Page:Public School History of England and Canada (1892).djvu/83

 CHAPTER XIV.

THE WISE RULE OF ELIZABETH.

1. Elizabeth.—When Mary died, her sister Elizabeth became queen. At this time she was twenty-five years of age, tall and queenly in figure, with fair hair and blue eyes. As a queen she had few faults; as a woman she had many. In her council, surrounded by wise and careful advisers, she weighed everything before acting, and as events proved, seldom made a mistake. The good of her subjects was ever before her, and by her-tact, caution, and skill in diplomacy, she kept the country out of war and gave it a chance to become rich and great. She was not content to have England at peace with foreign nations: she also sought to unite the various warring sections of her people and to restore peace and order throughout the nation. How she succeeded events will show. As a woman, she was vain, frivolous, fond of flattery and the attention of handsome courtiers. Frugal, even stingy, in all else, she spent large sums of money on dress and finery, leaving, it is said, three thousand dresses in her wardrobe. Her greatest fault was her habit of using deceit and falsehood to bewilder and overreach her enemies. This she did because, as she said, she was “a weak woman” with many powerful foes at home and abroad. Her education had been well looked after; for, not only was she an excellent horsewoman, dancer, shot, and musician, but she was well read in Greek, Latin, and French, and could converse in Italian and Spanish. She was the friend of the great writers who lived in her day, and at her court they found a hearty welcome.

2. Elizabeth’s early difficulties—When Elizabeth began her reign she found her people discontented, her treasury empty, her army and navy weak, and she had powerful enemies in the persons of Philip II. of Spain, and the Ming of France. To add to her difficulties, Mary, the daughter of James V. of Scotland, and granddaughter of Margaret, Henry VIII’s elder sister, claimed the crown of England, on the plea that: Elizabeth was illegitimate. Mary was married to the Dauphin of France, and Scotland in her absence was ruled by her mother, Mary of Guise, who acted as Regent. French troops had been brought into Scotland to help