as this latter prince professed
the reformed religion, he thought himself, on that account, better
entitled to succeed in his addresses. Eric, king of Sweden, and Adolph,
duke of Holstein, were encouraged by the same views to become suitors:
and the earl of Arran, heir to the crown of Scotland, was, by the states
of that kingdom, recommended to her as a suitable marriage.

* Haynes, vol. i. p. 233.

Even some of her own subjects, though they did not openly declare their
pretensions, entertained hopes of success. The earl of Arundel, a person
declining in years, but descended from an ancient and noble family, as
well as possessed of great riches, flattered himself with this prospect;
as did also Sir William Pickering, a man much esteemed for his personal
merit. But the person most likely to succeed, was a younger son of the
late duke of Northumberland, Lord Robert Dudley, who, by means of his
exterior qualities, joined to address and flattery, had become in
a manner her declared favorite, and had great influence in all her
counsels. The less worthy he appeared of this distinction, the more was
his great favor ascribed to some violent affection, which could thus
seduce the judgment of this penetrating princess; and men long expected
that he would obtain the preference above so many princes and monarchs.
But the queen gave all these suitors a gentle refusal, which still
encouraged their pursuit; and thought that she should the better attach
them to her interest, if they were still allowed to entertain hopes of
succeeding in their pretensions. It is also probable that this policy
was not entirely free from a mixture of female coquetry; and that,
though she was determined in her own mind never to share her power with
any man, she was not displeased with the courtship, solicitation, and
professions of love, which the desire of acquiring so valuable a prize
procured her from all quarters.

What is most singular in the conduct and character of Elizabeth is, that
though she determined never to have any heir of her own body, she was
not only very averse to fix any successor to the crown, but seems, also,
to have resolved, as far as it lay in her power, that no one who had
pretensions to the succession should ever have any heirs or successors.
If the exclusion given by the will of Henry VIII. to the posterity of
Margaret, queen of Scotland, was allowed to be valid, the right to the
crown devolved on the house of Suffolk; an