ere were plenty of
aspirants for the honor. Her brother-in-law Philip, since the
abdication of Charles V., his father, was a mighty King, ruler over
Spain and the Netherlands, and was at the head of Catholic Europe. He
saw in this vain, silly young Queen of England an easy prey. By
marrying her he could bring England back to the fold, as he had done
with her sister Mary, and the Catholic cause would be invincible.

Elizabeth was a coquette, without the personal charm supposed to belong
to that dangerous part of humanity. She toyed with an offer of
marriage as does a cat with a mouse. She had never intended to marry
Philip, but she kept him waiting so long for her decision, and so
exasperated him with {86} her caprice, that he exclaimed at last, "That
girl has ten thousand devils in her." He little thought, that beneath
that surface of folly there was a nature hard as steel, and a calm,
clear, cool intelligence, for which his own would be no match, and
which would one day hold in check the diplomacy of the "Escurial" and
outwit that of Europe. She adored the culture brought by the "new
learning;" delighted in the society of Sir Philip Sidney, who reflected
all that was best in England of that day; talked of poetry with
Spenser; discussed philosophy with Bruno; read Greek tragedies and
Latin orations in the original; could converse in French and Italian,
and was besides proficient in another language,--the language of the
fishwife,--which she used with startling effect with her lords and
ministers when her temper was aroused, and swore like a trooper if
occasion required.

But whatever else she was doing she never ceased to study the new
England she was ruling. She felt, though did not understand, the
expansion which was going {87} on in the spirit of the people; but
instinctively realized the necessity for changes and modifications in
her Government, when the temper of the nation seemed to require it.

It was enormous common-sense and tact which converted Elizabeth into a
liberal Sovereign. Her instincts were despotic. When she bowed
instantly to the will of the Commons, almost apologizing for seeming to
resist it, it was not because she sympathized with liberal sentiments,
but because of her profound political instincts, which taught her the
danger of alienating that class upon which the greatness of her Kingdom
rested. She realized the truth forgotten by some of her successors,
that the Sovereign and the