section 71 of England this is the LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the world's story volume 9 England edited by ever-march Tappan section 71 England's Reconciliation with Rome 1554 by James Anthony Frode when Mary came to the throne her strongest desire was to bring her country back to the Church of Rome St. Andrew's Day was the time appointed for the formal reconciliation the editor and now St. Andrew's Day was come a day as was then hoped which would be remembered with awe and gratitude through all ages of English history being the festival of the institution of the Order of the Golden Fleece high mass was sung in the morning in Westminster Abbey Philip Alva and Roy Gomez attended in the robes with 600 Spanish Cavaliers the Knights of the Garter were present in gorgeous costume and name and transept were thronged with the blended chivalry of England and Castile it was 2 o'clock before the service was concluded Philip returned to the Palace to dinner and the brief November afternoon was drawing in when the Parliament reassembled at the Palace at the upper end of the Great Hall a square platform had now been raised several steps above the floor on which three chairs were placed as before two under a canopy of close of gold for the King and Queen a third on the right removed a little distance from them for the legate below the platform benches were placed longitudinally towards either wall the bishops sat on the side of the legate delay peers opposite them on the left the common such on rows of cross benches in front and beyond them was a miscellaneous crowd of spectators sitting or standing as they could find room the Cardinal who had passed the morning at Lambeth was conducted across the water in a state barge by Lord Arundell and six other peers the King received him at the gate and leaving his suit in the care of the Duke of Alva who was instructed to find them places he accompanied Philip into the room adjoining the hall where Mary whose situation was supposed to prevent her from unnecessary exertion was waiting for them the royal procession was formed Arundell and the Lords passed in to their places the King and Queen was pole in his legate's robes ascended the steps of the platform and took their seats when the stir which had been caused by their entrance was over gardener mounted a tribune and in the now fast waning light he bowed to the King and Queen and declared the resolution at which the houses had arrived then turning to the Lords and Commons he asked if they continued in the same mind 400 voices answered we do will you then he said that I proceed in your names to supplicate for our absolution that we may be received again into the body of the Holy Catholic Church under the Pope the Supreme Head thereof again the voices ascended the Chancellor drew a scroll from under his robe ascended the platform and presented it unfolded on his knee to the Queen the Queen looked through it gave it to Philip who looked through it also and returned it the cancels and read aloud the writing of the scroll this expressed in behalf of all England repentance for the separation from the Roman Church and prayed for absolution having completed the reading the Chancellor again presented the petition the King and Queen went through the forms of intercession and a secretary read aloud first the legate's original commission and next they all important extended form of it pole share of the ceremony was now to begin he first spoke a few words from his seat much indeed he said the English nation had to thank the Almighty for a recalling them to his fold once again God has given a token of his special favor to the realm for as this nation in the time of the primitive Church was the first to be called out of the darkness of heathenism so now they were the first to whom God had a given grace to repent of their schism and if their repentance was sincere how would the angels who rejoice at the conversion of a single sinner triumph at the recovery of a great and noble people he moved to rise Mary and Philip seeing that the crisis was approaching fell on their knees and the assembly dropped at their example while in dead silence across the dimly lighted hall came the low awful words of the absolution our Lord Jesus Christ which was his most precious blood has redeemed and washed us from all our sins and inequities that he might purchase unto himself a glorious spouse without spot or wrinkle whom the father has appointed had overhaul his church he by his mercy absolves you and we by apostolic authority given unto us by the most holy Lord Pope Julius III his visit regent on earth do absolve and deliver you and every of you with this whole realm and the dominions thereof from all heresy and schism and from all and every judgment censure and pain for that cause in cured and we do restore you again into the unity of our mother the holy church in the name of the father the son and of the holy ghost amidst the hushed breathing every tone was audible and at the pauses were heard the smothered sobs of the queen amen amen rose an answer from many voices some were really affected some were caught for the moment was the contagion which it was hard to resist some through themselves weeping in each other's arms king queen and parliament rising from their knees went immediately the legged leading into the chapel of the palace where the choir was the rolling organ sang to doe on pole close the scene was a benediction from the altar end of section 71 section 72 of england read for LibriVox.org by Alan Mapstone Cranmer at the Traders Gate by Frederick Goodall English artist 1822 to 1904 painting page 500 when Cardinal Wolsey failed to secure a divorce for Henry VIII from his first wife Catherine of Aragon mother of Queen Mary one of his chaplains Thomas Cranmer was of great assistance to his scheme and as a reward was made Archbishop of Canterbury moreover when Henry VIII made his will he appointed Cranmer one of the regents who should rule until Edward VI came of age Cranmer was a Protestant and agreed to placing Lady Jane Gray upon the throne for these reasons Mary bore no good will toward him he was soon sent to the Tower of London and is shown in the illustration entering by way of what was known as the Traders Gate no man could hold the positions which he held without making enemies and now in his downfall they were ready to seek their revenge he was tried first as a traitor then as a heretic he was declared guilty on both charges and was burned at the stake in front of Balliol College Oxford in the year 1556 end of section 72 this recording is in the public domain section 73 of England read for LibriVox.org by Alan Mapstone England part 11 in the days of Queen Elizabeth historical note the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1558 to 1603 was a period of great glory the discoveries of her bold sea captains Drake, Frobisher and others widened the boundaries of the world commerce flourished and the East India Company and other great trading corporations sprang into existence and the wealth of England grew apace in 1568 Mary Queen of Scots fled to England but was imprisoned by order of Elizabeth during her long confinement several conspiracies were devised by the Catholics to set her on the throne in place of Elizabeth in one of these she was implicated and after some hesitation Elizabeth signed a warrant for her execution to avenge her death and restore Catholicism which had been superseded in England by Protestantism on the accession of Elizabeth Philip II of Spain prepared to invade England English troops had aided the netherlanders in their revolt against Spanish rule English free booters had looted the Spanish treasure ships returning from the new world and to make the punishment for all these offenses swift and sure a fleet was prepared for the invasion so powerful that it was christened the invincible Armada but the confidence of Spain was short-lived the Armada was defeated by the English fleet the work of destruction begun by Drake Howard and Hawkins was completed by the storm swept Atlantic only one-third of the mighty Armada returned to tell Philip of the disaster that marks the beginning of the downfall of Spanish supremacy in Europe the Elizabethan period is called the golden age of English literature the old mystery plays continued far into Elizabeth's reign but the drama was fast coming to its own high among the poets and dramatists are Spencer Johnson and Marlowe while above them all towers the figure of Shakespeare the crowning glory of the Elizabethan age end of section 73 this recording is in the public domain section 74 of England this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Colleen McMahon the world's story volume nine England edited by Eva March Tappan section 74 the great queen as a little child 1533 through 1539 by Agnes Strickland Queen Elizabeth first saw the light at Greenwich Palace the favorite abode of her royal parents Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn her birth is thus quaintly but prettily recorded by the contemporary historian Hall on the seventh day of September being Sunday between three and four o'clock in the afternoon the queen was delivered of a fair lady on which day the Duke of Norfolk came home to the christening the apartment in which she was born was hung with tapestry representing the history of holy virgins and was from that circumstance called the chamber of the virgins when the queen her mother who had eagerly anticipated a son was told that she had given birth to a daughter she endeavored with ready tact to attach adventitious importance to her infant by saying to the ladies in attendance they may now with reason call this room the chamber of virgins for a virgin is now born in it on the vigil of that auspicious day on which the church commemorates the nativity of the virgin Mary Haywood though a zealous eulogist of the Protestant principles of Elizabeth intimates that she was under the a special patronage of the blessed virgin from the hour of her birth and for that cause devoted to a maiden life the lady Elizabeth says he was born on the eve of the virgin's nativity and died on the eve of the virgin's annunciation even that she's now in heaven with all those blessed virgins that had oil in their lamps notwithstanding the bitter disappointment felt by King Henry at the sex of the infant a solemn today um was sung in honor of her birth and the preparations for her christening were made with no less magnificence than if his hopes had been gratified by the birth of a male heir to the crown the solemnization of that sacred right was appointed to take place on wednesday 10th of september the fourth day after the birth of the infant princess on that day the lord mayor with the alderman and council of the city of london dined together at one o'clock and then in obedience to their summons took boat in their chains and robes and rode to grenich where many lords knights and gentlemen were assembled to witness the royal ceremonial all the walls between grenich palace and the convent of the gray friars were hung with aris and the way strewn with green rushes the church was likewise hung with aris gentlemen with aprons and towels about their necks guarded the font which stood in the middle of the church it was of silver and raised to the height of three steps and over it was a square canopy of crimson satin fringed with gold about it a space railed in covered with red say between the choir and chancel a closet with a fire had been prepared lest the infant should take cold and being disrobed for the font when all these things were ready the child was brought into the hall of the palace and the procession set out to the neighboring church of the gray friars of which building no vestige now remains at grenich the procession began with the lowest rank the citizens two and two led the way then gentlemen esquires and chaplains a gradation of precedents rather decidedly marked of the first three ranks whose distinction is by no means definite in the present times after them the alderman and the lord mayor himself then the privy council and robes then the peers and prelates followed by the Earl of Essex who bore the guilt covered basins then the marquis of Exeter with the taper of virgin wax next the marquis of dorset bearing the salt and the lady Mary of Norfolk the betrothed of the young Duke of Richmond carrying the chrysum which was very rich with pearls and gems lastly came the royal infant in the arms of her great grandmother the dowager duchess of Norfolk under a stately canopy which was supported by the uncle of the babe George Bolin Lord Rocheford the Lord's William and Thomas Howard the maternal kindred of the mother and Lord Hussie a newly made lord of the Bolin blood the babe was wrapped in a mantle of purple velvet with a train of regal length furred with ermine which was duly supported by the Countess of Kent assisted by the Earl of Wilcher the grandfather of the little princess and the Earl of Derby on the right of the infant marched its great uncle the Duke of Norfolk with his marshal staff on the other the Duke of Suffolk the bishop of London who performed to the ceremony received the infant at the church door of the Greyfriars assisted by a grand company of bishops and mitered abbots and with all the rites of the church of Rome this future great Protestant queen received the name of her grandmother Elizabeth of York Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury was her godfather and the Duchess of Norfolk and the Marchioness of Dorset her godmothers after Elizabeth had received her name garter king at arms cried aloud God in his infinite goodness send a prosperous life and long to the high and mighty princess of England Elizabeth then a flourish of trumpet sounded and the royal child was born to the altar the gospel was read over her and she was confirmed by Cranmer who with the other sponsors presented the christening gifts he gave her a standing cup of gold the Duchess of Norfolk a cup of gold fretted with pearls being completely unconscious of the chemical antipathy between the acidity of wine in the misplaced pearls the Marchioness of Dorset gave three guilt bowls pounced with a cover and the Marchioness of Exeter three standing bowls graven and guilt with covers then were brought in wafers comfits and hypocrites in such abundance that the company had as much as could be desired the Homer procession was lighted on its way to the palace with five hundred staff torches which were carried by the yeoman of the guard and the king's servants but the infant herself was surrounded by gentlemen bearing wax flambeau the procession returned in the same order that it went out saved that four noble gentlemen carried the sponsors gifts before the child with trumpets flourishing all the way preceding them till they came to the door of the queen's chamber the king commanded the Duke of Norfolk to thank the lord mayor and citizens heartily in his name for their attendance and after they had powerfully refreshed themselves in the royal cellar they betook themselves to their barges the queen was desirous of nourishing her infant daughter from her own bosom but henry with his characteristic selfishness forbade it lest the frequent presence of the little princess in the chamber of her royal mother should be attended with inconvenience to himself he appointed for elizabeth's nurse the wife of a gentleman named hokart whom he afterwards ennobled and he invested the dowager duchess of norfolk with the office of state governess to the newborn babe giving her for a residence the fair mansion and all the rich furniture which he had bestowed on anbelin when he created her marches of pembroke with a salary of six thousand crowns the lady margaret brian whose husband sir thomas brian was a kinsman of queen anbelin was preferred to the office of governess in ordinary to elizabeth as she had formerly been to the princess mary she was called the lady mistress elizabeth passed the first two months of her life at grenich palace with the queen her mother and during that period she was frequently taken for an airing to out them for the benefit of her health on the second of december she was the subject of the following order in council the king's highness hath appointed that the lady princess elizabeth almost three months old shall be taken from hence towards hatfield upon wednesday next week that on wednesday night she is to lie and repose at the house of the earl of rutlin at enfield and the next day to be conveyed to hatfield and there to remain with such household as the king's highness has established for the same hurtford castle was first named but scratched through and changed to hatfield a few weeks afterwards she became in virtue of the act of parliament which settled the succession in default of airs mail to henry the eighth on the female issue of that monarch by ann bolin the heiress presumptive to the throne and her disinherited sister the princess mary was compelled to yield precedency to her soon after this change in the prospects of the unconscious babe she was removed to the palace of the bishop of winchester at chelsea on whom the charge of herself and her extensive nursery appointments were thrust when she was thirteen months old she was weaned and the preliminaries for this important business were arranged between the officers of her household and the cabinet ministers of her august sire with as much solemnity as if the fate of empires had been involved in the matter the following passages are extracted from a letter from sir william pallet to cromwell footnote the king's chief minister and a footnote on this subject the king's grace while considering the letter directed to you from my lady brian and other my lady princesses officers his grace with the ascent of the queen's grace hath fully determined the weaning of my lady princess to be done with all diligence he proceeds to state that the little princess is to have the whole of any one of the royal residences thought best for her and that consequently he is given orders for langley to be put in order for her and her suite which orders he adds this messenger hath with all a letter from the queen's grace to my lady brian and that his grace in the queen's grace doth well and be merry and all theirs thanks be to God from sarum october ninth scarcely was this nursery affair of state accomplished before henry exerted his paternal care in seeking to provide the royal weanling with a suitable consort by entering into a negotiation with francis the first of france for a union between this infant princess and the duke of angulam the third son of that monarch henry proposed that the young duke should be educated in england and stipulated that he should hold the duchy of angulam independently of the french crown in the event of his coming to the crown of england through his marriage with elizabeth the project of educating the young french prince who was selected for the husband of the presumptive heiress of england according to the manners and customs of the realm of which you might hear after become the sovereign was a sagacious idea but henry clogged the matrimonial treaty with conditions which it was out of the power of the king of france to ratify and it proved abortive by the sentence which kranmer had passed on the marriage of her parents and her own birth elizabeth was branded with the stigma of illegitimacy and that she was for a time exposed to the sort of neglect and contempt which is too often the lot of children to whom that reproach applies is evidenced by the following letter from lady brian to cromwell imploring for a supply of necessary raiment for the innocent babe who had been so cruelly involved in her mother's fall my lord after my most bound in duty I recommend me to your good lordship beseeching you to be good lord to me now in the greatest need that ever was for it hath pleased god to take me from him them that was my greatest comfort in this world to my great heaviness jesu have mercy on her soul and now I am succourless and as a redless without redress creature but only from the great trust which I have in the king's grace and your good lordship for now in you I put all my whole trust of comfort in this world beseeching you to me that I may do so my lord when your lordship was last here it pleased you to say I should not mistrust the king's grace nor your lordship which word was more comfort to me than I can write as god knoweth and now it boldeth in boldens me to show you my poor mind my lord when my lady mary's grace was born it pleased the king's grace to appoint me lady mistress and made me a baroness and so I have been governess to the children his grace have had since now it is so my lady elizabeth is put from that degree she was a four and what degree she is out of now I know not but by hearsay therefore I know not how to order her nor myself nor none of hers that I have the rule of that is her women in grooms beseeching you to be good lord to my lady and to all hers and that she may have some raiment here stripe has interpolated a query for mourning there is nothing of the kind implied in the original if stripe had consulted any female on the articles enumerated he would have found that few indeed of them were requisite for mourning the list shows the utter destitution the young princess had been suffered to fall into in regard to clothes either by the neglect of her mother or because anbulin's power of aiding her child had been circumscribed long before her fall let any lady used to the nursery read over the list of the poor child's wants represented by her faithful governess and consider that a twelve month must have elapsed since she had a new supply she continues lady brian hath neither gown nor curdle slip nor petticoat nor no manner of linen nor four smocks day chemises nor kerchiefs nor rails night dresses nor body stitch it's corsets nor handkerchiefs nor sleeves nor mufflers mob caps nor big ins night caps all these her grace must take i have driven off as long as i can that by my truth i can drive it off no longer beseeching you my lord that you will see that her grace may have that which is needful for her as my trust is that you will do beseeching you my own good lord that i may know from you by writing how i shall order myself and what is the king's grace's pleasure in yours and that i shall do in everything and whatsoever it shall please the king's grace or your lordship to command me at all times i shall fulfill it to the best of my power my lord mr. Shelton a kinsman of anbulin sayeth he be master of this house what fashion that maybe i cannot tell for i have not seen it before my lord you be so honorable yourself and every man reported that your lordship loveth honor that i trust you will see the house honorably ordered as it ever hath been a four time and if it please you that i may know what your order is and if it be not performed i shall certify your lordship of it for i fear me it will be hardly enough performed but if the head evidently Shelton knew what honor meaneth it will be the better ordered if not it will be hard to bring to pass my lord mr. Shelton would have my lady elizabeth to dine and sup every day at the board of estate alas my lord it is not meat for a child of her age to keep such rule yet i promise you my lord i dare not take it upon me to keep her grace in health and she keep that rule for there she shall see diverse meats and fruits and wine which it would be hard for me to restrain her grace from you know my lord there is no place of correction there and she's yet too young to correct greatly i know well and she be there i shall neither bring her up to the king's grace's honor nor hers nor to her health nor to my poor honesty wherefore i show your lordship this my desire beseeching you my lord that my lady may have a massive meat at her own lodging with a good dish or two that is meat fit for her graced eat of and the reversion of the mess shall satisfy all her women a gentleman usher and a groom which be eleven persons on her side sure am i it will be as great profit to the king's grace this way viz to the economy of the arrangement as the other way for if all this should be set abroad they must have three or four messes of meat whereas this one mess shall suffice them all with bread and drink according as my lady mary's grace had a four and to be ordered in all things as her grace was a four god knoweth my lady elizabeth hath great pain with her great teeth and they come very slowly forth which causes me to suffer her grace to have her will more than i would i trust to god and her teeth were well grafted to have her grace after another fashion than she is yet so as i trust the king's grace shall have great comfort in her grace for she is as toward a child and as gentle of conditions as ever i knew any in my life jesu preserve her grace as for a day or two at a high time meaning a high festival or whatsoever it shall please the king's grace to have her set abroad shown in public i trust so to endeavor me that she shall do so as shall be to the king's honor and hers and then after to take her ease again that is not withstanding the sufferings of the young elizabeth with her teeth if the king wishes to exhibit her for a short time in public lady brian will answer for her discreet behavior but after the drilling requisite for such ceremonial it will be necessary for her to revert to the unconstrained playfulness of childhood lady brian concludes with this remark i think mr. shelton will not be content with this he need not know it is my desire but that it is the king's pleasure and yours that it should be so good my lord have my lady's grace and us that be her poor servants in your remembrance and your lordship shall have our hearty prayers by the grace of jesu whoever preserve your lordship with long life and as much honor as your noble heart can desire from hunston with the evil hand bad writing of her who is your daily beadwoman margaret brian i beseech you my own good lord be not miscontent that i am so bold to write thus to your lordship but i take god to my judge i do it of true heart and for my discharge beseeching you except my good mind endorsed to the right noble and my singular good lord my lord privy seal be this delivered this letter affords some insight into the domestic politics of the nursery palace at hunston at this time it shows that the infant elizabeth proved a point of controversy between the two principal officers there margaret lady brian and mr. shelton both placed in authority by the recently emulated queen and bolin and both related to her family her aunt had married the head of the shelton or skelton family in norfolk and this officer at hunston was probably a son of that lady and consequently a near kinsman of the infant elizabeth he insisted that she should dine and sup at a state table where her infant opportunity for wine fruit and high seasoned food could not conveniently be restrained by her sensible governess lady brian shelton probably wished to keep regal state as long as possible around the descendant of the bolins and in that time of sudden change in royal destinies had perhaps an eye to ingratiate himself with the infant by appearing in her company twice every day and indulging her by the gratification of her palette with mischievous dainties lady brian was likewise connected with the bolin family not so near as the sheltons but near enough to possess interest with queen and bolin to whom she owed her office as governess or lady mistress to the infant elizabeth there can scarcely exist a doubt that her lamentation and invocation for the soul of some person lately departed by whose death she was left suckerless refer to the recent death of an bolin it is evident that if lady brian had not conformed to king henry's version of the catholic religion she would not have been an authority at hunston where she was abiding not only with her immediate charge the princess elizabeth but with the disinherited princess mary further there may be observed a striking harmony between the expressions of this lady and those of the princess mary who appealed to her father's paternal feelings in behalf of her sister the infant elizabeth a few weeks later almost in the same words used by lady brian in this letter a coincidence which proves unity of purpose between the governess and the princess mary regarding the motherless child much of the future greatness of elizabeth may reasonably be attributed to the judicious training of her sensible and conscientious governess combined with the salutary adversity which deprived her of the pernicious pomp and luxury that had surrounded her cradle while she was treated as the heiress of england the first public action of elizabeth's life was her carrying the chrism of her infant brother edward the sixth at the christening solemnity of that prince she was born in the arms of the earl of hurtford brother of the queen her stepmother when the assistants in the ceremonial approached the font but when they left the chapel the train of her little grace just four years old was supported by lady herbert the sister of catherine par as led by the hand of her elder sister the princess mary she walked with mimic dignity in the returning procession to the chamber of the dying queen at that period the royal ceremonials of henry the eighth's court were blended with circumstances of wonder and tragic excitement and strange and passing sad it must have been to see the child of the murdered queen and bolin framing her innocent lips to lisp the name of mother to her for whose sake she had been rendered motherless and branded with the stigma of illegitimacy in all probability the little elizabeth knelt to her as well as to her cruel father to claim a benediction in her turn after the royal pair had proudly bestowed their blessing on the newly baptized prince whose christening was so soon to be followed by the funeral of the queen his mother it was deemed in a special mark in the favor of her royal father that elizabeth was considered worthy of the honor of being admitted to keep company with the young prince her brother she was four years older than hey and having been well trained and gently nurtured herself was better able says hey would to teach and direct him even from the first of his speech and understanding cordial and entire was the affection betwixt this brother and sister in so much that he no sooner began to know her but he seemed to acknowledge her and she being of more maturity as deeply loved him on the second anniversary of edwards berth when the nobles of england presented gifts of silver and gold and jewels to the infant heir of the realm the lady elizabeth grace gave the simple offering of a shirt of cambrick worked by her own hands she was then six years old thus early was this illustrious lady instructed in the feminine accomplishment of needlework and directed to turn her labors in that way to a pleasing account from her cradle elizabeth was a child of the fairest promise and possessed the art of attracting the regard of others rossley who visited the two princesses when they were together at hurtford castle december seventeenth fifteen thirty nine was greatly impressed with the precocious understanding of the young elizabeth of whom he gives the following pretty account i went then to my lady elizabeth's grace and to the same made his majesty's most hearty commendations declaring that his highness desired to hear of her health and sent his blessing she gave humble thanks inquiring after his majesty's welfare and that with his greater gravity is if she had been forty years old if she be no worse educated than she now appeared to me she will prove of no less honor than besiemit her father's daughter whom the lord long preserve end of section seventy four this recording is in the public domain recording by colleen mcman section seventy five of england this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org the world's story volume nine england edited by eva march tappan section seventy five sir walter raleigh and his cloak fifteen seventy five by sir walter scott there is no period at which men look worse in the eyes of each other or feel more uncomfortable than when the first dawn of daylight finds them watchers even a beauty of the first order after the vigils of a ball are interrupted by the dawn would do wisely to withdraw herself from the gaze of her fondest and most partial admirers such was the pale in auspicious and ungrateful light which began to beam upon those who kept watch all night in the hall at say's court and which mingled its cold pale blue diffusion with the red yellow and smoky beams of expiring lamps and torches the young gallant had left the room for a few minutes to learn the cause of a knocking at the outward gate and on his return was so struck with the full lawn and ghastly aspects of his companions of the watch that he exclaimed pity of my heart my masters how like owls you look me thinks when the sun rises i shall see you flutter off with your eyes dazzled to stick yourselves into the next ivy Todd or ruined steeple hold thy peace thou gybing fool said blunt hold thy peace is this a time for jeering when the manhood of england is perchance dying within a wall's breadth of thee there thou liest replied the gallant how lie exclaimed blunt starting up lie and to me why so thou didst thou pivish fool answer the youth thou didst lie on that bench even now didst thou not but art thou not a hasty coxcomb to pick up a rye word so wrathfully nevertheless loving and honoring my lord as truly as thou or anyone i do say that should heaven take him from us or england's manhood dies not with him i replied blunt a good portion will survive with thee doubtless and a good portion with thyself blunt and with stout markham here and tracy and all of us but i'm he will best employ the talent heaven has given to us all as how i pretty said blunt tell us your mystery of multiplying why sirs answer the youth you are like goodly land which bears no crop because it is not quickened by manure but i have that rising spirit in me which will make my poor faculties labor to keep pace with it my ambition will keep my brain at work i warrant thee i pray to god it does not drive the mad said blunt for my part if we lose our noble lord i bid adieu to the court and to the camp both i have five hundred foul acres in northwick and thither will i and change the court pantouful for the country hobnail obey strength's mutation exclaimed his antagonist thou hast already got the true rustic slouch thy shoulder stoop as if thine hands were at the stilts of the plow and thou hast a kind of earthly smell about thee instead of being perfumed with essence as a gallant and courtier should on my soul thou hast stolen out to roll thyself on a hay mow thy only excuse will be to swear by thy hilts that the farmer had a fair daughter i pray thee walter said another of the company seized thy railery which suits neither time nor place and tell us who was at the gate just now dr masters positioned to her grace and ordinary sent by her special orders to inquire after the earl's health answered walter ha what exclaimed tracy that was no slight mark of favor if the earl can but come through he will match with lester yet is masters with my lord at present nay replied walter he is halfway back to greenwich by this time and in high dodging thou didst not refuse him admittance exclaimed tracy thou were not surely so mad ejaculated blunt i refused him admittance as flatly blunt as you would refuse a penny to a blind beggar as obstinately tracy as thou didst ever deny access to a done why in the fiend's name didst thou trust him to go to the gate said blunt to tracy it suited his ears better than mine answered tracy but he has undone us all now thoroughly my lord may live or die he will never have a look of favor from her majesty again nor the means of making fortunes for his followers said the young gallant smiling contemptuously there lies the sore point that will brook no handling my good serves i sounded my lamentations over my lord somewhat less loudly than some of you but when the point comes of doing him service i will yield to none of you had this learned leech entered thinks thou not there had been such a coil betwixt him and tracy's medicine her that not the sleeper only but the very dead might have awakened i know what larim belongs to the discord of doctors and who is to take the blame of opposing the queen's orders said tracy for undeniably dr masters came with her graces positive commands to cure the earl i who have done the wrong will bear the blame said walter thus then off fly the dreams of court favor thou hast nourished said blunt and despite all thy boasted art and ambition devon sure will see these shine a true younger brother fit to sit low at the board carved turnabout with the chaplain looked at the hounds be fed and see the squire's girth drawn when he goes hunting not so said the young man coloring not while ireland and the nevelins have wars and not while the sea hath pathless waves the rich west hath lands and dreamed of and britain contains bold hearts to venture on the quest of them i do for a space my masters i go to walk in the court and look to the sentinels the lad hath quick silver in his veins that is certain said blunt looking at marcom he hath that both in brain and blood said marcom which may either make or mar him but in closing the door against masters he hath done a daring and loving piece of service for a tracy's fellow hath ever avert that to wake the earl were dead the masters would wake the seven sleepers themselves if he thought they slept not by the regular ordinance of medicine morning was well advanced went was silly and fatigued and overwatched came down to the hall with the joyful intelligence that the earl had awakened of himself that he found his internal complaints much mitigated and spoke with a cheerfulness and looked round with a vivacity which of themselves showed up material and favorable change had taken place tracy in at the same time commanded the attendance of one or two of his followers to report what had passed during the night and to relieve the watchers in the earl's chamber when the message of the queen was communicated to the earl of sussex he had first smiled at the repulse which the physician had received from a zealous young follower but instantly recollecting himself he commanded blunt his master of the horse instantly to take boat and go down the river to the palace of renish taking young walter and tracy with him and make a suitable compliment expressing his grateful thanks to his sovereign and mentioning the cause why he had not been enabled to profit by the assistance of the wise and learned doctor masters a plague on it said blunt as he descended the stairs had he sent me with a cartel to lester i think i should have done his errand indifferently well but to go to our gracious sovereign before whom all words must be lacquered over either with yielding or with sugar is such a confectionary matter as clean baffles my poor old english brain come with me tracy and come you too master walter witty pate that aren't the cause of our having all this adieu let us see if thy neat brain that frames so many flashy fireworks can help out a plain fellow at need with some of thy shrew devices never fear never fear exclaim the youth it is i will help you through let me but fetch my cloak why thou hast it on thy shoulders said blunt the lad is mazed no no this is tracy's old mantle answered walter i go not with thee to court unless as a gentleman should wise said blunt thy braveries are like to dazzle the eyes of none but some poor groom or porter i know that said the youth but i am resolved i will have my own cloak i and brush my doublet to boot ere i stir forth with you well well said blunt here is a coil about a doublet and a cloak get thyself ready a god's name they were soon launched on the princely bosom of the broad tims upon which the sun now shone forth in all its splendor there are two things scarce matched in the universe said walter to blunt the sun in heaven and the tims on the earth the one will light us to greenage well enough said blunt and the other would take us there a little faster if it were abtide and this is all thou thinksed all thou carest all thou deems the use of the king of elements and the king of rivers to guide three such poor cater says thyself and me and tracy upon an idle journey of courtly ceremony it is no errand of my seeking faith replied blunt and i could excuse both the sun and the tims the trouble of carrying me where i have no great mind to go and where i expect but dog's wages for my trouble and by my honor he added looking out from the head of the boat it seems to me as if our message were a sort of labor in vain foresee the queen's barge lies at the stairs as if her majesty were about to take water it was even so the royal barge manned with the queen's waterman richly attired in the regal liveries and having the banner of england displayed did indeed lie at the great stairs which ascended from the river and along with it two or three other boats for transporting such part of her retinue as were not in immediate attendance on the royal person the omen of the guard the tallest and most handsome men whom england could produce guarded with their harbors the passage from the palace gate to the river side and all seemed in readiness for the queen's coming forth although the day was yet so early by my faith this bodes us no good said blunt it must be some perilous cause puts her grace in motion thus untimuously by my counsel we were best put back again and tell the earl what we have seen tell the earl what we have seen said Walter why what have we seen but a boat and men with scarlet jerkins and halberds in their hands let us do his errand and tell him what the queen says in reply so saying he caused the boat to be pulled toward a landing place at some distance from the principal one which it would not at that moment have been thought respectful to approach and jumped on shore followed though with reluctance by his cautious intimate companions as they approached the gate of the palace one of the sergeant porters told them they could not at present enter as her majesty was in the act of coming forth the gentleman used the name of the earl of Sussex but it proved no charm to subdue the officer who alleged in reply that it was as much as his post was worth to disobey in the least hittle the commands which he had received now I told you as much before said blunt do I pray you my dear Walter let us take boat and return not till I see the queen come forth return the youth composedly though I'm mad stark mad by the mass answer blunt and thou said Walter art turned coward of the sudden I have seen the face half a score shag-headed Irish currents to thy own share of them and now thou wits blink and go back to shun the frown of a fair lady at this moment the gaze opened and ushers began to issue forth an array preceded and flanked by the band of gentleman pensioners after this submit a crowd of lords and ladies yet so disposed around her that she could see and be seen on all sides came Elizabeth herself then in the prime of womanhood and in the full glow of what in a sovereign was called beauty and who within the lowest rank of life have been truly judged a noble figure joined to a striking and commanding physiognomy she leaned on the arm of lord hunston whose relation to her about her mother's side often procured him such distinguished marks of Elizabeth's intimacy the young cavalier we have so often mentioned had probably never yet approached so near the person of his sovereign and he pressed forward as far as the line of orders permitted in order to avail himself of the present opportunity his companion on the contrary cursing his imprudence kept pulling him backward till Walter should came off impatiently and letting his rich quote drop carelessly from one shoulder a natural action which served however to display to the best advantage his well proportioned person unbundling at the same time he fixed his eager gaze on the queen's approach with a mixture of respectful curiosity and modest yet ardent admiration which suited so well with his fine features that the water struck with his rich attire and noble countenance suffered him to approach the ground over which the queen was to pass somewhat closer than was permitted to ordinary spectators thus the adventurous youth stood full in elizabeth's eye an eye never indifferent to the admiration which she deservedly excited among her subjects or to the fair proportions of external form which chance to distinguish any of her courtiers accordingly she fixed her keen glance on the youth as she approached the place where he stood with a look in which surprised that his boldness seemed to be unmingled with resentment while a trifling accident happened which attracted her attention toward him yet more strongly the night had been rainy and just where the young gentleman stood a small quantity of mud interrupted the queen's passage as she hesitated to pass on the gallant throwing his cloak from his shoulders laid it on the mary spot so as to ensure her stepping over it dry shine elizabeth looked at the young man who accompanied this act of devoted courtesy with a profound reverence and a blush that overspread his whole countenance the queen was confused and blushed in her turn nodded her head hastily passed on and embarked in her barge without saying a word come along sir coxcomb said blunt your gay cloak will need the brush today I want nay if you had meant to make a foot cloth of your mantle better have kept Tracy's old drab debuah which despises all colors this cloak said the youth taking it up and folding it shall never be brushed well in my possession and that will not be long if you learn not a little more economy we shall have you in querpo soon as the spaniard says their discourse was here and interrupted by one of the band of pensioners I was sent said he after looking at them attentively to a gentleman who hath no cloak or a muddy one you sir I think addressing the younger cavalier are the man you will please to follow me he is in attendance on me so blunt on me the noble Earl of Sussex master of horse I have nothing to say to that answer the messenger my orders are directly from her majesty and concern this gentleman only so saying he walked away followed by Walter leaving the others behind plant's eyes almost starting from his head with the excess of his astonishment at link he gave vent to it in an exclamation who the good jeer would have thought this and shaking his head with a mysterious air he walked to his own boat embarked and returned to Depford the young cavalier was in the meanwhile guided to the water side by the pensioner who showed him considerable respect a circumstance which to persons in his situation may be considered as an augury of no small consequence he ushered him into one of the weary's which lay ready to attend the queen's barge which was already proceeding up the river with the advantage of that flood tide of which in the course of their descent blunt had complained to his associates the two rowers use their oars with such expedition at the signal of the gentleman pensioner that they very soon brought their little skiff under the stern of the queen's boat where she sat beneath an awning attended by two or three ladies and the nobles of her household she looked more than once at the weary in which the young adventurer was seated spoke to those around her and seemed to laugh at length one of the attendance by the queen's order apparently made a sign for the weary to come alongside and the young man was desired to step from his own skiff into the queen's barge enact which he performed with graceful agility at the four part of the boat and was brought after the queen's presence the weary at the same time dropping into the rear the youth underwent the gaze of majesty not the less gracefully than his self-position was mingled with embarrassment the muddy cloak still hung upon his arm and formed the natural topic with which the queen introduced the conversation you had this day spoiled a gay mantle in our behalf young man we thank you for your service though the manner of offering it was unusual and something bold in a sovereign's need answer the youth it is each liegeman's duty to be bold god's pity that was well said my lord said the queen turning to a grave person who sat by her and answered with a grave inclination of the head and something of a mumble descent well young man your gallantry shall not go unrewarded go to the wardrobe keeper and he shall have orders to supply the suit which you have cast away in our service thou shalt have a suit in that of the newest cut i promise thee on the word of a princess may it please your grace that walter hesitating it is not for so humble a servant of your majesty to measure out your bounties but if it became me to choose that would have gold i warrant me said the queen interrupting him by young men i take shame to say that in our capital such and so various are the means of thriftless folly that to give gold to youth is giving fuel to fire and furnishing them with the means of self-destruction if i live in rain these means of un christian excess shall be a bridge yet thou may as be poor she added or thy parents may be it shall be gold if thou wilt but thou shalt answer to me for the use aunt walter waited patiently until the queen had done and then modestly assured her that gold was still less in his wish than the raiment her majesty had before offered how boy said the queen neither gold nor garment what is it thou wouldst have of me then only permission madam if it is not asking too high an honor permission to wear the cloak which did you this trifling service permission to wear thine own cloak thou silly boy said the queen it is no longer mine said walter when your majesty's foot touched it it became a fit mantle for a prince but far too rich a one for its former owner the queen again blushed and endeavored to cover by laughing a slight degree of not unpleasing surprise and confusion heard you ever the like my lord's the youth's head is turned with reading romances i must know something of him that i may send him safe to his friends what art thou a gentleman of the house sold of the earl of sesic so please your grace sent hither with his master of horse upon a message to your majesty in a moment the gracious expression which elizabeth's face had hitherto maintained gave way to an expression of haughtiness and severity my lord of sesic she said has taught us how to regard his messages by the value he places upon ours we sent but this morning the physician in the ordinary of our chamber and that at no usual time understanding his lordship's illness to be more dangerous than we had before apprehended there is at no court in europe a man more skilled in this holy and most useful science than dr masters and he came from us to our subject nevertheless he found the gate of se's court defended by men with cauldrons as that had been on the borders of scotland not in the vicinity of our court and when he demanded admittance in our name it was stubbornly refused for this slight of a kindness which had but too much of condescension in it we were received at present at least no excuse and some such we supposed to have been the purport of my lord of sesic's message this was uttered in a tone and with a gesture which made lord sesic's friends who were within hearing tremble he to whom the speech was addressed however trembled not but with great deference and humility as soon as the queen's passion gave him an opportunity he replied so please your most gracious majesty i was charged with no apology from the earl of sesics with what were you then charged sir said the queen with the impetuosity which amid nobler quality strongly martyr character was it with a justification or god's death with a defiance madam said the young man my lord of sesic's knew the offense approach toward treason and could think of nothing save of securing the offender and placing him in your majesty's hands and at your mercy the noble earl was fast asleep when your most gracious message reached him a potion having been administered to that purpose by his physician and his lordship knew not of the and gracious repulse your majesty's royal and most comfortable message had received until after he awoke this morning and which of his domestics then in the name of heaven presumed to reject my message without even admitting my own physician to the presence of him whom i sent him to attend said the queen much surprise the offender madam is before you replied walter bowing very low the full and sole blame is mine and my lord has most justly sent me to abide the consequences of a fault of which he is as innocent as a sleepy man's dreams can be of a waking man's actions what was it thou thou thyself that repelled my messenger my physician from sesic's court said the queen what could occasion such boldness in one who seems devoted that is whose exterior bearing shows devotion to his sovereign madam said the youth who notwithstanding and assumed appearance of severity thought that he saw something in the queen's face that resembled not implacability we say in our country that the physician is for the time the liege sovereign of his patient now my noble master was then under dominion of a leech by whose advice he hath greatly profited who had issued his commands that his patient should not that night be disturbed on the very peril of his life thy master hath trusted some false violet of an empiric said the queen i know not madam but by the fact that he is now this very morning awakened much refreshed and strengthened from the only sleep he hath had for many hours the nobles looked at each other but more with the purpose to see what each thought of this news than to exchange any remarks on what had happened the queen answered hastily and without affecting to disguise her satisfaction by my word i'm glad he is better but that word over bold to deny the axis of my doctor masters notice thou not the holy writ say it in the multitude of counsel there is safety i madam said walter but i've heard learned men say that the safety spoken of is for the physicians not for the patient by my faith child thou hast pushed me home said the queen laughing for my hebrew learning does not come quite at a call how say you my lord of lincoln hath the lad given a just interpretation of the text the word safety most gracious madam said the bishop of lincoln for so have been translated it may be somewhat hastily the hebrew word being my lord said the queen interrupting him we said we had forgotten our hebrew but for the young man what is thy name and birth raleigh is my name most gracious queen the youngest son of a large but honorable family of devonshire raleigh said elizabeth after a moment's recollection have we not heard of your service in ourland i have been so fortunate as to do some service there madam replied raleigh scares however of consequence sufficient to reach your grace's ears they hear farther than you think of said the queen graciously and have heard of a youth who defended a fort in shannon against a whole band of wild irish rebels until the stream ran purple with their blood and his own some blood i may have lost so the youth looking down but it was where my best is due and that is in your majesty's service the queen paused and then said hastily you are very young to have fought so well and to speak so well but you must not escape your penance for turning back masters the poor man heth caught cold on the river four hour order reached him when he was just returned from certain visits in london and he held it matter of loyalty and conscience instantly to set forth again so hark ye master raleigh see thou fail not to wear thy muddy cloak in token of penitence till our pleasure be farther known and here she added giving him a jewel of gold in the form of a chestman i give thee this to wear at the collar raleigh to whom nature had taught intuitively as it were those courtly arts which many scares acquire from long experience knelt and as he took from her hand the jewel kissed the fingers which gave it he knew perhaps better than almost any of the courteous who surrounded her how to mingle the devotion claimed by the queen with the gallantry due to her personal beauty and in this his first attempt to unite them he succeeded so well as at once to gratify elizabeth's personal vanity and her love of power end of section 75 this recording is in the public domain section 76 of england read reliever vox.org by sarah brown the boyhood of raleigh by sir john everett malay english painter 1829 to 1896 painting page 518 the illustration represents a scene that is common enough on any coast two boys listening to a sailor's rehearsal of his adventures but one of these boys is supposed to be sir walter raleigh and the adventures are supposed to have taken place on the wonderful western ocean when raleigh had grown up he was eager to go forth upon the sea unfortunately for his wishes he became a favorite of queen elizabeth and this sovereign had no idea of permitting her favorites to leave the country wealth and power came to him and he was able to send out expeditions of discovery but it was not until after many years that he was allowed to visit the unknown continent across the seas on this voyage he sailed up the orinoco for 400 miles raleigh fell out of the royal favor his enemies were active and although after a time he was restored to the favor of the queen yet when james the first came to the throne he was sent to the tower on a charge of being privy to plots against the king here he wrote his famous history of the world in 1616 he was allowed to make a voyage to the orinoco to search for a gold mine the gold mine was not found and on his return he was executed on the old charge of treason end of section 76 this recording is in the public domain section 77 of england this is a libervox recording all libervox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libervox.org recording by Colleen McMahon the world's story volume nine england edited by eva march tappan section 77 when elizabeth came to kennelworth 1575 by sir walter scott it was the twilight of a summer night ninth july 1575 the sun having for some time set and all were an anxious expectation of the queen's immediate approach the multitude had remained assembled for many hours and their numbers were still rather on the increase a profuse distribution of refreshments together with roasted oxen and barrels of ale set approach in different places of the road had kept the populace in perfect love and loyalty toward the queen and her favorite which might have somewhat abated had fasting been added to watching they passed away the time therefore with the usual popular amusements of whooping hallowing shrieking and playing rude tricks upon each other forming the chorus of discordant sounds usual on such occasions these prevailed all through the crowded roads and fields and especially beyond the gate of the chase where the greater number of the common sort were stationed when all of a sudden a single rocket was seen to shoot into the atmosphere and at the instant far heard over the flood and field the great bell of the castle told immediately there was a pause of dead silence succeeded by a deep home of expectation the united voice of many thousands none of whom spoke above their breath or to use a singular expression the whisper of an immense multitude they come now for certain said rally tricilian that sound is grand we hear it from this distance is mariners after a long voyage here upon their night watch the tide rush upon some distant and unknown shore mass answered blunt i hear it rather as i used to hear mine own kind lowing from the close of witton's west low he will assuredly graze presently said rally to tricilian his thought is all of fat oxen and fertile meadows he grows little better than one of his own beefs and only becomes grand when he is provoked to pushing and goring we shall have him at that presently said tricilian if you spare not your wit tush i care not answered rally but thou to tricilian has turned a kind of owl that flies only by night has exchanged thy songs for screechings and good company for an ivy Todd but what manner of animal art thou thyself rally said tricilian that thou holdest us also lightly who i replied rally an eagle am i that never will think of dull earth while there is a heaven to soar in and a sun to gaze upon well bragged by saint barnaby said blunt but good master eagle beware the cage and beware the fowler many birds have flown as high that i have seen stuffed with straw and hung up to scare kites but hark what a dead silence have fallen on them at once the procession pauses said rally at the gate of the chase where a symbol one of the fatidichae meets the queen to tell her fortune i saw the verses there is little savor in them and her grace has been already crammed full with such poetical compliments she whispered to me during the recorder's speech yonder at ford mill as she entered the liberties of warwick how she was per tesa barbarae le quale the queen whispered to him said blunt in a kind of sililoquy good god to what will this world come his further meditations were interrupted by a shot of applause from the multitude so tremendously vociferous that the country echoed for miles round the guards thickly stationed upon the road by which the queen was to advance caught up the acclamation which ran like wildfire to the castle and announced to all within that queen elizabeth had entered the royal chase of kennelworth the whole music of the castle sounded at once and a round of artillery with a salvo of small arms was discharged from the battlements but the noise of drums and trumpets and even of the cannon themselves were faintly heard amidst the roaring and reiterating welcomes of the multitude as the noise began to abate a broad glare of light was seen to appear from the gate of the park and broadening and brightening as it came nearer advanced along the open and fair avenue that led toward the gallery tower which as we've already noticed was lined on either hand by the retainers of the Earl of Leicester the word was passed along the line the queen the queen silence and stand fast onward came the cavalcade eliminated by two hundred thick wax and torches in the hands of as many horsemen which cast a light like that of broad day all around the procession but especially on the principal group of which the queen herself arrayed in the most splendid manner and blazing with jewels formed the central figure she was mounted on a milk white horse which she reigned with peculiar grace and dignity and in the whole of her stately and noble carriage you saw the daughter of a hundred kings the ladies of the court who rode beside her majesty had taken a special care that their own external appearance should not be more glorious than their rank and the occasional together demanded so that no inferior luminary might appear to approach the orbit of royalty but their personal charms and the magnificence by which under every prudential restraint they were necessarily distinguished exhibited them as the very flower of a realm so far famed for splendor and beauty the magnificence of the courtiers free from such restraints as prudence imposed on the ladies was yet more unbounded Lester who glittered like a golden image with jewels and cloth of gold wrote on Her Majesty's right hand as well in quality of her host as of her master of the horse the black steed which he mounted had not a single white hair on his body and was one of the most renowned chargers in Europe having been purchased by the Earl at large expense for this royal occasion as the noble animal chafed at the slow pace of the procession and arching his stately neck champed on the silver bits which restrained him the foam flew from his mouth inspect his well-formed limbs as if with spots of snow the rider well became the high place which he held and the proud steed which he bestowed for no man in England or perhaps in Europe was more perfect than Dudley in horsemanship and all other exercises belonging to his quality he was bareheaded as were all the courtiers in the train and the red torchlights shown upon his long curled tresses of dark hair and on his noble features to the beauty of which even the severest criticism could only object the lordly fault as it may be termed of a forehead somewhat too high on that proud evening those features wore all the graceful solicitude of a subject to show himself sensible of the high honor which the Queen was conferring on him and all the pride and satisfaction which became so glorious a moment yet though neither eye nor feature betrayed ought but feelings which suited the occasion some of the Earl's personal attendance remarked that he was unusually pale and they expressed to each other their fear that he was taking more fatigue than consisted with his health Varney followed close behind his master as the principal Esquire and waiting and had charge of his lordship's black velvet bonnet garnished with a clasp of diamonds and surmounted by a white plume he kept his eye constantly on his master and for reasons with which the reader is not unacquainted was among Lester's numerous dependents the one who was most anxious that his lord's strength and resolution should carry him successfully through a day so agitating for although Varney was one of the few the very few moral monsters who can try to lull to sleep the remorse of their own bosoms and are drugged into moral insensibility by atheism as men in extreme agony are lulled by opium yet he knew that in the breast of his patron there was already awakened the fire that is never quenched and that his lord felt amid all the pomp and magnificence we have described the gnawing of the worm that dyeth not still however assured his lord Lester stood by Varney's own intelligence that his countess labored under an indisposition which formed an unanswerable apology to the queen for her not appearing at Kenilworth there was little danger his widely retainer thought that a man so ambitious would betray himself by giving way to any external weakness the train male and female who attended immediately upon the queen's person were of course of the bravest and the fairest the highest born nobles and the wisest counselors of that distinguished reign to repeat whose names were but to weary the reader behind came a long crowd of knights and gentlemen whose rank and birth however distinguished were thrown into the shade as their persons into the rear of a procession whose front was of such august majesty thus marshaled the cavalcade approach the gallery tower which formed as we have often observed the extreme barrier of the castle it was now the part of the huge porter to step forward but the Lubbard was so overwhelmed with confusion of spirit the contents of one immense blackjack of double ale which he had just drank to quicken his memory having treacherously confused the brain it was intended to clear that he only groaned piteously and remained sitting in his stone seat and the queen would have passed on without greeting had not the gigantic warders secret ally flibbered a jibbit who lay Perdue behind him thrust a pin into the rear of his short femoral garment the porter uttered a sort of a yell which came not a miss into his part started up with this club and dealt a sound douse or two on each side of him and then like a co-chorus pricked by the spur started off at once into the full career of his address and by dint of active prompting on the part of Dickie sludge delivered in sounds of gigantic intonation a speech which may be thus abridged the reader being to suppose that the first lines were addressed to the throng who approached the gateway the conclusion at the approach of the queen upon sight of whom as struck by some heavenly vision the gigantic warder dropped his club resigned his keys and gave open way to the goddess of the night and all harm magnificent train what stare what turmoil have we for the knowns stand back my masters or beware your bones sirs I'm a warder and no man of straw my voice keeps order and my club gives law yet soft nay stay what vision have we hear what dainty darlings this what peerless peer what loveliest face that loving ranks unfold like brightest diamond chased in purest gold dazzled and blind mine office I forsake my club my key my knee my homage take bright paragon pass on in joy and bless bishrew the gate that hopes not wide at such a site as this Elizabeth received most graciously the homage of the Herculean porter and bending her head to him in requital passed through his guarded tower from the top of which was poured a clamorous blast of warlike music which was replied to by other bands of minstrel sea placed at different points on the castle walls and by others again stationed in the chase while the tones of the one as they yet vibrated on the echoes were caught up and answered by new harmony from different quarters amidst these bursts of music which as if the work of enchantment seemed now close at hand now softened by distant space now willing so low and sweet as if that distance were gradually prolonged until only the last lingering strains could reach the ear queen Elizabeth cross the gallery tower and came upon the long bridge which extended from thence to Mortimer's tower and which was already as light as day so many torches had been fastened to the palace aids on either side most of the nobles here are lighted and sent their horses to the neighboring village of Kenilworth following the queen on foot as did the gentleman who had stood in a ray to receive her at the gallery tower on this occasion as at different times during the evening Raleigh addressed himself to Tricillian and was not a little surprised at his vague and unsatisfactory answers which joined to his leaving his apartment without any assigned reason appearing in an undress when it was likely to be offensive to the queen and some other symptoms of irregularity which he thought he discovered led him to doubt whether his friend did not labor under some temporary derangement. Meanwhile the queen had no sooner stepped on the bridge than a new spectacle was provided for as soon as the music gave signal that she was so far advanced a raft so disposed as to resemble a small floating island illuminated by a great variety of torches and surrounded by floating pageants formed to represent seahorses on which sat tritons and naryds and other famous deities of the seas and rivers made its appearance upon the lake and issuing from behind a small heron ray where it had been concealed floated gently toward the farther end of the bridge on the eyelid appeared a beautiful woman clad in a watch it colored silk and mantle bound with a broad girdle inscribed with characters like the phylacteries of the Hebrews her feet and arms were bare but her wrists and ankles were adorned with gold bracelets of uncommon size amidst her long silky black hair she wore a crown or chaplet of artificial mistletoe and bore in her hand a rod of ebony tipped with silver two nymphs attended on her dressed in the same antique and mystical guys the pageant was so well managed that this lady of the floating island having performed her voyage with much picturesque effect landed at Mortimer's tower with her two attendants just as Elizabeth presented herself before that artwork the stranger then in a well penned speech announced herself as that famous lady of the lake renowned in the stories of King Arthur who had nursed the youth of the redoubted Sir Lancelot and whose beauty had proved too powerful both for the wisdom and the spells of the mighty Merlin since that early period she had remained possessed of her crystal dominions she said despite the various men of fame and might by whom Kenilworth had been successively tenanted the Saxons the Danes the Normans the St. Louis the Clintons the Montforts the Mortimer's the Plantagenets great though they were in arms and magnificence had never she said caused her to raise her head from the waters which hid her crystal palace but a greater than all these great names had now appeared and she came in homage and duty to welcome the peerless Elizabeth to all sport which the castle and its environs which lake or land could afford the queen received this address also with great courtesy and made answer in Ralerie we thought this lake had belonged to our own dominions fair dame but since so famed a lady claims it for hers we will be glad at some other time to have further communing with you touching our joint interests with this gracious answer the lady of the lake vanished and Arian who was amongst the maritime deities appeared upon his dolphin but lamborn who had taken upon him the part in the absence of Weyland being chilled with remaining immersed in an element to which he was not friendly having never got his speech by heart and not having like the porter the advantage of a prompter paid it off with impudence tearing off his vizard and swearing cog's bones he was none of Arian or Orion either but honest Mike lamborn that had been drinking her majesty's health from morning till midnight and was come to bid her heartily welcome to kennelworth castle this unpremeditated buffoonery answered the purpose probably better than the set speech would have done the queen laughed heartily and swore in her turn that he had made the best speech she had heard that day lamborn who instantly saw his jest had saved his bones jumped ashore gave his dolphin a kick and declared he would never meddle with fish again except at dinner at the same time that the queen was about to enter the castle a memorable discharge of fireworks by water and land took place such says master lanum the clerk of the council chamber door was the blaze of burning darts the gleams of stars coruscant the streams and hail of fiery sparks lightnings of wildfire and flight shot of thunderbolts with continuance terror and vehemency that the heavens thundered the water surged and the earth shook and for my part hardy as i am it made me very vangibly afraid end of section 77 this recording is in the public domain recording by colleen mcman section 78 of england this is a livery vox recording all livery vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit livery vox.org the world story volume 9 england edited by eva march tappan section 78 the armada 1588 by thomas babbington mccawley attend all ye who listen to hear our noble england's praise i tell you of thrice famous deeds she wrote in ancient days when that great fleet invincible against her bore in vain the richest spoils of mexico the stoutest hearts of spain it was about the lovely clothes of a warm summer day there came a gallant merchant ship full sail to plimoth bay her crew had seen castile's black fleet beyond arine's isle at earliest twilight on the waves lie heaving many a mile at sunrise she escaped their van by god's special grace and the torpedo till the noon had held her close in chase forthwith a guard on every gun was placed along the wall the beacon blazed upon the roof of edgcombe's lofty hall many a light fishing mark put out to pry along the coast and with loose rain and bloody spur rode inland many a post with his white hair unbonneted the stout old sheriff comes behind him march the halberd ears before him sound the drums his yeoman round the market cross make clear an ample space for there behooves him to set up the standard of her grace unhauntily the trumpets peel and gaily dance the bells as slow upon the laboring wind the royal blaze and swells look how the lion of the sea lifts up his ancient crown and underneath his deadly paw treads the gaily lilies down so stalked he when he turned to flight on that famed pickard field bohemia's plume and jenoa's bow and caesar's eagle shield so glared he when at ajingor in wrath he turned to bay and crushed and torn beneath his claws the princely hunters lay hoes strike the flagstaff deeps or night hoes scatter flowers fair maids hoe gunners fire a loud salute hoe gallants draw your blades thou sunshine on her joyously he breezes waft her wide our glorious semper edem the banner of our pride the freshening breeze of eve unfurled that banners massy fold the parting gleam of sunshine kissed that haughty scroll of gold night sank upon the dusky beach and on the purple sea such night in england near had been nor near again should be from eddiston to berwick bounds from lynn to milford bay that time of slumber was as bright and busy as the day for swift to east and swift to west the ghastly war flame spread high on st michael's mount it shone it shone on beachy head far on the deep the spaniard saw along each southern shire cape beyond cape in endless range those twinkling points of fire the fisher left his skiff to rock on tamar's glittering waves the rugged minors poured to war from mendip sunless caves or longleeds towers or crime-born dokes the fiery herald flew he roused the shepherds of stonehenge the rangers of buley right sharp and quick the bells all night rang out from bristol town and ere the day three hundred horse had met on clifton down the sentinel on whitehall gate looked forth into the night and saw or hanging richman's hill the streak of blood red light then bugle's note and cannon's roar the death-like silence broke and with one start and with one cry the royal city woke at once on all her stately gates arose the answering fires at once the wild alarm clashed from all her reeling spires from all the basheries of the tower appealed loud the voice of fear and all the thousand masts of thames sent back a loudest cheer and from the farthest wards was heard the rush of hurrying feet and the broad streams of pikes and flags rushed down each roaring street and broader still became the blaze and louder still the din as fast from every village round the horse came spurring in and eastward straight from wild black heath the warlike errand went and roused in many an ancient hall the gallant squires of kent southward from surrey's pleasant hills flew those bright couriers forth high on bleak hampstead swarthy moor they started for the north and on and on without a pause untired they bounded still all night from tower to tower they sprang they sprang from hill to hill till the proud peak unfurled the flag or darwin's rocky dales till like volcanoes flared to heaven the stormy hills of wales till twelve fair counties saw the blaze on malvern's lonely height till streamed in crimson on the wind the reekings crest of light till broad and fierce the star came forth on eely's stately feign and tower and hamlet rose in arms or all the boundless plain till beaver's lordly terraces the sign to lincon sent and lincon sped the message on or the wide veil of Trent till skiddle saw the fire that burned on gaunt's embattled pile and the red glare on skiddle rose the burgers of carlile end of section 78 this recording is in the public domain recording by alan mapstone in oxford england section 79 of england this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libra vox.org the world's story volume nine england edited by eva march teppen section 79 the fight with the invincible armada 1588 by david hume the queen had foreseen the invasion and finding that she must now contend for her crown with the whole force of spain she made preparations for resistance nor was she dismayed with that power by which all europe apprehended she must of necessity be overwhelmed her force indeed seemed very unequal to resist so potent and enemy all the sailors in england amounted at that time to about 14 000 men the size of the english shipping was in general so small that except a few of the queen's ships of war there were not four vessels belonging to the merchants which exceeded 400 tons the royal navy consisted of only 28 sail many of which were of small size none of them exceeded the bulk of our largest frigates and most of them deserved rather the name of penises than ships the only advantage of the english fleet consisted in the dexterity and courage of the seamen who being accustomed to sail into pastures seas and expose themselves to all dangers as much exceeded in this particular the spanish mariners as their vessels were inferior in size and force to those of that nation all the commercial towns of england were required to furnish ships for reinforcing the small navy and they discovered on the present occasion great alacrity in defending their liberty and religion against those imminent perils with which they were menaced the citizens of london in order to show their zeal in the common cause instead of 15 vessels which they were commanded to equip voluntarily fitted out double the number the gentry and nobility hired and armed and manned 43 ships at their own charge and all the loans of money which the queen demanded were frankly granted by the persons applied to lord howard of effingham a man of courage and capacity was admiral and took on him the command of the navy drake hawkins and frober sure the most renowned seamen in europe served under him the principal fleet was stationed to limit a smaller squadron consisting of 40 vessels english and flemish was commanded by lord seamore second son of protector somerset and lay off duncork in order to intercept the duke of parma the land forces of england compared to those of spain possessed contrary qualities to its naval power they were more numerous than the enemy but much inferior in discipline reputation and experience an army of 20 000 men was disposed in different bodies along the south coast and orders were given them if they could not prevent the landing of the spaniards to retire backwards to waste the country around and to wait for reinforcements from the neighboring counties before they approached the enemy a body of 22 000 foot and a thousand horse under the command of the earl of lester was stationed at tillbury in order to defend the capital the principal army consisted of 34 000 foot and 2000 horse and was commanded by lord hunston these forces were reserved for guarding the queen's person and were appointed to march wither so ever the enemy should appear the fate of england if all the spanish armies should be able to land seemed to depend on the issue of a single battle and men of reflection entertained the most dismal apprehensions when they considered the force of 50 000 veteran spaniards commanded by experienced officers under the duke of parma the most consummate general of the age and compared this formidable armament with the military power which england not innervated by peace but long disused to war could muster up against it the chief support of the kingdom seemed to consist in the vigor and prudence of the queen's conduct who undismayed by the present dangers issued all her orders with tranquility animated her people to a steady resistance and employed every resource which either her domestic situation or her foreign alliances could afford her she sent sir robert sydney into scotland and exhorted the king to remain attached to her and to consider the danger which at present menace his sovereignty no less than her own from the ambition of the spanish tyrant the ambassador found james well disposed to cultivate a union with england and that prince even kept himself prepared to march with the force of his whole kingdom to the assistance of elizabeth her authority with the king of danmark and the ty of their common religion engaged this monarch upon her application to seize a squadron of ships which philip had bought or hired in the danish harbors the hands towns though not at that time on good terms with elizabeth were induced by the same motives to retard so long the equipment of some vessels in their ports that they became useless to the purpose of invading england all the protestants throughout europe regarded this enterprise as the critical event which was to decide forever the fate of their religion and though unable by reason of their distance to join their forces to that of elizabeth they kept their eyes fixed on her conduct and fortune and be held with anxiety mixed with admiration the intrepid countenance with which she encountered that dreadful tempest which was every moment advancing toward her the queen also was sensible that next to the general popularity which she enjoyed and the confidence which her subjects proposed in her prudent government the firmest support of her throne consisted of that general zeal of the people for the protestant religion and the strong prejudices which they had imbibed against popery she took care on the present occasion to revive in the nation this attachment to their own sect and their abhorrence of the opposite the english were reminded of their former dangers from the tyranny of spain all the barbarities exercised by mary against the protestants were ascribed to the councils of that bigoted and imperious nation the bloody massacres in the indies the unrelenting executions in the low countries the horrid cruelties and inequities of the inquisition were set before men's eyes a list and description were published and pictures dispersed of the several instruments of torture with which it was pretended the spanish armada was loaded and every artifice as well as reason was employed to animate the people to a vigorous defense of their religion their laws and their liberties the while the queen in this critical emergency roused the animosity of the nation against popery she treated the partisans of that sect with moderation and gave not way to an undistinguishing fury against them though she knew that sixth is the fifth the present pope famous for his capacity and his tyranny had fulminated a new bull of excommunication against her had deposed her had absolved her subjects from their oaths of allegiance had published a crusade against england and had granted plenary indulgences to everyone engaged in the present invasion she would not believe that all her catholic subjects could be so blinded as to sacrifice to bigotry their duty to their sovereign and the liberty and independence of their native country she rejected all violent councils by which she was urged to seek pretenses for dispatching the leaders of that party she would not even confine any considerable number of them and the catholics sensible of this good usage generally express great zeal for the public service some gentlemen of that sect conscious that they could not just expect any trust or authority entered themselves as volunteers in the fleet or army some equipped ships at their own charge and gave the command of them to protestants others were active in animating their tenants and vassals and neighbors to the defense of their country and every rank of men bearing for the present all party distinctions seem to prepare themselves with order as well as bigger to resist the violence of these invaders the more to excite the martial spirit of the nation the queen appeared on horseback in the camp at tilbury and riding through the lines discovered a cheerful and animated countenance exhorted the soldiers to remember their duty to their country and their religion and professed her intention though a woman to lead them herself into the field against the enemy and rather to perish in battle than survive the ruin and slavery of her people by this spirited behavior she revived the tenderness and admiration of the soldiery an attachment to her person became a kind of enthusiasm among them and they asked one another whether it were possible that Englishmen could abandon this glorious cause could display less fortitude than appeared in the female sex or could ever by any dangers be induced to relinquish the defense of their heroic princess the Spanish armada was ready in the beginning of may but the moment it was preparing to sail the Marquis of Santa Crocia the Admiral was seized with a fever of which he soon after died the vice-admiral the Duke of Palliana by a strange concurrence of accidents at the very same time suffered the same fate and the king appointed for Admiral the Duke of Medina Sedonia a nobleman of great family but unexperienced in action and entirely unacquainted with sea affairs our Coretta was appointed vice-admiral this misfortune besides the loss of so great an officer Santa Crocia retarded the sailing of the armada and gave the English more time for their preparations to oppose them at last the Spanish fleet full of hopes and alacrity set sail from Lisbon but next they met with a violent tempest which scattered the ships sunk some of the smallest and forced the rest to take shelter in the groin where they waited till they could be refitted when news of this event was carried to England the Queen concluded that the design of an invasion was disappointed for the summer and being always ready to lay hold on every pretense for saving money she made while seeing him right to the Admiral directing him to lay up some of the larger ships and to discharge the seamen but Lord Effingham who was not so sanguine in his hopes used the freedom to disobey these orders and he begged lead to retain all the ships in service though it should be at his own expense he took advantage of a north wind and sailed toward the coast of Spain with an intention of attacking the enemy in their harbors but the wind changing to the south he became apprehensive lest they might have set sail and by passing him at sea invade England now exposed by the absence of the fleet he returned therefore with the utmost expedition to Plymouth and lay at anchor in that harbor meanwhile all the damages of the armada were repaired and the Spaniards with fresh hopes set out again to see in prosecution of their enterprise the fleet consisted of 130 vessels of which near a hundred were galleons and were of greater size than any ever before used in Europe it carried on board 19,295 soldiers 8456 mariners 2,088 galleys slaves and 2,630 great pieces of brass ornaments it was viddled for six months and was attended by 20 lesser ships called caravals and 10 salves with six oars apiece the plan formed by the king of Spain was that the armada should sail to the coast opposite to Dunkirk and Newport and having chased away all English or Flemish vessels which might obstruct the passage for it was never supposed they could make opposition should join themselves with the Duke of Parma should thence make sail to the Thames and having landed the whole Spanish army thus complete at one blow the entire conquest of England in prosecution of this scheme Philip gave orders to the Duke of Medina that in passing along the channel he should sail as near the coast of France as he could with safety that he should by this policy avoid meeting with the English fleet and keeping in view the main enterprise should neglect all smaller successes which might prove an obstacle or even interpose a delay to the acquisition of a kingdom after the armada was under sail they took out fishermen who informed them that the English admiral had been lately at sea had heard of the tempest which scattered the armada and retired back into Plymouth and no longer expecting an invasion this season had laid up his ships and discharged most of the seamen from this false intelligence the Duke of Medina conceived the great facility of attacking and destroying the English ships in harbor and he was tempted by the prospect of so decisive an advantage to break his orders and make sail directly for Plymouth a resolution which proved the safety of England the lizard was the first land made by the armada about sunset and as the Spaniards took it for the ramhead near Plymouth they bore out to sea with an intention of returning next day and attacking the English navy they were described by Fleming a Scottish pirate who was roving in those seas and who immediately set sail to inform the English admiral of their approach another fortunate event which contributed extremely to the safety of the fleet Effingham had just time to get out of port when he saw the Spanish armada coming full sail toward him disposed in the form of a crescent and stretching the distance of seven miles from the extremity of one division to that of the other the writers of that age raised their style by a pompous description of the spectacle the most magnificent that had ever appeared upon the ocean infusing equal terror and admiration into the minds of all the holders the lofty mass the swelling sails and the towering prowess of the Spanish galleons seemed impossible to be justly painted but by assuming the colors of poetry and an eloquent historian of Italy in imitation of Camden has asserted that the armada though the ships bore every sail yet advanced with a slow motion as if the ocean groaned with supporting and the winds were tired with impelling so enormous a weight the truth however is that the largest of the Spanish vessels would scarcely pass for third rates in the present navy of England footnote this was written in 1776 and the footnote yet were they so ill framed or so ill governed that they were quite unwieldy and could not sail upon a wind nor tack on occasion nor be managed in stormy weather by the seamen neither the mechanics of shipbuilding nor the experience of mariners had attained so great perfection as could serve for the security of government of such bulky vessels and the English who had already had experience how unserviceable they commonly were be held without dismay their tremendous appearance effingham gave orders not to come to close fight with the Spaniards where the size of the ships he suspected and the numbers of the soldiers would be a disadvantage to the English but to cannonade them at a distance and to wait the opportunity which wins currents or various accidents must afford him of intercepting some scattered vessels of the enemy there was it long before the event answered expectation a great ship of bisque on board of which was a considerable part of the Spanish money took fire by accident and while all hands were employed in extinguishing the flame she fell behind the rest of the armada the great galleon of Andalusia was detained by the springing of her mast and both these vessels were taken after some resistance by Sir Francis Drake as the armada advanced up the channel the English hung upon its rear and still infested it with skirmishes each trial abated the competence of the Spaniards and added courage to the English and the latter soon found that even in close fight the size of the Spanish ships was no advantage to them their bulk exposed them the more to the fire of the enemy while their cannon placed too high shot over the heads of the English the alarm having now reached the coast of England the nobility and gentry hastened out with their vessels from every harbor and reinforced the admiral the urls of oxford northumberland and cumberland Sir Thomas Cecil Sir Robert Cecil Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Thomas Babasur Sir Thomas Gerard Sir Charles Blunt with many others distinguished themselves by this generous and disinterested service of their country the English fleet after the conjunction of those ships amounted to 140 sail the armada had now reached Calais and cast anchor before that place in expectation that the Duke of Parma who had gotten intelligence of their approach would put to sea and join his forces to them the English admiral practiced here a successful stratagem upon the Spaniards he took eight of his smaller ships and filling them with all combustible materials sent them one after another into the midst of the enemy the Spaniards fancied that they were fire ships of the same contrivance with a famous vessel which had lately done so much execution in the skeletal near Antwerp and they immediately cut their cables and took to flight with the greatest disorder and precipitation the English fell upon them next morning while in confusion and besides doing great damage to other ships they took or destroyed about 12 of the enemy by this time it was become apparent that the intention for which these preparations were made by the Spaniards was entirely frustrated the vessels provided by the Duke of Parma were made for transporting soldiers not for fighting and that general went urged to leave the harbor positively refused to expose his flourishing army to such apparent hazard while the English not only were able to keep the sea but seemed even to triumph over their enemy the Spanish admiral found in many wrong counters that while he lost so considerable a part of his own navy he had destroyed only one small vessel of the English and he foresaw that by continuing so unequal a combat he must draw inevitable destruction on all the remainder he prepared therefore to return homewards but as the wind was contrary to his passage through the channel he resolved to sail northwards and making the tour of the island reached the Spanish harbors by the ocean the English fleet followed him during some time and had not their ammunition fallen short by the negligence of the officers in supplying them they had obliged the whole armada to surrender at discretion the Duke of Medina had once taken that resolution but was diverted from it by the advice of his confessor this conclusion of the enterprise would have been more glorious to the English but the event proved almost equally fatal to the Spaniards a violent tempest overtook the armada after it passed the Orkneys the ships had already lost their anchors and were obliged to keep to sea the mariners unaccustomed to such hardships and not able to govern such unwieldy vessels yielded to the fury of the storm and allowed their ships to drive either on the western isles of Scotland or on the coast of Ireland where they were miserably wrecked not a half of the navy returned to Spain and the seamen as well as soldiers who remained were so overcome with hardships and fatigue and so dispirited by their discomfiture that they filled all Spain with accounts of the desperate valor of the English and of the tempestuous violence of that ocean which surrounds them such was the miserable and dishonorable conclusion of an enterprise which had been preparing for three years which had exhausted the revenue and force of Spain and which had long filled all Europe with anxiety or expectation end of section 79 this recording is in the public domain section 80 of england read for LibriVox.org by Sonia the last moment of Queen Elizabeth by Paul de la Roche French artist 1797 to 1856 painting page 562 Queen Elizabeth signed the death warrant of her favorite the Earl of Essex with the greatest reluctance and after his execution she sank into a profound melancholy her strength failed rapidly and all knew that her death could not be far away she refused to be carried to her bed and for 10 days the great queen lay on the floor groaning and sighing she would not take the medicine which her physicians prescribed she would not eat and she rarely spoke the council were in session and at length they sent the keeper admiral and secretary to learn her will in regard to her successor i would have a king to succeed me she said faintly and this was of course interpreted to indicate the king of scots fix your thoughts upon god said the archbishop of canterbury gently i do she replied nor do they wonder from him in the least she soon closed her eyes in a deep slumber and from this she did not awake in the picture the queen is seen lying on the floor the royal ermine is about her and she is adorned with jewels but her face is pinched and haggard with age and with suffering the three men sent by the council have just entered the apartment and one of them kneeling beside her is asking whom she will have to succeed her end of section 80 this recording is in the public domain