226 EiK ^ucen'js <afe 



a crimson scarf. Her skirt is full and flowing, with a 

 broad ermine border, and a train of many yards in length, 

 held up by a trainbearer, a fair and gentle-looking 

 damsel, most probably one of the queen's sisters, who has 

 gracefully folded the extremity around her arms. A rich 

 blue satin petticoat is seen beneath the drapery, and 

 the shoes that peep forth occasionally are of a pointed 

 form.* 



From that old room of state, where stands the fair 

 young queen, thus regally attired, passes on the pageant 

 of king and lady, and bearded counsellors, in solemn 

 pomp, to the stately abbey church of Reading, the lady 

 led by the young Duke of Clarence, where she is pub- 

 licly declared queen ; and where having made her offer- 

 ing, she is receiving the congratulations of the assembled 

 nobility, among whom, some people say, is the Earl of 

 Wai-wick. Brilliant fetes and tournaments succeed, 

 such as have not been seen in England, since the 

 gorgeous days of Edward III., when he held high state 

 in Windsor Castle. Elizabeth presides in all, with her 

 lovely train of sisters, and around them gather, as shep- 

 herds to " the star of Arcady, or Tyrian cynosure," many a 

 gallant knight and noble, proud to tilt in honour of 

 those fair damsels, and to receive from them the prize 

 that beauty awards to valour. Listen now to the loud hum 

 that mighty London sends through all her gates, for sights 

 and sounds of revelry pertain to this bright act in the 

 * Lives of the Queens of England, by Alice Strickland. 



