Religion in Scotland being weary of the French insolency and oppression and no longer able to endure the Idolatries and Impositions of the Church of Rome proceeded of their own Authority to a change in Religion and being influenced by the greatest Men in the Kingdom and stirr'd up by Knox in his Sermons they fell upon destroying all Altars and Images in several Places demolishing of some Religious Houses and burning of others And being countenanced and seconded by the Nobility they seize upon Perth and other places and assuming to themselves the Name of the Congregation they managed their own Affairs apart from the rest of the Kingdom and began to stand upon such high Terms as to pass an Act for the depriving the Queen Regent of all Place and Power in the publick Government Whereupon the Queen Regent to provide for her own security having already received some Forces out of France though not sufficient she desires and is assisted with farther Supplies Hereupon the Heads of the Congregation dispatch Melvin and Maitland Lord Secretary to the Queen of England making Complaints that since the Queen of Scots had been married to the Dauphin the Government of the Kingdom was changed all Places laid waste by Foreign Souldiers the highest Offices of the Kingdom were bestowed upon French-men the Castles and all other fortified Places put into their hands and the purer Money of the Realm was embased for their gain and that by these and such other like Contrivances the French made way for their seizing on the Crown of Scotland in case it happened otherwise than well with their Queen and therefore they implore her Succours and Assistance for the expulsion of that People who might otherwise be destructive and of ill Consequence to both Realms Whereupon this Affair being taken into consideration some were of Opinion that it was not safe for the Queen to condescend and comply with their desires but others were for the Queens granting them Succours considering that the French were making such extraordinary Preparations both in France and Germany of Men and Ammunition for to be transported into Scotland as were not only sufficient to subdue that Kingdom to their Wills but seemed to threaten an Invasion of England through that Door by their Contracting Alliances with other States and the French King's taking upon him the Title of England and therefore that the Queen was obliged both out of Piety and Prudence to give such assistance to the Scots as might hinder the French from taking possession of that Kingdom Hereupon great Preparations were made for this Expedition the Duke of Norfolk was appointed Lieutenant General in the Northern parts towards Scotland the Earl of Sussex who had been Deputy of Ireland in the late Queens time was sent back thither with Instructions for the preventing any Change in that Kingdom and the Queens Commissioners being met with those of the Scots at Berwick it was concluded and a League made to this Effect That whereas the French go against all right and reason to subdue Scotland and unite it to the Scepter of France the Queen of England shall take the Duke of Chastel-heraut Heir apparent to the Crown of Scotland and the Scotish Nobility and People unto her Protection as long as the French King hath Mary Queen of Scots in marriage and a year after She shall send an Army by Sea and Land with all Warlike provision to expel and exclude the French out of Scotland She shall not enter into Peace with the French but with condition that Scotland may enjoy her Ancient Liberty The Forts and Strong Holds recovered by the Aid of the English from the French shall forthwith be razed or else delivered into the hands of the Duke of Norfolk at his choice The English shall fortifie no Places in Scotland but by the Consent of the Duke of Chastel-heralt and the Nobility of Scotland The Confederates shall aid the English all they can they shall hold for Enemies all whosoever shall be Enemies to the English They shall not suffer the Kingdom of Scotland to be united to France by any other means than as they are now conjoyned by Marriage If England be invaded by the French on this side the Rivor Tine the Scots shall send two thousand Horse and a thousand Foot under the Queen of England's Pay But if it be invaded beyond the Tine they shall joyn with the English to assist them with all the Power they can make and that at their own Charges the space of thirty dayes as they use to do for the Defence of Scotland The Earl of Argyle Justicer General of Scotland shall do his best that the North part of Ireland be reduced into order upon certain Conditions on which the Lieutenant of Ireland and he shall agree Finally it is prescribed what both of them shall perform in case Mac Conel or other Hebridians shall attempt any thing in Scotland or Ireland For Confirmation of these Articles before such time as the English Army enter into Scotland Hostages shall be sent into England to be changed every Sixth or Fourth Month at the Choice of the Scots during the Marriage betwixt the French King and the Queen of Scots and a year after the Duke of Chastel-herault and the Confederate Earls and Parliamentary Barons shall ratifie these Articles by their hands and Seals within twenty days And withal for as much as the Queen of England undertaketh these things in no other respect than in regard of Amity and Neighbourhood to defend the Scots from the Yoke of servitude they shall make Declaration that they will yield Obedience to the Queen of Scots and the King her Husband in all things which shall not make for the taking away of their ancient Liberty In Consequence of this Agreement and of the publick Declarations of the French of their design to invade England an Army of six thousand Foot and three thousand Horse were sent into Scotland under the Command of the Lord Gray an expert Captain and some ships being sent to block up the Frieth of Edenborough they dispersed and put to flight some French Men of War that hovered upon that Coast. About the time that the English Army entred Scotland the French made Proposals and Promises of restoring Calice in case the Queen would recall her Forces Which she absolutely refused saying That she looked upon Calice as a poor Fisher Town in comparison of the safety and security of all Brittain Now the French seeing that the English had blocked up the Town of Leith by Sea and Land iâ— such â—â—â—â— as that there was no possibility of relieving it and finding themselves 〈◊〉 able to maintain their projects against 〈…〉 English Courages and Power the Fr 〈…〉 King proposeth a Peace and to that 〈…〉 sendeth Embassadours to Edenborough 〈…〉 confer and treat with Câ—cyl and Nicho 〈…〉 Wâ—tton Deaâ— of Canterbury and York 〈…〉 were sent thither as Commissioners 〈…〉 Queen Elizabeth who came at length to this Conclusion That
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
Religion to be established in the Kingdom by authority of Parliament and those Acts to be repealed that had been made against the See of Rome in the time of Henry the 8th and Edward the sixth yet there being no Issue to be expected from the Queen seeing she was fourty Years old Weak and Infirm they stood in fear of the Lady Elizabeth who had gained the hearts of all the Nation by her Loyal and Prudent Conduct being the Admiration of her Age both for her Beauty and the Qualities of her Mind and was so indefatigable in Study that before she had attained to the Age of Seventeen Years she had acquired to Perfection both Greek Latin and other ancient Languages and French Italian and other Modern Tongues and had likewise gained all other Accomplishments that are necessary to the composing a Perfect Princess Thus being looked upon as a Miracle of Learning and Prudence as well by Foreigners as the English the Papists were sensible how much it was their Interest to remove out of the way a Princess who seemed threatning the Fall of their Superstitions here in England they used all their Arts to dispose Queen Mary to take away her Life which the Queen refused to do notwithstanding they would have perswaded her that she was obliged to do every thing though never so unjust that was requisite and necessary for the promoting and settling the Catholick Religion And Sir Thomas Wyat Sir Peter Carew and others having stirred up some Commotions the Papists most maliciously set Rumours on Foot that the Lady Elizabeth did countenance and was privy to those Tumults and that she was to be marryed to the Earl of Devonshire Hereupon they caused her to be put into Prison and notwithstanding they would have forced several of the Tumultuaries by Torture to have declared her Accessory to their Rising yet the Rack was not able to make them wrong her Innocence and such as had seemingly accused her in hopes of Advantage cleared her at the time of their Execution But the Papists having got that Princess into Prison they were so far from putting an End to their Persecutions notwithstanding her Innocence that they used her with all the Barbarity imaginable Insomuch that the French and Danish Kings thought it convenient to comfort her by making her great Offers Promises of doing all that lay in their Power in her Behalf But this did but the more inflame the Rage of her Popish Enemies who were resolved to take away her Life either by accusing her of High Treason or of Heresie Hereupon they forced her to hear Divine Service after their Superstitious manner and to go likewise to Confession yet Cardinal Pool Bonner and others of the Bishops were not satisfied with this severe and cruel Treatment but declared that it was requisite she should dye for the Security of the Catholick Religion insomuch that this harsh Usage moved the Spamard himself to pitty and King Philip Queen Mary's Husband interceeded in her Favour and admiring her extraordinary Virtues would have marryed her to his Son Charles or as others say designed her for himself maugre the different Principles of Religion And for this Reason he broke off the Proposals that were made for the marrying her to Emanuel Philibert Duke of Savoy However he was not able to gain her for his Son finding that the People of England would never permit that the next Heir of the Crown should be sent out of the Kingdom In the mean time Queen Mary's Hatred daily increasing against her Sister Elizabeth this Lady's Ruine must have been certain had not it pleased God to divert the thoughts of it by the War that Queen Mary declared against France in favour of her Husband Philip. During this War and the Scots Excursions into England Calice and several other considerable Places being lost and the Queen finding her self neglected laid all these things so to heart and having lain languishing under a Tympany and six Months Fever which then raged over all the Land she departed this Life on the 17th of November 1558. having reigned five Years and four Months During her Reign there are said to have perished by the Flames five Bishops twenty one Divines eight Gentlemen eighty four Artificers one hundred Husbandmen Servants and Labourers twenty six Wives twenty Widows nine Virgins two Boyes and two Infants the one springing out of the Mothers Womb as she was at the Stake and most inhumanely flung into the Fire in the very Birth Besides several others that were whippe◠to death perished in Prisons and others that were condemned for their Faith and lay ready for Execution if they had not been delivered by the seasonable Death of Queen Mary and the auspicious Entrance of Queen Elizabeth Elizabeth the onely Child then living of King Henry the Eighth succeeded her Sister in the Throne on the 17th of November 1558. And a Parliament having been convened some time before Queen Mary's Death after her Dissolution had been for some hours concealed the News thereof was carried to the Lords then sitting in the House of Peers who after a short Debate amongst themselves sent a Message to the Speaker of the House of Commons desiring him and all the Members of that House to come immediately to them And they being come Heath Arch-bishop of York and Lord Chancellor of England signified unto them that the Lord had been pleased to take to his Mercy the late Queen Mary that by Right of Succession the Crown did belong to the Princess Elizabeth and that therefore they were desired to concurr in the proclaiming the new Queen with all possible Expedition which being unanimously agreed to by the House of Commons she was incontinently proclaimed Queen of England France and Ireland Defendress of the Faith in the Palace-yard o◠Westminster in the presence of the Lords and Commons and presently after in Cheap-side in the presence of the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Principal Citizens with great Acclamations and extraordinary joy of the People It was not long before some of the Lords brought her the News of her Sisters Death with the General acknowledgment of her just Title to the Crown Whereupon she prepared to remove from Hatfield where she had been under Consinement and set forward with a splen◠did and Royal Train for London being met all along upon the way by the Nobles Bishops and crowds of others to a◠whom she made so affable a Reception as confirmed the general Opinion of h◠benign Disposition The first-Publick Testimony she gave of her Discretion after her coming 〈…〉 the Crown being then twenty five 〈…〉 old was the Choice she made of a Council picking out such of Queen Mary's Council as were well known to be able men and such as were firm Pursuers of the True Interests of the Nation adding such others as might moderate and temper them for the Protestant Religion She likewise caused new Commissions and Instructions to be sent to the several Ambassadors as resided
the Prince of Conde and his Party being bound not to come to any Terms of Peace with their Enemies without the Privity and Approbation of the Queen and that for the Security of the Moneys and Forces that her Majesty should supply them with they should put into her hands the Town and Port of New Haven or Havre de Grace to be garrisoned by English Souldiers and commanded by any Person of Quality her Majesty should authorize Presently after the Conclusion of this Agreement she caused a Manifest to be published in which she declared how that having preferred the Peace of Christendom before her particular Interests she had relinquished her Claim to the Town of Calais for the term of eight years when as all other Princes were restored to their lost Estates by that Treaty that for the same Reasons she had preserved the Scots from being made Vassals to the French without retaining any part of that Kingdom in her own Possession after the Service was performed that with the like sence of Commiseration she had taken notice how much the Queen Mother of France and the young King were awed and shackled by the Guisian Faction who in their Name and under the Pretext of their Authority endeavoured to extirpate the Professors of the Reformed Religion In pursuance of which Design those bloody minded Papists had in less than five Months time caused above an hundred thousand French Hugonots to be massacred and butchered that with the like Injustice and Violence they treated such of her Majesties Subjects as traded into the Ports of that Kingdom causing their Goods and Merchandize to be seized themselves imprisoned and barbarously murdered and for no other Crime than that they were Protestants and therefore in consideration of what 's aforesaid Her Majesty thought her self obliged to endeavour the rescuing the French King and his Mother out of the hands of so dangerous a Faction by aiding such of the French Subjects as preferred the Service of their Sovereign and the good of their Countrey before all other respects whatsoever for preserving the Reformed Religion from an Universal Destruction and the maintaining her own Subjects and Dominions in Peace and Safety She not only published this Manifesto to acquaint the whole World with the reasons of her taking up Arms on this Occasion but she also commanded her Ambassadour to give a more particular Account of it to the King of Spain whom she looked upon as the Principal Patron of the Guisian League She likewise caused her Ministers and Agents with the Princes of Germany to sollicit them to aid and assist their Brother Protestants And then she her self fell to supplying the Hugonots with all things necessary to a War sending them Ships Arms and Men both for the scowring the Seas and securing the Land The Forces she sent amounting to 6000 Men under the Command of the Lord Ambrose Dudley the Eldest Son then living of the late Duke of Northunberland The Papists apprehending that the Queen by these Courses would lay the axe to the Root of their Religion laid a Conspiracy against her Life for which the Countess of Lenox Grand daughter to Henry the Seventh by his eldest daughter Margaret Queen of Scotland was confined with the Earl her Husband to her House and Arthur Pole Grand-child of Margaret Countess of Salisbury by Geofry her third Son the younger Brother unto Reginald Pole the late Cardinal Legate was Apprehended and Arraigned as also his Brother in Law Geofry Fortescue and were condemned to die but confessing the Conspiracy and being of the Blood Royal they were reprieved by the Queen The Lady Katherine Grey Daughter to the Duke of Suffolk and Grand Daughter to another Sister of King Henry the Eighth was sent to the Tower with her Husband the Earl of Hertford for marrying without the Queens Consent and were detained there several Years and their Marriage declared by the Archbishop of Canterbury to be an undue and unlawful Carnal Copulation with her and that for such their Excess both he and she to be punished About the same time was Published an Elegant and Acute Discourse called The Apology of the Church of England written Originally in Latin by the truly Learned Bishop Jewel and Translated immediately into English Dutch Italian Spanish French and Greek and was highly approved of by all Pious Learned and Judicious Men. Now the Practices of the Papists and the danger the Queen and State were in by their means obliged the Queen to call a Parliament which being Assembled at Westminster the first Act that passed was for assurance of the Queens Royal Power over all Estates and Subjects within our Dominions And Enacted that the Oath of Supremacy should be Administred unto all Persons for the better discovery of such as were Popishly affected several of that Party having lately busy'd themselves by inquiring into the length and shortness of her Majesties Life by Conjurations and other Diabolical Arts and thereupon had caused some dark and doubtful Prophecies to be spread abroad for which reason there passed two other Statutes for suppressing the like dangerous Practices by which her Majesties Person might be endangered the People stirred up to Rebellion or the Peace disturbed By which and other Acts for the strengthning of the Navy and the continual breeding of a Seminary of expert Mariners the Queen was so well provided and secured against the Machinations and Conspiracies of the Pope and his Adherents as to lie under no apprehensions of their bloody rage and malice During this Session of Parliament it was declared by the Bishops and Clergy then Assembled in their Convocation To be a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God and the Custom of the Primitive Church to have publick Prayer in the Church or to Administer the Sacraments in a Tongue not understood by the People To confirm which Declaration it was Enacted That the Bishops of Hereford St. Davids Bangor Llandaff and St. Asaph should take care amongst them for Translating the whole Bible with the Common Prayer Book into the Welch or Brittish Tongue on pain of forfeiting Forty Pound apiece in default thereof And to encourage them thereunto it was ordered that one Book of either sort being so Translated and Imprinted should be provided and brought to euery Cathedral or Parish Church as also for all Parish Churches and Chappels of ease where the said Tongue is commonly used the Minister to pay one half the Price and the Parishioners the other Care was likewise taken for the Translating the Book of Homilies being looked upon as a necessary part of the publick Liturgy by reason of the Rubrick at the end of the Nicene Creed This Parliament likewise congratulated her Majesty for the happiness of the Times for Religion Reformed Peace restored England with Scotland freed from the Foreign Enemy Mony refined the Navy strengthned Warlike Ammunition provided both for Sea and Land and for the Laudable Enterprize in France for the securing of England and
of the young French King and the recovering of Calice they granted the Clergy one Subsidy and the Laity another with two Fifteens and Tenths During these Occurrences at home the Prince of Conde was intercepted and taken Prisoner in that memorable Battel of Dreux as was likewise Sir Nicholas Throgmorton who shortly after paying his Ransome was set at Liberty But the Admiral Chastillon Commanding both the English and French Forces had beetter Success by taking in of Caen and other considerable Places which so startled those of the Guisian Faction that they agreed unto an Edict of Pacification by which the French Princes were restored to their Kings favour Conde lured with hopes of the Lieutenancy General of France and a Marriage with the Queen of Scots the Hugonots allowed the free exercise of their Religion and all things setled for the present to their full satisfaction And having thus agreed among themselves and treacherously abandoned the English they join their Forces and contrive how to drive them out of New-haven in case they would not evacuate it upon demand Now sometime before this agreement the Hostages for Calice endeavoured to make their escape with Ribald a Famous Pilot who had been sent secretly into England for that purpose but were discovered and seized just as they were ready to take shipping The Queen having secret notice of the French designs upon New-haven offered to exchange it for Calice Which being refused War was Proclaimed on both sides And such an extraordinary great Fleet of the English scoured the Seas as not only shut up the French in their Havens but the Spaniards likewise and their Pyracies upon them being very great the Queen caused her Ambassadour to make Excuses at the Court of Spain and restrained them by Proclamation In the mean time New-haven being close Besieged and hard pressed by the French and the Pestilence raging horribly in the Town the English were forced to capitulate and render up that Place hoping that by leaving it they should escape the Plague but instead thereof they brought it with them into England where it sorely afflicted the whole Kingdom and especially the City of London where there dyed of it Twenty one Thousand one Hundred and thirty Persons The Fathers at Trent were very much displeased with Queen Elizabeth both for assisting the French Hugonots against their King and passing the Statute for Punishing all those who countenanced and maintained the Popes Authority within her Dominions which so incensed the Pope that he sent a Commission to those Fathers to proceed to an Excommunication of the Queen of England But the Emperour being by his Ministers sed with hopes of a Marriage betwixt the Queen and his Son the Arch-Duke Charles he by Letters to the Pope and his Legates disswaded them from proceeding to such Extremities and caused the Pope to revoke the Commission he had sent to his Legates in Trent Shortly after which that Council broke up but were so far from having re-united the Church that on the contrary the Breach was become greater and the Discords inreconcilable In the mean time the Cardinal of Lorrain fearing without any Reason a Match between Queen Elizabeth and Charles of Austria to divert it proposeth the said Charles for a Husband to his Neece the Queen of Scots who imparting this Business to Queen Elizabeth she advised her to marry but not the Arch-Duke and recommended to her for a Husband Robert Dudley and promised her That if she would marry him She should by Authority of Parliament be declared her Sister or Daughter and Heir of England in case she should dyeâ— without Issue But assoon as the Queen Mother and her Uncles in France had notice hereof they disswaded her from it promising if she would reject it and persist in the French Amity they would pay her her Dowry Money and lured the Scots with hopes of confirming their ancient Liberties and granting them new ones And though the Queen of Scots took all imaginable Care to gain the Love of her Subjects and keep them at Peace yet they insulted her frequently nor was she able to suppress the Commotions The Spaniard now grew daily more enraged against the English for that his Ambassador here had been confined to his House and subjected to Examinations and publick Reprehensions for that the English Privateers had invested the French upon the Coast of Spain and intended to set forth a Voyage to the West Indies And the King of Spain manifested his Displeasure by causing Proclamation to be made in Antwerp and other places though under Pretext of the Pestilence being in England that no English Ship with Cloaths should come into any part of the Low Countries causing the Goods of English men to be confiscated upon very light Causes and by new Edicts certain Merchandise were forbidden to be transported the Passage through the Low Country Provinces with Horses Salt Peter and Gunpowder out of Germany and Italy was forbidden Whereupon and at the earnest Suit of the Merchant-Adventurers the Queen prohibited the Transporting of Wool unwrought and the Mart or Staple of Cloaths or English Merchandizes was removed to Emden upon the River Ems in Friezland The Apprehension that these and other Circumstances gave the Queen of the Councils of Spain made her the more willingly hearken to a Peace with France which was concluded upon these Terms which were as advantageous as the Juncture would afford That neither Party should invade the other The one shall not aid any that invade the other Private Mens Facts shall bind themselves only Commerce shall be free Traytors and Rebels shall not be received Letters of Reprisal shall not be granted Injuries shall be buried in Oblivion Reservation of Rights and Titles also Actions Demands and Claims which they have or pretend to have one against the other respectively shall remain to them safe and whole and in like manner Defences and Exceptions shall be reserved A certain Sum of Money shall be repayed to Queen Elizabeth at times prefixed Upon the Payment of six hundred and twenty thousand Crowns the Hostages shall be delivered out of England and Throckmorton shall return free into his Country after Confirmation of the League Which Treaty being ratifyed on both sides the French King was invested with the Order of the Garter Being now at Peace with France and in fair-seeming Terms with the King of Stain she resolved to take the Diversion of a Progress in the Course of which she made a visit to Cambridge where she was received with all the Respect Ceremony and Acclamation imaginable and to her own as well as their extraordinary satisfaction and the like Honour she did to Oxford being attended with the same Circumstances Don Alvarze a Quadra Bishop of Aquila and Spanish Ambassadour here a Man zealously addicted to Popery had fed the Papists here with hopes of having the Romish Superstitions again restored in England and had been a Grand Promoter of the Distrusts and Dissatisfactions that were
thousand and being proclaimed Traytors the two Earls finding themselves unable to make head against such great Forces they fled with a small Company into Scotland from whence the Earl of Westmerland made his Escape into the Low Countries where he lived though poorly to a great Age. But Northumberland was betrayed by his Party to Murray The Heads of the Rebels being convicted of High Treason were proscribed and several of them executed Presently after which there broke forth a new Rebellion in Cumberland the number of the Rebels amounting to three thousand Men but were fought routed and dispersed by the Baron of Hunsdon There was likewise a Rebelliin Ireland but was quickly extinguished through the Queens prudent Conduct and the Orders she sent to the Deputy of that Kingdom But notwithstanding these Commotions both in England and Ireland she failed not to assist the French Protestants with Men Money and Ammunition But as the Queen assisted the French the French King out of Revenge designed to have done the same to the Scots had he not been prevented by Death During these Occurrences Murray Regent of Scotland when he had setled all things to his Desire and thought himself secure against all Attempts he was shot by one Hamilton in the Belly as he was riding along the Streets in Litchquo of which Wound he immediately dyed the Assassinate making his Escape into France Presently after his Death the Scots that were devoted to their Queen being joyned with the English Fugitives and Rebels made some Incursions into England but Forces being sent against them under the Earl of Sussex and the Lord Hunsdon they were defeated and the Borders of that Kingdom severely punished for their Folly After which Performances the English assisted their Friends in Scotland and by so doing removed from the King the Hamiltons and the rest who stood for the deposed Queen Whereupon the Lords of that Kingdom met together about choosing a new Regent and demanded Queen Elizabeth's Advice in the Business but she replied That she would not be concerned in it lest if any thing should be done to the prejudice of the Queen of Scots she might be suspected for it whereupon they created the Earl of Lenox Regent which was the more pleasing to Queen Elizabeth as hoping he would have a particular care of the young King being his Grand-child and live in good Intelligence with the English by Favours and Benefits he had received during his abode among them and be at her Devotion because she had his Wife in her Power Whilst Queen Elizabeth was thus assisting the Queen's Party in Scotland the Duke of Castle-Herault the Earls of Huntley and Argyle the Queen of Scots Lieutenants send an Envoy to the Duke of Alva to demand his Assistance and Offices in favour of their Queen which he readily granted promising to do all that lay in his Power to satisfie their Request and thereupon sent them Arms Powder Cannon and Money In the mean time the French and Spanish Ambassadours request Queen Elizabeth in the name of their Masters to set the Queen of Scots at Liberty to all which Importunities Queen Elizabeth returned Answer That as she would do all that lay in her Power to reconcile the Queen of Scots and her Subjects so she thought it was but Justice in her to provide for her own and her Subjects Safety And now the Pope seeing that these Princes could not procure that Queens Liberty he caused one Felton to fasten up in the Night-time his Bull Declaratory upon the Bishop of London's Palace wherein he absolved all Elizabeth's Subjects from their Oath of Allegiance or any other Duty and all who obey her accursed with Anathema Whereupon Felton being taken and confessing and justifying the Fact he was condemned and executed accordingly near the Place where he had fixed up the Bull. About this time were some Commotions and Suspicions of more amongst the rest a Conspiracy of some Norfolk Gentlemen to set the Duke of that Name at liberty but soon defeated and some of them executed The Duke of Norfolk was delivered out of the Tower the same day that Felton was Executed having Confessed and asked forgiveness of his Crime with a promise under his hand never to think of Marrying the Queen of Scots nor to do any thing more against the Queens Authority Shortly after which broke out a new Conspiracy in Darbyshire whereof the principal Ringleaders were two oâ— the Stanleys being the younger Sons of the Earl of Darby their Design was to have freed the Queen of Scots out of Prison But the Plot being revealed by one of the Conspiracy the Heads of it were taken and put into Prison Hereupon followed an Expedition into Scotland under the Earl of Sussex and the Lord Scroop who forced the Scots of the Queen of that Names Party to give it under their hands that they would abstain from War and forsake the English Rebels Queen Elizabeth being now full of Ombrage and Suspitions by reason of the several late Conspiracies and the Popes Bull she sent Sir William Cecyl and Sir Walter Mildmay to the Queen of Scots to Treat with her they found her bemoaning her Condition excusing Norfolk and referring her self wholly to the Queens Clemency they proposed that the Treaty of Edenborough should be confirmed that she should renounce her Title and Claim to England as long as Queen Elizabeth and the Children lawfully born of her Body should live that she should not renew or keep any League with any Foreign Prince against England that she should not receive any Foreign Souldiers into Scotland that she should have no intercourse of Counsels with the English or Irish without acquainting the Queen therewith that she should deliver up the English Fugitives or Rebels that she should recompence the dammages done to the English Borderers that she should enquire according to Law into the Murther as well of the Lord Darnly her Husband as of Murray that she should deliver her Son into England as an Hostage that she should Contract Marriage with no English Man but with the Advice of the Queen of England nor with any other against the Wills of the Estates of Scotland that the Scots should not cross over into Ireland but by Licence obtained out of England that for Confirmation of these things the Queen and the Delegates to be appointed should set to their Hands and Seals that the Hostages whom the Queen of England should name should be sent into England that if the Queen of Scots should attempt any thing by her self or any other against Queen Elizabeth she should ipso facto forfeit all her Right and Title she claimeth to England that Humes Castle and Fast Castle should be holden by the English for three Years that in like manner some strong Holds in Galloway or Cantyr should be delivered into the English mens Hands lest from thence the Scottish Irish might infest Ireland Lastly That the Estates of Scotland should confirm all these things by
Authority of Parliament To which Propositions the Queen of Scots replyed with a Proviso referring the fuller Answer to the Bishop of Ross her Ambassadour in England and to some other Delegates who afterwards granting some of the Propositions and rejecting others the Treaty came to nothing and things remained in the same state as they were in before Onely Queen Elizabeth as Head of all Britain by her Authority prorogued the Parliament of Scotland Whilst things were in this posture the Pope supplied the English Rebells and Fugitives with Monies and Philip of Spain contracted a Marriage with Anne of Austria Daughter to the Emperour Maximilian his own Neece by his Sister and she being to go by Sea from Zealand into Spain Queen Elizabeth to shew the Love and Respect she had for the House of Austria sent Sir Charles Howard with the Navy Royal to Convoy her through the British Sea And now Queen Elizabeth having compleated the Twelfth year of her Reign which some Wizzards had flattered the Papists that it would be her last the People out of their great Affection and Loyalty to her Majesty celebrated the 17th of November with all the Pomp Joy and Thanksgiving imaginable which was not only continued upon that day during her Life but even to this very day In Ireland a new Rebellion was contrived by the Earl of Thoumond and his Adherents which was disappointed when it was just ready to break out merely by the Earl's Suspicions of his being discovered whereupon he fled into France and confessing his Crimes and showing himself very penitent to the Queen's Ambassador there this Minister procured him his pardon and the Restitution of his Estate Soon after which Queen Elizabeth made a very magnificent Entry into the City of London for to go see the new Burse which Sir Thomas Gresham had newly built and in a solemn manner nam'd it the Royal Exchange with Sound of Trumpets and by the Voice of an Herald Shortly after which she created Sir William Cecyl Baron of Burghley There was at this time in England Delegates from the King of Scots of whom Queen Elizabeth having demanded that they should explain the Reasons they had for deposing their Queen whereupon they exhibited so insolent a Writing that the Queen could not read it without Indignation and told them That she did not see that they had any just Cause to treat their Queen after that manner and therefore desired they would immediately think of some means to allay the Dissentions of that Kingdom Hereupon several Propositions were again made them for the setting the Queen of Scots at Liberty which being rejected by the Scottish Delegates and Norfolk beginning a new his Practices in favour of that Queen and she her self corresponding and caballing with the Enemies of the Crown of England whereto they were both excited by Ridolpho the Pope's Agent that Queen had many of her Servants taken from her and she her self put under a stricter Confinement and a watching Eye was kept over the Duke to whom the Pope had promised great Assistance both of Money and Men in case he would raise a Rebellion assuring him That the King of Spain would aid him with four thousand Horse and six thousand Foot and that he had already deposited a hundred thousand Crowns and that he would be at all the Charge of the War But whilst these things were acting in England the Queen of Scots Party was very much oppressed in Scotland several of her principal Adherents being put to Death and their strongest Holds taken in In France was the Marriage now solemnized between Charles the Ninth the French King and Elizabeth of Austria Daughter to the Emperour Maximilian to Congratulate which the Lord Buckhurst was sent into France by Queen Elizabeth and was there received with all the Honours and Pomp imaginable and possibly the more in respect of a Motion that the French Court designed to make in favour of a Match between the Duke of Anjou and the Queen of England After the Lord Buckhurst had performed his Commission he returned home with great Presents and with one Cavalcantio a Florentine who had attended him in his Embassy This Cavalcantio being a prudent Person was entrusted by the Queen Mother of France to make a motion of this Match to Queen Elizabeth Which he accordingly performed and the Queen seemed to listen favourably to the Proposal for by this Match there should be added to the Kingdom of England the Dukedoms of Anjou Bourbon Avern and possibly the Kingdom of France it self Whereupon a Treaty was held in which the French proposed three Articles one concerning the Coronation of the Duke another concerning the joint Administration of the Kingdom a third concerning a toleration of his Religion whereto it was replyed that the two first Articles might in some sort be composed but hardly the third for though a contrary Religion might be tolerated between Subjects of the same Kingdom yet between a Wife and her Husband it seemed very incongruous and inconvenient however the matter was brought at length to this Conclusion that if the Duke would afford his presence with the Queen at Divine Service and not refuse to hear and learn the Doctrine of the Church of England he should not be compelled to use the English Rites but at his pleasure use the Roman not being expressly against the Word of God But they could not accommodate these Niceties insomuch that the Treaty was quite broak off after it had continued almost a Year But during these Occurrences it happened at Kinnaston in Herefordshire the ground was seen to open and certain Rocks with a piece of Ground removed and went forwards four days together carrying along great Trees and Sheep-Coats some with sixty Sheep in them and overthrew Rimnalstone Chappel the Depth of the whole where it first broke out is thirty Foot and the bredth of the Breach sixteen Yards also High-ways were removed near an hundred Yards with Trees and Hedg-rows and the like And now the Papists were plotting and contriving new Attempts against the Queen but they were all frustrated by the goodness of God and the Prudence of the Queen and the Loyalty and Zeal of her Ministers and Protestant Subjects Amongst others of those Devillish Instruments of Popery was the Bishop of Ross the Queen of Scots Ambassador who made it his whole Business to excite and stir up People to Rebellion He had laid several Plots for seizing Queen Elizabeth and freeing the Queen of Scots but they all failed him in the Execution But notwithstanding that Bishop had received so many checks for these Practices of his yet he continuing them to that degree as not only to pervert the Subjects from their Loyalty but even to Designs against the Queen's Life the Privy Council after mature Deliberation in the Business notwithstanding his Character thought fit he should be sent and kept close Prisoner in the Tower which was accordingly done as likewise with the Duke of Norfolk
have procured he was to have marryed her and thereupon have demanded as well England as Scotland in Right of his Wife But this Plot and all the Contrivances to bring it about being discovered by the Prince of Orange to Queen Elizabeth she thereupon entred into a Defensive League with the States of the Low Countries After which some Forces were sent over thither with whom flocked several Volunteers of Quality Casimir the Elector Palatine's Son came likewise thither with an Army of German Horse and Foot at the Queen's Charges These Forces were unexpectedly attacqued by Don John at the Head of a great and experienc'd Army assisted by the Prince of Parma and other the best Commanders of the Spanish Monarchy and though they had expected a certain Victory yet after an obstinate Fight they were compelled to retreat but rallying again they thought to have surprized the English and Scottish Volunteers but were again repulsed by them and the English and Scots were so fiery in this Engagement that casting away their Garments by reason of the hot Weather they fought in their Shirts which they made fast about them Before this Action Don John had sent to Queen Elizabeth to complain of disobedience in the States The Spaniard himself having done the same and likewise the French-man of his Hugonot Subjects Thus sate this Queen as an Heroical Princess and Umpire between the Spaniards the French and the States insomuch that it was true what one hath Written that France and Spain were the Scales in the ballance of Europe and England the Beam to turn them either way For whom she assisted did ever play the Master Now though Embassadours come from the Queen of England the Emperour and the French King into the Low Countries with Proposals of Peace yet their Negotiation proved to no purpose for that Don John refused to admit the Protestant Religion and the Prince of Orange refused to return into Holland But shortly after Don John Dyed in the flower of his Age some say of the Pestilence others of grief both for his being out of favour with the Spanish King and for that his Ambition had been disappointed first of the Kingdom of Tunis and afterwards of that of England In Scotland began again new Commotions for the People having conceived a great Aversion against the Lord Morton the Regent the Nobility unanimously resolved to transfer the Administration of the Government upon the King though then but Twelve years old appointing him a Council of twelve of the Principal Lords three of whom were to attend him a Month by course Hereupon the King sent an Ambassador to Queen Elisabeth who was dismissed with satisfaction in most of the Points he came about but the Lord Morton not being able to brook the Disgrace of being put from the Regency taketh the Administration of all Affairs to himself which so provoked the Nobility of that Kingdom that they raised a great Army and were ready to fight him and his Forces when through the Intercession of Sir Robert Bowes the English Ambassador things were accommodated for the present And now the King of Spain and the Pope conspire the utter Ruine as they imagined of Queen Elizabeth having taken all the necessary Measures for an Invasion of England and Ireland But Don Sebastian King of Portugal being to Head this Enterprize was killed in the memorable Battel wherein three Kings were slain in Africa whereupon the King of Spain's Thoughts and Forces were wholly taken up how to secure the Kingdom of Portugal to himself In the mean time the Duke of Alanzon renews his Suit to the Queen sending over several French Lords to sollicit in his behalf and amongst the rest one Simier who had the Reputation of a great Courtier and one who understood the Art of Love better than any one Person of his time and indeed he seemed to have made such Advances in his Negotiation as made several of the other Pretenders jealous and caused the Earl of Leicester to report that this French-man crept into the Queens Affections by Love Potions and unlawful Arts for which and other Speeches and his being married to the Earl of Essex his Widow he was confined to the Castle of Greenwich and had it not been for the Earl of Sussex though his greatest Adversary he had been committed to the Tower But this course so provoked the Earl of Leicester and there were such suspicions of a Design of murdering Simier that the Queen put out a Proclamation commanding that no Person should offer Injury to the Ambassador or any of his Servants Yet it happening at that time that the Queen going in her Barge with Simier and some English Noblemen to Greenwich a young Fellow shooting off a Musket shot one of the Rowers in the Barge through the Arm with a Bullet for which he was immediately carried to the Gallows yet upon Solemn Protestation that he did it unwillingly and with no ill intent he was let go and pardoned And notwithstanding all that was suggested to the Queen yet she was so far from suspecting her Subjects that she frequently said She would not believe any thing against them which a Mother would not believe against her Children Within a few days after which Accident the Duke of Alanzon himself came incognito into England and unexpected by the Queen with whom having had some private Conferences he returned back to France and within a Month or two after his Departure the Queen appointed Commissioners to treat with Simier concerning the Articles of the Marriage The King of Spain having constituted the Prince of Parma Governour of the Low Countries Qu. Elizabeth supplyeth the States with a great Sum of Money for which William Davison brought into England the ancient pretious Habiliments of the Family of Burgundy and their costly Vessels laid to Pawn by Matthew of Austria and the States And about this time Sir William Drury succeeded in the Deputiship of Ireland to Sir Henry Sidney who had been eleven years Deputy of Ireland at several times And Casimir Son to the Elector Palatine of the Rhine came into England and after he had been magnificentlâ— entertained he was made Knight of the Garter and dismissed with a yearly Pension And the Queen having procured of the Grand Seignieur a full Liberty for her Subjects to-trade in all the Territories of Turkey a Company of Turkey Merchants was first set up about that time who carried on a great and most advantagious Trade in the several Parts of his vast Dominions Hereupon followed the Death of Sir Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in whose place succeeded Sir Thomas Bromley with the Title of Lord Chancellor of England And now broke out new Rebellions in Ireland the Natives thereof being thereunto stirred up by the Pope and his Adherents During which Sir William Drury dying Arthur Lord Gray was made Deputy in his stead And now the Pope having bestowed the Kingdom of Ireland upon the King of Spain for