Read The History of England - Vols. 1 to 6 Online
Authors: David Hume
By this league James secured himself against all attempts from abroad, opened a way for acquiring the confidence and affections of the English, and might entertain some prospect of domestic tranquillity, which, while he lived on bad terms with Elizabeth, he could never expect long to enjoy. Besides the turbulent disposition, and inveterate feuds of the nobility, ancient maladies of the Scottish government, the spirit of fanaticism had introduced a new disorder; so much the more dangerous, as religion, when corrupted by false opinion, is not restrained by any rules of morality, and is even scarcely to be accounted for in its operations, by any principles of ordinary conduct and policy. The insolence of the preachers, who triumphed in their dominion over the populace, had, at this time, reached an extreme height; and they carried their arrogance so far, not only against the king, but against the whole civil power, that they excommunicated the archbishop of St. Andrew’s, because he had been active in parliament for promoting a law, which restrained their seditious sermons:
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Nor could that prelate save himself by any expedient from this terrible sentence, but by renouncing all pretensions to ecclesiastical authority. One Gibson said in the pulpit, that captain James Stuart (meaning the late earl of Arran) and his wife, Jezabel, had been deemed the chief persecutors of the church; but it was now seen, that the king himself was the great offender: And for this crime the preacher denounced against him the curse which fell on Jeroboam, that he should die childless, and be the last of his race.
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The secretary, Thirlstone, perceiving the king so much molested with ecclesiastical affairs, and with the refractory disposition of the clergy, advised him to leave them to their own courses: For that in a short time they would become so intolerable, that the people would rise against them, and drive them out of the country.
“True,” replied the king: “If I purposed to undo the church and religion, your counsel were good: But my intention is to maintain both; therefore cannot I suffer the clergy to follow such a conduct, as will in the end bring religion into contempt and
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[Back to Table of Contents]
XLII
Zeal of the catholics — Babington’s conspiracy — Mary assents to the conspiracy —
The conspirators seized and executed — Resolution to try the queen of Scots — The
commissioners prevail on her to submit to the trial — The trial — Sentence against
Mary — Interposition of king James — Reasons for the execution of Mary — The
execution — Mary’s character — The queen’s affected sorrow — Drake destroys the
Spanish fleet at Cadiz — Philip projects the invasion of England — The invincible
armada — Preparations in England — The armada arrives in the channel —
Defeated — A parliament — Expedition against Portugal — Affairs of Scotland
The dangers, which arose from the character, principles, and 1586.
pretensions of the queen of Scots, had very early engaged Elizabeth to consult, in her treatment of that unfortunate princess, the dictates of jealousy and politics, rather than of friendship or generosity: Resentment of this usage had pushed Mary into enterprizes, which had nearly threatened the repose and authority of Elizabeth: The rigour and restraint, thence redoubled upon the captive
queen,g
still impelled her to attempt greater extremities; and while her impatience of confinement, her revenge,
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and her high spirit concurred with religious zeal, and the suggestions of desperate bigots, she was at last engaged in designs, which afforded her enemies, who watched the opportunity, a pretence or reason for effecting her final ruin.
The English seminary at Rheims had wrought themselves up to a Zeal of the catholics.
high pitch of rage and animosity against the queen. The recent persecutions, from which they had escaped; the new rigours, which, they knew, awaited them in the course of their missions; the liberty, which for the present they enjoyed, of declaiming against that princess; and the contagion of that religious fury, which every where surrounded them in France: All these causes had obliterated with them every maxim of common sense, and every principle of morals or humanity.
Intoxicated with admiration of the divine power and infallibility of the pope, they revered his bull, by which he excommunicated and deposed the queen; and some of them had gone to that height of extravagance, as to assert, that that performance had been immediately dictated by the Holy Ghost. The assassination of heretical sovereigns, and of that princess in particular, was represented as the most meritorious of all enterprizes; and they taught, that, whoever perished in such pious attempts, enjoyed without dispute the glorious and never-fading crown of martyrdom. By such doctrines, they instigated John Savage, a man of desperate courage, who had served some years in the Low Countries, under the prince of Parma, to attempt the life of Elizabeth; and this assassin, having made a vow to persevere in his design, was sent over to England, and recommended to the confidence of the more zealous catholics.
About the same time, John Ballard, a priest of that seminary, had returned to Paris from his mission in England and Scotland; and as he had observed a spirit of mutiny and rebellion to be very prevalent among the catholic devotees in these countries, he had founded on that disposition the project of dethroning Elizabeth, and of restoring PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011)
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by force of arms the exercise of the ancient religion.
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The situation of affairs abroad seemed favourable to this enterprize: The pope, the Spaniard, the duke of Guise, concurring in interests, had formed a resolution to make some attempt against England: And Mendoza, the Spanish ambassador at Paris, strongly encouraged Ballard to hope for succours from these princes. Charles Paget alone, a zealous catholic and a devoted partizan of the queen of Scots, being well acquainted with the prudence, vigour, and general popularity of Elizabeth, always maintained, that, so long as that princess was allowed to live, it was in vain to expect any success from an enterprize upon England. Ballard, persuaded of this truth, saw more clearly the necessity of executing the design, formed at Rheims: He came over to England in the disguise of a soldier, and assumed the name of captain Fortescue: And he bent his endeavours to effect at once the project of an assassination, an insurrection, and an
The first person, to whom he addressed himself, was Anthony Babington’s
Babington of Dethic in the county of Derby. This young
conspiracy.
gentleman was of a good family, possessed a plentiful fortune, had discovered an excellent capacity, and was accomplished in literature beyond most of his years or station. Being zealously devoted to the catholic communion, he had secretly made a journey to Paris some time before; and had fallen into intimacy with Thomas Morgan, a bigotted fugitive from England, and with the bishop of Glasgow, Mary’s ambassador at the court of France. By continually extolling the amiable accomplishments and heroical virtues of that princess, they impelled the sanguine and unguarded mind of young Babington to make some attempt for her service; and they employed every principle of ambition, gallantry, and religious zeal to give him a contempt of those dangers, which attended any enterprize against the vigilant government of Elizabeth. Finding him well disposed for their purpose, they sent him back to England, and secretly, unknown to himself, recommended him to the queen of Scots, as a person worth engaging in her service. She wrote him a letter, full of friendship and confidence; and Babington, ardent in his temper and zealous in his principles, thought, that these advances now bound him in honour to devote himself entirely to the service of that unfortunate princess. During some time, he had found means of conveying to her all her foreign correspondence; but after she was put under the custody of Sir Amias Paulet, and reduced to a more rigorous confinement, he experienced so much difficulty and danger in rendering her this service, that he had desisted from every attempt of that nature.
When Ballard began to open his intentions to Babington, he found his zeal suspended, not extinguished: His former ardour revived on the mention of any enterprize, which seemed to promise success in the cause of Mary and of the catholic religion. He had entertained sentiments conformable to those of Paget, and represented the folly of all attempts, which, during the life-time of Elizabeth, could be formed against the established religion and government of England. Ballard encouraged by this hint,
proceeded to discover to him the design undertaken by Savage;l
and was well pleased to observe, that, instead of being shocked with the project, Babington only thought it not secure enough, when entrusted to one single hand, and proposed to join five others with Savage in this desperate enterprize.
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In prosecution of these views, Babington employed himself in encreasing the number of his associates; and he secretly drew into the conspiracy many catholic gentlemen, discontented with the present government. Barnwel, of a noble family in Ireland, Charnoc, a gentleman of Lancashire, and Abington, whose father had been cofferer to the household, readily undertook the assassination of the queen. Charles Tilney, the heir of an ancient family, and Titchborne of Southampton, when the design was proposed to them, expressed some scruples, which were removed by the arguments of Babington and Ballard. Savage alone refused during some time to share the glory of the enterprize with any others;
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he challenged the whole to himself; and it was with some difficulty he was induced to depart from this preposterous ambition.
The deliverance of the queen of Scots, at the very same instant, when Elizabeth should be assassinated, was requisite for effecting the purpose of the conspirators; and Babington undertook, with a party of a hundred horse, to attack her guards, while she should be taking the air on horseback. In this enterprize, he engaged Edward Windsor, brother to the lord of that name, Thomas Salisbury, Robert Gage, John Travers, John Jones and Henry Donne; most of them men of family and interest. The conspirators much wanted, but could not find, any nobleman of note, whom they might place at the head of the enterprize; but they trusted, that the great events, of the queen’s death and Mary’s deliverance, would rouze all the zealous catholics to arms; and that foreign forces, taking advantage of the general confusion, would easily fix the queen of Scots on the throne, and re-establish the ancient religion.
These desperate projects had not escaped the vigilance of Elizabeth’s council, particularly of Walsingham, secretary of state. That artful minister had engaged Maud, a catholic priest, whom he retained in pay, to attend Ballard in his journey to France, and had thereby got a hint of the designs, entertained by the fugitives. Polly, another of his spies, had found means to insinuate himself among the conspirators in England: and though not entirely trusted, had obtained some insight into their dangerous secrets. But the bottom of the conspiracy was never fully known, till Gifford, a seminary priest, came over, and made a tender of his services to Walsingham. By his means, the discovery became of the utmost importance, and involved the fate of Mary, as well as of those zealous partizans of that princess.
Babington and his associates, having laid such a plan, as, they thought, promised infallible success, were impatient to communicate the design to the queen of Scots, and to obtain her approbation and concurrence. For this service, they employed Gifford, who immediately applied to Walsingham, that the interest of that minister might forward his secret correspondence with Mary. Walsingham proposed the matter to Paulet, and desired him to connive at Gifford’s corrupting one of his servants: But Paulet, averse to the introducing of such a pernicious precedent into his family, desired, that they would rather think of some other expedient. Gifford found a brewer, who supplied the family with ale; and bribed him to convey letters to the captive queen. The letters, by Paulet’s connivance, were thrust through a chink in the wall; and answers were returned by the same conveyance.
Ballard and Babington were at first diffident of Gifford’s fidelity; and to make trial of him, they gave him only blank papers made up like letters: But finding by the PLL v6.0 (generated September, 2011)
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answers, that these had been faithfully delivered, they laid aside all farther scruple, and conveyed by his hands the most criminal and dangerous parts of their conspiracy.
Babington informed Mary of the design laid for a foreign invasion, the plan of an insurrection at home, the scheme for her deliverance, and the conspiracy for assassinating the usurper, by six noble gentlemen, as he termed them, all of them his private friends; who, from the zeal, which they bore to the catholic cause and her majesty’s service, would undertake the
tragical execution.
Mary replied, that she approved highly of the design; that the Mary assents to the
gentlemen might expect all the rewards, which it should ever be conspiracy.
in her power to confer; and that the death of Elizabeth was a necessary circumstance, before any attempts were made, either for her own deliverance or an insurrection.
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These letters, with others to Mendoza, Charles Paget, the archbishop of Glasgow, and Sir Francis Inglefield, were carried by Gifford to secretary Walsingham; were decyphered by the art of Philips, his clerk; and copies taken of them. Walsingham employed another artifice, in order to obtain full insight into the plot: He subjoined to a letter of Mary’s a postscript in the same cypher; in which he made her desire Babington to inform her of the names of the conspirators.