain in England ; but the queen's
marriage articles forbade the presence of a large number,
so the rest were obliged to return home.
Within a week of their marriage the royal couple gave
a sumptuous festival of the Garter at Windsor Castle to
celebrate King Philip's admission to that order. Later
there was a grand hunt, and a large number of deer were
slaughtered.
The usual pageantry attended the public entry into Lon-
don, which was made with an imposing retinue of English
nobles and Spanish grandees. Philip had brought over
enough gold and silver to fill ninety-seven chests, each a
yard and a quarter long. This treasure was piled on
twenty carts and drawn through the city so that everybody
might see it before it was taken to the Tower to be coined.
Festivities were kept up until the Duke of Norfolk died,
when, as Mary had loved him very much, the whole court
was ordered to go into mourning. The queen retired to
Hampton Court, where, with her husband, she lived very
quietly until the opening of her third parliament, in Novem-
ber. Then she rode in procession, King Philip at her
side, to her palace at Whitehall. She was very anxious
that the lands her father had taken from the church should
be restored, but her council would not consent because
they declared she could not support the splendor of her
crown if she deprived herself of these sources of revenue.
She replied, "that she preferred the peace of her con-
science to ten such crowns as England."
52 The Queens of England.
Her reason for requesting the restoration of the church
property was that Cardinal Pole was on his way to visit
her, and she desired to be prepared for whatever instruc-
tions he might bear from the pope.
Every mark of honor was bestowed on Pole when he
arrived. He was rowed up the Thames to Whitehall,
Bishop Gardiner received him at the water-gate, King
Philip at the principal entrance, and Queen Mary herself
at the head of the grand staircase.
On the day appointed for Cardinal Pole's mission to be
made known to parliament the queen was so ill that the
proceedings took place in the audience chamber at White-
hall. Her majesty was carried to the throne, where King
Philip sat at her left hand and Cardinal Pole at the right.
Lord Chancellor Gardiner made the opening address,
introducing the cardinal, who spoke eloquently of his own
sufferings and exile, and pleaded the cause of the Roman
Catholics and of the queen with such good effect that a
petition for a reconciliation with the pope was prepared on
the spot, and duly signed by each of the peers.
This was presented to the royal couple next day, who,
in the presence of parliament, delivered the document
into the hands of the Roman ambassador, who thereupon
solemnly pronounced absolution and benediction on all
present.
During this ceremony Mary's illness returned ; but she
was better by Christmas, which was celebrated with unusual
splendor on account of the royal marriage and of the
recent reconciliation to Rome. The Princess Elizabeth
was enjoying the most friendly relations with her sister at
that period, and took part in the festivities. She sat
beside the queen at the state supper which was given in
the great hall of Westminster, and attended by an assem-
bly of English, Flemish, and Spanish nobles.
554-
Mary of England.
53
The queen's illness had rendered her incapable of gov-
erning, so she can scarcely be held accountable for the
cruel executions that took place, though she certainly took
on measures to prevent them. Philip was the real sove-
DEATH OF LATIMER AND RIDLEY.
reign, and viewed the burning of the two or three hundred
martyrs of the Protestant Church with remarkable com-
placency.
Fortunately for Bishop Coverdale, the translator of the
English Bible, the King of Denmark wrote Queen Mary a
54 The Queens of England.
letter claiming him for a subject, otherwise he too would
have died at the stake.
[A.D. 1555.] The sudden and unexpected abdication of
the Emperor Charles V. called King Philip to Spain to
receive the s.jptre, and before he left Queen Mary re-
moved from Hampton Court to Greenwich Palace. But
whether in England or out of it, Philip was certainly ruler
so long as his wife lived, and minute accounts of all church
and state affairs were submitted to him during his absence.
No power was legally given to him by parliament, but he
coolly took it, and gave important orders without so much
as consulting the queen.
When not under her husband's bad influence Mary re-
stored some wise laws, and the fact that insurrections ceased
in her reign proves that the poor were not so destitute as
they had been during the lives of her father and brother.
Queen Mary was so ill throughout the rest of the
year 1555 that she remained quietly at Greenwich, some-
times making excursions to the country, when she would
enter the cottages of the poor and relieve their wants
without revealing her identity. This was during Philip's
absence; he returned for a short time in 1557 for the
purpose of trying to involve England in a war with
France. But Mary's finances were at a low ebb, and she
did not feel justified in involving her kingdom in the
expenses of a war. Philip's army was mustering near
Calais, and in order to gratify him with as little cost as
possible, she pardoned all the rebels in her prisons on
condition that they would join it also. She raised money
by borrowing small sums from those of her citizens who
had any to spare, and paying them an enormous interest.
Philip left England in the summer and never saw his wife
again. He succeeded in taking possession of Calais, but
the French gained it back a few months later.
1558. Mary of England. 55
Queen Mary was in a most feeble condition when the
Scotch made an invasion in the north of England, never-
theless she expressed her determination to head her army
in person. She had all the energy required for such an
exploit, but was soon convinced that her bodily health for-
bade it. Her troops, under Northumberland and West-
moreland, repulsed the Scotch and gained a decided victory
over them.
The rest of Queen Mary's life was filled with schemes
for the recovery of Calais, a town highly prized by the
English, because it was such an excellent spot for them to
land whenever they desired to invade France. So many
disputes were the result that, in her perplexity, Mary de-
clared, "that should she die Calais would be found writ-
ten upon her heart if her breast were opened."
[A.D. 1558.] Her death was nearer than she suspected,
for she contracted a malarial fever in the autumn of 1558,
from which she did not recover. King Philip sent a mes-
sage and a ring by Count de Feria when he heard of his
wife's illness, and proposed that she should take measures
for tire recognition of her sister Elizabeth as her succes-
sor. Mary complied ; and no sooner had she done so than
her whole court flocked to Hatfield, anxious to prove their
devotion to the princess who was soon to become their
sovereign.
While the last services of the church were being per-
formed for her, on the morning of November 17, Queen
Mary raised her eyes to heaven and expired.
Her devoted and early friend, Cardinal Pole, died two
days later.
The queen's body .was embalmed, and, after lying in
state for a nonth. was interred at Westminster Abbey, on
the north side of Henry Vllth's Chapel.
CHAPTER III.
ELIZABETH, SECOND QUEEN-REGNANT OF ENG-
LAND AND IRELAND. (A.D. 1533-1603.)
ELIZABETH was one of the most learned and distinguished
queens that ever lived, and there is no other about whom
so many celebrated authors have written.
[A.D. 1533.] She was the daughter of Henry VIII. and
Anne Boleyn, who were living at Greenwich Palace at the
time of her birth. When she was four days old her chris-
tening was conducted with great pomp and ceremony, the
lord mayor, all the aldermen and council of the city of
London, besides a great number of knights and lords, being
present.
Granmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, stood godfather
on that occasion, the Duchess of Norfolk and the Mar-
chioness of Dorset being godmothers. The gifts to the
little princess consisted of costly gold cups, bowls, and
salvers.
Elizabeth did not remain with her parents ; for the royal t
nursery was at Hunsdon, where, surrounded by every com-
fort and luxury that an infant could possibly need, she was
lovingly tended by Lady Margaret Bryan. This lady had
also taken charge of the Princess Mary, and had proved
herself to be a woman of such rare sense and excellent
qualities that she was eminently fitted for her post as super-
intendent of the household. While Anne Boleyn lived
King Henry fondled and petted her little daughter ; but
after her head was cut off and her place supplied by an-
56
QUEEN ELIZABETH.
'537-
Elizabeth of England,
59
other wife, his petting was succeeded by neglect and even
cruelty, that must have been a sore trial to the child as well
as to faithful Lady Bryan.
[A.D. 1537.] Elizabeth was seen in public for the first
time when her little brother, Edward VL, was christened.
CRANMER.
She was just four years of age, and the Earl of Hertford
carried her in his arms to the font ; but when the proces-
sion left the chapel the two Princesses, Mar}' and Eliza-
beth, walked out hand in hand, their trains being supported
by noble ladies, who followed close behind.
Fortunately for Elizabeth her early youth was passed in
seclusion, which afforded opportunity for the cultivation of
her mind, and thus prepared her for the exalted position
she was to occupy later.
60 The Queens of England.
She and Prince Edward were warmly attached to each
other, and he, at least, was never happier than while they
were permitted to live together. It was she who gave him
his earliest instruction in walking and talking, and it was
to her that he turned for comfort in all his childish sor-
rows.
[A.D. 1539.] When only six years of age Elizabeth
presented her little brother with a shirt made entirely by
her own hands ; which proves that she must have learned
to handle her needle at a very early age.
As they grew older these children played and studied
together, and Edward relied for advice on " his sweetest
sister," as he loved to call her, until he was separated from
her. It was their custom to rise at daylight and devote a
couple of hours to religious exercises and the reading of
Scripture. After breakfast they studied languages, science,
and the works of the best authors ; then Edward would
seek exercise in the open air, while his sister occupied her-
self with her music or needlework.
Edward's first real source of grief was his separation
from this beloved sister when he ascended the throne. It
was his desire to have her with him even then ; but his sel-
fish councillors, being jealous of any outside influence, in-
terposed to prevent it.
His devotion to Elizabeth lasted until death : she had
been his earliest playmate, and no difference in religious
views had ever risen to interfere with the congeniality that
marked their intercourse. It was different with Mary, who
was a rigid Roman Catholic, and always opposed the Prot-
estant tendencies of her brother and sister.
When Henry VIII. married Anne of Cleves, Elizabeth
wrote her stepmother a most dutiful, affectionate letter, in
which she expressed desire to make her acquaintance. An
opportunity soon offered, when the queen was so charmed
545- Elizabeth of England. 61
with the wit and beauty of the young princess that at the
time of her divorce she requested that they might be per-
mitted the interchange of visits, which was granted.
The next stepmother, Katherine Howard, loved Eliza-
beth too, and treated her with marked tenderness and con-
sideration, giving her the place of honor near the throne
at all public entertainments.
With a view to strengthening the friendly relations be-
tween England and other countries, King Henry tried at
various times to form an alliance for his daughter with sev-
eral powerful princes ; but fortunately for her all his plans
fell through.
Under the guidance of her fourth stepmother, Katherine
Parr, who was a very learned woman, Elizabeth pursued
her studies uninterrupted by any thought of matrimony,
which at so early an age, and planned for state purposes,
must have proved a misfortune.
She lived in retirement with her father's widow for a year
after his death ; and though she set up an independent es-
tablishment of her own when she was fifteen years old, she
and Katherine Parr continued to be fast friends as long as
that lady lived.
[A.D. 1545.] Even at that early age, Elizabeth was
well-informed in geography, architecture, mathematics, and
astronomy, besides being an accomplished Latin and Greek
scholar. She spoke and wrote French, Italian, Spanish,
and Flemish ; but her favorite study was history, to which
she devoted three hours a day.
[A.D. 1553.] She displayed no small amount of shrewd-
ness when her brother died, which was remarkable in so
young a woman. Edward's illness had been concealed
from his sisters by the wily statesmen who kept strict guard
over him, and who had used every effort to foster the ill-
feeling that existed between him and his relations. As
62 The Queens of England.
soon as his death occured they wrote Mary and Elizabeth
that he was seriously ill, and desired their presence at his
bedside. The object was to secure the two princesses, lock
them up in prison, and proclaim Lady Jane Grey successor
to the crown of England ; but Elizabeth, suspecting some
plot, took not the slightest notice of the letters. When
the Duke of Northumberland offered her a liberal sum of
money, besides a tract of land, providing she would resign
her right of succession in favor of Lady Jane Grey, she
replied, " that an agreement must first be made with her
elder sister, during whose life she had no right rior title to
resign."
It was not without a difficult struggle that Mary got
possession of the crown, and while it was going on Eliza-
beth pretended to be desperately ill and remained quietly
at home. No sooner was it assured than she recovered
and went in state, at the head of a large retinue, to welcome
the new queen. Then the two sisters rode side by side, in
grand procession through London, and were, apparently,
on the best of terms. Nobody who witnessed that proces-
sion could fail to observe the contrast between the two royal
ladies. Poor Mary, whose life had thus far been one of sad-
ness, anxiety, and ill-health, sat on her horse almost bent
double, and looking like a woman of middle age, although
she was only twenty. Elizabeth, on the other hand, whose
fine, majestic form and gracious manners won every heart
as she smilingly bowed to the right and left, looked every
inch a queen, and Mary sank into insignificance by her
side. Her face, though not handsome, was pleasing, and
her dark eyes shone with gratification at the attention she
attracted. Throughout her life Elizabeth's delicate, well-
formed hands were a source of pride to her, and she never
lost an opportunity of displaying them to the best advan-
tage.
1539- Elizabeth of England. 63
Within a month the affection that the two sisters enter-
tained for each other was seriously impaired on account of
their difference in religion, which created a great deal of
ill-feeling. Elizabeth refused to attend mass, which, though
gratifying to the Protestants, deeply grieved and offended
Mary.
The state councillors regarded Elizabeth's conduct in
this matter as a mark of disrespect, and wanted to have
her arrested ,- but the queen refused at first to take any ex-
treme measures, and contented herself by turns with threats
and persuasion.
Elizabeth remained firm in her desire to appear as the
heroine of the Reformers, though for the sake of policy she
consented to read several religious books recommended by
the queen, and even accompanied her once or twice to
church. As a reward Mary bestowed many favors on the
princess, and placed her in prominent positions on state
occasions. This was just what Elizabeth sought; for she
knew the importance of keeping herself before the nation,
and never lost an opportunity of appearing as Mary's suc-
cessor. Her manners were so gracious that she became a
great favorite among the court ladies, and thus excited her
sister's jealousy to such a degree that when a charge of
treason was brought against her Mary lent a willing ear to
it. Elizabeth was able to prove her innocence ; but she felt
so indignant at having been suspected that she requested
permission to retire to the country and thus rid herself of
court intrigue.
She took up her abode in her own house at Ashbridge ;
but even there she was not left in peace, for the queen was
anxious to have her marry the Spanish Prince, Philibert of
Savoy, a,nd the King of France was constantly making her
offers of protection and aid if she would only assert her
claim t^ the throne. He even proceeded so far as to advise
64 The Queens of England.
her to go to France, which would have been a most un-
wise move on her part, and wrote her letters in a secret
language. This had the effect of rendering her posi-
tion extremely critical ; but fortunately Elizabeth's judg-
ment was so excellent that she knew how to save herself
from the friends who would unintentionally have done
her more harm, had she taken their advice, than her
enemies.
[A.D. 1554.] She was recalled to court at the time of
the insurrection under Wyatt, because she and Courtenay
were accused of having urged it with a view to getting the
Protestant party into power. She was quite ill when the
summons reached her, but obeyed it as soon as possible,
and chanced to arrive in London on the very day of the
execution of Lady Jane Grey. No doubt she trembled for
the safety of her own head while the queen was daily sign-
ing the death-warrants of those who really had turned
against her or appeared to have done so. The public mind
was in such a state of excitement on account of the nu-
merous executions that were taking place, that many wept
as the young princess rode through the streets attended by
a guard of honor, consisting of a hundred gentlemen, for
they supposed that she was being led to the block. Dressed
in a robe of pure white, Elizabeth sat up in a litter and
looked around with a proud, lofty air. Her youthful ap-
pearance touched many a heart ; but not one arm or voice,
in all the multitude that had assembled to gaze upon her,
was raised in her defence.
With a retinue of six of her ladies, two gentlemen, and
four servants, she was lodged in a wing of Westminster
Palace ; and although she knew that the privy council were
debating as to whether she should be executed or no, she
was unable to get sight of her sister or to plead her cause
in any way.
LONDON STREET, RAINY DAY IN TIME OF ELIZABETH.
1554- Elizabeth of England. 67
Many charges were brought against the princess, but
Mary's conscience forbade the shedding of her sister's
blood ; so, after a few weeks' deliberation, she shut her up
in the Tower.
Elizabeth's letters to the queen, asserting her innocence,
were unnoticed. She was forbidden to use English prayer-
books, and compelled to hear mass. Two of her ladies
who objected to this were dismissed by the queen's orders
and replaced by Catholics. At first she was kept in close
confinement, but after a while her health began to suffer,
and she was permitted to take exercise in a little enclosed
garden.
The officers and servants about the prison were respect-
ful and attentive to the royal lady, and their children would
bring her flowers from time to time. Her love of children
was great throughout her whole life, and their ready sym-
pathy during her imprisonment was most pleasing to her.
One day a little four-year-old child picked up a bunch
of keys and carried them to her in the garden, saying :
" I have brought you the keys now, so you need not always
stay here. You can unlock the gates and go out whenever
you please."
Another child, the son of one of the soldiers, received so
many tokens of reward from the royal prisoner in return
for the bouquets he carried her, that he was, before long,
suspected of acting as messenger between her and her fel-
low-prisoners, Courtenay and Lord Robert Dudley. Such
may not have been the case ; but the boy was prevented
from again seeing the princess, and his father was severely
reprimanded.
Elizabeth could not have regarded Lord Robert Dudley
in the light of a friend when she was sent to the Tower,
because she knew that he had favored Lady Jane Grey's
cause ; therefore, the fact that he was in her good graces
68 The Queens of England.
immediately upon her accession to the throne, proves that
he must, in the interval, have found some means of seeking
and obtaining her pardon. Whether or no notes and mes-
sages passed between them within the walls of the gloomy
Tower can only be conjectured.
At the expiration of a couple of months, Elizabeth was
removed to Woodstock, where her life was less painful,
though she was never allowed to forget that she was a
prisoner under close surveillance. A band of armed men
kept watch around the walls of the palace night and day,
and she was allowed no visitors.
She passed many hours at her needlework, and com-
posed several pieces of poetry, which are scarcely worthy
of being repeated. But her time hung heavily on her
hands, and she was tortured by constant dread of her life
being in danger. One day when sitting in her garden she
heard a milkmaid merrily singing at her work, and said
with a weary sigh : " Ah ! her case is better, and her life is
happier than mine ; would I were a milkmaid, too ! "
With the hope of softening her sister's heart towards her,
Elizabeth attended mass, went to confession, and, with the
advice of Cardinal Pole, even proclaimed herself a Roman
Catholic. She displayed a great deal of self-possession,
when the queen, who still doubted her sincerity, notwith-
standing her professions of religion, caused her to be ques-
tioned as to her opinion of a real Saviour in the sacrament
of the Lord's Supper. She hesitated for only one moment,
then replied in these extempore lines :
" Christ was the word that spake it ;
He took the bread and brake it,
And what his word did make it,
That I believe, and take it."
Elizabeth's policy had the desired effect, and to her
inexpressible delight she was invited to Hampton Court
1555- Elizabeth of England. 69
to spend the Christmas holidays with her sister, the queen.
But a little disappointment awaited her on her arrival
there ; for much to her surprise she was still destined to be
treated as a prisoner, and it was a whole fortnight before
any notice was taken of her being at the palace, or before
any one was admitted to visit her.
[A.D. 1555.] She kept constantly wondering what this
could mean, but had no opportunity of finding out. Quite
unexpectedly one night she was summoned to the presence
of the queen. Trembling with fear, and as to her fate, she
was conducted by torchlight to the royal apartments. On
entering she threw herself at Mary's feet and declared that
she was a most true and loyal subject. In fact, she con-
ducted herself throughout the interview in so submissive a
manner, that at its close she was dismissed with tokens of
affection and a beautiful ring. After that she was relieved
of the presence of the guards and keepers and treated
with marked respect by the principal personages of the
realm.
Although Philip, Mary's husband, could never quite for-
give Elizabeth because she had refused to marry his
friend, Philibert of Savoy, he was extremely kind to her,
and did his part towards rendering the holidays a delight-
ful season of enjoyment for her. At one of the grand
pageants the young princess wore a rich white satin dress,
embroidered all over in large pearls ; and when she made
her appearance in the hall, both Cardinal Pole and the
king kneeled down and kissed her hand.
[A.D. 1556.] The following autumn she went to live at
Hatfield, where, surrounded by her old, attached friends,
she established her household to her own liking. Her
learned instructor, Roger Ascham, was one of the inmates,
and under his guidance Elizabeth resumed her study of
classical literature.
70 The Queens of England.
[A.D. 1557.] In February the queen made her a visit,
and was entertained in a sumptuous manner. There were
daily amusements consisting of performances on the virgin-
OLD PALACE AT HATFIELD.
als, chorus singing, acting, and sumptuous banquets, as
well as hunting parties, in which both the royal ladies took
part.
During the next summer the queen invited Elizabeth to
an entertainment at Richmond. She was conveyed there
m her majesty's own barge, which was richly decorated
with garlands of artificial flowers, and covered with a green
silk canopy embroidered in gold. Four ladies accom-
J 558- Elizabeth of England. 71
panied her, and six boats, containing her retinue, followed.
The queen received her in a magnificent pavilion in her
garden. This pavilion was made in the form of a castle
and covered with purple velvet and cloth of gold, on which
appeared the Spanish coat of arms, in honor of King Philip.
A fine feast was served to the royal ladies, after which a
number of minstrels performed. The next day Elizabeth
returned to Hatfield, where she remained quietly until the
following November, when Queen Mary died, and she was
proclaimed her successor.
[A.D. 1558.] Heralds, stationed at the grand door of
Westminster Palace, as well as at other public places, an-
nounced the new sovereign with the sound of trumpets,
while bells were rung, bonfires lighted, and ale and wine
generously dealt out to the populace by the wealthy
citizens.
All exhibitions of mourning for the dead queen were
quickly replaced by celebrations in honor of the living one,
whose accession was regarded with the keenest interest by
the whole nation.
Elizabeth's first public act, after receiving the privy
council, was to appoint her principal secretary of state.
Her choice was Sir William Cecil, who not only proved
himself a great statesman, but remained Elizabeth's
staunch friend to the day of his death.
On the twenty-eighth day of November the new queen
entered the city of London, attended by a train of about a
thousand nobles, knights, gentlemen, and ladies, and pro-
ceeded to the Charter-house. Next, in accordance with an
ancient custom, she proceeded to the Tower. On that
occasion the streets through which she passed were spread
with fine gravel. The public buildings were hung with rich
tapestry, and guns were fired at regular intervals. The
queen was mounted on her palfry, richly attired in purple
72 The Queens of England.
velvet : a vast concourse of people had gathered to greet her,
and as she approached, preceded by her heralds and great
officers, joyful shouts and acclamations filled the air, while
she gracefully returned the salutations of even the humblest
of her subjects.
At various points the procession halted while the queen
was welcomed with music, speeches, or a chorus of chil-
dren. She seemed pleased with everything, replied to the
addresses, noticed everybody, and frankly expressed her
gratification at the honors that were showered upon her.
Her early misfortunes had taught her a wholesome lesson,
and in adversity she had learned the worth of Words-
worth's immortal words :
" Of friends, however humble, scorn not one."
Attended by Lord Robert Dudley, who had already been
appointed to the lofty position of master of the house,
Elizabeth entered the Tower, once her dungeon, now her
palace, and proceeded straight to her former prison apart-
ment, where falling on her knees she offered up a loud, fer-
vent prayer of thanksgiving.
While passing through the court of the Tower she turned
to those near her, and said: "Some have fallen from
being princes in this land to be prisoners in this place;
I am raised from being a prisoner in this place to be prince
of this land, so I must bear myself thankful to God and
merciful to men."
After a few days in the Tower the queen went to Somer-
set House for a fortnight, and then to the palace of West-
minster, where she spent Christmas.
The next matter of importance that occupied Elizabeth's
attention was her coronation, for which preparations were
already going forward in London. It seems strange that
so learned a woman as Queen Elizabeth should have been
1558- Elizabeth of England. 73
superstitious, but such was indeed the case, and she
scarcely ever took an important step without previously
consulting Doctor Dee, the well-known conjuror.
Consequently Robert Dudley was sent to request this
humbug to appoint a lucky day for the coronation. After
consulting the stars and other heavenly bodies he decided
upon Sunday, January 15.
All the favorite summer residences of the Tudor princes
stood on the banks of the Thames. Therefore, as the
streets of London were narrow and badly paved, it was
the custom of the court to pass from one to the other by
water. The nobility owned their own barges, and the
rowers wore liveries distinguished by the crests and badges
of their employers.
Three days before the solemn and imposing corona-
tion ceremony was to take place, a grand procession of
boats was arranged for the purpose of conducting her
majesty from Westminster to the royal apartments in the
Tower.
Rich tapestries, hangings of silk and velvet, gorgeously
embroidered in gold and silver, hung from the balconies of
the houses all along the route, while gay banners, pennons,
and flags floated from the roofs. All the public and
private barges were drawn forth in grand array, festooned
with garlands of flowers and bright new flags. Bands of
music accompanied the procession, and cannons were fired
during its entire progress.
On the 1 4th the queen's passage through the city took
place. She appeared in a superb chariot, preceded by
trumpeters and heralds in armor, and drawn by richly
caparisoned horses. A retinue of lords and ladies followed
horseback, the latter wearing crimson velvet habits.
The gentlemen wore gowns of velvet or satin richly trimmed
with fur or gold lace, costly gold chains, and caps or hoods
74 The Queens of England.
of material to match the gown, adorned with feathers and
jewels.
Elizabeth did not sit quietly back in her chariot as other
sovereigns did ; she kept constantly acting making
speeches, smiling, pressing her hand to her heart, and rais-
ing her eyes to heaven as occasion seemed to demand.
This peculiar behavior delighted the populace, who showered
their sovereign with nosegays and rent the air with shouts
and cheers. Several times she stopped the procession to
say a few pleasant words to some particularly poor-looking
individual, and a branch of rosemary presented by a
shabbily-dressed old woman occupied a prominent place
in the royal chariot until its arrival at Westminster.
By such trifling actions Elizabeth won the hearts of even
the lowest of her subjects. It was her policy to please,
and no woman was ever more perfect in the art. She
listened with profound attention to the poems and speeches
that accompanied the pageants arranged at different points
along Cheapside, where every house was decorated and
rich carpets covered the path. The pageants were similar
to the triumphal arches of the present day. They were
erected of wood, and had appropriate sentences in Latin
and English inscribed upon them. At each one a child
was stationed to explain to the queen in English verse the
meaning of the device.
One pageant represented an allegory of Time and Truth.
" Who is that old man with the scythe and hour-glass ? "
asked Elizabeth. "Time," was the reply. "Time has
brought me here," she returned. Truth held a Bible which,
at the recital of a particular part of the verse, was let down
by a silken cord into the queen's chariot She received
the volume with both hands, and reverently pressed it to
her heart and lips, declaring in a loud tone that she
thanked the city more for that gift than any other, and
1558- Elizabeth of England. 75
added that she would read it diligently. Equal attention
was bestowed on the other pageants ; and just as she passed
through Temple Bar Elizabeth stood up, and, facing the
crowd, exclaimed in farewell : " Be ye well assured, I will
stand your good queen."
The shouts that arose in response sounded above the
report of the guns.
Next morning the queen appeared at Westminster,
attired in a mantle of crimson velvet, lined and trimmed
with ermine and fastened with cords, tassels, and buttons
of silk and gold. Her jacket and train were also of crimson
velvet, and gold lace adorned her head-dress. She wore no
jewels, and her coronation was remarkable for its sim-
plicity. The Episcopal bishop, Oglethorpe, performed the
ceremony, but he followed the Roman Catholic ritual
without the slightest change. Though Elizabeth was a
Protestant, she raised no objection to the Catholic service
until the following Christmas, when just at the moment for
making her offerings she arose abruptly, and, followed by
her whole retinue, left the chapel. Had any objection
been made to this proceeding she would have pleaded
sudden illness, but finding it universally approved, she
ordered the service to be for the future performed in Eng-
lish, which was never done in the Catholic church.
The learned Doctor Parker was appointed Archbishop
of Canterbury, and it was through his influence that the
Church of England was established nearly in its present
state.
One of the queen's earliest acts was to send friendly
messages to all the Protestant princes of Europe ; at the
same time she assured the pope that she would not inter-
fere with the religious views of any of her subjects. Thus
she hoped to conciliate both parties. As a rule, she was
gracious to her former persecutors ; but to one member of
76 The Queens of England.
Queen Mary's household who had been impertinent to her,
and who hastened to throw himself at her feet as soon as
she was raised to power, she said : " Fear not ; we are of
the nature of the lion, and cannot descend to the destruc-
tion of mice and such small beasts."
Queen Elizabeth made an enemy of Philip, her sister's
widower, by refusing his hand when she was twenty-five
years of age ; but in doing so she announced her determina-
tion never to marry at all.
Her popularity increased to such an extent that the
lower classes idolized her, and the nobles and gentlemen
of her realm were thirsting for an opportunity to risk their
lives in her service.
She appeared in public very frequently, and when her
rowing parties took place crowds flocked to the river banks
to welcome her with music and fireworks. When she
went to Greenwich for the summer all sorts of exhibitions
were planned to furnish an excuse for Londoners to flock
there.
Much of Elizabeth's popularity was due to the fact that
she spared no pains to render the national holidays enjoy-
able to every class of her subjects. Though she, too,
enjoyed the festivities with all the zest of a young, sprightly,
healthy woman, her pleasure was not by any means
unalloyed.
One serious cause of anxiety was the knowledge that
Henry II. of France was constantly trying to place his
daughter-in-law, Mary Stuart, on the throne of England,
and there was a powerful Catholic party who felt her claim
to be a just one. But death soon put an end to the king's
interference, and calmed Elizabeth's fears from that
source.
Then Mary Stuart's husband, Francis II., threatened to
assert her rights ; but he was too sickly and insignificant a
^559- Elizabeth of England 77
person to take the stand his father had done, and death
removed him also out of the way.
So many suitors sought the young queen's hand that we
are reminded of what Shakspeare says of Portia in "The
Merchant of Venice " : " While we shut the gate on a
wooer, another knocks at the door."
[A.D 1559.] Elizabeth coquetted with them, accepted
their numerous and costly presents, made use of them to
further her plans or carry some point with her council, but
never with the slightest intention of marrying any one of
them.
When at last Philip II. married she pretended to feel
dreadfully mortified, and told the Spanish ambassador
" that his king was very inconstant, since he could not wait
four short months to see whether she would change her
mind."
The person most favored by Queen Elizabeth at that
time was Robert Dudley, who afterwards became Earl of
Leicester, and much jealousy was aroused among the
members of the council on account of it. Dudley was
married to Amy Robsart, a beautiful and wealthy heiress,
who nevered appeared at court. For some reason or other
she resided in a solitary country mansion, where she died
quite suddenly. It was given out that an accidental fall
had caused it, but there were strong suspicions of murder,
and Robert Dudley was not held entirely innocent of it.
However, no inquiry was instituted, and the queen would
hear no complaints of her favorite. She took occasion to
remark publicly that as Dudley was at the palace when his
wife died she was convinced of his innocence.
[A.D. 1560.] In 1560 Mistress Montague, her majesty's
silk woman, presented her with a pair of knitted silk stock-
ings, which pleased her so much that she laid aside foreve 1
the cloth kind she had always worn.
78 The Queens of England.
A decided change had taken place in the queen's ward-
robe, for in her youth she was noted for the extreme sim-
plicity of her attire ; but no sooner did she ascend the
throne than she gave full swing to her vanity, and purchased
more finery than any Queen of England had ever done.
She had three thousand dresses and eighty wigs of different
styles and colors. She was positively loaded down with
pearls, jewels, velvets, furs, and embroidery. Her costumes
were neither pretty nor tasteful ; for their object seemed
to be nothing but a display of gaudy colors and showy
jewelry.
Elizabeth's court was conducted with great magnificence,
and those whose duty it was to supply the royal household
were often guilty of robbing and imposing upon the farm-
ers. Complaints were made to her majesty, who always
lent a willing ear to her subjects, and invariably compen-
sated them for their loss. One day, when she was walking
in the fields with her lords and ladies, a sturdy countryman
placed himself in her path, and as she approached called
out in a rude, coarse tone : " Which is the queen ? " She
turned towards him with an encouraging smile ; he repeated
the question, looking from one lady to another, until Eliza-
beth stepped forward and said : " I am thy queen ; what
wouldst thou have with me ? "
" You ! " exclaimed the man with a look of surprise and
admiration. "You are one of the rarest women I ever
saw, and can eat no more than my daughter Madge, who
is thought the finest lass in our parish, though short of you ;
but the Queen Elizabeth I look for devours so many of my
hens, ducks, and capons that I am not able to live."
Now Elizabeth was always indulgent to any one who paid
her compliments, but upon inquiry she found this man to
be both unjust and dishonest, so she had him severely
punished.
ST. JAMES PARK.
i5 61 - Elizabeth of England. 8 1
Among the preparations for Easter it was the queen's
custom to wash the feet of twenty poor women, to each of
whom she gave a new gown and the white cup from which
she had drank to them. The same afternoon she appeared
in Sto James's Park and distributed two thousand silver
coins, valued at eight pence each, among as many poor
men, women, and children. These public acts of charity
endeared the sovereign to her people, for they were
always the occasion of a holiday, and gave the humblest
citizens an opportunity of speaking to her. The coins
thus bestowed were worn by the recipients as precious
amulets, and handed down in their families as heirlooms
in memory of the gracious queen.
Nobody ever visited the palace on any errand whatsoever
without being invited, according to his station in life, to
partake of a meal at one of the tables. No wonder that
Elizabeth was a popular sovereign, and that her's was called
a " golden reign."
In 1560, at great loss to her treasury, she called in all
the base coin that Henry VIII. had caused to be made,
and returned to every person the full vajue in new sterling
silver and gold.
[A.D. 1561.] Late in the summer of 1561 Elizabeth
made a journey through her kingdom, and was received
with public rejoicings and displays wherever she went.
These progresses, as they were called, occurred several
times during Elizabeth's reign, when she was magnificently
entertained at the various mansions of the nobles whom
she honored with her visit.
Queen Elizabeth was so skilled in the art of ruling that
she knew a country was never so sure of enjoying the bless-
ing of peace as when prepared for war, so she took pains
to provide her's with ample means of defence. She gave
orders for gunpowder that had been purchased in other
82 The Queens of England.
countries to be manufactured in England. Engineers and
arsenals were furnished for all the fortified towns along
the coast and the Scottish borders ; forts were built, garri-
sons increased, and the wages of sailors and soldiers
doubled. So many ships-of-war were built, and the navy
was increased to such an extent, that after a reign of four
years England could command a fleet with twenty thousand
men at arms. Strangers called Elizabeth " Queen of the
Sea ; " her own subjects proudly styled her the restorer of
naval glory.
CHAPTER IV.
[A.D. 1562.] QUEEN ELIZABETH either forgot her prom-
ise to the pope, that she would not interfere with the relig
ion of her subjects, or she was unmindful of it, for man}'
were persecuted on account of their adherence to Catholi-
cism. All emblems and pictures of the Catholic church
were abolished ; and as the English artists were not per-
mitted to copy the sacred subjects selected by the Spanish,
Italian, and Flemish masters, pictorial art came to a stand-
still in England.
It was not on account of religion that the Countess of
Lenox, one of the queen's nearest relations, was arrested
and thrown into prison. She was charged with treason
and witchcraft : but the real offence was a secret corre-
spondence with her niece, the Queen of Scots, whom Eliza-
beth hated. She made no secret of this hatred, and was
heard to ask " how it was possible for her to love any one
whose interest it was to see her dead." Nevertheless, she
would never acknowledge Mary's right to the throne. The
fact is, that each of these queens would lavish affectionate
terms on the other .if the interest or caprice of the moment
demanded it ; but each was jealous and suspicious of the
other, and each hated the other in the inmost recesses of
her. heart. Elizabeth was often urged to appoint a suc-
cessor in the event of her death, and if the name of Mary
was mentioned on such an occasion it threw her into a
transport of rage.
84 The Queens of England.
At last a meeting was planned between the two queens,
with the hope of establishing a better state of feeling ; but
the defeat of her army in France under Warwick gave
Elizabeth an excuse for postponing the interview. This
defeat was a sore trial to the queen, and besides the plague
had killed off a great number of the soldiers. They
brought the disease home with them, and during the fol-
lowing year twenty thousand people died of it in London
alone.
[A.D. 1563.] Meanwhile Lady Lenox had been released
from prison, and was secretly trying to make up a match
between Mary Stuart and Lord Henry Darnley. It was
Mary's desire to conciliate Queen Elizabeth just then, so
she sent Sir James Melville to consult her about an offer
of marriage to herself.
While this ambassador was at court Queen Elizabeth
appeared in a different costume each day, and was pleased
when he said that he preferred the Italian style for her be-
cause it displayed her yellow curls to advantage.
She asked him which was the more beautiful, she or
Mary Stuart.
" You are the handsomest queen in England," he replied,
" and ours the handsomest queen in Scotland."
" Which of us is the taller ? " asked Elizabeth.
" Our queen," said Melville.
"Then she is over-tall," returned Elizabeth; "for I am
neither too tall nor too short."
She next asked how Queen Mary passed her time.
" When I left Scotland, she had just come from a High-
land hunt," answered the ambassador ; " but when she has
leisure, she reads, and sometimes plays on the lute and the
virginals."
" Does she play well ? " asked Elizabeth.
" Reasonably well for a queen," was the reply.
1563- Elizabeth of England. 85
Elizabeth had a love for flattery that could never be
satisfied ; the most fulsome compliments were always ac-
ceptable, and those who desired favors at her hands knew
the importance of tickling her vanity. It made her un-
happy to suspect that any one could think Mary Stuart, of
all women, in any particular superior to herself. So on
the evening after the interview with Lord Melville she
managed to perform on the virginals, when she knew that
he was within hearing. It had the desired effect ; for the
ambassador raised the drawing-room curtains to see who
the player was, and delighted the heart of Elizabeth by as-
suring her that she was a much better musician than his
queen.
Fond as Elizabeth was of popularity she never permit-
ted any one to interfere with her. Once when Leicester
attempted to express an opinion contrary to her's regarding
some state matter, she flew into a passion, and said : " I
will have here but one mistress and no master."
This so humiliated the favorite, who had been treated
like a spoiled child for several years, that he absented him-
self from court as much as possible, and finally requested
that he might be sent on a diplomatic mission to France.
But Elizabeth would not comply. She told him that it
would be no great honor to the King of France, were she to
send him her groom; then turning to the French ambas-
sador, who was present, she laughingly added, " I cannot
live without seeing him every day ; he is like my lap-dog :
so soon as he is seen any where they say I am near at hand,
and wherever I am seen he is expected."
Elizabeth was generally kind and grateful to those who
had treated her well in her youth ; but her cruelty towards
Doctor Heath, Archbishop of York, is an exception. The
doctor had been of real service to her ; but so determined
was she to brook no opposition, that when he refused to
86 The Queens of England.
acknowledge her supremacy over the church, she had
shut up in the Tower, and even put to torture, although he
was eighty years of age at the time.
Temper often got the better of this illustrious queen ; and
when such was the case she made coarse, rude speeches to
her attendants as well as members of parliament, which she
regretted in calmer moments.
[A.D. 1564.] When parliament urged her to marry she
answered, " That if they would attend to their own busi-
ness she would perform her's." Such discourteous speeches
won for her a reprimand, which put her in such a rage that
she refused to give satisfaction upon any question that was
laid before her. Later she made a conciliatory speech and
said: "That her successor might perhaps be more wise
and learned than she, but one more careful of the country's
weal they could not have." She bade them " beware how
they again tried their sovereign's patience as they had
done."
Dr. Dee, the conjuror, spent much time at court, and
received many favors from the queen, who even conde-
scended to visit him at his own house. He had a mirror
in which he pretended to read the queen's destiny, and
showed her his laboratory where he was concocting an
elixir of life for her special use. Elizabeth believed in
him, granted him her protection, and finally appointed
him Chancellor of St. Paul's Cathedral. He spent many
years at his foolish trickery, but it is certain that he pro-
duced no compound either for rejuvenating the queen or
for prolonging her life.
[A.D. 1567.] In 1567 Lord Darnley, who had become
Queen Mary's husband, was mysteriously murdered. Lord
Bothwell, who was known to be in love with Mary, was ac-
cused of the crime, in which there was strong grounds
for suspicion that Mary herself assisted. Elizabeth took
MARY STUART.
1568- Elizabeth of England. 89
pains to express no opinion about this matter ; but she, no
doubt, believed, as all Europe did, in Mary's guilt. She
took it upon herself to announce to the Countess of Lenox
the fearful catastrophe that had befallen her son, and did
so in a considerate and sympathetic manner, which formed
a contrast to her former cruelty.
Bothwell was tried, but his guilt could not be proved,
and three months after Lord Darnley's death he and Mary
Stuart were married. This shameful conduct horrified the
Scottish people, and they rose in arms against their queen.
Within a month after the marriage Bothwell was obliged
to fly for his life, and Mary was imprisoned in Lochleven
Castle.
Elizabeth may not have regretted the downfall of Mary
Stuart ; but when she heard of her being a captive, subject
to insults and abuse from her own people, her heart was
touched, and she interposed with the Scottish nobles in
behalf of the unfortunate queen. Her appeal had some
weight, but Mary was compelled to sign a deed of abdica-
tion in favor of her son.
[A.D. 1568.] A year after Lord Darnley's death Mary
made her escape to England, and sought Elizabeth's pro-
tection. She crossed the Frith of Solway in a fishing-boat,
and was conducted to Carlisle, where, though treated with
respect, she soon discovered that she was once more a
prisoner.
Elizabeth's treacherous behavior towards the erring, de-
throned queen who had placed herself in her power was a
crime that has left a foul stain on her memory. But she
had to pay the penalty ; for as most of the Roman Catholics
in the British Isles regarded Mary as the rightful Queen of
England, the realm was filled with plots, revolts, and secret
confederacies that kept her mind constantly on the rack.
Mary begged for permission to seek protection in some
90 The Queens of England.
other country ; but Elizabeth secretly enjoyed the humilia-
tion of her enemy, and was too cautious to restore the
liberty of one whom she had ill treated.
Consequently the royal prisoner was removed to Bolton
Castle, a gloomy fortress, where she was subjected to most
cruel indignities. She was closely watched ; and Elizabeth's
ministers, particularly Burleigh and Leicester, reported
every action that could be distorted into the appearance of
treason. Any partisan of Mary's that could be attacked
was speedily brought to trial, and scaffolds streamed with
the innocent blood of many a victim. Elizabeth's popu-
larity was on the wane, and her numerous acts of injustice,
that laid low the heads of some of the noblest men and
women of her realm, rendered her an object of hatred for
the time being.
[A.D. 1570.] She was thirty-seven years old when
Catherine de Medicis proposed her marriage with Henry
of Anjou, the French prince, who was twenty years younger
than the English queen.
Catherine was one of the worst women that ever lived,
and knew that such a union would be perfectly ridiculous ;
but she was so anxious to secure the crown of the Tudors
and Plantagenets for her son that she pretended sincere
affection for Elizabeth, and was capable of any deception,
intrigue, or even crime to gain her point. Elizabeth, on
the other hand, had such an exalted opinion of her own
perfections that she would acknowledge no obstacle to the
union but religion. In reality, she was too sensible not to
be conscious of the absurdity of uniting herself to a youth
of seventeen, but kept the matter pending for many months
for the purpose of gaining the good-will of France, and of
thus preventing that country from taking steps against
her in the affairs of Scotland and towards the release of
Mary.
*57 3 - Elizabeth of England. 91
Young Henry remained passive for a long time, counting
on Elizabeth's caprice and insincerity for his own escape ;
but when the French ambassador informed him that she
was disposed to consent to the alliance, he declared that
he would not go to England unless he could be allowed
the public profession of the Catholic religion. Of course,
that could not be thought of ; so, to spare herself the indig-
nity of being jilted, Elizabeth announced her determina-
tion never to marry at all.
Meanwhile the Duke of Norfolk united with others in
forming a plot for the liberation of Queen Mary and the
assassination of Elizabeth. It was discovered, and led to
the imprisonment and torture of a large number of people.
The queen declared that she would never release Mary,
and ordered the execution of the duke. But parliament
assured her " that she must lay the axe to the root of the
evil, for she would have neither rest nor security while the
Queen of Scots was in existence."
" What ! " she exclaimed, " Can I put to death the bird,
that to escape the pursuit of the hawk, has fled to my feet
for protection ? Honor and conscience forbid ! "
[A.D. 1572.] Queen Elizabeth was making a visit at
Kenil worth Castle in the summer of 1572, and enjoying
the festivities prepared by Leicester, when news arrived
of that most horrible, most atrocious massacre of St. Bar-
tholomew in France. The tales of horror, related by those
Huguenots who were fortunate enough to escape from
the hands of their pitiless persecutors and seek shelter
in England, aroused the indignation of the Britons to
such a degree that they thirsted to take up arms against
the blood-stained Charles IX., that midnight assassin of
his own subjects.
But the very people who most warmly condemned the
treachery and cruelty of the French now clamored for the
92 The Queens of England.
blood of Mary Stuart, in revenge for the slaughtered Prot-
estants. Burleigh and Leicester terrified the queen with
rumors of plots which had their origin with the royal cap-
tive, until she became convinced that her life was in peril.
After leaving Kenilworth Castle, Elizabeth made her
usual summer progress, and was sumptuously entertained in
each county where she halted. She received presents
ranging from the richest jewels to such useful articles as
gloves, handkerchiefs, stockings, and even night-dresses,
and night-caps. Sir Philip Sidney, the accomplished sol-
dier and statesman, wrote a poem in honor of the queen,
that he recited at one of the entertainments, and then pre-
sented her with a cambric frock, the sleeves and collar of
which were worked in black silk, and edged with gold and
silver lace, and an open worked ruff set with spangles.
One day when the queen was in her barge near Green-
wich a gun was discharged from a neighboring boat, the
bullet passing through both arms of a rower who stood
near her. Every one was shocked, but Elizabeth did not
lose her presence of mind for an instant. Throwing her
scarf to the man she bade him " to be of good cheer, for
he should never want, for the bullet was meant for her
though it had hit him." When the owner of the gun was
examined he persisted that it had gone off by accident.
The queen pardoned him, and said openly : " That she
would never believe anything against her subjects that lov-
ing parents would not believe of their children."
It was generally thought that Elizabeth was a woman of
courage, but once ; although she suffered agony from tooth-
ache for several days and nights, she would not submit to
having the tooth extracted until the old Bishop of London
consented to a similar operation in her presence.
[A.D. 1580.] In 1580 officials were stationed, by the
queen's orders, at the corners of the streets with shears in
Elizabeth of England. 93
their hands to cut off any ruff that exceeded net's in size ;
they were, besides, to shorten the swords of all the gentle-
men who wore longer ones than she had stipulated. The
French ambassador protested, and insisted upon wearing
his sword as long as he pleased. No doubt he thought his
taste quite as good as the queen's, particularly when he
beheld her riding behind six light-gray Hungarian horses,
with their manes and tails dyed deep-orange color.
The same year Francis Drake returned from his voyage
of discovery around the world. Elizabeth honored him
with a visit on board his vessel, and knighted him for the
courage, skill, and perseverance he had displayed.
Much anxiety and alarm were felt in England about this
time on account of political plots and rumors of conspir-
acies against the queen's life ; and the Catholic subjects,
most of whom were ready to raise the standard of revolt
in the name of Mary Stuart, were treated with such sever-
ity that those who could escape sought homes in foreign
lands. Many noblemen were executed or put to the torture.
Ambassadors from France were entertained with all the
splendor that the English court could produce, for the
queen delighted in thus impressing foreign visitors; but
whenever they ventured to intercede for the Queen of
Scots, they were met with an uncontrollable outburst of
rage.
Since Elfzabeth had decided to remain single she would
not give her consent to the marriage of any lady or gentle-
man connected with her court. But Leicester had married
again in spite of her, and had thus placed himself under a
cloud. He excited the royal displeasure still further when
he was acting as military commander in the Low countries,
on account of the regal airs he assumed. He even went
so far as to express his intention to hold a court that
should rival in display that of England. On hearing of
94 The Queens of England.
it, Elizabeth not only forbade Leicester's wife to join him,
but cut off his supplies of money, saying : " I will let the
upstart know how easily the hand that has exalted him can
beat him down to the dust."
Sir Walter Raleigh had succeeded Leicester in Elizabeth's
esteem, and of course excited the bitter jealousy of the
deposed favorite. Raleigh was the younger son of a
country gentleman of small fortune. He was a soldier,
seaman, statesman, poet, philosopher, and wit. His grace
and beauty rendered him particularly attractive to Eliza-
beth, who never could bear a homely person among her
attendants. One day her majesty went out for a walk after
a heavy rain ; arriving at a muddy gutter she stopped to
consider how to get across, when Sir Walter, with courteous
presence of mind, pulled off a handsome plush cloak that
he wore for the first time, and spread it on the ground for
the queen to walk over. She accepted the attention with
pleasure, and rewarded the gentleman with several new
cloaks in place of the one he had ruined for her sake.
It is to Sir Walter Raleigh that England is indebted for
her first possession in America, which, in compliment to his
queen's unmarried state, he named Virginia ; and it was
he who introduced tobacco into England from the newly
discovered coast.
On one occasion he was enjoying the weed himself, when
his servant entered with a tankard of ale. Seeing his mas-
ter enveloped in smoke, that proceeded from his lips, the
simple fellow supposed that some internal fire was destroy
ing his vitals, so he dashed the contents of the tankard full
into Sir Walter's face, and then ran down stairs to alarm the
family before the smoker should be reduced to ashes.
It was Raleigh who first presented the poet Spenser to
the queen, and she was so charmed with his poetic genius
that she gave him a thousand pounds. In return, he made
WALTER RALEIGH.
1856. Elizabeth of England. 97
her the heroine of several poems, and personified her in
three different characters in his celebrated work, entitled
the "Faerie Queen."
[A.D. 1586.] Another plot to assassinate the queen was
laid at Mary Stuart's door, and the councillors repeated
their demands for her execution. But Elizabeth shrank
from appearing directly to bring an anointed sovereign to
the block, though she did not hesitate to subject her to
every species of quiet cruelty. Mary was kept in damp,
unhealthy apartments, deprived of exercise, and on several
occasions compelled to rise from a sick-bed to travel, in
the depth of winter, from one prison to another. Her
health became seriously impaired, but that had no effect
on Elizabeth ; and an insulting letter addressed to her by
the royal prisoner did not tend to soften her heart.
At last Mary was induced by spies, who pretended to be
her friends, to write to the French and Spanish ambassa-
dors requesting aid from their governments. These letters
were intercepted and shown to the queen. Many of Mary's
partisans were arrested , and Walsingham, one of the min-
isters, published a full account of the preparations France
and Spain were making to invade England where, upon
landing, their troops would be joined by all the papists of
the realm.
This excited the indignation of the populace to the ut-
most degree, and both foreign and native Catholics were
in danger in consequence ; even the ambassadors were in-
sulted in their houses. Every heart now warmed towards
the queen ; and when the conspirators were discovered and
locked up in the Tower, the event was celebrated by the
lighting of bonfires and ringing of bells.
At last it was decided that Mary Stuart should have a
trial, if so perfect a farce merits that name. Elizabeth had
said publicly that sire considered the Scottish queen un-
9 8
The Queens of England.
worthy of counsel, and that was in itself enough to condemn
her without a trial.
When the commissioners arrived at Fotheringay, and
ordered Mary to appear before them, she refused to
acknowledge their authority ; but they were armed with a
letter from Elizabeth, which she was compelled to obey.
Mary's deportment in this trying emergency was spirited
and adroit. She told the commissioners "that she had en-
MARY'S CHAMBER.
deavored to gain her liberty, and would continue to do so
as long as she lived ; but that she had never plotted against
the life of the queen."
After pleading for herself for two days, Mary demanded
to be heard before the parliament of England, or the queen
herself and her council. The court was then adjourned,
the whole proceeding reported to Elizabeth, and twelve
days later sentence of death was pronounced on the Scottish
1586. Elizabeth of England. 99
queen. At the next meeting of parliament it was urged
that the sentence should be carried into effect.
At this period Elizabeth behaved with her characteristic
selfishness. She was anxious for Mary's death, and felt no
pity for the object of her fury ; but she feared to appear
before the world as the author of the revenge upon which
she was bent, and sought to make parliament share the
odium of her deed.
The Kings of France and Scotland interceded for Mary
and increased Elizabeth's irresolution ; but Leicester and
Walsingham, well knowing what their fate would be should
Elizabeth chance to die, and thus make way for Mary to
the throne of England, kept urging their sovereign to sign
the death-warrant. At last she yielded ; but no sooner had
she done so than she fell into a state of melancholy, and
secretly urged one of the castellans of Fotheringay to
murder his hapless charge. She was willing to resort to
any means of getting Mary out of the way, providing she
could preserve her own reputation by putting the blame on
others. But she was not to be gratified, and on the 8th of
February the execution took place in due form. Not one
of the council had the courage to inform the queen that
the bloody deed was accomplished. In the evening she
asked " what meant the bonfires and the merry ringing of
the bells ? " The answer stunned her for a moment ; then
she burst into a passionate fit of weeping, sharply rebuked
her council and bade them quit her sight at once, saying
that she had never commanded nor intended the execution
of Mary Stuart.
This may have been hypocrisy ; but more likely it was
remorse for a needless, outrageous, barbarous act.
Elizabeth wrote to James VI. of Scotland, professing
her innocence of the "miserable accident," as she was
pleased to term the murder of his mother, and assuring
ioo The Queens of England.
him of her affection for himself. To the French ambassa-
dor she said that the death of her kinswoman was the
greatest misfortune of her life, and that although she had
signed the death-warrant to gratify her subjects, she had
never meant to carry it into effect. She added that her
council had played her a trick which would have cost them
their heads, did she not believe that they had acted for the
welfare of herself and the state. After Mary Stuart's
death there seemed to be an end to conspiracies for a while,
and no very important event occupied the queen's mind
until she began to make preparations to defend herself
against the invasion of the grand Spanish army, called the
Invincible Armada. She showed herself on this occasion
worthy to be the queen and heroine of a nation that were
eager to prove their devotion and loyalty.
[A.D. 1588.] The despised, disgraced Earl of Leicester,
who had by this time regained his place in the royal favor,
was appointed commander-in-chief of the army at Tilbury.
Lord Hunsdon commanded the queen's body-guard for the
defence of London, and Sir Francis Drake was appointed
vice-admiral.
Elizabeth took up her abode at Havering Bower, a place
selected for her by Leicester, situated between the rear
and van of her army. There she appeared as warrior and
queen. Mounted on a noble charger, with a general's
truncheon in her hand, a polished steel corselet over her
magnificent apparel, and a page in attendance bearing her
white plumed helmet, she rode bareheaded from rank to
rank, addressing her soldiers with words of encouragement
and hope. She was greeted with loud shouts of applause
by her admiring subjects, who felt it an honor to fight for
such a noble, courageous sovereign.
The Spaniards had flattered themselves that with an
army equipped as their's was it would require only one
X 588. Elizabeth of England. IO!
fight by sea and one on land to achieve the conquest of
England ; but they soon found their mistake, and not a
single Spaniard set foot on English soil except as a pris-
oner.
The Spanish Armada was soon scattered, and victory
was declared for England.
Immense crowds gathered to welcome the queen on her
return to Westminster. She was then fifty-five years of age,
at the height of her glory, and beloved by her subjects,
whom she had ruled for thirty years, and who had united,
one and all, Catholic and Protestant, to support her in vin-
dicating the honor of England.
Her first act was to reward her brave commanders and
provide for the wounded seamen. Upon Leicester she
would have bestowed the highest office ever held by an Eng-
lish subject, that of lord-lieutenant of England and Ire-
land ; but, much to the satisfaction of the other states-
men, he died before the patent could be made out. A
series of thanksgivings Were observed in London to com-
memorate the victory, and the queen was presented with a
number of rich and valuable gifts.
Queen Elizabeth was never an idle woman. Long be-
fore day, in winter, she transacted business with her secre-
taries of state, heard public documents, and gave her
orders concerning them. After breakfast she would prom-
enade in her garden or the corridors of the palace, as the
weather prompted, attended by some learned gentlemen
of the court, with whom she discussed intellectual topics,
and a portion of each day was devoted to study.
She observed strictly all the fast-days prescribed by the
church. She was a moderate eater, and seldom drank
anything but beer ; when she dined in public the table
was magnificently spread, with a profusion of costly plate,
for she was fond of displaying her riches, particularly be-
IO2 The Queens of England.
fore foreign ambassadors. Her cup-bearer always served
her on his knees, and music and singing accompanied the
banquet.
At supper, when the cares of the day were over, the queen
would chat freely and pleasantly with her court, and the
evenings were passed with chess-playing, music, or recita-
tions and stories by the famous comedian, Tarleton, and
others. She was fond of apes and dogs, but, beyond all, of
children, with whom she loved to talk and amuse herself.
As a rule, Elizabeth treated her attendants well ; but
when her temper got the upper hand, which was not
seldom, she descended to the level of a common virago,
and more than once struck some maid of honor for a
trifling offence. But these outbursts of rage were reserved
for the people of the palace ; her other subjects witnessed
only sweetness and good humor.
Her impulses were good, as she proved in the case of
Margaret Lamb.run, a Scottish woman, whose husband was
supposed to have died of grief because of the tragic fate
of the Queen of Scots, in whose service he was. Margaret
took the desperate resolution to avenge his death ; so, dis-
guised in male attire, she proceeded, with a concealed
brace of pistols, to the English court, with the intention of
killing the queen with one and herself with the other.
One day, when her majesty was walking in the garden of
the palace, Margaret made her way through the crowd so
as to get near enough to make sure of her aim, but in her
excitement she dropped one of the pistols. She was in-
stantly seized, and would have been hurried away to prison
but Elizabeth said "she would examine the young man
herself."
[A.D. 1589.] When brought before her Margaret
bravely acknowledged who she was, her intended action,
and its cause. The queen heard her patiently ; then not
DESTRUCTION OF THE ARMADA.
i59 2 - Elizabeth of England. 105
only granted her a full pardon, but provided her with an
escort to France, as she had requested.
Many persecutions on the score of religion succeeded
the victory over the Spanish Armada, and one of the
greatest grievances of Elizabeth's reign was known as the
privy seal loans. Whenever an individual was known to
have amassed a sum of money her majesty's ministers
would borrow for the royal treasury. To be sure, they
paid a liberal interest ; but there was no security for the
principal, besides the sovereign's promise to pay, which, it
is easy to see, would have been valueless in the event of
deat*
' After the death of Leicester, Essex, who had been
created Knight of the Garter, succeeded to the queen's
favor ; but while she was showing him the utmost considera-
tion he excited her wrath by marrying the widow of Sir
Philip Sidney, the illustrious soldier and statesman, who
had been killed at the battle of Zutphen. He was at once
replaced by Sir Robert Cecil, and when Henry III. sent
to England for aid to defend himself against the Spanish
invaders, he injured his cause by saying that Essex ap-
proved of his demand ; for Elizabeth replied, " That the
Earl of Essex would have it thought that he ruled the
realm, but that nothing was more untrue ; that she would
make him the most pitiful fellow in the realm, and instead
of sending the King of France more troops, she would re-
call all those she had already lent him." Having said this
she haughtily swept out of the room, and would have noth-
ing further to say to the ambassador.
[A.D. 1592.] Later, when Essex showed prompt obedi-
ence at the queen's command for his return to England,
she was so pleased that she entertained him with feasts,
and sent him back to France honored with the highest dis-
tinction. Every request he made was granted almost before
IO6 The Queens of England.
it was considered. Nevertheless, Elizabeth's capricious
nature asserted itself when Ireland was in a state of revolt,
and there was difficulty in finding some one to fill the post
of lord-deputy over the distracted country. On that occa-
sion Essex peremptorily insisted that Sir George Carevv
was the proper man. for the office,- whereupon, forgetting
how by numerous indulgences she had encouraged him to
speak freely, Elizabeth felt so offended at his positive tone
that she lost her self-control, and giving him a sound box
on the ear, bade him " go and be hanged."
Essex was so indignant that he swore a horrible oath, and
impertinently adding something about " a king in petti-
coats."
Later the royal mind was changed again, and he was
sent as lord-deputy to Ireland.
While there, he was so unmindful of the queen's orders
that he was accused of treason, and on his return shut up
in the Tower. He had many enemies, and Cecil so preju-
diced the queen and her court against him that he was
condemned to die.
[A.D. 1601.] Elizabeth hesitated as long as possible
before signing his death-warrant. She had given Essex a
ring when he was in favor, with the promise that if ever
he offended her the sight of that token would insure for-
giveness. The imprisoned statesman did send the ring by
a boy who chanced to pass his prison window one morn-
ing ; but by an unlucky accident it fell into the hands of
the lord-admiral, a deadly foe of Essex, who said nothing
about it. The queen concluding that her former favorite
was too proud to sue for forgiveness, because the ring she
had been expecting did not reach her, ordered the execu-
tion to proceed.
The English nation could not forgive the death of the
generous and gallant nobleman, and the queen was no
ELIZABETH BOXING ESSEX ON THE EAR.
1603. Elizabeth of England. 109
longer received with cheers when she appeared in public.
She did not fail to notice the change in her subject's feel-
ings towards her, and this made her excessively unhappy.
A deep depression took possession of her, and though she
tried to appear gay her heart was very heavy. Several at-
tempts were made on her life from time to time as she ad-
vanced in years, but fortunately each was frustrated.
Literature made rapid strides during Queen Elizabeth's
reign, particularly all that was written in Italian, which
language her majesty understood well. Many dramatists
rose to distinction at this period, the greatest being Wil-
liam Shakspeare. Spenser and Sir Philip Sidney added
lustre to this reign also.
Elizabeth's last parliament was summoned in the autumn
of 1 60 1. She performed the ceremony with more than her
customary display ; but she was in such feeble health as to
be unable to support the weight of the royal robes, and
she was actually sinking to the ground when a nobleman,
who stood near, caught her and supported her in his arms.
She rallied and went through the fatiguing ceremony with
her usual dignity and grace.
The science of medicine was in such a rude condition in
the sixteenth century that the wealthy were treated with
doses of pulverized jewels or gold. The poor had the best
of it ; for they were obliged to depend on herbs and oint-
ments, which certainly must have been more efficacious.
Queen Elizabeth had so little confidence in doctors or
their prescriptions that she could not be induced to consult
them even when she was very ill.
[A.D. 1603.] Her last sickness began in March, 1603,
and when she was urged to seek medical aid, she angrily
replied : " That she knew her own constitution better than
anybody else, and that she was not in such danger as they
imagined." She grew worse, however, and died two weeks
1 10 The Queens of England,
later, in the seventieth year of her age, and the forty-fourth
of her reign.
She was buried in Westminster Abbey in the same grave
with her sister. Mary Tudor. Her successor, James I.-
erected a monument to her memory. On a slab of puri
white marble the effigy of this remarkable queen lies be-
neath a stately canopy. Her head rests on embroidered
cushions, her feet on a couchant lion. Royal robes haug
around her form in classic folds, and her closely curled
hair is covered with a simple cap. She has no crown, >he
sceptre has been broken from one hand, also the cross
from the imperial orb which she holds in the other.
That learned English philosopher, Lord Bacon, has
written of Queen Elizabeth : " She was pious, moderate,
constant, and an enemy to novelty. She hated vice, and
studied to preserve an honorable name. No age has evei
produced her like for the government of a kingdom."
ANNE OF DENMARK.
CHAPTER V.
ANNE OF DENMARK, QUEEN-CONSORT OF JAMES
THE FIRST. (A.D. 1575-1618.)
%
ANNE OF DENMARK was certainly less intellectual than
some of her predecessors, and on many occasions showed
herself wanting in judgment and common sense; but her
political position was of immense importance, because she
w&s the wife of the first monarch who ruled over the whole
of the British isles. The Orkney and Shetland islands had
fallen into the hands of the Danish King during the pre-
ceding century, and were yielded to James VI. of Scotland
on condition of his marrying the Princess Anne.
These islands were of value because of their geographi
cal position ; for they had become the rendezvous of pirates,
who found them convenient headquarters whence their
raids could be made along the British coast.
Princess Anne's parents were Frederic II. of Denmark,
one of the richest princes of Europe, and Sophia, a woman
loved and admired for her domestic virtues. These royal
parents had such luxurious ideas about the rearing of their
children that although Anne was a -strong, healthy child,
well-formed in every respect, she was never permitted to
walk until she was nine years of age.
[A.D 1585.] Negotiations for her marriage began when
she was ten ; and then it was thought proper to teach her
to sew, read, and dance, before she could be regarded as
;.r. accomplished maid.
"3
114 The Queens of England.
James VI. was born at Edinburgh Castle, but the poor
little unfortunate was early deprived of parental care ; for
while he was yet a baby his father, Lord Darnley, was
killed, and his luckless mother, Mary Stuart, was forced to
seek refuge in England.
At the early age of fourteen months James was pro-
claimed King of Scotland. On that occasion the Earl of
Marr, his guardian, carried the infant in procession and
placed him on the throne ; another peer held the crown
above his head, while a third placed the globe and sceptre
in his little hands, and Lord Marr repeated the necessary
oath in the name of the little one, who was then carried
back to his nursery.
Of course little James was only king in name, for many
years would have to pass before he would be fit to under-
take the reins of government. Meanwhile, his uncle, the
Earl of Murray, was appointed to act a,s regent. Unfortu-
nately for the young king, he had a nurse who was by no
means capable of taking charge of him, for she drank to
excess and never controlled him or his diet properly. The
consequence was that he developed slowly, and was such a
weakling that he was full five years old before he could
walk, and throughout his life his limbs were never as strong
as they ought to have been. This defect may have been
partly due, however, to the absurd manner of dressing in-
fants three centuries ago in Scotland ; for as soon as they
were born they were swathed in bandages, with their arms
bound down to their side and their legs close together and
straight out, precisely after the manner of an Egyptian
mummy. Is it any wonder that they were long in discov-
ering the use of their limbs ? In some parts of Germany
babies are subjected to this cruel swaddling to the present
day, but the arms are left free, and fortunately the custom
is gradually going out of favor.
DOOR TO HOLYROOD.
I57 1 - Anne of Denmark. 117
Though backward in the use of his legs, little James
talked wonderfully well, and soon learned to ask questions
that were difficult to answer, and to make remarks that
often seemed most profound for one of his age
[A.D. 1571.] He was just four years when he was
called upon to perform regal duty by convening parliament.
The Earl of Marr carried him to the grand Gothic hall of
Stirling Castle, and placed him on the throne. He seemed
impressed at the numerous assemblage of lords and gen-
tlemen, but looked around as though to familiarize himself
with the scene, and when the proper time came recited the
speech that had been drilled into him beforehand. But he
added a little impromptu speech of his own, for his eyes
rested on a hole in the canopy above the throne, and he
exclaimed aloud in his childish voice : "There is ane hole
in this parliament." In the present day such a remark
from the lips of a little boy might excite a smile, but cer-
tainly no great importance would be attached to it, but in
the year 1571 the Scotch were very superstitious, and so
they gazed at the infant monarch with amazement. " What
could he possibly mean ? " asked the wise lords of one
another ; for they never for one moment doubted that the
spirit of prophesy had prompted the remark, and that the
king foresaw an awful decrease in their numbers to be made
by death.
In the course of the year the Earl of Lenox, James's
grandfather, was killed, and that justified the royal child's
remark in the eyes of the superstitious. The old earl was
on his way to visit James, when he was stabbed in the back
by conspirators. The brave Earl of Marr, attracted by the
dying man's groans, rushed out from Stirling Castle with
his servants and carried him to a place of safety. " Is the
babe attacked ? " asked the old man, and on being assured,
that he alone was the sufferer, he replied, with a sigh of
Ii8 The Queens of England.
relief, " Then all is well," and died soon after with perfect
resignation.
The Earl of Marr was tutor to the king until he died,
when he was succeeded by George Buchanan, a bad,
morose, capricious man, who had such rigid ideas with re-
gard to discipline that old Lady Marr, the earl's mother,
often wept on account of his cruel treatment towards his
pupil.
James had been removed to Stirling Castle during his
infancy, and there he passed his youth. His favorite com-
panion was Thomas Erskine, his foster-brother, who hap-
pened to be born on the same day as the young king, whose
cradle and spofts he shared. Another playmate was the
young Earl of Marr, for whom James formed an attach-
ment so warm and true that it lasted to the end of his
life.
[A.D. 1577.] The civil and religious wars that were
raging in Scotland had their effect on the young king, and,
to some extent, appear to have injured his character ; for
he was, in consequence, under the control of some people
whose influence was bad, and prompted him to authorita-
tive manners that were out of place in one so young, and
made him appear in a false light.
As he grew older he would at times pretend to be an
imbecile, merely from a spirit of perversity ; but he was
neither a fool nor a coward, as he proved later.
He was only sixteen years of age when the Earl of
Cowrie captured him, but he managed to make his escape
and seek the protection of his great-uncle, the Earl of
March. A revolution succeeded, and Cowrie was beheaded
soon after.
[A.D. 1580.] Three years later, Frederic II. of Den-
mark sent ambassadors to Scotland to offer to the young
king the hand of his second daughter in marriage. Queen
1589- Anne of Denmark. 1 19
Elizabeth opposed this alliance so violently that the mar-
riage-treaty was delayed several years. She ought to have
been pleased at the prospect of a Protestant wife for the
future King of England, but it was her peculiarity to break
off every match that she could influence.
Meanwhile, Henry of Navarre offered his sister Cather-
ine for a wife to James ; but as she was many years older
than the young king, and as Anne of Denmark was just
sixteen, and a miniature that had been sent to Scotland
represented her as being very beautiful, the decision was
quickly made in her favor.
Before the necessary arrangements could be completed
her father, King Frederic, died.
[A.D. 1589.] The Earl-marischal of Scotland, accom-
panied by other dignitaries, proceeded, as proxies for
James, with a noble fleet, to claim the young princess and
carry her to Scotland. They were received with great joy
by Queen Sophia, who, with Princess Anne, met them at
the fortress of Corenburg. There the bride embarked on
board a ship commanded by the Danish admiral, Peter
Munch, who, with a fleet of eleven other fine ships, set sail
for Scotland. It was in the month of September, and the
sea was so rough that although the squadron sighted land
in due season contrary winds blew them to the coast of
Norway. Instead of attributing this occurrence to natural
causes, Peter Munch was in a dreadful state of perplexity,,
and began to consider what witches he had offended to
such an extent as to induce them to raise the winds and
waves so that he could not bring the young queen to Scot-
land. Suddenly it occurred to him- that he had boxed the
ears of an officer at Copenhagen, whose wife was a well-
known witch. He felt satisfied then that in order to avenge
the insult to her husband the witch-wife had tampered with
the winds, and so the unfortunate creature was burnt alive
when he got back home.
I2O The Queens of England.
Having once determined that they were bewitched, noth-
ing went well with the fleet, and a series of disasters re-
duced ten of the ships to such a deplorable condition that
they returned to Denmark. The one in which the queen
had sailed took refuge in a harbor on the coast of Norway,
where, as the cold weather had already set in, there was
every prospect that the bride would have to stay all the
winter. She wrote an account of her sufferings to the
King of Scotland, which a young Dane undertook to de-
liver in spite of witches and weather.
While expecting his wife King James had made grand
preparations for her reception, and he was so disappointed
at her delay that he resolved to go himself to fetch her.
Now this was a brave undertaking, for the best ship that
could be furnished was a miserable bark, scarcely fit to brave
the wintry storms of the German ocean ; however, a pros-
perous breeze favored the courageous king until he ap-
proached the Norwegian coast. He had enjoyed four days
of fine weather, but on the fifth a furious tempest sprang
up, and for twenty-four hours the royal bark was in danger
of wreck. At last she ran into a little harbor, where King
James landed.
After several days' travelling through snow and ice, he
reached the village where Anne had established herself,
and without waiting for the ceremonies of his rank and
station, he left his attendants and marched straight to the
presence of his bride. On the following Sunday they were
married, and the king immediately, and very thoughtfully,
sent a messenger over the mountains to Denmark to in-
form Queen Sophia of his arrival .and marriage with the
princess.
Her majesty then invited the newly-wedded pair to make
her a visit. They consented, and set out upon a journey
beset with so many hardships that they were obliged to
1589- Anne of Denmark. 1 21
halt several times before they reached the Castle of Cro-
nenburg, where all the royal family of Denmark had assem-
bled to meet them.
All was gayety and splendor at the rich court, where the
marriage of James and Anne was celebrated over again ac-
cording to the Lutheran rites. Nothing interfered with
their pleasure, excepting the quarrelsome spirit of the Scot-
tish nobles who had accompanied the king. They all drank
too freely, his majesty included, and there were frequent
brawls and strifes among them.
It was not until after the wedding of Queen Anne's sis-
ter Elizabeth to the Duke of Brunswick, which took place
early in the spring, that the Scottish bride and groom
thought of proceeding to their future home.
The royal family of Denmark entertained such a warm
affection for one another that when the moment of parting
arrived it was a sore trial for the young queen to bid fare-
well to her loving mother, as well as to the young king, her
brother, who was so fond of her that in later years he paid
several long visits at her court.
The royal fleet sailed from Cronenburg in April, and
when the bridal pair landed a large crowd of faithful sub-
jects assembled to welcome them to Scotland.
Shortly after, preparations for the queen's coronation
were begun. On the Tuesday preceding that ceremony
her majesty made her state-entry into the city of Edin-
burgh, riding in a richly gilt car, lined with crimson velvet ;
on either side of her sat her favorite Danish maids of
honor. The king rode on horseback just in front of the
queen's carriage, and a train of robles escorted the royal
couple to Holyrood. The coronation ceremony was per-
formed on the following Sunday at the Abbey church of
Holyrood.
On the following Tuesday, accompanied by the king and
122 The Queens of England.
all the lords and ladies who had assisted at her coronation,
the queen passed through the streets of Edinburgh in an
open coach.
At the end of a month passed in all sorts of festivities
and rejoicings, the Danish visitors returned home, and
Queen Anne went to live at Dunfermline Palace, which
had been renovated and refurnished to suit her taste.
As the young queen's knowledge of household arrange-
ments was necessarily limited, and as she was inexpe-
rienced concerning the customs of her new country, the
king advised her always to consult his faithful friend and
loyal subject, Sir James Melville, who held a high position
in the royal household.
With the perversity that she showed on many occasions
throughout her reign Queen Anne immediately took a
decided aversion to Melville, and never in any emergency
sought his advice.
There had been no queen at the Scottish court for a
quarter of a century, consequently the men surrounding
it had become so course and brutal in their manners that
it was necessary to make many changes, and even to dis-
miss some of the most faithful officials before ladies could
feel safe or comfortable.
[A.D. 1590.] Among the reformations that were taking
place in Scotland, the destruction of all the works of art
in the churches were deemed necessary ; but no steps were
taken to abolish the horrible superstition that led to the
burning of hecatombs of witches. More than half the
time of the judges was occupied with their absurd confes-
sions. One of the most remarkable of these witches was
Annis Simpson, called by her neighbors " the wise wife of
Keith." She declared that she had a familiar spirit, who
appeared in a visible form at her call, and informed her
whether people who were ill or exposed to danger should
i59 2 - Anne of Denmark- "'
live or die. The king asked her what words she used to
summon the spirit. She replied : " That she merely called
' Holla, master ! ' and he came without fail." Then she pro-
ceeded to describe one of the witch meetings which, she said,
was held at night in a church, where the devil in a long
black gown, with a hat on his head, preached from the pulpit
to an audience of witches. She added, furthermore, that one
man got his ears boxed by the preacher because he thanked
God that no harm had come to the king, though many had
been injured. Thereupon the devil solemnly pronounced
this sentence : " // est un homme de Dieu" This was the
more firmly credited because the woman did not under-
stand what the words meant ; therefore, it was argued, she
could not have invented them. James was immensely
flattered at being called a man of God by the evil spirit.
" The wise wife of Keith " was first strangled, and then
burned in company with others whom she had accused.
[A.D. 1592.] One summer when Queen Anne was visit-
ing at her palace of Falkland, Bothwell, a relation of the
earl who was Mary Stuart's husband, made a furious
attack on it. He was repulsed, but entered the stables and
carried off all the horses. The qeeen was so annoyed at
this rude adventure that she removed at once to Dalkeith.
Margaret T \\ineslace, one of the Danish maids of honor,
was engaged to be married to John Wemys, one of the
king's gentlemen, who was known to be in constant
communication with Bothwell. He was, therefore, sus-
pected of knowing, at least, that the attack on Falkland
was to take place, though there was no proof of his having
participated. Still he was shut up in the guard-room of
Dalkeith Castle, and every one thought his life was in
danger.
One night, when it was Margaret's turn to sleep in the
queen's bed-chamber, she waited until the royal pair were
126 The Queens of England,
in the land of Nod, then softly stole out and went to her
lover's prison, where she told the guard that the king had
sent her to command them to lead John Wemys forthwith
to the queen's apartment, where his majesty wished to
question him. Never, for a moment, suspecting that they
were deceived, two sentinels led the prisoner to the queen's
chamber door. Margaret then charged them to remain
outside quietly, and taking her lover by the hand, led him
boldly into the room and closed the door. Without speak-
ing a word she softly opened the window, and, presenting
John with a rope, helped him to let himself down and
escape.
The guard waited patiently until morning dawned, then
raised the alarm, which led to the discovery of the little
trick. The queen laughed heartily when she heard how
Wemys had escaped, and begged the king to pardon him.
James himself was amused at the adventure, and issued
a proclamation offering pardon to the escaped prisoner if
he would return to his duties. This he did within a few
days, and soon after married the Danish maid-of-honor
who had risked so much for his sake.
[A.D. 1594.] In 1594 Queen Anne had a little son born
at Stirling Castle. He was baptized according to the
Episcopal ritual of Scotland, and named Henry-Frederic.
The ceremony was conducted with great pomp, and after
it was over the queen received all the foreign ambassadors.
They brought costly presents, and Queen Elizabeth sent a
set of silver and several cups of massive gold, so heavy
that Sir James Melville declared he could hardly lift
them.
The young queen loved her little son so tenderly that
when she found it was her husband's intention to leave
him at Stirling Castle to be cared for by the Earl of Marr
and the old countess, his mother, she was sorely grieved
1595- Anne of Denmark. 12?
and begged that she might keep the child with her. But
the king refused, saying, " that he knew the infant was in
safe keeping with Marr, and though he doubted nothing of
her good intentions, yet if some faction got strong enough
she could not hinder his boy from being used against him.
as he himself had been against his unfortunate mother."
No doubt Anne ought to have been satisfied to make a
virtue of necessity; but she could not understand any
argument but that of her own heart, which prompted her
to rebel against the Marrs because they had possession of
her darling,
[A.D. 1595.] She fretted and wept until the king was be-
side himself to know what was best to do. When little Henry
was fifteen months old his mother requested that the ques-
tion of his guardianship might be settled by council ; but
James was too shrewd to submit to that proceeding, so he
urged the queen to satisfy the craving of her heart by going
at once to Stirling Castle. But that was not what her
majesty desired ; therefore, she declared that she was not
well, and refused to stir. James insisted, and obliged his
wife to obey by superintending the arrangements for the
journey and turning a deaf ear to all her objections.
Finding that there was no help for it, Queen Anne set out
on horseback with her train of attendants , but with her
usual perversity she feigned illness, and stopped at a pal-
ace by the way. She was anxious to see her baby, no
doubt, but could not bear that her husband should find
her too yielding ; so, on every occasion when he deemed it
necessary to oppose her, she made him suffer for it. Yet
James VI. was a devoted husband throughout his life, and
never took a firm stand against his wife unless urgent
reasons required it.
As soon as the Earl of Marr was informed of the queen's
whereabouts he hastened to pay his respects to her; but
128 The Queens of England,
she absolutely refused to see him, and her people treated
him so uncivilly that he was glad to return to Stirling
Castle. It was foolish in Queen Anne to insult her hus-
band's most faithful friend and the man who had charge
of her infant, but that was not the extent of her folly.
During the king's absence on his summer travels she
actually went so far as to plan an expedition, which she
meant to head, for the purpose of carrying off the infant
prince by force. Fortunately, James heard of it in time
to reach the place where his wife was stopping and bring
her back to her senses. He at once accompanied her to
Stirling Castle, where she was permitted to fondle little
Henry as much as she pleased.
It was not unnatural that Queen Anne should want to
keep her child with her ; but she showed decided want of
character in insisting upon it after the king had explained
to her that the safety of his own person, the child, and the
kingdom required this sacrifice at her hands. Had she
taken pains to inform herself she would have seen that all
the misfortunes of the preceding kings of the line of
Stuart had arisen on account of their having been minors
at the time of their accession. The throne had in each
case been claimed for the son, which necessitated the
destruction of the father and the appointment of a regent.
Thus the strongest party had ruled according to their own
ideas of justice.
It was to prevent the recurrence of such a miserable
state of affairs that King James fortified his son in a well-
guarded castle, under the supervision of such tried friends
and loyal subjects as the Earl of Marr and his mother.
[A.U. 1596.] Anne's outbursts of temper because of
this arrangement were for a time appeased, when her second
child was born. It was a girl, and received the name of
Elizabeth for the Queen of England. The infant princess
'597- Anne of Denmark. 129
was given in charge of Lord and Lady Livingstone, though
the ministers of the Episcopal Church objected on the
score of the latter's adherence to Catholicism. This child
afterwards became Queen of Bohemia.
There were two people among Queen Anne's court who
occupied a very prominent position, and were specially
favored with her protection. These were Alexander and
Beatrice Ruthven, members of a family in Scotland who
claimed royal descent. The Ruthven family had attained
the earldom of Gowry, and its members had aided in three
separate assaults on the personal liberty of the sovereign ;
they were, therefore, the cause of a great deal of fighting
and bloodshed.
[A.D. 1597.] Young Alexander became the object of
King James's jealousy on one occasion. It occurred in
this wise : " One day, when the queen was walking in the
gardens of Falkland Palace with Beatrice Ruthven, they
suddenly came upon the maid-of-honor's brother, Alex-
ander, a youth of nineteen, who lay fast asleep beneath
the shade of a large tree. For a bit of fun her majesty
tied a silver ribbon around his neck, which had been given
to her by the king, without arousing the sleeper. Presently
King James himself came along. The silver ribbon caught
his attention, he stooped to examine it, frowned, and looked
angrily on the youth, who was, by the way, a gentleman-of-
the-bed-chamber, then hurried on without waking young
Ruthven. Beatrice, who had been anxiously watching
this little scene from behind a neighboring bush, rushed
forward, snatched the ribbon from her brother's neck, and
hastened with it through a private entrance to the queen's
room. Hurriedly opening a drawer, she deposited the
ribbon therein, and had just time to inform her majesty
'that her reason for so doing would be presently explained,'
when the king entered, and in a threatening tone de-
130 The Queens of England.
manded the silver ribbon. Luckily Anne was able to
produce it, and thus dispel the angry frown that had
gathered on the brow of her lord, no doubt congratulating
herself upon the possession of so sagacious a maid-of-
honor."
For the time being King James's jealousy was appeased ;
but the Gowry conspiracy aroused it again three years
later, and Alexander Ruthven was again the object of it.
[A.D. 1600.] The queen was awakened much earlier
than usual one bright, warm morning in August by the
king's preparations for a hunting expedition. She asked
" why he started so early ; " to which he replied, " that he
wished to be astir betimes, as he expected to kill a prime
buck before noon."
It was true that he was going hunting, but he had
another object in view. He had been informed by Alex-
ander Ruthven that a Jesuit with a large bag of gold had
just been seized and shut up at Gowry House, in Perth,
awaiting examination. It was no unusual occurrence at
that era for any one besides a common robber to take pos-
session of whatever gold might be found on the person of
a traveller, and then spare no effort to prove said traveller
Jesuitical. So King James set forth in high glee with the
prospect of counting over a bag of gold, besides enjoying a
morning hunt. Several hours were passed in the latter
diversion ; and at noon, accompanied by only one or two
attendants, the king left the woods and entered Gowry
House. He was received by the Earl of Gowry, young
Ruthven's elder brother, who had just returned from the
court of Queen Elizabeth. After dinner, at a sign from
Alexander Ruthven, the king withdrew, expecting to be
introduced to the Jesuit with the gold. Unsuspectingly he
followed the young man up various winding stairs and
through gloomy, intricate passages to a circular room,
i6oo.
Anne of Denmark.
used by the Gowry family as a prison. He was surprised,
on entering, to behold a gigantic man in a complete suit
of black armor, and still more so when Alexander closed
the door and locked it, cutting off all retreat. He then
made an assault upon the king, who, though unarmed,
THE PISCINA.
kept him at bay, and reproached him with the death of his
father, the Earl of Gowry. The man in armor took no
part in the struggle. The king remonstrated with Alex-
ander, and reminded him that he was a child when the late
Earl of Gowry was beheaded, and had nothing whatever to
do with it. He also spoke of the affection the queen bore
to his sister Beatrice, and of the kindness and attention he
himself had received at court. Young Ruthven paused
132 The Queens of England.
for a moment, then made a second attack upon the king,
who would surely have been murdered but for the vigilance
of his page, young Ramsay. This youth missed his royal
master, and, suspecting some evil, sought him through the
house. The king's voice, calling for help, guided the boy's
steps to the circular chamber, which he entered through
a private door, having forced it open. He flew at Alex-
ander Ruthven and dragged him from the king's throat,
shouting all the time for help. Some of the Gowry ser-
vants rushed upon the scene and assisted Ramsay, who
was struggling with Alexander Ruthven. At this juncture
the rest of the royal hunting party arrived, and broke open
the door, but not until the Earl of Gowry, who proved to
be the man in armor, and young Ruthven were slain.
[A.D. 1601.] This conspiracy created great consterna-
tion in Scotland. It was a dark, gloomy night when the
king set out with his retinue to return to Falkland Palace ;
but all the people swarmed out of their houses with torches,
and shouted with joy to behold their sovereign safe from
the hands of traitors.
In 1 60 1 a little prince was born at Dunfermline, who later
became Charles I. of England.
[A.D. 1603.] A couple of years after this event Queen
Elizabeth died, and King James was invited to come to
London, and take possession of the crown under the title
of James I.
Of course this was no surprise ; it was an exaltation that
had been eagerly anticipated by the royal family as well as
the whole nation. Yet when the moment arrived for the
king to bid farewell to his Scottish subjects, it was very
like a father parting from a numerous family, and many
tears were shed. On the Sunday before his departure from
England a sermon was preached on the subject in church,
to which King James responded, bidding his people a lov-
ing and tender farewell.
!6o3- Anne of Denmark. 133
He went to England alone, having arranged that the
queen should follow in twenty days, providing his reception
was such as to assure him that his family would be safe
and happy. On his arrival there he was greeted with such
wild demonstrations of joy that he was perfectly astonished.
" These people will spoil a good king," was his pithy re-
mark to the Earl of Marr, who had accompanied him.
No sooner was Queen Anne convinced that her son's
guardian was well out of the way, than she set off for Stir-
ling Castle, accompanied by a strong body of nobles, never
doubting that she could easily intimidate the Countess of
Marr into the surrender of her son Henry. But the old
lady proved herself equal to the emergency, and flatly re-
fused to give up the boy unless ordered to do so by the
king himself. Some fighting ensued, and the queen flew
into such a tremendous passion that she became seriously
ill, and had to be put to bed in the royal apartments of the
castle.
Messengers were forthwith despatched to inform the
king of the condition of his silly, spoiled wife, and of the
action that had occasioned her illness. With his usual for-
bearance, James forgave his spouse, and thought only of her
illness. He immediately sent the Duke of Lenox and the
Earl of Marr to see what arrangements they could make
to pacify her majesty.
The royal lady not only refused to see Marr, but would
not receive her son from his hands, nor travel from Stirling
to Edinburgh if he were of the company, so thoroughly
did she hate one of her husband's most loyal adherents.
When this whim was conveyed to James, he swore a
great many oaths, and wrote a letter of remonstrance to his
better half, which, however, did not mollify her in the
least. Then the royal husband compromised by ordering
Marr to deliver the young prince to the Duke of Lenox,
134 The Queens of England.
who would consign him with due ceremony to the queen,
and then to hasten to England, where his presence was
greatly needed.
This arrangement pacified Anne, and she removed at
once to Holyrood to make preparations for leaving Scot-
land. These were completed in a couple of months.
Her majesty was met at Berwick by the ladies of Queen
Elizabeth's court, who carried her the costumes and jewels
of the defunct queen.
King James ordered that the queen's household should
be settled before her entrance into London, so that she
might be properly escorted on that occasion. But the royal
pair could not agree as to the appointments, for Anne de-
sired to retain her Scottish subjects in the principal posts
of honor, and his majesty knew that the English would not
submit to that arrangement.
He appointed Sir George Carew for the queen's cham-
berlain. Her majesty persisted in retaining Kennedy;
whereupon James, whose patience had been sorely tried
by the number of applicants who had presented themselves
for confirmation, flew into a passion when Kennedy ap-
peared before him. He bade him " Begone ! " and added
" that if he caught him carrying the chamberlain's staff be-
fore his wife he should take it out of his hand and break
it over his pate."
The Scotchman very prudently made the best of his way
back home, and then Queen Anne accepted the English
chamberlain, but retained all her Scottish ladies, adding to
their number only two of her new subjects.
Her two elder children accompanied her, and they weve
enthusiastically received everywhere. Among the pres-
ents that were generously bestowed on them were silver
cups filled with gold-pieces. When they arrived at Althorpe
an exquisite fife, prepared by Ben Jonson, awaited them.
l6 3- Anne of Denmark. 135
It was called the Masque of the Fairies, and t Dok place in
a magnificent park, where, accompanie 1 by joyful music,
fairies and satyrs recited appropriate poems of welcome,
and made presents to the royal family.
The queen was so delighted with Ben Jonson's genius
that she afterwards employed him to prepare entertainments
for the amusement of her court.
The first festival held at Windsor Castle after the arrival
of the royal family was for the purpose of bestowing the
title of Knight of the Garter on Prince Henry, the Duke of
Lenox, and other nobles.
The queen openly expressed her pride and admiration of
Prince Henry when he was presented to her in the robes
of the Garter, which she pronounced exceedingly becoming.
In consequence of the plague, which was raging to an
alarming extent in England, the coronation was postponed
from time to time, and when it did take place the usual
procession from the Tower through the city to Westminster
was dispensed with, and the ceremony was performed
almost in private. The people were so disappointed that
a grand festival was promised to them as soon as the pesti-
lence should abate. It took place with great splendor the
following spring, when the king, queen, and Prince Henry
participated.
In the household of Anne of Denmark there was an
office filled by an old lady called "the mother-of-the-
maids," whose duty it was to keep order among the ladies,
no doubt an exceedingly difficult one.
The belle of the court was Lady Arabella Stuart, whose
descent made her the next heir to the crown of England
after James I. and his family. Previous to the arrival of
James there had been a plot, headed by Sir Walter
Raleigh, formed for the purpose of asserting that lady's
claim ; but that fact did not make anv impression on the
136 Tiie Queens of England.
sovereign's mind that could affect her unfavorably ; on the
contrary, he distinguished her with marked favors, and
allowed her, as she deserved, the rank of first lady at court
after the queen.
The conspirators of this plot were brought to trial
during the autumn while the court was sojourning at Win-
chester Palace, and many of them were pardoned just at
DRAWING-ROOM AT WINCHESTER.
the moment when they were being led to the scaffold.
King James did this to make them appreciate the full ex-
tent of his mercy, though many of them were banished
afterwards. Sir Walter Raleigh was shut up in the Tower,
with his sentence hanging over his head, to be carried into
effect at the royal pleasure. He was not, however, deprived
of his income or his actual property, because the queen in-
terested herself in his behalf, and felt very sorry on account
l6l - Anne of Denmark. 137
of the cruel treatment he had received from the attorney-
general during his trial. It was supposed by some people
that she, as well as Prince Henry, doubted his guilt, but
there is no proof of that.
[A.D. 1604.] When Prince Charles was between three
and four years of age his health was so bad that Sir
Robert Carey and his wife, who had charge of the royal
child, were ordered to bring him from Dunfermline to his
parents. From that time he improved so rapidly that he
soon became a robust boy ; and as years went by, and he
developed into manhood, he was distinguished for his
graceful bearing and splendid constitution.
[A.D. 1610.] One of the proudest and happiest periods
of Queen Anne's life was when her eldest son was created
Prince of Wales. The event was celebrated with great
splendor, and Ben Jonson wrote an address in verse, which
was read, while a pantomime represented the prince as
wakening and reviving the dying genius of chivalry.
The royal parents, the Princess and Prince Charles
stood at the bridge by Westminster Palace to receive the
prince when he arrived, escorted down the Thames in state
by the lord-mayor and city authorities.
The gratified mother conducted him into the palace.
A number of festivals succeeded, and the king introduced
his son formally to the assembled houses of parliament
during the following week.
A grand masque was given, in which all the ladies and
gentlemen of the court took part, the music, painting,
dancing, and decorations being guided and arranged by
Inigo Jones, an architect of great talent. Even the queen
and the princess-royal took part, and devoted several days
to rehearsing the dances and situations and preparing cos-
tumes.
The object of this masque was to deliver presents to
138 The Queens of England.
the newly-created Prince of Wales. The court ladies per-
sonated nymphs of the principal rivers that belonged to
the estates of their husbands or fathers, and eight of the
handsomest nobleman attended these river nymphs as
Tritons.
Prince Charles appeared with a dozen young ladies of
his own age and size. They were daughters of lords or
barons, and personated the nai'ads of springs and foun-
tains.
The prince, as Zephyr, wore a short robe of green satin,
embroidered in gold ; silver wings were attached to his
shoulders, and a garland of flowers encircled his brow ; on
his right arm, which was bare, the queen had clasped a
valuable diamond bracelet.
The naiads wore pale blue-satin tunics, embroidered in
silver ; their hair hung in loose tresses, and water-lilies
crowned their heads. These children danced a ballet,
Prince Charles always occupying the centre of a group,
which was enthusiastically applauded by the whole court.
Prince Charles's next duty was to offer to his brother,
the Prince of Wales, the queen's present, which consisted
of a jewelled sword, valued at four thousand pounds,
attached to a scarf of her majesty's own work. He also
presented a gold trident to the king as ruler of the ocean.
This presentation was made during an address by one of
the Tritons.
Her majesty was then invited to descend from the
throne and dance her ballet with her water-nymphs. This
was succeeded by another dance of the little naiads, and
the entertainment concluded with the queen's quadrille.
The summer morning had dawned when the gay party
dispersed.
[A.D. 1612.] Two years later the Prince of Wales, that
youth of eighteen, who was the joy of his parents and the
(614. Anne of Denmark. 139
pride of the whole nation, was attacked with the worst and
most malignant form of typus fever, which resulted in his
death on the 5th of November, 1612.
It was the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot, and the
procession of grotesque figures presented a strange con-
trast, as they swarmed around St. James's Palace, to the
sad scene that was enacted within. When at last
young Henry's death was announced, loud lamentations
filled the air, and those who had left their homes to min-
gle with the festivities of the day returned bowed down
with grief.
It was many months before the poor queen recovered
from the shock produced by the death of her dearly-beloved
boy, and she was still so depressed when the marriage of
her daughter was solemnized that she was scarcely fit to
be present. However, she aroused herself for that occa-
sion ; but the reaction was so great after the departure of
the princess from England that she was ordered to Bath
by her physicians. The change proved of great benefit,
and by the end of the summer her majesty had regained
her health and spirits.
Sometimes she shot at the deer from a stand. On one
occasion she missed her aim, and hit the king's favorite
hound. No one dared to announce the dreadful accident to
his majesty, but he discovered the dead animal, and stormed
so outrageously that it was many minutes before he could
be informed whose 'hand had sent the deadly arrow. He
was instantaneously mollified, and not only sent his beloved
spouse a most affectionate message, but followed it with a
jewel worth two thousand pounds, pretending it was a leg-
acy to her from his dear, dead dog.
[A.D. 1614.] A visit from her brother, the King of
Denmark, gave the queen a great deal of pleasure. His
sole object in going to England was to see her, whom he
140 The Queens of England.
loved very dearly. He travelled incognito, and although
one of the queen's attendants recognized him after his
arrival at the palace, and told his sister of his presence, she
would not believe it until he stole up behind her chair and
gave her a kiss. The king, who was travelling through the
country, was summoned home forthwith to receive his
royal guest, and on his return there was a fortnight of
hunting, bear-baiting, hawking, plays, and feasts. Just
before his departure the King of Denmark entertained
the English court at his own expense with the finest dis-
play of fireworks that had ever been witnessed in their
country. After this visit Queen Anne never saw her
brother again, though she corresponded with him until her
death.
It was while King James was on a visit to his native
land, where he went for the purpose of establishing parish
schools, that his wife's health began to fail. Three years
previously her physicians had treated her for dropsy, from
which she had never entirely recovered, and now a dreadful
cough was added to the other malady. She was hastily
removed to Hampton Court, where she was tenderly cared
for. After his return, the king went to visit his wife two
or three times a week, when he was well enough to do so,
but his health was by no means good, for he had gout in
his knees.
[A.D. 1618.] About this time the poor sick queen
received a most touching appeal from Sir Walter Raleigh,
whose death-sentence was about to be carried into effect.
It was written in verse, and ended thus :
" Save him who would have died for your defence !
Save him whose thoughts no treason ever tainted."
Queen Anne interceded for Sir Walter in vain, though
she asked as a personal favor that his life might be spared,
y
EXECUTION OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH.
'6i8. Anne of Denmark. 143
for he was beheaded on the 2gth of October, 1618. It is
not reported how her majesty bore the news of Sir Walter's
death ; but her own was so near at hand that she probably
viewed all affairs of this world with calmness and resigna-
tion, and turned her thoughts to the future state.
King James was not with his wife during her last mo-
ments, but Prince Charles kneeled at her bedside and
received her dying blessing. She was conscious to the
end, and when the Bishop of London prayed, he said :
" Madame, make a sign that your majesty is one with your
God, and long to be with him." She held up her hands,
and when one failed she raised the other until both dropped,
and she was no more.
The royal corpse was taken to Somerset House, where
it lay in state for three days, and was then carried to
the grave by ten knights, followed by most of the
nobility then sojourning in London. The Countess of
Arundel was chief lady mourner, and walked between the
Duke of Lenox and the Marquis of Hamilton. All the
ladies of the royal household came after, and as each one
was enveloped in from twelve to sixteen yards of heavy
black cloth, it was difficult for them to walk even at a
funeral gait. Prince Charles preceded the funeral car,
which was drawn by six horses, and the Archbishop of
Canterbury walked by his side. The queen's riding horse
was led by one of the officers of her household, and half a
dozen heralds carried banners and flags bound with crepe
just behind the pall.
Queen Anne of Denmark died in the forty-sixth year of
her age, and was buried at Westminster Abbey. She left
two children, one who became Charles I. of England, and
the other was Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia.
CHAPTER VI.
HENRIETTA MARIA, QUEEN-CONSORT OF CHARLES
I., KING OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND (A.D
1609-1669.)
HENRIETTA MARIA, wife of Charles I., was the youngest
child of Henry IV. of France, and his second wife, Marie
de Medicis.
[A.D. 1609.] She was born at Louvre in 1609, and
Madame de Monglat, the royal governess, took charge of
her, as she had done of all her brothers and sisters from
the time of their births.
This princess had a grand baptism, no less a person than
the pope's nuncio acting as sponsor. The name given to
her- was Henrietta Marie, but it became anglicized when
she was so young that we must speak of. her as she was
known during the greater and more important part of her
existence.
She was unfortunate in having a mother who was so
weak-minded, petulant, and bigoted as to be quite incapable
of instilling into her children the wise principles that they
needed to fit them for the battle of life.
The little Henrietta was but six months old when her
father was killed by Ravaillac ; and her first appearance in
public was made on the occasion of his funeral. She was
carried in the arms of Madame de Monglat in the doleful
procession, and her baby hands sprinkled the murdered
HENRIETTA MARIA.
1609. Henrietta Maria of England. 147
corpse with holy water, according to the national custom
in Normandy.
The coronation of Louis XIII. followed close upon his
father's assassination ; but in consequence of his extreme
youth his mother was appointed queen-regent, and civil
war never ceased to rage in France while she continued in
power.
The royal children were kept at Fontainebleau, safe from
the disturbances that were going on in Paris. It was the
beautiful daughter of Madame de Monglat who super-
intended the toilet and daily life of little Henrietta, and
the child loved her so dearly that she called her Mamanga,
an Italian pet name, meaning mamma, and learned from
the lips of Marie de Medicis, who was a native of Italy.
The religious education of the little princess was guided
by a Carmelite nun, whom she visited at stated intervals
during her childhood. She and her fittle brother, Duke
Gaston, who studied together, were taught music, painting,
and some of the lighter branches, but were never put to
any solid work ; and later in life Henrietta often lamented
her slight knowledge of history, saying that all her lessons
of human character were learned from her own sad expe-
rience. She was a beautiful child, very much spoiled and
flattered, and frequently summoned from the nursery to
appear at public entertainments. When she was but six
years old her mother took her to Bordeaux to witness the
departure of her eldest sister, Elizabeth, to become the wife
of the King of Spain, and the arrival of Anne of Austria,
the Spanish bride of Louis XIII.
About six years after her husband's death, France had
become so desolated by the civil wars brought on by unwise
government, that the queen-regent was imprisoned at the
Castle of Blois, and the boy king of France assumed the
power.
148 The Queens of England.
Princess Henrietta shared her mother's imprisonment
for three years. At the expiration of that time she was
present at the marriage of her sister Christine to the Duke
of Savoy, and this event was succeeded by a reconciliation
between Marie de Medicis and the young king. This was
brought about by her almoner, who afterwards became
Cardinal Richelieu, and thenceforward her influence in the
government of France was greater than ever.
[A.D. 1625.] When the Princess Henrietta was sixteen
years old James I. sent Lord Kensington to France on a
secret mission to find out whether her hand could be
obtained for his son Charles, who had by that time become
the most elegant and accomplished prince in Europe.
The queen-mother was delighted with the prospects of
such a match for her daughter, but would give no decided
answer until the girl herself had been consulted.
It was not long before every one at the French court
knew the object of Kensington's visit, and the ladies
crowded around the handsome Englishman to question
him about the Prince of Wales, and to examine the minia-
ture of the royal gentleman, which the ambassador wore
suspended from a ribbon around his neck.
Etiquette forbade the princess even to mention her
royal suitor, much less to look at the picture she was dying
to behold. But, remembering that the lady at whose house
the ambassador sojourned had been in her service, Hen-
rietta went to her and begged her to borrow the miniature,
that she might feast her eyes on it as long as she pleased.
This was done, and the young lady blushingly gazed upon
the face of her future husband, and expressed her entire
satisfaction with his appearance.
Kensington lost no time in reporting her little stratagem ;
it was his intention to promote the alliance between Prince
Charles and Princess Henrietta, so he expatiated on the
162?. Henrietta Maria of England. 151
beauty, graces, and accomplishments of the former to the
ladies of the French court, and wrote to England about
the princess : " She is the sweetest creature in P>ance and
the loveliest thing in nature. Her growth is little short of
her age, and her wisdom infinitely beyond it. She dances
as well as I ever saw any one ; she has a wonderful voice,
and sings admirably."
When it was ascertained that the marriage would be
agreeable to both royal families, the Earl of Carlisle joined
Kensington for the purpose of preparing the treaty.
Then the pope raised an objection on the score of relig-
ion ; for he did not believe the Catholic princess could be
happy with a Protestant, husband in a country where her
co-religionists had been persecuted.
However, the queen mother had set her heart on the
marriage . so after a great deal of debate it was agreed
that Henrietta and all her attendants should be made
welcome, and should have liberty to observe their religion
in England , that she should renounce all claim to the
French throne, and that her children should be brought up
under her care until their thirteenth year.
[A.D. 1625.] As soon as the treaty was signed King
James ordered all persons imprisoned for religion to be
released, fines levied against Catholics to be returned, and
the execution of convicted papists to be stopped. This
was the origin of all the opposition of the English parlia-
ment to the Stuart monarchs.
King James died before the marriage took place. The
ceremony was performed at Notre Dame, a prince of the
house of Guise representing the royal groom. The Duke
of Buckingham, with a splendid train of English nobles,
met the bridal party at the church door, in order to escort
the young Queen of England home.
The whole court and royal family of France, prepared to
152 TJic Queens of England,
accompany the bride to the coast in magnificent style ; but
at the last moment Louis XIII. was prevented by illness
from travelling, and the entire retinue were detained for
two weeks at Campeigne by a dangerous malady which
attacked Marie de Medicis.
Charles I. was at Canterbury when his bride arrived in
England, but he hastened to Dover to meet her as soon as
the tidings were brought him. She was at breakfast when
he was announced, but arose promptly and ran do\\ n stairs
to meet him. She would have knelt and kissed his hand,
but he drew her towards him and pressed her in his arms.
Then the bride attempted to recite a little speech that she
had prepared, but her courage failed, and she burst into
tears. Charles treated her very kindly, drew her gently
aside, and soothed her with loving and tender expressions.
The weeping girl was soon reassured, her dark eyes
brightened, and she conversed freely with her royal lover.
Then she presented all her French attendants by name,
" Mamanga," now Madame St. George, being the principal
of her ladies.
The royal party left Dover the same day, and stopped at
Canterbury, where all the English ladies of the queen's
household were assembled to be presented to their royal
mistress. It was in the open air on a June morning that
Henrietta held her first court. The king assisted her to
alight from her carriage, and after the presentation a
magnificent feast was served.
The royal pair entered London by the river Thames,
hundreds of beautiful barges forming a procession, which
was greeted by thundering salutes from the navy. That
evening the bells rang till midnight, bonfires blazed on
every side, and rejoicing was kept up for several days.
King Charles opened his parliament with his bride
seated beside him on the throne, and soon after retired for
THE PLAGUE.
:526. Henrietta Maria of England. 155
several weeks to Hampton Court, because the plague was
raging so dreadfully in London.
The young queen was very attractive at this time. She
was of medium height, but possessed a beautiful figure,
her complexion was fine, face oval, eyes large, dark, and
sparkling. Her hair was black, her teeth handsome, her
forehead, nose, and mouth large, but well-formed.
The king loved his little wife devotedly, and gave her
the pet name of Mary, a very unpopular one to English
lads ; but Charles declared that his people would soon for-
get their prejudice against it for the sake of the blessings
the present bearer of it would bring them.
Before many months the French attendants became
objects of jealousy and dislike to the king, and notwith-
standing the agreement that formed part of the marriage
treaty he determined to get rid of them. Not only was it
objectionable to the king that his wife should have mass
celebrated in the palace, but his own attendants found fault
with this arrangement, and Father Sancy, the queen's con-
fessor, made himself obnoxious by insisting upon the estab-
lishment of a Roman Catholic chapel. Besides, Henrietta
was so thoroughly under the influence of her French house-
hold that King Charles feared she would never become
attached to him or his country. He thoroughly disliked
Madame St. George, who was always thrusting herself for-
ward, and interfering between him and his wife ; but the
most serious cause of displeasure that Charles I. had
against the French attendants was that they influenced the
queen in her refusal to share his coronation.
This was an unpardonable piece of ignorance and bigotry,
injurious to the king and dangerous to herself ; for it was
charged against her in later years that she had never been
recognized as the consort of Charles I.
[A.D. 1626.] The king was therefore crowned at West-
156 The Queens of England.
minster Abbey alone, his young and lovely wife refusing
even to be present at the ceremony. This obstinacy was a
death-blow to her popularity, and increased the difficulties
that surrounded her husband. The Duke of Buckingham,
who was in Paris, was notified that the French attendants
would be sent home, and the king wrote a letter to his
brother-in-law, Louis XIII., in justification of the proceed-
ings.
One day King Charles entered his wife's apartment at
Whitehall, and found her attendants dancing about, and
behaving in a manner that he considered disrespectful to
the queen, so taking her quietly by the hand, he led her
into a side room and closed the door. Presently an order
was received bidding her majesty's French servants, young
and old, to repair at once to Somerset House, there to await
the king's orders. The women wept and lamented as
though they had been summoned to execution ; but the
guard cleared them all out of the queen's apartments and
bolted the doors after them.
Meanwhile a stormy scene was being enacted between
the royal couple. Henrietta flew into a rage when her
husband told her what he had done, and rushed to the win-
dow to bid farewell to her train. The king drew her away,
telling her " to be satisfied, for it must be so." Then she
broke the panes with her fist, and his majesty was obliged
to hold her wrists until her temper abated.
She was not permitted to see her country-people again,
excepting her nurse, her dresser, and Madame de la Tre-
mouille, those three being retained in her service.
In a few days the king repaired to Somerset House, and
in a set speech informed the French household of the
necessity of dismissing them to their own country, and
promised them their wages with gratuities to the amount of
twenty-two thousand pounds.
1626. Henrietta Maria of England. 157
These people had robbed the queen to such an extent
that she was actually left without a change of linen, and
had, besides, contracted debts in her name.
It was not until the following month, when the king sent
a body of stout yeomen to turn the late attendants out of
Somerset House by the shoulders, if they would not go
otherwise, that they finally departed.
The royal couple had been married just one year when
all the French attendants, including Father Sancy, returned
to their native land.
The queen attributed her husband's turning off her
household so summarily to the influence and advice of
Buckingham, whom she disliked thoroughly.
She became so restless and unhappy that she wanted to
go back to France, and wrote her mother to that effect, re-
peating the grievances of which the banished household
had already given an exaggerated account.
The Duke de Bassompierre, a man of sense and spirit,
and an old friend of Henry IV., was sent to England to
inquire into the wrongs of which Henrietta complained.
He found her dreadfully incensed against Buckingham, the
prime minister, with whom she had had a violent quarrel,
though she knew scarcely any English, and he very little
French. Nevertheless he managed to make her compre-
hend him when he told her " to beware how she behaved,
for in England queens had had their heads cut off before
now."
Henrietta assured de Bassompierre that the prime min-
ister was constantly making mischief between her and her
husband, because he was jealous of her influence.
Bassompierre had several private interviews with the
young queen, the king, and Buckingham, which resulted in
a complete reconciliation. But her majesty was displeased
because her father's old friend neither flattered nor spoiled
158 The Queens of England.
her, and so she fell out with him, and by the expiration of
a fortnight the reconciled parties were more angry with
each other than ever
The new subject of quarrel was the king's refusal to
permit more than three chaplains for the performance of
the Catholic service in the palace. Henrietta was too
young to reason sensibly about her husband's affairs, and
she was such a fervent Catholic that she could bear no op-
position concerning her religion from her Protestant hus-
band. Her position was an exceedingly difficult one, and
all the errors she committed were the result of her youth
and inexperience.
The French ambassador had to begin his work all over
again ; and so adroitly did he manage, that in the course of
a few days he had arranged all the disputed points. It
was agreed that the queen should have two chapels built
for her, one at St. James's, the other at Somerset House.
A bishop, ten priests, a confessor, and ten musicians were
to be furnished, as well as ladies of the bed-chamber, a
clear-starcher, two physicians, an apothecary, a surgeon,
a grand-chamberlain, a squire, a secretary, a gentleman-
usher, a valet, and a baker, all from her majesty's native
land.
Even then the queen was not satisfied. She continued
to play the vixen to such an extent that, regardless of her
rank, Basscmpierre took it upon himself to administer a
bit of plain language. She had been flattered into believ-
ing that all her little tyrannies were quite becoming to a
pretty queen, but she was now told that she behaved unlike
a true wife, and that her conduct should be reported to her
family in France.
Henrietta was surprised at this honest dealing ; but the
effect was wholesome, and secured for her nearly eighteen
years of happiness with her husband.
1628. Henrietta Maria of England. 159
Instead of being received with honors on his return to
France, de Bassompierre was frowned upon because he had
avoided extreme measures in his capacity of mediator, and
because he had spoken the truth too plainly.
Shortly after a war broke out between England and
France; but it did not in the least disturb Queen Henri-
etta's tranquillity, for she and her husband were never on
better terms.
But the French nation despised Charles I., and consid-
ered his wife a martyr and a victim. This led to the be-
lief in an imposture of a crazy girl, who, calling herself
the persecuted Queen of England, presented herself at a
convent in Limoges, and claimed the protection of the nuns.
She declared that she had escaped from England because
she was persecuted on account of the true faith. She de-
scribed the court and household of the queen so correctly
that she was eagerly listened to by the whole neighborhood,
who flocked to see her. Louis XIII., who knew how hap-
pily and peacefully his sister was then living, was so in-
censed at this imposition that he had the girl imprisoned,
and she was heard of no more.
[A.D. 1628.] The sudden death of Buckingham oc-
curred when Henrietta was just eighteen years old, and she
was thus rid of a person who had never ceased to be an
object of dislike to her.
Queen Henrietta had a great fancy for dwarfs ; so, at an
entertainment given to her once when she was making a
progress through her kingdom, an immense venison pasty
was placed in the centre of the table. The crust was re-
moved and Geoffrey Hudson, a little man just eighteen
inches high, stepped out, prostrated himself before her
majesty, and asked to be taken into her service. His re-
quest was immediately complied with, and he was employed
to carry state messages of slight importance. He was not
160 The Queens of England.
the only dwarf at court; for there was a married pair of
these little monsters besides.
[A.D. 1630.] The queen had a son born at St. James's
Palace in 1630, who succeeded to the throne as Charles II.
A Welsh nurse was provided for the royal infant, be-
cause it was the custom that the first words uttered by any
Prince of Wales should be Welsh.
He could not have been a handsome child, for his
mother wrote of him to her friend, Madame St. George :
" He is so ugly that I am ashamed of him ; but his size
and fatness supply the want of beauty."
[A.D. 1632.] The royal family was increased by the
birth of a daughter a couple of years later. She was
named Mary, baptized, as her brother had been, according
to the form prescribed in the Book of Common Prayer,
and placed under the care of Catherine, Lady Stanhope.
Henrietta's unpopularity was increased to an alarming
degree on account of her laying the corner-stone of a
Capuchin chapel, in the courtyard of Somerset House.
She had already commenced one at St. James's ; and when
the Roman Catholic service was celebrated in them, about
two years later, it was most injurious to the prosperity of
the king, although it had been agreed that these chapels
should be built. Henrietta refused to take part in her hus-
band's coronation in Scotland as she had done in England,
consequently he went alone.
[A.D. 1633.] ^ n nis return another prince was added
to the family, and baptized James. His title was the Duke
of York. He was a handsome baby, and his father des
lined him for the navy. Henrietta was a fond mother,
and devoted much of her time to the nursery. Etiquette
prevented a queen from entertaining guests with her voice,
but its magnificent strains often filled the galleries of the
palace when she sang to her infants.
1642.] Henrietta Maria of England. 161
[A.D. 1638.] In 1638 King Charles incurred the dis-
pleasure of Cardinal Richelieu by offering a home in
England to Marie de Medicis. This cardinal owed much
of his grandeur to the queen-mother of France, but when
she was in distress he turned his back on her.
[A.D. 1641.] Marie de Medicis prolonged her stay in
England nearly three years. During that period she wit-
nessed the riots and disturbances that led to the execution
of the Earl of Strafford, an event that seriously grieved
Charles I. and his wife, and that, in the end, was disastrous
to both.
In the midst of these scenes of terror, Mary, the prin-
cess-royal, who was just ten years of age, was publicly
espoused, at Whitehall chapel, to the son of the Prince of
Orange, a boy of eleven.
The queen-mother had been so maligned by the rioters
that she was terrified for her personal safety, and insisted
on departing forthwith for Holland. She was escorted, by
the king's orders, as far as Dover, and about the same
time Charles I. set out on a journey to Scotland.
During his absence the queen's confessor, Father Phil-
lips, was summoned several times by parliament, for exam-
ination, and ominous threats were made regarding the
establishment of Capuchins at Somerset House. Signs of
civil war were daily becoming more numerous and more
marked,
Sir Edward Nicholas, the king's private secretary, wrote
a letter urging his majesty to dismiss the monks at the
next session of parliament ; but he would take no decided
steps in opposition to his wife's religion without consulting
her. The consequence was that an infuriated mob de-
stroyed the Capuchin chapel a year later.
[A.D. 1642.] Among the queen's attendants was Lady
Carlisle, who, while appearing loyal, was acting the part of
1 62 The Queens of England.
a spy, and reporting every incident of the royal household
to the Roundhead leaders.
These Roundheads were Puritans, and it was Queen
Henrietta herself who named them, because their hair
was clipped so close and short that their heads looked like
balls, and formed a marked contrast to the flowing locks
of the courtiers.
When parliament informed the queen that she must
surrender her children into their hands until her husband's
return, lest she should make papists of them, she refused,
but left them at Oatlands and went to live at Hampton
Court, hoping thus to keep her five little ones together
and remove all cause of complaint. Her youngest child,
Henry, was then only a few months old.
Henrietta knew that she was closely watched, and had
reason to fear that her children might at any moment be
seized and taken away from her ; so, like a true mother, she
took every precaution to prevent it. She had a ship ready
to receive them at Portsmouth, and a hundred cavaliers
with a supply of five horses at her disposal ; but no attack
was made.
The Irish rebellion broke out that autumn, attended
with all the horrors of civil strife and religious persecution.
The Roundheads accused Queen Henrietta of having
encouraged the massacre, although there is no evidence of
her having done so.
When the king returned from Scotland he was received
with every mark of loyalty. His family went to meet him,
and the populace assembled to greet their sovereign. He
entered the metropolis on horseback, the Prince of Wales
rode by his side, and the queen, with her younger children,
followed in an open carriage.
While in Scotland the king had ascertained that five mem-
bers of the house of commons were traitors ; so, taking
1642 Henrietta Maria of England. 163
advantage of his popular reception on his return, he made
up his mind to arrest them. He confided in no one but
the queen. When he left her on the morning that he had
fixed for the arrest, he said : " If you find one hour elapse
without hearing ill news of me, you will see me, when I
return, the master of my kingdom."
Queen Henrietta watched the clock anxiously until the
hour had passed, then turning to the treacherous Lady
MAPLE-DURHAM CHURCH AND MILL.
Carlisle she exultingly exclaimed : " Rejoice with me, for
at this hour the king is, as I have reason to believe, master
of his realm, for Pym and his confederates are arrested
before now."
For this indiscretion King Charles paid dearly. He
had been stopped at the entrance to the house of commons
by a large number of persons, who presented petitions
which he stood to read and discuss.
This delay afforded Lady Carlisle ample time to dispatch
one of her agents to inform the persons marked for arrest.
They fled just as Charles entered the house, and their
party organized a plan of resistance on the spot.
1 64 The Queens of England,
Insurrections followed, and the king and queen retired
to Hampton Court to watch the result. Parliament then
warned all the nobility to arm, and prevent the king from
going further. King Charles was surprised ; for he had not
the least idea that any restraint would be put upon his
personal freedom.
The queen then proposed that she should go to Holland,
under pretence of conveying the princess-royal to her
young spouse, the Prince of Orange, but in reality for the
purpose of selling her jewels to provide the king with
means of defence. No opposition was made to her de-
parture, and the Prince of Orange received her most cor-
dially. Not so the Dutch burgomasters, who treated her
with marked disrespect at first; but by the end of one
year she had so won them over by her tact, diplomacy, and
courteous manners that she had raised upwards of two
million pounds sterling, all of which had been forwarded
to her husband, who had raised his standard at Notting-
ham and commenced a warlike struggle.
Meanwhile the Princess of Orange pursued her studies
in Holland, where she soon won the affections of the peo-
ple, and her alliance proved a most happy one.
[A.D. 1643.] Queen Henrietta set out on her return to
England just a year after she had left. She sailed in an
English ship, accompanied by eleven smaller ones filled
with stores and ammunition for the king. The fleet was
coinmanded by the Dutch admiral Von Tromp.
A tremendous gale blew them about for nearly a fort-
night, the travellers suffering all the torments of sea-sick-
ness, and expecting every moment to go to the bottom.
The queen behaved bravely on this trying occasion, and
cheerfully replied to the wailing and lamentations of her
ladies : "Comfort yourselves, mes cheres ; queens of England
are never drowned." The -poor priests on board were as
1643- Henrietta Maria of Denmark, 165
sick as the rest, but they had to listen to the confessions of
the terrified ladies and gentlemen, who bawled out their
sins, regardless of the presence of others, in a way that
must have been truly amusing.
At last the queen landed safely at a port near the
Hague, having lost two of her ships. After two days' rest
she again set sail, and made a quick voyage to Burlington,
where, guarded by a thousand cavaliers on land, and Von
Tromp at sea, she went ashore. The next morning, at
dawn, five ships-of-war, that had entered the bay during
the night, began a cannonade on the house where the
queen was sleeping. She was obliged to rise in haste, put
on her clothes, and seek shelter in a ditch some distance
from the town of Burlington. Bullets fell thick about her
as she hurried on foot to the place of shelter, and one of
her servants was killed. Nevertheless, when Henrietta
remembered that her favorite lap-dog had been left behind,
she ran back, hastily climbed the stairs to her bed-chamber,
caught up the animal, and carried it off in safety. One
ball grazed the edge of the ditch where the royal party
were concealed, and covered them with earth and stones.
At night the attacking ships retreated, much to her ma-
jesty's relief, for she then remained quietly for ten days in
the neighborhood of Burlington.
While there she distributed arms to those gentlemen who
seemed loyally disposed, and thus gained many friends for
the king.
A captain of one of the ships that had bombarded the
queen's house on the morning after her arrival was caught
on shore, tried by a military tribunal, and sentenced to
be hung. The queen happened to meet the procession
when the prisoner was being conducted to execution, and
inquired what was the matter. She was told that King
Charles's loyal subjects were about to punish a man who
had aimed at her.
1 66 The Queens of England,
"Ah," replied the queen, "but he did not kill me, and
he shall not be put to death on my account." The captain
was then set at liberty, and so deeply was he touched by
Henrietta's generosity that he came over to the royal cause,
and persuaded several of his shipmates to do likewise.
[A.D. 1644.] Previous to the battle of Newbury, so fatal
to his cause, Charles escorted his wife to Abington, and
there this devoted couple parted never to meet again.
The queen was ill when the Earl of Essex advanced with
his army to besiege the city in which she had taken refuge ;
but rising from her bed she escaped in disguise with one
lady, one gentleman, and her confessor, leaving behind her
an infant only a few weeks old.
She hid for two days in a hut by the roadside three miles
from Exeter, and lay couched under a heap of rubbish
when the parliamentary soldiers marched by. She heard
them say " that they meant to carry the head of Henrietta
to London, and receive for it a reward of fifty thousand
crowns." As soon as they were gone she stole out of her
hiding-place, and with her three companions travelled on to
a wood, which became the rendezvous that night for all
her faithful attendants. Geoffrey Hudson, the dwarf, was
of the number, and everybody was in disguise.
The whole party pushed on to the coast and embarked
on board a friendly Dutch vessel.
Meanwhile the king, by a series of victories, had fought
his way to Exeter, where he hoped to see his dear Henri-
etta, but she had been gone several days when he arrived.
He beheld his new baby a princess for the first time,
and had her baptized under the name of Henrietta Anne,
after her mother and her good aunt in France.
Queen Henrietta did not reach her native land without
another trial ; for her vessel was chased by a cruiser in the
service of parliament, and several cannon balls fired at it.
(644- Henrietta Maria of England. 167
The danger of being taken or sunk became so great that
the queen took command of the vessel herself, had every
sail set for speed, urged the pilot to keep straight on his
course, and charged the captain to fire the powder magazine
if escape were impossible. She was determined not to
fall into the hands of her husband's enemies, and preferred
death to the disgrace of being dragged captive to London.
However, she did not have to resort to such an extreme
measure, for in a few hours she landed at Bretagne. Such
a sorry spectacle did the queen and her attendants present
that the natives took them for pirates and arose in arms
against them ; but no sooner were they convinced that it
was the daughter of their beloved King Henry IV. who
had sought refuge among them, than they speedily took
measures to supply all her wants, and provided her with
equipages to convey her to the baths of Bourbon, where she
hoped to regain health and strength.
Anne of Austria, who was then queen-regent, sent her
confidential lady-of-honor to Henrietta, with offers of all
the assistance it was in the power of France to bestow, and
supplied her with liberal sums of money ; but Queen
Henrietta stripped herself of every farthing she could com-
mand to send to her husband, over whose misfortunes she
wept constantly.
Queen Henrietta was met on her return to Paris, and
most affectionately welcomed by the queen-regent and the
little King Louis IV., who escorted her to the Louvre,
where a luxurious suite of apartments had been prepared
for her. They treated her with the consideration due to a
queen, and, as a daughter of France, she was supplied with
the liberal income of twelve thousand crowns per month.
But she deprived herself even of necessary comforts in
order that she might keep her suffering husband supplied.
A few days after her arrival in her native land she removed
1 68 The Queens of England.
to St. Germains, a country-palace that the queen-regent
had placed at her disposal. There she lived in retirement,
and her wants being less, she was enabled to save larger
sums to send to England.
The affairs of King Charles had grown from bad to
worse ; and with his usual thoughtfulness for his family, he
instructed his sons to escape from a country where neither
he nor they could hope for protection.
[A.D. 1645.] Accordingly both the Prince of Wales
and the Duke of York made their way to Paris, where they
spent some time with their mother, then joined the English
fleet that had forsaken the Cromwell party, and was lying
off the coast of Holland.
The same year Lady Morton, who had been left at
Exeter with the infant Henrietta Anne, made her escape,
disguised as a beggar, and, with the child in her arms,
travelled on until she placed her in her mother's lap. The
queen's heart was gladdened at the sight of her little
one, whom she covered with kisses, and called " child of
benediction."
She had made up her mind that this little princess should
become a Catholic, and for that reason appointed Pere
Gamache to instruct her.
Now, so long as the royal family of France were rich,
Queen Henrietta shared their prosperity, and was treated
with the utmost respect and consideration ; but when their
own civil wars reduced them to a state of destitution she
had poverty added to her other troubles.
She behaved nobly when her sister-in-law, Anne of
Austria, was in danger from the fury of her own subjects,
and left her quiet retreat at St. Germains to share her
danger in Paris during the battles of the Fronde and the
Barricades. It was she who acted as peacemaker between
the queen-regent and her people, and she had become such
1648. Henrietta Maria of England. 169
a favorite in France that after much trouble and many
privations she finally succeeded in restoring order.
[A.D. 1648.] But the Christmas of 1648, before this
was accomplished, Cardinal de Retz, who was one of the
principal leaders of the Fronde, but a good friend to Queen
Henrietta, found her shut up in an apartment of the
Louvre with little Henrietta, without any fire, although it
was a cold, snowy day. The sorrowing mother had kept
the four-year old princess in bed lest she should surfer
from the cold, but both were without food. The cardinal
supplied the necessary comforts forthwith, and on the same
day represented to the parliament of Paris the distress in
which he had discovered the daughter of their former
king. His eloquence was the outpouring of a kind heart,
and met with an immediate response, for a subsidy of
twenty thousand livres was instantly voted for the destitute
queen.
Then she wrote to Lord Fairfax in England, asking his
assistance, that she might see her husband once more.
This letter was delivered to the house of commons, and
contemptuously thrown aside, with the remark "that the
writer had been voted guilty of high treason in 1643."
Thus ended all hope ot being reunited to the husband
whose afflictions she shared and for whose sake she would
willingly have died. Added to this was the suspense the
queen endured while the civil strife in Paris and its neigh-
borhood rendered the passage of couriers impossible.
King Charles might well have escaped from England
and joined his wife, but nothing could induce him to enter
France as a supplicant sovereign. He preferred to suffer
and struggle alone, through four long years of insult and
abuse, most shocking to us of the present day to read
about.
The Roundheads grew so powerful that, with Olive'
The Queens of. England.
Cromwell j:or their leader, they became a body of ruffians,
who either thrust into a dungeon or expelled any of their
band who evinced the least mark of favor towards the
king.
Through treachery Charles I. had fallen a prisoner in
their hands. They showed him no mercy ; they granted
him no justice. A handful of self-appointed judges went
through the mockery of a trial, and condemned their un-
fortunate sovereign to the block.
On the day before the execution Princess Elizabeth and
the Duke of Gloucester, the only royal children who re-
mained in England, were admitted to their father's prison
to bid him farewell. They both sobbed passionately.
King Charles drew them to his bosom with words of con-
solation, and solemnly blessed them.
He told the princess not to grieve for him, for his was
a glorious death, for the laws and religion of the land;
advised her what books to read ; bade her to forgive his
enemies, as he hoped God would, and charged her to be
obedient to her mother, and to tell her that his love for
her would be the same to the last.
Then taking little Gloucester on his knee, he said :
" Sweetheart, now will they cut off thy father's head.
Heed, my chid, what I say : they will cut off my head, and
perhaps make thee king ; but, mark what I say, you must
not be a king so long as your brothers Charles and James
live ; therefore, I charge you, do not be made a king by
them."
Earnestly looking up into his father's face, the boy
replied: "I will be torn in pieces first." This unex-
pected answer pleased his majesty, who with a few more
words of advice fervently kissed his children, and ordered
them to be taken away. They sobbed aloud, and the king
turned away as they passed out, and leaned his head against
the window trying to repress his tears.
1648. Henrietta Maria of England. 171
While this painful interview was taking place Cromwell
and his gang of ruffians sat in secret conclave to determine
upon the hour of their victim's death ; and some of them
swore later that it was only violent threats on the part of
their leader that forced them to place their signatures to
the fatal warrant.
The noble and dignified bearing of the king as he
ascended the scaffold was noticed by all who saw him, and
the populace, who were kept at a distance by a dense mass
of soldiers, wept amidst their blessings and prayers for
the martyr king.
Charles made a short speech, saying that " if he had
been a despot he might have remained their sovereign;
but he died to preserve the liberties of the people of Eng-
land." Some one touched the axe while he was speaking.
" Have a care of the axe ! " he exclaimed," " if the edge be
spoiled it will be the worse for me."
Then his executioner kneeled before him and asked for-
giveness. Charles drew himself up with proud dignity and
replied :
" No ! I forgive no subject of mine who comes delib-
erately to shed my blood."
He then said a short prayer, raised his eyes to heaven,
then placed his head upon the block. It was severed with
one blow, as a cry of agony arose from the horrified multi-
tude.
Queen Henrietta did not hear of the dreadful fate that
had overtaken her husband for several days; and when at
last it was communicated to her, she stood motionless as a
statue, without words or tears.
The visit of the Duchess de Vendome, whom the queen
tenderly loved, produced a change in the afflicted widow,
who burst into a passionate fit of weeping at the tender
words of sympathy expressed by her friend. She called
172 The Queens of England.
herself the most miserable woman on the face of the earth,
and resolved to retire with a few of her ladies to the Car-
melite Convent in Paris. She well knew that for the future
life could contain nothing but bitterness for her, and said :
" I have lost a crown, but that I had long ceased to regret ;
it is my husband for whom I grieve, the good, just, wise,
virtuous man, so worthy of my love and that of his sub-
jects."
She named herself La malheureuse reine, and mourned
for King Charles to the day of her death.
[A.D. 1649.] Queen Henrietta was notlong permitted
to enjoy the peaceful retirement of the convent ; for her
son, the Prince of Wales, determined to return to England,
and desired to consult his mother about it. She therefore
met him at St. Germains in the summer of 1649, and after-
wards returned with him to her former apartments at the
Louvre.
In the following autumn, accompanied by his brother
James, Duke of York, Charles went to the Isle of Jersey,
where he was proclaimed King of Great Britain. Scotland
acknowledged him next, and then followed the scenes of
blood in Ireland, under the leadership of Cromwell, more
horrible than any that had ever been witnessed in the world
before.
Charles was absent more than two years; and while he
was contesting for his hereditary rights his young brother
and sister, who were still prisoners in England, were treated
very harshly by the republicans.
[A.D. 1650.] In the September of 1650 Princess Eliza-
beth died of a malignant fever.
Cromwell had established a strong military despotism in
the British Islands ; and when Queen Henrietta demanded
of him the payment of her dower, he replied : " That she
had never been recognized as Queen-Consort of Great
1660. Henrietta Maria of England. 173
Britain by the people, consequently she had no right to a
dower."
This was because she had refused, on account of her
religious bigotry, to be crowned with the king.
But the usurper did her a great favor when he allowed
the young Duke of Gloucester to return to her. The per-
mit said : " That Henry Stuart, third son of the late
Charles I., had leave to transport himself beyond seas."
Queen Henrietta treated her sons most harshly because
they refused to become Catholics, and adhered to the
Episcopal church ; in consequence a great deal of ill-feeling
and enmity had grown up between her and them, which at
last drove them from her.
The young Duke of Gloucester went to Holland to live
with his sister, the Princess of Orange, whose husband had
died of small-pox a short time before she offered her
brother an asylum.
Queen Henrietta remained at the Palais Royal with her
youngest child as a guest of the queen-regent.
[A.D. 1658.] At last, in 1658, Cromwell died, and two
years later Charles II. was restored to the throne of Eng-
land, without the shedding of a single drop of blood. His
brother, the young Duke of Gloucester, had accompanied
Charles to England, where four months after the Restora-
tion he died of small-pox.
[A.D. 1660.] In October of 1660 the Duke of York
met Queen Henrietta and his youngest sister at Calais,
where they embarked for England in grand state. The
vessels were all decked with gay flags, and as each one
discharged her cannon in regular order the noise was so
great that it could be distinctly heard at Dover. The
channel was so calm that its surface looked like a mirror.
Not a breath of wind was stirring, and it was two days
before the English fleet could accomplish the passage that
!^4 The Queens of England.
usually took three or tour hours. Fortunately the Duke
of York had provided a sumptuous banquet for his mother,
sister, and their whole retinue, which passed a few hours
pleasantly, and saved the travellers from hunger.
When the queen reached Dover, Charles II. went on
board the vessel to welcome her, and conducted her to
Dover Castle, where a pleasant surprise awaited her.
Not only was a magnificent supper spread, but every
member of the royal family of Stuart had assembled to
receive Queen Henrietta, who once more had the satisfac-
tion of embracing each of her children in turn.
For the moment she was happy, surrounded by those
she loved; but after she reached London she was over-
come by the deepest sorrow. The sight of the apartments
once occupied by her husband agonized her, and it wrung
her heart to look upon the spot where he had suffered and
died. She sank into the deepest melancholy, and would
shut herself up for hours at a time, denying admittance to
any of her ladies.
Life in England became insupportable to the afflicted
queen, and she determined to return to France.
[A.D. 1 66 1.] In the evening of New Year's Day she
gave an audience to those who desired to bid her farewell,
and then retired to Hampton Court.
As the Princess Henrietta was engaged to be married to
Philippe, the Duke of Orleans, parliament settled on her
a liberal marriage-portion, and by the middle of January
she sailed, with her mother, for France.
Two months later the marriage between Princess Hen-
rietta and the Duke of Orleans was solemnized at the
Palais Royal : and when the young couple went to pass the
summer at Fontainebleau, Queen Henrietta retired to her
favorite chateau of Colombe, a few miles from Paris. The
following year the Duke and Duchess of Orleans made her
1669. Henrietta Maria of England. 175
a long visit, then accompanied her to Calais, where she
embarked to return to England once more.
[A.D. 1662.] Charles II. had married Catharine of
Braganza during his mother's absence, and the royal
couple received Queen Henrietta affectionately, and wel-
comed her to Greenwich Palace. She remained with
them until the summer, when Somerset House having
been handsomely renovated, she set up her court there ;
but her health began to decline, and she sent for her
son, the king, and told him that she could only regain
strength in her native land. He urged her to repair to
the Bourbon baths, though it grieved him sorely to part
from his mother again.
[A.D. 1665.] She went first to her chateau of Colombe,
where the King and Queen of France met and welcomed
her, and after a short season of repose she proceeded to
the baths of Bourbon.
[A.D. 1669.] But her health declined from year to year,
and although her daughter and son-in-law were indefati-
gable in their loving attentions, and summoned the most
celebrated physicians of Paris to her bedside, she expired
suddenly and painlessly at midnight of August 31, 1669.
Charles II. and the Duke of York received the news
with deep grief, and retired to Hampton Court, where
they remained until all the mourning ceremonies were
completed at Whitehall.
Louis XIV. ordered a general mourning to be observed
throughout France for his aunt, not because she was a
queen of England so much as because she was the last
child of Henry IV. of France.
CHAPTER VII.
CATHARINE Off BRAGANZA, QUEEN OF CHARLES
II., KING OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. (A.D.
1638-1705.)
IT was on St. Catharine's day that this princess was born,
in the year 1638, and it was in honor of that saint that she
was named. When she came into the world, Portugal was
under the rule of Spain, and had been so for sixty years,
not because the Portuguese were contented with the des-
potic laws that governed them, but because they did not
feel strong enough to fight for liberty.
When a nation considers itself oppressed by tyrannical
laws, secret organizations are sure to be formed for the
purpose of shaking off the yoke in one way or another.
In all the principal towns of Portugal these patriotic
associations were formed at the time we speak of, for the
purpose of throwing off the Spanish yoke ; and the period
was rapidly approaching when their efforts were to be
crowned with success.
It was to the Duke of Braganza, Catharine's father, the
last of the old royal line, that the larger party looked with
hope and confidence. Meanwhile, with a desire to keep
clear of the watchful eye of his foes and the dangerous
intrigues of his friends, the duke removed to his Palace of
Villa Vicosa with his beloved wife, the Donna Luiza, and
his two little sons. While living at that most charming
spot, that has been justly named a terrestrial paradise, the
1640. Catharine of Bragauza. \ 77
duchess added a daughter to her family circle, the little
Catharine, of whom we have spoken. She was baptized at
the parish chapel during the following month, and her god-
father was a Spanish grandee of high rank and enormous
wealth. The ceremony was performed with great pomp,
and gifts of considerable value were bestowed upon the
little girL She was such a pet in her family, that each
birthday was the occasion of a sumptuous fete. On the
second anniversary of her birth an incident occurred which
connected the celebration of it with no less important c.
matter than the emancipation of Portugal from the Spanish
yoke. On that day Don Caspar Cortigno arrived at the
Villa Vicosa, and requested an immediate interview with
the duke. Thr- being granted, he presented an appeal
from his countrymen, urging the duke to declare himself
their leader, and to accept the crown to which he was justly
entitled.
[A.D, 1640.] The nobleman listened attentively to all
that his visitor said ; but he was at a loss for a reply, while
he thoughtfully considered his position. On the one hand
was the Portuguese crown, which was his by inheritance
on the other the blessings of a happy home, with a charm
ing, affectionate family, and the peaceful possession of.
estates, comprising not less than a third of the realm.
Should he risk everything to embark upon an enten. -due
fraught with danger, perhaps ruin ? He could not decide ;
but, like a dutiful husband, consulted Donna Luiza. Without
a moment's hesitation, she replied : " This day our friends
are assembled around us to celebrate the anniversary of
the birth of our little Catharine ; and who knows bu; this
new guest may hr -e been sent to certify to you that it is
the will of Heaven, through especial grace, to invest you
with that crown of which you have long been unjustly
deprived by Spain. For my part I regard it as a happy
77 Queens of England!.
presage that he comes on such a aay." Then lifting up
her daughter, and holding her before the duke, she added,
" How can you find it in your heart to refuse to confer on
this child the rank of a Ling's daughter ? " That wa?
enough ; the father decided, though the statesman had
faltered ; ambition for his children won the Duke of Bra-
ganza's consent, and thenceforth he would devote ills life
to the welfare of his country.
A few days later he removed with his family to Lisbon,
where he was proclaimed king, under the title of Juan IV.
Then began a fierce struggle, in which many battles were
fought and won by the Portuguese against their powerful
enemy. They were fighting for freedom, and their despe-
rate charges counterbalanced the superior numbers di
Spain. In moments of discouragement and despoiicfe&cy
Donna Luiza was always near to fill her husband' ; breast
with courage and hope.
[A.D. 1644.] England immediately recognized Don
Juan as sovereign of Portugal ; but the pope refused to do
so, and was imitated by all the Catholic courts of Europe,
excepting France. Four years were spent in battling for
the liberty which was won at last by a decisive overthrow
of the Spanish forces in 1644.
Having accomplished this, Juan IV. sent Sabran as
ambassador to England to negotiate a marriage between
the Prince of Wales, who afterwards became Charles II.,
and his little daughter Catharine. The treasury of King
Charles was so nearly empty at that time, that the liberal
dower Juan was able to bestow upon the infanta would no
doubt have been very acceptable^ but there were other con-
siderations. Catharine of Braganza was a Catholic ; and
as the difference of religion had created so much unhappi-
ness between himself and his own wife, Charles I. hesitated
to thrust the same domestic infelicity on his son, who was,
CATHARINE OF BRAGANZA.
1656. Catluirinc of Braganza. 181
of course a Protestant. And so, for the time being, no
decisive measures could be taken for the marriage.
[A.D. 1656.] Don Juan did not live long to enjoy the
lofty position for which he had struggled so desperately ;
for he died towards the close of the year 1656, in the prime
of life, but worn out with care and anxiety.
By her father's death Princess Catharine became an
heiress of great wealth ; for Don Juan left a will bequeath-
ing to his daughter the island of Madeira, the city of
Lanego, and the town of Moura, with all their territories
and rents. She received other sources of income, besides,
with the proviso that if she married in a foreign land, she
was to relinquish all to the crown and receive the equiva-
lent in money. .
Donna Luiza carefully studied the aspect of affairs in
other countries besides the one she ruled, and her pene-
tration enabled her to foresee that the restoration of
Charles II. to the throne of England was merely a matter
of time. That being the case, she made up her mind to
work for an alliance between that prince and her daughter,
hoping thereby to strengthen the position of her own realm.
All other proposals, therefore, for the hand of the infanta
were regarded with disfavor.
The elder Princess Dowager of Orange was not so keen-
sighted ; for when Charles was sojourning at a village in
Flanders, while he was still an exile, he fell in love with
the Princess Henrietta, daughter of Frederick Henry,
Prince of Orange, and would have married her, but the
dowager declined the offer, saying, " that she saw no
chance for the amendment of his fortunes."
A few months latter, when a deputation from parliament
arrived with fifty thousand pounds for Prince Charles, and
an invitation to return to England, the old lady could have
bitten her tongue out for the blunder she had made, and
endeavored to repair it.
1 82 The Queens of England.
But Charles was too indignant to listen to any of her
overtures, or ever to forgive the insult she had offered him
in his adversity.
[A.D. 1660.] Henrietta was extremely anxious to see
her eldest son united in marriage with a princess of her
own faith ; so, once when she was on a visit to England,
she manoeuvred until matters were brought to such a point
that the Portuguese ambassador was authorized to inter-
view the. prince's lord chamberlain on the subject. The
former important personage was no other than Don Fran-
cisco de Mello, the godfather of Catharine. He began by
praising the virtues of the king, and added, " that it was
time he should bestow himself in marriage, and that noth-
ing ought to keep him single but the difficulty of rinding
a suitable consort."
The lord chamberlain, Earl of Manchester, assented.
Thereupon Don Francisco continued : " There is in Portu-
gal a princess, in her beauty, person, and age, very fit for
the king, who would have a portion suitable to her birth
and quality. She is a Catholic, to be sure, and would
never depart from her religion ; but she has none of that
meddling activity which sometimes makes persons of any
faith troublesome when they come into a country where
another mode of worship than their own is practised.
She has been bred under a wise mother, who has taught
her not to interfere in state affairs, of which she is entirely
ignorant." The ambassador concluded by informing the
earl that he was authorized to propose the princess for a
wife to the king, accompanied with offers such as no other
power in Europe could make.
This conversation was duly reported to Charles, who
sent to Don Francisco for further particulars. An early
interview was granted the ambassador, who repeated what
he had said to the lord chamberlain, and added, further-
l66 - Catharine of Braganza. 183
more, " that he was authorized to offer five hundred
thousand pounds sterling in cash as a portion for the
Infanta Catharine, besides the possession of Tangier, on
the coast of Africa, which was to be made over to the
crown of England forever. Free trade in the Brazil and
the East Indies was to be granted to the English nation ;
and the island of Bombay, with its spacious bay, towns,
and castles, was likewise to belong to them."
Charles was dazzled with such a brilliant offer, and
hastened to consult Lord Clarendon, his prime minister,
on the subject.
Clarendon refused to offer immediate advice, and asked,
" whether his majesty had given up all thought of a Prot-
estant wife."
Charles replied, "that he could not find one, except
among his own subjects, and he had seen no one of
their number, who had pleased him sufficiently for that
purpose."
A secret meeting was then called of several members of
his council, over which the king presided in person. He
stated the business for which he had requested their pres-
ence, and pointed out the importance of Tangier for the
benefit of trade on the Mediterranean sea.
One of the lords suggested the advisability of a Protes-
tant queen. Charles asked " where he should find one ? "
Several German princesses were mentioned, whereupon
he exclaimed, impatiently : " Odds fish ! They are all dull
and foggy ; I cannot like one of them for a wife."
It was then unanimously agreed that a matrimonial
treaty should be opened, with all possible secrecy, with
Portugal.
Delighted with the success of his mission, Don Francisco
de Mello offered to go back to his native land to complete
the necessary arrangements.
184 The Queens of England.
The court of Lisbon was filled with rejoicing when the
object of Don Francisco's return was announced. He was
rewarded with the title of Count da Ponte, and sent back
to England with full power to conclude the marriage.
[A.D. 1661.] It was late in January when the count
again set foot in London. To his surprise, the whole
aspect of affairs had changed, and he could not even obtain
an interview with the king.
The reason for the change was this : The representatives
of Spain knew well that it would redound to their disad-
vantage if an alliance between the royal houses of England
and Portugal should be cemented ; they therefore endeav-
ored to prevent it. One of their number happened to be
on terms of intimacy with Charles, and could, therefore,
speak plainly on the subject of his prospective marriage.
His arguments made little impression until he dared to
attack the princess herself ; but when he affirmed that she
was ugly, deformed, and delicate, the king began to fear
that perhaps he had allowed himself to be too easily influ-
enced. The Earl of Bristol was a particular enemy of
Clarendon, and prided himself on throwing a wet blanket
over every project that minister seemed to favor. The
earl had just returned from a visit to Portugal, and corrobo-
rated every statement made by the Spanish envoy, merely
for the sake of opposition. At the same time he drew a
graphic picture of some of the Italian princesses he had
met, and assured the king that if he would make his selec-
tion from their number, the Spanish government would
agree to give the lady of his choice as large a portion as
though she were of their royal blood.
As Charles was not in love with Catharine of Braganza,
never having laid eyes on her, he was easily turned from
his purpose, and broke off all negotiations with the Portu-
guese court.
i66i. Catharine of Braganza. 185
But he did not abandon his intention to marry ; and so
despatched the Earl of Bristol to Parma to make minute
inquiries as to the qualifications of the princesses of that
court. The well-known fondness of Charles II. for hand-
some women obliged the earl to make his observations
with great care ; so when one glance at the ladies, on their
way to church, convinced him that one was too fat, and both
were too ugly, to please his royal master, he dared not pre-
sent a favorable report.
Meanwhile the king had taken pains to inquire of other
travellers who had been to Portugal, what sort of a woman
the infanta really was ; and the descriptions he got were so
different from those presented by the Spaniards, that he
altered his manner towards Don Francisco, and began to
show him many marks of courtesy.
This enraged Vatteville, the Spanish ambassador, to such
a degree, that he openly declared, " that he was directed
by the king, his master, to let his majesty know, that, if he
should proceed towards a marriage with the daughter of
his rebel, the Duke of Braganza, he had orders to take his
leave presently, and declare war against him."
This excited the king's indignation, and he manfully re-
plied, " that the ambassador might be gone as soon as he
liked."
Then Vatteville found that he had gone too far, and re-
sorted to the most fulsome flattery in order to conciliate
the irate king.
At last a special messenger arrived from France with a
private communication from Louis XIV., expressing regret
that any obstruction to the Portuguese match had arisen ;
and assuring King Charles that Catharine was a lady of
rare beauty and accomplishments.
While Charles hesitated, he received a portrait of the
dark -eyed infanta, which, after all, made a deeper impression
1 86 The Queens of England,
on his heart than diplomatists, promises of wealth, or the
reasoning of his lord-chancellor, could ever have accom-
plished. In this portrait the princess was represented as a
brilliant brunette, with large, dark eyes, and a profusion of
brown hair arranged in short curls on each side of the
head, and falling to the waist in ringlets at the back.
" This person cannot be unhandsome," said the king, gaz-
ing attentively on the face of the woman he was so soon to
marry.
The ambassador was summoned, and requested to repeat
to his majesty all that England was to gain in the event of
his marriage with the Portuguese princess. Don Francisco
assured Charles that the money he had promised in the
name of the queen-regent was all sealed up in bags await-
ing transportation ; and that the fleet which was to be sent
for the princess might even go first and take possession of
Tangiers.
It was further agreed that the marriage should take place
in England, although it was not customary for any princess
to join her husband in a foreign land until after the cere-
mony had been performed with a proxy acting as bride-
groom.
Donna Luiza preferred this arrangement, because the
pope had never acknowledged the independence of Portu-
gal ; and, as it would be necessary to apply for a dispensa-
tion before a marriage could be contracted between a Cath-
olic and a Protestant, she feared that he would mention
Catharine only as the daughter of the Duke of Braganza,
and not as a princess. This would have been a serious
affront to the royal house of Portugal, and most injurious
to their cause.
On his part, Charles avoided anything disagreeable that
might arise at the coronation of a Catholic queen in Eng-
land, by having himself crowned before such a person ex-
i66i. Catharine of Braganza. 189
isted. Consequently, that ceremony was appointed for St.
George's day, April 23, 1661, and was celebrated with great
splendor and universal rejoicing.
The following month Charles II. opened parliament in
person, and imparted the news that he intended to marry
" the daughter of Portugal."
In June, the treaty which united England and Portugal
was signed by King Charles at Whitehall ; and the acquisi
tion of Bombay, which it granted, gave England a foothold
in India that she has retained ever since, as we know.
The contract secured for Catharine the free exercise of
her religion and the privilege of fitting up a chapel in any
palace she might occupy, besides a settled income of thirty
thousand pounds a year, with full liberty to return to her
native land, should she become a widow, without forfeiting
her jointure.
Meanwhile, Vatteville was so enraged at being outdone,
that, although a Catholic representative, he circulated
papers among the populace, setting forth the ills that must
necessarily arise in England from the introduction of a
popish queen. He meant to do this secretly, but was caught
in the act of distributing some of these documents from his
own window among the soldiers. The king was so indignant
that he sent his secretary of state to order the ambassador's
immediate departure. Vatteville begged to be allowed to
ask his majesty's pardon, but his request was not granted,
and the troublesome busybody was obliged to go back to
Spain without being permitted to speak to the king again.
There was great rejoicing in Lisbon when the Count da
Ponte arrived with full power from the king to complete
the arrangements for his marriage, and the streets rang with
the cry of, " Long live the King of Great Britain, whom
God hath raised to protect us from our implacable foes ! "
The count was the bearer of a letter from the king to
190 The Queens of England.
Donna Luiza, as well as one to the princess, whom he ad-
dressed as " The Queen of Great Britain, my wife, and lady,
whom God preserve." Both were considered fine speci-
mens of letter-writing in their day, and prove Charles II.
to have been a clever correspondent. As soon as the mar-
riage treaty was ratified, Catharine was addressed as queen,
and treated with the utmost deference at her brother's
court. A great change had suddenly come to the life of
this young girl, and she was called upon to fill a position
for which she was totally unprepared, and to become the
wife of a merry monarch, whose views of life were entirely
different from her own. We cannot help pitying her at the
outset. She had been brought up under the most rigid
laws, kept in seclusion, and only began to appear in public
after she assumed the proud title of Queen of England.
Ignorant of the trials that awaited her in the future,
Catharine watched for the arrival of the Earl of Sandwich
and the fleet that was to convey her to England with the
utmost impatience. No anxiety as to her fate marred the
bright hopes of the young girl whose path seemed strewn
with roses ; she beheld not the hidden thorns while listen-
ing to the flattering representations of those around her,
and prepared herself to leave her family and her native land
without a pang.
It was not until he had cleared the Mediterranean of
pirates, taught Algiers and Tunis to respect the British
flag, and taken possession of Tangiers in the name of his
sovereign, that the Earl of Sandwich made his appearance
in the Bay of Lisbon. Now it happened that the Spanish
troops were marching to besiege a seaport town near Lis-
bon just when the English ships sailed into the harbor, and
as the town was not prepared for resistance, it must certainly
have fallen, and the consequences have been disastrous to
Portugal. But alarmed at the assistance that had come,
i 66 *- Catharine of Bragansa. 191
just in the nick of time to their enemies, the Spaniards
made a precipitate retreat, and Catharine congratulated
herself upon beint^ the means of saving her country from
ruin.
Sir Richara Fanshawe was the bearer of a miniature
of King Charles to his lady-love, accompanied by an
affectionate letter. Catharine was delighted with it, and
made numerous inquiries about her royal lover, whose
romantic history had excited her admiration and wonder.
Charles passed the winter in making preparations for the
reception of his bride ; and while he was so engaged there
were magnificent displays of fireworks, illuminations, and
bull-fights at Lisbon for the amusement of the English
guests ; and the queen-regent was so well pleased with the
Count da Ponte's good management, that she signified her
approval of it by again promoting him. He was created
Marquez de Sande.
The greatest formality was observed at the reception of
the Earl of Sandwich, and no point of etiquette was
omitted that might tend to add to the importance of the
occasion.
The earl had the honor of being presented to the queen-
regent and Queen Catharine, to whom he delivered letters
from King Charles, written in Spanish.
Several English gentlemen of rank were presented to the
Queen of Great Britain, who had been appointed officers
of her household by the king, her husband, and she admit-
ted them formally to their different posts.
Fetes and rejoicings were the order of the day; and
nothing else was thought of until the moment for handing
over the money arrived. Then trouble began ; and this is
by no means the first instance of its arising from a similar
cause.
In consequence of the late advance of the Spanish army,
rg2 The Queens of England.
Donna Luiza had been compelled to fall back on some of
the gold she had reserved for her daughter's portion, to
meet the expenses incurred for the defence of her realm.
So she sent for the Earl of Sandwich, and after making
profuse apologies, and explaining her difficulty, offered to
pay down half the promised sum at once, and pledged her-
self to deliver the rest within the year.
The ambassador was perplexed. He had been ordered
to receive the entire sum, and knew perfectly well how
much his sovereign depended upon it. Besides, he had
already taken possession of Tangier, and had stationed an
English garrison there. He dared not incur the expense
of removing the troops back home, nor would his gallantry
permit him to insult the lady he was sent to convey to
England by leaving her behind. His was an exceedingly
delicate position, and he behaved like a kind-hearted gen-
tleman by consenting to receive Catharine with half the
sum of money originally offered. Then rose another diffi-
culty, which proves that Donna Luiza was more diplomatic
than honest ; for when it came to the delivery of the bags,
they were found to contain, not gold, but sugar, spices,
and other merchandise, which had been valued by the Por-
tuguese at a much higher rate than was fair.
This was an imposition against which the Earl of Sand-
wich violently protested, but that did him no good, for he
could get nothing else unless he would accept jewels, which
he positively refused. After a great deal of argument, it
was at last arranged that Diego Silvas, a man of wealth
and excellent character, should accompany the goods as
supercargo, dispose of them in London, and pay the sum
realized thereon to the king's exchequer. At the same
time a bond was given by the government of Portugal for
the payment of the residue within the space of a year.
Thus everything was settled at last, and the royal bride
*66 r - Catharine of Bragansa 193
took her departure. Although she was leaving her mother
and her native land, Catharine did not shed a tear. Every-
thing seems to have been sacrificed for the formality of
court etiquette no sentiment being permissible.
The young queen, followed by the king and Don Pedro,
her two brothers, the officers of the royal household, and a
train of grandees, emerged from her apartments and de-
scended the grand staircase to the main hall, where, at the
entrance to the court chapel, she was met by her mother.
This was the spot appointed for the leave-taking of the
two queens. Catharine asked permission to kiss her
mother's hand, whereupon Donna Luiza folded her in a
fond embrace, and blessed her. Then they parted, and
Catharine was led to her carriage between her two brothers.
Before entering she turned and made a profound courtesy
to the queen-mother, who forthwith retired. Perhaps in
the privacy of her own chamber, this woman, who, though
a queen, was still a mother, gave vent to the emotions she
had schooled herself to conceal.
It was St. George's day, and that saint being the patron of
Portugal as well as of England, the festival was celebrated
with more than the customary splendor.
Amidst salvos of artillery the queen's barge approached
the " Royal Charles," which carried eighty cannon and six
hundred men, and Catharine was assisted to mount the
ladder that had been built for her special use.
As soon as she got on board, a salute was fired by the
British fleet, and answered by the Portuguese forts. Then,
having been formally delivered over to the Earl of Sand-
wich, Queen Catharine was conducted to her cabin, where
she bade farewell to her two brothers, who immediately
returned to the city.
Everything was now ready for the fleet to set sail except-
ing the wind, which proved contrary, and prevented the
194 The Queens of England.
ships from leaving the bay. That night there was a general
illumination and a magnificent display of fireworks, both on
land and water. The wind continued unfavorable through-
out the next day, and the queen-mother sent frequently to
inquire how her daughter fared on shipboard. There was
no complaint to make ; for the royal cabin and state-room
were most luxuriously fitted up with damask furniture and
curtains, costly carpets, and soft downy cushions.
A little surprise was prepared for Queen Catharine that
night by her brother, the king, who with Don Pedro and a
chosen party of courtiers, embarked in several barges with
their musical instruments, and serenaded the departing
princess, performing the music and singing the sonnets
and madrigals that had been composed in honor of her
nuptials.
On the morning of the twenty-fifth the wind changed and
the voyage began. The fleet consisted of fourteen men-of-
war ; but only three, the " Royal Charles," the " Gloucester,"
and the "Royal James," were occupied by Catharine of
Braganza, her attendants, and officers of state. The others
contained the queen's equipage and the merchandise that
represented half her dowry. There were more than a
hundred Portuguese in Catharine's suite, the principal ones
being two ladies of the highest rank, Donna Maria de
Portugal, Countess de Penalva, and sister to the Marquis
de Sande, and Donna Elvira de Vilpena, Countess de
Ponteval. These were appointed to chaperon the bride.
Six noble young ladies formed part of the suite also, and
an English count very discourteously described them as
" six frights, calling themselves maids-of-honcr, and a
duenna, another monster, who took the title of governess
to these extraordinary beauties." Besides these, there
were six chaplains, four bakers, a perfumer, and a barber.
The voyage to England was so tempestuous that some of
iS6i. Catharine of Braganza, 195
the vessels had to put in at Mount's Bay for repairs. All
the passengers suffered terribly from sea-sickness, and
many of them from terror. The Duke of York's squadron
awaited the fleet off the Isle of Wight, .and as soon as it
appeared in sight the royal brother-in-law sent his secretary
in a boat to ask permission to kiss Queen Catharine's hand.
Having obtained it, the duke, accompanied by Lord Ches-
terfield, the Duke of Ormond, Lord Carlingford, the Earl
of Suffolk, and others, all in full dress, went in a barge to
the admiral's ship. The Marquez de Sande received the
party and conducted them to the royal cabin. Catharine,
dressed in an English costume, was seated on a throne,
under a richly embroidered canopy, when the duke was
announced. She advanced to meet him ; he knelt to kiss
her hand, but she quickly raised him, and allowed him to
salute her cheek. Then returning to her throne, Catharine
conversed for a few minutes with his highness, her almoner,
Russell, acting as interpreter. But the Duke of York
spoke Spanish well ; so in a few moments, after he had
taken a seat by the queen's invitation on her left, he con-
tinued the conversation in that tongue.
When the royal brother-in-law retired, Catharine ad-
vanced beyond the canopy with him, but he tried to prevent
it, telling her "she should recollect her rank," whereupon
she sweetly replied, " that she wished to do that out of
affection which she was not obliged to do." This answer
pleased the duke so much that he called to see his sister-
in-law every day, and a most friendly relation was estab-
lished between them. On* one occasion he expressed a
desire to see* her in her national dress ; so the next day she
received him attired as a Portuguese lady.
The fleet arrived at Portsmouth, May 13, the Duke of
York's boat following the " Royal Charles," and the duke
himself handed the queen to her barge, when she disem-
1 96 The Queens of England.
barked. Countess de Pontevel attended Catharine, but
Countess Benalva was too ill to leave the ship. The
governor of Portsmouth, the city officials, and the leading
persons of the neighborhood assembled on the beach to
welcome the queen, who entered an open carriage and
drove through the principal streets, to gratify the people's
desire for a look at her. She had the good sense to appear
in an English costume, so that she would not seem so much
of a stranger among her new subjects. It was not until five
days after his bride landed at Portsmouth that King Charles
found time to leave home. He was accompanied by Prince
Rupert, his cousin, and attended by a troop of his body-
guard. On reaching Portsmouth he went directly to visit
the queen. The Marquez de Sande and other dignitaries
awaited his approach, and after being graciously received
by the king, conducted him to an apartment, where he made
his toilet before presenting himself to her majesty.
Catharine had been ill for several days with sore throat
and cold, and was still confined to her bed, which, by the
physician's order, she was forbidden to leave. But now
that he had come, Charles was so anxious to see her that
he insisted on entering her chamber at once. The Earl of
Sandwich had the honor of attending him ; and the inter-
view, which was conducted in Spanish, was entirely satis-
factory to all parties. Charles expressed his pleasure at
seeing his bride, and kindly assured her that he was de-
lighted to hear from her physician that her indisposition
was not serious. She answered with so much prudence and
discretion all the king's questions that when he returned to
his apartments he congratulated himself on 4he fortunate
choice that had been made for him.
The following morning Catharine was so much better
that it was decided to have the marriage ceremony per-
formed without delay. This was accordingly done after the
l661 - Catharine of Braganza. 197
manner of the Catholic ritual, no one being present but the
Portuguese ambassador, a few nobles and ladies. After
the queen's conscience was satisfied in this regard, it was
necessary that the king's should be also ; therefore a public
Protestant ceremony took place in the afternoon, Sir
Richard Fanshawe having the honor of being the king's
groomsman.
The king was so delighted with his bride that he wrote
his chancellor from Portsmouth : " I am so well satisfied
that I cannot tell you how happy I am, and I must be the
worst man living (which I hope I am not) if I be not a
good husband, for I am confident that no two dispositions
were ever better suited to each other than my wife's and
mine."
The royal couple arrived at Hampton Court on the 2gth,
which, being the anniversary both of the king's birth and
restoration, was observed as a national holiday. The
usual rejoicings in honor of the queen's first appearance
among her London subjects took place, and she was wel-
comed with every token of popular favor that could be
devised. When their majesties alighted from their carriage
they passed through a line of guards, and were closely
followed by the two Portuguese countesses and other
ladies and gentlemen of the royal household. The high
officials were assembled at the palace to greet her majesty
and kiss her hand, and the foreign ministers were also
present to offer congratulations of their respective sover-
eigns. As her majesty passed through the long suites of
rooms the nobility, gentry, and ladies of the court were
presented to her according to their rank. Poor Queen
Catharine was ,so fatigued by the time she had seen so
many strange faces, made innumerable bows, and had her
hand kissed ad nauseam, that she was obliged to retire to
her bedroom for a short repose. The same evening the
198 The Queens of England.
Duchess of York arrived from London to pay her respects
to her royal sister-in-law. She was met by the king at the
garden gate, and led at once to the presence of the queen,
who embraced her affectionately. Then the royal family
seated themselves in the queen's bed-chamber and partook
of a cup of tea, or " China drink," as it was called when
introduced into England only a year or two before.
However, Catharine of Braganza was the firs', tea-drink-
ing queen of England, and no doubt she and her sister-
in-law of York became quite well acquainted over their
social cup the first day they met.
A portrait in the historical gallery at Versailles, painted
by Lely, represents Catharine as a very pretty little woman
at the time of her marriage. Her eyes, complexion, and
hair are dark and handsome, and unmistakably those of a
Spanish lady.
The queen's bed at Hampton Court was covered with
crimson velvet, embroidered in silver, at a cost of eight
thousand pounds, and was presented to Charles on his
departure from Holland to assume the crown. The large
mirror and toilet were of beaten gold, a present from the
queen-mother, Henrietta, and the hangings were all of
silk and gold, with embroidered canopies. Valuable paint-
ings adorned the walls, luxurious carpets covered the
floors, and magnificent Indian cabinets, brought from
Portugal, stood in various parts of the palace.
The new and brilliant scenes by which Catharine was
surrounded were all so strange that, while they interested
her, she found them very fatiguing. She had been bred in a
convent, as we know, and felt more real gratification in her
daily devotional exercises than in the gayety in which she
was often compelled to take a leading part, even when her
interest was not awakened. She heard mass daily, and
was disposed to spend so much time in her chapel that the
i66i. Catharine of Braganza. 201
ambassador, her godfather, felt called upon to remind her
of her duties as queen and wife.
King Charles was the most witty, fascinating prince in
Europe, thoroughly good-natured, brave, reckless, devoted
to pleasure, and devoid of religious and moral principles.
The free and easy manners of his court shocked the inno-
cent, virtuous little queen to such a degree that she would
have preferred not to appear in public at all. But her
naivete amused her husband, who devised all sorts of
pleasures for her entertainment.
But Catharine's dream of happiness was soon to end in
a rude awakening, when her tender, loving husband became
unkind and unreasonable. There was a very bad woman
at the English court, named Lady Castlemaine, whose hus-
band was living in France This woman had managed by
her wicked intrigues to gain great influence over the king,
and she was universally despised by everybody excepting
his majesty. The queen-mother in Portugal had heard of
this creature, and warned her daughter to have no commu-
nication with her whatever. Therefore, when Charles,
most unreasonably, presented her name at the head of the
list of ladies whom he recommended for appointments in
the royal household, the queen crossed it off. Charles
remonstrated, but Catharine was firm ; thereupon Charles
asserted his authority as king and husband. Catharine
became excessively indignant, and passionately refused to
have Lady Castlemaine among her ladies. The matter
was dropped for the moment ; but the king assumed an
injured air, and made himself disagreeable for a few days
after ; without the slightest warning he introduced the
objectionable party to the queen before her whole court. He
knew that he was wrong, and, like many a man before and
since, felt angry with his wife because such was the case.
He reproached her with being stubborn and undutiful, and
2O2 The Queens of England.
used threats that he never meant to put into execution.
She burst into tears, told him that he was tyrannical and
unkind, and declared that she would go back to Portugal.
One would suppose that the sight of a young, pretty
woman in distress would have moved the sympathies of
the gay, light-hearted king ; but he was not accustomed to
being ruled in that way, so he merely replied : " That she
would do well first to learn whether her mother would
receive her, and he would soon give her an opportunity for
knowing, for he would forthwith send home all her Portu-
guese servants, who had, he knew, encouraged her in her
perverseness."
Everybody at court knew that the king and queen had
quarrelled, for they scarcely looked at each other. If
Catharine had known how to manage her husband she
might have won him ; but she was too honest to flatter him
more than he deserved, and loved him too well to let him
suppose she could justify his conduct when she knew how
much he had been to blame. She spent hours at a time in
her room weeping, while he amused himself with his friends
and treated his wife with indifference. He was more
deeply offended at her wishing to leave him than at any of
her angry reproaches, and sent Lord Clarendon to talk to
her in his behalf. She was very penitent, but insisted that
she ought to have the privilege of selecting her own ser-
vants, and would on no account consent to the presence of
an objectionable person.
After that King Charles brutally upbraided her with the
non-performance of the marriage treaty with regard to her
dowry, though she was not to blame for it, and insulted
the Portuguese ambassador on her account. Diego Silvas
was thrown into prison because he was unable to complete
arrangements for paying the sum of money which was, in
reality, not yet due. Catharine knew that these indignities
i66i. Catharine of Bragansa. 203
were aimed at herself, and felt very unhappy that others
should be made to suffer on her account.
A temporary reconciliation was effected between the
royal couple by the visit of Queen Henrietta, who declared
that she had come to England with the express intention of
offering her congratulations on their marriage. She set up
her court at Greenwich Palace, and on the day after her
arrival the young couple paid their first state visit together.
Queen Henrietta awaited them at the first door of the
palace after they ascended the stairs ; and when she took
the poor, neglected, almost heart-broken Catharine in her
arms, and folded her in a motherly embrace, the young
woman must have felt that she had found a friend at last.
The queen-mother could speak no Spanish, and Catharine
little English, but the king and the Duke of York acted as
interpreters. It is probable that Queen Henrietta meant
to intimate to her son, and to all the courtiers present, the
respect due the young queen when she said : " That she
should never have come to England again, except for the
pleasure of seeing her, to love her as a daughter, and serve
her as a queen." Catharine replied with gratified pleasure,
" That in love and obedience, neither the king nor any of
her children should exceed her." This visit lasted four
hours, and seems to have had a good effect, for on their
return to Hampton Court the king and queen supped in
public, much to the delight of their court ; and the next
evening, when the king returned from a trip to London, her
majesty went some distance on the road with her house-
hold to meet him.
Queen Henrietta returned the visit of the royal couple,
and spent nearly a month at Hampton Court, going back
to London on the 23d of August, the day appointed
for Catharine to make her first public entrance into the
metropolis.
2O4 The Queens of England.
This was done with great magnificence ; crowds of people
gathering to the banks of the Thames to view the array of
boats that floated in attendance upon the royal barges. At
six o'clock in the evening the king and queen, with their
attendants, landed at Whitehall Bridge, where the queen-
mother, with her whole court, all in rich attire, waited to
receive them.
A series of entertainments succeeded , and King Charles,
once having introduced Lady Castlemaine at court, insisted
upon her presence always, though his conscience often
pricked him for doing what he knew to be wrong. The
fact was that he was surrounded by people who recognized
no law but their own desires; and whenever they saw
Charles disposed to yield to his wife's just opposition to the
woman who entertained them, and who was one of them in
dissipation, they jeered at him. He, on the other hand,
had not the moral courage to do right in spite of his friends.
It was not because he respected Catharine less, but that he
loved pleasure more. We must not suppose that all his
statesmen approved of his conduct; on the contrary, Lord
Clarendon and others took him to task as much as they
dared, and considered the queen an ill-used wife.
Charles had threatened to send all the Portuguese at-
tendants back home, and at the expiration of four months
after their arrival in England he determined to carry the
threat into execution.
This was a sore trial to her, particularly as the king fixed
upon a day for their departure without naming any reward
for their services, or sending a letter to the Queen of
Portugal to explain his reason for dismissing them. Cath
arine would have remunerated them herself, but she had no
money, and so could not afford to be generous. She begged
her husband to permit her to retain a few of them, and as
a great favor he consented to the old Countess of Penalva,
l66t - Catharine of Braganza. 205
two or three of the cooks, and the priests who officiated in
her majesty's chapel.
Now, as we have said, the king's conduct was not ap-
proved by all the statesmen ; there were some among the
most faithful of them who were so pained at the course he
was pursuing that they ventured to censure him for it.
But he paid little heed to their wise counsel, and the party
of which they were the representatives grew daily in num-
bers and power. Had Queen Catharine not been a most
sensible and magnanimous woman, she might well have
united herself to this party in opposition to her husband,
and created no end of disturbance ; but she loved King
Charles devotedly, and was willing to make any sacrifice
to obtain his affection in return. She was wrong ; for, while
she opposed him, he could not but respect her, because he
knew that she was prompted by a sense of right, and it
would have been better for her and for him if she had re-
mained firm.
She yielded at last, perhaps under bad advice, and sud-
denly treated Lady Castlemaine with such courtesy as to
surprise the whole court, King Charles included. It is
barely possible that her principal reason for this concession
was a desire to retain the king's support for her native land,
which was just then greatly needed. Be this as it may,
Charles misunderstood his wife, and attributed her former
refusal to grant his request to perversity and hypocrisy, and
congratulated himself upon his perseverence and decision.
This, no doubt, colored his conduct later in We.
CHAPTER VIII.
[A.D. 1662.] THE New Year opened with a series of
balls, receptions, and feasts ; but poor Catharine felt little
pleasure in them, for her husband neglected her and spent
his time in dissipation of the worst character. His asso-
ciates in vice endeavored to justify his treatment of the
queen by ridiculing and depreciating her in every possible
way. They could not appreciate her honesty or her piety,
so they termed the one lack of brains and the other big-
otry. Even her personal appearance was caricatured ; but
although she smarted under the stings of these worthless
creatures she bore them uncomplainingly ; no wound ran-
kled in her breast as those inflicted by her husband's indiffer-
ence and undignified behavior.
One source of trouble to Catharine during the first year
of her marriage was poverty. She did not receive half the
amount that the marriage treaty allowed her, and was
forced to practice the most rigid economy to avoid falling
into debt. This she did so successfully that the financiers
of the government could not help applauding her for it.
When she was ill one summer, her physician recom-
mended the medicinal waters of Tunbridge Wells; but
neither she nor her officers had any money to pay the ex-
penses of such a trip, and it required at least two months
before it could be raised.
206
i66 3 .
Catharine of Braganza.
207
[A.D. r663-] Previous to Catharine's departure for the
wells, she received the good news from her native land that
she had eagerly hoped for. The combined troops of Portu-
gal and England had defeated the Spanish army with great
loss ; and as the battle took place very near Lisbon, it had
THE ORATORY.
been desperately contested by the Portuguese, while the
Queen of England awaited the result with breathless anx-
iety. Colonel Hunt commanded the English forces ; and
when he led them up a steep hill to attack the troops under
208 The Queens qf England.
Don John of Austria, the Portuguese general 'exclaimed
in ecstasy : " These heretics are better to us than all our
saints ! "
Queen Catharine was so ill the following autumn that it
was universally believed she could not recover. The king
repented of his unkindness when he thought she was going
to die, and passed many hours at her bedside, bestowing
the most loving attentions upon his sick wife, which had so
good an effect that she recovered. Her convalescence was
very slow, and almost before she was pronounced out of
danger she w r as called upon to receive the French ambas-
sador and another gentleman from the court of Louis XIV.,
who brought messages of condolence from that monarch
on account of the royal lady's illness.
It seems cruel that Catharine should have been dis-
turbed with such ceremonies before she was strong enough
to endure them ; but we must not forget that she lived in
an age when privacy was a luxury unknown to royalty,
When she thought her death was at hand, she made her
will, and gave orders for many domestic arrangements.
Her only requests to the king were, " that her body might
be sent to Portugal for interment in the tomb of her ances-
tors, and that he would remember the obligation into which
he had entered, never to separate his interests from those
of the king, her brother, and to continue his protection to
her distressed people." Charles promised to obey; but
by her recovery his wife spared him the test.
In the last reign we told all about the Roundheads, and
the origin of their name. Of course theirs ceased to be
the popular party when the Restoration took place ; conse-
quently, with a desire to avoid the sneers of the courtiers,
they adopted wigs, which after awhile became so fashion-
able that even those whose long locks had been a subject
of vanity to their possessors, had the folly to clip them off
1664. Cathanm of Braganza. 211
and replace them with wigs or periwigs, as they were called.
King Charles fell in with the prevailing style when he
found himself growing gray, likewise the Duke of York,
whose hair was far too beautiful to be concealed.
The necessity for economy that forced itself upon the
queen soon begot for her the reputation of stinginess,
though it was rather a matter of prudence than otherwise.
She was obliged to save because she seldom received her
full income. Fortunately, her tastes were simple compared
with those of her royal spouse ; for while her bedroom fur-
niture at Whitehall was of the plainest description, the
only ornaments being sacred pictures and relics, the king's
apartments were fitted up with all the extravagance and
luxury of an Oriental nabob.
[A.D. 1664.] The summer after her recovery, Queen
Catharine appeared in a silver lace gown, and walked
through the park to St. James's Chapel, attended by her
maids-of-honor, one bright, sunshiny morning, all in the same
glittering material. Parasols had not then been introduced
into England, so the courtly dames shaded their faces from
the bright rays of the sun with gigantic green fans, a
Moorish fashion introduced by Catharine of Braganza at
her court. Masks were often worn at that period to pro-
tect the complexion, but they were too warm in summer,
and the shading fans were by far more comfortable. The
trade with India, opened to the English by the queen's mar-
riage treaty, filled the fancy shops with all sorts of gay and
beautiful fans, which were put to another use besides that
of sunshades. Ladies fpund them very convenient for
screens when carrying on a little flirtation ; for a whispered
conversation with a courtier behind one, or a bit of court
scandal thus imparted, seemed improved by this spicy addi-
tion to the secrecy. Addison gives a pretty playful descrip-
tion of the use of the fan in several copies of the " Spec-
212 Tfo Queens of England
tator," with which the belles of the present day are no
doubt familiar.
Trade with other countries had increased in England,
and her merchants were anxious to push it still further; but
Holland proved such a formidable rival in this matter that,
notwithstanding the friendly relations that had so long ex-
isted between the two countries, Charles saw the necessity
for preparing his navy for hostilities.
Lord Sandwich was ordered to sea, and Queen Cath-
arine was so anxious to see the departure of the fleet that
she and Queen Henrietta accompanied the king to Chatham
for that purpose.
Shortly after this the Spanish ambassador aroused the
queen's indignation by demanding the return of Tangier to
his government. Of course Charles peremptorily refused ;
and the queen, out of a feeling of spite, pretended that she
could not speak any language but Portuguese and French
when addressed by that dignitary. As he knew only his
native tongue, she thus spared herself the necessity of a
prolonged conversation with her enemy.
Once, on the occasion of a launch at Woolwich, Cath-
arine played her husband a sly trick. She went down from
Whitehall with her ladies in her barge ; but the water was
so rough that they were all dreadfully sea-sick, excepting
herself. The king, the Duke of York, the French ambas-
sador, and the attendants went down in carriages by land.
After the two parties met on ship-board, a violent rain and
hail-storm detained them for a long time. As soon as it
abated, the queen stole ashore with her ladies, took pos-
session of the carriages, in which they returned home ; leav-
ing all the gentlemen to make the best of a very rough trip
by water.
[A.D. 1665.] The following year one of England's
greatest naval victories was won by the fleet under the
Duke of York's command.
1666. Catharine of Braganza. 213
The rejoicings occasioned thereby were cut short by the
breaking out of the most terrible visitation of the plague
ever known in England. Death, sorrow, and poverty spread
from house to house, until the exceptions were those that
did not bear a red cross in token of the existence of dis-
ease within. The queen-mother quitted the country, and,
as the epidemic increased, the court was removed to Salis-
bury.
Many people attributed the plague to the appearance of
a comet that had been observed a few months before. We
of the present day laugh at such an absurd superstition ;
but in the seventeenth century a visit from one of those
heavenly bodies was always contemplated with awe by the
ignorant, who were unfortunately in the majority. King
Charles was not of the number, for he had a taste for
astronomy, and was delighted to have an opportunity of
studying the comet in its. different phases. For this pur-
pose he spent several nights at the observatory at Green-
wich, a building that he had founded, and Queen Catharine
stayed with him twice until she saw the curiosity also. She
was not gratified the first time, because astronomical calcu-
lations were not so accurate as they are at present.
The king opened parliament in the autumn, when they
voted him supplies to carry on the Dutch war, which he
greatly needed ; for he was at that time paying a thousand
pounds weekly out of his own private purse to relieve the
sufferings caused by the plague.
[A.Dr 1666.] The following year opened sadly for Cath-
arine, because it brought news of the death of her beloved
mother, the Queen-regent of Portugal. All the court put
on the deepest mourning, and were directed " to wear their
hair plain, and to appear without spots on their faces."
This referred to the patches of black plaster that disfigured
the court ladies of that period. A few months later Cath-
214 The Queens of England.
arine removed with her ladies to Tunbridge Wells again for
the summer. This was a favorite resort for the fashionables
during the seventeenth century, Queen Catharine having
made it so by her patronage. There, under the shadow of
spreading trees, the gay company would promenade in the
morning while drinking of the waters. On one side of the
avenue, formed by the trees, were little shops filled with
toys and all sorts of fancy articles ; on the other was a
market. Neat-looking cottages, built here and there over
a mile and a half of ground that surrounded the wells,
formed the dwelling-places of the visitors, who would
assemble on the green in the evening just before sunset for
a dance. After dark they would adjourn to the queen's
palace, where all sorts of amusements were indulged in for
several hours. Catharine dispensed with ceremony at this
watering-place, and endeavored to enhance the enjoyment
of everybody by so doing. As a surprise to the king she
sent for some actors, who performed comedies for the enter-
tainment of the court. One member of this company was
the celebrated Nell Gwynne, a beautiful actress, who after-
wards became a lady of the queen's bed-chamber.
While the king and queen, surrounded by their court,
were thus engaged making pleasure the business of their
lives, the aspect of public affairs was most gloomy. The
poverty caused by the ravages of the plague had rendered
it impossible to collect taxes, consequently the supplies
voted by parliament for the carrying on of the war were not
forthcoming. France had formed an alliance with Holland,
and England was at war with both powers. Added to these
troubles was this : the country was filled with hirelings of
exiled Roundheads, who, while pretending to be patriots,
were really spies, dishonorably intriguing to raise an insur-
rection in England.
On the second of September a fire broke out in a baker
1666. Catharine of Braganza. 217
shop, at the corner of Thames street, and spread with
frightful rapidity. It raged for four days, and the air was
filled with the shrieks and lamentations of the men, women,
and children, who rushed from one place to another after
being obliged to desert their homes, knowing not whither to
turn in order to save themselves from the devouring flames
and the tottering churches and dwellings. The king and
the Duke of York worked with the firemen, commanding,
encouraging, and rewarding them ; and it was the presence
of mind of the latter that stopped the fire at last, by blow-
ing up several houses. This precaution saved the old
Temple Church, the Tower, and Westminster Abbey. It
was in seasons of danger and disaster that King Charles II.
always appeared to the greatest advantage, by displaying a
paternal care for the welfare of his subjects. After the fire
he caused tents and huts to be erected in the vicinity of
London for those who were left homeless, and provided
them with food and fuel. He was, besides, remarkably
lenient to those who could not pay taxes, because of the
poverty occasioned by the plague, though he was thereby
deprived of the means to pay his seamen, and obliged to
order the ships to lay-by.
If Charles had been as faithful to his wife as he was to
his subjects she would have been a very happy woman ; but
about this time he was imitating Henry VIII. by con-
templating a divorce, because he had fallen in love with
Frances Stuart, a maid-of-honor, and one of the most beau-
tiful women of her day. This was a cause of great anxiety
to the queen, but fortunately not for a long time, because
her rival married the Duke of Richmond and went to Den-
mark to live. That put an end to the divorce question ; but
Lord Clarendon brought down the king's vengeance on his
head by favoring Frances Stuart's marriage, and even using
his efforts to bring it about. Charles never forgave his
chancellor for that offence.
218 The Queens of England,
[A.D. 1667.] Shortly after this marriage there was a
masked ball at court, at which the king and queen danced
together. On St. George's Day Charles celebrated the fes-
tival of the Garter with all the ceremonies as they were
originally observed when that order was founded. Offer-
ings were made at the altar by the sovereign and his
knights, after which they partook of a feast at the Palace
of Whitehall. The king sat at a table on a dais alone, and
part of the time the queen stood at his left hand as a spec-
tator. The knights sat at a table ranged the whole length
of the room to the right of the king, and at the middle of
the feast they all arose and drank his health, whereupon the
trumpets sounded and the Tower guns were fired. At the
conclusion of the feast all the provisions that were left
over were distributed among the crowd, that always as-
sembled at the end of the hall, near the door, on such
occasions. It was the custom in olden times, even to the
end of the Stuart dynasty, for the kings and queens of
England to dine in public ; and any well-behaved, decent-
looking person was free to take his stand in the dining-room
to watch the proceedings. Charles II. was so good-natured
that he would often hand a taste of some delicacy to one of
the spectators on such an occasion, and won many . hearts
by his gracious manners. He would converse freely, too,
with those who happened to stand near enough. A well-
known wit told him one day while he was dining " that
matters were in a bad state, but there was a way to mend
all." The king looked at him inquiringly, and he con-
tinued : " There is an honest, able man I could name, that
if your majesty would employ and command to see things
well-executed, all things would soon be mended, and that
is one Charles Stuart, who now spends his time as if he had
no employment ; but if you would give him employment,
he were the fittest man in the world to perform it."
"669- Catharine of Braganza. 219
After Lord Clarendon fell into disfavor with the king, he
was replaced by Buckingham, a very bad, witty man, who
had great influence with Charles. He was an enemy to
Catharine, and proposed to his sovereign several plans for
ridding himself of her ; but they were all too absurd and too
revolting for even Charles II. to consider, unprincipled as
he was.
[A.D. 1668.] Seven years had elapsed since the marriage
of Catharine of Braganza, and still the promised half of her
marriage-portion had not been paid. Civil wars in Portugal
succeeded the death of the queen-regent and exhausted the
treasury. At last news arrived in England that the king
had been deposed, and his younger brother, Don Pedro,
placed on the throne instead. Everything connected with
her family and her native land interested Queen Catharine
very much, and it distressed her to hear of the struggle that
had been going on there for so many months.
[A.D. 1669.] The king sympathized with her and treated*
her with a great deal of consideration in her anxiety. She
had an opportunity of reciprocating not very long after ;
for Henrietta, the Duchess of Orleans, made a short visit
at the English court, and died three weeks after her return
to France. She and Catharine then met for the first time,
and formed a warm attachment for each other; so her
death was a source of real sorrow to the queen. Charles
gave vent to the most passionate grief when he heard the
startling news, for he was warmly attached to his only sis-
ter, who had befriended him during his exile.
After the court took off mourning for the Duchess of
Orleans, Queen Catharine indulged her fondness for danc-
ing by giving balls and masquerades ; the latter becoming
so much the rage as to resemble in some respects a car-
nival.
Separate parties would be formed by the king and queen,
22O The Queens of England.
with the ladies and gentlemen of the court ; and so dis-
guised as not to be recognized by their most intimate
friends, they would go about in search of adventure. On
such occasions they would enter any house where a party
was going on, mingle with the invited guests, and commit
some of the wildest pranks imaginable, only taking care
that their rank should not be suspected. Once the queen
got separated from her party, and by some mistake was left
quite alone. She was a long way from home, and did not
dare to announce who she was. In great alarm she stood
in the street until a hack came along, when she summoned
it and was driven to Whitehall. Whether or no she took
the driver into her confidence has not been recorded.
During such escapades, of course, both their majesties
were subjected to liberties from their subjects, which they
bore most good naturedly. The king, especially, seldom
resented even the most caustic sarcasms from his courtiers,
though he generally returned a spicy repartee.
The Earl of Rochester once wrote upon Charles's cham-
ber door :
" Here lies our sovereign lord the king,
Whose word no man relies on :
Who never said a foolish thing,
And never did a wise one."
Very true," returned King Charles, after reading the
lines. " My doings are those of my ministers, but my say-
ings are my own."
[A.D. 1671.] Once when Queen Catharine was at her
palace in Suffolk, with her court, she determined to have
a little frolic ; and for that purpose took the Duchesses of
Richmond and Buckingham into her confidence. This was
her plan : A fair was being held at the neighboring town
of Saffron Walden, and there her majesty meant to go in
disguise. So the three ladies dressed themselves like
CHARLES II.
l6 77- Catharine of Braganza. 223
country girls, in short, red petticoats, intending to mingle
with the crowd, fondly hoping that they would not be rec-
ognized. Catharine was sensible enough to select for her
cavalier Sir Bernard Gascoigne, a brave old gentleman,
loved and respected by all who knew him ; and a warm
personal friend to the king. Mounted behind this cavalier,
on an old cart-horse, and followed by the other ladies, each
riding in the same primitive fashion with her escort, the
party set out. But they had copied their costumes, not
from those of the peasants, but from the representation of
them at the theatres. So as soon as they arrived on the
fair-grounds they were mistaken for a company of strolling
players ; and supposing that they would soon begin to per-
form, the rustics followed them in crowds. When the
queen entered one of the booths to buy " a pair of yellow
stockings for her beau," a man who had seen her at one of
the public state dinners recognized her, and, proud of his
superior knowledge, announced his sovereign's presence at
once. The information spread like wildfire, and the court
party returned home, followed by a motley crowd.
The same year the king and queen made a tour through
several counties, and were sumptuously entertained. At
its conclusion, Catharine remained quietly at Euston Hall,
in Suffolk, with her ladies, while the king attended the New-
market races, attended by his lively courtiers.
[A.D. 1677.] The marriage of the king's nephew, Wil
liam, Prince of Orange, with Princess Mary, eldest daugh-
ter of the Duke of York, was celebrated at Whitehall in
November ; and as the anniversary of the queen's birth
occurred the same month, there was occasion for double
rejoicing. Catharine had known the young princess almost
from the day of her birth, and felt a warm attachment for
the motherless girl.
When the time came for her departure for Holland with
224 The Queens of England.
her husband, she fell on the queen's breast and burst into
tears.
Catharine endeavored to soothe her by recounting her
own exoerience in having come to England a perfect
stranger, without even having seen the man she was to
marry.
But Mary thought no sorrow could equal hers ; and re-
plied, between her sobs : " Yes ; but, madam, you came
into England, and I am leaving England."
If she could have looked into the aching heart of the
woman who was offering words of comfort scarcely needed
she would have been awed into silence. Poor Catharine's
position at that period was worse than ever before. The
Earl of Shaftesbury, an ambitious, revengeful, dishonorable
man, was her avowed enemy, and bent upon her destruc-
tion ; so he had influenced the king to absent himself from
her in the hope that time and separation would at last
induce him to consent to a divorce. He was not success-
ful in this ; but he was so in bringing about the popish
plot, his intention being to destroy the queen and rob the
Duke of York, whom he hated also, of his right of suc-
cession.
We do not intend to give all the details of this wicked
plot ; but it played such an important part of Queen Cath-
arine's life that we will, in as few words as possible, ex-
plain the nature of it. We must go back to a year or two
after her marriage, for it was then that Catharine made a
serious mistake, which caused her name to be connected
with this plot nearly fifteen years later. Catharine's anxi-
ety to have the independence of Portugal acknowledged
by the pope was so great that soon after she got to Eng-
land she induced her husband to send Richard Bellings,
one of the gentlemen of her household, on a mission to
Rome, The object was to promise his holiness that if he
1678. Catharine of Braganza. 225
would extend his protection to her native land she would
use her utmost endeavors to advance the Catholic cause in
England ; adding that her desire to accomplish this had
been the sole cause of her marriage. Letters of the same
purport were sent to several of the cardinals also. Her
appeal had the desired effect ; but Sellings let out the
secret, and the vigilant enemies of Queen Catharine made
a note of it, to be used against her when opportunity
offered.
[A.D. 1678.] Titus Gates and Bedloe were the infamous
characters selected to swear away the lives of a large num-
ber of innocent persons.
Gates was the son of a weaver and preacher, and a vil-
lain of the deepest dye. If he had not been so brainless
as to swear to a tissue of falsehoods too palpable to gain
credence, rivers of blood would have been shed, and the
disgraceful scenes that attended the St. Bartholomew mas-
sacre in France would have been repeated in England.
But when the king questioned him and Bedloe, their state-
ments as to the place and manner that the queen had used
for declaring her intention of poisoning his majesty were
so absurd that, they stood self-convicted.
King Charles never for a moment suspected his wife of
any attempt on his life ; and he knew, besides, that although
the Duke of York, his brother, had become a member of
the Catholic church, it had not been through her instru-
mentality.
But the public mind was aroused to such a pitch by the
daily inventions of Gates and his adherents that the busi-
ness of life was interrupted, and the wildest statements
were eagerly accepted as indisputable facts.
Catharine was even accused of having caused the mur-
der of Godfrey, a city magistrate, whose body was found on
the highway, pierced with his own sword.
226 The Queens of England.
It was Shaftesbury who prompted Gates in all he said
and did, though he was wily enough to keep himself in the
background. It was he who secured from parliament, for
the shameless perjurer, a pension of twelve hundred pounds
a year for the information he had given, in consequence of
which all the Roman Catholic peers were deprived of their
seats in that body.
All this time Queen Catharine was surrounded by spies,
ready to pounce upon any action of hers that might be
perverted into an appearance of guilt ; but her honesty and
simplicity of character spoke so loudly in her favor that
there was not a true-hearted man in the realm who was
not assured of her entire innocence.
But she was aware of her danger, and expected nothing
less than that she would be brought to the block, as Charles
I. had been. She, therefore, sent a messenger to her brother.
Don Pedro, informing him of her situation, and asking his
protection in case her life should be in jeopardy. Her ad-
viser was Count Castelmelhor, a noble Portuguese exile, who
proved of such service to Queen Catharine that she helped
him to retrieve his lost fortune by purchasing a new estate
for him, to which he gave the name of Santa Catarina, out
of compliment to her.
King Charles offered live hundred pounds for the mur-
derer of Godfrey. Tempted by so large a sum, Bedloe,
Oates's colleague, and a discharged convict, swore that the
deed had been done by the queen's popish servants ; and
that he had been offered two thousand guineas to assist in
the removal of the bod}', which he saw lying on the queen's
back stairs. When cross-examined, this rascal contradicted
himself, and described the portion of the palace where he
beheld the corpse so inaccurately as to prove conclusively
that he had never been in it at all.
The members of the house of commons were paralyzed
i6;S
Catharine of Braganza.
227
with astonishment at their next session, when Gates ad-
vanced to the bar, and, raising his voice, exclaimed : " I,
Titus Gates, accuse Catharine, Queen of England, of high
treason."
His partners in villany, taking advantage of those pres-
ent, who were so surprised as to remain speechless, voted
an address to the king, requesting the removal of his wife
to the Tower. But the lords refused to admit the testi-
CHAPEL IN THK TOWER
mony of such men as Gates and Bedloe, so appointed a
committee to investigate the charges brought against her
majesty. Shaftesbury protested, but he was overruled.
King Charles was perfectly conscious of a conspiracy
against his wife, and vowed that he would not suffer her to
be wronged. His indignation was so great that he began
to treat her with such affection and respect as she had not
known for many a day at his hands. He had Gates ar-
rested, but was obliged to release him ; and then the man
228 The Queens of England.
went beyond all bounds. Five Catholic lords were sent to
the Tower on account of his accusations against them ;
thirty thousand Catholics were driven out of London fron\
terror, and arrests and executions were of daily occur-
rence.
[A.D. 1679.] Some of the queen's servants were of the
number, much to her horror and grief, and the Duke of
York frequently assured her that his turn and hers would
come next. Although the king feared the popular rage, he
absolutely refused to permit the queen to stand a trial when
his privy-council proposed it, because he knew it would not
be a fair one. Shortly after he went to Newmarket with
the queen, and while they were there Bedloe died. In his
last confession he swore that so far as he knew both the
queen and the Duke of York were innocent of any attempt
on the king's life, or of any murder whatever, and that all
the evidence he had formerly given was false
[A.D. 1680.] The popish plot closed with the execution
of Lord Stafford, a tragedy that ought not to have taken
place. But we have one more circumstance to relate, an
anti-climax to the popish plot. One Fitzharris appeared
upon the scene, and accused the queen and the Duke of
York of a design to poison the king.
Charles immediately summoned parliament to meet at
Oxford, March 21. Escorted by a troop of horse-guards,
and accompanied by the queen, he proceeded to the ap-
pointed place, where the royal couple were greeted with
enthusiasm by the students of the university, who made
addresses of welcome, while the authorities prepared a
feast and other rejoicings. Shaftesbury arrived with his
party and a crowd of armed retainers, who wore hatbands
with the inscription, " No popery ! No slavery ! "
King Charles's first parliament sat for eighteen years, and
was called the long parliament ; this one was to sit for six
l6 &f- Catharine of Braganza. 229
days, and ought therefore to have been styled the short
parliament. Fitzharris was a member of the church of
Rome, and great results were anticipated from his state-
ments. The house of commons wanted the trial managed
one way, the lords another, and a furious dispute arose.
So, without mentioning his intention to a soul, the king had
himself carried in a closely-curtained .sedan chair to the
house. He wore his robes of state and carried his crown
concealed on his lap. He entered the house of lords un-
announced, took his seat on the throne, placed the crown
upon his head, and bade the usher summon the commons.
The moment they entered he told them " that proceedings
which began so ill could not end in good," and commanded
the lord chancellor to declare parliament dissolved. Before
they had time to recover from their astonishment, the king
and queen were on the road to Windsor, escorted by their
guard.
If Charles had displayed the same determination and
courage at the beginning of the popish plot, how much in-
nocent blood might have been spared, and what misery
prevented ! Fitzharris was tried for treason and executed.
[A.D. 1683.] About three years after the popish plot
another was formed by some minor conspirators, their ob-
ject being to kill both the king and the Duke of York, his
brother; but Providence interposed to prevent such a foul
murder before the plans of the conspirators had been com-
pleted. The Duke of Monmouth revealed the plot, which
brought several prominent men to the block.
[A.D. 1684.] It was so c ld the following winter that the
Thames was frozen over, and an ox was roasted whole in a
fire built on the ice. This was done while a fair was being
held ; the booths for the purpose were stationed along the
banks of the river, and there was a great deal of merry-
making, though the winter was a hard one for poor people,
because provisions were so high and fuel so scarce.
230
The Queens of England.
The queen's birthday that year was celebrated with great
splendor, and there was the finest display of fireworks in
front of the palace ever seen in England. The same night
THE QUEEN'S BOWER.
there was a grand ball, at which all the court ladies and
gentlemen danced in costumes that were unsually rich and
elegant.
Catharine of Braganza. 231
[A.D. 1685.] This was the last entertainment that King
Charles ever attended, for on the second of February of the
following year he had an attack' of apoplexy that resulted
in death four days later. He was bled until he was almost
exhausted, and then his bedroom was so crowded with
people, night and day, that he had little chance of recovery.
Most of the time it contained five bishops, twenty-five lords,
the councillors, foreign ambassadors, doctors, and attend-
ants, besides the queen, and the Duke and Duchess of
York.
The queen was overcome with grief, and once when the
dying man sent for her she was too convulsed to attend,
but sent a messenger to beg his pardon if ever she had
offended him. "Alas, poor lady!" exclaimed Charles,
" she begs my pardon ! I beg hers with all my heart."
After that she took her place at his bedside and stayed
with him to the end.
Both the Duke of York and Catharine were exceedingly
anxious that the king should receive the last rites of the
Catholic church, because they knew it was what he would
prefer if he were conscious of his danger, but they dared
not propose it, as it was contrary to the laws of England for
any one to influence another in that direction. At last the
French ambassador consulted the Duke of York on the
subject, and impressed upon him the necessity of having
extreme unction administered before it was too late.
Returning to his brother's room, the duke knelt by the
bed and asked in a low voice : " Sir, will you receive the
sacrament of the Catholic church ? "
" Ah ! I would give anything in the world to have a
priest," faintly replied the dying monarch. " I will bring
you one," returned the duke. " For God's sake, brother,
do ! " exclaimed the king. Then he added : " But will you
not expose yourself to danger by doing it ? "
232 The Queens of England.
" Sir, though it cost me my life, I will bring you one,''
said the duke.
Father 'Huddleston was selected, because for many rea-
sons he was the least objectionable of the Catholic priests
in England, and had for many years been a personal friend
to the king, whose life he had once saved. He arrived be-
tween seven and eight o'clock on the evening of the fifth.
Now it became necessary to clear the sick-room of those
who would have objected to the performance of the Cath-
olic rites ; the Duke of York managed the difficult matter
in this way :
Kneeling down by his dying brother he whispered " that
all things were ready and Father Huddleston in attend-
ance, and asked if he would see him ? ''
" Yes, with all my heart ! " eagerly replied Charles, in a
loud voice.
Turning to the room-full of people, the duke said :
" Gentlemen, his majesty wishes every one to withdraw but
the Earls of Bath and Feversham."
Then Father Huddleston, disguised in a wig and cas-
sock, such as the clergy of the Church of England always
wore, was led up a secret staircase, through the queen's
apartments, into the king's room.
As he entered the alcove in which stood the king's bed,
the duke presented him, saying . " Sir, I bring you a man
who once saved your life ; he now comes to save your
soul."
Charles replied, in a weak voice, " He is welcome."
At the conclusion of the Romish rites the company were
readmitted; and Kean, an English nnnister, prayed with
the king.
During the night the dying mar .spoke affectionately to
his brother, and asked forgiveness of his wife. At six in
the morning he asked the time, and said : " Draw the cur-
i68&-9- Catharine of Braganza. 235
tain, and open the window, that I may behold the light of
the sun for the last time."
Before noon Charles II. expired, in the fifty-fourth year
of his age. He was buried on the fourteenth of February,
at Westminster Abbey, after lying in state for a week. He
was deeply mourned by his subjects ; for no sovereign ever
had the attributes of popularity more fully developed than
King Charles II.
Queen Catharine's grief on account of the death of her
husband was great. The new king treated her with kind-
ness and consideration. She was permitted to retain her
rooms at Whitehall as long as she chose ; but on the eighth
of April, after two months of mourning, she removed to
Somerset House, where she established her court as queen-
dowager.
Catharine no longer danced or took part in gayety of any
kifM ; but she indulged her love for music by giving regu-
lar concerts at Somerset House.
[A.D. 1688-9.] Several times she made up her mind to
return to her native land, but fortunately did not do so ;
for if she had she would have lost every penny of her
dower as queen-dowager during the Revolution, which ter-
minated in the exile of James II. and his family, and the
placing of the Prince of Orange on the throne of England.
She wisely weathered the storm, although she was subjected
to many mortifications and insults in consequence.
After William III. was on the throne he had occasion
to go to Ireland ; so before departing he sent Lord Not-
tingham to tell Catharine that he had heard of certain
meetings, held at Somerset House, for the purpose of
denouncing his government ; he therefore desired her to
remove either to Windsor or Audley End.
Astonished at such a message, but not in the least
alarmed, she replied : " That it was her desire to quit his
236 The Queens of England.
territory for Portugal, if he would but have appointed ships
for her voyage ; but, as it was, she did not intend to go out
of her own house."
The next day William sent profuse apologies, and bade
the queen " not to think of removing."
[A.D. 1692.] A few months later the royal widow gave
notice of her intention to leave England ; but it was not
until the spring of 1692 that she was able to carry it into
effect. She had then been living in retirement for several
years, and had saved a large sum of money to carry back
to Portugal.
Several English ladies of rank attended her; and as
soon as Louis XIV. heard of her arrival in France he sent
an escort to conduct her through his dominion. But she
was so anxious to get to her native land that she would
not accept the invitation he extended her to visit his
court.
Queen Catharine was met on the Spanish border by a
train of Portuguese nobles of the highest rank ; and on
her arrival at Lisbon she was greeted with the most enthu-
siastic welcome.
Don Pedro met her on the road in grand state. He de-
scended from his carriage and went to the door of hers ;
then, after an affectionate embrace, the queen alighted,
entered her brother's coach, and was conducted in proces-
sion to one of the country palaces that had been prepared
for her. The Queen of Portugal, Donna Maria Sophia,
received her at the head of the grand staircase, and after
the observance of all the regular court ceremonies, went
home with her husband, to enable the tired traveller to
rest.
[A.D. 1704.] When Don Pedro was obliged some years
later, for the sake of policy, to withdraw from the cares of
government, he left the charge of his dominions entirely t<
I 75- Catharine of Braganza. 237
his sister Catharine, and when he was dangerously ill the
following year, she was solemnly constituted Queen-regent
of Portugal.
[A.D. 1705.] The country was then engaged in a war
with the King of Spain, and " Donna Catharine " conducted
the campaign with such skill that her popularity increased
tenfold.
A sudden attack of colic put an end to her existence the
very last day of the year that had been such a brilliant
success to her. The king, her brother, hastened to her as
soon as he heard of her illness, but arrived only an hour
before she expired.
Queen Catharine left liberal legacies to all her relations,
though Don Pedro was her heir. The poor were not for-
gotten, and various monasteries were provided for by her
will. She had chosen the royal monastery of Belem for the
place of her interment, and the funeral ceremony was per-
formed with all the grandeur and solemnity that would have
been observed if Catharine of Braganza had been a reigning
sovereign. Her bier was carried by eight noblemen of the
very highest rank to the litter, on which it was conveyed to
Belem, attended by all her retinue, and by the whole court
of the king, her brother.
As a testimony of respect all public buildings, business-
houses, and places of amusement were closed for a week,
and the court wore mourning for a year.
Catharine was greatly lamented in Portugal, where even
to the present day her name is mentioned with the utmost
veneration. She outlived Charles II. twenty-one years, and
was devoted to his memory until she died.
CHAPTER IX.
MARY BEATRICE OF MODENA, QUEEN-CONSORT OF
JAMES II. (A.D. 1659-1718.)
THE city of Modena in Italy was the birthplace of some
of the greatest poets and painters of that land of artists,
and it was there that the heroine of this narrative was
born. Her father, the Duke of Modena, was a learned
man, and would probably have made his mark in the world
if he had lived long enough ; but he died young, and left his
Duchess Laura to rule in his stead.
This lady had two little children, a boy, who later became
Francis II. of Modena, and Mary Beatrice. Prince Rinaldo
d'Este, afterwards a cardinal, was appointed guardian of
the children, and assisted their mother in educating them.
Francisco, as the boy was called during his minority, was
two years younger than his sister, consequently when his
father died the duchess ruled the state many years before
he was fit to do so.
She was rather a stern mother, her fear, lest over-
indulgence might spoil her little ones, making her notice
trifling faults that in some instances it would have been
wiser to have overlooked. She insisted upon hard study
several hours every day, and never allowed any of the fasts
imposed by the church to be omitted, though both the
children were delicate. When Mary Beatrice was fright-
ened at seeing a chimney-sweep descend into her nursery
through the fireplace, her mother made the man remain
until she had shown the child who he was, and explained
238
MARY BEATRICE.
1666. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 241
Why he looked so black and dirty. On one occasion the
attention of the duchess-regent was drawn to the fact that
hard study was wearing upon the young duke's health.
" Better that I should have no son, than a son without wit
and merit," replied the parent.
[A.D. 1666.] Mary's first real sorrow was when her
governess, of whom she was very fond, entered a convent,
and she grieved so sorely that she was sent to the same
institution to finish her education. There she spent several
happy years ; for the discipline was much less rigid than it
had been at the palace, and she had the companionship of
girls of her own age. The books that were placed in her
hands, and the influence by which Mary was surrounded at
the convent, filled her youthful mind with mystic romance,
and gave her a desire to imitate the female saints whose
lives had been devoted to the service of God. Besides,
she had an aunt in the convent, scarcely fifteen years older
than herself, who was preparing to take the veil, and Mary
Beatrice loved her so much that she desired to follow her
example. But she was not to lead a life of peace and
repose : a different destiny awaited her, as we shall see.
James, Duke of York, was brother to Charles II., and
the second son of Henrietta Maria and Charles I. of Great
Britain. He was a gifted engineer, and for many years
occupied the post of Lord Admiral of England, when he
established colonies in different parts of the world, and
advanced trade with foreign countries. After being a
prisoner in his native land for many months, during the
struggles of his father's reign, the duke made his escape to
Holland and shared his brother's exile, never returning to
England until the time of the restoration. While his mother
was living in France he entered the army of that country
as a volunteer, and fought so valiantly for the royalist
cause that the French commander said : " If any man in
242 The Queens of England.
the world was born without fear it was the Duke of
York."
There is a portrait of this prince in the royal gallery at
Versailles, painted when he was about twenty-two years old,
which represents him as one of the handsomest men of his
time. His brown hair is brushed from his brow and falls
in ringlets at the back ; his eyes are large, dark, and express-
ive, lips full and red, complexion warm and healthful.
This picture was painted before he had the small-pox, for
that dreadful disease made a sad alteration in his appear-
ance later in life.
The Duke of York distinguished himself on the battle-
fields of Spain after he was driven from France, where he
had served in four campaigns, and was offered a very high
position. He would not accept, because he was always
expecting affairs to take such a shape in his native land as
to permit his return.
[A.D. 1660.] Shortly after that important change did
occur. the restoration of Charles II., the duke fell in
love with Anne Hyde, daughter of Clarendon, and married
her in spite of a great deal of opposition on all sides.
[A.D. 1667.] By the time he was thirty-four years of
age his wife and several of his children were dead. Two
daughters were spared, who caused their father much bitter
sorrow, as we shall see in the course of this biography.
About seven years after the death of his wife the Duke of
York fell in love with a lady of humble birth; but his
brother, the king, put a stop to any thought of marriage with
her, and sent the Earl of Peterborough to visit the different
princesses of Europe and select for James a wife whose
station in life would be equal to his own.
[A.D. 1673.] The ambassador's choice fell on Mary
Beatrice of Modena, whom he was enabled to see through
the convent grating by the good offices of a priest. The
1 673. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 243
duke had secretly charged Peterborough to be very careful
in his selection, and to give him a faithful description of
the lady he preferred before settling anything.
Now, it must not be supposed that the ambassador made
his choice without a great many annoyances, for he had to
visit several' courts, and as the object of his trip was
suspected, he was placed in very embarrassing positions
when the particular princess he was considering did not
possess the requirements he deemed indispensable. And
even after he had decided that Mary Beatrice of Modena
should have the honor of becoming Queen of England, his
trouble was not at an end by any means ; for the young lady
had planned a different sort of life for herself, and objected
very decidedly to the lofty position now offered to her.
The Earl of Peterborough intended to proceed very
cautiously, and not to make known his errand until he was
quite sure of success. He therefore lodged himself at an
inn like an ordinary traveller; but the second morning
after his arrival a man named Nardi presented himself with
a letter from the duchess-regent. The earl's surprise at
being so honored was increased when he read what the lady
wrote. It was, that having heard the object of his journey
to Italy, she deemed it her duty to inform him that her
daughter had resolved to become a nun, but added that
there were other princesses in her family, to one of whom,
if the duke, his master, thought fit, he might be permitted
to address himself. She sent also a cordial invitation for
the ambassador to come to court " where she should deem
it an honor to welcome him." The earl was not flattered
at the anxiety displayed by the duchess to refuse him her
daughter before he had made his offer, so he pretended
that his visit had no special object, but that he was a
private traveller, with no desire to interfere with anybody's
plans. This was only a little stratagem on the part of the
244 The Queens of England.
duchess ; for she was dazzled with the thought of her
daughter becoming the wife of the heir presumptive to the
throne of England, but thought it best not to appear over-
anxious. However, she took the precaution to speak to
Mary Beatrice on the subject at a very early stage of the
proceedings.
Mary Beatrice was less than fifteen, but she was tall,
womanly, and very beautiful, with hair, eyes and eyebrows
black as jet, and a clear olive complexion. She read and
wrote Latin and French, painted well, and was an excel-
lent musician, but of history and geography she was
thoroughly ignorant. When her mother announced that
the Duke of York desired to marry her, she asked : "Who
is the Duke of York ? " and upon being told that he was
brother to the King of England, whom he would succeed
to the crown, she replied : " That she had never heard of
such a place as England, nor of such a person as the Duke
of York." The duchess explained more fully, and casually
mentioned that the duke was in his fortieth year ; then Mary
Beatrice burst into tears and implored her aunt to marry
him instead, saying " that as she was thirty^ years of age she
was more fit to become the wife of a man of forty than she
herself was, being only fifteen." No amount of persuasion
could reconcile her to the thought of marrying a man
twenty-five years her senior, and she declared her deter-
mination to become a nun. So eloquently did she plead
her own cause that her uncle and her mother's prime min-
ister were won over, and encouraged the princess in her
refusal to marry.
Meanwhile a messenger arrived from England to inform
the earl that the Marquis of Dangeau had been despatched
from France to assist in concluding the matrimonial alliance
between England and Modena, adding that it was suspected
that an aunt was to be substituted for the young princess,
1673- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 245
but that she was quite unsuitable to the Duke of York,
therefore no such exchange was to be permitted.
A week later the marquis arrived and had an interview
with the duchess. He pointed out to her the advantages
of such a powerful ally as England, and assured her that
the King of France had requested him to use his utmost
influence to forward the marriage. His eloquence pre-
vailed with the duchess, the court, and council ; but the
prime minister, Father Garimbert, remained firm, and
continued to espouse the side of the young princess.
The duchess then sent for the Earl of Peterborough, and
informed him of the change in her determination. The
next consideration was, to obtain a dispensation from the
pope, because the Duke of York had not openly avowed
himself a Catholic. The Abbe' Dangeau, brother to the
marquis, was sent to Rome for that purpose, and while he
was gone the duchess sent for the Earl of Peterborough,
and after making profuse apologies, explained why she had
regarded the proposed alliance with so much disfavor at
first, her principal reason being the desire of the princess
to enter a convent. The earl expressed a wish to see Mary
Beatrice that evening, and was conducted to the palace at
the appointed hour for that purpose.
He approached the young girl with great formality, and
told her that he must ask her pardon for desiring her to
leave her peaceful retreat ; but as soon as he saw her por-
trait he knew that she was the woman, of all others, to
make his prince happy, and that since he had seen her he
was more convinced of it than before. She answered
crossly, "that she was obliged to the King of England
and the Duke of York for their good opinion of her, but
she had vowed herself for another sort of life than mar-
riage ; " then with tears in her eyes she desired his excel-
lency, " if he had any influence with his master, to oblige
246 The Queens of England.
her by endeavoring to avert any further persecutions of a
maid who did not wish to marry." She added : " That
there were other princesses in Italy, even in her own family,
who would not be unworthy of so great an honor, and who
deserved it much better than she did."
She referred to her aunt, but the earl pretended not to
understand, and continued to urge his suit. Mary Beatrice
spoke her mind as a petulant girl of fifteen is apt to do, and
then left the room with her mother.
The ambassador complained of her behavior to one of
the ministers, who told him that the ladies of Italy had no
will but that of their friends, therefore he need give him-
self no concern about the matter. Acting upon this hint,
the earl reminded the minister that everything must be
settled before the next meeting of parliament, because they
would object to the marriage of the duke with a Catholic
princess.
The dispensation had been refused at Rome, but in
spite of that and of the tears and lamentations of Mary
Beatrice the marriage treaty was soon completed. The
Bishop of Modena refused to perform the ceremony; but
White, a poor English minister, who had no fear of excom-
munication, undertook it.
The marriage portion amounted to eighty thousand
pounds, to be paid at different periods, part of it being
furnished by Louis IV., who had always treated Mary
Beatrice as his adopted daughter.
[A.D. 1674.] The ceremony was performed on the
thirtieth of September, the Earl of Peterborough, who
acted as proxy for the Duke of York, placing a valuable
diamond ring on the bride's finger. Afterwards there was
a grand banquet, and the earl sat under a canopy at the
head of the table with the bride, now called her royal high-
ness the Duchess of York. In the evening there was
GRANDE MO.VARQUE.
1674- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 249
dancing, and everybody seemed happy excepting the bride,
whose heart was very heavy at the thought of so soon leav-
ing the home and companions of her childhood. She had
struggled with all her might against destiny, and had made
the most determined efforts to preserve her freedom, all of
no avail. She had been led to the altar like a lamb to the
sacrifice, and her lips had pronounced the vows from which
her soul had shrunken.
When the news reached the Duke of York that the cere-
mony had been performed, he was talking to a circle of
friends in the drawing-room. " Then I am a married man ! "
he exclaimed, and that night sent word to his daughter,
Mary " that he had provided a playfellow for her."
The duke had given his ambassador instructions to bring
his bride to England with as little parade and as few foreign
attendants as possible ; but she screamed and cried in such
a way when preparations for her journey were being made
that her mother was obliged to promise to accompany her
to England, and her brother to go part of the way. Three
Italian ladies of the highest rank were permitted among
her bed-chamber appointments. They were Madame Molza,
Madame Montecuculi, and her daughter, Anna, a young
girl of seventeen. A lady named Turenie, who had been
governess to the princess from her infancy, was added to the
list also. These four ladies proved devoted friends, and
followed Mary Beatrice throughout her life.
It had been a trial for the young Duchess of York to bid
farewell to her native place ; but when, two days later, she
had to part with the brother who shared her joys and
sympathized with her sorrows almost from her cradle, her
burden of grief seemed greater than she could bear. For-
getting the dignity that her station demanded, or the pres-
ence of the formidable array of English and Italian nobles,
she remembered only that she was losing, perhaps forever,
250 The Queens of England.
the little brother whom she loved better than any one in the
world. She pressed him to her heart again and again, and
burst into an agony of tears when the youthful prince was
led away. It was a consolation, at least, that her mother
was to continue with her, and her mind was soon diverted
by the welcome she received at the hands of the several
princes of Italy, through whose dominions she passed with
her attendants.
On arriving at the French border the 6ridal train was
met by officers of Louis XIV., who defrayed all the ex-
penses, and conducted them to Paris. They were lodged
at the Arsenal, and magnificently entertained.
All that remains of this building shows what a splendid
one it must have been, but the storms of revolution have
passed over it and left it almost in ruins.
The Earl of Peterborough was anxious to get to England
with his charge as quickly as possible, but Mary Beatrice
became so ill that she was unfit to travel for several weeks.
Her disease was a low fever, occasioned by the mental
anxiety she had endured for so many weeks. After her
recovery the young duchess visited Versailles, where she
was received with the highest consideration, and enter-
tained with all the splendor of that court. It was a dread-
ful ordeal for so young and inexperienced a girl to know
just what degree of attention to accord each person without
too much condescension on her own part, but particularly
so for one who had no taste for the formalities of royalty,
and greatly preferred the seclusion of a cloister. But Mary
Beatrice excited admiration for her beauty and charming
manners, of which the king showed his appreciation by
making her some costly presents. She had already received
jewels valued at twenty thousand pounds from her un-
known husband, which she wore on state occasions while
in France.
1674- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 253
Meanwhile a strong party in England had leagued itself,
under the leadership of the Earl of Shaftesbury, for the
purpose of destroying the Duke of York, and of getting
the reins of the government in their own hands. This was
no easy matter, because his services in his country's cause,
his energy, and his high sense of honor, had rendered him
one of the most popular of princes ; but the party opposed
to him were ready to resort to any measures, no matter
how vile, to gain their end.
Knowing this, the duke had managed his marriage with
the utmost secrecy and despatch, because the strongest
avowed point of opposition was his adherence to Catholi-
cism, which his alliance with a Catholic princess would
naturally strengthen. So when parliament met, on the
twentieth of October, they were perfectly astonished and
highly indignant to hear from the king's lips that the duke
was already married to the Princess of Modena, who was
even then on her way to England. The infuriated Com-
mons petitioned their sovereign " to appoint a day of general
fasting, that God might avert the dangers with which the
nation was threatened."
Charles told them that they might fast as much as they
pleased, though he knew that by so doing they merely
desired to show their contempt for what they called the
" popish marriage," though the pope had positively with-
held his consent to it. The members of the king's own
cabinet became alarmed at the threatened storm, and urged
his majesty either to forbid the princess to leave Paris or
to dismiss his brother from court, and insist upon his
leading the life of a country gentleman. Charles indig-
nantly refused both propositions.
The day after parliament met Mary Beatrice landed at
Dover, where her husband awaited her on the beach, and all
the citizens had collected to get a sight of her.
254 The Queens of England.
The duke received her in his arms, and was charmed
with her at the outset, as well he might have been ; but she,
poor child, was not so favorably impressed with a man old
enough to be her father, and showed her aversion plainly.
This did not discourage the groom, who treated her with
courtly attention, feeling convinced that he should win her
heart in time.
In the presence of his suite and the bride's, besides a
large number of Dover people, the Duke of York was
married to Mary Beatrice according to the church of Eng-
land rites, and the little ruby ring placed on her finger that
day was more highly valued to the end of her life than
any jewel the princess possessed.
The second day after the marriage the bride and groom,
attended by the Duchess of Modena, and her brother-in-
law, the Prince Rinaldo d'Estd, besides the members of
their court, set out for London. King Charles went down
the river with his court, in the royal barges, to meet the
bridal suite, and received his new sister-in-law with every
mark of affection ; then he conducted the party to White-
hall, where his queen vied with him in her acts of loving
attention to the bride.
Even her enemies were for the time being disarmed
when they gazed on the lovely, innocent countenance of
the young bride ; and at King Charles's court she was
much admired and esteemed.
The Duke and Duchess of York established themselves
at St. James's Palace, where all the foreign ambassadors
called to congratulate them, and where they held their
courtly receptions as regularly as the king and queen did
theirs at Whitehall, though on different days. King Charles
was devoted to his brother, and soon became warmly at
tached to his wife, but a little coolness was early established
between Queen Catharine and the Duchess of York in
l6 7S- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 255
this way : It had been stipulated in the marriage treaty
that the duchess was to have the use of the Catholic
chapel at St. James's which had been fitted up by the queen-
mother, Henrietta, for herself and her household. But
King Charles, knowing how unpopular any display of her
religion at that time would make his brother's wife,
influenced Catharine to claim it as one of her chapels, and
had a private apartment in the palace fitted up for the devo-
tions of the young duchess and her suite. This was a piece
of friendship on the part of the king that was not appre-
ciated by his sister-in-law, who laid the blame on the
queen, with whom she felt quite offended.
At the end of the year the Duchess of Modena was
called home by some intrigues that had been begun during
her absence; but although Mary Beatrice was sorry to
part with her, she had by that time begun to love her
husband so much that the parting was not so great a trial
as it would otherwise have been, and the love that was
implanted in her heart developed into a devotion that lasted
to the day of her death.
The first years of her married life were passed by the
young duchess in a succession of gayeties. She was often
annoyed because her husband treated her like a child, but
as she was little older than his daughter this is not sur-
prising. In later years circumstances developed the force
of her character, and won the respect and admiration that
she truly merited.
She had the good sense to study English, and soon
became a perfect mistress of the language.
[A.D. 1675.] Mary Beatrice had a little daughter born
about a year after her marriage. This was a great pleasure,
but it was soon marred by the duke's refusal to have the
baby baptized a Catholic. He did not object himself, but
explained to his wife that their children belonged to the
256 The Queens of England.
nation and would be taken from them if not bi ought up
according to the established church, adding that is was
besides the king's pleasure, to which they must submit.
The youthful mother appeared to yield, but sent for her
confessor, Father Gallis, and had the child baptized on her
own bed according to the rites of the church of Rome.
When the king came a day or two later to make arrange-
ments with her and the duke for the christening of their
child, Mary Beatrice told him that "her daughter was already
baptized." Without paying the slightest attention to this
assertion, his majesty ordered the little princess to be borne
to the royal chapel, where she was christened by a Protes-
tant bishop, her half-sisters, Mary and Anne, acting as
sponsors. The baby was named Catharine Laura after the
queen and the Duchess of Modena, and the Catholic bap-
tism was kept a profound secret, though it must have been
a subject of annoyance to the king.
A fortnight later some very severe laws were made
against the Catholics. One of them forbade any British sub-
ject from officiating as a Romish priest, either in the queen's
chapel or elsewhere ; another prohibited any adherent of
the Catholic, church to set foot in Whitehall or St. James's
Palace, the penalty for such an offence being imprison-
ment. This law of course kept the Duchess of York and
the Catholic ladies of her household from the king's palace,
but the young mother was so wrapt up in her baby that she
was indifferent to almost anything besides. She was happy
with her husband also, and lived on terms of close friend-
ship with her step-daughters, who never accused her of the
slightest unkindness to them, even in later years, when they
would have been pleased to bring any unfavorable accusa-
tion against her. But the young mother was soon to be
deprived of the infant she loved so fondly, for it died of a
convulsion before it was ten months old.
l6 77- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 257
This was, of course, a great sorrow to Mary Beatrice, but
she was not permitted to indulge it very long, for before
the close of the year she had to attend a feast given by
the lord mayor, and a ball at her own palace.
[A.D. 1676.] Another princess was born the next year,
and this time there was no secret baptism. That ceremony
was performed by Dr. North, Master of Trinity College,
and the child was named Isabella. She lived to the age
of five years.
[A.D. 1677 ] The following year the marriage between
the Princess Mary and the Prince of Orange was solem
nized ; and it was this union that proved so disastrous to the
fortunes of the Duchess of York, her husband, her chil-
dren.
There was much rejoicing in the household of the Duke
when a little prince made his appearance. He was
christened with great pomp by the Bishop of Durham, and
no less a person than the king himself, assisted by the
Prince of Orange, acted as sponsor. Charles bestowed
his own name on his nephew, and created him Duke of
Cambridge. The little fellow died the following month,
and was interred, as his sister had been, in the vault of
Mary Queen of Scots, at Westminster Abbey.
The duke grieved more for the death of this boy than
he had for any of his children. The Prince of Orange
wrote a letter of condolence ; but, as he was then plotting
against his royal father-in-law, and as the death of the little
prince opened the way to the throne for his wife, it is not
probable that he was sincere in his expressions of sympa-
thy. But Mary Beatrice was ignorant of this, and when
she heard that the Princess of Orange was ill she planned
a visit to her, which, after obtaining the king's consent, she
undertook, in company with Princess Anne and her lord
chamberlain, the Earl of Ossory/ As it was her desire
258 The Queens of England.
to ascertain the true st&te of Princess Mary's health, and
to afford her comfort, the duchess travelled incognito, and
sent a man on before to hire for her a small house not far
from the palace. This was done to secure free intercourse
among the three ladies without any of the formality required
by court etiquette.
[A.D. 1678.] Although the visit was a flying one, the
duchess found a storm gathering around her husband on
her return which soon compelled him to give up his seat
among the state councillors. His friends advised him to
retire to the continent with his family ; but his proud spirit
revolted from any move that would have the appearance of
guilt or cowardice. The king urged him to baffle his ene-
mies by returning to the church of England, but he refused
to act in opposition to his conscience. Then for the sake
of peace, which the " merry monarch " would have pur-
chased at any cost, Charles advised his brother to go
abroad before the next session of parliament. James con-
sented, providing the king would command it in writing,
but he scorned the idea of running away. The order was
given in the form of an affectionate letter, and on the
fourth of March the Duke and Duchess of York embarked
for Holland. They were not permitted to take their little
daughter Isabella to share their exile, which was a great
deprivation to both parents.
[A.D. 1679.] The king called on the day of their
departure to bid farewell, and was much affected at part-
ing with the brother whom he loved so well. The weather
was very stormy, and wiping the tears from his eyes Charles
said : "The wind is contrary; you cannot go on board at
present."
Mary Beatrice, who considered that her husband was
being sacrified to secure his brother's peace of mind,
replied with spirit, "What, sir, are you grieved ? you who
THE HOTEL DE VILLE.
'679- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 261
send us into exile ! Of course we must go, since you have
ordained it." She regretted this speech later, because she
knew that Charles had only yielded to the clamor of her
enemies.
The duke and his wife arrived at the Hague a week later,
and were received by the Prince of Orange with every
demonstration of respect. Later they removed to Brus-
sels, where they occupied the house Charles II. had lived in
before the restoration.
In July the Duchess of Modena joined her daughter,
from whom she had been separated for five years, and the
two ladies were rejoiced to meet again. But the Duke and
Duchess of York could not rest contented so long as their
children were away from them, so they wrote to the king
entreating him to send them to. Brussels. He consented,
and Princess Anne, with the infant Princess Isabella, left
England on the nineteenth of August. They had not been
with their parents many days when a messenger, sent by
the Earl of Sunderland, arrived in Brussels to inform the
duke of the king's serious illness. James set out at once
to visit his brother without mentioning his intention to any
one but Mary Beatrice, and travelled so privately and so
quickly that his presence in England was not suspected
until he presented himself at Windsor at seven o'clock in
the morning. Charles was so much better that he was
up and partly dressed. Fearing that it might injure his
brother if it were known that he had sent for him, the Duke
of York knelt and begged his majesty's pardon for com-
ing before he was recalled. Then all the courtiers flocked
around the traveller and paid their compliments, for James
was really a favorite, and his presence always commanded
respect. The king was so delighted to see him that he
declared " nothing should part them again." However, by
the end of a fortnight Charles was convinced that his
262 The Queens of England.
brother could no longer remain with him in safety, but he
gave permission for him to remove his family from
Brussels to Scotland. Then the duke went back to the
continent, and was making a farewell visit to the Prince
and Princess of Orange, in company with his wife, his
children, and the Duchess of Modena, when a message
arrived from King Charles recalling them all, but directing
the duke to embark for the Downs and remain there till
further orders. Everybody was delighted but the Prince
of Orange, who had his own reasons for objecting to the
duke's return ; however, he had no voice in the matter at
that time. Two days later Mary Beatrice bade farewell
to her mother, who had passed two months with her, and
embarked with her family for England. The voyage was
very stormy, and the duchess suffered excessively from sea-
sickness. Party excitement ran so high, and the king's
power was so diminished, that by the time the duke arrived
at the Downs a messenger informed him that the king had
changed his mind about his coming to London, and that
two frigates were in readiness to convey him and his family
to Leith, in Scotland, where the Duke of Lauderdale had
been ordered to make arrangements for their reception.
The duchess was too ill to proceed further by sea, and
her husband did not dare to take her ashore without a
written permission from the king, so there she lay tossing
about in the Downs while an express was sent to London.
Charles was sorry to hear of her miserable condition, and
ordered his brother to bring her to St. James's Palace forth-
with. They were delighted to find themselves safe on terra
firma after all they had suffered ; but they were not yet at
their journey's end, for the very night of their arrival the
king assured his brother that he had no power to protect
him if he persisted in remaining in England.
A week later two of his friends informed the duke that
l6 79- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 263
his majesty desired him to withdraw to Scotland for a short
period, but that his wife and children might remain under
his care at St. James's Palace. But Mary Beatrice was
too devoted a wife to permit her husband to go into exile
alone ; so, although it necessitated separation from her little
daughter and a weary journey over roads that were almost
impassable, she went with him.
Every action of the duke's had been so perverted that
his great naval victories were attributed to cowardice, and
every other, no matter how great a benefit it had proved
to the nation, to a desire for the advancement of popery.
This being the case, no marks of favor were shown him
as he advanced towards the North, and the discourtesy of
the towns that thirteen years before had lavished attentions
on him pained him excessively.
No sooner did the royal couple reach the Scottish bor-
der than everything was changed, and they were met with
every mark of affection and respect. Three miles from
Berwick the Scotch guards, under the Marquis of Mon-
trose, were drawn up to welcome them, and a little further
on two thousand gentlemen on horseback awaited them.
The duke alighted from his carriage to receive the com-
pliments of the lord chancellor, who headed the proces-
sion ; then several of the nobles kissed his hand, and paid
the same respect to the duchess, who sat in her coach.
With this numerous escort their royal highnesses were
attended to the house of Lauderdale at Lethington, where,
with their whole retinue, they were splendidly entertained
until they made their public entry into Edinburgh.
The people of Scotland were so pleased to have the
royal family represented in their country that they were
unwilling to believe any of the calumnies against the duke,
and looked forward to great prosperity from the establish-
ment of a court among them. But James .desired to live
264 The Queens of England.
as privately as possible to avoid creating jealousy among
his enemies in England.
The Countesses of Peterborough and Roscommon, as
several other ladies of high rank who had been with Mary
Beatrice since her marriage, attended her to Scotland.
They found Holyrood Abbey, where they made their home,
far less luxurious than any former palace they had in-
habited ; but the duchess made no complaint, and always
tried to be cheerful for her husband's sake.
[A.D. 1680.] King Charles had promised his brother
that he should not remain long in exile, and he was as
good as his word. At the beginning of the new year his
majesty entered the council chamber and made the as-
tounding announcement that, as he had derived no benefit
from the absence of his brother, whose rights he knew
would be disputed at the next meeting of parliament, he
had ordered him back to London to give him an opportu-
nity of defending himself.
A great many people were much pleased at this action
on the part of the king, and even offered thanks for it ; but
the powerful party who were opposed to everything he did,
and objected to the Duke of York as successor to the
crown, were very angry. Their leader, Shaftesbury, and
several other members of the house of lords, resigned on
the spot. Charles declared that " he accepted their resig-
nation with all his heart."
The Duke and Duchess of York were rejoiced at their
recall to England, but they had gained so many friends in
Scotland that their departure from there caused a great
deal of regret. The lords of the council wrote a letter of
thanks to King Charles for the honor he had done them
in sending the duke to their country, and praised his wise
and prudent conduct with much warmth.
The royal couple returned by water, and were saluted by
,i68o. Mary Beatrice of Modena, 265
the guns from the ships and tower as they ascended the river
to Whitehall, where the king stood at the gate to receive
them. They were immediately conducted to the queen's J
apartment, and then to their own, where they once more ml
embraced the little daughter whom they had not seen for
four months. That night the city was illuminated, and two
days later the city officers called in a body to congratulate
the duke and his wife on their return. A grand supper
was given by the lord mayor in honor of the royal
brothers, and the aldermen drank the king's health on their
knees, and grew so loyal as the wine was swallowed that
they " wished every one hanged and consigned to perdition
who would not serve his majesty with his life and for-
tune."
The duke and duchess established their court at St.
James's Palace, and gave a series of brilliant balls and
feasts that increased their popularity considerably. Mary
Beatrice was so highly respected that even her bitterest
enemies could find no excuse for mixing her name with the
popish plot, of which we gave an account in the last reign.
But Shaftesbury and his colleagues were not to be
baffled ; they had determined on the ruin of the Duke of
York, and never rested until they had forced the king to
agree to his banishment once more. They wanted the sea
to separate him from England, but Charles compromised
in his usual way, and notified his royal highness that he
was to return to Scotland. The duke was sorely grieved,
for he believed that even his brother had turned against him ;
and that his banishment to Scotland would be followed up
by something worse. He was the more convinced of this
when, in order to protect himself against the machinations
of his powerful enemies, he demanded of the king a gen-
eral pardon, under the great seal, for any offence that might
be charged against him, and his majesty refused. He gave
266 The Queens of England.
as his reason that it would be injurious to a man of the
duke's exalted rank to have such a document drawn up ;
but James became so enraged that he swore "that if he
were pushed to extremity, and saw himself likely to be
entirely ruined by his enemies, he would throw himself into
the arms of Louis XIV. for protection." Of course such
a threat was treasonable, and only to be excused on account
of excessive indignation, for the duke was burning under
the sense of wrong and ingratitude from a king and a
country in whose service he had risked his life so often.
Poor Mary Beatrice was called upon to part with her little
Isabel again, and this separation was the last, for the
mother never more beheld her only child.
The following beautiful lines by the poet Dryden were
written to commemorate the embarkation of the Duke and
Duchess of York, which occurred on the eighteenth of
October :
" Go, injured hero ! while propitious gales,
Soft as thy consort's breath, inspire thy sails :
Well may she trust her beauties on a flood
Where thy triumphant fleets so oft have rode.
Safe on thy breast reclined, her rest be deep,
Rocked like a Nereid by the waves asleep ;
While happiest dreams her fancy entertain,
And to Elysian fields convert the main.
Go, injured hero ! while the shores of Tyre
At thy approach, so silent shall admire;
Who on thy thunder shall their thoughts employ,
And greet thy landing with a trenjbling joy."
After a stormy voyage of a week, the Duke and Duchess
of York arrived on the shores of Scotland, and when they
observed the joy manifested by every class of inhabitants
at their return, their sad hearts warmed towards the nation
that were so eager to prove their gratitude and loyalty.
They travelled through Scotland attended by an ever-
increasing train of devoted followers, and received at every
1680. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 269
stopping place the most unbounded hospitality. At Leith
they were met by a grand procession, headed by the Earl
of Linlithgow, colonel of his majesty's guards, and a regi-
ment of soldiers, besides nobility and gentry on horse-
back, and a long train of coaches filled with councillors
and noble ladies and gentlemen. As they advanced guns
fired, bells rang, bonfires were lighted, and crowds assem-
bled with shouts of welcome. The city authorities of
Edinburgh met their royal highnesses at the gate of Holy-
rood Palace, and the lord provost on his knees presented
the silver keys of the city to the duke, at the same time
offering a welcome in the name of all the citizens.
Holyrood Palace had been repaired and the royal apart-
ments refitted for the accommodation of the duke and
duchess, with their retinue ; so their home was by no means
as comfortless as it had been on their former sojourn there.
The portrait of Mary Beatrice had been painted by Lely
just before her departure from London ; and it was the last
work of that great artist, who died before the end of the
year.
The duchess was not quite twenty, and at the height of
her beauty. She is represented with her hair falling around
her head in luxuriant curls ; her dress is scarlet velvet,
embroidered and fringed with gold, cut low at the neck
and filled in with soft cambric, of which material the
flowing sleeves are also made. A full rich scarf, of royal
blue fringed with gold and pearls, crosses one shoulder,
and falls in graceful folds over the lap to the ground.
The lady is sitting in a garden, and a tree in the back-
ground is entwined with honey-suckles and roses ; her left
hand rests on the neck of a beautiful white Italian grey-
hound.
A brilliant court was established at Holyrood, and Mary
Beatrice succeeded in winning all hearts by her kind and
270 The Queens of England,
gracious manners. Her religion was unpopular, but she
intruded it upon no one, and her conduct was admirable.
Behind the Abbey of Holyrood there was a long avenue
shaded with stately oaks, where James was in the habit of
taking his daily exercise. The green strip at the foot of
the hill is called "the duke's walk" to this very day,
though all the beautiful trees have been removed.
Mary Beatrice introduced tea-drinking among the Scotch
ladies, and the fashion soon became general, for she was
so much admired that it became a pleasure to imitate her.
She was loved because she tried to please, and the duke
was not behind-hand in this respect. His royal highness
established a bond of good fellowship between the nobles
and the mechanics which added greatly to his popularity.
It was done in this way : Tennis and golf, both games
played with clubs and balls, were the favorite amusements
among the gentry of Scotland in those days. The duke
enjoyed them also, and always selected a mechanic or
tradesman for his partner. Of course this example was
imitated by the courtiers, and thus high and low were
brought into pleasant contact. His royal highness gen-
erally played against the Duke of Lauderdale, who was an
excellent golfer as well as himself. One day they agreed
to stake an unusually large sum of money on the game.
James called a shoemaker named John Paterson to assist
him, and after a very hard contest defeated his opponent.
When Lauderdale paid the three or four hundred gold
pieces that he had forfeited, his royal highness handed
them to Paterson, saying : " Through your skill I have won
the game, and you are, therefore, entitled to the reward of
the victory." The bonnie Scot was more pleased with the
delicate compliment than with the gold. It was many sucli
acts that endeared James to the people amongst whom his
lot was cast. When Lochiel, a brave Highlander, jvaa
1680. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 271
presented at court, the duke received him with marked
courtesy, and questioned him about his adventures. During
the conversation he asked to see the chieftain's sword,
which was delivered into his hands without hesitation. The
duke tried to draw it from the scabbard, but as it was merely
a dress-sword, not meant for use, it had become rusty.
After a second attempt he handed it back to the owner,
saying: "That his sword was never so difficult to draw
when the crown wanted its service." Lochiel was so em-
barrassed that he did not know what reply to make, but
drew the sword and handed it to his royal highness, who
turning to the courtiers present, said : " You see, my lords,
Lochiel's sword gives obedience to no hand but his own ! "
and thereupon knighted the Highlander on the spot.
The duke arrived in Scotland just after an insurrection,
when many people lost their lives and property; but he
exerted such an excellent influence that peace was soon
restored, and prisoners liberated whenever they promised
to cry " God save the King ! " He governed Scotland well
for his brother, and won the love of the populace by always
resorting to the mildest of punishments in opposition to the
barbarities practiced by Lauderdale.
During the winter the duchess met with an accident that
nearly cost her life. She was thrown from her horse, and
her long riding-habit becoming entangled in the saddle, she
was dragged some distance and received several kicks
from the terrified animal before she could be rescued.
Fortunately this occurred on a sandy plain, otherwise she
must have been killed. As it was, she was taken up covered
with blood and perfectly insensible. She recovered in
time, having received no serious iujury, but was obliged to
give up her favorite amusement; for her husband, who
always considered horseback riding dangerous for women,
exacted a promise that she would never so imperil her life
again.
272 The Queens of England.
[A.D. 1 68 1.] The spring brought bad news, for King
Charles sent a messenger to inform his brother and sister
that their little daughter, Isabel, had died at St. James's
Palace. This cruel blow only made the banishment and
persecution of the duke and duchess harder to bear, and
James wrote to his brother for permission to take his wife
to some watering-place in England, saying that she needed
the change, and that the climate of Scotland did not agree
with her.
Charles could not grant the request, because he feared
that the duke's return would be the signal for rebellion ;
but after three or foiir^months' deliberation the favor of
Princess Anne's company was granted to her parents, and
she went to Scotland to join them.
Shortly after her arrival the Duke of York rode in state
from Holyrood, and opened parliament as lord high com-
missioner from his brother, the king. The duchess, Princess
Anne, and all their ladies were present on that occasion,
and this was such an unusual sight that some of the old
fogies considered it highly indecorous. The Scottish lords
and chieftains had always settled their debates with dagger
and sword, and it was in order to avoid such stormy scenes
that the Duke of York introduced the refining influence of
women's presence, and the effect was highly satisfactory.
Atter the meeting James gave a banquet to the whole par-
liament, separate tables being laid, for the lords and com-
mons.
The city of Edinburgh returned the compliment with an
entertainment to the Court of Scotland that cost more than
fourteen hundred pounds sterling.
After their royal highnesses recovered from the shock
occasioned by the death of their little daughter, life at
Holyrood became one long scene of gayety and brilliancy.
There were balls, plays, and masquerades night after night,
MAft
mm
1
JAMES II.
1685- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 275
and musical dramas, similar to the opera of the present
day, in which the Princess Anne and other ladies of quality
took part. So long as the plays were moral, Mary Beatrice
honored them with her presence ; for she believed that the
stage ought to be a medium for giving wholesome instruc-
tion to the public, but she would countenance nothing
coarse or vulgar.
[A.D. 1682.] Affairs took such a favorable turn for
James during the following year that he was recalled to
England. He arrived with the Duchess and Princess
Anne at Whitehall on the twenty-sixth of May, having been
escorted up the river by a procession of barges, among
which was the one containing the king and queen, who had
gone to welcome them. In the evening the city of London
was illuminated, and the rejoicing on account of the ban-
ished duke's return was universal.
[A.D. 1684.] St. James's Palace again became the home
of the royal pair, where they had a little daughter born in
August, but it died within a few weeks. Two years later, so
firm had the duke's position become, that he was once more
offered the post of lord admiral, which he eagerly accepted.
During the period of peace and national prosperity that
preceded the death of Charles II., Princess Anne married
Prince George of Denmark, but remained with her parents
for awhile.
[A.D. 1685.] A plan to banish the Duke of York once
more had just been set on foot when King Charles died,
and made way for him to mount the throne as James II.
Mary Beatrice felt so grieved at the death of her brother-
in-law that she could not rejoice at her own advancement ;
for Charles had been uniformly kind and amiable towards
her, and she knew that she had lost a friend when he
died.
Compliments and congratulations were showered upon
276 The Queens of England.
the new king from all sides, and on the first Sunday after
his accession he was prayed for from every pulpit in the
metropolis. King James began his reign with some very
necessary reforms ; he forbade drinking and swearing
among others, and expressed his entire disapprobation of
duelling, which he declared was no mark of courage.
The queen's health was not good at this time, and she
became so pale that in spite of her religious scruples her
husband advised her to rouge, as other court ladies did,
and she complied. The first time Father Seraphin, a
monk, saw her so disfigured he expressed his surprise, and
she explained that she had resorted to paint to conceal her
palor, whereupon the monk replied, bluntly : " Madame,
I would rather see your majesty yellow or even green than
rouged."
The twenty-third of April, St. George's day, was appointed
for the coronation of the king and queen. The crown
jewels had all been stolen by the Roundheads during the
civil wars, so everything had to be supplied for the new
queen, and the crown that was made specially for her was
valued at one hundred and eleven thousand nine hundred
pounds.
On the Thursday previous to the coronation, the king
washed the feet of fifty-two poor men, that number corre-
sponding with his age. On the appointed day the queen,
who had slept at St. James's Palace, performed her devo-
tions as usual, and was then attired by her women in a
royal robe of purple velvet, bordered with ermine, and
looped with cords and tassels of pearls. Her tight-fitting
frock underneath was of rich white and silver brocade, orna-
mented with pearls and precious stones. On her head was
a cap of purple velvet, turned up with ermine and edged
with a band of gold, set with large diamonds. As soon as
her toilet was completed, the queen was carried in her chair
T585. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 277
to Westminster, where she rested in a private room until
the king and all those who were to take part in the cere-
mony had assembled.
When everything was ready, her majesty entered West-
minster Hall, attended by her lord chamberlain, her other
officers and ladies ; the king entered at the same time by
another door with his attendants, and the royal pair took
their seats under separate canopies at the upper end of the
hall.
After the king's regalia had been delivered to him with
the usual formalities, each article was placed on a table
covered with rich tapestry. Then the queen received the
crown, sceptre, and ivory rod with the dove, which were
likewise deposited on the table, and subsequently dis-
tributed by the lord great chamberlain to the noblemen
appointed to carry them. These noblemen walked first in
the procession, then followed the queen, between the
Bishops of London and Winchester, under a rich canopy,
supported by sixteen barons. Four noble ladies carried
her majesty's train, and eight bed-chamber women fol-
lowed. The king's procession came next, and all pro-
ceeded in solemn state through a passage made by a double
line of horse and foot guards to the abbey. The path was
thickly strewn with fresh flowers by six young ladies,
dressed in pointed bodices, with full brocaded skirts, looped
back over rich petticoats. They wore hoods, gloves, and
deep ruffles falling from the elbow. Trumpets were blown,
drums beat a march, and the choir sang the well-known
anthem, " O Lord, grant the king a long life ! " etc., all the
way to the church.
It required several hours for all the ceremonies of the
coronation to be performed, and the devotion of the queen
in following the prayers and making the responses was ob-
served by all present. King James had bestowed a great
278 The Queens of England.
deal of pains on his wife's regalia, but none on his own, so
the crown that had been made for Charles II. was used for
him, though it did not fit at all. The heads of the two
brothers were as different as their characters, and it was
regarded as an ominous sign that the crown could not be
made to stay on James's head.
The queen performed a noble deed of charity on that day
that brought the blessings of thousands upon her head.
She released all prisoners who were in jail for small debts,
and herself paid every sum not exceeding five pounds.
No wonder that the air rang with cries of " Long live
Queen Mary ! "
When the ceremonies at the abbey were concluded, the
procession returned to Westminster Hall, and their ma-
jesties rested in private rooms until all the company had
taken their places at seven long tables which were laid for
the banquet. Then the king, preceded by his great state
officers, entered with the crown on his head, and the sceptre
and orb in either hand, and seated himself in his chair of
state at the head of the royal table. The queen did the
same, her place being at the king's left hand. Most of the
ancient ceremonies of coronation banquets were revived
that day, and some of them are so curious that they will
bear recounting. Certain lords went to the kitchen to
receive the dishes and present them to their majesties,
which was done in this way : The master of the horse called
for a dish of meat, wiped the cover and the dish carefully,
tasted the contents, and then ordered it to be conveyed to
the royal table, he preceding the first course on horseback
the full length of the hall, followed by a train of the prin-
cipal officers of the household. Thirty-two dishes were
brought up by the Knights of the Bath, and a number of
others by private gentlemen. When the dinner was placed
on the table, the lord chamberlain, carvers, cupbearers, and
1685- Mary Beatrice of Modena 279
assistants went to the king's cupboard and washed ; then
the great basin was brought for the king to wash his hands.
Before doing so he delivered his sceptre to a nobleman
appointed to hold it, and the orb to the Bishop of Bath.
The queen washed also, but she used only a wet napkin
presented by the Earl of Devonshire on his knees. Grace
was said, and their majesties sat down to the dinner, which
consisted of a thousand dishes ; among them were many
Scotch dainties which reminded the king and queen of
the hospitalities they had received in the North.
Before the second course Sir Charles Dymoke rode into
the hall on a splendid white horse, preceded by trumpeters,
and attended by two gentlemen, one bearing his lance, the
other his target. He was dressed in white armor, and wore
a red, white, and blue plume in his helmet. He was brought
up to the royal table, where the herald proclaimed his chal-
lenge, and the champion threw down the gauntlet. This
was repeated three times, when the king drank from a gold
cup which he presented to his champion, who then rode
out of the hall. Several lords presented wine to the king
on their knees, each one receiving the silver or gold cup
hisjnajesty drank out of for a present.
When the dinner was ended grace was said, the washing
of hands was repeated with the same ceremony as before,
and their majesties withdrew. In the retiring-room they
delivered their regalia to the Dean of Westminster, whose
duty it was to keep such valuables under lock and key.
One of King James's first acts after he ascended the
throne was to release several thousand Roman Catholics
and members of other churches who had been imprisoned
for refusing to worship according to the prescribed laws of
England. He also put a stop to the practice that had been
permitted for many years of people informing against one
another about their religious beliefs. As this was often
280 The Queens of England.
resorted to merely to gratify some personal spite, and had
been the means of bringing many an innocent person to
the stake, King James did well to abolish it ; but he was
fighting the prejudices of the people, and could more easily
have taken an impregnable fortress, as he soon found to his
cost. Many of his subjects were offended at the display
James made of his own religion, particularly when he
opened a Catholic chapel at Whitehall, and insisted on
going there in state with his wife, attended by the high
officers of their household, to receive the sacrament. His
lord treasurer, the Earl of Rochester, pretended to be ill as
an excuse for absenting himself. The Dukes of Norfolk
and Somerset openly refused to attend. It was the duty
of Lord Godolphin, the queen's chamberlain, to lead her
majesty by the hand to her place in the chapel, and to the
altar when she chose to receive the sacrament. Although
a Protestant, the chamberlain was so charmed with her
majesty's beauty and graceful manners that he would not
forego his privilege.
King James summoned parliament in June because the
Duke of Argyle raised a rebellion in Scotland, while Mon-
mouth did the same in England, and funds were required
to suppress both. Monmouth had always been one of
James's bitterest and most dangerous enemies, because he
thought he had a claim to the throne ; he therefore issued
a proclamation, denouncing the king " as a usurper, a mur-
derer, a traitQr, and a tyrant." He accused James of
burning the city of London, of murdering Godfrey, both
events are treated of in the last reign, of cutting the
throat of Essex, and of poisoning his brother, Charles II.
He raised an army of ten thousand men, and received so
much encouragement at Taunton that he proclaimed him-
self king, and set a price on the head of " the usurper,
James, Duke of York."
Dl'K! <UT1I.
1685- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 283
Such prompt and active measures were taken by the royal
party that both Argyle and Monmouth were defeated and
captured. The latter implored the king for mercy, and
succeeded in obtaining a private interview. James had for-
given this bold man for many personal offences when he
was Duke of York, but now his position was altered. He
was King of England, and could not find it in his con-
science to pardon an offender who had plunged his realm
into civil war, and sacrificed the lives of three thousand of
his subjects. Story,' the orator, was taken prisoner for
assisting Monmouth with his exciting speeches, that went
far towards raising the popular indignation against the
sovereign.
When summoned to appear before the council he looked
so haggard, neglected, and dirty that King James ex-
claimed, " Is that a man, or what is it ? " On being in-
formed that it was the rebel Story, his majesty replied :
"Oh, Story; I remember him a rare fellow, indeed."
Then turning towards him, the king asked : " Pray, Story,
you were in Monmouth's army in the west, were you not ? "
" Yes, an 't please your majesty."
" Pray, you were a commissary there, were you not ? "
asked the king.
" Yes, an 't please your majesty."
" And you made a speech before great crowds of people,
did you not ? " was the next question.
" Yes, an 't please your majesty," answered Story.
" Pray, if you have not forgot what you said, let us have
a taste of your fine speech, some specimen of the flowers
of your rhetoric."
" I told them, an 't please your majesty, that it was you
who fired the city of London," boldly answered Story.
" A rare rogue, upon my word," exclaimed James ; " and,
pray, what else did you tell them ? "
284 The Queens of England.
" I told them, an 't please your majesty, that you poisoned
your brother."
" Impudence in the utmost height of it ! " said the king.
" Pray, let us have something further, if your memory serves
you."
" I further told them," continued Story, " that your maj-
esty appeared to be fully determined to make the nation
both papists and slaves."
The king had heard enough, and no doubt wondered at
the audacity of a man who dared to accuse him to his face
of crimes that his very soul would have revolted at. But
with remarkable clemency his majesty added : " To all this
I doubt not but a thousand other villanous things were
added. But what would you say, Story, if after all this I
were to grant your life ? "
He answered, " That he would pray for his majesty as
long as he lived."
Thereupon he was freely pardoned, but Monmouth and
Argyle were executed.
This victory of King James's would have increased his
popularity and made him extremely powerful, had it not
been for the cruel deeds that resulted from it. But Colonel
Kirke and Chief-Justice Jeffreys were two barbarians, who
caused the execution of thousands, whether innocent or
guilty ; going from one town to another whence Monmouth
had gathered his forces, and committing most unheard-of
cruelties.
Such deeds, added to the mistake James made in attempt-
ing to have everything his own way, regardless of the will
of parliament, led to his ruin and downfall. Popular in-
dignation was aroused against all Roman Catholics, King
James included, when Louis XIV. revoked the edict of
Nantes. This was a law that had been made by Henry IV.,
granting the free exercise of religion to all Protestants, and
i688. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 285
when it was withdrawn, of course, persecutions followed.
The result was that nearly fifty thousand Protestants sought
refuge in England, and King James treated them with a
great deal of consideration.
[A.D. 1687.] The queen spent part of the spring of
1687 at Richmond Palace, while James visited his camp at
Hounslow ; but her health was so poor that she was ordered
by her physicians to take a course of treatment at Bath,
and while there news of her mother's death reached her.
This was a sad bereavement, and one from which Mary
Beatrice did not soon recover. It opened a correspondence
between her and the Prince of Orange, who, while express-
ing affectionate sympathy, was secretly plotting for the
overthrow of his royal father-in-law. The king was very
much under* the influence of Sunderland, and of the Jesuit,
Father Petre, both bad advisers ; but he was also on terms
of intimacy with William Penn, the founder of the State of
Pennsylvania. This high-minded Quaker entered the king's
presence one day, shortly after he ascended the throne,
with his hat on his head. James immediately removed his,
whereupon Penn said : " Friend James, why dost thou un-
cover thy head ? " The king replied with a smile : " Be-
cause it is the fashion here far only one man to wear his
hat."
Penn was sent to Holland to persuade William, Prince
of Orange, to concur with the king in trying to do away with
those laws that interfered with religious privileges in Eng-
land, but met with no success, either with him or his wife,
Mary.
[A.D. 1688.] Queen Mary Beatrice had a little son born
at St. James's Palace in 1688, and there was great rejoicing
among the king's friends when the infant prince appeared,
which was echoed in Edinburgh.
The royal father felt so happy at the birth of his son that,
286 The Queens of England.
in an evil hour, he granted forgiveness to Nathaniel Hook,
who had been the Duke of Monmouth's chaplain. This
man became one of the tools of William of Orange, and
acted as a spy on the actions of the sovereign who had
shown him such mercy.
A grand display of fireworks took place in honor of the
prince's birth when he was a few weeks old, and the royal
couple were present at the palace window to witness it.
Mary Beatrice was gratified by a letter of congratulation
sent by the pope on the birth of her son, because his holi-
ness had never been friendly since she married without his
consent, nor was he now, as we shall see.
The persons who were anything but pleased at the little
fellow's appearance in the world were William of Orange
and his wife, because both felt that he was in their way as
heir to the crown.
One of William's agents was discovered at Rome in
secret correspondence with the pope's secretary, Count
Cassoni. He was disguised as a peddler of artificial fruit,
which, on being opened, were found to contain slips of paper,
written in cypher, that disclosed a plan for the destruction
of the king and the little prince. William of Orange was
at the bottom of the conspiracy, and intended to carry out
his purpose in this way : The pope was to supply funds to
be used by the Prince of Orange for the invasion of Eng-
land, which coming from such a source would not be
suspected. All this was disclosed by the slips of paper
contained in the fruit, and reached the ears of King James
himself.
The royal infant was so very ill when he was about two
months old that it was thought each moment would be his
last ; however, he was provided with a good healthy nurse
and got well, much to the delight of his parents, and the
disgust of those whose interest it was to wish him out of the
Alary Beatrice of Modena. 287
way. Then the king and queen with their household re-
moved to Whitehall, and soon after her majesty's birthday
was observed with the usual ceremonies and rejoicings.
Mary Beatrice kept up a regular correspondence with the
Prince of Orange, with whom she had always been on the
most loving terms, and did not know what to make of the
news that came to her about this time. It was that the
Dutch fleet was hovering off the coast of England, ready at
a moment's notice to make an attack. The queen could
not believe such horrible tidings, and wrote her daughter :
" That it was reported the Prince of Orange was coming
over with an army, and that her highness would accompany
him ; but she never would believe her capable of turning
against a good father, who, she believed, had always loved
her the best of all his children." It was, nevertheless, true,
and the storm that was to drive King James from the throne
was gathering darkly and surely. James had committed
some grave mistakes as a ruler, as a politician, as a theolo-
gian, and gladly would he have made amends, but it was
too late. The King of France offered assistance, but with
all his faults James loved his country too well to allow a
foreign army to come to his rescue. He preferred other
measures, whereby he hoped and fondly expected to avert
the horrors of civil war. But his enemies were in his very
household, and treachery surrounded him on all sides.
The men who breakfasted with him in the morning, and
pretended to be most loyal, deserted him before night.
When he ought to have gone in person to repel the attacks
of the Dutch fleet, he was persuaded by traitors to stay and
defend the metropolis. When at last he did go he was so
ill, so broken down, both in mind and body as to be utterly
unfit for exertion of any kind. His confidential councillors
went over to the enemy, and as the Prince of Orange ad-
vanced with his forces, James retreated towards London,
288 The Queens of England.
paralyzed by the treachery that was daily brought to light.
But the most heartrending blow of all awaited him on his
return to the metropolis, for the first news he heard was
that Princess Anne had deserted him. " God help me ! "
he exclaimed, bursting into tears, " My own children have
forsaken me in my distress." When he entered the palace
he added in the bitterness of his grief, " Oh, if mine ene-
mies only had cursed me, I could have borne it ! "
Now, the unfortunate king's anxiety was for the faithful
wife who had awaited his return in fear and trembling, and
the innocent baby whose life the fond father feared was in
danger. The valiant James Stuart of former years no
longer existed ; for he would not have submitted to the ad-
vance of a- foe without offering desperate resistance, nor
would he have abandoned his country at a moment when
she needed his services.
The heart-broken King James summoned his council,
asked their advice, and appealed to their loyalty. They
told him " he had no one to blame but himself," but offered
no comfort or assistance. Indignation at the base treat-
ment of those who ought to have stood by him in his ad-
versity and grief, at the thought of the strait to which his
own bad management had brought himself and his dear
ones, had turned poor King James's mind ; he could no
longer protect his realm, for he was not in a condition to
decide clearly on any subject. His entire attention was
now turned towards the only two beings who were left him
in the world, his wife and baby ; and those he was deter-
mined to save though he should forfeit his own life.
It so happened that two Frenchmen, named Count de
Lauzun and his friend St. Victor, had become so interested
in King James and the state of affairs in England that they
had offered their services to the distressed sovereign. To
these two gentlemen James resolved to intrust the care of
Mary Beatrice of Modena. 289
his wife and child, and they eagerly consented to undertake
the dangerous task of conveying them to France. They
met the king and decided upon a plan so secretly that it
was not suspected by any one. St. Victor went to Graves-
end and hired two yachts, one in the name of an Italian
lady about to return to her own country, the other in that
of Count Lauzun.
December 9 was the day appointed for the queen to
leave London. It was Sunday, but some of the advanced
troops of the prince's army, who had dispersed in different
parts of the city, began the day by burning Catholic houses
and chapels, and creating a tumult that terrified the peace-
ful citizens, while tidings of other dreadful occurrences
came from all parts of the kingdom. When night ap-
proached the queen implored her husband to allow her to
remain and share his peril, but he assured her that he would
follow her within twenty-four hours, and that it was neces-
sary for the safety of their child that she should precede
him. At ten o'clock their majesties went to bed, and when
all was dark and quiet in the palace they got up and began
preparations for departure. Shortly after midnight St.
Victor ascended a secret staircase to the king's apartment.
He was dressed like a common sailor, though he was well-
armed underneath his coarse attire, and brought a disguise
for the queen. Lady Strickland was in waiting that night,
and assisted her majesty until two o'clock, when all who
were to share the journey met in the apartment of Madame
Labadie, where the prince had been carried secretly some
time before.
Turning to the count, King James said : " I confide my
queen and son to your care ; all must be hazarded to con-
vey them with the utmost speed to France." Reserving a
silence that was more eloquent than words, the queen gave
her husband a parting look, then crossed the grand hall,
290 The Queens of England.
and stole softly down the back-stairs with St. Victor, who
had possessed himself of the keys. The two nurses fol-
lowed close behind with the sleeping infant. A coach that
St. Victor had borrowed from an Italian friend, without
telling him to what use it was to be employed, stood at the
gate. The queen, Count de Lauzun, and the two nurses
with the baby entered, while St. Victor took his seat beside
the coachman, and Mary Beatrice left Whitehall never to
return. The coach had to pass six sentinels, who called
out, " Who goes there ? " Each time St. Victor replied
boldly, "A friend," and, showing the keys, was permitted to
pass without opposition. At Westminster the fugitives
entered a boat in which St. Victor had crossed on several
previous nights \vith his gun and a basket of cold provisions
to make believe that he was a sportsman and thus avoid
suspicion. But this particular night was so stormy, and the
rain poured in such torrents, that the boatman must have
known no unimportant errand would tempt a woman with
an infant six months old to make so dangerous a trip, for the
river had swollen, and the wind was blowing violently.
When the travellers reached the opposite bank, which was
at last accomplished after a great deal of difficulty, St.
Victor looked anxiously around for the carriage that ought
to have stood in waiting as he had arranged ; but Monsieur
Dusions, one of her majesty's pages, appeared promptly at
a call, and said that it was still at the inn. St. Victor ran
to fetch it, leaving De Lauzun to protect the queen, who
stood for shelter under the walls of the old church at Lam-
beth, with her infant clasped close to her breast, dreading
lest he should wake and betray her presence by his cries.
But the little prince behaved well throughout the journey,
happily unconscious of the danger to which he was ex-
posed. Meanwhile St. Victor, at the inn-yard had excited
some curiosity by his agitated manner, and his foreign
1 688. Mary Beatrice of Modena, 291
accent, which prompted a man on watch to start out with his
lantern to reconnoitre. Seeing that he directed his steps
straight to where the queen was waiting, St. Victor hastened
with all speed to the other side of the way, and then put
himself in the man's path as though by accident, awkwardly
pretended to be trying to clear the road, when the two came
in contact and went rolling over in the mud together. The
Frenchman was profuse in his apologies, which mollified
the other man, who returned to the inn to relight his lantern
and wash off the mud. This gave the queen and her party
time to proceed, and before they had cleared three miles
they \A^re met by one of her majesty's equerries, who, by the
king's thoughtfulness, had been sent with a fresh horse and
a pair of boots for St. Victor, of which he was sorely in need
by that time. When the queen reached Gravesend a little
boat conveyed her to the yacht, that was filled with friends
who had preceded her from London, and were determined
to share her exile. Among them were Lord and Lady
Powis, Anna Montecuculi, who had gone to England with
Mary Beatrice when she married ; Father Giverlai, the
queen's confessor ; William Walgrave, her physician ; Mar-
quis Montecuculi, Lord and Lady O'Brien Clare, Mes-
dames Labadie and Strickland, and two pages. These had
gone down the Thames, consequently had made the passage
in less time than the royal party had required.
The captain of the yacht had not the slightest suspicion
of the rank of the Italian washerwoman, so anxiously
awaited, who embarked with a bundle of clothes under her
arm, .in which her little prince was safely ensconced. The
queen was always ill at sea, but heretofore she had been
provided with all the comforts her husband could devise,
as well as the pleasure of his presence. It was very differ-
ent now, when not daring to encounter the Dutch men-of-
war, she was forced to cross the channel in an ordinary
292 The Queens of England.
packet, deprived of common necessaries ; for none of the
functionaries thought it necessary to pay attention to a poor
washerwoman.
As soon as she boarded the vessel the queen went below
to avoid observation, while Madame Labadie, who knew
Grey, the captain, engaged him in conversation until the
sails were hoisted and the yacht well under way. King
James had ordered De Lauzun, in case the captain dis-
covered the fugitives or betrayed any intention to put his
wife and son into the hands of the Dutch, to shoot him dead.
The count stationed himself in a position to keep strict
watch over every motion of the captain's, determined to act
promptly in case of need ; but that officer steered his course
safely through a fleet of fifty Dutch ships, and landed his
passengers at Calais, as ignorant of the queen's presence as
when he left the English coast.
Sixteen years before Mary of Modena had embarked on
a royal yacht attended by her mother and a train of noble-
men desirous of doing her honor ; now she landed at the
same port, a forlorn fugitive, disguised as a peasant, to seek
refuge from the storm that had driven her from a throne.
It would be hard to decide at which period she was more
an object of sympathy, if we recall the reluctance with
which she left her convent home to unite her destinies with
those of a man whom she had never seen, and behold her
now, deprived of her regal state, it is true, but possessing
a husband who has won her heart, and a dear little baby,
who is her idol and his. .
The governor of Calais wished to show Mary Beatrice
the honors due a queen of Great Britain, but she declined,
and took up her residence at a private house to await the
arrival of her husband, whom she expected to follow her
in a few hours. But the governor sent everything to her
house that the queen needed for comfort, and fired a royal
salute at her departure.
1689- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 293
Soon after landing at Calais, Mary Beatrice wrote a pa-
thetic letter to Louis XIV., asking his protection for herself
and son. He replied by sending his first equerry with the
royal carriages to attend the queen and her suite to Paris,
and ordered that every honor due her rank should be shown
the royal lady en route.
The king did not join his wife as he had promised, and
she could receive no reliable intelligence as to his fate.
Her heart was torn with conflicting rumors, and she spent
her days in tears at a convent at Boulogne, to which place
she had removed.
[A.D. 1689.] It was not until the nineteenth of Janu-
ary that the queen knew the sad truth. Then she heard
from the vice-admiral of England, who had arrived at Calais,
that the king had set out on his journey, when he was
arrested by order of the Prince of Orange and taken back
under strict guard. Overcome with despair, the queen de-
cided to send her son on to Paris, and return to. London to
share her husband's peril. But her faithful attendants dis-
suaded her from a course that could only have increased
the king's trouble without rendering him the least service,
and urged he'r to be guided by the directions he had
given her at parting. That very day King Louis's equerry
arrived with letters and messages from his majesty and a
noble escort to convey the queen, with her attendants, to the
Castle of St. Germain, which had been put in readiness for
their reception. So anxious were the faithful followers of
Mary Beatrice to remove her from the coast, where she
might at any moment be tempted by some favorable oppor-
tunity to return to England, that they entreated her to
accept the invitation of the King of France at once.
She yielded, and left Boulogne the next day. On arriv-
ing at Montrieul a report reached the royal party that King
James was still at Whitehall.
294 The Queens of England.
Now we must go back and see what really happened to
James after his wife's departure. He wandered about in
a state of nervous agitation until St. Victor returned from
Gravesend with the announcement that the queen had
embarked safely, and he had seen the yacht well on her
course. Then his majesty brightened up, although there
was not an hour but news reached him of the advance of
his enemy's troops. Having summoned his council to meet
at ten the next morning, the king went to bed as usual,
without any intention of being present.
At midnight he arose, disguised himself in a black wig,
and shabby, plain clothes, and attended by Sir Edward
Hales, descended by a private staircase to the garden and
proceeded as the queen had done two nights before. He
crossed the Thames in a little row-boat to Vauxhall, and
when in the middle of the river threw in the great seal
that he had taken from Whitehall. This is an unaccount-
able proceeding, because he evidently meant to make use
of the seal after he got to France, and he must have
changed his mind very suddenly. On arriving at Fever-
sham after travelling all night, Sir Edward Hales sent his
servant to the post-office, and as his residence was in that
neighborhood, his livery was immediately known. A gang
of ruffians who had formed themselves into an association
to prevent the flight of Roman Catholics to France, dogged
the man's footsteps to the river side, where they discovered
that Sir Edward had taken refuge on a custom-house boat.
At eleven o'clock that night fifty of the gang, armed with
swords and pistols, boarded the boat, rushed into the cabin
seized the king and his companion. Perceiving that his
majesty was not recognized, Sir Edward took Ames, the
leader of the ruffians aside, put fifty guineas in his hand
and promised a hundred more if he would allow them to
escape. The man took the money and said he would go
1689. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 295
ashore to make arrangements for them, but advised them
to hand over all their valuables to his keeping, because he
could not answer for the conduct of his men while he was
gone. The king gave him three hundred guineas and his
watch, but contrived to conceal his coronation ring and
three diamond pins that belonged to the queen. As soon
as the tide rose in the morning the gang, who had mistaken
James for Father Petre, rowed the boat to shore, and put-
ting their two prisoners in a carriage, drove them to an inn
amidst the shouts and yells of a mob that had assembled
there. Suddenly a seaman in the crowd who had served
under James recognized him, and bursting out into tears,
knelt' and begged to kiss his hand. The king was touched
at this proof of devotion and wept, while the ruffians who
had robbed and insulted him fell on their knees and sued
for pardon. Then returning his majesty's sword and
jewels, the seamen who were present declared " that not a
hair of his head should be touched." Even then, had the
king been in a proper state of mind, something might have
been done for his cause, surrounded as he was at that instant
by a band of loyal, subjects ; but he was mentally exhausted,
and he began to talk in a wild, incoherent manner, until an
alarming fit of nose-bleed left him in a helpless condition.
For two whole days nobody in London knew of King James's
whereabouts, until a Kentish peasant presented himself at
the council chamber with a letter from his majesty, stating
his condition and demanding assistance. Some of the lords
were for treating the letter with silent contempt, but they
were overruled, and an escort was despatched to bring his
majesty back to Whitehall. He was received with every
demonstration of loyalty, and might have raised a powerful
army to repel his foes, but his day had gone by ; he could
only weep and bemoan his sad fate, constantly repeating :
" God help me, whom can I trust ? My own children have
forsaken me ! "
296 The Queens of England.
The king had been in London less than a week when he
was rudely awakened at two o'clock one cold, stormy
morning by three lords, who had openly avowed themselves
his enemies. They came with an order from the Prince of
Orange for him to leave Whitehall before ten o'clock and
proceed to Rochester. He made the journey attended by
a Dutch guard, who had orders from their prince to give
their prisoner a chance to escape.
Accordingly the back door of the house at Rochester
was purposely left unguarded, and between twelve and one
on the morning of December 23, the king attended by
two faithful companions, made his way to the river and
was rowed down to Sheerness, where, boarding a fishing-
boat, he was landed on Christmas day at a village near
Boulogne.
The queen was at Beauvais when she heard of her hus-
band's arrival on French soil, and forgetting all her mis-
fortunes in this welcome news she raised her eyes to
Heaven and exclaimed : " Then I am happy," and prayed
aloud in the fulness of her heart.
It was on the twenty-eighth of December that Mary
Beatrice approached St. Germain. King Louis XIV. had
advanced with his son and brother to a village at the
foot of the hill on which stood the castle to await his
royal guests. His cavalcade consisted of a hundred
coaches,and all the noble ladies and gentlemen who attended
him were dressed in magnificent attire. When the queen
drew near with her party, Louis left his coach and went
forward to greet her. His officers stopped the first carriage,
supposing it to contain her majesty, but the occupants
proved to be the little prince with his governess and his
nurses. All alighted out of respect to the king, who took
the baby in his arms, hugged and kissed him tenderly, and
promised to cherish and protect the unconscious child.
Maiy Beatrice of Modena, 299
Meanwhile Mary Beatrice had left her carriage and walked
towards his majesty, who saluted her affectionately. After
a great many complimentary speeches on both sides, the
king presented the dauphin, as his son was styled, and
monsieur his brother, then the four royal personages got
into his majesty's coach and were driven to the Palace of
St. Germain, which was to be the future home of Mary
Beatrice. They alighted at the inner court, where, after
placing everything at the queen's command, Louis led her
to the apartments that had been newly-fitted up for the
Prince of Wales. Such an affectionate welcome brought
tears to the eyes of Mary Beatrice, who began to feel that
she now needed nothing but the arrival of her beloved hus-
band to fill her heart with peace.
St. Germain Palace had been gorgeously fitted up for
Queen Mary Beatrice, and contained every article of luxury
that she could possibly desire. On her toilet table stood
a casket of exquisite workmanship, of which Tourolle, the
king's upholsterer presented her the key with rather a sig-
nificent air. This she observed ; but her mind was so oc-
cupied that she did not remember to open the casket until
the next day, when she beheld six thousand bright, shin-
ing louis d'ors which the generous King Louis had placed
there for her use.
In the morning Louis and the dauphin sent to make in-
quiries about their guests, and at six in the evening they
paid her majesty a visit, attended by Monsieur and the Due
de Chartres. She was in bed, feeling ill from the anxiety
and fatigue she had undergone, but that did not prevent
her receiving the royal guests. Queens were not allowed
any privacy in those days, sick or well, and her majesty's
chamber was soon crowded with the courtiers who had fol-
lowed their sovereign, while he and the dauphin sat on the
bed and chatted quite merrily. In about half an hour King
3OO The Queens of England.
James's arrival was announced, and Louis went out to meet
him. James bowed low as his kinsman advanced, but
Louis took him in his arms and embraced him warmly
three our four times. Then the two kings conversed in a
low tone for fifteen minutes, after which monsieur and the
dauphin were presented to James, who was then conducted
to his wife's room. As they entered, Louis said, playfully :
" Madame, I bring a gentleman of your acquaintance,
whom you will be very glad to see." The queen uttered a
cry of joy, and the royal couple surprised the French cour-
tiers by hugging and kissing each other right before them
all. James was then led to the royal nursery, where it
gladdened his heart to see the comforts that surrounded
his darling boy. Louis was scrupulously mindful of every
act of courtesy towards his unfortunate kinsman, and sent
him a present of ten thousand pounds in such a delicate
manner as not to wound his pride.
St. Germain was familiar to King James, for it was there
that he lived with his mother and the royal family of France
during the troublous times that preceded his father's
death. After a lapse of twenty-eight years he returned,
again a fugitive, the last survivor of those who had shared
his first adversity. Mother, brothers, sisters, all were dead,
his two daughters had deserted him ; the son of his best
beloved sister, who had become his son-in-law, had driven
him from his throne, and his wife and little son were de-
prived of their rights because of his fall. An apalling list
of calamities ; yet James bore them with a calmness that
astonished his French friends. Both he and his wife felt
their dependence, and desired to live as much in private as
possible ; but it was not permitted. The court of St. Ger-
main was formed on the model of King Louis's, but the
French officers were soon replaced by those members of
the queen's household who followed her, though their
1689 Mary Beatrice of Modena. 301
property was confiscated and they forfeited the rights of
citizenship by so doing. Mary Beatrice's old coachman,
who had formerly served Oliver Cromwell, followed his
royal mistress to St. Germain, and continued to drive her
state coach until he died of old age.
[A.D. 1689.] At first the etiquette of the French court
was very irksome to Mary Beatrice, for it was much more
formidable than in England, and she would have made
many mistakes had she not had the good sense to refer all
matters of precedency to Louis XIV. himself, and in every
case to abide by his decision. The wife of J:he dauphin
refused to call because the size and position of the chair
she was to occupy in the presence of the Queen of England
was not according to her fancy, so Mary Beatrice waived
ceremony and made the first call, and in course of time it
was arranged who was to sit, who was to stand, which noble
lady or gentleman was to be placed to the right or the left
of one of the royal personages, who was to go first, the
size, shape, and height of the chair, besides many other
matters that appear trivial to us ; then all went smoothly.
Mary Beatrice became the fashion ; Louis XIV., the Grande
Rlonarque, had held her up as a model for his daughter-in-
law, and said : " See what a queen should be," and that
was enough to bring the whole court to her feet. Every one
admired her ready wit, her grace, her beauty, but above all,
her charming manners and her devotion to her husband.
One day when King Louis was caressing her baby she said :
" I had envied the happiness of my son in being uncon-
scious of his misfortunes, but now I regret the uncon-
sciousness which prevents him from being sensible of your
majesty's goodness to him."
The exiled king and queen were invited to St. Cyr to
witness a new tragedy by Racine, and Mary Beatrice sat
between her husband and Louis XIV. during the per-
302 The Queens of England.
formance. Next day Louis entertained them at his palace
at the Trianon, where the two kings had a long private
conference, while the queen played cards with some ladies
and gentlemen.
Meanwhile affairs in England were going badly for the
royal cause, and on the sixth of February a very small
majority in parliament decided that the Prince and Princess
of Orange should be proclaimed king and queen.
James was still undisputed King of Ireland, and his sub-
jects there urged him to visit their country ; so, with a force
consisting of a hundred noble French gentlemen, Lauzun
being of the number, besides twenty-five hundred English
and Scotch emigrants, he decided to go. King Louis sup-
plied him with vessels and money, and offered troops, but
James replied : " I will recover my own dominions with my
own subjects or perish in the attempt." After his de-
parture the queen left St. Germain and went with her little
son to the convent of Poissy, intending to pass her time in
prayers for the safety of her lord. From Poissy she went
for awhile to the convent of Chaillot, several of the nuns of
that community being among her best friends.
[A.D. 1690.] King James'was received with joy in Ire-
land, where his viceroy, Tyrconnel, met him with an army
of forty thousand men, but they were composed of half-clad
peasants, who were willing to fight, but had neither arms nor
military discipline. With such forces little could be ex-
pected, and though the king met with a few trifling victories
at first he really gained nothing. Mary Beatrice pawned
or sold her jewels to keep him supplied with more money
than she could manage to borrow from the French govern-
ment, but all to no avail ; one defeat came close upon the
heels of another, until the battle of the Boyne convinced
James that his cause was hopeless.
Fortunately the queen had not heard of this dreadful
1692. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 305
defeat until news reached her that her husband was safe in
France, and all misfortunes sank into insignificance com-
pared with the anxiety she had suffered on his account.
In October the royal pair were invited to Fontainebleau,
one of King Louis's most splendid palaces, to spend a few
days, during which they were entertained with most gen-
erous magnificence. King Louis always sat at the queen's
left hand, and showed her marked attention on every occa-
sion. When it rained the guests remained indoors, and
played a game of cards called loo in England, paume in
France, that had been introduced by the Dutch. They
were treated to a stag roast in the park by moonlight, and
enjoyed seeing the animal that had been killed by the two
kings in the morning roasted whole in the evening.
[A.D. 1691.] During all this time Mary Beatrice was in
correspondence with a great many people in England, who
were most anxious for King James's restoration, and never
consented to an allegiance to William and Mary. Dryden
was one of these ; he was Poet Laureate during James's
reign, and one of the queen's numerous admirers.
[A.D. 1692.] Assisted by King Louis XIV., James made
another effort to regain his crown, but was defeated. The
little prince was at that time a handsome bright boy, four
years of age, and before the king departed on the expedi-
tion which terminated so disastrously he made his son a
Knight of the Garter.
King James became very despondent when his bad luck
continued, and wrote Louis XIV. : " My evil star has had
an influence on the arms of your majesty, always victorious
but when fighting for me. I entreat you, therefore, to in-
terest yourself no more for a prince so unfortunate, but
permit me to withdraw with my family to some corner of
the world where I may cease to be an interruption to your
majesty's wonted course of prosperity and glory."
306 The Queens of England.
In the summer Queen Mary Beatrice had a daughter,
and the king was so pleased when he beheld the child that
he called it " his comforter," and said : " He had now one
daughter who had never sinned against him." The princess
was baptized with great pomp at St. Germain, and King
Louis XIV., who acted as sponsor, gave her the name of
Louisa Mary.
Mary Beatrice was now the mother of two fine healthy
children, and both she and the king were happier than they
had been in many a day.
Every year Mrs. Penn, the wife of the founder of Penn-
sylvania, paid a visit to the queen at St. Germain, and
always brought a great many presents from friends in Eng-
land to the royal exiles.
[A.D. 1695.] At the beginning of the next year very
important news was brought to St. Germain. It was of
the death of Mary II., then Queen of England. It was
naturally believed that after such an event the Princess
Anne would assert her claim to the throne ; but she was
too shrewd to risk anything by an open rupture with King
William, whose health was so bad that she decided to await
the natural course of events. Meanwhile, she played a two-
fold game by her friendliness towards the king, while she
kept up a secret correspondence with her father.
[A.D. 1696.] The partisans of James urged him to make
an attack on England after the death of Mary II., assuring
him that a force of only ten thousand men would be suffi-
cient to reinstate him on the throne ; but he appeared
strangely indifferent about that time, and could obtain no
assistance from the French court. The next year, however,
Louis XIV. did grant the required assistance ; but so many
circumstances prevailed against poor James that he was
again unsuccessful, and returned to St. Germain. With
a mistaken zeal for his cause, some of James's adherents had
i7 01 ' Mary Beatrice cf Modena. 307
made an attack on the person of King William, which did
no benefit to the exiled king, and caused the execution of
many in England.
King James was so poor that the allowance made him by
King Louis was not large enough to enable him to pay the
pensions of those who had lost all their worldly possessions
because of their loyalty to him, so he was obliged from
time to time to sell the queen's jewels. Mary Beatrice
wrote on this subject to her friend, the Abbess of Chaillot :
" In respect to our poor, I shall never consider that I have
done my duty until I have given them all I have." By
degrees she parted with all her valuables for the relief of
her unfortunate British followers.
[A.D. 1697.] In course of time circumstances compelled
King Louis XIV. to acknowledge William as King of Eng-
land ; but in so doing he stipulated that Mary Beatrice
should receive her dower regularly. Then the queen
arranged that every payment should be made through the
French king, to whom she owed so much ; but she need
not have troubled herself on that score, for although Wil-
liam charged the British nation with fifty thousand pounds
annually for Mary Beatrice, he pocketed the entire amount
and appropriated it to his own use. The excuse he gave
was that King James and his wife were permitted to remain
at St. Germain, though he had peremptorily demanded their
removal from France.
[A.D. 1701.] King James's health had been poor for
several months, and the queen had felt much anxiety on
his account, though he did not grow perceptibly worse.
One Sunday he had an epileptic fit, which came on in
church. He was carried out in a state of insensibility, and
continued ill for several weeks, during which the queen re-
mained constantly at his bedside, attending to his wants
and watching every symptom as only a devoted wife can.
308
The Queens of England.
Later, the king was removed to the baths of Bourbon, and
Louis XIV. sent Fagon, his chief physician, to attend him,
and paid all the expenses of the journey for the entire
party. James improved so much that in less than three
months he returned to St. Germain, in time for the cele-
bration of the birthday fetes of his children, both of which
occurred in the month of June. The prince was fourteen
at that time, and the princess was ten years of age.
ENTRANCE TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
But King James was not long to enjoy the society of his
family, for the return of his illness laid him on his death-
bed before many months. The French council held a
meeting to decide upon the English succession when James's
death should occur, and the dauphin was one of the major-
ity who decided in favor of the Prince of Wales. It was
Louis himself who conveyed the satisfactory intelligence to
1 7oi. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 309
the dying king. As he entered the bedroom one of the
attendants aroused the invalid, who had been in a drowsy
stupor all clay, and announced the presence of the King of
France. " Where is he ? " asked James, with a painful
effort.
" Sir, I am here," replied Louis ; " and am come to see
how you do."
*' I am going to pay that debt which must be paid by all
kings as well as their meanest subjects," returned James,
slowly. " I give your majesty thanks for all your kindness
to me and my afflicted family, and do not doubt its continu-
ance, having always found you good and generous."
Louis then informed the king that he had something of
the greatest importance to communicate, whereupon the
attendants began to withdraw ; but Louis exclaimed, " Let
no one retire ! " Then turning to James again, he contin-
ued : " I am come, sir, to acquaint you that whenever it
shall please God to call your majesty out of this world, I
will take your family under my protection, and will recog-
nize your son, the Prince of Wales, as heir of your three
realms." At these words, all present, both English and
French, threw themselves at the feet of the powerful sov-
ereign, who mingled his tears with those that were shed
around him.
The dying king extended his arms to embrace his royal
friend, and said : " Thank God, I die with perfect resigna-
tion, and forgive all the world."
He then begged as a last favor that there might be no
pomp at his funeral ceremonies. " That is the only favor
I cannot grant," replied Louis. James begged that any
money King Louis might feel disposed to spend for that
purpose should be employed for the relief of his followers,
whom he commended to that monarch's care.
The queen was so grieved that she was often obliged to
3io The Queens of England.
hide herself so that her husband might not witness her
tears. His bed was situated in an alcove, and she would
spend hours on the other side of the curtains, anxiously
waiting for any sound from the dying king. While Louis
XIV. was communicating his comforting news, Mary Beatrice
sent for her son and bade him throw himself at the feet of
the kind-hearted monarch, and express his gratitude.
Louis raised the boy and embraced him tenderly ; then
leading him into an adjoining room, conversed with him a
long while, gave him some excellent advice, and promised
to act the part of a father towards him.
King James had already taken leave of his children, but
they were permitted to see him several times before he died ;
and he always smiled lovingly, even though he could not
speak to them. The day before he expired King James
bade farewell to the queen, and requested her to write to
his daughter, the Princess Anne, and assure her of his for-
giveness ; also to charge her to atone to her brother for the
injury she had done him. Then he gave some advice about
the prince ; and when Mary Beatrice was overcome with
emotion, he asked tenderly : " Why is this ? Are you not
flesh of my -flesh, and bone of my bone are you not a
part of myself? How is it, then, that one part of me
should feel so differently from the other ? I in joy and
you in despair. My joy is in the hope I feel that God in
his mercy will forgive me my sins and receive me into his
beatitude, and you are afflicted at it. I have long sighed
for this happy moment, and you know it well : cease, then,
to lament for me. I will pray for you, farewell ! "
This was the last interview the queen had with her hus-
band, for he sank into a state of unconsciousness, and died
the next afternoon at three o'clock. It was Father Ruga,
the queen's confessor, who informed her when all was over.
Although the blow was expected, it was hard to bear ; for
1701. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 311
Mary Beatrice had hoped to the last that her husband
might still be spared to her. Her resignation to the will
of God was perfect ; but her sorrow was heartfelt and
bitter.
Crowds of French and English of all degrees passed in
and out to take a last look at the dead king, who had re-
quested that his chamber door might be left open for that
purpose. Then all the courtiers went to the prince and
saluted him as king, and at the same time he was pro-
claimed at the gates of St. Germain by the title of James
III., King of England, Scotland, Ireland, and France.
Court etiquette required that the queen also should offer
the homage of a subject to her boy. She said to him : " Sir,
I acknowledge you for my king ; but I hope you will not
forget that you are my son." She was so overcome by this
ceremony that she retired at once, and was driven to the
convent of Chaillot, where she desired to pass the first days
of her widowhood in complete solitude, refusing to see any
one whatsoever.
The chapel had all been hung in black by the nuns as
soon as the king's death was announced, and when the
tolling of the bell warned them of Mary Beatrice's approach,
they went in procession to receive her at the convent gate.
She descended from her coach in silence, followed by four
noble ladies who had accompanied her. The nuns gathered
around her without speaking, the abbess kissed the hem of
her robe, some of the sisters embraced her knees, and
others respectfully pressed their lips to her hand, but no
one ventured to offer a word of comfort.
The queen passed straight into the chapel ; she was
bowed down with grief, though she did not shed a tear.
That time was passed, and she seemed stupefied. One of
the nuns approached and asked in the words of the
psalmist, " My soul, will you not be subject to God ? ''
312 The Queens of England.
" His will be done," replied the queen, in a tremulous
voice. Prostrating herself before the altar, she remained
long in prayer. At last the nuns begged her to eat, for she
had partaken of no food since the night before, and they
feared she would faint. She was led to her bedroom, but
insisted on hearing more prayers, and complained that she
could not weep, saying " that even that solace was denied
her."
Her attendants were sent to bed, but two of the nuns
passed the night with the queen, who moaned and sighed
and prayed by turns with scarcely a moment's repose.
The next night the king's heart was conveyed to Chaillot
and placed near that of his mother ; but by King Louis's
order it was received so quietly that Mary Beatrice was not
excited by it. However, a few hours later she assured the
abbess that she felt it was near her, and spoke a great deal
about her dead husband. Among other things, she said :
"That he had felt his humiliation, and above all the in-
justice he had experienced, very keenly ; but that the love
of God had changed all his calamities into blessings."
Mary Beatrice would have liked to pass the rest of her
days at Chaillot, but she had other duties to perform and
many more years to live.
In his will King James had directed that he should be
buried with his ancestors at Westminster Abbey ; therefore
the queen ordered that the funeral service should be per-
formed in France, but that the body should remain un-
buried until the restoration of her son, which she fondly
hoped would soon take place.
It was therefore at the chapel of the Benedictine Monks
that the corpse of King James remained covered with the
pall for many years, until all hope for the Stuart family had
vanished forever.
The queen remained at Chaillot only four days, for her
1702. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 313
children needed her at St. Germain, and she returned to
them on the nineteenth of September.
The next day King Louis called on her, and she received
him in a darkened room hung with black. He tried very
hard to console the widowed queen by kind offers of pro-
tection to her and her son, and insisted upon her receiving
the same courtesy from his ministers as though she had
been queen regent really and not only in name.
[A.D. 1702.] However King James's will had given her
that title, and her first steps was to publish a manifesto in
the name of her son, setting forth his claim to the crown
of Great Britain. It made little impression in England,
but those who were opposed to King William in Scotland
were anxious to bring the young king forward. So Lord
Belhaven was sent to consult the queen as to what was best
to do, and told her that if only her young son would de-
clare himself a Protestant he should be proclaimed King
of Scotland without waiting either for the death of William
or the consent of parliament. Her majesty replied : " That
she would never be the means of persuading her son to
barter his hopes of Heaven for a crown." Then Lord
Belhaven was willing to compromise, and said, "That if the
prince would not change his religion, would he not agree
that only a limited number of Romish priest, should enter
his kingdom, and that he would make no attempt to alter
the established religion ? " This the queen freely promised
in the name of her son, and then the lord declared that he
and his party would do all in their power to establish King
James's heir on the throne.
Mary Beatrice would have resigned herself to fate if she
had not felt convinced that her son's rights were denied
him so long as any Stuart claimed the crown. At the time
of the prince's birth, parliament had decided that he should
succeed his father, James II., and a new interest was
3 1 4 The Queens of England.
awakened in him on account of the sympathy felt in Eng-
land for him and his widowed mother. Alarmed that such
would be the state of affairs, William hired a notorious fel-
low to prove that the Prince of Wales was not the son of
James II. and Mary Beatrice at all, but that one Mrs. Man-
Grey was his real mother, who had been murdered in Paris
shortly after his birth. A copy of the book containing a
full account of this matter was presented to the lords, the
ministers of state, and the lord mayor. Of course this
statement was utterly false and absurd, and raised the in-
dignation of the House of Commons to such a degree that
Fuller, the man who got out the book, underwent the dis-
grace of the pillory. But as he had often been employed
by William III. as a spy and had been punished more than
once for perjury, he did not sink under the disgrace as an
honest man would have done.
As soon as the news of King James's death reached
William III. he was prepared with a blow to aim at his
orphan cousin that he was determined should not fail if he
could help it. It was an accusation of high treason, in
which Mary Beatrice was also included. The bill, as Wil-
liam presented it to his parliament, did not designate his
uncle's widow as the queen dowager, because he had
pocketed her dower, and he desired to deprive her even of
the honors due a royal lady. So she is called " Mary, late
wife of the late King James."
Without describing all the scenes enacted in parliament
while this disgraceful bill was under consideration, it is only
necessary for us to know that it passed the House of Lords ;
but when it was laid before the Commons, they pitched it
under the table.
The very last act of William III. was to affix the royal
seal to the bill that he had exerted every means to have
executed against the young Prince of Wales. He was on
1703- Maty Beat? ice of Modena. 315
his death-bed when it was presented for his signature, but
controlled his almost paralyzed fingers enough for the ac-
complishment of this last act of hatred.
He expired the next day.
Mary Beatrice was so ill when this event occurred that
no one ventured to speak of it in her presence. Her life
hung on a thread for many days and depended for its con-
tinuance on absolute repose. Therefore she could take no
steps towards claiming the crown of England for her son
at the proper moment ; and by the time she was convales-
cent her step-daughter Anne was peacefully settled on the
throne, and all hope for the young prince vanished forever.
But Simon Fraser, generally called Lord Lovat, had pro-
claimed the prince King of Scotland, in the county of
Inverness as soon as the death of William III. was known
there. When Mary Beatrice was well enough to attend to
business, this man presented himself at St. Germain as
the representative of a large party in his native land,
and urged the queen-mother to send her son to Scotland
to fight for his rights. He said that an army of twelve
thousand men could easily be raised in the Highlands,
provided the King of France would assist with arms and
money, and that the Scottish people would spare no efforts
if they could only see the prince for whom they were to
fight in their midst. But Mary Beatrice considered her
boy too young to undertake such a perilous enterprse ; and
the very thought of the fate that awaited him, should he
fall into the hands of his enemies, caused her to refuse to
let him leave her. Ambition was not the leading trait of
the fallen queen.
[A.D. 1703.] In the autumn Lord Lovat applied to Mary
Beatrice again, and represented affairs in Scotland and Ire-
land as so favorable to the interest of the prince that she
was thoroughly deceived, and without consulting any of her
316 The Queens of England.
friends, sold all the jewels she had left, and gave the
money to this treacherous creature. It was afterwards
proved that Lovat was the bribed instrument of Queen
Anne's cabinet, by whom all his expenses had been paid,
while he pretended to be serving the Prince of Wales. He
did a great deal of mischief, but like many knaves, bribed
and intrigued until he overstepped the mark, and was
arrested the next time he appeared in France. He was
shut up at the Castle of Angouleme, where he was kept a
close prisoner for several years.
[A.D. 1704.] In August Mary Beatrice attended a grand
fte at Marli, given by Louis XIV. to celebrate the birth
of a great-grandson. The King and Princess Louisa were
present also, and were given the places of honor after their
mother, who always sat at the right hand of Louis XIV.
Poor Mary Beatrice had little heart for festivities of any
sort, for she was suffering from an incurable malady which
often compelled her to keep her bed for several days at a
time, and her son's health was so delicate as to render him
a constant source of anxiety to her. He was just seven-
teen years of age, and the Princess Louisa was thirteen.
The latter had inherited all her mother's grace and beauty,
and was considered quite an ornament at the French
cdurt.
[A.D. 1705.] The young king opened a ball at Marli
with his sister, and all the time they were dancing the King
of France stood as a mark of respect. He would have
done the same ever}' time had not the queen-mother, who
sat at his side, persuaded him to sit down.
At all the festivals Mary Beatrice was placed between
Louis XIV. and her son, while Princess Louisa and the
immediate members of the French royal family occupied
seats at the same table. But King Louis was not willing
to risk more money or men in an attempt to raise an in-
i77- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 317
surrection against Queen Anne's government in Scotland.
Even had he consented to do so, his ministers would have
opposed it. All this time Godolphin, who in former days
had felt so proud at being permitted to hand the queen to
her chair in the royal chapel, was in secret correspondence
with Mary Beatrice, and constantly flattered her with false
hopes. If he had possessed sufficient courage to make a
demand of Queen Anne and her cabinet for the payment
of the royal widow's dower and all the money due her that
William III. had appropriated to his own use, no doubt the
claim would have been allowed. But fear lest certain
crooked acts of his life might be disclosed rendered him
irresolute and anxious to publicly maintain a neutral
ground.
[A.D. 1706.] When the young king completed his
eighteenth year he was treated by every one at the court
of St. Germain as their sovereign, though the queen-
mother was really the leader there as long as she lived.
At this period young James b'egan to take some share in
state affairs, and showed no ordinary ability. He was a
great favorite with King Louis, who made frequent visits,
both public and private at St. Germain, and invited the
exiles to every fete he gave at Marli, Versailles, and
Trianon.
[A.D. 1707.] Notwithstanding all her cares, ill health,
and disappointment, Mary Beatrice lived very pleasantly at
St. Germain, where on fine summer afternoons she would
walk with Louis XIV. in the park, attended by the whole
court. It was on such occasions that the queen-mother would
ask any favor that sjie might require at the hands of the mon-
arch, and she was seldom refused. It gratified her to see
the enjoyment her children derived from the parties of
pleasure they frequently formed for the purpose of gather-
ing flowers and wild strawberries in the neighboring forests,
318 The Queens of England,
or of rowing on the Seine to Pontalie. It was at that place
that the Countess de Grammont lived in a rural chiteau.
She was a wealthy lady, who had once been one of the
celebrated beauties at the court of Charles II., and now felt
pleased to contribute to the happiness of the exiled Stuarts,
instead of turning her back on them as many had done.
She had known the young king and his sister from infancy,
and when they made excursions with their court to her
house nothing gave her greater pleasure than to provide
banquets and entertainments of every description for
them.
[A.D. 1708.] The Grande Monarque suddenly changed
his mind in the spring, and determined to fit out a fleet,
headed by the young king, for the purpose of making a
descent on the coast of Scotland. Not a word was said
about this matter until all the arrangements were com-
pleted ; but as soon as the exiled king was informed of the
project, he took hasty leave of his mother and sister and
set out for Dunkirk, the place of embarkation, ordering his
luggage to be sent after him. No sooner had he reached
the coast than he was attacked by measles, which detained
him several days. Becoming impatient of delay, he was at
last carried on board one of the vessels of his fleet ; but
not before the English had been warned of his approach,
and were on the lookout for him.
Sir George Byng commanded the English fleet, and it is
said that he captured the " Salisbury," with the prince on
board ; but this is not positively known. If he did, he
saved Queen Anne a great deal of perplexity by permitting
his royal prisoner to sail out of the Frith of Forth, where
he encountered the French fleet, and return to France, for
her majesty certainly would not have known what to do
with him.
The prince returned to St. Germain, but several persons
1 7 io. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 321
of high rank were captured and sent to the Tower to await
their trial for treason. Mary Beatrice wrote to the French
minister, begging him to do what he could for the prisoners,
by representing them as officers in the service of King
Louis. But meanwhile Queen Anne's cabinet set a price
on the head of " the pretended Prince of Wales," as they
designated the young man. Queen Anne herself went fur-
ther, and gave him the title of "the Pretender" in her
address to parliament, knowing that such a name would
do more to injure his claim to the throne than anything
else.
Shortly after his return from his unsuccessful attempt to
invade Scotland, the young prince entered the French
army, and served in the Low Countries as a volunteer,
under the command of the Duke de Vendome, who esteemed
him very highly. As he had not the means to equip a camp
in accordance with his rank, the prince called himself the
Chevalier de St. George, that being the order with which
his royal father had invested him when he was only four
years old.
[A.D. 1709.] The French met with dreadful defeat at
Malplaquet. The Chevalier de St. George fought man-
fully, and made twelve charges at the head of the French
troops, under a continuous fire of six hours from the British.
His right arm received a sabre cut, but he did not shrink
from his duty ; and when the. general sent despatches con-
taining an account of the battle, he added : " The Chev-
alier de St. George behaved himself during the whole
action with the utmost valor and energy." Mary Beatrice
felt very proud of her son, and returned to St. Germain
with her daughter to meet him, after having passed several
weeks in complete seclusion at Chaillot convent.
[A.D. 1710.] The chevalier made a third campaign with
the French army, but returned in bad health and spirits,
322 The Queens of England,
and spent the following winter with his mother and sister,
keeping up their separate courts at St. Germain, as well
as their poverty would admit. In the spring he made a
tour of France ; and during his absence Mary Beatrice re-
tired to Chaillot again, where she was really happier than
when compelled to observe court ceremonies. While there
the royal family of France did not desert her, for they made
her frequent visits, which she returned with her daughter^
though it cost her a struggle each time she went to court.
She always appeared in her widow's weeds ; but the prin-
cess went in full court costume.
[A.D. 1711.] Shortly after her son's return, Mary Beatrice
received a letter from her old friend, de Lauzun, informing
her that peace between France and England would probably
soon be established, and, if so, Louis XIV. could no longer
acknowledge the title or cause of her son. " This was sad
news indeed, but the poor queen bore it calmly ; and upon
the heels of this report came assurance from Marlborough
that the recall of the prince seemed certain to take place
soon. Thus between hope and despair Mary Beatrice was
kept in a constant state of excitement.
When we recall the vicissitudes of the queen-mother's
life, our admiration of her courage and resignation is
changed to surprise that her strength did not succumb,
when in her advanced years she was called upon to bear a
cruel blow, caused by the death of the darling and pride
of her heart, the Princess Louisa.
[A.D. 1712.] This beautiful, affectionate, devoted daugh-
ter died of small-pox in April, and her brother was ill of
the same disease when she was taken. The English at St.
Germain were not more disconsolate than were the French
at Versailles on acccount of the death of this young girl,
whose charming qualities had rendered her a general favor-
ite. But what must have been the agony of the poor
1712. Mary Beatrice of Modena. 323
mother, who, after being deprived of the chief solace of
her old age, saw her son recover only to be separated from
her by the stern decree of circumstances ? The negotia-
tions of peace between France and England required the
prince to withdraw entirely from the French dominions, and
this had only been delayed on account of his illness.
Well, the time came at last when the Chevalier de St.
George was compelled to leave St. Germain, and his poor
mother was so unhappy at parting with him that she went
to Chaillot, where, in company of the nuns, she hoped "to
find comfort and resignation. She arrived at the convent
at seven o'clock in the evening, and burst into tears as she
passed through the gate, saying: "This is the first time
that I feel no joy in coming to this holy spot ; but, my God,
I ask not consolation, but the accomplishment of thy
divine will ! "
She sat down to supper, but ate nothing ; and when she
retired to her chamber, attended by the three nuns who
waited on her, she exclaimed : " At last I may give liberty
to my heart and weep for my poor girl." The nuns could
not speak, their tears flowed in sympathy with their royal
visitor, who said several times between her sobs, " My God,
thy will be done," and then added : " Thou hast not waited
for my death to despoil me : thou hast done it during my
life ; but thy will be done."
The next day Mary Beatrice was so ill that her physi-
cians had to be summoned ; and as she continued to grow
worse, it was feared that she would die at the convent ; how-
ever, after a few days she recovered.
On the very day that the truce with England was pro-
claimed in Paris the Chevalier de St. George went over
from Livry to bid farewell to his mother. He met her at
the church door as she came out ; and as he had just been
bled in the foot, a form of medical treatment very popular
324 The Queens of England.
in those days, he was lame and leaned on his cane for sup-
port. Mary Beatrice was suffering from an attack of gout,
which obliged her also to make use of a cane ; and the
mother and son laughed heartily at the coincidence. The
abbess said to the chevalier, " Sire, we hope your majesty
will do us the honor to dine with us, as your royal uncle,
King Charles, breakfasted when setting out for England."
" That journey will not be yet for me," he replied, drily.
September 7 was fixed for the chevalier's departure from
Paris, and he went again to the convent on the previous
day to bid a long farewell to his mother, whom he com-
mended to the care of the nuns and her confessor, Father
Ruga. Three days later he arrived at the French border,
where he was to stop until his future residence should be
decided upon.
Mary Beatrice remained at the convent, where she was
visited from time to time by the most distinguished people
of France ; and the king sent her presents of game, fruit,
and flowers.
[A.D 1713.] A letter from the chevalier, written at the
beginning of the following year, informed his mother that
he had been most affectionately received at Bar-le-duc by
the Duke and Duchess of Lorraine. The latter was a re-
lation, being descended from James I., so it was very pleas-
ing to the queen to hear that any one in whose veins ran
Stuart blood should be kind to her son.
It was a sad day for the exiled queen when the peace of
Utrecht was signed, for one of the articles stated : " That,
to insure forever the peace and repose of Europe and of
England, the King of France recognized for himself and
his successors the Protestant line of Hanover, and agreed
that he who had taken the title of King of Great Britain
should remain no longerin France."
Mary Beatrice knew that it grieved King Louis to banish
I 7 I 4- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 325
her son, but he was forced by the turn political affairs had
taken to do it.
The Jacobites, as the opponents of William and Mary
were called in England, never gave up the hope of seeing
" the king over the water " a name they had given to the
Chevalier de St. George restored to the throne, and many
of them went to France from time to time on purpose to
pay their respects to the queen-mother.
At the close of the year a report reached Mary Beatrice
that her son was about to renounce the Catholic faith and
become a member of the Church of England ; but a letter
from him reassured her on that score, for he wrote : " I
doubt not that the reports which are in circulation of my
having changed my religion have reached you, but you
know me too well to be alarmed ; and I can assure you
that, with the grace of God, you will sooner see me dead
than out of the church."
There was a great deal of distress at St. Germain on
account of poverty ; and as it was the loyal and faithful
followers of Mar}' Beatrice who actually suffered the pangs
of hunger at times, she was sorely afflicted on their ac-
count.
[A.D. 1714.] At last a small part of the money due her
in England was ordered to be paid by Queen Anne, which
relieved the wants of many for the time ; but it was all
Mary Beatrice ever received from that quarter, and by no
means freed her from debt.
Shortly after this beneficent act Queen Anne died, and
the moment the Chevalier de St. George heard it he trav-
elled post-haste, incognito, to Paris to consult with his
mother and other friends, having made up his mind to pro-
ceed at once to England to assert his claim to the throne.
The Duke de Lauzun had hired a small house at Chaillot
in his own name for the reception of the royal adventurer,
326 The Queens of England.
and thither Mary Beatrice went to meet him. He did not
dare to venture near St. Germain, because he was too well
known there, and preferred to keep his presence in France
secret until he could ascertain what Louis XIV. would
decide to do. That monarch had already paid dearly for
the sympathy he had shown the royal widow and her son ;
besides, France was in no condition to maintain another
war, so his majesty sent his minister, De Torcy, to persuade
the Chevalier de St. George to return at once to Lorraine,
and ordered at the same time that in case of refusal the
young claimant of the British crown was to be compelled
to leave France immediately.
Utterly destitute of money, ships, or men, the prince was
powerless to take any stand, and meanwhile George I. was
proclaimed King of England.
Louis XIV. had yielded to the urgent entreaties of Man'
Beatrice in behalf of her son in so far as to command arms
to be furnished for ten thousand men, and ships to transport
them to Scotland, but before these arrangements were com-
pleted his majesty died.
[A.D. 1715.] Then a formidable insurrection broke out
in Scotland, and King James III., as well as Mary, the
queen-mother, were prayed for in the churches. When Mary
Beatrice heard this she was in an agony of suspense, be-
cause she had had no news of her son for nearly three weeks.
She knew that he had left Lorraine, and vague reports had
reached her of his being in different parts of France in dis-
guise, when suddenly one day he appeared before her at
Chaillot in the habit of a monk. The chevalier spent only
twenty-four hours with his mother, and then bade her fare-
well to set out on a journey fraught with danger. Spies
were everywhere, and the identity of the strange monk was
soon made known to his enemies. He started from Chaillot
in one of the post carriages belonging to the Baron de
I7 X 5- Mary Beatrice of Modena. 327
Breteul, a warm partisan of the Stuarts. The chevalier was
still disguised as a monk, and travelled attended by some
horsemen who wore the livery of his friend, the baron. At
the village of Nonancourt a shabbily dressed old woman
stopped the carriage, and going close up to the door said
to the disguised occupant : " If you are the King of Eng-
land go not to the post-house or you are lost, for several
villains are waiting there to murder you."
Knowing that a bribe of a hundred thousand pounds
had been set on his head by the British government, the
chevalier dared not disregard such a piece of intelligence,
but he questioned the woman further. She told him that
her name was L'Hopital, and added : " I am a lone
woman, mistress of the post-house of Nonancourt ; I warn
yf^i not to approach, because I overheard three English-
men discussing with some desperate characters of this
neighborhood a design to kill a traveller who was to change
horses with me to-night on his way to Chateau Thierry. I
drugged their wine, and now they are so intoxicated that I
locked them in the house, and came to conduct you to the
cottage of our curate, where you will be safe."
The chevalier was struck by the woman's earnestness
and simplicity, and resigned himself to her guidance.
Having conducted him and his attendants to the house of
the village pastor, L'Hopital summoned the magistrate,
who, after hearing her story, arrested the three men and
shut them up in prison. Two of them proved to be Eng-
lishmen and the third a well known French spy.
The next morning the worthy post-mistress sent the chev-
alier forward in another disguise, with fresh horses that
soon carried him to Nantes, where a vessel awaited him, in
which he descended the Loire to St. Malo. Finding an
English squadron on the watch for him, the royal adven-
turer, attended by six gentlemen, all dressed as French
328 The Queens of England.
naval officers, rode on horseback to Dunkirk, where they
embarked on a small vessel and arrived at Perth, in Scot-
land, on the seventh of December.
Meanwhile Mary Beatrice had a severe attack of illness,
occasioned by anxiety on her son's account, for she never
heard of his arrival on British soil until he had been gone
nearly two months.
Without entering into all the painful details of this expe-
dition, it is only necessary for us to say that, although the
Scotch rejoiced at the idea of having " the auld Stuarts
back again," it resulted, as usual, in defeat.
[A.D. 1716.] The Chevalier de St. George returned to
France in disguise as before, and spent several days with
his mother, although his presence on French soil was inter-
dicted, as we know. To have her son under the same roof
with her once more was a satisfaction for which Mary Bea-
trice had scarcely dared to hope ; but her pleasure was
short-lived, for the very morning after she had embraced
him Lord Bolingbroke, his private secretary, waited on the
chevalier to advise his immediate return to Bar. Etiquette
required him to ask permission of the Duke of Lorraine,
and as it would require several days to receive an answer
from that kinsman, the chevalier repaired to Chalons
rather than risk a longer stay on forbidden ground. His
unsuccessful enterprise in Scotland had rendered his posi-
tion much worse than it had been before with regard to the
European powers, for they dared not offer him an asylum.
Even his former friend, the Duke of Lorraine, refused to
receive him, and he was advised to go to Sweden, but the
spot he fixed upon was the beautiful town of Avignon.
Although the Regent Orleans would neither grant assist-
ance to the Chevalier de St. George nor permit him to re-
main in France, he treated the widowed queen with every
mark of veneration. The British ambassador had remon-
1718- Mary Beatrice of Modena, 329
strated against her being allowed to remain at St. Germain,
but she was too much loved and pitied by all classes of
people for the regent to consent to her removal, even had he
desired it. Therefore, to her dying day Mary Beatrice
maintained the state and title of queen dowager of Eng
land, and lived undisturbed at the royal chateau that King
Louis XIV. had placed at her disposal when, as a fugitive,
she had sought his protection many years ago.
[A.D. 1718.] But the weary pilgrimage of poor Mary
Beatrice was drawing to a close. Her last illness attacked
her in April, and by the beginning of the following month
she knew that her end was near. She desired to receive
the last sacraments of the church, and afterwards took
leave of all her faithful friends and attendants, thanking
them for their services, and desiring all present " to pray
for her and for the king, her son, that he might serve God
faithfully all his life." This she repeated in a louder tone,
fearing that every one in the room, which was full of peo-
ple, might not have heard.
The dying queen asked to see Marshal Villeroi, the
governor of the young King of France, and when he ap-
peared at her bedside sent an earnest appeal to the Regent
Orleans and Louis XV., in behalf of her son, whom she
was to see no more. She also recommended her depend-
ants to their care, and begged that the regent would not
let them perish for want in a foreign land when she was
gone.
The next day the good queen expired, in the sixtieth
year of her age and the thirtieth of her exile. She had
borne her sorrows and misfortunes with true heroism to
the last, and her death was worthy of her life.
When the mother of the Regent Orleans announced to
her German relatives that Mary Beatrice was dead, she
added : " She never in her life did wrong to any one ; if
330 The Queens of England.
you were about to tell her a story about a person, she
always said : " If it be any ill, I beg you not to relate it to
me ; I do not like histories which attack the reputation."
It would be well for us who live in a more civilized age to
lay this lesson to heart, and emulate the pious example of
Mary Beatrice.
CHAPTER X.
MARY II., QUEEN-REGENT OF GREAT BRITAIN
AND IRELAND. (A.D. 1662-1695.)
LADY MARY of York, as this queen was styled in her
youth, was a person of small importance, so far as any pros-
pect of her ever occupying the throne was concerned, for
this reason : She was the daughter of James, Duke of York,
second son of Charles I. and Henrietta Maria, whose history
we have related.
Charles II. succeeded his father and married Catharine
of Braganza, just at the time when Lady Mary was born,
and even-body supposed that his children would be next in
the line of succession. So they would have been if he had
ever been blessed with any, but as he was not, his brother
James, the luckless king of whom the last reign contains
an account, mounted the throne, and then his daughters
attained an importance that would not otherwise have been
theirs.
The Duke of York's first wife was Anne Hyde, daughter
of Clarendon, the lord chancellor, and as she was not of
royal birth, a great deal of discontent was occasioned on
all sides. However, the marriage had been secretly sol-
emnized before any engagement was suspected, so it would
have been useless for any one to say much against it.
Lady Mary was born at St. James's Palace, only a couple
of weeks before her uncle's marriage ; so the public mind
was occupied with preparations for the reception of the
new bride ; and the infant came into the world as quietly
333
334 The Queens of England.
as though she had not been of royal blood. She was sent
to her grandfather's house at Twickenham, where her
nursery was established ; and being a very beautiful, engag-
ing child, she was no doubt indulged and fondled more
than was good for her. She had a little brother born when
she was not more than a year and a half old ; but he died
within a short time. Lady Anne of York, the subject of
the next reign, was born when Mary was three years of
age, and the elder sister stood sponsor at the baptism of the
infant.
The Duke of York was so fond of Lady Mary that he
kept her in his arms all the time when he was at Twicken-
ham, or when she was taken on a visit at St. James's Pal-
ace. Pepys, a literary gentleman, who published a most
interesting diary of his times 1 says : " I was on business
with the Duke of York, and with great pleasure saw him
play with his little girl just like an ordinary private father."
So we can easily imagine the romping and merry sounds
that must have enlivened the nursery when the duke made
his visits.
Shortly after the birth of Anne, the royal father returned
from his first grand naval victory, and found the Great
Plague raging to such an extent that he at once removed
his wife and children to York. That place had the double
advantage of pure air, and of being in the neighborhood
of the duke's fleet, that was cruising off the northeast
coast to keep an eye on the Dutch ships.
The Duchess of York had everything about her very
splendid in her northern home, and was so happy there
that when her husband was summoned elsewhere she pre-
ferred not to accompany him. No doubt this lady had
faults, who has not ? but her most prominent one was
an excessive love of eating. This would have harmed no
one but herself ; therefore we should not have recorded it,
1671. Mary II. of England. 335
if it had not been transmitted to her children. Both of
the daughters carried this weakness even further than their
mother did, and she was injudicious enough to indulge
them. As a natural consequence the children accumulated
an unhealthy quantity of fat, and, of course, became victims
of indigestion. Anne was a regular roily-poly as a child ;
but as there is a separate chapter devoted to her we must
confine the present story, as much as possible, to the elder
sister.
Ladies Mary and Anne pursued their education under
the direction of Lady Frances Villiers, daughter of the
Earl of Suffolk and wife of Sir Edward Villiers. This
lady had six daughters of her own, and must have had her
hands full with the care of eight girls. She lived with
them at the old palace at Richmond, where Queen Eliza-
beth died, and her daughters grew up with the princesses,
and formed a connection that lasted through life. Being
deprived of their mother when they were, respectively, six
and nine years of age, Mary and Anne naturally clung to
the companions who shared their education and to the lady
who superintended it.
[A.D. 1671.] When the Duchess of York died she left
four children, two of whom were sons ; but they followed
her to the grave within the year. By that time the succes-
sion of the Princess Mary to the throne' of England began
to assume an air of probability, because, as we have said,
no children were born to Charles II. The duchess had
become a convert to Catholicism, and not very long after
her death the duke was suspected of having likewise joined
that faith. This made him so unpopular that the services
he had performed for his country were all forgotten, and
his marriage, rather more than two years afterwards, with
the Catholic Princess of Modena, only served to increase
the censure he had drawn down on his own head.
336 The Queens of England.
Fearing that his nieces might be influenced by their
father's faith, King Charles undertook the supervision of
their education himself, and engaged Henry Compton,
Bishop of London, for their preceptor. This man had
been a soldier until he was thirty years old, when he became
a clergyman, and was rapidly promoted on account of the
loyalty of his family. Compton was good enough as a
man, but by no means a well-informed one, consequently
the princesses were not taught as they ought to have been.
People who have not had advantages of education them-
selves often know its importance ; but this does not seem
to have been the case with Compton, for his pupils were
allowed to study or not, just as their fancy dictated. The
consequence was that the elder sister, having inherited the
literary tastes of her parents, studied because it pleased
her to do so ; while Lady Anne grew up an ignoramus be-
cause she did not so please. If the governess, Lady Fran
ces Villiers, had done her duty faithfully, this would not
have been the case ; but her tastes lay in a different direc-
tion.
Peter de Laine was the French professor of the princesses,
and made Lady Mary so perfect a mistress of that lan-
guage that she wrote it better than her native tongue. Mr.
and Mrs. Gibson gave instruction in drawing. They were
a pair of dwarfs, neither being more than three feet six
inches in height, and were considered among the best
English artists of the day. This little couple had nine full-
grown children, and lived to a good old age.
The ladies Mary and Anne continued to live at Rich-
mond with Lady Villiers and her daughters after their
mother's death, and were very religiously trained accord-
ing to the requirements of the Church of England. One
day in the year the Duke of York's entire family always
observed as one of deep sorrow, fasting, and prayer ; it was
1677- Mary II. of England. 337
the thirtieth of January, memorable as having been the
date of Charles I.'s execution. Each year all matters of
business or pleasure were laid aside on that day, and the
family appeared in deep mourning garments.
[A.D. 1674.] Mrs. Betterton, the principal actress at
the King's Theatre, was engaged to teach the royal sisters a
ballet, which they performed at court, and the lessons she
also imparted in elocution proved of great service when,
as queens, they had speeches to make. Both the princesses
were attractive in personal appearance, though they did not
resemble each other ; for Lady Mary was a Stuart in looks,
tall, graceful, slender, with a clear complexion, dark eyes
and hair, while Anne had her mother's round face and
plump figure. Her hair was dark brown, complexion
ruddy, features clear cut and regular, and she had beauti-
ful hands and arms. Being somewhat near-sighted,
Princess Anne had a drawn look about the eyes that de-
tracted from her beauty. Perhaps it was this defect that
prevented her studying as much as she ought to have done ;
but certain it is that she never opened a book when she
could avoid it ; but she was a good musician and played
well on the guitar. At a very early age Anne excelled in
card-playing, and, I regret to add, gossip. But this was
the fault of King Charles's court, at which both the prin-
cesses were introduced when they ought to have been still at
school. Lady Mary played cards as well as her sister, and
for very high stakes, but, what was worse, she employed
Sunday evenings as well as those of the week in this frivo-
lous manner. Nobody tried to correct this bad habit, be-
cause gambling was the chief pastime at the English court,
and had been so since the time of Henry VIII.
[A.D. 1677.] When Lady Mary was fifteen years old
King Charles and his councillors began to look about for
a husband for her, and decided that her cousin, William
338 The Queens of England.
Henry, Prince of Orange, would be the best person for her
to marry. Then that young man was first consulted on
the subject; his mind was so filled with war and exploits
on the battle-field that he appeared indifferent almost to
rudeness ; but later, when he thought that the influence of
his uncles, Charles II. and the Duke of York, might be
of advantage in a political point of view, he went to Eng-
land to see what his chances then might be with the pre-
sumptive heiress, Mary. This prince was the son of King
Charles's sister Mary, who died when her boy was nine
years of age, and left him to the care of his grandmother,
his father having been killed at sea before he was born.
He was an undersized, delicate boy of nineteen the first
time he went to England to claim the protection of his
uncles, who made some plans by which he was secured the
Stadt-holdership of Holland. That was in 1670; he was
twenty-six when he returned on his matrimonial expedition,
and not much improved either in health or appearance.
Prince William had a little plan of his own which pre-
vented his discussing his affairs in a straightforward man-
ner at his first interview with King Charles. He was at
war with France, and felt no desire to make peace unless
forced to do so. Should he wed the Princess of England,
he counted on assistance from her father to pursue hostili-
ties, but he would not commit himself until he had seen
the lady ; for although he was by no means good-looking
himself, he was determined to have a handsome wife.
He was so well pleased with the Princess Mary that after
his introduction to her by King Charles, he immediately
asked her hand in marriage. It was granted on condition
that the terms of a peace with France should first be
agreed upon. The prince excused himself, and declared
" that he must end his marriage before he began his peace
treaty ; " then added " that his allies would be apt to believe
Mary II. of England. 339
that he had made his match at their cost, and for his part,
he would never sell his honor for a wife."
But the king remained obstinate for three or four days ;
then Sir William Temple sought his presence and repeated
this message sent to his majesty by the Prince of Orange,
who was in a very bad humor. It was : " That he
repented ever coming to England, and that after two days
he would go back home if the king continued in the mind
he was of treating of the peace before his marriage, and
that the king must choose whether they were to live after-
wards as the greatest friends or the greatest enemies, for
it must be one or the other."
The easy-going Charles, who was always for letting
everybody have his own way, replied : " Well, I never yet
was deceived in judging of a man's honesty by his looks ;
and if I am not deceived in the prince's face, he is the
honestest man in the world. I will trust him he shall
have his wife. You go, Sir William Temple, and tell my
brother that I have resolved it shall be so."
The Duke of York was surprised at the suddenness of
the message, but replied : " The king shall be obeyed, and
I would be glad if all his subjects would learn of me to
obey him. I tell him my opinion very freely upon all
things ; but when I know his positive pleasure on a point
I obey."
The Prince of Orange was delighted at his uncle Charles's
decision, and that very evening the match was announced
at the cabinet council. After having dined at Whitehall
Palace, the Duke of York returned to St. James's, where he
was then living with his family, and leading his daughter
Mary into a private room, told her how it was arranged that
she was to marry Prince William of Orange. The poor
girl burst into tears and felt very unhappy, but no one cared
anything about that ; and although her heart was very heavy
340 The Queens of England.
she had to stand by her betrothed for several succeeding
days to receive deputations from the city officials, law
students, commercial companies, and others who came to
offer congratulations. A grand banquet was given by the
citizens of London to evince their pleasure at this Prot-
estant marriage, and on the same day the Princess Mary,
with her sister Anne, and her stepmother, Mary of Modena,
sat under a canopy of state and witnessed a fine pro-
cession.
The marriage was solemnized on the fourth of November
in the bride's bed-chamber at St. James's Palace, only the
members of the royal family being present. King Charles
tried to draw attention from his niece's excessive sadness
by rolicking gayety, quite out of place on so solemn an
occasion ; and when the Prince of Orange endowed his
bride with all his earthly goods, placing a handful of gold
and silver coins on the open book, the king told his niece
" to gather it up and put it in her pocket, for 't was all clear
gain." After the ceremony the court and foreign ambas-
sadors were admitted to offer congratulations. Next morn-
ing Prince William gave his bride a present of jewels to
the amount of forty thousand pounds.
This marriage was very popular in Scotland, where, as
well as in England, all the festivities and rejoicings cus-
tomary on such occasions were observed. The groom
displayed great ill-humor when the duchess had a son born
a couple of days later, because the little fellow would have
had the precedency over his wife in the succession, but, as
we know, he lived only a few weeks. It made Princess
Mary no happier to find herself united to a surly man, and
what added to her distress at this time was the illness of
her sister Anne, who was suffering from small-pox, and
could neither be present at her wedding nor take leave of
her when, a week later, she departed for Holland. The
WILLIAM AND MARY.
1677 Mary II. of England. 343
prince wanted to get his wife away from St. James's as soon
as possible lest she might catch the infection ; but she
would not leave her father until the dreaded moment of
sailing arrived. This made the groom so angry that every-
body spoke of how cross and ugly he was, and the maids-
of-honor of the queen called him the " Dutch monster,"
and other horrid names. He was angry with the wind, too,
because it would continue to blow in the wrong direction,
and keep him in England longer than he desired. Several
people were lying dangerously ill at St. James's Palace;
two or three had died since the wedding ; Anne continued
too ill to see her sister, and all was gloom and sorrow
around the bride. At last, on the nineteenth of November,
the wind changed, and the two palaces of Whitehall and
St. James were at once bustle and confusion with prepara-
tions for the departure of the Princess of Orange and her
husband. At nine o'clock in the morning the bride bade
farewell to her old home and went to Whitehall to embrace
her royal aunt, Queen Catharine, whom she loved very
dearly. It was then that the que^n told her to consider
how much better her case was than her own, for when she
came from Portugal she had not even seen King Charles,
and Mary replied between her sobs : " But, madame, re-
member you came into England, / am going out of Eng-
land." The king and the Duke of York, with a large party
of nobility and gentry, embarked on the royal barges at
Whitehall and accompanied the Prince and Princess of
Orange down the river to Erith, where they were to dine.
Then Mary parted with her father and uncle and set sail
for Holland, several English and Dutch men-of-war being
in attendance to conduct the royal yacht across the sea.
If the Duke of York had known his son-in-law as well at
that time as he did later, he would have set a watch on his
movements until he was well out of the kingdom ; but an
344 The Queens of England.
unfavorable shifting of the wind gave the ambitious prince
a chance of playing a mean trick on the duke, who on
hearing that the Dutch fleet was detained at Sheerness,
sent a messenger to invite the bride and groom to pass the
time at Whitehall. William declined, but went ashore with
his wife and became the guest of Colonel Dorrell, the
governor. Next day they proceeded to Canterbury, ac-
companied by Lady Inchiquin (one of the Villiers girls), a
maid, and the prince's two favorites, Bentinck and Odyke.
Arriving at the inn,, the prince applied to the city authorities
for a loan, saying that he had been sent away from London
in haste without a penny, because King Charles and the
Duke of York were so jealous of any favor shown him that
they were afraid the lord mayor would give him a grand
feast, and hurried him off to prevent it. As we know the
entertainment was given, and the prince and princess, as
well as the rest of the royal family were present, of course
the statement was false, and by refusing the loan the cor-
poration of Canterbury showed very plainly that they
considered it so. But Doctor Tillotson, the Dean of Can-
terbury, gathered together all the plate and ready money he
could command, and hastened with them to the inn, where
he requested an interview with Mr. Bentinck, and not only
placed all his wealth at the disposal of the prince, but
offered him an asylum at the deanery, a more proper stop-
ping-place for one of his rank than a common inn. The
money and plate were accepted, but the offer of hospitality
was declined. Now, it was perfectly useless for Prince
William to demand money from any one but his uncles, who
would have supplied him without hesitation. Besides, as
the first instalment of Princess Mary's portion of forty
thousand pounds had been paid, his credit was perfectly
good in London, and the prime minister, Danby, would
not have been applied to in vain. But the prince was so
1677- Mary II. of England. 345
angry on account of the birth of his little brother-in-law
that he wanted to appear in the light of a very ill-used
person, and this game was a bold political stroke to obtain
partisans before leaving the country. And he succeeded,
for Dr. Tillotson became a serviceable friend, who corre-
sponded with the prince and Mr. Bentinck, and gave them
some valuable information for which he was made an arch-
bishop a few years later. Four days the Prince of Orange
devoted to courting favor with the people of Kent, and then
set sail on board the " Montague " at Margate.
The princess was accompanied by Lady Inchiquin and
her two sisters, Elizabeth and Anne Villiers, whose mother
had died just after they bade her adieu at Richmond
Palace. These were ladies-of-honor, and there was still
another, named Mary Worth. After a very stormy passage,
during which everybody was sea-sick excepting Princess
Mary, the royal fleet arrived at Tethudo, a town on the Hol-
land coast, and their majesties proceeded to Hounslardyke
Palace. The preparations for their reception went forward
so slowly that they could not make their public entry into
the Hague until the end of a fortnight, but everything was
arranged with great magnificence. The bridge at the
entrance of the town was festooned with garlands of flowers,
surrounding appropriate Latin inscriptions, and twelve
companies of soldiers were drawn up in line on either side.
Twenty-four virgins, in gay costumes, walked two and two
on either side of their highnesses' coach, strewing fresh
flowers and evergreens in the path all the way. In front
of the town hall was a triumphal arch hung with banners,
ferns, and gay ribbons, displaying the crests of the prince
and princess side by side, and over them two hands' holding
a Latin motto, which, rendered into English, read thus :
" What Halcyon airs this royal Hymen sings,
The Olive branch of peace her dower she brings."
346 The Queens of England.
The royal cortege passed beneath this arch on to Hoog-
straet, where another bore this inscription :
" To the Batavian court, with Heaven's best smile,
Approach fair guest, and bless this happy pile."
And so with a fine display of loyalty from their subjects,
that greeted their eyes and ears at every turn, for there
was music, the beating of drums, and ringing of bells
besides, the royal pair passed through the principal
streets to their palace.
That evening there were brilliant fireworks representing,
in turn, St. George on horseback, fountains, pyramids,
enormous castles, chariots containing the gods descending
from the skies in a blaze of fire, flower-pots, animals, and
a variety of novel devices. The following day all the
" Herrs " of note called to pay their respects, but it is not
necessary for us to recall the long unpronounceable names.
The usual celebrations followed, and after that Princess
Mary resorted to her old propensity for gambling, in which
she was encouraged by -her husband, who carried this vice
further than she did.
Not long after the arrival of the Princess of Orange, as
we must call her now, the Archbishop of Canterbury
recommended Dr. Hooper for her almoner and chaplain.
On his arrival in Holland he found the princess without a
chapel or a room of any kind that could be put to that
use, except the dining-room. This she willingly relin-
quished, because she and the prince never took their meals
together, and for the sake of obliging Dr. Hooper she
was willing to dine in a small, dark parlor, which, though
not very comfortable, answered the purpose. Dr. Hooper
was ordered to fit up the chapel ; but so alarmed was the
princess lest she might suffer from having incurred her
lord's displeasure, that she insisted upon the almoner's
being present on a certain afternoon, when his majesty was
l6 77- Mary II. of England. 349
to inspect the arrangements, to bear part of the brunt of
his ill-nature. The first thing he did on entering the chapel
was to turn up his nose contemptuously, kick over the
chair placed on the steps of the dias tor his wife, and ask
roughly for whom it was intended. Then he inquired the
use of each article that struck his notice, and with an em-
phatic " Hum ! " left the chapel, which he entered only
once or twice after that. The princess attended every day,
taking great pains not to make the chaplain wait. The
prince had given his wife certain religious books to read,
which Dr. Hooper replaced with those he preferred for her.
This excited the prince's displeasure, and one day on find-
ing her deeply interested in a work not in accordance with
his belief, he stormed furiously, and said : " What ! will
you read such books ? I suppose it is Dr. Hooper per-
suades you to do it."
While the Princess of Orange was under the good
influence of Dr. Hooper, her sister Anne had established
her little court at St. James's, and passed most of her time
gambling and gossiping. Her most intimate friend was
Sarah Jennings, who, at the age of fifteen, had secretly
married the handsome Colonel Churchill, the Duke of
York's favorite gentleman. This lady afterwards became
the Duchess of Marlborough, a very important personage
in the political world. Her tastes were similar to those of
the Princess Anne, over whom she had a very baneful
influence. Barbara Villiers, now Mrs. Berkley, third
daughter of her late governess, was Anne's first lady-in-
waiting ; thus we see four of the ladies of this family in
direct attendance upon the two princesses who later occu-
pied the British throne.
But to return to Holland. At the Hague the Princess
of Orange found three beautiful palaces. One was called
; ' the Hague," a splendid Gothic structure, where all the
350 Tlie Queens of England.
business of state was transacted. Mary never went there,
excepting on occasions of great ceremony. About a mile
from this castle stood the palace in the wood, surrounded
by stately oaks and one of the most beautiful gardens in
the whole of Europe. That was the home of the Princess
of Orange. A long avenue formed by two rows of wide-
spreading trees, whose branches met and formed a canopy
overhead, led to the main door of the palace, and clean,
freshly gravelled walks wound in and out to the utmost
limit of the well-kept grounds. Not far off was a dower
palace, called the Old Court. A paved walk, also bordered
with fine old trees, trimmed in the shape of pyramids, led
from the Hague to the seaport of Scheveling; and, as this
was open to the public, every passenger had to pay a
small toll to keep it in good order.
But the English attendants who had accompanied the
princess wanted something besides a beautiful residence ;
they were not pleased with their new home, and longed for
England and the old scenes and old faces they had left be-
hind them. The princess was fortunate in having her
uncle, Lord Clarendon, with her. He was ambassador at
the Hague when she first arrived ; and, as her husband was
called away shortly after, it was most agreeable to have her
uncle's protection.
[A.D. 1678.] The Prince of Orange returned from
hunting one day, and after reading a few letters announced
his intention to proceed at once to France. The princess
accompanied her husband as far as Rotterdam, and then
bade him farewell.
During his absence the princess made a tour of her do-
minions, moving from place to place in her barge by canal.
While travelling in this primitive manner, the ladies of the
court amused themselves with needlework or card-playing;
and when Princess Mary sewed, Dr. Hooper would read
" : ; >^* >"-> /'>' --_ - ,
-^ 21-
MOVVMENT OF WILLIAM AT THE HAGUE.
1679- Mary II. of England. 353
from some serious work. Although not seventeen years of
age at that time, the princess managed her ladies remark-
ably well. She never showed more favor to one than an-
other ; insisted on the observance of every point of eti-
quette, and exercised so much authority that a look from
her was sufficient to put a stop to any conversation that
did not meet with her approval. Some years later Dr.
Hooper paid her the compliment of saying, " that during
the entire time of his sojourn in her household, over a
year and a half, he never heard her say or saw her do
one thing that he could have wished she had not said or
done."
The climate of Holland did not agree with the princess,
and she had a dangerous attack of malarial fever the fol-
lowing summer, from which she did not entirely recover for
many weeks. With the hope of cheering her and acceler-
ating her convalescence, the Duke of York sent his wife
and his daughter Anne to visit her. Princess Mary was
beside herself with joy, for she had not seen her sister
since her marriage, and she had always been the best of
friends with her stepmother. The Duchess of York called
her " the Lemon," and her husband " the Orange " ; and
most of her letters to Mary before the revolution began
" My dear Lemon."
[A.D. 1679.] The following year the Duke of York was
banished from England on account of his religion, and
went to visit his daughter in Holland, who treated him with
the most tender affection. Her health was not then entirely
restored, for she still suffered from attacks of ague, and
was ordered to try the climate of Dieren, where her hus-
band owned a hunting palace. The change did her a great
deal of good, and she returned to the Palace of the Wood
in time to see Dr. Hooper go back to England to marry a
lady to whom he Ijad been engaged for many norrths.
354 The Queens of England.
Mary was very much alarmed lest she should lose the ser
vices of her almoner, and begged him to prevail upon his
lady to come to Holland. He promised to do his best and
succeeded ; but it was very mortifying to the princess that
she was unable to extend her hospitality to Mrs. Hooper.
The doctor had always taken his meals with the ladies of
the bed-chamber and the maids-of-honor of the princess,
and his wife was invited to do the same.
But knowing, as everybody did, that Prince William was
too stingy to be willing to feed one person more than he
was actually obliged to, Dr. Hooper never allowed his wife
to eat at the palace, but took his meals with her at their
lodging-house, not far away. Fortunately he was a man of
means, for as he received only a few pounds from Prince
William for all his services at the Dutch court he could
not otherwise have subsisted.
The Princess Mary had another visit from her sister
Anne, when she was permitted by King Charles to join her
father during his banishment ; and the whole family of the
Duke of York spent some time together in Holland on the
most amicable terms. At that period Mary did not know
how her husband was intriguing with such men as Sunder-
land, Gates, and Bedloe, who were mixed up in the popish
plot, for the purpose of depriving her father of his succes-
sion, and bringing on her native land the curse of civil
war. She would have been horrified at such an idea.
Princess Mary was not happily married, for her husband
was so cross and disagreeable that it was impossible for
her to love him. Her life was almost one of imprisonment,
because, although she was condescension itself to the wives
of the burgomasters and other ladies, she never lost sight
of her own high birth sufficiently to permit of any intimacy
or exchange of visits ; consequently she was confined to
the narrow circle of her own court, which was very tiresome
1684- Mary II. of England. 355
to a woman accustomed to all the pomp, grandeur, and
gayety of royal life in England.
One thing that interested her was the building of a pal-
ace by her husband at Loo. She laid the corner-stone
with all the ceremony that usually attends such a perform-
ance, and planned the decorations of the building as well
as the laying out of the gardens and walks. After the
palace was completed, Princess Mary occupied apartments
that were called " the queen's suite " forever after, though
when she became Queen of England she ceased to live in
Holland, and never even visited there. Under the windows
of this suite was " the queen's garden," in the centre of
which was a splendid large fountain. This garden opened
through a hedge into another adorned with a number of
fine statues. Then the princess had a poultry-yard, where
she raised a fine breed of fowls that she was fond of tend-
ing, feeding, and watching, an amusement that served to
pass away many a tedious hour.
[A.D. 1680.] Beyond the park was an immense aque-
duct that supplied all the fountains and the fish-pond, as
well as the means for irrigating ; then there were further
on long shady walks that terminated in a grove, where Mary
often went to enjoy an hour's solitude, or perhaps to weep
over her forlorn situation. She read, embroidered, and
continued her drawing-lessons with Gibson, the dwarf mas-
ter, who had followed her to Holland ; but had scarcely
any society besides her maids-of-honor and her good nurse,
Mrs. Langford, whose husband was one of her chaplains.
All her English attendants were heartily detested by the
prince, who managed to get rid of as many of them as
possible and replace them with his Dutch subjects, who
were, in most instances, by no means agreeable to Mary.
[A.D. 1684.] Year by year William of Orange imposed
so many acts of cruelty on his wife that at last she was
356 The Queens of England.
almos^ afraid to express her opinion on any subject, and by
the grossest misrepresentations he turned her heart from
her own family, and in every possible way encouraged an
intimacy between her and the Duke of Monmouth while he
was an exile from England. This was before the Duke of
York had ascended the throne. Charles II. had banished
Monmouth from his realm ; and William's object in being
so friendly with him was, that in this enemy of the Duke
of York he knew he should find a powerful ally who would
further any plan of his, no matter how unscrupulous, by
which he meant to prevent James from assuming the
crown and usurp his place. The banished duke must have
exerted a powerful influence over the mind of the princess
in some mysterious way, otherwise it is hard to understand
how she could consent to show marks of favor to a man
who calumniated her own father. But she was sadly
changed by this time, and all the affection she had once
entertained for her parents had vanished. She went con-
stantly to hear political sermons preached against her
father, who was accused of dreadful crimes, that, whether
true or false, should never have been pronounced within the
hearing of his daughter. Her life that had been so mon^to-
nous became gay in the extreme after the appearance
of Monmouth at the Hague ; and she danced, flirted, and
promenaded with him in a most undignified manner. Her
father heard of this conduct, and remonstrated with the
princess. She shed tears over his letter, but said, " that
the prince was her master and would be obeyed." This
was partly true, no doubt ; but after being shut up as she
had been for several years, she went to the other extreme,
and enjoyed the gayety that her husband permitted her to
indulge in while he was using her as a tool to further his
intrigues with Monmouth. She is certainly to blame for
her undignified behavior, but still more for the disrespect
1685. Mary II. of England. 357
she showed her father, who had always been most kind and
indulgent to her. In one of his fault-finding letters he
wrote his daughter to warn her husband against Monmouth,
who, in the event of King Charles's death and his own,
would, he assured her, give them a struggle before they
could get possession of the throne of Great Britain. Thus
we see that James knew Monmouth was not to be trusted,
though suspicion with regard to his son-in-law had not yet
entered his head.
It was not long after the marriage of Mary that King
Charles began to think about a husband for his other niece,
the Princess Anne. Several candidates for her hand were
duly presented and considered, but at last the choice fell
on Prince George of Denmark, brother to King Christian
of that country. He was a valiant soldier, and had dis-
tinguished himself in several battles with the Swedes,
during which he had rescued his brother, the king, from the
enemy by his wonderful dash and presence of mind. He
and the Princess Anne were married in 1683 ; and their
nuptials, unlike those of Mary and the Prince of Orange,
were conducted with great pomp, and succeeded by the
usual celebrations. King Charles settled on the bride an
income of twenty thousand pounds per annum, and pre-
sented her with a small palace adjoining Whitehall for her
residence, for it was arranged that she was not to go to
Denmark to live.
[A.D. 1685.] We have spoken of the gay doings at the
Holland court, but they were not to continue long; for sud-
denly everything was changed to mourning on the announce-
ment of the death of King Charles II. of England. Princess
Mary was very much grieved on account of this sad event,
for all her remembrances of her uncle were of the most
agreeable nature. The Duke of Monmouth and Prince
William were closeted together for several hours after the
358
The Queens of England.
news came, and that very night the duke started for Eng-
land. But so secretly were his preparations and departure
made that he was supposed to be shut up in his own room
until late on the following day. It was the prince who fur-
TIIi: RETREAT.
nished him with money for the rash invasion of England
which resulted in his execution. The details of his bold ex-
ploit are given in the last reign.
After James was firmly seated on the throne, it would
never do tor the Prince of Orange to appear in the light of
Mary II. of England. 359
an enemy, so he had to change his tactics forthwith. He
pretended that the affectionate letters to his wife from her
father were addressed to himself, and read them aloud to
the ambassadors. To the king he wrote in the most humble
terms, promising fidelity till death, and explaining that
Monmouth had received only common hospitality at his
hands, and been sent away from the Hague as soon as
possible.
Certainly James II. regretted the necessity which com-
pelled him to put Monmouth to death, but Princess Mary
had formed such an attachment for him that she never for-
gave her father for causing that execution.
[A.D. 1686.] During the following spring a plot against
the life of Prince William was revealed to the princess, and
she became so alarmed that she obtained for him a body-
guard, which had not previously been considered at all
necessary.
Then William Penn was sent by James II. to convince
the prince that all laws tending to religious persecutions
ought to be abolished ; but his errand was" a failure, because
the prince declared " that he would lose all the revenues
and prospects of the kingdom of Great Britain, to which his
wife was heiress, before one should be abolished." And the
princess indorsed this decision, adding : " That if ever she
were Queen of England she should do more for the Prot-
estants than even Queen Elizabeth had done."
Penn spoke so plainly to the princess, and expressed his
opinion so freely, that she disliked him forever after.
[A.D. 1688.] The Prince and Princess of Orange had
their spies in England, who kept them daily informed of
every change in the political drama. Of these Lord and
Lady Sunderland were the principal agents, and as this lord
was prime minister he had special facilities for gaining
knowledge. Another was the Princess Anne whose letters
360 Tlic Queens of England.
were remarkable for coarseness, vulgarity, and bad spelling.
As she did not know of the bond existing between Lady
Sunderland and her sister Mary, she sometimes filled her
letters with abuse of that person, on whom she did not
hesitate to bestow some very hard epithets. Her remarks
must often have amused both William and Mary, who were
better aware of what was going on in Great Britain than she
was, although they 'were not on the spot. One of Anne's
letters closes with this sentence : " One thing I forgot to
tell you about Lord Sunderland, which is that it is thought
if everything does not go here as he would have it, that he
will pick a quarrel with the court and so retire, and possibly
make his court to you."
This shows that the princess little suspected Lord Sun-
derland of already being in the service of William. She
had reasons of her own for trying to create ill-feeling be-
tween Mary and her father ; and once when the princess
had hinted at the possibility of her visiting England, Anne
warned her in rather vague terms that her life might be in
danger were she to present herself at her father's court.
If Mary had considered how kind and indulgent that father
had always been to his children, she would have insisted
on an explanation ; but the correspondence between these
two sisters was interrupted for awhile by Anne's illness.
The king watched by her bedside until she was past dan-
ger, and nursed her with the most tender care. What
would have been his feelings, could he have known the
treachery of the invalid at whose side he sat hour after
hour, anxiously awaiting the result of her disease ?
Shortly after her recovery, Princess Anne asked permis-
sion of her father to spend a few weeks at the Hague.
The Prince of Denmark, her husband, was going on a visit
to his native land, and it was his wife's plan that she should
be conducted by him to her sister's court, there to remain
l688 - Mary II. of England. 361
until his return. Her confidential friend, Lady Churchill,
was to accompany her. But King James had begun to see
something of the part his children were playing against him,
and peremptorily refused to allow Anne to leave England.
In a fit of temper at being thus opposed she retired to
Bath, where she remained until after the birth of her
brother, whose appearance in the world was most unwel-
come to both her and Mary of Orange.
Meanwhile affairs had taken such a turn that King
James's downfall was rapidly approaching. His adherence
to the Catholic cause deprived him of support from the
Reformed church, and obliged some of the best and most
loyal of his subjects to stand by and witness his ruin,
though with intense pain, because they were unable to stir
hand or foot in his behalf.
Lord Clarendon, who had by this time returned to Lon-
don from the Hague, was one of these. It will be remem-
bered that he was King James's brother-in law, and a warm
friendship had always existed between the two men. It
was most painful to him to observe the indifference of
Anne towards her father, particularly when reports reached
England that the Prince of Orange was coming over with
an army to invade the country. Clarendon questioned the
princess to find out how much she knew of the matter, but
could get very little satisfaction, for she evaded him as
much as possible, and pretended to have no information
but that which her husband had received from the king
himself. After several vain attempts to induce his niece
to speak to her father and endeavor to console him, for
he had sunken into a most painful state of melancholy,
Lord Clarendon begged her at least to urge the king
to consult with some of his old friends, each and all of
whom were warmly attached to him. But this unnatural
daughter put him off, and preferred to increase her father's
anguish.
362 The Queens of England.
One day in October there was a royal leve'e at White-
hall. The king was in a painfully depressed state of mind,
and told Lord Clarendon that the Prince of Orange had
embarked with his Dutch troops, and only awaited a favor-
able wind to sail, adding, " I have nothing by this day's
post from my daughter Mary ; and it is the first time I have
missed hearing from her for a long while."
The unfortunate father never heard from her again.
Lord Clarendon made another attempt to induce Anne
to save her father, which she might have. done if she had
chosen ; but she did not, and treated every proposition with
disgusting levity.
Louis XIV. offere to intercept the Dutch fleet; but
James declined his aid, because of the confidence he felt
in his daughter Mary. Her last letter assured him that
the prince's fleet was made ready to repel an attack of the
French, which was hourly expected ; and the fond, confid-
ing father believed her.
It was Dr. Burnet, a well-known author and minister,
who undertook to explain to the Princess of Orange all
the details of the political situation ; and after the prince
decided to get possession of the throne of Great Britain,
he asked her what would be her husband's position, she
being the heir and not he.
She replied that she had not considered that point, but
would be obliged to him if he would tell her. Burnet, who
was evidently acting in the interest of the prince, replied,
" That she must be contented as a wife to engage in her
husband's interest and give him the real authority as soon
as it came into her hands." Mary consented, and asked
the doctor to bring the prince to her that she might assure
him of her submission to his will. William was hunting
that day; but on the moirow, after informing him of the
conversation with the princess, Burnet conducted him to
her presence.
i688. Mary If. of England. 363
Mary told him that she was surprised to hear from the
doctor how, by the laws of England, a husband could be
made subservient to his wife, providing the title of king
came to him through her; and added a solemn promise
that she should always be obedient to him, and that he
should rule, not she. It seems surprising that so faithless
a daughter should have been so dutiful a wife ; but the
prince had broken her spirit by his frequent acts of cru-
elty and neglect, and she was as submissive as a whipped
cur.
Instead of thanking his wife, William treated her deci-
sion as a matter of course, and merely answered with a
grunt of satisfaction, giving Dr. Burnet great credit for
the persuasive eloquence that had brought about so favor-
able a result.
In October the Prince of Orange sailed with a fleet of
fifty-two ships of war ; and, after a very stormy voyage,
landed at an English village on the anniversary of the
Gunpowder Plot.
Meeting with no opposition, he marched four miles into
Devonshire, followed by his entire force. The prince
knew what a risk he was taking, and waited with breathless
anxiety to see how many of the west of England people
would flock to his standard.
He published a declaration that the Prince of Wales was
not the real child of James II. ; but that a strange baby
had been adopted to impose on the British nation, who was
to rule them as a Roman Catholic. This was done to pre-
vent the country from educating the prince according to
the doctrines of .the Church of England, which would
probably have established his succession. Of course a
child upon whose birth any doubt was cast could never rule
as a Catholic, nor be educated by the state for any pur-
pose; therefore the daughters of James II. pretended to
364 Tke Queens of England.
believe the falsehood, knowing that in the event of the
prince's accession they would stand no chance of ever
wearing the crown.
News arrived in London that Lord Cornbury, eldest son
of the Earl of Clarendon, had deserted the king's army
with three regiments, and gone over to the enemy. Clar-
endon was overcome with grief and shame at such conduct
on the part of one of his flesh and blood. When Prin-
cess Anne saw him she asked why he had not been to see
her for several days. He replied, " that he was so much
concerned for the villany his son had committed that he
was ashamed of being seen anywhere."
"Oh," replied the princess, "people are so apprehensive
of popery that you will find many more of the army will
do the same."
And she was right ; for desertions became of daily oc
currence, and King James was surrounded by traitors on
all sides. Anne knew of Lord Cornbury's intended deser-
tion, and was anxiously awaiting news from her husband,
who, with a display of affection and sincerity, had gone off
with her father to assist in defending him against the Prince
of Orange. Lord Churchill and Sir George Hewett were
with the king also; and these two were concerned in a plot
against the life of their sovereign, which the latter con-
fessed on his deathbed some years later.
Every time the king heard that one of his officers had
gone over to the enemy, Prince George of Denmark would
raise his eyes and hands with affected surprise, and exclaim,
" Is it possible ! " At last, after supping with the king and
speaking in terms of abhorrence of all deserters, the prince,
Churchill, and Hewett, taking advantage of an attack of
illness that had suddenly seized their sovereign, went off
in the night to the hostile camp. When informed of it,
James exclaimed : " How ? Has ' Is It Possible ' gone
i688. Mary II. of England. 365
off, too ? " Yet this departure was a cruel blow to the
father, who said : " After all, I only mind his conduct as
connected with my child ; otherwise the loss of a stout
trooper would have been greater."
In expectation of her husband's desertion, Anne had
made arrangements for her own flight ; and no sooner did
the news reach her that he had gone than she followed. It
was Sunday night, and the princess retired to her room at
the usual hour. Mrs. Danvers, the lady-in-waiting, was not
in the secret, and went to bed as usual in the ante-cham-
ber. Ladies Fitzharding and Churchill had entered Prin-
cess Anne's room early in the evening, and hidden them-
selves by agreement in her dressing-room. At midnight,
accompanied by these two women, the princess stole out of
the palace, and met Lord Dorset in St. James's Park. A
coach stood in waiting a little distance off ; but the rain
poured in torrents, and the mud was so deep that Anne
lost one of her shoes in a puddle, from which there was
neither time nor inclination to extricate it. This little acci-
dent was treated as a joke by the adventurers, who laughed
heartily, while Lord Dorset gallantly stuck the princess's
foot into one of the kid gauntlets he had pulled off; and
assisted her to hop forward to the carriage. The party
drove to the Bishop of London's house, where they were
refreshed and the princess supplied with shoes, and started
by daybreak for Lord Dorset's castle in Waltham Forest.
After a few hours' rest they proceeded to Nottingham,
where the Earl of Northampton, attired in military uniform,
raised a purple standard in the name of the laws and liber-
ties of England, and invited the people to gather around
the Protestant heiress to the throne. Afterwards Anne went
on to Warwick, where there was a project on foot for the
extermination of all the papists in England. Although the
princess knew that her father's head would be the first to
366 Tlic Queens of England.
fall should such a plan be carried into effect, she was so
unnatural as to favor it.
A tremendous uproar was raised when Anne's women-in-
waiting entered her room the morning after her flight and
found her bed undisturbed and the princess herself miss-
ing. Before many minutes the whole court was aroused
with the lamentations of the people, who declared that the
princess had been murdered by the queen's priests. The
storm rose to such a height that a mob collected in the
street and swore that the palace should be pulled down, and
Mary Beatrice pulled to pieces if Anne were not forthcom-
ing. No doubt the threat would have been put into execu-
tion had it not been for the discovery of a letter which the
missing princess had left lying on her toilet-table, stating
that she had gone off to avoid the king's displeasure on
account of her husband's desertion; and that she should
remain away until a reconciliation had been effected.
" Never was any one," she wrote, " in such an unhappy con-
dition, so divided between duty to a father and a husband ;
and therefore I know not what I must do but to follow one
to preserve the other." This would be all very well if she
had been dutiful to her father ; but as she had only one
week before informed Orange by letter that her husband
would soon be with him, ready to serve his cause to the
utmost, we can only feel intense disgust at such deception,
CHAPTER XI.
JAMES II. arrived in London just after the excitement
caused by Anne's escape had subsided. He had been
obliged to leave his army on account of illness, and when
he heard of his daughter's conduct, he struck his breast and
exclaimed : " God help me ! my own children have forsaken
me in my distress." From that moment he lost heart and
ceased to struggle to retain his crown ; but he never
censured Anne as he might have done, nor was he aware
of the extent of her treachery.
Meanwhile, the Prince of Orange induced many of the
most loyal subjects of the crown to join him by circulating
the report that he had come to England for the sole purpose
of establishing peace between James II. and his people.
So he advanced as far as Henley, and while resting there
heard, to his unspeakable joy, that the king had disbanded
his army, and folld*wed his wife, who, with the Prince of
Wales, had escaped to France. They could not more com-
pletely have played into his hand.
Prince George of Denmark waited for his wife at Oxford,
which place she entered with military state, escorted by
several thousand mounted gentlemen, who, with their ten-
ants, had joined her followers as she passed through the
various counties. Bishop Compton, Anne's early tutor,
rode before her in military dress, and carried a purple flag
in token of his adherence to her cause.
367
368 The Queens of England,
James had been captured and taken back to Whitehall,
so William of Orange stopped at Windsor and sent his
Dutch guard forward to expel his uncle ; for neither he nor
his sister-in-law dared to face the father whom they had so
basely injured. The next day the prince entered London
quietly, went straight to St. James's Palace, and retired to
his bedchamber. In the evening bells rang, guns fired,
and there was general rejoicing among the Orange party.
A few days later the Prince and Princess of Denmark re-
turned, and took up their abode at the palace they had lived
in ever since their marriage, called the Cockpit, because the
site of it had once been used for that barbarous amuse-
ment.
[A.D. 1689.] Anne felt no regret at the fate that had
overtaken her unfortunate father, but triumphantly ap-
peared in public with Lady Churchill, both decked in orange
ribbons, an emblem of the cause they had espoused. Her
uncle, Lord Clarendon, took her severely to task for not
showirg some concern on account of her father's downfall,
but she proved very plainly that she felt none ; but it was
not many weeks before she regretted having taken sides
with William. This was not because of any qualms of
conscience, or awakening of affection for her parent, no,
indeed ! It was only that her interests were at stake, and
her rights in danger of being forfeited * A convention had
been called to arrange how the kingdom was to be governed,
and as leader of a well-disciplined army of fourteen thou-
sand foreign soldiers, quartered in and about London, the
Prince of Orange was likely to have the matter settled just
as he chose. The convention were perplexed, however ; for
though they decided to exclude the Prince of Wales and
settle the succession on Mary of Orange, they were by no
means willing, in the event of her death, to have the king-
dom governed by a foreigner, particularly as his religion
ENTRANCE; OF WILLIAM INTO LONDON.
l6 9- Mary II. of England. 371
was as far removed from that of the Church of England as
James's was.
While they were considering this matter William was so
taciturn and glum that the English lords could not find out
what he wanted, so they applied to some of his Dutch
attendants to know what ailed their master, and were in-
formed that if Princess Mary was to occupy the throne and
take precedence of her husband he would go back to Hol-
land ; for he was not willing to be tied by apron strings, or
to play the part of gentleman-usher to his own wife. The
English nobles were more perplexed than ever ; but at this
juncture Dr. Burnet came to their relief, and said, that as
Mary's spiritual adviser he was well aware of how she
would decide if the matter were left to her, because she had
told him that she preferred yielding precedence to her hus-
band in every affair of life. Then word was sent to the
Princess Mary, " that if she considered it proper to insist
on her lineal rights the convention would persist in declar-
ing her sole sovereign." Her answer was : " That she was
the prince's wife, and never meant to be other than in sub-
jection to him, and that she did not thank any one for set-
ting up for her an interest divided from that of her
husband." That settled the matter ; for the national con-
vention of lords and commons decided that the Prince
of Orange was to be offered the crown, and that his wife
was to have joint sovereignty. Their children, if they had
any, were to succeed them, but if not the Princess Anne was
next in the line.
Being satisfied at last, William permitted his wife to join
him in England. The Princess of Orange had mad> herself
beloved in Holland, and tears filled her eyes when she heard
one of the common people say, as she was embarking,
" that he hoped the English might love her as well as those
had done whom she was leaving."
372 The Queens of England.
A swift, pleasant voyage soon brought Princess Mary to
Gravesend, where she was met by her sister and Prince
George of Denmark. The two sisters were so elated at
their success that they embraced again and again, and went
into perfect transports of joy. Amidst a chorus of shouts
and welcomes they entered their exiled father's barge, and
soon landed at Whitehall, where William met them. All
those who witnessed Mary's conduct that day, even her best
friends, were shocked. Gravity would have been becoming
considering that she was taking possession of the home
from which reverse of fortune had driven her father only a
few days before ; but she was excessively gay, and went all
over the palace, looking into the cupboards, examining the
furniture, and making remarks upon what had been re-
moved, and what left for her use with revolting heartless-
ness. She took possession of the apartments Mary Beatrice
had used, slept in her bed, made use of her toilet articles,
and within a night or two sat down to a game of basset in
the very spot her predecessor had occupied.
Next day the ceremony of recognition of William and
Mary as sovereigns of England took place. They pro-
ceeded in state robes to the banqueting hall of the palace,
and placed themselves in chairs of state under the royal
canopy, their attendants taking their respective places near
by. Then Lord Halifax made a short speech, desiring their
majesties to accept the crown. The prince answered, and
the princess curtsied, but showed no reluctance at assum-
ing her father's crown. After affixing their names to the
Bill of Rights, which promised enjoyment of religious
liberty to every Protestant Englishman, William III. and
Mary II. were proclaimed king and queen.
Lord Clarendon was so disgusted with the turn of affairs
that he retired to his country seat, but he sent a letter to
his niece, which must have contained some unflattering
'689. Mary II. of England. 373
remarks, for his wife, to whom he intrusted it, was afraid to
deliver it. His brother Laurence had been civilly received
by William ; but Mary had refused to see him or his children,
little girls of seven and eight years, respectively,
After a few weeks of London life King William hurried
his wife away with him to Hampton Court, and only went
to town on business. He pleaded ill-health as an excuse ;
but his conduct gave great dissatisfaction, because diver-
sions that had attended previous courts disappeared, and
the king was so surly that people feared to approach him.
The queen was vivacious and affable, but as she took little
or no interest in state affairs, nothing was to be gained by
special attention to her, so few gathered about her.
There were many loyal citizens who positively refused to
take an oath of allegiance to the new sovereigns. Among
these were Lord Clarendon, four of the bishops who had
been sent to the Tower by James II., and several hundred
members of the English clergy, besides Archbishop San-
croft, who it was fondly hoped would perform the corona-
tion ceremony. That important event next occupied the
attention of everybody at court. A new globe, sceptre, and
sword of state were made for Mary II., but she was to wear
the beautiful crown that her father had provided for his
queen.
The eleventh of April was the day appointed ; it was
fraught with anxiety and care, for just as the king and
queen were ready to set out for Westminster Hall news
was brought to them of the successful landing of James II.
in Ireland. Added to that, a letter was handed to Queen
Mary by her lord chamberlain, which proved to be from
her father, the first he had written her since her arrival
in England. He wrote : " That hitherto he had made all
fatherly excuses for what had been done, and had attributed
her part in the revolution to obedience to her husband ;
374 The Queens of England,
but the act of being crowned was in her own power, and if
she were crowned while he and the Prince of Wales were
living, the curses of an outraged father would light upon
her as well as of that God who has commanded duty to
parents."
After reading this awful letter, William- declared '^that
he had done nothing but by his wife's advice and approba-
tion ; " and she retorted, " That if her father regained his
authority her husband might thank himself for letting him
go as he did." When these words were reported to King
James he felt convinced that his daughter Mary had
desired some cruel act to be committed towards him.
Whether she had or no, she must have performed her
part in the coronation ceremony with a heavy heart, for
with a father's curse resting upon her how could it have
been otherwise !
As the clock struck twelve the king descended the stairs
of Whitehall, entered the royal barge, and was rowed to
Westminster Palace, where, in a private chamber, he dressed
himself in the parliamentary robes. An hour later the
queen was carried in her sedan chair also to Westminster.
She wore state robes of velvet, bordered with ermine ; on
her head was a diadem of gold, richly studded with pre-
cious stones. The procession was much smaller than that
attending any previous coronation had been, because so
many of the lords and ladies refused to be present.
As soon as the usual ceremonies were completed, Dr.
Burner., who had been created Bishop of Salisbury, preached
the sermon ; then the Bishop of London administered
the oath, and anointed both sovereigns. The Archbishop
of Canterbury had refused to crown either William or
Mary, so that office also was performed by the Bishop of
London.
The banquet was given at Westminster Hall ; but every-
1689. Mary II. of England. 375
thing had gone so slowly that it was almost dark before
the challenger entered. This was Dymoke, son of the
champion of James II. As he flung his gauntlet upon the
ground an old woman hobbled out from among the crowd
that stood to witness the feast, and replaced it with a lady's
, glove, in which was an answer to the challenge, the time
and place being appointed in Hyde Park. From two till
four the next day a large man was seen to pace up and
down the appointed spot ; but Dymoke did not appear, and
the champion of James II., whoever he was, went on his
way unharmed.
King William attended parliament both before and
after his coronation ; but never did Queen Mary accom-
pany him or have any voice in the government whatever.
After James II. 's defeat in Ireland, the Dutch ambassador
arrived in England to congratulate the king and queen on
their accession, when rewards and honors were distributed
very freely, especially on those who held positions in the
household of either Mary or Anne. Lord Churchill re-
ceived the title of Earl of Marlborough, and henceforth
Anne's confidential friend will be known by the name of
Lady Marlborough.
Now Princess Anne's displeasure was aroused because
she failed to see any gain that had accrued to her from the
revolution. While others had attained wealth and station,
she had heard a rumor that King William had expressed
his astonishment at her having a revenue of thirty thousand
pounds per annum, and wondered how she could possibly
spend it. This alarmed her, particularly as she had been
promised an additional sum by her brother-in-law, which
she soon saw there was no probability of getting. King
William carried economy to such an excess that ha
objected to Anne's having separate meals for her branch
of the family ; but his manners at table were so disagreeable
376 The Queens of England.
that no lady cared to be present when he ate. He was
unpolished in every action, selfish, vulgar, and ill-natured
in the extreme. One day a dish of early green peas was
placed in front of Anne ; they were the first of the season,
and looked particularly inviting; but a look was all she
got of them, for the king took possession of the dish and
devoured the entire contents.
William was inhospitable, too, excepting to his own
countrymen. When he dined at St. James's Palace, Mar-
shal Schomberg, the general of the foreign troops, sat at
his right hand, and some Dutch officers occupied other
places at the table ; but if any English nobleman came
in William neither spoke to them nor invited them to sit
down and eat, which common courtesy demanded. This
was very galling, for it humbled the English and placed
the Dutch in the position of their conquerors.
The Earl of Marlborough had an aid-de-camp named
Dillon, who was intimate with Arnold von Keppel, a favor-
ite page of King William. These boys were usually present
at the royal dinners. One day Dillon said : " I have
never heard your master utter a word to anybody ; does
he ever speak ? " " Oh, yes," replied von Keppel, " he
talks fast enough at night over his bottle of Holland gin,
when he has only his Dutch friends about him."
When Lady Marlborough questioned the young Dillon
as to what he saw and heard at the king's table, he replied
" That no man was ever treated with such neglect and
contempt as Lord Marlborough*was.
" It is just what he deserves," replied, the gracious dame ;
" he should have considered how much better he was off
some months ago." This shows that Anne's favorite was
not very friendly to King William at tflat time.
Dillon told her besides that he heard the king say " that
Lord Marlborough had the best talents for war of any one
1689- Mary II. of England. 377
in England ; but he was a vile man, and though he had
himself profited by his treason he abhorred the traitor."
This may have been merely a bit of gossip ; but William
placed the earl in command of English troops, which he
sent to Holland to fill the place of the Dutch forces he
thought fit to retain near him in case of need.
While Marlborough was absent his wife busied herself
with Princess Anne to get possession of the best suite of
apartments at Whitehall. The queen wanted them, and a
regular dispute arose between the two sisters, which might
have gone on indefinitely had not William settled the
matter in favor of Anne, to whom he felt he must yield
something for peace sake. She retained her palace of the
Cockpit also, and demanded the one at Richmond ; but
that passed into the possession of Madame Puissars, one
of the daughters of Lady Villiers, and she would not re-
linquish it.
From that hour the royal sisters were at enmity with
each other, though for a time they kept up an appearance
of cordiality
On the very evening that a report was brought to Wil-
liam and Mary of the death of James II. in Ireland they
attended the theatre ; but it happened the play contained
so many allusions to various actions of their majesties
relating to their accession and the treachery that preceded
it, that they were both rendered excessively uncomfortable,
particularly as each time the whole audience turned and
looked straight at them. After that the master of the
court amusements was ordered to be very careful what
plays were produced.
Several of Shakespeare's were prohibited, but particularly
King Lear, which is not surprising. Nevertheless, the
whole country blamed Queen Mary for her indifference to
her father's fate, and verses containing the most .scathing
378 The Queens of England.
satire on her conduct were constantly distributed at the
various coffee-houses.
Princess Anne had a son born during the summer, which
was a very joyful event for all the royal family represented
at Hampton Court. They were pleased, because as the
child would be educated in the Reformed faith, there would
be little probability of his being superseded by the Roman
Catholic line of Stuart.
The king and queen stood sponsors for the infant, who
was baptized William, and the same day proclaimed Duhe
of Gloucester. Mary fondled her little nephew a great deal,
and paid more attention to her sister than she had done
before. But she became dreadfully angry when she found
out that through the instrumentality of Lady Marlborough
Anne had applied to the House of Commons for an income
to be settled on herself. It was perfectly natural that the
princess should make this demand, and it was granted ;
but Mary accused her of deceit and ingratitude for acting
in such an underhand manner, and asked her in an angry
tone : " What was the meaning of the proceedings in the
House of Commons ? "
Anne replied : " That she heard her friends there
wished she should have a settled income." " Friends ? "
asked the queen, haughtily, " Pray what friends have you
but the king and me ? "
Perhaps Queen Mary might not have objected to a pro-
vision being made for her sister, had it not been the deci-
sion of parliament that the fifty thousand pounds they
granted Anne should be deducted from King William's
income. But she did not get it, for her brother-in-law man-
aged to postpone the payment of the money throughout the
summer, and Anne became deeply involved in debt. So
much ill-feeling had grown up between her and her sister
in consequence of this pecuniary difficulty that she resolved
l6 89- Mary If. of England.
to remove from Hampton Court. An excellent excuse
offered itself in the illness of her baby, for he did not
thrive for the first two or three months of his existence,
and it was thought change of air would benefit him. Lord
Craven offered his fine house at Kensington for the prince's
nursery ; and just before his removal a young Quakeress,
named Mrs. Pack, was engaged to nurse him. Anne was
soon gratified by seeing a decided improvement in her
child, who was taken out every day to get the air in a little
carriage drawn by a pair of ponies no larger than good-
sized dogs. These animals were led by Dick Drury, the
Prince of Denmark's coachman.
Meanwhile the Earl of Marl borough returned from Hol-
land, when he and his wife put their heads together and
took such decided steps in favor of Anne's income that
before the end of the year the Commons intimated to the
king the propriety of allowing her fifty thousand pounds.
The Protestant branch of the royal family firmly held the
reins of government in England at last; but they were no
happier than the exiled Catholic portion, and dissatisfac-
tion had grown steadily among the masses.
James II. had left his country free from debt. One year
after his deposition the revenue was minus three millions
of pounds. The king had not spent it all ; but dishonesty
was the order of the day, and whoever could obtain a gov-
ernment contract, whether for raising a regiment, provis-
ioning, or clothing the army in Ireland, or providing am-
munition for the navy, stole more than half the sum they
received. They took advantage of the unsettled state of
public affairs to enrich themselves.
Thus the English navy the pride of the sailor-king,
James sustained a shameful defeat, and the seamen
were perfectly well aware that it was not lack of skill and
bravery on their part that caused it. The soldiers in Ire
380 The Queens of England.
land were supplied with bad food and damaged clothing,
and many of them died of disease. James had never per-
mitted the merchant ships to be taxed for the protection
they received from war-vessels ; but now the convoy money
reached such an enormous sum that the merchants sent
BENTINCK, EARL OF PORTLAND.
an appeal to parliament to relieve them of such a dreadful
tax. One of the worst offenders in exacting this extortion
was Captain Churchill, brother to the Earl of Marlborough ,
and so serious was the charge brought against him that he
I6 9- Mary II of England, 38?
was expelled from the House of Commons, of which he was
a member, and deprived of his vessel.
[A.D. 1690.] The Duke of Schomberg made serious
complaints by letter to the king, to whom he wrote with
regard to Mr. Harbord's regiment : " I do assure your
majesty that the existence of this fine regiment is limited
to its standard, which leans in a corner of his dressing-
room, and that is all that he can show of it. Never, in all
my life, did I see a nation so willing to steal."
William knew that his throne was tottering beneath so
much corruption, and he deserved the misery such knowl-
edge occasioned him. One day he was discussing his
troubles with his favorite, Bentinck, whom he had created
Earl of Portland, and expressed his surprise at the finan-
cial condition of the country.
Portland asked his royal friend, "Whether he believed
that there was one honest man in the whole of Great
Britain ? "
" Yes, there are many," replied William, with a deep-
drawn sigh , " there are many men of high honor in this
country as well as in others, perhaps more ; but, my Lord
Portland, they are not my friends."
The following spring King William meant to join his
troops in Ireland, and purchased Lord Nottingham's estate
at Kensington, in order that a palace might be completed
thereon by the time he should return. The king was a
martyr to asthma, and could scarcely breathe in the smoky
atmosphere of London ; therefore, he determined to have a
home, not too far off, in a healthful district.
Queen Mary superintended the building of this palace,
and displayed extraordinary taste in the planning of the
grounds and the laying out of the gardens. This occupied
a great deal of her time during the king's absence, but as
he left the government in her hands she had other matters
382 The Queens of England.
to attend to besides. Nine councillors were appointed to
advise and assist the queen ; but Prince George was not of
their number, because he had hired some Danish troops to
fight against his father-in-law, and accompanied the king
to Ireland.
Queen Mary acted with a great deal of decision, and
wrote letters to her husband every day to keep him in-
formed of everything that transpired. When a French
GARDENS OF WILLIAM III.
fleet appeared in the channel she had a large number of
noblemen who were not friendly to her cause arrested.
Among these were her two uncles, who had viewed her con-
duct with shame and disgust. Her next step was to banish
all Catholics from London and its vicinity. Her position
was really dreadful, for she was surrounded by secret
enemies and people who consulted their own interest above
everything else. The defeat of the navy by the French at
l6 9- Mary II. of England. 383
Beachy Head was a great misfortune that would not have be-
Jallen the English if their ships had been kept in proper con-
dition ; but there was no one to look out for them as King
James had done. Queen Mary had no confidence in several
candidates who offered themselves for the command, and
others whom she desired to take it had no confidence in
themselves for naval service. This defeat was soon for-
gotten, however, when news arrived of the victory of Wil-
liam's army at the Boyne. Without any thought for the
fate of her father, Mary gave herself up to rejoicing over
the success of her husband, the one subject that filled her
mind. She at once began to urge his return, but William
was too good a general not to know that the contest was not
yet decided. Much misery had been caused in Ireland by
the presence of his enormous army, and that wretched
country was not yet to cease groaning under his despotism.
When compelled to raise the siege of Waterford, William
was asked how the sick and wounded prisoners were to be
disposed of. "Burn them!" was his wicked command;
and this was only one of the many cruel acts really per-
petrated by his troops.
William was anxious to return to England ; but, as the
victorious French fleet occupied both the English channel
and that of St. George, it was no safe matter for him to
venture past their ships.
Meanwhile, the queen continued her d*iily letters, and
made most humble apologies to her despotic lord, because
his Kensington Palace was not quite ready for his recep-
tion, and still smelt of the fresh paint. She took all the
blame on herself, and expressed her willingness to put her-
self to any inconvenience, no matter how great, if only she
might advance his comfort and hasten his return. This
wifely devotion would be all right if William had been a
good husband, but he was not, and showed himself in
capable of appreciating the sacrifices offered for his sake.
384 The Queens of England.
Queen Mary was sorely perplexed about the command
of the navy. Her father had left it ruler of the seas, but
two disastrous defeats that had overtaken it since her acces-
sion had so demoralized the sailors and destroyed the
vessels that none of the old sea-captains could be induced
to contend against the well-appointed fleet of Louis XIV.
She proposed Churchill in one of her letters, but she ought
to have recoiled from placing the man who had extorted
convoy money from the merchant ships in such an impor-
tant position of trust. At last the French fleet left the Irish
coast, and gave the king a chance to slip over to England,
which he gladly began to prepare for ; but first he at-
tempted to besiege Limerick. Twelve hundred of his
soldiers were killed, but the governor made such a des-
perate resistance that William raised the siege, and em-
barked for England with Prince George of Denmark.
His return had been delayed so much longer than he
intended that Kensington Palace was ready for his recep-
tion. After spending a couple of days at Hampton Court,
he went with the queen to their new home, where they re-
mained throughout the autumn.
Mary possessed unusual ability for governing, as she
proved later, when her husband was carrying on his war
in Flanders. As soon as he finished his Irish campaign,
his whole time and attention were directed towards prepa-
rations for his war, which was a great drain on the wealth
of Great Britain, and consequently a source of dissatisfac-
tion to the people.
Lord Marlborough made his first military success in
Ireland just after William had returned from that country,
and was warmly thanked for it, when he presented himself
at Kensington, by the king and queen, though they had
not forgiven him for the interest he took in procuring
Princes* Anne's income for her.
l6 9 J - Mary II. of England. 385
[A.D. 1691.] At the beginning of the following year
the king embarked for the Hague, leaving the same nine
lords to advise and assist the queen as before. A plot for
the restoration of James II. had been discovered ; but that
did not detain William after his arrangements were per-
fected for the war he was anxious to continue.
The very day after his departure the trial of Lord Pres-
ton and Mr. Ashton began. Both were implicated in this
plot, and both had occupied important positions in the
household of King James. Ashton was executed, but
Preston's life was spared in this way : Lady Catherine
Graham, a little girl nine years of age, was his daughter,
and loved him very dearly. During his trial she remained
at Windsor Castle, where she had lived up to that period
with her parents. The day after Lord Preston was con-
demned the queen found the child in St. George's gallery
gazing earnestly up at a picture of James II. Her mourn-
ful expression attracted the attention of Mary, who asked
little Catherine, " What she saw in that picture that made
her look at it so steadily ? "
" I was thinking," replied the child, " how hard it is that
my father must die for loving yours."
The queen's conscience was pricked by this answer, and
she signed Lord Preston's pardon.
But she may have had another reason for this good
deed, for Preston could tell all the particulars of the plot,
and did so. His evidence caused the punishment of many
of the nobility and clergy, and led to the imprisonment of
the queen's uncle, Lord Clarendon, who remained shut up
in the Tower as long "as Mary's regency lasted. Many
people were put to the torture who either had conspired
against their majesties or were suspected of doing so and
Bancroft, the Archbishop of Canterbury, besides other
Church of England clergymen, were deprived of their posi-
386 The Queens of England,
tions, because they refused to take the oath of allegiance
to William and Mary.
During these dreadful proceedings King William's life
had been in clanger on the coast of Holland, where a dense
fog prevented his making land as soon as he expected.
Hearing from some fisherman that he was not more than
a mile and a half from shore, the king resolved to be rowed
in his barge. The Duke of Ormond and some other noble-
men accompanied him. In a few moments the boat was
lost in the fog, and could neither approach the shore nor
return to the fleet. Night came on, and the waves dashed
over the king, as he lay in the bottom of the boat covered
up with his cloak. Some one expressed alarm at the situa-
tion, when William asked sternly, " What, are you afraid
to die with me ? " At daybreak the fog had risen, and the
party in the royal barge landed.
The king met with a grand reception at the Hague ; for
this was his first appearance there since he had mounted
the British throne, and the Dutch considered that he had
made the conquest of Great Britain. They hailed him
"The Conqueror," which was not a pleasant sound to the
Englishmen who had accompanied him.
After a stay of three months William returned to Eng-
land for a supply of money and troops, and arrived just in
time to see the Palace of Whitehall burned to the ground.
Queen Mary barely escaped with her life, for she was a
sound sleeper, and had not been aroused until the fire was
well under way in the part of the palace she occupied.
The enemity between Mary and Anne was kept alive by
several disagreeable circumstances, and encouraged by the
partisans of each.
We have seen what influence Lord Marlborough and his
wife exerted over the Princess Anne. Their ambition
prompted them to prefer a request through her that the
l6 9* Mary II. of England. 387
Order of the Garter might be bestowed on the earl as a
reward for his military merit. This was refused by Queen
Mary, and Marlborough was so enraged that he at once
set to work to conspire for the downfall of herself and the
king. As he was one of the council of nine appointed to
assist the queen in governing, her position became danger-
ous, particularly as Marlborough wrote James II., " That
he regretted his crimes against him, and would bring the
Princess Anne back to her duty at the least word of en-
couragement."
James's only reply was, " That his good intentions must
be proved by deeds rather than words."
The result was a very dutiful letter written by Anne to
her father ; but as Lady Fitzharding acted as a spy for the
king, both he and Queen Mary knew all about the letter
long before it reached its destination. It was written
near the end of the year, and shortly after William's return
from Flanders, where some bloody battles had been fought
and a great number of lives had been lost among the
English troops ; so his majesty's temper was not sweet-
ened in the least.
When it was Marlborough's turn to act as gentleman of
the bed-chamber he began his duties, but was soon dis-
missed, and afterwards received a message, "that the
king and queen desired Lord Marlborough to absent him-
self from their presence for the future."
This made Princess Anne very angry ; but her anger was
changed to alarm, when she was informed by an anonymous
letter that the next step of the government would be to
imprison Lord Marlborough, and added a warning as to
the treachery of Lady Fitzharding. The king and queen
brought no charge ; because, if they had dared openly to
accuse Marlborough of trying to effect a reconciliation
between Anne and her father, many of their subjects would
have followed his example.
388 The Queens of England.
[A.D. 1692.] Shortly after her husband's dismissal,
Lady Marlborough attended Princess Anne to a court re-
ception. The next day Queen Mary wrote her sister that
not only must the lady not appear again at court, but she
must be at once dismissed from her service, because her
presence at the Cockpit gave Lord Marlborough an excuse
for appearing where he was forbidden to come.
Anne wrote her sister a letter full of remonstrance,
praising the virtues of Lady Marlborough, and refusing to
part with her. The only reply she got was an official mes-
sage from Queen Mary, warning Lord and Lady Marlbor-
ough to remain no longer at the palace.
But Anne was determined not to part with her favorite,
so politely informed the queen rather than do so she her-
self would depart. She then applied to the Duchess of
Fomerset for the loan of her Sion house for the summer,
and received the reply, " that Sion house was entirely at
her service."
King William had requested the Duke of Somerset not
to grant the demand of Princess Anne ; and finding that
he had not been obeyed, he determined on a petty revenge,
rather unusual with him. He ordered that Anne should
be deprived of the guards that had attended her ever since
her father had allowed her to set up an establishment of
her own. This was a serious matter, because highwaymen
infested all the roads in the vicinity of London, and the
princess was really stopped once when driving out, and
robbed of all the jewels and money she had with her.
The king and queen were very much censured for allowing
their sister to go about in such an unprotected state.
This was done by means of placards and circulars ; for
there were no daily papers in those days for the expression
of public opinion, and, as a rule, they were made out in
rhyme. Sometimes they were set to music and sung about
the streets or in the various coffee-houses.
1692. Mary a O f England. 389
William returned to his Flemish campaign again in
March, and left his wife to govern alone for the third time.
Previous to his departure he had signed the warrant which
authorized the massacre of Glencove. A hundred men,
women, and children were slaughtered in cold blood in
this Highland glen ; but William was probably ignorant
of the details of this atrocious crime, which cast a dark
shadow over his glory. He may have thought that the
intention of his agents in Scotland was merely to extirpate
a band of thieves, but such was not the case ; theirs was an
act of outrageous cruelty prompted by revenge, and Wil-
liam was too much interested in his campaign to pay much
attention to it.
One of Mary's first public acts after her husband's
departure was to review a band of ten thousand men in
Hyde Park, who were destined to defend the capital in
case of an invasion from France. Next she sent Russell,
an arrogant, dishonest politician, in charge of the English
navy, to combine with the Dutch fleet in opposition to the
French. It was necessity that compelled the queen to
choose Russell for her admiral : she would have preferred
the more able Marlborough ; but as he was now an open
enemy, ready at a moment's notice to fly to the side of
King James, that could not be.
Princess Anne was seriously ill a short time after, and
the queen went to see her as soon as she heard of it ; but
instead of talking kindly to her sister, and expressing sym-
pathy, she merely sat by her bedside for a few moments,
and then said : " I have made the first step towards recon-
ciliation by coming to you, and I now hope that you will
make the next by dismissing Lady Marlborough." The
remark was certainly ill-timed, and no doubt the queen
regretted it later ; but she never told her sister so, and
they remained enemies to the end. Anne's reply, which
390 The Queens of England.
was made in a weak, trembling voice on account of her
illness, was : " I have never in my life disobeyed your
majesty but in this one particular, and I hope at some
time or other it will appear as unreasonable to your
majesty as it does now to me." Queen Mary immediately
arose and took her departure, but repeated to Prince
George, as he was leading her to her carriage, precisely
what she had said to his wife. An attack of fever followed
her sister's visit, and for several days Anne's life was
despaired of, but she recovered at last. No sooner was
her convalescence established, however, than she was
thrown into a dreadful state of distress, because the queen
had ordered Marlborough to be arrested and hurried off to
the Tower. The charge brought against him was that he
was in correspondence with the court at St. Germain;
and while the French invasion threatened Mary thought
best to secure herself against his treachery by putting him
safely out of the way.
Princess Anne considered herself a very ill-used sister,
and never lost an opportunity of appearing in the attitude
of injured innocence, so she wrote to Stillingfleet, Bishop
of Worcester, and requested him to come to her. He
obeyed, and she showed him a letter she had written her
sister, the queen, in which she requested permission to
wait upon her majesty, but dared not do so without it,
because of the displeasure she had incurred. At the con-
clusion of the letter the princess added, that she would not
think of returning to the Cockpit to live unless it was
agreeable to her majesty. Anne's reason for sending this
submissive document through the Bishop of Worcester,
was that she wanted everybody to know she had tried to
act in a friendly manner towards her sister.
After reading the letter the bishop consented to be the
bearer of it, and the reply he brought back was decided
and formal.
DUKE AND DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH.
1692. Mary II. of England. 393
The queen stated that she had done all towards a recon-
ciliation that she meant to do, and that if Princess Anne
would not consent to the dismissal of Lady Marlborough
she need not trouble herself to come to court; for she
would not be received.
Knowing that in the circumstances a residence at the
Cockpit would be anything but agreeable, Anne retained
it only for those of her attendants who were not obnoxious
to the government, and leased Berkeley House for herself.
Then she wrote to Lady Marlborough, who was with her
husband, and related all that had happened, closing her
letter with assurances of undying devotion and a desire
soon to be reunited.
The battle of La Hogue was so decided a success for the
English navy that it restored some of its lost credit. Queen
Mary was well pleased with the valor of her sailors, and
sent thirty thousand pounds in gold to be distributed among
them, and a gold medal to each of the officers. But she
deserves credit for a still worthier deed ; she ordered the
unfinished palace of Greenwich to be fitted up for the
wounded seamen, and every possible care to be taken of
them.
After the victory of La Hogue the queen made an effort
to keep alive the popular enthusiasm by receiving addresses
of congratulation, dressed in her regal robes, and by re-
viewing the militia and artillery companies in person. But
she was at the same time guilty of several acts of tyranny
in causing the death of those whom the jury had failed to
convict.
She kept Lord Marlborough shut up in the Tower as long
as possible, and only released him at last on bail. .Mean
while, Princess Anne was deprived of the society of her
favorites, but she frequently wrote to Lady Marlborough,
and referred to the king as "Caliban," or "that Dutch
394 The Queens of England.
monster"; she sometimes mentioned her little son, the
Duke of Gloucester, and said that she patiently awaited the
bright day when he should arrive at man's estate, so that
England might flourish again.
In order to rid the metropolis of burglars, and the
neighboring roads of highwaymen, Queen Mary issued a
proclamation offering forty pounds a head for such of-
fenders. This led to the execution of an enormous number
of people without remedying the evil, and the reward thus
obtained was called "blood-money." Queen Mary's order
was meant to benefit her subjects, but it proved a serious
evil, for the prisons were soon filled to overflowing, and the
jailers and thief-catchers played into each other's hands,
and often punished innocent people for the sake of the
" blood-money." They managed in this way : One of the
villains would pretend to be a professional robber, and
entice a couple of youths or. dishonestly inclined men to
join him in waylaying and robbing a certain party. That
party would of course be a confederate, who would follow
up the dupes, trace the stolen property with the assistance
uf the originator of the crime, and by that means cause
two arrests and executions, for which the human fiends
would receive eighty pounds. Then the chiefs engaged in
the plot would meet and divide the spoils at an entertain-
ment to which they gave the name of " the blood-feast."
The executions under this system amounted to as many
as forty a month in the city of London alone. Another evil
which exists to this very day is to be traced to William and
Mary's reign ; it is the establishment of gin-shops. William
gave encouragement to the manufactories of spirituous
liquors, the imbibing of which is the source of most of the
crime and sorrow of the world, and any one who has
noticed the number of gin-shops in London, and the drink-
ing saloons in other cities, can scarcely be blind to the evil
they tend to promote.
' 6 93- Mary II. of England 395
Before King William returned to England again much
blood had been shed, and the wealth of both France and
Great Britain was nearly exhausted. When Louis XJV.
was discussing the probable termination of the war he
said : " Ah, the last guinea will carry the victory." He was
right, for the people of both countries were heavily taxed,
and it was only a question who should hold out longer with
their guineas.
Whenever the king was with her, Mary abandoned all
government cares, and took to needlework, in which she was
imitated by her ladies. Her favorite occupation in this line
was the making of knotted fringe of white flax-thread, that
no doubt closely resembled the macrame lace of the pres-
ent day. The Dutch ladies knitted, and even took their
work to church, and kept their fingers employed while
listening to a sermon.
[A.D. 1693.] King William's return from Flanders was
celebrated by a grand thanksgiving dinner at Guildhall, and
another at the armory of the Tower, where their majesties
dined in state, and were waited on by the master architects
and workmen in masonic aprons and regalia. It was the
king's policy to gain favor with his English subjects, because
he had only come among them for more supplies, and was
off again within four months, to remain until towards the
end of the year.
During that interval Queen Mary's navy met with two
disastrous defeats, and the king had lost the hard-fought,
bloody battle of Landen in Flanders. The people of Eng-
land were groaning under the weight of heavy taxation, and
general dissatisfaction \vith the government was openly ex-
pressed. There had been several dishonest prime ministers ;
but previous to his departure the king appointed Charles
Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, to that important position.
We have not said anything about the little Duke of
396 The Queens of England.
Gloucester for a long time ; but it must not, therefore, be
supposed that he was forgotten either by his mother or his
royal aunt. He lived at Campden House, and was taken
daily to visit the queen whenever she was at Kensington.
[A.D. 1694.] Princess Anne was very desirous that her
son should be made a Knight of the Garter ; but her rela-
tions with the queen were such that she dared not ask it.
However, she sent the prince to visit her majesty one day
with a broad blue ribbon passed over his shoulder and fas-
tened down on the left side as a reminder. No notice was
taken of it ; but the child had evidently been taught that
something was to be accorded him in connection with the
ribbon, for when the queen offered him a brilliantly-colored
bird, he looked very sober, and said, " He would not rob
her majesty of it."
When he had attained his fifth year, the prince's mother
thought it high time that he should be put into masculine
attire, and consulted her husband about it, saying that the
clothing he was wearing interfered with his military amuse-
ments. An order was accordingly given to Lady Fitzhard-
ing, who procured for the child a suit of white cloth with
silver loops and buttons, and a periwig. Under his waist-
coat he wore a stiff corset that hurt him dreadfully. His
tailor, Mr. Hughes, was sent for to remedy the trouble, and
when he appeared at Campden House he was surprised to
find himself surrounded by a score of mimic soldiers,
the little prince having summoned his regiment to punish
the man who had caused him pain. There is no telling
how far the little urchins would have gone, for they were
beating and mauling Mr. Hughes at a great rate, when
Lewis Jenkins, the usher, appeared to inquire into the
cause of the racket. An explanation followed, and, upon
the tailor's givin^ a faithful promise that he would alter the
stays to fit his little highness, he was released.
1694- Mary II. of England. 397
One day the little regiment was busily drilling in Ken-
sington Gardens, while the king and queen watched
their movements with a great deal of interest. Suddenly
the Duke of Gloucester approached his uncle, and gravely
offered himself and his whole troop for the Flemish war.
Then turning to Queen Mary, he added : " My mamma
once had guards as well as you ; why has she not now ? "
Her majesty colored and looked surprised, while the king
offered the drummer of the regiment two guineas as a
reward for the noise he could make ; whereupon the little
fellow drowned any further awkward questioning. Of
course, Queen Mary knew very well that the prince could
not remember when his mother's guard had been dismissed,
therefore all the knowledge he had of it was what he had
heard from his parents.
The Duke of Gloucester's soldiers were often a nuisance
to the neighborhood ; for on their way home after drill they
would enter houses on the road to London, and help them-
selves to any dainty bit of food the larder happened to
contain. This they did in imitation of the soldiers quar-
tered in the vicinity of London, and felt especially privi-
leged as " Gloucester's men." Like most people who ape
others, it was the bad qualities these little boys selected.
Next time King William returned from Flanders he
found the bribery and corruption in his government just as
bad as ever, and the new prime minister worse than the
old ones had been. Parliament was opened, and charges
of the gravest character were brought even against the
queen's immediate attendants, in some of whom she re-
posed the utmost confidence. This was a source of great
trouble to Queen Mary, and in the midst of it Archbishop
Tillotson fell dead in the pulpit one Sunday while perform-
ing the service.
Christmas was approaching, and the royal pair decided
398 The Queens of England.
to spend it quietly at Kensington Palace. By the twentieth
of December the queen was so ill that she must have had
some doubts as to her recovery, for she sat up at her secre-
tary the whole night examining and burning papers that she
desired nobody to see. Perhaps this occupation aggravated
her illness, for she grew worse, and two days later was con-
sidered in danger. Princess Anne sent to ask permission
to wait on her majesty. The message was delivered to the
first lady-in-waiting, who went into the bed-chamber where
the queen lay, and in a few moments returned with the
message, " That the king would send an answer the next
day."
But the only message received by the Princess Anne was
a request to postpone her visit, because it was necessary to
keep the queen as quiet as possible. The king was so dis-
tressed at his wife's danger that he had his camp-bed
removed to her room, and remained with her night and
day.
At last Archbishop Tennison, who had replaced Tillot-
son, informed the queen that her end was drawing near.
She was not at all surprised, and said, " That she thanked
God she had left nothing to the last hour ; she had then
nothing to do but to look up to God and submit to His
will."
Then the last rites of the church were administered ; but '
the queen did not die until the twenty-eighth of December,
in the sixth year of her reign, and the thirty-third of her
age. Not a word had the dead woman left for the sister
with whom she had quarrelled ; not an expression of sorrow
or regret for the father whom she had injured.
All the members of the House of Commons marched in
the funeral procession, and Queen Mary was interred at
Westminster Abbey.
Queen Mary had desired to convert Greenwich Palace
l6 94- Mary II. of England. 399
into a retreat for seamen, which work she had begun after
the battle of 'La Hogue, as we have seen. After her death
King William reproached himself for having neglected her
wishes in this respect. He lost no time in ordering a plan
which was supplied by the well-known architect, Christopher
Wren, and soon a magnificent building arose in place of
the one that had been burned down. The king did not live
to see the completion of this asylum, otherwise a statue of
the real foundress would have graced the court. However,
the building itself is a noble monument to the memory of
Queen Mary II.
CHAPTER XII.
ANNE, QUEEN-REGNANT OF GREAT BRITAIN AND
IRELAND. (A.D. 1694-1714.)
WE have already heard a great deal about Anne, because
up to the death of her sister, Queen Mary, their lives are
so closely connected that it is impossible to understand
some of the incidents without mentioning both sisters.
The death of Mary brought Princess Anne more into public
notice as heir presumptive to the throne, though it was
many years before she became Queen of England. Here-
tofore, as we have seen, she lived like a private person at
Berkeley House, and had not even been permitted to
appear at court, because of the ill-feeling that existed be-
tween her and her sister Mary. Lord and Lady Marl-
borough, whose devotion to Princess Anne had seriously
offended the queen, still continued her warm friends, and
the princess wrote letters to her father filled with pro-
fessions of loyalty and affection as before. King James
did not attach much importance to them ; but how could he,
poor man, after the sad experience he had had. He knew
perfectly well that his daughter merely consulted her own
interest whether she appeared in the light of his friend or
his enemy ; for never was a father worse treated than poor
James had been by both his daughters.
The Duke of Gloucester was with his mother when
Queen Mary's death was announced, and his attendants
were surprised at the indifference he manifested. He had
been fond of his royal aunt ; but as he was only five years
400
ANNE OF ENGLANI
l6 94- Anne of England. 403
of age, he could not comprehend the full significance of
death, and like most children, was more interested in those
people and objects that immediately surrounded him. It
was otherwise with his mother, for she and her sister had
loved each other devotedly in early years ; and when the
grave closed over Queen Mary's body, all enmity was for-
gotten, and Princess Anne could only remember that a
once fondly loved relative was irrevocably lost. The old
affection returned, and she wept bitter tears. The memory
of her sister made her heart warm towards King William,
whom she had thoroughly detested for several years. Per-
haps his desperate grief touched her, for he shut himself
up in Kensington Palace and gave vent to the most agoniz-
ing sobs. Those who knew him best were surprised that a
man of his disposition could take sorrow so to heart; but
he had lost a devoted wife and friend, one who had sought
to place him in the foremost ranks on every occasion, and
to gain for him the credit and praise that was really due to
her own superior talent for ruling. William III. was well
aware of this, and of the fact that henceforth his hold on the
crown was by no means secure. His only right to his lofty
position was through his wife, and now that she was re-
moved might not a breath deprive him of it ? While the
war lasted he was compelled to absent himself from Eng-
land nearly half the year. Hitherto Queen Mary had
supplied his place, who was to do so now ? His position
seemed difficult and dangerous. One day, when he was
sitting alone with his head bowed down in grief, Lord
Somers entered the room. The king took no notice of him
whatever. After waiting a few moments, Somers approached
and stated the cause of his intrusion, which was a proposi-
tion he desired to make that the hostility of the court to-
wards Princess Anne should terminate.
" My lord, do as you please ; I can think of no business,"
was the reply of the sorrow-stricken king.
404 The Queens of England.
Lord Somers chose to construe this undecided answer
into consent, and so set to work to negotiate a reconcilia-
tion through Lord Sunderland, by whose advice Princess
Anne was induced to write the following letter to the
king :
SIR, I beg your majesty's favorable acceptance of my sincere and hearty
sorrow for your great affliction in the loss of the queen. And 1 do assure your
majesty I am as sensibly touched with this sad misfortune as if 1 had never been
so unhappy as to have fallen into her displeasure.
It is my earnest desire your majesty would give me leave to wait upon you
as soon as it can be without inconvenience to yourself, and without danger of
increasing your affliction, that I may have the opportunity myself, not only of
repeating this, but assuring your majesty of my real intentions to omit no
occasion of giving you constant proofs of my sincere respect and concern for
your person and interest, as becomes, sir,
Your majesty's affectionate sister and servant, ANNE.
The princess must have felt her welfare at stake as well
as that of her son ; otherwise she could not have been in-
duced to write so dutiful a letter to the brother-in-law who
had treated her so unkindly for many years. It was Arch-
bishop Tennison who took it upon himself to deliver the
letter, and at the same time to say all he could in praise of
the disinterested conduct of the princess during the period
when she was debarred from appearing at court. King
William knew better, but gave the archbishop credit for
-honesty, and concluded that he might with safety trust to
the fidelity of Anne now, because her interest was closely
linked with his own. He therefore sent her some of the
late queen's jewels, in token of reconciliation, and appointed
an interview at Kensington Palace.
Anne was in such a dreadful state of health, and so
puffed up with dropsy, that she had to be carried to the
presence-chamber in a chair. Both she and the king were
affected to tears when they met, and after a few remarks
they retired to a private room, where they conversed for
1694-
Anne of England.
405
nearly three-quarters of an hour. The details of that in-
terview are not known ; but it is certain that the royal
brother and sister-in-law agreed to combine all their interests
against James II. and his son, and William further con-
sented to an amnesty with the Earl of Marlborough, for
whom he felt supreme
contempt. When Ben-
tinck was consulted as
to his opinion of the re-
conciliation, he warned
the king against putting
KENSINGTON PALACE.
any trust in the professions of either Marlborough or the
princess ; but he had withdrawn himself from the side of
his once beloved master for some mysterious reason, and
another was required to take his place> so in course of time
we shall find the much-despised earl courted and honored
by King William.
406 The Queens of England.
The reconciliation between Anne and the king had not
been effected too soon, for the Jacobites began to agitate
the question whether the princess was not the real Queen
of Great Britain and Ireland; and those provinces that
were not kept in subjection by the dread of a standing
army were prepared to rebel against a foreign king, who
held his position merely by permission of parliament.
These were all prepared to support Anne, with the hope
that once placed upon the throne she would not hesitate to
resign in favor of her father and brother, because her
friendly correspondence with the former was known.
Many important arrests were made, and many agitators
escaped from the kingdom. Anne continued writing to
her father, and made promises that she had no idea of ful-
filling ; but he was not deceived, though he deeply deplored
the alliance she had formed for the second time with his
enemy.
When William returned to Flanders he left no power in
the hands of Anne whatever, but the council of nine took
entire charge of government affairs, and the Archbishop of
Canterbury was one of their number.
King William's reign, contrary to the expectation of all
the statesmen of Europe, was decidedly more prosperous
and more tranquil after Queen Mary's death than it had
been during her life.
In course of time Princess Anne's health improved, and
she became a great huntress. This exercise was begun for
the cure of gout and dropsy, but was continued on account
of the pleasure the princess derived from it. She was too
fat to hunt on horseback, but went in a sort of sedan chair,
hung between two very high wheels, and drawn by one
horse. How the stag was ever brought down when hunted
from such an equipage is a mystery that experienced sports-
men may be able to solve.
1694. Anne of England. 407
The young Duke of Gloucester still lived at Campden
House, because it was considered a healthful spot, and his
health was so delicate that it was feared he might die if not
carefully watched. He had a disease called water on the
brain, which made his head larger than it ought to have
been, and often threatened to prostrate him. There were
times when he could not bear to go up or down stairs with-
out having a person to hold him on either side. This fancy
was indulged for a time, but at last it was attributed to
cowardice, for there was no one sufficiently well-informed
as to the nature of his disease to suspect that he felt dizzy.
His mother once shut herself up in a room with him for an
hour to try and reason him out of being led about, as he
was then past five years of age, but he obstinately refused
to stir alone until he was whipped again and again. The
fact of a child of his vivacity fearing to go up and down
stairs without assistance ought to have been sufficient evi-
dence that something was wrong with him ; but after the
whipping, which certainly ought not to have been admin-
istered to a person suffering from any disease of the brain,
the young prince dispensed with support, though his head
must often have ached and felt very confused. Prince
George of Denmark was particularly anxious that no in-
firmity should be observed in his son, because he could
not bear to have him held up to ridicule by the scribblers,
who considered no calamity sacred from the merciless
attacks of their pens. The brutal articles that appeared
daily against the " the young pretender " prompted him to
shield his son from similar ones by the opposite party.
That was all very well ; but disease cannot be whipped out
of anybody, and so the prince was encouraged to fight
against his malady until he became very ill. Doctor Racl-
cliffe was summoned from Oxford, and did all he could for
the little sufferer, who had a fever which kept him in bed
408 The Queens of England.
two whole weeks. But he was not permitted to be quiet,
for his small soldiers were constantly at his bedside blow-
ing their trumpets, beating drums, building toy fortifica-
tions, and making a great deal more noise most of the time
than was good for the invalid. The old nurse of Princess
Anne sent the sick boy a large doll dressed as a warrior by
one of his attendants named Wetherby. This present
occasioned much indignation among the young soldiers,
because it was full six months since any of them had con-
descended to play with toys of so effeminate a nature, and
sentence of destruction was immediately pronounced on the
doll. No sooner was it carried into effect than it was
decided that the messenger ought to receive punishment,
too.
[A.D. 1695.] But Wetherby knew what a rough lot of
boys surrounded the prince, and, taking warning by the
treatment the doll had received at their hands, hastened
down Campden-Hill and hid himself. In the afternoon
the unfortunate fellow was discovered and captured, four
grown men having been pressed into the service, and
locked up all night. The next morning he was brought
before the Duke of Gloucester, who pronounced his sen-
tence. Wetherby was forthwith bound, hand and foot,
mounted on a large hobby-horse and soused all over with
water from large syringes. This was all done for the
amusement of the duke ; and as Wetherby had taken part
on various occasions in playing similar jokes on the men
who assisted the boys, they showed him no mercy now.
When the poor prisoner was half-drowned, he was drawn
into the presence of the invalid, who enjoyed immensely his
woeful plight.
The following summer change of air was strongly recom-
mended for the royal boy by Dr. Radcliffe, and, after seek-
ing accommodation at several watering-places, the Princess
l6 95- Anne of England. 409
Anne decided to take him to Twickenham. There she was
offered three adjoining houses which belonged to Mrs.
Davies, a gentlewoman more than eighty years of age, who
had belonged to the court of Charles I. This lady was
bright, cheerful, healthy, and excessively pious. She was
simple in her habits, and had lived on fruit and herbs
nearly all her life. She was well-born and rich, and owned
a large estate, on which were planted a number of fine fruit
trees. Her cherries, which were just ripe when the prin-
cess went to Twickenham, were the finest in all the country
around ; and the old lady gave the people of the royal
household full permission to gather as many as they chose,
providing that they would not injure her trees, of which
she was very proud.
At the end of a month Princess Anne ordered her
treasurer to hand Mrs. Davies a hundred guineas for rent
and the trouble her people had given ; but the aged hostess
positively refused to accept a farthing, and when pressed
to receive the money, she indignantly arose, and, letting
the gold-pieces that had been placed in her lap, roll all
over the floor, quietly walked out of the room. The prin-
cess was astonished at such generosity, and declared that,
although it would have been a pleasure to her to reward
the old lady to the utmost of her power, her feelings must
not be hurt by a further offer of money.
The little Duke of Gloucester formed such a warm
attachment for Mrs. Davies that he loved to nestle in her
lap and confide to her all his secret woes. His younger
and fairer associates, who lavished flattery and attention
on him, were not half so attractive as the honest dame,
who, having nothing to gain or lose, always told him the
truth. The royal boy's religious education had not been
neglected ; prayers had been read to him twice every day
by his chaplain ; but he never knew what they meant,
4IO The Queens of England,
nobody had taken the trouble to explain them ; and he had
naturally paid little attention to what he had failed to
understand. Mrs. Davies soon comprehended where the
difficulty lay; and it was from her lips that the duke
learned the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Ten Command-
ments, and several hymns, all of which were carefully and
patiently explained until they were made clear to his infant
mind.
One Sunday, when the princess was preparing to go to
church, her son asked if he might accompany her. She
was surprised, because he had never made such a request
before, but gave permission. Then the little Duke of
Gloucester ran to inform his governess, Lady Fitzharding,
who asked him if he would say the psalms, a performance
to which he had always objected.
" I will sing them," proudly replied the boy ; thus show-
ing the effect of his aged friend's instruction.
One day, while the princess was making her toilet, the
boy looked up into her face and asked : " Mamma, why have
you two chaplains, and I but one ? "
"Pray," returned the mother, with an amused smile,
" what do you give your one chaplain ? " She merely asked
this question to hear what sort of a reply her son would
make, and to find out whether he knew that the chaplains
of the royal household received no pay.
The little duke looked at her earnestly for a moment,
and then said : " Mamma, I give him his liberty ! "
The princess laughed heartily at the little boy's uncon-
scious repartee.
On his return to Campden House the Duke of Glouces-
ter found his soldier company posted as sentinels on guard,
and they received their commander with presented arms
and all the honors of war. After that the daily drill took
place regularly on an open plain, called Wormwood Com-
l6 95- Anne of England. ' 411
mon. One morning the duke fell with a pistol in his hand,
and hurt his forehead against it. The wound was still
bleeding when he reached Campden House, and the ladies
began to pity him ; but he put on a bold air and told them
" that a bullet had grazed his forehead > but that as a sol-
dier he could not cry when wounded."
There was so much ceremony observed among the royal
attendants all the time that Mr. 'Pratt, the tutor, considered
it an infringement of his rights when Jenkins, the Welsh
usher, undertook to give the Duke of Gloucester his first
lessons in fencing and mathematics.
The child ran to his mother every time he learned any-
thing new to make a display of his knowledge ; but Jenkins
was told to " mind his own business " by those who consid-
ered that he ought to be otherwise employed. Lady Fitz-
harding, in particular, found great fault with his filling the
duke's head with such " stuff " as mathematics, and seemed
to regard the figures drawn in geometry some sort of magic-
signs that savored of witchcraft. But her husband eased
her mind by assuring her that Lewis Jenkins " was a good
youth, who had read much, but meant no harm." The
princess ordered Lord Fitzharding to hinder Jenkins from
teaching her son anything, because he might get wrong
ideas, that it would be hard to correct when he began to
study according to the regular method.
Shortly after she saw the duke fencing with a wooden
sword, and defending himself against the attack of an im-
aginary foe. " I thought I forbade your people to fence
with you," observed her royal highness.
"Oh yes, mamma," replied the child; " but I hope you
will give them leave to defend themselves when I attack
them."
He never tired of hearing tales from ancient history, and
could recite many exploits of the heroes, much to the dis-
412 The Queens of England.
gust of the tutor, who knew that the knowledge had not
been imparted by him.
On the return of her brother-in-law in the autumn, Prin-
cess Anne wrote him a letter of congratulation on his con-
quest of Namur. The one she wrote after the death of the
queen had resulted so favorably to herself that she ex-
pected equally pleasant effects from the present one ; but
she soon found her mistake, for the king had come home
in a bad humor, and treated her letter with silent contempt.
Perhaps congratulations seemed out of place when he
remembered that the lives of twelve thousand men had
paid the cost of his victory, besides an enormous sum of
money.
A few weeks later he made a state visit to Campden
House, when the duke received him with military honors.
The king was very much amused, and asked the child
" whether he had any horses yet."
" Oh yes," replied he, " I have one live horse and two
dead ones."
" You keep dead horses', do you ? " asked his majesty.
" That is not the way with soldiers, for they always bury
their dead horses.''
The little duke was impressed by what his uncle had
said, and determined to be as much like a real soldier as
possible ; so he summoned his regiment as soon as the
king had departed, and buried his two hobby horses that
he had designated as dead ones. A Shetland pony, no
larger than a Newfoundland dog, was his riding animal.
During the "king's absence Princess Anne had received
all due honors, as first royal lady of the realm, and this
gratified her ambition entirely ; but when his majesty
thought fit to confer upon his favorite, Bentinck, and his
heirs forever, all the rights of the Princess of Wales, not
only was Anne justly indignant at seeing her son de-
l6 95- Anne of England. 413
prived of his privileges, but the whole country viewed the
action with extreme disfavor, and the House of Com-
mons contested it with great warmth. William III. was
compelled to revoke the grant; but the hard feeling it
had aroused in the mind of Princess Anne remained, and
his majesty took no pains to conciliate her. On the con-
trary, as soon as he was convinced that the removal of
his wife had not affected his position, he began to regret
the alliance he had formed with his sister-in-law, and
treated her with marked disrespect. He even forbade the
members of the clergy to bow before her previous to be-
ginning their sermons, according to the custom in the
Church of England at that time. To be sure, the Dean
of Canterbury and the rector of St. James's Church did
not pay the slightest attention to the prohibition, and the
princess always returned their salute with marked civility.
King William had become dreadfully irritable since the
death of his wife. We know that he was naturally surly
and ill-natured ; but his fondness for Holland gin excited
him to such a degree that he would cane his inferior ser-
vants if they chanced to neglect even the most trifling
duty. The way they tried to dodge his majesty when he
was in an unusually fractious mood was amusing, and the
members of the royal household called those who were
obliged to submit to the blows " King William's Knights
of the Cane."
A French servant, who had charge of his majesty's guns,
and who attended him in his shooting excursions in the
Hampden Court park, forgot one day to provide himself
with shot, although it was his duty to load the fowling-
piece. He did not dare to acknowledge his neglect, but
kept charging the gun with powder only, and every time
the king fired would exclaim, " I did never, no, never, see
his majesty miss before." Thus are petty tyrants invari-
ably deceived.
414
The Queens of England.
[A.D. 1696.] As the anniversary of King William's
birthday approached there was a flutter of excitement at
court, and all the beaux and belles of the English nobility
flocked to town to attend the grand reception that was to
take place. This was no pleasure to William, for he had
been aided in such matters by his wife, who had known bet-
ter how to conduct herself on such occasions than he did :
and now that he had to undertake a ceremony which he dis-
liked, with no one one to guide him, he felt his bereav-
HVNTING LODGE.
ment more deeply than ever. If he had been friendly
towards Anne he might have enlisted her services, and
escaped from some of the etiquette that was so irksome to
him. But instead of that, he actually treated her with no
more consideration than he showed to the wives of the alder-
men and common councilmen, and kept her waiting with
them for nearly two hours in the ante-chamber. This in-
sult was repeated on several similar occasions, until the
1696- Anne of England. 415
public began to murmur, and the English officials who
had access to the king took the liberty of reminding him
that her royal highness was his superior by birth, and that
the nation would not submit to his showing contempt
towards their princess. Then his majesty deemed it pru-
dent to alter his arrangements, and at the future receptions
the lord chamberlain was instructed to usher her royal
highness into the presence chamber immediately on her
arrival. After that, all her attendants were treated with
respect, and the king showed himself enough of a diplo-
matist to extend favors that would redound to his own
credit. He called at Campden House and requested Prin-
cess Anne and her husband to take possession of St. James's
Palace as soon as they pleased, and further surprised them
with the announcement that as a garter had fallen into his
possession by the death of Lord Strafford, he intended to
bestow it upon his nephew, the Duke of Gloucester. This
visit was succeeded by one from Burnet, the Bishop of
Salisbury, who came with the information that a meeting
of the Order of the Garter would be held on the sixth of
January, and asked the duke if the thought of becoming a
knight did not please him. f I am more pleased at the
king's favor," was the discreet reply.
It was King William himself who buckled on the little
duke's garter and presented the star, both of which he
was to wear daily forever aftej, though that office was
usually performed by one of the knights.
After resting for awhile in his mother's room on his re-
turn to Campden- House, the duke went to his play-room,
where he met Harry Scull, his favorite drummer. " Your
dream has come true, Harry," gladly announced the royal
boy. displaying his star and garter to his companion, who
had dreamed that he saw his commander so adorned.
At this period the duke's malady seems to have been
4 1 6 The Queens of England.
for a time arrested, for he looked well and was full of
animal spirits. This rendered his mother happier than she
had been in many a day, besides she was residing in the
palace of her ancestors, her rank was recognized by the
king and his government, and she regularly received a
liberal income. Windsor Castle was granted to her for her
summer residence, though it was occasionally shared by her
royal brother-in-law, who had reserved for his exclusive use
Hampton Court and Kensington Palace. There was only
one flaw in the happiness of Princess Anne at this period,
and that was a report that when the king returned from his
summer campaign there was a probability that he would
bring home a Dutch bride.
Meanwhile, the Duke of Gloucester was taken to Wind-
sor, for the first time, in company with his parents. The
princess ordered Mrs. Atkinson to show her son the royal
apartments in the castle, and to give him a description of
the pictures. The child was particularly pleased with St.
George's Hall, and clapped his hands with delight as he
declared that the noble apartment would be just the place
for him to fight his battles in. Next day four boys were
summoned from Eaton School to be the duke's companions.
They were young Lord Churchill, a mild, good-natured boy,
somewhat older than the duke, son of Lord and Lady
Marlborough, the two Bathursts, and Peter Boscawen.
As soon as they appeared, the duke proposed that a battle
should be fought in St. George's Hall, and sent for all his
pikes, swords, and muskets. The music gallery, and the
stairs leading to it, were to represent the castle that he
meant to besiege. Mrs. Atkinson and Lewis Jenkins were
in attendance, and both were expected to take part in the
battle. Young Boscawen and Peter Bathurst were the
enemy, and had been secretly requested not to hurt the
duke ; but in the heat of the fray the latter lost the sheath
l6 96- Anne of England. 417
from his sword, and before he made the discovery had
wounded the duke in the neck.
Jenkins stopped the battle to ascertain the nature of the
wound; but, staunching the blood with his handkerchief,
the youth rushed up the stairs into the enemy's garrison.
When the battle was over, the duke asked Mrs. Atkinson
if she had a surgeon near by.
" Oh, yes," she replied, " bustling about to revive the
soldiers who pretended to be dead or dying."
" Pray make no jest of it," urged the child, " for Peter
Bathurst has really wounded me in the battle."
The hurt was bathed and plastered up, and no serious con-
sequence resulted ; but there are not, I fancy, many boys
less than seven years of age who would have continued the
game, as the duke did, with the blood trickling from a
wound. The sight of blood terrifies some children. Not
so with the Duke of Gloucester ; for when he attended his
first hunt at Windsor Park, the deer's throat was cut, after
it had been shot, just at his feet. Then Mr. Massam, his
page, dipped his hand in the blood and smeared it all over
the duke's face. This excited great surprise ; but on being
informed that such was the custom at first seeing a deer
slain, the mischievous little duke dipped his hands in the
blood and besmeared the faces of Jenkins and all the
boys.
Princess Anne shrieked with terror one day when walk-
ing in the park with her husband to see her son roll down
the hill of one of the castle fortifications, but he reassured
her by declaring that when he was engaged in battles and
sieges he would have to get used to descending such
places. Prince George laughed, and always encouraged
the child to such exploits with the hope of thereby making
him more hardy.
July 24, being the Duke of Gloucester's birthday, a
41 8 The Queens of England.
grand banquet was given at St. George's Hall, at the king's
expense, to the Knights of the Garter. The princess was
present, and had the proud satisfaction of seeing her son
walk in procession with the other knights from St. George's
Chapel to the hall All the gentlemen wore their splendid
robes of the order, and took their places at the long tables
in accordance with their rank. The little duke appeared
in his plumes and all the gorgeous regalia that had been
provided for him, and comported himself among the full-
grown knights with wonderful dignity.
In the evening the princess gave a splendid ball, and
received all the nobility, many of whom came from dif-
ferent parts of the country to do honor to the occasion.
The town of Windsor was illuminated, bells rang out merrily,
and the bright blaze of bonfires lit up the surrounding
scene for a great distance. There were besides fireworks on
the terrace, which delighted the young duke beyond every-
thing. The entertainment concluded with a musical drama,
written expressly to celebrate the birthday.
A few days later another festival to celebrate the wed-
ding anniversary of Princess Anne and Prince George of
Denmark was held. In the morning the royal couple went
to visit their son, and found him superintending the firing
of his little cannon in honor of the day. Three rounds
were fired, which almost deafened the royal mamma, and
excited her fears because of the quantity of gunpowder the
duke had at his command. After this salute the boy
approached his parents of his own accord, and, making a
profound bow, said : " Papa, I wish you and mamma unity,
peace, and concord, not for a time, but forever." Of
course the parents were charmed with the courtesy and
respect of their little pet, and embraced him warmly.
Some hours later, Jenkins said to him : " You made a
fine compliment to their royal highnesses to-day, sir,"
r6 97- Anne of England. 419
whereupon the child returned, with gravity, " It was no
compliment ; it was sincere." Thus the little fellow con-
stantly made remarks far beyond his years, and excited the
wonder and admiration of all who surrounded him.
[A.D. 1697.] At the beginning of the new year great
excitement prevailed because of the discovery of a plot
against the life of the king. Sir John Fenwick was dis-
covered to be at the head of it, and was arrested on a
charge of high treason. When he found that he was to
suffer death without a regular trial, Sir John gave such
extraordinary evidence against the majority of the nobility,
including most of the king's ministers, whom he accused of
corresponding with James II., that it was said if half
of the number had been arrested for treason there would
not have been enough left to hang or behead the rest.
Marlborough was aimed at particularly ; but that could have
been no surprise to William, who knew that the earl not
only wrote himself during Queen Mary's lifetime, but
induced Princess Anne to do likewise. But his majesty
winked at this accusation, because he was convinced that
personal interest would now prompt the princess and her
party to continue loyal to him. Fenwick was beheaded on
Tower Hill, and all his revelations were quietly ignored,
but the king took pains to possess himself of all Sir John's
private papers. He also kept a remarkable sorrel shooting
pony that had belonged to him ; but of this animal we shall
hear more in the future.
Twelve gentlemen were executed the same year for plot-
ting to waylay William and kill him, in the midst of his
guards, on his return from a hunting expedition. The
public were on the alert for any bit of news they could
glean, and excitement ran high during the trials and execu-
tions, which took place at intervals throughout the year.
Associations were formed for the protection of the king,
420 The Queens of England.
and all sorts of addresses, containing assurances of loyalty,
were sent to him from corporations and private individuals.
The Duke of Gloucester was one of the latter. He caused
one of his soldiers, older than himself, to write the fol-
lowing document, to which he affixed his signature, for he
could read and write quite well for so young a person :
I, your majesty's most dutiful subject, had rather lose my life in your
majesty's cause than in any man's else, and I hope it will not be long ere you
conquer France. GLOUCESTER.
Another address from the same source, signed by all his
boy-soldiers and the various members of the household,
ran thus : " We, your majesty's subjects, will stand by you
while we have a drop of blood." Such proceedings on the
part of the little duke convinced William III. that the
princess was bringing up her son as his partisan, and that
at least was gratifying.
He honored the festival given on the anniversary of
Princess Anne's birth with his presence, and witnessed
the introduction at court of the young duke, who appeared
in a rich blue velvet coat. All the button-holes were
studded with diamonds, and each button was composed of
a superb brilliant, some of which had belonged to Queen
Mary, and were presented by the king to her sister after
her death.
When the boy had been installed as Knight of the
Garter, his majesty had presented him with a jewel worth
seven hundred pounds, which he wore also on this occa-
sion. His flowing white periwig did not detract from the
beauty of his clear bright complexion and soft blue eyes ;
and the little duke was the centre of attraction, surrounded
by a bevy of lords and ladies, who flocked to her royal
highness' drawing-room.
The king was very fond of his little nephew, and, indeed,
l6 9 8 - Anne of England. 421
of all children, as this anecdote goes to prove : He was
waiting one day in a private room for one of his secre-
taries, who was rather later than usual, when a gentle tap
was heard on the door. " Who is there ? " asked the
king. " Lord Buck," was the reply ; whereupon the king
arose, opened the door and beheld a little boy four years
of age. It was young Lord Buckhurst, son of the Lord
High Chamberlain.
" And what does Lord Buck want ? " asked William.
" I want you to be my horse ; I have waited for you a
long time."
With an amiable smile, his majesty took hold of the
wagon, and dragged the little noble up and down the long
gallery until he was satisfied. From the matter-of-fact way
in which this favor was received by the child, there was
ample proof that King William was not on duty as horse
for the first time.
[A.D. 1698.] Up to this year the education of the Duke
of Gloucester had been left in his mother's charge, because
he was by no means strong, and it was not considered
advisable to push him too fast. He had now arrived at
the age of eight, and like all other royal children he would
probably be given in charge to some great noble or clergy-
man. His mother dreaded the idea of parting with the
delicate child, whom she had reared with so much difficulty,
and was willing to make any sacrifice rather than to do so.
Parliament voted the enormous sum of fifty thousand
pounds per annum for the education and establishment of
the Duke of Gloucester, but the king had power to dispose
of the child. This was what alarmed the fond mother, for
she knew that if he chose to exercise this power his majesty
could annoy her excessively. It was therefore happiness
to find that he only insisted on two points : one was to
manage to pay out as little of the fifty thousand pounds
422 The Queens of England.
per annum, as possible ; the other was that Dr. Burnet,
Bishop of Salisbury, should fill the post of preceptor.
This appointment was by no means agreeable to the
princess, but the king was inexorable, and she was forced
to submit. The duke was to live at Windsor, and the
bishop was to have ten weeks of each year to attend to
duties that would oblige him to give his pupil a vacation.
Strange to -say, the Earl of Marlborough was appointed
chief governor to the young duke notwithstanding the
king's former hatred of him. But this is not so remarkable
as it may at first appear, if we consider that the majority of
the council of nine were Marlborough's friends, who knew
his power and the influence he exercised over the mind of
the heiress to the throne. The appointment was therefore
popular with them, particularly as he was of their number.
Then again, instead of believing for a moment that in the
event of his death, Marlborough and Princess Anne would
desire to recall King James or his son, the king calculated
that they would renounce any claim but that of the Duke
of Gloucester, over whose mind the earl would have
established an empire, and in whose interest he would
betray the distant heir. The appointment of Marlborough
was eminently satisfactory to the princess, and there were
few alterations made in the list she sent of other officers
for her son's household.
Lady Marlborough continued in the Princess Anne's
household, but after her husband's lofty appointment she
became somewhat arrogant and overbearing. The princess
could not help noticing this change, which extended even
to herself, and sometimes she would let fall a word or two
of complaint to Abigail Hill, an humble relation of Lady
Marlborough, to whom she was indebted for her position
at court.
[A.D. 1699.] During the next year or two Princess
I6 99- Anne of England 423
Anne continued her court with unusual splendor, while the
little duke studied so hard that all his vivacity disappeared,
and when he was ten years of age his face had a worn look,
old enough for a youth of seventeen at least, and pitiful
to behold.
We have said very little about the duke's father, for the
simple reason that he led an easy, luxurious sort of a life,
inoffensive and void of ambition. Somebody said of him :
" That, though he was not quite dead, he had to breathe
hard to prevent being buried, because nobody perceived
any other sign of life in him." Perhaps it would be well
for mankind if other princes were as quiet ; certainly he
spared himself a deal of trouble by not interfering with
public affairs.
We have seen that Bishop Burnet was appointed pre-
ceptor to the Duke of Gloucester ; he was at the same
time almoner to her majesty, the princess, and one of the
most conceited men that ever lived. He usually preached
at St. James's, and although Queen Mary had declared
that his were " thundering long sermons," he could not
comprehend why the ladies at court failed to give him
their undivided attention. It seems that the women of
the seventeenth century would cast sly glances at the
beaux in church, and examine the costumes of the belles
just as they do in the present one ; but Bishop Burnet
would not submit to such disrespect towards his own
sweet self. He wanted every eye fixed on him while he
preached ; so, after making several complaints to Princess
Anne, he at last hit upon a remedy which met with her
approval. It was to have the pews where the ladies sat
so barricaded with high railings that the occupants could
only see beyond them by raising their eyes, and as he was
the only high object when in the pulpit, they must look at
him or at no man Of course this arrangement excited
424 The Queens of England.
indignation of the fair damsels no less than of the courtiers,
one of whom vented his wrath by the composition of a
ballad that he took good care should come under the
notice of the intermeddling bishop. It ran thus :
" When Burnet perceived that the beautiful dames.
Who flocked to the chapel of holy St. James.
On their lovers alone their kind looks did be" nw.
And smiled not at him when he bellowed Ix'luw.
To the Princess he went,
With a pious intent,
This dangerous ill in the church to preven -
' Oh, madam,' he said, ' our religion is lost,
If the ladies thus ogle the knights of the toast.
" ' Your highness observes how I labor and sweat.
Their affections to raise and attention to get ;
And sure when I preach, all the world will agree.
That their eyes and their ears should be pointed at me
But now I can find
No beauty so kind,
My parts to regard or my person to mind ;
Nay, I scarce have the sight of one feminine face
But those of Old Oxford and ugly Arglass.
" ' These practices, madam, my preaching disgrace.
Shall laymen enjoy the just rights of my place ?
Then all may lament my condition so hard,
Who thrash in the pulpit without a reward.
Therefore pray condescend
Such disorders to end,
And to the ripe vineyard the laborers send,
To build up the seats that the beauties may see
The face of no brawling pretender but me.'
" The Princess by the man's importunity prest,
Though she laugh'd at his reasons allowed his request.
And now Britain's nymphs in a Protestant reign
Are locked up at prayers like the virgins in Spain."
[A.D. 1700.] The eleventh birthday of the Duke of
Gloucester was celebrated at Windsor with the usual
rejoicings. The boy reviewed his soldiers, received and
made preserfts, fired his cannon at intervals during the day,
1700- Anne of England. 425
and presided over a grand banquet in the evening. His sys
tem was very much run down by the strain of hard study, and
this day of excitement proved too much for him. The fol-
lowing morning found him with a sick headache and sore
throat, and towards night he became delirious. The fam-
ily physician reduced the little duke's vitality still further
by bleeding him according to the custom of the times.
He grew worse, and there was great lamentation in the
royal household because the princess's quarrel with Dr.
Radcliffe prevented his being summoned, for everybody
had confidence in his skill. At last a messenger was dis-
patched with a humble request to the doctor to visit the
little sufferer. After a great deal of urging he consented,
and pronounced the disease scarlet fever. He asked who
bled the duke. The physician in attendance replied that he
had done so. " Then you have destroyed him, and you
may finish him," said Radcliffe, " for I will not pre-
scribe."
Of course the learned man was much censured for wil-
fully refusing to save the child, but he knew only too well
that all his efforts would have been of no avail. Five days
after his birthday festival the little duke expired.
Lord Marlborough, who had gone to Althorpe, was sum-
moned to the sick bed of his youthful master, but arrived
too late.
The bereaved mother watched beside her dying boy to
the end, hoping against hope ; and when nothing remained
but his lifeless body, she arose, and with an expression of
sad resignation on her countenance, quietly left the room.
Then her thoughts were directed towards the father she
had wronged, and she wrote him a letter filled with the
most penitent expressions, and telling him that she looked
upon her cruel loss as a blow from Heaven in punishment
of her cruelty towards him. Retribution had come at last !
426 The Queens of England.
At that moment, when the object in whom all her hopes
were centered lay cold in death, Princess Anne yearned
for the sympathy of the parent who had ever been
most kind and indulgent to her, and she immediately sent
her letter to St. Germain by express.
Lord Marlborough forwarded the sad news to King
William, but his majesty made no reply for three whole
months. The reason for this neglect was because Anne
had written to her father, and the king found it out,
although it was managed, as she thought, very secretly.
William had always shown so much affection for his
nephew that his failing to send any message of condolence
or sorrow was the more remarkable.
The little duke's remains lay in state in the suite of
apartments he had occupied, and afterwards they were
removed to Westminster, to be interred in Henry VII. 's
Chapel. The English ambassador at the court of France
was placed in a very embarrassing position, because his
sovereign did not order him how to proceed with regard to
the Duke of Gloucester's death. The fact is William was
in a fit of temper, possibly caused by the sad event, and so
cared not how he perplexed others. Besides, although he
had loved the dead boy, he despised the parents, and paid
no more respect to their feelings than if they had lost a
favorite dog. At last, after the expiration of two months,
he ordered a fortnight's mourning, which was very little.
Three months after the death of the little duke, King
William condescended to write, not to the afflicted parents,
but to Lord Marlborough, and this is a copy of the remark-
able missive :
" I do not think it necessary to employ many words in
expressing my surprise and grief at the death of the Duke
of Gloucester. It is so great a loss to me, as well as to all
England, that it pierces my heart with affliction."
CHAPEL OF HENRY VII.
r 7 01 - Anne of England, 429
The same post carried a peremptory order that all the
salaries of the duke's servants should be cut off from the
day of his death.
[A.D. 1701.] Thus we see that the king's heart was not
so pierced with affliction as to prevent his having an eye to
economy. It was even suspected that it was the approach
of pay-day that prompted him to write at all ; but the
Princess Anne was so shocked at the king's meanness that
she resolved to pay the salaries of her dead boy's servants
out of her own purse rather than send them off at a
moment's notice. She returned to St. James's Palace
towards the end of the year, bowed down with desolation
and sorrow.
The death of the Duke of Gloucester was not much
lamented in the political world, for his existence had been
rather an obstacle to the designs of the various parties ; but
to his mother, aside from her deep sorrow, it proved an
event of the utmost importance ; for even in her own house-
hold her position was altered, and she was not treated with
the same deference as before.
Lady Marlborough was the first person by whom the change
was made apparent, though she of all others had most
reason to be grateful to Princess Anne. She had gone
with her husband to Althorpe, just a short time before the
little duke's death, to further a scheme that they had made
between them. King William's health was so poor that
they had reason to believe it would not be long before Anne
would replace him on the throne. When that should occur,
it was argued that she would be assisted in the government
by certain statesmen, who would shrink from any cooper-
ation with them, so chey planned a strong family alliance
that would greatly strengthen their influence. They were
aided by the sly politician, Sunderland, and by Lord Go-
dolphin, whose only son had, during the previous year,
430 The Queens of England.
married their eldest daughter. When this marriage took
place Princess Anne presented the bride with five thousand
pounds, and gave a similar sum to Lady Marl bo rough's
younger daughter, Anne Churchill, when she married Sun-
derland's son.
These two marriages formed the principal features in the
Marlborough scheme for their own advancement when the
proper time should come. For the purpose of doing away
with formality when writing to her favorite, it had been
early agreed that the princess should merely be addressed
as Mrs. Morley, and Lady Marlborough as Mrs. Freeman,
which brought them to the same level. Since her bereave-
ment Princess Anne had become more humble, and Lady
Marlborough more imperious. When the latter was ab-
sent she received three or four notes a day, some of
which were signed " your poor, unfortunate, faithful Mor-
ley." But the indulgence and kindness of the princess had
only spoiled the woman, who was so puffed up by pros-
perity as to render herself positively ridiculous. She even
went so far as to avert her face and turn up her nose when
she had any slight office to perform for her benefactress, as
though there was something about her person that produced
disgust. In course of time the princess began to notice
what others had seen for a long while ; but accident re-
vealed to her one day the extent to which the ungrateful
creature could go with her insults.
One afternoon when Princess Anne was at her toilet,
she requested Abigail Hill to fetch her a pair of gloves
from the table in the adjoining room. Miss Hill passed
into the room designated, leaving the door open behind
her. There sat Lady Marlborough reading a letter. Miss
Hill soon discovered that she had, by mistake, put on her
royal highness' gloves, and gently called her attention to
the fact. " My goodness ! " exclaimed Lady Marlborough,
I 7 l - Anne of England. 431
" have I on anything that has touched the odious hands of
that disagreeable woman ? Take them away quickly," and
she pulled off the gloves, which she threw violently to the
ground. Miss Hill picked them up without a word, and
left the room closing the door behind her. Lady Marl-
borough thus remained in ignorance that her disgraceful
speech had been overheard ; but Abigail Hill saw plainly
that not a word of it had been lost on the princess, who
never forgot or forgave the disgust manifested by the
woman on whom she had lavished affection and favors.
Fortunately, the princess had no other attendant besides
the one she had despatched for the gloves, so the incident
remained a secret for the time being. Lady Maryborough
was made to feel on several occasions that she had seri-
ously offended the princess, but was at a loss to know how
or when. She could not reaily have felt the disgust she
expressed, because Princess Anne was renowned all over
Europe for the beauty and delicacy of her hands and arms;
but perhaps it was envy.
Princess Anne had not taken off mourning for her son
when news arrived of the death of her father. This
event did not cause her a great deal of sorrow, nor did
she think fit to take the slightest notice of the request
he made in his farewell letter to her, that when William
should die she would make way for her brother on the
throne.
King William was at Loo, in Holland, when James II.'s
message of forgiveness was delivered to him, and he was
so impressed by it that he sat in moody silence the entire
day. That was his way of showing that he was painfully
affected ; but it did not remove the ill-feeling he felt to-
wards the dead king for refusing to permit him to adopt
his son, a request he had made after the death of the
Duke of Gloucester. Neither did it prevent his issuing a
43 2 The Queens of England.
bill accusing the young Prince of Wales, a boy of twelve,
of high treason. But he put on mourning for his uncle,
and ordered his footmen and coaches to appear in black.
All the nobles and the court of England imitated him,
and mourning became the fashion.
His majesty returned to England, as usual, in the autumn,
and left the Earl of Marlborough in command of his mili-
tary forces in Holland, feeling certain, as he said, that the
talents of that general would enable, him to continue in his
stead should his death occur. And it did not seem far off,
for William had been seriously ill, the effects of which had
so reduced his already enfeebled frame that all who saw
him knew he was not long for this world. Nevertheless,
he busied himself with preparations for involving England
in a war with France, the object being to divide Spain into
three parts, to be claimed by Austria, Holland, and Eng-
land. This was to prevent Louis XIV. from becoming too
powerful by his influence over his grandson, who was heir
to the Spanish throne.
It was no other than John Fenwick's sorrel pony that
brought William's warlike projects to a close. And this
is how he did it : His majesty was fond of the pretty animal,
and rode on him daily while superintending the excava-
tion of a canal in Hampden Court grounds. It was on
the twenty-first of January that he was riding about as
usual, when suddenly the pony stuck one foot in a mole
hill and fell, throwing his majesty over on his right shoulder,
and breaking his collar bone. Some workmen assisted
him to rise, and carried him to the palace, where the
broken bone was soon set. The accident might not have
proved serious had not William, with his usual obstinacy,
insisted on driving to Kensington that night. The jolting
of the carriage displaced the fractured bone, and he ar-
rived in a state of exhaustion and suffering. The opera-
I 7 l - Anne of England. 435
tion had to be repeated, but it was several days before the
patient could move. Even then his mind was filled with
revenge, for he sent a message to parliament urging them
to lose no time in passing the charge of high treason
against little James Stuart, that had been under con-
sideration since the preceding January. The very last
act of this mighty monarch was the signing of this bill,
to which he affixed his stamp a few hours before his
death.
On the first of March the royal sufferer was seized with
cramps, but improved sufficiently to be able to walk in the
gallery of Kensington Palace a few days later. Feeling
fatigued from the exercise, he threw himself on a lounge
and fell asleep in front of an open window. Two hours
later he awoke with a chill, the precursor of death. Both
the Prince and Princess of Denmark made repeated efforts
to see the dying king, but to the very end he framed his
lips into an emphatic " no ! " every time the request was
made. No one was admitted to the sick-room besides
physicians and nurses, excepting the old favorites Bentinck,
and Keppel, Earl of Albemarle. The latter arrived from
a mission to Holland just before the king lost his speech,
and gave his royal master information of the progress of
his preparations for the commencement of war in the
Low Countries. For the first time the dying warrior
listened to such details with cold indifference, and at their
close merely said : " I draw towards my end." Then
handing Keppel the keys of his writing-desk, he bade that
favorite take possession of the twenty thousand guineas it
contained, and directed him to destroy all the letters en-
closed in a certain cabinet.
The next morning, when Bentinck entered the room, the
king was speechless but conscious. He took his old
friend's hand and pressed it to his heart for several min*
436 The Queens of England.
utes, and then expired. After his death a bracelet of Queen
Mary's hair, tied with black ribbon, was found on his left
arm.
William III. was fifty-one years old, and had reigned
thirteen years.
CHAPTER XIII,
BISHOP BURNET had watched at Kensington with a host
of other clergymen and lords for the king's last gasp, and
then hastened to St. James's Palace to be the first to pros-
trate himself before the new queen. But he was disap-
pointed ; for the .Earl of Essex, lord of the bedchamber,
whose duty it really was to communicate the news, had
forestalled him. Burnet had never been popular with
Anne, and on her accession he was treated with marked
indifference, and turned out of his lodgings at court.
[A.D. 1702.] All was business and bustle on that Sun-
day that witnessed the death of William III. The queen
was receiving the crowd of politicians that filled her ante-
chamber, anxious for a private audience before her recog-
nition by the privy council took place
Among others, the queen's old uncle, the Earl of Clar-
endon, sent in his name and requested "admittance to his
niece."
Her majesty's reply was, " That if he was prepared to
take the oath of allegiance to her as sovereign she was
willing to receive him."
Queen Anne answered thus because she remembered the
nature of her uncle's former conversations with her, and
knew that he had come to urge her to make way for her
brother, the Prince of Wales. His reply confirmed this,
for he said : " No, I come to talk to my niece ; I shall take
437
438 The Queens of England.
no other oath than I have taken." He remained true to
this decision to the day of his death.
But Queen Anne had another uncle, who was not quite so
loyal to King James's son ; this was Lord Rochester, who
had been one of Queen Mary's ministers of state, and
shared with Anne the government of her kingdom like-
wise.
Both houses of parliament met and made speeches suit-
able to the occasion, then presented addresses of congratu-
lation to the queen on her accession. She received them
with much grace and dignity ; and although she did not say
much, everybody was impressed by the remarkable sweet-
ness of her voice, which possessed a magic charm.
A general mourning was ordered by the privy council for
the deceased king ; but as Queen Anne was already wear-
ing black for her father, she chose purple to distinguish
this occasion, and appeared in that color the day after
William III. died.
On the eleventh of March Queen Anne went in solemn
state, attended by Lady Marlborough and two other ladies,
to the House of Lords. She ascended the throne in her
royal robes, and made an address that had been prepared
by her ministers, concluding with a promise to do all in her
power for the happiness and prosperity of England. Lord
Marlborough carried the sword of state before her royal
highness, who, at the close of the session, returned with
Prince George to St. James's Palace.
The Scotch council was summoned, and Anne was pro-
claimed by Lord Lyon, king-at-arms, as Anne I. Queen of
Scotland. Then her majesty appointed April 23 for her
coronation; and parliament voted her the same revenue
that had been granted to King William.
There were those who were delighted at the accession of
Queen Anne ; but the Dutch colony at Kensington were
i7 2 - Anne of England. 439
not of the number. The body of King William had been
embalmed and removed to the prince's chamber at West-
minster, where it lay in state ; and the queen, with her hus-
band, immediately took possession of the royal apartments
at Kensington. There was something repulsive in this,
though the room in which the king had breathed his last
remained undisturbed for many years.
After a great deal of discussion it was decided that the
interment of King William's body should take place pri-
vately, and April 12, at midnight, was the time appointed.
The procession started from Kensington, and was headed
by an open chariot with the customary wax effigy seated as
though the coffin had been beneath ; but it was only placed
there when the procession reached Westminster.
During the funeral service the body was deposited in
Henry VIII. 's Chapel, and afterwards it was interred in the
same vault with Queen Mary II.
Among her appointments, Queen Anne made the Duke
of Devonshire lord-steward of her household ; the Earl of
Jersey, lord-chamberlain ; Sir Edward Seymour, comp-
troller; and Peregrine Bertie, vice-chamberlain. Prince
George was appointed to the high office of commander-in-
chief of all the forces, both by sea and land. Lord Go-
dolphin requested that her majesty would be pleased to re-
instate Dr.- Radcliffe ; but she replied, " No ! Radcliffe
shall never send me word again when I am ill that my ail-
ments are only vapors." Lady Marlborough used her in-
fluence to have Bentinck expelled from his office as keeper
of the park at Windsor, with the least possible delay ; for
he had never been friendly to either herself or the queen,
and such a chance for revenge could scarcely be over-
looked.
The public mind was soon occupied with the approach-
ing coronation. Prince George was to take no part in it as
440 The Queens of England.
sovereign, but in the previous reign he had been created
Duke of Cumberland, a title that placed him at the head
of the list of peers, and gave him precedence of them all.
At eleven o'clock on coronation morning the queen was
carried in her sedan chair from St. James's to Westminster
Hall, where she rested in a private room while the heralds
marshalled the several classes of nobility according to their
rank. Prince George of Denmark was preceded by the
Archbishop of Canterbury, and the lord keeper of the
Great Seal. He walked just in front of the queen with her
state attendants, garter-king-at-arms, the lord mayor, and
the high steward of England. The queen wore on her
head a gold band set with costly gems, and her train was
borne by the Duchess of Somerset, assisted by four young
ladies of the bed-chamber, and the lord chamberlain. But
this train must in some way have been made to hang from
her majesty's chair, for she was suffering so much from gout
in her feet that she could not walk in the procession.
These attendants and train-bearers conducted her from the
waiting-room to the grand hall, where she was placed
beneath the canopy near the table, on which were spread
the regalia. Lord Carlisle, the Duke of Devonshire, and
the lord high-constable stood in readiness to distribute the
various articles on the table to the persons appointed to
carry them whenever her majesty should give the order.
As soon as this part of the ceremony was performed, the
procession moved on to the Abbey, the path all the way to
the royal platform in the church being covered with blue
cloth, and strewn with evergreens and flowers. A company
of guards lined the walk, consequently the cloth was not
torn to bits to be distributed among the rabble, as had been
the case at previous coronations. From Westminster Hall
to the Abbey the train-bearers were, as before, the Duchess
of Somerset, a personal friend to the queen, and wife of
Anne of England. 441
the nearest relative of the blood royal then in England,
Lady Elizabeth Seymour, Lady Mary Hyde, and Lady
Mary Pierrepoint, then a girl of thirteen, who later was
known in the literary world as Lady Mary Wortley Mon-
tague. The queen was escorted by Lord Jersey, supported
by the Bishops of Durham and Exeter, and guarded by the
late king's favorite, Keppel, Earl of Albemarle, who was
still retained as captain of the royal guard. He was the
only member of King William's Dutch colony who had
ever shown civility to the queen, and she showed her grati-
tude by continuing him in office. The coronation ceremony
was conducted on the same plan as all the others we have
recorded, therefore it is unnecessary to repeat the details.
The ring used on this occasion was a superb ruby, on which
was engraved the cross of St. George. It was placed on
the fourth finger of her majesty's right hand. The cere-
mony concluded with the peers, archbishops, and prelates,
headed by the Duke of Cumberland, paying homage to the
queen. This was done by kissing her left cheek, and
touching her crown while her pardon was read, and medals
of silver and gold were distributed among the people. A
grand anthem by the choir, accompanied by instrumental
music, followed ; then the trumpets sounded, and all the
people shouted, " God save Queen Anne ! Long live Queen
Anne ! May the queen live forever ! "
At the banquet in the evening Prince George of Den-
mark sat at her majesty's left hand, and care was taken
that tables should be provided for members of the house
of commons, who had complained of being neglected at the
coronation banquet of William and Mary. On the whole,
the ceremony was eminently satisfactory from beginning to
end, even to the thieves who stole all the plate used at her
majesty's table in Westminster Hall, as well as the finest of
the table linen. Shortly after her coronation Queen Anne
442 The Queens of England.
knighted Simon Harcourt, and appointed him solicitor-
general ; and her uncle, Lord Rochester, was chosen for
her prime minister. It was with the assistance and advice
of this uncle that Queen Anne performed an act of benevo-
lence that has made her name venerated in the Church of
England ever since. Certain sums of money that she had
a right to claim for every office she conferred in the church,
she applied, instead, towards a fund for increasing the
salaries of some of the inferior members of the clergy who
were so poorly paid that they were scarcely able to live.
Originally, the money so claimed had been for the support
of crusades, but later it went to the crown, and the clergy-
were taxed for their whole profit of the first year, and one-
tenth of the annual gain forever after. So relieved of this
tax, and with their salaries increased besides, the clergy of
the Church of England had reason to be grateful to their
sovereign. This fund received the name of " Queen Anne's
bounty," which it has borne to the present day.
Throughout Queen Anne's reign there were so many con-
tests that it will be necessary sometimes to mention the two
parties between whom they occurred, though as little as
possible will be said on the subject of politics, and none of
the dry details and intricacies of the various projects shall
be recounted. The two powerful parties to which we refer
were called Whigs and Tories, and probably no one will
object to knowing how they were distinguished.
In the reign of Queen Anne the policy of the Whigs
was to keep up a perpetual war against France, in order to
prevent the son of James II. from claiming his right to the
throne of England. They were opposed to the Church of
Rome and equally so to the reformed Catholic or " High
Church " of England. Though the queen was the ac-
knowledged head of the church, they desired that her
power to fill vacancies should be bestowed on the prime
minister.
1 1*> Anne of England. 443
The Tories, on the other hand, supported the sovereign
in her right to appoint church dignitaries, and were opposed
to the so-called " Low Church " party. They were gen-
erally considered Jacobites, and would gladly have been
such if the Prince of Wales had not been a Roman
Catholic.
Now that we have shown the distinction between these
two parties, any future reference to them will be clearly
understood.
With Queen Anne fairly established on the throne, Lady
Marlborough was at the very height of her glory, because
she still retained unbounded influence over her majesty,
and had a voice in every appointment. She even gave
herself credit for many praiseworthy acts of the queen's,
whether she deserved it or no. For example, she assured
her friends that the command issued by the queen for-
bidding the sale of places in the royal household was
really her own order, though it was probably no such
thing. This was a French custom that had been intro-
duced into England with the Restoration, whereby places
were purchased of the former possessor without granting
the sovereign any choice in the matter whatever. A man
sold his position to the highest bidder, and felt not the
slightest shame at pocketing the proceeds, nor was any
privacy observed in the proceeding. It was a very
injurious practice, and by no means insured good servants,
so whether its abolition was due to the queen or Lady
Marlborough, or both, it was certainly wise.
Shortly after Queen Anne's accession her husband,
Prince George, was attacked with asthma, which had such
a bad effect on him that change of air was recommended,
and their majesties started on a tour through the west of
England. Bristol was one of their stopping-places, and
while there Prince George started out one morning,
444 The Queens of England.
incognito, with an officer for companion, to view the
sights. After walking about for an hour or so, the prince
went on the Exchange, and remained there until all the
merchants had left excepting one John Duddlestone, a
corset-maker. This good man stood off and stared at the
prince, and then hestatingly approached, and with a shy,
awkward manner, asked : " Are you, sir, the husband of
our Queen Anne, as folks say you are ? " " Such is,
indeed, the fact," replied the prince. " Then," continued
John Duddlestone, " I have seen with great concern that
none of the chief merchants on 'Change have invited your
highness home ; but it is not for want of love or loyalty : it
is merely because they are afraid to presume to address so
great a man. But /think that the shame to Bristol would
be great indeed if the husband of her majesty the queen
were obliged, for want of hospitality, to dine at an inn ; I
therefore beg your royal highness, humble though I am, to
accompany me home to dinner and bring your soldier-
officer along. I can offer your highness a good piece of
roast beef, a plum-pudding, and some ale of my wife's own
brewing, if that be good enough."
Prince George was charmed with this original style of
invitation, and accepted it with gratitude, though his dinner
had been ordered at the White Lion. Arriving at his
house in Corn street, worthy John Duddlestone called up
from the foot of the stairs, " Wife, wife ! put on a clean
apron and come down, for the queen's husband and a
soldier-gentleman have come to dine with us."
Dame Duddlestone soon appeared in a clean, blue check
apron, neat calico frock, and snowy cap, courtseying and
smiling as she entered the room, her full face all aglow
with the excitement occasioned by the honor of such
visitors. Her table was soon arranged, and the prince did
ample justice to the meal, well knowing that he could not
1 7 2 - Anne of England. 447
please his host and hostess better than by eating heartily
of what they set before him.
"Do. you ever go up to London?" he asked in the
course of the dinner.
"Oh, yes," answered the host; "I sometimes go there
to buy whalebones for the corsets I manufacture."
When the prince took his leave he gave John Duddle-
stone a card, and told him " the next time he went to
London to take his wife along, and to be sure to bring her
to court," adding " that if he would present that card at
Winder Castle it would insure his admission."
Sure enough, when, a few weeks later, a supply of
whalebone was needed, John actually took his good wife
behind him on a pack-horse, and journeyed to London.
Armed with the prince's card, he presented himself at
Windsor Castle, was received by Prince George, and with
his wife clinging to his arm, introduced into the presence
of Queen Anne. Only a few words were necessary to
recall to her majesty the circumstance Prince George had
related on his return from Bristol. She cordially thanked
the good -hearted couple for their hospitality to her hus-
band, and, in return, invited them to dine with her, adding
that the court-dresses which were required for the occasion,
would be furnished by the officers of her household ; but
the visitors were required to choose their own material.
Both selected purple velvet. The suits were accordingly
made, and worn at the royal dinner party, when the queen
presented the Duddlestone pair " as the most loyal persons
in the whole city of Bristol."
After dinner her majesty surprised John Duddlestone by
requesting him to kneel down before her. He obeyed,
when taking a sword and laying it gently on his head, she
said : " Stand up, Sir John."
Having knighted him. Queen Anne offered him a gov-
448 The Queens of England.
eminent position, or a sum of money, whichever he pre-
ferred, but he refused both, saying : " Wife and I want
nothing, and we have fifty pounds of our savings out at
interest, besides, judging from the number of people about
your majesty's house, your expenses must be heavy
enough." This honest reply pleased the queen so much
that she presented the newly-constituted Lady Duddlestone
with the gold watch that hung at her side. This mark of
royal favor so delighted the good dame that whenever she
appeared in the streets of her native town afterwards the
watch was sure to be seen hanging from her blue apron-
string.
Although Queen Anne could not forget nor forgive the
insulting remarks about herself that she had heard from
the lips of Lady Marlborough, she did not find it easy to
steel her heart against a woman whom she had loved for
thirty years. There is no doubt that she had fully deter-
mined to part with both her and her husband, but mean-
while intended that the favorite should observe no change.
The dearly-beloved " Mrs. Freeman " should have all the
advantages her ambition and avarice had sought, and after
both she and her husband had obtained all they desired of
wealth and title they should be dismissed.
The queen went to St. James's Palace in time to open
parliament, leaving Lady Marlborough at Windsor, because
she did not desire her attendance at the grand state visit
to the city. But her majesty wrote " Dear Mrs. Freeman "
in the most caressing terms, and in one of her letters she
said : " It is very sad for your poor, unfortunate, faithful
Morley to think that she has so very little in her power to
show you how sensible she is of all Lord Marlborough's
kindness, especially when he deserves all that a rich crown
can give ; but since there is nothing else at this time, I hope
you will give me leave, as soon as he comes, to make him
a duke."
1 7 02 - Anne of England. 449
Lady Marlborough was not so pleased at this proposition
as Queen Anne supposed she would be ; the dukedom was
all very fine, but no provision for the support of the title
was mentioned, and the Marlboroughs were by no means
rich. The letter dropped from the lady's hand as though
she had read news of a death, but the lord was more grate-
ful ; for the new distinction increased the respect that the
German princes in Flanders entertained for him, and, as
he was commancler-in-chief of the allied forces, it was
important that he should be esteemed. He had not yet
achieved the military glory that has made him one of the
heroes of history.
Some discussion had been going on between Lady Marl-
borough and the queen about the creating of four new
peers, because the ministry had resolved that they should
be Tories, and Lady Marlborough objected. At last, by
way of compromise, the queen consented to add Mr.
Hervey to the number ; but, as he was a Whig, the newly-
made nobles refused to have their names associated with
his, and so the poor queen was in a dilemma. She wrote
the haughty favorite a most humble letter, in which she
said : " I cannot help being extremely concerned that you
are so partial to the Whigs, because I would not have you
and your poor, unfortunate, faithful Morley differ in opinion
in the least thing."
There was to be a grand dinner on Lord Mayor's day,
which the Queen and Prince George were to attend, so for
the encouragement of her Tory partizans, her majesty pre-
ferred that her favorite should not appear at her side on
that occasion ; she therefore concluded the letter we have
referred to above, with this sentence : " Since you have
staid so long at Windsor, I wish now for your own sake
that you would stay until after Lord Mayor's day ; for if
you are in town you can't avoid going to the show, and
45 O The Queens of England.
being in the country is a just excuse, and, I think, one
would be glad of any way to avoid so troublesome a busi-
ness. I am at this time in great haste, and therefore can
say no more to my dear, dear Mrs. Freeman, but that I
am most passionately hers."
The queen had another reason for desiring Lady Marl-
borough's absence. It was this : The Duke of Ormond
and Sir George Rooke had won a grand victory at Vigo,
and so the Tory party were greatly elated. This enraged
Lady Marlborough to such a degree that there was no
telling how far she might go in giving expression to her
displeasure, and she was safer at a little distance.
Lord Marlborough returned from the continent in
November, after having gained several victories and
captured some towns in Flanders. The queen was so
pleased with his success that she showed herself a little
too eager to reward him ; therefore when her majesty sent
a message to the house of commons declaring her inten-
tion to create Lord Marlborough a duke, and requesting
that a pension of five thousand pounds per annum might
be secured to him and his heirs, it was regarded with dis-
favor. After some warm debate, it was decided "that
Lord Marlborough's services, although considerable, had
been sufficiently rewarded ; " so, although the title was
granted, the revenue was refused. The consequence was
that Lady Marlborough hated the Tories worse than ever,
although ten years before she had belonged to their party.
With the hope of soothing the newly-made duchess, her
majesty wrote : " I cannot be satisfied with myself without
doing something towards making up what has been so
maliciously hindered in parliament, and therefore, I desire,
my dear Mrs. Freeman and her husband to be so kind as
to accept of two thousand pounds a year out of my private
purse instead of the five, and this can excite no envy, for
nobody need know it."
X 73- Anne of England. 45 1
The angry duchess refused to be pacified, and rejected
the queen's offer with scorn. But this was her regular
plan of action to avoid appearing under obligations to her
majesty ; she always refused an offer the first time it was
made, but never failed to claim it later. So it was in this
case, for she not only pocketed the two thousand pounds
per annum when she had charge of the queen's privy purse,
but demanded, besides, portions for her daughters to the
Amount of thirty thousand pounds. Queen Anne fell com-
pletely in the power of the designing duchess, who con-
stantly abused the Tories to her majesty, and accused her
of being their accomplice. More than half of "the crowned
slave's " time was spent in the degrading occupation of
soothing the domestic tyrant, who exacted the most servile
attentions, and complained, like a spoiled child, if she did
not get everything she wanted, though this she generally
managed, by hook or by crook.
[A.D. 1703.] In the month of December the fleet of
Charles of Austria, who was on his way to take possession
of the throne of Spain, appeared off the west coast of Eng-
land. The Duke of Somerset was immediately despatched
to Portsmouth to receive the royal stranger, and conduct
him to Windsor, where the queen had gone on purpose to
entertain him. But he was first invited to rest while at
the duke's residence on the coast of Petworth, and there
he was met by the prince-consort, who had with great
difficulty, and three or four upsets of his carriage, made
the journey across the bad roads.
The whole party arrived at Windsor at night, and were
received by torchlight. Three noblemen awaited the King
of Spain as he alighted from his coach, and the Earl of
Jersey led him up the stairs, at the head of which he was
met by Queen Anne, and conducted to her bed-chamber
according to the etiquette of the times. An hour later a
452 TJie Queens of England.
state supper was served, when the royal guest was placed
at the queen's right hand, while Prince George sat on her
left. At the conclusion of the feast a formal procession
conducted King Charles to his sleeping apartment, where
his own attendants awaited him.
The next day Queen Anne returned the call of her
guest, who, having been previously informed of her inten-
tion, met her at his drawing-room door with a profusion oji
compliments, protesting against the trouble -she took in
coming to him. However, she was not to be outdone in
politeness, so persisted in entering his room, where she
spent about fifteen minutes. Then, at a signal from one
of the courtiers, King Charles rose and conducted her
majesty to a grand state dinner. During the progress of
the meal the court was entertained by a vocal and instru-
mental concert. Dinner was served at three, and at its
conclusion everybody played cards, basset being the
favorite game, until supper was announced, which closed
the hospitalities of the day.
Her majesty had, during the interval between dinner
and supper, presented several ladies of the highest rank to
the king, and he had saluted each with a kiss, which was
the privilege of his station. But a grand act of courtesy
was reserved for the royal favorites, the Duke and the
Duchess of Marlborough. To the former, King Charles
presented his sword, saying at the same time, " that he
had nothing worthier of his acceptance, for he was a poor
prince, who had little more than his sword and his mantle."
After supper he prevailed on the duchess to give him the
napkin which it was her duty to present to the queen, and
he held it while her majesty washed her hands. On
returning it to the Duchess of Marlborough, the king
placed a superb diamond ring on her finger. He then
gave his hand to the queen, and led her to her bed-
I 74- Anne of England. 453
chamber, where he took formal leave, and expressed his
intention to depart early the next morning. Prince George
meant to escort the royal guest back to his ship at Ports-
mouth, but as he was far from well the Duke of Somerset
was appointed to perform that office in his stead ; and the
Admiral, Sir George Rooke, was ordered to provide the
proper number of ships to escort him to Spain.
[A.D. 1704.] The queen's birthday this year fell on
Sunday. She received the usual compliments, and held
a splendid reception on the following day, after which Dry-
den's play, entitled " All for Love, or Anthony and Cleo-
patra," was performed before her majesty and the whole
court. This was succeeded on the next evening by the
tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, in honor of Prince
George. There were various other entertainments during
the week : and we must not omit to say that notices of
them were given in the daily papers, of which there were
several in this reign.
So much dissension arose in parliament, chiefly on ac-
count of church matters, that some of the Tories became
disgusted and withdrew from office. The most impor-
tant of these were the queen's uncle, Lord Rochester,
the Duke of Buckingham, and Lord Dartmouth. This
gave the Whig party the upper hand, and the Duchess of
Marlborough thoroughly controlled and led them. Prince
George was a Whig at heart, though he managed to keep
this fact secret ; however, the duchess knew it perfectly
well, and rejoiced at it.
Now we must take a look at Queen Anne to see what
sort of a ruler she made, for thus far we have touched
lightly on this important matter, or given the Duchess of
Marlborough the precedence. As far as personal affec-
tion goes, this queen was the most popular one who had
occupied the English throne; the lower classes always
454
The Queens of England.
called her " our good Queen Anne," and do so to this
very day. It is to be accounted for in this way : In the
first place, her parents were both English, and she herself
was in every way like a middle-class Englishwoman, be-
cause of her very limited education. She was a comfort-
able sort of a matron, the last of the Stuarts, and by no
means disposed to govern arbitrarily. Then she was, as
we have seen, exceedingly generous to the church, and her
HOGARTH'S HOUSE.
reign witnessed a series of continental victories. No won-
der that the populace called her " good Queen Anne."
Strange to say, although her majesty was never known
to read a book, and passed a large part of her time at
card-playing, poetry and science awakened into new life in
her reign, and many of the writers delighted to sound her
praises. She probably did not appreciate their work, but
she patronized men ot letters, it may be for love of approba-
Anne of England, 455
tion. The number of learned men of Queer. Anne's
reign exceeded that of Elizabeth, and represented every
branch of art, science, and literature. It included no
Shakespeare, it is true ; but there were Newton, Wren,
Locke, Hogarth, Congreve, Colley, Gibber, Pope, Swift,
Gay, Addison, Steele, and a host of others. We must not
omit to mention Defoe, because every child will connect
his name with that delightful romance, " Robinson Crusoe."
It was on account of the existence of such a bevy of
luminaries that Queen Anne's reign was entitled the Au-
gustan age of England*
That reign witnessed the beginning of periodical papers,
for there were three, the " Tattler," " Spectator," and
" Guardian," edited by Addison and Steele.
The "Tattler" contained accounts of the political events
of the day, and was placed on her majesty's breakfast-
table, with the hope that she would occasionally read it,
but she is not supposed ever to have done so. The
"Ladies' Diary, or Women's Almanack " was another of the
periodicals published in Queen Anne's reign, that have
since become so numerous. It began by containing arti-
cles that are of most interest to women in general, but is
now a mathematical periodical, which women are not likely
to care for.
We have mentioned the continental victories that dis-
tinguished this reign. The most splendid of them all was
the battle of Blenheim, news of which was brought to
Windsor Castle in August by Colonel Parkes, aid-de-camp
to his grace, the Duke of Marlborough. This glorious
victory was celebrated with unusual splendor.
What shall we say of the hero of the great victory thus
celebrated ? Perhaps Thackeray has given the best de-
scription. He says : " Before the greatest obstacle or the
most trival ceremony; before a hundred thousand men
456 T/ie Queens of England.
drawn in battalia, or a peasant slaughtered at the door of
his burning hovel ; before a carouse of German lords, or
a monarch's court, or a cottage table where his plans were
laid, or an enemy's battery vomiting flame and death, and
strewing corpses round about him, he \vas always cold,
calm, resolute, like fate. He performed a treason or a court-
bow; he told a falsehood as black as Styx as easily as he
paid a compliment or spoke about the weather. He was
as calm at the mouth of the cannon as at the door of a
drawing-room. He would cringe to a shoe-black or he
would flatter a minister or a monarch ; be haughty, be
humble, threaten, repent, weep, grasp your hand or stab
you whenever he saw occasion. But yet those of the
army who knew him best, and had suffered most from him,
admired him most of all, and had perfect confidence in
him as the first captain of the world."
After the Blenheim victory the enthusiasm for the duke
was very great ; even those who hated him and those whom
he had cheated were ready to greet him with frantic
cheers.
The queen informed the house of commons that she
desired to present the palace and grounds of Woodstock
to the great hero and his heirs forever, and the act was
passed a few weeks later. Her majesty ordered a por-
trait in miniature to be painted of the duke, which was sur-
rounded by brilliants valued at eight thousand pounds,
and the picture itself was covered with a diamond instead
of glass. This magnificent gift was presented to the
Duchess of Marlborough as a souvenir of the victory of
Blenheim.
It need scarcely be said that while her husband stood so
high in the royal favor, the influence of the Duchess of
Marlborough remained unabated, and she compelled the
queen to appoint all her officers of government from the
Anne of England. 457
Whig ranks. When her majesty hesitated, the upstart ty-
rant would vulgarly exclaim : " Lord, madam ! it must be
so ! " Thus she secured for her friend, William Cowper,
the high post of keeper of the Great Seal. The privilege
of disposing of the church livings had belonged to the
sovereign, but Lord Keeper Cowper now claimed it, and
subsequently it was taken out of the hands of the crown
entirely. The Church of England was never in greater
danger of destruction than during Queen Anne's reign,
because most of the dignitaries had been connected with
some species of dissent. The prince consort was a Dissen-
ter; but, worst of all, the violent duchess, her majesty's
favorite and ruler, headed a strong band of free-thinkers,
who hated the church.
[A.D. 1705.] In April her majesty, accompanied by her
husband, made an excursion to Cambridge. She was re-
ceived by the Duke of Somerset, who was then chancellor
of the university, and attended an exhibition, where she
distributed honorary degrees among the noblemen and
gentlemen of her court. But the most memorable of
Queen Anne's actions connected with this visit was the
bestowing of knighthood on Dr. Isaac Newton at Trinity
College. After holding a grand reception, dining at
Trinity Hall, and attending divine service at the beautiful
chapel of King's College, the royal party returned to New-
market, where her majesty made a long sojourn.
[A.D. 1706.] Another great victory was won at Rami-
lies by the Duke of Marlborough, and another splendid
thanksgiving procession took place at St. Paul's to cele
brate it. At this period all the great offices of state were
in the hands of the Marlborough family. The last of the
appointments was the result of a serious contest between
her majesty and the duchess, in which the latter came off
victorious, as usual. This was the nomination of her son-
458 The Queens of England.
in-law, Lord Sunderland, to the important office of secre-
tary of state. When the queen yielded this point, the
commander-in-chief and the lord treasurer were, one a son-
in-law, the other father of a son-in-law of this ambitious
couple. Their connections filled lucrative posts, besides,
their daughters were ladies of the bed-chamber, and the
mother herself, as mistress of the robes and groom of the
stole, governed all the officials and the queen into the
bargain. Never was this creature more insolent than when
such was the state of affairs. She had contrived, by fair
means or by foul, to appropriate the enormous income of
ninety thousand pounds of the public funds, and the poor
queen was miserable on account of what she had been
made to suffer at the hands of the woman who was in-
debted to her for all she had, and for all she was. When
she could no longer fail to perceive that th$ affection of
her royal mistress had become estranged, the duchess
began to inquire what new favorite had interposed to create
ill feeling ; for it was not in the nature of this woman to
blame herself for anything.
She could not fix upon any one until the regular season
for the distribution of the queen's cast-off clothing came
around ; then Abigail Hill, her cousin, excited her suspi-
cion. Although the duchess pretended to act with perfect
justice in dividing the old gowns, mantles, and head-dresses
among the bed-chamber women and dressers of her majesty,
they all declared that she invariably kept the best of them
for herself. Seeing that Abigail Hill fared badly in the
distribution, the queen made her some liberal presents, as
well as Mrs. Danvers, whose dismissal the jealous duchess
had frequently urged. But this liberality only increased
the squabble over the old clothes, and the duchess de-
clared that they were all hers by right.
Once when this Mrs. Danvers, one of the bed-chamber
I 77- Anne of England. 459
women, was so ill that she believed herself to be dying, she
sent for the Duchess of Marlborough, and implored her to
transfer her position with the queen to her daughter, who
would be entirely unprotected after her death. The duchess
declared her inability to do so, because of her being on bad
terms with her majesty. Finding that to be the case, the
sick woman told a long story about Abigail Hill's wicked-
ness and general bad behavior, and wound up her narrative
by informing her visitor that said Abigail had long been her
secret enemy.
Queen Anne may have been desirous of dispensing chari-
ties, but the Duchess of Marlborough held the purse-strings
so tightly that she was unable to do so. When she de-
manded a small sum of money, that tyrant would frequently
tell her that " it was not fit to squander away money while
so heavy a war lasted," though at that very time vast sums
of the public funds were annually supplied for the building
of the duke's house at Woodstock. A touching case of
distress came under her majesty's notice in the sad fate of
Sir Andrew Foster, a gentleman who had spent most of his
life in the service of James II., and who had been ruined
by his adherence to that sovereign. He died of starvation,
in a miserable hut just outside of London, and Queen
Anne was so shocked -when she heard it that she deter
mined, as it was too late to relieve the unfortunate Jacobite,
he should at least be decently buried. For this object she
was forced to borrow twenty guineas of Lady Fretchville,
for she could not command so large a sum herself; and yet
the Marlboroughs were then drawing sixty-four thousand
pounds per annum from the public purse. Later the sum
reached ninety-four thousand pounds.
[A.D. 1707.] The queen carried one extremely impor-
tant point in violent opposition to the powerful duchess,
and that was the union between Scotland and England.
460 The Queens of England.
This measure was passed in both countries, signed and
ratified in great state in the presence of the Scottish com-
missioners, the English ministers, and both houses of
parliament. When Queen Anne signed this important
ratification she said, "The union with Scotland is the hap-
piness of my reign."
On the same day, April 24, her majesty dissolved the
English house of commons, and summoned the first united
parliament of Great Britain to meet the following October.
The signing of the union was then celebrated by a grand
national festival, and a few days later her majesty went in
solemn procession to St. Paul's Cathedral to return thanks
for the successful completion of this matter.
But it must not be supposed that the union was brought
into working order without a struggle, for in the course of
a few weeks Scotland was almost in a state of open rebel-
lion. It was the queen's policy to extend mildness and
mercy to all offenders, which was a great deal more effective
than shedding blood on the scaffold ; for in a very little
while she was universally acknowledged as sovereign of
both England and Scotland.
Sixteen Scottish noblemen represented their country in
parliament, and there was a good deal of jealousy aroused
on account of favors shown them by her majesty. At her
accession she had declared, " That her heart was entirely
English," and this sentence was inscribed on some of her
medals, so when she showed partiality^ to the Scotch an
English satirist wrote :
" The queen has lately lost a part
Of her ' entirely English heart,'
For want of which by way of botch
She pieced it up again with Scotch."
For some reason, not necessary for us to inquire into,
the Duke of Hamilton was denied a seat in parliament;
I 77- Anne of England. 461
and in order to console him for the injury, Queen Anne
consented to stand godmother in person to his third son.
She gave the child her own name, and from his infancy he
was called " Lord Anne." Some years later Lord Anne
Hamilton was celebrated as a valiant soldier.
To return to the palace dissensions. The Duchess of
Marlborough became at last furiously jealous of Abigail
Hill, and probably opposed her marriage, otherwise, it
would not have been managed so secretly as it was. She
was engaged to Samuel Masham, a page to the queen, and
it seems a very undignified proceeding for her majesty to
have consented to witness a secret marriage, in a remote
part of her palace, between two people who were not un-
der obligations of duty to any one unless it was herself.
But such was really the arrangement, and only proves that
all parties stood in mortal terror of the duchess's wrath.
How long this union would have remained secret it is im-
possible to tell, had not the queen thought proper to dower
the bride from her own private purse, and as soon as she
demanded the sum she chose to present, of course the
watchful duchess set to work to find out to what purpose
it was to be put. She had began to suspect that there was
a mystery, and it did not take her more than a week to
ferret it out. No sooner were her spies set on the right
track than they made another discovery that was forthwith
reported to the duchess with an accuracy and assiduity
worthy of a better cause. It was this : " That Mrs. Masham
spent about two hours every day with the queen in private,
while the prince, who was a confirmed invalid, took his
afternoon nap."
Now did the duchess see, at last, who had forestalled her
in her devoted " Mrs. Morley's " good graces ; she only
awaited a favorable opportunity to unbottle the phials of
her wrath, and pour them on the heads of both the offend-
462 77ie Queens of England.
ers. The enormity of the crime shocked her. " I was
struck with astonishment at such an instance of ingrati-
tude," she wrote her husband, " and should not have
believed it had there been any room for doubt."
In reply to her very exaggerated statement of a trivial
affair, the duke wrote some good advice. His letter was
sent from Meldest, in South Germany, and he said : " The
wisest thing is to have to do with as few people as possible.
If you are sure Mrs. Masham speaks of business to the
queen, I should think you might, with some caution, tell
her of it, which would do good, for she certainly must be
grateful, and will mind what you say."
The duchess did not heed this advice of her clear-headed
husband, but kept herself up to a pitch of excitement at
what she called the barbarity, ingratitude, and wickedness
of the queen. She accused her, too, of intrigue, though
why the conversations she held with one of her attendants
at the bedside of her declining husband should be so called
it is difficult to understand. Her majesty treated Abigail
Masham with confidence and consideration, because she
assisted in the care of the prince-consort, who suffered
from fearful attacks of asthma, and it was this attendant's
duty to sleep at night on a pallet in the ante-chamber of
her majesty's bed-room, within call.
Not long after the duchess discovered the marriage,
when she was alone with the queen one day, she took her
to task for having kept it secret, and told her that it
plainly showed a change in her majesty's feeling towards
her. The queen replied, " That it was not she who was
changed, but the duchess ;" and added, " I believe I have
begged Masham a hundred times to tell you of her mar-
riage, but she would not."
This confession convinced the angry duchess that she
had been a subject of discussion, and she became more in-
Anne of England. 463
dignant than ever to think that so humble a person as her
cousin Abigail should presume to speak with her majesty
about so high and mighty a creature as herself. She de-
termined to give the young woman a sound rating, but
changed her mind, and wrote her an angry, undignified let-
ter instead. But Sarah of Marlborough was not particu-
larly well educated, and made as grave blunders as
did her majesty in her attempts at letter-writing. Mrs.
Mashain, on the other hand, was a woman of talent, and
wrote so well in reply as not only to astonish her corre-
spondent, but to convince her that with the pen, at least, she
was far her superior, and a person who could ably defend
herself against any attack made on paper. Perhaps it
would have been well had she explained the accident that
caused the queen to overhear the duchess express her
loathing and hatred of herself the day when she had put
on the gloves by mistake. Abigail Masham might have
written, " It was your shameful ingratitude, your offensive
remarks, that changed her majesty's heart towards you;"
but the secret was not hers, and there is no evidence of
her having betrayed her royal mistress all the while she
served her.
The queen's unwise consent to witness the secret
marriage between Abigail Hill and Samuel Masham was
all the proof the Duchess of Marlborough needed that she
had been supplanted in the royal favor, and from that
moment whatever change she observed she laid at the door
of her successor. Some one has very wisely said of Mrs.
Masham's turning her back on the duchess : " She was her
near relative, and the defect of base ingratitude seems to
run in her family. The duchess should have chosen her
J
watch-dog on the queen, when she became too grand or too
indolent to perform that needful office, from a better
breed."
464 The Queens of England.
Previous to her majesty's removal to Windsor for the
summer, a very odd circumstance occurred, which we will
leave the duchess and her wrangling for awhile to relate.
It is about Prince Matveof, ambassador of Peter the
Great of Russia. Having been recalled to Russia, the
prince attended the queen's levee for the purpose of taking
formal leave of her. No sooner had he left the palace
than he was arrested for debt on a writ of Mr. Morton,
lace dealer of Covent Garden, and locked up in the
bailiff's house. The noble Russian had fought desperately,
without seeming to understand why he was seized, and
wounded several of the bailiff's men quite seriously. The
next day the bill of fifty pounds was paid, and the matter
explained ; but, as the prince had not had the slightest
intention of defrauding the tradesman, he was justly
indignant, and left England thoroughly disgusted. When
he got home the czar resented the indignity offered to his
ambassador by putting a stop to intercourse of trade,
adding a threat of * declaration of war. Queen Anne
entered into an elaborate explanation, and assured the
czar that the insult did not originate from any wrong
intended by her or her ministers, but arose from the
rudeness of a tradesman. But his Russian highness was
by no means satisfied, so he wrote a very formidable
document requesting " the high and mighty Princess Anne,
Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, to return him, by
bearer, the head of Morton, the lace dealer of Covent
Garden, together with the heads and hands of any of his
aids and abettors in the assault upon Prince Matveof
that her majesty might have incarcerated in her dungeons
and prisons."
The queen was perfectly amazed at this demand for the
heads and hands of her subjects, and requested her secre-
tary " to assure the czar that she had not the disposal of
1 77- Anne of England. 465
any heads in her kingdom excepting those forfeited by the
infraction of certain laws, which Mr. Morton and his assist-
ants had not trespassed." The czar either could not, or
would not, understand that Englishmen did not have their
heads and hands chopped off at the caprice of the crown,
and an angry correspondence was continued between the
Russian and English governments for two years. At last a
happy idea struck the queen, and she sent Mr. Whitworth,
a gentleman who understood Russian customs, to say, " that
although nothing had been acted against Prince Matveof
but what the English law allowed, yet those laws were very
bad and inhospitable ones, and that her majesty had had
them repealed, so that his imperial highness's ambassadors
could never again be subjected to such an injury."
This was no compliment, but a fact ; for from that inci-
dent laws were caused to be made that protected ambas-
sadors and their suites from arrest, which are in force to the
present day. Such laws were sadly needed during Queen
Anne's reign to prevent scenes of violence; for ambas-
sadors took precedence according to the supposed rank of
the sovereigns they represented. This being the case, the
representatives of France and Spain, the two countries that
were always at war, had a regular fight, aided by their
retinues, at all public processions ; they even went so far
as to cut the traces of each other's .coaches, lest the line
should be broken and one dash in before the other. It is
needless to say that the London populace immensely en-
joyed such contests, and the "roughs " invariably gathered
where the " mounseers," as they called them, were most
likely to begin the fight. Sometimes they were quite
serious, and more than one man lost his life while com-
bating for position.
CHAPTER XIV.
WHEN her majesty opened parliament in the autumn she
made the usual speech containing entreaties that good-
will and friendship might continue among all ranks of her
subjects, but particularly with regard to the newly-made
union. King William III. had said, "That he did not
desire the experiment of a union with Scotland to be made
in his reign, because he had not the good fortune to know
what would satisfy a Scotchman." This would seem to
apply equally to Queen Anne, for the Scotch were exces-
sively dissatisfied and were already getting up petitions for
dissolving the newly-made union, while the English turned
up their noses at their northern neighbors, with whom they
had no desire to be associated in parliament.
Public affairs did not seem to occupy Queen Anne's
attention more than private ones, for the duchess kept her
in a constant state of worry with her threats and her ill-
temper; and there was scarelya day when she did not feel
the necessity for sending a letter of explanation and
apology to the tyrant for some imaginary offence, or some
omitted honor, either on her own part or that of Mrs.
Masham. There was at this time a matter of private
interest under consideration between her majesty and the
duchess. The latter had long before asked for a part of
St. James Park, on which to build a palace for herself, but
as the demand was an unreasonable one, the queen was
466
'7 08 Anne of England. 467
less generous and compliant than she had been on previous
occasions. But the duchess had set her heart on the very
spot she had designated, and get it she would at any cost.
So she importuned the poor queen, month after month, and
made her displeasure so seriously felt on account of the
refusal, that at last she gained her point, and the present
Marlborough House marks the spot.
The indignation of the London populace was justly
aroused, because, when digging the foundation for her
palace, the duchess had caused the removal of a fine oak
tree which had sprung from an acorn that Charles II. had
brought from Boscobel, and planted with his own hands in
this pleasure garden of his queen, Catharine of Braganza.
The Marlborough family were jealous of Robert Har-
ley, ex-speaker of the house of commons ; and when his
secretary, William Gregg, was arrested because he was dis-
covered in traitorous correspondence with the French, they
tried very hard to implicate Harley, too, but did not suc-
ceed. The secretary was hanged, and there was a hue and
cry, because it was said that Queen Anne had sent the
prisoner some comforts by her physician, Arbuthnot ; but
when the matter came to be sifted, it was found that such
was her majesty's custom, because she was always unwilling
to sentence any one to death ; and when obliged to do so
tried to alleviate their sufferings while they were in prison
as much as possible.
[A.D. 1708.] Angry debates in the queen's cabinet
council were of daily occurrence, and her presence was
never a check on the coarseness and brutality of the offi-
cers. A scene of this sort took place one day when her
majesty made an attempt to free herself from the chains of
Marlborough and Lord Godolphin. She told her resolu-
tion to Mr. St. John, and sent a letter through him to the
Duke of Marlborough, having first read it to him, and re-
468 The Queens of England.
quested him to tell what she had done about town. This
was obeyed without reserve ; and at the next council meet-
ing, when Harley delivered a paper to her majesty con-
taining some accounts of the war, the duke and lord-treas-
urer, Godolphin, abruptly left the room, whereupon the
Duke of Somerset rose and told the queen in a rude tone,
" That if she suffered that fellow to treat of affairs of the
war, without the advice of the general, he could not serve
her."
Of course her majesty was obliged to succumb to the
storm she had brought about her head, and forthwith dis-
missed Harley. Then she was requested to get rid of Mrs.
Masham, though the councillors did not make a direct at-
tack on the bed-chamber woman for fear of ridicule. The
Duchess of Marlborough demanded a private interview;
but did not succeed in having her cousin dismissed, because
her aid in nursing the prince-consort was so valuable that
the queen strenuously refused to part with her. But the
duchess was so friendly in her manners at this interview
that she succeeded in exacting a solemn promise from " her
dear Mrs. Morley " that if at any time it should become
necessary for her to quit her service her places should be
transferred to her daughters.
Another singular scene was enacted in the council when
the " Pretender " invaded Scotland, and Sir George Byng
was sent to intercept his progress. It was urged that if
the young prince should be taken, he should forfeit his life ;
thereupon the queen wept, and the council broke up in
confusion.
Although the "Pretender" was really captured, her maj-
esty was spared the embarrassment of deciding as to his
fate, for he was landed on French soil. Not so the Jao>
bites who were taken at the same time, for they were
charged with high treason ; and old Lord Griffin was con-
I7o8- Anne of England. 469
demned to execution. But he pined away, and at the ex-
piration of eighteen months died in prison of old age ; for
the queen regularly respited him, until she was thus relieved
of the pain of putting an end to the existence of one of
her father's most faithful servants.
During the summer the queen quarrelled with the Duke
of Marlborough, because she desired to appoint colonels
in the army, and he justly believed that he was more capa-
ble than she could possibly be of judging what, men had
deserved promotion. The prime reason for this dispute
was that Prince George had some favorites for whom he
desired places, and the queen was anxious to gratify him ;
but the Duke of Marlborough was so angry that he wrote
a very severe letter of reproof to his brother, George
Churchill, who forthwith showed it to her majesty, and ex-
cited a great deal of displeasure.
Meanwhile the duchess kept hammering at Abigail Ma-
sham, until at last she got hold of a subject for attack.
One of the court spies had taken pains to inform her that
her cousin had grand apartments at Kensington Palace,
where she received her friends in style whenever they
called. After duly turning this piece of news over in her
mind, the duchess came to the conclusion that the apart-
ments referred to must be those that King William had
fitted up for his favorite, Keppel, and that Queen Anne
had subsequently allotted to her. To be sure, she had
never occupied them, and probably never would do so ; but
she was determined that no one else should enjoy them,
least of all Abigail Masham. So, in high dudgeon, she
posted off to Kensington to inquire into the matter.
Prince George was so ill from gout and asthma, and had
grown so excessively fat, that he could not get up or down
stairs without a great deal of suffering; therefore he \\as
lodged on the ground-rloor of the palace, whence he could
470
The Queens of England.
walk out in the grounds and enjoy the air whenever he felt
able. The queen shared his apartments, and as he often
required care at night to prevent his suffocating during his
paroxysms of coughing, the bed-chamber women were
placed in the adjoining rooms, so they could be summoned
in case of need.
WINDSOR FOREST.
On arriving at the palace, the duchess ordered the house-
maid to open her suite of apartments, and moved towards
those on the ground-floor, although part of them were situ-
ated on the one above. The maid replied that she could
not do so, because they were divided between Mrs. Masham
and the bed-chamber women in waiting. That was just
what the irate duchess had come to find out ; so she imme-
Anne of England. 471
diately made an indignant complaint to the queen, which
resulted, after too much absurd wrangling to be worthy of
recital, in the removal of the royal household to a house in
Windsor Forest, which her majesty had purchased in the
days when she was forbidden by Queen Mary to appear at
court. In this quiet retreat she watched over her sick hus-
band and sought to relieve his sufferings ; but the duchess
declared that the reason Queen Anne spent the summer in
that place, " which was as hot as an oven," was to enable
Mrs. Masham to admit such persons as desired secret in-
terviews with her majesty, and they could be let in from the
park without anybody being the wiser.
While at this cottage, the victory of Oudenarde was an-
nounced to her majesty. When she heard that it had been
won at the cost of two thousand lives, she exclaimed : " O
Lord ! when will all this dreadful bloodshed cease ? "
Nevertheless, etiquette required her to write a letter of
congratulation and thanks to the victorious Duke of Marl-
borough, which she did at once.
Public thanksgiving for the victory took place in the
usual way at St. Paul's Cathedral on the nineteenth of Au-
gust. As her husband was the victor, the Duchess of Marl-
borough considered herself the heroine of the day, and
bustled about to make herself as important as possible.
Her office of mistress of the robes imposed upon her sev-
eral duties, and among others, the arrangement of the
queen's jewels as she chose to have them worn. When the
royal cortege was approaching the cathedral, the duchess
chanced to cast her eyes over the costume of her majesty,
and observed that the jewels were absent. This was a
mark of disrespect that she would not stand, so she began
scolding in such way that the queen lost her temper, and
the two ladies quarrelled and abused each other until they
got inside the church, when the duchess angrily bade the
472 TJic Queens of England.
queen "to hold her tongue." This was too much. Her
mr.j j.sty had borne a givai iLal . f;Lnd, but such
an insult aroused her indignation. Perhaps the duchess
repented of her hasty speech ; for a day or two later she
took occasion to send the following humble note with a
letter from her husband :
"I cannot help sending your majesty this letter to show
how exactly Lord Marlborough agrees with me in opinion
that he has now no interest with you, though when I said
so in the church last Thursday you were pleased to say it
was untrue."
" And yet, I think he will be surprised to hear that when
I had taken so much pains to put your jewels in a way
that I thought you would like, Mrs. Masham could make
you refuse to wear them in so unkind a manner ; because
that was a power she had not thought fit to exercise be-
fore.
" I will make no reflections on it, only that I must needs
observe that your majesty chose a very wrong day to
mortify me when your were just going to return thanks for
a victory obtained by my Lord Marlborough ! "
No doubt the queen thought, as anybody might, that a
great deal of fuss had been made about a trifling matter,
for she sent the following reply :
" After the commands you gave me on the thanksgiving
day not to answer, I should not have troubled you with
these lines ; but, to return the Duke of Marlborough's letter
safe into your hands, and for the same reason, I do not say
anything co that or to yours which enclosed it."
What a pity it is that the queen did not always behave
with the same dignity, when dealing with the haughty,
domineering duchess ! If she had, many a heartache and
many an insult she might have spared herself. Another
letter, still more meek in its tone, was sent in reply; but
*78- Anne of England. 473
open warfare had been declared between the friends of
former years, and the duchess had no chance of ever re-
gaining her sway over her sovereign's heart.
Her husband's ill health was a matter of greater con-
cern to Queen Anne just then than anything else could be ;
and, within a week after the stormy scene at St. Paul's, she
set out with him for the west of England, hoping that
change of air might benefit him. They travelled by easy
stages until they arrived at Bath, a favorite resort, where
Anne often went for her own health.
That autumn a fine statue of the queen that had been
modeled by Bird, the sculptor, was finished, and placed at
the west door of St. Paul's, where it still stands. Although
it is said to be> a perfect likeness, it is considered by no
means an excellent work of art, notwithstanding its having
cost over five hundred pounds. Just when it was erected,
there was a report current that the queen intended to free
herself from the tyranny of the Duchess of Marlborough.
That was enough to strike terror to the hearts of the
Whigs ; for with their ruler in disgrace, they could hope for
no better fate than banishment, at least from the public
treasury, whence they were generously helping themselves.
Their only chance then was to calumniate the queen and
make her as unpopular as possible, so that when it came
to the point their party would be too strong for her to re-
sist. So they accused her of all sorts of vices in circu-
lars that were daily distributed among the populace. One
charge brought against her was that of intoxication, because
one of her enemies had said " that she got drunk every
day as a remedy to keep the gout from her stomach." Had
this been a fact, the Duchess of Marlborough would cer-
tainly have been one of her first accusers, but even in
her most malignant moods she never mentions such a fact.
However, the Whig physician, Dr. Garth, wrote an epigram
474 The Queens of England.
which was found fastened to the statue the day after it
appeared in front of St. Paul's Cathedral. It ran thus :
' Here mighty Anne's statue placed we find,
Betwixt the daring passions of her mind ;
A brandy-shop before, a church behind
But why thy back turned to that sacred place,
As thy unhappy father's was to grace ?
Why here, like Tantalus, in torments placed,
To view those waters which thou canst not taste ?
Though, by thy proffer'd globe we may perceive,
That for a dram, thou the whole world would'st give."
It must be remembered that this was written by an
enemy ; very different is the poetry under an engraving of
the queen and her consort at the British Museum, and
forms a pleasing contrast to the above :
" The only married queen that ne'er knew strife,
Controlling monarchs, but submissive wife,
Like angels' sighs her downy passions move,
Tenderly loving and attractive love.
Ot every grace and virtue she 's possessed
Was mother, wife, and queen, and all the best."
On her return from Bath the queen congratulated her-
self on her husband's improvement ; but he knew that it
was only momentary, and when she was preparing for a
hunting excursion at Newmarket he begged her not to
leave him. He felt that he had not long to live, and he
was right, for he died before the close of the month, at
Kensington Palace. Queen Anne had been a happy wife
for twenty years, and the death of the prince-consort was a
dreadful blow, though she had witnessed his declining'
health for many months. Even at the moment of her
greatest bereavement, the Duchess of Marlborough forced
herself into the presence of the queen, and insisted upon
leading her from the room after the prince was dead. Anne
treated her with excessive coldness, merely submitting to
I 79- Anne of England. 475
the arrangements she had made for her removal to St.
James's Palace, because she was too miserable to oppose
her.
The interment of the prince-consort took place on the
thirteenth of November. The funeral was private, which
only means that it was performed by torchlight at night, for
it was attended by all the ministers and great officers of
state. The court went into mourning, and all the theatres
were closed for a month.
[A.D. 1709.] The duchess continued to watch Queen
Anne very closely, and was shocked when fires were ordered
to be made in the apartments occupied by the late prince-
consort, also in those below, the two being connected by a
private back staircase. They were for her majesty and
Mrs. Masham, and strong suspicions were aroused in the
mind of the active watch-dog that this arrangement was ef-
fected for the purpose of granting interviews with her politi-
cal opponents. She, therefore, took the queen to task for
such an irregular mode of proceeding, and raising her eyes
and hands in holy horror, said : " I am amazed ! " But the
queen made no reply, and probably no change in her plans
just then, for she was so absorbed in grief that she took no
interest in anything for many months. She was not suffi-
ciently recovered in spirits to open parliament the follow-
ing May, but she issued a general pardon, particularly to
those who had been in correspondence with the Court of
St. Germain, and it was confirmed. This was for the pro-
tection of Lord-treasurer Godolphin as well as herself, for
she was always in mortal terror lest the Marlborough family
should proclaim to the world the part she had played in
the revolution. Therefore she dared not exasperate the
duchess, nor could she remove her until the duke had ac-
cumulated wealth sufficient to render the stability of the
government a matter of personal interest with him. The
476 The Queens of England.
duchess understood this perfectly, and made the queen feel
her power, as we have seen.
Another victory won by the Duke of Marlborough forced
her majesty to reappear in public. This was Malplaquet ;
but twenty thousand British subjects had lost their lives on
the battle-field, and Queen Anne joined the thanksgiving
procession with a heavy heart, and with eyes red and
swollen from weeping. She could not rejoice over a vic-
tory at such a sacrifice. The details of the war filled her
with horror, and she longed to put an end to the dreadful
slaughter ; but the victorious duke's return gave her little
encouragement in that respect, for he demanded of the
queen " her patent to make him captain-general for life,
because the war would not only last through their lives, but
probably forever." Anne was perfectly amazed at this ex-
traordinary speech, but dismissed the subject by answering :
" That she would take time to consider it," and afterwards
asked Lord-chancellor Cowper : " In what words would
you draw a commission which is to render the Duke of
Marlborough captain-general of my armies for life ? "
Lord Cowper stared as though he thought her majesty
had taken leave of her senses, and then warmly expressed
his disapproval of such a proceeding. " Well, talk to the
Duke of Marlborough about it," replied the queen, without
telling him that she had never intended to make the
appointment. Cowper obeyed, and assured the duke " that
he would never put the great seal of England to such a-
commission." The Duke of Argyle and several other
noblemen were secretly brought to confer with the queen
on this subject, and she asked what she should do if her
refusal to appoint Marlborough captain-general for life
should prompt him to make an attack on the crown. The
Duke of Argyle replied : " Her majesty need not worry,
for he would undertake, if ever she commanded it, to seize
AT MALPLAQUET.
Anne of England. 479
the Duke of Marlborough, at the head of his troops, an:l
bring him before her, dead or alive ! "
It was Harley who brought this secret council together,
and the Marlboroughs hated him worse than ever when they
discovered it. They had gone a step too far, and the divi-
sion in their own party in consequence caused the duke to
withdraw his request.
Her majesty having expressed her intention to lay aside
her mourning at the Christmas festival, which was close at
hand, intercourse became necessary between her and the
duchess, who was mistress of the robes. This was a signal
for the renewal of hostilities, beginning with lodgings and
situations for chambermaids and other members of the
royal household ; for the tyrant duchess insisted on her right
to make every appointment of that sort. Many severe
letters passed between her and the queen on this subject,
and it became necessary to inform her on one or two oc-
casions that she had rather overstepped the mark when
claiming "her rights." The storm was at its height when
the duchess discovered that her majesty, without asking
permission, had ordered a bottle of wine to be allowed
daily to a sick laundress who had washed her laces for
twenty years. Thereupon she raved like an angry fishwife,
and her voice was raised to such a pitch that the footmen
at the back-stairs heard every word she uttered. The
queen, unable to contend with such n vixen, rose to leave
the room ; but the irate duchess whisked past her, slammed
the door, posted her back against it, and informed her royal
mistress " that she should hear her out, for that was the
least favor she could do her for having set the crown on
her head and kept it there." This tirade was kept up for
nearly an hour; then Sarah of Marlborough finished by
saying " that she did not care if she never saw her majesty
again," and flounced out of the room as the queen calmly
480 The Queens of England.
replied, " that she thought, indeed, the more seldom the
better."
It is hard to comprehend how a sovereign could submit
to such humiliating scenes, but she knew that the chief
cause of complaint with the duchess regarding the wine
arose from the fact of the laundress having once served
Mrs. Masham, who, it was supposed, was the instigator of
the queen's beneficent act. Even then such petty jealousy,
and such absurdly, undignified behavior give a poor opinion
to the world of the lofty duchess's head and heart. She and
the queen scarcely spoke after this ; but a day or two before
Christmas she wrote a letter to her majesty lecturing L^r
on the necessity of entering on the religious services of the
season with a spirit of meekness and forgiveness for in-
juries." Some passages were so insolent that the letter was
not answered ; but as the queen passed to the altar of
St. James's Chapel, she bestowed a gracious smile on the
writer.
[A.D. 1710.] The new year opened with the queen at
Hampton Court, considering the best means for breaking
loose from the trammels of the Whig party, headed by the
Marlborough family. It was a difficult step, but she was
determined to take it, and for that purpose summoned
Harley to her presence in the most secret manner possible.
His advice was to begin by filling the post of lieutenant of
the Tower, just vacated -by the death of the Earl of Essex,
as her majesty chose, without consulting anybody. In
consequence, the Earl of Rivers was appointed to this
great office, whereupon the duchess flew into a rage, and
declared that a man who had borne the nickname of
" Tyburn Dick " in his youth, having barely escaped con-
viction at the criminal bar for robbing his own father, was
no fit person for such an honor. But this is how he had
managed to obtain it : No sooner did he hear of the death
Anne of England. 483
of Essex than he hastened to the presence of the Duke of
Marlborough with the news, adding a request that the
great man would interest himself with the queen to secure
the vacant post for him. It was not the duke's way to
give a decided refusal, nor did he hesitate to make promises
that he had not the slightest intention of fulfilling; so, after
complimenting "Tyburn Dick," and loading him with
offers of kindness, the duke advised him to "think of
something better than the lieutenancy of the Tower, as the
place was not worthy of his talent." However, the man
was determined, and said : " He was going to ask the queen
for the appointment, and would tell her that his grace had
no objection." Marlborough, who never dreamed that the
queen would take an important step without consulting
him, told Lord Rivers that " he might say so if he pleased; "
whereupon the petitioner lost not a moment in seeking an
audience of the queen, who, on hearing what Marlborough
had said, with the adornments Lord Rivers chose to add,
made the appointment at once. As the new lieutenant of
the Tower passed out of the royal presence he made the
duke, who was just entering, a most profound bow, and
rubbed his hands with delight as he left the palace. But
we know that the duke had not intended that Rivers should
succeed Essex, and the object of his present visit to her
majesty was to propose the Duke of Northumberland
instead. He was amazed to find that he was too late, and
made serious complaints to the queen, who asked him,
" whether Earl Rivers had asserted what was not true."
The duke could not say that he had, and so there was no
redress ; but, when her majesty followed up this appoint-
ment by one for colonel of a regiment, Lord Godolphin
was as indignant as the duke himself, and she was forced
to withdraw.
Before departing for his campaign the Duke of Marl-
484 The Queens of England.
borough sought an interview with the queen, and requested
that his wife might be permitted to remain in the country
as much as possible, and that as soon as peace was made
her resignation might be accepted in favor of her daugh-
ters. The queen granted the first part of the request with
alacrity, delighted at the prospect of being relieved of the
presence of her tyrant, but" made no reply with regard to
the daughter's, on whom she intended to bestow no favors
whatever.
Now a most important trial took place this year, that
created intense excitement, and occupied the court for
three entire weeks. It was that of Dr. Sacheverel, a
representative of an ancient Norman family, who had been
impeached, chiefly on charges connected with the church ;
but, as this affair is excessively dry and uninteresting, it is
only necessary to mention it because of its bearing on the
position of Queen Anne. Dr. Sacheverel belonged to her
party, and she was so much interested in his trial that she
sat to witness it every day in a curtained box at West-
minster Hall. At the end of the contest the doctor was
sentenced to suspend his preaching for three years, which
was almost equivalent to acquittal. The lower classes
showed clearly that they were for their "good Queen
Anne," and that they were ready to rise in her defence
against the Whig ministry whenever she should say the
word. This feeling, which was so clearly manifested,
encouraged the queen to take measures to free herself
from the Marlboroughs and their party. The duchess made
several attempts at private interviews, but was always
repulsed, until she became convinced at last that Queen
Anne would see her only at public receptions, or when
official duties required it. The Marlborough family con-
clave were convinced that their days were numbered when
the Tory Duke of Shrewsbury was made lord-chamberlain
Z 7 10 - Anne of England. 485
of the royal household in place of the Whig Marquis of
Kent. This was followed up by the removal of Lord Sun-
derland from his office of secretary of state. This young
man, as son-in-law of the Duchess of Marlborough, had
heard her majesty spoken of with so much disrespect that
he had on several occasions behaved most rudely, and he
was removed for this reason, more than for any adherence
to the Whig party.
The colonel whom her majesty had desired to appoint
when she met with such' violent opposition was Jack Hill,
brother to Mrs. Masham, her favorite bed-chamber woman.
She made another attempt, and positively declared that she
would not sign a single one of the Duke of Marlborough's
numerous commissions until her will was obeyed in this
matter. This was alarming, for the duke received pay-
ment for these commissions ; so he gave in at once and
signed Jack Hill's appointment without further parley.
Queen Anne forthwith sent the new officer to make an
attack on Quebec, as the conquest of Canada was deemed
an important measure for the security of the British
possessions in America. Much to the delight of the
Marlborough party, Jack Hill's attempt was a failure.
The duchess was so angry at the dismissal of her son-
in-law that she sent a letter to her husband, which he was
to copy and forward to her majesty as though it were ex-
pressive of his own wrath, but he tossed it into the fire.
But the irrepressible duchess had it intimated to the queen
through David Hamilton, one of the court physicians,
" that if she persisted in ruining her party all her fond
and friendly letters of former days should be published,"
and forwarded one lest " dear Mrs. Morley " might have for-
gotten how high her opinion had been of " Mrs. Freeman,"
at that date. The queen kept her own letter, and de-
manded all the rest, saying: "She was sure the duchess
486 The Queens of England.
did not now value them." Not another one found its way
to the queen, for they were weapons too powerful to be
lightly parted with.
The next dismissal was that of the queen's long-trusted
lord-treasurer, Godolphin. Several of his friends ex-
pressed their concern at this move on the part of her
majesty. She merely replied, " I am sorry for it, but could
not help it," and then turned out Lord Rialton, another of
the Marlborough sons-in-law. The office of lord-treasurer
was placed in the hands of seven commissioners, with Mr.
Harley at their head.
The Duke of Marlborough wrote his wife that he had
heard of an assassin being on his way from Vienna to Eng-
land with designs against the queen's life, and requested
that the utmost care might be taken lest he should gain
access to the royal presence. Here was a chance for the
duchess to ingratiate herself once more in the queen's
favor ; so she drove post haste to court, and with a most
important air demanded admittance, " on a matter of life
and death." Her majesty refused to see her, whereupon
the duchess sent her husband's letter by a messenger.
One of Queen Anne's peculiarities was indifference to per-
sonal danger, so without heeding the warning, she merely
returned the duke's letter with a line, saying: "Just as
I was coming down stairs I received yours, so could not
return enclosed until I got back." This was the last written
sentence that ever passed between the queen and the
duchess.
Many of the ancient nobility who had never approached
the English court since the revolution paid their respects
to Queen Anne as soon as she had rid herself of the Marl-
boroughs. But the principal one of that party still re-
mained, for nobody had the courage to approach the ter-
rible creature with any but flattering news ; so it was deter-
'7 10 - Anne of England. 487
mined to await the return of the only person in the world
who could manage her. and that was the duke himself.
Meanwhile the daring woman, who retained her office in
defiance of sovereign, prime minister, and all the other
high officials, drove about town in her magnificent coach,
and made visits to different members of her party for the
purpose of calumniating the queen. She was not per-
mitted to enter the royal presence, and kept the gold keys
that really belonged to the new officials ; but she boldly
declared " that her majesty would soon want new gowns,
and then she would be compelled to come to her to give
orders for them." But she was mistaken, for on the
return of the duke in December there was to be an end of
her influence with the queen in every particular. On his
arrival in London the duke took a hack and drove direct
to St. James's, where he had a private half hour's interview
with the queen. In his peculiar plaintive tone of voice
he lamented his connection with the Whigs, and told her
majesty " that he was worn out with fatigue, age, and mis-
fortunes," and added " that he was neither covetous nor
ambitious," at which she could scarcely suppress a
smile. At the close of the interview the queen requested
him to tell his wife " that she wished back her gold keys
as groom of the stole and mistress of the robes." The
duke remonstrated, but the queen merely replied : " It
was for her honor that the keys should be returned
forthwith."
The duke entreated that this matter might be delayed
until after the peace, which must take place the ensuing
summer, when he and his wife would retire together. The
queen would not . delay the return of the keys one week.
The duke fell on his knees and begged for a respite of ten
days ; the queen compromised, and named three as the
utmost limit. Two days later the duke ngain presented
488 The Queens of England.
himself at St. James's on urgent business ; but her majesty
refused to speak with him, unless he had brought the gold
keys. Thereupon he returned home to get them, when a
stormy scene ensued, which ended by his wife throwing the
keys at his head. When the queen received them from
the duke's hands, she said, " she valued them more than if
he had brought her the spoils of an enemy."
[A.D. 1711.] Early in the following year Queen Anne
divided between the Duchess of Somerset and Mrs. Ma-
sham the offices formerly held by the Duchess of Marl-
borough, the former being made mistress of the robes and
groom of the stole ; the latter, keeper of the privy-purse.
On the second of May Queen Anne's uncle, the Earl of
Rochester, died suddenly of apoplexy.
Although Anne was his own niece, the earl had never
concealed from her his opinion that she had no right to the
crown she wore ; but he had consented to aid her in the
government, and was, as we 'know, made president of the
council. But he entertained to the last day of his life the
hope that he should see the son of James II. restored to
the throne, and was the means of causing several letters
to pass between James Stuart, or the Chevalier de St.
George, as he was then called, and the queen.
The Duke of Buckingham succeeded Rochester; and,
being a relation of the queen's, a most friendly feeling ex*
isted between them. Once, after reading a long letter pre-
sented by him from her brother, the Chevalier de St. George,
in which he set forth his claim to the throne, Queen Anne
turned to Buckingham, and asked : " How can I serve him,
my lord ? You well know that a papist cannot enjoy this
crown in peace. Why has the example of my father no
weight with his son ? He prefers his religious errors to the
throne of a great kingdom. He must thank himself, there-
fore, for his own exclusion. All would be easy if he would
1 1 11 - Anne of England. 489
join the Church of England. Advise him to change his
religion, my lord."
Although Queen Anne spoke thus, she knew that her
brother would not renounce Catholicism, and she had no
intention of aiding him to the throne unless he did. She
favored the succession of the Protestant house of Hanover ;
but the Princess Sophia, who was the heiress of that line,
had emphatically declared that if the young prince and
princess of the house of Stuart would become members of
the Church of England, their claim should never be dis-
puted, nor would it have been, as future events proved.
Throughout the summer Queen Anne suffered so much
from gout that she could scarcely stir from her bed , but she
held her receptions all the same, and the crowd was often
so great that only those nearest the bed could get sight of
her. In the autumn she was better, and received ambas-
sadors from France to negotiate for peace. One evening
in October her majesty mentioned publicly at supper " that
she had agreed to treat with France, and that she did not
doubt but that in a little time she should be able to an-
nounce to her people that which she had long desired, a
general peace for Europe."
But she had not yet secured peace at home, for matters
took such a turn that the new ministry insisted on the re-
moval of the Duchess of Somerset, and when her majesty
returned to the palace from the parliament meeting she
asked for the Duchess of Marlborough. One of the latter's
friends rushed to her, without a moment's delay, and told
her that if she would go to the queen then she might, with a
few flattering words, overthrow her enemies, but she indig-
nantly refused. The queen had new ground for complaint
against the duchess when she took possession of her new
palace, just completed in St. James's Park ; for the apart-
ments she left in the queen's palace were bereft of locks,
490 The Queens of England.
bolts, mirrors, marble slabs, and pictures, and looked as
though a destructive army had sacked them. The duke
lamented the strange conduct of his wife when he got
back, but declared " that there was no help for it, and a
man must bear a good deal to lead a quiet life at home."
But this confession did not prevent his dismissal from the
army. He was succeeded by the Duke of Ormond, who
was ordered not to gain victories, but to keep the British
forces in a state of armed neutrality until peace was con-
cluded.
It was at this time that Mr. Masham was made a peer,
because her majesty was urged to it by some of her min-
isters, but she said that she had never any intention of
making Abigail a great lady, and feared that by so doing
she had lost a useful servant. But Lady Masham promised
to continue in the office of dresser to her majesty even
though she was a peeress.
[A.D. 1712.] Nothing had given the queen so much
trouble since the death of the prince-consort as that of her
beautiful sister, the Princess Louisa, which occurred sud-
denly at St. Germain. An account of this sad event is
given in the story of Mary Beatrice of Modena.
Anne was ill herself in the autumn from intermittent
fever, from which she never entirely recovered.
Dean Swift was anxious to become a bishop at this
period, and applied for the see of Hereford, which Queen
Anne was disposed to grant, because she had never heard
of him as anything but a partisan of the church. But he
and Lady Masham had been friends for a long time, and
she had frequently warned him to destroy the witty,
satirical, offensive articles he had shown her about her
majesty, the Duchess of Somerset, and others. The queen
knew nothing about these writings, but the Duchess of
Somerset did, so she secured the aid of Dr. Sharpe, Arch-
Anne of England. 491
bishop of York, to prevent the appointment. When her
majesty consulted the archbishop on the subject, he
startled her with this question : " Ought not your sacked
majesty to be first certain whether Dr. Swift is a Christian
before he becomes a bishop?" The queen asked him
what he could possibly mean, whereupon, having armed
himself with " The Tale of a Tub," and other works of
Swift, he handed them to her. She was amazed at what
she read, and ashamed of the slanderous puns addressed to
herself, for she had not suspected their existence. It is
needless to add that Swift was not raised to the bishopric
of England, but the following year he was appointed Dean
of St. Patrick's in Ireland.
[A.D. 1713.] The treaty of peace that Queen Anne had
so long and so earnestly desired was at last signed at
Utrecht, and the French ambassador, Due d'Aumont, soon
after arrived in London to confer with her majesty on this
subject. He addressed the most flattering speeches to her,
and presented her with the nine beautiful gray Flemish
horses with which he had made his public entrance into
the metropolis.
Parliament met soon after; and the queen's speech,
announcing peace, after eleven years of warfare, was
anxiously awaited. But she was too ill with gout, which
had affected different parts of her body, to be able to
appear in the house of lords until the ninth of April, and
then her voice was painfully weak from her long suffering.
Her majesty offered Louis IV. the Order of the Garter in
honor of the signing of the peace ; but the most interesting
event to us of the present day connected with it is that
the great composer, Handel, wrote his magnificent Jubilate
to celebrate it.
As time went on the queen's health grew no better, and
she was such an enormous eater that frequent attacks of
492 The Queens of England.
gout were the result, particularly as she had grown so
corpulent from her other disease, dropsy, that she could
take no exercise, and had to be lowered and raised from
one floor to another in the palace by means of a chair
worked with pulleys and ropes. She was in constant
dread lest her brother should land in England, or George
of Hanover present himself at court to claim his place as
her successor. She, therefore, wrote two letters, one to
Princess Sophia, Dowager Electress of Brunswick, the
other to George Augustus, Duke of Cambridge, setting
forth the danger of such a proceeding, and appealing to
their honor. As we know, her fears were groundless in
that direction ; for the house of Hanover made no attempt
to approach the shores of England, though there has been
some dispute among historians as to their real intentions
in this matter.
[A.D. 1714.] Queen Anne paid the ballad writer, Tom
D'Urfey, a fee of fifty pounds for a verse he repeated one
day while she was at dessert, that happened to tickle her
fancy. As it refers to the Hanover succession, it is worth
repeating :
' The crown 's far too weighty
For shoulders of eighty ;
She could not sustain such a trophy.
Her hand, too, already
Has grown so unsteady
She can't hold a sceptre ;
So Providence kept her
Away poor old Dowager Sophy ! "
Certainly D'Urfey did not earn his fifty pounds for the
literary merit of the verse, but perhaps it was because it
possessed so little that it pleased the queen. The Electress
Sophia of Hanover, about whom it was written, died before
the end of the year, at the age of eighty-four.
Queen Arine witnessed several stormy scenes among
X 7H- Anne of England. 493
her ministers towards the end of July that caused her
intense suffering. After each one she would sink into a
swoon from exhaustion, and frequently said to her physician,
Dr. Arbuthnot, "I shall never survive it." The coun-
cillors showed little consideration for her presence, and
continued their quarrels, regardless of her ill health, though
they must have seen the cruel effect. On the evening of
July 29, there was to be another council meeting, which
the sick queen dreaded more than all the others. When
the hour drew near, Mrs. Danvers, one of the oldest
ladies of the royal household, entered the presence
chamber of Kensington Palace, and to her great surprise,
beheld the queen standing before the clock with her eyes
intently fixed on the dial plate. As her majesty had not
for several months been able to move without assistance,
Mrs. Danvers's surprise is early understood. She crossed
the large room, the deep silence of which was only broken
by the ticking of the clock, and approaching the queen,
asked, " whether her majesty saw anything unusual there
in the clock ? " Without answering, Queen Anne turned
slowly and looked at the speaker, who was so terrified at
the ghastly, troubled expression on her face that she
screamed for help. The queen was carried to bed by the
people who had hastened to the summons, and raved in
delirium for many hours about " the Pretender."
Doctor Arbuthnot passed the night at her bedside, with
several other court physicians, and the invalid rallied ; but
the news of her condition spread like wild-fire all over
London ; and in the morning Dr Mead, a Whig politician,
was summoned, As soon as he had seen the royal invalid,
he demanded that " those who were in favor of the Protest-
ant succession should at once send a bulletin of her maj-
esty's symptoms to the Elector of Hanover's physicians,
who would soon say how long Queen Anne had to live ;
494 The Queens of England.
but he staked his professional reputation that her majesty
would be no more long before such intelligence should be
received." It has always been supposed that the peaceable
proclamation of George I. was due to this physician's
boldness.
But Queen Anne did not die quite as soon as Dr. Mead
had predicted, which was within an hour, for she recovered
consciousness and speech enough, after being bled a sec
ond time, to appoint the Duke of Shrewsbury prime
minister.
He approached her bed, and asked her, " if she knew
to whom she gave the white wand ? " the insignia of
office.
" Yes," replied the queen, " to the Duke of Shrewsbury ;
for God's sake, use it for the good of my people." Shortly
after her mind began to wander again, and she frequently
exclaimed in a piteous tone : " Oh, my brother ! oh, my
poor brother ! "
The privy council assembled at her bedside ; but she
never recovered consciousness sufficient to pray or to speak
rationally, and they soon withdrew.
To prevent a disturbance in the city, the lord-mayor was
ordered to be particularly watchful ; trained troops were
held in readiness to act at a moment's warning, and an ex-
tra guard was placed at the Tower. The Jacobite party
held a meeting, but decided, after a great deal of consid-
eration, that they could do nothing towards proclaiming the
Chevalier de St. George.
Between seven and eight o'clock, on the morning of
August i, 1714, Queen Anne expired, in the fiftieth year of
her age, and the thirteenth of her reign. She died as her
predecessor, William III., had done, on Sunday, and George
I. was proclaimed king the same day. It must have been
a bitter trial to the Jacobites to behold the Duke of Marl-
SHREWSBURY RECEIVING THE WHITE ROD.
A ttne of England, 497
borough, who. after a voluntary exile, returned to London
the Wednesday succeeding Queen Anne's death, and made
a grand triumphal entry, attended by hundreds of gentle-
men on horseback, some of the nobility in coaches, and the
city militia ; but they had the satisfaction of seeing his
own splendid carriage break down by Temple-Bar.
Queen Anne had done much good for her people, and
no evil ; and there never was a sovereign more deeply re-
gretted. The Duchess of Marlborough wrote a most un-
just, abusive description of her benefactress ; but it is to
be hoped our young readers will be able to form an esti-
mate of her character for themselves.
Her remains were deposited in the vault on the south
side of Henry VIII. 's Chapel, in Westminster, where lie
Charles II., William III., and Prince George of Denmark.
There was only one place left in this vault, and as soon as
it received the last of the Stuart sovereigns it was bricked
up. No monument nor tablet marks the resting-place of
"good Queen Anne," though it seems as though the fond-
ness of " the Bounty " deserved at least this trifling dis-
tinction from the Church of England.
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