_Queen Mary's Expectations_.--Most persons have heard of the anxiety
of Queen Mary I., for the birth of a child, and of her various
disappointments; but many may not be aware that among the Royal
Letters in the State Paper Office, are letters in French, prepared
in expectation of the event, addressed by Queen Mary, without date,
except "Hampton Court, 1555" (probably about May), to her
father-in-law, the Emperor Charles V., to Henry II., King of France,
to Eleonora, Queen Dowager of France, to Ferdinand I., King of
Bohemia, to Mary, the Queen Dowager of Bohemia, to the Doge of
Venice, to the King of Hungary, and to the Queen Dowager of Hungary,
announcing to each the birth of her child, the word being so written
_fil_, as to admit of being made _filz_, or of an easy alteration to
the feminine _fille_, if necessary.