lendid
figure looked equally well on horseback or on foot. A little full in the
eye, and with a slightly aquiline nose, she appeared, as she really was,
keenly observant and commanding. Though these two features just
prevented her from being a beauty, the bright blue eyes and the finely
chiselled nose were themselves quite beautiful enough. Nor was she less
taking to the ear than to the eye; for, in marked contrast to gruff
foreign Mary and wheezy foreign Anne, she had a rich, clear, though
rather too loud, English voice. When the Court reined up and dismounted,
Elizabeth became even more the centre of attraction. Mary marched
stiffly on. Anne plodded after. But as for Elizabeth--perfect in
dancing, riding, archery, and all the sports of chivalry--'she trod the
ling like a buck in spring, and she looked like a lance in rest.'

When Elizabeth succeeded Mary in the autumn of 1558 she had dire need of
all she had learnt in her twenty-five years of adventurous life.
Fortunately for herself and, on the whole, most fortunately for both
England and America, she had a remarkable power of inspiring devotion to
the service of their queen and country in men of both the cool and
ardent types; and this long after her personal charms had gone.
Government, religion, finance, defence, and foreign affairs were in a
perilous state of flux, besides which they have never been more
distractingly mixed up with one another. Henry VII had saved money for
twenty-five years. His three successors had spent it lavishly for
fifty. Henry VIII had kept the Church Catholic in ritual while making it
purely national in government. The Lord Protector Somerset had made it
as Protestant as possible under Edward VI. Mary had done her best to
bring it back to the Pope. Home affairs were full of doubts and dangers,
though the great mass of the people were ready to give their handsome
young queen a fair chance and not a little favor. Foreign affairs were
worse. France was still the hereditary enemy; and the loss of Calais
under Mary had exasperated the whole English nation. Scotland was a
constant menace in the north. Spain was gradually changing from friend
to foe. The Pope was disinclined to recognize Elizabeth at all.

To understand how difficult her position was we must remember what sort
of constitution England had when the germ of the United States was
forming. The Roman Empire was one constituent whole from the emperor
down. The English-speaking people