young queen a fair chance and not a little favor. Foreign affairs were
worse. France was still the hereditary enemy; and the loss of Calais
under Mary had exasperated the whole English nation. Scotland was a
constant menace in the north. Spain was gradually changing from friend
to foe. The Pope was disinclined to recognize Elizabeth at all.

To understand how difficult her position was we must remember what sort
of constitution England had when the germ of the United States was
forming. The Roman Empire was one constituent whole from the emperor
down. The English-speaking peoples of to-day form constituent wholes
from the electorate up. In both cases all parts were and are in constant
relation to the whole. The case of Elizabethan England, however, was
very different. There was neither despotic unity from above nor
democratic unity from below, but a mixed and fluctuating kind of
government in which Crown, nobles, parliament, and people formed certain
parts which had to be put together for each occasion. The accepted
general idea was that the sovereign, supreme as an individual, looked
after the welfare of the country in peace and war so far as the Crown
estates permitted; but that whenever the Crown resources would not
suffice then the sovereign could call on nobles and people for whatever
the common weal required. _Noblesse oblige_. In return for the estates
or monopolies which they had acquired the nobles and favored commoners
were expected to come forward with all their resources at every national
crisis precisely as the Crown was expected to work for the common weal
at all times. When the resources of the Crown and favored courtiers
sufficed, no parliament was called; but whenever they had to be
supplemented then parliament met and voted whatever it approved.
Finally, every English freeman was required to do his own share towards
defending the country in time of need, and he was further required to
know the proper use of arms.