Page:The Queens of England.djvu/403

MARY THE FIRST. 361 was known to be gratifying to the king. The ceremony took place at the Grey Friars' church, which was contiguous to the palace in which she was born, three days after her birth, the Princess Katharine Plantagenet and the Duchess of Norfolk serving as her godmothers, and Cardinal Wolsey as her god- father. No ceremonial of regal state was omitted on this solemn occasion. A grand procession, formed of the noblest in the land, accompanied the Countess of Salisbury, who bore the infant to the church, and a guard of knights-banneret en- circled it. It was not the sponsors alone who bestowed costly gifts on the Princess Mary, her relations vied with each other in their offerings. This child, unlike the two infant princes who had preceded her, was extremely healthy. She passed che first two or three years of her life beneath the immediate care of her mother, often caressed by the king, who delighted in fondling her, and taking her in his arms. When Mary was weaned her wet-nurse, Katharine Pole, was dismissed, and the Lady Margaret Bryan became attached to the nursery establishment of the young princess ; the Countess of Salisbury retaining her appointment of state-governess, and directress of the household, the ex- penditure of which was wholly confided to her. The establish- ment was on a princely scale, including a chamberlain, a treas- urer, and an accountant, a lady of the bedchamber, a chaplain, a clerk of the closet, and a numerous retinue of domestics of a subordinate grade, maintained at considerable cost. Ditton Park, in Buckinghamshire, was chosen as the residence for the heiress-apparent to the throne, its vicinity to Windsor Castle affording a facility for the child being frequently taken to the queen. So soon had the education of Mary commenced, that when only three years old its fruits were visible in her dignified demeanor, rational remarks, and courteous reception of those permitted to approach her. It is asserted that she played on the virginals with considerable skill at an age when children are supposed to be too young to commence the study of music, and that she acquitted herself to the admiration of her hearers : this last part of the statement may be easily believed, when we consider how prone those admitted to the presence of royalty are to exaggerate the accomplishments attributed to every branch of it. During the absence of Henry and Katharine in France, to grace the Field of the Cloth of Gold, they were furnished with frequent details of the welfare of their daughter by the privy council, who visited her at the palace at Richmond,