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Renard was present at the ratification by Mary of her marriage-contract with Philip.

On the following Tuesday, at three o'clock, the Earl of Pembroke and the Admiral came to bring us to the Queen and her Council; here, in a chamber where was the blessed host, the ratifications of her Majesty and his Highness were delivered, and the oaths taken by both the one party and the other; but before this the Queen fell on her knees, and called God to witness that this marriage was not in her the result of any carnal affection; that it did not originate in ambition, or any motive except the good of her kingdom and the repose and tranquillity of her subjects; that, in truth, her single intention in all she did, was to prove faithful to the marriage and oath which she had already made to the crown; expressing this with so much grace, that those who stood round were in tears. After this her Majesty, as she had already done, dropped upon her knees, and requested us to join our prayers with hers, that God would be pleased to give her his grace to fulfill the treaty to which she had sworn, and that He would make the marriage fortunate. Upon which the Count Egmont presented to her the ring which your Majesty has sent, and which she showed to all the company; and assuredly, sire, the jewel is a precious one, and well worth looking at. After this

we took our leave, first enquiring whether her Majesty had any commands for his Highness; to whom she begged to send her most affectionate regards, begging us to assure him that, for her part, as long as she lived, she would, by all dutiful obedience, endeavour to vie with him in mutual love and good offices. She added, that, as his Highness had not yet written to her, she deferred writing to him till he began the correspondence.'-Vol. ii. 326-328.

The following contains some new particulars relating to Elizabeth's committal to the Tower, and the composition of the indignant letter of remonstrance which she addressed to Mary upon that occasion. The letter itself is printed in Sir Henry Ellis's Second Series of Original Letters.' (ii. 254.)

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'It was only because no one could be found upon whom to impose the task of guarding the Lady Elizabeth, that they resolved she should be sent to the Tower on Saturday last, by the Thames, and not through the streets. This, however, did not take place on that day, and the reason was, that, at the hour when the tide served, she besought an interview with the Queen, affirming that this [her being sent to the Tower] was not done with her knowledge, but solely by the anger of the Chancellor. If she was denied to see the Queen, she wished to be permitted to write a letter to her; this was allowed, and when she was writing, the hour of the tide, which alone would have served for her passage below the bridge, elapsed, and they were obliged to wait till yesterday.

The Queen was much incensed with her Council for this, and told them plainly that they were not travelling in the right path; that they dared not have done such a thing in her father's lifetime, and she wished he were alive again, were it but for a month!'-Vol. ii. 342-3.

Mary appears to have been well satisfied with her reception by her first Parliament, or anxious to make it appear that she The following is dated 6th May 1554:

was so.

This morning the Queen sent me word by Basset that the Parliament finished yesterday, much to the contentment of the Estates, the reputation of her Majesty, and the satisfaction of all; that the ancient penalties against heretics were assented to by all the Peers; that it was reported publicly and expressly; that they considered heresy as having been extirpated as well as punished-the same Basset adding, on his own part, that never did Parliament end with a better grace; that when the Queen made her speech, she was interrupted five or six times by cries of "God save the Queen!" and that the most part wept at the eloquence and goodness of her Highness; that she has every hope that God will restore matters to tranquillity; that the Peers especially have spoken with her, and promised all obedience; and that I ought to dismiss all fear and suspicion from my mind. ... Paget (the Queen added in her message) had repented of having behaved himself so ill in her service; but that it was impossible she could ever rely on him, or resume her good opinion of his constancy.'-Vol. ii. 388-390.

The last sentence relates to the disputes in the Council, which were far from appeased by Paget's submission; for, three weeks afterwards the Ambassador writes thus:

The parties which divide the Council are so many, and their disputes so public, they are so banded the one against the other, that they forget the service of the Queen to think of their private passions and quarrels. Nothing is done but what the Queen expressly orders: Paget, with the heretics, is leagued against the Chancellor and the Catholics; the Queen has information that he and his party are arming themselves; and, if they could be beforehand, that they would make the Chancellor prisoner, who, with the knowledge of her Majesty, is also arming with his adherents. Gardiner, meanwhile, counsels the Queen to leave this city with all speed, and to clap the Earl of Arundel and Paget in the Tower, as they have private information that he (the Earl) is fortifying a castle of his near the sea-shore. They hear, also, that he is raising horse without the leave of the Queen; and that from day to day soldiers, by four and five at a time, come into London, whilst Paget does all he can to estrange several noblemen from their affection to the Queen.

'I learn, moreover, that strange words are uttered about the coming of the Alcaldé, and we have information by our spies that a great revolt is brewing; so that, sire, it is impossible that these parties can be appeased without great trouble; and, if such is the case, it is better that we should have it before the coming of his Highness than after.

The inconstancy of the people here is incredible, and equally so their power of inspiring confidence when they wish to deceive you. It is the subject of religion, debated in the last Parliament, which is the cause of these troubles; and the Queen is reduced to such a state of perplexity, that she knows not what advice to adopt, understanding well that all is

done in favour of the Lady Elizabeth. They have removed Courtenay from the Tower, and taken him to a castle in the north.. Your Majesty may well believe in what danger the Queen is, so long as both are alive; and when Paget, in whom she has so much confided, has so far forgot himself, and proceeded to such an extreme, that, to revenge himself of the Chancellor, he professes himself a heretic, and neglects the service of her Highness, Vol. ii, 398-401.

Our extracts have sufficiently exemplified the historical value of the documents in Mr Tytler's work, and proved its importance as a collection of materials for English history. All enquirers respecting the two reigns to which it relates, will do well to conşult it; and we shall be glad to find that he is encouraged to continue his researches, at any rate through the reigns of Elizabeth and James. They are fruitful in unpublished materials, which his industry and intelligence could not fail to turn to good

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ART. VI.-I. Eloge Historique de James Watt. Par M. ARAGO. Lu à la Séance publique de l'Académie des Sciences du 8 Décembre 1834. Annuaire pour l'An 1839. 2.-Life of James Watt. By M. ARAGO, cretary to the Academy of Sciences. 8vo. Edinburgh: 1839.

Perpetual Se-
Third Edition.

3.-Historical Eloge of James Watt. By M. ARAGO, Perpetual Secretary to the Academy of Sciences. Translated from the French, with additional Notes and an Appendix, by JAMES PATRICK MUIRHEAD, Esq. A M., of Baliol College, Oxford, Advocate. 8vo. 8vo. London : 1839.

ERE we to inscribe on two separate tablets the distinguished names which adorn the history of our intellectual and social progress, it might be a matter of national controversy who should take the precedence on the one; but there would be no hesitation in determining who should be placed at the head of the other. England, and France, and Italy, and Germany, might contend about their Newtons, their Laplaces, their Descartes', their Galileos, and their Keplers; but Europe and America would simultaneously pronounce the name of Watt as the most illustrious of the benefactors, whose inventive genius has administered to the luxuries and wants of mankind.

Nor was this enviable pre-eminence the result of any brilliant conception, or of any felicitous creation of the mind, to which the name of invention or discovery could be distinctively applied. Mr Watt was the improver, not the inventor of the Steam-Engine. He found the crazy machines of Savery and Newcomen labouring and creaking at our mine-heads, and occupying the same rank as prime movers with the wind-mill and the water-wheel; and by a succession of inventions and discoveries, deduced from the most profound chemical knowledge, and applied by the most exquisite mechanical skill, he brought the steam-engine to such a degree of perfection as to stamp it the most precious gift which man ever bequeathed to his race.

Whether this wonder of mechanism is presented to us in the form of a model, with the feeble power of an infant's arm, or as a gigantic machine, wielding the strength of a whole squadron of horse, the elegance of its form, the harmony of its movements, and the ingenuity of its details, never fail to command our admiration. But the sentiment thus excited is not very different from that with which we view a piece of exquisite clockwork, or a machine of great power; whether it is driven by wind, or

water, or animal exertion. It is only when we see the steamengine in its applications, and recognise its capacity of adaptation to all the mechanical arts, that we can form a just idea of its value, and rightly appreciate the debt of gratitude which it should inspire.

In employing wind and water as the first movers of machinery, they are available only in particular localities, where the wind blows or the water falls; and in serene weather, or in dry seasons, the powers on which we rely altogether fail us. The steamengine, on the contrary, serves us at all times and in all places. We can erect it on the arid heath, on the loftiest ridge, at the bottom of the deepest mine, or in the heart of the most crowded city; and when it has performed its functions in any of these localities, we can send it elsewhere on another errand.

But while the steam-engine thus surpasses all other prime movers as a stationary power, it rises infinitely above them all as an organ of locomotive force. On a level surface, or even a gentle acclivity, it outstrips the antelope in its speed, and it propels, with almost equal velocity, a hundred loaded waggons, or carries along with it the whole rank and file of a regiment. But it is on the boundless ocean

• Calm or convulsed-in breeze, or gale, or storm,
Deep-heaving'--

that its triumph is most complete; and, were we to replace the gods of antiquity by modern sages, James Watt would be our Neptune, the column of vapour his trident, and the steam-ship his throne and his footstool. And yet the sceptre thus wielded over the deep is but a bucketful of its own waters, whose elastic breath defies tide and tempest,—thus contracting the aqueous dimensions of the globe, wafting to the remotest shores the truths of reason and inspiration, and hastening that era of peace when the philosopher and the savage shall be united in the same brotherhood of faith and charity.

The history of inventions which have produced results like these, and of the individuals to whom society owes them, must ever excite a deep interest throughout every class of the community. To gratify a curiosity so laudable, volumes have been written on the history of the steam-engine; and the records of ancient and modern times have been ransacked for the earliest traces either of a toy or of a machine in which the impulse or the elastic pressure of steam had been employed. Facts the most frivolous and insignificant have thus been treasured by national partiality as the basis of serious claims to the invention of the

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