CHAPTER IX.

Last Days of Elizabeth.

THE year after the "Island voyage," in 1598, Elizabeth's chief enemy, Philip II., died, at the age of seventy-one. His great schemes had not succeeded. He had lost the Netherlands, and had failed to establish the power of his house. He had expended such enormous sums of money in the furtherance of his schemes that, in spite of the wealth he received from his colonies, he left his country financially ruined. After his death the power of Spain in Europe steadily though slowly declined. But it was formidable enough, and the voices of Essex and Ralegh were still for war. Burleigh and others hoped to establish a lasting peace, which might diminish the Queen's difficulties in Ireland, where the rebels always looked to Spain for help. Early in 1598, Henry IV. of France had made peace with Philip II.; and France, under a king of Huguenot blood, if no longer of Huguenot faith, was at last enjoying the blessings of peace and toleration. Elizabeth had long carried on the struggle against Spain;

1598]

DEATH OF BURLEIGH.

121

and she too in her old age wished for peace. But Irish difficulties were again pressing on her, and there were many debates in council how they should be met. Ralegh had thought much on Irish affairs, and knew more about the difficulties of government in Ireland than most men about the Queen. She often asked his advice; but she would not make him what he so much wished to be a member of her council. Ralegh longed to shine as a statesman, and would undoubtedly have done so had he been permitted; but the jealousy of his enemies kept him from holding any important office in the State.

In the debates in council on Irish affairs Essex expressed his opinions with violence, especially in the discussion about filling up the vacant office of lord-deputy. On one occasion, when the Queen would not listen to him, he so far forgot the respect he owed her as to turn his back upon her in contempt. This was too much for Elizabeth, who, in a fit of rage, gave him a box on the ear, and bade him "Go, and be hang'd." Essex laid his hand upon his sword, exclaiming that he would not have put up with such an affront, not at the hands of Henry VIII. himself, and left the Court in a passion.

Before long a reconciliation was brought about; but it is said that Elizabeth never quite forgot the affront. On August 4th, 1598, she lost her faithful and well-tried servant, William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, who died at the age of seventy-eight, having

served Elizabeth for forty years. During the whole of this time he had been her chief adviser and guide, the very soul of her policy. His death left her lonely, surrounded by younger men whose enthusiasm she could not share, who had not gone through the days of struggle, difficulty, and danger with her. England was going on and leaving her behind; it was no longer the England she had known, and loved, and guided through storm and peril. The results of her work were beginning to be seen; but she could not understand them. Men were thinking of her successor; and though she herself would not allow the subject to be discussed, she knew that it was in everyone's thoughts. Essex, the man she most loved, treated her rudely and contemptuously, and yet she still clung to him. She tried to disguise her age by paint and false hair. She is described by a foreign ambassador about this time as having "an oblong face, fair but wrinkled; her eyes small, yet black and pleasant; her nose a little hooked; her lips narrow, and her teeth black. She had in her ears two pearls, with very rich drops; she wore false hair, and that red; upon her head a small crown. Her bosom was uncovered, as all the English ladies have it till they marry. She had on a necklace of exceeding fine jewels; her hands were small, her fingers long, and her stature neither tall nor low; her air was stately; her manner of speaking mild and obliging. She was dressed in white silk, bordered with pearls of the

1599]

STATE OF IRELAND.

123

size of beans, and over it a mantle of black silk shot with silver threads. Her train was very long, the end of it borne by a marchioness; instead of a chain she had an oblong collar of gold and jewels." But false hair and fine dresses could not make Elizabeth a young beauty; and we cannot wonder that Essex was always fretting against the chains in which she tried to hold him, and struggled after a more active life, which would better suit his ambitious spirit.

At last it was determined to send Essex himself as lord-deputy to Ireland, with an army of 22,000 men, to quell the rebellion of the Earl of Tyrone. It was thought that there Essex would find a field. for his warlike energies. He himself went rather unwillingly; he was afraid of what his enemies might do in his absence; but the people, with whom he was always a favourite on account of his princely generosity, greeted his appointment with enthusiasm, and hoped great things from it.

Since the defeat and death of the Earl of Desmond, Ireland had been nominally at peace; but the severity of the government, and the cruelty and exactions of the soldiers, had fostered the spirit of discontent amongst the Irish. Spanish agents and Jesuits in disguise had done their utmost to increase this discontent. Ireland was then, as it has ever been, England's most vulnerable point; and it was very important to Spain to keep Ireland in an unsettled condition. At last, in 1592, the discontent broke out in the

rebellion of Hugh O'Neill, the Earl of Tyrone, round whom gathered the northern tribes.

Elizabeth had done her utmost to secure the fidelity of Hugh O'Neill. He had been partly educated at the English Court, and she had given him the earldom of Tyrone. For a time he had been a faithful supporter of the government; but when his power increased, he determined to assert his independence. His rebellion had now reached such formidable proportions that it was absolutely necessary to suppress it; and this was the work with which Essex was entrusted.

By his conduct in Ireland Essex disappointed everyone's hopes. His orders had been to proceed at once against Tyrone; but he spent three months in desultory warfare before he marched against him at all. Then his soldiers were so dispirited by sickness that he did not venture to risk a battle. He concluded an armistice with Tyrone against express orders, and hastened back to England, trusting to his popularity and favour with the Queen to prevent his conduct from being too severely censured. There were rumours of a renewal of the war with Spain, and this made him doubly anxious to be in England again. On his arrival at Court he burst in upon the Queen when she least expected him. In her surprise she received him at first with affection; but presently ordered him to his apartment, and expressed her displeasure at his disobedience of her orders. Essex's enemies now had a real charge against him.