She was buried in Westminster Abbey in the same grave with her sister. Mary Tudor. Her successor, James I., erected a monument to her memory. On a slab of pure white marble the effigy of this remarkable queen lies beneath a stately canopy. Her head rests on embroidered cushions, her feet on a couchant lion. Royal robes hang around her form in classic folds, and her closely curled hair is covered with a simple cap. She has no crown, the sceptre has been broken from one hand, also the cross from the imperial orb which she holds in the other. That learned English philosopher, Lord Bacon, has written of Queen Elizabeth: "She was pious, moderate, constant, and an enemy to novelty. She hated vice, and studied to preserve an honorable name. No age has ever produced her like for the government of a kingdom." {111} [Illustration: 0117] {113} CHAPTER V. ANNE OF DENMARK, QUEEN-CONSORT OF JAMES THE FIRST. (A.D. 1575-1618.) |Anne of Denmark was certainly less intellectual than some of her predecessors, and on many occasions showed herself wanting in judgment and common sense; but her political position was of immense importance, because she was the wife of the first monarch who ruled over the whole of the British isles. The Orkney and Shetland islands had fallen into the hands of the Danish King during the preceding century, and were yielded to James VI. of Scotland on condition of his marrying the Princess Anne. These islands were of value because of their geographical position; for they had become the rendezvous of pirates, who found them convenient headquarters whence their raids could be made along the British coast. Princess Anne's parents were Frederic II. of Denmark, one of the richest princes of Europe, and Sophia, a woman loved and admired for her domestic virtues. These royal parents had such luxurious ideas about the rearing of their children that although Anne was a strong, healthy child, well-formed in every respect, she was never permitted to walk until she was nine years of age. [[A.D 1585.]] Negotiations for her marriage began when she was ten; and then it was thought proper to teach her to sew, read, and dance, before she could be regarded as an accomplished maid. {114}James VI. was born at Edinburgh Castle, but the poor little unfortunate was early deprived of parental care; for while he was yet a baby his father, Lord Darnley, was killed, and his luckless mother, Mary Stuart, was forced to seek refuge in England. At the early age of fourteen months James was proclaimed King of Scotland. On that occasion the Earl of Marr, his guardian, carried the infant in procession and placed him on the throne; another peer held the crown above his head, while a third placed the globe and sceptre in his little hands, and Lord Marr repeated the necessary oath in the name of the little one, who was then carried back to his nursery.