thousand dresses and costumes, of which several were for the character

of Minerva and Amphitrite; esteemed the Irish for the width of their

shoulders; covered her farthingale with braids and spangles; loved

roses; cursed, swore, and stamped; struck her maids of honour with her

clenched fists; used to send Dudley to the devil; beat Burleigh, the

Chancellor, who would cry--poor old fool! spat on Matthew; collared

Hatton; boxed the ears of Essex; showed her legs to Bassompierre; and

was a virgin.

What she did for Bassompierre the Queen of Sheba had done for

Solomon;[11] consequently she was right, Holy Writ having created the

precedent. That which is biblical may well be Anglican. Biblical

precedent goes so far as to speak of a child who was called Ebnehaquem

or Melilechet--that is to say, the Wise Man's son.

Why object to such manners? Cynicism is at least as good as hypocrisy.

Nowadays England, whose Loyola is named Wesley, casts down her eyes a

little at the remembrance of that past age. She is vexed at the memory,

yet proud of it.

These fine ladies, moreover, knew Latin. From the 16th century this had

been accounted a feminine accomplishment. Lady Jane Grey had carried

fashion to the point of knowing Hebrew. The Duchess Josiana Latinized.

Then (another fine thing) she was secretly a Catholic; after the manner

of her uncle, Charles II., rather than her father, James II. James II.

had lost his crown for his Catholicism, and Josiana did not care to risk

307

The Man Who Laughs