woman can scarcely close in a more appropriate manner than with this noble tribute to her memory :-" Even her errors did seem marks of surprising endowments; when she smiled, it was a pure sunshine, that every one did choose to bask in; but anon came a storm, from a sudden gathering of clouds, and the thunder fell, in wondrous manner, on all alike. I never did find greater show of understanding than she was blest with, and whoever liveth longer than I can, will look back and become laudater temporis acti."

ANNE OF DENMARK,

QUEEN-CONSORT OF JAMES THE FIRST, KING OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

CHAPTER I.

Anne, or Anna, of Denmark, first queen-consort of Great Britain, &c.-Her pa rentage and protestant education-Disputes between Scotland and Denmark relative to the Orkneys-Youth of James VI. of Scotland-Negotiations for marriage between James VI. and Anna's sister-Broken by queen Elizabeth -Anna's hand demanded by James VI.-Marriage traversed by queen Eliza beth-Obligations of Mary, queen of Scots, to Anna's father, Frederic II., king of Denmark-His death-King James's efforts for the marriage-Sends proxies to Denmark-King James and princess Anna married by proxy at Cronenburg -Anna sails for Scotland with a Danish fleet-Twice driven by storms from the Scottish coast-Suspicion of witchcraft-Quarrel of the Danish admiral with a witch-Disasters of the queen's ship-She takes refuge on the coast of Norway-Queen's miserable state-She writes to king James by Steven Beale -King James sails to Norway-Meets her-Their marriage on the Norway coast-King James's Morrowing gift-Dangerous journey over the Norway mountains-Joyous arrival in Denmark-Re-union with Danish royal family -Re-marriage of James and Anna by Lutheran rites-Their voyage to Scotland-Landing and sojourn at Leith-Scotch presbytery dislike the queen's unction-Her entry into Edinburgh-Robes-Crowned queen of Scotland at Holyrood-Queen's palace-Settlement of household—Queen's dialogue with sir J. Melville-With Simpson confesses a conspiracy against the queenAccuses lord Bothwell as instigator-Bothwell troubles the queen-King's jealousy of the earl of Murray-Ballads of him and the queen-Her palace attacked by Both well-Queen's kindness to her Danish maid and Wemys of Logie-Bothwell invades Holyrood-Danish ambassadors alarmed for the queen-Value of the Danish alliance to James VI.

ANNE OF DENMARK was undeniably inferior, both in education and intellect, to most of the royal ladies whose biographies have occupied our preceding volumes. Her political position was, nevertheless, more important than any queen-consort of England, since she was the wife of the first monarch whose sovereignty extended over the whole of the British islands. Her dower, moreover, completed the geographical wholeness of her husband's fortunate inheritance; for the Orkney and Shetland islands, which had, in the preceding century, been pawned by Denmark to Scotland, were yielded ultimately to the Scottish king, on condition of his marrying this princess. The sovereignty of these barren islands may appear, at the present day, a trifling addition to the majesty of the British crown, yet they are links of the great insular

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empire of the sea; and their retention by any rival maritime power must have caused, at some time or other, a considerable waste of blood and

treasure.

Anne of Denmark was the first queen of Great Britain;' a title which has been borne by the wives of our sovereigns from the commencement of the seventeenth century to the present era. Before, however, she attained this dignity, she had presided fourteen years over the court of Scotland as consort of James VI.

The line of sovereigns from whom Anne of Denmark descended had been elected to the Danish throne on the deposition of Christiern II, so notorious for his cruelties in Sweden. Perhaps the outrages this tyrant perpetrated against humanity were less offensive to his countrymen than the accident of his family consisting of two daughters; for, by the ancient custom of Denmark, continued to this hour, the crown could only be inherited by male heirs. The crowns of Denmark and Norway were, by the people, during the life-time of Christiern II., bestowed on his uncle Frederic I., whose reign, and the change of religion from the catholic to the Lutheran creed, commenced simultaneously in 1524. The son of this elected king was Christiern III., who completed the establishment of the protestant religion in Denmark. His eldest son, Frederic II., succeeded him; he married Sophia, the daughter of his neighbour, the duke of Mecklenburg, and had by her, six children, born in the following order: Elizabeth, the eldest, born at Coldinga, August 25, 1573; Anna, or Anne, the second child and subject of this biography, was born at Scanderburg, December 12, 1575; Christiern, the crown-prince, afterwards Christiern IV., who more than once visited the English court, was born at Fredericsburg, April 12, 1577; Ulric, duke of Holstein, and bishop of Sleswig, was born at Coldinga, in 1578; and two other daughters.

It was the opinion of the French ambassador, that Frederic II. was one of the richest princes in Europe, for he possessed the endowments

1Queen Elizabeth first used the name of Great Britain as a collective appellation for the kingdoms in this island, as we have shown in her biography. James I. had sufficient wisdom to adopt it. He took an important step towards the union of the whole island (afterwards perfected by his great-grand-daughter, queen Anne), when he called himself king of Great Britain. Previousy, his titles of king of England and Scotland had set his fierce subjects of the south and north quarrelling with each other for precedence. As early in his reign as October 23, 1604, Lord Cranbourne wrote thus to Mr. Winwood, from the court at Whitehall: "I do send you here a proclamation, published this day, of his majesty changing his title, and taking upon him the name and style of king of Great Britain, France and Ireland, by which he henceforth desires to be acknowledged, both at home and abroad, and that his former titles shall be extinct." The proclamation was at Cheapside with the lord mayor and heralds. Lodge's Illustrations, vol. iii., and Winwood's Mem.

The crown of Norway, which came to Denmark by a female, and of course was expected to descend in the female line, was in vain claimed by the cele brated Christina of Lorraine, who was daughter to the deposed Christiern II. and Isabella of Austria, sister to the emperor Charles V. Her character has been drawn in the life of queen Mary I., vol. v. chap. 6.

'Miles' Catalogue of Honour.

of seven bishoprics in Denmark and Norway, which his father, Christiern III., had appropriated to his own use. It is well known that king Christiern, having possessed himself of the whole wealth of the church at the Danish reformation, sent a very gracious message to Luther, expect. ing to receive great praise for the exploit; but the reformer almost execrated him for his selfishness, and considered him an utter disgrace to his creed. This wealth, however, gave an increase of power to the royal family of Denmark. Frederic II. drew, moreover, a great income from the tolls of Elsineur, besides a revenue of 200,000 dollars, arising from the duties on Hamburgh and Rostock beer, which supplied the potations of the north of Europe. As Frederic was a prudent prince, and laid up large dowries for his daughters, their hands were sought by many of the northern princes. They were all educated as zealous protestants of the Lutheran creed.

Sophia of Mecklenburg, queen of Denmark, bore a high character among the protestants for her many domestic virtues. "She is," (wrote a spy, whom Burleigh had employed to report the characters of the Danish royal family,) "a right virtuous and godly princess, who, with a motherly care and great wisdom, ruleth her children." Whatever were the moral excellencies of queen Sophia, her judgment in rearing children must have been somewhat deficient, since the princess Anna could not walk alone till after she was nine years old, being carried about in the arms of her attendants. This might have been a piece of semi-barbarian magnificence, for the princess was extremely well made, and was afterwards very famous for her agile dancing.

In the preceding century, when James III., of Scotland, married a princess of Denmark, whose brother, Christiern I., had, on some internal commotion in his dominions, pawned to him the Orkney and Shetland isles, they had proved a wonderful advantage to the commerce of the country, for these islands had been terrible thorns in the side of Scotland, and even of England, in former times, when they were the rendezvous of the Norwegian sea-kings, who made such frequent piratical descents on the British coasts. The Orkneys had for a century quietly pertained to the Scottish crown, having, as sir James Melville declared, "laid in wadset, or unredeemed mortgage." But the reigning king of Denmark, Frederic II., finding himself rich and prosperous, thought proper, in the year 1585, to offer repayment of the mortgage and arrears, and to reclaim this appanage of the Danish crown. A war with Denmark, which possessed an overpowering navy, was a dismal prospect for Scotland, just breathing from all the miseries with which the power or policy of England had oppressed her; on the other hand, the restoration of the Orkneys was an intolerable measure, as a formidable naval power would be immediately re-established within sight of the Scottish coast. This question was earnestly debated for two or three years; at last, it appeared likely to be accommodated by a marriage between the young king of Scotland, James VI., and one of the daughters of the king of Denmark.

'Letter of Daniel Rogers to Burleigh. Ellis, second series, vol. iii., p. 143. 'Melville's Memoirs.

The princess Anna, at the time the negotiation began for the restoration of the Orkney isles, had passed her tenth year, and, being considered too old to be carried in the arms of her nurses, had been just set on her feet. While she is taught to walk, to sew her sampler, to dance, and other accomplishments, we will take a glance at the history of the monarch destined to become her partner for life.

The calamities of the royal house of Stuart have been the theme of many a page. Hard have been their fates, and harder still it is, that the common sympathies of humanity have been denied to them, though the very nature of their misfortunes prove they were more sinned against than sinning. Such has been the venom infused on the page of history by national, polemic, and political prejudices, that no one has taken the trouble to compare line by line of their private lives, in order justly to decide whether this royal Stuart, who received a dagger in his bosom ; that, who was shot in the back; or another, who was hoisted by the treacherous mine from his peaceful bed; or those who, "done to death by slanderous tongues," laid down their heads on the block as on a pillow of rest, were, in reality, as wicked as the agents who produced these results? Yet, if facts are sifted, and effects traced carefully back to their true causes, the mystery of an evil destiny which is so often laid to the charge, as if it were a personal crime attached to this line of hapless princes, will vanish before the broad light of truth.

Most of the calamities of the royal line of Scotland originated in the antagonism, which, for long ages, was sustained between England and their country. Either by open violence or insidious intrigue, five Scottish monarchs had suffered long captivities in England; and, owing to the wars with England, or the commotions nurtured in Scotland by the English, six long minorities had successively taken place before James VI. was born. The regents who governed in the names of these minor Sovereigns were placed or replaced by factions of the fierce nobility, who, at last, refused to submit to any control, either of king or law. In fact, the possessor of the Scottish crown was either destroyed or harassed to death as soon as an heir to the throne was born.

"Woe to the land that is governed by a child!" says the wise proverb. This was a woe that Scotland had hitherto known sufficiently; but it was possible for it to be aggravated; by the sceptre falling to a female minor, which it did at the early death of James V., who left it to his daughter Mary, a babe just born.

This unfortunate queen assumed the reins of government in Scotland, in the midst of a religious civil war. When she returned to Scotland, she was the widow of Francis II., king of France; she married, in 1565, her cousin, Henry Stuart, lord Darnley. Soon after the birth of an heir, her husband was murdered, and she was driven into captivity in England. A faction of the most turbulent of the Scottish nobility took

David I., William the Lion, David II., James I., kings, and Mary, queen of Scots.

James I., James II., James III., James IV., James V., and Mary.

Eldest son to lady Margaret Douglas and Matthew Stuart, earl of Lenox. See the Life of Mary I., vol. v., where lord Darnley and his mother are mentioned.