es of tribulation there was one who shared in the common
danger, suffering, and humiliation, and who, from the exalted rank
which she occupied, and the station to which she seemed destined, was
peculiarly an object of distrust and alarm to the bigots, who were
exulting in their day of power. The gloom which overhung the whole
country equally surrounded her; the fires of Smithfield and Oxford were
kindled for her terror as for the terror of the people. She had been
made to pass through that sorrowful passage from which few ever returned
alive, the Traitor's Gate in the Tower of London.

Her course was one and the same with that of the entire English nation;
and the only light which shone upon the darkness, the only hope that
cheered the universal despondency, the dependence of all real patriots,
the trust of all friends of truth, and the pride of all free and
honorable men were centred in the prison of Elizabeth.

There is no bond so strong as the bond of common perils and sufferings;
and, when the young Princess ascended the throne, it was amid the
thankful acclamations of a liberated and happy people, who loved her for
the dangers she had shared with them, and for whom she entertained
the interest and affection due to fellow-sufferers. This feeling was
prolonged in an uncommon manner throughout her reign; for it so happened
that there was no danger which threatened the Queen during her whole
life that was not equally formidable to the people. So difficult was
the question of succession that the prudent Burleigh never ventured to
express his mind upon the subject, and carried down to the grave the
secret of his opinion. Any change would have been for the worse; as it
would either have plunged the nation into a civil war or have placed a
Roman Catholic prince on the throne. The dangers which menaced the crown
of Elizabeth were alike formidable to the cause of freedom in England
and of the Protestant religion in Europe. The invasion of England, which
was attempted by the French under the Queen Regent of Scotland, and
afterward the gigantic preparations of Philip, foreboded more than the
ordinary horrors of an offensive warfare. These enemies came with the
stake and the fagot in their hands; they came not merely to invade,
but to convert; not merely to conquer, but to persecute; they were
stimulated not merely by ambition, but by bigotry; they were prepared
not merely to enslave, but to torture. It was therefore not a matt