On the 3rd August the new Queen entered London with her sister near her, and preparations were at once set afoot for her coronation (1st October). Cecil was no longer in office, and was commanded by the Queen to send her the seals and register of the Garter on the 21st September;[67] but he appears to have gone to the expense of new liveries for his servants in honour of the occasion. Twelve of his servants were given garments of the best cloth with badges, eleven received one and a quarter yards of the best cloth each, with second-class cognisances, and nine more had cloth of second quality, one coat being left with Lady Cecil to bestow9 as she pleased.[68] On the same document Sir William himself has made numerous notes as to the price of these materials, which, if we did not already know it by many other testimonies10, would[51] prove that, though his expenditure11 was great, he was careful of the items of it. His father, the Yeoman of the Robes, had died in the previous year (1552), and apparently12 the office had remained in abeyance13, being temporarily administered by Sir William. His neighbour Sir Edward Dymoke, of Scrivelsby, Lincolnshire, had, in accordance with his tenure14, to act as champion at the Queen’s coronation, and was entitled to his equipment out of the office of robes. A few days before the coronation ceremony Dymoke applied15 for his outfit16. Some of the articles were not on hand and had to be bought of one Lenthal; and the champion begged Cecil to vouch17 for the purchase, consisting of “a shrowd, a girdle, a scabbard of velvett, two gilt18 partizans, a pole axe19, a chasing staff and a pair of gilt spurs, the value in all being ￡6, 2s. 8d.” Apparently Cecil took no notice of the application, and in an amusing letter at Hatfield, the champion complains bitterly, nearly two months after the coronation, that he could never get his outfit. Cecil insisted upon a warrant from the Queen; but, said Dymoke, he had received all his equipment without warrant at the previous coronation, and he prays Cecil not to be “more straytor” than his father was. He had his cup of gold, his horse, and trappings, and crimson20 satin, without warrant then, and why, he asks, should one be required now. “I do not pass so much of the value of the allowance as I do for the precedent21 to hinder those who do come after me, if I do lose it this time.”
Cecil does not seem to have absented himself from court, though he passed more of his time than hitherto at Wimbledon. Wyatt rose and fell; Elizabeth and Courtney suffered under the Queen’s displeasure; Cheke and Cooke went to exile; Cecil’s old friend the Duchess of Suffolk and her husband Mr. Bertie fled to Germany; Carews, Staffords, Tremaynes, Killigrews, Fitzwilliams, the[52] ex-Ambassador Pickering, and hundreds like them, took refuge abroad from the country over which a Spanish King, with his half-Spanish Queen, were soon to be supreme22. Cranmer, Cecil’s friend from boyhood, and other Protestant Churchmen, filled the rooms in the Tower vacated by those whom Cecil had been active in prosecuting23, but Cecil himself lived rich and influential24, if no longer politically powerful, and no hand was raised against him. That he was a conforming Catholic is certain, quite apart from Father Persons’ spiteful description of his exaggerated devotion; “frequenting masses, said litanies with the priest, laboured a pair of great beads25 which he continually carried, preached to his parishioners in Stamford, and asked pardon for his errors in King Edward’s time.” This statement of itself would not suffice were it not supported by better evidence; but although there is a dearth26 of such evidence at the beginning of Mary’s reign4, there is abundance of it later. At the Record Office, among other papers of the same sort, there exists the Easter book for 1556, headed, “The names of them that dwelleth in the pariche of Vembletoun that was confessed and received the Sacrament of the altar;” the first entry being, “My master Sir Wilyem Cecell, and my lady Myldread his wyff;”[69] and Cecil’s accounts for this period contain many entries of the cost of his oblations and gifts to the altar. He retained, moreover, the benefices of Putney and Mortlake, of which he kept strict account; and in August 1557 the Dean and Chapter of Worcester addressed a letter of thanks to him for his annual contribution to his two churches, and assured him of their willingness to accede27 to his wishes and increase the stipends28 of the curates there.[70] There is therefore no doubt that, like Princess Elizabeth and most of those who afterwards became her ministers, Cecil was quite[53] ready, in outward seeming at least, to adopt the ritual decreed by the Court and Parliament.
Renard, the Emperor’s Ambassador, had broached29 the idea of a marriage between Mary and Philip, the Prince of Spain, less than a week after the Queen’s entry into London; and thenceforward the arrangements for the match went forward apace. The people generally were in an agony of fear; Gardiner himself, the Queen’s Chancellor30, and most of her wisest Councillors, looked coldly upon the idea; they would rather she had married Courtney, and formed a close political alliance with the House of Spain. But the Queen was a daughter of Catharine of Aragon, and the exalted31 religious ideas of her race had caused her to look upon herself as the divinely-appointed being who was to bring to pass the salvation32 of her people, and this she knew could only be done by the power and money that Spain could bring to her. The connection would enable her, too, to be revenged upon France, which had befriended her mother’s supplanter33, and was still subsidising revolution against her. Those who were Catholics first and Englishmen afterwards, applauded her determination to wed34 her Spanish cousin; and the priests in Rome watched, from the moment of her advent35, for the possibility of the restoration of England to the faith, and the disgorging of the plunder36 of the Church by those who had swallowed it. Most of these saw in the Spanish match the probable realisation of their hopes.
Immediately after Mary’s accession the Pope had appointed Cardinal37 Pole to negotiate with these ends. He was an Englishman of the blood royal, who had no special Spanish ends to serve: his one wish was to bring back England into the fold of the Church. But before he started on his journey to England, Charles V. took fright. His views were quite different. He and his son[54] wanted to get political control over England for their own dynastic interests. So long as the religious element helped them in this, they were glad to use it; but if the priests went too fast and too far, and caused disgust and reaction in England, their plans would fail. So, as usual when it was a choice between religion and politics by statesmen of that age, they chose politics. The difficulty was that the Churchmen had expected that the return of England to the fold would necessarily mean the restitution38 of all ecclesiastical property. Pole himself was full of this idea, and his first powers from the Pope gave him little or no discretion39 to abate40 the claim for entire and unconditional41 surrender of the Church plunder. But at the instance of the Emperor, the Pope was induced to grant to Pole full discretionary powers. Then he was persuaded to send the Legate to France and Brussels on his way to England, with the ostensible42 purpose of mediating43 a peace between France and the Emperor, but really in order that he might be influenced in the Spanish interest, and his departure for England was thus delayed until it was considered prudent2 to let him go. It was not until he had promised that he would only act in accordance with the advice of the new King-consort, Philip, that he was permitted to proceed on his mission, with the certainty now, that the restitution of the Church property would go no further than was dictated44 by the political interests which the Emperor had nearest his heart. This happened in November 1554, four months after the Queen’s marriage, and the somewhat curious choice of Paget (Lord Privy45 Seal), Sir Edward Hastings, and Sir William Cecil, was made to go and meet the Legate at Brussels, and bring him to England. Their instructions,[71] evidently inspired by Philip, who was still in England, entirely46 confirm the above view of the subject.[55] The envoys48 are to seek the Cardinal, and “to declare that the greatest, and almost the only, means to procure49 the agreement of the noblemen and others of our Council (to the re-entry of England into the Church) was our promise that the Pope would, at our suit, dispense50 with all possessors of any lands or goods of monasteries51, colleges, or other ecclesiastical houses, to hold and enjoy quietly the same, without trouble or scruple52.” Herein the influence of the politicians is clearly visible; and the Churchmen for fifty years afterwards attributed the failure of Catholic attempts in England to God’s anger at this paltering with the plunder of His property.[72] Cecil’s voyage was a short one. The entry in his journal runs thus: “1554. vi? Novembris (ii. Mari?) capi iter cum Domino Paget et Magistro Hastings versus53 Casarem pro6 reducendo Cardinale;” but in the little Perpetual Calendar at Hatfield the voyage is noted54 in English. The journal continues: “Venimus Bruxelles 11 Novēbris;” and then, “Redivimus 24? Westmonsterij cū Card. Polo.”
No more is said of the events of the journey, or of Cecil’s negotiations55 with the Cardinal; but it may be surmised56 that Pole at first would not look very favourably57 upon Sir William, as during the correspondence with Somerset, in which Pole exhorted58 the Protector to desist from troubling Catholics, a somewhat rude communication was sent to him, which in his reply he attributed, not to the Protector himself, but to Cecil. It is probable that Cecil was chosen, because, though outwardly a Catholic, his views were known to be extremely moderate, and at the moment it was these views which were most in accordance with the interests of England and Spain from the point of view of the Emperor and his son. It may be assumed that a similar reason accounts for Cecil’s appointment in the following May,[56] 1555, to accompany the Cardinal to Calais, for the purpose of negotiating for a peace between France and the Emperor. Pole had offered the mediation59 of England to Noailles some months before, but the lukewarmness of the Emperor, the delay in the appointment of his envoys, and the French military successes in Piedmont, had dragged the matter out whilst an infinity60 of questions of procedure and personality were being slowly settled. The French Ambassador protested against the appointment of the Earl of Pembroke or the Earl of Arundel, especially the latter, a vain, giddy man, and a friend of Spain, to accompany the embassy. Gardiner, he said, would be sufficient to represent English interests, with Pole as Papal Legate; and the addition of either of the Earls or of Paget was looked upon as an indication of a desire rather to pick a fresh quarrel with France than to negotiate a peace.
Cecil would appear to have occupied quite a secondary position in the embassy, as he is never mentioned in the correspondence between the French envoys Constable61 Montmorenci and Cardinal Lorraine and Noailles describing the meetings. In any case, the negotiations, which took place at Marcq, equidistant from Calais, Ardres, and Gravelines, speedily fell through, and by the 26th June the attempt was abandoned; in consequence mainly of the insistence62 of the Emperor in the restoration of the Duke of Savoy to his dominions63 then occupied by the French. The apprehensions64 of the French Ambassador had not been entirely unfounded. It had been Philip’s intention to ask the Parliament of 1554 for England’s armed aid in favour of the Emperor, but the indiscreet zeal65 of the Churchmen had already brought about reaction, and the Parliament was hastily dissolved. In the new Parliament of 1555, Cecil was elected, as he insinuates66 not by his own desire, Knight67[57] of the Shire for Lincoln. In the previous year (February 1554) he had requested the aldermen of the borough68 of Grantham to elect a nominee69 of his their member. What would, no doubt, have been a command when he was Secretary of State in the previous reign, could be disregarded under Mary, and the aldermen politely informed him that they had already made other arrangements.[73] It is quite understandable that to so prudent a man as Cecil it would have been much more agreeable to have been represented by a nominee than to have sat personally in the Parliament of 1555.
The Queen’s pregnancy70 had turned out a delusion71. It was seen by the Spaniards now that the Queen herself was but a puppet in the hands of the Council, and that Philip would never be allowed to rule England, as had been intended, solely72 for the benefit of Spanish interests. The imperial plot had failed; and on the 26th August 1555, the King-consort took leave of his heartbroken wife, and went to his duties elsewhere. As soon as he had gone, as Renard had wisely foretold73, all barriers of prudence74 which had hitherto, to some extent, restrained the persecution75 of Protestants, were broken down. Philip left with the Queen strict instructions for the administration of affairs, and notes of all Council meetings were sent to him, in order that he might still keep some control. But Cranmer was arraigned76, Ridley and Latimer were martyred, the restitution of alienated77 tithes78, first-fruits, and tenths was proposed, the Protestant exiles abroad were recalled, under pain of confiscation79 of their property, the bishops81 were deprived, and throughout England the flames of persecution soon spread unchecked.
What King Philip wanted were English arms and money, to aid his father in the war, not the fires of[58] Smithfield, or the blind zeal of the priests to set men’s hearts against the cause of Rome, which was his main instrument. But the Parliament of 1555 and the Queen’s Council were determined82 to withhold83 aid to the Emperor’s war as long as they could. Money there was none, the English ships were rotting and unmanned in port, men-at-arms were sulky at the idea of fighting for the Spaniard; but burning Protestants and confiscating84 recusants’ property cost nothing, and so the game went on in despite of absent Philip. Amongst the threatened exiles in Germany were many of Cecil’s friends, especially the Duchess of Suffolk and Sir Anthony Cooke, who kept up a close correspondence with his son-in-law, but refused to conform and return to England. Whether it was the enactment85 against these friends,[74] or some other of the confiscatory86 or extreme measures of the Government, that Cecil opposed in the Parliament of 1555, is not quite certain; but an entry in his diary shows that he was in extreme peril87 as a result of his action.[75] The entry is, as usual, in Latin.[59] “On the 21st October, Parliament was celebrated88 at Westminster, in which, although with danger to myself, I performed my duty; for although I did not wish it, yet being elected a Knight of the Shire for Lincoln, I spoke89 my opinion freely, and brought upon me some odium thereby90; but it is better to obey God than man.” The household biographer gives a fuller account of what probably is the same matter: “In this Parliament (1555) Sir William Cecil was Knight for the County of Lincoln. In the House of Commons little was done to the liking91 of the court. The Lords passed a bill for confiscating the estates of such as had fled for religion. In the Lower House it was rejected with great indignation. Warm speeches were made on this, and other occasions, particularly in relation to a money bill, in all of which Sir William Cecil delivered himself frankly92.”[76] One day, especially, a measure was before the House which the Queen wished to pass, and Sir William Courtney, Sir John Pollard, Sir Anthony Kingston, with other men from the west, opposed. Sir William Cecil sided with them and spoke effectively, and after the House rose they came to him and invited themselves to dine with them. He told them they would be welcome “so long as they did not speak of any matter of Parliament.” Some, however, did so, and their host reminded them of the condition. The matter was conveyed to the Council, and the whole of the company was sent for and committed to custody93. Sir William himself was brought before his late colleagues and friends, Lord Paget and Sir William Petre. He said he desired they would not do with him as with the rest, which was somewhat hard, namely, to commit him first, and then hear him afterwards, but prayed them first to hear him, and then commit him if he were guilty; whereupon Paget replied,[60] “You spake like a man of experience;” and Cecil, as usual, cleared himself from blame.[77]
During this period Cecil divided his time between Cannon94 Row, Wimbledon, and Burghley, occupying himself much whilst in the country with farming and horticulture. His accounts are very voluminous, and are frequently annotated95 in his own hand. Every payment is stated under its proper head—kitchen, cellar, buttery, garden, and so forth96; and the whole of the household supplies, whether, as was usual, taken from his own farm, or purchased, are duly accounted for at current prices. The dinner-hour of the family was 11 A.M., before which prayer was read in the chapel97, and the supper was served at 6 P.M.; these rules being observed at all his houses, whether he was in residence or not. His charities were always large, and in his later years reached an average of ￡500 a year; and wherever he had property there was a regular system of distribution of relief to the needy98 in the neighbourhood. His most intimate friends were still some of the first people in England. As a moderate man he had now commended himself to Pole; Lord Admiral Clinton, a great Lincolnshire magnate, was evidently by his letters on terms of familiarity with him; the Earl of Sussex, the Viceroy of Ireland, expressed himself anxious to do him service;[78] Sir Philip Hoby and Lord Cobham vied with each other in inducing him and Lady Cecil to visit them at their respective Kentish seats; and Lord John Grey, on the occasion of his wife being delivered of a “gholly boye,” begs Cecil to stand godfather to the infant.[79] Cecil’s wife had already given birth to a daughter, and in the Calendar Diary at Hatfield an entry[61] against 5th December 1556 records, “Natus est Anna Cecil,” which event somewhat disappointed both Cecil and his father-in-law, Cooke, in his exile, as they had earnestly looked for a son. Cecil must have been a devoted99 husband, though probably an undemonstrative one, as the letters of Sir Anthony Cooke always praise him for his goodness, both to his daughter and to himself in his poverty and banishment100. Sir Philip Hoby, in one of his hearty101 letters during Lady Cecil’s confinement102, expresses sorrow that Sir William cannot visit him. “You should have been welcome if my Lady might have spared you, to whom you have been as good a nurse as you would have her be to you;”[80] and seven weeks later he writes again (21st February), advising Cecil “to come abroad, and not tarry so long with my Lady, and in such a stinking103 city, the filthiest104 of the world.” Sir Nicholas Bacon and his wife, Lady Cecil’s sister, were also frequent and kindly105 correspondents; and the Countess of Bedford, who with her children were left by her husband to Cecil’s care on the Earl’s departure in command of the English contingent106 to aid the Emperor, referred all her business to him.[81] Cecil’s life, indeed, at this period was that of a noble of great wealth and influence, surrounded by friends, occupied with the details of large estates and with studious pursuits, in great request as trustee and intermediary for other people’s affairs, openly conforming in religion, but of acknowledged moderate views, and[62] keeping on fairly good terms with the party in power, as did Sir Nicholas Bacon, Sir Thomas Smith, Roger Ascham, and others in similar case.
But there was one element of Cecil’s activity to which no undue107 prominence108 was given, although it was great and continuous—namely, his communications with the Princess Elizabeth and his prudent efforts in her favour. From his first official employment at court, he had been appealed to by the Princess in questions requiring discretion. When he was Secretary to the Protector (25th September 1549), Parry, the cofferer and factotum109 of Elizabeth, wrote to him the letter which has often been quoted,[82] in which he gives an account of the visit of the Venetian Ambassador to Ashridge: “Hereof her Grace hath, with all haste, commanded me to send unto you, and to advertise you, to the intent forthwith it may please you, at her earnest request, either to move my Lord’s Grace, and to declare unto him yourself, or else forthwith to send word in writing, that her Grace may know thereby, whether she shall herself write thereof … and in case ye shall advise her Grace to write, then so forthwith to advertise her Grace.… Herein she desires you to use her trust as in the rest.” It will be seen by this that Cecil was then considered by Elizabeth as her friend. Another letter from Parry (September 1551)[83] is still more cordial: “I have enclosed herein her Grace’s letters, for so is her Grace’s commandment, which she desires you, according to her trust, to deliver from her unto my Lord’s Grace, taking such opportunity therein by your wisdom as thereby she may … hear from his Grace.… Her Grace commanded me to write this. ‘Write my commendations in your letters to Mr. Cecil that I am well assured, though I send not daily to him, that he doth not, for all that, daily forget me; say,[63] indeed, I assure myself thereof.’… I had forgotten to say to you that her Grace commanded me to say to you for the excuse of her hand, that it is not now as good as she trusts it shall be; her Grace’s unhealth hath made it weaker and so unsteady, and that this is the cause.”
Elizabeth, in common with most other people, was also very anxious to put her business affairs into Cecil’s hands, and in such matters as leases, sales of timber of her manors110, and the like, Sir William’s services and advice were often requisitioned by her. In April 1553 she had serious complaints to make of extortion and malversation on the part of the steward111 (Keys) of certain of her manors which had been dedicated112 to the support of the hospital of Ewelme; and she appointed Cecil as the principal member of a committee to examine closely into the whole matter, “as her Grace is determined to remove the violence and oppression, and to have the poor thoroughly113 considered.”[84] At the time that Northumberland was casting about for a foreign husband for Elizabeth, some prince who, though of Protestant leanings, should not be powerful enough to force her claims to the crown, Cecil seems to have suggested the Duke of Ferrara’s son Francesco, but the proposal came to nothing. It may, however, be accepted as certain that the intrigues114 of Noailles on the one hand to pledge Elizabeth to marry Courtney, as proposed by Paget, and the persistent115 attempts of the Spanish party to pledge her to Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, found no support from Cecil, since one marriage would have played into the hands of France, and the other[64] would have rendered the Catholics permanently116 supreme in England; and, as has already been seen, Cecil’s great principle was to keep his country as far as possible free, both from Rome and from France. The consummate117 dexterity118 exhibited by Elizabeth during the troubled reign of Mary was exactly of a piece with Cecil’s own management of his affairs at the same period; and although there is no proof that he in any way guided her action, it is in evidence that she kept up communication with him on many subjects, and it is in the highest degree probable that she asked his advice on the vital points, upon which on several occasions her very life depended. Camden expressly says that she did so, and he is confirmed by Cecil’s household biographer; but if it be true, it must have been done with great caution and care, for Cecil to have escaped, as he did, all suspicion when Elizabeth herself was deeply suspected after Wyatt’s rising. Cecil’s advice to the Princess, if given at all, was probably to do as he himself endeavoured to do; namely, to conform as much as might be necessary for her safety, and to avoid entanglements119 or engagements of every description. This at all events was the course they both successfully followed.
Philip had at last dragged England into war against the wish of the whole of the Council except Paget, though the King had reluctantly to come and exert his personal influence on his wife before it could be done. At the beginning of July 1557 he left her for the last time, and in a month the victory of St. Quentin gave him the great chance of his life. He hesitated, dallied120, and missed it; the English contingent sulky, unpaid121, and discontented—the Spaniards said cowardly—clamoured to go home, and Philip, not daring to add to his unpopularity in England, let them go. Calais and Gu?nes fell before the vigour122 of Francis of Guise123 (January 1558),[65] for the fortresses124 had been neglected both by Northumberland and Mary. When it was already too late, the King had urged the English Council to send reinforcements; but his envoy47, Feria, crossed the Channel at the same time as the news that the last foothold of England on the Continent had gone.
Thenceforward it was evident that Mary’s days were numbered, and eyes were already looking towards her successor. The war, never popular in England, became perfectly125 hateful. The people growled126 that waggon-loads of English money were being sent to Philip, and the Council, almost to a man, resisted as much and as long as they dared, Philip’s constant requests for English aid. When Parliament and the Council had been cajoled and squeezed to the utmost, Feria left in July 1558 to join his master; but before doing so, he thought it prudent to pay a visit to Madame Elizabeth at Hatfield, with many significant hints of favour from his King in the time to come; none of which the Princess affected127 to understand. A few weeks before the Queen died, peace negotiations were opened between England, France, and Spain; the foolish Earl of Arundel, Dr. Thirlby (Bishop80 of Ely), and Cecil’s friend Dr. Wotton being sent to represent England. On the 7th November the Queen was known to be dying, and the Council prevailed upon her to send a message to her sister confirming her right to succeed. Feria arrived a few days before unhappy Mary breathed her last, and already he found that “the people were beginning to act disrespectfully towards the images and religious persons.”[85] From the 7th November until the Queen died, on the 17th, matters were in the utmost confusion. All the bonds were breaking, and no man knew what would come next. The Council had for months been drifting away from Philip, and during the[66] Queen’s last days were openly turning to her Protestant successor.
But their duty kept them mostly at court; whereas Cecil, being free from office, went backwards128 and forwards between Cannon Row and Hatfield, making arrangements for the formation of a new Government when the sovereign should die. Feria writes that on the day the new Queen was proclaimed (17th November 1558), the Council decided129 that Archbishop Heath, Lord Admiral Clinton, the Earls of Shrewsbury, Pembroke, and Derby, and Lord William Howard should proceed to Hatfield, whilst the rest stayed behind; “but every one wanted to be the first to get out.” When they arrived at the residence of the young Queen, Cecil was already there and the appointments decided upon. Cecil was the first Councillor sworn, and was appointed Secretary of State;[86] the others mentioned above, with Paget and Bedford, being subsequently admitted; and the faithful Parry, her cofferer, elevated to the post of Controller of the Household; whilst Lord Robert Dudley, the son of Northumberland, Cecil’s former patron, was made Master of the Horse.
The Catholics, and especially the Spanish party, were in dismay. Changes met them at every turn. The Councillors who had fattened130 on Philip’s bribes131, turned against him openly, although some few, like Lord William Howard (the Lord Chamberlain), Clinton, and Paget, secretly offered their services for a renewed consideration. But it soon became evident that the two men who would have the predominant influence were Cecil and Parry, and they had never yet been bought by[67] Spanish money. Only a week after the Queen’s accession, Feria wrote to Philip:[87] “The kingdom is entirely in the hands of young folks, heretics and traitors132, and the Queen does not favour a single man … who served her sister.… The old people and the Catholics are dissatisfied, but dare not open their lips. She seems to me incomparably more feared than her sister, and gives her orders, and has her way, as absolutely as her father did. Her present Controller, Parry, and Secretary Cecil, govern the kingdom, and they tell me the Earl of Bedford has a good deal to say.”
Before entering London from Hatfield, the Queen stayed for a day or two at the Charterhouse, then in the occupation of Lord North. All London turned out to do her honour, and she immediately made it clear to onlookers133 that she meant to bid for popularity and to depend upon the good-will of her subjects. On the 26th or 27th November the Spanish Ambassador went to the Charterhouse to salute134 her. He had been under Mary practically the master of the Council; but the new Queen promptly135 made him understand that everything was changed. Instead of, as before, having right of access to the sovereign when he pleased, he found that in future he and his affairs would be relegated136 to two members of the Council, and when he asked which two, the Queen replied, Parry and Cecil. Feria did his best to conciliate her—gave her some jewels he had belonging to the late Queen, and so forth; but when he mentioned that a suspension of hostilities137 had been arranged between the French and Spanish, she thought it was a trap to isolate138 her, and she dismissed the Ambassador coldly. When she had retired139, Feria called Cecil and asked him to go in at once and explain matters to her, “as he is the man who does everything.” The effects of Cecil’s diplomacy[68] were soon evident. The Queen smiled and chatted with Feria, took with avidity all the jewels he could give her, coyly looked down when marriage was mentioned, but would pledge herself to nothing. “She was full of fine words, however, and told me that when people said she was ‘French,’ I was not to believe it;”[88] but when the Ambassador treated such a notion as absurd, and endeavoured to lead her on to say that her sympathies were with Spain and against France, she cleverly changed the subject. Her sister, she said, had been at war with France, but she was not.
As has already been said, when the deputation of the Council arrived at Hatfield, Cecil was there before them, and had conveyed the news of her accession to the Queen. Naunton[89] says that when she heard it she fell on her knees and uttered the words, “A Domino factum est illud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris.” But whether this be true or not, it is certain that the intelligence did not come upon her as a surprise; for Cecil had already drawn140 up for her guidance a document which still exists,[90] providing for the minutest details of her accession. Some of these provisions were rendered unnecessary by the universal and peaceful acceptance of the new sovereign; but they exhibit the care and foresight141 which we always associate with the writer. The note runs as follows: 1. To consider the proclamation and to proclaim it, and to send the same to all manner of places and sheriffs with speed, and to print it. 2. To prepare the Tower and to appoint the custody thereof to trusty persons, and to write to all the keepers of forts and castles in the Queen’s name. 3. To consider for the removing to the Tower, and the Queen there to settle her officers and Council. 4. To make a stay of passages to all the ports until a certain[69] day, and to consider the situation of all places dangerous towards France and Scotland, especially in this change. 5. To send special messengers to the Pope, Emperor, Kings of Spain and Denmark, and the State of Venice. 6. To send new commissioners142 (commissions?) to the Earl of Arundel and Bishop of Ely (the peace envoys), and to send one into Ireland with a new commission; the letters under the Queen’s hand to all ambassadors with foreign princes to authorise them therein. 7. To appoint commissioners for the interment of the late Queen. 8. To appoint commissioners for the coronation and the day. 9. To make continuance of the term with patents to the Chief-Justice, Justices of each Bench, Barons143, and Masters of the Rolls, with inhibition. Quod non conferant aliquod officium. 10. To appoint new sheriffs under the Great Seal. 11. To inhibit144 by proclamation the making over of any money by exchange without knowledge of the Queen’s Majesty145, and to charge all manner of persons that have made, or been privy to any exchange made, by the space of one month before the 17th of this month. 12. To consider the preacher of St. Paul’s Cross, that no occasion be given by him to stir any dispute touching146 the governance of the realm.
It will be seen that every necessary measure for carrying on peaceably the government and business of the country is here provided for. Within a week of the Queen’s accession the religious persecutions all over the country had ceased, and a few days later all persons who were in prison in London as offenders147 against religion had been released on their own recognisances. The Queen had already foreshadowed her dislike to the harrying148 of Protestants by refusing her countenance149 to Bonner, the Bishop of London, when, with the other bishops, he met her on her approach to London. The[70] English refugees were flocking back home from Germany and Switzerland; and though, for the most part, the religious services were continued without marked change,[91] the Catholics saw that the day of their tribulation150 was coming, and were filled with indignation and fear. The measures suggested by Cecil as to the appointment of the preacher at Paul’s Cross were doubtless adopted,[92] for there was no violent ecclesiastical pronouncement against the tendency of the new Government until the funeral of the late Queen, on the 13th December. White, Bishop of Winchester, preached the sermon, in which he attacked the Protestants in the most inflammatory language, quoting the words of Trajan: “If my commands are just, use this sword for me; if unjust, use it against me.” It was not Elizabeth’s or prudent Cecil’s line, however, to adopt extreme measures at first, and the prelate was only kept secluded151 for a month in his own house. This is a fair specimen152 of the cautious policy adopted by Elizabeth. All of Mary’s Council had been Catholics, many of them bigoted153 Catholics, and yet eleven of them were admitted to the Council of the new Queen; the principal change being the addition to them of seven known Protestants,[71] who had, like Cecil, conformed in the previous reign—namely, Parr (Marquis of Northampton), Cecil’s friend the Earl of Bedford, Sir Thomas Parry, Edward Rogers, Sir Ambrose Cave, Francis Knollys (the Queen’s cousin), and Sir William Cecil; Sir Nicholas Bacon, Cecil’s brother-in-law, another Protestant conformer, being shortly afterwards also appointed a Councillor and Lord Keeper, but not yet Chancellor, in the place of Heath, Archbishop of York.
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accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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prudently
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| adv. 谨慎地，慎重地 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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buoyed
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| v.使浮起( buoy的过去式和过去分词 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神 | |
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pro
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| n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者 | |
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timorous
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| adj.胆怯的，胆小的 | |
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apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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bestow
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| v.把…赠与，把…授予；花费 | |
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testimonies
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| （法庭上证人的）证词( testimony的名词复数 )； 证明，证据 | |
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expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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abeyance
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| n.搁置，缓办，中止，产权未定 | |
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tenure
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| n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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vouch
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| v.担保；断定；n.被担保者 | |
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gilt
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| adj.镀金的；n.金边证券 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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precedent
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| n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的 | |
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supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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prosecuting
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| 检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师 | |
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influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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dearth
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| n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨 | |
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accede
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| v.应允，同意 | |
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stipends
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| n.（尤指牧师的）薪俸( stipend的名词复数 ) | |
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broached
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| v.谈起( broach的过去式和过去分词 )；打开并开始用；用凿子扩大（或修光）；（在桶上）钻孔取液体 | |
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chancellor
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| n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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supplanter
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| 排挤者，取代者 | |
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wed
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| v.娶，嫁，与…结婚 | |
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advent
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| n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临 | |
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plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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cardinal
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| n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的 | |
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restitution
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| n.赔偿；恢复原状 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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abate
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| vi.(风势，疼痛等)减弱，减轻，减退 | |
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unconditional
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| adj.无条件的，无限制的，绝对的 | |
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ostensible
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| adj.(指理由)表面的，假装的 | |
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mediating
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| 调停，调解，斡旋( mediate的现在分词 )； 居间促成； 影响…的发生； 使…可能发生 | |
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44
dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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45
privy
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| adj.私用的；隐密的 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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envoy
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| n.使节，使者，代表，公使 | |
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envoys
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| 使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份 | |
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49
procure
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| vt.获得，取得，促成；vi.拉皮条 | |
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dispense
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| vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施 | |
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monasteries
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| 修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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scruple
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| n./v.顾忌，迟疑 | |
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53
versus
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| prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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negotiations
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| 协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过 | |
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surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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57
favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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exhorted
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mediation
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| n.调解 | |
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infinity
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| n.无限，无穷，大量 | |
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constable
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| n.(英国)警察，警官 | |
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insistence
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| n.坚持；强调；坚决主张 | |
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dominions
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| 统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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insinuates
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| n.暗示( insinuate的名词复数 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入v.暗示( insinuate的第三人称单数 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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borough
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| n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇 | |
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nominee
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| n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者 | |
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pregnancy
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| n.怀孕，怀孕期 | |
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delusion
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| n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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persecution
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| n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
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arraigned
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| v.告发( arraign的过去式和过去分词 )；控告；传讯；指责 | |
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alienated
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| adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等） | |
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tithes
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| n.（宗教捐税）什一税，什一的教区税，小部分( tithe的名词复数 ) | |
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confiscation
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| n. 没收, 充公, 征收 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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withhold
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| v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡 | |
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confiscating
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| 没收（confiscate的现在分词形式） | |
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enactment
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| n.演出，担任…角色；制订，通过 | |
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confiscatory
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| 没收的，充公的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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liking
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| n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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annotated
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| v.注解，注释( annotate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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chapel
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| n.小教堂，殡仪馆 | |
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needy
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| adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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banishment
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| n.放逐，驱逐 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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103
stinking
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| adj.臭的，烂醉的，讨厌的v.散发出恶臭( stink的现在分词 )；发臭味；名声臭；糟透 | |
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filthiest
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| filthy（肮脏的，污秽的）的最高级形式 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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contingent
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| adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队 | |
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undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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factotum
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| n.杂役；听差 | |
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manors
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| n.庄园（manor的复数形式） | |
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steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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dedicated
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| adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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intrigues
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| n.密谋策划( intrigue的名词复数 )；神秘气氛；引人入胜的复杂情节v.搞阴谋诡计( intrigue的第三人称单数 )；激起…的好奇心 | |
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persistent
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| adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的 | |
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permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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consummate
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| adj.完美的；v.成婚；使完美 [反]baffle | |
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dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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entanglements
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| n.瓜葛( entanglement的名词复数 )；牵连；纠缠；缠住 | |
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120
dallied
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| v.随随便便地对待( dally的过去式和过去分词 )；不很认真地考虑；浪费时间；调情 | |
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unpaid
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| adj.未付款的，无报酬的 | |
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vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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fortresses
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| 堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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129
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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130
fattened
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| v.喂肥( fatten的过去式和过去分词 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值 | |
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131
bribes
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| n.贿赂( bribe的名词复数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂v.贿赂( bribe的第三人称单数 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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132
traitors
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| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
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133
onlookers
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| n.旁观者，观看者( onlooker的名词复数 ) | |
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134
salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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135
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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136
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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137
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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138
isolate
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| vt.使孤立，隔离 | |
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139
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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140
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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141
foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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142
commissioners
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| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
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143
barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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144
inhibit
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| vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制 | |
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145
majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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146
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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147
offenders
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| n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 )；犯规者；罪犯；妨害…的人（或事物） | |
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148
harrying
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| v.使苦恼( harry的现在分词 )；不断烦扰；一再袭击；侵扰 | |
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149
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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150
tribulation
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| n.苦难，灾难 | |
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151
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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152
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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153
bigoted
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| adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的 | |
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