in the Courts of the various Princes and States but more particularly her Minister at the Court of Spain was ordered to represent unto that King how sensible she was of the Humanities she had received from him in the time of her Persecution and Troubles Instructions were likewise dispatched to Sir Edw. Harne the English Agent at the Court of Rome to acquaint the Pope with Queen Mary's Death and her succeeding upon the Throne with a desire that they might mutually receive all good Offices from one another But the Pope's Answer was in the usual rigorous Stile of that Court That the Kingdom of England was held in Fee of the Apostolick See that she could not succed being illegitimate that he could not contradict the Declaration of Clement the Seventh and Paul the Third that it was a great Boldness to assume the Name and Government of it without him yet being desirous to shew a fatherly Affection if she will renounce her Pretensions and refer her self wholly to his free Dispositions he will do whatsoever may be done with the Honour of the Apostolick See But the Queen having made him this Complement did not think of having any Answer nor was she much concerned when she had In the mean time King Philip having had notice of Queen Mary his Wife's Death he caused his Ambassador the Count of Feria to propose a Match between Queen Elizabeth and himself promising to procure a Dispensation from the Court of Rome These offers put the Queen into great perplexity as thinking it but an ill return to reject a Prince who had done her such Kindnesses during her Troubles And the French King was no less concerned fearing lest this Kingdom being again united to the Spaniard his Dominions must at length have buckled under so great a Power Wherefore he used all his Endeavours to put a Stop to the Dispensation at the Court of Rome and to all the other Places that might be made towards this Match elsewhere But he might have spared himself these Troubles for Queen Elizabeth never designed to enter into any such Marriage well knowing she would thereby have acknowledged her self to have been born in unlawful Wedlock and likewise considering that the Marriage of a Woman with her deceased Sister's Husband is prohibited by Sacred Authority as well as the Marriage of a man with his Brother's Widow and therefore unlawful notwithstanding the Pope's Dispensation wherefore she putteth off King Philip by degrees and with all the Civility and Circumstance imaginable Now many who were imprisoned upon the Account of Religion were set at Liberty at which time a merry Gentleman of the Court petitioned her in Favour of the Evangelists who had been so long imprisoned in a Latin Translation that they might be set at Liberty and walk abroad as formerly in the English Tongue To whom she immediately replyed in this manner That he should first endeavour to know the Minds of the Prisoners who possibly desired no such Liberty as was demanded Now the Queen being extreamly desirous of promoting the Protestant Religion she consulted with her most trusty Counsellors how that Religion might be established and the Popish abolished causing all Dangers to be well poised that might arise on this occasion and the Means and Expedients that might be used for the preventing and avoiding them Hereupon she put into the Principal Courts of Judicature and Offices of Trust such Persons as were well known to be of the Protestant Religion or inclined to it and did the same in the Commission of the Peace in every County The Dangers that might be expected from abroad were either from the Bishop of Rome by his Excommunication and exposing the Kingdom to any Invasion or from the French King who in such a Juncture might have broke off the Treaty of Peace at Cambray and make War upon the English in Favour of the Queen of Scots not only as Enemies but likewise as they are pleased to call the Protestants as Hereticks and might have procured Scotland to have done the same being at that time at his Devotion or from the Irish a People extreamly bigotted to Popery and always very ready to break out into a Rebellion Now as for the Thunder-bolts of Rome they were looked upon as things not at all to be dreaded but was resolved that in case the French made any offers of a Peace they were to be accepted if they did not then offers were to be made to them by reason that such a Peace would also comprehend Scotland but however to stick close to and give all manner of Aid and Countenance to those of the Reformed Religion both in France and Scotland that the Garrisons in Ireland and upon the Borders of Scotland should be better manned and fortified and that the Treaties with the House of Burgundy should be confirmed and friendship continued with the Spaniard And now having provided against all Mischances that might happen from abroad she proceeded to do all that might conduce towards the advancement and setling of the Protestant Religion at home by ordering that none should be chosen into any Colledges of both Universities but Protestants and that all Roman Catholick Presidents Heads and Masters should be put out and removed both from thence and all other Schools of the Land and for the curbing the rash zeal of both Parties she caused two Proclamations to be published by one of which it was commanded That no man of what Perswasion soever he was in Points of Religion should be suffered from thence forward to preach in publick but only such as should be licensed by her Authority and that all such as were so licensed or appointed should forbear preaching upon any Point which was matter of Controversie and might conduce rather towards the exasperating than the calming of mens Passions Which Proclamation was observed with all the care and strictness imaginable By the other Proclamation it was ordered That no Man of what Quality or Degree soever should presume to alter any thing in the state of Religion or innovate in any of the Rites and Ceremonies thereunto belonging but that all such Rites and Ceremonies should be observed in all Parish Churches of the Kingdom as were then used and retained in her Majesties Chappel until â—ome further Order should be taken in it Only it was permitted and withal required That the Litany the Lords Prayer the Creed and the Ten Commandments should be said in the English Tongue and the Epistle and the Gospel at the time of the High Mass should be said in English which was accordingly performed in all the Churches of the Kingdom She likewise ordered the Divine who officiated in her Chappel not to make any Elevation of the Sacrament for the abolishing the Popish Superstitious manner of adoring it which she could not endure should be done in her Sight as being wholly contrary to her Judgment and Conscience And then she proceeded to the reviewing and correcting of the former Liturgy
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
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
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
for his Interest in the Netherlands that it should be in the Hands of the English than possessed by the French On the contrary the French maintained that Calice alone was not sufficient to satisfie the Damages the English had done them in helping the Spaniards to take their Towns many places in Brittany having been burn'd by the English Fleet their Ships taken their Trade interrupted and vast Sums of Money spent in hindring an Invasion of the English But the Spaniard in the mean while having discovered Queen Elizabeth's Aversion to a Match with him the Paces she had made towards the introducing the Reformed Religion and her Resolution to treat with the French without Communication first had with him he grew faint and fell off from promoting the English Pretensions which being perceived by Queen Elizabeth and fearing that she should be abandoned if she continued any longer in her demands upon that Point or else preferring Publick Good before Private Interest she came at length to this Agreement That the French King should peaceably enjoy for the Term of eight years the Town of Calice with the Appurtenances and sixteen great Pieces of Ordnance and that when that term was expired he should restore the same with the Town to Queen Elizabeth or otherwise should pay unto the Queen the Sum of five hundred thousand Crowns In Consequence of which Accommodation Peace was proclaimed on the 17th of April between the Queens Majesty on the one part and the Most Christian King on the other as likewise between her and the King Dauphin with his Wife the Queen of Scots and all the Subjects and Dominions of the said four Princes The People were however dissatisfied with this Peace in regard that Calice was not restored and laid the blame thereof upon the Bishops and other Papists But the French King lived not long to enjoy the Benefit thereof he being killed at a Turnament in Paris by the Count de Montgomery and though his eldest Son and Successor Francis caused the Queen of Scots his Wife to assume the Title and Arms of England yet she resolved to bestow a Royal Obsequy on the King deceased which was accordingly performed in St. Paul's Church in a most Solemn manner The Parliament being now to be dissolved the House of Commons made an humble Address unto her in which they most earnestly besought her that for securing the Peace of the Kingdom and the Satisfaction of all her good and loving Subjects she would think of marrying without particularizing to her any one man but leaving to her the Choice of the Person Whereto she made Answer That she was obliged to them for their good Affections and took their Application to her to be well intended and the rather because it contained no Limitation of Time or Person which had it done she should have disliked it very much and have looked upon it as a very great Presumption That she had long since made choice of the State of Life wherein she then lived and hoped that God would give her Strength and Constancy to go thorough with it that if she had been inclined to have changed that Course she neither wanted many Invitations to it in the Reign of her Brother nor many strong Impulsions in the time of her Sister Moreover says she to satisfie you I have already joyned my self in Marriage to a Husband namely the Kingdom of England and behold continued she which I marvel you have forgotten the Pledge of this my Marriage and my Wedlock with my Kingdom and thereupon took the Ring off her Finger wherewith at her Coronation she had in a set Form of Words given her self in Marriage to her Kingdom And then making a Pause And do not said she upbraid me with miserable lack of Children for every one of you and as many as are Englishmen are Children and Kinsmen to me of whom if God deprive me not which God forbid I cannot without injury be accounted Barren And then having promised she would take a Husband in case the good of the State should so require she licensed them to depart to their several Businesses The Queen Coming through the City in Triumpâ— The Return of the Gospell The Poolling down burning of Popish Images Shortly after which came the Duke of Finland as Ambassador from the King of Sweden to propose a Marriage between Her Majesty and Prince Ericus that King 's Eldest Son and this Ambassadour having been magnificently treated by the Queen was at length dismissed with the same Success as all the rest who before and after came upon that Errand And now the Emperour and the Catholick Princes interceeded with the Queen by several Letters that such Bishops as were displaced might meet with a kind Usage and that the Papists might be allowed Churches by themselves in Cities Whereto she made Answer Although those Popish Bishops have insolently and openly repugned against the Laws and Quiet of the Realm and do now obstinately reject that Doctrine which most part of themselves under Henry the Eighth and Edward the Sixth had of their own Accord with Heart and Hand publickly in their Sermons and Writings taught unto others when they themselves were not private Men but publick Magistrates yet would she for so great Princes Sakes deal favourably with them though not without Offence to her own Subjects But grant them Churches to celebrate their Divine Offices in apart by themselves she cannot with the Safety of the Common-wealth and without wrong to her own Honour and Conscience Neither is there any Cause why she should grant them seeing England embraceth no new and strange Doctrine but the same which Christ hath commanded the Primitive and Catholick Church hath received and the Ancient Fathers have with one Voice and Mind approved And to allow Churches with contrary Rites and Ceremonies besides that it openly repugneth against the Laws established by Authority of Parliament were nothing else but to sow Religion out of Religion to distract good Men's Minds to cherish factious Men's Humours disturb Religion and Common-wealth and mingle Divine and Humane things Which were a thing indeed evil in Example worst of all to her own good Subjects hurtful and to themselves to whom it is granted neither greatly Commodious nor yet at all safe She was therefore determined out of her Natural Clemency and especially at their request to be willing to heal the private Insolency of a few by much Connivance yet so as she might not encourage their obstinate minds by Indulgence The Spaniard having lost all hopes of a Match between Queen Elizabeth and himself and fearing lest the Crown of England might happen to be joyned to the Scepter of France he perswaded the Emperour Ferdinand to propose one of his Sons for a Husband to Queen Elizabeth which accordingly he did by an Ambassadour whom he sent to that purpose but all to the same effect as the rest that had been before him In the mean time those of the Reformed
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
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
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
Religion also Which the Queen answering in the Affirmative he immediately began to prepare for War against the Protestants and Alanzon being engaged in the adverse Party there was no Talk of a Match for a long time During these Occurrences Requesens the Spanish Governour of the Low Countries finding how much his Predecessors neglect of Marine Affairs was prejudicial to his Master's Interests he made his Request to Queen Elizabeth that he might take up Ships and Marriners for his Majesties Service That the English Fugitives in the Low Countries might serve the King of Spain against the Hollanders and have free Access to the Ports of England and that the Dutch who were Rebells against the King of Spain might be banished England But for several Reasons she thought not fit to grant any of these Particulars yet to preserve inviolate the old Burgundian League she put out a Proclamation wherein she commanded that the Ships of the Dutch that were made ready should not go forth of the Haven nor yet the Dutch who had taken up Arms against the King of Spain enter into the Ports of England and by Name the Prince of Orange and fifty other of the principal of that Faction In Return of which Favour the English Seminary at Doway was dissolved and the Earl of Westmerland and other English Fugitives were Banished the Dominions of the King of Spain In the mean time the Prince of Orange and the Confederated States finding their Forces too small to oppose the King of Spain they consulted to whose Protection they might most securely betake themselves The French they saw then engaged in a Civil War the Princes of Germany were loath to part with their Money could seldom agree amongst themselves and were not altogether of a mind with them in Religion whereupon knowing none more powerful nor capable of protecting them than England they sent an Honorable Embassy of several Persons to the Queen offering her the Soveraignty of Holland and Zealand forasmuch as she was descended from the Earls of Holland by Philippa Wife of Edward the Third Daughter of William of Bavaria Count of Hannonia and Holland by whose other Sister the Hereditary Right of those Provinces came to the King of Spain Of this Offer the Queen took time to consider and after mature deliberation she made answer after that she had thanked them for their good Intentions towards her that she held nothing more glorious than Justice that as she could not with the safety of her Honour and Conscience receive those Provinces into her Protection much less assume them into her Possession yet she would use her endeavours with the King of Spain that a good Peace might be concluded Shortly after Requesens dying the States of the several Provinces took upon them the ancient Administration of the Government which the King of Spain was fain to Confirm unto them till such time as John of Austria was arrived whom he designed for a Successor to Requesens In the mean time the Queen by her Ministers endeavoured to compose Matters in those Countries but the minds of the Factions were so exasperated against one another that all her efforts in that kind proved Abortive Yet he continued to intercede with the King of Spain in their behalf and the Ambassador she sent for this purpose to that Court finding that that King's Ministers would not admit in the Queens Title the Attribute of Defender of the Faith he demanded it with that Courage and Prudence that he thereby gained the favour of the King of Spain himself who desired him that the Queen might know nothing of this Dispute and gave severe Command that the Title should be admitted About this time there happened some disorders upon the Borders of Scotland which having been favoured by the Ministers of the Regent Queen Elizabeth would in no wise be satisfied until the Regent himself came into England to make his Submissions to the Earl of Huntingdon the English Commissioner Much about the same time the Earl of Essex received a great affront for amidst his great Exploits and Victory in Ireland through the Practises of his Enemies at Court He was of a sudden recalled home and ordered to resign his Authority in Ulster But Leicester being jealous of his Presence at Court caused him to be sent back thither with the empty Title of Earl Marshal of Ireland for grief whereof he fell into a Bloody Flux and ended his days in grievous Torments but not without suspicion of Poyson by the Earl of Leicester's means for that he had marryed his Widdow immediately after his Death In the mean time the Confusions increased in the Low Countries which the Queen endeavoured very much to remedy and though the States had offered themselves to the French yet she sent them twenty Thousand Pounds Sterling upon Condition they should neither call in the French into the Low Countries nor change their Prince nor their Religion nor refuse a Peace in case it were offered by Don John of Austria upon reasonable Conditions And that Governour being now arrived Queen Elizabeth sent a Person of Quality to congratulate his coming thither and to offer him her assistance if the States called in the French into the Low-Countries The Seas being now extreamly infested with Pyrates the Queen caused several Men of War to put forth to scoure them which they did to that purpose as to take Two Hundred of them and to put them in Prisons all along the Coast. She likewise caused the Zelanders to make Restitution and Satisfaction of the English Goods they had taken and confiscated And now all the World courting the Prosperity of England and the prudent Conduct of it's Queen the Portugals requested that the Commerce might be restored that had been now for some time prohibited between the two Nations and the Conditions which they offered and were accepted were as much or more to the English as their Advantage About the same time Martin Forbisher undertook a Voyage for the discovery of the Northern passage to Cathaia but his and that which was undertaken two years after for the same purpose proved in vain And now a great Friend and Ally of Queen Elizabeth's the Emperour Maximilian being dead she sent Sir Philip Sidney to his Son Rodolphus to condole his Fathers Death and congratulate his Succession causing the same Offices to be done with the surviving Son of the then newly deceased Electoâ— Palatine In Ireland fresh Rebellions breaking out about this time the prudent Conduct of the Queen and her Ministers was such that all those Commotions were suddenly suppressed and that Nation brought to a greater Subjection than it had ever been before but her Ministers proceeding to lay new Taxes she gave Order for the moderating them â—aying that she would have her Subjects shorne not devoured But the Papists still continuing their Practices against her Majesty had perswaded Don John of Austria to endeavour the Escape of the Queen of Scots which when he should