ings,
where a long line of them now repose. The palace of King James's wife,
Anne of Denmark, was on the bank of the river, some distance down the
Strand. She called it, during her life, Denmark House, in honor of her
native land. Its name is now Somerset House.

King James's funeral was attended with great pomp. The body was
conveyed from Somerset House to its place of repose in the Abbey, and
attended by a great procession. King Charles walked as chief mourner.
Two earls attended him, one on each side, and the train of his robes
was borne by twelve peers of the realm. The expenses of this funeral
amounted to a sum equal to two hundred thousand dollars.

One thing more is to be stated before we can consider Charles as
fairly entered upon his career, and that is the circumstance of his
marriage. His father James, so soon as he found the negotiations with
Spain must be finally abandoned, opened a new negotiation with the
King of France for his daughter Henrietta Maria. After some delay,
this arrangement was concluded upon. The treaty of marriage was made,
and soon after the old king's death, Charles began to think of
bringing home his bride.

He accordingly made out a commission for a nobleman, appointed for the
purpose, to act in his name, in the performance of the ceremony at
Paris. The pope's dispensation was obtained, Henrietta Maria, as well
as the Infanta, being a Catholic. The ceremony was performed, as such
ceremonies usually were in Paris, in the famous church of Notre Dame,
where Charles's grandmother, Mary Queen of Scots, had been married to
a prince of France about seventy years before.

There was a great theater, or platform, erected in front of the altar
in the church, which was thronged by the concourse of spectators who
rushed to witness the ceremony. The beautiful princess was married by
proxy to a man in another kingdom, whom she had never seen, or, at
least, never known. It is not probable that she observed him at the
time when he was, for one evening, in her presence, on his journey
through Paris. The Duke of Buckingham had been sent over by Charles to
conduct home his bride. Ships were waiting at Boulogne, a port nearly
opposite to Dover, to take her and her attendants on board. She bade
farewell to the palaces of Paris, and set out on her journey.[D]

[Footnote D: See portrait at the commencement of this volume.]

The king, in the mean time, had gone to Dover, where he awaited her
arrival. Sh