hat in all the time
he never would endure, openly or secretly, by day or night, to see
either wife or child." He had his reward; for no sooner was the queen
restored to liberty by the death of her imperious favorite, than she
released her kinsman, honored him with the garter, procured, two years
after, his election to the chancellorship of the university of Oxford,
and finally appointed him Burleigh's successor in the honorable and
lucrative post of lord treasurer.

During the unavoidable delay which the expedition of Drake had brought
to the designs of Philip II., the prince of Parma had by his master's
directions been endeavouring to amuse the vigilance of Elizabeth with
overtures of negotiation. The queen, at the request of the prince, sent
plenipotentiaries to treat with him in Flanders; and though the
Hollanders absolutely refused to enter into the treaty, they proceeded
with apparent earnestness in the task of settling preliminaries. Some
writers maintain, that there was, from the beginning, as little
sincerity on one side as on the other; to gain time for the preparations
of attack or defence, being the sole object of both parties in these
manoeuvres. Yet the cautious and pacific character of the policy of
Elizabeth, and the secret dread which she ever entertained of a serious
contest with the power of Spain, seem to render it more probable that
the wish and hope of an accommodation was at first on her side real; and
that the fears of the States that their interests might become the
sacrifice, must have been by no means destitute of foundation. Leicester
is said to have had the merit of first opening the eyes of his sovereign
to the fraudulent conduct of the prince of Parma,--who in fact was
furnished with no powers to treat,--and to have earned for himself by
this discovery the restoration of her favor.

In March 1588 these conferences broke off abruptly. It was impossible
for either party longer to deceive or to act the being deceived; for all
Europe now rang with the mighty preparations of king Philip for the
conquest of England;--preparations which occupied the whole of his vast
though disjointed empire, from the Flemish provinces which still owned
his yoke, to the distant ports of Sicily and Naples.

The spirit of the English people rose with the emergency. All ranks and
orders vied with each other in an eager devotedness to the sacred cause
of national independence; the rich poured forth their treasures w