"CO

mjr (CJKI.OJIE-, JEivjTRiL vi^i-' SxX

/tf- (l*~i(irn<xj. Jhi.'i nv<] »<< „; ,< I'r/is' lu lheS'r-sf:ss.ifi.n oi

MEMOIRS

OF THE

LIFE AND ADMINISTRATION

OF

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

WILLIAM CECIL, LORD BURGHLEY,

SECRETARY OF STATE IN THE REIGN OF KING EDWARD VI. AND LORD HIGH TREASURER OF ENGLAND IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.

CONTAINING AN

HISTORICAL VIEW

OF

THE TIMES IN WHICH HE LIVED,

AND OF THE MANY EMINENT AND ILLUSTRIOUS PERSONS WITH WHOM HE WAS CONNECTED; WITH EXTRACTS FROM HIS PRIVAtE AND OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE,

AND OTHER PAPERS, NOW FIRST PUBLISHED FROM THE ORIGINALS.

BY THE

REV. EDWARD NARES, D.D.

REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD.

VOL. II.

LONDON: COLBURN AND BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET

MDCCCXXX.

DP

3

5?

V,

TO

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

WILLIAM ALLEYNE CECIL,

LORD BURGHLE Y,

(ELDEST SON OF THE MOST NOBLE BROWNLOW, MARQUESS OF EXETER, K.G.)

HEIR OF BURGHLEY,

t

AND THE IMMEDIATE AND DIRECT DESCENDANT

OF THE

VERY CELEBRATED STATESMAN WHOSE LIFE IS HEREIN RECORDED:

€f)t0 *rcouti > oluntf of a CZHovtt

DESIGNED TO COMMEMORATE WITHOUT FAVOUR OR FLATTERY

"THE WISE COUNSELS, INTENSE LABOURS, UNSHAKEN LOYALTY,

tt

AND

FAITHFUL SERVICES OF HIS GREAT AND RENOWNED ANCESTOR,

is VERY RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED

BY

THE AUTHOR.

June-2S, 1830.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. I.

Page

Accession of Elizabeth— Cecil's competency to advise the Queen— Her title to the Crown- Henry's Will— Description of the Queen's person— Cecil the first to announce to her Mary's demise, and her own accession— The Queen's first Council— Cecil Secretary— The Queen removes to London— Funerals of Queen Mary and Cardinal Pole— Bad state of England on Elizabeth's accession, from various Authors— Her Coronation— The Lord Keeper's Speech to Parliament— Assumption of the English Crown by Francis and Mary —Claims of the French in favour of Mary— Parliament meets— Courage of Elizabeth's Ministers— Philip II.'s proposal of Marriage— Device for Religion— The Queen on the Eucharist— Public Disputations— Cecil Chancellor of Cambridge— Peace of Chateau Cambrensis— Death of Henry II. of France— Danger to England from Scotland- Dangers from France— Revival of King Edward's Prayer Book— High Commission Court — Parker made Archbishop— Differences in Religion— Jewel's' Letters on the State of England— Amendment of the Coin— Summary of wise counsels • • ' 1

CHAP. II.

Duke of Norfolk and Lord Grey sent to the North— Knox's Character— Alteration in the conduct and disposition of the Queen Regent of Scotland— Mary Queen of Scots' family the occasion of her troubles— Important Papers drawn up by Cecil on the aspect of affairs, particularly in regard to Scotland, with the conclusions drawn from them— Peace of Cambray, a fallacious peace— Maxims of defence— Lords of Congregation, their views— Lethington's famous Letter— Proceedings with Scotland, from Lord B.'s Notes— Lords of Congregation's Address to the Regent, with her reply- the Conquest of Scotland aimed at by France— Application of Protestants to Elizabeth— Elizabeth in danger of being beguiled— Account of Knox— Earl of Arran— Practices against England— Address to the Queen Regent from the Camp of the Confederates— Military operations in Scot- land—Du Glasion, Spanish Minister, and Cecil's Answer to him in Latin— Duplicity of the French— Cook's Account of the English Ministers— Account of Monluc— Eliza- beth's Proclamation against the Guises— Guises' notice of it— Spanish Interposition—

vi CONTENTS.

Page Papers by Knollys and Du Glasion — Intimation to Du Glasion of the Queen's Proceedings

— Letters to Lady Cecil — Cecil sets off for Scotland — The Guises occupied with the conspiracy of Amboise— Letters from Cecil and Wotton — Progress of the Negotiation — Treaty of Edinburgh signed and proclaimed — Return of Cecil — Affairs of the Church — Lent season still observed — Archbishop Parker's order for serving the Cures — Cecil's Article 84

CHAP. III.

Death of Francis II. King of France— Perplexities of Elizabeth's title and competition with Mary of Scotland — Lord Burghley accused of deliberate enmity to Mary — His letter to Lord Shrewsbury — Elizabeth's title denied in France — Mary's principles and connexions alarming to the Protestants— Her intention to return to Scotland— Randolph sent to Scotland — Reflections and remarks on his Instructions — Missions of Murray and Leslie to France — Mary's passport refused — Scheme in France to detain Murray — Murray reported to have designs on the Crown — Throckmorton's account of Randon — Why Arran thought of by England — Possible causes for Mary's interception, if true — Her arrival in Scotland— Advantages over Elizabeth— Employs the Protestants on her return — Intercourse with Elizabeth— Desires to be acknowledged heir to Elizabeth— Refuses to ratify the Treaty of Edinburgh — Cheney, a worthy but odd man, assisted by Cecil — The Queen visits the Secretary— The walking at Paul's stayed by Proclamation— Cecil made Master of the Court of Wards 187

CHAP. IV.

Correspondence between the two Queens on the Treaty of Edinburgh— Dangers from the Guises— Knox and Conseus on the tyranny of the Guises— Necessity of examining into the conduct of the Catholics— Projected interview of the two Queens— Elizabeth ill- Mary of Scots anxious to have her title asserted— Cecil's letter to resign the Chancellor- ship of Cambridge— Situation of France at the accession of Charles IX. — Massacre of Vassi— Elizabeth assists the Hugonots— Confusion of parties— Throckmorton, Smith, Leicester, &c.— Shan O'Neale— Jewel's Apology— Death of Peter Martyr .... 246

CHAP. V.

Parliamentary proceedings— The Speaker Williams' address to the Queen— Subsidy, and proceedings relative to the succession— Reflections on the Queen's marriage and suc- cession—Nowell's catechism— Second Book of Homilies— Disputes in Convocation- Queen Elizabeth studies the Fathers— Conspiracy of the Poles— Surrender of Newhaven —Conclusion of the Council of Trent— Jewel's answer to Scipio— Osorius's letter to the Queen, and Haddon's answer— Haddon employed by Cecil— His death— Mary Queen of Scots writes to the council of Trent— Elizabeth's message to the Queen of Scots . . .282

CONTETNS.

CHAP. VI.

Ills arising from Royal Marriages— Different Matrimonial Projects, for Mary— Elizabeth proposes Leicester to her— Melvil sent on Matrimonial Embassies— Pictures— Duke Casimir— Archduke Charles— Conduct of Mary and Elizabeth with regard to Leicester- Return of Lennox to Scotland— Melvil's Account of Elizabeth and Dudley— Ceremony of his being made Earl of Leicester— Characters of Lord Burghley, Elizabeth, Mary, Darnley, Leicester, Archduke Charles, by Miss Aikin— Lord Burghley's Letter to Mund't -His Notes of the Proceedings of Scotland— Of Mary's Marriage with Darnley-Lord and Lady Lennox— Lord Darnley- Mr. Tamworth— Sir Francis Englefield's Letters- Duchess of Parma— Netherlands— Killegrew— Lines by Lady Killegrew- Lord Burghley's eldest Son married— Sir Thomas Chaloner's Death -Of Lord Burghley's concise Notes- Account of the Queen's visit to Cambridge— Her first visit to Kenilworth— Mayor of Coventry— Letter of John Fox— Hales' Book on the Succession— Lord Hertford and Lady Catherine Grey— Lord John Grey— Hales— Letters from Lady Catherine— Dennum's Letter —Puritans — Cartwright— Sampson and Humphrey — Bullinger— St. John's College, Cambridge— Lord Burghley appealed to in all Cases— Dispute between the Bishop of Winchester and Feckenham— Dominicus Sampsonius' Letter- Books sent to England by the Papists in Flanders-Protest of the People of Antwerp against the Court of Inquisition— Caryl— Letters to Lord Burghley— Dr. Goodman's Application— Strype on the Interview between Mary and Elizabeth ...... 3]2

CHAP. VII.

Pope Pius V. chosen-Order of St. Michael sent to England-David Rizzio and Darnley -Murray — Randolph -Hazardous state of England — Character of the -Scots -The Lennoxes— Randolph's letter— Marriage of Mary and Darnley— Protestant party low in Scotland— Copy of the Catholic league sent to Mary— Darnley and Mary on bad terms -Murder of Rizzio— Conoius upon it— Bothwell in favour— Birth of James— Melvil's mission to England— Elizabeth receives the news from Cecil— Account of Ruxby, Cecil's Spy— Cecil's letter to him— Ruxby's letter to Cecil-Rapin's correct account of things- Baptism of James VI.— Earl of Bedford sent by Elizabeth— Mary a dangerous rival at all times to Elizabeth— Bothwell in great favour— Darnley goes to Glasgow-Js sullen and not to be appeased— State of the Low Countries— Cardinal Granvelle very unpopular — Brabanters alarmed — The Queen visits Oxford — Parliament assembled — Proceed- ings about the succession— Parliament dissolved— Bull of Pope Pius V —Account of Saravia 363

CONTENTS, vin

CHAP. VIII.

Page

Darnley's illness-Of Mary and Both well -Darnley's murder -Passage from Bishop Grindal's letter to Bullinger-Melvil's account of Mary, Darnley, and Bothwell- £;; .conduct towards Z^-BotbweH'a trial-Beton's letter to Mary-Mary earned to Bothwell's castle-Bothwell divorced-Mary marnes hun-BoJwdl tnes to get possession of the young Prince-Mary surrenders herself-Bothwell s •£*-""* morton sent by Elizabeth-Mary's resignation-James crowned-Murray I of Bothwell-Overtures of marriage with the Archduke-Lord Sussex sent-S.r H Sydney Lord Deputy of Ireland-Calais-Shan O'Niel-Confederacy of the Popu States-Articles of it-Incessant applications to Cecil-Attack on the Clergy- Nowell-Dorman-Bishop Jewel-Attempt in Lancashire to restore Popery-B.shop of Carlisle-Faithful Cummin-Death of Dr. Nicholas Wotton-Queen's Progresses

CHAP. IX.

Various opinions as to what should be done with Mary-Knox-Different religious parties -Mary's escape from Lochleven-Conflict on Langside Hill-Mary flies to Dundrenan Abbey-Goes to Carlisle-Story of the ring-Of the difficult part Elizabeth had to act with regard to Mary-Of Mary's character-Difficulty of deciding what was best to be done with her- Elizabeth's conduct rashly judged by different authors-Lady Jane Grey , -Comparison between Elizabeth and her sister Mary-Anne Boleyn-Sonnets, &c. produced at York-Murray's charges against Mary-Mary's letter to Elizabeth-Deter- mination of Elizabeth and her Ministers to keep Mary in England— Sir Henry Norm's letter to Cecil-Letter from Mary to Elizabeth, from Bolton-Extract from the instruc- tions of the Prince of Conde-Of Elizabeth and her Ministers, with regard to Mary- Of Elizabeth and Mary-Sir Ralph Sadler's speech-Of Elizabeth and her Counsellors, especially Lord Burghley-Commissioners meet at York-Queries sent to the Duke of Norfolk — Of the claim of England to a feudal superiority over Scotland — Queries favourable to Mary, suggested by the Council at Hampton Court-Sir Francis Knollys' letter to Elizabeth— Of Mary's situation— Letter from Lord Scrope and Sir F. Knollys concerning her— Of the Papists, in Lancashire especially-See of York vacant— Letter addressed by the Queen's order to Cecil, as Chancellor of Cambridge-Dr. Perne's Letter —Queen's illness— Sir John Mason's prayer— Of Mary's case— The Protestants of foreign countries seek the protection of Elizabeth-Many allowed to settle in England— The Pope's bull— Answered by Bishop Jewel —Affairs of the Netherlands -Count of Egmont —Anabaptists— Bishop Grindal— Cecil's Fast— Outrages committed by the Spaniards on the English Merchants' fleet— Paper presented to the Spanish Ambassador— On Fasting and Fish-days— Letter from Cecil to the University of Cambridge on Fasting— Queen's

446

Progresses

CONTENTS.

CHAP. X.

Extract from Lord Burghley's Life, by a Domestic, containing the account of a Conspiracy * against him, when Master of the Wards-Rapin's account of the same Conspiracy- Camden-Of the Queen's conduct in it-Extract from Strype's Life of Archbishop Parker relating to Cec.l-Names of persons concerned in the Conspiracy- Of Lord Pembroke- Letters from the Earl of Sussex to Cecil-Of Leicester-Prayer in favour of the Queen's Marnage w.th the Archduke, attributed to Cecil-Of Cecil's views with regard to the Extract from Hallam, on the Conspiracy-Passage from Lord Burghley's Life, by a Domestic, with the account of a Papist's attempt to assassinate him-Rebellion in the North-Outrages on the Churches, &c.-The Priest Morton-Sir Thomas Smith's Pamphlet-Book attributed to Cecil by Strype-Illness of Cecil; his letters to Sir R Sadler-Young Earl of Rutland-Duke of Norfolk-Memorial by Cecil, under the title of Penis and Remedies-Knox's letter to Wood-Passage from Rapin concerning Mary- Memorable Speech of Elizabeth, reported by Bishop Jewel-Montanus' History of the Span.sh Inquisition published-Rodolphus Cavallerius-Theodore Wierus' letter to Ce.eil Cecil's letter to Signor Bertano-Killegrew's letters to Cecil-Elizabeth excommu- •Duke of Alva-Mary's charges against Elizabeth and Cecil -Extract from Strype concerning Mary-Her letter to Elizabeth from Tutbury Castle-Sir Walter M.ldmay's opinion, in Burnet-Mr. White's account of Mary at Bolton-Lord Hunsdon's stter-Lord Shrewsbury's account of Mary's expenses-Letter from Cecil to Lord Shrewsbury-Letter from Lord Leicester to the Earl of Sussex-Sir N. Throckmorton's Conversion with the Earl of Lennox-Henry Carey sent to the Regent of Scotland with inquiries-Letter from Lords Huntingdon and Hereford to Cecil-Bishop of Ross- Admiral Coligni-Puritans-Christopher Foster's letter-Dr. Whitgift-Disturbances at Cambridge-Cecil appealed to in all cases-Death of Bishop Boner-Dr. Story-Douay College founded-Colleges at Rome-Persons-First Public Lottery 489

*

CHAP. XI.

A year of extreme danger- Strype's abstract, with remarks upon it-Bullinger on the Pope's Bull-Bacon, Cecil, Mildmay and Sadler denounced as Evil Counsellors- Norfolk Rebellion— Wylson's Translation of Demosthenes dedicated to Lord Burghley- Cartwnght excites disturbances-Opposition of the Puritans unreasonable-Lord Burghley as Chancellor of Cambridge much annoyed by them-Projectof Marriage between Eliza- Bth and the Due d'Anjou, afterwards Henry III.-AstroIogical calculations upon it- Death of the Regent Murray -Mission of Sir William Cecil and Sir Walter Mildmay to Mary Queen of Scots, at Chatsworth-Sir William Cecil made Lord Burghley-Bishop of Ross congratulates him-Cecil's own account of his new honours-Death of Throck-

morton— Grindal, Archbishop of York ....

" * * • O18 VOL. II.

x CONTENTS.

CHAP. XII.

Page

Dates puzzling — Marriage of the Queen revived — Walsingham sent — His instructions — Leicester and Btirghley specially appointed to treat with the French minister — Sir Thomas Smith sent to Paris — Duplicity of both Courts — Scotch Commissioners — Leicester's account to Walsingham of the conference — Walsingham's answer — Of the part Cecil had to act in Mary's case— Due d'Anjou — Ridolpho— Duke of Norfolk — Rapin's account of their plots — Intrigues against Elizabeth carried on by Mary with Spain and France — Bishop of Ross committed to custody — Lord Burghley's letter to Lord Shrewsbury — Spanish minister sent out of England — Design of the Spanish faction against the Queen's and Lord Burghley's life — Parliament meets — Debate on the succession — Bill passed making certain offences treasonable— Sir Thomas Smith — Death of Bishop Jewel— His Apology — Sir Francis Knollys — The Lord Keeper's Speech on the opening of Parliament — Of the great share Lord Burghley had in the good government of the kingdom — Affairs of the Church — Strype — Protestations — Leicester — Code of ecclesiastical and civil laws — Battle of Lepanto — Archbishop Parker— Lord Burghley's daughter married to Lord Oxford — Miss Aikin's character of Lord Oxford — Queen's Progresses — Theobalds • • 548

CHAP. XIII.

Treaty of peace with France — Intrigues against Elizabeth — Indictment and trial of the Duke of Norfolk— Execution of Mather and Berny for a Conspiracy against Lord Burghley — The Spanish faction much annoyed by the discovery — Death of the Marquis of Winchester, and Lord Burghley made Treasurer — Proceedings in Parliament against the Queen of Scots — Puritans busy — Seaton's Embassy — The Queen pressed by her Parliament to bring Mary to Trial — Letter of Lord Burghley to Sir F. Walsingham — Duke of Norfolk executed — League with France — Duke of Montmorencv comes over — Cecil Knight of the Garter — Extract from Lord Burghley's Life, by a Domestic — Massacre of St. Bartholomew — Letters from Lord Burghley to Sir F. Walsingham on the Massacre ; from Lord Leicester; and from Sir T. Smith — French Ambassador — Resentment manifested in England on account of the Massacre — Proposal of Catherine de Medicis to meet Elizabeth —Mason Fleur, the French Ambassador— Elizabeth requested to stand Godmother to the daughter of Charles IX. — Death of John Knox — Summary of Scotch affairs — Secret instructions to Killegrew on his being sent to Scotland — Lord Burghley's letters from Woodstock — Defence of Mary's honour — Comparison of Leslie and Buchanan — Disgrace of Mary — Detectio Mariee — Intrigues of the Papists — Disciplinarians — Admonition to Parliament— Dering's Address — Archbishop Parker's Bible — Bishop Parkhurst — Extract from Strype's Life of Archbishop Parker— Queen's Progresses 578

MEMOIRS

OF

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE WILLIAM CECIL,

LORD BURGHLEY.

CHAP. I.

First year of Queen Elizabeth's reign, from Nov. 17, 1558, to Nov. 16, 1559; first parliament

met Jan. 25th, 1558-9, dissolved May 8th, 1559. Anno Ferdinand! Imp. 4mo. — H. 2di R.Gail. 12mo. Mar. Reg. Scot. 16to. [From Lord Burgkley's

own Notes of Queen Elizabeth's Reign.]

Accession of Elizabeth — Cecil's competency to advise the Queen — Her title to the Crown — Henry's Will — Description of the Queen's person — Cecil thejirst to announce to her Mary's demise, and her own accession — The Queen's first Council — Cecil Secretary — The Queen removes to London — Funerals of Queen Mary and Cardinal Pole — Bad state of England on Elizabeth's accession, from various Authors — Her Coronation — The Lord Keeper's Speech to Parliament — Assumption of the English Crown by Francis and Mary — Claims of the French in favour of Mary — Parliament meets — Courage of Elizabeth's Ministers — Philip 1 1. 's proposal of Marriage — Device for Religion — The Queen on the Eucharist — Public Disputations — Cecil Chancellor of Cambridge — Peace of Chateau Cambrensis — Death of Henry II. of France — Danger to England from Scotland — Dangers from France — Revival of King Edward's Prayer Book — High Commission Court — Parker made Archbishop— Differences in Religion — Jewel's Letters on the State of England — Amendment of the Coin — Summary of wise counsels.

are now arrived at the period, when, in the estimation of the generality of the world, the Political Life of the Great Man whose History we are writing, has been judged most properly to begin. On the accession to the throne of

2 MEMOIRS OF LORD BURGHLEY. [1658.

that most extraordinary Sovereign and Mistress, * whom, for the long space of Forty Years, and to the very termination of his natural life, he served with a constancy and fidelity impossible to be exceeded, and with such an unwearied attention to the preservation of her crown and her life, against a combination of foes, and with so rooted a regard to the glory, credit, and advancement of the kingdom she had to rule, as may be reasonably said to have laid the foundation of all that wealth and greatness, which have conspired to place it, for so long a course of time, in the first rank of the nations of the world.

Before we enter, however, into the transactions of this very extraordinary reign, we must, in justice to ourselves, submit to the reader the following remarks.

Had the Political Life of Lord Burghley begun, as many have appeared to think, with the accession of Elizabeth, we might be led to entertain very erroneous ideas of the extent of his wisdom, and the value of his services, at that very important period — a period, in which an occasion was most providentially sup- plied, by the demise of Mary, of revising all that had passed in the three preceding Reigns, as connected with that great revolutionary struggle, then on foot, between the Church of Rome, and the several reformed, or rather reforming Churches of Christendom ; and which, as we have shewn in our first volume, had its beginning as nearly as could be at the very period of the commencement of the natural life of that eminent Statesman, and to which his attention happened to be powerfully drawn, before he can be said to have passed the season of his youth ; having been entered very earlyt a member of the University of Cambridge, and at the very time, to use the words of a distinguished writer, J " when the last great revolution of the intellectual world was filling every academical mind with ardour or anxiety." It was there he fell into the company of persons, in a high degree interested, if not immediately in the reformation of the Church, in the changes that were taking place conducive thereto ; the emancipation of the human under- standing from the trammels of a prescribed and mysterious course of study, and the cultivation of such particular branches of knowledge, as had heretofore met with no general encouragement, from a dread of the consequences to the usurped authority of the Papacy.

Nor could it have been possible for any young man, at such a time, to have fallen into a more select company than was the case with Lord Burghley, — there

* Who has been described as " more than a man, and, in truth, sometimes less than a woman ;" an expression attributed by some to Lord Burghley himself, by others, to his son Lord Salisbury. -h At 14 years of age. t Dr. Johnson's Life of Ascham.

1558.1 MEMOIRS OF LORD BURGHLEY. 3

being scarcely one of his academical associates, who did not afterwards become as conspicuous as himself, either in Church or State, and without any subsequent interruption of the acquaintance so early formed, except by death, notwithstanding the strange vicissitudes to which their native country became exposed.

When the sceptre passed into the hands of Elizabeth, no sovereign could be said to stand more in need, not merely of talented, but of experienced Counsellors ; and Lord Burghley's had been, to say the least, as to all such purposes, a con- stant life of observation and experience ; — experience collected at the fountain head, or derived through channels, the least devious that could be ; personally known to her royal father, her brother, and her deceased sister, and to all those who had been their most confidential advisers and ministers, and never far absent from the very seat of government, who could be expected to know better than himself, what course should be determined upon in the very commencement of this new reign ? There was no time to hesitate; the eyes of Europe could not but be directed from all parts towards England at this momentous crisis ; her father, brother, and sister, had already drawn upon themselves general attention, but to the excitement of very different feelings towards their country ; in the last reign, those who had taken the most conspicuous parts with her father and brother, in emancipating the nation from the usurped dominion of Rome, had been generally removed ; many by death, many by banishment, and not a few by martyrdom. Lord Burghley stood almost alone as the survivor of the dead, and the representative of the absent; but in both cases the depositary of their most secret thoughts and wishes ; he had witnessed the undoing, under Mary, of all that they had done, under Henry and Edward, some with the sacrifice of their lives, and others to the abandonment of their native country ; and it seemed now in a great measure to rest with him to say, whether they were once more to have justice done them, by restoring the laws of Edward and Henry, which Mary had repealed, or to allow the Ro- manists to perpetuate the triumph they had, as it were, accidentally attained. No man could know better than himself, or more in detail, the history of these laws, and the important changes wrought and established by them ; which history was therefore made the subject of our first volume, that the re-enactment of Edward's laws, and the re-establishment of the Protestant Church of England by Elizabeth, might be the easier understood. We endea- voured to impress it upon the reader's attention and memory at the beginning of this Memoir ; — that the Life of Lord Burghley consisted principally of

6 MEMOIRS OF LORD BURGHLEY. [1558.

it was therefore null ab initio, and that her father, upon the discovery of its perfect illegality, had a just right, if not a conscientious plea, to separate himself from her, without those tedious, tiresome, and disgusting formalities, to which Henry's last remnant of respect for the court of Rome induced him for a long time to sub- mit, in order to give it the appearance of a regular divorce. Elizabeth could be under no necessity of believing the story of her mother's guilt, or of her precontract with the Lord Percy, for they are not credited to this day, by any persons capable of investigating that portion of the English history without prejudice; and as to her subsequent illegitimation by Parliament at the will of Henry, she had certainly no need to attend to that, if she discredited the allegations on which it was founded. At the period of her birth, it is exceedingly notorious that her father took every step he could take to mark his own sense of her legitimacy,* by the magnificent circumstances attending her christening, t and his investing her with the title of Princess of Wales, upon the alleged illegitimacy of her elder sister.

Her elevation to the throne upon the death of Mary, did not indeed depend, as we shall soon shew, upon any of these questions, but simply on the will of her father ; the legitimacy of her birth, nevertheless, was of the highest import- ance as a bar against the pretensions of other living competitors, who might reasonably be allowed to dispute the power of a will, to overrule claims more decidedly hereditary, in favour of a notoriously spurious offspring. The course of succession had hitherto been as follows ; First, Edward, as the undoubted

* Sanders indeed asserts, that Henry had declared in Parliament, that she was not and could not be his daughter ; but see how he is answered by Burnet, Collection of Records, vol. ii. part ii. Appendix, p. 80. Lingard insists that Anne Boleyn alluded to Henry's connexion with her sister, rather than her precontract with Lord Percy, to favour the divorce. — See Henry VIII. vol. vi. page 322. compare Turner, 623.

t For an account of this extraordinary ceremony, see Holinshed, Nichols's Progresses, and Aikin's Court of Elizabeth. This last writer dwells largely on the melancholy ends to which most of the exalted personages, who bore a part in this gorgeous and magnificent piece of pa- geantry, were brought ; few of the company having failed afterwards to become the victims, either of the jealousy and cruelty of their capricious Master, or of the struggles produced by the Reformation of religion. The same writer notices a circumstance, which, according to the super- titious credulity of the age, has been supposed to have been the influential cause of that extra- ordinary sympathy, which gave such power and weight to the unworthy Leicester, in the Court of this otherwise just discerner of men's talents. This "bold bad man," as he has been called, was said to have been born on the same day and at the same hour as the Princess herself. After the death of her mother, at only three years of age, a Table of State was projected for her. — See Lady Margaret Brian's Letter to Cromwell, and Thompson's Court of Henry VIII. ii. 555, 6.

1558.] MEMOIRS OF LORD BURGHLEY. 7

male heir of Henry VIII., and consequently, independently of the will, upon the fair ground of legitimate inheritance : next, Mary ; at one time universally regarded also as the legitimate offspring of Henry, but afterwards set aside as illegitimate, upon a question never more than partially resolved, though perhaps rightly resolved by those, who, after having determined the marriage with a brother's widow to be contrary to the law of God, disputed the Pope's power to dispense with such laws. These decisions it must be admitted, were never received or allowed by the Catholic party, as just and right ;* Mary, therefore, as a Catholic, might also to the hour of her death, very fairly have looked upon her own birth to have been legitimate, and to have had, as much as her bro- ther, an hereditary claim to the crown, as well as a right by her father's will; but on the accession of Elizabeth, the validity of those decisions may be said to have operated exactly as much in her favour with the whole Protestant party, as their invalidity had operated in favour of Mary, amongst the Ro- manists during the preceding reign. Elizabeth, therefore, as an anti-Romanist, had an equal right to look upon her own birth as legitimate : — and thus, both these Princesses, as well as their unhappy and unfortunate mothers, may with much reason, as far as regarded themselves personally and individually, be said to stand clear of all those stains and taints of infamy, with which their several connexions with Henry and the crown of England, have since been branded. As Catholics, Katherine of Aragon and Mary her daughter, had the plea of a papal dispensation in their favour, which, if valid, as they must be allowed to have felt it to be, neither the caprice of Henry, nor even the power of a British parliament, could in their estimation invalidate. Elizabeth, on the contrary, had on her side, as it must appear now, a still stronger plea, of the utter invalidity of a papal bull, to render a marriage lawful, which had been contracted in violation of, or in opposition to, the revealed word of God.

The reader, as we proceed in the history of the extraordinary reign we have now entered upon, will see the reasons for our touching upon these points so par- ticularly. Elizabeth seems to us, we must confess, to have been not only " full royally born," but as royally educated ; which in itself deserves to be considered as no trifling proof or confirmation of the former.

* With the exception, it should be observed, of Francis I., who, in the most formal manner possible, admitted Henry's marriage with Katherine to be incestuous, and her offspring by him spurious, and his marriage with Anne to be consequently valid and good, and Elizabeth entirely legitimate. — See Burnet's Records, vol. iii. No. XXXVI.

8 MEMOIRS OF LORD BURGHLEY. [1558.

As to the early extraordinary attainments of this renowned Princess, we con- ceive them to be authenticated by the most indisputable evidences of history. Proofs indeed are not wanting at this moment, to establish the fact beyond all power of contradiction ; we have still preserved in her own hand-writing, spe- cimens of her learning and ready talents, beyond the ordinary accomplishments of the female sex, and which cannot, we should think fail, to excite surprise and admiration in all who may have the means of access to them. Camden's account of her, certainly savours somewhat of extravagance, though not in all points. He describes her, as " of admirable beauty, and well deserving a crown ; of a modest gravity, excellent wit, royal soul, happy memory, and indefatigably given to the study of learning, insomuch as before she was seventeen years of age, she un- derstood well the Latin, French, and Italian tongues,* and had an indifferent knowledge of the Greek ; neither did she neglect music, so far as it became a prin- cess, being able to sing sweetly and play handsomely on the lute."

Though this be the evidence of a contemporary, and one who knew her well, and Camden's account seems to be corroborated by Sir Richard Baker, another contemporary, who uses exactly the same words, yet her " admirable beauty" re- mains questionable. f That she well " deserved a crown" is true ; if magnanimity and resolution ; a wise choice of counsellors ; defiance of enemies ; regard for the honour, and care for the security, wealth, and prosperity of her subjects, be the proper tests of such qualifications. Her " modest gravity "was not so constant

* Ascham and Huentius add Spanish. She used to translate from the French, but her pronuncia- tion of the latter language seems not to have been generally approved by foreigners ; as that tell- tale Bayle has been careful to inform us, in his multifarious but entertaining notes from du Man- ner's Memoires pour servir a I'histoire de Hollande. From the Latin she translated many works, as is well known, and several from the Greek. For a full account of the literary productions of Elizabeth, see Parke's edition of Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors, and the Preface to Nichols's Progresses.

t A remarkable difference of opinion seems to have prevailed in regard to her complexion. Naunton says it was/atV ; Bohun that her skin was of pure white; but Michele, the Venetian ambas- sador, who had probably frequent opportunities of seeing her, and wrote of her in his dispatches to the Senate, describes her to have been " olivastra in compkxione," of an olive or dark com- plexion. (See Lingard.) But in the report, as it is to be seen in Mr. Ellis's Second Series of Ori- ginal Letters, the words of the original being " di bella carne enchorche olivatra," it is rendered, " her complexion fine though rather sallow." This paper of Michele. is extremely curious, and we are much indebted to Mr. Ellis for the pains he has taken to make it intelligible to the public in his entertaining and valuable publication.

1558.] MEMOIRS OF LORD BURGHLEY. 9

and habitual as to secure her, by all accounts, from occasional bursts of passion and anger, highly unbecoming her sex and station ; nor was her " excellent wit," always so pure and chaste and feminine as might have been expected from one in so high and elevated a condition of life; her "royal soul," if it were such politically, which seems to have been the case in a great abundance of instances, was certainly deficient in some princely virtues, and not so softened by refinement of manners as might have been wished. To what has been said of her literary attainments we have already expressed our assent. The famous Roger Ascham, the fellow-collegian and friend of Sir William Cecil, and public orator at Cambridge, became, after Grindal, her principal preceptor; and it is well known how triumphantly, in his "Schoolmaster," a work expressly addressed to Sir William, he challenged, or defied, all "the young gentlemen of England," nay all "the prebendaries of the church," to match his "onemayd," in " excellencie of learning and know- ledge of divers tongues."

It is certainly very extraordinary, that with these great talents, and attainments beyond her sex, and with such strong traits in her character, Elizabeth should have borne her faculties so meekly* during the three preceding reigns, as to ar- rive at this momentous period of her life, with so little embarrassment in regard to her succession, that her sister was scarcely deceased, before the event was com- municated to both Houses of Parliament, by Hethe, Archbishop of York,§ Lord Chancellor, and her accession announced at the same time, as " the true, lawfull, and right inheritrice to the crown ;" to use the Archbishop's own words, as cited by Holinshed. " Scarce had he spoken the word," says Camden, " when all from all sides cried and recried, God save Queen Elizabeth, Reign she most long, Reign she most happily.'" Nor was there any time lost, in publicly proclaiming her title, with all the accustomed solemnities, both in London and West- minster, in the presence not only of the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and other civic authorities, but of many of the first nobility, and magistracy of the realm ; a deputation of the Council being at the same time appointed to attend upon her Majesty, to communicate the proceedings that had already taken place, and receive her commands.

* Her amiable brother Edward VI., as is well known, gave her a name which certainly bespoke such meekness of character: — he was used to call her, his " Sweet Sister Temperance."

f Bishop of Ely (Aikin); but the Bishop of Ely at that time was Thirleby, who was engaged in an embassy abroad.

VOL. II. C

I0 MEMOIRS OF LORD BURGHLEY. [1558.

At this time Elizabeth had her residence at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, a place of her own, it having been made over to her in the year 1550 by her brother Edward VI., as parcel of the lands belonging to the Bishoprick of Ely, and hence called Hatfield Episcopi sive Regis* It had been indeed prescribed to her, as her settled abode, by her sister Mary, not long after her release from imprisonment at Woodstock, in the year 1555 ; and she had been consigned, while there, to the special care of Sir Thomas Pope, a gentleman of singular worth and integrity, well inclined indeed, not only to shew respect to his royal charge, and occasionally to enliven the dull hours of her comparative seclusion from the world, but to connive at her retaining about her person many sincere Protestants ; to the great discomfiture of Gardiner, who did not hesitate to exert his power with Mary to have some of them removed ; some even of the Princess's chief favourites. At this period, indeed, Elizabeth seems un- doubtedly to have stood upon better terms with her sister, than had previously been the case ; she had even received from her the gift of a valuable ring, as a positive token of a perfect reconciliation ; and, in the spring of the year 1557, Mary had paid the Princess a visit at Hatfield, on which occasion she was, by the care, and too much at the private expense of Sir Thomas Pope, most royally entertained, with much music, dramatic exhibitions, and bear-baiting, the fashionable amusements of the day. This visit appears to have so well satisfied Mary, as to have induced her to give in return, an entertainment, to the Princess and her suite, at Richmond, not altogether so costly, yet very magnificent.

It has been conjectured that the Queen's cordiality towards her sister at this period was occasioned by some jealousy she had conceived of her absent husband, King Philip, who was supposed to have been captivated by the charms of the Duchess of Lorraine ; and whom, in conjunction with the Duchess of Parma, he had incautiously sent to England to prevail upon Elizabeth to marry the Duke of Savoy ; a step the Queen so warmly resented, as absolutely to prohibit their resort to Hatfield for that purpose.

Whatever may have been the actual state of things, amidst such a per- plexity of views and feelings, it seems to be certain, that Hatfield House had for the last three years, been to Elizabeth a more agreeable and peaceful residence than any she had enjoyed before. She had a large but reasonable

* It is scarcely necessary to observe, that it is now the seat of the the Marquess of Salisbury, the lineal descendant of Lord Burghley. James the First gave it to the first Earl of Salisbury in exchange for Thcnf-nlds ; of which we shall have more to say.

1558.] MEMOIRS OF LORD BURGHLEY. 11

establishment ; she lived unsuspected ; and under the superintendance of Sir Thomas Pope, the Founder of Trinity College, Oxford,* she had been able to indulge her taste for classical literature, and for such studies, as, though generally accounted above her sex, were in those days known to confer dis- tinction on many ladies connected with the Court.

It was in this her peaceful retirement, comparatively so at least, con- sidering the suspicions under which she had previously laboured,! that this illustrious Princess received the first intimation of her sister's demise, and of her own accession to the Crown ; and it is generally supposed to have been communicated to her by Lord Burghley, in a particular spoty in the grounds of Hatfield House, pointed out, we believe, to all casual visitors of that princely residence, to this very day.

On the 17th day of November, in the year 1558, it was that Lord Burghley had to announce to Elizabeth the momentous event, not only of Mary's death, but of her being received, acknowledged, and proclaimed the lawful successor of her deceased sister ;J from which instant, to the hour of his death, forty years afterwards, he may very justly be said to have been her chief and most confidential adviser, counsellor, and minister. He was, indeed, as we have observed, fully competent to be so ; no man could know better than he did, all that had been passing in the preceding reigns ; no man could better know the real interests of England, and the situation in which the new Sove-

* Fuller, in his Church History, speaking of Sir Thomas, says, " I find this Mr. Pope," (as then unknighted) " a principal visitor at the dissolution of Abbeys. Now as none were losers employed in that service, so we find few refunding back to charitable uses ; and perchance this rnan alone the thankful Samaritan who made a publique acknowledgment."

t Naunton, speaking of her condition under her sister Mary, says, " It was resolved and her destinie decreed to set her an apprentice in the schoole of affliction, and to draw her through that ordeal fire of tryall, the better to mould and fashion her to rule and sovereigntie ; which finished, and Fortune calling to minde that the time of her servitude was expired, gave up her indentures, and therewithall delivered into her custodie, a sceptre as the reward of her service."

I The following is the account we find in Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia, of the way in which she received the intelligence : " Being then at Hatfield, and under a guard, and the parliam* at sitting at the self-same time ; at the news of the Queen's death, and her own proclamation by the general consent of the House, and the publick sufferance of the people ; falling on her knees, after a good time of respiration, she uttered this verse of the Psalm, "A Domino factum estillud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris;" This is the Lord's work, and it is wonderful in our eyes. And we find it to this day on the stamp of her gold, and this on her silver coin : " Posui Deum adjutorem meum ;" I have chosen God for my help.

,2 MEMOIRS OF LORD BURGHLEY. [1558.

reign was placed, with regard, as well to the several parties at home, as to all neighbouring or foreign Powers .* We may reasonably consider him to have become, by this time, a consummate politician, and to have known all bearings of the politics, not of England only, but of Europe-politics, embracing not merely civil, but ecclesiastical questions, never before brought to so decisive a trial and issue. He now stood at the right hand of the new Sovereign of England, to give her the whole benefit of that knowledge and experience, and she dv hesitate, by her early call upon him, to acknowledge that such were her expec tations It was rather as an old than a new servant that she now recognized hm he received, indeed, as an eminent writer has observed, the first honour she had to confer, as Queen, and became the first avowed Counsellor she ever had ; fact, the very speech she is reported to have made to the deputation sent by the Council to wait on her at Hatfield, is said to have been prepared and written by Lord Burghley ;t and, it is very certain, that the minute of steps to be taken on her first elevation to the throne, was drawn up by him ; in which there is undoubtedly such a compactness of expression, and such an extent of observation, as must be allowed to bespeak no common talents in a person of Lord Burghley 's age. It is still preserved in the valuable collection of Cottonian Manuscripts in the British Museum, Titus, c. x. 21. to the following effect.

I. To consider the Proclamation, and to proclaim it, and to send the same to all manner of places and Sheriffs, with speed, and to print it.

II. To prepare the Tower, and to appoint the custody thereof to trusty per- sons; and to write to all the keepers of forts and castles in the Queen's name.

III. To consider for