“Her next removal, according to ancient custom, was to the Tower. On this occasion, the loyalty and gallantry of the English nation were fully displayed. Pageants and endless devices attracted her attention on all sides: singers and musicians lent their aid; and, more than all, the air was rent with the joyful acclamations of her enraptured subjects, as, preceded by her heralds and great officers, the maiden queen, gratified and affected by the homage that a brave and generous nation offered up, expressed her grateful sense of it by holding up her hands, with a pleased countenance, to those who were at a distance from her, and by the ‘most tender and gentle language to those who stood near.’ One simple act of kindness was noticed with peculiar commendation. A branch of rosemary given her with a petition, by a poor woman in Fleet-bridge, was seen in her chariot till she came to Westminster. Nor was her reception of the English Bible, which was presented to her in Cheapside, less grateful to the feelings of her people, still bearing in remembrance the persecutions they had received. She not only took it reverently in her hands, but kissed it, and laid it on her bosom; assuring the citizens of her high sense of its value, and that she should read it most diligently. “I do not think,” said Mr. Wilmot, “that I can conclude these extracts from Holinshed better, than by quoting Miss Aikin’s remarks upon this part of Elizabeth’s life; concluding with the prayer she offered, which has been preserved by the careful chronicler. “‘With what vivid, and what affecting impressions, (says this lady,) of the vicissitudes attending on the great, must she have passed again within the antique walls of that fortress, once her dungeon, now her palace. She had entered it by the traitors’ gate, a terrified and defenceless prisoner, smarting under many wrongs, hopeless of deliverance, and apprehending nothing less than an ignominious death. She returned to it in all the pomp of royalty, surrounded by the ministers of her power, ushered in by the applauses of her people, the cherished object of every eye, the idol of every heart. “‘Devotion could alone supply becoming language to the emotions which swelled her bosom; and, no sooner had she reached the royal apartments, than, falling on her knees, she returned humble and hearty thanks in the following prayer. “‘O Lord Almighty and everlasting God, I give thee most hearty thanks, that thou hast been so merciful to me as to spare me to behold this joyful day. And I acknowledge that thou hast dealt as wonderfully and as mercifully with me, as thou didst with thy true and faithful servant Daniel, thy prophet, whom thou deliveredst out of the den, from the cruelty of the greedy and raging lions; even so was I overwhelmed, and only by thee delivered. To thee, therefore, only be thanks, honour, and praise, for ever. Amen.’