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some hours before it took place, and sir Nicholas Throckmorton, who was secretly employed by Elizabeth to give her the earliest possible intelligence of that event, rode off at fiery speed to Hatfield to communicate the tidings. The caution of Elizabeth taught her that it was dangerous to take any steps towards her own recognition till she could ascertain, to a certainty, the truth of a report, that might only have been devised to betray her into some act that might be construed into treason. She bade Throckmorton "hasten to the palace, and request one of the ladies of the bedchamber, who was in her confidence, if the queen were really dead, to send her, as a token, the black enamelled ring which her majesty wore night and day." The circumstances are quaintly versified in the precious Throckmorton metrical chronicle of the Life of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton.

"Then I, who was misliked of the time,

Obscurely sought to live scant seen at all;
So far was I from seeking up to climb,
As that I thought it well to scape a fall.
Elizabeth I visited by stealth,

As one who wished her quietness with health,

Repairing oft to Hatfield, where she lay,

My duty not to slack that I did owe.

The queen fell very sick, as we heard say,
The truth whereof her sister ought to know,
That her none might of malice undermine,-
A secret means herself did quickly find.

She said, (since nought exceedeth woman's fears
Who still do dread some baits of subtlety,)
'Sir Nicholas, know a ring my sister wears,
Enamelled black, a pledge of loyalty,
The which the king of Spain in spousals gave,
If aught fall out amiss, 'tis that I crave.

But hark! ope not your lips to any one,
In hope as to obtain of courtesy,
Unless you know my sister first be gone,

For grudging minds will soon coyne treachery;1
So shall thyself be safe and us be sure,―

Who takes no hurt shall need no care of cure.

1 This line stands thus in the MS., which being beautifully written, no mistake can arise on the part of the transcriber. Elizabeth's meaning seems to be, that the ring was not to be sought till Mary's death. Coin treachery, we think, should be the phrase in the fourth line.

Her dying day shall thee such credit get,
That all will forward be to pleasure thee,
And none at all shall seek thy suit to let, [hinder,]
But go and come, and look here to find me.'
Thence to the court I galloped in post,

Where, when I came, the queen gave up the ghost.

The ring received, my brethren, which lay

In London town with me,' to Hatfield went,
And as we rode, there met us by the way

An old acquaintance, hoping avancement;
A sugared bait, that brought us to our bane,
But chiefly me, who therewithal was ta'en.
I egged them on with promise of reward;

I thought, if neither credit nor some gain
Fell to their share, the world went very hard,-
Yet reckoned I without mine host in vain.

*

When to the court I and my brother came

My news was stale, but yet she knew them true;

But see how crossly things began to frame,

The cardinal died, whose death my friends may rue,

For then lord Gray and I were sent, in hope

To find some writings to or from the pope."

While Throckmorton was on his road back to London, Mary expired; and ere he could return with the ring to satisfy Elizabeth of the truth of that event, which busy rumour had ante-dated, a deputation from the late queen's council had already arrived at Hatfield,2 to apprize her of the demise of her sister, and to offer their homage to her as their rightful sovereign. Though well prepared for the intelligence, she appeared at first amazed and overpowered at what she heard, and drawing a deep respiration, she sank upon her

1 At the close of the year 1556, Throckmorton, who had been banished by Mary for his participation in the rebellion of Wyatt, and had narrowly escaped paying the penalty of his life, ventured to return to England. He privately paid his court to the princess Elizabeth, who employed him, on the report of her sister's death, to ascertain the truth thereof: this he effected dexterously and secretly. He was a faithful, but a bold adviser, and soon came to issue with the new queen their point of dispute was on the propriety of excluding some zealous Catholic lords from the council; the queen wished to retain them, sir Nicholas Throckmorton insisted on their dismission.

:

The queen, irritated by the freedom of his remonstrances, exclaimed, "God's death! villain, I will have thy head!"—a remark which proves that swearing was an accomplishment of her youth. Throckmorton very coolly replied to this threat,-" You will do well, madam, to consider, in that case, how you will afterwards keep your own on your shoulders."

2 Throckmorton MSS.

knees and exclaimed, “Domino factum est istud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris!" "It is the Lord's doing, it is marvellous in our eyes!" "which," says our authority, (sir Robert Naunton,) "we find to this day on the stamp of her gold, with this on her silver, Posui Deum adjutorem meum!"2 'I have chosen God for my helper.' Both these sentences

were, however, used as the legends of queen Mary's coins; therefore Elizabeth only applied them to her own case, with the ready tact which was not the least valuable of her qualifications for the regal office.

Eight-and-twenty years afterwards, Elizabeth, in a versation with the envoys of France, Chateauneuf and Bellievre, spoke of the tears which she shed on the death of her sister Mary, but she is the only person by whom they were ever recorded.

1 Psalm cxviii, 23,

Fragmenta Regalia.

ELIZABETH,

SECOND QUEEN-REGNANT OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND.

CHAPTER IV.

Recognition of Elizabeth in parliament-Proclaimed queen in Westminster-hall, &c. Her first council-Cecil placed at the helin-Elizabeth's state entry into London-Sojourn at the Tower-Temporizes with church reform-Hears mass for a month-Rejects it on Christmas-day-Her coronation-Pageants and processions-She re-establishes the reformed church-Refuses Philip II.-Her perilous position in Europe-Suitors for her hand-Fêtes to the French ambassador-Tournament, &c.-Project of marriage with the earl of Arran—Elizabeth's influence on Scotch affairs-Her antipathy to John Knox-His expostulations He writes to her-She refuses to let him enter England-Rivalry of the earl of Arundel and lord Robert Dudley-Scandals regarding Elizabeth -Offers of the archduke Charles and Eric of Sweden-Portraits of Elizabeth -Her popular charities-Her coinage Her visit to the Mint-Progress through the city-Severity to lady Jane Gray's sister-Differences with the queen of Scots-Refuses her safe-conduct Queen Elizabeth entertains the grand-prior of France.

WHILE queen Mary lay on her death-bed, the greatest alarm had prevailed regarding the expected crisis. A contemporary, who watched closely the temper of the public, thus describes the anxieties of the responsible part of the community: "The rich were fearful, the wise careful, the honestly-disposed doubtful;" and he adds, emphatically, "the discontented and desperate were joyful, wishing for strife as the door for plunder." All persons, therefore, who had any thing to lose, whatever their religious bias might be, must have felt relieved at the peaceable accession of Elizabeth. On the morning of the 17th of November, parliament (which was then sitting) assembled betimes, for the dispatch of business. The demise of the crown was, however, only known in the palace. Before noon, Dr. Heath, the archbishop of York and lord chancellor of England, sent a 1 Bishop Godwin.

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