Question

response to erik of sweden’s proposal, 1560
many men wanted to marry queen elizabeth. one of these men was king erik of sweden. he had proposed to her before she became queen, and tried going to england to visit her, but was not able to due to storms. instead, he sent his brother to elizabeth. this was her reply to the king:
most serene prince our very dear cousin,
a letter truly yours both in the writing and sentiment was given us on 30 december by your very dear brother, the duke of finland. and while we perceive there from that the zeal and love of your mind towards us is not diminished, yet in part we are grieved that we cannot gratify your serene highness with the same kind of affection. and that indeed does not happen because we doubt in any way of your love and honour, but, as often we have testified both in words and writing, that we have never yet conceived a feeling of that kind of affection towards anyone.
we therefore beg your serene highness again and again that you be pleased to set a limit to your love, that it advance not beyond the laws of friendship for the present nor disregard them in the future. and we in our turn shall take care that whatever can be required for the holy preservation of friendship between princes we will always perform towards your serene highness. it seems strange for your serene highness to write that you understand from your brother and your ambassadors that we have entirely determined not to marry an absent husband, and that we shall give you no certain reply until we shall have seen your person.
which sentence from response to erik of sweden best summarizes queen elizabeth’s purpose for writing the letter?
and while we perceive there from that the zeal and love of your mind towards us is not diminished, yet in part we are grieved that we cannot gratify your serene highness with the same kind of affection.
and that indeed does not happen because we doubt in any way of your love and honour, but, as often we have testified both in words and writing, that we have never yet conceived a feeling of that kind of affection towards anyone.
and we in our turn shall take care that whatever can be required for the holy preservation of friendship between princes we will always perform towards your serene highness.

Explanation:

To determine the sentence that summarizes Queen Elizabeth’s purpose, we analyze each option:

• The first sentence acknowledges Erik’s love but expresses grief at not reciprocating, which is part of the message but not the core purpose.
• The second sentence explains why she can’t reciprocate (she has never felt romantic affection for anyone), which is central to her purpose of declining the proposal.
• The third sentence focuses on preserving friendship, which is a secondary point after explaining her inability to love him romantically.

Thus, the middle sentence best captures her purpose of explaining her lack of romantic feelings.

Answer:

The second sentence (the one in the middle box): "And that indeed does not happen because we doubt in any way of your love and honour, but, as often we have testified both in words and writing, that we have never yet conceived a feeling of that kind of affection towards anyone."