The  ministry  hoped  to  find  a  compliant  disposition  in
the  new  parliament,  which  was  summoned  to  assemble ;
and  for  the  purpose  of  facilitating  this  object,  the  emperor
distributed  above  four  hundred  thousand  crowns  in  bribes
and  pensions  among  the  members.  Gardiner,  the  chan-
cellor, opened  the  session  by  a  speech,  in  which  he  ob-
served, that  in  order  to  obviate  the  inconveniences  which
might  arise  from  different  pretenders,  it  was  necessary  to
invest  the  queen,  by  law,  with  a  power  of  disposing  of  the
crown,  and  of  appointing  her  successor.  The  parliament,
however,  who  knew  her  extreme  hatred  to  Elizabeth,  and
the  probability  of  her  making  a  will  in  her  husband's  fa-
vour, and  thereby  rendering  England  for  ever  a  province
to  the  Spanish  monarchy,  refused  to  acquiesce  in  Gardi-
ner's proposal ;  and,  the  more  effectually  to  cut  off  Philip's
hopes,  they  passed  a  law,  "  that  her  majesty,  as  their  only
queen,  should  solely,  and  as  a  sole  queen,  enjoy  the  crown
and  sovereignty  of  her  realms,  with  all  the  pre-eminences,
dignities,  and  rights  thereto  belonging,  in  as  large  and
ample  manner  after  her  marriage,  without  any  title  or
claim  accruing  to  the  prince  of  Spain,  either  as  tenant  by
courtesy,  or  by  any  other  means."

The  queen,  finding  the  parliament  less  subservient  than
she  wished,  finished  the  session  by  dissolving  them  ;  and
she  employed  all  her  thoughts  on  receiving  Don  Philip,
whose  arrival  she  hourly  expected.  She  waited  with  the
utmost  impatience  for  the  completion  of  the  marriage  ;  and
every  obstacle  was  to  her  a  source  of  anxiety  and  discon-
tent. She  complained  of  Philip's  delays  as  affected ;  and
she  could  not  conceal  her  vexation,  that  though  she
brought  him  a  kingdom  as  her  dowry,  he  treated  her  with
such  neglect,  that  he  had  never  yet  favoured  her  with  a  sin-
gle letter.  Her  health,  and  even  her  understanding,  were
visibly  hurt  by  this  extreme  impatience ;  and  she  was
struck  with  a  new  apprehension  lest  her  person,  impaired
by  time  and  blasted  by  sickness,  should  prove  disagreea-
ble to  her  future  consort.  Her  glass  discovered  to  her  how
haggard  she  was  become ;  and  when  she  remarked  the
decay  of  her  beauty,  she  knew  not  whether  she  ought  more
to  desire  or  apprehend  the  arrival  of  Philip.
