The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-10-02
SOME NEW HOOKS.
me Courtsh,ns Of queen Elizabeth.

IN the hepu6 de8 DeGI MondeS series OF
papers which were BASED on the private
reports made by representatives OF the
Court OF France In London, and which set
forth from time to time what was known
and what was suspected about the pros
poets OF the various pretenders 10 the
hand OF Queen Elizabeth. 1t Is, apparently,
wholly independent study Of the same
and additional documents, which is EN-
bodied In the volume entitled The Court
ships OF Queen Elizabeth (McClure, Phillips
& Co.., by MARTIN HUME, the well known
editor Of the Calendars OF the Spanish
State Papers preserved in the Public
Record office. and the sympathetic author
OF. 1The Love Affairs of Mary, Queen of
Scots" The present edition OF the work
has been revised and enlarged In response
to the requests Of many readers who have
expressed or implied regret that in the
first edit ion the question OF the actual
relations that existed between the Queen
end various ravorities had not been dealt
Z with. To Mr.. Hume as political historian
this phase of the subject had not appeared
to be OF any great Importance, inasmuch
as the national results Of the courtships
described had depended rather upon the
poll, ical intrigues that prompted them
than upon the real or feigned passion that
4 accompanied them. 1t had seemed to the
author that review OF Elizabeths nom
political philanderings, about which his
book riginally had little or nothing TO say,
I though useful in calculating the personal
character of the Queen. would throw but
little light upon the subtle war Of wits from
which En- gland. under Elizabeth's guidance,
emerged the victor. In the present edi-
ton, on the other hand. the Queens court
ships are considered in their personal as
we'll as their political aspects. Mr.. Hume
Is alive TO the difficulty OF treating ade-
quately and yet inoffensvely this branch
OF the subject in book which will naturally
reach the hands OF readers Of all ages
and conditions. He foreeees the proba-
bility Of being reproached by some in
uuirers for want Of frankness in stating
his final opinion. but he is inclined to think
that those to whom the knowledge will be
innocuous, and who care to seek for It,
will find it easy to gather from his text the
unstated conclusions which seem to the
author to be inevitable corollaries from
the facts indicated.
There is no doubt that the Protestant
hing OF England and the establishment
Of Protestantisn as a permanent power
IN Europe could never have been effected
without the supreme and sustained state
craft OF the Queen and Burleigh, her great
Minister. II Elizabeth eventually triumphed,
Il was as much by her weakness as by her
strength: her bad qualities were as valuable
to her as her good Ones The nimble shifting
from side to side, the encouragement OF
encouragement Of the French and Flem-
jsb Professionals, as the policy OF the moment
dictated, the alternate fouting and fattering
Of the rival Powers, and the agile utili-
cation Of the Queens sex and feminine
love OF admiration to provoke competing
offers for her hand, all exhibit states
taanship as adroit as 1t was unscrupulous.
The political methods adopted were those
which met with general acceptance at the
time, but the dextrous juggling through
q long course Of years with regard to
Ehzabeth's marriage Is unexampled IN
dynastic history. Not point was missed.
Full advantage was taken OF the Queens
maiden state. OF her feminine fiokleness,
OF her solitary sovereignty. OF her assumed
religious uncertainty. Of her accepted beauty
and Of the keen competition for her hand.
In very many cases, neither the wooer nor
the wooed was in earliest, and the court
ship was merely a polite fiction to cover
other objects; but, on at least two occasions,
IL not three the Queen was very nearly
forced by circumstances. or her own feel
ings, into a position which would have
made her marriage inevitable. Her
caution, however, on each occasion caused
her to withdraw in time without mortal
offence to the family of her sutton. and to
the end OF her days she was able, painted
old harrican though she came to be, to
act coauettishly the part of the peerless
beauty whose fair hand might possibly
reward the devoted admiration paid to
herewith their tongues in their teeth-by
the bright young gallents who sought
her smiles.
Almost as soon as the little daughter OF
Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn was born,
negotiations were opened for her marriage
with the child prince, Duke OF Angoueme,
third son Of Francis l. Henry asked for too
UGH, as " as his custom, and the negotia-
tons fell through. Elizabeth was only
q years old when her mothers execu-
ton removed her temporarily from the line
of the succession to the English crown.
When she was years old her hand was
offered by her father to the son OF Arran,
head of the House of Hamilton, and, after
Mary Queen OF Scots, next heir to the Scot
fish CROWN. Henry's plan was thwarted
by French intrigue and French money.
backed up by the influence OF the Queen
Dowager OF Scotland, Mary OF Lorraine.
Subsequently. while a treaty Of alliance
between the King OF England and the En-
peror was under discussion, suggestion
was made that Philip OF Spain son OF Charles
", and then lad Of is, should be betrothed
to Elizabeth, who was II. In january,
1547, Henry VIII. died, leaving the sue
cession to his two daughters in tail, after
his child son, Edward VI. and his heirs.
The Queen Dowager, Catharine Parr. I'm
mediatey married Sir Thomas Seymour,
Lord High Admiral. brother OF the Protector
Somerset, and uncle OF the little King.
To their care was confded the Princess
Elizabeth, then girl Of "A. who resided
principally in the Queens dover houses at
Chelsea and Hanworth. and 1t was at this
critical period OF her life that her personal
interest in her love a1airs may be said to
have begun.
When subsequently to the death OF the
Queen Dowager, a short year afterward.