THE

MAIDEN MONARCH;

OR,

ISLAND QUEEN.

"No scandal about QUEEN ELIZABETH, I hope!"

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

THE CRITIC.

LONDON:

R. HASTINGS, 13, CAREY STREET, LINCOLN'S INN.

THE

MAIDEN MONARCH;

OR,

ISLAND QUEEN.

CHAPTER I.

"With other ministrations thou, O nature!
Healest thy wandering and distempered child:
Thou pourest on him thy soft influences,
Thy sunny hues, fair forms, and breathing sweets;
Thy melodies of woods, and winds, and waters!

Till he relent, and can no more endure

To be a jarring and a dissonant thing,

Amid this general dance and minstrelsy:
But bursting into tears, wins back his way,
His angry spirit healed and harmonized
By the benignant touch of love and beauty."

S. T. COLEridge.

It was now that the true enjoyment of life commenced with me. Time, the gentle softener of all our afflictions, gradually reconciled me to the past. I was frequently in the

society of her majesty, and the constant companion of Lord Newton during his leisure hours. The court was in a state of progressive, though slow improvement; every one found, that to secure royal favour, they must prove themselves worthy of it.

The first time that I found myself alone with Lord Newton, I made particular inquiries into the condition of the prisoners, Susan and William Bertrand.

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They have been the source of the greatest anxiety to the queen," replied Lord Newton, "and a less ardent philanthropist had soon relinquished the cause as hopeless; but her majesty now considers herself well repaid for her sleepless nights and watchful days. The old woman died during the second winter; her last breath passed away whilst she was reiterating her thanks for the mercy extended towards herself and her son, and imploring every blessing of heaven for the queen."

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