1600]

ESSEX IN DISGRACE.

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They even accused him of having made a treaty with Tyrone, with a view of obtaining his aid in a projected rising. His conduct was examined by the Council, and he was committed to custody. The Queen was extremely irritated against him. She said, "I am no Queen. That man is above me. Who gave him command to come here so soon? I did send him on other business." Finally Essex was deprived of his offices, and bidden to live a prisoner in his own house during the Queen's pleasure. He allowed his anger against the Queen to vent itself in violent language, which, when repeated to her, only increased her irritation. His enemies were always at hand to prevent any relenting on her part. Ralegh and Cecil were probably both equally anxious to bring about Essex's ruin. They seem to have been on very good terms with one another at this time. We find that Cecil's young son was being educated at Sherborne, with Ralegh's son Walter, under the care of Lady Ralegh.

At one time Ralegh seems to have feared lest Cecil might be persuaded to relent towards Essex, and he wrote a letter warning Cecil in strong language against such a course. "I am not wise enough to give you advice," he writes; "but if you take it for good counsel to relent towards this tyrant, you will repent it when it shall be too late. His malice is fixt, and will not evaporate by any your mild courses. For he will ascribe the alteration to her Majesty's pusilanimity,

and not to your good nature; knowing that you work but upon her humour, and not out of any love towards him. The less you make him, the less he shall be able to harm you and yours. And if her Majesty's favour fail him, he will again decline to a common person. Lose not your advantage," he concludes; "if you do, I read your destiny." This letter is that of a clear-sighted, ambitious man, who allows no scruples to stand between himself and the attainment of his purposes. Ralegh, Cecil, and Cecil's brother-in-law, Lord Henry Cobham, were looked upon as the chief enemies of Essex at Court, and for the time their influence was supreme.

In 1600 a monopoly for the sale of sweet wines possessed by Essex fell in, and the Queen did not renew it. Essex seems then to have lost all hope of returning to favour. He determined to risk everything, and, trusting to his popularity, to attempt by force to regain his old influence in state affairs. He seems to have cherished a wild plan of seizing the Queen's person, and ruling in her name. He summoned his friends to Essex House, and there held frequent conferences with them, till at last the government grew alarmed, and summoned Essex to appear before the Privy Council. He excused himself on the ground of indisposition, and, seeing the suspicion with which he was looked upon, determined to make his attempt at once. The force of the conspirators was too small to enable them to attack the Court; but the

1600]

THE CONSPIRACY OF ESSEX.

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plan was that Essex, at the head of two hundred gentlemen, should ride through the streets of the City, and stir up the people to rise in his favour, and deliver him from his enemies, especially from Ralegh and Cobham, who, he asserted, constantly threatened his life.

The night before this desperate attempt, Ralegh, who was then in his town-house, Durham House, in the Strand, sent for Sir Ferdinando Gorges to come and speak with him. Gorges had served often under both Essex and Ralegh; and was now one of the conspirators in Essex House. Essex bade him go and see Ralegh, only he advised him not to go to Durham House, but to meet Ralegh on the Thames. Sir Christopher Blount, another of the conspirators, advised Gorges to take the opportunity of killing Ralegh, advice which Gorges scornfully rejected. Durham House had gardens and stairs running down to the Thames, and Ralegh came out in a boat alone to meet Gorges, who came from Essex House, which was also on the Thames, bringing two gentlemen with him. Ralegh's object seems to have been to try and detach Gorges from the conspiracy, and he advised him "to depart the town presently." But Gorges replied that it was too late; that there were "two thousand gentlemen who had resolved that day to live or die freemen." He bade Sir Walter go back to the Court; "for he was like to have a bloody day of it." They parted after a fruitless interview, and Ralegh rowed back in haste; for a boat

came from the stairs of Essex House, containing some of the Earl's servants, who had orders either to seize or kill Ralegh.

February, 1601, Essex
Some of the members

The next morning, 8th made his foolish attempt. of Council came early to Essex House in the hope of stopping the rising peaceably; but they were kept as hostages. Essex opened his gates, and riding out at the head of two hundred gentlemen, made his way into the City. There, with shouts of "For the Queen! My life is in danger!" he tried to rouse the citizens to arms. He told them that his life was threatened by the daggers of Ralegh, Cecil, and Cobham, and that he wished to free the Queen from the evil councillors by whom she was surrounded. But the people simply gazed in amazement, and no one stirred. At last Essex plainly saw that his cause was desperate. He made his way back to his house, and that night was obliged to surrender to the Earl of Nottingham. The next morning he was taken to the Tower.

In a few days Essex was brought to trial for high treason before a body of twenty-five peers. One of his chief associates, the Earl of Southampton, Shakspeare's patron and friend, was tried with him. Both pleaded not guilty. Essex tried to defend himself by accusing others. He asserted that Ralegh and Cobham had meant to murder him in his own house. He said of Cecil that he favoured the claim of the Spanish Infanta to the

1601]

FRANCIS BACON.

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English crown. With greater justice he accused Francis Bacon, who appeared against him as Queen's Counsel, of perfidy and base ingratitude.

Francis Bacon was the son of Sir Nicholas Bacon, who had been Elizabeth's Lord-Keeper till 1579, and had been amongst the greatest of the statesmen who gathered round her throne. His death had called back his son Francis from Paris, where he was completing his education in the house of the English Ambassador, Sir Amias Paulet. Francis had wished to devote himself to literature and politics; but he had no private means, and the death of his father left him without a friend in the government from whom he could hope for advancement. It is true that

Lord Burleigh was his uncle; for Burleigh and Sir Nicholas Bacon had each married one of the learned daughters of Sir Anthony Coke. But Burleigh was anxious for the advancement of his own son Robert, who was just the same age as Francis, and looked with jealousy on his nephew, in whom he could not fail to see far greater genius than in his own son. At last Francis found a friend and patron in the Earl of Essex. Essex never did anything by halves, and he proved a very warm friend. Bacon had

devoted himself to the study of the law. When the office of Attorney-General fell vacant, Essex did his utmost to procure it for Bacon; when that was filled up, he tried to get him the office of Solicitor-General. When he failed in this too,

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