Editing Mary II (section)

== Legacy ==
{{See also|Cultural depictions of Mary II of England}}
[[File:William and Mary.jpg|thumb|William and Mary depicted on the ceiling of the [[Painted Hall]], Greenwich, by [[James Thornhill]]]]
Mary endowed the [[College of William and Mary]] (in the present day [[Williamsburg, Virginia]]) in 1693, supported [[Thomas Bray]], who founded the [[Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge]], and was instrumental in the foundation of the [[Greenwich Hospital, London|Royal Hospital for Seamen, Greenwich]], after the Anglo-Dutch victory at the [[Battle of La Hougue]].<ref>Waller, p. 283</ref> She is credited with influencing garden design at [[Het Loo]] and [[Hampton Court Palace]]s, and with popularising [[blue and white porcelain]] and the keeping of [[goldfish]] as pets.<ref>Waller, pp. 260, 285–286</ref>

Mary was depicted by Jacobites as an unfaithful daughter who destroyed her father for her own and her husband's gain.<ref>Waller, pp. 277–279</ref> In the early years of their reign, she was often seen as completely under the spell of her husband, but after she had temporarily governed alone during his absences abroad, she was portrayed as capable and confident. [[Nahum Tate]]'s ''A Present for the Ladies'' (1692) compared her to [[Queen Elizabeth I]].<ref>Waller, pp. 283–284</ref> Her modesty and diffidence were praised in works such as ''A Dialogue Concerning Women'' (1691) by [[William Walsh (poet)|William Walsh]], which compared her to [[Cincinnatus]], the Roman general who took on a great task when called to do so, but then willingly abandoned power.<ref>Waller, p. 284</ref>

A week before her death, Mary went through her papers, weeding out some, which were burnt, but her journal survives, as do her letters to William and to Frances Apsley.<ref>Waller, p. 287</ref> The Jacobites lambasted her, but the assessment of her character that came down to posterity was largely the vision of Mary as a dutiful, submissive wife, who assumed power reluctantly, exercised it with considerable ability when necessary, and willingly deferred it to her husband.<ref>Waller, p. 290</ref>