tation with the most bland and courteous manners. Once
resolved, she was constant in her purposes; and her conduct in public
and private life was characterized by candor and integrity. Both may
be said to have shown that magnanimity which is implied by the
accomplishment of great objects in the face of great obstacles. But
Elizabeth was desperately selfish; she was incapable of forgiving, not
merely a real injury, but the slightest affront to her vanity; and she
was merciless in exacting retribution. Isabella, on the other hand,
lived only for others; was ready at all times to sacrifice self to
considerations of public duty; and, far from personal resentment,
showed the greatest condescension and kindness to those who had most
sensibly injured her; while her benevolent heart sought every means to
mitigate the authorized severities of the law, even towards the
guilty.

"Both possessed rare fortitude. Isabella, indeed, was placed in
situations which demanded more frequent and higher displays of it than
her rival; but no one will doubt a full measure of this quality in the
daughter of Henry VIII. Elizabeth was better educated, and every way
more highly accomplished, than Isabella. But the latter knew enough to
maintain her station with dignity, and she encouraged learning by a
munificent patronage. The masculine powers and passions of Elizabeth
seemed to divorce her, in a great measure, from the peculiar
attributes of her sex; at least from those which constitute its
peculiar charm; for she had abundance of foibles; a coquetry and a
love of admiration which age could not chill; a levity most careless,
if not criminal; and a fondness for dress and tawdry magnificence of
ornament which was ridiculous or disgusting, according to the
different periods of life in which it was indulged. Isabella, on the
other hand, distinguished through life for decorum of manners, and
purity beyond the breath of calumny, was content with the legitimate
affection which she could inspire within the range of her domestic
circle. Far from a frivolous affectation of ornament or dress, she was
most simple in her own attire, and seemed to set no value on her
jewels, but as they could serve the necessities of the state; when
they could be no longer useful in this way, she gave them away to her
friends.

"Both were uncommonly sagacious in the selection of their ministers,
though Elizabeth was drawn into some errors, in this particular, by
her levity,