Her women bursting into tears and loud exclamations of sorrow, she turned about to them; put her finger upon her lips, as a sign of imposing silence upon them; and, having given them her blessing, desired their prayers in return. The two executioners kneeling, and asking her pardon, she said she forgave them, and all the authors of her death, as freely as she hoped forgiveness of her Maker; and once more made a solemn protestation of her innocence. Her eyes were then covered with a linen handkerchief; she laid herself down without any fear or trepidation; and when she had recited a psalm, and repeated a pious ejaculation, her head was severed from her body at two strokes. The executioner instantly held it up to the spectators, streaming with blood, and agitated with the convulsions of death. The dean of Peterborough alone exclaimed, "So perish all queen Elizabeth's enemies!" The earl of Kent replied Amen, while the rest of the spectators wept and sighed at this affecting spectacle; for flattery and zeal alike gave place to stronger and better emotions. Thus died Mary, in the forty-fifth year of her age, and the nineteenth of her captivity-a princess unmatched in beauty, and unequaled in misfortunes. In contemplating the contentions of mankind, we find almost ever both sides culpable: Mary, who was stained with crimes that deserved punishment, was put to death by a princess who had no right to inflict punishment on her equal.

It is difficult to be certain of the true state of Elizabeth's mind, when she received the first account of the death of Mary. Historians in general are willing to ascribe the extreme sorrow she testified on that occasion to falsehood and deep dissimulation. But where is the necessity of ascribing to bad motives, what seems to proceed from a more generous source? There is no

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thing more certain than that, upon hearing the news, she testified the utmost surprise and indignation. Her countenance changed, her speech faltered and failed her, and she stood fixed for a long time in mute astonishment. When the first burst of sorrow was over, she still persisted in her resentment against her ministers, none of whom dared to approach her. She committed Davidson to prison, and ordered him to be tried in the Star-chamber for his misdemeanour. He was condemned to imprisonment during the queen's pleasure, and to pay a fine of ten thousand pounds; in consequence of which he remained a long time in custody; and the fine, though it reduced him to want and beg gary, was rigorously levied upon him. It is likely, therefore, that Elizabeth was sincere enough in her anger for the fate of Mary, as it was an event likely to brand her reign with the character of cruelty; and though she might have desired her rival's death, yet she must certainly have been shocked at the manner of it.

But the uneasiness the queen felt from this disagreeable forwardness of her ministry was soon lost in one much greater. Philip, who had long meditated the destruction of England, and whose extensive power gave him grounds to hope for success, now began to put his projects into execution. The point on which he rested his glory, and the perpetual object of his schemes, was to support the catholic religion, and exterminate the Reformation. The revolt of his subjects in the Netherlands inflamed his resentment against the English, as they had encouraged that insurrection, and assisted the revolters. He had, therefore, for some time been making preparations to attack England by a powerful invasion; and now every part of his vast empire resounded with the noise of armaments, and every art

was used to levy supplies for that great design. The marquis of Santa Cruz, a sea officer of great reputation and experience, was destined to command the fleet, A. D. which consisted of a hundred and thirty vessels, 1588. of a greater size than any that had been hitherto seen in Europe. The duke of Parma was to conduct the soldiers, twenty thousand of whom were on board the fleet, and thirty-four thousand more were assembled in the Netherlands, ready to be transported into England. The most renowned nobility and princes of Italy and Spain were ambitious to share in the honour of this great enterprise. Don Amadeus of Savoy, Don John of Medicis, Gonzaga duke of Sabionetta, and others, hastened to join this great equipment; no doubt was entertained of its success, and it was ostentatiously styled the Invincible Armada. It carried on board, beside the land forces, eight thousand four hundred mariners, two thousand galley-slaves, and two thousand six hundred and thirty great pieces of brass ordnance. It was victualed for six months, and was attended with twenty smaller ships, called caravels, and ten salves.

Nothing could exceed the terror and consternation which all ranks of people felt in England upon news of this terrible Armada being under sail to invade them. A fleet of not above thirty ships of war, and those very small in comparison, was all that was to oppose it by sea; and as for resisting by land, that was supposed to be impossible, as the Spanish army was composed of men well disciplined, and long inured to danger. The queen alone seemed undismayed in this threatening calamity she issued all her orders with tranquillity; animated her people to a steady resistance; and, the more to excite the martial spirit of the nation, she appeared on horseback in the camp at Tilbury, exhorting the soldiers to their duty, and promising to share the

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same dangers and the same fate with them. self," cried she," will be your general, your judge, and the rewarder of every one of your virtues in the field. Your alacrity has already deserved its rewards; and, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. Persevere then in your obedience to command; show your valour in the field; and we shall soon have a glorious victory over those enemies of my God, my kingdom, and my people." The soldiers with shouts proclaimed their ardour, and only wished to be led on to conquest.

Nor were her preparations by sea driven on with less alacrity: although the English fleet was much inferior in number and size of shipping to that of the enemy, yet it was much more manageable, the dexterity and courage of the mariners being greatly superior. Lord Howard of Effingham, a man of great courage and capacity, as lord admiral, took on him the command of the navy. Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, the most renowned seamen in Europe, served under him; while a small squadron, consisting of forty vessels, English and Flemish, commanded by lord Henry Seymour, lay off Dunkirk, in order to intercept the duke of Parma. This was the preparation made by the English; while all the protestant powers of Europe regarded this enterprise as the critical event which was to decide for ever the fate of their religion.

While the Spanish Armada was preparing to sail, the admiral, Santa Cruz, died, as likewise the viceadmiral Paliano; and the command of the expedition was given to the duke de Medina Sidonia, a person utterly inexperienced in sea affairs; and this, in some measure, served to frustrate the design. But some other accidents also contributed to its failure. Upon leaving the port of Lisbon, the Armada next day met

with a violent tempest, which sunk some of the smallest of the shipping, and obliged the fleet to put back into harbour. After some time spent in refitting, they again put to sea, where they took a fisherman, who gave them intelligence that the English fleet, hearing of the dispersion of the Armada in a storm, had retired into Plymouth harbour, and that most of the mariners, were discharged. From this false intelligence, the Spanish admiral, instead of going directly to the coast of Flanders to take in the troops stationed there, as he had been instructed, resolved to sail to Plymouth, and destroy the shipping laid up in that harbour. But Effingham, the English admiral, was very well prepared to receive them; he had just weighed anchor, when he saw the Spanish Armada coming full sail towards him, disposed in the form of a half-moon, and stretching seven miles from one extremity to the other. However, the English admiral, Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, attacked the Armada at a distance, pouring in their broadsides with admirable dexterity. They did not choose to engage the enemy more closely, because they were greatly inferior in the number of ships, guns, and weight of metal; nor could they pretend to board such lofty ships without manifest disadvantage. However, two Spanish galleons were disabled and taken. As the Armada advanced up the Channel, the English still followed and infested its rear; and their fleet continually increasing from different ports, they soon found themselves in a capacity to attack the Spaniards more nearly; and accordingly fell upon them while they were taking shelter in the port of Calais. To increase their confusion, Howard took eight of his smaller ships, and, filling them with combustible materials, sent them, as if they had been fire-ships, one after the other, into the midst of the enemy. The Spaniards, taking them for