The council had offered to punish any one whom Elizabeth could point out as the author of the injurious rumours against her character, and her observation in her letter to Somerset, in reply to this offer, "that she should but gain an evil name as if she were glad to punish, and thus incur the ill-will of the people, which she should be loth to have," is indicative of the profound policy, which throughout life, enabled this great queen to win and retain the affections of the men of England. Popularity was a leading object with Elizabeth from her childhood to the grave, and well had nature fitted her to play her part with eclat in the splendid drama of royalty. On the 4th of March, 1549, the bill of attainder against Thomas Seymour baron Sudley, lord-admiral of England, was read for the third time in the house of lords; and though his courtship of Elizabeth formed one of the numerous articles against him, and it must have been a season replete with anxious alarm and anguish to herself, she generously ventured to write an earnest appeal to Somerset in behalf of her imprisoned governess, Mrs. Ashley, and her husband, who were, as she had every reason to suppose, involved in the same peril that impended over her rash lover, with whom they had been confederate. Her letter is written in a noble spirit, and does equal credit to her head and heart, and is a beautiful specimen of special pleading in a girl of fifteen. "LETTER FROM ELIZABETH TO THE PROTECTOR SOMERSET.1 "My lord, I have a request to make unto your grace which fear has made me omit till this time for two causes; the one because I saw that my request for the rumours which were spread abroad of me took so little place, which thing when I considered, I thought I should little profit in any other suit; howbeit, now I understand that there is a proclamation for them (for the which I give your grace and the rest of the council most humble thanks), I am the bolder to speak for another thing; and the other was, because, peraventure your lordship and the rest of the council will think that I favour her evil doing, for whom I shall speak, which is Kateryn Ashley, that it would please your grace and the rest of the council to be good unto her. Which thing I do, not to favour her in any evil (for that I would be sorry to do), but for these considerations, that follow, the which hope doth teach me in saying, that I ought not to doubt, but that your grace and the rest of the council will think that I do it for other considerations. First, because that she hath been with me a long time, and many years, and hath taken great labour and pain in bringing me up in learning and honesty; and, therefore, I ought of very duty speak for her: for Saint Gregorie sayeth, that we are more bound to them that bringeth us up well than to our parents, for our parents do that which is natural for them that bringeth us into this world, but our bringers up are a cause to make us live well in it. The second is, because I think that whatsoever she hath done in my lord-admiral's matter, as concerning the marrying of me, she did it because knowing him to be one of the council, she thought he would not go about any such thing without he had the council's consent thereunto: for I have heard her many times say that she would never have me marry in any place without your grace's and the council's consent.' The third cause is, because that it shall, and doth make men think, that I am not clear of the deed myself; but that it is pardoned to me because of my youth, because that she I loved so well is in such a place. Thus hope, prevailing more with me than fear, hath won the battle, and I have at 1 MSS. Lansd. 1236, fol. 35. this time gone forth with it; which I pray God be taken no otherwise than it is meant. Written in haste, from Hatfield, this seventh day of March. Also, if I may be so bold, not offending, I beseech your grace and the rest of the council to be good to master Ashley, her husband, which, because he is my kinsman, 1 would be glad he should do well. "Your assured friend, to my little power, "ELIZABETH. "To my very good lord, my lord-protector." There is something truly magnanimous in the manner in which Elizabeth notices her relationship to the prisoner Ashley, at the time when he was under so dark a cloud, and it proves that the natural impulses of her heart were generous and good. The constitutional levity, which she inherited from her mother, appears, at that period of her life to have been her worst fault, and though she afterwards acquired the art of veiling this under an affectation of extreme prudery, her natural inclination was perpetually breaking out, and betraying her into follies which remind one of the conduct of the cat in the fable, who was turned into a lady, but never could resist her native penchant for catching mice. On the 20th of March, Seymour was brought to the block: he had employed the last evening of his life in writing letters to Elizabeth and her sister, with the point of an aglet, which he plucked from his hose, being denied the use of pen and ink. These letters, which he concealed within the sole of a velvet shoe, were discovered by the emissaries of the council, and opened. No copies of these interesting documents have apparently been preserved, but Bishop Latimer, in his sermon in justification of the execution of the unhappy writer, described them to be" of a wicked and dangerous nature, tending to excite the jealousy of the king's sisters against the Protector Somerset, as their great enemy." 1 When Elizabeth was informed of the execution of the admiral, she had the presence of mind to disappoint the malignant curiosity of the official spies, who were watching to report every symptom of emotion she might betray on that occasion, and merely said, "This day died a man, with much wit, and very little judgment." Although this extraordinary instance of self-command might, by some, be regarded as a mark of apathy in so young a woman, there can be no doubt that Elizabeth had been entangled in the snares of a deep and enduring passion for Seymour-passion that had rendered her regardless of every consideration of pride, caution, and ambition, and forgetful of the obstacle which nature itself had opposed to a union between the daughter of Anne Boleyn and a brother of Jane Seymour That Elizabeth continued to cherish the memory of this unsuitable lover with tenderness-not only after she had been deprived of him by the axe of the executioner, but for long years afterwards-may be inferred from the favour which she always bestowed on his faithful follower, Sir John Harrington the elder, and the fact, that when she was 1 See the Memoir of Queen Katharine Parr, vol. v. Sir John Harrington the elder was originally in the service of king Henry actually the sovereign of England, and had rejected the addresses of many of the princes of Europe, Harrington ventured to present her with a portrait of his deceased lord, the admiral, with the following descriptive sonnet: "Of person rare, strong limbs and manly shape, Friend to God's truth, and foe to Rome's deceit; His blood was spilt, guiltless, without just cause." The gift was accepted, and no reproof addressed to the donor. Elizabeth had six ladies of honour in her household at Hatfield whose names are celebrated by Sir John Harrington, in a complimentary poem which he addressed to that princess early in Mary's reign. The poem commences: The great Diana chaste, Did me command in haste And to you, six a-row, Her pleasure to declare, Thus meaning to bestow On each a gift most rare. First she doth give to Grey The falcons' courteous kind, Her lord for to obey With most obedient mind. He proceeds to praise Isabella Markham for her modesty and beauty: Mrs. Norwich for goodness and gravity; Lady Saint Lowe' for stability; Lady Willoughby for being a laurel instead of a willow; and Mrs. Skipwith for prudence. Elizabeth chose to personate Diana or Pallas all her life. VIII., and much in his confidence. He married Ethelred Malte, alias Dyngley, the king's natural daughter, by Joanna Dyngley or Dobson, and obtained with her a large portion of the confiscated church lands, which the king, out of his special love and regard for her, gave for her use and benefit; but she always passed for the illegitimate daughter of John Malte, the king's tailor, to whose care she was committed in her infancy, for nurture and education. Harrington married this young lady in 1546, and settled with her at Kelston, the gift of Henry VIII. After the death of this illegitimate scion of royalty, Harrington entered into the service of the lord-admiral, and was very strictly examined by the council of Edward VI. as to the intercourse of his lord with the lady Elizabeth; but he could neither be cajoled nor menaced into acknowledgments tending to criminate them. Elizabeth took him into her own household, and he remained faithfully attached to her interest to the end of his life. His second wife, the beautiful Isabella Markham, was one of Elizabeth's maids of honour, whom he has immortalized in his poetical works as "Sweet Isabella Markham." See Nugæ Antiquæ, by sir John Harrington the younger. 'Lady Saint Lowe was afterwards the countess of Shrewsbury, who has acquired an infamous celebrity by her injurious treatment of Mary, queen of Scots, while a prisoner under her lord's charge. ELIZABETH, SECOND QUEEN REGNANT OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND. CHAPTER II. --- Elizabeth's scholastic pursuits-Ascham-Elizabeth's letter to Edward VI.-Her first communication with Cecil-She goes to court-Her simplicity of attireHer conformity to the Reformation - Prevented from seeing king Edward — Her letter to him - Her household at Hatfield—Privy purse expenses-Her letter to the council-Death of Edward VI.-Elizabeth escapes Northumberland's snares- Required to acknowledge lady Jane Grey's title - Prudent answer- Meets her sister- Enters London with Mary-Admiration of the people-Popularity with the protestants-Queen's jealousy-Elizabeth refuses the mass- -Queen Mary's displeasure-Elizabeth dissembles and conforms Given precedency next the queen at the coronation - Dines with the queen and Anne of Cleves-Intrigues of the French ambassador-Plots in favour of Elizabeth and Courtenay-Increasing coolness of the queen Elizabeth forbidden to quit the palace - Or to receive visits - Matrimonial proposals Offered an asylum in France-Courtenay betrays the plot-Wyatt's rebellions -Elizabeth implicated therein-Queen Mary sends for her-Her excusesMandate for her appearance-Her journey from Hatfield to court-Entrance into London-Queen refuses to see her-Her death desired by the councilIntercepted letters to Elizabeth Gardiner's accusations against her-Her household discharged-Her distress-Her letter to queen Mary-She is carried by water to the Tower-Her disconsolate condition. THE disastrous termination of Elizabeth's first love affair, appears to have had the salutary effect of inclining her to habits of a studious and reflective character. She was for a time under a cloud, and during the profound retirement in which she was doomed to remain for at least a year after the execution of the lord admiral, the energies of her active mind found employment and solace in the pursuits of learning. She assumed a grave and sedate demeanour, withal, and bestowed much attention on theology, which the polemic spirit of the times rendered a subject of powerful interest. Her new governess, lady Tyrwhit, had been the friend of the late queen, Katharine Parr, and was one of the learned females who had supported the doctrines of the Reformation, and narrowly escaped the fiery crown of martyrdom; and though Elizabeth had, in the first instance, defied her authority, there is reason to believe that she was reconciled to her after the first effervescence of her high spirit had subsided, and the assimilation of their religious feelings produced sympathy and good-will between them. A curious little devotional volume is mentioned by Anthony-a-Wood, as having once belonged to queen Elizabeth, which was compiled by this lady for her use, when acting as her preceptress. It was of miniature size, bound in solid gold, and entitled, "Lady Elizabeth Tyrwhit's Morning and Evening Prayers, with divers Hymns and Meditations." It was probably about this period that Elizabeth translated an Italian sermon of Occhines, which she transcribed in a hand of great beauty, and sent to her royal brother, as a new year's gift. The dedication is dated Enfield, December 30, but the year is not specified; the MS. is now in the Bodleian library. Not in vain did Elizabeth labour to efface the memory of her early indiscretion, by establishing a reputation for learning and piety. The learned Roger Ascham, under whom she perfected herself in the study of the classics, in his letters to Sturmius, the rector of the Protestant university, at Strasburg, is enthusiastic in his encomiums on his royal pupil, of whose scholastic attainments he is justly proud. "Numberless honourable ladies of the present time," says he, "surpass the daughters of sir Thomas More, in every kind of learning; but amongst them all, my illustrious mistress, the lady Elizabeth, shines like a star, excelling them more by the splendour of her virtues than by the glory of her royal birth. In the variety of her commendable qualities, I am less perplexed to find matter for the highest panegyric, than to circumscribe that panegyric within just bounds; yet, I shall mention nothing respecting her but what has come under my own observation. For two years she pursued the study of Greek and Latin under my tuition, but the foundations of her knowledge in both languages were laid by the diligent instruction of William Grindal, my late beloved friend, and seven years my pupil in classical learning, at Cambridge. From this university he was summoned by John Cheke to court, where he soon after received the appointment of tutor to this lady. "After some years, when through her native genius, aided by the efforts of so excellent a master, she had made a great progress in learning, and Grindal, by his merit and the favour of his mistress, might have aspired to high dignities, he was snatched away by a sudden illness. I was appointed to succeed him in his office, and the work which he had so happily begun, without my assistance, indeed, but not without some counsels of mine, I diligently laboured to complete. Now, however, released from the throng of a court, and restored to the felicity of my former learned leisure, I enjoy, through the bounty of the king, an honourable appointment in this university. "The lady Elizabeth has completed her sixteenth year; and so much solidity of understanding, such courtesy united with dignity, have never been observed at so early an age. She has the most ardent love of true religion and the best kind of literature; the constitution of her mind is exempt from female weakness, and she is endued with masculine power of application; no apprehension can be quicker than hers, no memory more retentive. French and Italian she speaks like English; Latin with fluency, propriety, and judgment. She also spoke Greek with me frequently, willingly and moderately well. Nothing can be more elegant 'This precious relic was, at the time Anthony-a-Wood wrote, in the possession of the Rev. Mr. Ashley, of Barrow, in Suffolk. 2 Edward VI. |