place. Though these English troops behaved with gallantry 12, and though the king of Navarre was mortally wounded during the siege, the catholics still continued the attack of the place, and carrying it at last by assault, put the whole garrison to the sword. The earl of Warwick, eldest son of the late duke of Northumberland, arrived soon after at Havre with another body of three thousand English, and took on him the command of the place. It was expected that the French catholics, flushed with their success at Rouen, would immediately have formed the siege of Havre, which was not as yet in any condition of defence; but the intestine disorders of the kingdom soon diverted their attention to another enterprise. Andelot, seconded by the negotiations of Elizabeth, had levied a considerable body of protestants in Germany; and having arrived at Orleans, the seat of the hugonots' power, he enabled the prince of Condé and the admiral to take the field, and oppose the progess of their enemies. After threatening Paris during some time, they took their march towards Normandy with a view of engaging the English to act in conjunction with them, and of fortifying themselves by the farther assistance which they expected from the zeal and vigour of Elizabeth 13. The catholics, commanded by the constable, and under him by the duke of Guise, followed on their rear; and, overtaking them at Dreux, obliged them to give battle. The field was fought with great obstinacy on both sides: and the action was distinguished by this singular event, that Condé and Montmorency, the commanders of the opposite armies, fell both of them prisoners into the hands of their enemies. The appearances of victory remained with Guise; but the admiral, whose fate it ever was to be defeated, and still to rise more terrible after his misfortunes, collected the remains 12 Forbes, vol. ii. p. 161. 13 Ibid. p. 320. Davila, lib. iii. of the army; and inspiring his own unconquerable courage and constancy into every breast, kept them in a body, and subdued some considerable places in Normandy. Elizabeth, the better to support his cause, sent him a new supply of a hundred thousand crowns; and offered, if he could find merchants to lend him the money, to give her bond for another sum of equal amount 14. 1563, Jan. 12.] The expenses incurred by assisting the French hugonots had emptied the queen's exchequer; and, in order to obtain supply, she found herself under a necessity of summoning a parliament: an expedient to which she never willingly had recourse. A little before the meeting of this assembly she had fallen into a dangerous illness, the small-pox: and as her life, during some time, was despaired of, the people became the more sensible of their perilous situation, derived from the uncertainty which, in case of her demise, attended the succession of the crown. The partisans of the queen of Scots, and those of the house of Suffolk, already divided the nation into factions; and every one foresaw, that, though it might be possible at present to determine the controversy by law, yet, if the throne were vacant, nothing but the sword would be able to fix a successor. The commons, therefore, on the opening of the sessions, voted an address to the queen; in which, after enumerating the dangers attending a broken and doubtful succession, and mentioning the evils which their fathers had experienced from the contending titles of York and Lancaster, they entreated the queen to put an end to their apprehensions, by choosing some husband, whom they promised, whoever he were, gratefully to receive, and faithfully to serve, honour, and obey: or, if she had entertained any reluctance to the married state, they desired that the lawful successor 14 Forbes, vol. ii. p. 322. 347. might be named, at least appointed by act of parliament. They remarked that, during all the reigns which had passed since the conquest, the nation had never before been so unhappy as not to know the person, who, in case of the sovereign's death, was legally entitled to fill the vacant throne. And they observed, that the fixed order which took place in inheriting the French monarchy, was one chief source of the usual tranquillity, as well as of the happiness of that kingdom 15. This subject, though extremely interesting to the nation, was very little agreeable to the queen; and she was sensible that great difficulties would attend every decision. A declaration in favour of the queen of Scots would form a settlement perfectly legal, because that princess was commonly allowed to possess the right of blood: and the exclusion given by Henry's will, deriving its weight chiefly from an act of parliament, would lose all authority, whenever the queen and parliament had made a new settlement, and restored the Scottish line to its place in the succession. But she dreaded giving encouragement to the catholics, her secret enemies, by this declaration. She was sensible that every heir was, in some degree a rival; much more one who enjoyed a claim for the present possession of the crown, and who had already advanced, in a very open manner, these dangerous pretensions. The great power of Mary, both from the favour of the catholic princes, and her connexions with the house of Guise, not to mention the force and situation of Scotland, was well known to her; and she saw no security that this princess, if fortified by a sure prospect of succession, would not revive claims which she could never yet be prevailed on formally to relinquish. On the other hand, the title of the house of Suffolk was supported by the more zealous 15 Sir Simon D'Ewes's Journal, p. 81. The protestants only; and it was very doubtful, whether even a parliamentary declaration in its favour would bestow on it such validity as to give satisfaction to the people. The republican part of the constitution had not yet acquired such an ascendant as to control, in any degree, the ideas of hereditary right; and as the legality of Henry's will was still disputed, though founded on the utmost authority which a parliament could confer; who could be assured that a more recent act would be acknowledged to have greater validity? In the frequent revolutions which had of late taken place, the right of blood had still prevailed over religious prejudices; and the nation had ever shown itself disposed rather to change its faith than the order of succession. Even many protestants declared themselves in favour of Mary's claim of inheritance 16; and nothing would occasion more general disgust, than to see the queen, openly and without reserve, take part against it. Scottish princess also, finding herself injured in so sensible a point, would thenceforth act as a declared enemy; and uniting together her foreign and domestic friends, the partisans of her present title and of her eventual succession, would soon bring matters to extremities against the present establishment. The queen, weighing all these inconveniences, which were great and urgent, was determined to keep both parties in awe, by maintaining still an ambiguous conduct; and she rather chose that the people should run the hazard of contingent events, than that she herself should visibly endanger her throne, by employing expedients, which, at best, would not bestow entire security on the nation. She gave, therefore, an evasive answer to the applications of the commons; and when the house at the end of the session, desired, by the mouth of their speaker, farther satisfaction on that 16 Keath, p. 322. head, she could not be prevailed on to make her reply more explicit. She only told them, contrary to her declarations in the beginning of her reign, that she had fixed no absolute resolution against marriage; and she added, that the difficulties attending the question of the succession were so great, that she would be contented, for the sake of her people, to remain some time longer in this vale of misery and never should depart life with satisfaction, till she had laid some solid foundation for their future security "7. : The most remarkable law passed this session was that which bore the title of Assurance of the queen's royal power over all states and subjects within her dominions 18. By this act, the asserting twice, by writing, word, or deed, the pope's authority, was subjected to the penalties of treason. All persons in holy orders were bound to take the oath of supremacy; as also all who were advanced to any degree, either in the universities or in common law; all schoolmasters, officers in court, or members of parliament: and the penalty of their second refusal was treason. The first offence, in both cases, was punished by banishment and forfeiture. This rigorous statute was not extended to any of the degree of a baron; because it was not supposed that the queen could entertain any doubt with regard to the fidelity of persons of such high dignity. Lord Montacute made opposition to the bill; and asserted, in favour of the catholics, that they disputed not, they preached not, they disobeyed not the queen, they caused no trouble, no tumults among the people 19. It is however probable that some suspicions of their secret conspiracies had made the queen and parliament increase their rigour against them; though it 17 Sir Simon D'Ewes's Journal, p. 75. VOL. VI. 19 Strype, vol. i. p. 260. C |