GARDENS OF CELEBRITIES 
and owing to his zeal in maintaining the discipline of the Church 
of England he gained, and retained, the confidence and favour of 
Elizabeth. Only on one occasion, that on which he so hastily cut 
down the trees of the demesne, was he ever threatened with the with- 
drawal of either, and then the Queen’s displeasure seems to have 
troubled him excessively. But Elizabeth could not doubt the 
Bishop’s devotion to her service, of which rather a comical proof 
is recorded by Strype, who relates, as a signal instance of his courage 
and loyalty, that on one occasion Aylmer had a tooth drawn in 
order to encourage the Queen to submit to the same painful 
operation. The incident, trifling though it is, speaks not a little 
for the princess who was capable of inspiring such an act of self- 
sacrifice. But, as remarked elsewhere, whatever her weaknesses, 
Elizabeth won and held, the affection and confidence of her subjects. 
With remarkable acumen she called to her councils, from a galaxy 
of great men, exactly those best fitted to advise her; and so 
supported, she brought the nation to a pitch of glory and a state of 
freedom unknown before in our island’s history. Thus, notwith- 
standing her absurd vanity, and some errors of policy and conduct, 
she retained the esteem, as well as the love, of her people to the end 
of her long reign. An autocrat indeed she was, and civilian, lay- 
man, and ecclesiastic, deprecated her displeasure ; for (as we shall 
see in the case of a bishop who succeeded Aylmer) it was felt that 
to be out of her favour was to be out of the sun! But the service 
she so imperiously demanded was cheerfully rendered, because in 
the eyes of her people she stood for all that was most dear to them : 
for freedom to worship as they listed, and for escape from a threat- 
ened, and intolerable foreign yoke. And this explains how it was 
that on her demise pans of praise mingled with the national 
lamentations, and that her people’s grief and pride found expression 
in various ways, notably in church monuments. It is true that 
memorial stones are proverbially liars, and that too often they 
extol the quite imaginary talents of mediocre persons, and the 
virtues of those who were faulty in their lives. But when a powerful 
ruler passes away, leaving neither kith nor kin to defend his memory 
against detractors ; when his ability to make or to mar, to bless or 
to ban, dies with him; when at last men dare to declare their 
innermost thoughts ; when frank speech is not lése-majesté, then 
may even memorial stones tell the truth ! 
74 
