The work itself was completed after the accession
of Elizabeth, when most of the religious leaders
had returned to England from their exile under Mary.

Elizabeth herself was not an ardent Protestant,
not ardent at all religiously, but an ardent
Englishwoman. She understood her people, and
while she prided herself on being the "Guardian
of the Middle Way," she did not make the
mistake of submitting her sovereignty to foreign
supervision. Probably Elizabeth always
counted herself personally a Catholic, but not
politically subject to the Roman pontiff. She
had no wish to offend other Catholic powers;
but she was determined to develop a strong
national spirit and to allow religious differences
to exist if they would be peaceful. The dramatic
scene which was enacted at the time of
her coronation procession was typical of her
spirit. As the procession passed down Cheapside,
a venerable old man, representing Time,
with a little child beside him representing
Truth--Time always old, Truth always young--
presented the Queen with a copy of the Scriptures,
which she accepted, promising to read
them diligently.

Presently it was found that two versions of
the Bible were taking the field, the old Great
Bible and the new Genevan Bible. On all