one Babington was implicated, together with some Popish priests from the seminaries abroad; but being discovered, they were, to the number of fourteen, condemned and executed. As the Queen of Scots appeared by some letters to have known something about it, Elizabeth resolved to prosecute her under an act of parliament, made the preceding year, whereby the person by whom, or for whom, anything should be attempted against the life of the queen, was liable to suffer death. Commissioners were accordingly sent to try her at Fotheringay Castle, in Northamptonshire, where she was in custody; and the sentence which they passed upon her was confirmed by Elizabeth, and on the 7th of February, 1587, she was beheaded. She suffered with great calmness and resignation.

THE SPANISH ARMADA.-Philip of Spain, shortly after the death of Mary, Queen of England, made proposals of marriage to her sister Elizabeth, and deeply resented her refusal of him. Actuated by this feeling, and a desire to support the Romish religion, he determined to invade England. For this purpose he raised an army of sixty thousand men, and equipped a fleet of one hundred and thirty ships, larger than any that had ever been seen in Europe.

The expected arrival of this great fleet, which had been called "The Invincible Armada," filled England with terror; but the queen, undismayed, mustered the forces of her kingdom. to those of Philip, but example of the queen.

They were greatly inferior derived confidence from the She visited the camp, at Til

bury Fort, near Gravesend, rode through the ranks, and addressed the soldiers in animating language, "I know," said she, "that I have but the body of a weak and

feeble woman; but that I have the heart of a king, and of a King of England, too; and think it foul scorn that Parma, or Spain, or any prince of Europe should dare to invade the borders of my realms; to which, rather than any dishonour shall grow by me, I myself will take arms; I myself will be your general, judge, and rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field !"

In the meantime, the Armada sailed; but the unwieldy vessels were much damaged by stormy weather before they neared the English coast. They were met by the small but active English fleet, under the Earl of Effingham as admiral, and Drake, Hawkins, and Forbisher, as vice-admirals; who, instead of coming to a close encounter, hovered about them, and cut off the straggling vessels as they sailed up the Channel. At last, the Spaniards came to anchor off Calais, expecting to be joined there by the Duke of Parma. Effingham sent eight fire-ships among them, and, profiting by the confusion thus caused, attacked, and completely dispersed them. They were so terrified by the fire-ships, that they cut their cables, and put to sea in the utmost confusion; the English admirals took and burnt twelve of their ships, and the rest were almost entirely destroyed by tempests. In short, the poor Spaniards resolved to make the best of their way home; and of this prodigious and boasted armament only fifty-three ships returned to Spain, and those in a shattered condition. Queen Elizabeth went to St. Paul's Cathedral to return thanks to God for this decisive victory.

In 1596, Queen Elizabeth sent out a fleet and army under Howard, Essex, and Sir Walter Raleigh, to the coasts of Spain, which plundered Cadiz, burnt the merchant-ships at Porto-Real, took and destroyed thirteen

Spanish men-of-war, and did other considerable damage. In 1598, Henry the Fourth of France having entered into a separate treaty of peace with the King of Spain, Queen Elizabeth and the States entered into a new treaty to carry on the war against that monarch by themselves. On the 25th of February, 1601, Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, was beheaded.

Queen Elizabeth died on the 24th March, 1603, in the seventieth year of her age, and the forty-fifth of her reign, after having named the Scottish King, James the Sixth, for her successor. She was interred in the chapel of Henry the Seventh, Westminster Abbey.

The first Royal Exchange in the City of London, was founded in this reign by Sir Thomas Gresham, 1566.

XXIV.

CHARACTER OF JAMES THE FIRST.

JAMES the Sixth of Scotland and the First of England was of a middle stature, inclining to corpulency; his address was awkward, his aspect mean, and his appearance slovenly. There was nothing dignified either in the composition of his mind or person. In the course of his reign he exhibited repeated instances of his ridiculous vanity, prejudices, folly, and littleness of soul. All that we can add in his favour is, that he was averse to cruelty and injustice, temperate in his living, kind to his servants, and desirous of acquiring the love of his subjects; by granting that as a favour which they

He

claimed as a right. His reign, though ignoble to himself, was nevertheless beneficial to his people, who were enriched by commerce which no war interrupted. was descended from Margaret, the daughter of Henry the Seventh, and with him began the reign of the Stuarts in England. He united the crowns of England and Scotland, and took the title of King of Great Britain.

HISTORICAL EVENTS.

SIR WALTER RALEIGH.-In the first year of James's reign, a conspiracy was discovered, the object of which was to place upon the throne the Lady Arabella Stuart, who was also descended from Henry the Seventh, and, after James, the next heir to the crown. Of this con

spiracy little is known; but what renders it memorable, is the concern which the celebrated Sir Walter Raleigh had in it. He, with several others, was condemned to death; but he was reprieved, and kept for thirteen years in confinement. He was afterwards set at liberty, and employed in an enterprise against the Spaniards in South America. Being unsuccessful, he returned to England, and was again imprisoned, and finally executed, in pursuance of his former sentence. This piece of injustice and cruelty appears to have proceeded from the king's desire to be on amicable terms with the Court of Spain, a marriage being then in contemplation between his son Charles and the daughter of the King of Spain.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT.-In the year 1605, the conspiracy so well known by the name of the Gunpowder Plot, was discovered. The Romanists being disappointed in their expectations that James would become

a member of that faith, formed a plan for the destruction both of the king and parliament. The leaders. were Catesby, a gentleman of good family; and Percy, a descendant of the house of Northumberland. They employed a fellow named Guy Fawkes, who hired a vault under the House of Lords, as if for the purpose of containing fuel, in which he concealed thirty-six barrels of gunpowder, with the intention of blowing up the building, while the king was opening the session of parlia

ment.

A short time before the meeting, Lord Monteagle, one of the peers, received a letter from an unknown hand, warning him not to attend the parliament. This nobleman laid the letter before the council, who were at a loss to conjecture its meaning; but the king's sagacity suspected the truth; and it was resolved to examine the vaults beneath the building. This, however, was purposely delayed till the night before the execution of the plot; and the officers then found Guy Fawkes in the vault, disguised in a cloak, with a dark lanthorn, and tinder box and matches in his pocket, prepared to set fire to the powder. He was seized, and being put to the torture, divulged the whole of the conspiracy. Catesby and Percy fled to Warwickshire, where another party was already in arms. They were surrounded in a house where they had collected themselves, and after a desperate resistance, these leaders and several others were killed on the spot. Guy Fawkes and two Jesuits named Oldcorn and Garnet, with the other accomplices, were executed.

HENRY, Prince of Wales, James's eldest son died in 1612, when scarce eighteen years of age. He was a most amiable and accomplished prince, and a patron of