ELIZABETH

From Agepedia

ELIZABETH, queen of England, and one of its most celebrated sovereigns, was the daughter of Henry VIII, by his queen, Anne Boleyn. She was born in 1533, and educated in the principles of the reformation, and also in those classical studies into which it had then become customary to initiate females of distinction in England. In her father's testament, she was placed the third in the order of succession; but the duke of Northumberland induced her brother, Edward VI, to set her aside, as well as her sister Mary, to make room for Jane Grey. In the reign of Mary, she was placed under circumstances of great difficulty, from her known attachment to Protestantism; and notwithstanding her great prudence, but for the ?olitic interference of her brotherinlaw, liilin of Snain. shft miffht havp hpp.n moned. It was no began that interfer Scotland, which p most singular even the young queen c the next heii*in crown, but was rej ists, who deemed E the true sovereign marriage of that p phin, and her relat Scotland was also union with Franc great political cause in addition to the was the most cons[j beth. The first ste affairs was to send aid the party whicl illation; and this effected a treaty, 1 were obliged to qi return of Mary fr death of her bus made to procure J of her title as presu crown of England tended to, and very oter, the two queens apparent amity. I] abcth acquired gre vigorous conduct ; and had many suil of Europe, whom, early resolution to stantly refused. I head of the Protes she made a treaty French Huguenots gave them aids in i government at lion more rigorous agai] of the mischievous incessant intrigue both at home andin hfir covp.rnmpnt. the duke of Norfolk, the rebellions in the north, and the treasonable engagements made by the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland with the duke of Orleans, in the Low Countries, are aflairs rather of history than biography, iff the midst of these events, the Puritanical party gave much uneasiness to the queen, who was warmly attached to the ceremonials of religion, and to the hierarchy of which she had become the head. Inheriting, too, ail the maxims of royal authority maintained by her father, the spirit of civil liberty, by which the Puritans became early distinguished, was very offensive to her. Elizabeth, however, understood the art of making practical concessions, while she maintained her dignity in language ; and such was the general prudence and frugality of her administration, that she retained the affections even of those whom she governed with a rigorous hand. Almost the only cause of complaint, in regard to pecuniary matters, in this reign, arose from the injurious grant of monopolies, which formed a frequent subject of parliamentary complaint, and were often, in consequence, revoked. The assistance given by Elizabeth to the Protestants of the Low Countries induced Spain, in 1572, to promote a conspiracy, which was chiefly conducted by a Florentine merchant and the bishop of Ross, the Scottish resident in England. The duke of Norfolk, allowing himself to be drawn into a participation of this plot, on its discovery, was tried and executed. The massacre of St. Bartholomew, in the same year, alarmed all Protestant rulers, and especially Elizabeth, who put herself and court into mourning on the occasion, and received in silence the French ambassador sent over to apologize for that execrable deed. She, however, maintained external amity with the French court, and even suffered negotiations to be commenced for her marriage with the duke of Alencon, the king's brother, which brought that prince to England. An expectation that the union would take place now became general. In 1575, 6he received the offer of the sovereignty of the revolted Dutch provinces; but, fivm prudential reasons, she declined to accept it; and it was not until 1578 that she signed with them a treaty of alliance. In 1585, Elizabeth ventured openly to defy the hostility of Spain, by entering into a treaty with the revolted provinces, by which she found herself to assist them with a considerable force, the command of which £he intrusted to Leicester, 'Who did little honor to her choice. She also sent an armament, under Drake, against the Spanish settlements in the West Indies, and made a league of mutual defence with James, king of Scotland, whose friendship she courted, while she detained his mother in prison. In 1586, that conspiracy took place, the object of which was her assassination by Anthony Babington. As Elizabeth's principal counsellors, as well as the nation at large, were of opinion that the safety of the state demanded the life of Mary, whatever may be thought of the injustice of her treatment, it was clearly the result of strong political circumstances. Elizabeth, however, conscious of the invidious light in which the execution of a queen and relation would appear to Europe, practised all the arts of dissimulation to remove as much of the odium from herself as possible. She even wished Mary to be taken off privately ; and it was only on the refusal of sir Amias Paulet and sir Drue Drury, her keepers, to be concerned in so odious an affair, that the curious transaction of furthering the warrant by secretary Davison took place, the consequeuce of which was the execution of Mary on Feb. 8, 1587. The dissembled grief of Elizabeth, when informed of this catastrophe, deceived no one, although the imputed mistake of Davison, and the sacrifice of him to her assumed resentment, afforded the king of Scotland a pretext for resuming an amicable correspondence with the English court. The year 1588 was rendered memorable by the defeat of the Spanish armada, on which meditated invasion Elizabeth displayed all the confidence and energy of her character. Soon after this event, Elizabeth became the ally of Henry IV of France, in order to vindicate his title to that throne; and, for some years, English auxiliaries served in France, and naval expeditions were undertaken, in which none more distinguished themselves than the celebrated earl of Essex, who, on the death of Leicester, succeeded to his place in the queenV favor. In 1601, she held a conference with the marquis de Rosni (afterwards the celebrated Sully), who came over, on the part of Henry IV, to concert, in concurrence with England, a new balance of European power, to control the preponderance of the house of Austria. Elizabeth readily gave in to the project, and the minister quitted England in admiration of the solidity and enlargement of he> political views. Having suppressed m" insurrection in Ireland, and obliged all the Spanish troops, sent to aid in it, to quit the island, she turned her thoughts towards relieving the burdens of her subjects, and gained much additional popularity by suppressing a great number of unpopular monopolies. The execution of the earl of Essex (see Devereux, Robert), however, gave a fatal blow to her happiness; and, on learning from the dying countess of Nottingham, that he had really transmitted the ring, which implied his request of pardon, she became furious with rage, and, when her anger subsided, fell into an incurable melancholy. At length nature began to sink, and, as her end manifestly approached, she was urged by her council to declare her successor. She answered, " Who but her kinsman, the king of Scots?" and soon after, sinking into a lethargy, she expired, without further struggle or convulsion, on March 24,1602, in the 70th year of her age, and 45th of her reign.Estimating; the character and conduct of Elizabeth from the events of her reign, she will justly rank high among sovereigns. Under her auspices, the Protestant religion, as opposed to popery, was firmly established. Factions were restrained, government strengthened, the vast power of Spain nobly opposed, oppressed neighbors supported, a navy created, commerce rendered flourishing, and the national character aggrandized. She did not merely lend a name to a conspicuous period of history; her own prudence, judgment, fortitude, firmness, vigor and industry materially contributed to the prosperity of her administration. She was frugal to the borders of avarice ; but, being as economical of the people's money as of her own, her prudent attention to national expenditure contributed materially to the public good. The severity of Elizabeth to Catholic emissaries, Jesuits, and others, whether native or foreign, has latterly been deemed scarcely defensible, nor, on a religious ground, is it so; but it is never to be forgotten, that most of those who suffered really sought the overthrow of the state, and, in addition, acted under the direction of a foreign influence of the most baleful description. The treatment of the queen of Scots can never be defended, but will always remain one of those cases which neither policy, nor even persorial danger, can sufficiently justify. It may be questioned, however, if the dissimulation of Elizabeth has not injured her memory in respect to this transaction, more than the deed itself which was certainty deemed necessary txrth by her ministers and a vast majority of the people. Her principa defects were violence and haughtiness of temper, impatience of contradiction, and insatiable fondness for admiration and flattery. It is to be remarked, however, that, capricious as she was in her affections, and petty in her feminine jealousies, she always made even her favorites feel that she was their sovereign, when they were disposed to forget it. Although fond of literature, and substantially learned, she was no very munificent patroness, and made very poor returns for the excess of incense so lavishly bestowed upon her. She was skilled in the Greek, and spoke the Latin language with considerable fluency. She translated from the former into Latin a dialogue of Xenophon, two orations of Isocrates, and a play of Euripides, and also wrote a commentary on Plato. From the Latin she translated Boethius's Consolations of Philosophy, Sallust's Jugurthine War, and a part of Horace's Art of Poetry. .In the Royal and Noble Authors of lord Orfbrd, may also be found a catalogue of translations from the French, prayers, meditations, speeches in parliament, letters, &c.