The only evidence against them that could be produced was contained in certain inferences and false statements which Dr. London had suborned Ockham, the clerk of the court, to introduce into the notes he had taken at the trials of the recent victims. The queen having obtained full information of these proceedings, sent one of her most trusty and courageous servants into court to expose the iniquity of this plot. Ockham was arrested and his papers seized, which afforded full proof of the base conspiracy into which he had entered; and the whole transaction was laid before the king. The tables were now completely turned. London and Symonds were sent for and examined on oath; and not being aware that their letters were intercepted, fully committed themselves, were found guilty of perjury, and were sentenced to be placed on horseback with their faces to the horses' tails, with papers on their foreheads, setting forth their perjury. They were then set in the pillory in Windsor, Reading, and Newbury, where the king and queen were. Katharine sought no further vengeance; and the mortification caused by this disgraceful punishment is supposed to have caused Dr. London's death." Such were the scenes that marked the bridal month of Katharine Parr as queen of England-that month which is generally styled the honeymoon. Her elevation to the perilous dignity of queen-consort afforded her, however, the satisfaction of advancing the fortunes of various members of her own family. She bestowed the office of lord chamberlain on her uncle, lord Parr of Horton; she made her sister, lady Herbert, one of her ladies of the bedchamber; and her step-daughter, Margaret Neville, the only daughter of her deceased husband, lord Latimer, one of her maids of honour. On the 21st of December, 1 Burnet, Hist. Ref., vol. i., p. 312. Rapin. Hall. her brother, William Parr, was created earl of Essex,' in right of his wife, having been previously made baron Parr of Kendal. The preferment which queen Katharine's cousins of the house of Throckmorton obtained, through her powerful patronage, is thus quaintly described by the poetical chronicler of that family : "Lo, then! my brethren, Clement, George, and I, "First in the court my brother Clement served; One of the first fruits of queen Katharine's virtuous influence over the mind of the king, was the restoration of his daughters, the persecuted Mary and the young neglected Elizabeth, to their proper rank in the court, and recognition in the order of succession to the crown. The privy purse expenses of the princess Mary bear evidence of many little traits of kindness and friendly attentions which she from time to time received from her amiable step-mother. When Mary was taken ill, on her This gentleman enjoyed not only the favour but the esteem of king Henry, who honoured him with the name of "his Integrity." The young prince, afterwards Edward VI., always called him his honest uncle.' He was finally advanced to the title of marquis of Northampton. Like his sister, queen Katharine, he possessed an elegant and cultivated mind, and delighted in poetry and music. His marriage with the heiress of Essex was a miserable one, and was dissolved in consequence of the incontinence of the lady. The portrait of the marquis, among the Holbein heads in her majesty's collection, represents him as a model of manly beauty. journey between Grafton and Woodstock, the queen sent her own litter to convey her to Ampthill, where she was herself residing with the king. On the New Year's day after her marriage,' queen Katharine sent her footman, Jacob, with the present of a cheese for the princess Mary, who guerdoned the bearer with seven and sixpence. A rich night-gown, or evening dress, is on another occasion sent by queen Katharine to Mary, by Fritton, the keeper of the royal robes. Mary's reward to Fritton was fifteen shillings. Mary embroidered a cushion with her own hands, as an offering for the queen, and paid seven and sixpence to John Hayes for devising the pattern. Katharine, on her marriage, received into her household one Mrs. Barbara, undoubtedly at the request of the princess Mary, who had kindly supplied this person with money, clothes, food, and medical attendance, during a long illness. An item occurs at the time of Katharine Parr's marriage, in the accounts of the princess, of money presented to Mrs. Barbara, when she was sworn queen's woman, and being thus honourably provided for, her name is no longer blended with the list of Mary's pensioners. Notwithstanding the great difference in their religious tenets, a firm friendship ever subsisted between Katharine Parr and Mary. They were near enough in age to have been sisters, they excelled in the same accomplishments, and the great learning and studious pursuits of these royal ladies rendered them suitable companions for each other. The more brilliant talents of the young Elizabeth were drawn forth and fostered under the auspices of her highly-gifted step-mother. Katharine Parr took also an active part in directing the studies of the heir of England, 'Privy Purse Expenses of Princess Mary, by sir F. Madden. and her approbation appears to have been the greatest encouragement the prince could receive. In a letter, written in French, to queen Katharine, Edward notices the beauty of her penmanship. "I thank you," says he, "most noble and excellent queen, for the letters you have lately sent me; not only for their beauty, but for their imagination. For when I see your belle ecriture (fair writing), and the excellence of your genius, greatly surpassing my invention, I am sick of writing. But, then, I think how kind your nature is, and that whatever proceeds from a good mind and will, will be acceptable, and so I write you this letter." A modern author has noticed the great similarity between the handwriting of Edward VI. and Katharine Parr, and from this circumstance it has been conjectured that Katharine superintended the education of one or other of the juvenile members of the royal family previous to her marriage with king Henry. No official evidence of her appointment to any office of the kind has been discovered, but her great reputation for wisdom and learning renders the tradition not improbable. Certain it is, that after she became queen, she took great delight in directing the studies of her royal step-children. It is evident that Edward VI., queen Elizabeth, and their youthful cousins, lady Jane and lady Katharine Gray, all imbibed her taste for classic literature, and her attachment to the principles of the Reformation. She induced not only Elizabeth, but Mary, to translate passages from the Scriptures. Each of these princesses compiled a little manual of devotions in Latin, French, and English, dedicated to their accomplished stepmother." 1 2 Ellis, p. 132. See the Memoirs of Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, for a description of these books. Katharine Parr's celebrity as a scholar and a theologian, did not render her neglectful of the feminine accomplishment of needlework, in which, notwithstanding her early resistance to its practice, she much delighted. Like Henry's first excellent queen, Katharine of Arragon, she employed her hours of retirement in embroidering among her ladies. It is said that a portion of the hangings which ornamented the royal apartments of the Tower, before they were dismantled or destroyed, were the work of this queen; the only specimens, however, that are now to be found of her skill and industry in this pleasing art, are preserved at Sizergh Castle. Her taste in dress appears to have been excellent, uniting magnificence of material with a simplicity of form. In fact, the costume of Katharine Parr, as shewn in the miniature from which the frontispiece of this volume is taken, might be worn with perfect propriety in any courtly circle of the present age. Katharine Parr enacted the queen with as much royal state and splendour as the loftiest of her predecessors; she granted an interview to the Spanish duke de Najera, at Westminster palace, Feb. 17, 1544. This Spanish grandee visited England on his return from the army of Charles V., and was admitted to pay his respects to the queen and her daughter-in-law, the princess Mary. The queen permitted him to kiss her hand. Pedro de Gante, secretary to the grandee, has described her dress with the zeal of a man milliner. She wore a kirtle of brocade, and an open robe of cloth of gold, the sleeves lined with crimson satin and trimmed with three piled crimson velvet, the train more than two yards long. Suspended from her neck were two crosses and a jewel of very rich diamonds, and in her head-dress were many large and beautiful ones. Her girdle was of gold, with very large pendants. |