FROM PRISON TO THRONE
While one sister was in prison, the sister on the throne had not found
life altogether happy. The more she gazed upon Philip's picture, the
more she longed to meet him, but he made no haste in coming. Two months
had passed since Mary put on the betrothal ring, and never yet had he
even written to her. Philip had begged his father to choose a young
wife for him, but to the emperor the fact that Mary was ten years older
than his son was a small matter if only he could secure for Philip a
possibility of ruling England.
The marriage was to take place at Winchester, and as the time drew
near, Mary set out with her retinue. She was borne in the royal litter,
and if all the vehicles were as gorgeous as the one provided for her
maids of honor, the procession must have been a dazzling sight. This
one was a "wagon of timber work with wheels, axletrees, and benches."
It was painted red, lined with red buckram, and covered with red cloth.
This covering was adorned with heavy fringe of red silk.
Not at all agreeable was Philip's journey to Winchester. When he landed
in England, he found a great company of nobles waiting to do him
honor, and he was escorted to a palace in which most beautiful rooms
had been prepared for him. This was pleasant, but when he set off for
Winchester, the wind blew and the rain came down in floods, and the
four or five thousand riders in the procession were thoroughly drenched.
Before they had ridden many minutes, a swift messenger drew rein in
front of the prince, presented him a ring, and said:--
"Her Majesty the queen doth send your Grace this ring as a token that
she would pray you to advance no farther."
Philip did not understand English perfectly. "There is danger," said
he to his officers. "Little welcome have I from these English." It was
explained to him that the queen's message only meant that she begged
him not to expose himself to the storm, and he went on.
That evening the prince, all in black velvet and diamonds, made his
first call on the woman whom he was to marry two days later. They
talked together in Spanish for half an hour, and the next day they had
another meeting, and Philip--now in black velvet and silver--stood with
the queen under the canopy of state. She kissed him in greeting, and
they talked together before the hundreds of ladies and nobles in the
great audience hall.
On the following day came the marriage, and then there was such
gleaming of pearls and blazing of rubies and flashing of diamonds as
one might see in a splendid dream.
"Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?" asked the
archbishop, and four great nobles of the kingdom came forward and
answered, "We do give her in the name of the whole realm of England." A
plain gold ring was put on the queen's finger, for "I will marry with
a plain hoop of gold like any other maiden," she had said. The people
shouted, "God save our Queen! God send them joy!" and Mary of England
had become the wife of Philip of Spain.
While the wedding rejoicings were going on, Elizabeth was a prisoner
at Woodstock. What was to be done with her was the question. There was
some reason to think that she had known of the plot to dethrone the
queen, and in any case, if she was free, any leader of an insurrection
could have an opportunity to try to win her support. Mary did not wish
to keep her in the Tower, and she thought of sending her to some of
her own Spanish relatives on the continent, but the royal marriage
helped to decide the question, for Prince Philip expressed himself very
decidedly to his royal wife that it would be best to set Elizabeth free.
"I would do it most gladly," said Mary, "could I be sure of her
innocence."
"Does not your English law claim that one is innocent till he is proved
guilty?"
"True," replied Mary, "but there is proof and there is no proof. My
councilors declare that to set her free will be to say that she has
been unjustly imprisoned."
"Can she not be induced to confess that she has done wrong and throw
herself on your mercy?"
"Never," answered the queen quickly. "I have known her since she was a
little child. When she storms and rages, she will yield, but when she
quietly persists, she stands firm. I will see her. Nothing do I long
for more than to believe that she is guiltless."
Elizabeth was sent for, and late one evening she had an audience with
the queen. The younger sister knelt with her eyes full of tears and
sobbed:--
"I beg your Majesty to believe in my truth and loyalty, no matter who
shall say to the contrary."
"Then you will not confess," returned Mary. "You persist in declaring
that you are innocent."
"If I am not innocent," said Elizabeth solemnly, "never again will I
ask favor or kindness from the hands of your Grace."
"God knows," murmured the queen half turning away. A minute later she
said, "Elizabeth, will you swear by all that you do hold sacred that
you have no guilt in this matter?"
"I will," answered Elizabeth without a moment's hesitation.
"Then do I forgive you--be you innocent or be you guilty," she said to
herself--"and in token of my pardon I restore to you the ring, pledge
of my sisterly affection. May the time never come when you will have
need to send it to me again."
At Christmas there was a grand round of festivities at court. The Pope
had sent a representative to receive from Mary the humble submission
of the kingdom, and the rejoicings were looked upon not only as
celebrating this reconciliation but as in some measure continuing those
of the queen's marriage. Elizabeth was made prominent in everything.
She sat at the queen's table and was treated as heir to the throne.
Nevertheless, Mary did not fully trust her, and when the princess was
about to return to her own home, the queen presented a nobleman and
said that henceforth he would abide in Elizabeth's house, charged
with the duty of guarding her safety and comfort. This nobleman was a
learned and upright man of most perfect courtesy, and his presence can
hardly have failed to give her pleasure, even though Elizabeth well
knew that he was sent to make sure that she had no connection with any
of the plots which were to be feared.
It is no wonder that a close watch needed to be kept for conspiracies,
for several were formed against the queen. A story was spread abroad
that Edward VI. was not dead, but was living in France and was about
to return to regain his throne. There were rumors that certain men
in the land had the power of magic, and had stuck pins into waxen
images of the queen, thereby causing her intense suffering. The king
of France was ready to encourage any rumor, however absurd, and to aid
any conspiracy that would better the chances of Mary of Scotland to
wear the crown of England. If Elizabeth was dead or shut out of the
succession, these chances would be greatly increased, and probably this
is why Philip had now become the friend of Elizabeth, for if France and
Scotland and England were united, his own power and that of his father
would be much less. Several foreign husbands were proposed for the
princess, one of them the son of Philip by a former marriage, a boy of
ten years. Elizabeth refused them all, and the queen declared that she
should not be forced to marry against her will.
Mary's reign was shamed and disgraced by the burning of a large number
of persons, two hundred at least, because their religious belief
differed from that which she thought right. She is called "Bloody
Mary" because this took place in her reign, but just how far she was in
fault no one knows. Neither Henry VIII. nor Edward nor Mary ever showed
the least regard for the physical sufferings of others, but Mary had
never manifested the least vindictiveness of disposition. Indeed, she
had often been more inclined than her councilors thought best to pardon
and overlook deeds that most rulers of the time would have punished.
Moreover, during some of the worst persecutions Mary was so ill that it
was said "she lay for weeks without speaking." One of the reasons why
the English had feared to have Philip marry their queen, was because he
was known to approve of torture, if by its means the sufferers could
be induced to give up beliefs that he thought false. He now wrote to
his sister, "We have made a law, I and the most illustrious queen, for
the punishment of heretics and all enemies of Holy Church; or rather,
we have revived the old ordinances of the realm, which will serve
this purpose very well." It must not be forgotten, however, that this
burning at the stake was done with the consent of Parliament, and
that, as Philip said, it was in accordance with the old laws.
A hard life was Mary's. She had no child, and she was not sure of
the faithfulness of her sister and heir. It was chiefly by her
determination to marry Philip that she had lost the love of her
people, and after all that she had sacrificed for his sake and all her
affection for him, he cared nothing whatever for her. An old ballad
says that he liked
"The baker's daughter in her russet gown
Better than Queen Mary without her crown."
The crown of England was all that he cared for, and about a year
after their marriage, he left very willingly for the continent. Mary
controlled her sorrow at the public farewell, but as soon as that was
over, she went to a window from which she could see Philip's barge, and
there she sat with her head resting on her hands and wept bitterly till
he was out of sight.
There was good reason why he should go, for his father wished to give
him the sovereignty of the Low Countries; and there were some difficult
questions that arose and prevented his immediate return. As months
passed, Mary became more and more lonely. Her thoughts turned toward
Elizabeth. Another plot had been discovered. Some of Elizabeth's own
attendants were involved in it, and declarations were made that it was
not unknown to the princess herself. Mary wrote her at once:--
"I pray that it may not seem to you amiss that it has been necessary
to remove from your household certain dangerous persons, not the least
of whose crimes it was that their confessions were but an attempt to
involve your Grace in their evil designs. Rest assured that you are
neither scorned nor hated, but rather loved and valued by me." With the
letter went the gift of a valuable diamond.
After being away for nineteen months, Philip returned to England. Mary
was so happy that she was ready to grant whatever he asked, though it
was so great a boon as the aid of England in a war with France. Philip
left in three or four months to carry on the war, and never again did
his wife look upon the man whom she loved so well.
The war went on, and Calais, which had long been held by England, was
taken by the French. The English were wrathful. Five hundred years
earlier the kings of England had ruled wide-spreading lands in France.
One had lost, another had won, but never before had England been left
without a foot of ground on the farther side of the Channel. Mary was
crushed. "When I die," she said, "look upon my heart, and there you
will see written the word 'Calais.'"
The summer of 1558 had come. Mary's thoughts turned more and more
toward her sister. She left her palace and went to visit Elizabeth.
She arranged a visit from Elizabeth to herself which was conducted
with the greatest state. The princess made the journey in the queen's
own barge with its awning of green silk beautifully embroidered. The
queen's ladies followed her in six boats whose gorgeousness was almost
dazzling, for the ladies were dressed in scarlet damask, in blue satin,
and in cloth of silver, with many feathers and jewels. In the royal
garden a pavilion had been built. It was in the shape of a strong
castle, only the material was not gray stone, but crimson velvet and
cloth of gold. The court feasted, the minstrels played, and the long,
bright day came to its close.
Mary had never been well, almost every autumn she had suffered severely
from sickness, and now a fever seized upon her. There was little hope
of her recovery, but Philip sent her a ring and a message instead of
coming to her. Parliament and the will of Henry VIII. had decided that
Elizabeth should follow Mary as queen, but Philip begged Mary to name
her sister as her heir in order to make the succession especially sure,
and this was done. Mary grew weaker every day, the end must be near.
The courtiers did not wait for it to come, crowds thronged the house of
Elizabeth, every one eager to be among the first to pay his respects
to her who would soon become their sovereign, and to assure her that,
however others might have felt, he had never been otherwise than
faithful to her and her alone.
Among these visitors was Count de Feria, one of Philip's train, who was
in his master's confidence.
"My lord sends your Grace assurances of his most distinguished
friendship," said the count. "He would have me say that his good will
is as strong and his interest in your Grace's welfare as sincere as
it was when by his influence, so gladly exerted, her Majesty was
graciously pleased to release your Grace from imprisonment. He would
also have me say that he has ever to the utmost of his power urged
upon her Majesty that she should not fail to bequeath the crown to her
only sister and rightful heir, and he rejoices that his words have had
weight in her intentions."
"Most gracious thanks do I return to the king of Spain," answered
Elizabeth, "and fully do I hold in my remembrance the favors shown to
me in the time of my captivity. For all his efforts that I might be the
heir of her Majesty, my sister, I return due gratitude, though verily
I have ever thought myself entitled to the crown by the will of my
father, the decree of Parliament, and the affection of the people."
Three or four days later Mary sent Elizabeth a casket containing jewels
belonging to the crown, and with it another casket of jewels belonging
to Philip which he had given orders to have presented to her. Elizabeth
well knew that the end of her sister's life could not be long delayed,
and soon the word came that Mary was dead.
"It may be a plot," thought the wary princess, "to induce me to claim
the crown while the queen lives, and so give my enemies a hold upon me.
Sir Nicholas," she bade a faithful nobleman who she well knew had ever
been true to her cause, "go you to the palace to one of the ladies of
the bedchamber, the one in whom I do put most trust, and beg her that,
if the queen is really dead, she will send me the ring of black enamel
that her Majesty wore night and day, the one that King Philip gave her
on their marriage."
Sir Nicholas set out on the short journey. The rumor had, indeed,
preceded the death of the queen, but she died just as he reached the
palace. Before he returned, several of Queen Mary's councilors made a
hurried journey to Elizabeth's house at Hatfield.
"Your Highness," said they, "it is with the deepest sadness that we
perform our duty to announce the death of her Majesty, Queen Mary. To
your Grace, as our rightful sovereign, do we now proffer our homage,
and promise to obey your Highness as the true and lawful ruler into
whose hands the government of the realm has fallen."
Elizabeth sank upon her knees and repeated in Latin a sentence that was
on the gold coins of the country, "It is the Lord's doing, and it is
marvelous in our eyes."
Queen Mary died in the twilight of a November morning, but her death
was not known at once in the city. Parliament was in session, and
before noon the lord chancellor called the two houses together and
said:--
"God this morning hath called to his mercy our late sovereign lady,
Queen Mary; which hap, as it is most heavy and grievous to us, so have
we no less cause, otherwise, to rejoice with praise to almighty God
for leaving to us a true, lawful, and right inheritrix to the crown of
this realm, which is the Lady Elizabeth, second daughter to our late
sovereign of noble memory, Henry VIII."
For an instant there was silence, then the house rang with the cry,
"God save Queen Elizabeth! Long may Queen Elizabeth reign over us!" The
proclamation of her accession was now made in front of the palace of
Westminster with many soundings of trumpets, and later, in the city of
London.
"Did anyone ever see such a time?" said a Londoner to his friend at
night. "No one would think that a queen had died since the day began;
there has been nothing but bonfires and bell-ringing and feasting and
shouting."
"When people are glad, their joy will reveal itself," answered his
friend.
"There might well be reason for me to rejoice, but you are a Catholic,
why should you welcome the Lady Elizabeth?"
"Is she Catholic or Protestant?" asked the other with a smile. "Who
knows? There's one thing sure, she'll have a merry court, trade will be
the gainer, and she'll marry no foreign prince."
"Perhaps having a new queen will also prevent another season of the
plague and give us greater crops," laughed the first; and then he added
more seriously, "Catholic or Protestant, I believe that there be few in
the land who will not rejoice to see the death-fires no longer blaze at
Smithfield."
A week later the queen rode from Hatfield to London. Hundreds of
noble lords and ladies were in her retinue, and the number increased
with every mile. The road was lined with people who shouted, "Queen
Elizabeth! Queen Elizabeth! Long may she reign! God save the queen!"
Children gazed at her eagerly, while their mothers wept tears of joy,
and young men knelt and cried out their vows of loyalty and devotion.
Many of the bishops of the realm came in procession to greet her and
begged to kiss her hand.
"Did you see that?" whispered a woman to her neighbor. "The queen
wouldn't give her hand to the cruel bishop of London. She knows well
it's because of him that more than one good man's been burned at the
stake. Oh, but she'll be a good queen, God bless her!"
The lord mayor and the aldermen came in their scarlet robes to escort
her to the palace, and a few days later she went in state to the Tower
of London. The streets were strewn with fine gravel, rich tapestries
adorned the walls, banners waved, trumpets sounded, boys from St.
Paul's school made Latin speeches in her praise, and great companies of
children sang joyful songs of welcome.
Elizabeth looked very handsome as she rode into the city on horseback,
wearing a habit of the richest purple velvet. She replied to everyone's
greeting, and made little Latin speeches in answer to those of the
schoolboys. At last she came to the Tower, and this time she entered,
not at the Traitors' Gate, but through the royal entrance, and passed
between long lines of soldiers, drawn up, not to keep watch over a
prisoner, but to do honor to a queen.