4 3 ejus cultu, maximum argumentum est, quod religionem pontificiam, regno sororis auctoritate publica et multa cura impense stabilitam,1 et altas jam radices agentem, atque omnium qui in magistratibus et cum potestate erant consensu et studio firmatam; tamen quandoquidem nec verbo Dei, nec primitivæ puritati, nec conscientiæ suæ consentanea esset, maximo animo et paucissimis adjumentis convulsit et abrogavit. Neque id præceps aut acri impetu; sed prudenter et tempestive.2 Idque tum ex multis aliis rebus, tum ex responso quodam suo per occasionem facto conjicere licet. Nam primis regni diebus, cum in omen et gratulationem novi principatus vincti (ut moris est) solverentur, accessit ad eam, ad sacellum tum pergentem, aulicus quidam, qui ex natura et consuetudine jocandi quandam 5 licentiam sibi assumpserat. Isque, sive ex motu proprio sive a quodam 6 prudentiore immissus, libellum supplicem ei porrexit, et magna frequentia clara voce addidit, Restare adhuc quatuor aut quinque vinctos, idque immerito; illis se libertatem ut reliquis petere. Eos esse quatuor Evangelistas, atque etiam apostolum Paulum, qui diu ignota lingua tanquam carcere conclusi, inter populum conversari non possent. Cui illa prudentissime, Sciscitandum adhuc melius ab ipsis esse, utrum liberari vellent. Atque ita improvisæ quæstioni suspenso responso occurrit, veluti omnia integra sibi servans. Neque tamen timide et per vices hæc instillavit; sed ordine gravi et maturo, habito inter partes colloquio, et peractis regni comitiis, 1 et stabilitam. R. 8 aliis multis. R. 5 licentiam quandam. R. 2 tempestive fecit. R. 4 quopiam. MS. 8 vellent, necne. R. 1 tum demum (idque intra orbem unius anni vertentis) ita omnia quæ ad ecclesiam pertinebant ordinavit et stabilivit, ut ne punctum quidem ab illis ad extremum vitæ diem recedi pateretur. Quin et singulis fere regni comitiis, ne quid in ecclesiæ disciplina aut ritibus innovaretur publice monuit. Atque de religione hactenus. Quod si quis ex tristibus 2 leviora illa exaggeret, quod coli, ambiri, quin et amoris nomine se celebrari, extolli, sinebat, volebat, eaque ultra sortem ætatis continuabat: hæc tamen, si mollius accipias, admiratione et ipsa carere non possunt; cum talia sint fere, qualia in fabulosis narrationibus inveniantur, de regina quadam in insulis beatis ejusque aula atque institutis, quæ amorum admirationem recipiat, lasciviam prohibeat sin severius, habent et illa admirationem, eamque vel maximam, quod hujusmodi deliciæ non multum famæ, nil prorsus majestati ejus officerent; nec imperium relaxarent, nec impedimento notabili rebus et negotiis gerendis essent. Hujusmodi enim res se cum publica fortuna commiscere haud raro solent. Verum, ut sermones nostros claudamus: fuit certe ista princeps bona et morata, etiam talis videri voluit: vitia oderat, et se bonis artibus clarescere cupiebat. Sane ad mentionem morum illius, in mentem mihi venit quod dicam. Cum scribi ad legatum suum jussisset de quibusdam mandatis ad Reginam Matrem Valesiorum separatim perferendis; atque qui ab epistolis erat clausulam quandam inseruisset, ut legatus diceret, tanquam ad favorem aucupandum,7 Esse nimirum ipsas duas fæminas principes, a quibus, in usu rerum et imperandi virtute et artibus, non minora quam a summis viris expectarentur; comparationem non tulit, sed deleri jussit; Seque artes longe dissimiles et instituta diversa ad imperandum afferre dixit. Nec a potestate aut longo imperio depravata erat; quin et iis laudibus maxime delectabatur, si quis hujusmodi sermones instituisset, ut eam1 etiamsi in privata et mediocri fortuna ævum traduxisset, tamen non absque aliqua excellentiæ nota apud homines victuram fuisse, apte insinuaret.2 Adeo nihil a fortuna sua ad virtutis laudem mutuare aut transferre volebat. Verum si in ejus laudes, sive morales sive politicas, ingrederer, aut in communes quasdam virtutum notas et commemorationes incidendum est, quod tam rara principe minus dignum; aut si propriam ipsis lucem et gratiam conciliare velim, in vitæ ejus historiam prolabendum, quod et majus otium et venam uberiorem desiderat. Ego enim hæc paucis, ut potui. Sed revera dicendum est; non alium verum hujus fœminæ laudatorem inveniri posse, quam tempus: quod cum tam diu jam volvitur, nihil simile, in hoc sexu, quoad rerum civilium administrationem peperit. 1 The first clause of this sentence is omitted by Rawley, and the rest stands thus - Delectabatur etiam haud parum si quis forte hujusmodi sermonem intulisset, Eam.... fuisse. 2 The two last words are omitted by Rawley. ON THE FORTUNATE MEMORY OF ELIZABETH QUEEN OF ENGLAND. ELIZABETH both in her nature and her fortune was a wonderful person among women, a memorable person among princes. But it is not to monks or closet penmen that we are to look for guidance in such a case; for men of that order, being keen in style, poor in judgment, and partial in feeling, are no faithful witnesses as to the real passages of business. It is for ministers and great officers to judge of these things, and those who have handled the helm of government, and been acquainted with the difficulties and mysteries of state business. The government of a woman has been a rare thing at all times; felicity in such government a rarer thing still; felicity and long continuance together the rarest thing of all. Yet this Queen reigned forty-four years complete, and did not outlive her felicity. Of this felicity I propose to say something; without wandering into praises; for praise is the tribute of men, felicity the gift of God. First, then, I set it down as part of her felicity that she was raised to sovereignty from a private fortune; not so much because of that feeling so deeply seated in man's nature, whereby benefits which come unexpected and unhoped for are always counted the greater blessings; but because Princes who are brought up in the reigning house with assured expectation of succeeding to the throne, are commonly spoiled by the indulgence and licence of their education, and so turn out both less capable and less temperate. And therefore you will find that the best kings are they who have been trained in both schools of fortune; such as Henry the Seventh with us, and Lewis the Twelfth in France; both of whom, of late years and almost at the same time, came to their kingdoms not only from a private but from an adverse and troubled fortune; and both were eminently prosperous; the one excelling in wisdom, the other in justice. Much like was the case of this Queen, whose early times and opening prospects fortune chequered with uncertainty, that afterwards when she was settled in the throne it might prove to the last constant and equable. For Elizabeth at her birth was destined to the succession, then disinherited, afterwards superseded. Her fortune in her brother's reign was more propitious and serene, in her sister's more troubled and doubtful. And yet she did not pass suddenly from the prison to the throne, with a mind embittered and swelling with the sense of misfortune, but was first restored to liberty and comforted with expectation; and so came to her kingdom at last quietly and prosperously, without tumult or competitor. All which I mention to show how Divine Providence, meaning to produce an excellent Queen, passed her by way of preparation |