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 Eliza-
beth 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 Har-
rington the elder,' and the fact, that when she was ac-
tually 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,
By nature framed to serve on sea or land;
In friendship firm, in good state or ill hap,
In peace head-wise, in war-skill great bold hand,
On horse or foot, in peril or in play,

None could excel, though many did essay.
A subject true to king, a servant great,

Friend to God's truth, and foe to Rome's deceit ;
Sumptuous abroad for honour of the land,
Temperate at home, yet kept great state with stay,
And noble house, that fed more mouths with meat
Than some, advanced on higher steps to stand;
Yet against nature, reason, and just laws,

His blood was spilt, guiltless, without just cause." The gift was accepted, and no reproof addressed to the donor.

1 Sir John Harrington the elder, was originally in the service of king Henry 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 ber 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 Nuga Antiquæ, by Sir John Harrington the younger.

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,
In forest late I met,
Did me command in haste
To Hatfield for to get;
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.

'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 & 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 attire-Her 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 peoplePopularity 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 FranceCourtenay betrays the plot-Wyatt's rebellions-Elizabeth implicated therein-Queen Mary sends for her-Her excuses-Mandate for her appearance Her journey from Hatfield to court - Entrance into London-Queen refuses to see her—Her death desired by the council -Intercepted 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 goodwill 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." 1

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

This precious relic was, at the time Anthony-a-Wood wrote, in the possession of the Rev. Mr. Ashley, of Barrow, in Suffolk.

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 than her handwriting, whether in the Greek or the Roman character. 1 Edward VI.