Publisher's Synopsis
Born in Scotland.King Charles the First was born in Scotland. It may perhaps surprise the reader that an English kingshould be born in Scotland. The explanation is this: The circumstance explained.They who have read the history of Mary Queen of Scots, will remember that it was the great endand aim of her life to unite the crowns of England and Scotland in her own family. Queen Elizabethwas then Queen of England. She lived and died unmarried. Queen Mary and a young man namedLord Darnley were the next heirs. It was uncertain which of the two had the strongest claim. Toprevent a dispute, by uniting these claims, Mary made Darnley her husband. They had a son, who, after the death of his father and mother, was acknowledged to be the heir to the British throne, whenever Elizabeth's life should end. In the mean time he remained King of Scotland. His namewas James. He married a princess of Denmark; and his child, who afterward was King Charles theFirst of England, was born before he left his native realm.Princess Anne.Royal marriages.King Charles's mother was, as has been already said, a princess of Denmark. Her name was Anne.The circumstances of her marriage to King James were quite extraordinary, and attracted greatattention at the time. It is, in some sense, a matter of principle among kings and queens, that theymust only marry persons of royal rank, like themselves; and as they have very little opportunity ofvisiting each other, residing as they do in such distant capitals, they generally choose their consortsby the reports which come to them of the person and character of the different candidates. Thechoice, too, is very much influenced by political considerations, and is always more or lessembarrassed by negotiations with other courts, whose ministers make objections to this or thatalliance, on account of its supposed interference with some of their own political schem