Of Owen Tudor, after this, thy next son Edmund was, A peerless prince was Edmund's son, a good and gracious roy; Thrice happy child, but grand-dame she, more than thrice happy sure!" Although Henry VII. had demolished the tomb of his grandmother, it is certain that he had not caused her remains to be exhumed, since he mentions her in his will as still interred in the chapel, and it is evident that he intended to restore her monument. "Specially as the body of our grand-dame, of right noble memory, queen Katherine, daughter of the king of France, is interred within our monastery of Westminster, and we propose shortly to translate thither the reliques of our uncle of blessed memory, Henry VI.: and whether we die within the realm or not, our body is to be buried in the said monastery,—that is to say, in the chapel where our said grand-dame lies buried." Jasper Tudor, her second son, left funds for masses to be sung in the monastery of Keynsham "for the soul of his father, and the soul of Katherine late queen of England, his mother." This was dated December 15, 1495 he died eleven days after. : When Henry VII. was buried the corpse of Katherine was disinterred; and as her ungracious descendant, Henry VIII., did not fulfil his father's intention of restoring her tomb, the bones of the unfortunate queen never found a final restingplace till the commencement of the present century. Owing to some accidental absorption of the embalming, the queen's corpse was found to be quite dry like a mummy, and in extraordinary preservation; it was therefore shown as a curiosity to persons visiting Westminster-abbey for at least three centuries. Weever, in his Funeral Monuments, thus mentions its state in the time of Charles I. "Here lieth Katherine, queen of England, wife to Henry V., in a chest or coffin with a loose cover, to be seen and handled of any who much desire it; and who, by her own appointment, inflicted this penance on herself, in regard to her disobedience to her husband for being delivered of her son Henry VI. at Windsor, which place he forbade." In the reign of Charles II. the poor queen was made a common spectacle, for that impertinent oddity, Pepys, journalizes, with infinite satisfaction, that he had "this day kissed a queen;" and, that he might make this boast, he had kissed the mummy of Katherine the Fair, shown for the extra charge of twopence to the curious in such horrors. Nearly half a century after Pepys had thus amused himself with kissing the relics of poor Katherine of Valois, the industrious Hearne, then busy editing Elmham's Chronicle of Henry V., thus writes to his friend West: "Queen Katherine was buried in Westminster-abbey. I am told that part of her skeleton is now to be seen above ground, in a wooden chest in the abbey.' Were I in London, I would make it one part of my business to see it, and to get an account of the true reason of its lying in such a posture. The life of the hero I am printing gives occasion to mention it." Hearne got no satisfaction, so he returned vigorously to the charge about a fortnight afterwards. "I desire," said he, " you would think of the skeleton of queen Katherine, and let me know the true reason of its being above ground. I know not any effigies of her now preserved." The dean of Westminster ordered the poor corpse to be decently buried in 1776; but he was privily disobeyed, because the same disgusting traffic was carried on in 1793, for Hutton reprobates it in his Tour through the Sights of London. This exordium probably drew the attention of the then dean of Westminster, for the wretched remains of Katherine the Fair have reposed since then, sheltered from public view, in some nook of the vaults in Westminsterabbey. 'MS. letter, Hearne's Collection, fol. 56, Oct. 27, 1727.-Brit. Mus., Lansdre, 778. 2 Knight's London. MARGARET OF ANJOU, QUEEN OF HENRY VI. CHAPTER I. Parentage and descent of Margaret-Her birth-Baptism-Misfortunes of her father-Conjugal heroism of her mother-Margaret betrothed in infancy -Charins and early promise-Her Italian education-First proposal of Henry VI.-Margaret courted by count de Nevers-Poverty of her parents-Fame of her beauty and talents-Henry VI. obtains her portrait-Secret negotiations-Treaty of Tours-Margaret married to king Henry at Nanci-Bridal fêtes and tournaments-The daisy her badge-Poverty of Henry VI.— Attendants-Progress of Margaret through France-Margaret's scanty equipment-Bridal wardrobe-Margaret embarks for England-Lands at Porchester-Falls sick at Southampton-Married to king Henry-Splendid pageants at London-Her coronation-Foreign followers-Friendship with cardinal Beaufort-Murder of the duke of Gloucester-Margaret endows Queen's college-Banishment and murder of Suffolk-Cade's rebellion-Revolt suppressed-Queen persecutes John Payn-She favours Somerset-Wars of the roses-Death of the queen's mother-King's aberration of mind—Birth of prince Edward-Queen exercises regal power-Loses it-King's recoveryBattle of St. Alban's. THE history of Margaret of Anjou, from the cradle to the tomb, is a tissue of the most striking vicissitudes, and replete with events of more powerful interest than are to be found in the imaginary career of any heroine of romance; for the creations of fiction, however forcibly they may appeal to our imagination, fade into insignificance before the simple majesty of truth. When we consider the stormy grandeur of character of this last and most luckless of our Provençal queens, her beauty, her learning, her energetic talents, and the important position she occupied for more than a quarter of a century in the annals of this country,-first as the unconstitutional, but certainly supreme, director of the power of the crown, and lastly as the leader and rallying point of the |