Montgomery County sentinel., 1890-08-22
Elizabeth.
[From The Wauerly Progress, by j. l..
LODGE, d. D., Editor,

|
the palace of Greenwich on the 7th Septem
Der, 1533 Agreeably to the law of heredity
a character of the highest order could not
reasonably be expected in the descendant OF
parents like hers Henry Will was lech-
erous old beast, who divorced two wives
murdered two, and had determined upon
the butchery of twomore, but Jane Seymour
died before the axe had time to fall, and
Catherine Parr, for whose execution the
order had already gone forth, saved her life
by great policy, much hard lying, and the
aid of powerful friends. The most men in
power never lack parasites and flatterers,
and some have found in his establishment
of compromise "church" some mitigation
OF the coarseness and cruelty of this "blot of
blood and grease upon the history of Eng
land" The mother of Elizabeth Anne
Boleyn, was beautiful, and of vivacious
disposition, but not specially distinguished
for lofty virtues or strong intellectually.
The self-wil aud naughty temper of Henry
re-appear in his daughter, but with the ad-
dition of serpent-like wisdom and policy
which certainly were not possessed by the
father-one good thing which should be
put to the credit OF the royal brute; for
| policy worker must be, er aecessatdte rel, a
hypocrite She was well educated, speak
| ing French and italian fiuently, and having
a tolerable acquaintance with the Greek,
Latin, and German, as certain translations
of hers evince. The female love OF dress
and ornaments was excessive with her, 1000
costly suits having been found in her ward
robe at her death. Feminine weakness
manifested itself at very early age her
indeicate behavior in the society OF gentle
men, and participation in reprehensible di.
versions, led to an examination by the coun-
Gil, and the Imprisonment of her govern
ness and an dtsdche of the princess house
hold OF course, the hand of Elizabeth was
eagerly sought by kings, dukes, and ears.
| With some of these she coquetted for long
time, often apparently upon the point of
yielding to the prayers of her suitors and
the earnestly expressed wish of the English
| nation, but as often reiterating her determi-
nation to live and die virgin queen. Most
historians have been very severe upon the
flirtations of this virgin. But, as Thackeray
remarks, ave are iearfully and wonder
fully madc-especially women" The easi.
est thing in the world is for a woman to fall
in love, and the next easiest thing is to fall
out again. "a luxuriant pair of whiskers
twine themselves round the tendrils of the
maiden heart" and the case looks hopeless;
but if Corydon restrain his gallantry and
grow cold Phillis is not going to drown
herself. Broken female hearts fit beautifully
into madrigals and romances, but are too
lOi HisLOiiC piooc iCdi
Calypso is easily consoed; If Ulysses W i'll
depart, new iavorite will come to take his
place. Every woman perfectly understands
that il she loses one lover she will soon
have another
Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was
favorite whose encouragement by the queen
led to the murder OF his lovely wife, the un
fortunate Amy Robsart. She did not pretend
to disguise her affection for the Earl OF
Essex, which led to that noblemans death.
The Duke OF Alencon, "a French prince,
negotiated for matrimonial alliance, and
poor Puritan named Stubbs had his hand
chopped off for writing against the proposed
marriage. But while in the case of this
queen true love- or such love as she had--had
anything but Il smooth passage, she was not
troubled with erotomania; her rage was as
fiery as her love; when angry she swore
like trooper, let her fists fly like pugilist,
leaving the prints OF her heavy hand upon
her maids OF honor The Earl of Essex
having once turned his back toward her she
dealt him singing box on the ear Though
fond of her, il must have been respect for the
queen, rather than admiration for the wo
man, that could move Sir Walter Raleigh
to cast his rich cloak into the mud that she
might step upon it-he, princeamong gen
tlemen, who died on the scafiOld SO grandly,
and 80 like the beautiful Christian that he
was in the reign of her successor, the inn
potent, garruous, cowardly James.
Edward vi, sickly lad, died young
Through the solicitations OF the duke of
Northumberland, he had willed the crown
to his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, terrible
blunder which resulted in the execution Of
that beautiful and innocent lady. The
daughters of Henry, Mary and Elizabeth,
by law and by their fathers will were the
rightiul successors to the crown. Elizabeth
readily conceded her sisters right and title,
and met her with congratulations. The
naughty dignity with she sustained her re
tirement, and the persecution at court which
necesstated it, brought out one side of her
character into very favorable light. She
was infinitely the superior of her sister.
While confined in the Tower, her death
was demanded; spies were set upon her
but her duplicity and shrewdness bafiied
every attempt to criminate her She pre-
tended TO conform 10 the externals OF the
established religion, and seems to have real
ly approved some of its forms. Perhaps,
with all her policy, she owed her life to
Philip, the husband of Mary, who would on
no account consent to her murder. The
Bloody Mary was no exception TO the law
of death. She went to her most awful ac
count Nov. II, 1858. AT Hatfield Elizabeth
heard the news, and falling upon her knees,
exclaimed, a Domino .factum est istud, Ct est
nairaJile 0ccuiis nostris-"It is the Lords do
ing, and it is marvellous in our eyes" She
atterward had stamped upon her coin the
pious motto-"I have chosen God for my
helper;" which had as much piety in 1t as
that stamped on our nickel turkey -buzzard
currency-"In God we trust"
Elizabeth began her reign at the age OF
twenty five Doubtless, the very difficulties
# har oif tn
points of character into view. The country
was at war with France Calais was lost
England terribly divided on religious ques
tions. Paul w. pronounced the queen IL
legitimate and declared her throne va
cant His successor, Plus ", absolved all
her Catholic subjects from their allegiance,
and declared her title void. AS little as for
the sougbing of the wind cared she for the
terrible combinations. The 1nvincible Ar
mada, in crescent form, seven miles wide, is
in the English Channel; the queen rides
down to Tilbury Fort, and, clad in armor,
from her white horse makes speech which
fires the whole English heart; Drake lets
go his eight blazing ships, and CONSERVATION,
reinforced by a tremendous storm, gains one
of the greatest victories history records.
The queen was surrounded and every way
assisted by the ablest and most patriotic
ounsellors-Bacon, Burleigh, Walsingham;
on the sea Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher
were establishing or augmenting Engiand's
supremacy, which continues to this day
Sir Walter Raleigh was in South America
finding new sources of wealth. But even
with the advantage Of such noble subjects,
the masculinty Of the sovereign compels
admiration, spite of the weaknesses of the
woman.
II is pitiable thing To see an old woman
of seventy in the wear Of her DEATH trying
to skip about a ballroom like silly girl
who has not yet learned why she was born;
to behold the ruler of great and powerful
nation hobbling about with her person load
ed down with collars OF gold and jewels;
arrayed in silk trimmed with "pearls the
size of beans !" her shriveed old bosom
nearly bare, her crown resting on shock
of false hair, marking the vain, weak wo
man to the very last. Much may be for