Note 37 — Chapter IX · 1832–1833.

Mrs. Buchanan died on the 14th of May, 1833, at the house of her daughter, Mrs. Lane, in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. The letters of Mrs. Buchanan, of which I have seen many more than I have quoted, although rather formal in expression, show a mind of much cultivation, imbued with a fervent religious spirit, and of very decided and just opinions. In one of her letters to her son James, written in 1822, she says: “Harriet and myself, at the request of Mr. S., a clergyman, are engaged in reading Neale’s History of the Puritans, in which I observe a development of Queen Elizabeth’s character and management, not much to her honor; however, it appears evident, in opposition to her own intentions, she was made an instrument in the hands of Providence, of promoting the Reformation, which has certainly rendered an essential service to the world.” If the good lady had read Mr. Hallam’s very impartial account of Elizabeth’s management of the two opposite parties among the English Protestants, she would not have had much reason for changing the opinion which she formed from reading Neale, although it would not have been correct to say that the Queen’s course was in any just sense dishonorable to her. The truth probably is, that Elizabeth, in nearly everything that she did in regard to religion, was governed by motives of policy, and not by convictions or special inclinations. In many respects, she was not a Protestant, according to the Puritan standard, and in many others she was not a Catholic.