The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-17

moment 10 ODJtll SUCH tuppOIb nv "ikhs "
Afforded her by 4 member OF the Valois famil'
rcIGning In France; then, again. the choice o
an Englishmnn seemed least open to objection
Hut to marry nobody at all was the acme o
wisdom. This was the course adopted by tn
Queen. and that upon which, perhaps, she hac
been from the first resolved. By retaining hei
best card In her hand, by holding up continu'
ally hopes which were TO be ungratihed. she
kept up her long marriage jugRle from hei
accession To the throne In 1859 until she ended
# in 1883. when both her rivals were crippled
and distrr ctcd, and when Europe recognized
that the issues OF war and peace were In her
hands.
Scarcely had the little Princess Elizabeth
been born In September, 1888. when nogotia-
tions were opened for her marriage with the
child prince. Duke OF AnRoul6me, third son OF
Francis I. The overture amt to nothing, be-
cause Henry VIII. asked for too much. He re-
ouired the French King and his mobiles to make
a declaration Of approval of the English Act or
Succession, which had been passed IN defiance
of the Pope. When Elizabeth was 3 years
old, the execution of her mother. Anne Boleyn.
removed her temporarily from the line of the
succession. In l542. however. on the death Of
James V. of Scotland. and tho almost simulta-
neous birth of his daughter Mary, Henry WILL,
desiring the union of the two crowns, proposed
TO marry the baby Queen of Scots to his
own infant son afterwards Edward Viz,
and, at tho same time. offered the hand
of Elizabeth. who was then o years old. TO the
Earl of Arran. head Of the house OF Hamilton.
the next heir to the Scottish crown. Arran was
nearly an idiot, and failed to see the advantages
of such q connection. so that French interest
and French money triumphed. and Henry was
xh-arted To ayenpe himself he entered into an
alliance with the Emperor against France, and,
while the treaty was under discussion. n sugges-
ton was made that Charles's son, Philip OF
Spain, then n lad Of II, should be bethrothed to
Elizabeth. who was IL. In January. 1547, Henry
VIII. died, and his widow. Catherine Parr. i'm
mediately married Sir Thomas Seymour, brother
of the Protector. Somerset, and uncle of the lit
tie King, Edward VI. To their care was con-
fided the Princess Elizabeth. then a girl OF Ia,
and when. subsequent to the death OF the
Queen dowager. a short year afterward,
her husbands ambitious scheme had aroused
tho jealousy of his brother. the Protector, one
of the charges made against him was that he
had planned to marry the Princess Elizabeth.
to use her as an instrument for obtaining su-
preme power. The original confessions of those
supposed to be concerned with him in the plot
have been published. and they disclose a treat
ment of the young girl which must be described
as scnnualOuS, even wnen we make que ALLOWANCE
for the freedom of manners which then pre-
vailed. Mr.. Hume finds It hard to understand
what can have been Seymour's real Intentions
toward the Princess. unless 1t was the guilty
satisfaction of his own passion. His wife.
Catherine Parr. was young aud healthy.
and. had she not died in childbirth, might
have looked forward to a long life, so
that he can hardly have expected to marry
Elizabeth. Yet her governess confessed that
Seymour was in the habit of visiting the girls
bedroom before she was dressed, sometimes by
himself and sometimes with his wife. and there
INDUCED in much indicate romping. in which
Catherine Parr herself occasionally took part.
The confessions of Mrs. Ashley, the governess,
and of Parry. the %cofferer, with regard to
conduct, are bad enough. but Mr..
Hume Is of the opinion that they kept back far
more than they told for on Elizabeth's success
sion. and for the rest OF their lives, they were
with marked favor. 1t Is pronounced
probable that the mex perienced girl was really
in love with the handsome. snowy Seymour;
but how far their relations went will most likely
never now be known. She Indignantly wrote
to the Protector. complaining Of the ISLANDERS
that were current about her. to the effect that
she was with child by the Lord Admiral. and
demanding to be allowed to come to court. and
"show herself as she was;' but we are re-
minded that %virtuous Indignation was always
ono of her favorite weapons. After this danger
Gus escapade and the execution of Seymour.
Elizabeth became SYSTEMATICALLY sanity and
strait-laced. until the accession of her sister made
her the helress p%resumptive to the crown, and
the hope of the anti-Catholic party. Even before
this event the reforming party in England tried
to strengthen themselves by allying her to a
foreign prince OF Protestant lineage. Thus. as
early as August, 1851. northumberland then
Earl of Warwick had put his agents upon the
alert to find a suitable husband for her, and one
of them reported that the Duke of Guise had
suggested the Duke of Ferrara's son. who was
one of the g%oodliest young men Of all It.
ally" Tho youth was a son Of that Re-
nee OF France who We'd with her kins-
woman, Jeanne d'Albret, in her attachment
to the Reformed faith. The same agent
opined that the son of tho Duke OF Florence
tMedicD. who was then only IL years old.
might do; and ~ this party were liked. 1t were
an easy matter to be concluded without any ex-
cessive dote." A much more suitable match
had been proposed . little earlier. that, namely,
with Hans Frederick's (ot Saxonyl second son,
who Is the goodlier gentleman, and who would,
tf he burst, bear a great affection toward tho
Lady Elizabeth's grace" The collapse. how-
ever, of northumberland and the accession of
Mary, entirely changed Elizabeth's prospects,
80 that her marriage had to be considered in
conjunction with Mary's own, and the capture
of the Queen by the Spanish interest made II
desirable TO secure her sister, IL possible, for the
same side. Young Courtney, however, whom
Mary herself at one time had seriously thought
OF taking for a consort, proposed TO marry Eliza
beth, and was warmly supported by Noailles,
the French Ambassador. The latter wrote to
his King on Dec. IA, 1858, that It depended en-
tirels on Courtney whether Elizabeth married
him, and Joined him 10 Devonshire to raise tho
flag OF a revolt. But the trouble is." he says,
that Courtney is so timld that he dares moth
Ing" A few months later Courtney disappears
from the scene, and Egmont, coming to Eng
land TO offer formally Philips hand to Mary,
urged that the difficulty about her sister might