and say little of religion to her court. James I. was a theologian, and he delighted in discussion. Thus the Palace saw the famous Conference, and many another wrangle of divines. And, no less than theology, the King enjoyed hunting, and the paths by the Thames-side resounded with the horn.
The coming of Christian IV., his wife's brother, a tall, coarse-looking, bloated man, as he may be seen in Vansomer's large portrait now in the Palace, was an excuse for more revelry; and so again the visit of the Duke of Lorraine's son in 1606, with hunting, hawking, feasting, and the dancing of the "carrante" and the galliard. Otto of Hessen and Ernest of Saxe-Weimar were two other princely visitors, and they were as royally received.
Reminiscences of these days are preserved at the Palace in the curious picture of Henry, Prince of Wales, a big boy in green hunting-dress with an elaborate collar, and the young Earl of Essex; and in the portraits by Vansomer of the King in black and in his royal robes, and of Anne of Denmark, one "in her hunting habit, with a horse and a black-moor, and some five little dogs." Henry's quaint, prim figure is the most interesting of the three. He was not unlike his brother, and with a touch of his father too.
The Queen died at Hampton Court on March 2, 1619, and little of importance occurred there afterwards, though James still drank and hunted and feasted as of old.
