ENGLAND. 



Thequttn'i 



he could, and proposed to defend to the la>t extremity. 

 He was soon MBBpoiM to surrender at discretion, 

 brought to immediate trial. ele.irly convicted of high 

 trcMin, and condemned to cji|>itiil punishment. Kli/.-i- 

 l>cth hesitated Ion.; between love and resentment, com- 

 panion tor her t'avutiritr, and the care of her own safety. 

 Slu the warrant for his execution ; then coun- 



termanded the order ; again commnnded it to proceiil. 

 and agnin yielded to a return of tenderness in his fa- 

 vour. Hut, hardened against him at last, elm-fly l>y his 

 Mipposed obstinacy in making no application to lu-r for 

 mercy, *he finally consented to his death. His proud 

 heart having Uvn humbled in the solitude of prison, not 

 by fear, but by sentiments of religion, he made a full 

 confession of hi- disloyalty, acknowledged the ju-tire of 

 his sentence, and testified on the scaffold the most suit- 

 able symptoms ofpcnitence and piety. 



The vigour of Elizabeth's mind and the happiness of 

 her life seemed to expire with her favourite ; and, 

 though she went through the business of the state by 

 habit, she took little interest in any public measure or 

 event, .She sunk at last into a profound melancholy, 

 which nothing could alleviate, and for which various 

 reasons have been assigned. Some ascribe this depres- 

 sion of mind to remorse for having been persuaded to 

 pardon the rebel Tyrone, or for some other actions of 

 her life ; others to a discovery which she had made of 

 the correspondence maintained by her courtiers with 

 her successor, the King of Scotland ; others to the ne- 

 glect which, on account of her old age and infirmities, 

 she now imagined that she experienced ; others, to a 

 mere decay of her faculties, in consequence of long and 

 severe exertion of mind; and others, with more proba- 

 bility, to a revival of her regret for the death of Essex, 

 whom she had given up entirely in resentment for his 

 invincible obstinacy, but who, she now discovered, had 

 actually thrown himself upon her clemency, while his 

 enemies had found means to conceal his application. 

 I'roin the moment of making this discovery, she resign- 

 ed herself to the deepest despondency, refused all sus- 

 tenance and consolation, rejected all advice from her 

 physicians, and remained sullen and immoveable on the. 

 floor, venting her grief in sighs and groans. In this 

 situation she continued for ten days and nights, leaning 

 upon cushions which her maids brought to her ; and, as 

 her end was visibly approaching, the council sent the 

 Secretary and Lord Acimiral to know her will respect- 

 ing her successor. She faintly replied, that, as she liad 

 held a regal sceptre, she wished a king to succeed her, 

 and that her heir, therefore, could be no other than her 

 near kinsman the King of Scots. Being then exhorted 

 by the Archbishop of Canterbury to fix ?jer thoughts 

 upon God, she answered, that her mind did not in the 

 wander from him. She soon after fell into a le- 

 thargic slumber, which continued lor some hours, and 

 then expired without any farther struggle, in the" 70th 

 ye;ir of her age, and the 45th of her reign. 



The character of Queen Kli/abeth varied consider- 

 ably with the circumstances in which she was placed. 

 At tiiir commencement of her reign, she was humble 

 and moderate ; and, ascending the throne in highly 

 difficult circumstances, she conducted the government 

 with unexampled felicity and success. But she after- 

 terwards became more haughty and severe ; and fre- 

 quently exerted the powers of her prerogative in the 

 most violent and oppressive manner. She pos>essed, 

 B most singular talents for government ; and, 

 in point of vigour, steadiness, penetration, vigilance, 

 Magnanimity, and address, may stand a comparison 



with any in any pe riod of the world. In the ' 



choice of her I.- *he wa.- ot'ti-n guided by un- s '.~" 



worthy and capricious motives; but her able min: 

 and commanders, to v much of the 



glory of her rcijrn. if not always selected by her own 



need and supported by 



the coi'Mai:e\ of her friendship. Her economy was 

 very remarkable, and enabled her, will) a small reve- 

 nue and few supplies from her peonle, to execute, the 

 greate t undertakings ; but it was a virtue wli'ch she 

 practiced more fr< in natural disposition. ;.nd a di-.-ireof 

 being independent of parliamentary aid. than from ;uiy 

 tender concern for her subject'*. She VM great, in 

 short, as a public character ; and all her -i ,uali- 



ties were preMTVvd in clue subordination by her own 

 self-command. But, in privat w.is le.-s to be 



admired ; and had many infirmities, which all her e\ 

 cellcnt sense and strength of mind could not overcome, 

 and which made her most disliked and feared by ' 

 who were placed nearest to her person. Deficient in 

 sincerity and sympathy ; \ain of her beauty, which 

 she only could discover; delighted with the prai 

 her charms, even at the nge of sixty-five; jealous of 

 every female competitor, to a degree which the young- 

 est and sillie>t of her sex might despite ; and subject to 

 sallies of anger, which no sense of dignity could restrain, 

 her character adds one more to the many instance* 

 which occur in human life, and which are calculated to 

 subdue human pride, of the greatest moral weakn 

 united with the highest intellectual superiority. But 

 whatever was the merit of the sovereign, the pro 

 of the English nation in arts, .inns, commerce, agricul- 

 ture, and literature, during the reign of Elizabeth, is 

 unparalleled in history. The genius of the people, if 

 not the wisdom of the government, surmounted every 

 obstacle; and a kingdom, formerly unsettled and stor- 

 my like the element by which it is enoonipMwd, MIC- 

 cessively sinking under foreign invasion, or torn by do- 

 mestic disputes, became industrious, enterprising, po- 

 lite, powerful, secure at home, and formidable abroad. 

 Its external commerce, by the exertions of it.s adventu- 

 rous navigators, was pushed to the meat distant quar- 

 ters of the globe; and its internal manufactures, aided 

 by the Flemish artists, who were driven from their own 

 country by the oppressive measures of Spain, flourished 

 beyond all precedent in every district of the country, in 

 spite of the oppressive monopolies granted by the crown. 

 By the progress of religious enquiries, and the perusal 

 oi the scriptures in the amended translation, the people 

 were improved in taste as well as in morals; ami though 

 the queen herself was more vain of shining by her own 

 learning, than liberal in the encouragement oi' genius, 

 many of the nobles and higher clergy, both by their 

 patronage and example, contributed so essentially to 

 the improvement of the English language, that many 

 writers have been disposed to tix its Augustan age U 

 that period. Liberty, indeed, still continued to depend 

 upon the pleasure of the government; but. though Eli- 

 zabeth often stretched her power to actual despotism, 

 yet the people were less abjectly submissive than in for- 

 mer Ireigns ; and even under her imperious sway, those 

 noble principles of freedom, which have at length perva- 

 ded the British soil, began to spring up, and to find a 

 shelter beneath the fostering protection of enlightened 

 religious zeal. 



Eli/.abfth was succeeded by James VI. of Scotland, 

 and I. of England ; and from the pi-rod of his aeie-- 

 cion, the history of both kingdoms is comprehended ifti- 

 der the article UHITAIN. (y) 



