E N G L A N 



661 



Elizabeth's 

 wise and vi- 

 gorous ad- 

 ministra- 

 tion. 



Hiitory. which, it is at present established. Thus did England 

 *"""Y~"' change its religious tenets four times in the space of 32 

 years ; but, in this last instance alone, without com- 

 pulsion. The people wei;e now Protestants from incli- 

 nation, chiefly in consequence of the persecutions un- 

 der Mary ; and out of 9400 benefieed clergymen 

 throughout the kingdom, only 1 4 bishops, 1 2 archdea- 

 cons, 15 heads of colleges, and about SO of the paro- 

 chial clergy, quitted their preferments on account of 

 the Reformation. 



Elizabeth, now seated on a Protestant throne, found 

 all the neighbouring states, France, Scotland, Spain, 

 and the Pope, openly or secretly combined against her; 

 and having thus no friend to aid her in emergencies, 

 she sought her great resource in the affection of her 

 subjects, and the wisdom of her administration. To 

 make herself beloved by the people, and at the same 

 time feared by her courtiers, became therefore the go- 

 verning maxims of her conduct. By fmgal manage- 

 ment of the national treasure, and by the most graci- 

 ous affability in her public appearances, she acquired a 

 degree of popularity, which no other English sovereign 

 ever attained ; and by a sparing distribution of gifts to 

 her favourites, together with strict impartiality in dis- 

 pensing rewards or punishments, she kept the great in 

 .sufficient subjection. Her chief minister was Robert 

 Dudley, son of the late Duke of Northumberland, to 

 whom she cherished an attachment, for which, as he 

 had neither great abilities nor virtues, it is not easy to 

 account ; but, to make amends for his incapacity, the 

 two favourites next in power were Bacon and Cecil, 

 men of the highest talents and most indefatigable ap- 

 plication, who regulated the finances of the kingdom, 

 mid directed all the great political measures of her 

 reign. 



While measures were pursuing for settling the pub- 

 lic religion at home, negotiations were, at the same 

 time, going on for peace with France; and a trenty was 

 at length concluded, by which it was stipulated, that 

 the French mon.irch should restore Calais at the end of 

 eight years ; t!int, in case of failure, he should pay 

 500,000 crowns, and the queen's title to Calais still re- 

 main ; that if Elizabeth broke the peace with France 

 or Scotland during the interval, she should forfeit all 

 claims to Calais ; and that if the kinjj of France made 

 war on England during that time, he should be bound 

 Quarrel immediately to restore that fortress. A peace with 

 kh the Scotland was the natural consequence of that with 

 Queen <>f France ; but a serious ground of quarrel soon arose be- 

 ***>** twccn the English and Scottish quee<i., which v 



tended with the most important coi I, and 



whu-h was removed only by the death 'ji lac latter. 

 The birth of Elizabeth was liable to the cinirge of ille- 

 gitimacy, and the next heir vf blood to 

 throne w.is the qii.vn of Scots, now ii.::;n,'(l t*. 

 phin of France. The French king had ; 

 soliciting at Rome, a lu.il of excommunication 

 the daughter of Anne Uoleyne ; r.nd Mary had been 

 persuaded to assume openly the ari'is and title of Eng- 

 land. This was vindicated bv !'r descent from the 

 blood royal, and by the ex-mjih- of other princes; but, 

 as it had not been done during the reign oi' Mary, Eli- 

 zabeth considered it as indicating an intention to dis- 

 pute, ,n the first opportunity, the legitimacy of her 

 birth, and the validity ol her title to the crown. Hence, 

 she conceived a violent jealousy against the queen of 

 , as at once her most formidable rival and mortal 

 enemy. Determine:!, as i'ar as possible, to incapaci- 

 tate her opponents from executing nny project against 



Peace wiih 

 1+,'J. 



her, she readily listened to an application from the History- 

 Scottish reformers, for assistance against the French N *T"~*' 

 party in that kingdom ; and by the most prompt and 

 powerful succours, soon secured an honourable and ad- 

 vantageous treaty for herself and her friends. It was 

 stipulated, that the French should evacuate Scotland, 

 and that the queen of Scots should abstain from bear- 

 ing the royal arms of England; while, at the same 

 time, by procuring favourable terms for the Scottish 

 Protestants, she continued to possess a stronger infln- 

 ence over them, than their native sovereign was eve* 

 able to acquire. But Mary, afterwards refusing to ra- 

 tify the treaty, and thus to moke a formal renunciation 

 of her pretensions, unless she were declared to be next 

 in the succession to the English crown, and Elizabeth 

 determined never to assist in any respect in strengthen- 

 ing the claims of so formidable a rival, the two queens, 

 amidst all the appearance of cordial friendship, conti- 

 nued to entertain a perpetual jealousy of each others 

 intentions. 



In the mean time, Elizabeth, leaving the queen of W ;.. e ^ 

 Scots sufficiently occupied with domestic contentions, vernment el' 

 turned her attention to regulate the affairs of her o*n Elizabeth, 

 kingdom, and to promote the prosperity of her sub- 

 jects. She adopted measures for paying off the debts 

 of the crown, and reformed the coin which her prede- 

 cessors had debased ; furnished her arsenals with mili- 

 tary stores, and provided for the general defence of her 

 dominions ; encouraged agriculture and commerce, by 

 wise regulations ; and particularly exerted her endea- 

 vours to increase the naval power of the kingdom. She 

 bestowed great encouragement also upon the semina- 

 ries of learning ; and set an example of moderation and 

 justice to the Catholic party, by providing for the more 

 faithful payment of the pensions, which had been grant- 

 ed to the dispossessed monks, but which had hitherto 

 been in a great measure neglected. Powerful at home, 

 and respected abroad, she received numerous propo- 

 sals of marriage, both from surrounding princes, and 

 from the more eminent of her own subjects. The Arch- 

 duke Charles, second son of the Eijiperor; Casimir, 

 son of the Elector Palatine; Eric, King of Sweden; 

 Adolph, Duke of Holstein ; the Earl of Arran, heir to 

 the crown of Scotland ; the Earl of Arundel, distin- 

 guished by his nobility and wealth ; Sir William Pick- 

 ering, a man much esteemed for his personal merit ; 

 and, above all, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, were 

 all competitors for her hand ; but, while she publicly 

 declared her resolution to lead a single life, she gave to 

 all her suitors such gentle refusals, as generally encou- 

 raged them to persevere in the pursuit ; and this she 

 has, been supposed to have done partly from motives of 

 policy, to keep them more attached to her interests, 

 and partly from taking pleasure, as a woman, in recei- 

 ving professions of love. While thus apparently deter- Elizabeth's 

 mined to have no heir of her own body, and avoiding tyrannical 

 carefully to fix any successor to the crown, she seems conduct. 

 to have also resolved, either from policy or malignity, 

 to prevent every one, who had pretensions to the throne, 

 1'rom having either heirs or successors. Lady Catha- 

 rine Grey, ycu..^i'st sister of Lady .lane, and now the 

 t claimant, after the queen of Scots, to the throne 

 of England, having private!/ married the Earl of Hert- 

 ford, without the consent of Elizabeth, they were both 

 committed to the Tower in separate prisons, where they 

 suffered ten years of severe confinement ; till the death 

 of the lady, by removing the unrelenting jealousy of. 

 the queen, procured the liberty of her husband. A si- 

 milar anxiety to prevent the marriage of the queen of 



