better winds, so did I, most noble king, in my unfortunate chance on Thursday, pluck down the high sails of my joy and comfort, and do trust one day that, as troublesome waves have repulsed me backward, so a gentle wind will bring me forward to my haven. Two chief occasions moved me much and grieved me greatly, the one, for that I doubted your majesty's health,-the other, because for all my long tarrying I went without that I came for. Of the first, I am relieved in a part, both that I understood of your health, and also that your majesty's lodging is not far from my lord marquis' chamber.1 Of my other grief I am not eased, but the best is, that whatsoever other folks will suspect, I intend not to fear your grace's good-will, which as I know that I never deserved to forfeit, so I trust will still stick by me. For if your grace's advice that I should return (whose will is a commandment) had not been, I would not have made the half of my way the end of my journey. And thus, as one desirous to hear of your majesty's health, though unfortunate, to see it, I shall pray God for ever to preserve you. From Hatfield, this present Saturday.

"Your majesty's humble sister, to commandment,

"To the king's most excellent majesty."

ELIZABETH.

The same power that was employed to prevent the visit of Elizabeth to her sick, perhaps dying, brother, probably deprived him of the satisfaction of receiving the letter which informed him that such had been her intention. It was the interest of those unprincipled statesmen to instil feelings of bitterness into the heart of the poor young king, against those to whom the fond ties of natural affection had once so strongly united him. The tenour of Edward VI.'s will, and the testimony of the persons who were about him at the time of his death, prove that he was at last no less estranged from Elizabeth, his "sweetest sister Temperance," as he was formerly wont to call her, than from Mary, whose recusancy had been urged against her as a reasonable ground for exclusion from the throne. Both were alike excluded from their natural places in the succession, and deprived of the benefit of their father's nomination in the act for settling the royal succession in the year 1544, and subsequently in his will-Mary, first, because of her papistry, and secondly, because she had been declared illegitimate. The reproach of papistry could not, with any consistency, be objected to Elizabeth; for, had not the lady Jane Gray herself, the innocent rival to her title, declared that "the lady Elizabeth was a follower of God's word?" And as to the second objection of their declaring Mary illegitimate, the direct contrary would have been the result, for the establishment of the legitimacy of either of these sisters, no matter which, must infallibly have stigmatized the birth of the other. The next objection to Mary and Elizabeth was, that being only sisters to Edward by the half blood, they could not be his lawful heirs; but this was indeed a fallacy, for their title was derived from the same royal father, from whom Edward inherited the throne, and would in no respect have been strengthened by the comparatively mean blood of Jane Seymour, even if they had been her daughters by the late king. The third reason given for the exclusion of Edward's sisters was, that they might marry foreign princes, and thus

2

'Katharine Parr's brother, the marquis of Northampton, whom Edward called uncle, and whom Elizabeth held in great regard.

'Aylmer's Harbour for Faithful Subjects.

be the means of bringing papistry into England again, which lady Jane Gray could not do, as she was already married to the son of the duke of Northumberland.

Latimer preached in favour of the exclusion of Elizabeth as well as Mary, declaring that it was better that God should take away the ladies Mary and Elizabeth, than that, by marrying foreign princes, they should endanger the existence of the reformed church. Ridley set forth the same doctrine, although it was well known that Elizabeth had rejected the offer of one foreign prince, and had evinced a disinclination to marriage altogether. Nothing, therefore, could be more unfair than rejecting her, for fear of a contingency that never might, and in fact never did, happen.

The name of conscience was, however, the watchword under which Northumberland and his accomplices had carried their point with their pious young sovereign, when they induced him to set aside the rightful heirs, and bequeath the crown to lady Jane Gray.

Elizabeth kept her state at Hatfield House during the last few months of Edward's reign. The expenses of her household amounted to an average of 39381. according to one of her household books, from October 1st, 5th of Edward VI., to the last day of September in the 6th year of that prince, in the possession of lord Strangford. It is entitled, "The Account of Thomas Parry, Esq., Cofferer to the Right Excellent Princess the Lady Elizabeth, her Grace, the King's Majesty's Most Honourable Sister." The above was the style and title used by Elizabeth during her royal brother's reign. Every page of the book is signed at the bottom by her own hand. Her cellar appears to have been well stocked with beer, sweet wine, Rhenish and Gascoigne wines. Lamprey pies are once entered as a present. The wages of her household servants for a quarter of a year amounted to 821. 17s. 8d. The liveries of velvet coats for thirteen gentlemen, at forty shillings the coat, amounted to twenty-six pounds; the liveries of her yeomen to 787. 18s. She paid for the making of her turnspits' coats nine shillings and twopence. Given in alms, at sundry times, to poor men and women, 77. 15s. 8d.

Among the entries for the chamber and robes, are the following:

"Paid to John Spithonius, the 17th of May, for books, and to Mr. Allen for a Bible, 27s. 4d. Paid to Edmund Allen for a Bible, 20s. Third of November, to the keeper of Hertford Jail for fees of John Wingfield, being in ward, 13s. 4d. Paid, 14th of December, to Blanche Parry for her half-year's annuity, 100s. ; and to Blanche Courtnaye for the like, 66s. 8d. Paid, December 14th, at the christening of Mr. Pendred's child, as by warrant doth appear, 18. Paid in reward unto sundry persons at St. James's-her grace then being there-viz., the king's footmen, 118.; the under-keeper of St. James's, 10s.; the gardener, 5s.; to one Russell, groom of the king's great chamber, 10s.; to the wardrobe, 11s.; the violins, 10s.; a Frenchman that gave a book to her grace, 10s.; the keeper of the park-gate at St. James's, 10s."

From another of Elizabeth's account books, in possession of Gustavus Brander, esq., the Antiquarian Repertory quotes the following additional items :

"Two French hoods, 21. 9s. 9d. Half-a-yard and two nails of velvet, for part

lets, 18s. 9d. Paid to Edward Allen for a Bible, 17. Paid to the king's (Edward VI.) droner (bagpiper) and phipher (fifer), 20s. To Mr. Haywood, 30s.; and to Sebastian, towards the charge of the children, with the carriage of the players' garments, 47. 198. Paid to sundry persons at St. James's, her grace being there, 91. 15s. To Beamonde, the king's servant, for his boys that played before her grace, 10s, In reward to certain persons, on the 10th of August (this was after Mary's accession), to Former, who played on the lute; to Mr. Ashfield's servant, with two prize oxen and 10 muttons, 20s. more; the harper, 30s.; to him that made her grace a table of walnut tree, 44s. 9d.; to Mr. Cockus' servant that brought her grace a sturgeon, 6s. 8d.; to my lord Russell's minstrels, 208.

"Accounts of Thomas Parry, cofferer of her household, till Oct., 1553.”1 The last documentary record of Elizabeth, in the reign of Edward VI., is a letter addressed by her to the lords of the council, relating to some of her landed property, concerning which there was a dispute between her tenant, Smith, and my lord privy seal, the earl of Bedford. She complains of having been "evilly handled" by the minister, though she denies taking part with Smith in the controversy against him. All she wishes is, she says, "to enjoy her own right in quietness." She requests, in conclusion, "her humble commendations to the king's majesty, for whose health," she says, "I pray daily and daily, and ever more shall so do, during my life. At Hatfield, the last day of May, 1553."

On the morning of the 6th of July, Edward expired at Greenwich, but his death was kept secret for the purpose of securing the persons of his sisters, to both of whom deceitful letters were written in his name, by order of Northumberland, requiring them to hasten to London to visit him in his sickness. The effect of this treacherous missive on Mary, her narrow escape and subsequent proceedings, have been related in her memoir in the preceding volume of the "Lives of the Queens of England." Elizabeth, more wary, or better informed of what was in agitation by some secret friend at court, supposed to be Cecil, instead of obeying the guileful summons, remained quietly at Hatfield to watch the event. This was presently certified to her by the arrival of commissioners from the duke of Northumberland, who, after announcing the death of the young king, and his appointment of lady Jane Gray for his successor, offered her a large sum of money and a considerable grant of lands, as the price of her acquiescence, if she would make a voluntary cession of her own rights in the succession, which she was in no condition to assert. Elizabeth, with equal wisdom and courage, replied, "that they must first make their agreement with her elder sister, during whose lifetime she had no claim or title, to resign." Leti assures us, that she also wrote a letter of indignant expostulation to Northumberland, on the wrong that had been done to her sister and herself, by proclaiming his daughter-in-law queen. A fit of sickness, real, or, as some have insinuated, feigned, preserved Elizabeth from the peril of taking any share in the contest for the crown. Her defenceless position, and her proximity to the metropolis, placed her in a critical predicament, and if by feigning illness she avoided being conducted to the Tower, by Northumberland's partisans, she acted as a wise woman, 1 Antiq. Repertory, vol. i., p. 64. VOL. VI.-5

2 Vol. V.

seeing that discretion is the better part of valour. But, sick or well, she preserved her integrity, and as soon as the news of her sister's successes reached her, she forgot her indisposition and hastened to give public demonstrations of her loyalty and affection to her person, by going in state to meet and welcome her, on her triumphant progress to the metropolis. The general assertion of historians that Elizabeth raised a military force for the support of queen Mary is erroneous; she was powerless in the first instance, and the popular outburst in favour of Mary, rendered it needless after the first week's reign of the nine-days queen was over.

On the 29th of July, according to the Cottonian MS., quoted by Strype, Elizabeth came riding, from her seat in the country, along Fleetstreet to Somerset House, which now belonged to her, attended by 2000 horse armed with spears, bows, and guns. In this retinue appeared sir John Williams and sir John Bridges, and her chamberlain, all being dressed in green, but their coats were faced with velvet, satin, taffeta, silk, or cloth, according to their quality. This retinue of Elizabeth assumed a less warlike character on the morrow, when it appears that Mary had disbanded her armed militia. When Elizabeth rode through Aldgate next day, on her road to meet her sister, she was accompanied by a thousand persons on horseback, a great number of whom were ladies of rank. The royal sisters met at Wanstead, where Elizabeth and her train paid their first homage to queen Mary, who received them very graciously, and kissed every lady presented by Elizabeth.

On the occasion of Mary's triumphant entrance into London, the royal sisters rode side by side, in the grand equestrian procession. The youthful charms of Elizabeth, then in her twentieth year, the majestic grace of her tall and finely-proportioned figure, attracted every eye, and formed a contrast disadvantageous to Mary, who was nearly double her age, small in person, and faded prematurely by early sorrow, sickness, and anxiety. The pride and reserve of Mary's character, would not allow her to condescend to the practice of any of those arts of courting popularity, in which Elizabeth, who rendered everything subservient to the master-passion of her soul, ambition, was a practised adept. In every look, word, and action, Elizabeth studied effect, and on this occasion it was noticed that she took every opportunity of displaying the beauty of her hand, of which she was not a little vain.3

Within one little month after their public entrance into London, the evil spirits of the times had succeeded in rekindling the sparks of jealousy between the Catholic queen and the Protestant heiress of the throne. That Mary, after all the mortifications that had been inflicted upon her at Elizabeth's birth, had had the magnanimity to regard her with sisterly feelings, is a fact, that renders the divisions, that were effected between them, the more deeply to be regretted.

1 Stowe says, Elizabeth was accompanied by 1000 horse, consisting of knights, ladies, gentlemen, and their servants. Lingard reduces this number to 150 persons; but the people of London then, as now, doubtless poured forth in mass, to hail the approaching sovereign.

2 Turner; Lingard; Michele.

8 Report of Michele, the Venetian ambassador.

When Mary, who had never dissembled her religious opinions, made known her intention of restoring the mass and all the ancient ceremonials, that had been abolished by king Edward's council, the Protestants naturally took the alarm. Symptoms of disaffection towards their new sovereign betrayed themselves, in the enthusiastic regard which they lavished on Elizabeth, who became the beacon of hope, to which the champions of the Reformation turned, as the horizon darkened around them. But it was not only on those to whom a sympathy in religious opinions endeared her, that Elizabeth had succeeded in making a favourable impression, for she was already so completely established as the darling of the people of England, that Pope Julius III., in one of his letters, adverting to the report made by his envoy, Commendone, on the state of queen Mary's government, says, "that heretic and schismatic sister, formerly substituted for her (queen Mary) in the succession by their father, is in the heart and mouth of every one." 1

The refusal of Elizabeth to attend mass, while it excited the most lively feelings of admiration for her sincerity and courage among the Protestants, gave great offence to the queen and her council, and the princess was sternly enjoined to conform to the Catholic rites. Elizabeth was resolute in her refusal; she even declined, under pretext of indisposition, being present at the ceremonial of making her kinsman Courtenay an earl. This was construed into disrespect for the queen. Some of the more headlong zealots, by whom Mary was surrounded, recommended that she should be put under arrest.2 Mary refused to consent to a measure at once unpopular and unjustifiable, but endeavoured, by alternate threats, persuasions, and promises, to prevail on her sister to accompany her to the chapel-royal. The progress of the contest between the queen and her sister, on this case of conscience, is thus detailed by the French ambassador, Noailles, in a letter dated September 6th:

"Elizabeth will not hear mass, nor accompany her sister to the chapel, whatever remonstrance, either the queen or the lords on her side, have been able to make to her on this subject. It is feared, that she is counselled in her obstinacy by some of the magnates, who are disposed to stir up fresh troubles. Last Saturday and Sunday," continues he, "the queen caused her to be preached to, and entreated by all the great men of the council, one after the other, but their importunity only elicited from her, at last, a very rude reply."4 The queen was greatly annoyed by the firmness of Elizabeth, which promised to prove a serious obstacle to the restoration of papacy in England. The faction, that had attempted to sacrifice the rights of both the daughters of Henry VIII. by proclaiming lady Jane Gray queen, gathered hopes from the dissension between the royal sisters. Elizabeth, however, who had no intention of unsettling the recently established government of the sickly sovereign, to whom she was heir presumptive, when she found that it was suspected that her nonconformity proceeded from disaffection, de'Letters of Pope Julius III., p. 112. Sharon Turner. 'Lingard; Noailles; Turner.

4 Depeches du Noailles, 147.

3

Ibid.