upon him; but the queen hesitated to put the sentence in execution. At length, after a delay of four months, the fatal warrant was signed; and Norfolk died, acknowledging the justice of his sentence. A. D. 1572 The queen of Scots was charged by Elizabeth as the cause of these disturbances; and though Mary endeavoured to justify herself, the queen was little satisfied with her apology, and the parliament applied for her immediate trial; but Elizabeth forbade them to proceed farther in the affair, and only increased the rigour and strictness of her confinement. The same views which engaged the queen to support the Hugonots in France, would have led her to assist the distressed protestants in the Low Countries; but the mighty power of Philip kept her in awe, and obliged her to deny the Flemish exiles an entrance into her dominions. The people, however, enraged by the cruelty, oppression, and persecution under which they suffered, flew to arms. Holland and Zealand revolted; and under the auspices of the prince of Orange, the whole Batavian provinces united in a league against the tyranny of Spain. By a soleinn embassy, the Flemings offered Elizabeth the sovereignty of these provinces, if she would exert her power in their defence; but as she was never ambitious of conquests, or of new acquisitions, she declined the proffered sovereignty. The queen, however, sent the revolters a sum of money, and concluded a treaty with them, in which she stipulated to assist them with five thousand foot, and a thousand horse, at the charge of the Flemings. It was farther agreed, that the new States, as they began to call themselves, should enter into no alliance without her consent, and if any discord should arise among them, it was to be referred to her arbitration. She was desirous of making the king of Spain believe that her sole motive for entering into a treaty with the States, was to prevent them from throwing themselves into the arms of France; and Philip dissembled his resentment against the queen, and waited for an opportunity of taking his revenge. Elizabeth was extremely anxious to support an interest in Scotland, because that country alone afforded her enemies the means of attacking her, and because she was sensible that the Guises had engaged Mary to have recourse to the powerful protection of Philip. That prince, under the name of the pope, sent a body of seven hundred Spa niards and Italians into Ireland; but they were soon obliged to surrender; and when the English ambassador complained of the invasion, he was answered by similar complaints of the piracies committed by Drake in the new world. This brave officer, setting sail from Plymouth in 1577, with four ships and a pinnace, on board of which were one hundred and sixty-four men, passed the Straits of Magellan, attacked the Spaniards in South America, and captured many rich prizes. He was the first Englishman that completed the circumnavigation of the globe; and he returned safely to his native country, after a voyage of more than three years. 1580 In order to avert the resentment of Spain, the queen was persuaded to disavow the enterprise; but she A. D. determined to countenance this gallant officer, on whom she conferred the honour of knighthood, and accepted of a banquet at Greenwich, on board the ship which had performed such a memorable voyage. The duke of Alençon, now created duke of Anjou, nearly twenty-five years younger than the queen, became a suitor of Elizabeth. He came over to England in order to prosecute his suit; and the reception which he met with made him expect complete success. On the anniversary of her coronation, the queen was observed to take a ring from her own finger, and put it upon his: and all the spectators concluded, that in this ceremony, she had given him a promise of marriage, and was even desirous of signifying her intentions to all the world. Reflections, however, on the probable consequences of this marriage, filled the mind of the queen with anxiety and irresolution; but, at length, prudence and ambition prevailed over her affections; and she dismissed the duke with some apologies. He expressed great disgust on his leaving her, and uttered many curses on the mutability of women and of islanders. The affairs of Scotland again strongly engaged the attention of the queen. A conspiracy of the discontented nobles was formed, probably with the concurrence of Elizabeth, for seizing the person of James at 1582 Ruthven, a seat belonging to the earl of Gowry, one of the conspirators. The king wept when he found himself a prisoner; but the master of Glamis said, "No matter for his tears: it is better that boys weep than bearded A. D. men." This expression James never forgave; but he acquiesced in his own detention, and agreed to summon both in assembly of the church, and a convention of the estates, in order to ratify that enterprise. The queen of Scots had often made overtures to Elizabeth, which had been entirely neglected; but hearing of James's confinement, she wrote in the most pathetic manner to the queen, entreating her to raise them both from their present melancholy situation, and reinstate them in that liberty and authority to which they were entitled. This humble application produced little effect, though some ostensible steps were taken; but James, impatient of restraint, escaped from his keepers, and fleeing to St. Andrews, summoned his friends and partisans to attend him. The opposite party found themselves unable to resist, and were offered a pardon on their submission. Some of them accepted the terms; but the greater part left the country, and took shelter in Ireland or England, where they were protected by Elizabeth. The queen sent Walsingham into Scotland, on purpose to penetrate the character of James; and as James excelled in general discourse and conversation, that minister conceived a higher opinion of his talents than he really deserved; and from the favourable report of his capacity, Elizabeth was inclined to treat the young king with more respect than she had hitherto done. The revolutions in Scotland, however, would have been little regarded, had not the zeal of the catholics daily threatened her with some dangerous insurrection. Many of the plots which had been discovered, were imputed to the intrigues of Mary; and the parliament passed a resolution "to defend the queen, to revenge her death, or any injury committed against her, and to exclude from the throne all claimants, what title soever they might possess, by whose suggestion, or for whose behoof, any violence should be offered to her majesty." The queen of Scots was sensible that this was intended against her; and to remove all suspicion from herself, she desired leave to subscribe this resolution. During the same session, a conspiracy was discovered, which greatly increased the animosity against the catholics. One William Parry, who had received the queen's pardon for a capital crime, was instigated by some Romanist of high rank and authority to A. D. 1584 |