The king of Portugal having left no issue, was succeeded by his uncle, cardinal Henry; who also dying without children, a number of competitors arose for the crown. Among those was the king of Spain, nephew to Henry by the mother's side; the duke of Braganza, married to the granddaughter of the great Emanuel; Don Antonio, prior of Crato, bastard of the infant Don Lewis, the duke of Savoy, the duke of Parma, Catherine of Medicis, and pope Gregory XIII. who, extraordinary as it may seem, attempted to renew the obsolete claim of the Holy See to the sovereignty of Portugal. Philip's claim was not the best, but he had most power to support it. The old duke of Alva, who had been for some time in disgrace, like a mastiff unchained for fighting was recalled to court, and put at the head of an army. He gained two victories over Don Antonio; who of all the other competitors, alone pretended to assert his title by arms. These victories decided the con A. D. 1581. test. Philip was crowned at Lisbon, proclaimed A price was also set on the head of the prince of Orange, as soon as it was known in Spain, that the United Provinces had withdrawn their allegiance from Philip, and A. D. 1582. an attempt was soon after made upon his life, by a man of desperate fortune, in order to obtain the reward. rendered mortal, he desired his attendants to keep his death a secret, till the fortune of the day should be decided. Even after he lost the use of speech, he laid his finger on his lips as a farther injunction of secrecy; and stretching himself in his litter, calmly expired in the field of victory. (Ibid). In regard to the manner of Don Sebastian's death, historians are by no means agreed; but all admit that he fought gallantly, and disdained to survive the defeat of his army. Some say, that he laid violent hands upon himself; others, that being disarmed and made prisoner by the victors, he was slain by a Moorish officer, who came up while the soldiers were violently disputing their right to the royal captive. (Thuanus, Hist. sui Temp). Muley Mahomet perished in attempting to save himself by flight, and Hamet, Muley Moluch's brother, succeeded to the throne of Morocco. Id. Ibid. 21. Faria y Susan Cabrera. VOL. III. Now Now first did the States become truly sensible of the value of that great man. The joy of the Spaniards, on a false report of his death, could only be equalled by that of the Flemings, when informed of his safety; yet a jealousy of liberty, and a dread of his ambition, still prevented them from appointing him their supreme governor, though every day convinced them of the imprudence, rapacity, and dangerous designs of the duke of Anjou. He had at first assembled a considerable army, and raised the siege of Cambray ; but a project of marrying queen Elizabeth, whose amorous dalliances with him are somewhat unaccountable, and by no means justifiable, unless sincere, led him to waste his time. in England, while the duke of Parma was making rapid progress in the Netherlands. On his return he totally lost the confidence of the States, by a rash and violent attack · upon their liberties; was obliged to leave the United Provinces; retired into France, and died soon after in contempt21. The archduke Matthias had returned to Germany, on the elevation of his rival; so that the duke of Parma and the prince of Orange, the two greatest generals of their age, were now left to dispute the possession of the Netherlands, which became the chief theatre of war in Europe, and the school to which men of courage, from all nations, resorted to study the military art. England, during these commotions, had enjoyed the most perfect tranquillity. But the prospect now began to be overcast and Elizabeth saw dangers gradually multiply on her, from more than one quarter. The earl of Lennox, cousin-german to the young king of Scotland, and captain Stewart of the house of Ochiltree, afterwards earl of Arran, had found means to detach James from the English interest; and by their intrigues the earl of Morton, who, during his 22. Mezeray. Camden. Le Clerc, whole whole regency had preserved that kingdom in strict alliance with Elizabeth, was brought to the scaffold, as an accomplice in the murder of the late king23 A body of the Scottish nobility, however, dissatisfied with the new administration, which was entirely directed by Lennox and Arran, formed a conspiracy, probably with the concurrence of Elizabeth, for seizing the person of the king at the castle of Ruthven, the seat of the earl of Gowrie; and the design being kept secret, succeeded without any opposition. James, who was about twelve years of age, wept when he found himself detained a prisoner; but no compassion was shewn him. "Mind not his tears," said the master of Glamis :-" better that boys should weep "than bearded men." The king was obliged to submit to the present necessity; to pretend an entire acquiescence in the conduct of the conspirators, and to acknowledge the detention of his person to be an acceptable service. Arran was confined a prisoner, in his own house, and Lennox retired into France, where he soon after died2*. But the affairs of Scotland remained not long in this si tuation. James, impatient of restraint, made his escape from his keepers; and flying to St. Andrews, summoned 23. Spotswood. Crawfurd. Morton owned that Bothwell had informed him of the design against the king's life, solicited him to concur in the execution of it, and affirmed it was authorized by the queen. He at first, if we may believe his dying words, absolutely declined having any concern in such a measure; and, when afterward urged to the same purpose, he required a warrant under the queen's hand, authorizing the attempt. As no such warrant was produced, he refused to take part in the enterprize. And as an apology for concealing this treasonable undertaking, he very plausibly urged in his own vindication, the irresolution of Darnly, and criminal situation of Mary. "To whom," said he, "could "I make the discovery? The queen was the author of the conspiracy. "Darnly was such a changeling, that no secret could be safely communi "cated to him. Huntley and Bothwell, who bore the chief sway in the "kingdom, were themselves the perpetrators of the crime" Spotswood, p. 314. Crawfurd, Mem. Append. III. Robertson, book vi. 24. Melvil. Spotswood. Calderwood his friends and partizans to attend him. The earls of Argyle, Marshall, Montrose, and Rothes, hastened to pay their duty to their sovereign; and the opposite party finding themselves unable to resist so powerful a combination, took shelter in England. The earl of Arran was recalled to court: a new attempt to stop vernment was defeated; the earl of Gowrie, its reputed author, was brought to the block; and severe laws were passed against the Presbyterian clergy, who had applauded the Raid of Ruthven, as the late conspiracy was called2 5. A. D. 1583. the go While these things were transacting in Scotland, the king of Spain, though he had not yet come to an open rupture with Elizabeth, sent, in the name of the pope, a body of seven hundred Spaniards and Italians into Ireland; in order to retaliate for the assistance which she gave to his rebellious subjects in the Low Countries. But the invaders, though joined by many of the discontented Irish, were all cut off to a man, by lord Grey, the queen's deputy, and fifteen hundred of the rebels were hanged; a severity which gave great displeasure to Elizabeth26. When the English ambassador, at the court of Madrid complained of this invasion, he was answered by like complaints of the piracies of Francis Drake; a bold navigator, who had passed into the South Sea by the straits of Magellen, and, attacking the Spaniards in those parts, where they least expected an enemy, had taken many rich prizes, and returned home safely by the cape of Good Hope, in September 1580. As he was the first Englishman who had circumnavigated the globe, his name became celebrated on account of so hazardous and fortunate an adventure; and the queen, who loved valour, and hoped to share in the spoil, conferred on him the honour of knighthood, and accepted of a banquet from him on board the ship which had performed so memorable a voyage. She caused, however, part 25 Spotswood, Camden. of of the booty to be restored, in order to appease the Catholic king". But Elizabeth's dangers from abroad might have been regarded as of small importance, had her own subjects been united at home. Unhappily that was not the case. The zeal of the Catholics, excited by constraint rather than per secution, daily threatened her with an insurrection. Not satisfied with incessant outcries, against her severity to wards the queen of Scots, and against the court of High Commission (an ecclesiastical tribunal, erected by Eliza beth, for taking cognizance of non-conformists, and which was certainly too arbitrary), the Romish priests, especially in the foreign seminaries for the education of English students of the Catholic communion, endeavoured to persuade their disciples, that it would be a meritorious action to take away her life. Those seminaries, founded by Philip II. the pope, and the cardinal of Lorrain, in order to prevent the decay of the ancient religion in England, sent over yearly a colony of young priests, who maintained the Romish superstition in its full height of bigotry ; and who, being often detected in treasonable practices, occasioned that severity of which their sect complained. They were all under the direction of the Jesuits, an active order of regular priests established since the reformation; the court of Rome perceiving that the lazy monks, and beggarly friars, who had sufficed in times of ignorance, were no longer able to defend the ramparts of the church, assailed on every side by the bold and inquisitive spirit of the age, and the virulence of the persecuted Protestants. These ghostly fathers, who by the very nature of their institution were engaged to pervert learning, and who, where it could serve their pious purposes, employed it to refine away the plainest dictates of morality, persuaded William Parry, an English gentleman, and a convert to the Catholic faith, that he could not perform a more 27. Ibid 28. Camden. acceptable |