Page:History of England (Froude) Vol 11.djvu/490

 4?4 kElGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 67. of the Romish Inquisition,' by 'devices rather to seek for offenders than reform them/ 1 they sowed the wind which was reaped afterwards in the whirlwind by Charles I. and Laud. Whitgift and his companions however were not trusted, as yet, with very large authority. The con- tumely with which Elizabeth treated them in public relieved the apprehensions which might otherwise have been entertained of her purposes, and in other respects her Government was popular popular even for its faults. The Queen, fond as she was of money, ab- stained from direct demands upon her subjects' purses. A Sovereign surrounded by enemies, and threatened with invasion and insurrection, might have reasonably demanded funds of Parliament to maintain a standing army. Elizabeth preferred to depend on the sponta- neous loyalty of the people, to keep the Catholic powers at arm's length by diplomacy, and trust to Providence or time. She was ' tempting God/ in Burghley's opinion, ' by hoping upon His goodness by way of mira- cle ; ' but nothing which she could have done would have as effectually conciliated disaffection. The ugly visage of the tax-gatherer was rarely seen in an English household. The revenues came chiefly from the Crown estates and the customs, and more than one English nobleman now receives and spends a larger income than in the thrifty hands of Elizabeth sufficed for the de- mands of the empire. Peace and prosperity made more Burghley to Whitgift, May, 1584: MSS. Domestic.