Ma lecture finie, j'ai envoyé votre livre à mes filles, qui sont encore à Paris, et qui le lisent à leur tour avec le vif amusement de leur âge.

"Agréez, je vous prie, Mademoiselle, tous mes remerciemens et l'hommage de mon respect.

"GUIZOT."

P. S.-"J'ai écrit à Paris pour demander s'y existent quelques documens particuliers et inédits sur l'histoire de Marguerite d'Anjou. Si on m'en envoye, j'aurai l'honneur de vous les transmettre."

I had been so materially indebted, in the first and second volumes of the Lives of the Queens of England, to the invaluable documents which the research of this illustrious statesman-historian has been the means of rescuing from oblivion, that I was naturally anxious to avail myself of his friendly assistance in writing the memoir of Margaret of Anjou; and as Monsieur Michelot, the president of the Historical Society at Paris, M. Lefrevoit, M. Abel Hugo, Mademoiselle Fontaine, and several learned friends besides, were most kindly engaged in exploring the treasures of the Royal Archives of France, and the MS. collections of Normandy and Lorraine, with reference to the same object, I considered the delay of a few weeks in the publication of the present volume as a matter of duty.

The result will, I trust, sufficiently justify me for having ventured to depart from my original plan of presenting these volumes in monthly succession.

I have now to acknowledge my obligations to those

courteous and learned gentlemen who have in various ways facilitated me in the arduous, yet delightful, task of restoring to their proper positions in the tableau of history, the almost shadowy succession of our ancient Queens of England. Among those to whom I am peculiarly indebted I have the honour of naming that munificent collector, Sir Thomas Phillipps, who has kindly permitted me to enrich the present volume with interesting and precious extracts from the curious manuscript wardrobe accounts of Joanna of Navarre, the queen of Henry IV.; Howard, esq. of Corby, and his accomplished son, Philip H. Howard, esq., M.P. for Carlisle, both of whom have afforded me important information connected with the Queens of England, from authentic sources accessible only through the influence of private friendship; Sir Harris Nicolas; J. Bruce, esq.; J. O. Halliwell, esq.; the Rev. J. Hunter; G. F. Beltz, esq., Lancaster Herald; G. E. Young, esq., York Herald; and Mr. T. Saunders, the restorer of the Ladye Chapel in St. Saviour's, Southwark.

The First Series of the Lives of the Queens of England, containing the Anglo-Norman and Plantagenet queens, is now completed. The present volume. presents the personal history of six queens, namely, Isabella of Valois, the second queen of Richard II., whose life has never before been written; Joanna of Navarre; Katherine of Valois; Margaret of Anjou; Elizabeth Woodville; and Anne Neville. These princesses were all more or less involved in the changeful events of that stormy era of our annals which is thus finely described by the masterly pen of Guizot:

"The history of England in the fifteenth century consists of two great epochs: the French wars without, those of the roses within-the wars abroad and the wars at home. Scarcely was the foreign war terminated when the civil war commenced, and was long and fatally continued while the houses of York and Lancaster contested the throne. When these sanguinary disputes were ended, the high English aristocracy found themselves ruined, decimated, and deprived of the power they had formerly exercised. The associated barons could no longer control the throne when it was ascended by the Tudors; and with Henry VII., in 1485, the era of political concentration and the triumph of royalty commenced."

The sovereign and the great body of the people from that time made common cause to prevent the re-establishment of an oligarchy, which had been found equally inimical to the rights of the Commons and the dignity of the Crown. I have traced the history and influence of the Queens of England from the establishment of the feudal system to its close; commencing with the first Anglo-Norman queen, Matilda, the wife of William the Conqueror, and concluding with Anne of Warwick, the last Plantagenet queen, herself the sad representative of the mightiest of all the aristocratic dictators of the fifteenth century, the earl of Warwick, surnamed the King-maker.

The Second Series of the Lives of the Queens of England will commence with the Tudor queens-consort, and contain, in chronological succession, the queensregnant as well as the queens-consort from that era.

ISABELLA OF VALOIS,

SURNAMED THE LITTLE QUEEN.

SECOND QUEEN OF RICHARD II.

An infant queen consort-Isabella, daughter to Charles VI.-English ambassadors―Their dialogue with the princess-Isabella given to Richard Married at Calais-Young queen embarks-Enters London -Called the Little Queen-Educated at Windsor-King's visitsHer childish love for him-Conspiracy to imprison the king and queen-Young queen's tournament-Richard's farewell visit-The young queen's growth and beauty-Extravagance of her governessChange in her household-Parting with Richard-Queen's passionate grief-Invasion-Queen sent to Wallingford-King's return-His poetical address to the queen-She is seized by Bolingbroke-Richard in the Tower-Dejection-Fierce burst of passion-Demands restoration of the queen-Deposed-Queen at Sunning Hill-Joins the revolt against Henry IV. - Richard's murder Widowhood of Isabella Offer of Henry Prince of Wales-Refusal-Deprived of jewels and dower-Returns to France-Tender farewell to the English -Restoration to her family-Renewed offers from Henry-Fixed aversion-Betrothed to the heir of Orleans-Murder of her father-inlaw-Mournful procession of Isabella-Birth of Isabella's infant-Her death—Burial at Blois-Grief of her husband-Elegies written by him-Discovery of Isabella's corpse-Re-interment.

THE union of Isabella of Valois with Richard II. présented an anomaly to the people of England unprecedented in their annals. They saw with astonishment an

VOL. III.

B

infant, not nine summers old, sharing the throne as the chosen queen-consort of a monarch who had reached his thirtieth year.

Richard, whose principal error was attention to his own private feelings in preference to the public good, considered that by the time this little princess grew up, the lapse of years would have mellowed his grief for the loved and lost Anne of Bohemia; he could not divorce his heart from the memory of his late queen sufficiently to give her a successor nearer his own age.

Isabella of Valois was the daughter of Charles VI. of France and Isabeau of Bavaria, that queen of France afterwards so notorious for her wickedness; but at the time of the marriage of Richard II. with her little daughter, Queen Isabeau was only distinguished for great beauty, and luxurious taste in dress and festivals.

Charles VI. had already experienced two or three agonising attacks of inflammation on the brain, which had yielded, however, to medical skill, and he was at this time a magnificent, prosperous, and popular sovereign. Isabella, the first-born child of this royal pair, first saw the light in the Louvre palace at Paris, 1387, November 9th. She was the eldest of a numerous and lovely family, the females of which were remarkable for the prodigality of beauty lavished on them by the hand of nature. The queen of France was the daughter of a German prince and an Italian princess; she was renowned for the splendour of her large dark eyes, and the clearness and brightness of her complexion, charms which were transmitted to her daughters in no common degree. Isabella had three brothers, who were successively dauphins, and four sisters-Joanna duchess of Brittany; Marie, a nun; Michelle, the first duchess of