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 that Qu. Elizabeth forsooth had forfeited her Right by being an Heretick great Forces were sent into that Kingdom both
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
Circumstances to heart and being grown extraordinary Corpulent he died of a Virulent Inflammation in his Leg in the beginning of the Year 1547. He was succeeded by Prince Edward his Son though not fully ten years old of whose Person the Earl of Hartford his Unkle was made Governour and Protector of the Kingdom until he should have attained the Age of Eighteen years and as such was proclaimed in all Parts of London It was under his happy Government that the English gained a great Victory over the Scots whilst they were demanding with Sword in hand the performance of a Treaty touching a Match between King Edward and Mary Queen of Scotland the severe Law of the Siâ— Articles and others were repealed that were made by Henry the Eighth against the Protestants those for abolishing the Pope's Authority are confirmed the Mass is abrogated Images are taken out of Churches the Books of both Testaments printed in English Divine Service celebrated in the same Tongue and both kinds ministred in the Sacraments At which the Romanists being inraged they put in practise all their Arts for the making a stop to such fair beginnings caused Dissention to be sowed amongst the Nobility and thereby the loss of several considerable Places both in France and Scotland promoted Tumults Factions debasing of Money and all other things that might stir up the People to Rebellion procured the Protector to be accused condemned and beheaded for Felony and at length removed the King himself by an untimely Death whether by Poyson or otherwise is uncertain apprehending and hating him for his extraordinary Virtues which much surpassed what could have been expected from his tender years During these sad Occurrences the Duke of Northumberland being â—ound by the Papists to be the fittest Instrument for the effecting their Designs as being of their own Religion under a Protestant Mask they made Use of him for the bringing about their Ends by sowing Distraction in the Nation by setting the Protector and his Brother Thomas Seymour at variance which he effected through a Female Emulation between the Dutchess of Somerset the Protector 's Wife and the Queen Dowager the Wife of Thomas And amongst other Articles of High Treason that were laid to Thomas his charge was that of intending to seize the King and of taking the Lady Elizabeth the King's Sister to Wife But she being wholly ignorant of this business and freeing her self from all suspicion and advancing towards a mature Age she was not onely extremely beloved by the King her Brother who never call'd her by any other Name than his sweet Sister Temperance but likewise by the Nobility and the whole Nation in general King Edward by the Practices of the Duke of Northumberland having declared the Lady Jane Gray for his Successor she was immediately after his Decease publickly proclaimed Queen of England and for the maintaining her in that Degree pretensions were put forward as first the Invalidity of the Lady Mary's and Elizabeth's Mother's Marriage both being made void by Legal Sentences of Divorce and those Divorces ratified by Acts of Parliament which Acts of the Lady Mary's and Lady Elizabeth's Illegitimation were never duely repealed Notwithstanding that the King their Father had by the same Act declared that they should succeed in order after Edward the Sixth in case he failed of Issue Secondly It was pretended that these two Sisters being but of half Blood to the Deceased King admitting them to have been born in lawful Wedlock were not in a capacity by the Common Law to be Heirs unto him or to succeed in any part of that Inheritance which came un-unto him by his Father Now the Lady Jane's Mother being the Lady Frances Daughter and one of the Co-heirs of Charles Brandon the late Duke of Suffolk by Mary his Wife Queen Dowager to Lewis the Twelfth of France and youngest Daughter to King Henry the Seventh Grand-father to King Edward now deceased Now I say the Lady Frances her Mother might seem both by the Law of Nature and the Right of Succession to have precedency in Title before her yet she received no injury because she was willing to pass by all her personal Claims for the Preferment of her Daughter It was also given out that Henry the Eighth by his last Will and Testament conveyed the Title of the Crown to the Lady Jane Gray and moreover Politick Reasons and Pretexts were used as that there was an unavoidable danger of reducing this Kingdom under the Vassalage and Servitude of the Bishop of Rome in case either of the King 's two Sisters should marry with a Foreign Prince of that Religion or otherwise of themselves revoke the Bishop of Rome's Authority and subject the English to a Popish Yoke But through the extraordinary Affection the Nobility and Commons had for the Daughters of King Henry the 8th this great Storm was dispersed within the space of twenty dayes to the fatal End of the Duke of Northumberland and the Lady Jane and the Lady Mary was proclaimed Queen throughout all England And at her coming to London with an Army the Lady Elizabeth met her with five hundred Horse notwithstanding the offers that had been made her by the Duke of a vast Sum of money and certain Lands if she would resign her Title to the Crown lest she should fail her Sister 's and her own Cause which was then in hand Queen Mary caused in the first Parliament that she held all those Acts to be repealed that had been made against the Marriage of Queen Katharine her Mother and King Henry the 8th and the Marriage was judged to be agreeable to the Laws of God and to all intents valid and available The same Form also of Religion and Service of God and Administration of the Sacraments which had been in use at the Death of Henry the 8th were re-established however without any acknowledgment or mention at all of the Pope's Authority notwithstanding all the Efforts of the Queen and Cardinal Pool for the Parliament were very unwilling to admit and acknowledge the Authority of the Bishop of Rome which was now shaken off Neither would they suffer that the Queen should lay down the Title of Supream Head of the Church of England unto which most of the Nobility Bishops and Commons had sworn to Henry the 8th his Heirs and Successors But the Queen was very desirous to lay down this Title as believing that her Pretensions to the Crown had no better Foundation than the Authority of the Bishop of Rome who had maintained her Cause after that her father had procured her to be declared Illegitimate And indeed at this time the apprehensions of the English were so great of Popery and of being inslaved by it's means and by the Match that was concluded with Phillip to the Yoke of Spain as that it caused some to break out into Rebellion as Wyat and others But notwithstanding the Papists had got their will by procuring after much opposition the Roman
in the Courts of the various Princes and States but more particularly her Minister at the Court of Spain was ordered to represent unto that King how sensible she was of the Humanities she had received from him in the time of her Persecution and Troubles Instructions were likewise dispatched to Sir Edw. Harne the English Agent at the Court of Rome to acquaint the Pope with Queen Mary's Death and her succeeding upon the Throne with a desire that they might mutually receive all good Offices from one another But the Pope's Answer was in the usual rigorous Stile of that Court That the Kingdom of England was held in Fee of the Apostolick See that she could not succed being illegitimate that he could not contradict the Declaration of Clement the Seventh and Paul the Third that it was a great Boldness to assume the Name and Government of it without him yet being desirous to shew a fatherly Affection if she will renounce her Pretensions and refer her self wholly to his free Dispositions he will do whatsoever may be done with the Honour of the Apostolick See But the Queen having made him this Complement did not think of having any Answer nor was she much concerned when she had In the mean time King Philip having had notice of Queen Mary his Wife's Death he caused his Ambassador the Count of Feria to propose a Match between Queen Elizabeth and himself promising to procure a Dispensation from the Court of Rome These offers put the Queen into great perplexity as thinking it but an ill return to reject a Prince who had done her such Kindnesses during her Troubles And the French King was no less concerned fearing lest this Kingdom being again united to the Spaniard his Dominions must at length have buckled under so great a Power Wherefore he used all his Endeavours to put a Stop to the Dispensation at the Court of Rome and to all the other Places that might be made towards this Match elsewhere But he might have spared himself these Troubles for Queen Elizabeth never designed to enter into any such Marriage well knowing she would thereby have acknowledged her self to have been born in unlawful Wedlock and likewise considering that the Marriage of a Woman with her deceased Sister's Husband is prohibited by Sacred Authority as well as the Marriage of a man with his Brother's Widow and therefore unlawful notwithstanding the Pope's Dispensation wherefore she putteth off King Philip by degrees and with all the Civility and Circumstance imaginable Now many who were imprisoned upon the Account of Religion were set at Liberty at which time a merry Gentleman of the Court petitioned her in Favour of the Evangelists who had been so long imprisoned in a Latin Translation that they might be set at Liberty and walk abroad as formerly in the English Tongue To whom she immediately replyed in this manner That he should first endeavour to know the Minds of the Prisoners who possibly desired no such Liberty as was demanded Now the Queen being extreamly desirous of promoting the Protestant Religion she consulted with her most trusty Counsellors how that Religion might be established and the Popish abolished causing all Dangers to be well poised that might arise on this occasion and the Means and Expedients that might be used for the preventing and avoiding them Hereupon she put into the Principal Courts of Judicature and Offices of Trust such Persons as were well known to be of the Protestant Religion or inclined to it and did the same in the Commission of the Peace in every County The Dangers that might be expected from abroad were either from the Bishop of Rome by his Excommunication and exposing the Kingdom to any Invasion or from the French King who in such a Juncture might have broke off the Treaty of Peace at Cambray and make War upon the English in Favour of the Queen of Scots not only as Enemies but likewise as they are pleased to call the Protestants as Hereticks and might have procured Scotland to have done the same being at that time at his Devotion or from the Irish a People extreamly bigotted to Popery and always very ready to break out into a Rebellion Now as for the Thunder-bolts of Rome they were looked upon as things not at all to be dreaded but was resolved that in case the French made any offers of a Peace they were to be accepted if they did not then offers were to be made to them by reason that such a Peace would also comprehend Scotland but however to stick close to and give all manner of Aid and Countenance to those of the Reformed Religion both in France and Scotland that the Garrisons in Ireland and upon the Borders of Scotland should be better manned and fortified and that the Treaties with the House of Burgundy should be confirmed and friendship continued with the Spaniard And now having provided against all Mischances that might happen from abroad she proceeded to do all that might conduce towards the advancement and setling of the Protestant Religion at home by ordering that none should be chosen into any Colledges of both Universities but Protestants and that all Roman Catholick Presidents Heads and Masters should be put out and removed both from thence and all other Schools of the Land and for the curbing the rash zeal of both Parties she caused two Proclamations to be published by one of which it was commanded That no man of what Perswasion soever he was in Points of Religion should be suffered from thence forward to preach in publick but only such as should be licensed by her Authority and that all such as were so licensed or appointed should forbear preaching upon any Point which was matter of Controversie and might conduce rather towards the exasperating than the calming of mens Passions Which Proclamation was observed with all the care and strictness imaginable By the other Proclamation it was ordered That no Man of what Quality or Degree soever should presume to alter any thing in the state of Religion or innovate in any of the Rites and Ceremonies thereunto belonging but that all such Rites and Ceremonies should be observed in all Parish Churches of the Kingdom as were then used and retained in her Majesties Chappel until â—ome further Order should be taken in it Only it was permitted and withal required That the Litany the Lords Prayer the Creed and the Ten Commandments should be said in the English Tongue and the Epistle and the Gospel at the time of the High Mass should be said in English which was accordingly performed in all the Churches of the Kingdom She likewise ordered the Divine who officiated in her Chappel not to make any Elevation of the Sacrament for the abolishing the Popish Superstitious manner of adoring it which she could not endure should be done in her Sight as being wholly contrary to her Judgment and Conscience And then she proceeded to the reviewing and correcting of the former Liturgy
which she committed to the Care of several learned moderate and judicious Divines and Gentlemen but she only acquainted four of the Members of her Privy Council with this Project About this time the Funeral of the Deceased Queen was solemnized with very great state in the Abby of Westminster and the like Ceremony was performed within a few days after for the Death of that Great Emperour Charles the 5th who having two Years before resigned the Empire to his Brother and all his other vast Dominions to his Son abandoned all the Grandeurs of this World and retired into a Monastery where he wholly devoted himself to God and his Service But notwithstanding the State of these Solemnities was extraordinary in it's kind yet was it far short of the Splendour and Majesty that attended her Coronation And as a Preparation thereunto she restored some to their former and raised others to new Honours Having performed which she was Conducted with extraordinary Pomp and Triumph from the Tower through the City of London to Westminster with incredible Joy and Acclamations and behaving her self with so Graceful Modest and yet Majestick an Air that as it caused Tears of Joy to fall from some so it inspired the Hearts of all with Prayers and Thanksgivings but nothing charmed them more than her accepting of an English Bible richly Bound which was presented to her from one of the Pageants by a Child representing Truth At the sight whereof she kiss'd both her hands and with both her hands she receiv'd the Book and then laid it to her Bosom intimating that it should be the nearest of all things to her heart being fuller of acknowledgment to the City for that Excellent Present than for all the rest she had received from them that day in â—uch Abundance and promised to be diligent in the reading of it By which and sundry other such like Pious Acts she perfectly gained the Affections of all the Spectators and by their means the Hearts of all her other Subjects The next day after this Cavalcade she was Crowned at Westminster by the Bishop of Carlile all the other Bishops refusing to perform that Office as fearing the Pope's Displeasure and the Fall or at least some Alteration of the Catholick Religion in this Kingdom which they were resolved not to Conform themselves to Her Devotion was so great that every Morning as soon as she was up she spent some time in Prayer and besides at the appointed hours she went constantly to her private Chappel In Lent she was Cloâ—thed in Black after the antient manner hearing constantly anâ— attentively the Sermons though she many times said That she had rather talâ— with God devoutly by Prayer than heaâ— others speak eloquently of his Divine Majesty As touching the Cross the Blesseâ— Virgin and the Saints she had no contemptible Opinion nor ever spoke otherwise of them than with Reverence noâ— would allow others to speak irreverently oâ— them And by the Parliament it was unanimously enacted That the Lady Elizabeth was by the Law of God the Common Law of England and the Statutes of the Realm the most Certain Lawful and Undoubted Queen of England but however without repealing the Statute where in her Father had Excluded her from thâ— Succession or without making any Act 〈…〉 the Validity of her Mothers Marriage oâ— which her Title principally depended For which Sir Nicholas Bacon then Lo 〈…〉 Keeper was condemned of Imprudenâ— and Neglect on whose Judgment the Queen wholly depended in matters 〈…〉 Law seeing it had been objected by somâ— against Queen Mary and for that reasoâ— her Ministers had been careful to have it repealed in what concerned her self But Bacon not only knew the old Law Maxime That the Crown takes away all the defects and stops in blood and that from the time the Queen did assume the Crown the Fountain was cleared and all Attainders and corruption of blood discharged And besides he possibly thought it more prudent that the Queen Mother's Marriage should pass as a thing unquestionable and no ways subject to dispute than to ground it upon the inconstancy of Acts and Statutes There pass'd also an Act for the restoring to the Crown the Tenths and first Fruits first setled upon it in the time of King Henry the Eighth and afterwards remitted by Queen Mary There likewise passed an Act for the Dissolution of all those Monasteries Convents and Religious Orders as had been Founded and Established by the late Queen In the passing of these Acts there was little Opposition but when they came to debate of the Act of Supremacy it seemed to several a thing both strange and contrary to Nature and Policy that a Woman should be declared Supream Head on Earth of the Church of England whereupon an Expedient was found out to satisfie their Cavils and remove all Obstructions by putting in Governour instead of Head the Act being couched in these Terms That whatsoever Jurisdictions Priviledges and Spiritual Preheminences had been heretofore in use by any Ecclesiastical Authority whatsoever to visit Ecclesiastical men and correct all manner of Errors Heresies Schisms Abuses and Enormities should be for ever annexed to the Imperial Crown of England That the Queen and her Successors might by their Letters Patents substitute certain men to exercise that Authority Provided that they should define nothing to be Heresie but those things which were long before defined to be Heresies out of the Sacred Canonical Scriptures or the first four Oecumenical Councils or other Councils by the true and proper sence of the Holy Scriptures or should thereafter be so defined by Authority of Parliament with Assent of the Clergy of England assembled in a Synod that all and every Ecclesiastical Persons Magistrates Receivers of Pensions out of the Exchequer such aâ— were to receive Degrees in the Universities Wards that were to sue their Liveries and to be invested in their Livings and such as were to be admitted into the Number of the Queens Servants c. should be obliged by Oath to acknowledge the Queens Majesty to be the only and Supream Governour of her Kingdoms in all Matters and Causes as well Spiritual as Temporal all Forreign Princes and Potentates being wholly excluded from taking Cognisance of Causes within her Dominions This Act was stifly opposed by nine Bishops and only two Temporal Lords who were the Earl of Shrewsbury and Anthony Brown Vicount Montacute who had been sent in the time of Queen Mary to tender Obedience to the Apostolick See But were joyfully and unanimously assented to by the far major part of the House of Commons the Papists complaining that the Votes had been surprised and that the Duke of Norfolk the Earl of Arundel and Cecil had by cunning procured Voices in favour of those Acts. Now Men differing so much in points of Religion it was ordered by Proclamation that no man should speak unreverently of the Sacrament and both kinds were allowed to be administred But notwithstanding that a
who was again committed to the same Place it having been discovered by a Pacquet of Letters that he still continued in his Affections Design to marry and free out of Prison the Queen of Scots having for that end kept correspondence with the Pope and the other Enemies of the Crown and traiterously consulted to take away the Queens Life and to bring in Foreign Forces to invade the Kingdom for which being brought to his Tryal he was found guilty by his Peers and accordingly beheaded The Parliament being assembled upon this occasion it was Enacted amongst other Laws that if any man should go about to free any Person imprisoned by the Queens Commandment for Treason or Suspicion of Treason and not yet arraigned he shall lose all his Goods for his life time and be Imprisoned during the Queens Pleasure if the said Person having been Arraigned the Rescuer shall forfeit his Life if Condemned he shall be guilty of Rebellion Presently after the Dissolution of the Parliament a Consultation was had whether John Story Doctor of the Laws the Duke of Alva's Searcher who some time before having been engaged to go on Board a Ship to search for Goods was by that piece of cunning brought into England being an English Man born and having in Brabant consulted with a Foreign Prince were to be held guilty of High Treason which being given in the affirmative by the Learned in the Law he was thereupon brought to his Tryal and Accused of having consulted with one Preshal a Conjurer to make away the Queen that he had Cursed her daily when he said Grace at Table that he shewed a way to the Duke of Alva how to Invade England of which being found guilty he accordingly suffered Death as a Traytor About this time Matthew Stuart Earl of Lenox Regent of Scotland and the King's Grandfather was surprized unawares by the Nobility of the adverse Faction and having yielded himself to David Spence of Wormstone who thereupon lost his Life in his Defence and they were both slain together by Bell and Chaulder after he had with great Pains and care governed the Kingdom for his Grandchild above fourteen Months and in his room was unanimously elected by the Kings Faction the Earl of Marr for Regent of Scotland but the place being two full of troubles for a Man of his quiet Disposition he departed this Life after he had Governed thirteen Months Some few days after the Execution of the Duke of Norfolk one Barnes and Mather were put to Death for Conspireing with one Herle to take away the Life of certain Counsellours and freeing the Duke and at the same time suffered one Rolph for Counterfeiting the Queens hand Shortly afterwhich the Queen conferred new Honours upon several of the Nobility concluded a League with the French King and sent several Persons to expostulate with the Queen of Scots for that she had usurped the Title and Arms of the Kingdom of England and had not renounced the same according to the Agreement of the Treaty of Edenborough that she had endeavoured the Marriage of the Duke of Norfolk without acquainting the Queen and had used all forcible means to free him out of Prison had raised the Rebellion in the North had releived the Rebells both in Scotland and in the Low Countries had implored Aids from the Pope the King of Spain and others had conspired with certain of the English to free her out of Prison and declare her Queen of England and finally that she had procured the Pope's Bull against the Queen and suffered her self to be publickly named the Queen of England in Foreign Countries all which Points she either denyed or endeavoured to extenuate And though as she said she was a free Queen and not subject to any Creature yet she was willing and desired that she might make her personal Answer at the next Parliament In the mean time Scotland was full of Civil Distractions and Dissentions the English countenancing the King's Party and the French the other And the King of Spain having made Complaints to the Queen by his Ambassador that the Low Country Rebells were entertained and harboured in England the Queen caused a severe Proclamation to be put forth That all the Dutch who could in any wise be suspected of Rebellion should immediately depart the Kingdom which proved rather disadvantageous than beneficial to the King of Spain For Count Vander Marea and other of the Netherlanders being hereupon compelled out of England first seised upon the Brid and then upon Flushing the Surprize of which Places being attended by the Revolt of other Towns the Spaniards were in a short time in some kind excluded from the Sea and were never after able to recover themselves in those Countries During these Transactions the French Ambassador here made Intercession in the behalf of the Queen of Scots and likewise endeavoured to promote the Match between the Queen and the Duke of Anjou but perceiving that all his Offices were to no purpose he returned into France where he found that Court very much taken up with making Preparations for the Marriage of the King of Navarr with the Lady Margaret the French King's Sister To this Solemnity were allured by an inviting prospect of perpetual Peace and Amity not only the Queen of Navarr and the Chief of all the Protestants in that Kingdom but likewise the Earl of Leicester and the Lord Burleigh the Elector Palatine's Sons with several of the Principal of the Reformed Party of other Nations were desired to be at the Celebration of that Marriage designing at one Blow to have cut down the Protestant Religion And though those Blood-thirsty Papists could not catch all they aimed at yet as soon as the Marriage was Solemnized there followed that Cruel Massacre of Paris and that terrible Butchering of the Hugonots throughout all the Cities of France but for the extenuating and vindicating of this horrible Fact Proclamations and Edicts were immediately put forth whereby the Protestants were accused of a Conspiracy against the King and the whole Royal Family But the French King notwithstanding his mask of Piety did not escape Divine Vengeance for before a year was expired he fell sick of a Bloody Flux which brought him to his end after long and tedious Torments And now came the Head of the Earl of Northumberland to the Block who Rebelling and then flying into Scotland was by the Earl of Morton delivered for a Sum of Money to the Lord Hunsdon Governor of Berwick and was shortly after Executed at York About this time was Sir William Cecyl Lord Burleigh promoted to be Lord High Treasurer of England upon the Decease of the Marquess of Winchester who a little before ended his days after he had lived Ninety seven years and had seen the Issue of his Body to the number of One hundred and three Persons Not long before which was a motion made to the Queen in favour of a Match between her Majesty and the Duke of