edience became to her
the greatest of virtues; she held herself and England at his service.
She longed for a son who would bind her husband more closely to
herself and who {p.xii} would save England from the hated Elizabeth,
and still more from Elizabeth's hated religion. When old and ill, and
on the brink of the grave, she still cherished the vain dream of
giving birth to the saviour of England and the champion of the faith.

But Froude dwells with malicious irony on the frustration of the poor
woman's hopes. He covers the incident with a ridicule which must jar
on all sensitive minds. The fact that Cardinal Pole encouraged her
belief adds zest to Froude's satisfaction. No purer soul ever set
himself to right the world than Reginald Pole; no one failed more
completely in his cherished plans. He and Mary died on the same day;
the bells that tolled their knell rang out the order for which they
stood. But the utter failure of their hopes roused no emotion save
that of bitter contempt in Froude. He saw no merit in the "hysterical
dreamer" who had sacrificed his all for his religion; he saw no pathos
in the life of that lone woman who was condemned, almost from her
cradle, to a loveless existence and a forlorn death. His final epitaph
on her is that "she had reigned little more than five years, and she
descended into the grave amidst curses deeper than the acclamations
which had welcomed her accession." The only excuse he can find for her
is that she was suffering from "hysterical derangement" akin to
insanity, which placed her absolutely under the domination of Gardiner
and Pole. When we remember her magnanimity towards Lady Jane Grey at
her accession, when we contrast her conduct towards the formidable
Elizabeth with Elizabeth's subsequent conduct towards Mary Queen of
Scots, her generosity to the causes she had at heart with Elizabeth's
unfailing parsimony, and her open and straightforward dealings both in
matters of Church and of State with her sister's mean and tortuous
subterfuges, we may well extend not only our pity to the woman, but
some tribute of admiration to the Queen. At least we may agree with
Froude that "few men or women have lived less capable of doing
knowingly a wrong thing."

W. LLEWELYN WILLIAMS.
_February 3, 1910._

{p.xiii} Bibliography

The following is a list of the published works of J. A. Froude--

Life of St. Neot (Lives of the English Saint