THE REAL ELIZABETH.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3546, 6 August 1920, Page 7

THE REAL ELIZABETH.

.\ .S(‘;L\'J)A'I..ISED Q UEEN

J.-l\'ci'y historical. wl'i':er who has toucliml upon the c.llar:lctcu' of Elizabeth lms told of the sczlnCl:lls with whi(-,h sllO-great (,)Lleen 1133 been nl:lZign--0:7. licpotition has given to them far inn mm-l 1 orellif. "l."l1z‘1t she was wilful. pcx'\'ol'se_. careless, too “fon<l”—-—fu ‘the Old sense of fol'ward~—with flioso whom Slit‘ was content the world should accept’ :13 her lovers’. is :11lO\\',C(l. Was tlLer(> inmio-r:llit_\".’ That is -.1 plain issue to which Dr. Fremlerick Chamberlin, the .'\mel‘ic:ln historian, has devoted yozirs of patient invcstig2lt';on_,.The I'esul'.‘s he gave in his second lel:tLll'e :11; the Royal In.<til'ut'iml in May. The cllul'gos collvctccol together number lwonfy-six. Seven :I.l'o del'ive<l from prosecutions institued in the Quoell’s reign for sculidzllising Elizaboth, and prm~e‘d to be more idle gossip. l'..ingal'Ll, the Catholic writer, is

responsible for half a aozeri‘-dtller.<. He Ll(‘('l(L!'0(,l tliere were letters at Sim-'.m(-.:1.5: \\'llie'h. pmved Eli7,abet‘ll":< imnlorzlvlit_\' with l.eice:~'tel'. There were no .-mrh lelfers at Sima.nc:ls_, said Dr. Clmmberlain. As in charges with respect ~r«.- :.\ll{loLl. the French correspoil(l--once showed that Catli(‘jrine die Medici am] the King 01.‘ France themselves did nor believe them. De Pereim, Eliza!.>ef])’s bitter eneniy, could only report to his master flint “it is even said” I?.‘.?iza}mrll visi':ed Leicester in his chamber clay and night. A more detailed

statemellt was that of Mr Walter Rye, an antiquury, that -thdre was in ShreWsbury evidence of an illegitimzlte son of Elizabeth and Leicester having been educated ‘there. to be found in .a parish book, the entry being in the hand nfva. former vi(*-Lll‘ of the town. In fact, there was no such entry, no such parish book existed, and fhere had never

been such a tradition at Shrewsbury. l Or’ more impo/xttance Dr. Chamberlin l regarded 3. letter p'urpol't.ing ‘go be from l)l:u'_V Queen of See-fs to Elizabeth, ’ retailing 2|. number of accusations «L nuule by the Countess of Shrewsbury. If Tllf.‘ letter was auvthentic, and it had been read by -Elizabeth, it would open an uilhridgeal3le gulf between the two Queens, and‘ would go "far to I e::p‘a.'u Eliznbetlfls latter implaca- ;' bility ‘cowaids lllary. The letter chargell that u cexrtain man had been I manly f-.‘ll2l(‘S in the Qu(‘eil’.< cliamber at lnight ,:uul that the French. Prince <l’ VAleneoill::ulbeell:;eL=ll at her eliamber l door, where she met. him. iiisufliciezitly ‘clothed, and that she later allowed him to enter and remain there for three hours in her chamber. The handwriting was like that of’ Mary St'ual't, but it dift‘el'ed in certain respects from all the other 736 letters} of hers that he had examined_ It was‘ the only letter without formal address

and close, and contained a good deal

lof very bad or obscure French. Mary being a writer of elegant and polished [French He gravely doubted its iauthenticity ‘ln any case, {he docu‘ment twice repeated that the writer did not believe the charges. Burghley, wlho knew every'fhing, had placed flatly on record that Elizabeth was guiltless. In a letter‘ to one of the diplomatic agents abroad he had declared with reference to the Queen and Leicester, “there is nothing more in their relations than that which is consistent.~With_ virtue and is most foreign lothe baser sort of love.” He writes to another. one of his dearest friends, “in truth, she is blameless, and hath nospor of evil intent.“ De Silva. long the S;\._ani.<h Ambassador in London, reported to his Sovereign’ that there was “certainly nothing; Wl-on_2.’.' An entirely new piece of:

evidence was offered in facsimile from the report of the Axnbassador of King Eric of Sweden, who had offered Elizabeth his. hand. “I saw,” wrote the Ambassador, “no signs of an immodest life, but I did see’ marry signs of chastity, of virginity, and of true modesty; so that is most chaste.” Unhappily Elizabeth had herself deliberately circulated reports in foreign c.cvunt,l*ies of her own character-to promote her policy for the moment.

Dr. Chamberlin visualised ElizaIbeth as the most remarkable Monarch ‘who ever sat on the Throne of Eng--land. and_. one of the greatest Sover!eigns. Three centuries of slander ‘and libel had assailed her character. He closed‘ effectively with Elizabetlfs own words, given as a message to her people from across the ages: “I am young and Leicester is young, and therefore We have been slandered. God knows they do us grievous wrong, and the time will come when the world will know? it also. My life is in the open_ Vve cannot cover everybody's mouth, and must content ourselves with doing our duty, and trust in God, for the truth will at lastbe made manifest. He knows my he-art . . as you will all solneday.”