of the English realm. Whether such a consummation would have been
desirable or not, is a fruitless enquiry. But it is certain that the
selection of such a man as Leicester made that result impossible.
Doubtless there were many errors committed by all parties. The Queen
was supposed by the Netherlands to be secretly desirous of accepting the
sovereignty of the Provinces, provided she were made sure, by the Earl's
experience, that they were competent to protect themselves. But this
suspicion was unfounded. The result of every investigation showed the
country so full of resources, of wealth, and of military and naval
capabilities, that, united with England, it would have been a source of
great revenue and power, not a burthen and an expense. Yet, when
convinced of such facts, by the statistics which were liberally laid
before her by her confidential agents, she never manifested, either in
public or private, any intention of accepting the sovereignty. This
being her avowed determination, it was an error on the part of the
States, before becoming thoroughly acquainted with the man's character,
to confer upon Leicester the almost boundless authority which they
granted on, his first arrival. It was a still graver mistake, on the
part of Elizabeth, to give way to such explosions of fury, both against
the governor and the States, when informed of the offer and acceptance of
that authority. The Earl, elevated by the adulation of others, and by
his own vanity, into an almost sovereign attitude, saw himself chastised
before the world, like an aspiring lackey, by her in whose favour he
had felt most secure. He found, himself, in an instant, humbled and
ridiculous. Between himself and the Queen it was, something of a lovers'
quarrel, and he soon found balsam in the hand that smote him. But though
reinstated in authority, he was never again the object of reverence in
the land he was attempting to rule. As he came to know the Netherlanders
better, he recognized the great capacity which their statesmen concealed
under a plain and sometimes a plebeian exterior, and the splendid grandee