The Washington herald., 1916-12-31
YOUR WEDDING DAY
And the Famous Men and Women WI
Have shared It.
December 31-James w. Of sesfIsnd,
and Madeleine. of France.
By MARY MARSHALL.

When Jafes V Of Scotland went ,-woo-
ing he had the beauty and ROYALTY OF an
| Europe to choose from. II would be Ia I'd
TO find In history a prince who was more
sought after by ambitious royal fathers
as son-in-law than this staIwart
scotch king of "A. Yet he was as canny
as any OF his race and he took his own
time In making his selection. permitting
neither Pope nor partisan to Interfere
with his selection. avoiding the advice Of
MS own courtiers as carefully as he
avoided the Establishments and batteries
or The dozen or so ambassadors and le-
gates from European courts.
Although James was but ~ he had been
king for twenty-three years. That Is, he
had been crowned at the age of / and
almost from the beginning he had rea-
lized the dignity and Importance Of his
once. He was a nephew Of King Henry
VIII, the many wived king Of England
and through marriage he was cousin Of
dear knows how many continental mon
archs besides. First among the royal
princesses offered to him was Mary,
daughter Of Henry VIII. but OF her he
would have nothing. Especially as he
was a good Catholic and Henry VIII had
had his break with the Pope, did he wish
to avoid this alliance. Then the En-
peror OF the Holy Roman Empire sent
him the order Of the Golden Fleece and
with 1t the offer Of the hand of any one
of three Marys whose marriage destinies
he had apparently in the hollow of his
imperial hand. One OF these Marys was
the rejected daughter of Henry VIII.
and she was out of the question. Then
there was the emperor's sister. the
widow of the King of Hungary, and for
some reason James didn't even consider
her either. The emperor's niece, Mary
OF Portugal, interested him almost as lit
tie.
And just as the Emperor's Iegates
were withdrawing from the Scotch
Kings presence on came the smissaries
from the King OF France, bearing with
them the order OF St Michael and the
offer from the King of either OF his
daughters, james would give no answer.
but, duly hattered by the honors Of the
Emperor and the French King. he had
the arms Of the Emperor and the King
carved on the gate posts next his own
at Linlithgow Palace. And still King
Henry VIII, James's uncle. persisted. He
would send Mary to York and let James
look her over, and it was most unusual
to send princess on approval in that
way. The spoiled Scotch monarch sent
word that she should come as far as
Newcastle or not at all and there the
dickering ended And even then the legate
of the Pope was at the castle door with
the cap and sword which were blessed
at Christmas and conferred annually on
the favorite son" of the pontin. A
Protestant marriage would have been
impossible under the circumstances.
Finally none OF the princesses was ac-
cepted. but rather Marie de Bourbon.
daughter of the duke OF Vendome The
treaty was signed and the prince, unbe-
known to any Of his coUrtiers set sail
with a feet OF five ships. storm drove
him back and then 1t was known that he
was going to France to seek his queen.
Landing in France he disguised as John
Tenant, one OF his own servants, and
proceeded TO Vendome where he saw
incognito the princess whom he had
chosen. And he didn't fall in love with
her at first sight. and so the treaty was
broken and he proceeded on to the court
OF the French King. There he saw
Madeleine and his proud heart melted
and he became very much In love She
was one of the two daughters Of the
French King who had been offered but
because Of her delicate constitution the
French King begged him to take the
elder daughter Frances instead. But
James knew when he was In love and 90
he married Madeleine and remained in
France with his bride till May. Than
they returned to Scotland, and the fol-
lowing July when the beautiful little
queen was still but 1s years old she
died. and the King had all his match
making TO do over again.
tCopgnght lAAl