quite certain that there is as much evidence for supposing that such was the case, as there is for Dr. Lingard's assertion. The references to Strype are to the octavo edition, printed at the Clarendon press: and I have used the quarto editions of Lingard and Turner. With respect to the other works, there can be no mistake as to editions. I have animadverted, in terms of severity, on some of Dr. Lingard's statements; but I am convinced, that every one who dispassionately considers my arguments, will admit, that I am fully justified in the course which I have adopted. The authorities for all my statements will be found in the notes. Though the work is especially intended for popular use, yet I have deemed it necessary not to overlook the critical reader who may honour these pages with a perusal. ВАТН, THE SPANISH ARMADA. CHAPTER I. Introduction. Philip's views in his marriage with Mary. His 'unpopularity. Wishes to marry Elizabeth. This desire overruled for good. Reasons for invading England. Dr. Lingard. The Pope's Bull. King Philip. dition. Discussions in Philip's Councils. tations. Drake's ExpeSpanish Expec THE year 1588 is a memorable era in the annals of our country. There are some points in history on which the mind dwells with a feeling of more than ordinary satisfaction; and by the members of the Church of England such events as the Gunpowder Treason and the dispersion of the Spanish Armada are contemplated not merely with satisfaction, but with heartfelt gratitude to God, who frustrated the purposes of our enemies, and detected the treacheries of the Church of Rome. If the Israelites were commanded to tell their children the great things which the Lord had done for them, it surely becomes us, as a Protestant nation, to retain in our memories, and to make known to our descendants those eminent B EIGHTY EIGHT. deliverances, which, at various periods, have been accomplished for our Church and nation. To be forgetful of the dangers from which our ancestors were rescued would argue a forgetfulness of that gracious and glorious Being, to whom we are indebted for our present privileges. In order therefore to stir up our countrymen to an expression of gratitude to God for his past mercies, I purpose, in this volume, to give a detail of the circumstances connected with the Spanish Invasion in the year ONE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND The happy consequences of that glorious deliverance are still experienced by the inhabitants of this country: for had King Philip succeeded in his designs, England might still have been the vassal of the see of Rome, and her people sunk in the same ignorance and superstition which now brood over unhappy Spain. To be forgetful of past deliverances is a sin of the deepest magnitude-a sin for which the Israelites were continually reproached. We are told by a certain class of politicians, that we are to forget such events as the Spanish Invasion and the Gunpowder Plot; and that to allude to such by-gone scenes, either in writing or in speaking, is unwise and ungenerous. Such reasoners argue without any reference to the Bible, or to the superintending providence of God. As Protestants, however, we avow our firm belief in both; and, therefore, we are bound by our principles to call the gracious acts of Jehovah to remembrance, and to show forth our gratitude by perpetuating them to the latest posterity. I need not add more to justify to my Protestant brethren the course which I have adopted in this work: and to attempt to reason with worldly politicians, on such subjects, would be a needless waste of time and labour. Without any further explanation I shall, therefore, proceed to detail the events connected with the projected Invasion in 1588. King Philip was on the continent when his wife Queen Mary was summoned to her awful account. He had two objects in view in connecting himself with Mary, namely, his own aggrandisement, and the advancement of the interests of the Romish see, of which Philip was the chief support. For the Queen he cared little; and for the English people still less. We find, therefore, that he slighted the Queen, and treated the people with contempt. The marriage was most unpopular with the public, who saw nothing in the character of the prince to lead them to expect any thing but evil from such an alliance. This feeling of dislike to the king became stronger every year, and was at last evinced towards the whole Spanish nation. Under the year 1557 Strype remarks, "The government by this time became very uneasy, not only in respect of the bloodshed for religion, and the rigorous inquisitions made everywhere, but for the domineering of the Spaniards, which was intolerable. English were very much disregarded, and the Spaniards ruled all: the Queen, half Spanish by birth, The and still more so by marriage, showing them all favour. That nation also had carried themselves here very disobligingly to the English, and would say, that they would rather dwell among Moors and Turks than with Englishmen *." Philip was very haughty in his manner towards the English people: nor were his courtiers distinguished by greater urbanity. The Spanish alliance, therefore, was unpopular. Besides, there was a dread of the introduction of those practices which had already become common in Spain by means of the inquisition. Whether it was or was not contemplated to establish the inquisition in this country, it is by no means easy to determine: but that the English people had an apprehension that such would be the case, is certain. Sir Thomas Smith, in "an Oration," the object of which was to prove that it was more desirable that Queen Elizabeth should marry an English nobleman than a foreign prince, asks, "And do you not think, that if King Philip had been long here, he would not have brought some piece from Spain? If nothing else, at least the inquisition, as they call it, as he did to Naples ; whereby, what insurrections and troubles arose there, it is easy to learn by the French historiest." Such incidental notices furnish the strongest evidence of the views of the people at this period, and of their expectations on the subject. Spain was the country in * STRYPE'S Memorials, vol. iii., part ii., p. 66. + STRYPE'S Life of Smith, p. 141. |