CAPTIVITY OF QUEEN MARY.

73

Elizabeth, both from resentment and jealousy, fomented Ch. 6. these disturbances, which finally resulted in the surrender of A. D. the Scottish Queen to the insurgent forces, by whom she was 1568 imprisoned in the castle of Lochleven, and deprived of all authority.

to

1587.

of

The unfortunate Queen suffered great unkindness in her lonely confinement, and Knox, with the more zealous of his party, clamored for her death, as an adulteress and a murderer. She succeeded in escaping from her prison, raised an army, Flight marched against the regent, was defeated at the battle of Mary. Langside, fled to England, and became, in May, 1568, the prisoner-guest of her envious rival. Elizabeth obtained the object of her desires. But the captivity of Mary, confined in Tutbury Castle, against all the laws of hospitality and justice, gave rise to incessant disturbances both in England and Scotland. And these form no inconsiderable part of the history of England for seventeen years. Scotland was the. scene of anarchy, growing out of the contentions and jealousies of rival chieftains, who stooped to every crime that appeared to facilitate their objects. In 1570 the regent Murray was assassinated. He was succeeded by his enemy the Earl of Lennox, who, in his turn, was shot by an assassin.

The Earl

of Mar succeeded him, but lived only a year. Morton then became regent, the reward of many crimes; but retribution at last overtook him, being executed when James assumed the sovereignty.

Meanwhile, the unfortunate Mary pined in hopeless cap- Her tivity. It was natural for her to seek release, and also for captivity. her friends to desire to help her. Among those friends was the Duke of Norfolk, the first nobleman in England, and a zealous Catholic. He aspired to her hand; but Elizabeth chose to consider his courtship as a treasonable act, and Norfolk was arrested. On being afterwards released, he plotted for the liberation of Mary, and his intrigues brought him to the block. The unfortunate captive, wearied and impatient, naturally sought the assistance of foreign powers.

74

EXECUTION OF MARY.

A. D.

Ch. 6. She had her agents in Rome, France, Spain, and the Low Countries. The Catholics in England espoused her cause, 1587. and a conspiracy was formed to deliver her, to assassinate Elizabeth, and to restore the Catholic religion. From the

fact that Mary was privy to that part of the plot which concerned her own deliverance, she was brought to trial as a Execu criminal, found guilty by a court incompetent to sit on her Mary. case, and executed without remorse, on the 8th of February, 1587.

tion of

War with

Spain.

Few persons have excited more commiseration than this unfortunate Queen, both on account of her exalted rank, and her many accomplishments. Whatever obloquy she merited for her acts as Queen of Scotland, no one can blame her for meditating escape from the power of her zealous but more fortunate rival; and her execution is a blot on the character of the Queen of England.

Next to the troubles with Scotland, growing out of the interference of Elizabeth, the great political events of the reign were the long and protracted war with Spain, and the Irish rebellion. Both of these events were important.

Spain was at this time governed by Philip II., one of the most bigoted Catholics of the age, who was allied with Catharine de Medici, of France, for the entire suppression of Protestantism. She had incited her son Charles IX. to the massacre of

St. Bartholomew, and Philip now established the Inquisition Cruel- in Flanders. This measure provoked an insurrection in 1566, ties of to suppress which the Duke of Alva, who had been one of the the Ne- most celebrated of the generals of Charles V., was sent into the

Alva in

ther

lands.

Netherlands with a large army, and almost unlimited powers. The cruelties of Alva were unparalleled. In six years eighteen thousand persons perished by the hands of the executioner, and Alva counted on the entire suppression of Protestantism by the mere force of armies. He could estimate the physical resources of the people, but he could not measure the degree of their resistance when animated by the spirit of liberty or religion. Providence, too, appeared on their behalf.

WAR WITH SPAIN.

75

Resist

ance

William

A great leader sprang up among the suffering Hollanders, Ch. 6. now almost driven to despair-the celebrated William of A. D. Nassau, Prince of Orange. He appeared as the champion of 1568 the oppressed; they rallied around his standard, fought with to desperate bravery, opened the dikes upon their cultivated 1588. fields, expelled their invaders, and laid the foundation of their liberties. But they could not have withstood the gigantic power of the Spanish monarchy, then in the fulness of its under strength, and the most powerful in Europe, had it not been of for aid rendered by Elizabeth. She compassionated their Orange. sufferings, and had respect for their cause. She entered into an alliance with them, defensive and offensive, and the Netherlands became the great theatre of war, even after they had thrown off the Spanish yoke. But although the United Provinces in the end obtained their liberty, they suffered incredible hardships, and lost some of the finest of their cities, Antwerp among the rest, long the rival of Amsterdam, and the scene of Rubens' labors.

rations.

The assistance which Elizabeth rendered to the Hollanders provoked the resentment of Philip II., which was greatly increased by the legalized piracies of Sir Francis Drake in the West Indies and on the coasts of South America. Philip, Military therefore, declared war with England, and made immense prepapreparations to subdue it. But the preparations of Elizabeth to resist were also great, and Drake performed brilliant exploits on the sea, among other things, destroying one hundred ships in the bay of Cadiz, and taking immense spoil. At this juncture Elizabeth summoned a great council of war, at which the accomplished Sir Walter Raleigh took a leading part. His advice was to meet the Spaniards on the sea. Although the royal navy consisted, at this time, of only thirtysix sail, such vigorous measures were prosecuted, that one hundred and ninety-one ships were soon collected, manned by seventeen thousand four hundred seamen. The merchants of London granted thirty ships and ten thousand men, and all England was aroused to meet the expected danger. Never

76

SPANISH ARMADA.

Ch. 6. was patriotism more signally evinced, never were more deA. D. cisive proofs given of the popularity of a sovereign. Elizabeth, 1588 indeed, was always popular with the nation; for with all her to ceremony, and state, and rudeness to the Commons, she never 1598. violated the laws, or irritated the people by oppressive exactions. Her despotism was never grievous; it had all the benignity of a paternal government. Capricious and arbitrary as Elizabeth was, in regard to some unfortunate individuals who provoked her hatred or her jealousy, still she sedulously guarded the interests of the nation, and listened to the counsel of patriotic and able ministers. When England was threatened with a Spanish invasion, there was not a corner of the land which did not rise to protect a beloved sovereign; nor was there a single spot, where a landing might be effected, around which an army of twenty thousand men could not be rallied in forty-eight hours.

Defeat

Arma

da.

Philip, nevertheless, expected the complete conquest of of the England; and as his "Invincible Armada" of one hundred and thirty ships left the mouth of the Tagus, commanded by Medina Sidonia, and manned by the noblest troops of Spain, he fancied his hour of triumph was at hand. But his hopes proved dreams. The armada met with nothing but misfortunes both in battle and from storms. Only fifty ships returned to Spain. An immense booty was divided among the English sailors, and Elizabeth, in her turn, sent a large fleet to Spain the following year (1589), under the command of Drake, which, after burning a few towns, returned ingloriously to England, with a loss of ten thousand men. The war was continued with various success till 1598, when a peace was negotiated. The same year died Philip II., and Lord Death Burleigh, a statesman who, for forty years, had directed the of Phi- councils of Elizabeth, and to whose voice she always listened, lip II. even when he was opposed by such favorites as Leicester and Essex. Burleigh was a man admirably adapted to his leigh. station and his times,-cool, sagacious, politic and pacific; skilful in the details of business, competent to advise, but not

and

Lord

Bur

THE EARL OF ESSEX.

77

aspiring to command. He was unquestionably of great ser- Ch. 6. vice to Elizabeth, and she rewarded him splendidly.

A. D.

The attention of the Queen had long been anxiously directed 1599 to the affairs of Ireland, which had been conquered by to 1601. Henry II. in the year 1170, but over which only an imperfect sovereignty had been exercised. The Irish princes and nobles, divided among themselves, paid indeed the exterior marks of obedience, but they kept the country in a state of insurrection.

rebel

Hugh O'Neale, the head of a powerful clan, who had been Irish raised to the dignity of Earl of Tyrone, greatly fomented lion. these discontents, and at length excited a dangerous rebellion. Hostilities of the most sanguinary character commenced. The Queen sent over her favorite, the Earl of Essex, with an army of twenty thousand men, to crush the rebels. Essex was unsuccessful. His successor, Lord Mountjoy, eventually succeeded in restoring the Queen's authority, but not until Ireland had been devastated with fire and sword, and suffered every aggravation of accumulated calamities.

Essex.

Meanwhile, Essex, who had returned to England against Disthe Queen's orders, was treated with coldness, deprived of grace of his employments, and sentenced to imprisonment. This was more than the haughty favorite could bear, accustomed as he had been to royal favor. At first he acquiesced in his punishment, with every mark of penitence, and Elizabeth was beginning to relax in her severity, for she never intended to ruin him; but he soon gave vent to his violent temper, indulged in great liberties of speech, and threw off all appearance of duty and respect. He even engaged in treasonable His designs, and corresponded with James VI. of Scotland about able at

treason

his succession. His proceedings were discovered, and he was tempt. summoned before the Privy Council. Instead of obedience, he armed himself and his followers, and in conjunction with some discontented nobles, and about three hundred gentlemen, attempted to excite an insurrection in London, where he was very popular with the citizens. He was captured and committed to the Tower, with the Earl of Southampton. These