the tried and trusted friend of the Stanleys, and to him, therefore, was committed the responsible office of provost marshal for the two shires. We next hear of him, in his capacity of "provost marshal and justice of peace for Lancashire and Cheshire," committing one Randolph Norbury--who had been charged with "uttering very heinous words" against the Queen's favourite, the Earl of Leicester, who had succeeded to the Lancashire estates of the Botelers of Bewsey--to the keeper of the Castle of Chester to be detained until he should be discharged by due course of law. The storm which had long been threatening was now about to burst. The haughty Spaniard, impatient for conquest, and offended at Drake's threatening to "singe his beard," ordered the "Invincible Armada," as he presumptuously phrased it, to be prepared for sea. Great was the preparation and intense the excitement in England. All along the coast anxious watch was kept for days; from tower and turret and from every vantage ground warders scanned the horizon with eager eyes. At length the beacon fires were lit, proclaiming to Englishmen that the enemy was in view, and tongues of flame shot up from every cliff and hill-- For swift to east and swift to west the warning radiance spread-- High on St. Michael's Mount it shone--it shone on Beachy Head. Far o'er the deep the Spaniard saw, along each southern shire, Cape beyond cape, in endless range, those twinkling points of fire. Sir Peter Legh's kinsman, Thomas Legh, of Adlington, was the "stout old sheriff" of Cheshire that year. He himself was still provost marshal of the two palatine counties, and we may be sure at such a time he would be by no means idle. He was too old to again unsheath the sword, but if he were unable to render personal help he could yet render pecuniary aid, and that he readily did, for we read that in response to the Queen's appeal he contributed one hundred pounds--a substantial sum in those days, and a welcome addition to an exchequer by no means overflowing. It was almost his last public act, for before two more winters had passed over his head he had sunk peacefully to his rest, full of years and honours. He died at Lyme, on the 6th December, 1589, at the age of seventy-six; his body was carried to Winwick, and there buried in the family chapel where so many of his race had been laid before him.