C E C 654 



Cecil, address; unwearied application and cool considera- 

 Robert. t j on constitute the basis of his fame. Neither his 

 *"" "V""'' speeches nor writings indicate any attempt to display 

 imagination, all appears the rigid and deliberate ex- 

 ercise of intellect. It is needless to say, how much 

 more of the statesman is discovered by these qualities, 

 than by that which so often constitutes a passport to 

 power, a fluency in public speaking. And when 

 we look back to the judgment with which Burleigh 

 steered the vessel of the state, in times no less peri- 

 lous than the present, we may be induced to wish 

 that the habits of our ministers were more akin to 

 those of this cautious and successful statesman ; in 

 particular, that it were in their power to retrench the 

 share of their time appropriated to parliamentary de- 

 bate. A larger proportion would thus be left for 

 the exercise of that reflection in the closet, which so 

 eminently characterised the cabinet of Queen Eliza- 

 beth, and was the source of that renown with which 

 his name has been handed down to posterity. (#) 



CECIL, ROBERT, Earl of Salisbury, son of the 

 preceding, though less eminent than his father, was 

 sufficiently distinguished to merit a place in British 

 biography. He appears, for the date is by no means 

 free of doubt, to have been born in 1 563 ; and, after 

 serving in the English fleet against the armada, and 

 being returned member for Hertfordshire, he was ap- 

 pointed, in 1596, second secretary of state under Sir 

 Francis Walsingham. Having the advantage of his 

 father's admirable example and instruction, he was 

 thought worthy to succeed him in the high station of 

 lord treasurer, and continued to fill it during the re- 

 maining years of Elizabeth's life. Though frequent- 

 ly at variance with the Earl of Essex, he did not 

 yield to that impetuous nobleman in rooted antipathy 

 to the Spaniards. Attached as he was to the queen, 

 and zealous in pleading in parliament in defence of 

 her obnoxious measures, he was too knowing a cour- 

 tier to neglect the rising sun, and ventured on a cor- 

 respondence with King James, which had at one 

 time been well nigh discovered by his suspicious mis- 

 tress. Being still a commoner, (for he was a younger 

 son of Lord Burleigh,) King James, on his acces- 

 sion, bestowed on him the honour of a peerage, and 

 soon after made him one of the knights of the gar- 

 ter. Though not continued in the post of treasurer, 

 he was confidentially employed, and was almost the 

 only minister who resisted the growing influence of 

 the Spaniards at court. On the death of the Earl 

 of Dorset in 1608, he was appointed to succeed him 

 as treasurer, a place of great difficulty, in conse- 

 quence of the king's thoughtless profusion. To this 

 unfortunate disposition he made so much opposition 

 as prudence allowed, and was, on the other hand, 

 indefatigable in drawing the utmost from the royal 

 demesnes. At the same time, he was by no means 

 unmindful of his own interest, and, though he sur- 

 rendered the patent for the mastership of the court 

 of wards, he found means to amass a very consider- 

 able fortune. He approved himself in parliament 

 an equally zealous advocate for the prerogative un- 

 der James as under Elizabeth. His constitution, al- 

 ways delicate, was impaired by application to busi- 

 ness, and began to give way in 1609. The decay 

 was progressive till 1612, in which year his death 

 took place. 



Compared with his father, the Earl of Salisbury 



C E L 



will be found a minister of perhaps equal ability, but 

 inferior in candour and probity. His particular ta- 

 lent was in diplomacy, for no man could more dex- 

 terously penetrate, in a conference, the views of fo- 

 reign ministers, or conceal his own. Notwithstand- 

 ing his love of money, he was completely above the 

 reach of corruption from abroad. His exceptionable 

 acts in raising public supplies, by the sales of titles, 

 and otherwise, are to be attributed chiefly to the 

 factious and corrupt character of the court. The 

 great imputations on his memory, are his hostile mea- 

 sures against two eminent but unfortunate men, the 

 Earl or Essex and Sir Walter Raleigh. In regard 

 to the former, it is pretty clear, that the part he act- 

 ed was dictated by his duty to his sovereign and his 

 country ; and as to the latter, it is possible, that 

 when, by the publication* of farther documents, we 

 become fully acquainted with the history of the 

 transaction, we shall find reason to acquit him of 

 vindictive persecution. Those who dislike his me- 

 mory, in consequence of his subserviency to the 

 crown, may have some satisfaction in learning, that 

 his life at court was by no means a happy one. In 

 1603, after James's accession, he wrote to his friend, 

 Sir John Harrington : " Good knight, I am pushed 

 from the throne of comfort, and know not where the 

 winds and waves of a court will bear me. 'Tis a 

 great task to prove one's honesty, and yet not spoil 

 one's fortune. I wish I waited now in your pre- 

 sence-chamber, with ease at my food, and rest in my 

 bed." And, in his last illness, he addressed to his 

 friend, Sir Walter Cope, the following remarkable 

 expression : " Ease and pleasure quake to hear of 

 death ; but my life, full of cares and miseries, desi- 

 reth to be dissolved." 



In his person the Earl of Salisbury was little in- 

 debted to nature, being very crooked ; but his coun- 

 tenance was not unbecoming ; and he was remarked 

 for the fierceness of his eye. He was allowed by his 

 enemies to be an excellent speaker, though an indif- 

 ferent writer. Several of his speeches were printed, 

 as well as a book against the Papists, and Notes on a 

 Discourse (by Dr John Dee) on the Reformation of 

 the Calendar. His official letters to our foreign 

 ambassadors are very full and explicit. Many of 

 them are to be found in Sawyer's Memorials of State, 

 a work of 3 vols, folio, published in 1725. (#) 



CECROPIA, a genus of plants of the class Dice- 

 cia, and order Diandria. See BOTANY, p. 133. 



Cecil, 

 Robert, 



II 

 Gelario. 



CECROPS. See ATHENS, Vol. III. p. 13. 



CEDRELA, a genus of plants of the class Pen- 

 tandria, and order Monogynia. See BOTANY, p. 153. 



CEDROTA, a genus of plants of the class Oc- 

 tandria, and order Monogynia. See BOTANY, p. 204. 



CELANO, the name of a town and lake of Na- 

 ples, in the province of Abruzzo Ultra. It is about 

 47 miles in circumference, 10 miles wide at its great- 

 est breadth, four at its least breadth, and its average 

 depth 12 feet. This lake is embosomed in an am- 

 phitheatre of lofty mountains crowned with snow, 

 and its margin is covered with numerous villages, and 

 well cultivated farms. The ground is well incloeed, 

 and the sides of the mountains are covered with thri- 

 ving woods. The lake abounds with a variety of 

 fish, and wild fowl in great quantities repair to it at 

 stated seasons. The emissary of Claudian, for drain- 

 ing the lake, is about a mile and a half from the 



