THE FELICITIES OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. 479 



worthy of so great a princess : or if I should desire 

 to give her virtues the true grace and lustre, I must 

 fall into a history of her life, which requireth both 

 better leisure and a better pen than mine is. Thus 

 much in brief according to my ability : but to say 

 the truth, the only commender of this lady s virtues 

 is time ; which for as many ages as it hath run, hath 

 not yet shewed us one of the female sex equal to her 

 in the administration of a kingdom. 



