658 E N G I 
And now, whatever may be faid to ex.cufe Elizabeth 
for the imprifonment and death of her haplefs competi¬ 
tor on the fcore of ftate-neceffity, and dill more on that 
of faving her fubjedls from feeing the fires of Smithfield 
renewed by the bigotry of a fecond Mary, no apology 
can be made for the wretched farce which the a£led after 
that event; for her loud laments; for her appeals to 
Heaven that (he meant npt the death of Mary ; nor, laft- 
ly, for her unjuft and inhuman treatment of the worthy 
Davifon. All this made up a tiffiie of wicked diffimula- 
tion, which difgraced her even in her nobleft aflions. 
That attachment to a worthlefs favourite alfo, which 
had all along thrown a cloud over the reign of Elizabeth, 
began now to unveil itfelf. The conduit of the earl of 
Leicefter in Holland, where he commanded the army, had 
been uniformly treacherous, daftardly, and treafonable. 
Governors appointed by him, York and Stanley in par¬ 
ticular, had fold to the Spaniards the forts entrufted to ; 
their care ; each town in Holland had become a fcene of 
intrigue ; and a fpirit of difcontent, fomented by this 
ambitious minion, had almoft difunited thofe provinces, 
whole union alone could preferve their exiftence as a 
nation. The Dutch told their wrongs aloud, and lord 
Buckhurft was fent to examine and report the truth. He 
returned to the queen with ample evidence of Leicefter’s 
bad conduit and worfe defigns- He found the favourite 
in polfedion of Elizabeth’s ear, and both he and fir John 
Norreys were difgraced for expofing Leicefter’s enormi¬ 
ties; while that odious favourite was fent back to Hol¬ 
land in triumph, and again began his career of turbu¬ 
lence and treafon. However, it was hot long before 
evidence of his having plotted to feize and imprifon 
Barneveldt, and thirteen more of the firft perfons in the 
country, was brought forward; and this charge, which 
was too well grounded even for the partial ear of Eli¬ 
zabeth to refill, obliged her to recal that worthlefs mi¬ 
nion from the Netherlands, and to fend lord Willoughby 
to take the command of his turbulent and ill-difciplined 
army. 
An awful, period in the annals of England now ap. 
proached. Philip 11 . elate with the dominions of Spain, 
of Portugal, and both the Indies, had determined to ex¬ 
ert his vaft naval power, and cruft), with one bilge effort, 
the infolent iftanders of Britain, who prefumed to finite 
at his vengeance. He had juft received a new provoca¬ 
tion ; Drake, the fcourge of Spain, had deftroyed a whole 
fleet of tranfports at Cadiz, laden with ftores and ammu¬ 
nition ; had ravaged his weftern coaft ; infulted Liffion ; 
and taken a veffel laden with treafure, and papers of high 
importance. 
The preparations of Spain for the invafionand conqueft 
of England, now filled every bread with anxious expec¬ 
tation. One hundred and thirty veffels, moft of which 
were larger than had been ufually known in the Euro¬ 
pean feus, manned by 8350 feamen, 19,290 foldiers, and 
2080 galley-flaves, and mounting 2360 large pieces of ord¬ 
nance, compofed a power which, in the eyes of Europe, 
f'eefned irrefiftible; and which the Spaniards haughtily 
chriftened The Invincible Armada. Nor was this the 
whole force deftined to a£t againft this devoted country ; 
the prince of Parma had 25,000 veteran troops quartered 
along the coaft of Flanders, ready to embark in tranfports 
and flat-bottomed veffels,.the moment the Armada fhould 
appear to protect their paffage towards the banks of the 
Thames ; and fome hundreds of defperate Englifti rene- 
gadoes prefented the moft odious, but not the lead for¬ 
midable, (bow of this armament; the treacherous band 
was led by Stanley, already profcnbed for felling a Dutch 
fortrefs to Spain. Belides thefe, 12,000 Frenchmen de¬ 
voted to the intereft of the Guifes, in habitual hatred of 
proteftants, were encamped on the Norman coaft, ready 
to embrace the firft opportunity of eroding the channel, 
and of renewing in the weft of England thofe horrors 
which the Hugonots had felt in France.. 
FrOyifions abounded in the Armada; bread and wine 
AND. 
for 40,000 men, during a whole year, ftored the holds; 
while the decks fwarmed with volunteers of the higheft 
ranks'. Superftitior, too, added her fanatic but powerful 
aid ^bulls, denouncing fire and fword to England, accom¬ 
panied the fqu.idron ; and a confecrated banner from Rome 
waved over the heads of thefe formidable crufaders. To 
oppofe this tremendous armament the ftrength of Eng¬ 
land appeared quite inadequate. The whole realm eould- 
not fupply 15,000 able feamen; and the royal navy con¬ 
fided only of twenty-eight velfels, moft of them fmall, 
and ill calculated to lie along fide the huge galleons of 
Spain and Portugal. But Elizabeth reigned in the hearts 
of her people, and the exertions which they unanimoufiy 
made for their country were proportioned to their loyal, 
ty. London alone fent her 10,000 men and thirty (hips ; 
not large, indeed, but well-equipped. Other ports fol¬ 
lowed this noble example ; and the nobility and gentry 
bought or hired veffels, and equipped them to ferve in 
this glorious caufe. The queen had hardly an ally but 
James of Scotland, whofe intereft bound him to her, in 
fpite of her paft condu. 61 , and whofe fidelity to his en¬ 
gagements was of infinite confeqttence to England and the 
proteftant caufe. Great were the offers by which the lub- 
tle Spaniard tempted him to join in an enterprize, which 
he wiftied to reprefent as chiefly meant to revenge the 
death of his injured mother. But the young prince had 
dil’cernment enough to penetrate the flight veil with 
Which the Spaniard wiftied to conceal his real defigns, 
and wit enough to remark to an ambaffador, that “ he 
found himfelf treated as Polyphemus treated Ulylfes, and 
referved for Philip’s laft meal.” Some fmall aid England 
might be faid to have derived from the king of Den¬ 
mark and the Hanfe-tovvns. Thefe, though not on good 
terms, with Elizabeth, yet, moved by the common in- 
tereft of nations, found means to delay and even flop the 
failing of thofe Spanifti (hips which had put into their 
harbours, and were laden with ftores for the Armada. 
The martial and mafeuline fpirit of Elizabeth now 
(hewed itfelf. She affembled her beft officers,. Her fleet 
(lie entrufted to lord Howard of Effingham,.and to Drake, 
Cavendilh, and Forbiflier, the firft ffeamen of the age. 
She. raifed three armies ; one of 20,000 was cantoned 
along the coaft ; while one of 34.000, under lord Hunf- 
don, guarded her perfon, and was to adtas occafion might 
require. If pains the hiftorian to add, that (he entrufted 
the third and moft; important corps of 22,000 men, en¬ 
camped at Tilbury, and deftined to defend the metropo¬ 
lis, to the worthlefs, the daftardly, Leicefter, whom (he 
tin wifely appointed general in chief of all her forces. 
Had the Spaniards really, tended their troops, this partia¬ 
lity might have been fatal to England. 
Leicefier’s army the queen vifited in perfon ; and, 
riding through the ranks with a cheerful countenance,, 
(lie elevated the loyalty of the foldiers almoft.to the pitch 
of phrenzy, by one of the moft fpirited orations w hich 
any hiltory can produce. She told them, that (he had 
been warned not to truft herfelf among armed multitudes 
for fear of treachery; but t hat (he did not wifli for life, 
if (he nnift diftruft her people : “ Let tyrants fear, (faid 
the eloquent heroine;); I have always fo behaved myfelf, 
that, under God, I have placed my chiefeft ftrength and 
fafeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my fub- 
jedts. I am therefore come among you, not as for my 
recreation and fport, but as being relolved, in.the middle 
and heat of the battle, to live or die amongft you all ; to 
laydown, for my God and my people, my honour and 
my blood, even in the duft. I know (added (lie) that I 
have but the body of a weak and feeble woman ; but I 
have the heart of a king, and of a king of England too ; 
and think foul.fcorn that Parma or Spain, or any prince 
in Europe, (hould dare to invade the borders of my realm. 
To which, rather than any difhonour (hall grow by me, 
I myfelf will take up arms ; I myfelf will be your gene¬ 
ral, judge, and the rewarder of every one of your virtues 
in the fields” &c<,. 
NegociationSj 
