Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1896-07-02
The Age Of Elizabeth.

The greatness of any nation or any
period is in its ultimate analysis moth
ing more than the greatness Of the
men and women who compose the ma
ton and who make the history of the
period. We may therefore leave to the
philosophical historians to analyze the
causes that make the age OF Elizabeth
the most brilliant period In English
history. Such causes are only the con.
ditions which enable the talents of men
to be developed and exercised.
The men whose names are linked
with EIizabeth's We're cast in heroic
mold. and the Queen herself was a
fitting central figure for the mighty
circle. AS woman. vain. coquettish,
tyrannical. often coarse. she commands
neither love nor admiration. But as a
monarch she was magnificent. OF
commanding intellectual power, daunt-
less courage and rare political sagacity.
she surrounded herself with a circle of
the greatest and ablest men England
has ever produced. without being
dwarfed in insignificance or even
overshadowed in greatness. She was
the dominant figure of her age. and it
was her own character that she
stamped upon it; bold, hardy and adj
venturous, energetic, progressive, in
tellectual. full chested, stout hearted.
broad minded
But if Elizabeth was a great Queen
she was not without great men to serve
her Certainly no premiers policy was
ever more successful no measure ever
more justified by their fruits, than
those of that stout old British lion.
Lord Burleigh, whose private life was
as frugal and stainless as his public
services were honorable and success
full.
The greatest ornament of Elizabeths
court, and the most poetic figure, was
the man whom posterity has named
the flower of English chivalry'' Sir
Philip Sidney's life and character were
finer representation of the perfect
gentleman than his own famous def
high-erected thoughts seated
In heart of courtesy" But perhaps
the brightest star in that brilliant con-
stellation was Sir Walter Raleigh mol
more dazzling figure ever shone at any
court: yet with all his genius, he left
little to the world beyond the glitter |
of a great name.
In striking contrast with these chivaI- |
rous spirits was Sir Francis Bacon |
Wise, lofty and serene as writer. |
cold and INSCRIPTIONS as man, he |
had the fortune to possess one of the |
largest intellects and one of the small |
est hearts that history acquaints us
with.
But there was one man whose ex-
perience of court life was not like
ar ,ss,
but little comfort in it's splendor and
finery. Poor Spenser. posterity has
given him a reward more to be coveted
than the modest pension that un-
old Burleigh denied him.
But all the successes of the age were
not won at court. 1t was in the days
of Elizabeth that the bold sailors of |
England first earned her the proud
title of Mistress of the Sea- Drake.
Hawkins. Greenville. Howard and
Raleigh. too. all had a hand in laying
the foundation on which England'sI
naval supremacy has been built
But while this was going on, there
lived in the same England a group of |
men whose legacy to the world was
more precious than Spanish gold, and
the walls of the Mermaid taven echoed
TO the voices of as grand company as
that which shone around the Queen
There was Marlowe wild, tumultuous
unruly spirits who lived steeped in dis
slpation and died in a tavern brawI
leaving behind some plays, in which
beneath the sometimes bombastic and
extravagant language and too violent
passion, there glows a spark Of burn
ing. commanding genius. There was
Ben Johnson. dogmatic and scholarly
with his Latin at his fingers ends. Who'll
probably thought himself the greatest
poet of his day. and was not so manvI
degrees wrong after all. And there
among the host of others, was that
young Stratford player, who had such
wonderful knowledge of the life and
mind and heart of man, and whom we
have come to honor almost in idolatrv
as the sublime product of English
genius.
Such were the men who make the
history Of the age; and what were its
achievements? 1t established the Eng
fish church. it united the English ma
ton. it laid firmly the foundations of
Englands commercial greatness and
Ter maritime supremacy. Further the
reign of Elizabeth encouraged every