[ [304]Letters of Queen Henrietta Maria, p. 243.
[ [305]Now Falmouth.
[ [306]Francis Basset to his wife. Polwhele: Traditions and Recollections, Vol. I, p. 17.
[ [307]Mercurius Pragmaticus, October, 1644.
CHAPTER IX
THE QUEEN AND THE WAR
II
The darksome statesman, hung with weights and woe Like a thick midnight fog mov'd there so slow He did not stay, nor go; Condemning thoughts—like sad eclipses—scowl Upon his soul, And clouds of crying witnesses without Pursued him with one shout. Yet digg'd the mole, and lest his ways be found Work'd underground Where he did clutch his prey. Henry Vaughan
If, at the time of her departure from England, Queen Henrietta Maria had been able to make choice of a book for her private reading and meditation, and if in that choice she had been guided by the most enlightened self-interest, she would perhaps have chosen a little pamphlet published in London in 1642. It was entitled A collection of Records of the great Misfortunes that hath hapned unto Kings that hath joyned themselves in a near allyance with forrein Princes with the happy successe of those that have only held correspondency at home.