(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
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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 superintended 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 little 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 experience. 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. 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 miniature 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, Henrietta 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
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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 France 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 religion; 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 parliament 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 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 Compeigne 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 down 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
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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 forget 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 notwithstanding 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 confessor, made himself obnoxious by insisting upon the establishment of a Roman Catholic chapel. Besides, Henrietta was so thoroughly under the influence of her French household 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 forward, 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- 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 proceedings.
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 window 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 Tremouille,—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. 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, repeating 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 comprehend 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 minister 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 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 before.
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 opposition concerning her religion from her Protestant husband. 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, Bassoinpierre took it upon himself to administer a bit of plain language. She had been flattered into believing 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. 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 Henrietta's tranquillity, for she and her husband were never on better terms.
But the French nation despised Charles I., and considered his wife a martyr and a victim. This led to the belief 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 described 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 happily and peacefully his sister was then living, was so incensed at this imposition that he had the girl imprisoned, and she was heard of no more.
A.D. 1628. The sudden death of Buckingham occurred 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 removed 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 request was immediately complied with, and he was employed to carry state messages of slight importance. He was not the only dwarf at courts 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, because 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 husband's coronation in Scotland as she had done in England, consequently he went alone.
A.D. 1633 On his 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 destined 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.
A.D. 1638. In 1638 King Charles incurred the displeasure 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 witnessed 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 princess-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 Phillips, was summoned several times by parliament, for examination, 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 destroyed 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 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 members of the house of commons were traitors; so, taking 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."
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Queen Henrietta watched the clock anxiously until the hour had passed, then turning to the treacherous Lady 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. 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 departure, and the Prince of Orange received her most cordially. 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 Nottingham and commenced a warlike struggle.
Meanwhile the Princess of Orange pursued her studies in Holland, where she soon won the affections of the people, 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 commanded by the Dutch admiral Von Tromp.
A tremendous gale blew them about for nearly a fortnight, the travellers suffering all the torments of sea-sickness, 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 chères; queens of England are never drowned." The poor priests on board were as 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 majesty'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. "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 Henrietta, 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. 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 command 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 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 Père 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 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 suffer 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 of 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 neighborhood 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 Oliver Cromwell for 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 unfortunate sovereign to the block.
On the day before the execution Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Gloucester, the only royal children who remained 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 consolation, 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 child, 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 unexpected 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. 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 England." 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 forgiveness. Charles drew himself up with proud dignity and replied;—"No! I forgive no subject of mine who comes deliberately 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 multitude.
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 Vendôme, 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 herself the most miserable woman on the face of the earth, and resolved to retire with a few of her ladies to the Carmelite 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 subjects."
She named herself La malheureuse reine, and mourned for King Charles to the day of her death.
A.D. 1649. Queen Henrietta was not long 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 afterwards 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 Elizabeth 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 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 permit 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 England, 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 Restoration 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 usually took three or four 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 satisfaction 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 overcome 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. 1661. 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 Henrietta 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 château of Colombe, a few miles from Paris. The following year the Duke and Duchess of Orleans made her 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 welcomed 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 château 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 indefatigable 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.