all the French Forces should immediately depart out of Scotland except sixty men only to bâ— left in Dunbar and as many in the Fo 〈…〉 of Nachkeeth that they should be transported for their greater Security in English Bottoms that all matters of Religio 〈…〉 should be referred to the following Parliament that an Act of Oblivion should be passed for the Indemnity of all who ha 〈…〉 borne Arms on either side that a general Bond of Love and Amitâ— should bâ— made betwixt the Lords and their 〈…〉 râ—nts of both Religions And 〈…〉 amongst many other Particulars That n 〈…〉 ther the Queen of Scots nor the French King should from thence forward 〈…〉 the Titles and Arms of England 〈…〉 Articles being signed for both Kin 〈…〉 the French 〈…〉 Scotland 〈…〉 English Army being returned home was thereupon disbanded Shortly after which the Earls of Morton and Glencarn were sent by the Congregation to pay their most 〈…〉 mble Thanks and Acknowledgments to â—er Majesty for her ready and successful Assistance and to implore the Continuation of her Favour and Protection in case they should be invaded by the French or any other Enemies Whereof having received gracious Assurances and being 〈…〉 obly entertained and bountifully rewarded with Gifts and Presents they returned with such Joy and Satisfaction to â—he Congregation that for these Reasons and for the further engaging her Protection they obliged themselves by their Subscription to embrace the Liturgy with all the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England which for a time remained the only Form of Worship retained in the Kirke of Scotland After which they caused a Parliament to be called in Pursuance of the Articles of the Pacification from which no Person w 〈…〉 ed who had any Right of Suff 〈…〉 ose Authority three Acts pa 〈…〉 g wholly to the promoting and establishing of the Reformation The first was for the abolishing the Pope's Jurisdiction and Authority within that Realm the second For the annulling all Statutes made in former Times for maintenance of Idolatry and Superstition and the third for the Punishments of the Sayers and Hearers of Mass. And now let us return to England where the Earl of Arrain being recommended by the Protestants of Scotland for a Husband to Queen Elizabeth by that means to have united the two Crowns this Match was handsomly rejected by her and with great Commendation of the Person The like Address was made by the King of Denmark in Favour of Adolph Duke of Holstein a Prince who had gained great Honours by the Wars and who came himself over for that purpose but was dismissed by the Queen with the Honour of the Garter and a yearly Pension whereby she bound him for ever to her Interests At home Sir William Pickering the Earl of Arundel and Robert Dudley the Duke of Northumberland's younger S 〈…〉 statter'd themselves with the hopes 〈…〉 taining unto the Honour of being her Husband In the mean time the Lord Vicount Montacute the Queens Ambassador in Spain represents to that King the Necessity of the Scotish War endeavours to free the Scots from all Aspersions of Rebellion proving though a zealous Catholick that the Religion that was now introduced into England was wholly consonant to the Sacred Scriptures and the four first General Councils and demanded that the League of Burgundy might be renewed Whereto that King replyed That the confirming of the League was in no wise necessary bemoaneth the Change of Religion in England is troubled at the Expedition into Scotland sendeth back the Order of the Garter and taketh unkindly some Repulses in things of small Moment and though he gave some necessary Cautions as to Clauses to be inserted in the Treaty of Edenborough and for a while opposed the French Practiâ—â— at Rome who endeavoured to proâ—â—â—rt Queen Elizabeth to be excommunicated yet his Ministers incensing him 〈…〉 more and more against the Engl 〈…〉 Affronts were offered to the Queens Ambassador at his Court and he is likewise said to have then endeavoured to perswade the new elected Pope to thunder out his Bulls of Excommunication against her Majesty But the Court of Rome being sensible how little she valued those empty Crackers instead of complying with the Spaniard sent to her the Abbot Vincentio Papalia with secret Instructions and fawning Letters whereof you have here an Abstract To our most dear Daughter Elizabeth Queen of England OUR most dear Daughter in Christ greeting and Apostolical Benediction How greatly We do desire according as our Pastoral Office requireth to take care of your Salvation and to provide as well for your Honour as the Establishment of your Kingdom both God the Searcher of our Hearts knoweth and you your self may understand by the Instructions which we have given to this Our beloved Son Vincentio Papalia Abbot of St. Saviour a man known unto you and of Us well approved to be by him imparted unto You. We do therefore most Dear Daughter exhort and admonish your Highness again That rejecting bad Councellors â—â—â— love not you but themselves and serve their own Deâ—â—â—s You would take the Fear of God to counsel and acknowledging the time of your Visitation oâ—ey Our Fatherly Admonitions and wholsome Advices and promise to your self all things concerning Us which you shall desire of Us not onely for the Salvation of your Soul but also for the establishing and confirming of your Royal Dignity according to the Authority Place and Function committed to Us by God who if you return into the Bosoâ— of the Church as We wish and hope you will are ready to receive you with the same Love Honour and Rejoycing wherewith that Father in the Gospel received his Son who returned unto him although our Joy shall be so much the greater than his in that he rejoyced for the Salvation of one onely Son but You drawing with you all the people of England shall not only by your own Salvation but also by the Salvation of the whole Nation replenish Us and all our Brethren in General whom God willing you should hear shortly to be congregated in an Oecumenical and General Council for abolishing of Heresies and the whole Church with joy and gladness Yea you shall also glad Heaven it self and purchase â—y somemorable a Fact admirable Glory to your Name and much more renowned than that Crown you wear But of this matter the same Vincentio shall treat with you more at large and shall declare unto you our Fatherly affection whom we pray your Highness that you will graciously receive diligently hear and give the same Credit to his Speech which you would do to Our Self Given at Rome at Saint Peters c. The 1.5 day of May 1560. In our first year Notwithstanding all this Cajoslery Queen Elizabeth kept firm to her Motto viz. Always the same insomuch that the Pope was deceived in his hopes The proposals that the Pope is said to have designed to have made by this Abbot were That he would
the Subsidy saying that Money in her Subjects Coffers was as well as in her own Nevertheless she favoured very much the Queen of Scots Title and punished those who called it in question Shortly after these Occurrences the Queen of Scotland falling into a languishing Condition she recommended the Prince her Son to the Protection of Queen Elizabeth but before that happened her Affection for the King her Husband being much cooled and abated and this Unkindness in her being much fomented by one David Rizie an Italian first a Musician and afterwards French Secretary to the Queen The King her Husband through the instigations of several Lords resolved to dispatch a man who had taken upon him more than became him which having accordingly performed it was not long before the King himself was assassinated by Murray's Contrivances though some Historians have laid that Regicide to the Queen his Wife's Charge After this detestable Action they perswaded the Queen to accept of the Earl of Bothwel one of the Conspirators for a Husband being a Person renowned for his Courage and therefore the better able to assist her against so many Enemies as she was represented to have but being accused of that horrid Parricide he was brought to the Bar and acquitted by Law Whereupon having new Honours conferred upon him the Queen accepted him for a Husband which bred a Suspition in several People That the Queen was privy to the Murder Which Umbrage being promoted by the Male-contents they took Arms caused Bothwell to fly though as some say privy to their Designs and having seized on the Queen they put her into Prison which Queen Elizabeth having notice of and detesting the Insolency of those People she sent Sir Nicholas Throckmorton into Scotland to expostulate the matter with the Confederates and procure her Restauration to her former Freedom and Authority Yet though this Ambassadour used all imaginable Arguments in Vindication of that Queen yet he found that People so strangely exasperated against her that instead of complying with his Demands they put the Queen under a stricter Confinement insomuch that at last to make her freely resign the Government of the Kingdom they menaced to call her in question for Tyranny the King's Murder and incontinent Living insomuch that at length they compelled her to set her hand to three Instruments In the first whereof she resigned her Kingdom to her young Son at that time scarce thirteen Months old In the second she constituted Murray Vice-Roy during the Minority of her Son and in the third she named in case that Murray should refuse that Office several of the principal Noble-men of the Kingdom Within a few days after this Resignation James the Sixth her Son was crowned King the famous John Knox preaching the Coronation Sermon Now Murray being declared Regent he advised the Queen not to disturb the Peace of the Kingdom by endeavouring her Liberty by Instigating the Queen of England or the French King to a War with Scotland or by thinking any more of Bothwell's Love or meditating Revenge upon his Adversaries As soon as Murray was confirmed in the Regency he put to death some of Bothwell's Servants who protested at their Execution that Murray and Morton were the Contrivers of the Kings Death But while that the Queen of England and the French King were in vain solliciting the Liberty of the Queen of Scots eight years being now expired since the Treaty of Cambray Ministers were sent into France to demand the re-delivery of Calice with the Appurtenances but this Business being delayed and prorogued by the French from time to time at length the thoughts of it were wholly laid aside through the Civil War that then broke out in France In the mean time the Earl of Sussex being sent Ambassador to the Emperour to treat of the Marriage that had been proposed by his Imperial Majesty in favour of the Arch Duke his Brother which Commission he the more willingly accepted of in that it might be a means for the destroying the Earl of Leicester's Pretensions But he met with several Difficulties in this Negotiation both as to Religion the Arch Duke's Maintenance the Title of King and the Succession As for the Title the Arch Duke Charles should enjoy the Name and Title of King of England Concerning the Succession He could not by the Laws of England succeed for that would have been prejudicial to their Children of whom it was agreed however that he should have the Guardianship and all other things as fully granted as they had been to Philip of Spain when he married to Queen Mary As touching his Maintenance he would at his own charge maintain the Train he should bring and keep about him the Queen would bountifully supply the rest according to his Royal Dignity nay and that other also if he would require it But the main obstacle was concerning Religion the Emperour and Arch Duke requiring a publick Church for the celebrating Divine Service after the Romish manner which not being granted nor the Expedient allowed of that was devised by the Emperour that he might have some private place in the Court granted him for Divine Service upon condition that no English man should be admitted thereunto That he himself should forbear in case of any Disorders in point of Religion That neither he nor any of his should speak against the Religion of the Church of England and moreover That he himself should be present with the Queen at Divine Service to be celebrated after the manner of the Church of England Yet notwithstanding these plausible Offers the Queen after mature Deliberation made Answer That should she consent hereunto she should offend her Conscience and openly break the publick Laws of the Realm which could not be done without endangering both her Dignity and Safety but however invited the Arch Duke Charles to come into England promising That he should not repent of his Journey Whereupon the Emperour dismissed Sussex with great Honour and thus those Proposals fell to nothing by degrees though all mutual good Offices continued to pass between the Queen and the Emperour who persevered in thwarting all the Designs of the Pope against her Majesty and not long after the Arch Duke Charles took to Wife a Daughter of the Duke of Bavaria Much about the same time came Ambassadours to the Queen from the Emperour of Russia and Muscovia bringing very rich Presents to her Majesty that Emperour having granted very great Priviledges to the English who had not long before discovered a Passage by Sea into his Countrey and of whom a Company was formed for Commerce into those parts With those Ambassadors returned into England Anthony Jenkinson being the first of all the English who sailed upon the Caspian Sea By him the Czar made Proposals of an Offensive and Defensive League with the Queen which her Majesty made slight of not being willing to enter into farther League with a Prince who had created an Aversion to him in his
Authority of Parliament To which Propositions the Queen of Scots replyed with a Proviso referring the fuller Answer to the Bishop of Ross her Ambassadour in England and to some other Delegates who afterwards granting some of the Propositions and rejecting others the Treaty came to nothing and things remained in the same state as they were in before Onely Queen Elizabeth as Head of all Britain by her Authority prorogued the Parliament of Scotland Whilst things were in this posture the Pope supplied the English Rebells and Fugitives with Monies and Philip of Spain contracted a Marriage with Anne of Austria Daughter to the Emperour Maximilian his own Neece by his Sister and she being to go by Sea from Zealand into Spain Queen Elizabeth to shew the Love and Respect she had for the House of Austria sent Sir Charles Howard with the Navy Royal to Convoy her through the British Sea And now Queen Elizabeth having compleated the Twelfth year of her Reign which some Wizzards had flattered the Papists that it would be her last the People out of their great Affection and Loyalty to her Majesty celebrated the 17th of November with all the Pomp Joy and Thanksgiving imaginable which was not only continued upon that day during her Life but even to this very day In Ireland a new Rebellion was contrived by the Earl of Thoumond and his Adherents which was disappointed when it was just ready to break out merely by the Earl's Suspicions of his being discovered whereupon he fled into France and confessing his Crimes and showing himself very penitent to the Queen's Ambassador there this Minister procured him his pardon and the Restitution of his Estate Soon after which Queen Elizabeth made a very magnificent Entry into the City of London for to go see the new Burse which Sir Thomas Gresham had newly built and in a solemn manner nam'd it the Royal Exchange with Sound of Trumpets and by the Voice of an Herald Shortly after which she created Sir William Cecyl Baron of Burghley There was at this time in England Delegates from the King of Scots of whom Queen Elizabeth having demanded that they should explain the Reasons they had for deposing their Queen whereupon they exhibited so insolent a Writing that the Queen could not read it without Indignation and told them That she did not see that they had any just Cause to treat their Queen after that manner and therefore desired they would immediately think of some means to allay the Dissentions of that Kingdom Hereupon several Propositions were again made them for the setting the Queen of Scots at Liberty which being rejected by the Scottish Delegates and Norfolk beginning a new his Practices in favour of that Queen and she her self corresponding and caballing with the Enemies of the Crown of England whereto they were both excited by Ridolpho the Pope's Agent that Queen had many of her Servants taken from her and she her self put under a stricter Confinement and a watching Eye was kept over the Duke to whom the Pope had promised great Assistance both of Money and Men in case he would raise a Rebellion assuring him That the King of Spain would aid him with four thousand Horse and six thousand Foot and that he had already deposited a hundred thousand Crowns and that he would be at all the Charge of the War But whilst these things were acting in England the Queen of Scots Party was very much oppressed in Scotland several of her principal Adherents being put to Death and their strongest Holds taken in In France was the Marriage now solemnized between Charles the Ninth the French King and Elizabeth of Austria Daughter to the Emperour Maximilian to Congratulate which the Lord Buckhurst was sent into France by Queen Elizabeth and was there received with all the Honours and Pomp imaginable and possibly the more in respect of a Motion that the French Court designed to make in favour of a Match between the Duke of Anjou and the Queen of England After the Lord Buckhurst had performed his Commission he returned home with great Presents and with one Cavalcantio a Florentine who had attended him in his Embassy This Cavalcantio being a prudent Person was entrusted by the Queen Mother of France to make a motion of this Match to Queen Elizabeth Which he accordingly performed and the Queen seemed to listen favourably to the Proposal for by this Match there should be added to the Kingdom of England the Dukedoms of Anjou Bourbon Avern and possibly the Kingdom of France it self Whereupon a Treaty was held in which the French proposed three Articles one concerning the Coronation of the Duke another concerning the joint Administration of the Kingdom a third concerning a toleration of his Religion whereto it was replyed that the two first Articles might in some sort be composed but hardly the third for though a contrary Religion might be tolerated between Subjects of the same Kingdom yet between a Wife and her Husband it seemed very incongruous and inconvenient however the matter was brought at length to this Conclusion that if the Duke would afford his presence with the Queen at Divine Service and not refuse to hear and learn the Doctrine of the Church of England he should not be compelled to use the English Rites but at his pleasure use the Roman not being expressly against the Word of God But they could not accommodate these Niceties insomuch that the Treaty was quite broak off after it had continued almost a Year But during these Occurrences it happened at Kinnaston in Herefordshire the ground was seen to open and certain Rocks with a piece of Ground removed and went forwards four days together carrying along great Trees and Sheep-Coats some with sixty Sheep in them and overthrew Rimnalstone Chappel the Depth of the whole where it first broke out is thirty Foot and the bredth of the Breach sixteen Yards also High-ways were removed near an hundred Yards with Trees and Hedg-rows and the like And now the Papists were plotting and contriving new Attempts against the Queen but they were all frustrated by the goodness of God and the Prudence of the Queen and the Loyalty and Zeal of her Ministers and Protestant Subjects Amongst others of those Devillish Instruments of Popery was the Bishop of Ross the Queen of Scots Ambassador who made it his whole Business to excite and stir up People to Rebellion He had laid several Plots for seizing Queen Elizabeth and freeing the Queen of Scots but they all failed him in the Execution But notwithstanding that Bishop had received so many checks for these Practices of his yet he continuing them to that degree as not only to pervert the Subjects from their Loyalty but even to Designs against the Queen's Life the Privy Council after mature Deliberation in the Business notwithstanding his Character thought fit he should be sent and kept close Prisoner in the Tower which was accordingly done as likewise with the Duke of Norfolk
who was again committed to the same Place it having been discovered by a Pacquet of Letters that he still continued in his Affections Design to marry and free out of Prison the Queen of Scots having for that end kept correspondence with the Pope and the other Enemies of the Crown and traiterously consulted to take away the Queens Life and to bring in Foreign Forces to invade the Kingdom for which being brought to his Tryal he was found guilty by his Peers and accordingly beheaded The Parliament being assembled upon this occasion it was Enacted amongst other Laws that if any man should go about to free any Person imprisoned by the Queens Commandment for Treason or Suspicion of Treason and not yet arraigned he shall lose all his Goods for his life time and be Imprisoned during the Queens Pleasure if the said Person having been Arraigned the Rescuer shall forfeit his Life if Condemned he shall be guilty of Rebellion Presently after the Dissolution of the Parliament a Consultation was had whether John Story Doctor of the Laws the Duke of Alva's Searcher who some time before having been engaged to go on Board a Ship to search for Goods was by that piece of cunning brought into England being an English Man born and having in Brabant consulted with a Foreign Prince were to be held guilty of High Treason which being given in the affirmative by the Learned in the Law he was thereupon brought to his Tryal and Accused of having consulted with one Preshal a Conjurer to make away the Queen that he had Cursed her daily when he said Grace at Table that he shewed a way to the Duke of Alva how to Invade England of which being found guilty he accordingly suffered Death as a Traytor About this time Matthew Stuart Earl of Lenox Regent of Scotland and the King's Grandfather was surprized unawares by the Nobility of the adverse Faction and having yielded himself to David Spence of Wormstone who thereupon lost his Life in his Defence and they were both slain together by Bell and Chaulder after he had with great Pains and care governed the Kingdom for his Grandchild above fourteen Months and in his room was unanimously elected by the Kings Faction the Earl of Marr for Regent of Scotland but the place being two full of troubles for a Man of his quiet Disposition he departed this Life after he had Governed thirteen Months Some few days after the Execution of the Duke of Norfolk one Barnes and Mather were put to Death for Conspireing with one Herle to take away the Life of certain Counsellours and freeing the Duke and at the same time suffered one Rolph for Counterfeiting the Queens hand Shortly afterwhich the Queen conferred new Honours upon several of the Nobility concluded a League with the French King and sent several Persons to expostulate with the Queen of Scots for that she had usurped the Title and Arms of the Kingdom of England and had not renounced the same according to the Agreement of the Treaty of Edenborough that she had endeavoured the Marriage of the Duke of Norfolk without acquainting the Queen and had used all forcible means to free him out of Prison had raised the Rebellion in the North had releived the Rebells both in Scotland and in the Low Countries had implored Aids from the Pope the King of Spain and others had conspired with certain of the English to free her out of Prison and declare her Queen of England and finally that she had procured the Pope's Bull against the Queen and suffered her self to be publickly named the Queen of England in Foreign Countries all which Points she either denyed or endeavoured to extenuate And though as she said she was a free Queen and not subject to any Creature yet she was willing and desired that she might make her personal Answer at the next Parliament In the mean time Scotland was full of Civil Distractions and Dissentions the English countenancing the King's Party and the French the other And the King of Spain having made Complaints to the Queen by his Ambassador that the Low Country Rebells were entertained and harboured in England the Queen caused a severe Proclamation to be put forth That all the Dutch who could in any wise be suspected of Rebellion should immediately depart the Kingdom which proved rather disadvantageous than beneficial to the King of Spain For Count Vander Marea and other of the Netherlanders being hereupon compelled out of England first seised upon the Brid and then upon Flushing the Surprize of which Places being attended by the Revolt of other Towns the Spaniards were in a short time in some kind excluded from the Sea and were never after able to recover themselves in those Countries During these Transactions the French Ambassador here made Intercession in the behalf of the Queen of Scots and likewise endeavoured to promote the Match between the Queen and the Duke of Anjou but perceiving that all his Offices were to no purpose he returned into France where he found that Court very much taken up with making Preparations for the Marriage of the King of Navarr with the Lady Margaret the French King's Sister To this Solemnity were allured by an inviting prospect of perpetual Peace and Amity not only the Queen of Navarr and the Chief of all the Protestants in that Kingdom but likewise the Earl of Leicester and the Lord Burleigh the Elector Palatine's Sons with several of the Principal of the Reformed Party of other Nations were desired to be at the Celebration of that Marriage designing at one Blow to have cut down the Protestant Religion And though those Blood-thirsty Papists could not catch all they aimed at yet as soon as the Marriage was Solemnized there followed that Cruel Massacre of Paris and that terrible Butchering of the Hugonots throughout all the Cities of France but for the extenuating and vindicating of this horrible Fact Proclamations and Edicts were immediately put forth whereby the Protestants were accused of a Conspiracy against the King and the whole Royal Family But the French King notwithstanding his mask of Piety did not escape Divine Vengeance for before a year was expired he fell sick of a Bloody Flux which brought him to his end after long and tedious Torments And now came the Head of the Earl of Northumberland to the Block who Rebelling and then flying into Scotland was by the Earl of Morton delivered for a Sum of Money to the Lord Hunsdon Governor of Berwick and was shortly after Executed at York About this time was Sir William Cecyl Lord Burleigh promoted to be Lord High Treasurer of England upon the Decease of the Marquess of Winchester who a little before ended his days after he had lived Ninety seven years and had seen the Issue of his Body to the number of One hundred and three Persons Not long before which was a motion made to the Queen in favour of a Match between her Majesty and the Duke of
have procured he was to have marryed her and thereupon have demanded as well England as Scotland in Right of his Wife But this Plot and all the Contrivances to bring it about being discovered by the Prince of Orange to Queen Elizabeth she thereupon entred into a Defensive League with the States of the Low Countries After which some Forces were sent over thither with whom flocked several Volunteers of Quality Casimir the Elector Palatine's Son came likewise thither with an Army of German Horse and Foot at the Queen's Charges These Forces were unexpectedly attacqued by Don John at the Head of a great and experienc'd Army assisted by the Prince of Parma and other the best Commanders of the Spanish Monarchy and though they had expected a certain Victory yet after an obstinate Fight they were compelled to retreat but rallying again they thought to have surprized the English and Scottish Volunteers but were again repulsed by them and the English and Scots were so fiery in this Engagement that casting away their Garments by reason of the hot Weather they fought in their Shirts which they made fast about them Before this Action Don John had sent to Queen Elizabeth to complain of disobedience in the States The Spaniard himself having done the same and likewise the French-man of his Hugonot Subjects Thus sate this Queen as an Heroical Princess and Umpire between the Spaniards the French and the States insomuch that it was true what one hath Written that France and Spain were the Scales in the ballance of Europe and England the Beam to turn them either way For whom she assisted did ever play the Master Now though Embassadours come from the Queen of England the Emperour and the French King into the Low Countries with Proposals of Peace yet their Negotiation proved to no purpose for that Don John refused to admit the Protestant Religion and the Prince of Orange refused to return into Holland But shortly after Don John Dyed in the flower of his Age some say of the Pestilence others of grief both for his being out of favour with the Spanish King and for that his Ambition had been disappointed first of the Kingdom of Tunis and afterwards of that of England In Scotland began again new Commotions for the People having conceived a great Aversion against the Lord Morton the Regent the Nobility unanimously resolved to transfer the Administration of the Government upon the King though then but Twelve years old appointing him a Council of twelve of the Principal Lords three of whom were to attend him a Month by course Hereupon the King sent an Ambassador to Queen Elisabeth who was dismissed with satisfaction in most of the Points he came about but the Lord Morton not being able to brook the Disgrace of being put from the Regency taketh the Administration of all Affairs to himself which so provoked the Nobility of that Kingdom that they raised a great Army and were ready to fight him and his Forces when through the Intercession of Sir Robert Bowes the English Ambassador things were accommodated for the present And now the King of Spain and the Pope conspire the utter Ruine as they imagined of Queen Elizabeth having taken all the necessary Measures for an Invasion of England and Ireland But Don Sebastian King of Portugal being to Head this Enterprize was killed in the memorable Battel wherein three Kings were slain in Africa whereupon the King of Spain's Thoughts and Forces were wholly taken up how to secure the Kingdom of Portugal to himself In the mean time the Duke of Alanzon renews his Suit to the Queen sending over several French Lords to sollicit in his behalf and amongst the rest one Simier who had the Reputation of a great Courtier and one who understood the Art of Love better than any one Person of his time and indeed he seemed to have made such Advances in his Negotiation as made several of the other Pretenders jealous and caused the Earl of Leicester to report that this French-man crept into the Queens Affections by Love Potions and unlawful Arts for which and other Speeches and his being married to the Earl of Essex his Widow he was confined to the Castle of Greenwich and had it not been for the Earl of Sussex though his greatest Adversary he had been committed to the Tower But this course so provoked the Earl of Leicester and there were such suspicions of a Design of murdering Simier that the Queen put out a Proclamation commanding that no Person should offer Injury to the Ambassador or any of his Servants Yet it happening at that time that the Queen going in her Barge with Simier and some English Noblemen to Greenwich a young Fellow shooting off a Musket shot one of the Rowers in the Barge through the Arm with a Bullet for which he was immediately carried to the Gallows yet upon Solemn Protestation that he did it unwillingly and with no ill intent he was let go and pardoned And notwithstanding all that was suggested to the Queen yet she was so far from suspecting her Subjects that she frequently said She would not believe any thing against them which a Mother would not believe against her Children Within a few days after which Accident the Duke of Alanzon himself came incognito into England and unexpected by the Queen with whom having had some private Conferences he returned back to France and within a Month or two after his Departure the Queen appointed Commissioners to treat with Simier concerning the Articles of the Marriage The King of Spain having constituted the Prince of Parma Governour of the Low Countries Qu. Elizabeth supplyeth the States with a great Sum of Money for which William Davison brought into England the ancient pretious Habiliments of the Family of Burgundy and their costly Vessels laid to Pawn by Matthew of Austria and the States And about this time Sir William Drury succeeded in the Deputiship of Ireland to Sir Henry Sidney who had been eleven years Deputy of Ireland at several times And Casimir Son to the Elector Palatine of the Rhine came into England and after he had been magnificentlâ— entertained he was made Knight of the Garter and dismissed with a yearly Pension And the Queen having procured of the Grand Seignieur a full Liberty for her Subjects to-trade in all the Territories of Turkey a Company of Turkey Merchants was first set up about that time who carried on a great and most advantagious Trade in the several Parts of his vast Dominions Hereupon followed the Death of Sir Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in whose place succeeded Sir Thomas Bromley with the Title of Lord Chancellor of England And now broke out new Rebellions in Ireland the Natives thereof being thereunto stirred up by the Pope and his Adherents During which Sir William Drury dying Arthur Lord Gray was made Deputy in his stead And now the Pope having bestowed the Kingdom of Ireland upon the King of Spain for
Religion in Scotland being weary of the French insolency and oppression and no longer able to endure the Idolatries and Impositions of the Church of Rome proceeded of their own Authority to a change in Religion and being influenced by the greatest Men in the Kingdom and stirr'd up by Knox in his Sermons they fell upon destroying all Altars and Images in several Places demolishing of some Religious Houses and burning of others And being countenanced and seconded by the Nobility they seize upon Perth and other places and assuming to themselves the Name of the Congregation they managed their own Affairs apart from the rest of the Kingdom and began to stand upon such high Terms as to pass an Act for the depriving the Queen Regent of all Place and Power in the publick Government Whereupon the Queen Regent to provide for her own security having already received some Forces out of France though not sufficient she desires and is assisted with farther Supplies Hereupon the Heads of the Congregation dispatch Melvin and Maitland Lord Secretary to the Queen of England making Complaints that since the Queen of Scots had been married to the Dauphin the Government of the Kingdom was changed all Places laid waste by Foreign Souldiers the highest Offices of the Kingdom were bestowed upon French-men the Castles and all other fortified Places put into their hands and the purer Money of the Realm was embased for their gain and that by these and such other like Contrivances the French made way for their seizing on the Crown of Scotland in case it happened otherwise than well with their Queen and therefore they implore her Succours and Assistance for the expulsion of that People who might otherwise be destructive and of ill Consequence to both Realms Whereupon this Affair being taken into consideration some were of Opinion that it was not safe for the Queen to condescend and comply with their desires but others were for the Queens granting them Succours considering that the French were making such extraordinary Preparations both in France and Germany of Men and Ammunition for to be transported into Scotland as were not only sufficient to subdue that Kingdom to their Wills but seemed to threaten an Invasion of England through that Door by their Contracting Alliances with other States and the French King's taking upon him the Title of England and therefore that the Queen was obliged both out of Piety and Prudence to give such assistance to the Scots as might hinder the French from taking possession of that Kingdom Hereupon great Preparations were made for this Expedition the Duke of Norfolk was appointed Lieutenant General in the Northern parts towards Scotland the Earl of Sussex who had been Deputy of Ireland in the late Queens time was sent back thither with Instructions for the preventing any Change in that Kingdom and the Queens Commissioners being met with those of the Scots at Berwick it was concluded and a League made to this Effect That whereas the French go against all right and reason to subdue Scotland and unite it to the Scepter of France the Queen of England shall take the Duke of Chastel-heraut Heir apparent to the Crown of Scotland and the Scotish Nobility and People unto her Protection as long as the French King hath Mary Queen of Scots in marriage and a year after She shall send an Army by Sea and Land with all Warlike provision to expel and exclude the French out of Scotland She shall not enter into Peace with the French but with condition that Scotland may enjoy her Ancient Liberty The Forts and Strong Holds recovered by the Aid of the English from the French shall forthwith be razed or else delivered into the hands of the Duke of Norfolk at his choice The English shall fortifie no Places in Scotland but by the Consent of the Duke of Chastel-heralt and the Nobility of Scotland The Confederates shall aid the English all they can they shall hold for Enemies all whosoever shall be Enemies to the English They shall not suffer the Kingdom of Scotland to be united to France by any other means than as they are now conjoyned by Marriage If England be invaded by the French on this side the Rivor Tine the Scots shall send two thousand Horse and a thousand Foot under the Queen of England's Pay But if it be invaded beyond the Tine they shall joyn with the English to assist them with all the Power they can make and that at their own Charges the space of thirty dayes as they use to do for the Defence of Scotland The Earl of Argyle Justicer General of Scotland shall do his best that the North part of Ireland be reduced into order upon certain Conditions on which the Lieutenant of Ireland and he shall agree Finally it is prescribed what both of them shall perform in case Mac Conel or other Hebridians shall attempt any thing in Scotland or Ireland For Confirmation of these Articles before such time as the English Army enter into Scotland Hostages shall be sent into England to be changed every Sixth or Fourth Month at the Choice of the Scots during the Marriage betwixt the French King and the Queen of Scots and a year after the Duke of Chastel-herault and the Confederate Earls and Parliamentary Barons shall ratifie these Articles by their hands and Seals within twenty days And withal for as much as the Queen of England undertaketh these things in no other respect than in regard of Amity and Neighbourhood to defend the Scots from the Yoke of servitude they shall make Declaration that they will yield Obedience to the Queen of Scots and the King her Husband in all things which shall not make for the taking away of their ancient Liberty In Consequence of this Agreement and of the publick Declarations of the French of their design to invade England an Army of six thousand Foot and three thousand Horse were sent into Scotland under the Command of the Lord Gray an expert Captain and some ships being sent to block up the Frieth of Edenborough they dispersed and put to flight some French Men of War that hovered upon that Coast. About the time that the English Army entred Scotland the French made Proposals and Promises of restoring Calice in case the Queen would recall her Forces Which she absolutely refused saying That she looked upon Calice as a poor Fisher Town in comparison of the safety and security of all Brittain Now the French seeing that the English had blocked up the Town of Leith by Sea and Land iâ— such â—â—â—â— as that there was no possibility of relieving it and finding themselves 〈◊〉 able to maintain their projects against 〈…〉 English Courages and Power the Fr 〈…〉 King proposeth a Peace and to that 〈…〉 sendeth Embassadours to Edenborough 〈…〉 confer and treat with Câ—cyl and Nicho 〈…〉 Wâ—tton Deaâ— of Canterbury and York 〈…〉 were sent thither as Commissioners 〈…〉 Queen Elizabeth who came at length to this Conclusion That
of the young French King and the recovering of Calice they granted the Clergy one Subsidy and the Laity another with two Fifteens and Tenths During these Occurrences at home the Prince of Conde was intercepted and taken Prisoner in that memorable Battel of Dreux as was likewise Sir Nicholas Throgmorton who shortly after paying his Ransome was set at Liberty But the Admiral Chastillon Commanding both the English and French Forces had beetter Success by taking in of Caen and other considerable Places which so startled those of the Guisian Faction that they agreed unto an Edict of Pacification by which the French Princes were restored to their Kings favour Conde lured with hopes of the Lieutenancy General of France and a Marriage with the Queen of Scots the Hugonots allowed the free exercise of their Religion and all things setled for the present to their full satisfaction And having thus agreed among themselves and treacherously abandoned the English they join their Forces and contrive how to drive them out of New-haven in case they would not evacuate it upon demand Now sometime before this agreement the Hostages for Calice endeavoured to make their escape with Ribald a Famous Pilot who had been sent secretly into England for that purpose but were discovered and seized just as they were ready to take shipping The Queen having secret notice of the French designs upon New-haven offered to exchange it for Calice Which being refused War was Proclaimed on both sides And such an extraordinary great Fleet of the English scoured the Seas as not only shut up the French in their Havens but the Spaniards likewise and their Pyracies upon them being very great the Queen caused her Ambassadour to make Excuses at the Court of Spain and restrained them by Proclamation In the mean time New-haven being close Besieged and hard pressed by the French and the Pestilence raging horribly in the Town the English were forced to capitulate and render up that Place hoping that by leaving it they should escape the Plague but instead thereof they brought it with them into England where it sorely afflicted the whole Kingdom and especially the City of London where there dyed of it Twenty one Thousand one Hundred and thirty Persons The Fathers at Trent were very much displeased with Queen Elizabeth both for assisting the French Hugonots against their King and passing the Statute for Punishing all those who countenanced and maintained the Popes Authority within her Dominions which so incensed the Pope that he sent a Commission to those Fathers to proceed to an Excommunication of the Queen of England But the Emperour being by his Ministers sed with hopes of a Marriage betwixt the Queen and his Son the Arch-Duke Charles he by Letters to the Pope and his Legates disswaded them from proceeding to such Extremities and caused the Pope to revoke the Commission he had sent to his Legates in Trent Shortly after which that Council broke up but were so far from having re-united the Church that on the contrary the Breach was become greater and the Discords inreconcilable In the mean time the Cardinal of Lorrain fearing without any Reason a Match between Queen Elizabeth and Charles of Austria to divert it proposeth the said Charles for a Husband to his Neece the Queen of Scots who imparting this Business to Queen Elizabeth she advised her to marry but not the Arch-Duke and recommended to her for a Husband Robert Dudley and promised her That if she would marry him She should by Authority of Parliament be declared her Sister or Daughter and Heir of England in case she should dyeâ— without Issue But assoon as the Queen Mother and her Uncles in France had notice hereof they disswaded her from it promising if she would reject it and persist in the French Amity they would pay her her Dowry Money and lured the Scots with hopes of confirming their ancient Liberties and granting them new ones And though the Queen of Scots took all imaginable Care to gain the Love of her Subjects and keep them at Peace yet they insulted her frequently nor was she able to suppress the Commotions The Spaniard now grew daily more enraged against the English for that his Ambassador here had been confined to his House and subjected to Examinations and publick Reprehensions for that the English Privateers had invested the French upon the Coast of Spain and intended to set forth a Voyage to the West Indies And the King of Spain manifested his Displeasure by causing Proclamation to be made in Antwerp and other places though under Pretext of the Pestilence being in England that no English Ship with Cloaths should come into any part of the Low Countries causing the Goods of English men to be confiscated upon very light Causes and by new Edicts certain Merchandise were forbidden to be transported the Passage through the Low Country Provinces with Horses Salt Peter and Gunpowder out of Germany and Italy was forbidden Whereupon and at the earnest Suit of the Merchant-Adventurers the Queen prohibited the Transporting of Wool unwrought and the Mart or Staple of Cloaths or English Merchandizes was removed to Emden upon the River Ems in Friezland The Apprehension that these and other Circumstances gave the Queen of the Councils of Spain made her the more willingly hearken to a Peace with France which was concluded upon these Terms which were as advantageous as the Juncture would afford That neither Party should invade the other The one shall not aid any that invade the other Private Mens Facts shall bind themselves only Commerce shall be free Traytors and Rebels shall not be received Letters of Reprisal shall not be granted Injuries shall be buried in Oblivion Reservation of Rights and Titles also Actions Demands and Claims which they have or pretend to have one against the other respectively shall remain to them safe and whole and in like manner Defences and Exceptions shall be reserved A certain Sum of Money shall be repayed to Queen Elizabeth at times prefixed Upon the Payment of six hundred and twenty thousand Crowns the Hostages shall be delivered out of England and Throckmorton shall return free into his Country after Confirmation of the League Which Treaty being ratifyed on both sides the French King was invested with the Order of the Garter Being now at Peace with France and in fair-seeming Terms with the King of Stain she resolved to take the Diversion of a Progress in the Course of which she made a visit to Cambridge where she was received with all the Respect Ceremony and Acclamation imaginable and to her own as well as their extraordinary satisfaction and the like Honour she did to Oxford being attended with the same Circumstances Don Alvarze a Quadra Bishop of Aquila and Spanish Ambassadour here a Man zealously addicted to Popery had fed the Papists here with hopes of having the Romish Superstitions again restored in England and had been a Grand Promoter of the Distrusts and Dissatisfactions that were
thousand and being proclaimed Traytors the two Earls finding themselves unable to make head against such great Forces they fled with a small Company into Scotland from whence the Earl of Westmerland made his Escape into the Low Countries where he lived though poorly to a great Age. But Northumberland was betrayed by his Party to Murray The Heads of the Rebels being convicted of High Treason were proscribed and several of them executed Presently after which there broke forth a new Rebellion in Cumberland the number of the Rebels amounting to three thousand Men but were fought routed and dispersed by the Baron of Hunsdon There was likewise a Rebelliin Ireland but was quickly extinguished through the Queens prudent Conduct and the Orders she sent to the Deputy of that Kingdom But notwithstanding these Commotions both in England and Ireland she failed not to assist the French Protestants with Men Money and Ammunition But as the Queen assisted the French the French King out of Revenge designed to have done the same to the Scots had he not been prevented by Death During these Occurrences Murray Regent of Scotland when he had setled all things to his Desire and thought himself secure against all Attempts he was shot by one Hamilton in the Belly as he was riding along the Streets in Litchquo of which Wound he immediately dyed the Assassinate making his Escape into France Presently after his Death the Scots that were devoted to their Queen being joyned with the English Fugitives and Rebels made some Incursions into England but Forces being sent against them under the Earl of Sussex and the Lord Hunsdon they were defeated and the Borders of that Kingdom severely punished for their Folly After which Performances the English assisted their Friends in Scotland and by so doing removed from the King the Hamiltons and the rest who stood for the deposed Queen Whereupon the Lords of that Kingdom met together about choosing a new Regent and demanded Queen Elizabeth's Advice in the Business but she replied That she would not be concerned in it lest if any thing should be done to the prejudice of the Queen of Scots she might be suspected for it whereupon they created the Earl of Lenox Regent which was the more pleasing to Queen Elizabeth as hoping he would have a particular care of the young King being his Grand-child and live in good Intelligence with the English by Favours and Benefits he had received during his abode among them and be at her Devotion because she had his Wife in her Power Whilst Queen Elizabeth was thus assisting the Queen's Party in Scotland the Duke of Castle-Herault the Earls of Huntley and Argyle the Queen of Scots Lieutenants send an Envoy to the Duke of Alva to demand his Assistance and Offices in favour of their Queen which he readily granted promising to do all that lay in his Power to satisfie their Request and thereupon sent them Arms Powder Cannon and Money In the mean time the French and Spanish Ambassadours request Queen Elizabeth in the name of their Masters to set the Queen of Scots at Liberty to all which Importunities Queen Elizabeth returned Answer That as she would do all that lay in her Power to reconcile the Queen of Scots and her Subjects so she thought it was but Justice in her to provide for her own and her Subjects Safety And now the Pope seeing that these Princes could not procure that Queens Liberty he caused one Felton to fasten up in the Night-time his Bull Declaratory upon the Bishop of London's Palace wherein he absolved all Elizabeth's Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance or any other Duty and all who obey her accursed with Anathema Whereupon Felton being taken and confessing and justifying the Fact he was condemned and executed accordingly near the Place where he had fixed up the Bull. About this time were some Commotions and Suspicions of more amongst the rest a Conspiracy of some Norfolk Gentlemen to set the Duke of that Name at liberty but soon defeated and some of them executed The Duke of Norfolk was delivered out of the Tower the same day that Felton was Executed having Confessed and asked forgiveness of his Crime with a promise under his hand never to think of Marrying the Queen of Scots nor to do any thing more against the Queens Authority Shortly after which broke out a new Conspiracy in Darbyshire whereof the principal Ringleaders were two oâ— the Stanleys being the younger Sons of the Earl of Darby their Design was to have freed the Queen of Scots out of Prison But the Plot being revealed by one of the Conspiracy the Heads of it were taken and put into Prison Hereupon followed an Expedition into Scotland under the Earl of Sussex and the Lord Scroop who forced the Scots of the Queen of that Names Party to give it under their hands that they would abstain from War and forsake the English Rebels Queen Elizabeth being now full of Ombrage and Suspitions by reason of the several late Conspiracies and the Popes Bull she sent Sir William Cecyl and Sir Walter Mildmay to the Queen of Scots to Treat with her they found her bemoaning her Condition excusing Norfolk and referring her self wholly to the Queens Clemency they proposed that the Treaty of Edenborough should be confirmed that she should renounce her Title and Claim to England as long as Queen Elizabeth and the Children lawfully born of her Body should live that she should not renew or keep any League with any Foreign Prince against England that she should not receive any Foreign Souldiers into Scotland that she should have no intercourse of Counsels with the English or Irish without acquainting the Queen therewith that she should deliver up the English Fugitives or Rebels that she should recompence the dammages done to the English Borderers that she should enquire according to Law into the Murther as well of the Lord Darnly her Husband as of Murray that she should deliver her Son into England as an Hostage that she should Contract Marriage with no English Man but with the Advice of the Queen of England nor with any other against the Wills of the Estates of Scotland that the Scots should not cross over into Ireland but by Licence obtained out of England that for Confirmation of these things the Queen and the Delegates to be appointed should set to their Hands and Seals that the Hostages whom the Queen of England should name should be sent into England that if the Queen of Scots should attempt any thing by her self or any other against Queen Elizabeth she should ipso facto forfeit all her Right and Title she claimeth to England that Humes Castle and Fast Castle should be holden by the English for three Years that in like manner some strong Holds in Galloway or Cantyr should be delivered into the English mens Hands lest from thence the Scottish Irish might infest Ireland Lastly That the Estates of Scotland should confirm all these things by
England should be agreed upon and Delegates nominated to that purpose During these Transactions new Rebellions broke forth in Ireland the Mutineers calling into their aid the Hebridian Scots who together with the Irish were utterly defeated by the English above three thousand of them being all except fourscore killed upon the Place Which Victory was famous and advantageous both for the present and future times for hereby the name of the Mac-Williams in Connaught was utterly extinct and the insolent Attempts of the Scottish Islanders absolutely crushed About this time the States of the Low Countries being brought very low and unable to secure themselves any longer against the ruine that was threatned them by the vast power of the Spaniards they implored Queen Elizabeth's Protection and offered her the sovereignty of their Provinces which for the present after much debate in her Council she refused but was willing to supply them with four Thousand Souldiers in case the Town of Sluce with the Ordnance belonging to it were delivered to her for caution But afterwards upon their farther representations of the sad condition they were reduced to and commiserating the doleful estate of so great a Branch of the reformed Religion she at last resolves to take them into her Protection promising to supply them with five Thousand Foot and a Thousand Horse under a sufficient General and paying them during the War upon condition that they should by way of Pledge deliver to her Flushing the Fort of Ramekin and the Brill And her Majesty immediately caused to be put forth a large Declaration in justification of â—his her Conduct And thereupon that the War might not be brought to her own Doors by the King of Spain she sent Sir Francis Drake Admiral of her Fleet and Christopher Carlile General of her Land Forces into America with a Fleet of Twenty one ships wherein were two Thousand three Hundred Volunteers and Saylors for to make a Division thereby who after they had taken and plundered several places in those parts of the World and lost seven hundred of their men most of whom dyed of the Calenture they returned home with a Booty valued at six Thousand Pounds sterling and two hundred and forty of the Enemies great Brass and Iron Guns and with Tobacco being the first time it was brought into England During these Transactions in America John Davies with two ships set forth at the Charges of the Citizens of London first discovered and found a passage by the Northern parts of America to the East Indies About this time the Earl of Leicester was sent by the Queen as General of her Forces into Holland being accompanied by the Earl of Essex and several Persons of Quality with a choice Band of five hundred Gentlemen The Earl of Leicester's Reception was attended with all the Pomp and Magnificence imaginable And at his Arrival at the Hague the chief Government and absolute Authority over the confederated Provinces was committed to him by Instrument in Writing by the States General with the Title of Governour and Captain General of Holland Zeland the United and the confederated Provinces Which he accepted of and also the Title of excellency All which severely displeased the Queen and she made both him and the States sensible of her anger by her Letters to them desiring the latter to devest Leicester of that absolute Authority they had devolved upon him The States let the Queen know how much they were grieved for having incurred her displeasure by having devolved that Authority upon the Earl without her Previty and desire her to be pacifyed considering the necessity they were in so do Upon these Letters and those of Leicester's that were Written with all the Submission Respect and Repentance imaginable the Queen was reconciled and satisfyed But Leicester's Arbitrary way of Government imposing new Customes upon Merchandizes and introducing Martial Laws quickly raised an Aversion to him in the People His first Warlike Exploit was the undertaking to Relieve Grave a Town in Brabant then besieged by the Prince of Parma but notwithstanding all the great Efforts of the English the Town was at length taken through the Cowardice of the Governour who was thereupon executed After which the Prince of Parma laid Siege unto Venlo in Guelderland where one Roger Williams a Welchman performed great Service yet the Spaniards took that Town also while the Earl of Leicester was beating the Spaniard out of the Betou a River Island lying between the Rhine and the Waul and near the Tolhuis built a strong Sconce After which the Lord Willoughby Governour of Bergen-op-zoom cut off the Enemies Convoys and took away their Provisions And Sir Philip Sidney with Maurice the Prince of Orange's Son took in Axill a Town in Flanders and Doesburgh was likewise besieged and taken by the Earl of Leicester But in a Rencounter before Zutphen was the renowned Sir Philip Sidney slain being the greatest Ornament of the Age he lived in he was honoured with an Epitaph by the King of Scotland and both Universities celebrated his Memory with Elegies and his Funerals were solemniz'd with great Ceremony in St. Paul's Church in London The Earl of Leicester laid siege to Zutphen but the Winter Season being far advanced he was forced to quit the farther Prosecution of it leaving it only blocked up and returned to the Hague where the States entertained him with Complaints of his Conduct and the ill Circumstances he had thereby brought them into whereupon he took away the Jurisdiction of the States Council and Presidents of the Provinces and then returned into England About this time was concluded the League of strict Amity between the Queen of England and the King of Scotland being chiefly designed for the maintenance of the Reformed Religion Shortly after the Conclusion of which League was discovered a new dangerous Conspiracy against the Queen one John Savage having been perswaded by some Popish Priests that it was a meritorious Work to take away the Lives of excommunicated Princes Hereupon was a Combination made of English Catholicks and Correspondence held with the Queen of Scots the Pope the Guises the Spaniard and the other Enemies of the Queen and the Protestant Religion but was first discovered by one of the Plotters themselves and confessed by the rest both before and at their Executions whereupon long Debates and Consultations were held what was to be done with the Queen of Scots and at length those Voices prevailed that were for the bringing her to her Tryal insomuch that the Queen was perswaded to sign a Patent for the constituting the Arch-bishop of Canterbury the principal Officers of the Crown the chief Nobility of the Kingdom and the Privy Counsel her Commissioners to hear and try that Queens Cause But the Queen of Scots for some time refused to plead as being an absolute Princess and therefore exempted from any Jurisdiction But at length consenting she was charged with having been privy to all the fore-mentioned Conspiracies consenting
the Queen to Poyson her and had likewise engaged several Portugals in the same Design but this Plot of theirs being discovered by intercepted Letters and afterwards confirmed by their own Confessions they were accordingly executed as likewise one Patrick Cullen an Irish Man who had been sent by the English Fugitives to kill the Queen Amongst other Expeditions and Voyages of the English into America was that of James Lancaster who returned home about this time after having took nine and thirty Spanish ships and loaded fifteen more with the Wealth of an Indian Caraque About this time William Russel youngest Son of the Earl of Bedford was sent Deputy into Ireland in the room of Sir William Fitz Williams who was called home and this new Deputy quickly brought the Rebells there to submission There was likewise a new but false rumour spread abroad that the Spaniards were equipping a Fleet for the invading of England again At which time two Papists were executed for having designed the Death of the Queen The King of Scots was now making Levies all over Scotland for the joyning with Queen Elizabeth and resisting the Spaniard Sir Walter Rawleigh being now under some Disgrace at Court undertook a Voyage to Guyana and though he did considerable dammage to the Spaniard yet this Expedition was of little advantage to the English or himself Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins with several others went again into America but not meeting with the success they had promised themselves they dyed what of Grief what of sickness and the Fleet returned home without having done any great Exploits During these Expeditions abroad the Combustions in Ireland being grown to a considerable height and those Rebells having craved the assistance of the King of Spain Sir John Norris was sent over thither with new Forces to aid the Deputy The Arch Duke and Cardinal of Austria being now made Governour of the Spanish Netherlands he unexpectedly attacqued and took in Cales Whereupon the Queen sent supplies of Money to the French King and gave order for the immediate raising a choice Army whereof she made the Earl of Essex General and fitted out a Fleet under the Command of Charles Howard Lord High Admiral of England these Forces amongst whom were several Volunteers of the Principal Nobility and Gentry being put on Board the ships they set Sail under the Conduct of the foresaid Lords under Sir Walter Rawleigh Sir Francis Vere and other the Principal Commanders of the Realm and arrived before Cales and having before received intelligence that there lay at Anchor in that Haven several Galleys Men of War and a number of Merchants it was resolved in the Council of War that they should be attacked Whereupon the Earl of Essex flung up his Hat for joy The English thereupon first engaged the Spanish Ships and Gallions which they did with that Vehemence that some were burnt by them others by the Spaniards themselves but the Gallies made their escape by creeping along the shoar When the Sea engagement was at an end the Earl of Essex landed with eight hundred Souldiers at Puntal about a League from the Town of Cales and the Spanish Forces that were there abouts being drawn up between the Town and them with design to have intercepted them the English attacqued them with that fury that they put them to rout but upon consideration they thought fit to make a feigned Retreat that the Fugitives might rally and joyn the Troops of Cales which such a Stratagem was hoped might entice out of the Town Which succeeding accordingly they fell upon them again with that English Fury and Courage that great numbers of them were slain and the rest were forced to take refuge in the Town where the English quickly overtook them for the Gate being broke by Sir Francis Vere and other parts of the Town scaled by the English insomuch that that wealthy Town was taken by Assault and the Castle upon Condition that the Inhabitants might depart with Cloaths on their Back the rest left for Plunder the Castle being to be redeemed for five hundred and fourscore thousand Duckets forty of the Principal Cittizens being sent Hostages for the payment into England a vast quantity of Money and Ammunition being found in the Town The Spaniards likewise proffered Sir Walter Rawleigh two Millions of Duckets to exempt their ships from firing which he would not hearken to saying That he was sent to destroy ships not to dismiss them upon Composition And it was generally calculated and acknowledged by all People that the Spaniard was damnified by this Expedition twenty Millions of Duckets The Fleet being returned home after this Glorious Victory the Queen made Sir Francis Vere Governour of the Briel and rewarded all the rest according to their Deserts The Spaniard in the mean time to repair the Honour he had lost at Cales set forth a new great Fleet for the Invasion of England and Ireland but were most of them castaway by Storm before the News of their fitting out came into England In the mean while the Queen fortify'd her Ports and provided her self against any farther Attempts of that kind She likewise entred into a League Offensive and Defensive with the French King hearing that the Spaniards were preparing a new Navy against Ireland Whereupon the Queen caused a considerable Fleet under the Command of the Earl of Essex to put forth to the Coast of Spain After they had taken and plundered some Towns and likewise made a Prize of some of their India Ships they returned home but not with all the Success they had promised themselves at their setting out by reason of the contrary Winds and Tempests they had met with in their Voyage Essex at his coming to Court was something disgusted to find that some of his Competitors to the Queens Favours had been raised to new Honours Dignities and Places during his Absence but was something pacified by the Queens creating him Earl Marshal of England But during these Transactions the English did extraordinary Performances in France in behalf of that King which he acknowledged in his Letters to the Queen and craved farther Assistance from her Majesty upon the Spaniards having gained some Advantage over him which was accordingly granted But the French a while after upon the Instigation of the Pope concluded Peace with Spain notwithstanding the Instances that were made to him by the Queen and the States General to the contrary Hereupon followed a Consultation whether a Treaty of Peace was to be held with the Spaniard which being opposed by the Earl of Essex was laid aside for som time but then again revived through the Mediation of the French and the Commissioners met accordingly at Bulloign but upon Dispute of Precedency was broken off altogether In the mean time Tir-Oen breaking out into open Rebellion in Ireland and having gained a greater Victory of the English than the Irish had ever done before after some debate the Earl of Essex was sent
THE HISTORY OF THE GLORIOUS Life Reign and Death Of the ILLUSTRIOUS Queen ELIZABETH CONTAINING An Account by what means the Reformation was promoted and established and what Obstructions it met with the Assistance she gave to all Protestants abroad the several Attempts of the Papists upon her Life the Excommunications of Rome Bishop Jewel's Challenge to the Papists the several Victories she gained and more particularly that in 1588 with all the other Remarkable Occurrences of that time By S. CLARK Illustrated with Pictures of some considerable matters curiously ingraven in Copper Plates London Printed for Henry Rodes next door to the Bear Tavern near Bride Lane in Fleet-street 1682. TO THE READER Reader I Here present thee with the Glorious Life and Reign of the ever Renowned Queen Elizabeth a Piece as full of various Occurrences and Transactions as can well be comprehended in so small a Volume Thou hast here an Account of the many Persecutions she suffered both under the Reign of her Father and that of her Sister from her Mortal Enemies the Blood-thirsty Papists and how after that it had pleased God to shield her from all their Execrable Designs and Attempts Being placed upon the Throne of her Ancestors she introduced the Reformed Religion regulating it according to the Word of God the General Consent of the Fathers the Practice of the Primitive Times and the Example of such Churches as were freest from Superstition and Idolatry Here is likewise a Relation of the several Commotions in England Scotland and Ireland and by what means raised and suppressed Thou art here also entertained with a Faithful Narrative of the Supplies she gave to those of the Reformed Religion abroad and the Courses she took to defend and promote Protestantism in the Dominions of her Neighbours The whole Affair of the Queen of Scots is herein couched the several Conspiracies of the Papists against her Life during her Reign inserted and the utter Defeat of the so called Invincible Armado in Eighty Eight represented with all her other Victories both over the French and Spaniard and an Account of the Veneration and Respect that the Great Turk himself and the most barbarous Princes of that time had for this Illustrious Queen with all the other material Circumstances of her Victorious Life and Reign wherein if thou meetest with that Satisfaction I desire thee I shall think my Endeavours well bestowed S. CLARK THE HISTORY OF THE Life and Glorious Reign OF Queen ELIZABETH ELizabeth the youngest Daughter of King Henry the Eighth was born at Greenwich on the 7th day of September 1533. Her Mother being Queen Anne Bollen the Eldest Daughter of Thomas Bollen Earl of Wiltshire and of Elizabeth his Wife one of the Daughters of Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk and Earl Marshal of England Now Anne Bollen in her tender years attending on Mary the French Queen to the Court of France was after that Queens return placed in the Retinue of the Dutchess of Alanzon where she got in perfection both the French Language and Air. She so abounded in all the Gifts of Nature that she became the most celebrated Beauty of that Court and returned to her own Countrey with all those Advantages that the French Breeding can add to an English Beauty Whereupon being admitted amongst the Queen's Maids of Honour at the Age of two and twenty years King Henry being thirty eight years old and overcome with the Excellency of her Charms and the gracefulness of her Behaviour endeavoured to make her his Wife in hopes of Issue Male. Now some time before this Ladie 's return from France King Henry being after seventeen years Marriage something disgusted with the Bigottry Reservedness and Spanish Gravity of Queen Katharine he became very susceptible of the Doubts and Scruples that were insinuated by the Ministers of the French King concerning the lawfulness of his Marriage with Queen Katharine his Brother Arthur's Wife The like being started by those of the Emperour concerning the Legitimation of the Lady Mary and all these fomented by Cardinal Wolsey who being disappointed of the Popedom and the Archbishoprick of Toledo both which the Emperour had flattered his hopes with He resolved to promote a Divorce for the better effecting his Revenge on the Emperour and the Measures he had taken with France by proposing a Match between Henry and that King's Sister and concluding a League with the French when they were at the lowest Ebb of Fortune In consideration of which the English remitted unto them a Debt of 500000 Crowns partly accruing by some former Contracts and partly for the payment of the Forfeiture incurred by Charles the Emperour with which the French King had charged himself by the Capitulations Hereupon the King maketh it his Request to the Pope that he would send Delegates into England to hear and examine this Business To which end the Pope appointed the Cardinals Campeius and Wolsey But the Pope did privily deliver a Bull to Campeius wherein seeming to be favourable to the King's Request he granted all things in case it should happen that the Marriage contracted with Queen Katharine were declared Null and no Marriage But this Bull was either to be concealed or published according to the Success of the Emperour's Affairs in Italy Now were Questions every where started and handled Whether it were allowed of by God's Law for the Brother to take to Wife the Brother's Widow and if this were forbidden by the Law of God whether it might not be made Lawful by the Pope's Dispensation But when several of the Universities of Christendom as likewise many of the Learned men of that Age had asserted such a Marriage to be repugnant to the Sacred Laws of both Testaments notwithstanding the Pope's Dispensation the King became daily more charmed with Anne Bollen which being discovered by Wolsey it not only cooled his Zeal in promoting the Divorce but made him endeavour and procure of the Bishop of Rome not to confirm the Judgments of the Universities by reason that Anne Bollen being extremely addicted to the Doctrine of the Protestants had conceived a great Aversion against him for his Pride and Ambition Whereupon the Pope notwithstanding the Supplications of the Prelates Nobility and Clergy of England for the confirming by his Apostolical Authority what the two Universities of this Land that of Paris and several others as well as divers Just and Learned men had affirmed to be true and were ready to maintain and defend as well by Word as Writing I say notwithstanding such manifold Assertions the Cause being prolonged and delayed both at Rome and in England without Consideration had to the King 's having defended the Apostolick See by his Sword Pen Word and Authority the King grows exasperated at the Court of Rome and resolves to make way through all Obstacles which might stand betwixt Him and the accomplishment of his Desires wherefore he first sends back Campeius an Alien born then caused Wolsey to be Indicted and
thirtieth part of the Livings that were liable to the Benevolence and the twentieth part of those that were not By which means that Work was so hastned and furthered that in a short time it was compleated and finished In the mean time great Preparations were making for the opening and holding of the Council of Trent to which the Pope endeavoured to procure that Divines might be sent from England To which end he dispatched to the Queen a Nuncio who being come into the Low Countries stayed there in hopes of procuring leave to be admitted into England for that it was provided by an ancient Statute that the Pope's Nuncio should not come into this Realm without Leave first obtained But the Queen having absolutely refused to admit the Nuncio most of the Princes of Christendom endeavoured to perswade her by then Letters to refer her self in matters of Religion to the Occumenical Council of Trent Whereto she made Answer That she was very desirous of an Occumenical Council but she would not send Deputies to a Popish Council that she had nothing to do with the Bishop of Rome whose Authority was expelled England by Act of Parliament and that it did not belong to the Pope but to the Emperour to call Councils nor could nor would she acknowledge any greater Authority in him than in any other Bishop Much about this time the Queen of Scots being sollicited by the Popish Party to return into that Kingdom and being grown weary of France since the Death of the late King her Husband she caused Queen Elizabeth to be desired to grant her free passage thither pretending that she could not ratifie the Treaty of Edinborough without the Advice of the Nobility of Scotland But Queen Elizabeth suspecting that some dangerous Practises were contriving against England for the preventing them not only thought fit to deny her her Request but to send Sir Thomas Randolph into Scotland to exhort the Nobility to mutual Amity and to keep firm to the Promises he had made her and he found them and the Congregation so well resolved to adhere to her that she was under no Apprehensions from the Scottish Queen or her Party However it was judged safe to intercept her if possible in her passage thither To which end a Squadron of Men of War was fitted out though under other Pretexts yet the Queen of Scots her self by the favour of a great Fog escaped unperceived by the English and landed safe in Scotland though some of the Ships that attended her in that Voyage were taken and brought into England That Queen being now in Scotland sends an Envoy with Letters to Queen Elizabeth wherein she expressed a great deal of Love and Kindness to her as her dearest Friend and Sister and desired that all true and sincere Friendship and Correspondence might be maintained between them Queen Elizabeth receiving Letters at the same time to the same effect from most of the Nobility of that Kingdom But this was not the whole Errand of this Envoy for the Queen of Scots did likewise by him demand to be declared Heir Apparent to this Kingdom as being she said the surest way to continue Amity and Friendship between the two Crowns Whereto the Queen could not be prevailed with to make any other Answer than that she would do nothing to the Prejudice of her Cousin of Scotland's Title leaving the rest to be considered of at a Personal Conference that was to be held at York shortly after which Interview was however broken off by Popish Contrivances lest it might be a means towards the creating in the Queen of Scots an inclination to the Reformed Religion And now finding that tho' she had made all the fair offers imaginable to the Spaniard and treated the Guises with all possible Kindness and Honour yet her Ministers at the Courts of Spain and France instead of meeting with fair Returns and Civilities received affronts upon all Occasions wherefore though she had found her Treasure all exhausted yet she began to make all imaginable Warlike preparations for the security of her self and Subjects And amongst other her Provisions for that purpose having caused a many Pieces of great Ordnance of Iron and Brass to be cast God favouring all she undertook caused a most rich Vein of rich and Native Brass to be discovered at the same time as was likewise the Stone called Lapis Calaminaris first found out in England being very necessary for Brass Works Her Majesty caused likewise Gun-powder to be made here at home being the first that had been made in England the English before having been obliged to beg hard and pay dear for it to Foreigners She also caused the several Garisons belonging to the Kingdom to be better strengthened with new Works Men and Fortifications She likewise increased the Pay of the Souldiers and took Care to provide for those that had been maimed in the Service of the Land She added to and provided her Fleet with all manner of Necessaries making it the best Navy that ever belonged to Brittain insomuch that all Foreigners did truly term her The Restorer of the Glory of Shipping and the Queen of the North Sea She caused all manner of People to furnish themselves with Arms and to use Martial Discipline and Exercise She gave all manner of Encouragement to Husbandry and Tillage by permitting the Transportation of Grain And by a Proclamation she prohibited the Merchants from supplying the Emperour of Russia with Ammunition against the Polanderâ— and caused the Officers of her Exchequer to pay duely the Pensions to such Religious Men as had been cast out of Abbeys She revoked the Commissions of the Purveyors both for the Garrisons and Fleet and designed to have done the same with those of her Household She augmented the Stipends of the Judges And though she was extreamly liberal and bountiful to desert yet she took Care not to alienate the Domain In the mean time the Civil War broke forth in France the Faction and Family of the Guises aiming at that Crown they were sensible that they should never compass their Designs as long as the Hugonots were in Being wherefore they used all manner of means to extirpate those Protestants insomuch that they were forced to take Arms both in Defence of their Sovereign and themselves Now Queen Elizabeth well knowing the Practises of the House of Guise to advance the Interests and Pretensions of the Queen of Scots she supplyed the Protestants of that Kingdom with Money Corn and Ammunition for the Service of the French King and for the defending the Protestant Religion and hindring the Dukedom of Normandy from being possessed by the Guises who might from thence with more Ease have executed their Designs upon England She obliged her self to aid the Prince of Conde and his Associates who headed the Protestants with her Forces both by Land and Sea for the taking in of such Castles Towns and Ports as were possessed by the Faction of the House of Guise
the Prince of Conde and his Party being bound not to come to any Terms of Peace with their Enemies without the Privity and Approbation of the Queen and that for the Security of the Moneys and Forces that her Majesty should supply them with they should put into her hands the Town and Port of New Haven or Havre de Grace to be garrisoned by English Souldiers and commanded by any Person of Quality her Majesty should authorize Presently after the Conclusion of this Agreement she caused a Manifest to be published in which she declared how that having preferred the Peace of Christendom before her particular Interests she had relinquished her Claim to the Town of Calais for the term of eight years when as all other Princes were restored to their lost Estates by that Treaty that for the same Reasons she had preserved the Scots from being made Vassals to the French without retaining any part of that Kingdom in her own Possession after the Service was performed that with the like sence of Commiseration she had taken notice how much the Queen Mother of France and the young King were awed and shackled by the Guisian Faction who in their Name and under the Pretext of their Authority endeavoured to extirpate the Professors of the Reformed Religion In pursuance of which Design those bloody minded Papists had in less than five Months time caused above an hundred thousand French Hugonots to be massacred and butchered that with the like Injustice and Violence they treated such of her Majesties Subjects as traded into the Ports of that Kingdom causing their Goods and Merchandize to be seized themselves imprisoned and barbarously murdered and for no other Crime than that they were Protestants and therefore in consideration of what 's aforesaid Her Majesty thought her self obliged to endeavour the rescuing the French King and his Mother out of the hands of so dangerous a Faction by aiding such of the French Subjects as preferred the Service of their Sovereign and the good of their Countrey before all other respects whatsoever for preserving the Reformed Religion from an Universal Destruction and the maintaining her own Subjects and Dominions in Peace and Safety She not only published this Manifesto to acquaint the whole World with the reasons of her taking up Arms on this Occasion but she also commanded her Ambassadour to give a more particular Account of it to the King of Spain whom she looked upon as the Principal Patron of the Guisian League She likewise caused her Ministers and Agents with the Princes of Germany to sollicit them to aid and assist their Brother Protestants And then she her self fell to supplying the Hugonots with all things necessary to a War sending them Ships Arms and Men both for the scowring the Seas and securing the Land The Forces she sent amounting to 6000 Men under the Command of the Lord Ambrose Dudley the Eldest Son then living of the late Duke of Northunberland The Papists apprehending that the Queen by these Courses would lay the axe to the Root of their Religion laid a Conspiracy against her Life for which the Countess of Lenox Grand daughter to Henry the Seventh by his eldest daughter Margaret Queen of Scotland was confined with the Earl her Husband to her House and Arthur Pole Grand-child of Margaret Countess of Salisbury by Geofry her third Son the younger Brother unto Reginald Pole the late Cardinal Legate was Apprehended and Arraigned as also his Brother in Law Geofry Fortescue and were condemned to die but confessing the Conspiracy and being of the Blood Royal they were reprieved by the Queen The Lady Katherine Grey Daughter to the Duke of Suffolk and Grand Daughter to another Sister of King Henry the Eighth was sent to the Tower with her Husband the Earl of Hertford for marrying without the Queens Consent and were detained there several Years and their Marriage declared by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be an undue and unlawful Carnal Copulation with her and that for such their Excess both he and she to be punished About the same time was Published an Elegant and Acute Discourse called The Apology of the Church of England written Originally in Latin by the truly Learned Bishop Jewel and Translated immediately into English Dutch Italian Spanish French and Greek and was highly approved of by all Pious Learned and Judicious Men. Now the Practices of the Papists and the danger the Queen and State were in by their means obliged the Queen to call a Parliament which being Assembled at Westminster the first Act that passed was for assurance of the Queens Royal Power over all Estates and Subjects within our Dominions And Enacted that the Oath of Supremacy should be Administred unto all Persons for the better discovery of such as were Popishly affected several of that Party having lately busy'd themselves by inquiring into the length and shortness of her Majesties Life by Conjurations and other Diabolical Arts and thereupon had caused some dark and doubtful Prophecies to be spread abroad for which reason there passed two other Statutes for suppressing the like dangerous Practices by which her Majesties Person might be endangered the People stirred up to Rebellion or the Peace disturbed By which and other Acts for the strengthning of the Navy and the continual breeding of a Seminary of expert Mariners the Queen was so well provided and secured against the Machinations and Conspiracies of the Pope and his Adherents as to lie under no apprehensions of their bloody rage and malice During this Session of Parliament it was declared by the Bishops and Clergy then Assembled in their Convocation To be a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God and the Custom of the Primitive Church to have publick Prayer in the Church or to Administer the Sacraments in a Tongue not understood by the People To confirm which Declaration it was Enacted That the Bishops of Hereford St. Davids Bangor Llandaff and St. Asaph should take care amongst them for Translating the whole Bible with the Common Prayer Book into the Welch or Brittish Tongue on pain of forfeiting Forty Pound apiece in default thereof And to encourage them thereunto it was ordered that one Book of either sort being so Translated and Imprinted should be provided and brought to euery Cathedral or Parish Church as also for all Parish Churches and Chappels of ease where the said Tongue is commonly used the Minister to pay one half the Price and the Parishioners the other Care was likewise taken for the Translating the Book of Homilies being looked upon as a necessary part of the publick Liturgy by reason of the Rubrick at the end of the Nicene Creed This Parliament likewise congratulated her Majesty for the happiness of the Times for Religion Reformed Peace restored England with Scotland freed from the Foreign Enemy Mony refined the Navy strengthned Warlike Ammunition provided both for Sea and Land and for the Laudable Enterprize in France for the securing of England and
Ships in one Road and in them great store of Silks and a Chest full of Money ready Coyned but not so much as a Boy aboard so secure they think themselves on that Coast And then making all the Sail he could he followed the rich Ship called the Cacofogo and by the way met with a small Ship without Canon or other Arms out of which he took fourscore pound weight of Gold a Golden Crucifix and some Emeraulds of a fingers length On the first of March he overtook the Cacofogo and having shot down the Foremast with the shot of a great Piece of Ordnance he set upon her and soon took her and in her besides Jewels fourscore pound weight of Gold thirteen Chests of Silver ready Coyned and as much Silver as would ballance a Ship And now thinking himself sufficiently rich he resolved to make Sail for England and soon the third of November 1580 he arrived at Plymouth having sayled round about the World in the space of three Years to his Eternal Renown and the great admiration of all Men. He was graciously received by the Queen who yet sequestred his Goods that they might be forth coming if the King of Spain demanded them And her Majesty having given order for his Ship to be drawn on shoar near Deptford whereto and where it does remain for a Monument and in it being consecrated for a Memorial with great solemnity and having been there treated with great Magnificence her Majesty conferred the Honour of Knighthood upon Captain Drake But the Spanish Embassadour in England began to bluster and re-demanded the Goods that had been taken by Drake and made Complaints of the English sayling in the American Seas To whom the Queen replied That she had caused the Goods to be sequestred and that they were forth-coming for the King of Spain's satisfaction notwithstanding that the Queen had been at greater Expences in suppressing the Rebellions that had been raised by the Spaniard's Instigations in England and Ireland than all the Money that Drake had brought with him And as for sayling on the American Sea that it was as lawful for her Majesties and and other Princes Subjects as the King of Spain's and that she could not acknowledge any Right in the Pope to appropriate those or any other Countreys to any Person However the King of Spain's Agent in this Business had a great Sum of Money repayed him which instead of being restored to the Owners was employed against the Queen and the Protestants in the Low Countries where the English did extraordinary Exploits in behalf of the confederated States General Norris raising the Siege of Fenwick that was besieged by the Forces of the King of Spain and shortly after fought another Spanish Army but being over-powered with Numbers made a gallant Retreat In the mean time new Troubles were raised in Scotland some envying the Duke of Lenox his great Favour with the King accused him of endeavouring to pervert the King to Popery and allure him into France which suspicions he endeavoured to dissipate and thinking those Rumours were promoted by Morton and that he was not secure as long as Morton lived he caused him to be beheaded as accessory to the Death of the King's Father During these Transactions the Match with the Duke of Alanzon was prosecuted afresh several of the Principal Lords of France coming over for that end and shortly after that Duke himself came over hither In the mean time the Articles of Marriage were agreed upon by the Commissioners on both sides but with some Reservations that were disclaimed by the French King who refused to enter into an Offensive and Defensive League until such time as the Marriage was consummated Yet the French Duke's Presence here seemed to have so promoted his Business that the Queen having one day given him publickly a Ring this was looked upon as a Contract by all the standers by and thereupon publick Rejoycing was made in several Places abroad as for a thing concluded but not so at home when the innate Aversion the English have for the French broke out into publick Murmurs and Libells against this Match which occasioned the Queen to put forth Proclamations to stifle them and the Authors and Dispersers of those Seditious Pamphlets to be punished according to Law About the same time a Jesuit and several Popish Priests were convicted of having plotted the Ruine of the Queen and Kingdom of adhering to the Pope the Queens Enemy and of coming into England to raise Forces against the State for which they were condemned and accordingly executed Shortly after whom several Papists suffered Death likewise for the same Crimes In the mean time the Duke of Alanzon suspecting that he had onely been lured with empty hopes of a Crown here in England having the Government of the Low Countries conferred upon him by the States he prepared for his Journey thither and was accompanied by the Queen as far as Canterbury where they parting her Majesty ordered some of the Principal Courtiers to attend him to Antwerp where finding his Commission so limited that he had only the Name of Authority he made a rash Attempt upon Antwerp for which he was forced to leave the Low Countreys with the Aversion and Scorn of those People But during these Occurences the King of Spain subdued all Portugal in Seventy dayes time which being a great Addition to the vast Dominions he before had put all Europe in mind of uniting for their common Security In the mean time the English continued their Bravery in the Low Countries and with great Success and Advantage to the States And the Queen to procure the Amity of the King of Denmark and an Abatement of the Customes in the Sound sent him the Order of the Carter which he accordingly received with all acknowledgment And now broke out again new Commotions in Scotland the King being surprized and detained by the Earls of Goury Lindsey Marr and others who caused Arran to be imprisoned Lenox to be banished out of Scotland and the Earl of Arguse to be called home from Exile But shortly after the King being then about eighteen years old made his Escape out of their Hands whereupon Sir Francis Walsingham was sent to him by Queen Elizabeth for the giving him good Counsel and the endeavouring to compose the Distractions of that Kingdom During which the famous Irish Rebell Gyrald Fitz Gyrald the eleventh Earl of Desmond of this Family having a long time kept himself outof the hands of the English by lurking in private places was about this time found out and slain by a Common Souldier in a poor Cottage This great Lord was descended from Maurice the Son of Gyrald of Windsor an English man famous among those who first invaded Ireland in the Year 1170. He possessed whole Counties together with the County Palatine of Kerry and had of his own Name and Race at least five hundred Gentlemen at his Command all whom and his own Life also
he lost within the space of three years very few of his Family being left alive This Misfortune was brought upon him by his Disloyalty to his Prince through the Instigation of Popish Priests But Ireland and Scotland where lately the Earl of Gowry was beheaded as convicted of several Treasons were not the only Scenes of Plots and Conspiracies but England it self was again filled with Popish Practices against the Queen's Life and in favour of the Queen of Scots But being discovered some of the Nobility and Ring-leaders of the Faction were taken into Custody others confined to their Houses and others made their Escape into France In the mean time some Disputes happening between the Czar of Muscovy and the King of Sweden this King not finding himself able to oppose that Emperour sendeth a Royal Ambassy to request the Queen's Intercession in his Behalf which accordingly her Majesty immediately performed and by her Ambassador accommodated matters between those two Princes upon very reasonable Terms At the same time the Queens Ambassador obtained of the Czar the Confirmation of the Priviledges of the English Merchants in Russia maugre she had denyed him Satisfaction in several points and one of her Subjects to be his Wife and Empress which he had extreamly sollicited Mendora the Spanish Ambassador at this time in England was put out of the Kingdom for joyning with the English Rebells and stirring up the People to Rebellion and an Ambassador sent into Spain to justifie this Conduct who not being admitted to Audiency of the King but referred to the Counsellors he disdained to open himself to them and returned home without declaring the Cause of his Embassy The Papists printed and dispersed Books to exhort the Queens Women to commit the like against the Queen as Judith had done with Commendations against Holofernes The Book-seller for whom these seditious Libels were printed was executed but the Author could not be found out And now farther Discoveries were made of the Practices of the Papists against the Queen and State of a Design of invading England by the Catholick Princes and of the measures that had been taken by the Papists for that purpose which Discoveries being confirmed by the Confessions of some of the Papists themselves all possible Precautions were taken for the preventing the Execution of any such pernicous Designs and amongst other Expedients for the better providing for the Safety of the Queen's Person a number of her Subjects headed by the Earl of Leicester men of all Ranks and Conditions bound themselves mutually to each other by their Oaths and Subscriptions to persecute all those to Death that should attempt any thing against the Queen which League of theirs was called the Association The several Treaties that had been held with the Queen of Scots having proved abortive she fearing that this Association was designed for her Destruction made this Proposition by Nave her Secretary to the Queen and Council That if she might be set at Liberty and be assured of the Queen's Affection she would enter into a strict League and Amity with her and passing by all matters of Offence most officiously love and observe her above all other Princes of Christendom and enter also into the Association aforesaid for the Queens Security and into a League Defensive saving that Ancient League between France and Scotland This seemed to give great Delight and Satisfaction to Queen Elizabeth and she was thought at that time to be really inclined to grant her her Liberty But her Majesty being continually allarm'd with apprehensions from the adverse Party both of Scots and English who exclamed that the Queens Life was in no wise secure while the Queen of Scots was living oâ— at least at liberty insomuch that this Treaty was likewise broken off and upon the Queen of Scots Adversaries suggestions she was taken from the Earl of Shrewsbury and committed to the Custody of Sir Amias Paulet and Sir Drue Drury which rendred her so desperate that she grew the more importunate with the Pope and the King of Spain to put their Designs in execution And now there ran a Report that the Catholicks had entred into a Combination for the depriving Queen Elizabeth of her Crown for the disinheriting the King of Scots of the Kingdom of England as being both of them detected of Heresie the Queen of Scots to be married to some Catholick English Noble-man that this Noble-man should be elected King of England by the English Catholicks the Election confirmed by the Bishop of Rome that his Children by the Queen of Scots should be proclaimed Lawful Successors to the Crown and all this was affirmed by one Hart a Priest About this time dyed in France the Duke of Alanzon for grief and in Holland the Prince of Orange was treacherously shot with three Bullets by one Bethazar Gerard a Burgundian And now the French King being elected by Queen Elizabeth into the Order of the Garter Her Majesty sent the Earl of Derby to invest him therewith with all the usual Solemnity There being a Parliament assembled at Westminster one Parry a Member of the Lower House was first imprisoned for opposing and exclaming against a Bill that was preferred against the Jesuits but being set at Liberty upon his Submission he was immediately after accused by one Edward Nevil of the Earl of Westmerland's Family of having held secret Consultations about taking away the Queens Life which upon his Examination being confessed by him with all the Particulars thereof and being brought to his Tryal and still confessing the same he was accordingly condemned and executed Whereupon the Parliament then sitting made several seasonable Laws for the Security of the Queens Person Thereupon the Earl of Arundel was committed to the Tower In the same Place and at the same time the Earl of Northumberland a man of a lofty Spirit and Courage who had been committed thither upon Suspition of a secret Consultation with Throckmorton the Lord Paget and the Guises for invading of England and setting the Queen of Scots at Liberty was found dead in his Bed being shot with three Bullets under his left Pap his Chamber-door being barred on the inside The Coroners Inquest having examined the matter and all other lawful Scrutinies being made it was found and declared how that for Fear of the Law he had laid violent hands upon himself The Practices of the Papists against the Queen and the reformed Religion being thus dayly more and more discovered the Queen resolved to endeavour the contracting an Offensive and Defensive League with the King of Denmark the Protestant Princes and States of Germany and the Low Countries and with the King of Scotland to which purpose she sent Ministers to their respective Courts but it was delayed in Scotland by some new Commotions which occasioned a change of Ministers and Officers of that Crown till at length all being quieted and accommodated it was unanimously voted by all that a Treaty of a League with the Queen of
to the Invasion of England and the Queens Destruction by the confession of her Secretaries and the rest of the Traytors and which were confirmed by Letters of her own hand writing And having little to say in her own Defence the Commissioners pronounced Sentence against her in the Star Chamber And in a few days after the Parliament being convened at Westminster the Lords petitioned the Queen that the Sentence against the Queen of Scots might be published But the Queen made Answer That she could wish that that Sentence might deterr the Queen of Scots from such like Contrivances for the future and that some Expedient might be found out for the saving her Life and yet secure England and it's Queen from further Attempts and Dangers of that kind But both Houses replyed That neither her Majesty nor themselves were safe as long as the Queen of Scots was living and pressed her so hard that the Sentence might be put in Execution that Commissioners were appointed to admonish her to prepare for Death which News she received without any change of Countenance or shew of Passion And having that Night made her Will she with great Courage and Devotion prepared her self to dye the next day and was then accordingly beheaded in the six and fortieth of her Age and seventeenth year of her Imprisonment in England But what most perswaded Queen Elizabeth to suffer the Sentence to be put in Execution was the French and Scottish Ambassadors finding their Sollicitations in the behalf of the Queen of Scots to be to no purpose the French Ambassador had hired and excited some persons to kill Queen Elizabeth but being discovered both by the Confession of the Parties and the French Ambassadour himself and several Rumours spread abroad that the Spanish Fleet was already arrived at Milford Haven that the Scots were broken into England that the Duke of Guise was landed in Sussex with a strong Army that the Queen of Scots was escaped out of Prison and levyed an armed Power that the Northern men had raised a Rebellion that there was a new Conspiracy to kill the Queen and set the City of London on Fire nay and that the Queen was dead Insomuch that some Change being apprehended the Queen was after much Importunity prevailed with to sign the Sentence of Death And the Scots report that one of the principal Perswaders was Patrick Grey who was sent from the King of Scots to perswade the Queen from putting his Mother to Death Queen Elizabeth was so grieved when she received the News of her Death that she commanded her Counsellors from her Presence caused Davison to be cited in the Star-Chamber and fined ten thousand pounds She likewise sent one to pacifie the King of Scots assuring that it was done against her Meaning and Privity giving him reasons why he should not break out into the revenge he threatned and signed an instrument attested with the Great Seal and with the hands of all the Judges of England that the Sentence against the Queen of Scots could in no wise prejudice his Right to the Succession In the mean time the Queen had supplyed the King of Navarr and the Protestants of France with a great sum of Money And for a Diversion to the Spaniard she sent Sir Francis Drake to the Court of Spain with four Men of War where he chased six Galleys in the Port of Cales took sunk and burnt above a hundred ships set upon their Forts and compelled them to yield took a vast rich Carrack called the St. Philip. Thomas Cavendish with three ships ravaged the West Indies at the same time took and pillaged nineteen great ships burnt and plundred a great number of the Spanish Towns and then returned home after having been the third after Magellan that had sayled round the World During these successes of the English the Officers of the Earl of Leicester had employed having proved Treacherous in several instances the States accused the Earl to the Queen who thereupon called him home and he resigned the Government to the States Maurice of Nassaw Son to the Prince of Orange succeeding in his room at the Age of Twenty Years and the Lord Willoughby was made General of the English Forces in the Low Countries with orders from the Queen to reduce the English Factions into obedience of the States which he accordingly performed with the help of Prince Maurice and was in the Year 1588 which by the German Chronologers was presaged to be the Climacterical Year of the World and indeed the Rumours of War and the extraordinary preparations that the Spaniards were making for an Invasion of England by their Invincible Armado seemed to justify their Predictions At this time there was a Treaty of Peace held near Ostend between the English and Spanish Commissioners but designed by the Spaniards only to lull the English asleep till their Navy was arrived upon the Coast of England This Invincible Armado consisted of one hundred and thirty ships whereof Galleasses and Galleons seventy two in which were nineteen Thousand two hundred and ninety Souldiers eight Thousand and fifty Mariners two Thousand and eighty Gally Slaves and two Thousand six hundred and thirty Pieces of great Canon Twelve of their main ships being christned with the Names of the Twelve Apostles Alphorozo Perâ—z de Gusman being made principal Commander thereof Besides extraordinary Preparations were making in Flanders and the Prince of Parma had orders to joyn them with fifty Thousand Men. In the mean time Queen Elizabeth was preparing with all diligence as good a Fleet as she could making the Lord Howard of Effingham Admiral thereof and Sir Francis Drake Vice Admiral The Lord Henry Seymour second Son to the Duke of Somerset was appointed to lie upon the Coasts of the Low Countries with forty English and Dutch ships for the hind'ring the Prince of Parma's coming forth with his Forces At home along the Coasts were disposed twenty Tousand Men and besides two Armies of the choicest and expertest Men were raised the one under the Command of the Earl of Leicester consisting of a Thousand Horse and two and twenty Thousand Foot which encamped at Tilbury the Enemy being resolved to make their first Attack upon London the other under the Conduct of the Lord Hunsdon consisting of thirty four Thousand Foot and two Thousand Horse for the Guard of the Queens Person A Council of War was likewise established of prudent and experienced Officers All Sea Ports were likewise fortified and provided with all things necessary trusty and prudent Persons put into all Offices of Trust the most suspected Papists committed to custody the King of Scots perswaded to declare in favour of the Queen which he accordingly did with great Alacrity And now at length after several false Rumours and Alarums the two Fleets meet and engage and after several days Fight the Spaniards were utterly defeated Insomuch that of one hundred thirty four ships that set Sayl out of Lisbon only fifty three
returned into Spain Of the four Galleasses of Naples but one of ninety one Gallions and great Hulks from divers Provinces only thirty three returned fifty eight being lost In short the Spaniards lost in this Expedition fourscore and one ships thirteen thousand five hundred and odd Souldiers Prisoners taken in Ireland Zeland and the Low Countries were above two Thousand insomuch that there was no Famous or Noble Family in all Spain but what lost a Son Brother or Kinsman in this Expedition During these Transactions at Sea the Queen went in Person to Tilbury to view the Army and Camp there which she did with a Leaders Truncheon in her hand and with such a Resolution that it strangely animated the Courages of them all And thus was that Invincible Armado utterly defeated that so many Countries had been so many Years preparing that had been sanctified and blessed by the Pope with all the Superstitions of the Church of Rome and though Pope Sixtus Quintus had likewise sent Cardinal Allen an English Man into the Low Countries and renewed the Bulls and Declarations of his Predecessours excommunicating the Queen dethroning her absolving her Subjects from all Allegiance and publishing his Croisado in Print as against Heathens and Infidels giving plenary Indulgences to all that should offer their Assistance For this extraordinary Victory the Queen caused publick Thansgivings to be made to God throughout all England assisting thereat her self with all Humility Acknowledgment and Ceremony imaginable Her Majesty likewise rewarded those who had signalized themselves in this Occasion Shortly after this Success dyed the great Earl of Leicester of a Fever and the Prince of Parma for the regaining again some of the Honour the Spaniards had lost in this Expedition undertook the siege of Bergen-op-zoom but that Place being garrison'd with English he was beaten from before it and forced to raise his siege About this time the Earl of Arundel was brought to his Tryal for conspiring with the Pope against the Queen and was found guilty and condemned by his Peers but reprived by the Queen In the mean time Sir John Norris and Sir Francis Drake undertook an Expedition into Portugal for the establishing Don Antonio a natural Son of a King of that Realm upon the Throne thereof but though they joyned with the Earl of Essex who was put to Sea without the Queen's Leave and advanced to the Gates of Lisbon yet they returned without having effected their Design About this time the Popish Princes of France entred into a new Combination for the extirpating the Reformed Religion of that Kingdom calling this their Association the holy League The Head of this League was the Duke of Guise who finding his Party much the strongest and being above measure extolled by the Catholicks of all Parties it inspired him with the Vanity of aiming at the Crown for himself which the King being sensible of caused him to be put to Death at the Assembly of Blois in the midst of all his Hopes Hereupon extraordinary Combustions and Distractions followed and at length the King himself was most impiously murdered by a Monk after which the Popish Faction proclaimed the Cardinal of Bouillon King of France but the King of Navarr being the next Heir proclaimed King at the same time by all true Subjects and supplyed with Men and Money by Queen Elizabeth he not only maintained his Cause against his Enemies but vanquished them upon all Occasions It was now that the King of Scots contracted Marriage with Ann Daughter of the King of Denmark with Queen Elizabeth's Consent and which was afterwards consummated by him in Norway In the mean time the Queen continued her Preparations against all Surprizes of her Enemies she likewise soon quashed and quieted the Commotions that were then in Ireland composed and reconciled the Differences that were amongst the States of the Low Countries took care to assist them against their Enemies restrained Pyrates and upon the Desire of the French King sent the Earl of Essex with an Army to his Assistance wherein the English performed extraordinary things and Sir Roger Williams in Honour of his Nation sent a Challenge to the Spaniards to encounter two hundred Pike-men of the English and a hundred Musqeteers with as many Spaniards in open Field for which and several other couragious Exploits the French King highly extolled him in his Letters to the Queen The King of Poland and Prince of Moldavia being under ill Circumstances with the Great Turk implored Queen Elizabeths Intercession in their behalf which she readily granted and obtained a Peace for them upon very advantagious Terms At this time Brian O Rorl an Irish Potentate was convicted at Westminster and hanged for High Treason as likewise one Hacket with his Adherents for their blasphemous Carriage and Expressions A new Proclamation came out likewise against the Papists and for the Preservation of the Church of England as established Sir John Perrot was likewise about this time tryed and condemned for Treason but reprieved by the Queen About this time the Colledge of Dublin was constituted an University and then broke out some new Troubles in Scotland through the Instigations of the Lord Bothwell for which he was proclaimed a Traytor In the mean time dyed the Prince of Parma a Person of extraordinary Accomplishments and admired by his very Enemies Just before whose Death the Earl of Essex was recalled home out of France after very great performances and having challenged the Governour of Roà n one of the most considerable Lords of France who thought it not safe to answer him In the mean while Sir Walter Rawleigh was sent into America with a considerable Fleet for the intercepting the Spanish Navy but receiving intelligence that it would not come out that Year he divided his Fleet to see what other Prizes they could get and thereupon took a great Coraque called The Mother of God the Prize being valued at above an hundred and fifty thousand Pounds sterling besides what the Officers and Souldiers had pilfred for themselves Rebells Assascinating the Queen The Spanish Invasion in 1588. The burning of Cadez by the Earl of Essex About this time was executed one Hacket for endeavouring to perswade the Earl of Derby to take upon him the Title of England in Right of Descent from a Daughter of King Henry the Seventh which the Earl refused to do and likewise dyed shortly after At this time broke out several fresh Rebellions in Ireland which were suddainly suppressed through the Queens Prudent Care and Conduct as likewise several Questions were started about the Succession some framing a Right in the Earl of Essex others in the Infanta of Spain and Books were likewise printed in favour of their Titles by the Catholick Party During these Disputes was born Henry Prince of Scotland to whom the Queen was Godmother and now the Papists renew their Attempts against the Queens Life having by a great Sum of Money perswaded one Roderick Lopez a Jew and Physician to