d wisdom of Elizabeth. They have even been
so extremely ignorant of the transactions of this reign, as to extol her
for a quality which, of all others, she was the least possessed of; a
tender regard for the constitution, and a concern for the liberties
and privileges of her people. But as it is scarcely possible for the
prepossessions of party to throw a veil much longer over facts so
palpable and undeniable, there is danger lest the public should run into
the opposite extreme, and should entertain an aversion to the memory of
a princess who exercised the royal authority in a manner so contrary to
all the ideas which we at present entertain of a legal constitution.
But Elizabeth only supported the prerogatives transmitted to her by her
predecessors: she believed that her subjects were entitled to no more
liberty than their ancestors had enjoyed: she found that they entirely
acquiesced in her arbitrary administration: and it was not natural for
her to find fault with a form of government by which she herself was
invested with such unlimited authority. In the particular exertions of
power, the question ought never to be forgotten, What is best? But
in the general distribution of power among the several members of a
constitution, there can seldom be admitted any other question than,
What is established? Few examples occur of princes who have willingly
resigned their power; none of those who have, without struggle and
reluctance, allowed it to be extorted from them. If any other rule than
established practice be followed, factions and dissensions must multiply
without end: and though many constitutions, and none more than the
British, have been improved even by violent innovations, the praise
bestowed on those patriots to whom the nation has been indebted for its
privileges, ought to be given with some reserve, and surely without the
least rancor against those who adhered to the ancient constitution.[*]

In order to understand the ancient constitution of England, there is not
a period which deserves more to be studied than the reign of Elizabeth.
The prerogatives of this princess were scarcely ever disputed, and
she therefore employed them without scruple: her imperious temper--a
circumstance in which she went far beyond her successors--rendered her
exertions of power violent and frequent, and discovered the full extent
of her authority: the great popularity which she enjoyed, proves that
she did not infringe any establishe