through the Lords. It may, however, be doubted whether the compliance of the Commons in such matters can be taken as a fair proof of the general consent of the nation. That pressure of all kinds was unscrupulously used, not only during elections, but upon members themselves when elected, in these times[1] is notorious, and there is no reason to suppose it was less on this occasion than on others. Parliament was dissolved on May 5, but it was not till June 19 that the news arrived that Philip was on his way to England; and at last, towards the close of July, the marriage took place.
And what a marriage it was! The bride more than ten years older than her husband, haggard and wizened and older even than her age, and utterly destitute of all those personal charms which might have attracted, and for a time at least retained, the affection of such a man as Philip, but withal worked up by the combined effect of vanity, enthusiasm, and the constant flattery of interested attendants, to a pitch of persistent and demonstrative fondness more repulsive in such a person than the most chilling indifference. Her mind, doubtless, was more attractive than her person, or might have been so, for Mary was an educated and accomplished woman: but she was a religious enthusiast, and her religion was of the narrowest, the most fanatical, and the most superstitious type; and she had so completely assimilated the dogma that the end justifies the means, that there was scarcely any method, however cruel or treacherous, which she would hesitate to adopt for the good of the faith. The bridegroom was young enough—indeed, far too young for his wife—but he was undersized, pale, feeble, and, if the truth must be told, cowardly, repellent in manners and repulsive in feature,
- ↑ Burnet, vol. ii. p. 447; also Green, vol. ii. p. 252.
