h produced a heavy mortality amongst the
crews of her Channel Fleet; and also for insufficiently supplying
her ships with ammunition.

The quotations from the book previously referred to make it clear
that it is possible to outdo Froude in his denunciations, even where
it is on his statements that the accusers found their charges. In
his 'History of England'--which is widely read, especially by
the younger generation of Englishmen--the Rev. J. Franck Bright
tells us, with regard to the defensive campaign against the Armada:
'The Queen's avarice went near to ruin the country. The miserable
supplies which Elizabeth had alone allowed to be sent them (the
ships in the Channel) had produced all sorts of disease, and
thousands of the crews came from their great victory only to die.
In the midst of privations and wanting in all the necessaries
of life, the sailors had fought with unflagging energy, with
their wages unpaid, with ammunition supplied to them with so
stingy a hand that each shot sent on board was registered and
accounted for; with provisions withheld, so that the food of
four men had habitually to be divided among six, and that food
so bad as to be really poisonous.'

J. R. Green, in his 'History of the English People,' states that:
'While England was thrilling with the triumph over the Armada, its
Queen was coolly grumbling over the cost and making her profit
out of the spoiled provisions she had ordered for the fleet that
had saved her.'

The object of each subsequent historian was to surpass the originator
of the calumnies against Elizabeth. In his sketch of her life in
the 'Dictionary of National Biography,' Dr. Augustus Jessopp
asserts that the Queen's ships 'were notoriously and scandalously
ill-furnished with stores and provisions for the sailors, and
it is impossible to lay the blame on anyone but the Queen.' He
had previously remarked that the merchant vessels which came to
the assistance of the men-of-war from London and the smaller
ports 'were as a rule far better furnished than the Queen's ships,'
which were 'without the barest necessaries.' After these extracts
one from Dr. S. R. Gardiner's 'Student's History of England'
will appear moderate. Here it is: 'Elizabeth having with her
usual economy kept the ships short of powder, they were forced
to come back' from the chase of the Armada.

The above allegations constitute a heavy indictment of the Queen.
No heavier could well be brought against an