Protestantism in England From the Times of Henry VIII - James Aitken Wylie

was not planted in Elizabeth; it was rooted
somewhere else. She valued the Reformation less
for emancipating the conscience than for
emancipating her crown. She laid most store upon
it for rendering her kingdom independent abroad,
not for purifying it at home. As a sovereign she had
some good points, but not a few weak ones. She
was vaccinating, shuffling, at times deceitful; full
of caprices and humors, and without strength of
mind to pursue for any long time a high and
courageous policy, When threatened or insulted she
could assume an attitude and display a spirit that
became a great sovereign, but she soon fell back
again into her low, shifty policy. She possessed one
great quality especially, namely, that of discerning
who would prove able and upright servants. She
always called strong men to her side, and though
she delighted in ornamental men as courtiers, she
would permit no hand but a skillful and powerful
one to be laid on the helm of the State.
Elizabeth has been called great; but as her
character and history come to be better understood,
it is seen that her greatness was not her own, but
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