burned in Smithfield, and Hooper, Bishop of Gloucester, in his own cathedral city, for heresy; and towards the close of the year, Ridley, Bishop of London, and Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, were burned at Oxford. "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley," said his fellow-martyr, "and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as shall never be put out." Cranmer was unhappily induced by an expectation of pardon to sign a recantation of his Protestant opinions, but he was nevertheless ordered to be burned. On coming to the stake he withdrew his recantation and declared his firm adhesion to Protestantism. To show his remorse for his late conduct, he thrust his right hand into the flame, exclaiming, “This hand hath offended” (March 21, 1556). The day following his death, Cardinal Pole was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury.

Philip, who had long been absent from the queen, came over to England in March, 1557, and persuaded her to declare war against France. Her troops aided the Spaniards in winning the battle of ST. QUENTIN (Aug. 10); but she paid dearly for taking part in the same, as the French, observing the neglected condition of Calais, unexpectedly besieged, and without difficulty captured it (Jan., 1558).

During the Marian persecution about 270 Protestants were burned, not to mention those who died in prison. Among those burned were five bishops, twenty-one clergymen, fifty-five women, two boys, and two infants.

Trinity College, Oxford, was founded in this reign by Sir Thomas Pope, and St. John's by Sir Thomas White. A company was formed for carrying on trade with Russia, and the woollen cloths and coarse linens of England were exchanged at a great profit, for the valuable skins and furs of the northern regions. The first general law relative to highways was made in this reign, it being enacted that they must be repaired by a parish duty all over England. Coaches first began to be used in this country about the same time.

Death. The neglect of her husband, the hatred of many of her subjects, and the unfortunate course of the war, greatly depressed her spirits, and accelerated the progress of a malady to which she had been for some time subject, and to which she succumbed, Nov. 17, 1558.

ELIZABETH.

Reigned from 1558 to 1603.

Birth.—Elizabeth was born at Greenwich, Sept. 7, 1533. Descent. She was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. She died unmarried.

Important Events.—At the time of her sister's death, Elizabeth was residing at Hatfield, under mild surveillance, and after a few days she went to London, where the people vied with each other in testifying their affection.

From the first she was determined to restore the Protestant faith, but she proceeded with wary steps, and was skilfully guided by Sir William Cecil, her leading adviser. She was declared by parliament the only supreme governor of the realm both in spiritual and temporal matters, and she was far too able and imperious to allow such a title to be merely nominal. All the bishops, except Kitchen, of Llandaff, refused to take the oath of supremacy, and were therefore removed from their sees, and many dignitaries of the church were deprived on the same ground, but nearly all the parish clergy conformed to the new regulations. Dr. Matthew Parker, formerly chaplain to Anne Boleyn, was made Archbishop of Canterbury, and earnest reformers were appointed to most of the other bishoprics.*

In 1559 Elizabeth concluded a peace with France, but not long after she became involved both with that country and

The form of government in the Established Church of England is Protestant Episcopacy. Episcopalians hold that bishops are superior to presbyters; and some consider that the government of the church is entrusted to the former by Divine right.

Scotland. The Scots, many of whom were now attached to Protestantism, found it necessary to supplicate her aid against the queen regent, who governed the kingdom on behalf of Mary, the wife of Francis II, and as a measure of self-defence she complied with their request, since Mary, under the direction of the family of the Guises, had assumed the style and arms of the sovereign of England. Soon after the death of her husband (Dec., 1560), Mary returned to her native land, and the relations between the two queens became tolerably amicable. Elizabeth, on the recommencement of the religious wars in France, in 1562, rendered some assistance to the Protestant party (named the Huguenots), as she reasonably feared that if the Reformers were crushed on the continent, the arms of the Roman Catholic powers would be turned against her as the great supporter of what they regarded as a pestiferous heresy.

In 1565 Mary married her cousin, Lord Darnley, much against the will of Elizabeth. Darnley becoming jealous of his wife's secretary, Rizzio, caused him to be assassinated, three months after which tragedy she gave birth to a son (subsequently known as James I of England). She never really forgave her husband for his distrust, and in 1567 he was murdered under very peculiar circumstances, suspicion resting upon her and the Earl of Bothwell, whom she married two months later. The Scottish nobles took up arms against them, and Mary was imprisoned in Lochleven Castle, from which she made her escape, and attempted to recover the crown, which had been bestowed on her infant son. Failing in her project, she fled into England (1568), and a commission being appointed by Elizabeth to investigate her conduct, it was determined to detain her as a captive. After an imprisonment of eighteen years, she was tried on a charge of conspiring against the life of Elizabeth, and executed at Fotheringay, in Northamptonshire (Feb. 8, 1587). Her son James, and Henry III of France, interceded for her life; but the queen seemed to think that Mary's existence was incompatible with her own security.

During Mary's incarceration two or three plots were formed for her release. The Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland raised a rebellion in the north, partly for that purpose, and partly for the restoration of the old religion; but the rising was completely crushed, and many were put to death (1569). The Duke of Norfolk, a Protestant, was implicated in another conspiracy; and after considerable hesitation on the part of the queen he was beheaded (1572). The Babington conspiracy in 1586 had a twofold object-the death of Elizabeth and the liberation of Mary; and it was for her alleged complicity in this plot that the latter lost her life.

On the same ground that the queen had assisted the Huguenots, she afforded aid, though not till after the struggle had continued for several years, to the people of the Netherlands, the majority of whom, being Protestants, had rebelled against their sovereign, Philip II, of Spain, because he had determined to allow no toleration, and had sanctioned the introduction of the Inquisition. Our hardy seamen, with her connivance, committed many depredations on the Spanish colonies; and on account of her hostile attitude, and the desire of the pope that her heresy should be punished, Philip prepared an armada for the conquest of England. Drake, by a successful expedition against Cadiz, where many of the vessels were collected, delayed the expedition for a year; but in 1588 a magnificent fleet, proudly styled by Philip the Invincible Armada, sailed into the English Channel, under the command of the duke of Medina Sidonia, who was ordered to proceed as quickly as possible to Flanders, whence an army under the Duke of Parma was to be landed in England. By the providence of God, this design, which if triumphant would have prostrated the liberty of Europe, and would have, probably, destroyed the reformed religion, was frustrated. A storm injured the vessels, shortly after they left Lisbon; and the English ships being smaller and more manageable, and under the command of Lord Howard, of Effingham, aided by such naval heroes as Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, and Raleigh,

inflicted tremendous damage upon the enemy's fleet, which at last proceeded homewards round the north of Scotland. Many of the vessels, however, were driven on the coasts of Scotland and Ireland, and not more than a third ever reached Spain.

To meet the enemy in case they had effected a landing, three armies were collected, one of which was stationed at Tilbury, where a camp was formed, to which Elizabeth paid a visit, and addressed the troops. "I am come among you," said she, "not as for recreation and sport, but as being resolved, in the middle and heat of the battle, to live or die among you all; to lay down, for my God and my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust. I know that I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of a king, and a king of England too."

Several expeditions were undertaken, either against Spain or her colonies, after the Armada, and in 1596 Cadiz was captured; but after the death of Philip, in 1598, the war languished.

In 1599, Ireland being in a most critical condition through the rebellion of the Earl of Tyrone, the Earl of Essex, who, since the death of the Earl of Leicester in 1588, had been the queen's favourite, was made lord-lieutenant, and sent thither with a considerable force; but instead of actively opposing his foe, he adopted dilatory measures, and actually held a conference with him. Fearing Elizabeth's wrath, he returned to England without orders, and was placed under arrest. After a time he was liberated, and hoped to recover favour; but the queen refusing to renew his patent for a monopoly of sweet wine, he gave heed to imprudent advice, and attempted to overthrow his enemies at court by an insurrection. He was convicted of treason and executed (Feb., 1601).

Few parliaments were held by Elizabeth, but they gradually increased their influence, especially near the close of the reign, when they successfully resisted the continuance of grants of monopolies.

Severe laws were passed both against the Roman Catholics and