earlier part of her life. In her temper
she is haughty and imperious, qualities inherited from her father, King
Henry the Eighth, who, from her resemblance to himself, is said to have
regarded her with peculiar fondness."[255]--He had, it must be owned, an
uncommon way of showing it.

[Sidenote: ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH.]

One of the first acts of Elizabeth was to write an elegant Latin epistle
to Philip, in which she acquainted him with her accession to the crown,
and expressed the hope that they should continue to maintain "the same
friendly relations as their ancestors had done, and, if possible, more
friendly."

Philip received the tidings of his wife's death at Brussels, where her
obsequies were celebrated, with great solemnity, on the same day with
her funeral in London. All outward show of respect was paid to her
memory. But it is doing no injustice to Philip to suppose that his heart
was not very deeply touched by the loss of a wife so many years older
than himself, whose temper had been soured, and whose personal
attractions, such as they were, had long since faded under the pressure
of disease. Still, it was not without feelings of deep regret that the
ambitious monarch saw the sceptre of England--barren though it had
proved to him--thus suddenly snatched from his grasp.

We have already seen that Philip, during his residence in the country,
had occasion more than once to interpose his good offices in behalf of
Elizabeth. It was perhaps the friendly relation in which he thus stood
to her, quite as much as her personal qualities, that excited in the
king a degree of interest which seems to have provoked something like
jealousy in the bosom of his queen.[256] However this may be, motives of
a very different character from those founded on sentiment now
determined him to retain, if possible, his hold on England, by
transferring to Elizabeth the connection which had subsisted with Mary.

A month had not elapsed since Mary's remains were laid in Westminster
Abbey, when the royal widower made direct offers, through his
ambassador, Feria, for the hand of her successor. Yet his ardor did not
precipitate him into any unqualified declaration of his passion; on the
contrary, his proposals were limited by some very prudent conditions.

It was to be understood that Elizabeth must be a Roman Catholic, and, if
not one already, must repudiate her errors and become one. She was to
obtain a dispensation from the pope for t