Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 5.djvu/536

516 which was to be the hope of England and mankind; and the great event should, if possible, precede the first meeting of the plenipotentiaries.

The Queen herself commenced her preparations with infinite earnestness, and, as a preliminary votive offering, she resolved to give back to the Church such of the abbey property as remained in the hands of the Crown. Her debts were now as high as ever. The Flanders correspondence was repeating the heavy story of loans and bills. Promises to pay were falling due, arid there were no resources to meet them, and the Israelite leeches were again fastened on the commonwealth. Nevertheless, the sacrifice should be made; the more difficult it was, the more favourably it would be received; and, on the 28th of March, she sent for the Lord Treasurer, and announced her intention. 'If he told her that her estate would not bear it, she must reply,' she said, 'that she valued the salvation of her soul beyond all earthly things.' As soon as Parliament could meet and give its sanction, she would restore the first-fruits also to the Holy See. She must work for God as God had worked for her.

About the 20th of April she withdrew to Hampton Court for entire quiet. The rockers and the nurses were in readiness, and a cradle stood open to receive the royal infant. Priests and bishops sang Litanies through the London streets; a procession of ecclesiastics in cloth