It was indeed believed by those who knew her that there
was no situation however exalted to which her spirit would
have been unequal, and that had she been born to sway a
sceptre, she would have ranked in, history with the most re-
nowned of female sovereigns. "This very extraordinary
woman," says Dr. Brookes, " wanted only to have acted in a
superior sphere to be ranked by historians among the most
admirable heroines. Had she been in the situation of
a Zenobia, she would have supported her empire, and defended
her capital with equal skill and resolution; but she would
never have lived to decorate the triumph of an Aurelian, or
have given up a secretary, of the fidelity and ability of a
Longinus, to save herself. If she had been in the situation
of Elizabeth, she would, without scruple, have cut off the
heads of twenty Marys, who by surviving her, woidd have
overturned the happy constitution she had formed, and would
as gloriously have defended her kingdom against a Spanish
Armada or any hostile force whatever, and have rather in-
wardly triumphed than been intimidated at the most for-
midable preparations against her."

Her admiration of her grandfather, Oliver Cromwell, was
unbounded. He was, as we have seen, amongst the earliest
objects of her love and veneration. All the tokens he had



Digitized by



Google



302 WOMEN OF THE VXJBJTAN TIMES.
given of his tender adection for her in her childhood, were
associated with her fondly cherished recollections of that
period of her life, and they conjured up soft and bright images
of innocence, happiness, and domestic affections, such as are
but feebly reproduced in after years.
