Who was her secretary of state?-Mention the instances of good government afforded in this reign.

State Mary Stuart's claim to the English throne.-By whom was she regarded as the only lawful sovereign of the realm?-Where had Mary been educated?-Whom did she marry?-What awakened Elizabeth's hostility towards Mary ?-Describe the religious parties which at this time divided Scotland.-Give some account of Mary Stuart's reception in Scotland.-How did the reformer Knox treat Mary? What difficulties existed with regard to Mary's forming' a matrimonial alliance?-Whom did she marry?-Relate the story of Rizzio. Describe the death of Darnley.-What was the conduct of Bothwell towards the queen ?-Describe the effect of the queen's marriage with Bothwell.-Describe her prison-house.

What claim was Mary compelled to resign?-In whose hands was the government placed?-Relate Mary's first attempt at escape, with the result.-Describe the second adventure, and its issue.What was the result of her encounter with her enemies?-What fatal step did Mary now take?-Relate the conduct of the English queen towards her unhappy rival.-Who plotted for Mary's restoration?— What was her history during the next twenty years?-What accusations were brought against the Queen of Scots?-What was the result of her trial?-Describe the last scenes of Mary's life.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

QUEEN ELIZABETH-THE LAST SIXTEEN YEARS OF HER REIGN.

THE INVINCIBLE ARMADA-LEICESTER-ESSEX AND HIS ENEMIES.

1587.

MARY'S son, James, was king in Scotland when his mother was put to death. He pretended great sorrow and indignation on receiving the news, but Elizabeth found means to pacify him. The fear of losing the succession to the English crown, of which he was now the direct heir, kept him quiet. Not thus was conciliated another monarch, Philip of Spain, who had less personal grounds than James for revenging the death of Queen Mary. He had, however,

his own reasons for enmity to the English queen. Elizabeth had aided, at first, secretly, but afterwards openly, Philip's Protestant subjects in the Netherlands, who had revolted from him.

Nearly two years before the execution of Mary, Elizabeth had sent her court favorite, the Earl of Leicester, into Holland. Leicester was not capable of doing much for the cause which he had undertaken, and his expedition is only memorable for the death of the accomplished Sir Philip Sidney, one of the brightest ornaments of the court of the English queen. He perished in an attack on the town of Zutphen. Whilst lying wounded upon the field of battle, a soldier brought to him some water in a helmet. As the dying nobleman put the cooling draught to his lips to quench his intolerable thirst, his eye caught the longing look of a wounded soldier who lay near him. "Friend, thy necessity is greater than mine!" exclaimed the noble Sidney, and passed the cooling beverage to his dying comrade's lips! At the siege of Zutphen, another young and gallant favorite of the queen distinguished himself This was Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, then a youth of nineteen, full of military ardor, frank and accomplished.

Philip, provoked by the part which Elizabeth had taken in the affairs of the Netherlands, retaliated by engaging in many of the plots made to release Mary of Scotland and overturn the throne of the English queen. On the death of Mary, he threw off all disguise, openly declared war against Elizabeth, and made formidable preparations for the invasion of England. Besides a large army, he equipped a fleet of one hundred and thirty vessels, proudly styled the "Invincible Armada.” The death of the admiral, and storms, detained the vessels in the Tagus, and it was not until nearly a year after war had been proclaimed, that the mighty armament left the shores of Spain.

Meanwhile Elizabeth had not been idle. Her kingdom resounded with preparations to repel the formidable invasion. The English queen, who certainly had "the genius to be

1588.

loved," as well as feared, by her subjects, never awakened greater enthusiasm among them than on this occasion. She appeared before her troops on horseback in the camp at Tilbury, and with cheerful voice and animated countenance, told them that, if need were, she herself would lead them against their enemies. "I know," she added, "I have but the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England too; and think foul scorn that Parma, or Spain, or any prince in Europe, should dare to invade the borders of my realm." The royal navy at this critical time was increased by the voluntary contributions of nobles and people, who at their own cost fitted and manned merchant vessels, which were commanded by the most noted and skilful seamen of the age—such famous navigators as Howard of Effingham, Sir Francis Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher.

On the 20th July, 1588, the "Invincible Armada,” in the form of a crescent, stretching seven miles from horn to horn, bore proudly up the Channel. The lighter English ships poured in their fire, and escaped from the heavy Spanish vessels before the latter could return it. The English avoided coming too near the enemy's ships, and their skilful tacking and playing amid the Spanish fleet, sailing away before their fire could be returned, resembled, says one who saw it, “a morris-dance upon the waters." Many ships were taken, many others sunk, but the Armada still remained formidable until the night of the 27th July, when fire-ships were floated into its midst by the English. These caused great destruction, and, in a few days, the Spanish fleet became so disabled, that the commanders were obliged to abandon the enterprise. Many of the vessels, in trying to pass round the coast of Scotland, perished in a dreadful storm off the Orkney Islands. When at last sixty shattered vessels, the sole remnant of the "Invincible Armada," returned to Spain, the mariners told fearful tales of the valor of English seamen and the terrors of English seas.

In the year 1580, the Duke of Anjou, brother to the king

of France, suddenly appeared in England, hoping to obtain the hand of Elizabeth. For a time it was supposed that the English queen would yield to his suit. But, after some wavering, the young and agreeable French duke was dismissed, and the queen again declared to her parliament her intention to live unmarried. At a much earlier period in her reign, so great. was the favor shown by Elizabeth towards the Earl of Leicester, that fears were awakened that she would condescend to bestow her hand upon the haughty favorite. Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, was son of the Earl of Northumberland, whose wicked and ambitious machinations had brought Lady Jane Grey to the block. His grandfather was the unscrupulous lawyer who, together with Empson, had committed such wrongs and robberies in Henry VII.'s reign.

The Earl of Leicester, though young, handsome, and agreeable, showed a want of principle worthy of such ancestry. In the year 1560 he entertained Elizabeth at his castle of Kenilworth, with great magnificence, and when her evident partiality had inspired him with the hope that he might one day share the crown, he is said to have caused the death of his lovely and attached wife, Amy Robsart, that there might be no impediment to the royal marriage. But whatever may have been Elizabeth's personal feelings towards Leicester, she was too politic a sovereign to contract a marriage so distasteful to her people. After a time Leicester's popularity declined, and he was succeeded in the queen's favor by a very different man—the frank and impetuous Earl of Essex.

In the early part of this reign, when a mere youth, Essex had distinguished himself, both by sea and land, in the wars with Spain, and the queen had delighted in the high spirit and noble bearing of the young earl. But he was too opentempered to be a courtier, and, as years wore on, he declined in favor, and made himself powerful enemies at court. chief of these were Lord Burleigh and Sir Walter Raleigh. In the year 1598, an insurrection having broken out in Ireland, the queen sent Essex thither to put it down.

The

The miseries of this unhappy country had been greatly increased since the Reformation, by the differences in religion between the two nations. Whilst the English embraced Protestantism, the Irish, who in the first instance had with so much difficulty been brought to acknowledge the papal supremacy, now adhered to the Romish faith. When Henry VIII. sent his agents into Ireland to suppress the monasteries and religious houses, and to seize for the crown the property of the Irish church, the descendants of the ancient royal families, the O'Connors and O'Neils, rose in rebellion. rible atrocities, by no means confined to the wild Irishry, as the English termed them, were perpetrated, and bitter enmities implanted, which centuries have not availed entirely to eradicate.

Hor

The leader of the present rebellion was a native 1599. chief, whom Elizabeth had created Earl of Tyrone. He was brave and active, and under him the Irish achieved greater successes than they had ever done before. Their wild method of warfare amid marshes and woods harassed the English troops. One commander is said to have died of sheer grief and vexation. Another was defeated in a pitched battle, losing his own life as well as the lives of fifteen hundred of his soldiers, with all his artillery and ammunition.

The sending of Essex to quell such a formidable outbreak was a scheme contrived by his enemies to effect his ruin. The imprudent earl, failing where abler governors had been unable to succeed, drew upon himself the displeasure of Elizabeth, which was further argmented by the misrepresentations of his enemies.

She sent a sharp letter of reproof to the hard-tried Essex, who, irritated and distressed, without waiting the permission. of his royal mistress, suddenly left Ireland. Hastening to the English court, he rushed into the queen's presence, one morning before she had left her dressing-room, and, falling at her feet, craved her pardon. Elizabeth received him graciously, but after his departure, she was induced to view