LEARNED LADIES. 247 



when the Queen replied, " When, Sir Walter, will you cease 

 to be a beggar?" the subtle courtier answered, " When your 

 majesty ceases to be a benefactor." 



A most specious reply. 



HENRIETTA. 



With all her childish vanity, Elizabeth was a very learned 



MRS. F. 



Yes; her tutor Ascham places her at the head of the lettered 

 ladies of England of her time. Her proficiency in Latin and 

 Greek is well known; and it is not many years since her 

 translation of Boethius was discovered in the State Paper 

 Office. Her unfortunate rival, Mary of Scotland, also ranks 

 among the learned ladies of the age. When at Paris, she 

 delivered a Latin oration in the hall of the Louvre, with so 

 much grace and eloquence as to fill her hearers with admi- 

 ration; and Elizabeth, as you probably know, gave answers 

 in Latin and Greek to the addresses of the two Universities. 

 You should read Roger Ascham's letter, in which he gives 

 an account of the proficiency of his pupils, Elizabeth, Lady 

 Jane Grey, Edward VI, and Mary. At that time the ladies 

 of the court studied Latin, Greek, Spanish, French, &c. 

 Indeed, under the example of Sir Thomas More, this more 

 learned education of females had become general. His only 

 daughter, Margaret Roper, shone among the ladies of the age; 

 and^when we also recollect the classical education of Lady 

 Jane Grey, of the four daughters of Sir Anthony Cook (the 

 tutor of Edward VI), Elizabeth, Mary, &c., w r e cannot 

 wonder at the dislike that Henry VIII took to Anne of 

 Cleves, whose accomplishments are thus summed up by a 

 contemporary writer: " She could read and write her own 

 language, and sew very well; as for music, it was not the 

 manner of her country to learn it;" add to this her unprepos- 

 sessing appearance, it is not surprising fhat Henry should 

 have so much disliked her. 



