oetry flourished, theology caught the
infection of the new spirit of liberty, and the classics were studied
with avidity as the springs of the world's literature and learning.
The invention of the printing press let loose the floods of knowledge,
and the women of the higher classes were caught in the flow of
books and pamphlets, and their intellects were quickened and their
characters formed by these new sources of inspiration and wisdom.
Woman was no longer designated as the daughter of the Church, which
was formerly the highest encomium that the condescension of the Church
could afford her. She now stood on her own independence of character,
possessed of an intellect and accorded the freedom of its use.

The example of the Virgin Queen was held up to the youth of England
for their imitation. Elizabeth's education had been most zealously
cared for. To her remarkable aptitude for learning she added a
studious disposition. At an early age she was an accomplished
linguist; the sciences were familiar to her, she "understood
the principles of geography, architecture, the mathematics, and
astronomy." Her studies, save one, however, she regarded rather in the
light of pastime; to the exception--history--she "devoted three hours
a day, and read works in all languages that afforded information on
the subject." Thus was her mind stored with the philosophy of history;
men and events in their ever changing relations were an open book to
her. Hence, when the responsibilities of sovereignty devolved upon
her she was resourceful and prompt. Whether dealing with her ambitious
subjects, or receiving the wily ambassador of a foreign power, her
poise could not be disturbed.

With the example and influence of the Tudor princesses before them,
the women least needed the exhortation to intellectual attainments.
It was said by a foreign scholar who visited England in the middle of
the sixteenth century that "the rich cause their sons and daughters
to learn Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, for, since this storm of heresy
has invaded the land, they hold it useful to read the Scriptures in
the original tongue." With all the profession of knowledge which
was assumed by the people of this age, there went a great deal of
pedantry. It became very tiresome to listen to the conversations of
select bodies of the devotees of the new wisdom, who had touched
but the skirts of the garments of the Muses. The great number of
literary coxcombs and dilettanti who