was granted by Henry the IVth in the year 1596. did them more damage than the breach of all the other Six that went before it because by its long duration it disarmed and effeminated that Party and robbed them of their Fears their Martial Courage and that keen Zeal for their Religion which the Perfidy and Violence of the former Times had kept alive We desire Peace and good days but God who knows our temper and what will follow very often sends us Troubles for our good which like Physick keeps us alive tho it doth not please us In the year 1565. there was a secret League made at Bayone between the Crowns of France and Spain which was called The Holy League because chiefly designed for the Extirpating the Protestant Religion out of France and Flanders tho it was managed with all the Privacy and Secrecy that was possible yet the suspicion of the Protestant Party gave them the first hint to dive into it and within a little time it was discovered both by its effects and by the cross Interests of many of the Roman-Catholicks who were to be deprived of their Civil Privileges in lieu of having their Religion established and preserved This gave the occasion to all those fearful Commotions in Flanders which I have just now related And in France there followed a Civil War in the year 66. another in the year 1568. which in the year 1572. was ended by a Treaty of Marriage between Henry of Bourbon King of Navarre Head of the Protestants and Margaret Sister of Charles the IXth then King of France Here the Roman-Catholick Party played their last Card and with a Diabolical Perfidy and Cruelty which has no Example in Sacred or Prophane History and Massacred vast Numbers of the Principal Nobility and Gentry of the Protestants who were come to Paris to see the Marriage not being able to suspect a Court could be so base as to stain it self in so Treacherous a manner with the blood of men who relied upon their Faith The next year after Charles died and Henry the IIId his Brother who had been a great Actor in the Massacre succeeded him in the Kingdom of France Under him the Holy League as it was called went slowly on and he was not so forward to involve his Kingdom in War and Blood as the weaker Princes his Brothers had been but he was rather inclined to destroy them insensibly by the Arts of Peace as it came afterwards to be done but this Method was disliked by the Popish Party in France which is for the most part Fiery and Cruel and will never use slow and gentle ways but when it is impossible they should do otherwise Hereupon the Duke of Guise a Valiant but very Factious Gentleman began in the year 1576. to set up himself against his Prince and in the year 1584. he got himself declared Head of the Holy League against the King his Master as a Favourer of Heresie by Gregory the XIIIth then Pope of Rome and a great part of the bigotted and discontented Clergy and Nobility of France Whereupon in the year 1585. followed the Seventh Civil War in France upon the Pope's Excommunicating the King of Navarre and the Prince of Conde for Heresie This last War was began by the Popish Party against the opinion and without the consent of Henry King of France and accordingly it thrived the King of Navarre beating them in the Battel of Courtay in the year 1587. After which Victory the King was desirous to have a Peace and the Guises and the Popish Party to continue the War And upon this the Roman Catholick Party subdivided it self into two Factions part siding with the King for a Peace and part joining with the Guises to carry on the War and depose this King as a Favourer of Heresle softned with Pleasures and unfit for Government The Duke of Guise was a younger Branch of the Family of Lorrain which is esteemed the Direct Heir of the House of Charles the Great and consequently it has a Pretence to the Crown of France which is foreclosed by nothing but the too great Antiquity of the Claim and the Weakness of that Family Henry the IIId the then King of France was become the last of the House of Valoise and thought unfit for Generation and upon his Death the Crown of this Kingdom was to devolve to Henry King of Navarre who was the Head of the Protestant Party and all the Family was in the same Interest but the Cardinal of Bourbon who was a very old Gentleman so that if things were suffered to go quietly on the Death of Henry III. would put the Protestants of France in Possession of the Throne in the Person of Henry IV. This was the true ground of that dreadful Revolution which shook the Foūndations of the French Monarchy and Nation They considered that if a Protestant Prince was once quietly setled in the Throne nothing but a Miracle could preserve the Roman-Catholick Religion in France and they durst not trust an Event to the Providence of God and the Reasons and Consciences of men which in all probability would put an end to the Romish Religion in France and so weaken it in all the rest of Europe that it would never be in a condition to make use of Force more against those that had forsaken it so the Design was laid between the King of Spain the Pope and the Duke of Guise That Henry the IIId should be Deposed and turned into a Monastery as Chilperick was and Henry the IVth should be excluded as an Heretick relapsed and Excommunicated and a new King of France should be chosen and then each of these Heads of this League hoped to make their own Market in the end Henry the IIId saw all this and to save himself in the year 1588. called an Assembly of the Three Estates of France at Bloise but finding the greater part of his Subjects by the procurement of the Popish Clergy inclined to join with the Duke of Guise against him he ordered Henry Duke of Guise and Charles his Brother Cardinal of Lorain to be both Assassinated by his Guards and secured many of their Friends but the Duke of Maine another of the Brothers of the Duke of Guise escaped the slaughter and thereupon almost the whole Kingdom of France revolted and took up Arms against him under the Duke of Maine so that he had no way to save his own Life and Crown but to call Henry King of Navarre and his Protestant Subjects to his Assistance against these his enraged Catholick Subjects who were now become his implacable enemies Being thus in a condition to have forced Paris and to have driven the Conspirators out of France one James Clement a Dominican Monk stabbed him the first of August in his Tent under the Walls of Paris The House of Valoise thus failing in him when it had enjoyed the Crown of France Two hundred and
of England and Sir William Cecil Prime Secretary of State all of them men of great Prudence and Courage who had with much difficulty escaped the Marian Tempest These were the Chief Managers of her Secret Councels and acquainted with her most private Thoughts and Designs for the good and safety of her People and were all of them Protestants The Popish Nobility and great Men were either contented with a Vote in the Privy Council in which many of them still sat and others of them refusing however to be any otherwise concerned or foreseeing the Change that was intended had withdrawn themselves altogether and deserted their former Stations Of these she relied mostly on the Council of Cecil and Bacon who were closely united each to other and both equally in her Favour and were besides men of great Judgment They were also her Chief Ministers and most trusted by her for their Integrity and Industry Having throughly consider'd the state of the Nation she resolved at first to promote a Peace abroad and that she might gain her point in this with the greater case she used some Dissimulation Philip the II d King of Spain had lost the possession of England by the death of Queen Mary and to recover it had begun a Treaty of Marriage with Queen Elizabeth which she declined with much civility and modesty so that he still insisted upon it for some time and she was not willing wholly to undeceive him till she saw an end of the Treaty of Cambray Francis the Eldest Son of Henry the II d King of France having married Mary Steward Queen of the Scots and the next Heir after her of the Crown of England the French were forming a Design against her and made a kind of Claim of the Crown for the Dauphiness The Queen feared the King of Spain the moâ—…t of the two as being a Prince of deep Designs and formidable to all his Neighbours on the score of his vast Dominions and was resolved as time and opportunity should serve to abate his Power and cross his Designs She was as much offended with the King of France for the ravishing Calais from us and for assuming the Arms of England to hers and the Nation 's Dishonour yet she resolved to make a Peace with him as soon as she could Thus this Heroick Lady which had tried both Adverse and Prosperous Fortune being by Nature endowed with a strange Sagacity and Prudence which is very rarely to be found in that Sex and which she had also much improved by the Afflictons she had suffered by her wise Counsels soon brought this almost Shipwrack'd Vessel to a sase Port and governed it all her days with much ease and Peace by which she gave the World a noble Specimen of her Virtue Justice and Prudence She discovered all the Inclinations Forces Leagues and Counsels of her Neighbouring States She laid aside all her Feminine Indignation and would not suffer her most intimate Affections to have any place or consideration with her when she was to consult the Peace and secure the safety of her People Of which this may serve for a clear Proof From the beginning of her Reign she had established this as a Maxim That the King of Spain was the most formidable Enemy the English then had but then because that Nation was strong rich and powerful she seemingly paid for some time a great respect to the King of Spain that he and the French King might not join against her and she also sent an Ambassador to renew the Amity between her and the House of Austria Yet considering that it was necessary that she should in a short time have a War with Spain and that part of his Dominions lay near her and that others were more remote and very rich and fruitful so that they would well pay her Subjects for the pains and danger of attacking them She upon the whole concluded That it was her Interest to enter into a Treaty of Peace and Amity with the King of France and accordingly she kindly received his Ambassadors who were sent hither to renew the Peace She put out a Proclamation to forbid all her Subjects the offering any violence or wrong to the French that were then in England that she might prevent their enraging the Foreign Nations against her or her Subjects And in the Castle of Cambray she by her Ambassadors concluded a League with France upon Condition That the Town of Calais and all that belonged to it should after eight years be restored to the English and if the same was not done that the French King should pay to her at the exâ—…iration of the said Term 50000 Crowns and give Hostages of the Children of Noble Families for the persormance of the said Condition in the mean time and the assurance of an Oath that they would punctually and truly keep the said Agreement When this Peace came to be discovered by a Proclamation in London and all the Sea-port Towns almost all the good men of England were inwardly offended at it and they whispered their Discontents in all places Yet I cannot but think the Queen in this League how much soever it was spoken against did rather consult her own Honour and Reputation and the safety and welfare of her People than trust to the Faith of the King of Francâ—… as to the restitution of Calais The Hostages indeed fled away and the French broke their Faith as it was to be thought they would when they were to restore Calais but then the Advantages which England then gained by that seasonable Peace abundantly overbalanced the Damages sustained by the disappointment When the time was expired for the restitution of Caâ—…ais the English Ambassadors in the Court of France endeavoured to make that Nation appear odious and detestable to all Mankind because they had fraudulently departed from the Terms of the League so solemnly made at Cambray and afterwards sworn to by that King But Monsieur de l'Hospital Sieur de Vitry Chancellor of France a Learned and a Cunning Lawyer replied That Calais was lost by a War and regained by another That the Promise of restoring it was a Necessity imposed upon the French by the Iniquity of the Times which had enforced tâ—…em to yield so far to the English for the safety of their State but that in truth the English had as much right to Paris as they had to Calais and might with as good justice demand the first as the last Yet after all this Wise man never endeavoured to clear his Nation from the Guilt and Infamy of Fraud and Perjury which was a Task above his strength In all Revolutions and Changes the Queen always in the first place took care to secure the True Worship of God and the safety of all her Subjects When therefore she had thus secured her Peace abroad or at least had gained a Cessation of War till she might take breath and recover her strength and was now
ways or in satisfying the Avarice and Knavery of her Ministers but for the Benefit and Welfare of the State and that the best thing which could possibly be done by any person was to do that which tended to the good of his Countrey Mary the Daughter of James V. King of Scotland was a young Lady of great Beauty and by the Arts of her Mother who was a French Lady and descended of the House of Lorain she was perswaded to marry Francis the Eldest Son of Henry II. then King of France by which he obtained the Title of King of Scotland in her Right After Mary Queen of England was dead the House of Guise in France perswaded this Prince and his Lady to assume and use the Royal Arms of England because she was of the Royal Family and accordingly it was Engraven on all their Plate and put upon all their other Furniture and they used it in their Seals to the great Injury and Exasperation of Queen Elizabeth She suffered also her self to be stiled Queen of England which highly incensed the English Nation against her and the French Court it being thought the greatest Contempt that could possibly be offered to us to assume that Title at a time when France was engaged in a War with Spain But however the Civil War which soon after broke out in France and lasted many years the defeating their Designs in Scotland the Deaths of Henry II. and Francis II. and all other the Calamities that followed this foolish Attempt sufficiently revenged the Injury offered to the Queen and the English Nation Sir Nicholas Throgmorton was an Industrious Wise and an Active Statesman but apt to be heat and of a fiery Temper He was at that time the English Leiger Ambassador in the Court of France and was highly exasperated to see this Affront put upon his Mistress and he made sharp and loud Complaints of it to the Council of France After a tedious Debate and many Hearings he at last by the means of Montmorancy Constable of France obtained an Order or Promise That the Queen of the Scots should no more use the Royal Arms of England nor the Title of Queen of England or Ireland during the Life of Queen Elizabeth or of any Children born of her The Envy and Hatred which was occasioned by this imprudent Contest between these two great Ladies who were equal in Authority and Beauty had an ill effect upon them in all the after-parts of their Lives and at last ended in the violent Death of Mary Queen of the Scots The French seemed then to desire nothing more than a pretence for a War with England Throgmorton the Ambassador was made the subject of their Court-Jesters and Comedians Raillery one of his Servants was contrary to the Laws of Nations taken violently and unjustly from him and sent to the Gallies by the Brother of the Duke of Guise the English which Traded in France were without any provocation or complaint made of them to their own Queen most unjustly Imprison'd and otherwise exposed to Contempt and Blows The Ambassador bore all things with an invincible Resolution and resolved whatever he suffered not to be frighted from his Post but to watch the first opportunity to revenge the Contempt was offered to his Character and their violations of the Laws of Nations He complained openly and freely to the Council of France of the Affronts offered to his Mistress of their Violence Injuries and Rapins committed upon her Subjects And as for the Duke of Guise he considered him only as a Subject of France and said many things of him with the utmost Freedom and Sharpness and the Duke of Guise answered him with some vehemence The Council on the other hand laid all the blame on the common people of France and offered a specious but unâ—…rue Excuse for what had been done The Ambassador thereupon calling God and man to bear witness how much they had violated the Law of Nations and the Liberty of an Ambassador which was Sacred by the Laws of God and man returned to his House and from thenceforward made it his business to imbroil France he exasperated by his Arts Anthony King of Navarre the Prince of Conde his Brother Montmorancy and the rest of the Peers of that Kingdom till he made all France the Scene of a Civil War and filled it with inexpressible Calamities which ended in the utter Ruin of the exorbitant Power and Greatness of the House of Guise Tho this Great man did all this yet upon his return into England he did not meet with a Recompence proportionable to his Integrity Courage and Industry because the Lord Burleigh was his Enemy and sought by all means to curb and conquer this lively free and haughty Spirit which too often appeared against him The French having obtained a Matrimonial Right to the Crown of Scotland thought it afforded them a fair pretence and an happy introduction into the Island and designed to employ these Advantages for the Conquest of England also They thereupon taking hold of the Disorders their own Cruelty and Perfidy had caused in Scotland raised a Potent Army under the Command of the Count de Martigues and Monsieur La Brosse two Expert Commanders and sent them into Scotland These French Gentlemen did all that was possible to Establish the Faction that favoured France in Scotland they wasted and destroyed all that durst oppose them and threatned the intire Destruction of all that any way opposed their designs Their Violence and Cruelty in the mean time highly exasperated the common people of that Kingdom and they began to whisper That the Destruction of all the Scotch Nobility and the Extirpation of their Government was intended Thereupon the Scots began in good earnest to think how they might preserve themselves and defend their Lands and Territories from the Incursions and Depredations of the French The French on the other side meeting with Repulses and seeing the whole Nation arm against them when they expected the most profound Submission retired to Leith which they had then Fortified for their security whither the Scotch Nobility sollowed them and there were frequent but small Skirmishes between them and the French But however still the storm fell heaviest on that part of the Scots which had embraced the Reformation for that was made the pretence for sending over these French Forces and they on the contrary saw that during the Marriage of their Queen with Francis II. King of France there was no hopes of Security against the Pride and Cruelty of their new Masters and that they were not able to defend themselves without Assistance from abroad Whereupon they sent their Agents with Letters to Queen Elizabeth laying before her Majesty the miserable Estate they were reduced to and imploring her Protection and Assistance for the prevention of their Ruin The Queen being before exasperated by the ill usages she had received from the Guifes and
Confinement could thus comfort his drooping Spirits with the prospect of that Honour would be paid him in his Grave when his Name should be imbalmed in the grateful memory of his Subjects It is a wonder there is no more care taken by the Living to render this grateful Acknowledgment to their Ancestors for all that they have left them But if we are unmindsul of the Dead if their cold Bones can merit no corner in our Hearts or thoughts why are we so regardless of the Living a Prince can scarce deserve better of his Subjects instruct direct reform or amend them more effectually by any other method than by Good Histories The Precepts that are so delivered slide insensibly and pleasantly into the minds of the Reader and make lasting Impressions on his Memory Nor is this Benefit confined to the Subject and meaner Persons even Princes themselves do borrow from History those Counsels and Assistances they shall hardly gain from Courtiers and Ministers sometimes they will not sometimes they dare not Admonish their Master whilst a good History shews them by others what will be the effect of ill-concerted Designs and Counsels and at the same time is an Awe upon them suggesting this Thought frequently to them How will this look in History Thus Augustus Queen Elizabeth and Henry the Fourth of France became Famous to Posterity by observing carefully in History what Fate had attended the Princes that preceded them Posterity too are to be taken care of if the present Age is not such as a Good or a Wise Man would wish it let us try if we can make the next Generation better by shewing the Chain of Calamities have followed at the heels of the Vices of the last and of this Age. At her Death the Thrift the Probity the Piety and the Hospitality of the English Nation was much abated The Luxury that attended the Peaceable Reign of James the First and the Beginning of Charles the First brought on a War that threatned our Ruin What has hapned since the Restitution to the time in which Their Majesties began Their Reign is now fresh in Memory but will be lost if not written And I am persuaded nothing can possibly be invented to make us Wiser than we now are sooner or more easily than a good History of this Period of Time but then our Princes and Great Men must encourage it and skreen the Writer or it will never be done The Expence is too great for a Private Man and the Materials are most of them locked up from the view of all those who have not the Royal Authority consenting to their Inspection and the Royal Purse to support the Charge of Transcribing them Methinks every Prince that resolveth to do things worthy to be written should take care to have one good Historian about him to preserve the Memory of his Actions Those that live ill will find what they fear above all things a man to paint out those things to the Life which they would gladly have concealed Story will go on with or without their care but to their Damage if not discreetly encouraged But why do I write thus in all the Misfortunes that have so lately befallen me My Character has been written with the Poison of Asps instead of Ink so that one single Word in another man's Work otherwise interpreted than either he or I meant it as is plain by the words that follow and explain it has been enough to sink me after my Reputation had been sufficiently pierced by the Arrows of Envy and Detraction But all that I shall say in my own Defence is That I hate what I am supposed to be guilty of as much as any man in the Nation and never suffered said or thought the thing in all my Life THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK THE Birth and Parentage of Queen Elizabeth Page 1 Her Education 3 Her Tutors in the Greek and Latin Tongues and her Observations in Reading 4 5 Her Tutor in Theology 8 She spoke French and Italian and understood many other European Tongues 9 The Untimely Death of her beloved Brother Edward VI. 12 And the Succession of Q. Mary 13 She was a sorrowful Spectator of the Popish Cruelty 15 She was hated by the Popish Bishops for her Religion 16 Her Life was saved by King Philip 18 The Death of Queen Mary 19 The Nation then divided into Factions 22 Calais newly lost 23 She at first dissembled her Religion 24 Her Prime Counsellors 26 She dissembled with the K. of Spain 27 She makes a Peace with France and resolves on a War with Spain 29 The Treaty of Cambray 30 The French Plea against the Restitution of Calais 31 She resolves to reform the Religion of England 32 The contending Religions equally balanced 33 Her first Parliament The Complaints of the Popish Bishops 39 The Reformation established 40 The Miseries of Scotland in the Reformation 43 The Happiness of England 44 Her Care to settle Pious and Learned Bishops and Clergy-men 45 And to curb the immoderate Liberty of the Protestant Dissenters 47 The Behaviour of Pope Pius IV. 50 The Council of Trent restored The Plea of the Protestants against it The Popish Party inclined to Rebel 53 The Setâ—…lement of the Civil State considered 55 The Means by which she improved and enriched her Kingdom 59 Laws and Orders made for the Publick Good 60 The Bishops and Commons favoured as a Balance to the Nobility 61 She favoured her Kindred and advanced them 62 Her Care to abolish the evil Customs and bad Laws of former times 64 The Parliament Address to the Queen to Marry 67 Her Answer Her Temperanee and Chastity 71 The Princes and Great Men that courted her 73 The Character of the Earl of Leicester 75 Of Robert Earl of Essex 85 Of Thomas Earl of Sussex 89 Of Sir William Cecil afterward created Lord Burleigh 90 Of the Lord Willoughby 94 Of Sir Francis Walsingham Of Mary Queen of Scotland 97 And of Sir Nicholas Throgmorton 98 The French desirous of a War with England 99 They design to improve their Interest in Scotland to the Ruin of England 101 The Scots send to England for Assistance against the French The Scotch War The First Civil War in France 110 The Death of Francis II. The Beginnings of the Misfortunes of Mary Queen of Scotland The deplorable condition of Princes 113 118 Murray comes into England Queen Elizabeth durst not restore the Queen of the Scots to her Throne 124 The Trial of the Queen of the Scots 125 Foreign Princes and the Popish Priests guilty of the Murther of the Queen of the Scots Rebellions in England Northumberland taken in Scotland Westmorland fled into Flanders A second Rebellion The Duke of Norfolk the secret Head of them His Character 141 143 They are fâ—…llowed by many Treasous and Conspiracies 145 Which occasion Acts of Parliament against the Recusants 146 Colleges built for the English Papists beyond the Seas 147 Parry's Conspiracy Babington's 151 A
he every time drove them into their own ships or into the Sea Thus he defended himself all that night with the great slaughter of his own men but with the greater loss of the Enemy In the morning the English found their Powder fail their Masts shot down their Rigging torn and the most part of their bravest men slain or wounded and the rest so wearied with the fight that they could hardly stand to their Arms The ship also had received 800 shot of Cannon from the Enemy Greenvill was wounded and whilst the Chyrurgeon was applying a Plaister to the Wound he was wounded on the head and the Chyrurgeon was slain When the day broke upon them they found the Deck all covered with Blood shattered Timber dead and dying men so that it struck terror into the beholder Greenvill having now fought 15 hours and there being no hope of escaping commanded the ship to be sunk the Pilot forbad it and went forth within the Long-boat to the Spanish Admiral to resign the English ship covenanting for their Lives and Liberties that were left in it Greenvill thereupon was carried aboard the Spanish Admiral languishing and just ready to expire The Spaniards when they came to fetch him off found him lying upon the Deck all covered with Blood and Wounds and gasping out his Soul and they being amazed at the Resistance he had made and the Condition they found him in endeavoured to stanch his Wounds and applied fit Remedies to him But all they could do or say to mitigate his Sorrows was despised by him and he answered all their Kindnesses with Frowns and Threats and thus living two days in the Agonies of Death he expired The Spaniards who are a valiant Nation were so far from being exasperated by this carriage of his that they reverenced him as an Hero The ship verified her Name at last for being sent into Spain with 200 men on board she perished in a storm and all the men were drown'd so that every way she was to them a severe REVENGE When the Queen had any small respite from the Cares of War the far greatest part of her Reign being in truth spent in the defence of her Kingdoms and her Neighbours who all had their recourse to her in their Distresses she always turned her thoughts to the amending what was amiss in the State There were great Complaints made to her by the Ministers and Ambassadors of Foreign States residing here That the Seas were infested by her Subjects and the ships of her Friends and Allies rifl'd whereupon she put out a Proclamation for the security of her Friends strictly forbidding all her Subjects for the future to offer any violence or wrong to the Ships of any of her Neighbours if they did not carry Iron Corn or Stores for Navigation and Shipping to the Spaniards with whom she was then in War Threatning that whoever was hereafter found to break her Orders should be taken for Pyrats and treated accordingly By this Proclamation and her exact care to see it executed accordingly she cleared the Seas and made them as safe as the Land The management of Proclamations in our Government is a thing of great difficulty because they can introduce no new Law and are of no force if they be contrary to Law And when they are never so legal if men are once inured to the slighting them they are no more regarded than the whistling of the Wind in a stormy day We have seen many Proclamations put out in our times which were extorted from Princes against their wills or issued upon design to serve a turn for the present and the Prince well pleased to see the Bauble ridiculed and contemned but men did not stop there they treated other Proclamations in the same manner which were of the greatest importance to the safety of the Prince and Nation And all these Orders of State which in her times were as venerable as an Act of Parliament in Ours sunk to the value of almost a common Ballad a Mischief which it will take some time perfectly to redress Amongst those that complained of the Depredations of the English none were more clamorous than the Hanse Towns in Germany who in the Year 1597. brought a Complaint before the Dyet of Germany at Ratisbon against the English That they had rifl'd and robb'd all their ships that carried Corn Iron and Cordage to the Spaniards The Quarrel went so high that the English were prohibited all Trade in Germany because they traded there upon their own Laws and not according to the Laws of the Empire That is that they would not submit their Trade to the Rules of the Hanse Towns but traded as a free Nation under the Protection of their own Queen and Laws To this the Queen by her Ambassador Mr. John Wroth replied That the Complaint of the Hanse Towns was unjust That it became her as a good Prince to consult the Welfare of her own People and to promote their safety and common advantage and that it became a good Shepherd to prefer the welfare of his own Flock before that of any other That the Hanse Towns if they did well consider it might trade upon the same Privileges with her own Subjects but then if they expected to enjoy a Monopoly in her Kingdom they desired more than was fit to be granted by a just and free Prince as she was Rodolph then Emperor of Germany was offended with the Answer the Queen had made and passed a Law in the Dyet prohibiting the English from trading in any of the Ports of Germany and commanding them to withdraw with their effects by a certain day The Queen on the other hand represented the injustice of this Edict to the Emperor and the Princes and informed them that Henry the IIId her Predecessor had by a Royal Charter made by agreement granted to the Hanse Towns a place in London call'd the Stillyard with many very large Privileges for the preserving the Freedom of their Trade That this Grant had after been confirm'd by Edward III. Richard II. Henry IV V VI. and all the other Princes to her Brother's time and had been religiously observed and therefore she desired that the Edict might be suspended and the Controversie ended by a Treaty but this was denied Whereupon the Queen by the Advice of her Council put out a Proclamation commanding the Germans to depart from the Stillyard the same day the English were commanded to leave Germany from thenceforward she put a stop to all their Trade in London or any other of her Ports and ordered the Lord Mayor of London to seize the Stillyard The Hanse Towns called a Dyet of all their Members at Lubeck and in it by way of Revenge resolved to put a stop to the Trade of the English in Poland and other places of the Baltick Sea Whereupon the Queen sent Sir George Carew Chancellor of the Exchequer into Pruffia and Poland to acquaint the
had lived So that she kindled in the minds of all her Subjects by her bounty kindness and beneficence an ardent desire of Military Virtue and in this she exceeded the most of her Predecessors Burleigh though a man of great virtue and honour too stubbornly prosecuted the Cause of the Exchequer against the Commanders of those times and kept the Queen from shewing them that Favour and from giving them those Rewards they had by their Virtue and Industry so well deserved by which means he alienated from the Queen the hearts of many of the Nobility who were men of great knowledge valour industry and fidelity and had with the hazard of their Lives and Limbs procured hers and the Nation 's safety and after all in their old Age were left in poverty to struggle with the Debts and Diseases they had contracted in her Service To this man's sordid and sparing Humour was owing the failing of all Military Virtue in the following Reigns when men saw how rich he and the rest of the States men could leave their Families and Descendents whilst those of the greatest Generals and Commanders in the Wars were forced to be satisfied with the gilded glory of their Ancestors but ought in Reason and Justice to have been at least equally rewarded and I may say in point of Interest too Yet she was not over-liberal to the Gown-men and States-men in general nor did she take any extraordinary care of them or theirs She had learned this Lesson of her Grandfather Henry the VIIth Not to exhaust in any case the Fountain of her Bounty I mean the Exchequer which was again to be recruited by the Spoils of the People and unusual Taxes That Prince by his Virtue Labour Solicitude Thrifti ness and Provident Administration had re-established and improved the English Monarchy and the Revenues of the Crown and was for it much esteemed by the People of England of all degrees his Covetous Humour having been more beneficial to the Crown than damageable to the Body of the People because he gave few or none of the Crown-Lands to his Followers or Servants except when they were extorted from him by mere importunity or he was cheated with the pretence of an advantageous exchange but then he was also wont to give more freely the Estates of Convicted Criminals so that there are many Examples in the Rolls of his Times of men that rose by the Falls and grew rich by the Calamities and Ruins of others The small Gifts and inconsiderable Largesses this Prince gave when he was possessed of so much Wealth was a means that preserved England from Ruin after it had been so terribly exhausted by the Civil Wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster The Earl of Oxford was one of the most Ancient Houses amongst the Nobility but by the excessive Bounty and Splendor of the former Earl was reduced to a very low and mean condition so that the Family was no longer able to maintain its Dignity and Grandeur And the Queen allowed that House One thousand Pound the year out of her Exchequer that one of the most Illustrious Houses in her Kingdom might not suffer that Want which was intolerable to those of meaner Extraction She also upheld Sir Edward Dyer an old Courtier who was become very poor and would not suffer him to want But as for those Spendthrifts and Wasters that had foolishly wasted their Patrimonies in Luxury and base Expences to gratifie their Intemperance and afterwards solicited her to bestow Pensions on them she sent some of them to her Privy Council who rejected their Petitions and gave those Reasons for it which the Queen was not willing to give her self and others who sought by way of Reward what they had never deserved she neglected That her Bounty might not encourage others to Luxury and imprudent Expences whilst they relied upon the Crown for the Repair of what they had wastfully consumed She for some time entertained and out of her Treasury supported An thony King of Portugal who was deprived of his Dominions by the Iniquity of Philip the IId King of Spain and fled to her with a few Servants for her Protection and Assistance She severely punished Sir Richard Bingham President of Connaught in Ireland tho he were an excellent Soldier because he was found guilty of a sordid and injurious Covetousness She entertained all Strangers that came to her Court with great Pleasantness Munificence and Decency and when they went from her she gave them Princely Presents Ursino Duke de Bracciano in Italy hearing of the Fame of this Queen came over into England to see her and he being a person of great Virtue and descended of one of the best Families in Italy the Queen gave him a splendid Reception and gave order he should be shewn her Fleets her Stores and Magazines her Veterane Soldiers and Garisons her Treasures and Wardrobes her Retinue and Princely Palaces and extorted from him a Confession That there was no where in the world a more Potent and Happy Prince than she She entertained several of the best and greatest Noblemen of Italy France Germany and Poland who all said of her That they never saw a more Magnificent Honourable Loving Courteous Prince than Queen Elizabeth and that her Virtue and Prudence was great and admirable above all the Examples they had ever seen read or heard In truth she was Mistress of all the Virtues that belonged to both Sexes and had none of the Faults belonging to her own but a little Unsteadiness in her Will Knighthood in her Times was rarely given and to none but men of Virtue and real Worth Soldiers and Gentlemen of good Families and Estates so that she scarce ever admitted any man into that degree of a mean Fortune or Extraction as was too frequently done in after times There were not many Enobled or raised from the lower degrees of Peerage to higher as Clinton and Howard her Admirals at Sea Lei cester and Warwick She made few Barons and amongst them Burleigh after he had served her many years with admirable Prudence Fidelity and Industry in many of the principal Offices at Court This lowest degree of Peerage was sparingly and with great Care and Consideration bestowed upon Worthy Men as a Reward of some signal Services and an Encouragement to others and not out of a Personal Affection or Respect It was not then sold by men that had easily obtained the Grant of a Blank Patent instead of ready Money and took no other care but who should give most for the Mercenary Creation which could only dishonour the person that gave it as well as he that bought it In her time none but the most Worthy the most Valiant the most Faithful to his Countrey and the most Loyal to his Prince could hope to obtain this Favour and raise his Name and Family Thus she charily and prudently kept the Rewards of Virtue and Industry
They seize the Sea-Ports of Holland and Zealand Which was the beginning of the United Provinces ☞ Q. Elizabeth undertakes the Protection of her oppressedNeighbours French Affairs A Private League between France and Spain against the Protestants Henry III. succeeds in France The D. of Guise designs against that Prince An Account of the House of Guise The Reasons why Hen. III. was to be Deposed and Henry IV. Excluded Henry III. slain The Queen Mother of France dieth of Grief Queen Elizabeth assists Henry IV. with Men and Money The Spaniards invade Britagne a Province of France Q. Elizabeth assists the French against these Spaniards Spain invaded by the English They take the Groyne Robert Earl of Essex stole away from the Court and served as a Volunteer in this Expedition The Actions of Robert Earl of Essex The second Expedition into Spain Cadiz taken by the English The loss the Spaniard sustained The Affairs of Ireland in her time Ulster the first Provencethat Rebelled against her A Quarrel between Ormond and Desmond The Pope and King of Spain interested in the Irish War Fitz-Morris and Sanders invade Ireland with Spaniards The Deputy for his good Service slandered in England The difficulty of Administring Justice and Mercy seasonably Sir John Perrot Lord Deputy of Ireland New Colonies of English sent into Munster The Irish complain of the English The English complain of the Lord Deputy Fitz-Williams Character The College of Dublin finished The English Colonies keep Ireland quiet a while Part of the Spanish Armada shipwracked on the Coast of Ireland Hugh Roe wrongfully murthered by the Deputy The Rise of Hugh O Neale Earl of Tyrone He aspires to be King of Ulster Tyrone made a County which occasioned Neal's Rebellion Sir William Russel made Lord Deputy of Ireland under whom O Neal broke into a Rebellion Sir John Norris sent into Ireland with 3000 men The Character of this Great Man The Irish become very expert in the use of Arms. Tyrone's Pretences to the Deputy The Deputy offended with Tyrone The Lord Burroughs made Deputy of Ireland The Council of Ireland represent the Irish War as an universal Rebellion of that whole Nation Tyrone beat the English And at the same time treats with England and Spain The Earl of Essex sent Deputy The Army under Essex 20000 men The Lord Montjoy sent Deputy The Methods by which he ruined the Irish and ended the War No Irish pardoned but what merited the Mercy by some signal Service The Spaniards land at Kingsale The Irish reduced to eat man's flesh Tyrone submits Religion causlesly made the pretence of the Irish Rebellion Liberty of Conscience considered The Greatness of the Reputation of the English Nation in Q. Elizabeth's time Her Carriage towards her Allies abroad Sir Drake's Original and Story The Story of John Oxenham Drake's second Voyage to America He takes St. Jago He sails for the Nolucca Islands The Story of Mr. Thomas Cavendish Hackluit records and publishes all the English Expeditions in these and former times Philip King of Spain highly incensed against the English Nation The Invincible Armado in 1588. prepared and sent to invade Enggland Charles Lord Howard Admiral of England The Condition of the Spanish Fleet when the English left it The King of Spain bears his Loss with much Patience and Prudence The English and Hollanders glorifie God for the Victory The Queen declares a War against the King of Spain The English Expeditions against that Kingdom The Earl of Cumberland put out a Fleet against Spain at his own Cost A rare Example of Martial Valour and Courage Complaints made to her of the Depredations of the English at Sea A Reflection concerning Proclamations The Hanse Towns very clamorous against the English The Trade of the English prohibited in Germany She takes away the Stillyard from the Easter lings or Germans Poland continues the Trade with the English The Embassy into Muscovy p. 213 She ends a War between the Russians and Swedes Her Laws for the Enriching of her Subjects at home The Purveyers reformed As also the Concealers Her Severity to her Judges and Governors Usury mitigated The Customs carefully looked after Monopoly suppress'd Informers and Promoters carefully inquired into She detested multitude of Suits Her Admonition to the Judges The licentious liberty of the Theatre restrained The Calamities and Misfortunes that hapned in her Times Her Care of and Kindness to her good Magistrates Her Care of the Poor Her affectionate and tender Care of the Church Her Stature and Personal Accomplishments In her Old Age she was offended at the Decay of her Beauty Adulation sometimes used to her The Flatteries of learned men noted She endeavoured at first to raise a good opinion of her self in her Subjects Which by degrees brought her to love Flattery Crafty men wrought upon this her Infirmity She understood Preacliing very well and loved Severe and Grave men But curbed the Fiery Turbulent Preachers She loved Religion but hated Factions Her Devotion in the Publick Service of God She exposed her Life for the Safety of the Church She humoured and caressed the Body of the People Parliaments frequently held and for the most part well tempered Her Maxim concerning War and Peace She would never arm the meanest of the People The Honours belonging to the Peerage carefully given Her care in chusing good Councellors Bishops Judges and Ministers Her Justice and Veracity and Severity to Offenders Sir John Perrot an Instance of her Severity Her very Severity to Offenders made her the more beloved by the People Her Justice She was sparing in her personal Expences but magnificant in her publick Actions She was too sparing in her Rewards especially to the Sword-men Sir Philip Sidney much lamented She shewed great respect to the memory of the meanest Soldier that perished in her Service But was not liberal to the Great men which had an ill effect The Praises of Henry VII Her Bounty to the Earl of Oxford and some few others of the Nobility And her Severity towards Luxurious Spend-thrifts Her Favours to Anthony King of Portugal †This Anthony is by all confessed to have been a Bastard of the former King's Ursino Duke of Bracciano She never Knighted any but men of Virtue and good Estate The Peerage well and sparingly given The Noble Order of the Garter prudently given The Choice of her Servants Officers and Min isters Her kindness to the Bishops and Church-men She loved Sir F. Walsingham herSecretary Sir Nicholas Bacon Egerton Popham but above all the Lord Burleigh and Howard Her Habit in Publick and in Private Her Furniture Her Diet in Publick and in Private Aligophore The Splendor and Divertisements of the Court. Her private way ofliving Her Studies Her Summer Progress and catriage towards her People in it The Winter she spent in London Her Diet in Summer and Winter Her Diversions and private Conversation She was subject to be violently angry Her Severity and especially to the Queen of Scots Her Severity to Leicester and Hatton Hatton's Death The Provocations she met with were many and great The Character of Sanders and others who defamed her Dydimus Veridicus Florimond Remond a French Writer George Conc a Scot. Her last Sickness Her last Words to her Council She nominated her Successor She spent the last Moments of her Life wholly in Devotion Her last Words to the Archbishop And her Death The Sorrow for her Death