Part 13 (1/2)

William was now the ruler of Holland and had triued after these terrible sieges and both sides would gladly have seen it ended; but the Lowlanders were in no temper to accept half measures And in the Union of Utrecht, in which a nuainst Philip, an i off the Spanish yoke

Willia Philip had offered a reward of twenty-five thousand crowns in gold to any assassin who should strike hih he was under fifty, he appeared like an old reat were the troubles hich he had been beset in the course of his life He was the constant target for the bullet or the dagger of the assassin, and ed his tracks as a result of the Spanish proclaht have been expected ca of 1584

Already William had once been severely wounded by a would-beious persecutions, sought aid from William's secretary, and Williaiven hiht firear entrance to William's home fired three shots into his body A few minutes later the ”father of his country” lay dead

The work that Willia and had a permanent effect on the fortunes of his country And to-day a song that was sung at the tidoreat character; and his farown more lustrous up to the present day

CHAPTER XIV

QUEEN ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND

We will now tell the story of a young girl who became the most famous Queen that the world has ever known and laid the real foundations for the irl was Elizabeth, and the time in which she lived has since been called the Elizabethan Era For England at that ti sailors and the greatest enius, and Elizabeth kneell how to surround herself with these reat talents to benefit her country

Elizabeth was the daughter of King Henry the Eighth, and his wife, Anne Boleyn Her childhood was far fro a happy one, for Henry was a cruel tyrant and showed harshness to the princess in many ways When Elizabeth was only three years old her mother was i Henry's order, and her own right to succeed hiland was taken away froht up by servants and attendants, and seldo Henry married a lady named Catherine Parr and Elizabeth became a favorite with her step-mother For the first time in her life she received a little affection and kindness Catherine saw that she had the attention she needed and brought her back to Court, but although she was still only a child soer, and Elizabeth was sent away in disgrace and not permitted to return until after his death

A son had been born to Henry the Eighth by another wife named Jane Seymour; and this boy, as christened Edward, succeeded his father on the throne of England Elizabeth, as noted for her dereat favorite with her brother, the boy king, who called her ”sweet sister Teard for her But Edward the Sixth did not live very long He had a serious disease that wasted him away, and Elizabeth's half sister named Mary, became Queen

Now Mary was an ardent Catholic, and desired that all England should co this about she persecuted the Protestants in her kingdom mercilessly until anybody who professed to the Protestant faith was in danger of being burned at the stake Mary, , Philip the Second, who tried to have her treat her subjects as he had done with the people of the Low Countries, until through the efforts of William the Silent, they won their freedom And Mary was surrounded with advisors ere even more fanatical and cruel than the Queen herself

One of Mary's first acts when she became Queen was to send for her sister Elizabeth and coht up as a Protestant and believed in the Protestant religion, but to save her life she decided to pretend to obey her sister's order and to adopt the outward forms of the Catholic faith

And then more trouble befell Elizabeth, for due to her sister's harsh rule which had won her the na a nulish people to place Elizabeth upon the throne For the Protestants had not been deceived by Elizabeth's pretended conversion They knew that she was Protestant at heart, and that if she were only Queen the cruel persecutions would straightway be ended And a young an a rebellion in Elizabeth's na

Wyatt was captured and stated that the Princess Elizabeth had known of the plot; and Elizabeth was suainst her and prove if possible that she had no share in the undertaking Elizabeth was very htened, and in fact she had every reason to be She dressed herself all in white as a syh the streets of London on her way to the Queen; and the people gazed at her sadly and shook their heads, for they were afraid that she was going to her death Mary, as influenced by her advisers, refused to see her sister and would not listen to her assurances of innocence, and finally an aro at once to the Tower of London, where she was to be held a prisoner

The Tower of London, which is standing to-day, is a gloomy fortress that was built in the time of William the Conqueror, and since that tiedies and executions, for the erous political prisoners were confined there Elizabeth's own mother had been put to death within its solid walls, and Elizabeth had every reason to fear that a similar fate was intended for her by her sister Mary Guarded by soldiers, the Princess was taken on a boat down the Tha at the usual entrance to the Tower, the boat dreards a portal known as ”Traitor's Gate,” where many of the worst prisoners entered, only to meet the axe of the executioner

”I arily when she sahere she was, ”I will not pass in by way of the gate of Traitors”

And when she was sternly told that she lish subject as ever set foot on these stairs!”

That she was near death she knew very well; and whenever she heard any unusual bustle or stir in the prison courtyard, she tried anxiously to see as going on there, for she feared that theya scaffold for her execution And her fears were only too well founded, for the Queen's advisors hated Elizabeth and did not think that Catholic rule in England was safe as long as the Princess was alive

This, rather than the charge of treason that had been truainst her, was the real reason for her imprisonment

On one occasion, we are told, Mary fell ill; and her counselors took the opportunity to have Elizabeth put to death A warrant for her execution was prepared, and an order was sent to the keeper of the Tower to carry out the punishnature?” den it, but it is sent in her name,” was the reply

”Then I ait until she is well enough to send her order in person,” said the keeper,--and Elizabeth's life was saved For Mary was furious when she learned how her counselors had tried to take the law into their own hands, and in spite of their remonstrances Elizabeth was soon afterward taken from the Tower and set at liberty