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Lady Mary of York, as this queen was styled in her youth, was a person of small importance, so far as any prospect 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 everybody 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 solemnized 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.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, engaging 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 Twickenham, or when she was taken on a visit at St. James's Palace. Pepys, a literary gentleman, who published a most interesting diary of his times! 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 preferred 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,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 rolly-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 Elizabeth 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 succession 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.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 themselves 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 because she did not so please. If the governess, Lady Frances Villiers, had done her duty faithfully, this would not have been the case; but her tastes lay in a different direction.
Peter de Laine was the French professor of the princesses, and made Lady Mary so perfect a mistress of that language 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 Richmond with Lady Villiers and her daughters after their mother's death, and were very religiously trained according 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 wasthe 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 beautiful hands and arms. Being somewhat near-sighted, Princess Anne had a drawn look about the eyes that detracted 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 princesses 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 frivolous manner. Nobody tried to correct this bad habit, because 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, WilliamHenry, 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 England to see what his chances then might be with the presumptive 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 prevented his discussing his affairs in a straightforward manner 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 hostilities, 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 believethat 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 afterwards 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—heshallhave 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 heavyshe 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 Protestant 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 procession.
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 rollicking 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 ambassadors were admitted to offer congratulations. Next morning 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 customary 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
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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 everybody 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 preparations 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 queen 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, rememberyoucameintoEngland, I am going out of England." 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 anunfavorable 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, accompanied 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 corporation of Canterbury showed very plainly that they considered it so. But Doctor Tillotson, the Dean of Canterbury, 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 stopping-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 soangry 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 corresponded with the prince and Mr. Bentinck, and gave them some valuable information for which he was made an archbishop 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 Holland 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."
The royal cortège 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 relinquished, 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
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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 emphatic "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 finding 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 persuades 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-inwaiting; thus we see four of the ladies of this family in direct attendance upon the two princesses who later occupied 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 thebusiness 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 behind 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 dominions, 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
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from some serious work. Although not seventeen years of age at that time, the princess managed her ladies remarkably well. She never showed more favor to one than another; insisted on the observance of every point of etiquette, 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 following summer, from which she did not entirely recover for many weeks. With the hope of cheering her and accelerating 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 husband 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 had been engaged for many months.Mary was very much alarmed lest she should lose the services 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 Sunderland, Oates, and Bedloe, who were mixed up in the popish plot, for the purpose of depriving her father of his succession, 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 tiresometo 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 palace by her husband at Loo. She laid the corner-stone with all the ceremony that usually attends such a performance, 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 tending, feeding, and watching,—an amusement that served to pass away many a tedious hour.
A.D. 1680.Beyond the park was an immense aqueduct 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 master, 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 wasalmost 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 constantly 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 monotonous 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 disrespectshe 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 distinguished 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 presented 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 suddenly everything was changed to mourning on the announcement 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 thenews came, and that very night the duke started for England.
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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 clay. It was the prince who furnished him with money for the rash invasion of England which resulted in his execution. The details of his bold exploit 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 ofan 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 compelled him to put Monmouth to death, but Princess Mary had formed such an attachment for him that she never forgave 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 bodyguard, 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 Protestants 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 letterswere 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 Sunderland of already being in the service of William. She had reasons of her own for trying to create ill-feeling between 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 danger, 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 permission 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 remainuntil 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 unwelcome 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 London from the Hague, was one of these. It will be remembered 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.One day in October there was a royal levee at Whitehall. 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 favorable 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. offered 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, confiding 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 morrow, after informing him of the conversation with the princess, Burnet conducted him to her presence.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 thatheshould 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 cruelty and neglect, and she was as submissive as a whipped cur.
Instead of thanking his wife, William treated her decision 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 favorable 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 prevent 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 purpose; therefore the daughters of James II. pretended tobelieve 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. Clarendon was overcome with grief and shame at such conduct on the part of one of his flesh and blood. When Princess 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 occurrence, and King James was surrounded by traitors on all sides. Anne knew of Lord Cornbury's intended desertion, 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 confessed 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' goneoff, 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-chamber. Ladies Fitzharding and Churchill had entered Princess Anne's room early in the evening, and hidden themselves 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 accident 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 liberties 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 tofall 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 missing. 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 forthcoming. No doubt the threat would have been put into execution 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 condition, 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