" Yes, even in that dim place there was a little brightness
and a quavering huzza, a contribution of a mite subscribed by those
dozen poor old widows to the treasure of loyalty with which the nation
endows the Prince's bride.
Three hundred years ago, when our dread Sovereign Lady Elizabeth came to
take possession of her realm and capital city, Holingshed, if you please
(whose pleasing history of course you carry about with you), relates in
his fourth volume folio, that--"At hir entring the citie, she was of
the people received maruellous intierlie, as appeared by the assemblies,
praiers, welcommings, cries, and all other signes which argued a
woonderfull earnest loue:" and at various halting-places on the royal
progress children habited like angels appeared out of allegoric edifices
and spoke verses to her--
"Welcome, O Queen, as much as heart can think,
Welcome again, as much as tongue can tell,
Welcome to joyous tongues and hearts that will not shrink.
God thee preserve, we pray, and wish thee ever well!
Our new Princess, you may be sure, has also had her Alexandrines, and
many minstrels have gone before her singing her praises. Mr. Tupper, who
begins in very great force and strength, and who proposes to give her no
less than eight hundred thousand welcomes in the first twenty lines of
his ode, is not satisfied with this most liberal amount of acclamation,
but proposes at the end of his poem a still more magnificent
subscription.
Pages:
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475