out changing his dress, which seriously offended her; and her displeasure so affected him as to make him very ill.

The queen was, moreover, offended with Essex because he had disobeyed her orders by returning to England, and commanded him to retire to his own house, where he was to remain under a sort of custody, and sequestered from all company. Lord Montjoy was then promoted to the government of Ireland, and, being a man of capacity and vigor, he soon retrieved the queen's affairs in that country.

Montjoy's prudent government made the inconsiderate conduct of Essex appear by comparison the more blameable; and Elizabeth, after a severe struggle between her affection for her favorite and her sense of justice, at last consented that he should be brought before the privy council to answer for his mismanagement of the Irish affairs. Essex did not attempt to excuse himself, but made a humble submission to the queen, by which he hoped to restore himself to her favor.

Elizabeth received his contrite messages with great complacency; but when he applied to her for a renewal of a grant she had formerly given him, she refused him with some contemptuous expressions. These contemptuous expressions so stung the proud heart of Essex, that the violence of temper, which he had with difficulty restrained, now broke loose. He declared in his rage, that the queen, now that she was an old woman, was as crooked in her mind as in her person:" which words being repeated to Elizabeth, incensed her more against him than any former part of his conduct had done.

66

Essex, indeed, was so completely driven mad by his passion, that he thought he could overturn the government. He entered into a treasonable correspondence with the king of Scotland; but his want of secrecy and caution made him a bad conductor of a plot. His scheme was discovered, and on this, furious with rage, he rushed into the streets, and made a wild attempt to raise a mob amongst the popu

What punishment did Elizabeth inflict upon Essex ?
Why did Elizabeth bring Essex to a public trial?
How did Essex regard the queen's treatment of him?
To what extravagant conduct did Essex proceed?

lace. But, though the citizens were much attached to him, they were afraid or unwilling to join him.

Hearing himself proclaimed a traitor, and the streets being presently barricadoed against him, so that he could not advance, Essex fled towards the river, and getting into a boat, went back by water to Essex House. There he was seized and conveyed to the Tower. His trial soon followed, and his guilt was too clear to give the queen the least pretext for granting him a pardon. Still her former tenderness, and her late resentment, kept her in a most pitiable state during the painful interval which elapsed be tween signing his death-warrant and his execution.

It appears that the queen, aware of his impetuous temper, and how little guard he had over himself, had formerly given him a ring, telling him that whatever disgrace he might afterwards fall into, she would promise him, on receiving again that ring, to give him a favorable hearing. This pledge she had fully expected to receive at this juncture of his fate, and she attributed it to obstinacy his not sending it. And when she had given him as she thought ample time for repentance, and yet there came not the im portant ring, she no longer delayed his execution, which took place February 25, 1601.

For a time her feelings of resentment supported her under the loss of her favorite. But this consolation, such as it was, was taken from her when, about two years after the death of Essex, the countess of Nottingham being on her death-bed, besought the queen to come to her, as she had something to reveal. She then confessed that Essex had entrusted her with the ring to restore it to her majesty, but that she had been prevailed on by her husband to withhold it.

Elizabeth, in an agony of grief at this disclosure, shook the dying countess in her bed, and said that "God might forgive her, but she never could." She then broke from her, and when she regained her own apartments, threw

Did the queen cordially consent to the execution of Essex?
Did the queen ever give Essex a ring, and on what condition?
Who intercepted from the queen the ring belonging to Essex ?
Did Elizabeth forgive the countess of Nottingham ?

herself on the floor, and gave herself up to the most incu rable melancholy.

For ten days and nights she lay on the ground, supported by cushions. She refused to go to bed, or to take any thing that her physicians prescribed. Her end visibly ap proaching, her attendants requested her to appoint her successor. Some authors say she actually named the king of Scotland. Others say that when he was named to her, she raised her hand to her head, which her ministers were willing to interpret into a sign of consent.

When she grew too weak to make resistance, she was laid in her bed. In the evening of the last day of her life, the archbishop of Canterbury came to pray by her and when, after some hours, he left off from weariness, she made a sign to him to go on, and did so every time he ceased to speak. This lasted till towards four o'clock in the morning, when her attendants perceived she had ceased to breathe. She died March 24, 1603, in the 70th year of her age, and the 45th of her reign.

Although Elizabeth preserved the internal tranquillity of the kingdom unbroken during the whole of her long reign, yet the perpetual warfare she carried on with Philip, together with the occasional assistance she gave to the Protestants in France, kept up a military spirit among her subjects. She chose her admirals far more fortunately and more judiciously than she did her generals, and consequently her expeditions by sea were in general much more successful than those which she attempted by land.

In an expedition to the Low Countries, sir Philip Sidney was killed at the siege at Zutphen. He was considered the most accomplished gentlemen in England; and the sorrow for his death was so great, that both the court and the city went into mourning.

Did Elizabeth name a successor ?

How, and when did Elizabeth die ?

Was the military spirit kept up in England during the reign of Elizabeth?

Where was sir Sidney Philip killed?

Elizabeth outlived her great enemy the king of Spain two years. The trade of England would have increased greatly in this reign, had not the activity and industry of the merchants been fettered by the patents and monopolies which Elizabeth used to give to her courtiers and favorites. The Protestants, though their religioh was now established, were yet unfortunately divided amongst themselves. Many who had been exiled in the reign of Mary had found refuge at Geneva, and had there learned the doctrine of Calvin, the Swiss reformer. These persons, when they returned to England on the accession of Elizabeth, were much shocked to find that she retained, not only many of the prayers, but also many of the outward observances of the Romish church.

The Puritans, for so they were called on account of their

of life, scrupled, amongst other things, to perform the service of the church in a surplice, and many of the puritan clergy refused benefices rather than be guilty of what they considered so great an impiety. A benefice is a living in the established, that is, the Episcopal church of England.

The queen, during her whole reign, was constantly on the watch to keep down the puritans; and they, on their side, were as constantly seizing every opportunity to advance their cause. Their public preaching and private exhortations had a visible effect on the manners of the age, particularly in regard to the employment of the Sunday, which, by their example, began universally to be observed with seriousness, instead of being made as heretofore, a day of pastime. and often of excess.

In the fifth year of this reign was enacted the first compulsory law for the relief of the poor, which is the foundation of the present poor laws in England, and by another act passed in 1601, the system as they now have it, was nearly completed.

A trade between England and Turkey was begun about

Did trade flourish in England during the reign of Elizabeth?
Were the Protestants united? Who were the Puritans?

Did the queen favor the Puritans, and did they influence the manners of the time?

When were the present poor laws of England first enacted?
When was the English trade with Turkey commenced?

the year 1583, owing to the fame of the English queen having reached the ears of the Grand Signior, who till then had believed that England was a dependent province to France.

The character of Elizabeth is a very difficult one to comprehend. She had the courage and understanding of a man, with more than a woman's vanity and weakness. She was attached to her people, and imposed few taxes, and inflicted few punishments; but nevertheless, she was one of the most arbitrary of monarchs. She treated the house of commons with the utmost haughtiness, and more than once sent her commands to the members "to avoid long speeches."

CHAP. XXIX.

JAMES I.

[Years after Christ, 1603-1625.]

James was thirty-seven years old when by the death of Elizabeth he was raised to the English throne, and thus united the whole island under one sovereign. His character was an odd mixture of sense and folly. He had a natural shrewdness and sagacity, with a great share of vanity and conceit; and he made even his learning, which 'was considerable, appear ridiculous by his pedantry and pomposity. With all this he had a great deal of childish simplicity; and there was an openness of temper about him, which, though it may be reckoned a virtue, yet made him quite unfit to control the jealousies which arose between his English and Scotch subjects.

His person was awkward, and his manners uncouth, and without dignity; and these defects, together with his broad Scotch accent, soon made him an object of contempt

Is the character of Elizabeth easily comprehended?
What was the character of James I. ?

Did James command the respect of the English?