A.D. 1568.] MARY CASTS HERSELF ON ELIZABETH.

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ton, found herself in a few days at the head of an army of 6000 The Regent lost no time in taking the field; a battle was fought at Langside, near Glasgow, in which the queen's party was defeated and dispersed. Trusting to the friendly professions lately made by Elizabeth, the fugitive Mary embarked for England in a fishing boat at Galloway, and landed at Workington, whence she despatched a messenger to London with a letter craving the protection of the English queen.

Elizabeth determined to keep the Queen of Scots in her power, as, for various reasons, she dreaded and disliked her. She at first declared that she could not receive her until she had acquitted herself of the accusation of being concerned in her husband's murder. She then had her placed under such restraint at Bolton, in Yorkshire, the seat of Lord Scrope, as to make her in reality a prisoner. Commissioners were appointed on the part of Elizabeth to meet Commissioners on the part of the king and kingdom of Scotland at York (4th October 1568) for examining the accusation against Mary. The latter, however, refused to acknowledge such a tribunal. She insisted on being allowed an opportunity of personal explanation as from one sovereign to another, and on being tried in a way worthy of the dignity of a queen. The Regent Murray nevertheless brought forward some intercepted letters and verses said to have been written by Mary to Bothwell, which were taken to be conclusive of her guilt, and Elizabeth gave orders for having Mary placed under the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, at Tutbury, in Staffordshire. Offers of liberty were no doubt made to her on condition of her resigning the Scottish Crown, but these she indignantly repelled, and she justly protested against captivity being imposed on a queen who had voluntarily sought English hospitality.

Meanwhile Mary's fascinating manners had so wrought upon the Duke of Norfolk, the chief commissioner employed by Elizabeth to examine the charge against her, that he resolved upon asking her in marriage. Fearing that the English queen would refuse her consent to the union, he resolved upon seeking the

support of the principal nobility as well as the sanction of the Kings of France and of Spain, in the hope of being able at the right time to extort his mistress's approval. When Elizabeth was informed of the duke's intrigues, she committed him to the Tower along with some of his associates, while the Queen of Scots was removed to Coventry, and all access to her person denied. The Earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland dreading Elizabeth's vengeance, in consequence of the support which they had given to the Duke of Norfolk, summoned their followers to arms. They issued a manifesto, professing unshaken loyalty, but demanding the restoration of Norfolk and other captive nobles to liberty, with the re-establishment of the Roman Catholic religion. An army which they had hurriedly collected, composed of about 4000 malcontents, dispersed at Hexham without a blow. The leaders fled to Scotland. Another rising, headed by Leonard Dacres, was easily suppressed. Many executions followed; but Norfolk was pardoned, on his promise to proceed no further in his suit for the hand of the Queen of Scots.

Negotiations were now opened by both queens with the Regent Murray, but they were prevented having any result, in consequence of his being assassinated (23d January 1570), by a gentleman named Hamilton, in revenge for a private injury. The Regent's death encouraged Mary's friends to rise, and they made themselves masters of Edinburgh. Elizabeth despatched troops, who committed such ravages, that, in order to obtain their recal, it was promised that no French troops should be introduced into Scotland, and that the English rebel fugitives should be given up. The latter were, however, allowed to escape into Flanders. Elizabeth, through her intrigues, had Lennox, the foe of Mary, acknowledged Regent; and, with a view to weaken the kingdom, she encouraged factious strife.

In the hope of obtaining leave to return to France or Spain, Mary assented to all the demands of Elizabeth, yet the latter postponed fulfilment of her promises to the unhappy queen, until Commissioners from the Scotch Parliament should be heard. Mary,

A.D. 1572.] THE DUKE OF NORFOLK EXECUTED.

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thus thrown into despair by her rival's insincerity and procrastination, determined to avail herself of any opportunity for escape that should offer. Unhappily for Mary, the French and Spanish potentates, who were friendly to her, were engaged in fierce persecutions of Protestants, whose utter extermination by fire and sword was openly attempted. Pope Pius v. had issued a bull of excommunication against the English queen, and movements were spoken of at home which were supposed to be encouraged by foreign enemies. The name of the Queen of Scots was mixed up with all hostile intrigues; and the Duke of Norfolk, charged a second time with a renewal of attempts in her favour, was tried for high treason, convicted, and executed (May 1572). Discouraged by Norfolk's failure, the partisans of Mary in Scotland submitted to the Regent Morton. The garrison of Edinburgh surrendered, and Kirkaldy the chief was executed. The Parliament, alarmed at the aspect of affairs abroad, and at the danger to England and the Reformation with which Mary's restoration to the Scottish throne would be attended, went so far as to petition the queen to bring her royal prisoner to trial for her connexion with Norfolk's conspiracy.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth neglected no means of fostering the Reformation abroad, or of strengthening her position at home. She opened her ports to fugitives from foreign persecution, filled her arsenals with arms, introduced the manufacture of gunpowder, frequently reviewed her militia, and put the country into a complete state of defence. On the 7th January 1578, she entered into a league with the United Provinces, by which she engaged to support them in the fierce struggle for their liberties, which they were making against Philip of Spain. By way of retaliating on Elizabeth, the Spanish king, Philip II., sent a small body of troops to aid a rising in Ireland. These were destroyed, and 1500 Irish hanged by Lord Grey, who was censured by the queen for his cruelty.

In the New World, now become a field for enterprising Europeans, the Spaniards met with an energetic rival and foe in the

person of the great English captain, Sir Francis Drake, who, in one of his adventures, having got sight of the Pacific Ocean from the Isthmus of Panama, resolved to prosecute his discoveries in that quarter. He accordingly set sail from Plymouth in 1577 with four ships and a pinnace. Making for the South Sea by the Straits of Magellan, he took many valuable prizes from the Spaniards. To secure these he set sail for the East Indies, and returning by the Cape of Good Hope, was the first Englishman who sailed round the globe. One of the greatest glories of Elizabeth's reign was the progress made in maritime discovery, and the stimulus thus given to commercial enterprise, and to the naval greatness of England; and among the distinguished sailors of the time, no name stood higher than that of Drake.

For the purpose of maintaining the Catholic religion in England, Philip founded a seminary at Douai for the education of English Catholics under the direction of the Jesuits. Two members of this body were sent over to England, and one of them, Campion, being detected in treasonable intrigues, was tried and executed.

So strong did the feeling of the country run against those foreign princes who had been engaged in the persecution and massacre of Protestants, that a proposal of marriage made to Elizabeth by the Duke of Anjou, the French king's brother, was at once rejected because of the offence such an alliance would give. Anjou was the son of that wicked Catherine de Medici who planned the massacre of the French Huguenots (Protestants), which took place on the festival of St. Bartholomew in 1572.

We must return to Mary and the affairs of Scotland. The young King James, under the advice of the Earl of Lennox, allowed the Regent Morton to be accused as an accomplice in his father's murder, for which he was executed (1581). Lennox then became Regent, but he gave such disgust that the nobility formed a conspiracy for withdrawing the king from under his influence, and they accordingly seized James at Ruthven, a seat of the Earl of Gowrie's. Lennox retired to France. When Mary heard of her son's detention, she made another appeal to the heart of Eliza

A.D. 1584.] SEVERE MEASURES AGAINST ROMAN CATHOLICS.

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beth not to allow both mother and son to remain in wretched captivity. James, however, made his escape to St. Andrews, and the Earls of Argyle, Marshal, Montrose, and Rothes, hastening to the support of their sovereign, some of the confederated lords made their submission and were pardoned, while others fled to England, where they received protection from Elizabeth. The Earl of Gowrie, although pardoned, was tried on some other accusation, and executed. Mary's treatment now became more rigorous than before she was taken from under the too lenient care of Lord Shrewsbury, and committed to the custody of Sir Amias Paulet and Sir Drue Drury. At the instigation of Leicester and other courtiers, an association was formed for the protection of Elizabeth from her enemies, which the Queen of Scots saw plainly was levelled against herself; and the Parliament which met (23d November 1584) empowered the queen to name commissioners for the trial of any pretender to the Crown who should encourage any hostile attempts against Elizabeth. A law was also enacted against priests and Jesuits, who were ordered to leave the country within forty days, and the exercise of the Roman Catholic religion was entirely suppressed.

At this time much anger was excited against Roman Catholics by the discovery of a plot to assassinate the queen on the part of a gentleman named Parry, whose design was sanctioned by the Cardinals Campeggio and Como. He was executed. Another fanatic, named Somerville, who had harboured a like purpose, committed suicide in prison. The toleration of the first ten years of this reign had given place to strong measures against Roman Catholics; but we must remember that the battle of the Reformation was now being fought throughout Europe, and that the most bloody cruelties were practised against Protestants. England was regarded as an asylum, and England's queen as the great head of the Reformation movement. It was necessary, therefore, to take strong measures for the security of her person and the maintenance of the Reformed Church. Roman Catholics were prevented from sitting in the House of Commons or entering the legal profession; while they