and returned once more into her bosom; and Cartwright, who had fought among the foremost of the party, was so convinced of his error, that he declared his sorrow for “the unnecessary troubles he “ had caused in the church, by the schism he had “ been the great fomenter of; and wished he was “ to begin his life again, that he might testify to “ the world the dislike he had of his former

ways

*" The writings of Hooker and Bancroft had, under God's providence, been very instrumental in producing this happy effect, and we have only to lament that the question had not been more left to the force of reason for its answer. When the nonconformists began to pursue a line of conduct which interfered with the civil rights of the establishment; when they adopted such measures as would tend to overthrow the crown, unless a timely restraint were put upon them, it was absolutely necessary that the authority of government should repress their meetings : but perhaps much of the opposition to episcopacy arose from the manner in which the judicial powers of the bishops were exercised. The final repentance of such a man as Cartwright is one of the strongest testimonies in favour of the hierarchy. He had been far from exhibiting the worst specimen of those who had opposed the cause of the established church; he had possessed knowledge for the investigation of truth, and carried with him much zeal for reformation ; he had experienced some

* Strype's Whitgift, ii. 460.

tage of the state : whatever her weaknesses as a woman might have been, she selected her servants more according to her judgment than her passions ; and in most of her transactions she was well served, and consulted the good of her subjects, as far as their welfare was consistent with her own plans or ideas. She regarded, if I may use the expression, the kingdom as her private property, and her object was to render the estate as good as possible. She had only a lifehold interest in the property, and was less careful therefore of the peculiar interests of her successor.

From her disinclination to be controlled, she was always unwilling to make any calls upon the parliament, and sacrificed the property which belonged to the crown and the nation, for the sake of rewarding those who were about her; and thus converted to her own personal advantage that which ought to have provided for the wants of posterity. The same feeling gave a parsimonious turn to much of her conduct*; it made her unwilling to spend money for necessary objects, and rendered her always much inclined to receive presents t. It was this which made her guilty of an obvious meanness in seizing on the property of her favourite Leicesterf immediately on his death, in order to satisfy the sum in which he was indebted to her treasury. In no point, however, was this fault so conspicuous, as with regard to the church ; but the in

* Strype's Smith, 140, &c. den's Elizabeth, 420,

+ Str. Ann. iv, 209.

Cam