The Washington herald., 1912-02-02
WAS QUEEN BESS A MAN;


most progressive rulers that country
has had. was not woman. but a man.
Barely had Mr.. stoker's sensational and
startling discovery In his book. "Fa-
nous Impostors." been discussed sd IN
fnitum and. officially at least. proven a
faiiacy. when the matter was resuscl-
tated and mooted all over again.
But was Good Queen Bess" a man?
This is the new argument: Elizabeth
was the ''son" Of the Duke ard Duchess
Of Richmond. The little girl. who in
reality would have been Queen OF Eng
land, died OF fever at the age OF seven.
Here is the story:
In 1910, when the Princess Elizabeth
was seven years old, she was sent away
TO Bisley, In the cotswolds, for a change
of air. One day, word was sent to the
governess. Mistress Ashley, that the
King was coming to see his daughter.
But shortly before the time fixed, and
while the King was expected at any
hour, the child developed acute fever and
died. The governess feared to tell the
King. and decided to provide a substitute
for the dead child. Her guest was dim
cult, for the population OF the village
was small and no girl child OF any
kind was available. But In the end. she
secured boy. Thus the visit passed
on successfully, and the King suspected
nothing.
The villagers can point TO the exact
place In the garden OF Overcourt Manor
where "a little stone CONN was found
containing the bones OF a young girl
lying amid rags of fine clothing"
Stress Is laid on the fact that Queen
Elizabeth never married. in support Of
which fact two important letters are
marshaled forth as evidence The first.
written by Elizabeth, to Lord Admiral
Seymore. in which she says: II have not
Che slightest intention OF being married.
and II ever 1 should think OF IL. which
/ do not believe is possible &c.
In 1853 Count de Feria wrote: nIf my
spies do not lie, which. for a certain
reason they have recently given me, I
believe they do not. I understand that
Queen Elizabeth will not bear children"
Historians always have been puzzled
to know why Elizabeth rejected 80 many
proposals of marriage. 1t will be re-
rnernbered that the first request her Par
lament made to her when she ascended
the throne was that she should wed. and
mentioned Philip OF Spain, Charles of
Austria, Robert Dudley, and James Ham
ilton. Earl OF Arran.
But TO the end Elizabeth remained
'the virgin queen"
Gold in America has the value Of what
II gives. and counts in proportion TO the
worldly goods its possession affords. Gold
in France has its own intrinsic value
Allowed 10 flow freely in one country.
boarded in the other, the difference OF
conception must make itself manifest
While small investments are excellent as
financial securities, and undoubtedly
would profit thousands Of individual
American men and women. the small
investor never will become an American
type as II is a French one.
France, with her concentrated financial
force, is but a poor colonist. America
never could rival France IN thrift The
Frenchman, by the all-absorbing interest
In his domestic concerns, is rooted to the
soil. The American, on the other hand,
uses his energy TO transform a wilderness
into home In short. other nations seek
expansion: the power OF France rests in
protection.
The small investor plays a great part in
French economic life. In fact. he Is the
backbone Of France. To economize Is
French down to the very ground Take
for instance the peasant he of the pro-
verbal "woolen stocking" A full COM
prehension Of his character can only be
acquired by penetrating into French vii
lage life. for sojourns-more or less pro-
pleasure or health resorts do
not even impart a remote idea Of the
minor life OF any country.
The llfe OF a French peasant, to say
the least, Is a hard one. An endless
chain OF toll forms his daily labor. but
through It all, and despite Il, all, the
amount OF his yearly savings, by the
practice OF the strictest economy, are TO
him ray Of sunshine. At harvest time
no consideration OF Sabbath rest would
ever induce either master or farmland
to stay away from the fields until the
ripe crop is safely heaped under shelter.
Energetic and hardy to the last degree.
never sparing himself or others, the aE-
riculturist OF France may be compared
to those persistent roots which, to live
at all. must pierce through hard soil and
never feel the influence OF a softening
strata.
Yet he is but weak in comparison with
his wife, who. with unhagging zeal car
ries upon her shoulders the double bur
den Of household duties and outdoor
work. But neither Of them Is all flint
and all labor. Good humor Is ever with
them, generally allied to a cheerful dis
position, and, like all the French, high
and low, their paternal love Is unbounded.
But this affection to children does not
manifest itself by spending money for
the medication of accomplishments to
play the gentleman or lady-which are
ignored totally-but by a ceaseless put
ting away" on their account.
To see a French peasant handling a
gold coin is 10 understand why France
Is the banker OF the world. There is
in his touch OF the gold which
represents his steady plowing Of the
earth. Not that he ever reasons so
subtly or so far, but the instinct for Il
is Unborn.
The raw material. modelled one way or
the other, always offers the same charac-
teristlcs. A wealthy landowner or shop
keeper will believe that he is nearing
bankruptcy II he succeeds in doing moth
ing more than make both ends meet in
comfort. There must be at least one
perennial balance TO invest, though IL
pleases his heart better II the process can
be renewed more frequently.
Herein lies the mystery how France.
seemingly at the end OF her resources
and altogether exhausted economically
and financially after the close of the
Franco-German war OF 1901. was able
to assume. and to pay in record time.
he war Indemnity amounting to billions
The peasant, the middleman, went down
INTO his stocking. he bought 'rentes,"
he helped his government out of a diff
iculty that would have swamped any
other nation, and staggered even rich and |
America.
further fundamental difference Is
hat the women in France, who may be |
said to be typically the small investor"
IN that she never misses tl1e opportunity |