Ships in one Road and in them great store of Silks and a Chest full of Money ready Coyned but not so much as a Boy aboard so secure they think themselves on that Coast And then making all the Sail he could he followed the rich Ship called the Cacofogo and by the way met with a small Ship without Canon or other Arms out of which he took fourscore pound weight of Gold a Golden Crucifix and some Emeraulds of a fingers length On the first of March he overtook the Cacofogo and having shot down the Foremast with the shot of a great Piece of Ordnance he set upon her and soon took her and in her besides Jewels fourscore pound weight of Gold thirteen Chests of Silver ready Coyned and as much Silver as would ballance a Ship And now thinking himself sufficiently rich he resolved to make Sail for England and soon the third of November 1580 he arrived at Plymouth having sayled round about the World in the space of three Years to his Eternal Renown and the great admiration of all Men. He was graciously received by the Queen who yet sequestred his Goods that they might be forth coming if the King of Spain demanded them And her Majesty having given order for his Ship to be drawn on shoar near Deptford whereto and where it does remain for a Monument and in it being consecrated for a Memorial with great solemnity and having been there treated with great Magnificence her Majesty conferred the Honour of Knighthood upon Captain Drake But the Spanish Embassadour in England began to bluster and re-demanded the Goods that had been taken by Drake and made Complaints of the English sayling in the American Seas To whom the Queen replied That she had caused the Goods to be sequestred and that they were forth-coming for the King of Spain's satisfaction notwithstanding that the Queen had been at greater Expences in suppressing the Rebellions that had been raised by the Spaniard's Instigations in England and Ireland than all the Money that Drake had brought with him And as for sayling on the American Sea that it was as lawful for her Majesties and and other Princes Subjects as the King of Spain's and that she could not acknowledge any Right in the Pope to appropriate those or any other Countreys to any Person However the King of Spain's Agent in this Business had a great Sum of Money repayed him which instead of being restored to the Owners was employed against the Queen and the Protestants in the Low Countries where the English did extraordinary Exploits in behalf of the confederated States General Norris raising the Siege of Fenwick that was besieged by the Forces of the King of Spain and shortly after fought another Spanish Army but being over-powered with Numbers made a gallant Retreat In the mean time new Troubles were raised in Scotland some envying the Duke of Lenox his great Favour with the King accused him of endeavouring to pervert the King to Popery and allure him into France which suspicions he endeavoured to dissipate and thinking those Rumours were promoted by Morton and that he was not secure as long as Morton lived he caused him to be beheaded as accessory to the Death of the King's Father During these Transactions the Match with the Duke of Alanzon was prosecuted afresh several of the Principal Lords of France coming over for that end and shortly after that Duke himself came over hither In the mean time the Articles of Marriage were agreed upon by the Commissioners on both sides but with some Reservations that were disclaimed by the French King who refused to enter into an Offensive and Defensive League until such time as the Marriage was consummated Yet the French Duke's Presence here seemed to have so promoted his Business that the Queen having one day given him publickly a Ring this was looked upon as a Contract by all the standers by and thereupon publick Rejoycing was made in several Places abroad as for a thing concluded but not so at home when the innate Aversion the English have for the French broke out into publick Murmurs and Libells against this Match which occasioned the Queen to put forth Proclamations to stifle them and the Authors and Dispersers of those Seditious Pamphlets to be punished according to Law About the same time a Jesuit and several Popish Priests were convicted of having plotted the Ruine of the Queen and Kingdom of adhering to the Pope the Queens Enemy and of coming into England to raise Forces against the State for which they were condemned and accordingly executed Shortly after whom several Papists suffered Death likewise for the same Crimes In the mean time the Duke of Alanzon suspecting that he had onely been lured with empty hopes of a Crown here in England having the Government of the Low Countries conferred upon him by the States he prepared for his Journey thither and was accompanied by the Queen as far as Canterbury where they parting her Majesty ordered some of the Principal Courtiers to attend him to Antwerp where finding his Commission so limited that he had only the Name of Authority he made a rash Attempt upon Antwerp for which he was forced to leave the Low Countreys with the Aversion and Scorn of those People But during these Occurences the King of Spain subdued all Portugal in Seventy dayes time which being a great Addition to the vast Dominions he before had put all Europe in mind of uniting for their common Security In the mean time the English continued their Bravery in the Low Countries and with great Success and Advantage to the States And the Queen to procure the Amity of the King of Denmark and an Abatement of the Customes in the Sound sent him the Order of the Carter which he accordingly received with all acknowledgment And now broke out again new Commotions in Scotland the King being surprized and detained by the Earls of Goury Lindsey Marr and others who caused Arran to be imprisoned Lenox to be banished out of Scotland and the Earl of Arguse to be called home from Exile But shortly after the King being then about eighteen years old made his Escape out of their Hands whereupon Sir Francis Walsingham was sent to him by Queen Elizabeth for the giving him good Counsel and the endeavouring to compose the Distractions of that Kingdom During which the famous Irish Rebell Gyrald Fitz Gyrald the eleventh Earl of Desmond of this Family having a long time kept himself outof the hands of the English by lurking in private places was about this time found out and slain by a Common Souldier in a poor Cottage This great Lord was descended from Maurice the Son of Gyrald of Windsor an English man famous among those who first invaded Ireland in the Year 1170. He possessed whole Counties together with the County Palatine of Kerry and had of his own Name and Race at least five hundred Gentlemen at his Command all whom and his own Life also
then brooding between the two Crowns being dead he was succeeded by Don Diego Gusman de Sylva who being a wise Man and sensible how damageable the Courses his Predecessors had taken were to both Parties he endeavoured to heal up the Breaches and by his mediation procured the Commerce to be restored and all that had been Decreed and Proclaimed on both sides to be suspended The most remarkable Action which attended the Queen's return from Cambridge was the preferring Sir Robet Dudley to the Titles of Lord Denbigh and Earl of Leicester she having before made him Knight of the Garter Master of the Horse and Lord Chancellour of the University of Oxford and these Honours were conferred upon him for the better qualifying him to be Husband to the Queen of Scots And now Leicester for the better screwing himself into that Queens favour immediately accused to Queen Elizabeth the Lord Keeper Bacon who was looked upon as an Enemy to the Queen of Scots and an Opposer of her Title to the Succession In the mean time the Queen of Scots knowing her Title to be disputed in England and being grown jealous of the Practices of the Earl of Murray her Bastard Brother and others at home she thought it her interest to recall the Earl of Lenox to his Native Countrey from whence he had been driven in the time of King Henry by whose great Power and Influence she hoped to ballance the Authority of the Mutineers This Lord being of Royal Extraction King Henry to engage him the more in his Interests had given him in Marriage the Lady Margaret Douglas Daughter of Queen Margaret his Eldest Sister by Archibald Dowglas Earl of Angus lier second Husband of which Marriage amongst others was the Lord Darnly Now Lenox being returned into Scotland after twenty Years Abode in England he sends for the Lord Darnley to that Court Where being arrived and being a Person Graceful Lovely and of a Gentile Carriage and not yet full Twenty Years old he quickly insinuated himself into that Queens Affections She fancied she had now met with a Man who was pleasing to her Heart and conducible to her Interests for that both their Pretensions being joyned together her Title to the Crown of England would be the better secured Now Queen Elizabeth having got some notice of this Design of the Scottish Queen she advised her to think of some other Match saying that this would have so incensed the Parliament that she was forced to Prorogue them least they should have acted something against her Title to the Succession Wherefore she again recommended unto her the Earl of Leicester for a Husband to which purpose she sent Commissioners to Berwick to treat with those of the Queen of Scots about a Match But this Queen had given such Instructions to her Deputies they maintained That it did not stand with the Dignity of their Queen to enter into such Measures after having refused the Offers of several great Princes of Christendom Wherefore they broke up without coming to any Conclusion And the Queen being intent upon her Marriage with the Lord Darnly it was at length consummated And of this Marriage was born James the Sixth in the Palace of Edenborough on the 19 of July in the Year 1566 Solemnly crowned King of the Scots on the same day of the Month in the Year 1567 and joyfully received to the Crown of England on the 14 of March in the Year 1602. But not only the English but the Scots themselves being displeased with this Match the Scots raised some Commotions with design to have prevented it but being over-powered were forced to take Refuge in England where by Connivance they were allowed a safe Retreat During these Transactions the great Renown and Glory of Queen Elizabeth's Reign having invited Corcille Sister to the King of Sweden and Wife to Christopher Marquess of Baden to come tho' big with Child from the farthest Places of the North to see the Lustre of her Court and observe the Wisdom of her Government after a tedious Voyage by Sea and Land she at length arrived at Dover where she was received with all possible Magnificence and Respect and entertained by the Queen all the while she stayed here with all the Tenderness Affection and Splendour imaginable Within a few days after her Arrival she fell in Labour and was delivered of a Son whom the Queen christned in her own Person by the Name of Edwarduâ— Fortunatus Edward in Memory of her dearly beloved Brother and Fortunatus in regard of his being born after a painful Journey Having remained here they were dismiss'd with many rich Presents and an Annual Pension from the Queen During their Entertainments here a French Ambassador came hither to be installed Knight of the Garter in the Place and Person of that King and to present the Order of St. Michael the principal Order of France to the Duke of Norfolk and the Earl of Leicester which were performed with the Ceremonies State and Pomp usual on such occasions In the mean time Queen Elizabeth was again sollicited to Marry by those who were fearful that the Protestant Religion in this Kingdom might be extirpated by the Pretensions and authority of the Queen of Scots should she come to the Crown and amongst other offers the Emperour Maximilian did very seasonably renew the Proposals of a Match between her Majesty and his Brother Charles About the same time there arose great Dissentions at Court between the Earls of Sussex and Leicester the former favouring this Marriage and the other opposing in regard of his own hopes and pretensions but were at length at least seemingly reconciled by the Queen About the same time came likewise into England Donald Mac Carty More a Lord of great Authority and large Territories in Ireland which were confirmed to him and his Heirs Males by the Queen who likewise conferred new Honours both upon him and his Son by making the Father Earl of Clencarn and the Son Baron of Valentia and so engaged them by Gifts and Presents that they procured great Opposers of the Innovations designed by Desmond Now Sir Nicholas Arnold being called from the Government of Ireland Sir Henry Sidney was sent in his stead as Justice of that Kingdom The English Vicegerents there being at first so termed and since Deputies or Lieutenants accoring to the pleasure of the Prince Sidney at his Arrival finding great confusion through the Discord of the Earles of Ormond and Desmond the Queen to prevent any further mischief through their Dissentions thought fit to send for the latter into England And now the Parliament being met they again move the Queen either to marry or declare her Successour which her Majesty looking upon as an Imposition she checked both Houses for what had passed in them upon this occasion and though they had offered far greater Sums than were usual upon Condition she would nominate a Successour yet she flatly refused that extraordinary offer remitting the fourth payment of
THE HISTORY OF THE GLORIOUS Life Reign and Death Of the ILLUSTRIOUS Queen ELIZABETH CONTAINING An Account by what means the Reformation was promoted and established and what Obstructions it met with the Assistance she gave to all Protestants abroad the several Attempts of the Papists upon her Life the Excommunications of Rome Bishop Jewel's Challenge to the Papists the several Victories she gained and more particularly that in 1588 with all the other Remarkable Occurrences of that time By S. CLARK Illustrated with Pictures of some considerable matters curiously ingraven in Copper Plates London Printed for Henry Rodes next door to the Bear Tavern near Bride Lane in Fleet-street 1682. TO THE READER Reader I Here present thee with the Glorious Life and Reign of the ever Renowned Queen Elizabeth a Piece as full of various Occurrences and Transactions as can well be comprehended in so small a Volume Thou hast here an Account of the many Persecutions she suffered both under the Reign of her Father and that of her Sister from her Mortal Enemies the Blood-thirsty Papists and how after that it had pleased God to shield her from all their Execrable Designs and Attempts Being placed upon the Throne of her Ancestors she introduced the Reformed Religion regulating it according to the Word of God the General Consent of the Fathers the Practice of the Primitive Times and the Example of such Churches as were freest from Superstition and Idolatry Here is likewise a Relation of the several Commotions in England Scotland and Ireland and by what means raised and suppressed Thou art here also entertained with a Faithful Narrative of the Supplies she gave to those of the Reformed Religion abroad and the Courses she took to defend and promote Protestantism in the Dominions of her Neighbours The whole Affair of the Queen of Scots is herein couched the several Conspiracies of the Papists against her Life during her Reign inserted and the utter Defeat of the so called Invincible Armado in Eighty Eight represented with all her other Victories both over the French and Spaniard and an Account of the Veneration and Respect that the Great Turk himself and the most barbarous Princes of that time had for this Illustrious Queen with all the other material Circumstances of her Victorious Life and Reign wherein if thou meetest with that Satisfaction I desire thee I shall think my Endeavours well bestowed S. CLARK THE HISTORY OF THE Life and Glorious Reign OF Queen ELIZABETH ELizabeth the youngest Daughter of King Henry the Eighth was born at Greenwich on the 7th day of September 1533. Her Mother being Queen Anne Bollen the Eldest Daughter of Thomas Bollen Earl of Wiltshire and of Elizabeth his Wife one of the Daughters of Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk and Earl Marshal of England Now Anne Bollen in her tender years attending on Mary the French Queen to the Court of France was after that Queens return placed in the Retinue of the Dutchess of Alanzon where she got in perfection both the French Language and Air. She so abounded in all the Gifts of Nature that she became the most celebrated Beauty of that Court and returned to her own Countrey with all those Advantages that the French Breeding can add to an English Beauty Whereupon being admitted amongst the Queen's Maids of Honour at the Age of two and twenty years King Henry being thirty eight years old and overcome with the Excellency of her Charms and the gracefulness of her Behaviour endeavoured to make her his Wife in hopes of Issue Male. Now some time before this Ladie 's return from France King Henry being after seventeen years Marriage something disgusted with the Bigottry Reservedness and Spanish Gravity of Queen Katharine he became very susceptible of the Doubts and Scruples that were insinuated by the Ministers of the French King concerning the lawfulness of his Marriage with Queen Katharine his Brother Arthur's Wife The like being started by those of the Emperour concerning the Legitimation of the Lady Mary and all these fomented by Cardinal Wolsey who being disappointed of the Popedom and the Archbishoprick of Toledo both which the Emperour had flattered his hopes with He resolved to promote a Divorce for the better effecting his Revenge on the Emperour and the Measures he had taken with France by proposing a Match between Henry and that King's Sister and concluding a League with the French when they were at the lowest Ebb of Fortune In consideration of which the English remitted unto them a Debt of 500000 Crowns partly accruing by some former Contracts and partly for the payment of the Forfeiture incurred by Charles the Emperour with which the French King had charged himself by the Capitulations Hereupon the King maketh it his Request to the Pope that he would send Delegates into England to hear and examine this Business To which end the Pope appointed the Cardinals Campeius and Wolsey But the Pope did privily deliver a Bull to Campeius wherein seeming to be favourable to the King's Request he granted all things in case it should happen that the Marriage contracted with Queen Katharine were declared Null and no Marriage But this Bull was either to be concealed or published according to the Success of the Emperour's Affairs in Italy Now were Questions every where started and handled Whether it were allowed of by God's Law for the Brother to take to Wife the Brother's Widow and if this were forbidden by the Law of God whether it might not be made Lawful by the Pope's Dispensation But when several of the Universities of Christendom as likewise many of the Learned men of that Age had asserted such a Marriage to be repugnant to the Sacred Laws of both Testaments notwithstanding the Pope's Dispensation the King became daily more charmed with Anne Bollen which being discovered by Wolsey it not only cooled his Zeal in promoting the Divorce but made him endeavour and procure of the Bishop of Rome not to confirm the Judgments of the Universities by reason that Anne Bollen being extremely addicted to the Doctrine of the Protestants had conceived a great Aversion against him for his Pride and Ambition Whereupon the Pope notwithstanding the Supplications of the Prelates Nobility and Clergy of England for the confirming by his Apostolical Authority what the two Universities of this Land that of Paris and several others as well as divers Just and Learned men had affirmed to be true and were ready to maintain and defend as well by Word as Writing I say notwithstanding such manifold Assertions the Cause being prolonged and delayed both at Rome and in England without Consideration had to the King 's having defended the Apostolick See by his Sword Pen Word and Authority the King grows exasperated at the Court of Rome and resolves to make way through all Obstacles which might stand betwixt Him and the accomplishment of his Desires wherefore he first sends back Campeius an Alien born then caused Wolsey to be Indicted and
disanul the Sentence against her Mothers Marriage as unjust Confirm the English Liturgy by his Authority and grant the use of the Sacraments unto the English under both kinds upon condition she would joyn her self unto the Roman Catholick Church and acknowledge the Primacy of the See of Rome and an offer made of several Thousand Crowns to such persons as should perswade her to it In the mean time notwithstanding that the French King had promised to ratifie all that his Ministers should conclude at Edenborough yet he delayed or rather refused so to do upon several frivoulous Pretexts Now the Affairs of the Kingdom being in a more setled Posture Queen Elizabeth to promote and keep those of the Church from being corrupted caused two very seasonable Proclamations to be Published By the one she ordered the Anabaptists and such like Sects to depart the Realm within Twenty Days whether her Natural born Subjects or Foreigners upon very severe Penalties By the other she restrained a Sacrilegious sort of People who under the Specious Pretext of abolishing Superstition committed several Extravagances to the disadvantage of Honourable Families by defacing their Epitaphs and Coat Armours and to the Church by taking away the Bells and plucking away the Lead from the Roofs She likewise converted the Abby of Westminster into a Collegiate Church and repaired and reduced the Money which had been embased in the time of Henry the Eighth to the just value While that the Queen was busied in these Reformations both in Church and State there broke out a Rebellion in Ireland which was headed by John-O-Neal a Man of great Authority in that Kingdom but the Queen having sent some Forces thither out of England he was quickly obliged to submit himself to her Mercy Yet notwithstanding her Power and the love of her Subjects at home her Authority and Credit abroad and her Success every where yet the Queen of Scots though her Husband the French King was Dead refused to ratifie the Treaty of Edenborough maugre all the Sollicitations of the English Ambassadours to the Queen of Scots who were then at the Court of France to condole the Death of the late King her Husband During these Transactions the truly Learned and ever Famous Bishop Jewel in a Sermon Preached by him at St. Paul's Cross made this bold and noble Challenge That if any Learned Man amongst the Papists or all the Learned Men in the World could bring any one sufficient Proof or Sentence out of any Catholick Doctor or Father or General Council or Holy Scripture or any one Example in the Primitive Church whereby it may clearly and plainly be proved during the first six Hundred Years 1. That there was at any time any private Mass in the World 2. Or that there was any Communion Administred unto the People under one kind 3. Or that the People had their Common-Prayer in a strange Tongue that the People understood not 4. Or that the Bishop of Rome was then called an Universal Bishop or the head of the Universal Church 5. Or that the People were then taught to believe that Christs Body is Really Substantially Corporally Carnally or Naturally in the Sacrament 6. Or that his Body is or may be in a Thousand places or more at one time 7. Or that the Priest did then hold up the Sacrament over his Head 8. Or that the People did then fall down and worship it with Godly Honour 9. Or that the Sacrament was then or now ought to be hanged up under a Canopy 10. Or that in the Sacrament after the words of Consecration there remained only the Accidents and Shews without the Substance of Bread and Wine 11. Or that then the Priest divided the Sacrament into three parts and afterwards received himself all alone 12. Or that whosoever had said that the Sacrament is a Figure a Pledge a Token or Remembrance of Christs Body had therefore been judged for an Heretick 13. Or that it was lawful then to have Thirty Twenty Fifteen Ten or Five Masses said in one Day 14. Or that Images were then set up in the Churches to the intent that the People might Worship them 15. Or that the Lay People were then forbidden to read the Word of God in their own Tongue 16. Or that it was then lawful for the Priest to pronounce the Words of Consecration closely or in private to himself 17. Or that the Priest had then Authority to offer up Christ unto his Father 18. Or to Communicate and receive the Sacrament for another as they do 19. Or to apply the virtue of Christs Death and Passion to any Man by the means of the Mass 20. Or that it was then thought a sound Doctrine to teach the People that Mass ex opere operato that is even for that it is said or done is able to remove any part of our Sin 21. Or that any Christian Man called the Sacrament of the Lord his God 22. Or that the People were then taught to believe that the Body of Christ remaineth in the Sacrament as long as the Accidents of Bread and Wine remain there without Corruption 23. Or that a Mouse or any Worm or Beast may eat the Body of Christ for so some of the Papists have said and taught 24. Or that when Christ said Hoc est Corpus Meum the Word hoc pointed not the Bread but individuum vagum as some of them say 25. Or that the Accidents or Forms or Shews of the Bread and Wine be the Sacraments of Christ's Body and Blood and not rather the very Bread and Wine it self 26. Or that the Sacrament is a Sign or Token of the Body of Christ that lieth hidden under it 27. Or that Ignorance is the Mother and cause of true Devotion Which if they did he would be willing to yield and submit himself to whatsoever they should impose The Papists both at home and abroad were extreamly startled at this Challenge that was made in so publick a place and so great an Auditory and none of them durst enter into the Lists against him but only at a distance let fly some small Crackers at him which vanished immediately into Smoak until at length his old Acquaintance and School-Fellow Doctor Harding one of the most Learned Divines amongst the Catholicks took up the Cudgels against him but was so baffled by the Bishop that the Papists themselves acknowledged that they had not a Champion that could Oppose him During these Occurrences St. Paul's Steeple being burnt and the whole Church having received extraordinary dammage through the negligence of a Plummer the Queen not only contributed very largely her self towards it's Reparation but likewise took care that a Benevolence should be raised for the Compleating and bringing it to it 's former Lustre and Greatness Which Example and Zeal so encouraged the Clergy both of the Province of Canterbury and Diocess of London that the former contributed the fortieth part of their Benefices and the later the
thirtieth part of the Livings that were liable to the Benevolence and the twentieth part of those that were not By which means that Work was so hastned and furthered that in a short time it was compleated and finished In the mean time great Preparations were making for the opening and holding of the Council of Trent to which the Pope endeavoured to procure that Divines might be sent from England To which end he dispatched to the Queen a Nuncio who being come into the Low Countries stayed there in hopes of procuring leave to be admitted into England for that it was provided by an ancient Statute that the Pope's Nuncio should not come into this Realm without Leave first obtained But the Queen having absolutely refused to admit the Nuncio most of the Princes of Christendom endeavoured to perswade her by then Letters to refer her self in matters of Religion to the Occumenical Council of Trent Whereto she made Answer That she was very desirous of an Occumenical Council but she would not send Deputies to a Popish Council that she had nothing to do with the Bishop of Rome whose Authority was expelled England by Act of Parliament and that it did not belong to the Pope but to the Emperour to call Councils nor could nor would she acknowledge any greater Authority in him than in any other Bishop Much about this time the Queen of Scots being sollicited by the Popish Party to return into that Kingdom and being grown weary of France since the Death of the late King her Husband she caused Queen Elizabeth to be desired to grant her free passage thither pretending that she could not ratifie the Treaty of Edinborough without the Advice of the Nobility of Scotland But Queen Elizabeth suspecting that some dangerous Practises were contriving against England for the preventing them not only thought fit to deny her her Request but to send Sir Thomas Randolph into Scotland to exhort the Nobility to mutual Amity and to keep firm to the Promises he had made her and he found them and the Congregation so well resolved to adhere to her that she was under no Apprehensions from the Scottish Queen or her Party However it was judged safe to intercept her if possible in her passage thither To which end a Squadron of Men of War was fitted out though under other Pretexts yet the Queen of Scots her self by the favour of a great Fog escaped unperceived by the English and landed safe in Scotland though some of the Ships that attended her in that Voyage were taken and brought into England That Queen being now in Scotland sends an Envoy with Letters to Queen Elizabeth wherein she expressed a great deal of Love and Kindness to her as her dearest Friend and Sister and desired that all true and sincere Friendship and Correspondence might be maintained between them Queen Elizabeth receiving Letters at the same time to the same effect from most of the Nobility of that Kingdom But this was not the whole Errand of this Envoy for the Queen of Scots did likewise by him demand to be declared Heir Apparent to this Kingdom as being she said the surest way to continue Amity and Friendship between the two Crowns Whereto the Queen could not be prevailed with to make any other Answer than that she would do nothing to the Prejudice of her Cousin of Scotland's Title leaving the rest to be considered of at a Personal Conference that was to be held at York shortly after which Interview was however broken off by Popish Contrivances lest it might be a means towards the creating in the Queen of Scots an inclination to the Reformed Religion And now finding that tho' she had made all the fair offers imaginable to the Spaniard and treated the Guises with all possible Kindness and Honour yet her Ministers at the Courts of Spain and France instead of meeting with fair Returns and Civilities received affronts upon all Occasions wherefore though she had found her Treasure all exhausted yet she began to make all imaginable Warlike preparations for the security of her self and Subjects And amongst other her Provisions for that purpose having caused a many Pieces of great Ordnance of Iron and Brass to be cast God favouring all she undertook caused a most rich Vein of rich and Native Brass to be discovered at the same time as was likewise the Stone called Lapis Calaminaris first found out in England being very necessary for Brass Works Her Majesty caused likewise Gun-powder to be made here at home being the first that had been made in England the English before having been obliged to beg hard and pay dear for it to Foreigners She also caused the several Garisons belonging to the Kingdom to be better strengthened with new Works Men and Fortifications She likewise increased the Pay of the Souldiers and took Care to provide for those that had been maimed in the Service of the Land She added to and provided her Fleet with all manner of Necessaries making it the best Navy that ever belonged to Brittain insomuch that all Foreigners did truly term her The Restorer of the Glory of Shipping and the Queen of the North Sea She caused all manner of People to furnish themselves with Arms and to use Martial Discipline and Exercise She gave all manner of Encouragement to Husbandry and Tillage by permitting the Transportation of Grain And by a Proclamation she prohibited the Merchants from supplying the Emperour of Russia with Ammunition against the Polanderâ— and caused the Officers of her Exchequer to pay duely the Pensions to such Religious Men as had been cast out of Abbeys She revoked the Commissions of the Purveyors both for the Garrisons and Fleet and designed to have done the same with those of her Household She augmented the Stipends of the Judges And though she was extreamly liberal and bountiful to desert yet she took Care not to alienate the Domain In the mean time the Civil War broke forth in France the Faction and Family of the Guises aiming at that Crown they were sensible that they should never compass their Designs as long as the Hugonots were in Being wherefore they used all manner of means to extirpate those Protestants insomuch that they were forced to take Arms both in Defence of their Sovereign and themselves Now Queen Elizabeth well knowing the Practises of the House of Guise to advance the Interests and Pretensions of the Queen of Scots she supplyed the Protestants of that Kingdom with Money Corn and Ammunition for the Service of the French King and for the defending the Protestant Religion and hindring the Dukedom of Normandy from being possessed by the Guises who might from thence with more Ease have executed their Designs upon England She obliged her self to aid the Prince of Conde and his Associates who headed the Protestants with her Forces both by Land and Sea for the taking in of such Castles Towns and Ports as were possessed by the Faction of the House of Guise
the Subsidy saying that Money in her Subjects Coffers was as well as in her own Nevertheless she favoured very much the Queen of Scots Title and punished those who called it in question Shortly after these Occurrences the Queen of Scotland falling into a languishing Condition she recommended the Prince her Son to the Protection of Queen Elizabeth but before that happened her Affection for the King her Husband being much cooled and abated and this Unkindness in her being much fomented by one David Rizie an Italian first a Musician and afterwards French Secretary to the Queen The King her Husband through the instigations of several Lords resolved to dispatch a man who had taken upon him more than became him which having accordingly performed it was not long before the King himself was assassinated by Murray's Contrivances though some Historians have laid that Regicide to the Queen his Wife's Charge After this detestable Action they perswaded the Queen to accept of the Earl of Bothwel one of the Conspirators for a Husband being a Person renowned for his Courage and therefore the better able to assist her against so many Enemies as she was represented to have but being accused of that horrid Parricide he was brought to the Bar and acquitted by Law Whereupon having new Honours conferred upon him the Queen accepted him for a Husband which bred a Suspition in several People That the Queen was privy to the Murder Which Umbrage being promoted by the Male-contents they took Arms caused Bothwell to fly though as some say privy to their Designs and having seized on the Queen they put her into Prison which Queen Elizabeth having notice of and detesting the Insolency of those People she sent Sir Nicholas Throckmorton into Scotland to expostulate the matter with the Confederates and procure her Restauration to her former Freedom and Authority Yet though this Ambassadour used all imaginable Arguments in Vindication of that Queen yet he found that People so strangely exasperated against her that instead of complying with his Demands they put the Queen under a stricter Confinement insomuch that at last to make her freely resign the Government of the Kingdom they menaced to call her in question for Tyranny the King's Murder and incontinent Living insomuch that at length they compelled her to set her hand to three Instruments In the first whereof she resigned her Kingdom to her young Son at that time scarce thirteen Months old In the second she constituted Murray Vice-Roy during the Minority of her Son and in the third she named in case that Murray should refuse that Office several of the principal Noble-men of the Kingdom Within a few days after this Resignation James the Sixth her Son was crowned King the famous John Knox preaching the Coronation Sermon Now Murray being declared Regent he advised the Queen not to disturb the Peace of the Kingdom by endeavouring her Liberty by Instigating the Queen of England or the French King to a War with Scotland or by thinking any more of Bothwell's Love or meditating Revenge upon his Adversaries As soon as Murray was confirmed in the Regency he put to death some of Bothwell's Servants who protested at their Execution that Murray and Morton were the Contrivers of the Kings Death But while that the Queen of England and the French King were in vain solliciting the Liberty of the Queen of Scots eight years being now expired since the Treaty of Cambray Ministers were sent into France to demand the re-delivery of Calice with the Appurtenances but this Business being delayed and prorogued by the French from time to time at length the thoughts of it were wholly laid aside through the Civil War that then broke out in France In the mean time the Earl of Sussex being sent Ambassador to the Emperour to treat of the Marriage that had been proposed by his Imperial Majesty in favour of the Arch Duke his Brother which Commission he the more willingly accepted of in that it might be a means for the destroying the Earl of Leicester's Pretensions But he met with several Difficulties in this Negotiation both as to Religion the Arch Duke's Maintenance the Title of King and the Succession As for the Title the Arch Duke Charles should enjoy the Name and Title of King of England Concerning the Succession He could not by the Laws of England succeed for that would have been prejudicial to their Children of whom it was agreed however that he should have the Guardianship and all other things as fully granted as they had been to Philip of Spain when he married to Queen Mary As touching his Maintenance he would at his own charge maintain the Train he should bring and keep about him the Queen would bountifully supply the rest according to his Royal Dignity nay and that other also if he would require it But the main obstacle was concerning Religion the Emperour and Arch Duke requiring a publick Church for the celebrating Divine Service after the Romish manner which not being granted nor the Expedient allowed of that was devised by the Emperour that he might have some private place in the Court granted him for Divine Service upon condition that no English man should be admitted thereunto That he himself should forbear in case of any Disorders in point of Religion That neither he nor any of his should speak against the Religion of the Church of England and moreover That he himself should be present with the Queen at Divine Service to be celebrated after the manner of the Church of England Yet notwithstanding these plausible Offers the Queen after mature Deliberation made Answer That should she consent hereunto she should offend her Conscience and openly break the publick Laws of the Realm which could not be done without endangering both her Dignity and Safety but however invited the Arch Duke Charles to come into England promising That he should not repent of his Journey Whereupon the Emperour dismissed Sussex with great Honour and thus those Proposals fell to nothing by degrees though all mutual good Offices continued to pass between the Queen and the Emperour who persevered in thwarting all the Designs of the Pope against her Majesty and not long after the Arch Duke Charles took to Wife a Daughter of the Duke of Bavaria Much about the same time came Ambassadours to the Queen from the Emperour of Russia and Muscovia bringing very rich Presents to her Majesty that Emperour having granted very great Priviledges to the English who had not long before discovered a Passage by Sea into his Countrey and of whom a Company was formed for Commerce into those parts With those Ambassadors returned into England Anthony Jenkinson being the first of all the English who sailed upon the Caspian Sea By him the Czar made Proposals of an Offensive and Defensive League with the Queen which her Majesty made slight of not being willing to enter into farther League with a Prince who had created an Aversion to him in his
Religion also Which the Queen answering in the Affirmative he immediately began to prepare for War against the Protestants and Alanzon being engaged in the adverse Party there was no Talk of a Match for a long time During these Occurrences Requesens the Spanish Governour of the Low Countries finding how much his Predecessors neglect of Marine Affairs was prejudicial to his Master's Interests he made his Request to Queen Elizabeth that he might take up Ships and Marriners for his Majesties Service That the English Fugitives in the Low Countries might serve the King of Spain against the Hollanders and have free Access to the Ports of England and that the Dutch who were Rebells against the King of Spain might be banished England But for several Reasons she thought not fit to grant any of these Particulars yet to preserve inviolate the old Burgundian League she put out a Proclamation wherein she commanded that the Ships of the Dutch that were made ready should not go forth of the Haven nor yet the Dutch who had taken up Arms against the King of Spain enter into the Ports of England and by Name the Prince of Orange and fifty other of the principal of that Faction In Return of which Favour the English Seminary at Doway was dissolved and the Earl of Westmerland and other English Fugitives were Banished the Dominions of the King of Spain In the mean time the Prince of Orange and the Confederated States finding their Forces too small to oppose the King of Spain they consulted to whose Protection they might most securely betake themselves The French they saw then engaged in a Civil War the Princes of Germany were loath to part with their Money could seldom agree amongst themselves and were not altogether of a mind with them in Religion whereupon knowing none more powerful nor capable of protecting them than England they sent an Honorable Embassy of several Persons to the Queen offering her the Soveraignty of Holland and Zealand forasmuch as she was descended from the Earls of Holland by Philippa Wife of Edward the Third Daughter of William of Bavaria Count of Hannonia and Holland by whose other Sister the Hereditary Right of those Provinces came to the King of Spain Of this Offer the Queen took time to consider and after mature deliberation she made answer after that she had thanked them for their good Intentions towards her that she held nothing more glorious than Justice that as she could not with the safety of her Honour and Conscience receive those Provinces into her Protection much less assume them into her Possession yet she would use her endeavours with the King of Spain that a good Peace might be concluded Shortly after Requesens dying the States of the several Provinces took upon them the ancient Administration of the Government which the King of Spain was fain to Confirm unto them till such time as John of Austria was arrived whom he designed for a Successor to Requesens In the mean time the Queen by her Ministers endeavoured to compose Matters in those Countries but the minds of the Factions were so exasperated against one another that all her efforts in that kind proved Abortive Yet he continued to intercede with the King of Spain in their behalf and the Ambassador she sent for this purpose to that Court finding that that King's Ministers would not admit in the Queens Title the Attribute of Defender of the Faith he demanded it with that Courage and Prudence that he thereby gained the favour of the King of Spain himself who desired him that the Queen might know nothing of this Dispute and gave severe Command that the Title should be admitted About this time there happened some disorders upon the Borders of Scotland which having been favoured by the Ministers of the Regent Queen Elizabeth would in no wise be satisfied until the Regent himself came into England to make his Submissions to the Earl of Huntingdon the English Commissioner Much about the same time the Earl of Essex received a great affront for amidst his great Exploits and Victory in Ireland through the Practises of his Enemies at Court He was of a sudden recalled home and ordered to resign his Authority in Ulster But Leicester being jealous of his Presence at Court caused him to be sent back thither with the empty Title of Earl Marshal of Ireland for grief whereof he fell into a Bloody Flux and ended his days in grievous Torments but not without suspicion of Poyson by the Earl of Leicester's means for that he had marryed his Widdow immediately after his Death In the mean time the Confusions increased in the Low Countries which the Queen endeavoured very much to remedy and though the States had offered themselves to the French yet she sent them twenty Thousand Pounds Sterling upon Condition they should neither call in the French into the Low Countries nor change their Prince nor their Religion nor refuse a Peace in case it were offered by Don John of Austria upon reasonable Conditions And that Governour being now arrived Queen Elizabeth sent a Person of Quality to congratulate his coming thither and to offer him her assistance if the States called in the French into the Low-Countries The Seas being now extreamly infested with Pyrates the Queen caused several Men of War to put forth to scoure them which they did to that purpose as to take Two Hundred of them and to put them in Prisons all along the Coast. She likewise caused the Zelanders to make Restitution and Satisfaction of the English Goods they had taken and confiscated And now all the World courting the Prosperity of England and the prudent Conduct of it's Queen the Portugals requested that the Commerce might be restored that had been now for some time prohibited between the two Nations and the Conditions which they offered and were accepted were as much or more to the English as their Advantage About the same time Martin Forbisher undertook a Voyage for the discovery of the Northern passage to Cathaia but his and that which was undertaken two years after for the same purpose proved in vain And now a great Friend and Ally of Queen Elizabeth's the Emperour Maximilian being dead she sent Sir Philip Sidney to his Son Rodolphus to condole his Fathers Death and congratulate his Succession causing the same Offices to be done with the surviving Son of the then newly deceased Electoâ— Palatine In Ireland fresh Rebellions breaking out about this time the prudent Conduct of the Queen and her Ministers was such that all those Commotions were suddenly suppressed and that Nation brought to a greater Subjection than it had ever been before but her Ministers proceeding to lay new Taxes she gave Order for the moderating them â—aying that she would have her Subjects shorne not devoured But the Papists still continuing their Practices against her Majesty had perswaded Don John of Austria to endeavour the Escape of the Queen of Scots which when he should
the Queen to Poyson her and had likewise engaged several Portugals in the same Design but this Plot of theirs being discovered by intercepted Letters and afterwards confirmed by their own Confessions they were accordingly executed as likewise one Patrick Cullen an Irish Man who had been sent by the English Fugitives to kill the Queen Amongst other Expeditions and Voyages of the English into America was that of James Lancaster who returned home about this time after having took nine and thirty Spanish ships and loaded fifteen more with the Wealth of an Indian Caraque About this time William Russel youngest Son of the Earl of Bedford was sent Deputy into Ireland in the room of Sir William Fitz Williams who was called home and this new Deputy quickly brought the Rebells there to submission There was likewise a new but false rumour spread abroad that the Spaniards were equipping a Fleet for the invading of England again At which time two Papists were executed for having designed the Death of the Queen The King of Scots was now making Levies all over Scotland for the joyning with Queen Elizabeth and resisting the Spaniard Sir Walter Rawleigh being now under some Disgrace at Court undertook a Voyage to Guyana and though he did considerable dammage to the Spaniard yet this Expedition was of little advantage to the English or himself Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Hawkins with several others went again into America but not meeting with the success they had promised themselves they dyed what of Grief what of sickness and the Fleet returned home without having done any great Exploits During these Expeditions abroad the Combustions in Ireland being grown to a considerable height and those Rebells having craved the assistance of the King of Spain Sir John Norris was sent over thither with new Forces to aid the Deputy The Arch Duke and Cardinal of Austria being now made Governour of the Spanish Netherlands he unexpectedly attacqued and took in Cales Whereupon the Queen sent supplies of Money to the French King and gave order for the immediate raising a choice Army whereof she made the Earl of Essex General and fitted out a Fleet under the Command of Charles Howard Lord High Admiral of England these Forces amongst whom were several Volunteers of the Principal Nobility and Gentry being put on Board the ships they set Sail under the Conduct of the foresaid Lords under Sir Walter Rawleigh Sir Francis Vere and other the Principal Commanders of the Realm and arrived before Cales and having before received intelligence that there lay at Anchor in that Haven several Galleys Men of War and a number of Merchants it was resolved in the Council of War that they should be attacked Whereupon the Earl of Essex flung up his Hat for joy The English thereupon first engaged the Spanish Ships and Gallions which they did with that Vehemence that some were burnt by them others by the Spaniards themselves but the Gallies made their escape by creeping along the shoar When the Sea engagement was at an end the Earl of Essex landed with eight hundred Souldiers at Puntal about a League from the Town of Cales and the Spanish Forces that were there abouts being drawn up between the Town and them with design to have intercepted them the English attacqued them with that fury that they put them to rout but upon consideration they thought fit to make a feigned Retreat that the Fugitives might rally and joyn the Troops of Cales which such a Stratagem was hoped might entice out of the Town Which succeeding accordingly they fell upon them again with that English Fury and Courage that great numbers of them were slain and the rest were forced to take refuge in the Town where the English quickly overtook them for the Gate being broke by Sir Francis Vere and other parts of the Town scaled by the English insomuch that that wealthy Town was taken by Assault and the Castle upon Condition that the Inhabitants might depart with Cloaths on their Back the rest left for Plunder the Castle being to be redeemed for five hundred and fourscore thousand Duckets forty of the Principal Cittizens being sent Hostages for the payment into England a vast quantity of Money and Ammunition being found in the Town The Spaniards likewise proffered Sir Walter Rawleigh two Millions of Duckets to exempt their ships from firing which he would not hearken to saying That he was sent to destroy ships not to dismiss them upon Composition And it was generally calculated and acknowledged by all People that the Spaniard was damnified by this Expedition twenty Millions of Duckets The Fleet being returned home after this Glorious Victory the Queen made Sir Francis Vere Governour of the Briel and rewarded all the rest according to their Deserts The Spaniard in the mean time to repair the Honour he had lost at Cales set forth a new great Fleet for the Invasion of England and Ireland but were most of them castaway by Storm before the News of their fitting out came into England In the mean while the Queen fortify'd her Ports and provided her self against any farther Attempts of that kind She likewise entred into a League Offensive and Defensive with the French King hearing that the Spaniards were preparing a new Navy against Ireland Whereupon the Queen caused a considerable Fleet under the Command of the Earl of Essex to put forth to the Coast of Spain After they had taken and plundered some Towns and likewise made a Prize of some of their India Ships they returned home but not with all the Success they had promised themselves at their setting out by reason of the contrary Winds and Tempests they had met with in their Voyage Essex at his coming to Court was something disgusted to find that some of his Competitors to the Queens Favours had been raised to new Honours Dignities and Places during his Absence but was something pacified by the Queens creating him Earl Marshal of England But during these Transactions the English did extraordinary Performances in France in behalf of that King which he acknowledged in his Letters to the Queen and craved farther Assistance from her Majesty upon the Spaniards having gained some Advantage over him which was accordingly granted But the French a while after upon the Instigation of the Pope concluded Peace with Spain notwithstanding the Instances that were made to him by the Queen and the States General to the contrary Hereupon followed a Consultation whether a Treaty of Peace was to be held with the Spaniard which being opposed by the Earl of Essex was laid aside for som time but then again revived through the Mediation of the French and the Commissioners met accordingly at Bulloign but upon Dispute of Precedency was broken off altogether In the mean time Tir-Oen breaking out into open Rebellion in Ireland and having gained a greater Victory of the English than the Irish had ever done before after some debate the Earl of Essex was sent
thither with ample Authority but not meeting with that Success he had promised and having Intelligence that his Conduct was become suspected at Court he returns into England without the Queens Permission whereupon he was committed to Custody and brought to a private Tryal but upon his Submission and Repentance was again set at Liberty yet being reproached with pusillanimity by some of his Cabal he turned Male-content used all means to gain the Peoples Love resolves to sieze on the Queen but being disappointed he retired into the City endeavouring to engage the Citizrns on his side which not being able to effectâ— he yielded himself up at length to the Lord Admiral and was sent to the Tower with his great Friend the Earl of Southampton both whom being brought to their Tryal were found guilty by their Peers and Essex accordingly beheaded but the Earl of Southampton the Queen was graciously pleased to reprieve But others of his Adherents as Sir Charles Dorves Sir Christopher Blunt one Cuffe and Merrick suffered likewise Death the two former being beheaded and the two latter executed at Tyburn In the mean time happened the famous Battel of Newport under the Conduct of Prince Maurice of Nassaw where the Dutch gained a great Victory by the English Valour who were led by Sir Francis Vere and his Brother Horatio they slew nine thousand of the Spaniards the English being but fifteen hundred had eight hundred slain and mortally wounded eight Captains killed every man of the rest hurt During these Occurrences dyed Philip King of Spain and the Earl of Cumberland returned home from an Expedition he had undertook against the Spaniard wherein he did great Dammage to them but gained little profit to himself About this time was executed one Edward Squire for attempting to kill and poyson the Queen and some of her chief Ministers having been excited thereunto by the Jesuits and Popish Priests Shortly after which was founded the Company of the East India Merchants the Queen allowing them very large Priviledges Some time after Sir Richard Levison and Sir William Monson with eight men of War and some smaller Ships were sent out by the Queen to attempt something upon the Spaniard who a little before had sent considerable Forces to the Assistance of the Rebells in Ireland who being joyned with them made an Army of above twelve thousand men and now thinking themselves secure of Victory as being double the number of the English they resolved to fight but were utterly defeated by the English twelve hundred being slain and most of the rest taken Prisoners the Spanish General with most of the Officers being of the Number and the other Spanish Commanders were forced to deliver up the Forts they held in that Kingdom and depart whereupon Tir-Oen and the rest of the Rebells submitted themselves without any Condition to the Queen Now though the Dutch had failed of the promised Assistance to Levison and Monson yet they first attacked the Spanish Navy to which they did great Damage and at length took an Indian Carraque of sixteen hundred Tun and worth a Million of Duckets though it lay under the shelter of one of their Forts and guarded by eleven Gallies and returned home having lost but five men in their Voyage At this time there happening some Dispute in England between the Jesuits and Secular Priests the Queen by Proclamation commanded them to depart the Realm immediately She likewise interceeded with the French King in Favour of some Princes of the Protestant profession in France And now in the Year 1602. the Queen finding the Infirmities of old Age coming upon her having lived threescore and nine Years six Months and seven days reigned four and forty years four Months and seven Days she retired to Richmond where she dyed on the twenty fourth day of March being the last day of the Year 1602. having a little before her Death supplyed the States of Geneva with a considerable Sum of Mony upon the notice she had of the Duke of Savoy's practising against and oppressing his Neighbours and Subjects of the Reformed Religion FINIS