The Childhood of Distinguished Women Part 2

At that time, Elizabeth's vanity, which was a sad trait in her latter years, was not perceptible, for in a sketch of her when about twelve, she is spoken of as dressing with peculiarly "simple elegance," and almost despising personal adornment.

Being tall, she was commanding in person, and she was impetuous in her bearing. Her complexion was pale, her hair rather light, her face long and narrow, with an aquiline nose; and though her temper was hasty, she was usually so bright and cheerful that her companions scarcely heeded her fits of pa.s.sion. She was also sensible and shrewd, and when very young, showed a disposition to rule and govern.

The grave faults of her latter days, her vanity, her strong epithets of abuse, her caprice, and her increasing warmth of temper, were probably the results of the personal disappointments of her strange life. And perhaps her dread of death, points us to the real source of these faults, for it seems to indicate that Queen Elizabeth had not been so earnest in seeking G.o.d's grace, and the influence of His Holy Spirit, as she ought to have been, to preserve her from evil in this life, as well as to prepare her for the future life where there will be no evil, in the kingdom of the "King of kings and Lord of lords," the happy realm of Jesus.

Elizabeth was fourteen when her father died, and then she wrote a celebrated letter in choice Latin to her young half-brother Edward, with whom she was always on excellent terms.

The two children were Protestants, Mary alone remaining attached to the Papal power, which Henry VIII. had so unflinchingly put down during the latter part of his reign. Elizabeth's cherished and n.o.ble Protestantism remained firm through all the changes of her eventful life; and when, after the reigns of her brother Edward VI., and her elder sister Mary, she herself was placed upon the throne of England, she finally established the Protestant religion in the country; and to her, under G.o.d, we owe a deep debt of grat.i.tude, for the long and happy years which have intervened until the present time, and during which G.o.d's most Holy Word has been left to us, a free and open book, in which we may each read and learn for ourselves His will, and about that spiritual service which He requires, and which alone can fit us for His presence, when He calls us from His world below to His world above.

Queen Elizabeth died on March 24th, 1603, before the morning dawned, after a reign of nearly forty-five years, at the age of sixty-nine.

VI.

MRS. HEMANS.

Let us sketch a scene in the west of our island home. Long, rolling, soft, beautiful blue waves are das.h.i.+ng lightly upon a clear beach of wide sparkling sand, leaving behind, as the tide gradually ebbs, a ribbed and rippled surface. A rather narrow coast-line presents a somewhat scanty amount of cultivation; cottage and mansion lying here and there, as convenience or fancy may have suggested to the possessor.

Now and then a tiny clean Welsh village, or small town, claims a s.p.a.ce of country which may be rather broader than usual. This coast-line is immediately hemmed in by high, wild, stern mountains sloping quickly upwards towards the sky, with soft grey clouds sometimes poised midway up the steep sides, or resting in filmy folds upon the top. Snowdon, rather to the south of the locality that we are sketching, and a little inland, often raising its high summit above the rest like a silver-haired veteran surrounded by companions, who vie with each other in emulation of their leader.

A large house, Grwych (p.r.o.nounced Griech), stood some years ago where this coast is rather narrow, the mountains towering up in front, and the sea softly laving the sandy sh.o.r.e behind. A set of six young children with their parents occupied this house. They had happy playhours in the old garden, or on the smooth sand; and Felicia, the fourth child, not always disposed for the gay romp of the cheerful group, took constant possession of a large apple tree, into which she could climb; its leafy boughs well hid the little girl and her book, which she then enjoyed in unmolested quiet. Until she was five years old Felicia Dorothea Browne had lived in Liverpool. She was born there in Duke-street, on the 25th September, 1794. Her father's ancestry was Irish, that of her mother was Venetian, and probably the Italian origin of the gentle poetess gave rise to the beauty and extent of her imagination, as perhaps also from her father she might derive the quick bright flow of language from which her pen sped on in an easy graceful stream.

She was an extremely beautiful child, with long curling golden hair, which became dark brown as she grew older; her complexion was clear and bright, the colour coming and going with every varying impulse and impression. Her mother, herself talented and clever, cultivated her young daughter's tastes, and at the early age of seven years the little Felicia produced some attempts at composition. She had an extremely retentive memory, read well, and evinced great love of reading.

Shakespeare was one of her favourite books at this time, and she took delight in juvenile attempts at personifying the characters. Happily, this was but a temporary freak.

Her studies do not appear to have been at all conducted with regularity.

French, the English Grammar, and the rudiments of Latin comprised the only systematic training which she received. Highly imaginative as she was, and surrounded by the wild beauty of the Welsh hills, the varying sights and sounds of the wide deep sea, with her love of books and capacity to retain, as well as enjoy, her cultivation progressed, and knowledge increased rapidly without effort on her part, or on the part of others.

There is a story told of a constant childish raid. When the mother thought the little one safe for the night, she would slip quickly and quietly down to the bright laving sea, and bathe alone in the clear water, softly creeping back to bed undiscovered; and perhaps throughout her life the same wrong tendency towards insincerity and love of hidden mischief is discernible.

A visionary belief in spirits and apparitions also appears to have influenced her at times, when mystery, rather than truth, a.s.sumed possession of her mind. Even little children in the present day need scarcely be told that there are no ghosts; but, being highly sensitive and nervous, she was peculiarly open to every pa.s.sing fancy.

Early in life, Felicia visited London, but cared little for its gaiety; and with true childlike impatience longed to be at home again in the dear old house by the sea, though she enjoyed the works of art to which this visit afforded access.

Felicia Browne's first book of poems was published in 1808, when she was only fourteen, and this, together with another volume published in 1812, met with severe criticism. The poor child felt this so acutely that she became ill, and had to keep her bed for several days.

These books were the only two which she wrote before her married life commenced, so that her fame as a poetess was acquired as Mrs. Hemans, and not as Felicia Browne.

There is no evidence to prove that in youth she gave her heart to the Saviour of sinners; but some of her poems in after life are deeply and touchingly full of yearnings for "The Better Land," or they sketch in soft melodious metre the swift decay of earthly beauty and joy, which is indeed always "Pa.s.sing Away." As years and sorrows gathered, she also studied G.o.d's Word with earnestness and zeal, and the sixteenth of St.

John was her favourite chapter; it was also the last which she read before her death. We may certainly hope that "The Comforter," who is promised in that chapter, guided her safely into "all truth," and led her simply to trust in Jesus, that in Him alone she "might have peace."

For only Jesus can prepare any child of man, through the influences of His Spirit, for the purity, beauty, and happiness of His Heavenly Home, in that "better country," of which Mrs. Hemans once wrote--

"Eye hath not seen it, my gentle boy; Ear hath not heard its sweet sounds of joy; Dreams cannot picture a world so fair, Sorrow and death may not enter there; Time may not breathe on its faultless bloom, For beyond the grave, and beyond the tomb, It is there, it is there, my child."

Mrs. Hemans pa.s.sed away in the evening twilight, on the 16th of May, 1835, at the age of forty-one.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INCHMAHOME,

The Child-Queen's child garden, with her little walk and its boxwood, left to itself for three hundred years. Yes, without doubt, 'Here is the first garden of her simpleness.']

VII.

MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS.

James V., of Scotland, was dangerously ill owing to severe disappointments and defeats experienced in his border war with Henry VIII., of England, and dying at Falkland, when, on the 8th of December, 1542, a message came to him from Linlithgow Palace, stating that his Queen, Mary of Guise, had a baby daughter. The king, rendered sorrowful by his trials and his sickness, replied, in his own expressive language, "Ay, it cam' (meaning the kingdom of Scotland) wi' a la.s.s, and it will gang wi' a la.s.s," and this prediction seem fulfilled in Mary's fate.

The king, her father, only lingered five more days, and on his death the tiny infant became Queen of Scotland and the Isles.

When about nine months old, Mary was solemnly crowned, on the 9th of September, 1543, at Stirling Castle, having been carefully taken there from Linlithgow for the coronation by Cardinal Beaton, who performed the ceremony. Her mother was presently appointed regent.

After a few months, Mary went to reside on a small island in the Lake of Monteith, called Inchmahome.

Four other n.o.ble children were her companions, and all these four children bore also the name of Mary; Mary Beaton, Mary Fleming, Mary Seaton, and Mary Livingstone, and all were of the same age.

Mary remained on this island until she was nearly six years old. The five young girls, so isolated and lonely as regards the rest of the world, must have amused themselves with the usual routine of baby pastimes, but a great change now took place. The Queen of Scots was removed to France, and the four companions of her baby days also accompanied her to the gay scenes of the French Court.

Henry II., King of France, received Mary with great enthusiasm and respect, and a triumphal procession was arranged to convey her to the palace of St. Germain-en-Laye.

Her extreme beauty drew much attention. She had bright auburn hair, dark hazel eyes, a fair complexion, and a "dimpled chin."

When the king saw her, his surprise at her loveliness made him enquire, with truly characteristic French politeness and love of compliment, "Are you not an angel?"

Mary was shortly afterwards placed in a French convent to receive a royal education, and appears to have been much attached to those who instructed and tended her. She said adieu to them all very reluctantly, when she returned to the gay Court life at a still early age.

The description of her at this time is that she was very accomplished, having acquired some skill in music, singing, dancing, and even in poetic effusions. She also had pursued more serious studies, both historical and cla.s.sical, and was altogether so bright and intelligent that Brantoine remarked, "Ah! kingdom of Scotland! I cannot but think your days must be shorter, your nights longer, now you have lost the Princess by whom you were illumined!"

Her dress appears to have been a subject of much whim and caprice: sometimes she would wear a Highland costume, then again the fas.h.i.+onable French or Italian mode of those days, and her time was spent completely in gaiety and amus.e.m.e.nts.

Mary, Queen of Scots, was born and educated in the Romish religion, and was, in after life, a rigid Papist. Lord Shrewsbury, who had charge of her by Queen Elizabeth's orders, intimates in his letters, which are still extant, that he thought of her rather "as a mischievous, cunning Papist, than as an injured Queen."

Owing to various conspiracies and plots, Mary was sentenced to die, eventually, by Queen Elizabeth, and her execution took place on February 7th, 1587.

There is a touching little story about her favourite dog. The tiny animal hid itself in her dress when she was taken to the scaffold, and, after her death, he refused to leave her body, and had to be forcibly taken away.

Mary, Queen of Scots, led a gay, dissipated life, and her death was sad and solemn. Having been trained a Romanist, the Holy Word of G.o.d was not placed in her hands and made the guide of her life, and her sins brought much sorrow and difficulty which seemed to draw her on from sin to sin, instead of leading her to humble repentance and simple faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Bible alone is the guide which G.o.d has given both for this present life, and for the future life; and G.o.d has given this book to each and all, to read and to study with earnest prayer for His Holy Spirit's teaching, that each and all may understand it, and may act upon its _teaching_.

Perhaps if Mary had read G.o.d's Word herself, and seen the beauty and purity of its commands, and learned from it all the great love of G.o.d, and His way of salvation for sinners through the "One Mediator between G.o.d and men, the Man Christ Jesus," she would have escaped the temptations of her own great beauty and of her royal position, and not have perished as she did. We ought, indeed, to value our Bibles, and to seek grace to study them, so that, although there are snares and temptations around us, we may always know what G.o.d's will is, and also know how to resist those temptations through His mighty help. And we should also thank G.o.d that He has given us His Holy Word to lead us safely through all earth's changes to the unchanging Heaven, and that He has promised to give those who trust in Jesus and love Him now, far more than an uncertain crown of gold, even a "Crown of glory that fadeth not away."