QUEEN ELIZABETH.

Shannon News, 16 June 1925, Page 4

QUEEN ELIZABETH.

W.E.A. LECTURE. Interesting lectures continue to be o-iven by the district W.E.A. lecturer. ° The subject at last .meeting was Queen Elizabeth. The lecturer (Mr. A. Ernest Mander) began by giving a general description of conditions in England during Elizabeth's reign. He reviewed the many important developnents of the previous century, showing how all these things had led up, about the year 1500, to what was really the beginning of our modern civilisation. "In the age of Elizabeth we find ourselves once more —as at Athens in the age of Pericles—in the Springtime of a civilisation. In the cycle of the seasons of history, Springtime has come round again." Childhood and Yo*ith.

Elizabeth was born in 1533, during the active careers of Luther and Erasmus. She was the daughter of King Henry VIII and his second wife, Ann Boleyn. On Henry's third marriage, the child Elizabeth, like her older half-sister Mary, was declared illegitimate, while Henry's newest child by his newest queen was, in his turn, made heir to Henry's throne. More or less repudiated by her father, Elizabeth spent her childhood in comparative simplicity and obscurity. As has been said, "Much of the future greatness of Elizabeth may reasonably'be attributed to the adversity and apparent misfortunes that deprived her in childhood of the pomp and luxury of the Court." She acquired a really good all-round education, a knowledge of several languages, an acquaintance with the New (classical) Learning, and a mastery of several other subjects. Finally, those who were responsible for her upbringing taught her, from the first, to recognise that a knowledge and understanding of history was the best possible equipment for a potential queen. The Princess Elizabeth.

When Elizabeth was 17, the king, her father, died; and her youn'ger halfbrother, Edward, succeeded to the throne. He was only nine years old at the time, a delicate and diseased child unlikely to survive to manhood. According to Henry's will, Mary was placed next in the order of succession, and then Elizabeth.

The sickly boy-king died five years later and Mary succeeded him. But Mary was a devout Roman Catholic; and the Catholic nobles and priests who were then in power recognised that the very existence of Elizabeth the protestant princess, was a source of constant danger to them. It was only by playing a very, very careful game that Elizabeth was able —by using all her wits and all her tricks —to circumvent the plans of her enemies to get. rid of her. Once she was actually taken to the Tower, and for weeks her life', hung by a thread. During these years Elizabeth became a hard, secretive and suspicious young woman. She learned to trust no one; never to act on impulse; never to be "herself," spontaneous and sincere. She became a superb actress, a creature of deceit and insincerity and artificiality, living in an atmosphere of intrigue, and surrounded by spies and agents of her enemies at Court.

The Legendary Elizabeth. Meanwhile, with the people, the Princess Elizabeth was an object of love and loyalty and chivalrous devo- ' j tion. She was regarded as the hope ef Protestants and patriots alike: and the majority of the four million people of England seemed to have looked forward eagerly to the time when she should succeed the Catholic Queen Mary. ' The people saw very little of Elizabeth; but a legend was spread and carefully fostered —the legend of a beautiful and charming princess, the very embodiment of all that was noble and pure and beautiful. It is worth remarking that all through the 45 years of her reign. Elizabeth always appeared to her people in this light, and thus etained her popularity. Whatever she was in her Court, or in the Council Chamber, to her people she always appeared in the role of a proud but gracious sovereigns who had the interests of her people verj near to her heart. * Nor (said the lecturer) can I believe that this was altogether a pose: I think she really did identify herself with her kingdom and her people as the part she was playing 'took possession* of her. Elizabeth's Reign. In 1558 the unhappy Mary died, and Elizabeth was proclaimed Queen. But —would the Catholics accept this? For a few days there was a very critical situation. There was danger of civil war. But this was averted by the patriotism of the Catholic Lord Chancellor, Heath. He promptly summoned Parliament to confirm the proclamation of Elizabeth as Queen. This (Mr. Mander observed) is a point to note. It means that patriotism, the new national sentiment in England, had already become so strong that many even of the Cathol- j ics were prepared to put the interests j of their country first, before the inter- ' ests even of their church. It is an important milestone in the history of England. Elizabeth was 25 when she became Queen, and an old woman of 70 when she died. The intervening years are those which fill so bright a page in English history. I do not mean (said the lecturer) that they were specially eventful years. They were not. For yie great mass of the people it was a quiet, peaceful, I prosperous period.

In a sense, Elizabeth's reign occupied the lull between two storms. That is the best way to think l of it, for it gives the key to the period. The conflict between the king (allied with the squires and merchants) and the feudal barons —that was over. But the next great struggle, betAveen the king and his old allies, Iho squires and merchants represented by Parliament—

that had not yet begun. Again, the crisis was past in the struggle between the national church and Rome; while, on the other hand, the next great conflict —between the national church and the Puritans—was not to begin in earnest until Elizabeth was dead.

Tin.' Use of Patriotism. I In this period between the storms, the reign of Elizabeth, the great, need of the country was for internal peace —an opportunity for old wounds to heal, a chance for men to adjust themselves to the new conditions after the great struggles and changes of the past. In the sixteenth century (said Mr. Mander) patriotism, the newly-devel-oped national sentiment, was the one thing that could hold men together, in spite of their religious arid economic quarrels that were tending to tear them apart. It was a great thing that now, for the first time in history, Eng- , lishmen had come to think of themselves as Englishmen first—and Catb-

olics and Protestants and so forth only secondarily. This new sentiment, patriotism, produced an immediate moderation in men's quarrels and disputes with one another. Behind all their differences rin religion and other matters) they recognised that they were all Englishmen. And this made them reluctant to pursue their quarrels to vhe bitter end. Here was something they had in common, something they could all unit*) upon, whatever their differences might be in other matters. And, having this new sentiment in common, men were largely restrained —restrained from becoming too biurr, too fierce, too cruel and vindictive in their disputes on other questions. The result was that, in England, religious persecutions and economic conflicts were very much moderated: they were very half-hearted affairs compared with those on the Continent, where national sentiments were lator in developing. Thus patriotism came as a unifying force, giving men something to hold in common despite their other differences, and so restraining them from excessive hatred and vindictiveness in their disputes with one another. This (said the lecturer) is a important fact, and one that is oft m overlooked. It gives us the key to many of the features of English h'story from 1500 to the present day. 'Elizabeth at Her Court. In her own court, Elizabeth unfortunately reveals herself in another light. From the age of 17 until she was an old woman of nearly 70, she passed from one love affair to anothc r. She was never without a "favourite;" and upon these favourites, each in turn, the Queen lavished the highest titles and honours. But she was an exacting mistress, demanding constant fawning flattery and implicit obedience, and very easily offended.

Yet her love affairs were "nmething apart. She was not greatly influenced by her favourites in affairs of State. With everyone of them' she was a queen before she was,a woman. She was a queen always—and not even her most privileged lover was ever allowed to forget it.

The Elizabeth of the Court was not the Elizabeth of the Council Chamber. In her Court, right through until old age, she acted the part of the "Queen of Beauty." Heavily jewelled, richly attired, elaborately "made up," she loved the pomp and pageantry of her Court; and the man or woman who could offer the most fulsome compliments, the most extravagant flattery could always win her favour. Elizabeth as Queen.

But with the Privy Council attending to business of State, Elizabeth was an entirely different woman from what she was among her courtiers. There, she was as shrewd, clear-sight-ed and practical as her Minister, Lord Burleigh himself. Nor was the Queen ruled by her council —or even by the wise old statesman, Lord Burleigh (of the famous family of the Cecils), who was the Prime Minister for 40 out of the 45 years of her reign. The Queen knew her own mind, .and was both forceful and direct in dealing with her Ministers and official?* However vain, theatrical and "foolish she might be, imagining herself a "Queen of Beauty" in her court, in the affairs of State she was a strong, masterful, very masculine woman. When Ministers made mistakes, or when the council was obstinate, the Queen would burst into a torrent of foul and .violent language, shouting and swearing at her Ministers until they were thoroughly cowed. War with Spain.

Mr. Mander explained that he had no time to deal with the story of Mary Queen of Scots. It was a story that would need to be dealt with 'fully, if he touched it at all. In any case, although interesting, it was not really of very great importance in the making of history. Briefly, Mary Queen of Scots was Elizabeth's Catholic rival: and she was executed because, as long as she was alive, she formed a rallying point for those who wanted a Catholic queen instead of the Protestant 'Elizabeth. The lecturer then discussed the more important developments and events of Elizabeth's long reign closing with a brief account of her relations—and England's relations—with his Catholic Majesty, Philip King of Spain. In this connection Mr. Mander referred to the struggle of the Protestants of the Netherlands against their Spanish (and Catholic) rulers; to the exploits of the English pirate-captains, the gallant and adventurous old seadogs, who were continually raiding the Spanish towns of Central America and attacking the Spanish treasure ships; and to Philip's claim to the throne of England, his intrigues against Elizabeth, and his support of Mary Queen of Scots.

Finally the lecturer referred to the coming- of the Spanish Armada, and its effect in bringing out very clearly what he had discussed before —the new sense of unity among the English people. Most of the Catholics in Er gland, when put to. the test, turned out to be Englishmen first and Catholics afterwards. Even if the Spaniards had landed, there is no reason to believe that any considerable number of the English Catholics would have joined them. For the great majority of the people, patriotism had hecome a stronger force than religion; and this is perhaps the most interesting and significant feature of Elizabeth's reign.

It was announced that Mr. Mander's subject next week would be that most interesting and puzzling of characters, Sir Francis Bacon, "the greatest, wisest, meanest of mankind." As it will be Show week, a special invitation is extended to visitors.