Page:The Queens of England.djvu/416

374 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. The first notice we find of Mary's assuming- the splendor and dignity of her restored rank, is on the occasion of the reception of a Spanish ambassador, sent from her royal kinsman, Charles the Fifth. Perhaps her restoration may have been, influenced by the wily Henry's desire of conciliating the emperor, than which a more likely mode could not be thought of. Her ap- pearance and dress at a court-ball which followed the recep- tion attracted great attention, and probably it was the favorable report made of her by the ambassador to his sovereign that led him to think of the union between her and his son, which afterwards took place. Katharine Parr soon acquired a considerable influence over Mary, an influence the more to wondered at, when the dif- ference of their religious creeds is taken into consideration. It was at the request of the queen that Mary translated the Latin paraphrase' of St. John by Erasmus, — a real, though per- haps an unconscious, service rendered to the advocates of the Reformation. The labor, erudition, and patience necessary for the performance of this task, merit the praise bestowed on it, although it unhappily failed to enlighten her who ful- filled it. That Mary was of a generous disposition may be inferred from the entries in the privy-purse book of the princess of the presents of trinkets and jewels given by her to her friends and ladies of the court ; and that she loved order, may be seen by the list of her jewels regularly kept and signed by her own hand. A good understanding appears to have existed not only between Mary and the queen, but also between Prince Ed- ward, Elizabeth, and Mary. The letter quoted in Strype's "Memorials," from Prince Edward to Mary, although formal, and too complimentary to indicate any great warmth of affec- tion, nevertheless shows an interest in her health. Although bodily infirmities and a fearful increase of acerbity of temper, their consequent result, given way to without any attempt to control the violence of his passions, rendered Henry the Eighth more like a wild beast than a human being during the last years of his life, Mary escaped incurring his displeas- ure. To this may be attributed his confirming her, by his will, in her right of succession, and his bequest of ten thousand pounds, and three thousand a year while she remained un- married. We have the authority of Pollino for stating that Mary was summoned to the bed of her dying father shortly before he expired, and that for the first time he addressed