Page:The Queens of England.djvu/544

 494 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. called by her name. To her care is due, too, that the greater part of Greenwich Palace was not swept away by her husband to make way for some Dutch erection ; and to her a benevolence that will do her eternal honor — the conversion of that palace into a hospital for invalid or superannuated sea- men. Although Mary has not been honored with a portrait in this volume, she certainly was entitled to hold a place amongst the royal beauties of England, being tall in person, majestic and graceful in mien, having a serene countenance, a ruddy complexion and beautiful features. Both mental and personal accomplishments she possessed in a very high degree. Mary's love of reading was very great, though she experienced much annoyance from the painful drawback she found to this in the continual humor in her eyes, from which she was a sufferer, as was also her sister, the Princess Anne, and Anne's only child which survived for any length of time, the Duke of Gloucester. Poetry was Mary's chief delight, of which she was esteemed a good judge, and she also particularly liked the study of history, as presenting her with models for imitation. Nor "was this queen desirous only of her own improvement; she very often caused good books to be placed in the way of her attendants, that when they took their turn in waiting their time might not be idly spent. Queen Mary was a kind mis- tress to her servants, and testified a sincere desire not only to reform manners generally, but to confer benefits on those around her. Some of her own leisure, as before said, she devoted to architecture, which was one of her favorite pur- suits, her love of which she was accustomed to vindicate on the ground that it employed so many hands. She was a gra- cious queen, one of the most obliging of wives, she protected the arts and was a mother to the distressed ; her charities being ever unostentatious ; in short, the character of Mary presents a pattern of every virtue that could adorn a woman. To Mary the nation owes a debt of eternal gratitude ; for, through her wisdom and disinterestedness, combined with her respect and affection for her husband, the revolution of 1688 was completed and the British Constitution placed forever on its present true and immovable basis. The daughter of the king who, more than all other monarchs, had endeavored to destroy the rights of this kingdom, she at once admitted the plea of William that he ought not to consent to accept the