without sophistical niceties, or too subtle speculations, and endeavour to settle things so as might bring the people to an uniformity and cordial agreement in them.' In regard to the state of the nation, he declared, that the queen was very unwilling to lay any new impositions upon them, and that, notwithstanding her necessities, "she would desire no supply, but what they did freely and cheerfully offer."5 The advice which Cecil gave her majesty on the topics alluded to in this speech, was founded on a similar cautiousness of temper, and gives a striking picture of the real difficulties which environed the nation in its passage from the late period of darkness and trouble. "The bishop of Rome," said he, "will be incensed: he will excommunicate the queen, interdict the realm, give it a prey to all princes that will enter upon it, and stir them up to it by all manner of means. The French king will be encouraged more to the war. He will be in great hope of aid from hence, of those discontented with this alteration, looking for tumults and discords. Scotland will have the same causes of boldness. Ireland also will be very difficultly stayed in obedience, by reason of the clergy; that is so addicted to Rome."6 But notwithstanding the threatening aspect of the continent, and the fearful balancing of strength between the hottest partizans of the opposite systems, the kingdom found itself, in a short time, again advancing to prosperity. The difficulties with which the partizans of the Reformation were surrounded, served but to stimulate their leaders to more strenuous exertions: the dangers which threatened the nation from abroad were met by an increased and more lively patriotism; the parliament and the sovereign were closely united in furthering the same purposes; and the church, now aided by the talents and the experience of men who had learned much in suffering, emerged from the cloud with which the sanguinary fumes of persecution had enveloped it. The most general view of the commencement of Elizabeth's reign enables us to discover many prognostics of its subsequent splendour. A superintending and almighty Providence appears to have so ordered it, that the establishment of the reformed religion should be attended, in this country, with the most manifest signs of its utility. Thus the purifying of the church, as to its rites and ceremonies, was followed by a corresponding improvement in the intellectual condition of the people: the advancement of theological science, by the aid of sound learning, more practical than dogmatical, but sufficiently doctrinal to show its constant bearing on divine truth, seemed to prepare the way for the greatest reformation in every other species of study that had as yet been experienced. And this may fairly lead us to observe, that Elizabeth's reign was throughout distinguished by the cultivation of objects of utility; that it was the very opposite of those in which the appearance of prosperity resulted from the factitious display of unprofitable conquests; and that we have hence a very striking proof, how far preferable is the dominion of common sense, of sound practical intelligence, even for poetical literature, to the rule of gaiety and luxury, where the ordinary interests of mankind are forgotten. Elizabeth's reign was the golden age of English literature, because religion and the homely duties, both of public and of private life, were cultivated with 8 Burnet's Hist. Reform. vol. ii. p. 590. 6 Turner, note, p. 315. assiduous care. The sovereign, in her sphere, was an example to each of her subjects in theirs. She was not averse to cheerful displays of wealth, but she was ever anxious to provide for its security. "She made some progress," it is said of her, "in paying those great debts which lay upon the crown; she regulated the coin, which had been much debased by her predecessors; she furnished her arsenals with great quantity of arms from Germany and other places; engaged her nobility and gentry to imitate her example in this particular; introduced into the kingdom the art of making gunpowder and brass cannon; fortified her frontiers on the side of Scotland; made frequent reviews of the militia; encouraged agriculture, by allowing a free exportation of corn; promoted trade and navigation, and so much increased the shipping of her kingdom, both by building vessels of force herself, and suggesting like undertakings to the merchants, that she was justly styled the restorer of naval glory, and the queen of the northern seas. "7 The confidence which this conduct generated in her subjects was of the utmost importance to the country. It went far towards repressing the murmurs of even religious malecontents: the blessings of security, of plenty enjoyed in peace, are not unfelt even by the most bigoted, though they come from their opponents; and they operate like a strong but unsuspected sedative on the mind of many a popular polemic. It ought not, however, to be forgotten, that there were many events in the reign of Elizabeth which tended to imbue the active spirit of the times with higher feelings than those resulting from the mere contemplation of utility. The defeat of the Spaniards, of their invincible armada, produced effects on the nation internally of much greater consequence than those, great as they were, which resulted to it politically. A chivalrous desire to meet the enemy filled the mind of almost every man in the kingdom. To the request which the ministers made to the city of London, that it would contribute five thousand men and fifteen ships, it sent in answer, ten thousand men and thirty ships. This sentiment, while it surmounted all others which the politics of the day called forth, did really exalt the national character, by making the people conscious of the power they possessed, and leading them to understand how entirely the preservation of their freedom depended on their bravery and sacrifices. Even the lowest of the soldiers partook of the enthusiasm; and Stowe says that he saw them marching towards Tilbury "with cheerful countenances, courageous words and gestures, and dancing and leaping, wheresoever they came; while in the camp their most felicity was the hope of fighting with the enemy, where oftimes, divers reports ran of their foes' approach, and that present battle would be given them, then were they as joyful at such news as if lusty giants were to run a race.' These feelings, in minds of a higher order, could not fail to re-awaken those ennobling principles which sometimes sparkled forth in the best days of chivalry, but had been generally stifled in their birth by the burdensome pomp of the institution. Now they had free play, and and such men as Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, and others of the same class, the true ancestors of English nobility, were greatly indebted, for their virtues and accom "8 plishments, to the bright age of patriotism,—of mingled trial and prosperity, of business and of sentiment, in which they had the fortunate lot to be born. Acting in a very different way on the public mind, but not unbeneficially, was the mingled sentiment of indignation and horror with which it beheld the conduct of France towards the unfortunate protestants of that country. Sympathy for those who suffer in defending principles for which we ourselves contend is of a quite different nature to the ordinary emotion of compassion which goes by the same name. Nor can a nation receive a more powerful impulse in its moral advancement and capacities. Corruptions of truth are never so palpable to the unpractised eye as when conjoined with violations of justice and humanity. They compel reason and passion to labour under the same yoke; and, situated as England was at the time of the Bartholomew massacre, there can be little doubt but that the feelings which it inspired contributed in a high degree to animate multitudes with a deeper and more ardent gratitude for the light they enjoyed. Nor were the numerous precautions which it was found necessary to take against the attempts of the Catholic princes and their emissaries without their influence in another point of view. The tone of society was thereby prevented from degenerating into tameness,-pleasure was enjoyed with a richer zest,—a full and warm colouring of natural sentiment diffused itself over the common customs of life,—and the picturesqueness of the age, delighting in masques and revelries, was easily made to furnish types of true poetical force and beauty. We might greatly extend our observations on the circumstances which were combined in rendering the age of Elizabeth so glorious a period of English history. It might be added, that the intercourse which now took place with the most distant countries was in no slight measure favourable to improvement, and that the writers of the day had the advantage of that importation of Spanish literature and historical traditions which had occurred in the preceding reign. But the brief view we have taken is sufficient to point out the main incentives to exertion which the great men of the age received from without; and, while the names of Shakspeare, Spenser, and the rest who formed the splendid galaxy of which they were the centre stars, afford us more than a remembrance of that memorable era, may we look with pleasure, and not without instruction, at even the probable causes which tended to the developement of their genius. I. POLITICAL SERIES. Henry VIE. BORN A. D. 1457.-DIED A. D. 1509. THIS prince was born in 1457. His father was Edmund, earl of Richmond, son of Sir Owen Tudor, by Catherine of France. His mother was Margaret, daughter of John, duke of Somerset, who was grandson, by a spurious branch, of John of Gaunt, the son of Edward III. By the death of his father, he succeeded to the earldom at an early age, and by his birth, he belonged of course to the house of Lancaster, whose claims to the English crown were so zealously disputed with the rival family of York. When, in May, 1471, the adherents of the former line were defeated at the battle of Tewksbury, the earl of Pembroke, young Richmond's uncle, conveyed his nephew, now about fourteen years of age, to Britanny. But political jealousy may gather strength from the absence of its object; nor, probably, was it without reason that Edward IV., the reigning king of England, and of the family of York, felt suspicious of the youthful exile, to whom— although the very act which rendered his relation to the royal house of Lancaster legitimate, made an exception of his particular branch in respect of the succession to the crown-the eyes of the Lancastrian party, in their extremity, appear to have been turned. Edward sought to induce the duke of Britanny to deliver up the earl. This proposal the duke rejected, but, being an ally of Edward, agreed to retain him in custody. The king, however, again applied for the person of Richmond to be given up into his hands, professing an intention that the earl should receive his daughter Elizabeth in marriage. Richmond, accordingly, was about to proceed on his return to the English shore, but, owing, it seems, to a suspicion of the king's intentions timeously occurring to the mind of the duke, the latter still reserved his noble visitor in his own hands. But, after the death of Edward and the usurpation of Richard III. in 1483, the very matrimonial scheme which, with no friendly intention towards the earl perhaps, the former had proposed, was suggested to the duke of Britanny by Bishop Morton, an active supporter of the house of Lancaster. This union, by which the family of York, represented by Elizabeth, could be brought into such intimate connection with that of Lancaster, was agreed to not only by the duke, but also by the queen-dowager, mother of Elizabeth, and the countess of Richmond, mother of the earl, the former of whom made provision for his return, and advised him to levy forces against King Richard-to whose sway she had so much reason to be hostile'-and, on his arrival in England to enter into the intended marriage with her daughter. Accordingly, he set sail on that expedition, the fortunes of which we have already noticed in our sketch of Richard III. In the battle of Bosworth Richmond was at last victorious; he was hailed, ere he left the field, with shouts of "Long live Henry VII !" and the crown, which had been worn by Richard in the battle, was placed on his head.2 1 Many of our readers may remember that scene of Shakspeare-Richard III. Act IV. Scene 4-where an interview between Richard and the queen-dowager, after the loss of her poor princes, Edward V. and the Duke of York, is vividly described. In the course of this scene, wherein the pity and resentment of the bereaved mother are represented, Richard ventures to make proposals to the queen for the hand of her daughter Elizabeth, and at last appears to gain upon her. This incident accords with a historical fact adverted to in the present sketch. *This last circumstance and the great historical event with which it is connected, may remind some of our readers of the following prediction respecting Richmond when a boy, put into the mouth of Henry VI.-Shakspeare, Henry VI. Act IV. Scene 6: Come hither, England's hope, if secret powers It seems unlikely that a character such as that of Richard III., and a throne founded as was that of this infamous usurper, would be able to gain the respect or affection of the people; nor does it appear very wonderful that Richmond, now in his hopeful prime, crowned with the laurels of his late decisive victory, and destined to a marriage with the heiress of the house of York, should have easily consummated an accession to the throne, notwithstanding the insufficiency of his own individual claims and the probable superiority in those of the house of York to the rival ones of that of Lancaster. He seems, however, to have ascended the throne with an undue and impolitic degree of opposition to the family of York. He also ventured to put off his marriage with Elizabeth-the event by which he was to unite the families, and thereby strengthen his claims-until he should have been crowned, and had his accession sanctioned by act of parliament. On the 30th of October, the ceremony of coronation was performed by Bourchier, archbishop of Canterbury, who had also crowned the two preceding sovereigns, Edward IV. and Richard III.; and in the parliament which met, November 7th, a majority appeared to be in favour of the new king, who, in addressing them, adverted to the victory he had lately gained, as well as to his hereditary claims. The act of future succession-which is represented by Mr. Hume as drawn up "with sufficient reserve and moderation" -without setting aside the claims of the house of York, or enforcing Richmond's independent right, was yet so framed as to fix the succession in the heirs of his own body; and, on his applying, next year, for a papal bull in confirmation of his title, it was readily granted by Pope Innocent VIII. Some of the Yorkists were sentenced by an act of attainder; but the king published a proclamation offering pardon to those who had opposed him in the field, provided they submitted within a certain time, and took the oath of allegiance to the new government.3 He also conferred favours on certain of his own adherents, restoring to his honours the eldest son of the duke of Buckingham-"the effect," says Mr. Hume, "of his gratitude to the memory of Buckingham, who had first concerted the plan of his elevation, and who, by his own ruin, had made way for that great event." In January 1486, a few months after his accession, Henry, according to the wishes of his parliament, married Elizabeth, the daughter of Edward IV., who was not crowned, however, until November 1487. To this princess he seems to have greatly failed in conjugal affection. A disposition such as that which, afterwards at least, marked the character of Henry, artful, cold, and avaricious,-seems but little consonant with the amiable performance of the duties of domestic life. His remissness in this respect has also been attributed to violent prejudice against the family of York. Nor can it be denied, that at an early period of his reign, there existed in the northern parts of Englandto which he at this time made a journey-considerable opposition to the cause of the Lancastrian king. A hostile attempt, however, against This pretty lad will prove our country's bliss. His looks are full of peaceful majesty; 3 Rot. Par. |