Queen Mary died on November 17, 1558, and her half-sister,

ELIZABETH, CAME TO THE THRONE

in perilous times, for plots of assassination were rife, and England
was engaged on the side of Spain in war with France. But the alliance
with Spain soon came to an end, for Queen Elizabeth saw that the
defence of Protestantism at home and peace with France abroad were
necessary for her own security and the good of her subjects. She began
her reign by regarding the welfare of her people, and she soon won and
never lost their affection.

With the accession of Queen Elizabeth there was a revival of the
courtly pomp and pageantry which were marked characteristics of her
father's reign. Just before the Christmas festival (1558) the new
queen made a state entry into the metropolis, attended by a
magnificent throng of nobles, ladies, and gentlemen, and a vast
concourse of people from all the country round. At Highgate she was
met by the bishops, who kneeled by the wayside and offered their
allegiance. She received them graciously and gave them all her hand to
kiss, except Bonner, whom she treated with marked coldness, on account
of his atrocious cruelties: an intimation of her own intentions on the
score of religion which gave satisfaction to the people. In the
pageantry which was got up to grace her entry into London, a figure
representing "Truth" dropped from one of the triumphal arches, and
laid before the young Queen a copy of the Scriptures. Holinshed says
she revived the book with becoming reverence, and, pressing it to her
bosom, declared that of all the gifts and honours conferred upon her
by the loyalty of the people this was the most acceptable. Yet
Green,[51] in describing Elizabeth's reign, says: "Nothing is more
revolting in the Queen, but nothing is more characteristic, than her
shameless mendacity. It was an age of political lying, but in the
profusion and recklessness of her lies Elizabeth stood without a peer
in Christendom."

Sir William Fitzwilliam, writing to Mr. More, of Loseley, Surrey, a
few weeks after the accession of Elizabeth, as an important piece of
Court news, says: "You shall understand that yesterday, being
Christmas Day, the Queen's Majesty repaired to her great closet with
her nobles and ladies, as hath been accustomed in such high feasts;
and she, perceiving a bishop preparing himself to mass, all in the old
form, tarried there until the gospel was done, and when all the people
looked for her