1. She gave England twenty-six years of peace, in spite of the distracted state of things abroad, and by this means (a) the religious question, (b) the succession question, were settled without civil war.
2. By creating a new mental atmosphere, she gave England a new national temper, which found expression in a national poetry. Shakspere’s “jubilant patriotism”:—
“This England never did, nor never shall
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror....
Come the three corners of the world in arms,
And we shall shock them; nought shall make us rue,
If England to herself do rest but true.”
—K. John.
“This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle ...
This precious stone set in the silver sea ...