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| 14 | <Metadata name="Content">biography of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) by Edward Spencer Beesly, 1892</Metadata>
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| 15 | <Metadata name="Page_topic">biography of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) by Edward Spencer Beesly, 1892</Metadata>
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| 16 | <Metadata name="Author">Marilee Mongello</Metadata>
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| 17 | <Metadata name="Title">Secondary Sources: Queen Elizabeth by Edward Spencer Beesly, 1892: Chapter III</Metadata>
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| 21 | <Metadata name="dc.Subject">Tudor period|Others</Metadata>
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| 30 | <Content>
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| 31 |
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| 32 | <table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" height="667">
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| 33 | <tr>
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| 34 | <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
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| 35 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="29">&nbsp;</td>
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| 36 | <td width="25%" height="29"></td>
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| 37 | </tr>
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| 38 | <tr>
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| 39 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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| 40 | <td width="50%" height="3"><font size="3"></font></td>
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| 41 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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| 42 | </tr>
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| 43 | <tr>
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| 44 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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| 45 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="610">
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| 46 | <p align="center"><b><font size="7">Queen Elizabeth<br></font></b>
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| 47 | <font size="4">by Edward Spencer Beesly, 1892</font></p>
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| 48 | <p align="center">
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| 49 | <img border="2" src="_httpdocimg_/eliz1-ermine.jpg" width="400" height="478" alt="'The Ermine Portrait' of Elizabeth I, c1585, by Nicholas Hilliard"><p align="center">
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| 50 | <i><font size="2">'The Ermine Portrait' of Elizabeth I, c1585, by Nicholas
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| 51 | Hilliard;<br>from the <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.marileecody.com%2feliz1-images.html">Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I</a> website</font></i></td>
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| 52 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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| 53 | </tr>
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| 54 | </table>
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| 55 | <blockquote>
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| 56 | <blockquote>
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| 57 | <font style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
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| 58 | <font style="font-family: Times New Roman"></font>
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| 59 | <font style="font-family: Times New Roman"></font>
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| 60 | <font style="font-family: Times New Roman">
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| 61 | <div align="left">
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| 62 | <b>CHAPTER III<br>FOREIGN RELATIONS: 1559-1563</b></div>
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| 63 | <p align="left">THE successful wars waged by Edward III and Henry V are
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| 64 | apt to cause an exaggerated estimate of the strength of England under the
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| 65 | Tudors. The population--Wales included--was probably not much more than four
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| 66 | millions. That of France was perhaps four times as large, and the
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| 67 | superiority in wealth was even greater. Before the reign of Louis XI.,
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| 68 | France, weakened by feudal disunion, had been an easy prey to her smaller
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| 69 | but better-organised neighbour. The work of concentration effected by the
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| 70 | greatest of French kings towards the close of the fifteenth century, and the
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| 71 | simultaneous rise of the great Spanish empire, caused England to fall at
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| 72 | once into the rank of a second-rate power. Such she really was under Henry
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| 73 | VIII., notwithstanding the rather showy figure he managed to make by
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| 74 | adhering alternately to Charles v. and Francis I. Under the bad government
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| 75 | of Edward and Mary the fighting strength of England declined not only
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| 76 | relatively, but absolutely, until in the last year of Mary it touched the
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| 77 | lowest point in our history. Although we were at war with France, there were
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| 78 | no soldiers, no officers, no arms, no fortresses that could resist
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| 79 | artillery, few ships, a heavy debt, and deep discouragement. The loss of
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| 80 | Calais, which had been held for 200 years, was the simple and natural
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| 81 | consequence of this prostration. Justice will not be done to the great
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| 82 | recovery under Elizabeth unless we understand how low the country had sunk
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| 83 | when she came to the throne. </p>
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| 84 | <p align="left">During the early years of her reign, it was the universal
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| 85 | opinion at home and abroad that without Spanish protection she could not
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| 86 | preserve her throne against a French invasion in the interests of Mary
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| 87 | Stuart. Henry II. meant that, by the marriage of the Dauphin Francis with
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| 88 | Mary, the kingdoms of England and Scotland should be united to one another
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| 89 | and eventually to France. Philip would thus lose the command of the sea
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| 90 | route to the Netherlands, and the hereditary duel with the House of Austria
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| 91 | would be decided. This scheme could not seem fantastic in a century which
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| 92 | had seen such immense agglomerations of territory effected by political
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| 93 | marriages. Philip, on the other hand, made sure that the danger from France
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| 94 | must necessarily throw Elizabeth and England into his arms. Notwithstanding
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| 95 | the warnings he received from his ambassador Feria that Elizabeth was a
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| 96 | heretic, he felt certain that she would not venture to alter religion at the
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| 97 | risk of offending him. The only question with him was whether he should
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| 98 | marry her himself or bestow her on some sure friend of his house. That she
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| 99 | would refuse both himself and his nominee was a contingency he never
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| 100 | contemplated. </p>
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| 101 | <p align="left">Elizabeth, from the first, made up her mind that the cards
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| 102 | in her hand could be played to more advantage than Philip supposed. England,
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| 103 | no doubt, needed his protection for the present. But could he please himself
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| 104 | about granting it? Her bold calculation was that his own interests would
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| 105 | compel him, in any case, to prevent the execution of the Stuart-Valois
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| 106 | scheme, and that consequently she might settle religion without reference to
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| 107 | his wishes. </p>
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| 108 | <p align="left">The offer of marriage came in January 1559. In his letter to
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| 109 | Feria, Philip spoke as if Elizabeth would of course jump at it. After
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| 110 | dwelling on its many inconveniences, he said he had decided to make the
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| 111 | sacrifice on condition that Elizabeth would uphold the Catholic religion;
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| 112 | but she must not expect him to remain long with her; he would visit England
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| 113 | occasionally. Feria foolishly allowed this letter to be seen, and the
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| 114 | contents were reported to Elizabeth. She was as much amused as piqued. Their
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| 115 | ages were not unsuitable. Philip was thirty-two, and Elizabeth was
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| 116 | twenty-five. But she was as fastidious about men as her father was about
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| 117 | women; and for no political consideration would she have tied herself to her
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| 118 | ugly, disagreeable, little brother-in-law. After some fencing, she replied
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| 119 | that she did not mean to marry, and that she was not afraid of France. </p>
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| 120 | <p align="left">Before the death of Mary, negotiations for a peace between
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| 121 | France, Spain, and England had already begun. Calais was almost the only
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| 122 | difficulty remaining to be settled. Our countrymen have never been able </p>
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| 123 | <p align="left">to understand how their possession of a fortress within the
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| 124 | natural boundaries of another country can be disagreeable to its
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| 125 | inhabitants. Elizabeth shared the national feeling, and she wanted Philip to
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| 126 | insist on the restitution of Calais. He would have done so if she had
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| 127 | pleased him as to other matters. Even as it was, the presence of a French
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| 128 | garrison in Calais was so inconvenient to the master of the Netherlands that
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| 129 | he was ready to fight on if England would do her part. But Elizabeth would
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| 130 | only promise to fight Scotland--a very indirect and, indeed, useless way of
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| 131 | supporting Philip. When once this point was made clear, peace was soon
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| 132 | concluded between the three powers at Câteau, near Cambray (March 1559);
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| 133 | appearances being saved by a stipulation that Calais should be restored in
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| 134 | eight years, or half a million of crowns be forfeited. </p>
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| 135 | <p align="left">In thus giving way Elizabeth showed her good sense. To have
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| 136 | fought on would have meant deeper debt, terrible exhaustion, and, what was
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| 137 | worse, dependence on Philip. Moreover, Calais could only have been recovered
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| 138 | by reducing France to helplessness, which would have been fatal to the
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| 139 | balance of power on which Elizabeth relied to make herself independent of
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| 140 | both her great neighbours. The peace of Câteau Cambresis was attended with a
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| 141 | secret compact between Philip II. and Henry II., that each monarch should
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| 142 | suppress heresy in his own dominions and not encourage it in those of his
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| 143 | neighbour. By the accession of Elizabeth, and the Scotch Reformation which
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| 144 | immediately followed, Protestantism reached its highwater mark in Europe.
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| 145 | The long wars of Charles V with France had enabled it to spread. Francis I.
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| 146 | had intrigued with the Protestant princes of the Empire, and Charles had
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| 147 | been obliged to humour them. Protestantism was victorious in Britain,
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| 148 | Scandinavia, North Germany, the Palatinate, and Swabia. It had spread widely
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| 149 | in Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands, and France. This rapid growth was now
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| 150 | about to be checked. In some of these countries the new religion was
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| 151 | destined to succumb; in some entirely to disappear. Men who could remember
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| 152 | the first preachings of Luther lived to see not only the high-water, but the
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| 153 | ebb, of the Protestant tide. The revolutionary tendencies inherent in
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| 154 | Protestantism began to alarm the sovereigns; and all the more because the
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| 155 | Church in Catholic, hardly less than in Protestant, countries was becoming a
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| 156 | department of the State. Kings had been jealous of the spiritual power when
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| 157 | it belonged to the Popes. They became jealous for it when it was annexed to
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| 158 | the throne. </p>
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| 159 | <p align="left">Notwithstanding its secret stipulations, the peace of Câteau
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| 160 | Cambresis relieved England from the most pressing and immediate perils by
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| 161 | which she was threatened. Neither French nor Spanish troops had made their
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| 162 | appearance on our soil. A breathing-time at least had been gained, during
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| 163 | which something might be done towards putting the country in a state of
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| 164 | defence, and restoring the finances. </p>
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| 165 | <p align="left">But the danger from France was by no means at an end. In the
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| 166 | treaty with England, the title of Elizabeth had been acknowledged. But in
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| 167 | that with Spain, the Dauphin had styled himself &quot;King of Scotland, England,
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| 168 | and Ireland.&quot; He and Mary had also assumed the English arms. If a French
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| 169 | army invaded England, it would come by way of Scotland. The English
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| 170 | Catholics, who had for the most part frankly accepted the succession of
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| 171 | Elizabeth, were disappointed and irritated by the change of religion. If
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| 172 | Mary should go to Scotland with a French force, it was to be apprehended
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| 173 | that a rebellion would immediately break out in the northern counties.
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| 174 | Philip, no doubt, would land in the south to drive out the Dauphiness. But
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| 175 | the remedy would be worse than the disease. For he was deeply discontented
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| 176 | with the conduct of Elizabeth, and would probably take the opportunity of
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| 177 | deposing her. To establish, therefore, her independence of both her powerful
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| 178 | neighbours, Elizabeth had to begin by destroying French influence in
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| 179 | Scotland. </p>
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| 180 | <p align="left">The wisest heads in Scotland had long seen the advantage of
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| 181 | uniting their country to England by marriage. The blundering and bullying
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| 182 | policy of the Protector Somerset had driven the Scotch to renew their
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| 183 | ancient alliance with France. But the attempts of the Regent Mary of Guise
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| 184 | to increase French influence, and to establish a small standing army, in
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| 185 | order at once to strengthen her authority, and to serve the designs of Henry
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| 186 | II. against England, had again made the French connection unpopular, and
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| 187 | caused a corresponding revival of friendly feeling towards England. </p>
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| 188 | <p align="left">Nowhere was the Church so wealthy, relatively to the other
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| 189 | estates, as in Scotland. It was supposed to possess half the property of the
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| 190 | country. Nowhere were the clergy so immoral. Nowhere was superstition so
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| 191 | gross. But the doctrines of the Reformation were spreading among the common
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| 192 | people, and in 1557 some of the nobles, hungering for the wealth of the
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| 193 | Church, put themselves at the head of the Protestant movement. They were
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| 194 | known as the &quot;Lords of the Congregation.&quot; </p>
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| 195 | <p align="left">The Scotch Reformation began not from the Government, as in
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| 196 | England, but from the people. Hence, while change of supremacy was the main
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| 197 | question in England, change of doctrine and worship took the lead in
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| 198 | Scotland. The two parties were about equal in numbers, the Protestants being
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| 199 | strongest in the Lowlands. But, with the exception of the murder of Beaton
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| 200 | in 1546, there had, as yet, been no appeal to force, nor any attempt to
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| 201 | procure a public change of religion. The accession of Elizabeth emboldened
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| 202 | the Protestants. At Perth they took possession of the churches and burnt a
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| 203 | monastery. On the other hand, after the peace of Câteau Cambresis, Henry II.
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| 204 | directed the Regent to put down Protestantism, both in pursuance of the
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| 205 | agreement with Philip, and in order to prepare for the Franco-Scottish
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| 206 | invasion of England. The result was that the Protestants rose in open
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| 207 | rebellion (June 1559). The Lords of the Congregation occupied Perth,
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| 208 | Stirling, and Edinburgh. All over the Lowlands abbeys were wrecked, monks
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| 209 | harried, churches cleared of images, the Mass abolished, and King Edward's
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| 210 | service established in its place. In England the various changes of religion
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| 211 | in the last thirty years had always been effected legally by King and
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| 212 | Parliament. In Scotland the Catholic Church was overthrown by a simultaneous
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| 213 | popular outbreak. </p>
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| 214 | <p align="left">The catastrophe came later than in England; but popular
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| 215 | feeling was more prepared for it; and what was now cast down was never set
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| 216 | up again. </p>
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| 217 | <p align="left">It seemed at first as if the Regent and her handful of
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| 218 | regular troops, commanded by d'Oysel, would be swept away. But d'Oysel had
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| 219 | fortified Leith, and was even able to take the field. A French army was
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| 220 | expected. The tumultuary forces of the needy Scotch nobles could not be kept
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| 221 | together long, and it became clear that, unless supported by Elizabeth, the
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| 222 | rebellion would be crushed as soon as the French reinforcements should
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| 223 | arrive, if not sooner. </p>
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| 224 | <p align="left">Thus early did Elizabeth find herself confronted by the
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| 225 | Scottish difficulty, which was to cause her so much anxiety throughout the
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| 226 | greater part of her reign. The problem, though varying in minor details, was
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| 227 | always essentially the same. There was a Protestant faction looking for
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| 228 | support to England, and a Catholic faction looking to France. Two or three
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| 229 | of the Protestant leaders--Moray, Glencairn, Kirkaldy--did really care
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| 230 | something about a religious reformation. The rest thought more of getting
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| 231 | hold of Church lands and pursuing old family feuds. In the experience of
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| 232 | Elizabeth, they were a needy, greedy, treacherous crew, always sponging on
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| 233 | her treasury, and giving her very little service in return for her money.
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| 234 | Besides, the whole Scotch nation was so touchy in its patriotism, so jealous
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| 235 | of foreign interference, that foreign soldiers present on its soil were sure
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| 236 | to be regarded with an evil eye, no matter for what purpose they had come,
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| 237 | or by whom they had been invited. </p>
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| 238 | <p align="left">The Lords of the Congregation invoked the protection of
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| 239 | Elizabeth. They suggested that she should marry the Earl of Arran, and that
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| 240 | he and she should be King and Queen of Great Britain. Arran was the eldest
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| 241 | son of the Duke of Chatelherault, who, Mary being as yet childless, was
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| 242 | heir-presumptive to the Scottish crown. There were many reasons why
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| 243 | Elizabeth should decline interference. It was throwing down the glove to
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| 244 | France. Interference in Scotland had always been disastrous. It might drive
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| 245 | the English Catholics to despair, as cutting off the hope of Mary's
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| 246 | succession to the English crown. To make a Protestant match would irritate
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| 247 | Philip. He might invade England to forestall the French. Almost all her
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| 248 | Council--even Bacon--advised her to leave Scotland alone, marry the Archduke
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| 249 | Charles, and trust to the Spanish alliance for the defence of England. </p>
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| 250 | <p align="left">These were serious considerations; and to them was to be
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| 251 | joined another which with Elizabeth always had great weight--more,
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| 252 | naturally, than it had with any of her advisers. She shrank from doing
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| 253 | anything which might have the practical effect of weakening the common cause
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| 254 | of monarchs. She felt instinctively that with Protestants reverence for the
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| 255 | religious basis of kingship must tend to become weaker than with Catholics.
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| 256 | She did not desire to encourage this tendency or to familiarise her own
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| 257 | subjects with it. Knox <i>First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous
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| 258 | Regimen of Women</i> had been directed against Mary. The Blasts that were to
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| 259 | follow had been dropped; but the first could not be treated as unblown. And
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| 260 | the arrogant preacher did not mend matters by writing to Elizabeth that she
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| 261 | was to consider her case as an exception &quot;contrary to nature,&quot; allowed by
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| 262 | God &quot;for the comfort of His kirk,&quot; but that if she based her title on her
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| 263 | birth or on law, &quot;her felicity would be short.&quot; </p>
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| 264 | <p align="left">Nevertheless Elizabeth adopted the bolder course. The Lords
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| 265 | of the Congregation were assured that England would not see them crushed by
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| 266 | French arms. A small supply of money was sent to them. As to the marriage
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| 267 | with Arran, no positive answer was given; but he was sent for to be looked
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| 268 | at. When he came, he was found to be even a poorer creature than his father;
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| 269 | at times, indeed, not quite right in his mind. It was hard upon the
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| 270 | Hamiltons, among whom were so many able and daring men, that, with the crown
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| 271 | almost in their grasp, their chiefs should be such incapables. To Elizabeth
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| 272 | it was no doubt a relief to find that Arran was an impossible husband. </p>
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| 273 | <p align="left">In the meantime 2000 French had arrived, and the Lords were
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| 274 | urgent in their demands for help. But Elizabeth determined, and rightly,
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| 275 | that they must do their own work if they could. She was willing to give them
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| 276 | such pecuniary help as was necessary. But the demand for troops was
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| 277 | unreasonable. Fighting men abounded in Scotland. Why should English troops
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| 278 | be sent to do their fighting for them, with the certainty of earning black
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| 279 | looks rather than thanks? If a large army was despatched from France, she
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| 280 | would attack it with her fleet. If it landed, she would send an English
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| 281 | army. But if the Lords of the Congregation did not beat the handful of
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| 282 | Frenchmen at Leith it must be because they were either weak or treacherous.
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| 283 | In either case Elizabeth might have to give up the policy she preferred,
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| 284 | leave Scotland alone, and fall back upon an alliance with Philip. </p>
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| 285 | <p align="left">In order therefore to preserve this second string to her
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| 286 | bow, and to let the Scotch Anglophiles see that she possessed it, she
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| 287 | reopened negotiations for the Austrian marriage. Charles, in his turn, was
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| 288 | invited to come and be looked at. Much as she disliked the idea of marriage,
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| 289 | she knew that political reasons might make it necessary. But, come what
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| 290 | would, she would never marry a man who was not to her fancy as a man. She
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| 291 | would take no one on the strength of his picture. She had heard that Charles
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| 292 | was not overwise, and that he had an extraordinarily big head, &quot;bigger than
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| 293 | the Earl of Bedford's.&quot; </p>
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| 294 | <p align="left">The Scotch Lords, finding that Elizabeth was determined to
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| 295 | have some solid return for her money, went to work with more vigour. They
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| 296 | proclaimed the deposition of the Regent, drove her from Edinburgh, and
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| 297 | besieged her and her French garrison in Leith. But this burst of energy was
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| 298 | soon over. The Protestants were more ready to pull down images and harry
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| 299 | monks than make campaigns. Leith was not to be taken. In three weeks their
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| 300 | army dwindled away, and the little disciplined force of Frenchmen re-entered
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| 301 | Edinburgh. </p>
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| 302 | <p align="left">The position had become very critical for Elizabeth. A
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| 303 | French army of 15,000 men was daily expected at Leith. If once it landed,
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| 304 | the Congregation would be crushed; the Hamiltons would make their peace; and
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| 305 | the disciplined army of d'ElbÅuf, swelled by hordes of hungry Scotchmen,
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| 306 | would pour over the Border, and proclaim Mary in the midst of the Catholic
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| 307 | population which ten years later rose in rebellion under the northern Earls.
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| 308 | </p>
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| 309 | <p align="left">In this difficulty the Spanish Ministers in the Netherlands
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| 310 | were consulted. If Elizabeth expelled the garrison at Leith, and so brought
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| 311 | upon herself a war with France, could she depend on Philip's assistance? The
|
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| 312 | reply was menacing. Their master, for his own interest, could not allow the
|
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| 313 | Queen of France and Scotland to enforce her title to the throne of England.
|
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| 314 | But he would oppose it in his own way. If a French army entered England from
|
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| 315 | the north, a Spanish army would land on the south coast. Turning to her own
|
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| 316 | Council for advice, Elizabeth found no encouragement. They recommended her
|
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| 317 | to take Philip's advice, and even to retrace some of her steps in the matter
|
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| 318 | of religion in order to propitiate him. She made a personal appeal to the
|
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| 319 | Duke of Norfolk to take the command of the forces on the Border. But he
|
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| 320 | declined to be the instrument of a policy which he disapproved. </p>
|
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| 321 | <p align="left">We need not wonder if Elizabeth hesitated for a while. Some
|
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| 322 | of these councillors were not too well affected to her. But most of them
|
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| 323 | were thoroughly loyal, and there was really much to be said for the more
|
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| 324 | cautious policy. She herself was an eminently cautious politician, inclined
|
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| 325 | by nature to shrink from risky courses. Never, therefore, in her whole
|
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| 326 | career did she give greater proof of her large-minded comprehension of the
|
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| 327 | main lines of policy which it behoved her to follow than when she determined
|
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| 328 | to override the opinions of so many prudent advisers, and expel the French
|
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| 329 | force from the northern kingdom. </p>
|
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| 330 | <p align="left">England was not quite in the helpless, disabled position
|
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| 331 | that it pleased the Spaniards to believe. Twelve months of careful and
|
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| 332 | energetic administration had already done wonders. There had been wise
|
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| 333 | economy and wise expenditure. Money had been scraped together, and, though
|
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| 334 | there was still a heavy debt, the legacy of three wasteful reigns, the
|
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| 335 | confidence of the Antwerp money-lenders had revived, and they were willing
|
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| 336 | to advance considerable sums. A fleet had been equipped and manned;
|
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| 337 | shiploads of arms had been imported; forces had been collected on the south
|
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| 338 | coasts. The Border garrisons had been quietly raised in strength till they
|
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| 339 | were able to furnish an expeditionary force at a moment's notice. </p>
|
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| 340 | <p align="left">The smallest energy on the part of the Congregation might
|
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| 341 | have finished the war without the presence of an English force. Elizabeth
|
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| 342 | had a right to be angry. The Scotch Protestants expected to have the hardest
|
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| 343 | part of the work done for them, and to be paid for executing their own share
|
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| 344 | of it. Lord James and a few of the leaders were in earnest, but others were
|
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| 345 | selfish time-servers. As for the lower class, their Calvinism was still new.
|
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| 346 | It had not yet bred that fierce spirit of independence which before long was
|
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| 347 | to outweigh the force of nobles and gentry. But if the weakness of the
|
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| 348 | Anglophile party was disappointing, it had at all events shown that
|
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| 349 | Elizabeth must depend upon herself to ward off danger on that side; and
|
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| 350 | after some reasonable hesitation she decided to put through the work she had
|
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| 351 | begun. </p>
|
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| 352 | <p align="left">It says much for the patriotism of Elizabeth's Council that
|
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| 353 | when they found she had made up her mind they did not stand sulkily aloof,
|
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| 354 | but co-operated heartily and vigorously in carrying out the policy they had
|
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| 355 | opposed. Norfolk himself accepted the command of the Border army, and acted
|
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| 356 | throughout the affair with fidelity and diligence. He was not a man
|
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| 357 | distinguished by ability of any kind, and the actual fighting was to be done
|
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| 358 | by Lord Grey, a firm and experienced, though not brilliant, commander. But
|
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| 359 | that the natural leader of the Conservative nobility should be seen at the
|
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| 360 | head of Elizabeth's army was a useful lesson to traitors at home and enemies
|
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| 361 | abroad, who were telling each other that her throne was insecure. </p>
|
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| 362 | <p align="left">An agreement between the English Queen and the Lords of the
|
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| 363 | Congregation was drawn up (27 February), with scrupulous care to avoid the
|
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| 364 | appearance of dictation and encroachment which had gathered all Scotland to
|
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| 365 | Pinkie Cleugh eleven years before. It set forth that the English troops were
|
---|
| 366 | entering Scotland for no other object than to assist the Duke of
|
---|
| 367 | Chatelherault, the heir-presumptive to the throne, and the other nobles, to
|
---|
| 368 | drive out the foreign invaders. They would build no fortress. There was no
|
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| 369 | intention to prejudice Mary's lawful authority. Cecil appears to have wanted
|
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| 370 | to add something about &quot;Christ's true religion;&quot; but Elizabeth struck it
|
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| 371 | out. Circumstances might compel her to be the protector of foreign
|
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| 372 | Protestants; but neither then nor at any other time did she desire to pose
|
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| 373 | in that character. </p>
|
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| 374 | <p align="left">A month later (28 March) Lord Grey crossed the Border, and
|
---|
| 375 | marched to Leith. The siege of that place proved to be tedious. The Lords of
|
---|
| 376 | the Congregation gave very insufficient assistance; and, when an assault had
|
---|
| 377 | been repulsed with heavy loss, the citizens of Edinburgh would not receive
|
---|
| 378 | the wounded into their houses. At last, when food was running short in the
|
---|
| 379 | town, an envoy from France arrived with power to treat on behalf of the
|
---|
| 380 | Queen of Scots. Her mother, the Regent, had died during the siege. After
|
---|
| 381 | much haggling a treaty was signed. No French troops were in future to be
|
---|
| 382 | kept in Scotland. Offices of State were to be held only by natives. The
|
---|
| 383 | government during Mary's absence was to be vested in a Council of twelve
|
---|
| 384 | noblemen; seven nominated by her and five by the Estates. Elizabeth's title
|
---|
| 385 | to the kingdoms of England and Ireland was recognised (July 1560). </p>
|
---|
| 386 | <p align="left">Such was the Treaty of Edinburgh, or of Leith, as it is
|
---|
| 387 | sometimes called, one of the most successful achievements of a successful
|
---|
| 388 | reign. It was gained by wise counsel and bold resolve; and its fruits,
|
---|
| 389 | though not completely fulfilling its promise, were solid and valuable. It
|
---|
| 390 | was not ratified by Mary. But her nonratification in the long-run injured no
|
---|
| 391 | one but herself, besides putting her in the wrong, and giving Elizabeth a
|
---|
| 392 | standing excuse for treating her as an enemy. England was permanently free
|
---|
| 393 | from the menace of a disciplined French army in the northern kingdom.
|
---|
| 394 | Nothing was settled in the treaty about religion. But this was equivalent to
|
---|
| 395 | a confirmation of the violent change that had recently taken place; in
|
---|
| 396 | itself a guarantee of security to England. </p>
|
---|
| 397 | <p align="left">The moral effect of this success was even greater than its
|
---|
| 398 | more tangible results. It had been very generally believed, at all events
|
---|
| 399 | abroad, that Elizabeth was tottering on her throne; that the large majority
|
---|
| 400 | were on the point of rising to depose her; that, wriggle as she might, she
|
---|
| 401 | would find she was a mere <i>protégée</i> of Philip, with no option but to
|
---|
| 402 | follow his directions and square her policy to his. Whatever small basis of
|
---|
| 403 | fact underlay this delusive estimate had been ridiculously exaggerated in
|
---|
| 404 | the reports sent to Philip by his ambassador De Quadra, a man who evidently
|
---|
| 405 | paid more attention to hole-and-corner tattle than to the broad forces of
|
---|
| 406 | English politics. </p>
|
---|
| 407 | <p align="left">All these imaginings were now proved to be vain. Elizabeth
|
---|
| 408 | had shown that she could protect herself by her own strength and in her own
|
---|
| 409 | way. She had civilly ignored Philip's advice, or rather his injunctions. She
|
---|
| 410 | had thrown down the glove to France, and France had not taken it up. She had
|
---|
| 411 | placed in command of her armies the very man whom she was supposed to fear,
|
---|
| 412 | and he had done her bidding, and done it well. England once more stood
|
---|
| 413 | before Europe as an independent power, able to take care of itself, aid its
|
---|
| 414 | friends, and annoy its enemies. </p>
|
---|
| 415 | <p align="left">It is true that, as far as Elizabeth personally is
|
---|
| 416 | concerned, her Scotch policy had not always in its execution been as prompt
|
---|
| 417 | and firm as could be desired. Those who follow it in greater detail than is
|
---|
| 418 | possible here will find much in it that is irresolute and even vacillating.
|
---|
| 419 | This defect appears throughout Elizabeth's career, though it will always be
|
---|
| 420 | ignored, as it ought to be ignored, by those who reserve their attention for
|
---|
| 421 | what is worth observing in the course of human affairs. </p>
|
---|
| 422 | <p align="left">In her intellectual grasp of European politics as a whole,
|
---|
| 423 | and of the interests of her own kingdom, Elizabeth was probably superior to
|
---|
| 424 | any of her counsellors.</p>
|
---|
| 425 | <p align="left">No one could better than she think out the general idea of a
|
---|
| 426 | political campaign. But theoretical and practical qualifications are seldom,
|
---|
| 427 | if ever, combined in equal excellence. Not only are the qualities themselves
|
---|
| 428 | naturally opposed, but the constant exercise of either increases the
|
---|
| 429 | disparity. Her sex obliged Elizabeth to leave the large field of execution
|
---|
| 430 | to others. Her practical gifts therefore, whatever they were, deteriorated
|
---|
| 431 | rather than advanced as she grew older. In men, who every day and every hour
|
---|
| 432 | of the day are engaged in action, the habit of prompt decision and
|
---|
| 433 | persistence in a course once adopted, even if it be not quite the best, is
|
---|
| 434 | naturally formed and strengthened. It is a habit so valuable, so
|
---|
| 435 | indispensable to continued success, that in practice it largely compensates
|
---|
| 436 | for some inferiority in conception and design. Elizabeth's irresolution and
|
---|
| 437 | vacillation were therefore a consequence of her position--that of an
|
---|
| 438 | extremely able and well-informed woman called upon to conduct a government
|
---|
| 439 | in which so much had to be decided by the sovereign at her own discretion.
|
---|
| 440 | The abler she was, the more disposed to make her will felt, the less
|
---|
| 441 | steadiness and consistency in action were to be expected from her. As the
|
---|
| 442 | wife of a king, upon whom the final responsibility would have rested--her
|
---|
| 443 | inferior perhaps in intellect and knowledge, but with the masculine habit of
|
---|
| 444 | making up his mind once for all, and then steering a straight course--she
|
---|
| 445 | would have been a wise and enlightened adviser, not afraid of consistently
|
---|
| 446 | maintaining principles, when the time, mode, and degree of their application
|
---|
| 447 | rested with another. As it was, Cecil and other able statesmen who served
|
---|
| 448 | her No one could better than she think out the general idea of a political
|
---|
| 449 | campaign. But theoretical and practical qualifications are seldom, if ever,
|
---|
| 450 | combined in equal excellence. Not only are the qualities themselves
|
---|
| 451 | naturally opposed, but the constant exercise of either increases the
|
---|
| 452 | disparity. Her sex obliged Elizabeth to leave the large field of execution
|
---|
| 453 | to others. Her practical gifts therefore, whatever they were, deteriorated
|
---|
| 454 | rather than advanced as she grew older. In men, who every day and every hour
|
---|
| 455 | of the day are engaged in action, the habit of prompt decision and
|
---|
| 456 | persistence in a course once adopted, even if it be not quite the best, is
|
---|
| 457 | naturally formed and strengthened. It is a habit so valuable, so
|
---|
| 458 | indispensable to continued success, that in practice it largely compensates
|
---|
| 459 | for some inferiority in conception and design. Elizabeth's irresolution and
|
---|
| 460 | vacillation were therefore a consequence of her position--that of an
|
---|
| 461 | extremely able and well-informed woman called upon to conduct a government
|
---|
| 462 | in which so much had to be decided by the sovereign at her own discretion.
|
---|
| 463 | The abler she was, the more disposed to make her will felt, the less
|
---|
| 464 | steadiness and consistency in action were to be expected from her. As the
|
---|
| 465 | wife of a king, upon whom the final responsibility would have rested--her
|
---|
| 466 | inferior perhaps in intellect and knowledge, but with the masculine habit of
|
---|
| 467 | making up his mind once for all, and then steering a straight course--she
|
---|
| 468 | would have been a wise and enlightened adviser, not afraid of consistently
|
---|
| 469 | maintaining principles, when the time, mode, and degree of their application
|
---|
| 470 | rested with another. As it was, Cecil and other able statesmen who served
|
---|
| 471 | her against the heretics of all countries. To this appeal he replied by
|
---|
| 472 | formally summoning Catherine to put down heresy in France. An accidential
|
---|
| 473 | collision at Vassy, in which a number of Huguenots were slain, brought on
|
---|
| 474 | the first of those wars of religion which were to desolate France for the
|
---|
| 475 | next thirty years (March 1562). Both factions, equally dead to patriotism,
|
---|
| 476 | opened their country to foreigners. The Guises called in the forces of Spain
|
---|
| 477 | and the Pope. Condé applied to Elizabeth and the Protestant princes of
|
---|
| 478 | Germany. </p>
|
---|
| 479 | <p align="left">It was necessary to give the Huguenots just so much help as
|
---|
| 480 | would prevent them from being crushed. Aggressive in appearance, such
|
---|
| 481 | interference was in reality legitimate self-defence. But unfortunately
|
---|
| 482 | neither Elizabeth nor her Council had forgotten Calais, and they extorted
|
---|
| 483 | from Condé the surrender of Havre as a pledge for its restoration. In the
|
---|
| 484 | case of Scotland they had come, as we have seen, to recognise that to
|
---|
| 485 | establish a permanent raw by holding fortified posts on the territory of
|
---|
| 486 | another nation is poor statesmanship. The possession of Calais was of little
|
---|
| 487 | military value as against France. It is true that it would enable England to
|
---|
| 488 | make sea communication between Spain and the Netherlands very insecure, and
|
---|
| 489 | would thus give Philip a powerful motive for desiring to stand well with
|
---|
| 490 | this country. But such a calculation had less weight with Englishmen at that
|
---|
| 491 | moment than pure Jingoism--the longing to be again able to crow over their
|
---|
| 492 | French enemy. </p>
|
---|
| 493 | <p align="left">The occupation of Havre (October 1562) gave to the Huguenot
|
---|
| 494 | cause the minimum of assistance, and brought upon it the maximum of odium. A
|
---|
| 495 | hollow reconciliation was soon patched up between the rival factions (March
|
---|
| 496 | 1563), and Elizabeth was summoned to evacuate Havre. She refused, loudly
|
---|
| 497 | complaining of the Huguenots for deserting her. She &quot;had come to the quiet
|
---|
| 498 | possession of Havre without force or any other unlawful means, and she had
|
---|
| 499 | good reason to keep it.&quot; Up to this time the fiction of peace between the
|
---|
| 500 | two nations had been maintained. It was now open war. It is only fair to
|
---|
| 501 | Elizabeth to say that all her Council and the whole nation were even hotter
|
---|
| 502 | than she was. The garrison of Havre, with their commander Warwick, were
|
---|
| 503 | eager for the fray. They would &quot;make the French cock cry Cuck,&quot; they would
|
---|
| 504 | &quot;spend the last drop of their blood before the French should fasten a foot
|
---|
| 505 | in the town.&quot; The inhabitants were all expelled, and the siege began, Condé
|
---|
| 506 | as well as the Catholics appearing in the Queen-mother's army. After a
|
---|
| 507 | valiant defence the English, reduced to a handful of men by typhus, sailed
|
---|
| 508 | away (28 July 1563). Peace was concluded early in the next year (April
|
---|
| 509 | 1564). Elizabeth did not repeat her mistake. Thenceforward to the end of her
|
---|
| 510 | reign we shall find her carefully cultivating friendly relations with every
|
---|
| 511 | ruler of France. </p>
|
---|
| 512 | </font>
|
---|
| 513 | <hr>
|
---|
| 514 | <p align="left"><font style="font-family: Times New Roman" size="2">From <i>
|
---|
| 515 | Queen Elizabeth</i> by Edward Spencer Beesly.&nbsp; Published in London by
|
---|
| 516 | Macmillan and Co., 1892.</font></p>
|
---|
| 517 | </font>
|
---|
| 518 | <font face="Times New Roman" size="2">
|
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| 519 | </blockquote>
|
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| 520 | </blockquote>
|
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| 521 |
|
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| 522 | <p align="center">
|
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| 523 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fbeeslychapterfour.html">to Chapter
|
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| 524 | IV: Elizabeth and Mary Stuart: 1559-1568</a></p>
|
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| 525 | <p align="center">
|
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| 526 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2feliz1.html">to the Queen
|
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| 527 | Elizabeth I website</a>&nbsp; /&nbsp;
|
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| 528 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2frelative%2fmaryqos.html">to the Mary,
|
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| 529 | queen of Scots website</a></p>
|
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| 530 | <p align="center"><a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fsecondary.html">
|
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| 531 | to Secondary Sources</a></p>
|
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| 532 | </font>
|
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| 533 |
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| 534 |
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| 535 |
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| 536 | <!-- text below generated by server. PLEASE REMOVE --><!-- Counter/Statistics data collection code --><script language="JavaScript" src="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fhostingprod.com%2fjs%5fsource%2fgeov2.js"></script><script language="javascript">geovisit();</script><noscript><img src="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;el=direct&amp;href=http://visit.webhosting.yahoo.com/visit.gif?us1108082622" alt="setstats" border="0" width="1" height="1"></noscript>
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| 538 | </Content>
|
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| 539 | </Section>
|
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| 540 | </Archive>
|
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