was the safest, and it was pursued. In preparation for this, a subsidy was readily granted: the pecuniary demands of Elizabeth upon the parliament were not very large. Her interference with the House of Commons, as a deliberative body, was less commendable. An instance occurred during the session of 1576. Wentworth, in a debate, reflected on the queen for not agreeing to prosecute the queen of Scots, for checking the freedom of debate, and for not encouraging the House to enter upon the reformation of abuses. This led to his committal to the Tower, from whence he was released on making his peace with the queen. It was an arbitrary proceeding on her part; but neither then, nor at any previous time, were the members of parlia ment accustomed to exercise the privileges for which Wentworth contended. Such a proceeding, at that period, cannot be judged of by modern rules. The queen decidedly repressed the proceedings of parliament, not allowing it to meet from 1576 till January, 1581. The affairs of Holland claim further attention. The Spanish prince Don John, lately appointed governor, acted with great severity; he expected speedily to subdue the Protestants, and he then intended to procure the liberation of Mary Stuart, marry her, and assert her claims to the English throne. The confederates earnestly sought aid from Elizabeth; as she was now personally threatened, she formed an alliance with the states of Holland, supplying them with money and a body of troops; but she urged them to submit, if possible, to Philip, towards whom she excused her interference, as occasioned by the ambitious projects of Don John, whose plans were soon broken by his death, in 1578. He was succeeded in the government by the prince of Parma. United attempts against England, by the pope and the princes confederate with him, were so far advanced, that Sebastian, the king of Portugal, was fixed upon to be the leader of an invading army; but he was killed this year in Africa, whither he unwisely went upon an expedition to restore the dethroned emperor of Morocco. Stukely, an English subject, had been commissioned by the pope to direct these forces first to Ireland, and provided men and stores for the purpose; but he joined in the African expedition, where he also fell in battle. Philip then formed designs for the subjugation of Portugal, which caused him to suspend the attempt to invade England, and to neglect the Netherlands, so that the Dutch, under the prince of Orange, succeeded in freeing the United Provinces from the Spanish yoke. Here was another remarkable instance of the interposition of God, causing the enemies of his people to de feat their own designs by their own acts. The records of every country present numerous instances, which show that "the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing; " but "the Lord has them in derision, and vexes them in his sore displeasure." The body of Sebastian was not found after the battle, which gave occasion for several pretenders to assume the name. The state of Ireland was very unquiet during the whole of Elizabeth's reign. At her accession, the earl of Sussex was governor of the districts under the English rule: the Reformation was established there as in Eng. land, but no suitable measures were devised for instructing the people, and really interesting them in the truths of the gospel. The most powerful leader of the native Irish was Shan O'Neal, who claimed the earl dom of Tyrone, and visited the English court in 1562, attended by a band of followers in the native garb. After various changes, during which he sometimes was on friendly terms with the English, and sometimes in arms against them, he was slain by an English officer, when his territory, comprehending a large portion of Ulster, was vested in the crown. The proceedings with the native chieftains, in the other parts of Ireland, were very similar to those in the north. The mistaken policy of the English government had always been to treat Ireland as a conquered coun try, while the rude habits and turbulent dispositions of the natives tended to keep them in constant hostilities with their rulers. These troubles were fomented by the emissaries of the pope. As early as 1570, Stukely, an English papist, was created marquis of Leicester by the pope, and went to Spain to form plans for invading Ireland, in order to expel heresy. Philip's ambition and bigotry made him listen willingly to the project, but only some partial insurrections ensued. To colonize the country with more peaceable inhabitants, lands were granted to English adventurers, who engaged to settle upon them. The earl of Essex made the experiment in 1572; but his proceedings were too much like those of conquest. His schemes were also thwarted by sir William Fitz-William, then governor: he died in 1576, not without suspicion of his being poisoned, which was by some charged upon the earl of Leicester, who formed an unlawful connexion with the countess of Essex during the earl's absence. The disturbed state of Ireland gave much satisfaction to the popes. In 1577, Gregory XIII. declared that Elizabeth had forfeited that crown, as well as the crown of England. The English papist, Stukely, offered to conduct an expedition thither, as already related. Another adventurer, Fitz-Maurice, brother to an Irish nobleman, the earl of Desmond, an inveterate enemy to the English, carried on the design. Aided by the pope's envoy, he procured a few Spanish soldiers, with whom, accompanied by some English and Irish exiles, he landed in Kerry, attended by two priests, Allen and Sanders: the latter was the notorious writer of those atrocious falsehoods against Elizabeth and the Reformation, which have been and are repeated without hesitation by modern writers, although often refuted. Few joined them; but among these was sir John Desmond, brother to the earl. This man, to do away some suspicions that he might reconcile himself to the governor, went to the abode of an aged English gentleman, named Davers, who had often befriended him, and murdered him in his bed. Having thus established his reputation with his countrymen, he was appointed general, by a bull from the pope, which promised forgiveness of sins to all who would join this murderer! Desmond was declared a traitor by the English government; the affair appeared desperate, but the governor, lord Grey de Wilton, was defeated, and an Italian officer arrived with several hundred men, and other aid from the pope. They fortified themselves, but were forced to surrender; and having joined the Irish without any commission from a foreign prince, they were considered as traitors, and put to death. Sir John fell in battle. The earl of Desmond secreted himself for a time; he was at last discovered in a secluded hut, and slain. Sanders died, worn out by fatigue and hunger. In these proceedings, the Jesuits acted a conspicuous part. It was a war of religion: the earl of Desmond, and Fitz-Maurice, though obliged to seek concealment, did not hesitate to signify to the English governors, that they acted as protectors of the Romish faith in Ireland, by the authority of the bishop of Rome. In 1579, negotiations were resumed for the queen's marriage with the duke of Anjou, who had formerly addressed her when duke of Alençon. The marriage was, in itself, very unsuitable, although the French prince had, in some respects, favoured the Protestants; but the state of public affairs at that time rendered such an alliance desirable on many accounts; while the idea of being addressed by a young prince, though an ill-favoured man, was, in many respects, flattering to the vanity of Elizabeth: at one time she appeared really inclined to accept his offers. The young prince was anxious to obtain a splendid settlement for himself out of France. The negotiation, on the part of the French, was conducted by Simier, a man of consummate address, possessing talents particularly well fitted for the affair. The queen's councillors were divided in opinion respecting the marriage. Some, most anxious to exclude the queen of Scots from the succession, promoted it; but others, among whom the earl of Leicester was secretly included, opposed a union likely to be injurious to Protestants, as well as involving their private interests. The duke visited England for a short time, in September, 1579; the queen appeared pleased with him: she, however, referred the consideration of the affair to the council, and they, after long debate, referred it back to the queen. The difficulties did not diminish upon full consideration, while every personal circumstance told against the marriage. In January, 1580, the treaty was broken off for a time, and preparations were made to meet the danger of foreign hostilities. Before the account of the second period of Elizabeth's reign is closed, it is well to notice, that one principal cause of English prosperity in her reign was the increased attention given to commerce; she encouraged trade with Russia, Persia, and the Levant, for which companies were formed. The earliest commercial efforts were made by enterprising navigators, seeking new channels for communication with the east. Some of these were useless attempts at north-east and northwest passages; but others sought countries that promised more immediate returns. Sir John Hawkins made some voyages between the coast of Africa and the West Indies, purchasing slaves, and selling them for the produce of America. The first took place as early as 1562, when British capital and enterprise were first engaged in that abominable traffic, the slave trade. It is deeply to be regretted that England should ever have participated in this accursed trade, which originated in the erroneous views of a well-meaning popish prelate, the bishop of Chiapa, who was so mistaken as to suppose, that it was lawful to transport slaves from Africa, to ease the oppressions inflicted by his countrymenupon the natives of America, who were perishing by hundreds of thousands under the cruelties of their task-masters. Thus he acted upon the mistaken principle of doing evil that good might come-a proceeding directly |
