[Frontispiece: ROBERT DEVEREUX, SECOND EARL OF ESSEX. (_After a
contemporary portrait in the collection of the Earl of Verulam._)]
THE YEAR AFTER
THE ARMADA
AND OTHER HISTORICAL STUDIES
BY MARTIN A. S. HUME, F.R.HIST.S.
EDITOR OF THE CALENDAR OF SPANISH STATE
PAPERS OF ELIZABETH (PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE)
AUTHOR OF "THE COURTSHIPS OF QUEEN ELIZABETH," ETC.
[Illustration: Dieu et mon droit]
_SECOND EDITION_
"'There is no book so bad,' said the bachelor, 'but that
something good may be found in it.' 'There is no doubt of that,'
replied Don Quixote."--_Don Quixote_, pt. ii.
LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN
PATERNOSTER SQUARE 1896
_All rights reserved._
To
MY MOTHER.
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[Illustration: Headpiece]
PREFACE.
Circumstances have led me to follow the course of modern history into
somewhat unfrequented channels, and in the pursuit of my main object it
is occasionally my good fortune to come across a piece of unused or
unfamiliar contemporary information--some faded manuscript or forgotten
newsletter--which seems to throw fresh light upon an important period
or an interesting personality of the past. It is true that in some
cases the matters recounted are not of any great historical
significance, but even then there is generally some quaint glimpse to
be caught of bygone manners or events which redeems the document from
worthlessness. From such treasure-trove as this, and from other
sources which have generally been overlooked or neglected by English
historians, the studies contained in the present book have been drawn;
and it is hoped that some fresh knowledge as well as amusement may be
gained from them.
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If the reader is only half as much interested in perusing as I have
been in writing them, I shall consider myself very fortunate.
Some of the studies have already appeared in Magazines, but the
principal portion of the book is now printed for the first time.