The Hickman courier., 1872-11-23
The Loves of Elizabeth.

The sex of Elizabeth of England
vas a physiological blunder. Many
of her most serious defects arose
from her notshaving been man, as
Nature must originally have design
ed- With a masculine will, mas
cnl;ne character, and a masculine
ambition, she had all the femme
weaknesses without any of the femln-
inc praces or charms. Her vanity
was in excess of her pride, and, IN
spite of her unqueetionable great
ness, rendered her ridiculous through
life. She was ever anxious to bs
loved, and had the misfortune TO be
least lovabie when she loved most
There was no great need of affection
in her stubborn spirit, no yearnlng
for sympathy IN her self lf-suiflcient
nature, no inappeasable craving for
what the romanticisJs would call an
intercourse of soul. She wanted
lovers more than love, because lovers
aattered her inordinate vanity, and
told her. as lovers usually do, that
which she secretly thought of herself.
She never tired of hearing she was
the Virgin Queen, and never acted
"a if she relished the arTogated hon
or. Coquetry she would have car
ried to a perilous degree, if there
had been anything perilous IN such
n homely Amazon. Not one of ali
the men she had desperate and pro-
tracted hirtations with--not even
Raleigh, nor Leicester, nor Essex-
cared marevedi for her IN the way
she wished them TO; but from reasons
of state, and from motives Of policy
they pretended TO adore her.
Crafty courtiers as they were, 1t
must have been dificulsyr them -to
refrain from laughing in Elizabeth 5
face when they called her beautiful
or when they compared her voice to
the tones of the lute. They had
passed through many hardships, but
nothing harder than address Eur
vale in the language becoming to
Aglaia. RsIeigh showed his keen
ness of insight when ne spread Las
rich mantle beneath her Ungainly
feet. and Leicester his understanding
of character when he wrote to her
that her lovely image banished
sleep from his pillow. OF her nu-
merous suitors none would have Civ
en a flip for her heart, bu5 much
for her crown-tne sole aim Of their
gallant masqueradinS-
The secret loves OF Elizabeth and
Seymour, and Raleigh, and Lelees-
ter, and Essex, and others, have often
been written, and not, it IS to be pre-
sumed. without basis OF truth. Bat
love is a fine baptism tor relations
springing from vanity on one side
and from consideration OF diplomacy
on the other. The Princess in her
earlier years appeared to be fond OF
Seymour. and it is charitable to
think she was. Pretty stories have
been told of the Countess OF Not
tingham's withholding the ring sent
to the Queen by Essex before his ex-
ecu.ion, and of the consuming sor-
row from which Elizabeth suffered
after his death. The stories are dra-
matte and interesting; their ehiet de-
feet being that they are entirely I'm
true. The woman whose reputation
had been almost irreparably injured
by her connection with man OF
whom she could calmly say after his
execution, "his loss IS not much; for
though he had large wit, he had lit
tie Judgment" would not be likely
to be troubled by remorse Tor delb-
erately sending her nearest friends
to the scafold.
Elizabeth could not forgive in any
of her sisters the possession Of gifts
and graces which she must have been
priystely conscious were lacking IN
herself. Mary Stuart's unparonable
offence was her beauty and seductive
charm, and her rival was never
able to regard with kindness the
men who, willing to forget the vo-
man in the sovereign, had sought
her hand, and afterWard welded
where inclination led. There Is a
species of dismal compensation In
all conditions Of life. II Elizabeth
failed to awaken in any masculine
breast the flame with which she hop
ed to kindle the torch of her vanity,
and If her vestal assumptions were
not always credited, she had the
good fortune, so surrounded was she
by distinguished soldiers, statesmen,
and scholars, to shine with the light
reflected from them, and bear In his
tory a glory not her own.-Junius
Henrie Br01g71e.