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CHAP. IV.

were Sir Francis Knollys, afterwards Queen Elizabeth's chamberlain; Grindal; Sandys; Pilkington; Bale; Bentham; Cox, Edward VI.'s tutor; Scory; Jewel; Coverdale; and Fox, the martyrologist.

III. THE TROUBLES WHICH CONCLUDED MARY'S REIGN.

23. Abdication of the Emperor Charles V. The history of the persecution is the history of Mary's reign; the domestic troubles and foreign wars which disturbed the latter part of her rule being of minor importance.

Philip was a cold husband, and the scanty attractions and importunate fondness of Mary were not likely to prevail over his reserved and haughty disposition. When it became apparent that the prospect of children by her was visionary, he hastened to quit England (September, 1555). In the following month, his father, Charles V., solemnly resigned the sovereignty of the Belgic provinces to him, in the capital city of Brussels. The whole monarchy in Spain, Italy, and the Indies was abdicated soon after. All devolved on Philip, except the imperial dignity, and the territories in Germany, with Hungary and Bohemia, which fell to Ferdinand, King of the Romans, the Emperor's brother. Charles retired to the monastery of St. Just, in Estremadura, and spent the remaining two years of his life in theological and mechanical pursuits.

24. Mary restores the church property held by the crown. Philip continued to exercise considerable influence in the government of the kingdom, although he was absent. He maintained a continual correspondence with the ministers, and nothing was done without his previous knowledge and consent. Before his departure, the Queen had expressed her wish to restore such ecclesiastical property to the church as had been vested in the crown during the late reigns. But parliament opposed her; for although it had crouched at the feet of Rome, and re-established the Pope's supremacy, there were certain limits beyond which the most strenuous Romanists were not willing to go. Julius III., a Pontiff of moderate views, did not insist upon the restitution of church property; but his successor, Paul IV., a furious zealot, demanded, under the penalty of eternal damnation, the restitution of the church lands, and the payment of Peter's pence. Mary was inclined to yield, and had already surrendered the crown lands; but when she sounded the nobility upon the question, they declared "that they would never part with their abbey lands, as long as they were able to wear a sword by their sides." An act was, however, passed, not without strong opposition, restoring to

1556

SO

the church the tenths and first fruits, the rectories, benefices appropriate, glebe lands, and tithes annexed to the crown since the 20th of Henry VIII. The act had many saving clauses; and one, especially, binding the legate to apply the revenues restored-about £60,000-to the augmentation of poor livings, the support of preachers, and the furnishing of exhibitions to scholars in the universities. A proposal to give the Queen a subsidy and two-fifteenths was so strenuously opposed, that the secretary of state declared to the House of Commons that the Queen would not accept it. No other parliament was called for two years. In the midst of these proceedings Gardiner died

(November 12th).

25. Plots which again endangered the Princess Elizabeth. There seemed every prospect now that the Princess Elizabeth would succeed to the throne, and the disquietudes and suspicions which thence resulted were kept alive by the most trifling incidents. Dr. Dee, the celebrated astrologer and magician, got into trouble (June, 1555) for "endeavouring, by enchantments, to destroy Queen Mary." But a danger, much more formidable was gathering. Some young men of good family, led by Henry Dudley's Dudley, a relation and partisan of the attainted Duke of plot. Northumberland, formed a project of assembling the English exiles, and freeing England from the Roman Pontiff and the Spanish King. The French government encouraged the conspiracy. But the conspirators wanted both money and arms; and a bold device was set on foot to seize the Spanish silver lying in the royal exchequer. One of them, however, proved a traitor; and about twenty were apprehended, and the leaders executed. Two officers of Elizabeth's household were among the prisoners, and in their confessions it was said they implicated the princess. She was rescued from danger by the interposition of Philip, who foresaw that if Elizabeth were removed out of the way, the English crown, at Mary's decease, would be claimed by the young Queen of Scots, the wife of the Dauphin of France. It was his interest to prevent a succession which would add so considerably to the power of his rival; and, therefore, to preserve the life of the only person who could oppose the claim of the Scottish Queen.*

Many weeks did not elapse before the exiles in France made a new attempt to excite an insurrection. One Cleobury, Cleobury's pretending that he was Courtenay, Earl of Devon, pro- attempt. claimed the Earl and the Princess Elizabeth, King and Queen. Such an absurd attempt met with no support; but Elizabeth was * Lingard, VII., 219; Mackintosh, II., 315.

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CHAP. IV.

again placed in jeopardy; though, for the reason just given, she was left unmolested, and she remained under the mild guardianship of Sir Thomas Pope, at Hatfield.

Causes of the war.

Stafford's

26. The War with France. In March, 1557, Philip returned to England, and had little difficulty in obtaining from Mary a declaration of war against France. Paul IV. had conceived that the time had arrived for throwing off the predominant power of Spain. He panted for the freedom of Italy as it existed in the fifteenth century; and, to accomplish his design, he allied himself with France, and agreed to place French princes on the thrones of Naples and Milan. These were the causes of the war between France and Spain. England also had wrongs to resent; but it was now too late, and the war which followed was not founded on any regard to the safety, the honour, or even the greatness of England. The alleged grievances were the encouragement which France had given to Wyatt's rebellion; the aid given to some revolted Protestants in the district of Calais; and the connivance of Henry II. at the equipment of a invasion. force by Thomas Stafford, a refugee, who had invaded England with a few followers (April, 1557), and had surprised Scarborough Castle. He only held the place two days, and was then made prisoner by the Earl of Westmoreland, who conveyed him to London, where he was executed. This absurd attempt was the main ground of quarrel, and war was declared on the 7th of June. Philip left England on the 6th of July, never to return. He was soon followed by the Earl of Pembroke, at the head of 7,000 Englishmen; and the command of the combined army, consisting of 40,000 men, was assumed by Philibert, Duke of Savoy, who had lately aspired to the hand of Elizabeth. Philip had earnestly pressed his suit; but the wary princess saw that the crown would probably be hers at no distant day, and she would not risk the loss of the people's affections by marrying a foreign Catholic. She had sensible advisers about her, who seconded her own prudence-particularly the politic Cecil-and thus she kept safe amidst the manifold dangers by which she was surrounded. Savoy began the campaign by investing St. Quentin, a frontier town of Picardy, which was defended by Gaspar Chatillon, St. Quentin better known as the Admiral Coligny. His uncle, the Constable de Montmorency, advanced at the head of a powerful army to raise the siege. He advanced very near, in order to cover a supply which it was intended to convey into the town, across the morass and river which covered one side of it. But the difficulties in the way of the boats were so great, that the

The

battle of

1558

Spanish army had time to make a long detour, and cross the river higher up, by which they were able to fall upon Montmorency while his troops were divided and exposed. The defeat was total. The constable, the Marshal St. André, and most of the superior officers, fell into the hands of the conquerors, and onehalf of the French army were either taken or slain (August 10th, 1557). In spite of this immense loss, and the dismay which followed, Coligny, with his little garrison, maintained his ruined fortress after the defeat and dispersion of his countrymen; but, at the end of a fortnight, the place was taken by storm amidst the greatest horrors, the Black Reuters, or German mercenary cavalry, fighting with the English auxiliaries for the plunder. The war between England and France produced a disagreement with Scotland, but no hostilities took place.

27. The capture of Calais. The Duke of Guise was soon at the head of a considerable army, with which he advanced about the beginning of January, 1558, to avenge the discomfiture at St. Quentin, and to deprive the English of Calais, the only remaining fragment of the Plantagenet monarchy which had once comprehended the half of France. The garrison only amounted to 800 men; they were aided by 200 townsmen; and the whole population within the walls was 4,200. The works were in very dilapidated condition; and the governor, Lord Wentworth, had neglected to repair them, under the persuasion that he should not be attacked. The outposts soon fell into the hands of the enemy; and the surrender of Newhaven bridge, and of the Risbank, brought them within reach of the town. Guise then cannonaded the castle, which commanded the place; but the garrison deserted it, and placed several barrels of gunpowder underneath it, determined to blow the French up as soon as they should enter. The. train, however, got damp, and the project failed; and on the sixth night of the siege, the English capitulated on favourable terms. The small fortresses of Guisnes and Hammes surrendered soon afterwards, and thus the English lost the last vestiges of their ancient dominion on the continent. The Queen felt this loss most poignantly. She declared that if her ambassadors at Cercamp should conclude a peace without procuring the restoration of Calais, they should pay for the concession with their heads; and that, if her breast were opened after her death, the word "Calais" would be found engraven on her heart.

28. Death of the Queen. In the midst of the national irritation at this great discomfiture, the parliament assembled (January 20th, 1558). The chief business was the granting of a

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CHAP. IV.

subsidy to carry on the war. The forces of the country were probably never in a less efficient state. The greater portion of the reign had been spent in persecution, and in the detection and punishment of conspirators. The nation was out of heart, thoroughly hating the Spanish alliance, and almost ready to welcome a French or Scottish invasion, if it were to drive out a weak and cruel government. The subsidy granted was employed in fitting out a fleet to co-operate with a Spanish squadron in laying waste the French coast. Nothing, however, of any importance was accomplished, or which could redeem the loss of Calais. England had fallen; but the time was near at hand when the world should see a noble and puissant nation, rousing itself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking his invincible locks." In October, the Queen again entertained the delusion that she should present her subjects with a successor to the throne. On the 5th of November parliament assembled, and the ministers demanded a supply. But no progress was made, for it was known that Mary was fast hastening to her grave; and when the Spanish ambassador arrived to offer Philip's congratulations on the prospect of an heir, he found the Queen dying of the dropsy, with which she had long been afflicted. She was so ill, that it became necessary to discuss the question of the succession. Mary showed no displeasure, but the contrary, when it was proposed that Elizabeth should be declared her successor: but the Spanish ambassador endeavoured to impress that princess with the belief that this declaration was owing entirely to his master's good offices. She would acknowledge no obligations, however; and said that she owed her position entirely to the people. On the 7th of November, Mary sent for the Speaker of the House of Commons, and informed him that conferences for peace between England, Spain, and France had been opened at Cambray. On the 17th she died. Her friend and kinsman, Cardinal Pole, who had long been confined with fever, survived her only twenty-four hours.

of Mary.

It has been the fashion with Protestant writers not to allow this unhappy woman Character a single virtue; yet she had many good and generous qualities. She was sincere and high-minded, and shrunk from the trickery and treachery in state matters which marked her sister's government. She was capable of warm and lasting friendships; as a mistress, was not only liberal, but kind and attentive even to the meanest of her servants; she was charitable to the poor, and most considerate for the afflicted; and she was the first to suggest the foundation of an establishment, like Chelsea Hospital, for the reception of invalid soldiers. In her will she appropriated certain funds to this object; but, like all the rest of her testamentary bequests, her wishes were utterly neglected by her successor.* But

* Strickland's Lives, vol. III.

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