The wisest Sovereigns err like private men,And royal hand has sometimes laid the sword Of chivalry upon a worthless shoulder,Which better had been branded by the hangman.
What then?--Kings do their best;and they and we Must answer for the intent,and not the event.OLD PLAY.
It is a melancholy matter,said the Queen,when Tressilian was withdrawn,to see a wise and learned man's wit thus pitifully unsettled.Yet this public display of his imperfection of brain plainly shows us that his supposed injury and accusation were fruitless;and therefore,my Lord of Leicester,we remember your suit formerly made to us in behalf of your faithful servant Varney,whose good gifts and fidelity,as they are useful to you,ought to have due reward from us,knowing well that your lordship,and all you have,are so earnestly devoted to our service.And we render Varney the honour more especially that we are a guest,and,we fear,a chargeable and troublesome one,under your lordship's roof;and also for the satisfaction of the good old Knight of Devon,Sir Hugh Robsart,whose daughter he hath married,and we trust the especial mark of grace which we are about to confer may reconcile him to his son-in-law.--Your sword,my Lord of Leicester.The Earl unbuckled his sword,and taking it by the point,presented on bended knee the hilt to Elizabeth.
She took it slowly drew it from the scabbard,and while the ladies who stood around turned away their eyes with real or affected shuddering,she noted with a curious eye the high polish and rich,damasked ornaments upon the glittering blade.
Had I been a man,she said,methinks none of my ancestors would have loved a good sword better.As it is with me,I like to look on one,and could,like the Fairy of whom I have read in some Italian rhymes--were my godson Harrington here,he could tell me the passage--even trim my hair,and arrange my head-gear,in such a steel mirror as this is.--Richard Varney,come forth,and kneel down.In the name of God and Saint George,we dub thee knight!Be Faithful,Brave,and Fortunate.Arise,Sir Richard Varney.[The incident alluded to occurs in the poem of Orlando Innamorato of Boiardo,libro ii.canto 4,stanza 25.
Non era per ventura,etc.
It may be rendered thus:--
As then,perchance,unguarded was the tower,So enter'd free Anglante's dauntless knight.
No monster and no giant guard the bower In whose recess reclined the fairy light,Robed in a loose cymar of lily white,And on her lap a sword of breadth and might,In whose broad blade,as in a mirror bright,Like maid that trims her for a festal night,The fairy deck'd her hair,and placed her coronet aright.
Elizabeth's attachment to the Italian school of poetry was singularly manifested on a well-known occasion.Her godson,Sir John Harrington,having offended her delicacy by translating some of the licentious passages of the Orlando Furioso,she imposed on him,as a penance,the task of rendering the WHOLE poem into English.]
Varney arose and retired,making a deep obeisance to the Sovereign who had done him so much honour.
The buckling of the spur,and what other rites remain,said the Queen,may be finished to-morrow in the chapel;for we intend Sir Richard Varney a companion in his honours.And as we must not be partial in conferring such distinction,we mean on this matter to confer with our cousin of Sussex.That noble Earl,who since his arrival at Kenilworth,and indeed since the commencement of this Progress,had found himself in a subordinate situation to Leicester,was now wearing a heavy cloud on his brow;a circumstance which had not escaped the Queen,who hoped to appease his discontent,and to follow out her system of balancing policy by a mark of peculiar favour,the more gratifying as it was tendered at a moment when his rival's triumph appeared to be complete.
At the summons of Queen Elizabeth,Sussex hastily approached her person;and being asked on which of his followers,being a gentleman and of merit,he would wish the honour of knighthood to be conferred,he answered,with more sincerity than policy,that he would have ventured to speak for Tressilian,to whom he conceived he owed his own life,and who was a distinguished soldier and scholar,besides a man of unstained lineage,only,he said,he feared the events of that night--And then he stopped.
I am glad your lordship is thus considerate,said Elizabeth.
The events of this night would make us,in the eyes of our subjects,as mad as this poor brain-sick gentleman himself--for we ascribe his conduct to no malice--should we choose this moment to do him grace.In that case,said the Earl of Sussex,somewhat discountenanced,your Majesty will allow me to name my master of the horse,Master Nicholas Blount,a gentleman of fair estate and ancient name,who has served your Majesty both in Scotland and Ireland,and brought away bloody marks on his person,all honourably taken and requited.The Queen could not help shrugging her shoulders slightly even at this second suggestion;and the Duchess of Rutland,who read in the Queen's manner that she had expected that Sussex would have named Raleigh,and thus would have enabled her to gratify her own wish while she honoured his recommendation,only waited the Queen's assent to what he had proposed,and then said that she hoped,since these two high nobles had been each permitted to suggest a candidate for the honours of chivalry,she,in behalf of the ladies in presence,might have a similar indulgence.
I were no woman to refuse you such a boon,said the Queen,smiling.