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Show ( I ~HS. A Collection, of tl;e F elicitieJ, of~een Elizabeth. ;;e can commend; Certainly, for my part, I hold true AdmirtJtion, to be the highefl: Degree of Contmendation. And befid es, fuch Felicities as we have recounted, could not befall any t'rincejjc,but fuch an one, as was extraordinarily fupported, and cheriilied by Gods Favour;And had much in her own Perfon,& Rar~ VertHes, to create and workout, unto her felf, fuch a Fortune. Notwithfran ding, i have thought good,. to ~nfert fum:thing n?w, concerning her Morall Part; Yet onlr 1!1 thofe thmgs, whtch have minifi ·red occafion, to fome Malhctous Tonguei, to traduce her . This ff2.!!e~n, as touching her Religion) was Pious; Mod~rate; Con· fta1tt aod an Enemy to Novelty. Firfr for her Piety; Though the · fam~ were mofr confpicuous, in her .A tis, and the Fffrm of her Government; yet it was Pourtrayed alfo, in the common Courfe of her Lif~:, and her daily Comportment. Seldome _would {he be abfent~ trom Hearing Div~ne Ser-vic~)and other Duues of R.~ligion ~ either tn her CbappeU, or tn her Prrvy Clofe•. In the readmg of . the Scriptures, and the writings of the Fathers, efpecial!y of S~int . Auguftine, {he was very Frequent: She compofed certain Prayers, her tel~ upon emergent occafions. Whenfoever fhe named God, though it wete in common difcourfe, {he would,, for the mo!t part add~, The Title of M.zksr; faying; God my Malter: And : compofe~ bQth her Eyes, and Countenance, to a Submifnefie, . and Reverence. This I have often (my felf) obferved, being :in her prefencc. No"': whe.reas fome have divulged her uomin~fulneffe of MortalitJ) 10 that fue would never endure any Menuon either of her .Age, or Death, it i~t moil: falfe: Fer fhe would of. te~, and tlitat, many years, before her Death, with a great deal of . Meeknefie, profdfe :x that ilie fQund her felf grown , an old Woman; And fhe would, fometimes, open her felf, what fhe liked beft, for an Infcriptiott upon bel! Tom-be ; Saying; That fhe loved no pompous, or vain-glorious, Titles_, but would onely . have, a Lice, or two, for her Memory; wheretn, her NafN·e; and . her 1/irginifJ; and the years ofher Raign; and her Eftablifhing of Religion; and her Maintaining of P-eace; fhould be, in. the fewefi word~, comprehend€d. It is true, ~hat whi~c:fi: fu€ was in her . vigorous years, and able to bear Chtldren, 1( at any ti111e ilie . were moved, to declare her suace.ffo~r, fhe wou!d make Anf wer; i hat jbc would never end11re ,. to f'ee her windingfheet,. before her Eyes. And yet notwithfianding, fome few years, before her deatQ, one day, when file was in a deep Meditation, and, (as it may be ghdfed:J in that ofher Mortality, One, that might be bold, faid 1\ unto her;Jl,-Jadam, there are divers offi,u, a'!d great pl~ces in the fl4te, which yoH ksep toslong void ~.She arofe u F:t m fome dtfpleafure:> and : I faid ; I am fore, my office wiU not be long void. As for her Mod~ratenifi in Religion> I lhall feem to be at a !bod, -, :inreiZardoftheSevereLa1!J'u, madeagaiaft bet St~.bjefJs, ofthe 1 I Romifb Religion. Notwithftandin~, that w~i~h I ihall fay~ is no . I ' more, then what I know for certatll, and dthgently obferved. ! ---- -- Molt / A eollect'ion, oft he ~ elicitie.t, of 0f:.een Elizabeth. I 8 9 .. ,_j Mofi certain it is, that it was the Firm Refolution, of this Prin· ccf!e, n.ot to offer any yioJence to Con{ciences_: But then, on r.he o-ther Stde, not to fuffer the State of her Ktngclome; to be tutned, under pretence ofConfcie1tce, and Religion. Out of this Fountain, (be concluded; fi rfi, That to allow Freedome, and Toleration, of two Religions, by pub lick Auth~rity, in a Nation. Fierce, and Warlike; And that would eafily fall, from D iflention ofMinds1 to Siding and Blowes, would bring inevitable Ruin to this King-doni:. Again, in the Newndfe of her Raign, when there was a generall difirufl:, ilie fingled c~ut fome of the Bifhops, of the mofr Turbulent~ and Factious, Spidts, and committed them to free Cufrody; And this not without the warrant of Former Lawes;· As for the Refr, either oftheClearc.ey,or Laifj, fhe did not ranfack their Confciences, by any Seo,·re Inqu'.fition, but rather fecured them, by a gracious Connivency. And this was the ~tate of Things, at the firft. Neither did fhe depart, from this Clemen-cy, when the Excommunication of Pilu ~intus, came Thundring againfl: her; which might both jufily have provoked her, and lffi ve minifrred occafion, to new Courfes; But howfoever, ihe followed her R.OJall Nature frill. For, as a wite Lady, and of a high Courage, ibe was not a whit terrified, ~t the Roaritig of a E11ll; Being well afiured, of her People1 Love, and Fidelity, to . wards her; As alfo of the Difability, of the P opijb F a&ioti) wirhi rf the J(ingclome to do her Hurt, if DO F orraign Enemy joyned witli rhem. But then, ~bout the three and twentieth yeat of her Raign, there followed a Mig~ty Ch~nge. ~~d this Difi:i~Ction of the Times is not any Devtce of mtne,but tt ts expreifed 10 the publick AfJs ~fthat 'Time, and, as it were, cut in Braj]e. For be-fore that year, was there never any Cupit aU or /evere.Punijhment,in- · flicred upon any of her subje[Js, as they had R.~lation to the Romifh Religion, by the Lawes formerly made. But JUfl: then, be. gan that proud,and.vafl: lntention_ofspain,to c~nquer th~s ~ing- ' _ dome, by little and htde, to fhew 1t Sel£ ?f ~hts, the.prtnctpall Part was to frir up, by all means, a Party w1th1n the King dome, of fuch as ~ere ill affected to the State , and defirous of Innovation, that 'might adhere to the F orrain~r, at his Landing. For. this, they had no other Hopes, then the Dif!erence in R.eli$ioh. When: ... fore, they fet it down, to purfue this Courfe '· wah all thetr power. And the Seminaries, at that time, buddmg, Prieft.r were fent into Fngland, to plant, and difpetfe, a Love, to the Romifh Keligio11.; To teach and inculcate, the power, of the Popes Exc(J~· munication, in freeing Subjects frmn their Allegeance; ~nd to a- ' waken and prepare the minds ofMen, to an Expectattoh, of a · Chang~. About th~ fame time, Irel~tnd alfo was attempted by an Invajion; And the 92!!.eens N~me, and Government, traduced, by fundry, and fcandalous LibeUs: To be{hort, there was an unufu-all Swelling in the Stt!>te, the Forerunner of grr:ater Troubles.Yet 1 , I will not affirm, that every Prie.ft,which was fentover,~as made \ of |
