A.D. 1555-1558.

LOSS OF CALAIS.

311

March 18, 1556. After Cranmer's death, Cardinal Pole, who had now taken priest's orders, was installed in the see of Canterbury, and was thus, by this office, as well as by his commission of legate, placed at the head of the Church of England.

§ 7. The temper of Mary was soured by ill health, by disappointment in not having offspring, and by the absence of her husband, who, tired of her importunate love and jealousy, and finding his authority extremely limited in England, had laid hold of the first opportunity to leave her, and had gone over to the emperor in Flanders. But her affection for Philip was not cooled by his indifference, and she showed the greatest anxiety to consult his wishes and promote his views. Philip, who had become master of the wealth of the New World, and of the richest and most extensive dominions in Europe, by the abdication of the Emperor Charles V., was anxious to engage England in the war which was kindled between Spain and France. His views were warmly seconded by Mary; but Cardinal Pole, with many other counselors, openly and zealously opposed this measure. Mary's importunities and artifices at length succeeded; forced loans and subsidies were extorted; and by these expedients, assisted by the power of pressing, she levied an army of 10,000 men, which she sent over to the Low Countries, under the command of the Earl of Pembroke (1557). The King of Spain had assembled an army which, after the junction of the English, amounted to above 60,000 men, conducted by Philibert, Duke of Savoy, one of the greatest captains of the age. Little interest would attend the narration of a campaign in which the English played only a subordinate part, and which resulted in their loss and disgrace. By Philibert's victory at St. Quentin the whole kingdom of France was thrown into consternation; and had the Spaniards marched to the capital, it could not have failed to fall into their hands. But Philip's caution was unequal to so bold a step, and the opportunity was neglected. In the following winter the Duke of Guise succeeded in surprising and taking Calais, deemed in that age an impregnable fortress (Jan. 7, 1558). Calais was surrounded with marshes, which, during the winter, were impassable, except over a dike guarded by two castles, St. Agatha and Newnam Bridge; and the English were of late accustomed, on account of the lowness of their finances, to dismiss a great part of the garrison at the end of autumn, and to recall them in the spring, at which time alone they judged their attendance necessary. It was this circumstance that insured the success of the French; and thus the Duke of Guise in eight days, during the depth of winter, made himself master of this strong fortress, that had cost Edward III. a siege of eleven months, at the head of a numerous army, which had that very year been vic、

torious in the battle of Crecy. The English had held it above 200 years; and as it gave them an easy entrance into France, it was regarded as the most important possession belonging to the crown. They murmured loudly against the improvidence of the queen and her council, who, after engaging in a fruitless war for the sake of foreign interests, had thus exposed the nation to so severe a disgrace.

§ 8. The queen had long been in a declining state of health; and having mistaken her dropsy for a pregnancy, she had made use of an improper regimen, and her malady daily augmented. Every reflection now tormented her. The consciousness of being hated by her subjects, the prospect of Elizabeth's succession, apprehensions of the danger to which the Catholic religion stood exposed, dejection for the loss of Calais, concern for the ill state of her affairs, and, above all, anxiety for the absence of her husband, preyed upon her mind, and threw her into a lingering fever, of which she died, after a short and unfortunate reign of 5 years (Nov. 17, 1558). The nation were thus delivered from their fears respecting the succession, for there can be little doubt that a plot had been formed to transfer the kingdom to Philip. It is not necessary to employ many words in drawing the character of this princess. She possessed few qualities either estimable or amiable, and her person was as little engaging as her behavior and address. Obstinacy, bigotry, violence, cruelty, malignity, revenge, tyranny -every circumstance of her character took a tincture from her bad temper and narrow understanding. Amid that complication of vices which entered into her composition, we shall scarcely find any virtue but sincerity, to which we may add that in many circumstances of her life she gave indications of resolution and vigor of mind, a quality which seems to have been inherent in her family.

Cardinal Pole died the same day with the queen. The benign character of this prelate, the modesty and humanity of his deportment, made him universally beloved.

A passage to Archangel had been discovered by the English during the last reign, and a beneficial trade with Muscovy had been established. A solemn embassy was sent by the Czar to Mary, which seems to have been the first intercourse which that émpire had with any of the western potentates of Europe.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ELIZABETH. FROM HER ACCESSION TO THE DEATH OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS. A.D. 1558-1587.

§ 1. Accession of the Queen. Re-establishment of Protestantism. § 2. Peace with France. The Reformation in Scotland. Supported by Elizabeth. § 3. French Affairs. Arrival of Mary in Scotland. Her Administration. § 4. Wise Government of Elizabeth. Proposals of Marriage. § 5. Civil Wars of France. Elizabeth assists the Huguenots. § 6. The Thirty-nine Articles. Scotch Affairs. The Queen of Scots marries Darnley. Hostility and Duplicity of Elizabeth. § 7. Murder of Rizzio. Murder of Darnley. Bothwell marries the Queen of Scots. Battle of Carberry Hill. § 8. Mary confined in Lochleven Castle. Murray Regent. James VI. proclaimed. Mary's Escape and Flight to England. § 9. Proceedings of the English Court. § 10. Duke of Norfolk's Conspiracy. Elizabeth excommunicated by the Pope. § 11. Rise of the Puritans. Their Proceedings in Parliament. § 12. Foreign Affairs. France and the Netherlands. § 13. New Conspiracy and Execution of the Duke of Norfolk. § 14. Massacre of St. Bartholomew. Civil war in France. Affairs of the Netherlands. § 15. Elizabeth's prudent Government. Naval Enterprises of Drake. § 16. Negotiations of Marriage with the Duke of Anjou. § 17. Conspiracies in England. The High Commission Court. Parry's Conspiracy. § 18. Affairs of the Low Countries. Hostilities with Spain. Battle of Zutphen and Death of Sidney. 19. Babington's Conspiracy. § 20. Trial and Condemnation of

the Queen of Scots. § 21. Her Execution. § 22. Elizabeth's affected Sorrow. She apologizes to James.

§ 1. ELIZABETH was at Hatfield when she heard of her sister's death; and after a few days she went thence to London, through crowds of people, who strove with each other in giving her the strongest testimony of their affection. With a prudence and magnanimity truly laudible, she buried all offenses in oblivion, and received with affability even those who had acted with the greatest malevolence against her. When the bishops came in a body to make their obeisance to her, she expressed to all of them sentiments of regard, except to Bonner, from whom she turned aside as from a man polluted with blood, who was a just object of horror to every heart susceptible of humanity.

Philip, who still hoped, by means of Elizabeth, to obtain dominion over England, immediately made proposals of marriage to the queen, and he offered to procure from Rome a dispensation for that purpose; but Elizabeth saw that the nation had entertained an extreme aversion to the Spanish alliance during her sister's reign. She was sensible that her affinity with Philip was exactly similar to that of her father with Catherine of Aragon, and that her marrying that monarch was in effect declaring herself illegitimate, and incapable of succeeding to the throne. She therefore gave him an obliging though evasive answer; and he still retained such hopes of success that he sent a messenger to Rome with orders to solicit the dispensation.

The queen, not to alarm the partisans of the Catholic religion, had retained eleven of her sister's counselors; but, in order to balance their authority, she added others who were known to be inclined to the Protestant communion, among whom were Sir Nicholas Bacon, whom she created lord keeper, and Sir William Cecil, secretary of state. With these counselors, particularly Cecil, she frequently deliberated concerning the expediency of restoring the Protestant religion, and the means of executing that great enterprise. She resolved to proceed by gradual and secure steps, but at the same time to discover such symptoms of her intentions as might give encouragement to the Protestants, so much depressed by the late violent persecutions. She immediately recalled all the exiles, and gave liberty to the prisoners who were confined on account of religion. She published a proclamation, by which she inhibited all preaching without a special license; and she also suspended the laws, so far as to order a great part of the service-the Litany, the Lord's prayer, the Creed, and the Gospels to be read in English; and, having first published injunctions that all the churches should conform themselves to the practice of her own chapel, she forbade the host to be any more elevated in her presence.

A.D. 1559.

PROTESTANTISM RE-ESTABLISHED.

315

In

The bishops, foreseeing with certainty a revolution in religion, refused to officiate at her coronation, and it was with some difficulty that the Bishop of Carlisle was at last prevailed on to perform the ceremony (Jan. 13, 1559). The Parliament, which met soon after, began the session by a unanimous declaration of the validity of the queen's title to the throne. They then passed a bill for suppressing the monasteries lately erected, and for restoring the tenths and first-fruits to the queen; and another for restoring to the crown the supremacy in ecclesiastical affairs. order to exercise this authority, the queen, by a clause of the act, was empowered to name commissioners, either laymen or clergymen, as she should think proper; and on this clause was founded the Court of High Commission, which assumed large discretionary, not to say arbitrary powers, totally incompatible with any exact boundaries in the Constitution. Whoever refused to take an oath acknowledging the queen's supremacy was incapacitated from holding any office; whoever denied the supremacy, or attempted to deprive the queen of that prerogative, forfeited, for the first offense, all his goods and chattels; for the second, was subjected to the penalty of a præmunire; but the third offense was declared treason. Lastly, an act was passed re-enacting all the laws of King Edward concerning religion, and prohibiting any minister, whether beneficed or not, to use any but the established Liturgy, under pain for the first offense of forfeiting goods and chattels, for the second of a year's imprisonment, and for the third of imprisonment during life. And thus in one session, without any violence, tumult, or clamor, was the whole system of religion altered. The laws enacted with regard to religion met with little opposition from any quarter. The Liturgy was again introduced in the vulgar tongue, and the oath of supremacy was tendered to the clergy. The bishops had taken such an active part in the restoration of popery under Mary, that, with the exception of the Bishop of Llandaff, they all felt themselves bound to refuse the oath, and were accordingly degraded from their sees by the Court of High Commission; but of the inferior clergy through all England, amounting to nearly 10,000, only about 100 dignitaries and 80 parochial priests sacrificed their livings to their religious. principles. The Archbishopric of Canterbury, which was vacant by the death of Cardinal Pole, was conferred upon Parker.

The two statutes above mentioned, usually called the Acts of Supremacy and Uniformity, were the great instruments of oppressing the Catholics during this and many subsequent reigns. The House of Commons, at the conclusion of the session, made the queen an important but respectful address that she should fix her choice of a husband. She told the speaker that she could