i2 THE HISTOET OF THE EOYAL BUCKHOUNDS. 



he had no thought of death, as five days after he had secured 

 the rich chancery fees, he was made Lord-Steward of the 

 Household for life. About the end of the same month he was 

 sent to Zealand with a considerable force for the relief of 

 Gluj's. The loss of that important town revived the misunder- 

 standing between him and the States, who refused to re- 

 establish him in the absolute authority he had formerly 

 enjoyed, and the Queen recalled him by an instrument dated 

 November 9, 1587, at the same time appointing Lord Willoughby 

 Captain-General of her forces in those parts. On Leicester's 

 return to England the Queen again admitted him into her 

 former grace and favour, and Lord Buckhurst, who had accused 

 him of misconduct in the management of affairs in the Low 

 Countries, was censured, and confined to his house for some 

 months. 



On the apprehension of the Spanish invasion, the Earl of 

 Leicester was appointed Lieutenant-General of the forces 

 which assembled at Tilbury. He also solicited the office of 

 Lieutenant of England and Ireland, which the Queen consented 

 to grant him ; but his patent was stayed in consequence of re- 

 monstrances from Sir Christopher Hatton, the Lord Chancellor, 

 and Lord Burleigh, the Lord Treasurer, who represented to Her 

 Majesty the hazard she would incur by entrusting such large 

 and unheard-of powers to a single person. Apart from this 

 disappointment, his various other posts kept him fully occupied, 

 particularly the onerous duties and responsibilities attached 

 to conducting the defence of the country during the then 

 imminent invasion. In a quaint epistle from Leicester to the 

 Queen, which unites in a remarkable manner the character of 

 a love-letter with a Privy Council minute of instructions, he 

 completely'" directed Her Majesty's movements, under the veil 

 of flattering anxiety for her safety. By this means he en- 

 deavoured to induce the Queen to make Havering her head- 

 quarters. This was fourteen miles from Tilbury, where the 

 advanced lines of the defensive forces were encamped, and from 

 this basis of operations he could control the whole army with- 

 out the interference of the Queen, who was generalissimo in 



