Chips from a German Workshop, Volume 3: Essays on Literature, Biography, and AntiquitiesMüller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
Religion
Chips from a German Workshop, Volume 3: Essays on Literature, Biography, and Antiquities
Müller, F. Max (Friedrich Max)
Comparative linguistics; Folklore; Literature -- History and criticism; Mythology; Religions
After they had seen everything in London—not omitting the ship in which
Francis Drake, _nobilissimus pyrata_, was said to have circumnavigated the
world,—they went to Greenwich. Here they were introduced into the
presence-chamber, and saw the Queen. The walls of the room were covered
with precious tapestry, the floor strewed with hay. The Queen had to pass
through on going to chapel. It was a Sunday, when all the nobility came to
pay their respects. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London
were present. When divine service began, the Queen appeared, preceded and
followed by the court. Before her walked two barons, carrying the sceptre
and the sword, and between them the Great Chancellor of England with the
seal. The Queen is thus minutely described:—
“She was said (_rumor erat_) to be fifty-five years old. Her face
was rather long, white, and a little wrinkled. Her eyes small,
black, and gracious; her nose somewhat bent; her lips compressed,
her teeth black (from eating too much sugar). She had ear-rings of
pearls; red hair, but artificial, and wore a small crown. Her
breast was uncovered (as is the case with all unmarried ladies in
England), and round her neck was a chain with precious gems. Her
hands were graceful, her fingers long. She was of middle stature,
but stepped on majestically. She was gracious and kind in her
address. The dress she wore was of white silk, with pearls as
large as beans. Her cloak was of black silk with silver lace, and
a long train was carried by a marchioness. As she walked along she
spoke most kindly with many people, some of them ambassadors. She
spoke English, French, and Italian; but she knows also Greek and
Latin, and understands Spanish, Scotch, and Dutch. Those whom she
addressed bent their knees, and some she lifted up with her hand.
To a Bohemian nobleman of the name of Slawata, who had brought
some letters to the Queen, she gave her right hand after taking
off her glove, and he kissed it. Wherever she turned her eyes,
people fell on their knees.”
There was probably nobody present who ventured to scrutinize the poor
Queen so impertinently as Paulus Hentznerus. He goes on to describe the
ladies who followed the Queen, and how they were escorted by fifty
knights. When she came to the door of the chapel, books were handed to
her, and the people called out, “God save the Queen Elizabeth!” whereupon
the Queen answered, “I thanke you myn good peuple.” Prayers did not last
more than half an hour, and the music was excellent. During the time that
the Queen was in chapel, dinner was laid, and this again is described in
full detail.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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