But at length there came a day
when my Lord Sandwich encountered a difficulty he had not
foreseen. According to instructions, he had taken possession of
Tangier before proceeding for the queen; and he had likewise been
directed to see her dowry put on board one of his ships, before
receiving her on the "Royal Charles."
Now the Queen of Portugal, who acted as regent since the death of
her husband, being strongly desirous of seeing her daughter the
consort of a great sovereign, and of protecting her country from
the tyranny of Spain by an alliance with England, had gathered
the infanta's marriage portion with infinite trouble; which had
necessitated the selling of her majesty's jewels and much of her
plate, and the borrowing of both plate and jewels from churches
and monasteries all over the land. The sums accumulated in this
manner she had carefully stowed away in great sacks; but, alas,
between the date on which the marriage treaty had been signed,
and arrival of the English ambassador to claim the bride, Spain
had made war upon Portugal, and the dowry had to be expended in
arming the country for defence. Therefore, when my Lord Sandwich
mentioned the dowry, her majesty, with keen regrets and infinite
apologies, informed him so great were the straits of poverty to
which her kingdom was reduced, that she could pay only half the
stipulated sum at present, but promised the remaining portion
should be made up the following year. Moreover, the part which
she then asked him to accept was made up of jewels, sugars,
spices and other commodities which she promised to have converted
by arrangement into solid gold in London.
Pages:
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128