Such was the lofty
tone which Elizabeth, to the end of her days, maintained towards foreign
powers; none of whom had she cause to dread or motive to court. Yet her
cheerfulness and fortitude were at the same time on the point of sinking
under the harassing disquietudes of a petty war supported against her by
an Irish chief of rebels.

The head of the sept O'Neal, whom she had in vain endeavoured to attach
permanently to her interests by conferring upon him the dignity of earl
of Tyrone, had now for some years persevered in a resistance to her
authority, which the most strenuous efforts of the civil and military
governors of this turbulent and miserable island had proved inadequate
to overcome. That brave officer sir John Norris, then general of Ulster,
had found it necessary to grant terms to the rebel whom he would gladly
have brought in bonds to the feet of his sovereign. But the treaty thus
made, this perfidious barbarian, according to his custom, observed only
till the English forces were withdrawn and he saw the occasion favorable
to rise again in arms. Lord Borough, whom the queen had appointed deputy
in 1598,--on which sir John Norris, appointed to act under him, died, as
it is thought, of chagrin,--began his career with a vigorous attack, by
which he carried, though not without considerable loss, the fort of
Blackwater, the only place of strength possessed by the rebels; but
before he was able to pursue further his success, death overtook him,
and the government was committed for a time to the earl of Ormond.
Tyrone, nothing daunted, laid siege in his turn to Blackwater; and sir
Henry Bagnal, with the flower of the English army, being sent to relieve
it, sustained the most signal defeat ever experienced by an English
force in Ireland. The commander himself, several captains of distinction
and fifteen hundred men, were left on the field; and the fort
immediately surrendered to the rebel chief, who now vauntingly declared,
that he would accept of no terms from the queen of England, being
resolved to remain in arms till the king of Spain should send forces to
his assistance.

Such was the alarming position of affairs in this island at the
conclusion of the year 1598. At home, several incidents had intervened
to claim attention.

The king of France had received from Spain proposals for a peace, which
the exhausted state of his country would not permit him to neglect; and
he had used his utmost endeavours to pers