The affection with which her husband cherished her memory was soon attested by a monument the most superb that was ever erected to any sovereign.  No scheme had been so much her own, none had been so near her heart, as that of converting the palace at Greenwich into a retreat for seamen.  It had occurred to her when she had found it difficult to provide good shelter and good attendance for the thousands of brave men who had come back to England wounded after the battle of La Hogue.  While she lived scarcely any step was taken towards the accomplishing of her favourite design.  But it should seem that, as soon as her husband had lost her, he began to reproach himself for having neglected her wishes.  No time was lost.  A plan was furnished by Wren; and soon an edifice, surpassing that asylum which the magnificent Lewis had provided for his soldiers, rose on the margin of the Thames.  Whoever reads the inscription which runs round the frieze of the hall will observe that William claims no part of the merit of the design, and that the praise is ascribed to Mary alone.  Had the King’s life been prolonged till the works were completed, a statue of her who was the real foundress of the institution would have had a conspicuous place in that court which presents two lofty domes and two graceful colonnades to the multitudes who are perpetually passing up and down the imperial river.  But that part of the plan was never carried into effect; and few of those who now gaze on the noblest of European hospitals are aware that it is a memorial of the virtues of the good Queen Mary, of the love and sorrow of William, and of the great victory of La Hogue.

CHAPTER XXI

Effect of Mary’s Death on the Continent—­Death of Luxemburg—­ Distress of William—­Parliamentary Proceedings; Emancipation of the Press—­Death of Halifax—­Parliamentary Inquiries into the Corruption of the Public Offices—­Vote of Censure on the Speaker--Foley elected Speaker; Inquiry into the Accounts of the East India Company—­Suspicious Dealings of Seymour—­Bill against Sir Thomas Cook—­Inquiry by a joint Committee of Lords and Commons—­ Impeachment of Leeds—­Disgrace of Leeds—­Lords Justices appointed; Reconciliation between William and the Princess Anne—­ Jacobite Plots against William’s Person—­Charnock; Porter—­ Goodman; Parkyns—­Fenwick—­Session of the Scottish Parliament; Inquiry into the Slaughter of Glencoe—­War in the Netherlands; Marshal Villeroy—­The Duke of Maine—­Jacobite Plots against the Government during William’s Absence—­Siege of Namur—­Surrender of the Town of Namur—­Surrender of the Castle of Namur—­Arrest of Boufflers—­Effect of the Emancipation of the English Press—­ Return of William to England; Dissolution of the Parliament—­ William makes a Progress through the Country—­The Elections—­ Alarming State of the Currency—­Meeting of the Parliament; Loyalty of the House of Commons—­Controversy touching the Currency—­Parliamentary Proceedings