CECIL, WILLIAm, Lord Burleigh, the famous mi nister of Queen Elizabeth, was born at Bourn in Lin colnshire, in 1520, of an ancient and respectable family, his father, Richard Cecil, being master of the robes to I Ienry VIII. After receiving the rudiments of educa tion at the schools of Grantham and Stamford, he was sent, in his fifteenth year, to St John's college, Cam bridge, where he distinguished himself by the regularity of his habits, and unwearied assiduity. It is recorded, that he made an agreement with the bell ringer, to be called every morning so early as four o'clock. Logic and Greek were his chief, but Lot his only studies, for he soon discovered a wish to take in a comprehensive range of information. In 1541 he was removed to Gray's Inn to study law, where he displayed the same indefati gable application, making it a rule to commit to writing every thing worth notice in the mut se of his reading, and taking the pains to arrange his information in the clearest order. Many of his manuscripts are still preserved, in private and public libraries. The intimacy of his father at court, having procured his introduction at an early age to Henry, who piqued himself both on his learning and his discernment of learned men, Cecil was soon induced to prefer a political to a legal career. In this determina tion he was confirmed by matrimonial connections, the friends of his first wife, whom he married when he was only twenty-one, haying introduced him to the protector Somerset. This introduction was afterwards strength ened by the king's preceptor, Sir Anthony Cook, whose daughter Cecil married some time after he had the mis fortune of being deprived of his first wife. Zealous like Somerset in promoting the Reformation, Cecil received from that nobleman the respectable appointment of mas ter of the requests, and continued to discover so much assiduity and ability, as to be thought worthy of the sta tion of secretary of state, at the early age of twenty eight. The protector being soon after overpowered by the intrigues of the Earl of Warwick and his party, Cecil fled with his patron ; but, after a confinement of three months in the Tower, the joint effect of the young king's favour, and of his own aptitude for business, was his re instatement in his office of secretary under the new lead ers. On this occasion he was knighted, and when he entered on office, he afforded, amid all the cabals of the time, the example of a minister occupying himself ex clusively with the concerns of his department. By these means he avoided all concern in the intrigues by which Warwick, now duke of Northumberland, sought to se cure his own ascendency for life, by getting the succes sion to the crown vested in Lady Jane Grey. Cecil per formed his duty in co-operating to place the crown on the head of the lawful heiress, Mary ; but aware at the same time of her bigotted attachment to popery, he made no other use of his influence than to obtain a pardon for any thing that might have offended her in his past transac tions. The new court would gladly have had the benefit. of his abilities in office, hut an abjuration of the Protes tant religion was, with Cecil, an inadmissible condition, and he retired for a time from all interference with poli tics. He was soon, however, returned to parliament for Lincolnshire, and though this took place without his solicitation, he acted his part in the House with great firmness, and incurred some danger by advocating the popular cause. That danger would have been increased, had it been discovered that he was in the habit of cor responding with Elizabeth before the death of her suspi cious sister.
On Elizabeth's accession, (1558,) Cecil was the first privy counsellor sworn in, and in the capacity of Secre tary of State, entered on that career of public service, which was destined to last clueing the long period of forty years, and to terminate only with his life. He lost no time in directing his sovereign's attention to the esta blishment of the Protestant religion, according to the present form of worship of the church of England. In advocating the cause of simplicity in the reformed ritual, he experienced considerable difficulty from Elizabeth's predilection, (though a Protestant,) to the imposing splen dour of Romish ceremonies, a predilection in which the queen received the support of many dignitaries of the church. In civil affairs, the ascendency of Cecil was far more conspicuous. Ilis thoughtful habits, and a facility in composition early acquired, led him to follow the rule of recording on paper his opinions on subjects of importance, and writing answers to all publications hostile to the queen's government. That economy of the public money, which is in the mouth of every minis ter, was perhaps DCVO' so judiciously and effectually practised as by him. The rule of this reign was not to
withdraw from the burden of continental wars, but to avoid taking a leading part, and to confine the exercise of interference to those circumstances in which it had become indispensably necessary. Teaching her allies to rely on their own resources, Elizabeth was accustomed to twins; la(Ar rod•malid her loans as soon as the state or military operations permitted it. I ler cautious minister persuaded her to despise all dreams of continental acquisition, and to decline even the proffered sovereignty of Holland, Cecil was, itt consequence, often censured as the adviser of a narrow -minded policy, but he was indifferent to such accusations, and placed his reliance on the evidence of facts. Ile resisted also, as much as in his power, the importunities of idle and ra pacious courtiers. While thus hostile to irregular grants, he was punctual and even liberal in the reward of real services. Ile is considered the author of a very mate rial reform in the mode of paying the army, by which the money of the soldiers, instead of going through the medium of the officers, a practice liable to great abuse, was transmitted directly front government to the privates. Front this, and other circumstances, arose the saying, that " the queen paid liberally, though she rewarded sparingly." The gradation of Cecil's honour was as follows : In 1361 he was promoted to the office of master of the wards, or, in other words, president of the court of wards. In 1571, after he had been the chief instrument of extinguishing a dangerous rebellion in the north, he was made Baron Burleig-h ; and in 1572, after escaping from a conspiracy against his life, in which the Spanish ambassador was implicated, he was made a knight of the garter. In the same year, on the death of the lord high treasurer, he was raised to that exalted and labo rious station. In the exercise of its functions, Cecil was equally vigilant in regard to the collection and distribu tion of the public money ; permitting no undue partiality in the former, and, in the latter, making it an express rule to issue nothing without a direct order from the queen. Ile never imitated the usual practice of trea surers, in occasionally borrowing from the treasury for private purposes ; and he was almost the only minister of that age, who, at his death, owed nothing to the public. Though frequently the admirer of vi8orems measures, the general character of his policy was pacific. " War," he used to say, " is soon kindled, but peace is very hardly procured." " A realm gains more by one year's peace than by ten years war." The reader who will take the pains to compare the ambition of Europe in these days and in our own, will find, that, while the inducements to war were equally great, the course of policy pursued in the two cases, forms a remarkable con trast. Scotland and France were at that time torn by intestine convulsions, and the low countries involved in a tedious war with Philip II. All presented tempting opportunities of conquest to an English army ; but con quest, Cecil well knew, is not the true foui,dation of na tional strength. Ile was the first to discover the hostile intentions of Philip towards England, but delayed, as long as possible, the resort to actual warfare. When the defeat of the armada put a finish to Philip's hopes, and disposed him to reasonable terms of peace, Cecil, who had hitherto been most IlIgnnt in opposing hint, now became the advocate of a cessation of military op( rations, unsuccessfully indeed, for the passions which prompted a continuance of the war were too violent to yield to reason and argument. Zeal for religion, revenge for meditated subjugation, and the hope of rich captures, all contributed to stimulate the nation to it prosecution of hostility against Philip. In regard to France, the pub lic mind being less strongly agitated, Cecil's prudent counsels were adopted by his sovereign, and agreeably them, s ...ssi:aance only alforde d as ass 11:T6s:to to preserve the I ugonots from falling under sunk( tion to their Catholic udeersaries. Succour to tl at exten' was called for by the cause of religion, hut to fat the' would, in Cecil's opinion, ha e answered no useful pur pose, since he was vAtishied that die French goeernment, whether Protestant or Catho!ie, would re twain equally the rival of England. 1 le per es e red z («wdingly in the same cautious course, alter the massacre of St Bartholo mew bad kindled the spirit of the nation to such a height as to make our nobles and gentry come forward and e o lunteer a crusade against the Catholics of Prance at th head of 30,000 men.