opposed to the command of God, which enjoins us to do unto others as we would they should do unto us. It is matter for rejoicing, that while this atrocious traffic is pursued still more eagerly than ever, by the nations benighted in popish error, Protestant England has confessed and repented of this sin, and has now abolished slavery itself. In 1567, Hawkins's fleet was nearly destroyed by the Spaniards; but he still continued to visit the Spanish settlements; and as early as 1571, the court of Spain engaged him to fit out a fleet, which should assist in " restoring the ancient religion, putting an end to the tyranny of Elizabeth, and promoting the right of Mary queen of Scots to the English throne.' In this negotiation, recorded by Romish historians, Hawkins does not seem to have been sincere; he subsequently gave such an account of his proceedings as to satisfy the council, who retained him in the queen's service.

Sir Francis Drake was the most successful naval adventurer at this period. He commanded the only vessel under Hawkins that returned home in safety in 1567. Determined to repair his losses, he made repeated predatory voyages to the West Indies. In one of these, he crossed the Isthmus of Darien, and beheld the Pacific Ocean, upon which he vowed that he would cause the English to sail, if possible. Imparting his plans to the English government, then suffering from the proceedings of Philip, five ships were fitted out in 1577, and placed under his command; the largest being only of a hundred tons' burden. With this little fleet he passed the Straits of Magellan, plundered St. Jago, and several other towns on the coasts of Chili and Peru, proceeding further till he landed on a territory to the north of Mexico, of which he took possession in the name of his queen. Then, apprehending he might be intercepted if he returned to the southward, he sailed directly across the Pacific Ocean to the Moluccas, and arrived at Deptford in November, 1580, with one ship only, which had on board treasure to the amount of

800,0007.-he_ being the first commander who had sailed round the world.

The Spanish ambassador complained of Drake's proceedings as piracy, and as invading his master's rights by sailing in the Pacific Ocean. Elizabeth retorted, by complaining of Philip's continually aiding her rebellious subjects, and refused to acknowledge his claim to the exclusive navigation of half the surface of the globe; but she consented to give up a part of the treasure, that it might be restored to those from whom it had been taken. The king of Spain, however, kept it, and employed it to oppose the English in Holland. In April, 1581, Elizabeth visited Deptford, where she was entertained on board Drake's vessel, and knighted the adventurous seaman. Drake was subsequently employed in the queen's service; his success encouraged others to pursue the like enterprise, but for the most part the adventurers were disappointed. Disease and battle frequently thinned their numbers; and those who returned home laden with plunder, often had to lament that their ill-gotten gain had been purchased by the sacrifice of peace of conscience. But these expeditions raised up a set of bold commanders, who were useful in resisting the efforts of Philip for subjugating England: yet, when stripped of the false glory which often dazzles those who regardsuch actions, they were neither more nor less than downright robbery. They were encouraged to weaken an unrelenting enemy, and thus did not quite deserve the name of piracy; but they were privateering, the most objectionable of all modes of warfare. The invitations held out by Drake and his companions were, in truth, the language held up for condemnation in Proverbs i. 11-14: "Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: we shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse." The warning against such

conduct immediately follows: "Walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: for their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.— And they lay wait for their own blood: they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof," ver. 15, 16, 18, 19.

The queen, and many of her nobles, took part in these privateering expeditions, contributing money for the outfit, that they might receive a proportionate share of the spoil. Wealth thus acquired is never blessed; repeatedly has the remark been made, during recent wars, that when large fortunes have been acquired by privateering they have soon disappeared. What is gotten through honest industry, whether by toil of body or of mental powers, under the Divine blessing, will wear well, and often continues a comfort to children's children; but of wealth acquired by wrong, it may truly be said, that such "riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven," Prov. xxiii. 5. Let the youthful reader especially bear these truths in mind, while reading the narratives of Drake and his followers; let him not be deceived; let him mark how plainly the Divine curse followed these proceedings, although those against whom they were directed could not complain that they were undeserving of such punishment for sin.

Gold, many hunted, sweat, and bled for gold-
And to obtain it sacrificed ease, peace,
Truth, faith, integrity, good conscience, friends,
Love, charity, benevolence, and all

The sweet and tender sympathies of life;

And to complete the horrid murderous rite,

And signalize their folly, offered up

Their souls and an eternity of bliss,

To gain them-what? an hour of dreaming joy,
A feverish hour that hasted to be done,

And ended in the bitterness of woe.

ELIZABETH.

PART III.

FROM A.D. 1580, To A.D. 1588.

ATTENTION must now be given to particulars respecting the serious dangers which beset the throne of Elizabeth, from the form in which the popish machinations were urged forward. Here, again, the statement of Turner is to be kept in view : "To be at that time a (Roman) Catholic, and to think Elizabeth an usurper, and Mary the rightful queen, and to desire to have a (Roman) Catholic sovereign on the throne of England, were inseparable circumstances. There was not, perhaps, one member of the Romish church, in Europe, who had other sentiments. Their pope and hierarchy, in all its branches, held and unvaryingly taught such opinions." It need not be supposed that many of the Romanists expressly desired the murder of Elizabeth; but when it is plain from the bulls and the private letters of the popes themselves, and from the testimony of Italian historians, that the pontiffs did actually join in plots, and recommend the murder of the English queen, we cannot wonder that there were some men who, from fanaticism, and others who, from inclination to villany, readily undertook murderous designs.

During the first ten years of Elizabeth's reign, every effort was made, even by concessions of very doubtful tendency, to keep those who adhered to Romanism in union with the Established Church. Townsend truly says of these efforts: "Elizabeth made greater approaches to toleration than any prince who had hitherto reigned on any throne in Europe." The greater part of

the priests conformed: the number of those called queen Mary's priests, who refused to do so, and continued their ministrations privately among the more bigoted of the people, diminished by death and other causes, while there was no regular plan for supplying their places. The English government fondly hoped that all its subjects might soon be brought to profess the same religion. But the popes did not allow their power in England so to pass away; nor were they content with commanding the English papists to come out from their fellow countrymen. To furnish a supply of priests, Dr. Allen, in 1568, formed a college at Douay, in Flanders, where he collected some young English exiles, and induced others to come there from England, to be educated for the Romish priesthood, that they might return to their native land as missionaries for the pope, who countenanced the college, and assigned an income for its support. The English government soon perceived the mischiefs likely to result from this establishment, and, at the request of Elizabeth, Philip ordered that it should be removed from his dominions. The French government, then in the hands of the Guises, allowed Allen to fix his scholars at Rheims. The pope directed a similar college to be established at Rome; another was begun in Spain; and the Romish authors state, that this plan was so successful, that in a few years above three hundred priests were sent to England, as they state, "to cultivate that desert vineyard full of wild beasts."

These men assumed various disguises; their design was to restore the Romish faith in all its power and predominance, therefore their object was political as well as religious. The power of the pope to depose and excommunicate kings, and the belief that Elizabeth was under his curse, were the main principles taught by these priests. Allen, in a printed admonition, openly declared, "Yet the pope's holiness only meaneth in Christ's word and power given unto him, and in zeal of God's house, to pursue the actual deprivation of