in
intellect and in physical development.

Mr. Martin Hume, who loves to dwell upon the later years of Queen
Elizabeth, speaks rather bitterly of her as a "painted old harridan";
and such she may well have seemed when, at nearly seventy years of age,
she leered and grinned a sort of skeleton smile at the handsome young
courtiers who pretended to see in her the queen of beauty and to be
dying for love of her.

Yet, in her earlier years, when she was young and strong and impetuous,
she deserved far different words than these. The portrait of her by
Zucchero, which now hangs in Hampton Court, depicts her when she must
have been of more than middle age; and still the face is one of beauty,
though it be a strange and almost artificial beauty--one that draws,
attracts, and, perhaps, lures you on against your will.

It is interesting to compare this painting with the frank word-picture
of a certain German agent who was sent to England by his emperor, and
who seems to have been greatly fascinated by Queen Elizabeth. She was
at that time in the prime of her beauty and her power. Her complexion
was of that peculiar transparency which is seen only in the face of
golden blondes. Her figure was fine and graceful, and her wit an
accomplishment that would have made a woman of any rank or time
remarkable. The German envoy says:

She lives a life of such magnificence and feasting as can hardly be
imagined, and occupies a great portion of her time with balls,
banquets, hunting, and similar amusements, with the utmost possible
display, but nevertheless she insists upon far greater respect being
shown her than was exacted by Queen Mary. She summons Parliament, but
lets them know that her orders must be obeyed in any case.

If any one will look at the painting by Zucchero he will see how much
is made of Elizabeth's hands--a distinctive feature quite as noble with
the Tudors as is the "Hapsburg lip" among the descendants of the house
of Austria. These were ungloved, and were very long and white, and she
looked at them and played with them a great deal; and, indeed, they
justified the admiration with which they were regarded by her
flatterers.

Such was the personal appearance of Elizabeth. When a young girl, we
have still more favorable opinions of her that were written by those
who had occasion to be near her. Not only do they record swift glimpses
of her person, but sometimes in a word or two they give an insight into
certain trai