could get down and get into a Posture of Assisting them he saw all their Army dispersed and they forced to flee into Scotland whereupon he formed a Design to Murder the Bishop of Carlisle and the Lord scrope Warden of the West Marshes which when he saw he could not effect he recommended the Two Earls to the Scots and seized Greistoke and Caworth Castles as his own which belonged to the Family of the Dacres and he got together about 3000 Borderers with some others who were the Friends of that Ancient and Splendid Family The Lord Hunsdon hearing of this Insurrection drew out a part of the Garison of Berwick of which he was Governour and marched against this Incendiary who met Hunsdon and fought stoutly at the Head of his Party which was yet at last over-powered and broken the Lord Hunsdon having no great reason to be overjoyed at the Victory by reason of the Number of men he lost Dacres fled into Scotland and was with the two Earls Attainted in the next Parliament Both these Rebellions were caused by Pope Pius his Bull tho they broke out before the Bull was Published here in England which was one great reason that they spread no further The Delivery of the Queen of Scots who was then in the Custody of George Earl of Shrewsbury the Restoring the Popish Religion and the suppressing the Protestant was the last thing they aimed at and the King of Spain was the Fomenter of these Troubles and had sent them Assurances that he would send them Assistance from Flanders and had his Agent at Court to promote it But all these Projects being disappointed England soon returned to her former state of Peace and the rest of the Popish Party seeing their Weakness and the Severity of the Government against these Ring-leaders soon found how much it was their Interest to be quiet The secret Head of all these Motions was Thomas Howard Duke of Norfolk who was the Richest most Noble and Wisest Peer then in England and of the greatest Authority with the Queen and no less beloved by the People This Great Man having appeared a little over-inclined to favour the Interest of the Captive Queen of the Scots in the XIth year of the Queen's Reign he drew upon himself both the Suspicion of the Queen and the Practices of his Enemies at Home and Abroad The Pope the King of Spain and many of the Nobility of England for different and very contrary ends promoting a Marriage between the Queen of Scots and this Duke which being by the means of these Rebellions discovered in part to the Council of England in the latter end of the year 1669 he was first Committed he left the Court in Discontent and resolved to Marry the Queen of Sâ—…ots without the Queen of England's Leave tho he had promised the Queen he would proceed no further in this business Whereupon he was committed Prisoner to the Tower in the year 1571 and the 16th of January 1572. he was found Guilty of High-Treason and Beheaded the 15th of June following The Greatness of his Fortunes and Soul and the wonderful Affection the People of England on all occasions shewed to this Noble Gentleman added to his Compassion for the Queen of Scots who was a Lady of great Wit and Beauty first stirred in him the thought of Marrying her upon her first coming into England which coming to the Queen's ears he was a little before the Rebellion of the North put under Confinement yet he found means to send Money to the Earls of Northumberland and Westmorland but so privately that after this he had his Liberty again By the procurement of one Robert Ridolf Agent for Pope Pius Quintus here in England under the pretence of Merchandize he was again drawn into a secret Practice for the Marrying that Captive Queen which being discovered to the Lord Treasurer Burleigh by the Duke's Secretary out of mere Treachery he was again Imprisoned Tried and Convicted by one whom he most trusted and leaft suspected of Designing against him Thus wonderfully did God appear for this Religious Queen turning all the Crafty Imaginations of her Enemies and all their intended Violences upon their own heads for the Preservation of this Church and Nation Saith Mr. Cambden The Love that the People of England bore to the Duke of Norfolk is incredible which he had acquired by a Courtesie and Goodness which was worthy of so great a Prince The Wiser part of the Nation were very differently affected towards him some being affrighted at the Danger which was threatned to the Nation from his Numerous Party whilst he lived to Head them And others very heartily commiserating this Noble Gentleman who was of an excellent Temper of great Beauty and of a Manly Aspect and would have been the Ornament and Securer of his Countrey if the fraudulent Arts of his Enemies had not turned him out of his former course and way of living by the deceivable hopes of greater things and the specious pretences and shews of promoting the Publick Welfare His End renewed the Memory of his Father's most unhappy Fate who Twenty Five Years before was Beheaded in the same place only because he wore the Scutcheon of Edward the Confessor in his Arms which were granted to the. Mowbrays Dukes of Norfolk from whom he was descended Lineally by King Richard the IId This Bull of Pope Pius V. and his Practises against England produced a shoal of Traytors to plague that Generation for they were ever after it restlefly plotting and conspiring against their Sovereign their Countrey and their Kindred with an invincible perfidy and obstinacy which the Executions of many could not extinguish But yet the Calamity did not end there for from the same Exuberant Fountain of Mischief issued those refractory and stabborn Recusants who separating from the Communion and Service of the Church of England which till then they had frequented without the least scruple or difference they set up Popish Conventicles and the Latin Mass and called over a swarm of Jesuits Priests and Monks to infest the Nation and incense those that entertained them against the Religion and Government that was established and so perpetuated our Quarrels and kept open the bloody wounds of this Kingdom This is the thing we have most reason to complain of because it has brought upon all the succeeding Times great miseries and distresses and the Wisdom of our Forefathers has not been able to cure this Disease The Queen seeing in the mean time the mischief this would bring upon her Kingdoms and being roused by the Rebellions in the North and the intimations she had that there were Designs on foot against her Person and Life took up a resolution to put a stop to it and to that end passed an Act in the next Parliament for the levying 20 l. the Month upon all that should refuse to go to Church and attend at the Service of God or to take the Oath
from the Queen and to dispose them to Sedition and Rebellion The Queen saw the Tendence of this and did not think it was fit to despise their Complaints That therefore she might prevent the ill effects of their Malice and withdraw the matter that fed their Fury and threatned her Kingdom with Schisms and Factions which would be the Causes of great Calamities she appointed a Conference or Disputation between the Roman Catholicks and the Protestants at London Concerning the Authority of the Church and the Supremacy of the Pope the Ceremonies in use in the Church of Rome and the Change of the Elements in the Holy Eucharist that she might by this means unite the disagreeing minds of her Subjects in one and the same opinion and mutual Love and Charity to each other In this Conference many of the most reverend Mysteries of the Christian Religion were on both sides debated with great Warmth and Heat and much Learning yet nothing was gained on either side by reason of the immoderate Opposition and the implacable Hatred they bore each to other So when the Popish Party saw that the Pope's Authority which was once reverenced as Divine was now become contemptible and infamous 2nd that all the Reasons they could pretend for the Justification of their Ceremonies were overwhelmed by the load of Infamy their Pride and Cruelty had brought upon them so that it was not possible for them to abate the Hatred or remove the Contempt the people were then possessd with against the Popish Clergy they sullenly pretended That in the Matters of Religion there was no need of Reason and Disputation and defended themselves with more Passion and Anger than Reason and Judgment After this Disputation there were Acts of Parliament passed for the Establishing the English Service and concerning the Ministers of the Church as also for Restoring the Queen's Supremacy with the unanimous Consent of the Peers and the Applause of the Commons But however the Popish Party refused still to comply and openly said These Laws were not to be submitted to and thereupon began a Dissention which is not yet ended The turbulent Bishops and Clergy who still adhered to the old Rites and Ceremonies being thereupon bereaved of their Sees made great Complaints of the Iniquity and Injustice of these Laws and concealing themselves as well as they could in corners and lurking-holes for fear of being prosecuted for their disobedience they said the Queen was guilty of Heresie and solicited that part of the Nobility and Commonalty which still stuck to the Church of Rome to renounce their Obedience to her and stoutly to maintain the Old Service They also sent their Agents to Rome to perswade the Pope to Excommunicate her by Name as one that had brought a New Heresie into the Church and had confined the Bishops of Winchester and Lincoln and many of the inferior Clergy for sticking firmly to the Romish Ceremonies And lastly That she had assumed a Jurisdiction and Royal Authority as well in all Spiritual Causes as Secular The Queen on the other side had by this time found the Inclination of her People and being now well setled in her Throne did not think fit to act any longer with that Reservedness she did at first when she feared the Number and Authority of the Papists who had then the Law on their side but by her Proclamation she couragiously and openly commanded them That they should embrace the True Religion which was most acceptable to God and leave their Popish Rites or otherwise depart out of her Kingdoms Royal City and Dominions within so many months And upon this she removed all those Popish Noblemen which had in her Sister's time been advanced to any Publick Employments or Stations in the Court or Kingdom and she setled Protestants in all those Places and put the whole Management of Publick Affairs into their hands affirming very stoutly That she would sooner lay down her life than desist from that Zeal and Resolution she had taken up for the bringing down the Wickedness of the Papists This Bravery encouraged all her Friends and struck her Enemies dumb Thus was the Popish Religion abolished in England when it had flourished many Ages in great Wealth by the help of a profitable Ignorance and a fallacious and deceitful Interpretation of the Sacred Scriptures And the Protestant Religion being restored to that Liberty Esteem and Splendor it had had in the times of Edward the VIth it was soon after by the means of their common Language and Vicinity communicated to the Scots and spread it self not only in their Cities and great Towns but also in their Villages and Countrey Habitations It is impossible to the Life to describe the Calamities this Revolution brought upon the Scots Nation The most sacred and venerable Churches which seem'd to be secured from Violence by the Awe of Religion were burnt down the most sacred Chappels were first Rifled and then Demolished by the Rabble The Sepulchres of their Ancestors were pulled down their Statues beaten down and trodden under foot and the basest and most lewd Injuries done to the Altars as if the Papists had been mere Pagan Idolaters I am so enraged saith my Author a Learned Scot against these men on the account of the great Ruin they wrought in my Native Countrey that I cannot forbear expressing my Resentment For I am of opinion That these Popish Moâ—…ments ought indeed to have been shut up not to have been demolished because they were the Ornaments of our Countrey But to teturn to Queen Elizabeth she made it no part of her business to find out those peaceable Roâ—…ish Priests who had betaken themselves to private lurking holes and secret places more out of Fear than any Legal necessity And if any of them by chance happened to be taken they were committed to an honourable and easie restraint in the Cities or delivered up into the hands of their own Bishops to the end that by this her Moderation she might in the beginning of her Reign create an opinion of her Clemency in all her Subjects and at the same time deprive these Priests of the opportunity of doing Mischief There was not one of these men put to death till Pope Piâ—…s the Vth in the year 1570 excommunicated her by his Bull upon which there followed a Rebellion of the Papists in the Noâ—…th This was in the Twelfth Year of her Reign and in the next Ten Years that followed there was but Twelve men of that Religion executed who were all Convicted of very great Crimes by the most Legal Trials The name of Papist was not punished in any man that was not guilty of great Wickednesses because in the beginning of a Reign it is a dangerous thing to punish Offences with too much Rigor whereas Clemency is of good use And she accordingly took care by her Benefits to allure the minds of her Popish Subjects to her rathet than by Cruelties to fright them
Thus the Entrance of her Reign was made happy and blessed and she was able by the Blessing of God to settle her Religion and to lay the Foundations of a Long Peace at Home and Abroad Having thus totally abolished all that Papal Superstition and Pomp which for so many Ages had domineered over the English so that there was scarce any sign left that it had once been here her first and greatest care was to advance men of Piety and Learning to the Bishopricks and Preferments in the Church There were many Protestant Clergy-men of great Integrity and Honesty Innocency and Holiness who during the Marian Persecution had fled into Germany or being driven from their Churches lurked up and down the Nation in obscure and remote places these she recalled and restored to their former or better Stations with more honour than they had been in before So that after a Recess of Five years Duration thesemen who had been banished with Ignominy were with Honour and Reputation repossessed of their Countrey their Good Names and their Liberties and Fortunes She re granted to them all their Ancient Privileges with some Improvements and she took such as were of good report for their Learning and exemplary Lives and set them to Govern the Church as BISHOPS When any man was commended to her as a man of Learning she would ask if there were not others to be found of more Learning and Piety to whose Authority Fidelity and Prudence she might recommend the Care of the Church She took great care to curb the immoderate Liberty of the PURITANS who licentiously began to sow Discords and Divisions in the Church and with a Fiery Zeal in their Preachments endeavoured to excite the common people who were then quiet and at ease to Sedition by declaiming against the Jurisdiction and Authority of the Bishops and by her Prudence and Authority she reduced many of the first Leaders from their rash courses to a moderate Temper In the Eighteenth year of her Reign A. C. 1575. the Anabaptists first appeared or at least were discovered to be in England a Conventicle of Dutch-men of that Sect being then detected without Aldgate in London and Twenty seven of the Meeters were taken up and Imprisoned of which Four bearing Faggots at Paul's Cross recanted their dangerous Opinions and one Dutch-man and ten Women were condemned to be burnt one of the Ten Women also recanted eight others were banished but two of the number continued so obstinate that the Queen ordered the Writ de Heretico Comburendo to be issued against them tho Mr. John Fox the Author of the Book of Martyrs interceded with the Queen to spare their lives and banish them In this Letter he blesseth God that none of the English were infected with these mâ—…d Opinions And saith he I will most readily grant That these FANATICK Sects are by no means to be cherished in any State but are to be severely corrected but to exterminate them with Fire and Faggot is I think too hard The Queen thereupon gave them a Months Reprieve and ordered that Learned Divines should endeavour in that time to reduce them which proving without effect these two were burnt in Smithfield the 22d of July and they died in great horror with crying and roaring In the Twenty sixth Year of her Reign one Robert Brown an English Clergy-man began a new Sect also in the City of Norwich his Hearers being half Dutch half English The Queen endeavoured to suppress this Schism in its Rise and prohibited his Books but that not taking effect Thacker and Coping two of his Disciples were hanged at St. Edmonds-Bury in Suffolk The Queen was the more severe upon these Sects because her Subjects were then untainted and these men made it their business to draw in the unlearned multitude and enflame them both against the Eccle siastick and Civil Government and the Queen besides having before this time been forced to be very severe against some Popish Traitors that had conspired against her she did not think it became her to be less concerned for the Majesty of God than for her own Personal Safety After this she caused their Conventicles to be carefully watched and seized the Effects of all Foreign Sectaries she found in England She dealt more gently in the mean time with the English Puritans who were the first beginners of the English Separation and left them to the Discipline of the Bishops and the High Commission where they were often call'd to account for Reproaching the Church Licentious Preachments and Libelling the Bishops in their Prints Having taken these effectual Cares for the Adorning and Confirming the Church she committed all the other Concerns of Religion to the Management of Peaceable Moderate and Judicious men and spent her whole Care and Solicitude in preserving adorning and strengthning her State and Kingdoms In all this time she was never severe against Any Papist who had not first been clearly convicted to have raised Sedition armed the People against her or by Rumors and false Insinuations to have endeavoured to render the Queen odious and contemptible to her People PIUS IV. Pope of Rome in the beginning of her Reign A. C. 1561. having deeply considered the Dangers and Ruin which then threatned the Papacy and Church of Rome though he was enraged against the Protestants to the utmost degree yet seeing how little the Passions and Violences of the last Pope Paul IV. had profited them he thought it became him to act a contrary part and â—…called the Council of TRENT which had been some years before indicted by the Authority of the See of Rome rather for the upâ—…olding the Pope's pretended Ecclesiastical Authority than for the promoting the Salvation of men and which when things succeeded contrary to the expectation of his Predecessors in that See had been frequently intermitted and had not been assembled since the year 1552 but was now again renewed as the only means left for the healing the Wounds of Christendom In this Council many things which had by the Mistakes Ambition and Avarice of the Popes of Rome been changed and corrupted were considered and debated and particularly that grand Question was to be determined Concerning the Authority and Power of the Pope in Sacred and Civil Caâ—…ses When the Protestant Princes were call'd to this Council they answered That they did not own the Pope had any Power to call a Council That it did not belong to him but to the Emperor to Indict Councils That he had no Right to give or take away Kingdoms And having sharply declaimed against the corrupt Manners of his Clergy and deplored the Calamities of the times on that account they represented the Pride Pomp Luxury Ambition Avarice and Cruelty of the Court of Rome in which mere Wolves took upon them the Office of the Pastors of the Church And they said this Council at Trent was not called to Establish Religion and true Piety
Justification of Queen Elizabeth against the Reproaches of the Papists A plentiful Supply given to the Queen She dischargeth a part of it 158 A Digression concerning Parry 160 The Queen's Severity towards the Conspirators 163 The second Civil War in France 165 The third in which the Queen sends great Supplies of Men and Money 167 A Reflection concerning Passive Obedience 169 The King of France laboureth to divide the Protestants without success The true Causes of these Civil Wars 170 The Queen preserved the Protestants of France 171 The beginning of the Countrey-Wars 172 Liberty of Conscience treacherously granted and recalled 172 The King of Spain enraged at it 174 The Spaniards design to settle an Absolute and Arbitrary Government there 176 Valenciennes commanded to receive a Garison 177 The rest of the Cities petition for a General Assembly of the States 178 The Designs of Spain discovered to the rest of the Nobility 179 Which at first only terrified and divided them 181 A Bloody Persecution against the Protestants in the Netherlands 182 The Breakers of Images not put upon it by the Reformed The Character of the Duke of Alva He comes into Flanders The Council of Blood 185 Their Rules The Counts of Egmont and Hoorne the first they seized and after them vast Numbers of meaner people 187 The Protestants of France and the Queen of England alarmed at these Proceedings 188 The Subjects of the Low Countries fly into England 189 The Conduct of King Philip considered The Reasons why Queen Elizabeth opposed the Spaniards 191 The Inhabitants of the Netherlands follow the Example of England 193 The King of Spain complains of the Queen for harbouring the Netherland Pyrates 194 They seize the Sea-Ports of Holland and Zealand The Queen of England undertakes the Protection of this oppressed People 197 The French Affairs during her time 201 A Private League between France and Spain against the Protestants 203 The Duke of Guise made Head of this League against his Sovereign 204 An Account of the House of Guise 205 The Reasons why Henry III. was to be deposed and Henry IV. excluded 207 The Queen Mother of France dieth of Grief Queen Elizabeth assists Henry IV. with Men and Money 209 Spain invaded by the English 211 The Actions of Robert Earl of Essex 212 The Affairs of Ireland during her Reign 216 Ulster the first Province that rebelled 218 A Quarrel between Ormond and Desmond 219 The Pope and King of Spain Interested in the Wars of Ireland 221 The Difficulty of administring Justice and Mercy seasonably 224 Sr. Jo. Perrot Lord Deputy of Ireland New Colonies sent into Munster The Irish complain of the English 226 And they of the Deputy 227 William's Character 228 The College of Dublin finished The English Colonies keep Ireland quiet for some time Part of the Spanish Armado Shipwrackt on the Coast of Ireland 229 The Rise of Hugh Oneale Earl of Tyrone 232 He aspires to be King of Ulster Tyrone made a County which occasioned that Rebellion 233 Sir William Russell Lord Deputy of Ireland under whom it began 234 Sir John Norris sent into Ireland 235 The Irish made very Expert in the use of Arms. Tho. Lord Burroughs made Deputy The Council of Ireland represent the Irish War as an Universal Rebellion of the whole Nation 241 Tyrone beats the English 243 He treats with Spain and England at the same time 244 The Earl of Essex sent Deputy The Lord Montjoy sent Deputy 246 No Irish pardoned but what merited the favour by some Signal Service 247 The Spaniards land at Kingsale The Irish reduced to eat man's Flesh 248 Religion causlesly made the Pretence of this Irish War Liberty of Conscience considered 249 The great Reputation of England in Queen Elizabeth's time 250 Sir Drake's Original and Story 253 The Story of John Oxenham 256 Drake's two Voyages into America 258 The Story of Mr. Tho. Cavendish 263 Philip King of Spam highly inc◅nsed against the English 265 The Invincible Armado Charles Lord Howard Admiral of England The Condition of the Spanish Fleet when the English left it 273 The King of Spain bears his Loss with much patience and prudence 275 The English and Hollanders glorify God for the Victory over the Spaniards at Sea 277 The Queen declares a War against Spain 278 The English Expeditions against that Kingdom A rare Example of Martial Valour Complaints made of the Depredations of the English at Sea 285 The Hanse Towns very clamorous against the English 287 The Trade of England prohibited in Germany 288 The Queen seizes the Still-yard 289 Poland continues a Trade with England 291 The Queen ends a War between the Russ and Swedes ibid. Her Laws for the enriching her Subjects Her Severity to those she imployed when found faulty 292 The Liberty of the Theatre restrained 297 The Calamities that happened in her times 298 Her kindness to her good Magistrates 299 Her tender care of the Church 300 Her Stature and Personal Accomplishments 301 She was concerned in her old Age for the decay of her Beauty She loved Flattery because it raised a good opinion of her in her Subjects but Crafty men made ill uses of it 303 She loved good Preachers 307 She loved Religion but hated Faction 308 Her Devotion in publick She exposed her Life for the Safety of the Church 309 She humoured and caressed the body of the People 310 Parliaments frequently held 312 Her Maxims concerning Peace and War 314 She would never arm the meanest of the People All honours carefully and sparingly bestowed in her time 315 Her Justice and Severity towards Offenders which made her beloved 317 Her Justice in other Instances 322 She was sparing in her Personal Expences but magnificent in her Publick 323 She was too sparing in her Rewards She shewed a great respect to the memory of the meanest Soldier that perished in her Service 327 The Praises of Henry VII who was her Example 329 Her Bounty to some Great Men 330 The manner of her bestowing Honours 333 The choice of her Servants Officers and Ministers 335 Her kindness to the Bishops and Church-men 337 Her Principal Favourites and Statesmen 338 Her Habit 339 Her Furniture 341 Her Dyet in publick and private 342 The Splendor and Divertisements of her Court 344 Her private way of living 346 Her Summer Progresses and her Carriage towards the People 348 She spent the Winter in London 350 Her Diet in Summer and Winter 352 Her Diversions and Private Conversation 353 She was subject to violent Anger 's 355 Her Sevērity to the Queen of Scots To Leicester 358 To Hatton 360 The Provocations she met with many and great 361 The Character of Sanders and others who defamed her 363 Her last Sickness 367 he spent the last moments of her life in Devotion 371 Her last Words and Death 373 The Sorrow for her Death at Home and Abroad 374 LICENS'D November 10. 1692. THE CHARACTER OF Queen ELIZABETH ELIZABETH Queen of England was born
was as great an Admirer of Philosophy as of Eloquence by which She attained the Knowledg of many excellent Things and that civil Prudence or Policy which is so absolutely necessary for all Princes And besides all that civil Prudence and the Knowledge of Governing by which the Publick Utility is acquired and improved She drew from the Ancient and most Noble Philosophers all those Precepts that they have set down for the gaining Moral Prudence and Vertue For Her greatest Care was spent in the Cultivating these two beautiful Parts of Philosophy I will omit the common Philosophers of whose Learning and Doctrine She was a great Lover The Divine Plato that illustrious Light of Greece was made more Noble by the Hands of this Heroick Princess Aristotle the Prince of the Philosophers the acute Master of Alexander the Great was read by Her She was throughly acquainted with Xenophon's Cyrus a Piece not writ with the Truth of an Historian but to represent the lively Image of a Just and Moderate Prince accomplished with all those Endowments which the Great Soerates had set sorth for the living well and happily Being thus prepared by Philosophy she was by the Learned Dr. Grindal Professor of Divinity initiated in Theology which above all other Sciences teacheth the Worship of God Pure Religion and the Knowledge of Heavenly Happiness and by these disposeth men to Justice Modesty Clemency Magnanimity and Humanity She chearfully and readily embraced a genuine and true Theology free from fictitious Legends and the Popish Superstitions which she afterwards made more venerable by an holy and pious Life without any Ostentation And being of a Great Wit and a Strong Memory She drew from the Annals of all Nations and People the Actions of the Greatest Princes and an innumerable number of their Fights and most Illustrious Victories She would frequently set before Her the Monuments of Her Predeccssors the â—…riumphs and incredible Victories obtained by the English at Cressy Poictiers Agincourt or Blagni and at Vernevil against the French with a vast effusion of their blood and she would frequently say These Victories were owing more to the Assistances of Heaven than the Arms of her Ancestors Besides the French Italian and English Tongues which She spake freely She well understood most of the common Languages now spoken in Europe but as to these Three I have mentioned it was hard to say which she knew best Of this there were many witnesses when She answered the Imperial Ambassador in Italian the French in French and the Sweden in Latin Sharply Prudently Pertinently Elegantly and Politely without any time taken to consider of it She gave de Ronsard a French Poet a Diamond of great Value as a Testimony of Her approving his elegant and splendid Poems in that Tongue She understood Musick very well and could Sing Dance and Play on the Lute with a composed Motion of Body attended with a Countenance Habit and Gesture which became a Queen She was a great Lover of Consorts when Voices were mixed with Instruments of Musick and at such times She would be strangely Facetious and Pleasant She spent Her times of Leisure and Diversion with the greatest Pleasure that was possible to Her Self and those about Her Yet after all Her Virtues procured Her more Honour and Esteem in all Nations than all these Ornaments of Industry Learning and Ingenuity though they appeared in Her to an higher and more illustrious degree than ever was found in any other Lady and were attended also with the greatest Sagacity and Judgment For there was not any Person in Her Times that exceeded Her in Chastity Piety Justice and Magnanimity Now I have shortly shown the Beginnings and Progress of Her Virtues and the Means and Degrees by which She attained to them It will be pleasant to shew how she brought them into Act under the Reign of Her Brother EDWARD the VIth who by the Consent of the Three Estates in Parliament abolished the Popish Religion and introduced the Reformed She having then attained to great degrees of Piety Eloquence and Learning went on in the commendable Improvement of all those Perfections She had received from the Bounty of Nature or Fortune She rendred Her Royal Extraction more illustrious by the Assistances She took every day from Books and when She had spent the time She had assigned to Polite Learning She betook Her self every day to the more severe Studies of Religion with a vigorous and lively Affection She read over Melancthâ—…n's Common-Places and gained very much by an exact and acurate Perusal of the Sacred Scriptures There were innumerable Sentences in the New Testament and the Oracles of the Prophets which She had treasured up in Her Memory and which She would afterwards upon occasion mention and She attended the Offices of Religion and Piety with great Devotion and Care She often addressed Her devoutest Prayers to God and implored his Assistance for the obtaining a Chast Heart a Pure and Unspotted Life and a Steady and Constant Soul The Wills of the Subjects of England were then divided and their Opinions distracted in the matters of Religion and She then shewed to mankind the true and salutary Doctrine not so much by Words as by a holy Life and good Actions She attentively heard the Sermons of the Clergy not only to please Her self with their Oratory but admitted them into the most intimate Recesses of Her heart with an incredible satisfaction and She joined devoutly and constantly in the Liturgy and Prayers of the Church The Death of Edward the VIth Her beloved Brother in his Childhood in the very Blossom of a promising Spring tho he was snatched away from Her by an immature Fate to the damage of his Countrey yet it gave no stop or affright to Her Piety but She consolated Her self with the Immortal Glory he had acquired in the short time he lived â—…o him succeeded MARY Her Sister who always adhered stifly to the old way of Worship and the Ceremonies and Superstitions of the Church of Rome even when they were abolished by Acts of Parliament and having now got the Crown made it Her greatest Design not only to restore the Pomp and Splendor of it as before but also to compel all her Subjects to submit to it by Force Threats Banishment and most Baâ—…barous Deaths and Cruelties To this purpose also she called over Cardinal Reginald Pool a Person of rare Learning and of a very Innocent Life and Conversation and which is rarely to be found in the men of that Persuasion of a great Proâ—…ity Candor and Sweetness of Temper The Popish Religion being thus restored there were New Bishops and New Preachers sought for to recommend it to the Nation and the Honest Innocent Religious Good men who had set the Crown upon Her Head upon Her Promise to Protect the Religion which She found Established were oppressed by the Fury of their Enemies which spread it self over the whole Kingdom of
the Queen was dead and that the Princess Elizabeth was the indisputed Heir to the Crown of whose Right and Title none could make any Question and therefore the Lords intended to Proclaim her Queen and desired their Concurrence which was joyfully entertained by them and they all cried God save Queen Elizabeth long and happily may she reign She being thus advanced to the Throne not only by her own undoubted Right and the Providence of God but by the Confent and with the Approbation of all the Three Estates then Assembled in Parliament which I think never before hapned to any of our Princes besides her she was received by the whole Nation with incredible Transports of Joy and Affection and the loudest Acclamations they could make men highly valuing the Innocence of her former Life and commiserating the hardships she had suffered in the former Reign to the hazard of her Life When God had thus brought this Queen to the Throne of her Ancestors of a sudden the course of things and the current of affairs took a new bias the heavy Tempests and Misfortunes that attended England weâ—e instantly blown over and a serene and prosperous course of things succeeded in their place Thus in a moment she was not only freed from the Miseries of an Imprisonment but adorned with the highest degree of Honour and Power and this Lady with a Masculine or rather Heroick Soul which was worthy to have governed the Empire of the World for almost Forty five years after managed the Royal Scepter of England and was the Arbitrator prescribing the Conditions of Peace and War to all the Princes of Christendom with a Greatness of Mind and a Wisdom that became so high a Station This Virtue which was almost Divine joined with so admirable a Prudence renders her worthy of the Applause and Honour of all mankind Thus one may see and admire the great force and power of Time and the wonderful Changes of Human Affairs and how useful it is to arrive at Prosperity by the Waves of Adversity Whilst she was in her private Station she was perpetually under the fear and danger of Death but by the Goodness of God she escaped all the Insults of Adverse Fortune her Innocence procured her Safety that made way for her Liberty so her Soveraignty was acknowledged and from her prudent Management of that Royal Station she gained an â—…ndless Glory and an Immortal Name Thus attaining the Possession of a Kingdom with Glory and the Publick Safety and the Good Will of her Subjects she on all occasions shewed the Greatness and Brightness of her Wit and Soul That she had well studied and digested the best Arts and had had an excellent Education and wise Instruction the good Effects of which were now made known by her wise promoting the Good and Safety of her People In the beginning of her Reign she found the Nation at home filled with Divisions and Heart-burnings by reason of the contrary methods used in the two preceding Reigns Abroad she had never an Ally she could trust to all was in War or an uncertain and unsteady Peace The Spanish Government was bâ—…come odious here and the English called their Assected Gravity Pride and Insolence The French had equally incensed us by the late Surprize of Calais The Tâ—…easury was at the lowest Ebb and our Bulwark which our ncestors had preserved Two hundred and ten years was taken from us in one weeks time in the beginning of January in this year The New Queen proposed to herself the common Safety and Welfare of her People and pursued it with the utmost Care and Asfection She was then Twenty five years of Age and something more when the Royal Diadem of England descended to her and she began the difficult work of raising the low and calamitous state of England and redressing those Grievances which the opposite Interests and Designs of the former times had brought upon this Nation She was not only ripe and sit for Government but she had by this time acquired a strange and unusual degree of Civil Prudence She knew the Publick or Royal Laws of England not only by reading them in Books but also by the great Reflection she had made on our History and on what had happened in her own times and by her Conversation with great men and the application she had ever made of her Mind to whatever was worth regarding The 14th of January after her Sister's Death 1558 9 she was Crowned with the Ancient and Usual Ceremonies when her People gave her fresh Instances of their Loyalty and Affection by crowding in unusual Numbers to see and partake in the Joy of this Solemnity And she having observed that her Sister by the sullenness of her Behaviour had much disobliged the People frequently looked on them with a chearful and pleasing Countenance and returned the Respects they paid her with great sweetness She took the Ancient and Usual Coronation-Oath That she would govern her Kingdom according to the Ancient and Laudable Laws and Customs of England which she observed more willingly than most of her Predecesfors had before her and this gained her both the Love and Reverence of her People At first she cherished in her Roman Catholick Subjects a belief she would Imbrace that Religion they prosessed She changed nothing in the Publick Service or the Administration of the Sacraments that she might not enrage her Papists and give them a pretence for Separation before she had well Established herself The Kingdom of England was then very unsetled and had received great Damages both at home and abroad the French had wrested from us the strong Town of Bologne in the Year 1546. before the death of Henry the VIII â—h and Calais in the beginning of this Year The Sea was full of Privateers and there was scarce any thing to be trusted to In this Disorder of Affairs she wisely thought That the only way to settle and preserve the Nation from Imminent Ruine was to chuse wise and upright Men to manage the Publick Affairs She declined the use of Rash and overbold Men who have commonly brought mischief on the States that have trusted to them Being weary of the Popish Ceremonies and their Conversation she retired for some time to one of her Country Houses as it were for Diversion and Pleasure but in truth that she might with the greater Leisure and Secrecy consider of the Methods she should take for the removing the Dangers which threatned her Kingdom for the Preservation of its Peace for the Abating the Power of the Popish Party and the setling that Religion here which she believed was most for the Glory of God as being most agreeable to the Sacred â—…criptures The Men that she most relied on in this great and difficult Work were William Lord Parre of Kendal Marquess of Northampton whom she had restored to his Honours Francis Russel Earl of Bedsord Sir Nicholas Bacon Lord Keeper of the Great Seal
freed thereby from all fear of Foreign or Domestick Dangers she made it her next great business to reform the Religion of England She foresaw that if she suffered Popery to continue she could never establish her own Government Therefore she resolved with pious and holy care to establish the Reformation that had been begun by her Father and carried on by her Brother and to suppress and eradicate by degrees by the Authority of her Parliaments without force or violence the Popish Superstition which she esteemed a Corrupt and Immoderate Religion and equally iâ—…jurious to Princes and their Subjects In these times the contending Religions were so near an Equality and so balanced each against other that the Authority of the Prince was able to turn the scale Henry the VIIIth was able to settle a Mongrel sort of Popery Edward the VIth advanced this to a thorough Reformation Queen Mary without much difficulty re-setled the old Mass of unrefined Popery And now when it was become ten times more hated than before on the account of the Perfidy and Bloodshed that had been employed to establish it Queen Elizabeth comes upon the stage resolved to use all her Skill and Authority for the intire Extirpation of it and the People readily and willingly complied with her in it or rather in truth led her the way and were a little too hot on the work She presently summoned a Parliament which was opened the 25th of January after her Accession to the Crown the great Design of which was To put an end to the Distractions of the Nation in matters of Religion and to that end by the Lord Keeper Bacon she desired They would consider of it without heat or partial affection or using any reproachful terms of Papist or Heretick and that they would avoid the Extremes of Idolatry and Superstition on the one hand and Contempt and Irreligion on the other and that they would settle things so as might bring the People to an Uniformity and cordial Agreement in them And as to the State she promised she would use her utmost endeavour to advance the Prosperity and preserve the Affections of her Subjects And tho she had need then of their Assistance yet she professed she would desire no Supply but what they did freely and chearfully offer And at the same time she represented Calais as a thing which they could not at that time hope to recover Thus she would neither wheedle nor deceive her Subjects but with an English Sincerity laid before them the Truth of the Case and left it to God to direct them to what was best to be done The Houses having heard and well considered what was offered on both sides came at last to a full Resolution That all the Acts and Laws of Mary her Sister in favour of the Romish Religion should be Repealed That the good Laws of Edward the VIth and Henry the VIIIth in favour of the Reformation should be Revived and Confirmed That the Mass which had been Restored by the Laws enaâ—…ted in Queen Mary's time should be Abolished as a thing that was full of Vanity and Levity That all Images should be taken away out of the Churches And all use of Holy Water That the Liturgy and Publick Prayers should be all performed in the English Tongue and by a Form prescribed and then by Act of Parliament Confirmed and Allowed as it had been before in her Brother's Reign that so the People having a full and clear knowledg of the Service of the Church might the better and more devoutly join both Voice and Heart in it By this her prudent Care she gave the Romish Church one of the most mortal Wounds she ever received from any hand by Rupudiating and Despising Abolishing and Exposing all her Pagan Pageantry and Jewish Ceremonies She commanded all her Magistrates to take effectual Care That the Romish Religion should not be exercised in Publick or in any open Churches or Chappels That all the Priests which should exercise the Romish Rites and Ceremonies should be excluded out of the Church and deprived of their Benefices That they should exercise at all times a severe and wholesom Discipline That the minds of men might thereby be reclaimed from Vice and fixed in the true Worship of God She commanded them to get as many of the Popish Books together as they could possibly and burn them and that they should take away and destroy all the Preparations and Vestments belonging to the Mass all the Images and all other the Ceremonies of that Church She commanded That for the future no Respect or Obedience should be paid to the Pope as the Head of the Church Nor did she scruple to assume the Authority of a Governour of the Church in her own Dominions in all cases Sacred and Civil which is called with us The ECCLESIASTICAL SUPREMACY And she abolished by Act of Parliament all that Authority and Jurisdiction which had heretofore been Usurped or used by the Bishops of Rome in this Kingdom in Publick or in Private which is called the Popish Tyranny and was a pretended Supreme both Spiritual and Secular Jurisdiction She also restored the Oath of Supremacy which had been first introduced by Henry VIII her Father continued by Edward VI. her Brother and was taken away and abolished by â—…ueen Mary by which she was acknowledged to be the Supreme Governor in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal within her Dominions and that they renounced all Foreign Power and Jurisdiction and should bear the Queen Faith and True Allegiance She declined the use of the word Supreme Head in this Oath which had been used before by her Brother and Father both in Reverence to our Saviour to whom she thought that Title only belonged and also to abate by this Verbal Compliance the Reluctance she feared from the Popish Party For if she gained her Point she was unconcerned for the Form of Words as all Wife Princes ever were Against the Passing this Act Nine Bishops and Two Peers Protested viz. the Earl of Shrewsbery and Viscount Montacute and they added some words which were very injurious to the Queen and the States but she wisely dissembled it and gave them no disturbance on that account The Popish Bishops and Priests in the mean time were not idle and unconcerned Spectators but being agitated by Hopes and Fears and a confused Expectation what would be the Event of these Counsels they made loud and bitter Complaints That men were drawn away from the Ancient and Established Roman Rites and Ceremonies That Christ's Vicar the POPE was robb'd of his Supremacy and Divine Jurisdiction That the Reverence to the Holy and Apostolick See was brought to nothing and that now the Pope's Authority was despised intolerable Heresies were daily minted So they endeavoured to retain the Nation in the Profession of their Religion and to uphold their Ceremonies by any means and when this failed to alienate the minds of the People
and Parliaments honoured and reverenced In short all those Perfections which separately have made so many Great Men admired met in this one Lady viz. Civil Prudence for the Government of a State the knowledge of Equity and Laws and an exact Skill of managing a Kingdom and the Publick Affairs of it Her Goverment was not like that of most other Women turbulent and insolent but was grateful to her Subjects pleasing to the People acceptable to the Nobility and Gentry equal and just to her Allies and admired by the Neighbour Nations She has been celebrated not only in her own times but in all that have since followed and will be to the end of the world on the account of these Divine Virtues and Deserts For she was truly accounted the Parent of her â—…eople a Prince by her Nobles and the Patroness of true Piety and Religion by the Protestant Nations about her Nor was there ever any Prince that was equally esteemed and loved by the Nobility and Commonalty too of his own Kingdom as Queen ELIZABETH was by hers If she happened at any time to be sick or ever so little disordered in her health her Nobility would be so alarmed at it that they would willingly never stir from her to eat or drink or take any care of themselves and all degrees of people would fly in vast Numbers to the Churches and with Tears and the most devout Prayers beg her Life and Health and the Continuance of her Government over them till God heard their Petitions and restored her to her Health Nor was this an enjoined and formal Devotion but it was as hearty and as earnest as that which is made for the nearest and dearest Relations And when they had obtained their desire the Joy and the Gratitude they expressed shewed they took her Preservation and Life for a Publick and an Universal Blessing When in the beginning of her Reign she had first taken care to reform and settle Religion and after that to redress and restore the Civil State or Government of England which had been brought by the Calamities of the foregoing Reigns not only into a deplorable but almost into a desperate condition but now were by her Authority Prudence and Moderation with the Assistance of her Council brought to the state of Tranquility Order and Equity she designed the Fears of England which before oppress'd the Nation in relation to Foreign Dangers as well as Domestick expired When her first Parliament had setled the Succession and Religion their next care was for the Marriage of the Queen and the providing for future times and accordingly the Commons by common consent resolved to Address to the Queen fearing though without just cause That she should Marry a Foreign Prince and thereby bring the English Liberties and the Protestant Religion into the same dangers they had been exposed to in the former Reign They therefore represented the Affections of the Nation to her and said If they could hope she might be Immortal they would rest satisfied but that being a vain Imagination they earnestly besought her to chuse such an Husband as might make her self and the Nation happy and by the Blessing of God bring such Issue as might Reign after her Death which they prayed God might be very late To this she replied That tho the Subject they came about was not acceptable to her yet it was a great satisfaction to her to see how zealous they and her other Subjects were for her Welfare and that she bâ—…lieved they desired it for her's and the Nation 's Good And as to the changing my present state said she and Marrying which you so earnestly desire I would do I have long since peâ—…suaded my self That I was brought into the world by the special Providence of God that I might in the first place think and do what tended most to his Glory Therefore I have chosen that state of Life which is the freest from human cares that so I might be at leisure only to attend the Service of God And if it had been possible for the Marriage of a Potent Prince to have allured me or the Fears of Death to have affrighted me from this Resolution I might have been long since engaged in the Honourable State of Matrimony and these were my thoughts when I was â—…et a Subject But now when all the Cares which attend the Governing of a Kingdom are come upon me it would appear a very inconsiderate and imprudent thing in me to add to them the Cares of a Married State In truth said she I am already married if 〈◊〉 else will satisfie you to the Kingdom of ENGLAND See what I wonder you could forget the Pledge of my Marriage and betrothing to the Nation And stretching out her hand she shewed them on one of the Fingers of her Right Hand the Gold Ring had been put upon it according to the Custom at her Coronation And after a short pause she thus went on And I desire you would not look upon me as Childless and on that account weak and defenceless for you and all other English-men are my Children and Kinsmen and if God doth not deprive me of you as I hope he will not there can be no reason why I should be thought Childless Yet I cannot but commend you for this That you have not prescribed or appointed who should be my Husband for this would have been a very great Affront to a Sovereign Prince as I am and very misbecoming you who are my Subjects born But if ever it should please the Divine Majesty to incline me to change my Condition I promise you I will never do any thing that shall tend to the Damage of the State but will to the utmost of my power take such an Husband as shall take as much Care of the Kingdom as I do But then if I should continue in my present State of Life I do not doubt but that God will so direct mine and your Counsels that there shall be no doubt of my Successor who may be more beneficial to the Kingdom than one born of me for it is often observed That the Children of the Best Princes do degenerate from the Virtues of their Parents And as for me it will be the best Memorial and the greatest Honour I can wish to leave behind me to have this Inscription after my Death upon my Tomb HERE LIES A QUEEN THAT REIGNED SO LONG AND LIVED AND DIED A VIRGIN And she concluded That she took their Address in good part and desired them to carry back her Thanks for the Care the Commons had of her By this means it came to pass that many Noblemen of great Estate and Power especially such as enjoyed the Blessings of Nature and Fortune Beauty and Wealth united together conceived an almost certain hopes that they should win their Maiden Queen and were by her Arts carried on in that expectation But on the contrary tho she lived in a Royal
March with the English Army for England where he was rewarded for this Service with the Government of Berwick which he did not long enjoy for he died the 14th of December 1562. This War saith Mr. Cambden preserved all Britain from Ruin restored the Scots to their Ancient Liberty and setled the Peace and enlarged the Reputation of the English Nation so that from thenceforward during all her happy Reign she had no reason to apprehend any danger from Scotland the Protestants of that Nation esteeming the Queen their Patroness and Deliverer and the English acknowledging she had laid a sure foundation for their future Security Thus she delivered Scotland from those Foreigners who designed by Violence and Force to suppress not only the Protestant Religion but their Civil Rights and Liberties also and to bring upon that Free Nation an intolerable French Slavery Of this the Scots were then so extremely sensible saith my Author who was of that Nation That they being delivered by her means from Foreign Servitnde they thereupon subscribed to a League to maintain the Protestant Religion and to use the English Worship and Rites After this a Civil War arose in France and the Queen sent Supplies under the Earl of Warwick in 1562. to the Prince of Conde the Count de Rohan and Coligny the Defenders of the Protestant Religion and of the Liberties of that Kingdom To these Forces when the Protestants themselves opposed thâ—…m she sent afterwards Additional Forces and great Sums of Money At this time the French Protestants put Havre de Grace into her hands as a Cautionary Town and it was Garison'd with English Soldiers but so soon as their Fear of the Popish Party was a little abated by a Peace granted to them which yet waâ—… of no duration they joined with their Popish Countreymen to drive out their Benefactors and with equal Violence endeavoured to reduce the Town under the Crown of France again The Earl of Warwick seeing his men consumed by a War without and a Plaâ—…ue within the Town and no Relief to be expected in due time he thereupon began a Treaty with the Enemy and the 28th of July 1563. the Articles of Surrender were signed the next day there came a Fleet of 60 Sail of English Ships into the Haven on which the Garison was Transported into England And the Protestants of France had the chief hand in the driving them out as all sides acknowledge The Death of Francis II. King of France the 5th of December 1560. when he had Reigned but Seventeen Months put an end to all the French Ambitious Designs of Conquering England and Reducing Scotland and to the Fears of both these Kingdoms on that score Mary Queen of Scotland being thus deprived of her Beloved Husband soon grew weary of that Kingdom and getting a small Number of Ships together for that purpose she went on board at Calais the 14th of August and she landed at Leith the 20th of the same month in the year 1561 being attended by many of the Nobility and some great Ladies of both the French and Scots Nation Not long after the Queen of England having opposed this Princess's designs of Marrying Charles Archduke of Austria and rather recommending to her choice the Lord James Darnley Eldest Son to the Earl of Lenox and the next Heir after her of the Crowns of England and Scotland so that this Match would undoubtedly secure her Title to England too after the Death of Queen Elizabeth whereupon she married him at Edinburgh in the year 1565 and the next year after James their only Son was born to the great Joy of both the Nations for he was then thought one of the Pillars of Christendom the Ornament of his Native Countrey and Family and all men presaged That he would one day become the King of Great Britain as it came afterwards to pass by the wonderful good Providence of God This Marriage was attended with a Catastrophe and Tragick Event which is grievous to the thoughts and scarce possible to be enough lamented Mary Stewart the Relict of Francis II. King of France and the Immediate Heiress and Lawful Queen of Scotland and the Presumptive Heir of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland the Mother of James VI. soon after became a Lamentable Example of the Unsteadiness of Human Affairs The Lord Darnley her Husband having out of Jealousie ordered the Murther of one David Rixio the Queen's Secretary was afterwards himself Poisoned first and then Murdered at Edinburgh in the year 1567 The effect of which was the Deposing the Queen her self who was suspected to have an hand in it and the Imprisoning her in a Castle in the Lake of Locklevin where she was forced to subscribe a Resignation of the Crown and Government of Scotland in the year 1568. The Queen by the Providence of God escaped afterwards out of this Restraint the 2d of May and raised some Forces to recover her Crown again which were intirely routed and dispersed by the Forces of the Regent of Scotland So that having nothing more to trust to in that Kingdom she took shipping with intention to pass into France but being by stress of Weather or the Treachery of those that carried her brought into England she was landed at Warkinton in Cumberland the 17th of the same Month and not long after committed Prisoner to the Castle of Carlisle so that being driven from her Native Countrey by her own Subjects she found an uneasie and cruel Restraint where she expected a Refuge and a Sanctuary The Laws of Hospitality and that Kindness which Nature teacheth all men to use towards those that are of the same Lineage and Blood not being able to protect her against the Jealousie of a Rival Queen When Mary Queen of the Scots saw her self reduced to this Calamitous Condition forsaken of all her Subjects and Servants and forced to flee in one day about Sixty Miles and then not thinking her self secure till passing to Sea she was thrown upon the English shore She wrote a Letter to the Queen of England before she left Scotland and sent it by one Beton and she gave him a Diamond which the Queen had sent her before this as a Pledge of her Friendship she also ordered him to tell the Queen That she intended to leave Scotland and to come into England and did most earnestly beseech her to send her such Help and Assistance as was necessary in case the Scots should persist in the same Methods of Oppression Queen Elizabeth assured this Gentleman That she would shew the Queen of Scots all that Affection that she could possibly expect from a Sister Before this Gentleman could get back again she left Scotland contrary to the Advice of all her Friends and came into England and as soon as she was on shore she sent the Queen a Second Letter in French in the Conclusion of which she tells the Queen of England That she was come into her
of Supremacy And finding that the Iesuits and Secular Priests were under the Mask and Pretence of Religion the Spies and Partisans of Philip II. King of Spain and the Emissaries and Promoters of the Papal Tyranny and Disorder and that their greatest business was to pervert her Subjects and to entice them to commit the most unnatural and horrid Crimes she banished them for ever from her Kingdoms and Territories and made it Treason for them to return and Felony for any of her Subjects knowing them to be such to entertain conceal or harbor them This which was designed by the Queen and the Government to cure or rather to prevent their Treachery and Malice by keeping them at a distance inflamed their rage against her so that concealing themselves under the Habits and Dresses of Lay men and sometimes under the Disguise of Mechanick and mean Trades and Employments they lay as it were in ambush expecting and ready to catch at any opportunity that offered it self to murther her In the year 1578. which was the 12th year of her Reign and the very year when the Popish Schism began several of the Popish Priests fled over into Flanders where Philip II. had already prepared for them a College at Doway and here they put themselves under the Government of one William Alan a Divine of Oxford who having obtained a large Pension from the Pope opened here a School for Rebellion and Treason To the end say they that as the Papal Priests in England are by time extinguished there might always be a new Race to supply their Places and sow the Seeds of the Roman Religion in England and therefore they called these Places Seminaries and those that were educated in them Seminary Priests The first of these Seminary Priests sent over were Robert Parson and Edmund Campion in the year 1580. Parson was a Somersetfhire man of a furious and hot Temper and of an ungenteel behaviour Campian was a Londoner well bred sweet and elegant and both of them had been bred up in the University of Oxford and had profess'd the Protestant Religion These men upon their coming over into England appeared sometimes in a Military Habit sometimes in the Dress of a Gentleman and at others in the Habits of the Clergy and sometimes like Paritors and frequented the Country Houses and Seats of the Popish Nobility and Gentry Parson was so hot with them for the deposing of the Queen that some of them were strongly inclined to deliver him up into the Hands of the Magistrates Campian made it more his business to pervert the People by his Writings to the Popish Religion but his Reign was not long for in the year 1581. he was taken and executed for High-Treason The Queen had before this put out a Proclamation to give these men a caution before-hand That seeing they had put off all that Love which they owed to their Countrey and the Allegiance which was due to her they should yet behave themselves prudently and modestly and not irritate her Justice any farther against them for she was now resolved not to be cruel to her self and her good Subjects any longer by sparing such Miscreants as she had found them to be So that how severely soever they were used they had the lessâ—…ason to complain because she had fairly before-hand told them what she meant to do and what usage they might expect at her hands In the year 1583. Francis Throgmorton the eldest Son of John Throgmorton Chief Justice of Chester Thomas Lord Paget and Charles Arundel and others of the Popish Religion conspired to deliver the Queen of Scots out of her Confinement Henry Earl of Northumberland and Philip his Son Earl of Arundel were suspected and confined to their own Houses and some others were suspected and difficultly delivered themselves For about this time the outragious Malice of the Popish Party against the Queen broke out to that degree that they printed Books to exhorâ—… the Queens Servants to serve her as Judith did Holofernes The Author of which was never fully discovered but iâ—… was suspected that it was written by Gregory Martin of Oxford but Carter a Printer that printed it was hanged Throgmâ—… had the same Fate but Paget and Charles Arundel left the Nation and went into France Stafford the Queen's Ambassador desired they might be sent out of France which was denied because the Queen had at the same time entertained the Count de Montgomery and had then with her Sagner an Advocate of Berne an Ambassador for the King of Navar who was endeavouring to promote a War in France In the year 1585. William Parry a Welshman by Birth and of a very mean Extraction meanly learned in the Civil Law but proud and gallant beyond his Means being chosen a Member of the Lower-House declaimed very furiously against a Bill then proposed in Parliament against the Jesuits averring tâ—…at it was a cruel bloody desperate Bill and would be destructive to the Kingdom of England Being desired to shew his Reasons for what he said he refused to answer before any other than the Privy Council whereupon he was commitâ—…ed and afterwards upon his submission readmitted into the House but was afterwards accused by Edmund Nevil the Heir Male of the House of Westmorland to have a Design against the Life of the Queen which he confessed afterwards in the Tower upon which he was tryed and executed In the year 1586. J. Ballard a Ruffling Priest of the College of Reims came over to embroil the Nation and made his visit to most of the Popish Nobility and Gentry in England and Scotland being every where accompanied by one Mand who was a Spy employed by Sir F. Walsingham This Silken Priest came into England about Easter and contracted a great acquaintance and friendship with Mr. Anth. Babington of Dethick in Derbyshire a young Gentleman of good Birth and Estate of great Wit and Learned above his years but being a great Zealot for the Romish Religion he about a year before this without the Queen's leave went into France and there was first debauched as to his Loyalty by Morgan an Agent for the Scotchmen in that Court Ballard informed this Gentleman that the Queen of England would not live long because there was one Savage come over to assassinate her This Project did not please Babington so he formed a new Design in which were Edward Brother to the Lord Windsor Thomas Sarisbury of the County of Denbigh Charles Tilney one of the Gentlemen Pensioners that waited upon the Queen and the only hope of his Family but reconciled to the Church of Rome under-hand by this Ballard Chidick Tichburn of the County of Southampton Edward Abington Son of the Queen's Cosserer Robert Grage of Surry John Traverse John Charnock of Lancaster John Jones whose Father had been Master of the Wardrobe to Queen Mary Savaâ—…e and one Barnwell of a Noble 〈◊〉 Family Henry Dun a Clerk in
Reformation began which is now One hundred seventy five years though they have been engaged in endless Plots against the Protestant Princes yet they have been so far disappointed by the special Providence of God that I do not know of any Prince they have been able to Assassinate but Willian the First Prince of Orange and him they attempted twice before it succeeded In the year 1567. there broke out a second Civil War in France on the score of Religion which filled that once most flourishing Kingdom with Factions and Seditions and strangely exagitated the Towns and great Cities of that Kingdom so that the people of France ran upon each other as if they had been divided and set on by a Divine Judgment Catherine de Medicis the Queen Dowager of France had then assumed the Supreme Government as Guardian to CharlesIX herSon who was then a Minor She and her Council were contriving by all the ways that were possible to suppress the Protestants of France which grew numerous during the Minority of the King and under the Favour and Protection of the last Treaty to this end they had ordered some men to be Levied in Champagne and had sent for Six thousand Swiss The Prince of Conde and Coligny observing these Preparations concluded they were made against them and resolved to begin first and they formed a Design to surprize the King and the Queen-Mother at Meaux but she being informed of it withdrew in the night time towards Paris the Prince of Conde being thus disappointed followed them to Paris and Besieged that City which being reduced to some streights there followed a Fight at St. Dennis in which Montmorancy was slain but the Protestants were driven out of the Field and they fell next upon Chartres which they besieged Queen Elizabeth thereupon ordered her Ambassador Norris to interpose between the Parties and bring them to a Peace as he did but it was short and full of Insincerity and Treachery The Queen-Mother of France was now so afraid of Queen Elizabeth that to prevent her sending Succours to the Protestants she caused a Marriage to be proposed between her and the Duke of Anjou her Second Son who was afterwards King of France by the name of Henry III. and was now about Seventeen years of Age but this Treaty ended with the Peace for the procuring of which it was began In the year 1568. the War broke out again by the Perfidy of the Popish Party who had now joined with the Spaniards by a Treaty made in a clandestine manner at Baionne in the year 1565. for the Extirpating the Protestant Religion in France and Flanders and the mutual assisting each other to that purpose And the Duke de Alva the Spanish Governor of the Low-Countries had Orders to join with the Guises in this Religious work and tho the King of France had in the beginning of this year promised them of that Persuasion Liberty of Conscience yet he soon after put out an Edict to forbid all publick Exercise of any other Religion in France but the Roman-Catholick and commanding all the Protestant Ministers to depart out of France within a certain time This was followed by a severe Prosecution and in many places they were Assassinated or Robbed and all France was thereupon in Arms Queen Elizabeth ordered her Ambassador to use all his Endeavours to procure a solid and a sincere Peace shewing the King the Methods propâ—…sed would only serve to exasperate the minds of his People and deprive him of the Service of his most faithful Subjects so that the Forces of France being diminished with his People his Kingdom would be exposed to the Violence of its Enemies A Consideration which Lewis the XIVth may have reason one day to think more seriously of But now it was rejected and the young King of France sent into Spain to borrow Money and into Germany and Italy to raise Auxiliary Forces to carry on the War Whereupon the Queen resolved not to be wanting to the common Protestant Interest which was now plainly struck at and upon the French Protestants assuring her That they had not taken up Arms against the King's Authority but for their own sale Defence she sent them One hundred thousand Crowns in Money and great Stores of Ammunition and entertained all the French that fled into England with great Humanity It is worth the observing here the Wild Notions of Passive Obedience which have been since set on foot were not in being in these times the Queen desiring no other Security or Justification than this Protestation which being joined with her own knowledg of the Designs of the Guises was then thought sufficient to warrant a Defensive War when nothing less than the Extirpation of the Protestant Religion was intended She did not think these Subjects of France were obliged to submit to an Extirpation because it was the Will of their Monarch to have it so nor that she Assisted Rebels and Traytors against their Lawful Prince when she undertook the Defence of those of her own Religion against a Tyrant who contrary to all Faith and Humanity had designed the Destruction of those he was bound and had promised to protect The King of France seeing by this time a destructive War would follow to distract the â—…inds and divide the Forces of the Protestants promised that all those that continued quiet at home should be tolerated but this Facility as a Jesuit calls it when it was a mere Treachery had no effect the Perfidy of it was palpable If he was in good earnest why had he Revoked the former Edict and began the War Who could reconcile these two contrary Edicts That they should and should not be tolerated at one and the same time The Pope to promote this War gave the King leave to sell Church-Lands to the Value of 50000 Crowns by the year and saith the same Jesuit Never were Church Revenues better employed or granted away upon a better reason The destruction of Hereticks with Fire and Sword contrary to the Publick Faith is certainly a most Holy Work and an Excellent Subject to spend the Revenues of the Church on The next year the Armies drew into the Field and in March there followed a Fight at Jarnac in which the Prince of Condé was slain and Coligni became General of the Protestants and after this another at Moncontour in which the Protestants lost 20000 men They renewed their Forces however with that Alacrity that in the year 1570 they forced the King after a vast Expence of Blood and Treasure when he saw he could not any longer continue the War without apparent Ruin to make a Peace on the same terms with the former The Queen-Mother was the Firebrand of France and by her Dissimulation and Hypocrisy raised all these Combustions there She was jealous of the Princes of the Blood of the House of Bourbon who were become the Heads of the Protestants in that Kingdom and she
was perpetually Plotting how to ruin them or force them to preserve themselves by War The King of Spain pushed on rhe Incendiaries of France under pretence of securing the Catholick Religion but with a Design at the bottom to weaken that Kingdom by their intestine Wars and at last to subdue it Queen Elizabeth observed all this and saw whither it tended and by her seasonable Supplies upheld the Protestant Party which was the weaker till she forced the Court of France to see its Error and lay aside or rather change their destructive Methods for others that were more infamous and as ineffectual In the mean time the noble Kingdom of France was desolated by Fire and Sword their Populous Towns destroyed their Rich Churches and Monasteries plunder'd their Nobility and Gentry slain on both sides and by their own Swords their Matrons Ravished and the Children Murdered in the Arms of their Parents and France was more wasted by this War in her bowels than by all the Foreign Wars she had been engaged in from the time the English were expelled to that time Was ever Church-Treasures better spent At the same time that France was thus miserably harass'd by an intestine War the Spaniards were as busie in the Low-Countries to extirpate Heresie as they pretended but in truth to deprive those Provinces under that pretence of their Ancient Liberties and Civil Privileges and to submit them to the Servitude of the Insolent Spaniards that so they might from thence pass on to the Conquest of England and France and so erect an Universal Monarchy in Europe which Design they had Vanity enough to discover To this end in the year 1564. they erected Seven new bishopricks to curb that people In the year 1565. he commanded the Council of Trent to be Revived together with the Inquisition and a strict observation of the Edicts concerning Religion Upon this the Nobility of those Countries as well those that persisted in the Roman-Catholick Religion as those that were well inclined to the Reformation seeing the Liberty and Riches Trade and Commerce of their Countrey must be ruined if these courses were taken they interceded with Margaret the King's Sister their Regent that the King's Letter might not be put in execution but she went on however and they on the other hand stood upon their guard and as much as was possible hindred it The next year the Quarrel grew higher and the multitude rose in many places with an irresistible fury and destroyed all the Images in the Churches of many of the great Cities the Torrent ran so high and was so impetuous that the Regent was forced to publish an Edict of Liberty of Conscience to appease the people the Spaniards being not able by any other means to secure the Possession of these Countries but so soon as the people were quieted the Edict was recalled which they owned was granted only to gain time to send for Men and Moneys to force the Inhabitants of the Netherlands to submit to the King's Will and to punish them for their disobedience Yet however in the mean time whilst this Edict was observed all places returned to the former state of Peace and Trade went on successfully so that if the King of Spain could have perswaded himself to have complied with his Interest in this Affair he and his Posterity had continued in the Peaceable Possession of these Provinces which would have been worth the owning Rich Populous and Potent and able to defend themselves against the French But by pursuing contrary Methods he brought a War upon himself which wasted Spain ruined his Treasures erected a part of these Provinces into an Independent Commonwealth and so depopulated and impoverished the rest that they are not able to defend themselves against the French So that the breaking this Edict proved the Ruin of all the Spanish Greatness This Liberty of Conscience which was extorted from the Regent by pure Force and Fear being sent into Spain to be confirmed by the King he was highly displeased at it and ordered some of his Council to let the Prince of Orange and Count Egmont know That if they or either of them had opposed these Insurrections with that Bravery they had shewed on other occasions and as they were bound in Duty to have done things could never have been brought by the Populace into the state they were now in That if yet they would do their Duty without mincing or dissembling absolutely they might reduce things into the former state or at least keep them as they were till the King could come thither himself to settle them That it was the Duty of a good Subject when he once knew his Prince's Pleasure to set himself roundly without considering what should be the event to himself or others to put the same in execution and that willingly readily and effectually tho he himself were of a contrary opinion for that it did not become them to think themselves wiser than their Prince since they were his Subjects and Vassals They had Advices at the same time from Spain That the King was fixedly resolved to oppose these Grants of his Sister the Regent both to prevent the Example as to his other Provinces and also preserve the Popish Religion in these And they were informed also that under the pretence of preserving the Catholick Religion in the Netherlands there was a Design formed to advance the King's Power and that they were not displeased ai Court that they had this occasion given them to bring the whole under and settle in them a new and more Absolute Form of Government because they concluded in Spain That all the Obstinacy the people had shewn proceeded from their Reliance upon their great Freedoms and Privileges But then this was to be concealed with the utmost care from them and the King and the Regent to delude and deceive them wrote the kindest Letters and spoke the sweetest Words to the Confederate Lords and especially to the Prince of Orange that the Wit of man could invent But in the mean time the Regent Levied Two Regiments in Flanders under the Earls of Arenbergh and Mâ—…em and Two more in Germany undeâ—… Count Philip of Overstein and Three of Walloons and a German Regiment of Horse under Count Mansfield These Forces were Levied in distant places and upon different pretences and brought into or near the Provinces and then the Regent began to throw off her Mask by degrees And she ordered the Protestant Meetings and Sermons in many places to be disturbed pretending they were not kept just in the same place that they were at first allowed And after she went on and seized on and imprisoned some of the Preachers on the same pretence and she hanged one of them near AELEST And when complaint was made of these Proceedings to the Regent she would sometimes say Her Consent was not free but extorted from her by fear and therefore she was not bound to
24th of February 1599 600 The English Army was then 1200 Horse and 14000 Foot and the General finding the Irish Strength was in their Fastnesses he resolved to ruin them by small flying Parties placed in Garisons and this way accordingly destroyed them without redress and they began to talk of submitting which was not regarded because all the world saw there was no Truth Faith or Honour in this barbarous and false Enemy From thenceforward many that begged for Pardon were denied it if they did not bring in the Heads of their Fellow-Traytors or do some other considerable service to purchase it which they seldom failed of attempting and were very often taken by their own Party in the Fact and hanged The War went vigorously on and the Rebels were generally beaten in all places till the 23d of September 1601. when the Spaniards landed at Kingsale and the English immediately sat down before it yet the Spaniards tho beaten in every Sally defended the Town to the 24th of December when there was a general Battel between Tyrone and all the Rebels on the one side and so many of the English as could be spared out of the Trenches Tyrone was beaten out of the Field and he lost 1200 of his men 800 wounded and the English lost only one Cornet and six Soldiers The Spaniards knew nothing of the Battel and made no Sally till it was over tho the Fight was within one Mile of Kingsale but then they sallied twice to no purpose whereupon the 31st of December the Spaniards capitulated and delivered up the Town After this the War went on so successfully against these Rebels and they were reduced to such Necessities that the Parents eat their Children and three Children roasted the flesh of their dead Mother and lived upon it twenty days so that this exceeded the Famine of Jerusalem The 30th of March 1602. Tyrone submitted to Mercy at Melifont begging to be received upon his Knees Thus ended this most dangerous Rebellion that ever was made in Ireland before that time about a week after the Death of the Queen and before it was known It had never risen to that height but for the over-great penuriousness of the Queen for which she afterwards paid very dear and had not the happiness to see the Traytor Tyrone at her foot before her Death but however she was sufficiently revenged of all her Enemies by the Ruin Famine Deaths and Plagues that fell upon them Heaven favouring her Cause and blasting all their Undertakings against her It is very observable that the main pretence of this Rebellion was the Preservation of the Roman-Catholick Religion yet there was then never any Law passed in this Kingdom against it nor any Prosecution made of those that professed it but they had a perfect Liberty of Conscience to embrace which of the Religions they pleased only the Church-Preferments and Revenues were put into the hands of the Protestant Clergy and the Tythes paid to them and the Government was generally put into the hands of the Protestant Nobility and Gentry but so that they were mixed and they of the other Religion being more in number were commonly returned on all Juries So that Liberty of Conscience will not keep a divided Kingdom always quiet but there have ever been men to be found who are as uneasie when they cannot persecute others as when they themselves are persecuted The Charge of this War from the first of October 1598. to the first of April 1603. amounted to Eleven hundred ninety eight thousand seven hundred and seventeen Pounds Nineteen Shillings and One Peny as Mr. Cox assures us from whence he inferreth how justly the Irish had for feited the Estates were taken from them and how reasonable it will ever be for the English in Ireland to contribute freely to the maintaining of a good Army for the preserving that Kingdom in Peace In her time the English Nation was at its highest pitch of Honour Wealth and Reputation The Queen was also in the greatest esteem that was possible with all the Neighbour Nations because she had delivered Scotland from the hated Dominion of the French and she had after this succoured and supported the Netherlands when their Affairs were most desperate she had sent vast Treasures into France to support Henry the IVth against the Holy League and the King of Spain and when after all Ireland had been stirr'd up against her and had made almost a general Revolt under the Command of a false and treacherous Traytor she had the good fortune to reduce that Kingdom by the Prosperity of her Arms and the Valour of her Subjects Spain was in her time terrible to all the other Nations in Europe till her Navies afflicted and ruined that Kingdom by burning their Fleets and Naval Stores at the Groyne and Cadiz Her Fame spread it self to the most distant parts of Europe and the Muscovites and Turks who were only known by report to the English before her happy times sent Ambassies to her to beg her Friendship and settle Commerce and Trade with her The King of Morocco and Fez in Barbary in Africa sent also an Ambassy to her so that her Subjects had the pleasure of smiling at the half-naked Moors and the Russ who were loaded with Furs after the manner of their Countrey The Hollander French Poles Germans Danes and Swedes and all the other Nations about her begged her Friendship in times of Peace her Assistance and Protection in times of War and on every occasion testified their sense of her Favours and their Gratitude for the good offices she had done them She laboured always to unite those Princes who were her Friends and Allies by Marriages and other such methods if any Controversie or Difference at any time arose between them she sent her Letters and her Ambassadors to both the Parties to compose them and they on the other side did for the most part acquiesce in her Judgment and yield to her Authority If in any part of her Dominions the Countrey hapned to become desolate and ill peopl'd she took particular care to send Colonies thither to supply that defect She brought her meanest Subjects from an idle poor and beggarly way of living to the practice of good and useful Trades many of which were brought into England in her time by the banished and persecuted Netherlanders to the great benefit and advantage of this Kingdom She made the Naval Glory of England equal to its Military or Land-Service and Reputation The Bounds of her Fame were not confined to England but extended to the utmost parts of the earth and the farthest Recesses of the Ocean for her Subjects in her time passed the Liâ—…e and filled all the corners of the habitable world with the fame of this most Celebrated Queen There was no place in the wide and remotest Ocean but her Subjects sailed thither with their Merchandize to enrich their Countrey The English Fleets
still shew her what she had been The Courtiers who knew her humour if she were to pass through any of the Ladies Chambers that waited on her presently conveyed away all the Looking-glasses and sometimes for haste broke them To please and flatter her they would also frequently admire her Beauty and pretend in her greatest Age and Deformity she was still handsome and lovely She was strangely pleased to hear the Beauty of her Face the Sweetness of her Voice and the Majesty and Decence of her Countenance still admired by others And this gave occasion to many unworthy strokes of Flattery and examples of Adulation Thus the Orators of those times would too often in their Speeches vainly commemorate and celebrate the wonderful and pleasing Beauty and Shape of their Queen and say The Majesty of her Countenance was not at all subject to the Injuries of Time when their eyes told them and all that saw her the contrary from thence they went on sometimes to tell her She had a Soul was worthy to Rule over the whole World and enjoyed those Favours of Fortune and Gifts of Nature and Art which fitted her for the Empire of the Universe Nor were her stately Palaces and Buildings her noble Furniture her fine Statues or excellent Pictures her great Treasures Virtues or Felicity forgotten on these occasions The Flatteries of Learned men towards her were very base and shameful and such as would hardly become the Stage or Theatre for they would often apply to her that Expression of Virgil's as spoken of her O Dea certe Surely this is a Goddess And that Sentence too which Tacitus marked as the utmost pitch of a wild and boundless Assentation Solam D. Elizabethae mentena tantae molis capacem That none but the Divine Soul of Queen Elizabeth was able to sustain that Weight By which extravagant Flatteries they would have had men think that the Name of their Queen had something of Divinity in it and that they revered her as a Goddess which fell from Heaven These base and pernicious Flatteries so far transported the minds of Caligula Domitian and Heliogabilus that they fell into a kind of Madness and forgetting the frailty of their humane state they assumed the Stile and Honours of gods and despised all Religions and the Providence of God The Queen especially in the beginning of her Reign endeavoured to raise in the minds of her Subjects an high opinion of her self and to that end she shewed her self on all occasions very Civil and Obliging to the Many in her Attire Retinue and Carriage She always openly profess'd that she would make it her business to employ her Estate and Fortunes in the most prudent Administration of her Royal Power and Authority Whatever she did or said was by her designed to draw upon her self the Applause and Good Wills of her Subjects and by this her Moderation and Prudence she won the Hearts and obtained the Prailes of all men Afterwards with the Prosperity of her Affairs Flattery that old haunter of the Courts of Fortunate Monarchs under the Vizor and Mask of Diligence Loyalty and Duty gained her ear and her heart and she was pleased to see her Parasitical Courtiers when they had looked intently on her of sudden cast their eyes upon the ground and craftilyseem to shake as if their Modesty was not able to bear the Greatness of her Majesty and the splendor of her Heavenly Eyes And if in their common Intercourses with her or their Publick Addresses to her they happened to fall into Flattery she never corrected them for it nor forbid these indecent and unseasonable Flatteries She would not suffer any of her Subjects tho Parliament-men to speak to her by way of Address or Business but upon their Knees and with great submission The crafty men of that Age who lay in Ambush made great use of this Infirmity of the Queen's and observed not only her Words but her Looks and Nods and flattered her in every thing Sir Thomas Henage a Knight was one of these cunning Blades who by the basest crouching Insinuations scrued himself into her good opinion and most intimate Familiarity and by this means in her Court raised himself to a great Power and Estate And besides him there were many others who were not ignorant of this useful Art tho they were inferior to him in Place Fortune and Fame Tho many of her more sincere and hearty Friends advised her Not to be imposed on by the specious Pretences of obsequious Diligence and Respect yet she was not only better pleased with Flattery than Truth but hated all that Liberty in her Subjects that was above this practice A Learned man taking notice in one of his Sermons before her That she that had been as meek as a Lamb was become an untameable Heifer he was reprehended by her so soon as he came out of the Pulpit as an over-confident man that dishonoured his Sovereign as in truth that was the worst Time and Place he could have chosen to Reprove her in David's a man of great Piety and Learning discoursing once very prudently of the many Infirmities of Old Age so provoked the Indignation of the Queen that she would never after endure to hear him Tho she was an utter Enemy to all Freedom of Speech yet she very well knew how to distinguish between a Crafty Preacher who made it his business to accomodate himself to the Opinions and Wills of his Hearers and a constant severe and grave man Accordingly she ever preferr'd a Moderate and Temperate Way of Preaching for fear her People should have been excited by such Turbulent men to excessive Insolence and the minds of wiser men should also have been offended In this affair she made good use of the provident Prudence of the Bishops who deprived the over-fiery spirits of the Liberty of Preaching and put a stop to their excessive Boldness And this was the principal Reason why none were suffercd to Preach in her times but such as were Licensed to do so Yet at the same time she was a Person of great Piety and endowed with the most ardent Love of Religion but then she did not think it was fit to suffer her Kingdoms to be embroiled by Seditious spirits under the Mask and Pretence of avoiding Persecution and promoting the Service of God And she was happy in this that in her times those Parties that have since spread themselves over this whole Kingdom were small and inconsiderable and so she was under no necessity of complying with them for her own safety but could treat them as she thought fit and perhaps if her two next immediate Successors had pursued the same Methods she did there had been no Civil War in England but whilst they sought to gratifie the Princes of the Roman-Catholick Religion abroad by their Lenity to the Papists at home the Protestant Dissenters grew up here and if they were connived at