Henrietta Maria, Queen, consort of Charles I, King of England, 1609-1669
[Footnote 397: _An exact narrative of the attempts made upon the Duke of
Gloucester_ (1654), p. 13.]
[Footnote 398: Lord Hatton. _Nicholas Papers_, II, p. 143.]
[Footnote 399: Dante: _Paradiso_, XVII.]
[Footnote 400: Green: _Letters of Queen Henrietta Maria_, p. 388. Madame de
Motteville: _Mémoires_ (1783), V, p. 276.]
[Footnote 401: Lovel: _La Muse Historique_ (1857), t. I, p. 174.]
CHAPTER XI
THE FOUNDRESS OF CHAILLOT
No cruell guard of diligent cares, that keep
Crown'd woes awake; as things too wise for sleep.
But reverent discipline, and religious fear,
And soft obedience, find sweet biding here;
Silence, and sacred rest; peace and pure joyes;
Kind loves keep house, ly close, make no noise,
And room enough for Monarchs, where none swells
Beyond the kingdomes of contentfull Cells.
R. CRASHAW (out of Barclay)
There is a portion of Henrietta's life which stands apart from its general
current, which seems, indeed, rather an acted commentary on her career than
an integral portion of it: when she retires from the schemes, the passions,
the loves, and the hates of the world, and, laying aside the trappings of
her rank, appears as a humble and sorrowful woman, striving to read, by the
light of prayer and meditation, the lesson of her stormy days. The Queen of
England is gone, and in her stead is seen the foundress of Chaillot.
The temper which produced this fruit must long have been growing up, but it
became active and apparent when the great blow of her life came upon her.
While she was a wife, even a wife separated by evil fortune from her
husband, she continued to live, as far as her straitened means permitted,
in a manner suitable to her rank, and she did not refuse to take part in
the splendid amusements of Paris, which were congenial to her gay
disposition. She was seen at lotteries and dances; she accepted the feasts
and dinners which the French royal family offered in her honour. Her
attendance was as brilliant as her fallen fortunes would allow of, and her
faded beauty was set off to the best advantage by the beautiful dress which
was then worn by ladies of rank.
But with the death of Charles all this was changed. She ceased to accept
invitations, and she rarely went abroad into the streets of Paris, except
to visit some religious house. In her own house the strictest simplicity
was used. Most of the maids of honour were dismissed, and the Queen
exchanged her silks and jewels for a mourning robe, which she wore to the
end of her life.
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