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alive, to restrain the power of that restless and troublesome nation: for this purpose she weakened the reviving party of the queen by tedious negotiations and other arts, and in the mean time procured the earl of Lenox to be appointed regent, in the room of Murray.

This attempt, which promised to be favourable to Mary, proved thus unsuccessful, as well as another, which was concerted near the place of her captivity. The duke of Norfolk was the only peer who enjoyed that highest title of nobility in England; and the qualities of his mind corresponded to his high station. Beneficent, affable, and generous, he had acquired the affections of the people; and yet, from his moderation, he had never alarmed the jealousy of his sovereign. He was at this time a widower; and being of a suitable age to espouse the queen of Scots, her own attractions, as well as his interests, made him desirous of the match. But the obtaining Elizabeth's consent, previous to their nuptials, was considered as a circumstance essential to his aims. While he made almost all the nobility of England confidants to his passion, he never had the prudence, or the courage, to open his full intentions to the queen herself. On the contrary, in order to suppress the surmises that were currently reported, he spoke contemptuously of Mary to Elizabeth; affirmed that his estates in England were of more value than the revenue of the whole kingdom; and declared that, when he amused himself in his own tennis-court at Norwich, he was a more magnificent prince than a Scotish king. This duplicity only served to inflame the queen's suspicions; and, finding that she gave his professions no great degree of credit, he retired from the court in disgust. Repenting, however, soon after this measure, he A.D. resolved to return, with a view of regaining the 1569. queen's good graces; but on the way he was

stopped by a messenger from the queen, and soon committed to the Tower, under the custody of sir Henry Nevil.

But the duke of Norfolk was too much beloved by his partisans in the north, to be confined without an effort made for his release. The earls of Westmorland and Northumberland had prepared measures for a rebellion; had communicated their intentions to Mary and her ministers; had entered into a correspondence with the duke of Alva, governor of the Low-Countries, and had obtained his promise of men and ammunition. But the vigilance of Elizabeth's ministers was not to be eluded orders were immediately sent for their appearance at court; and now the insurgent lords, perceiving their schemes discovered, were obliged to begin their revolt before matters were entirely prepared for its opening. They accordingly published a manifesto, in which they alleged that no injury was intended against the queen, to whom they vowed unshaken allegiance; but that their sole aim was to re-establish the religion of their ancestors, to remove all evil counsellors from about the queen's person, and to restore the duke of Norfolk to his liberty and the queen's favour. Their number amounted to four thousand foot, and sixteen hundred horse; and they expected to be joined by all the catholics in England. But they soon found them, selves miserably undeceived; the queen's conduct had acquired the general good-will of the people, and she now perceived that her surest support was the justice of her actions. The duke of Norfolk himself, for whose sake they had revolted, used every method that his circumstances would permit, to assist and support the queen; the insurgents were obliged to retire before her forces to Hexham; and, hearing that reinforcements were upon their march to join the royal army, they

found no other expedient but to disperse themselves without a blow. Northumberland fled into Scotland, and was confined by the regent in the castle of Lochleven: Westmorland, after attempting to excite the Scots to revolt, was obliged to escape into Flanders, where he found protection. This rebellion was followed by another, led on by Leonard Dacres, but with as little success. Some severities were used against these revolters; and it is said that no less than eight hundred persons suffered by the hands of the executioner on this occasion. The queen was so well pleased A. D. with the duke's behaviour, that she now re1570. leased him from the Tower, and allowed him to return home, only exacting a promise from him, not to proceed in his pretensions to the queen of Scots.

But the queen's confidence was fatal to this brave but undesigning nobleman. He had scarcely been released a year, when new projects were set on foot by the enemies of the queen and the reformed religion, secretly fomented by Rodolphi, an instrument of the court of Rome, and the bishop of Ross, Mary's minister in England. It was concerted by them that Norfolk should renew his designs upon Mary, to which it was probable he was prompted by passion; and this nobleman entering into their schemes, he, from being at first only ambitious, now became criminal. It was mutually A. D. agreed, therefore, that the duke should enter 1571. into all Mary's interests; while on the other hand, the duke of Alva promised to transport a body of six thousand foot, and four thousand horse, to join Norfolk as soon as he should be ready to begin. This scheme was so secretly laid, that it had hitherto entirely ́escaped the vigilance of Elizabeth, and that of her secretary Cecil, who now bore the title of lord Burleigh. It was found out merely by accident; for the duke,

having sent a sum of money to lord Herries, one of Mary's partisans in Scotland, omitted trusting the servant with the contents of his message; and he finding, by the weight of the bag, that it contained a larger sum than the duke mentioned to him, began to mistrust some plot, and brought the money with the duke's letter, to the secretary of state. It was by the artifices of that great statesman that the duke's servants were brought to make a full confession of their master's guilt; and the bishop of Ross soon after, finding the whole discovered, did not scruple to confirm their testimony. The duke was instantly committed to the Tower, and ordered to prepare for his trial. A jury of twenty- A. D. five peers unanimously passed sentence upon 1572. him; and the queen, four months after, reluctantly signed the warrant for his execution. He died with great calmness and constancy; and though he cleared himself of any disloyal intentions against the queen's authority, he acknowledged the justice of the sentence by which he suffered. A few months after, the earl of Northumberland, being delivered up by the regent, underwent a similar trial, and was brought to the scaffold for his rebellion. All these ineffectual struggles in favour of the unfortunate queen of Scots seemed only to rivet the chains of her confinement; and she now found relief only in the resources of her own mind, which distress had contributed to soften, refine, and improve. Henceforth she, continued for many years a precarious dependent on Elizabeth's suspicions; and only waited for some new effort of her adherents, to receive that fate which political and not merciful motives seemed to suspend.

CHAPTER V.

ELIZABETH. (CONTINUED.)

A. D. 1572-1603.

HAVING thus far attended the queen of Scotland, whose conduct and misfortunes make such a distinguished figure in this reign, we now return to some transactions, prior in point of time, but of less consideration.

In the beginning of this reign, the Huguenots, or reformed party in France, were obliged to call in the protection of the English; and, in order to secure their confidence, as they were possessed of the greatest part of Normandy, they offered (in 1562) to put Havre de Grace into the queen's hands; a proffer which she immediately accepted. She wisely considered, that, as that port commanded the mouth of the river Seine, it was of much greater importance than Calais; and she could thus have the French still in her power. Accordingly three thousand English took possession of Havre, under the command of sir Adrian Poinings; and an equal number landed at Dieppe. The latter place was found so little capable of defence, that it was soon abandoned: but Havre was retained until the summer of the following year. It was fiercely assaulted by the French but it felt a severer enemy within its walls; for the plague had made its way into the town, and committed such havoc among the soldiers, that a hundred were commonly seen to die of it in one day. The garrison being thus dispirited, and diminished to fifteen hundred men, finding the French indefatigable in their approaches, were obliged to capitulate; and thus the English lost all hopes of making another establishment

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