Читать книгу Royalty in All Ages - T. F. Thiselton-Dyer - Страница 8

On another occasion his mad frolic made him an inmate of Coventry gaol, for some of his most outrageous acts were done at a manor of his close to Coventry, called Cheylesmore, a residence appertaining to his Duchy of Cornwall. But John Hornesby, the Mayor of Coventry, disregarding his royal position, took him and some of his friends into custody for raising a riot.

As long as the world lasts the strange marriage freaks of Henry VIII. will be matter of comment. And a peculiarity of Elizabeth, which gave rise to many amusing scenes, was her indecision—a trait of character which occasioned considerable inconvenience, her ministers not even knowing what freak her Majesty’s fickleness of will would next take. The story goes that a carter was once ordered to go with his cart to Windsor to remove a portion of the royal wardrobe. But on his arrival he ascertained that her Majesty had altered the day, causing him to make the second journey in vain; and when on a third summons he attended, and was informed, after waiting a considerable time, that “the remove did not hold,” he clapped his hands and exclaimed, “Now I see that the Queen is a woman as well as my wife!” Elizabeth, as she stood at an open window, overheard this remark and inquired, “What villain is this?” afterwards sending him three angels as a compensation for the inconvenience she had caused him.

A bit of mischief her successor, James I., much enjoyed was to listen to personal allusions in the pulpit. Among those who pandered to this freak was Neile, Bishop of Lincoln, and afterwards Archbishop of York. On one occasion one of the royal chaplains selected for his text St. Matt. iv. 8: “And the devil took Jesus to the top of a mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, saying, All these will I give thee,” &c. He first proceeded “to demonstrate the power of the devil at that period; he then brought his kingdom down to the present time, expressing his belief that as the devil was in possession of such large dominions, there could be no doubt but that he had his viceroys, councillors of state, treasurers, &c. This gave him an opportunity of attributing the several vices of which James’s advisers were accused to the ministers of his Satanic majesty, and portraying their characters accordingly. At last he came to the devil’s treasurer, when he fixed his eyes on the Earl of Cranfield, and pointing at him, he exclaimed: ‘That man who makes himself rich and his master poor is a fit treasurer for the devil.’ Cranfield kept his hat over his eyes, while James sat smiling at his minister’s discomfiture.”[10]

William III. behaved in a strange fashion at church. If ever he happened to be uncovered during the recital of the liturgy, he assumed his hat directly the sermon began. His partisans observed that such was the custom among the Dutch congregations, and pleaded that Jews did the same. But members of the Church of England considered the King’s behaviour irreverent, and were in no way pacified by the examples he followed.

In speaking of his Majesty’s religious freaks, we are reminded of Queen Anne, who was in the habit of dressing herself while her chaplain prayed. On one occasion, when decency compelled the attendants to close the door while the Queen put on some of her under garments, the chaplain suddenly stopped; and on her Majesty’s inquiry as to the reason of this pause, he replied, “Because I will not whistle the Word of God through a keyhole.”

Similarly, it was Queen Caroline’s custom while she dressed herself to have prayers read in an outer room, where there hung a picture of a naked Venus. Dr. Maddox, afterwards Bishop of Worcester, was one day the chaplain on duty, when the bed-chamber woman-in-waiting conveyed to him the Queen’s command to begin the service, at which he looked up archly at the picture and said, “And a very pretty altar-piece is here!”