himself, and withal I must say he is inclined to advance the value to be
delivered to her Majesty, and seeking in general to recompense all men
that have been in the case dealers with him. As I dare take an oath, he
will rather diminish his own portion than leave any of them unsatisfied.
And for his mariners and followers I have seen here as eye-witness, and
have heard with my ears, such certain signs of goodwill as I cannot yet
see that any of them will leave his company. The whole course of his
voyage hath showed him to be of great valour; but my hap has been to see
some particulars, and namely in this discharge of his company, as doth
assure me that he is a man of great government, and that by the rules of
God and his book, so as proceeding on such foundation his doings cannot
but prosper.'
The result of it all was that deductions were made from the capture
equivalent to the property which Drake and Hawkins held themselves to
have been treacherously plundered of at San Juan de Ulloa, with perhaps
other liberal allowances for the cost of recovery. An account on part of
what remained was then given to Mendoza. It was not returned to him or
to Philip, but was laid up in the Tower till the final settlement of
Philip's and the Queen's claims on each other--the cost, for one thing,
of the rebellion in Ireland. Commissioners met and argued and sat on
ineffectually till the Armada came and the discussion ended, and the
talk of restitution was over. Meanwhile, opinion varied about Drake's
own doings as it has varied since. Elizabeth listened spellbound to his
adventures, sent for him to London again, and walked with him publicly
about the parks and gardens. She gave him a second ten thousand pounds.
The _Pelican_ was sent round to Deptford; a royal banquet was held on
board, Elizabeth attended and Drake was knighted. Mendoza clamoured for
the treasure in the Tower to be given up to him; Walsingham wished to
give it to the Prince of Orange; Leicester and his party in the Council,
who had helped to fit Drake out, thought it ought to be divided among
themselves, and unless Mendoza lies they offered to share it with him if
he would agree to a private arrangement. Mendoza says he answered that
he would give twice as much to chastise such a bandit as Drake.
Elizabeth thought it should be kept as a captured pawn in the game, and
so in fact it remained after the deductions which we have seen had been
made.
Drake was lavish of his presents. He presented the Queen with a diamond
cross and a coronet set with splendid emeralds. He gave Bromley, the
Lord Chancellor, 800 dollars' worth of silver plate, and as much more to
other members of the Council. The Queen wore her coronet on New Year's
Day; the Chancellor was content to decorate his sideboard at the cost of
the Catholic King. Burghley and Sussex declined the splendid temptation;
they said they could accept no such precious gifts from a man whose
fortune had been made by plunder.
Burghley lived to see better into Drake's value. Meanwhile, what now are
we, looking back over our history, to say of these things--the Channel
privateering; the seizure of Alva's army money; the sharp practice of
Hawkins with the Queen of Scots and King Philip; or this amazing
performance of Sir Francis Drake in a vessel no larger than a
second-rate yacht of a modern noble lord?
Resolution, daring, professional skill, all historians allow to these
men; but, like Burghley, they regard what they did as piracy, not much
better, if at all better, than the later exploits of Morgan and Kidd. So
cried the Catholics who wished Elizabeth's ruin; so cried Lope de Vega
and King Philip. In milder language the modern philosopher repeats the
unfavourable verdict, rejoices that he lives in an age when such doings
are impossible, and apologises faintly for the excesses of an imperfect
age. May I remind the philosopher that we live in an age when other
things have also happily become impossible, and that if he and his
friends were liable when they went abroad for their summer tours to be
snapped by the familiars of the Inquisition, whipped, burnt alive, or
sent to the galleys, he would perhaps think more leniently of any
measures by which that respectable institution and its masters might be
induced to treat philosophers with greater consideration?
Again, remember Dr. Johnson's warning, Beware of cant. In that intensely
serious century men were more occupied with the realities than the forms
of things. By encouraging rebellion in England and Ireland, by burning
so many scores of poor English seamen and merchants in fools' coats at
Seville, the King of Spain had given Elizabeth a hundred occasions for
declaring war against him. Situated as she was, with so many disaffected
Catholic subjects, she could not _begin_ a war on such a quarrel. She
had to use such resources as she had, and of these resources the best
was a splendid race of men who were not afraid to do for her at their
own risk what commissioned officers would and might have justly done had
formal war been declared, men who defeated the national enemy with
materials conquered from himself, who were devoted enough to dispense
with the personal security which the sovereign's commission would have
extended to prisoners of war, and face the certainty of being hanged if
they were taken. Yes; no doubt by the letter of the law of nations Drake
and Hawkins were corsairs of the same stuff as Ulysses, as the rovers of
Norway. But the common-sense of Europe saw through the form to the
substance which lay below it, and the instinct of their countrymen gave
them a place among the fighting heroes of England, from which I do not
think they will be deposed by the eventual verdict of history.
LECTURE V
PARTIES IN THE STATE
On December 21, 1585, a remarkable scene took place in the English House
of Commons. The Prince of Orange, after many attempts had failed, had
been successfully disposed of in the Low Countries. A fresh conspiracy
had just been discovered for a Catholic insurrection in England,
supported by a foreign invasion; the object of which was to dethrone
Elizabeth and to give her crown to Mary Stuart. The Duke of Alva, at the
time of the Ridolfi plot, had pointed out as a desirable preliminary, if
the invasion was to succeed, the assassination of the Queen of England.
The succession being undecided, he had calculated that the confusion
would paralyse resistance, and the notorious favour with which Mary
Stuart's pretensions were regarded by a powerful English party would
ensure her an easy victory were Elizabeth once removed. But this was an
indispensable condition. It had become clear at last that so long as
Elizabeth was alive Philip would not willingly sanction the landing of a
Spanish army on English shores. Thus, among the more ardent Catholics,
especially the refugees at the Seminary at Rheims, a crown in heaven was
held out to any spiritual knight-errant who would remove the obstacle.
The enterprise itself was not a difficult one. Elizabeth was aware of
her danger, but she was personally fearless. She refused to distrust the
Catholics. Her household was full of them. She admitted anyone to her
presence who desired a private interview. Dr. Parry, a member of
Parliament, primed by encouragements from the Cardinal of Como and the
Vatican, had undertaken to risk his life to win the glorious prize. He
introduced himself into the palace, properly provided with arms. He
professed to have information of importance to give. The Queen received
him repeatedly. Once he was alone with her in the palace garden, and was
on the point of killing her, when he was awed, as he said, by the
likeness to her father. Parry was discovered and hanged, but Elizabeth
refused to take warning. When there were so many aspirants for the
honour of removing Jezebel, and Jezebel was so easy of approach, it was
felt that one would at last succeed; and the loyal part of the nation,
led by Lord Burghley, formed themselves into an association to protect a
life so vital to them and apparently so indifferent to herself.
The subscribers bound themselves to pursue to the death all manner of
persons who should attempt or consent to anything to the harm of her
Majesty's person; never to allow or submit to any pretended successor by
whom or for whom such detestable act should be attempted or committed;
but to pursue such persons to death and act the utmost revenge upon
them.
The bond in its first form was a visible creation of despair. It implied
a condition of things in which order would have ceased to exist. The
lawyers, who, it is curious to observe, were generally in Mary Stuart's
interest, vehemently objected; yet so passionate was public feeling
that it was signed throughout the kingdom, and Parliament was called to
pass an Act which would secure the same object. Mary Stuart, at any
rate, was not to benefit by the crimes either of herself or her
admirers. It was provided that if the realm was invaded, or a rebellion
instigated by or for any one pretending a title to the crown after the
Queen's death, such pretender should be disqualified for ever. In the
event of the Queen's assassination the government was to devolve on a
Committee of Peers and Privy Councillors, who were to examine the
particulars of the murder and execute the perpetrators and their
accomplices; while, with a significant allusion, all Jesuits and
seminary priests were required to leave the country instantly, under
pain of death.
The House of Commons was heaving with emotion when the Act was sent up
to the Peers. To give expression to their burning feelings Sir
Christopher Hatton proposed that before they separated they should join
him in a prayer for the Queen's preservation. The 400 members all rose,
and knelt on the floor of the House, repeating Hatton's words after him,
sentence by sentence.
Jesuits and seminary priests! Attempts have been made to justify the
conspiracies against Elizabeth from what is called the persecution of
the innocent enthusiasts who came from Rheims to preach the Catholic
faith to the English people. Popular writers and speakers dwell on the
executions of Campian and his friends as worse than the Smithfield
burnings, and amidst general admiration and approval these martyred
saints have been lately canonised. Their mission, it is said, was purely
religious. Was it so? The chief article in the religion which they came
to teach was the duty of obedience to the Pope, who had excommunicated
the Queen, had absolved her subjects from their allegiance, and, by a
relaxation of the Bull, had permitted them to pretend to loyalty _ad
illud tempus_, till a Catholic army of deliverance should arrive. A Pope
had sent a legate to Ireland, and was at that moment stirring up a
bloody insurrection there.
But what these seminary priests were, and what their object was, will
best appear from an account of the condition of England, drawn up for
the use of the Pope and Philip, by Father Parsons, who was himself at
the head of the mission. The date of it is 1585, almost simultaneous
with the scene in Parliament which I have just been describing. The
English refugees, from Cardinal Pole downwards, were the most active and
passionate preachers of a Catholic crusade against England. They failed,
but they have revenged themselves in history. Pole, Sanders, Allen, and
Parsons have coloured all that we suppose ourselves to know of Henry
VIII. and Elizabeth. What I am about to read to you does not differ
essentially from what we have already heard from these persons; but it
is new, and, being intended for practical guidance, is complete in its
way. It comes from the Spanish archives, and is not therefore open to
suspicion. Parsons, as you know, was a Fellow of Balliol before his
conversion; Allen was a Fellow of Oriel, and Sanders of New College. An
Oxford Church of England education is an excellent thing, and beautiful
characters have been formed in the Catholic universities abroad; but as
the elements of dynamite are innocent in themselves, yet when fused
together produce effects no one would have dreamt of, so Oxford and
Rome, when they have run together, have always generated a somewhat
furious compound.
Parsons describes his statement as a 'brief note on the present
condition of England,' from which may be inferred the ease and
opportuneness of the holy enterprise. 'England,' he says, 'contains
fifty-two counties, of which forty are well inclined to the Catholic
faith. Heretics in these are few, and are hated by all ranks. The
remaining twelve are infected more or less, but even in these the
Catholics are in the majority. Divide England into three parts;
two-thirds at least are Catholic at heart, though many conceal their
convictions in fear of the Queen. English Catholics are of two
sorts--one which makes an open profession regardless of consequences,
the other believing at the bottom, but unwilling to risk life or
fortune, and so submitting outwardly to the heretic laws, but as eager
as the Catholic confessors for redemption from slavery.
'The Queen and her party,' he goes on, 'more fear these secret Catholics
than those who wear their colours openly. The latter they can fine,
disarm, and make innocuous. The others, being outwardly compliant,
cannot be touched, nor can any precaution be taken against their rising
when the day of divine vengeance shall arrive.
'The counties specially Catholic are the most warlike, and contain
harbours and other conveniences for the landing of an invading army. The
north towards the Scotch border has been trained in constant fighting.
The Scotch nobles on the other side are Catholic and will lend their
help. So will all Wales.
'The inhabitants of the midland and southern provinces, where the taint
is deepest, are indolent and cowardly, and do not know what war means.
The towns are more corrupt than the country districts. But the strength
of England does not lie, as on the Continent, in towns and cities. The
town population are merchants and craftsmen, rarely or never nobles or
magnates.
'The nobility, who have the real power, reside with their retinues in
castles scattered over the land. The wealthy yeomen are strong and
honest, all attached to the ancient faith, and may be counted on when an
attempt is made for the restoration of it. The knights and gentry are
generally well affected also, and will be well to the front. Many of
their sons are being now educated in our seminaries. Some are in exile,
but all, whether at home or abroad, will be active on our side.
'Of the great peers, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons, part are
with us, part against us. But the latter sort are new creations, whom
the Queen has promoted either for heresy or as her personal lovers, and
therefore universally abhorred.
'The premier peer of the old stock is the Earl of Arundel, son and heir
of the late Duke of Norfolk, whom she has imprisoned because he tried to
escape out of the realm. This earl is entirely Catholic, as well as his
brothers and kinsmen; and they have powerful vassals who are eager to
revenge the injury of their lord. The Earl of Northumberland and his
brothers are Catholics. They too have family wrongs to repay, their
father having been this year murdered in the Tower, and they have placed
themselves at my disposal. The Earl of Worcester and his heir hate
heresy, and are devoted to us with all their dependents. The Earls of
Cumberland and Southampton and Viscount Montague are faithful, and have
a large following. Besides these we have many of the barons--Dacre,
Morley, Vaux, Windsor, Wharton, Lovelace, Stourton, and others besides.
The Earl of Westmoreland, with Lord Paget and Sir Francis Englefield,
who reside abroad, have been incredibly earnest in promoting our
enterprise. With such support, it is impossible that we can fail. These
lords and gentlemen, when they see efficient help coming to them, will
certainly rise, and for the following reasons:--
'1. Because some of the principals among them have given me their
promise.
'2. Because, on hearing that Pope Pius intended to excommunicate and
depose the Queen sixteen years ago, many Catholics did rise. They only
failed because no support was sent them, and the Pope's sentence had not
at that time been actually published. Now, when the Pope has spoken and
help is certain, there is not a doubt how they will act.
'3. Because the Catholics are now much more numerous, and have received
daily instruction in their religion from our priests. There is now no
orthodox Catholic in the whole realm who supposes that he is any longer
bound in conscience to obey the Queen. Books for the occasion have been
written and published by us, in which we prove that it is not only
lawful for Catholics, but their positive duty, to fight against the
Queen and heresy when the Pope bids them; and these books are so
greedily read among them that when the time comes they are certain to
take arms.
'4. The Catholics in these late years have shown their real feeling in
the martyrdoms of priests and laymen, and in attempts made by several of
them against the person and State of the Queen. Various Catholics have
tried to kill her at the risk of their own lives, and are still trying.
'5. We have three hundred priests dispersed among the houses of the
nobles and honest gentry. Every day we add to their number; and these
priests will direct the consciences and actions of the Catholics at the
great crisis.
'6. They have been so harried and so worried that they hate the
heretics worse than they hate the Turks.
'Should any of them fear the introduction of a Spanish army as dangerous
to their national liberties, there is an easy way to satisfy their
scruples. Let it be openly declared that the enterprise is undertaken in
the name of the Pope, and there will be no more hesitation. We have
ourselves prepared a book for their instruction, to be issued at the
right moment. If his Holiness desires to see it we will have it
translated into Latin for his use.
'Before the enterprise is undertaken the sentence of excommunication and
deposition ought to be reissued, with special clauses.
'It must be published in all adjoining Catholic countries; all Catholic
kings and princes must be admonished to forbid every description of
intercourse with the pretended Queen and her heretic subjects, and
themselves especially to make or observe no treaties with her, to send
no embassies to her and admit none; to render no help to her of any sort
or kind.
'Besides those who will be our friends for religion's sake we shall
have others with us--neutrals or heretics of milder sort, or atheists,
with whom England now abounds, who will join us in the interest of the
Queen of Scots. Among them are the Marquis of Winchester, the Earls of
Shrewsbury, Derby, Oxford, Rutland, and several other peers. The Queen
of Scots herself will be of infinite assistance to us in securing these.
She knows who are her secret friends. She has been able so far, and we
trust will always be able, to communicate with them. She will see that
they are ready at the right time. She has often written to me to say
that she hopes that she will be able to escape when the time comes. In
her last letter she urges me to be vehement with his Holiness in pushing
on the enterprise, and bids him have no concern for her own safety. She
believes that she can care for herself. If not, she says she will lose
her life willingly in a cause so sacred.
'The enemies that we shall have to deal with are the more determined
heretics whom we call Puritans, and certain creatures of the Queen, the
Earls of Leicester and Huntingdon, and a few others. They will have an
advantage in the money in the Treasury, the public arms and stores, and
the army and navy, but none of them have ever seen a camp. The leaders
have been nuzzled in love-making and Court pleasures, and they will all
fly at the first shock of war. They have not a man who can command in
the field. In the whole realm there are but two fortresses which could
stand a three days' siege. The people are enervated by long peace, and,
except a few who have served with the heretics in Flanders, cannot bear
their arms. Of those few some are dead and some have deserted to the
Prince of Parma, a clear proof of the real disposition to revolt. There
is abundance of food and cattle in the country, all of which will be at
our service and cannot be kept from us. Everywhere there are safe and
roomy harbours, almost all undefended. An invading force can be landed
with ease, and there will be no lack of local pilots. Fifteen thousand
trained soldiers will be sufficient, aided by the Catholic English,
though, of course, the larger the force, particularly if it includes
cavalry, the quicker the work will be done and the less the expense.
Practically there will be nothing to overcome save an unwarlike and
undisciplined mob.
'Sixteen times England has been invaded. Twice only the native race have
repelled the attacking force. They have been defeated on every other
occasion, and with a cause so holy and just as ours we need not fear to
fail. The expenses shall be repaid to his Holiness and the Catholic King
out of the property of the heretics and the Protestant clergy. There
will be ample in these resources to compensate all who give us their
hand. But the work must be done promptly. Delay will be infinitely
dangerous. If we put off, as we have done hitherto, the Catholics will
be tired out and reduced in numbers and strength. The nobles and priests
now in exile, and able to be of such service, will break down in
poverty. The Queen of Scots may be executed or die a natural death, or
something may happen to the Catholic King or his Holiness. The Queen of
England may herself die, a heretic Government may be reconstructed under
a heretic successor, the young Scotch king or some other, and our case
will then be desperate; whereas if we can prevent this and save the
Queen of Scots there will be good hope of converting her son and
reducing the whole island to the obedience of the faith. Now is the
moment. The French Government cannot interfere. The Duke of Guise will
help us for the sake of the faith and for his kinswoman. The Turks are
quiet. The Church was never stronger or more united. Part of Italy is
under the Catholic King; the rest is in league with his Holiness. The
revolt in the Low Countries is all but crushed. The sea provinces are on
the point of surrendering. If they give up the contest their harbours
will be at our service for the invasion. If not, the way to conquer them
is to conquer England.
'I need not urge how much it imports his Holiness to undertake this
glorious work. He, supremely wise as he is, knows that from this Jezebel
and her supporters come all the perils which disturb the Christian
world. He knows that heretical depravity and all other miseries can only
end when this woman is chastised. Reverence for his Holiness and love
for my afflicted country force me to speak. I submit to his most holy
judgment myself and my advice.'