Pole, who, having taken priest's orders, had been installed in the see of Canterbury, on the death of Cranmer. But hostilities having been begun by France, as was pretended, war was at last denounced against that kingdom; and an army of ten thousand men was sent over to the Low Countries, under the command of the earl of Pembroke 27. A like attempt was made in Scotland by the French monarch to engage that kingdom in a war with England. Mary of Guise, the queen dowager, had obtained the regency through the intrigues of the court of France, and Henry II. now requested her to take part in the common quarrel. She accordingly summoned a convention of the states, and asked their concurrence for commencing hostilities against England. But the Scottish nobles, who were become as jealous of the French, as the English were of Spanish influence, refused their assent; and the regent had in vain recourse to stratagem, in order to accomplish her purpose. The French monarch, however, without the assistance of his ancient allies, and notwithstanding the unfortunate battle of St. Quintin, of which I shall afterwards have occasion to speak, made himself master of Calais, which the English had held upwards of two hundred years; and which as it opened to them an easy and secure entry into the heart of France, was regarded as the most valuable foreign possession belonging to the crown. This important place was recovered by the vigilance and valour of the duke of Guise; who, informed that the English, trusting to the strength of the town, deemed in that age impregnable, were accustomed to recall towards the close of summer, great part of the garrison, and to replace it in the spring, undertook in the depth of winter, and succeeded in an enterprize, that surprized his own countrymen no less than his enemies. As he knew that success depended upon celerity, he pushed his attacks with 27. Burnet, vol. ii. Strype, vol. iii. such such vigour, that the governor was obliged to surrender on the eighth day of the siege28. The joy of the French on that occasion was extreme. Their vanity indulged itself in the utmost exultation of triumph, while the English gave vent to all the passions which agitate a high spirited people, when any great national misfortune is evidently the consequence of the misconduct of their rulers. They murmured loudly against the queen and her council: who, after engaging the nation in a fruitless war, for the sake of foreign interest, had thus exposed it, by their negligence, to so severe a disgrace. you will This event, together with the consciousness of being hated by her subjects, and despised by her husband, so much affected the queen of England, whose health had long been declining, that she fell into a low fever, which A. D. 1558: put an end to her short and inglorious reign. "When I am dead," said she to her attendants, " "find Calais at my heart." Mary possessed few qualities either estimable or amiable. Her person was as little engaging as her manners; and amid that complication of vices which entered into her composition, namely, obstinacy, bigotry, violence, and cruelty, we scarcely find any virtue but sincerity. Before the queen's death negociations had been opened for a general peace. Among other conditions, the king of France demanded the restitution of Navarre to its lawful owner, the king of Spain; that of Calais and its territory to England. But the death of Mary somewhat altered the firmness of the Spanish monarch in regard to that capital article. And before I speak of the treaty which was afterward signed at Chateau Cambresis, and which restored tranquillity to Europe, I must carry forward the affairs of the continent. Meantime it will be proper to say a few words VOL. II. 28. Thuanus, lib. xx. cap. ii. 3 с of of the princess Elizabeth, who now succeeded to the throne of England. The English nation was under great apprehensions for the life of this princess, during her sister's whole reign. The attachment of Elizabeth to the reformed religion offended Mary's bigotry; and menaces had been employed to bring her to a recantation. The violent hatred which the queen entertained against her, broke out on every occasion; and all her own distinguished prudence was necessary, in order to prevent the fatal effects of it. She retired into the country; and knowing that she was surrounded with spies, she passed her time wholly in reading and study. She complied with the established mode of worship, and eluded all questions in regard to religion. When asked, on purpose to gather her opinion of the real presence, what she thought of these words of Christ, "This is my body?"-and whether she believed it the true body of Christ that was in the sacrament of the Lord's supper? she replied thus: "Christ was the Word that spake it ; A.D. 1559. After the death of her sister, Elizabeth delivered her sentiments more freely; and the first act of her administration was the re-establishment of the Protestant religion. The liturgy was again introduced in the English tongue, and the oath of supremacy was tendered to the clergy. The number of bishops had been reduced to fourteen, by a sickly season which preceded this change; and all these, except the bishop of Landaff, having refused compliance, were deprived of their sees. But of the great body of the English clergy, only eighty rectors and vicars, fifty prebendaries, fifteen heads of colleges, twelve archdeacons, and 29. Baker. Strype. Camden, as as many deans, sacrificed their livings for their theological opinions33. This change in religion completed the joy of the people, on account of the accession of Elizabeth; the auspicious commencement of whose reign may be said to have prognosticated that felicity and glory which uniformly attended it. These particulars, my dear Philip, will make all retrospect in the affairs of England unnecessary, beyond the treaty of Chateau Cambresis. LETTER LXIII. THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE, FROM THE PEACE OF PASSAU, IN 1552, TO THE PEACE OF CHATEAU CAMBRESIS, IN 1559. THE treaty of Passau was no sooner signed than Maurice, the deliverer of Germany, marched into Hungary against the Turks, at the head of twenty thousand men, in consequence of his engagements with Ferdinand, whom the hopes of such assistance had made the most zealous advocate of the confederates. But the vast superiority of the Turkish armies, together with the dissensions between Maurice and Castaldo, the Austrian general, who was piqued at being superceded in the command, prevented the elector from performing any thing in that country worthy of his former fame, or of much benefit to the king of the Romans. In the meantime Charles V. deeply affected for the loss of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, which had formed the barrier of the empire on the side of France, and would now secure the frontier of Champagne, left his inglorious retreat at Villach, and put himself at the head of those forces which he had assembled against the confederates, determined to reco 33. Ibid. A. D. 1552. ver the three bishopricks: In order to conceal the destination of his army, he circulated a report that he intended to lead it into Hungary, to second Maurice in his operations against the infidels; and as that pretext failed him, when he began to approach the Rhine, he pretended that he was marching first to chastise Albert of Brandenburg, who had refused to be included in the treaty of Passau, and whose cruel exactions in that part of Germany called loudly for redress. The French, however, were not deceived by these artifices. Henry II. immediately guessed the true object of the emperor's armament, and resolved to defend his conquests with vigour. The defence of Metz, against which it was foreseen the whole weight of the war would be turned, was committed to Francis of Lorrain, duke of Guise, who possessed in an eminent degree all the qualities that render men great in military command. To courage, sagacity, and presence of mind, he added that magnanimity of soul, which delights in bold enterprizes, and aspires after fame by splendid and extraordinary actions. He repaired with joy to the dangerous station; and many of the French nobility, and even princes of the blood, eager to distinguish themselves. under such a leader, entered Metz as volunteers. They were all necessary. The city was of great extent, ill fortified, and the suburbs large. For all these defects the duke endeavoured to provide a remedy. He repaired the old fortifications with all possible expedition, labouring with his own hands the officers imitated his example; and the soldiers, thus encouraged, cheerfully submitted to the most severe toils. He erected new works, and he levelled the suburbs with the ground. At the same time he filled the magazines with provisions and military stores, compelled all useless persons to leave the place, and laid waste the neighbouring country; yet such were his popular talents, and his power of acquiring an ascendant over the minds of men, that the citizens not only refrained from murmuring, but seconded |