3 20 REIGN OF ELIZABETH. [CH. 6O. see her was heaven, and the lack of her was helFs torment/ ' Passion overcomes him/ as he thinks "upon her sweetness. Leicester ' is but half alive ' when he is absent from ' her most blessed presence/ Even in busi- ness of State she was not proof against flattery. Men- doza could divert her at any time from disagreeable subjects by turning the conversation upon her personal excellencies. 1 Sir John Smith, when sent on a visit to the Court of France, found it prudent to dispraise the Queen and ladies there to her Majesty's advantage. 2 And there were no attentions which more certainly brought substantial wages. The public service was con- ducted most thriftily ministers of State had their re- ward in doing the business of the country. "Walsing- liam spent his private fortune in his office, and ruined himself. Sir Henry Sidney declined a peerage, his viceroyalty in Ireland having left him crippled with debt. Sir James Crofts excused his accepting a pension from Spain, on the ground that the Queen allowed him nothing as controller of her household. Lord Burghley has left on record in his own handwriting, that the grants which he had received from his mistress had not 1 ' Divertiendola dellas platicas con otras a que yo estaba cierto habia de dar oydos, como decirle quan buena estaba.' Mendoza al Key, 31 Marzo, 1578- MSS. Si- 2 ' I assure your Majesty of my faith there is more beauty in your Majesty's finger than in any one lady among them all. I had heard the French Queen before I saw her com. mended to be very fair and of good presence. Clear-skinned she is, but very pale and without colour ; her face reasonably well formed, but for majesty of a princess, God knows she has none,' &c. Sir John Smith to Elizabeth, April, 1576: MSS. Spain, Rolls
