n, to review the troops collected there to defend the
capital. "I know," said she, "that I have but the feeble body of a
woman, but I have the heart of a king, and of a king of England too."
Unhappily the niggardly Queen had half starved her brave sailors, and
many of them came home only to die. None the less Elizabeth went with
solemn pomp to St. Paul's Cathedral to offer thanks for the great
victory, which was commemorated by a medal bearing this inscription:
"God blew with his winds, and they were scattered." The date of the
defeat of the Armada, 1588, was a turning point in English history.
From that time England gradually rose, under the leadership of such
illustrious commanders as Drake, Blake, and Nelson, until she became
what she has ever since remained--the greatest sea power in the world
(SS459, 557).

402. Insurrection in Ireland (1595).

A few years later a terrible rebellion broke out in Ireland. From its
partial conquest in the time of Henry II (S159), the condition of that
island continued to be deplorable. First, the chiefs of the native
tribes fought constantly among themselves; next, the English attempted
to force the Protestant religion upon a people who detested it;
lastly, the greed and misgovernment of the rulers put a climax to
these miseries. Sir Walter Raleigh said, "The country was a
commonwealth of common woe." What made this state of things still
more dangerous was the fact that the Catholic rulers of Spain
considered the Irish as their natural allies, and were plotting to
send troops to that island in order to strike England a deadly side
blow when she least expected it.

Elizabeth's government began a war, the object of which was "not to
subdue but to destroy." The extermination was so merciless that the
Queen herself declared that if the work of destruction went on much
longer, "she should have nothing left but ashes and corpses to rule
over." Then, but not till then, the starving remnant of the Irish
people submitted, and England gained a barren victory which has ever
since carried with it its own curse.

403. The First Poor Law (1601).

In Elizabeth's reign the first effective English poor law was passed.
It required each parish to make provision for such paupers as were
unable to work, while the able-bodied were compelled to labor for
their own support. This measure relieved much of the distress which
had prevailed during the three previous reigns (S354), and forms the