TH E LOVER OF QU EEN E L IZ A BETH S e con d Pri nt i n g PAGES FROM AN ADVENTUROUS “ ” IF D I CK D ONOVA N . E . L E. By (J Preston Muddock . r f l illustrated. ) Ve y ul y D em vo. 1 net . y 8 65 . S UNsfllNE AND S PORT IN FLORIDA AND TH S T I DI S F . G. E W E N E . By A F . ll em v . 12 . LA LO 6o i ustrations. D y 8 o 68 ne t . THB COURTS HIPS OF CATHERINE THE GREAT. H I LI P W . S G ANT By P ER E , B at e e . A. ( l e Scholar of Trinity Coll g , xf rd ll cl th O o . I strated. D em 8vo o ) u y , i g lt , 1 05 . 6d . net . Th i rd Pri nt i n g . TH B U S B e in E RLE QUE NAPOLEON. g th e Stor ofthe Life Kin shi f er me y and g p o J o Na ol e on ona arte o n e st brothe r of p B p , y u g Na ole on the reat . H I L I P W p G By P . f S G ANT B . A . a thor o The Co rtshi s ER E , , u u p % f a e h F o C th rine t e reat. ll ill ra e . G u y ust t d D e m 8 vo 1 0 5 . 6d . ne t . y , S e con d Pri nt i n g . INDIA . I Lon W h h By P ERRE . it P oto rav re fr ntis ie c r n h i ted b th e g u o p e. P y C is wick re ss. e c n Edi n A transl ati n P S o d tio . o ’ ofLoti s e x isite master iece r 8 . C own vo qu p , 1 05 . 6d . ne t . TH E L O V E R O F . QU E E N E L I Z A B E T H BEING TH E LIFE AND CHARA CTER OF T E E T ROBER DUDLEY, ARL OF L ICES ER 1538 - 158 8 MRS AUBREY RI CHARDSON ~ Arehbisbo KE y PAR R. ' p u k fi M i f ( a t i n 1d : a , ” fl w , % ’ M r” Me 6030“: t S m u , Ju l R IGH T AND LOYA L L did Id : word ma i ntain ) —Enu mt n Sem e n. I L L U S TR A T E D W E RNE R LA U R I E C L I F F O R D ’S I N N L O N D O N E C . T H E L O V E R O F QU E E N E L I Z A B E T H BEING TH E LIFE AND CHARA CTER OF T ROBERT DUDLEY, EARL OF LEICES ER 1533- 158 8 MRS AUBREY RI CH ARDSON A Crea tu r e ofmy ow n . — E LI Z A BE TH . S ome oél m n e en wi ll ée m m . — Archbisho A p P RK ER . ' O rea test ones fi fg , e g rea test i n lzzs pla ce , ' ’ S a te i n the bosom e o Izzs S ov a f er zne , n A d R I GH T A ND L OYA L L d zd his word — ED M D P UN S ENSER . I L L U S T R A T E D T . W E RNE R LA U R I E C L I F F O R D ’S I N N L O N D O N E C . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS QUEEN ELIZ ABETH ( Hatfield Portrait) F ronti spi ece LORD ROBERT DUDLEY faci ng page 32 MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS AND LORD DARNLEY THE EARL OF SUSSEX MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS THE EARL OF LEI CESTER LADY SHEFFIELD ELIZ ABETH R H LE AND WALSIN H M , BU G Y, G A THE EARL OF WARWI CK THE EARL OF LEI CESTER “ ELI Z ABETH AS AI DI NG FRIEND LEI CESTER IN TH E NETH ERLANDS LEI CESTER ON H ORSEBACK . QUEEN MARY PREPARED FOR EXECUTI ON “ HI S LAST LETTER (facsimile) TH E LOVER OF QU EEN ELI Z AB ETH CHAPTER I I N fi rm am ent of the great human personality, fi ercer z a no star Shines with a light than Eli beth , Queen of England . And of the numerous an satellites that revolve about her, radiating ' efi ul ence own one g that is their and hers , the - whose beams most dazzle star gazers , is Robert Dudley , Earl Of Leicester. These two were born into an age when the influence ofthe planets on human destiny and on human character was held to be direct - and all determining . It was the hour when astronomy was hardly ousting astrology from the category Of the sciences . The period of Elizabeth and of Leicester was the renascent period Of history . In their re - time, the Spirit of the ancients incarnated . Learning, art, and literature came to birth in the modern world . Invention and discovery ’ re - emerged from Time s womb . Science and Religion were reconstructed and reformed . To A z The Lover Of Q ueen Elizabeth that birth and to that emergence, to that recon struction and to that reformation , the Queen ofEngland and her Supreme Favourite contri not . buted a little Indeed, they were them selves among the most remarkable products of the Renascence . Their lives and their characters exempli fy unmistakably the new Spirit then breathing on Society . The virtues and the vices of Protestantism and of Paganism were incongruously mixed in their compositions . TO understand the character, and to trace the destiny of Leicester aright, one must his examine heredity, and look into the circum stances ofhis early life . His father was that John Dudley who was raised to the peerage as Viscount Lisle, by Henry VIII . His mother was Jane , daughter and heiress of Sir Edward Guilford, to whom the guardianship of John Dudley had been of given by the King, upon the execution T his father, Edmund Dudley . his Edmund dl ’ f Du ey , Leicester s grand ather, married Eliza ' of beth ; daughter Edward Grey, and of another Elizabeth who was sister and co - heir of Thomas T albot, Viscount Lisle, a descendant of the famous Richard Beauchamp , Earl of Warwick . t dl Af er the death Of Edmund Du ey, Elizabeth t [Grey% married Arthur Plantagene , a natural son of Edward IV . , who was created Viscount Lisle . Of Edmund Dudley, the great Lord The Lover Of Q uee n Elizab eth 3 Bacon said he was “ one that could put hateful ” business into good language . This facility was handed down to his grandson Robert . Edmund was beheaded on Tower Hill . While in the Tower he wrote a book he entitled ” Of The Tree Commonwealth , in which he insisted on the necessity of piety and of the sense of Christian fellowship in a Prince . The tone of his work was very different from that Of another book of instruction for Princes , published in Europe at the same period . It was the doctrine Of Nicholas Macchiavelli that ” it was convenient for the mind Ofa Prince to be at his command , and flexible to all the puffs and variations of fortune ; not for bearing to be good whilst it is in his choice, but knowing how to be evil when there is a ” necessity. The teachings of both these instructors of Princes bore fruit in the lives of Edmund ’ son Dudley s descendants . His John began his career in the godliness of purpose, inculcated . t by his father But as John grew grea , he relaxed hold upon principle, and adopted the ’ Macchiavellian doctrine of convenience . John s “ son , the illustrious Prince Robert Dudley, of Earl Leicester, reversed the order his father observed . In his early manhood he adhered to the maxims ofthe Florentine ; he responded in the end to some Ofthe exhortations of his 4 The Lover Of Q uee n Elizabeth grandsire . Yet his mind was ever at his all ff command , and flexible to the pu s and ” variations of fortune . He could not have ’ been Elizabeth s favourite , without the sovereign - nor grace of self control, without the, to her, l more serviceable attribute of flexibi ity . But a closer environment than that Of the age in which he grew, and a nearer heredity - than that of a grand parent , Shaped the princely ’ temper of Elizabeth s Leicester to the form in which history presents it to us. The Court Of of England was the home his nature, and - The the hot bed Ofhis genius . pageantry and the power of palace life had supreme attractions TO for both his parents . be high at Court was the greatest good life Offered for father and for mother ; to be ou t offavour with the ni reig ng Monarch , the last evil of existence . W e learn this Of the father in actions Of his we become acquainted with in following the career of his son . That the mother OfRobert was also set on greatness we are informed by her own telling. “ In the last will and testament Of the Right Noble and Excellent Princess Lady Jane, who was wife to the High and Mighty dl t Prince , John Du ey, late Duke of Nor h mberland u , by Whom She had issue eight sons ” and five daughters , the mother of Leicester wrote in her very own hand The Lover Of Q ueen Elizabeth 5 My will is earnestly and effectually that little solemnity be made for me, for I had ever have a thousandfold , my debts to be paid and the poor to be given unto , than any pomp to be showed upon my wretched carcase too that has had at times much in this world , of full all vanities , deceits and guiles ; and who ever doth trust to this transitory world , as di d I , may happen to have an overthrow, as I had ; therefore to the worms will I go as I have before written .