ed, in a very humble and
submissive manner, that he had procured it himself, having intended it
as a present for her majesty. This only produced fresh expressions of
displeasure. She proceeded to rebuke him severely for countenancing such
a popish practice as the introduction of pictures in the churches. All
this time Elizabeth had herself a crucifix in her own private chapel,
and the dean himself, on the other hand, was a firm and consistent
Protestant, entirely opposed to the Catholic system of images and
pictures, as Elizabeth very well knew.

This sort of roughness was a somewhat masculine trait of character for a
lady, it must be acknowledged, and not a very agreeable one, even in
man; but with some of the bad qualities of the other sex, Elizabeth
possessed, also, some that were good. She was courageous, and she
evinced her courage sometimes in a very noble manner. At one time, when
political excitement ran very high, her friends thought that there was
serious danger in her appearing openly in public, and they urged her not
to do it, but to confine herself within her palaces for a time, until
the excitement should pass away. But no; the representations made to her
produced no effect. She said she would continue to go out just as freely
as ever. She did not think that there was really any danger; and
besides, if there was, she did not care; she would rather take her
chance of being killed than to be kept shut up like a prisoner.

At the time, too, when the shot was fired at the barge in which she was
going down the Thames, many of her ministers thought it was aimed at
her. They endeavored to convince her of this, and urged her not to
expose herself to such dangers. She replied that she did not believe
that the shot was aimed at her; and that, in fact, she would not believe
any thing of her subjects which a father would not be willing to believe
of his own children. So she went on sailing in her barge just as before.

[Illustration: PORTRAIT OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.]

Elizabeth was very vain of her beauty, though, unfortunately, she had
very little beauty to be vain of. Nothing pleased her so much as
compliments. She sometimes almost exacted them. At one time, when a
distinguished embassador from Mary Queen of Scots was at her court, she
insisted on his telling her whether she or Mary was the most beautiful.
When we consider that Elizabeth was at this time over thirty years of
age, and Mary only twenty-two, and that th