TO HER MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY Our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria, THE LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND ARE BY GRACIOUS PERMISSION INSCRIBED, WITH FEELINGS OF PROFOUND RESPECT AND LOYAL AFFECTION, BY HER MAJESTY'S FAITHFUL SUBJECT AND DEVOTED SERVANT, AGNES STRICKLAND. CONTENTS MARY II., Queen Regnant of Great Britain and Ireland, Con- sort of William III., King of Great Britain and Ireland, Stadtholder of Holland and Prince of Orange, continued Portrait of MARY II. when Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, 1692, by permission, from a valuable En- MARY II. QUEEN REGNANT OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.1 CHAPTER V. Regnal life of Mary II. Her position in the sovereignty-Remarkable instances of conjugal submission-Scene of her landing, from a contemporary painting-Arrival at Greenwich-Meeting with her sister AnneEmbarks in the royal barge for Whitehall - Lands at Whitehall StairsUnseemly joy-Censures thereupon of Evelyn, of Lady Churchill, and of Burnet-Proclamation of William III. and Mary II.-Queen sends for Sancroft's blessing-Awful answer- -Queen's ill will to her uncles-Her visit to Hampton Court-Exhortation to Burnet and his wife-Coronationmorning-Arrival of her father's letter- His malediction-Coronation of William and Mary-Take their oath as king and queen of ScotlandDissension with the princess Anne-Her pecuniary distress-King's rudeness to her at table-Queen's behaviour at the play-Goes to curiosityshops-To a fortune-teller-Rude reproofs of the king-Severe satire on her and her sister-Life of king and queen at Hampton Court-Birth of the princess Anne's son-Baptised-Proclaimed duke of Gloucester-His delicate health-Anne retires from Hampton Court-Lives at Craven HillQuarrel with the queen--Parliament provides for Anne-Ill will of the queen-Insults to the princess-King prepares for Irish campaign-The queen superintends building at Kensington-palace. THE Swiftest gales and the most propitious weather that ever speeded a favourite of fortune to the possession of a throne attended Mary, princess of Orange, in her short transit from the port of the Brill to the mouth of her native Thames. She arrived there, glowing in health, and 1 The preceding events of the life of Mary II. when princess, have been related in conjunction with those of her sister Anne, in vol. x. |