ingay, surrounded by her weeping attendants, and in presence of Sir Amyas Paulet, her kind custodier for several years, and the Earls of Shrewsbury and Kent, she received her final stroke (8th February). The grey locks, now dabbled with blood, were held up to view, and Kent cried "This is the head of a traitor; so perish all Elizabeth's enemies!" But nobody cried Amen! except the Dean of Peterborough. The rest of the spectators were too much moved to speak, and the procession went forth in silence.

Elizabeth resolved to enjoy the advantages of the deed without sharing in the obloquy. She disowned the act of a faithful underling of the name of Davison, who had sent the order for execution to Fotheringay, she declared, without her knowledge. She imprisoned him for many years, and ruined him for too truly divining her inclination. She was great in oaths of all kinds, and was so profuse of her asseverations of innocence to the French ambassador, that his national politeness-and, it happened, the political situation of his countrywould not allow him to doubt her word. She wrote also to James of Scotland, the son of the deceased, declaring her indignation at the action of Fotheringay, and James, after a little bluster, as was his wont, and a little pretence at feeling, in which he was not a successful performer, accepted the excuse, and probably saw only a competitor for the English throne, and a possible destroyer of his own authority, taken out of his way. Though his mother was attainted, his rights were expressly reserved by royal declaration, and he found himself one step nearer the summit of his earthly desires.

§ 18. But Spain was not to be so appeased. The Armada was reported ready for sea, with an army of thirty thousand seasoned soldiers, and England, as has often happened since that time, was ill prepared at first for the contest that was to ensue. Drake delayed the sailing of the expedition by his gallant dash into Cadiz harbour, and destruction of many vessels under the eyes of the Spanish admiral. He attacked

A.D. 1588.]

THE SPANISH ARMADA.

489

Vigo also, and in the meantime the Channel became crowded with English squadrons on the watch for the enemy's approach. Howard of Effingham was admiral-in-chief. Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher, and all the hardy and self-taught mariners, who had learned their naval skill in the storms of the Atlantic, were in command of divisions of the fleet. A hundred and ninety-one vessels of various sizes, from a thousand tons down to two hundred, were stationed from the Land's End to Dover, and up towards the coast of Holland. A hundred and thirty thousand landsmen waited the foe, if he should sink or elude the ships. Elizabeth herself mounted her warhorse, and addressed the troops at Tilbury Fort, dressed in full armour, and carrying a field-marshal's baton. "Let tyrants fear!" she said; "I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good will of my subjects." Now came into use the great cries of "Church and Queen;" one, the symbol of religious, and the other of national freedom; for there were soldiers of Rome and Loyola on board the invading ships as bent on victory, and as well trained and disciplined, as the warriors who had served under Alva and the Duke of Parma.

§ 19. The result of this great attempt is well known. Courage and skill among the best seamen in the worldunion and confidence among all classes of the most loyal subjects in Europe-presented such a front that an armada of twenty times the force would have had no chance of eventual success. Patriotism rose above sectarianism on that grand occasion, and Romanists left their quiet retreats to take service in the humblest capacity in the squadron, under their co-religionist, Lord Howard; while grim Calvinists and rigid Presbyterians left off their discussions about the Man of Sin and the heathenism of wearing surplices during prayer, to take rank with the armed defenders of the land. From the moment the great galleys of Spain were seen off Plymouth,

their course was a perpetual fight. Every little creek and inlet sent out its sloop equipped and fearless. Larger portions of the navy gathered on the flank of the longextended column, and engaged it whenever an opportunity occurred. Then it came on to blow. Light vessels surmounted the crest of every wave, and poured their broadsides on the galleons rolling in the trough of the sea, or got under their guns, and fired in safety at their gigantic hulls. It was impossible to fight both against heaven and earth-against the elements and English mariners. So the proud prows were turned in rapid and disorderly retreat. Storms completed the discomfiture begun by hostile cannon; and shipwrecks strewed all the coast of Scotland, round which the fugitives attempted to steer. Philip learned with surprise and grief the utter failure of his favourite scheme, but bore himself like a man of higher nature than he was. He received the defeated admiral graciously on his return. Throwing the whole blame upon the weather, he said, "It is impossible to contend with God;" and perhaps marvelled that an expedition so blest by the Church should have ended in so miserable a reverse.

§ 20. The alarm of the nation was more clearly shown by its cruelty to the professors of what was now universally considered an un-English faith than by its military preparations. Priests were hunted out, and severer edicts passed against nonconformists of every persuasion. Popery was legally converted into treason, and whoever denied the queen's supremacy was held to be false to his allegiance. Many things concurred to keep up this bitter feeling. Sir William Stanley, a Romanist in high command of the English auxiliaries in the Netherlands, had deserted his nation's colours for the Pope's cause, and joined the Spanish expedition with thirteen hundred men. Popish chiefs in Ireland had recruited their rebel forces from the Spanish soldiers who were shipwrecked on their coast; and finally, Lopez, a physician, who had been

A.D. 1594.]

AFFAIRS OF FRANCE.

491

taken prisoner in the armada, and appointed physician to the queen, was detected in receiving bribes from Philip's ministers to poison his royal patient. The Most Catholic king was "to have a merry Easter" by the death of the great Protestant, at an expense of fifty thousand crowns. An Irish fencingmaster at the same time was proved to have engaged to murder Elizabeth for thirty pounds. Both the villains were hanged, and Parliament, in its blind fury against those attempts, kept no terms with either fanatic or papist. Brownists and enthusiasts who pretended to miraculous powers were executed on the same gibbet with Jesuits-and even Atheists suffered the extreme penalty of the law, as subversive of all government, divine or human.

With Henry IV. of France, the most impulsive and captivating of French kings, the queen's relations had been close and affectionate while still only king of Navarre. Her troops were sent to his aid. His victories were hailed as proofs that chivalry had not departed from the world, and also, as they were all gained against the Catholics, that the sword of the Lord and of Gideon had not lost its edge. Henry III., worthless and contemptible, like all the race of Valois, was murdered by an excited priest of the name of Jacques Clement, in 1589; and the hero of so many fights, the champion of the good cause, was undoubted heir to the throne. Elizabeth had hopes of seeing France join the great Protestant League, which would guarantee for ever the freedom of Europe from the machinations of Spain and Rome. More troops were sent over; volunteers were encouraged to follow the white plume of Henry. But while the nation was rejoicing in this accession of strength to the Protestant side, and looking forward to perpetual peace and alliance with its nearest neighbour, Henry, to save the effusion of blood, and simplify his possession of the crown, conformed to the hated faith, and Elizabeth saw, in her late confederate and friend, only a foe the more.

Henry, however, had more policy as king than zeal as Romanist. He soon persuaded his royal sister that he might acknowledge the primacy of an Italian priest, and fight just as well as ever against a Spanish bigot. So the English assistance was not withdrawn. Frobisher ended his wild career in a gallant bombardment of Brest, which was held by the troops of Philip in aid of the Catholics. When Brest yielded to the combined attack of French and English, the cause of the Netherlands was nearly won. All through Philip's inglorious reign the great struggle went on. The United Provinces resisted for thirty years all the power of Spain and Rome, the wealth of America, and the assaults on their own commerce. But the fight for religious freedom gave them energy to look beyond their marshy country, and almost to gain the empire of the sea. Dutch fleets already kept the wasted navy of Spain in constant fear; and when the flags of England and Holland flew together, there was no power which could withstand their course. Wherever the united squadrons went everything fell before them. A great English fleet, with a few Hollanders in its train, repaid the visit of the Armada, and took the town of Cadiz, with all its wealth. The chief of this gallant exploit was the young Earl of Essex, who showed greater military skill on this occasion than the more experienced warriors under his command. Essex advised a permanent retention of the capture, the excitement of a general insurrection of the Moors and other oppressed populations, and the waiting for the treasure-ships on their way from the Havannah. But he was overruled. He was coldly received by Elizabeth on his return. She had expected a greater share of the spoil than came into her exchequer, and seldom forgave any one who added to the national burdens, even by a brilliant feat of arms.

§ 21. When Essex tried to recover her favour by an assault on the rich Spanish settlements in the West Indies, and in consequence of storms which damaged his ships, and discord