[92] Hayward’s reference to this point would seem to prove that the sermons at Paul’s Cross were discontinued altogether for some months. He says preachers had been warned—in accordance with Cecil’s note—to avoid treating of controversial points, and to the raising of any “dispute touching government eyther for altering or retayning the present form. Hereupon no sermon was preached at Paules Crosse until the Rehearsall sermon was made upon the Sunday after Easter; at which tyme, when the preacher was ready to mount the Pulpit, the keye could not be found; and when by commandment of the Lord Mayor it was opened by the smyth, the place was very filthy and uncleane” (Hayward’s “Annals,” Camden Society).
[93] Spanish Calendar, Elizabeth.
[94] Original draft in Cotton MSS., Cal. E. V.
[95] State Papers, Foreign; also printed in extenso in Forbes.
[96] Cotton MSS., Cal. E. V.; printed in Forbes.
[97] It must not be forgotten that Mary Stuart, the young Queen of Scots, was married to Francis, the heir to the French throne, and that the disappearance of Elizabeth from the throne would almost inevitably have meant the complete dominion of both Scotland and England by the French. This would have rendered the position of Spain in the Netherlands untenable, and would have destroyed the Spanish commerce, and the fact explains Philip’s forbearance with Elizabeth in the earlier years of her reign. Both Cecil and the Queen were fully cognisant of the advantage they derived from the situation.
[98] Hatfield Papers, part i. p. 151.
[99] Spanish Calendar, Elizabeth.
[100] Ibid.
[101] Spanish Calendar, Elizabeth, vol. i. p. 11.