The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1871-08-12
Queen Elizabeth.

LhAaDetn, queen OF England, daughter
OF Henry the VIII, by his queen, Anne
boleyn, born 1888. When three years of
age, she lost her mother, who was beheadsd,
and was herself Immediately bastardized
by act Of Parliament. By a later act,
however, the succession to the throne was
conditionally secured to her. Elizabeth
was carefully educated, attaining, under
the direction of Roger Ascham, consider
able proficiency in Latin, French, and Ital-
ian, and some knowledge of Greek. She
was brought up in the Protestant faith
Marriage projects were early set on foot for
her, and she entertained with more or less
of sincerity numerous successive suitors;
but she never married. She accompanied
her sister Mary to London on her ascension
to the throne but in the following year,
Immediately after the suppression of Wy
ats instruction, she was arrested and
sent to the Tower. She was kept in more
or less close confinement during Marys
reign, and was removed from the Tower to
Woodstock, and thence to Hatfield House.
At the age of twenty-five, she succeeded
Mary, and was received at London with
immense joy, the bishops meeting her at
Highgate, and the people in crowds escort
ing her through the city. The re-establish-
ment of the Protestant faith and worship;
conflicts in various forms with the adhe-
rents of the Romish system, who were also
the enemies of Elizabeth as Protestant
sovereign; conflicts on the other hand with
the Puritan party, ever growing stronger
these were the staple of home transactions
during this reign. Foreign affairs also
were almost entirely acts of the same dra-
ma,-the great struggle between the two
religions. Pope Paul " refused to &C
knowledge Elizabeth's title; Plus V and
Sixtus V published bulls of excommunica-
ton against her, and absolved her subjects
from their allegiance. The King of France
supported the claim of Mary, Queen of
Scots, to the crown of England, and Eliza
beth assisted the Protestants in Scotland,
in France, and the Netherlands; and above
all, the struggle took outward shape and
formidable dimensions in the threatened
Spanish invasion and the "Invincible Ar
NADIA" Elizabeth, on her accession, re-
tanned the principal advisers of her sister
Mary, but added several eminent men to
their number, among whom were Cecil
Lord Burleigh-who remained her first
minister till his death-Sir Nicholas Bacon,
and, at later period, Sir Francis Walsing-
ham. The imprisonment and execution of
Mary, Queen of Scots, has been fruitful
occasion of reproach against Queen Eliza
beth; yet none can doubt that Mary sane
toned and took part in the plots and
schemes which had for their object the
dethroning of Elizabeth, and the elevation
of Mary to the throne. The personal char
acter of Elizabeth has naturally been
depicted in very different colors by Roman
lists and Protestants; exaggeration made
on both sides, and the truth lying probably
between the two extremes. Recent in
quiries have resulted in less favorable
view than has been usual in England
hardness, love of expense and display,
indulgence in bursts of passion, indicate
speech and manners, and fondness for
worthless favorites especially the Earls of
Leicester and Eessex, are too obvious fea-
lures of her character. But energy, and
good sense, and certain courage, Eliza
beth had too; for though the prosperity and
progress that marked her reign must be
attributed to the wisdom and measures of
her ministers, these ministers were her
choice and had her support. Her reign
was one of the greatest periods in English
literary history,-the age of Shakespeare
and Spencer, of Bacon and Raleigh and
Hooker. 1t was an age, too, of great en-
terprises and discoveries; as those of Drake,
Frobisher, and other maritime heroes
Elizabeth died at Richmond, March "a,
1908; her health and spirits having never
recovered the shock they received by the
execution Of Essex, two years previously.
ZelPs Encyclopedia.