CHAP. V.

and was on his knees at the feet of the Queen before any one had even thought that he had intended to leave his government (September 29th, 1599).

67. Administration of Lord Mountjoy: suppression of Tyrone's rebellion. Charles Blount, Lord Mountjoy, was appointed to succeed the earl. He adopted the policy of planting garrisons throughout the country; and, instead of carrying on the light and partisan warfare which had hitherto been the custom, he brought together large masses of troops to act against the insurgents. But, in spite of his exertions, Tyrone succeeded in marching from Munster, whither he had gone to consult with the rebel chiefs of the south, right through the country to his own territories in the north. The lord deputy, however, soon surrounded Tyrone, in his castle of Dungannon, with a strong line of garrisons; and then, turning his attention to the rebels in Munster, succeeded in capturing the titular Earl of Desmond, called the Sugan Earl, or Earl of Straw. In the next year (1601), 5,000 Spaniards landed at Kinsale, and took possession of the town; Mountjoy, aided by considerable reinforcements from England, laid siege to the place; the Spaniards surrendered, and Tyrone, who had marched to their relief, was defeated in a general engagement (December 24th, 1601), and the castle of Dunboy, in which the rebels made their last stand, was taken, after a long and obstinate defence. The fall of this fortress decided the question, whether Ireland was to belong to England or Spain; and so much importance did the latter attach to its loss, that a large expedition, which was then ready at Corunna to sail to Ireland, was countermanded. All parties evinced a desire for peace; Tyrone surrendered himself at Mellefont, renounced his title of O'Neil, and, in return, received a full pardon, and the restoration of all his lands and former titles held under the English crown (1602).* To prevent the Spaniards from making a second descent upon Ireland, Admirals Leveson and Monson were sent to cruise off the coast of Spain. They performed many signal feats of daring, and Admiral Mansel defeated the celebrated Spinola in several actions in the channel (1602).†

V. CONCLUDING EVENTS OF THE REIGN.

68. Essex's rebellion. When Essex so unexpectedly returned from his government in Ireland, the reception which Elizabeth gave him at first, was such as removed from his mind all apprehensions. But before the day was over, he was ordered to * Moore's Ireland, IV., 127-144. + Southey's Lives, V., 42.

1600

remain a prisoner in his own room; and, in a few days, was placed under the custody of the lord keeper. He remained under arrest eight months, at the end of which he was tried before a special commission, upon whose report Elizabeth deprived him of every office which he held by patent, and ordered him to remain a prisoner in his own house during her pleasure (June 5th, 1600). At the end of three months, she released him from custody, but forbade him to appear at court without leave. A few days after this, a valuable patent which he held for the monopoly of sweet wines, expired; and, when he petitioned for its renewal, Elizabeth positively refused, saying, "that in order to manage an ungovernable beast, he must be stinted in his provender.” * This language, together with the constant refusal of access to the court, made Essex desperate, and ready to listen to dangerous counsels. It was suggested to him that, if he forcibly removed Cecil, Cobham, and Raleigh from the court, he might recover his former ascendancy over the Queen. This idea had occurred to him in Ireland; but the Earl of Southampton had advised him to give it up. Now, however, he determined to act upon it; he threw aside his late habits of solitude, opened his house in the Strand to every comer, and assembled around him his dependants and all who were dissatisfied with the Queen and her advisers. Essex had always been popular; and, since his return, his conduct had been vindicated in sermons from the pulpit, and in pamphlets from the press; many of the clergy had gone so far as to pray for him by name in their churches; and, even in the palace, libels upon his enemies were found scattered on the floor, and affixed to the walls. The opposition which he had always made to the religious persecutions had made both the Puritans and the Roman Catholics his friends; his active military life had also attached to him many brave and devoted men, so that he soon found himself surrounded by a motley crowd of followers-Catholic priests, Puritan preachers, soldiers and sailors, citizens and apprentices, needy adventurers, and noblemen and gentlemen. At the same time, he began a correspondence with the King of Scots, representing that Cecil and his partisans were conspiring to deprive the King of the crown, and bestow it upon the Infanta. It was impossible that these proceedings should be kept secret; and, on the 7th of Februarv, 1601, the Queen sent a messenger to observe what was doing, and then summoned Essex to appear before the council. But being persuaded that his life was in danger, he refused to obey; and next morning (which was Sunday), attended

* Jardine's Criminal Trials, I., 304.

R

CHAP. V.

by the Earls of Rutland and Southampton, and about three hundred gentlemen, he set forward to proceed to St. Paul's Cross, and, at the conclusion of the sermon, call upon the citizens to defend him against his enemies. At that moment, the lord keeper Egerton and other ministers came to inquire into the cause of the tumult. Essex placed them in confinement, and then rushed forth, sword in hand, shouting "For the Queen! For the Queen! a plot is laid for my life." But the citizens took no further notice of him than to cry out, "God bless your honour; he found the streets barricaded; and at Ludgate he was stopped by a party of soldiers, between whom and his followers a sharp skirmish ensued, in which several persons were killed. Disappointed in his hopes of being joined by the citizens, he escaped to Queenhithe, and thence proceeded by water to Essex House. He now gave way to despair. The imprisoned lords, whom he had purposed retaining as hostages for his own safety, were gone; his house was immediately invested on all sides; and he and Southampton, and the gentlemen with them, agreed to surrender upon condition that they should have a fair and speedy trial. The two earls were then committed to the Tower, and their followers to various gaols in London and Westminster.

Bacon in

69. Trial of Essex and Southampton. On the 19th of February, Essex and Southampton were arraigned before Lord Buckhurst, as lord steward, and twenty-five other peers, among whom were Cobham, Grey, and others, their personal enemies. Seeing these men, Essex asked if he might challenge them; but the judges refused, saying that as peers gave a verdict on their honour, and not upon their oath, they could not be challenged like jurors. The indictment charged the prisoners with having imagined the deposition and death of the Queen, and was supported with great vehemence by Yelverton, Coke, and Bacon, the crown lawyers. Conduct of The conduct of the latter, on this occasion, has been the subject of much virulent accusation, from the time of Pope, who stigmatised Bacon as "the wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind," down to our own day, when both Campbell and Macaulay have bitterly attacked the great lawyer's character. The story went, that Bacon was indebted to Essex for many favours, and that the latter, failing to obtain for his protégé office and promotion, gave him Twickenham Park, as an atonement. But Hepworth Dixon, in a work lately published, has shown, on the authority of family documents previously unknown, that this estate was not the earl's to give, because it had belonged to the *The Personal History of Lord Bacon, from unpublished papers.

this trial.

1601

Bacons for many years that Essex himself was indebted to both Francis Bacon and his brother Anthony; to the former, as his lawyer and political man of business, and to the latter, as his secretary; and that to repay the services of the first, Essex gave him a patch of land not worth more than £1,500, which was considerably less than the third of a year's income from the solicitor-general's place, which the earl had sworn to obtain for him. So that the black tale of Bacon's ingratitude to his friend and patron at this trial, is utterly without foundation; the friendship between the two had ceased long before this, and while Bacon sought the patronage of his uncle, Lord Burleigh, Essex's great opponent, the latter sought other and more obsequious associates than he had found in Bacon and his brother. It appears, however, that Bacon's tone was less virulent in this trial than that of either Coke or Yelverton; but it fell to his task to refute the earl's defence, and he performed this in such a manner as to injure very considerably the cause of Essex. After the earl's execution also, he wrote, at the Queen's command, "an account of the Earl of Essex's treasons" with such apparent zeal, that he excited public indignation, and he was obliged to apologise for his conduct, by a letter to the Earl of Devonshire, one of the firm partisans of Essex.* The unfortunate earl indignantly denied the truth of the charge brought against him, or that he had ever entertained a thought of injuring the Queen. He had taken up arms solely in defence of his life, which he affirmed was threatened by Lord Cobham and Sir Walter Raleigh; and that, as the Queen's authority had afforded no protection to the Earl of Southampton, when Lord Grey had so atrociously assaulted him in the public street, he considered that his only safety lay in repelling force by force. In refutation of this plea, witnesses were called in who proved that meetings had been held at Drury House, the residence of Southampton, at which it had been proposed to seize the Queen's person, and compel her to govern according to the pleasure of Essex. But the latter defended himself by saying, that these meetings were not matters which concerned him, because he had never been present. Southampton set up this defence: That though many projects had been. mentioned, none had been determined upon; that the meetings had no connexion with the attempt to raise the city; and that the latter was entirely unpremeditated, and arose from information having been received of immediate danger to the life of Essex, and the unexpected arrival of the four counsellors. During the

*Knight's Pop. Hist., III., 289-290.

CHAP. V.

trial, Essex was accused of having said that the kingdom was bought and sold. He vindicated the expression by stating, that Cecil had said the Infanta had as good a right to the throne as any other claimant, on which that minister instantly started up from a private box where he had hitherto remained unseen, and demanded proof of the earl's statement. Essex turned to his fellow prisoner, saying he had heard it also. Cecil conjured Southampton to name the informer; the latter appealed to the court, whether he could honourably betray the secret. The court decided in the affirmative, and he named Sir Robert Knollys, comptroller of the household, and uncle to Essex. When Knollys came before the court, he explained away the statement, by saying that Cecil had said, that Doleman's tract maintained the Infanta's right. The peers declared both earls guilty of high treason. Southampton remained a prisoner in the Tower till the next reign, when he was released and restored to his title and estates: Essex was privately executed in an inner court in the Tower (February 25th). It was not till the axe had absolutely fallen, that the world could believe that Elizabeth would take the life of Essex. Raleigh incurred the deepest odium for his share in bringing his noble rival to the block. He had witnessed the execution from the armoury in the Tower, and soon after, was found in the presence of the Queen, who, as if nothing of painful import had occurred, was that morning amusing herself with playing on the virginals. The romantic story of the ring, which, it is said, the Queen had given to Essex, in a moment of fondness, with the intimation, "that if ever he forfeited her favour, if he sent it back to her, the sight of it would ensure her forgiveness," is too well known to be repeated here; and although it rests on doubtful evidence, it must not be lightly rejected.*

Prospects of the accession of James

70. The Queen's last years. The time, so long dreaded by the Queen, had at length arrived; when, to use her own expression, men would turn their backs on the setting, to worship the rising sun. In vain she affected the vigour and gaiety of youth; in vain she persisted in making her annual progress; and of in vain she rode out daily to view the labours of the Scotland. chase. No art could conceal her age and infirmities from her subjects; she only fatigued her decrepit frame by persisting in the exercises which belong to strength and youthful blood; the consequences of her approaching demise became the general topic of conversation at court; and every man who dared to give an opinion was careful to name as her successor the King * Strickland's Lives, IV., 747-748.