ROYAL VIRAGO.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20316, 26 January 1928, Page 17

ROYAL VIRAGO.

“GOOD QUEEN BESS.” , HER LOVE OF TOWER. If Queen Elizabeth, who earned the name of the royal virago, deserved such a name it must be remembered what hind of a father and mother she had. Henry VTIT had some virtues, else he would never have earned the devotion cf men like More, but he was also a coarse and brutal monster. He had six wives in succession, and was sometimes consderato enough to kill one before ho took another. Anno Boleyn, the mother of Queen Elizabeth, had been Henry's paramour before he married her, and within three months after she was crowned he bade her shut her eyes to his unfaithfulness. He professed to be jealous of her, and she was brought to the block, but no vestige of the evidence now remains. manner of vile charges were brought against her, and her own father and uncle were among the judges who condemned her. Anne’s child, the Princess Elizabeth, grew up with some of her mother’s physical attractiveness, and a good dash of masculinity. Like her father she was strong, resolute, energetic, with a fierce temper, an inclination to cruelty and coarseness, and a passion for pageants. When she was 16 years of age Lord Seymour, High Admiral of England, paid her attention, and the encouragement shegave him led to a public inquiry. Elizabeth’s supposed sympathy with the Protestant cause led Queen Mary to have her imprisoned in the Tower, and, though quickly released, she was kept under strict surveillance at Woodstock. Her , conformity to Mary’s religion probably saved her life.

At the ago of 25 she became Queen of England. At this period she was “ a hold horsewoman, a good shot, a graceful dmcer. a skilled musician, and an accomplished scholar.” Her tutor, the famous Roger Ascharu, has left it on record that she was proficient in Latin, Italian, French, and Spanish, and read Greek every day. Her figure is said to have been commanding, her faro long but queenly and intelligent, her eyes quick and fine. She had inherited her mother’s charm, with more than her mother’s beauty. Her advisers were naturally concerned about finding her a husband with a view to providing an heir to the throne. A queen will always have abundance of suitors, and Elizabeth was no exception. The list, included Lord Seymour, the Earl of Arran, Philip of Spain, who married Mary, the King of Sweden, Henry 111 of France, Henry of Navarre, the Archduke Charles of Austria, and the Duke of Alencon. The astonishing revelation furnished by letters still preserved is that she cherished a strong attachment for the Duke of Alencon, although when they first met she was 68 and ho 19. and a dwarf, with a face disfigured by smallpox. Her liking for him continued till, worn out with debauchery, he died in 1584. Her favourite in England was the Earl of Leicester, a handsome but dissolute fellow who had murdered his first wife, Amy Eobsart, deserted his second, and was somewhat liberal with proposals to poison those who crossed him. He baa compromised or corrupted most of the ladies of the Court. Elizabeth would certainly have married him but for the remonstrance of the elder Cecil, her chief adviser. MARRIED TO THE REALM.

As the world knows she never married, and all kinds of reasons have been assigned. Scandal has been busy ami tradition has it that a certain grave at Kelinworth contains the body of the daughter of Leicester and Elizabeth. She always claimed the name of the Virgin Queen and was clever enough to befool all the men who laid siege to her heart. She never married because her love of power swallowed up all other emotions. Fond of flattery and of the attentions of handsome men she told them and the Commons that she was married to the realm. Indeed, she needed all her wisdom, and one might say all her cunning, to handle with any success the problems to which she became heir. When she succeeded to the throne, the Treasury was empty, and the country was at war with France. Her legitimacy was doubtful. The religious question confronted her, and it must be said she temporised. The coronation service was a mixture of old and new, a compromise which made everybody unhappy. She soon let it be known that she was not keen on reforms. She went to mass to please one party, and forbade the elevation of the Host to please the other.

The Pope regarded her as illigitimate. England had decided to be Protestant, and she herself had no strong religious convictions. She was the daughter of her father, and was determined to keep the sovereign at the head of the Church. She loved ceremonial and gorgeous ritual. What was she to do? Her Parliament assured her of the feeling of the English people, so she submitted and accepted the Prayer Book. After reigning 12 years she was obliged by circumstances to make a more decided stand. The political situation compelled her. Elizabeth saw political and religious progress of which she did not approve. Parliament was claiming certain privileges which had formerly belonged to the Crown, the right to consider the succession, church reform, and trade. Wherever possible she gave way very tactfully, as in the case of monopolies, but her attitude was that of a person not leading a great movement, but being dragged unwillingly along the upward path. IMPERIOUS TEMPER. She had an imperious temper, and would box the ears not only of the maids of honour, but of her Ministers. The Tudor notion of divine right filled her heart and mind, and she told Parliament that her calling it together was merely an act .of courtesy. The executions she caused show that she had no conception of civil and religious liberty. For a time she persecuted all religions. It was the Tudor way, and the spirit of the

age. As she grew old she became a very lonely woman. A traveller who saw her when she was 66 said she was very majestic, her face oblong, fair, but wrinkled ; her eyes small yet black and pleasant, her nose a little hooked, her lips narrow, and her teeth black. She wore false hair, and that red. Her hands were small, her fingers long, and her stature neither tall now low. She wore a white silk dress with a lona 1 train. This vain and self-willed woman, with a thousand dresses in her wardrobe, and with a wonderful faculty for using good round mouth-filling oaths, had lost the love and reverence of her people, owing largely to the burden of taxation. She hated the thought of death, hunted, j danced, “ coquetted and frolicked at 67 laa she had done at 30.” She made gorI geous, progresses from place to pla;c, I transacted business and scolded as of old. Her memory failed, her temper grew worse. She had a sword always beside her, and stabbed the tapestry with it. It was an uncomely sight, and she would give an indication about the succession. She died on March 24, 1603, in her seventieth year. It is easy to say that Elizabeth was patriotic, that she refused to take sides in religion, and preferred to reign simply as Queen of England. and put national unity before all other considerations. She gave England a high place among foreign , Powers, and secured its independence of Spain, made it a groat sea Power, and gave cause to succeeding generations to speak with pride of “ the golden days if ; good Queen Bess." But withal she was , rather indifferent to Shakespeare, had no sympathy with intellectual and religions developments, which succeeded in spite of her rather than with her help. The thing she supremely cared for was the royal supremacy, and she had her reward ! —for what it was worth.