Page:The Queens of England.djvu/450

 406 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. Lord Bacon relates that, on the morrow after her corona- tion, "It being the custom to release prisoners at the inau- guration of a prince, Elizabeth went to the chapel, and in the great chamber one of her courtiers, who was well known to her, either out of his own motion, or by the instigation of a wiser man, presented her with a petition ; and, before a great number of courtiers, besought her with a loud voice, 'That now this good time there might be four or five more principal prisoners released ; these were the four Evangelists, and the apostle St. Paul, who had been long shut up in an unknown tongue, as it were in a prison so as they could not converse with the common people.' The queen answered very gravely, 'That it was best first to inquire of them whether they would be released or no.' " This was the character of all her alterations and amend- ments, at the present, and during a long subsequent period : she did nothing precipitately or capriciously, but, before the enactment of any important measure, was always careful to learn whether the people "would or no." This commendation, however, is far from being intended to apply to the whole of her career : for many were the despotic acts she afterwards committed ; and she burdened the nation with the most dis- tressing monopolies and patents, which were far more injur- ious to them than the heaviest taxes, and certainly without previously demanding their "yea or nay." Camden mentions that "after the death of John Basilides, his son Theodore re- voked the privilege which the English enjoyed as sole pos- sessors of the Russian trade. When the queen remonstrated against this innovation, he told her ministers, that 'princes must carry an indifferent hand as well between their subjects as between foreigners ; and not convert trade, which by the laws of nations ought to be common to all, into a monopoly for the private gain of a few.' " To which statement Hume subjoins the following judicious remark: "So much juster notions of commerce were entertained by this barbarian than ' appear in the conduct of the- renowned Queen Elizabeth!" But this impolicy originated in no want of circumspection or deliberation, but in the detestable egotism of her character : she felt that a frequent application to parliament for subsi- dies would give to that body an influence in her councils ; and selfishly, therefore, she resolved to sacrifice the nation's inter- est to her own haughty and arrogant love of independence, even when disastrous and illegitimate.