sure-trove, and of excluding from its commerc of all other nations, was indeed monstrous the other hand, it will be difficult to consid Hawkins, and the rest, in any other light th buccaneers, however much we may admire th spirit and the great contributions they made in of their marauding expeditions to the sciences tion and geography. Drake, in the course of peditions, had plundered the Spanish towns of de Dios and Carthagena, and nearly all the the coast of Chili and Peru, and had destroyed an immense number of Spanish ships, returning voyage with immense booty. Elizabeth insiste and other nations had a right to navigate thos to visit the ports which the jealousy of the kept closed to all save their own flag, and t contrary to the laws of nations to treat intruders but there being no declaration of war, she certa mitted in this way manifold acts of real piracy. in the Netherlands, the King of Spain was ev met by English money and English resourc had enabled those whom he termed his revolte to prolong the struggle year after year. For a Elizabeth furnished her aid with all possible denying to the Spanish court that she ever abett But the course of events forced her to adopt a practice; and though she again declined the so or protectorship of the country, she, in 1585, s royal army of six thousand men, having bargai the States that they should pay all expenses, an to her, as securities, the town of Brill and Flus Rammekins, a strong and important fort. The passionate regard for Leicester had cooled since lation of his secret marriage with the Countess and that carl was now permitted to take the con the army in the Netherlands, where he entertai ambitious projects, and displayed a woful war military and civil ability. Without consulting tress, he induced the States to name him C General of the Low Countries, and to declare

merce the ships crous; but, on onsider Drake, ht than that of re their daring e in the course aces of naviga e of three exns of Nombre the towns on oyed or taken ning from each sisted that she those seas and the Spaniards nd that it was pirates; certainly comacy. Again, as everywhere urces, which olted subjects or a long time sible secrecy, betted rebels.

ers as

a more open e sovereignty 5, sent over a gained with and deliver lushing, and The queen's ce the reve ss of Essex; command of rtained very vant both of ng his mis Governor e his autho

rity supreme and absolute, jointly with the council of state. Elizabeth wrote to him in a fury, telling him to remember the dust from which she had raised him, and to do whatever she might command as he valued his neck. The States, who had thought to please the queen by elevating her favourite, were in great perplexity, and Leicester soon showed them, in other ways, that they had committed a lamentable mistake in intrusting a sovereign power to such an incapable, arrogant, and insolent man, whose first operations were to cramp the freedom of commerce, which had given life and energy to the insurgents. In the field he was pompous, vain-glorious, and inefficient, presenting a wretched contrast to Alexander Farnese, the prince of Parma, who still prolonged the struggle for Spain with remarkable generalship. He carefully avoided a battle, and his greatest affair of arms was an attack upon Zutphen, which failed, and which would scarcely deserve a mention in history but for the death of the gallant and accomplished Sir Philip Sidney, who perished there in the twenty-fifth year of his age.' The best-managed part of his campaign was his hunting all Catholics from places of profit and trust, and his captivating the Calvinistic preachers of the Low Countries by such measures, and by a very sanctimonious bearing. When the States ventured to call him to account for his gross misconduct, this noble grandson of a tax-gatherer and extortioner † promised redress, but complained to his creatures that one of his rank should be questioned by shopkeepers and artisans. In the winter of 1586, having pacified the queen, he returned to England, still however, retaining the power intrusted to him in the Low Countries.

By this time there began to rise a rumour that the

*Sir Philip Sidney was nephew to Leicester, but as unlike his uncle as light to dark.

† For the history of Leicester's grandfather, Dudley, the colleague of Empson, see ante, Reigns of Henry VII. and Henry VIII.

Grotius.

King of Spain was preparing to invade Engla tremendous force, and some Catholic plot o home was the news of every day. Most-ne one-of these conspiracies were conjured up b gination, or were altogether obscure and insi but, in the autumn of 1586, a real plot was at the head of which was Anthony Babington English Catholic of an enthusiastic temper, brought to consider that it would be glorious in and acceptable in the next if he could assassin beth and deliver Queen Mary from a captivity now rendered an unceasing torture, physical as morally. Babington had several accomplice of these, named Pooley, put himself in direct cation with Walsingham, who was informed particular from the first rude arrangement of th and who permitted the plot to go on in orde cate Mary. When he had played with the threads of this intrigue for months, and had complete web round the conspirators, he opene ject to Elizabeth, and soon after proceeded to lard, a seminary priest, whom Camden calls priest in a soldier's habit," was suddenly arres bington and the rest, who were all young men and acquirements, fled; but Babington was t few days, at Harrow-on-the-Hill, with Gage, Barnwell, and Don, in the house of Bellamy mon friend. Titchborn, Travers, Abington, Jones, and Tilney were seized in other places, whole number only Edward Windsor, the Lord Windsor, escaped pursuit. These were n mercenary conspirators,--they were such hig and intellectual young men as could not have b matched in the kingdom. But it appears that all put to the rack, or at least threatened with tuitous atrocity, for Walsingham, Burleigh, queen knew precisely all that could possibly of the business. While this was doing the bel don rang merrily for their apprehension,-bon lit, and on the morrow, banquets were spre

ngland with a ot or other at

-nearly every p by the ima insignificant; as discovered, gton, a young per, who was s in this world assinate Elizaity which was sically as well lices, and one rect communimed of every of the scheme, rder to impli the numerous had woven a pened the subto act. BalIls "a silken rrested. Bamen of fortune

as taken in a ge, Charnock, my their com n, Salisbury, es, and of the e brother of e no base and high-spirited e been easily at they were th it; a gragh, and the y be known bells of Lonbonfires were pread in the

streets, with singing of psalms and praising God for
preserving her majesty and people.* The fate of the
prisoners, however, on account of their youth, their
honourable condition in society, and their previously un-
impeached characters, excited some commiseration, and
this seems to have been the cause of the government ar-
raigning them not all at once, but in two separate bodies,
notwithstanding the great legal objection that their case
was one and indivisible. On the 13th of September,
certain of them being put upon their trial were con-
demned as traitors, and executed on the 20th, with a
scrupulous attention to the atrocious processes prescribed
by law, being all cut down while life was in them. The
other seven were tried on the 15th and were all executed
on the 21st, but, in this more fortunate than their com-
panions, they were allowed to hang till they were dead.
The place selected for their execution was Lincoln's-Inn
Fields, "
even the place where they had used to meet
and confer." With the exception of Babington, it seems
to be extremely doubtful whether any of these gentlemen
contemplated the murder of the queen, and, with the
single exception of Babington, all of then behaved chi-
valrously and nobly, endeavouring to take blame to them-
selves rather than cast it upon their companions. Most
of them maintained that their views were confined to
liberating the captive queen, a project likely to take firm
hold of young and romantic minds. Bellamy, of Harrow,
appears to have suffered merely because some of the fugi-
tives were found in his house. His wife escaped through
a misnomer in the indictment. A statute had been just
passed to meet the case, and to bring Mary to the block;+

Stow. The Protestant people of London were so ex-
cited that the French ambassador was afraid they would set
upon and massacre all the Catholics and foreigners!
+ Stow.

Stat. 27 Eliz. c. 1. By this statute it was enacted that twenty-four or more of the privy council and House of Lords, to be deputed by the queen's commission, should make inquisition after all such as should invade the kingdom, raise rebellion, or attempt to hurt or destroy the queen's person,

and as what was deemed evidence against been secured from the Babington conspiracy, E council now proposed an immediate trial of the queen. But even now Elizabeth hesitated, to th and secret wrath of Burghley, Walsingham, Sa the rest of the ministry. At this moment Leice was abroad, stepped in with what he considered piece of advice, proposing a little quiet poiso singham, who had the chief management of t objected to such a course as being contrary to G upon which the earl sent him a canting preacher that such means against such a person were q fable by scripture. There was then a talk of s the captive's life by increasing the rigour of her t which, in fact, had already been rigorous er make a sickly cripple of that once healthful and woman. At last, giving herself up entirely to t of Walsingham, Elizabeth issued a commissio Mary and pronounce judgment upon her acc the act recently passed. There was no want names or of legal authorities in this most illegal sion. There were the Chancellor Bromley, Treasurer Burghley, the Earls of Oxford, Kent Worcester, Rutland, Cumberland, Warwick, P and Lincoln; the Viscount Montague, the Lor gavenny, Zouch, Morley, Stafford, Grey, Lumle ton, Sandys, Wentworth, Mordant, St. John of Compton, and Cheney: Sir James Croft, Sir pher Hatton, Sir Francis Walsingham, Sir Ralp Sir Walter Mildmay, and Sir Amyas Pawlet chief justice of the Common Pleas; Anders justice of the King's Bench; Manwood, chief

for or by whomsoever employed that might lay cla crown of England; and that the person for who whom they should attempt the same, should be utt pable of the crown of England, deprived wholly of and title to it, and prosecuted to death by all faithfu if he or she should be judged by those four-and-tw to be a party to such invasion, rebellion, or tr attempt