business in the Court of Chancery, -in Westminster Hall in the mornings, and in his own house in the afternoons.* He made an order that four Masters in Chancery should always attend and sit on the bench with him in Court, and two in his own house.† He was exceedingly cautious, "not venturing to wade beyond the shallow margin of equity, where he could distinctly see the bottom." He always took time to consider in cases of any difficulty; and in these he was guided by the advice of one Sir Richard Swale, described as his "servantfriend," who was a Doctor of the Civil Law, and a clerk in the Chancery, and well skilled in all the practice and doctrines of the Court. By these means he contrived to get on marvellously well; and though suitors might grumble, as well as their counsel, the public took part with him, and talked with contempt of "the sullen serjeants," who at first refused to plead before him. All were dazzled with the splendour of his establishment; and it was said that he made up for his want of law * Morning seems to have been from eight to eleven, and afternoon from two to five: the intermediate space being allowed for dinner and recreation. Ordo Curiæ. Decimo viijo. die Aprilis Anno Regni Elizabeth Regine The Rt Ho. Sir Christopher Hatton, Knight, Lo. Chauncelor of England, having bene enformed that of late yeres the Courte of Chauncery hathe bene for the most parte unfurnished of such Masters of the Chauncery as are in ordynary and have her Maties fee to attende there, whereby the dignitye of that honorable courte hath bene in some sort blemished, and the same destitute of such assistauntes and advice of theirs as were meete and necessary. For remedy thereof the said Lo. Chauncelor dothe order that fower of the said ordynary Masters of Chauncery shall dayly in their course attende at or in the said Courte of Chauneery upon the benche there, unles some speciall cause shall draw them from thence, and then he or they whose course it shalbe', to procure some other of the ordynary Masters of this Courte to supply their places in their absence. And also the Lo. Chauncelor dothe also farther order that two of the said Masters being in ordynary, shall lykewise daylye attende on every Monday, Tuysday, and Thursday, in the afternoones, at the said Lo. Chauncelor's howse, to assist his Lop. in such causes as there shalbe opened and heard before him in every terme." The order then makes some regulations about fees, "secluding all Extraordinary Masters within three myles compasse of the Citty of London, and suburbs of the same, and in all other places where the said ordynary Masters shalbe from doinge any manner of actes or exercisinge any authoryty belonging to the offyce and cleeve to the same.' It was not yet settled what particles and parts of the auxiliary verbs should be used as separate words. CHAP. XLV. His con duct as a Judge. CHAP. by his constant desire to do what was just.* XLV. July, 1588. Approach of the ARMADA. But the more judicious grieved; and, in spite of all his caution and good intentions, he committed absurd blunders, and sometimes did injustice. The attention of the nation was soon taken from all such matters by the danger which threatened the religion and liberties of the country. The INVINCIBLE ARMADA was now afloat; and Elizabeth was reviewing her army at TilChancellor bury. The Chancellor attended her; and, if the Spaniards attends had landed, was ready to have fought valiantly by her side. † Queen to Tilbury. A parlia ment. Nov. 1588. Lord lor's speech to the two Houses. English bravery, assisted by the elements, having swept from the seas the armament which was to overpower and to subjugate England, a parliament was called; and, on the first day of the session, the Queen being on the throne, Lord Chancellor Hatton eloquently opened to the two Houses the cause of the summons: he told them "that her Majesty had made it her constant study, from the very beginning of her reign to this time, to preserve peace, not only at home, but also abroad. That she had given no occasion to the many princes about her to invade her dominions, nor had taken arms to revenge the many injuries which others had inflicted upon her. Neither the infant state of Scotland, nor the treachery of France, nor the divisions of her enemies, nor the frequent solicitations of the Dutch, nor all these things combined, could move her to war. And when she heard that * "- Splendidissime omnium quos vidimus gessit et quod ex juris scientiâ defuit, æquitate supplere studuit." - Camden. It is upon this occasion that the famous dialogue is supposed to have passed between him and Sir Walter Raleigh: "Sir Christ. Hat. True, gallant Raleigh; But O, thou champion of thy country's fame, There is a question which I still must ask, A question which I never ask'd before, What mean these mighty armaments, This general muster and this throng of chiefs?" "Sir Walter R. O most accomplish'd Christopher, I find Thy stanch sagacity still tracks the future In the fresh print of the o'ertaken past. You know, my friend, scarce two revolving suns And three revolving moons have clos'd their course, With hostile hand has struck at England's trade." Critic. XLV. mighty preparations were making against her and her king- CHAP. dom, she chose rather to propose peace than to cast all hopes of it aside; for she sent a set of grave, prudent, and noble persons as her ambassadors to treat of it. Which, while they were labouring to effect, behold a vast navy of Spanish ships were seen on our English coasts; such a navy, that, for numbers and greatness of the ships, for quantity of arms and military forces, and for all kinds of necessary stores, were never seen to float on the ocean before. But God Almighty, her Majesty's hope, defender, and preserver, rendered this vast armada of her enemies vain and useless. For the British navy, by far inferior in numbers and strength, happily attacked once and again those huge raised-up rocks and mountains of ships, and, at the third conflict, so dispersed, shattered, and disabled them, that, never thinking to renew the fight, they fled for it, and took a long course hitherto unheard of; for they steered round Scotland, Ireland, and the most northern regions, and by those means hoped to regain the Spanish coasts. But what shipwrecks they suffered,-what hardships they bore,-how many ships, soldiers, and seamen they lost, neither can they yet know, nor we for certain learn. But do you not imagine that they are ardently studious of revenge? and that they will employ the power and riches of Spain to accomplish it? Know you not the pride, fury, and bitterness of the Spaniard against you? Yes behold the great cause of summoning this parliament, that, in this full assembly of the wisest and most prudent persons of this kingdom, a diligent preparation may be made, that forces, arms, and money may be in readiness, and that our navy, our greatest bulwark, may be repaired, manned, and fitted out for our protection and safeguard.” * Sir Christopher was now installed Knight of the Garter, He is made Knight of (being the third Chancellor on whom this honour was con- the Garter. ferred) and he was at the height of his greatness. But although he was never turned out of office, he met with much • Taken from Lords' Journals. See 1 Parl. Hist. 353. I must say that this speech of "the dancing Chancellor " is in better taste than any performance of his predecessors, either ecclesiastical or legal. CHAP. in favour. He resists illegal patent to mortification before his death. Camden represents that his appointment was maliciously suggested to the Queen by his He declines rivals in her good graces, that by his absence from Court, and the troublesome discharge of so great a place, which they thought him not able to undergo, his favour with the Queen might flag. They were mistaken if they supposed that he would be utterly disgraced by the incompetent manner in which he must discharge his judicial duties; but they calculated rightly in anticipating that, prevented from showing her the devoted attention with which he had hitherto ever cultivated her as an admirer of her person as well as a member of her government, he would gradually lose his interest in her heart. The Earl of Leicester, who had occasionally been superseded by Hatton, now completely regained his the Earl of ascendency, and he prevailed upon her to create for him the new office of "Lord Lieutenant of England and Ireland," which would have conferred upon him almost royal authority throughout the empire. A warrant had been made out for this appointment; but the Chancellor, on constitutional and personal grounds, highly disapproved of it. He ventured to remonstrate against it, and he induced Burghley to join with him in trying to convince the Queen of the impolicy of the measure. Without any open rupture with the Queen, the Chancellor contrived still to withhold the Great Seal from the patent, when the man who had so long swayed her inclinations and had compromised her reputation, was opportunely seized with a violent disorder which, whether it arose from natural causes or the anguish of disappointed ambition, or from poison administered by his wife and her paramour, quickly terminated his existence. Leicester. Sudden death of Earl of Leicester. The Queen's extravagant purpose was thus concealed from the public, and after a plentiful effusion of tears in memory of her worthless favourite, tranquillity was restored to the Court. Had Hatton been still Vice-chamberlain and Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, at leisure to masque it as in former days, he probably would now have filled, without dispute, the vacancy which Leicester's death created; but while he was sitting in the Star Chamber and in the Court of Chancery, and listening to applications at his private house for injune XLV. Rise of young Earl of Essex. tions in cases of great emergency, and consulting anxiously CHAP. with Dr. Swale how he should dispose of petitions, and what decrees were to be pronounced in the causes which he had heard, (besides, that he was now somewhat declining into the vale of years,)—the young Earl of Essex, not yet twentyone, was sighing at her feet, and by his songs and his tilting, by his spirit and address, by his flowing locks and unrazored lip, had captivated her affections, and had been rapidly promoted to be Master of the Horse, Captain General of the cavalry, a Knight of the Garter, and Prime Favourite. The spoiled school-boy, tired of the fondness of "the old woman," as he called her, had fled the Court and clandestinely joined the expedition fitted out under Sir Francis Drake, for the coast of Spain, to avenge on Philip the insults of the Armada. Still Hatton was too much occupied to avail himself of this Chancellor slighted. conjuncture, and he had the deep mortification of finding himself, on his occasional visits to Whitehall or St. James's, to Richmond or Greenwich, entirely neglected and slighted for younger men. a taken into On one of these occasions he saw a handsome youth from Sir Walter Devonshire throw his brave silken cloak into the mire for Raleigh foot-cloth to the Queen, and instantly taken into favour by favour. her, and appointed to the post which he himself had once held, and which he would now have been delighted to exchange for the Great Seal. Sir Walter Raleigh had the special care of her person as Captain of her band of gentlemen pensioners. On another occasion, while he was holding the Great Seal in its red velvet bag, at a tilting match to which he had been invited during the vacation, he was present when the Queen singled out Charles Blount, the second son of Lord Mountjoy, And then a student in the Inner Temple, expressed her appro- Blount. bation of his looks and agility, presented her hand for him to kiss, and sent him a chess queen of gold as a token which he openly bound to his arm with a crimson riband. * This incident afterwards gave rise to a duel between Blount and the Earl of Essex, to the great delight of the Queen, who said "that her beauty had been the object of their quarrel." Had the Chancellor been the challenger, he might Charles |