England and Spain; and while Lord Burleigh strongly advised its acceptance, Essex argued hotly for a continuance of hostilities. These two rival statesmen also differed on another subject of importance during this year. For some time Ireland had been in an unsettled state; and its affairs had now become so alarming that it was deemed expedient to send over a new lord-deputy with extraordinary powers. Lord Burleigh proposed one officer and Essex another; and the queen sided with the former. On this occasion she attacked her favourite with her usual severity of language; and the earl, forgetting himself and his duty, turned his back upon his sovereign with an air of contempt. For this conduct Elizabeth gave him a box on the ear, and the earl immediately clapped his hand to his sword, and swore that he would not have borne such usage from her father. He then retired again to his house at Wanstead; but in a short time he returned to court, and was restored to the queen's favour. During his seclusion Lord Burleigh died, and Elizabeth is said to have wept bitterly for his loss. About the same time, however, she was comforted by the demise of her arch-enemy Philip of Spain; and upon the accession of his son, Philip III., the war was allowed to languish.

A gloom was thrown over the last years of Elizabeth's reign by persecutions, state trials, and sanguinary executions; but that which more nearly concerned the queen was the trial and execution of her favourite Essex. In the year 1599 an insurrection had broken out in Ireland, which was headed by Hugh, son of a baron of Duncannon, who had been exalted by the queen to the earldom of Tyrone, and who had exalted himself to be the O'Neil and rightful Irish sovereign of Ulster. The Earl of Tyrone defeated the English troops at Tyrone with great slaughter, and was proclaimed by the Irish the saviour of his country. By the particular request of the queen the Earl of Essex had been appointed to measure swords with this rebel chieftain; and he left London for Ireland, surrounded with the flower of the English nobility. This appointment had been made at the suggestion of the Cecils, sons of Lord Burleigh, who wished to remove him from court, in the hope that it would involve his disgrace if not his death; and in that hope they were not disappointed. On reaching Ireland he appointed the Earl of Southampton to be general of the horse; but the queen compelled him to revoke the appointment. Shortly after, as he appeared to have done nothing to put an end to the insurrection, he was accused of wasting time and money; and the queen broadly stated that she had great cause to think that his purpose was to prolong the war. In the month of August he marched for the first time into Ulster, the centre of the rebellion, where he met the

Earl of Tyrone; but, instead of fighting with him, he concluded an armistice, and then returned to England.

On the return of Essex from Ireland the anger of Elizabeth knew no bounds. She had him placed under restraint; and this restraint drove him into rebellion. In the year 1600 he made an affecting appeal to the queen; but, though he was shortly after released from custody, he was told that he was not to appear at court. This touched his pride to the quick, and a few days after, the queen having refused to continue him in possession of a valuable patent for the monopoly of sweet wines, he became desperate. Unfortunately, there was one in his service, a man named Cuffe, his secretary, who fomented the disposition for rebellion which the queen's slight of him had induced. It was suggested by Cuffe, that he might recover his ascendency by the removal of Sir Robert Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh, and others from court; and relying on his popularity with the Londoners, he resolved on endeavouring to carry this plan into effect. He was joined by some noblemen, gentlemen, and others, and the attempt was made on a Sunday morning (the 8th of February, 1601), when he issued from the gates of Essex House, with a party of armed knights and gentlemen, shouting, “For the queen, for the queen! There is a plot laid for my life!" But the good citizens of London, on whose aid he had relied, did not respond to his call, and he and the Earl of Southampton were taken and committed to the Tower, while others of his followers were lodged in various gaols in London and Westminster.

Essex and Southampton were tried by the peers on the 19th of February. Among these peers were Cobham, Grey, and other enemies of Essex, men whom he had recently accused of seeking his life, so that his case seems to have been prejudged; but that he was guilty there could be no doubt. The proofs of his sedition and treason were considered all-sufficient, and he and his friend Southampton were pronounced guilty. He was advised to submit, and implore the queen's mercy by acknowledging and confessing all his offences; but he replied that he could not ask for mercy in that way, though with all humility he prayed her Majesty's forgiveness. Subsequently, however, it is said Essex did make an ample confession, which implicated several individuals, and among others James, King of Scotland. This confession filled four sheets; but its accuracy may be doubted, as may also the story of the queen's reluctance to sign his death-warrant and the romantic incident of the ring, said to have been given him by Elizabeth for the purpose of insuring his safety from her anger in any emergency of this nature. Her regard for Essex seems to have been extinguished for some time; and there are letters and documents in the

State-Paper Office which prove that, as soon as his confession was obtained, his execution was prepared by the full consent of the queen. He was beheaded in an inner court of the Tower, on the 25th of February, and his death was followed by those of Cuffe, his secretary; Merrick, his steward; Sir Charles Danvers; and Sir Christopher Blount, his step-father. The Earl of Southampton was kept close prisoner in the Tower; and others suffered imprisonment or paid large sums of money for their pardon.

In the meantime the Lord Mountjoy, who succeeded Essex in the command of Ireland, had to maintain a desperate struggle with the Earl of Tyrone. In 1601 Don Juan d'Aguilar landed at Kinsale, with 4000 insurgents, to aid the Irish; but Mountjoy collected all the forces he could, and shut up the Spaniards within their lines. The Earl of Tyrone then advanced to the assistance of his friends with an army of 6000 Irish and 400 foreigners; but he was defeated with great loss: on which D'Aguilar capitulated, and was permitted to return to Spain. Tyrone was subsequently compelled to capitulate; upon promise of life and lands he surrendered to Mountjoy, and the warlike operations of this long reign were closed by some minor naval conflicts on the coast of Spain and in the British Channel.

At this time Elizabeth was fast approaching the grave. By some her illness was supposed to have been brought on by her displeasure on being urged to name a successor; by others to have been caused by the affairs of Ireland, her council having constrained her to pardon the Earl of Tyrone; and by others it was attributed to the death of Essex. She became very melancholy; but it seems probable that the sufferings incident to her age, and the fear of death, were the chief causes of her dejection. For two days she sat on cushions on the floor, neither rising nor lying down, her finger being almost always in her mouth, and her eyes open and fixed on the ground. She took to her bed on the 21st of March, 1603; but she was carried to it partly by force: after which she listened attentively to the prayers and discourses of the Bishops of Chichester and London, and Archbishop Whitgift, of Canterbury. On her dying bed she was entreated to name her successor; on which she exclaimed, that her seat had been the seat of kings, and that she would have "no rascal" to succeed her. The lords not understanding, she was asked what she meant by the words " no rascal ?" when she replied, that a king should succeed her; and who could that be but her cousin of Scotland? She died on the 24th of March, in the seventieth year of her age, and the fortyfifth of her reign.

Elizabeth understood the art of reigning in an eminent degree, though her wise ministers and her brave warriors undoubtedly

share the praise of her success; but they owed their advancement to her choice, were supported by her constancy, and, with all their abilities, could never obtain any undue ascendency over her. In her family and in her court she remained equally mistress. She reigned alone; and, like her father Henry VIII., reigned absolutely. The power which her impulsive affections had over her was great; but the strength of her judgment was still superior. In many respects her character and manners were unfeminine,—she was prone to violent anger and to the utterance of oaths; but this may be attributed chiefly to the age in which she lived, and to the circumstances by which she was surrounded. A mind less stern than that of Elizabeth would scarcely have been able to control the courtiers and subjects of that age; and if at times she appeared too severe, it must be recollected that events were frequently such as to justify severity. One thing, at least, is certain, that the reign of Elizabeth was a happy one, both for her subjects and for posterity.

A.D.

REMARKABLE EVENTS OF THE PERIOD.

1485. A dreadful epidemic disease called the sweating sickness prevalent in England.

1486. The Cape of Good Hope discovered by Bartholomew Diaz.

1492. Columbus discovers America.

1495. John and Sebastian Cabot sail in search of a north-west passage to India, and discover Newfoundland.

1497. The voyage to India by the Cape of Good Hope made by Vasco di Gama.

1517. Martin Luther affixes to the church door at Wittemberg his first

thesis.

1519. Six men and a woman burnt at Coventry for teaching their children the Lord's Prayer, the Apostles' Creed, and the Ten Commandments. 1520. Luther excommunicated by the Pope. 1522. A Portuguese ship of Magellan makes the first voyage round the

world.

1526. The New Testament translated into English by William Tindal, and the whole edition bought by the Bishop of London and burnt at St. Paul's Cross.

1529. Fourteen imperial cities of Germany protest against the decree of the Second Diet of Spires; hence the term "Protestant."

1534. The Papal supremacy annulled in England by the King's proclama

tion.

1534. Canada visited by Cartier, and possession taken of it in the name of the French king.

1535. The suppression of the monasteries commenced in England.

1536. Popular insurrections on this account in the north.

1541. An act passed for paving several streets in London, which are said to be "very foul and full of pits and sloughs."

1543. The astronomer Copernicus died.

1547. Gooseberries, salads, carrots, and other useful vegetables first cultivated

in England about this time.

1562. Peach and nectarine trees introduced from Persia.

A.D.

1580. Francis Drake, the first Englishman who made a voyage round the

world, returns home.

1588. The Spanish Armada leaves Lisbon.

1588. The first English newspaper published.

1599. Oliver Cromwell born.

1600. The East India Company first incorporated for trading purposes.

CHAP. XIV.

THE RELIGION, GOVERNMENT AND LAWS, COMMERCE, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, ARTS AND LITERATURE OF THIS PERIOD.

For more than a third of the present period the ancient Romish faith was almost the universal belief of the people; and in no period did the church enjoy more authority. Wolsey was the most powerful prelate that had arisen since Becket, and in his style of living incomparably the most gorgeous. All the highest and most influential offices in the state were in the hands of churchmen, and the management of ecclesiastical and civil affairs was under their control. Their power and authority were greater than they had ever been; and, in the plenitude of this power, they could not refrain from persecuting those who adopted what they called heretical opinions. In the year 1494 the first English female martyr, Jane Boughton, suffered martyrdom for holding the opinions of Wickliffe; and her death was followed by numerous others throughout the country. But these barbarities acted otherwise than was intended; for, instead of moving the people to a horror of the new opinions, they moved them to a horror of the Romish Church. This horror was increased by the dissolute lives of the clergy, whose profligacy was often such as to prove to all around that they were not the servants of Christ. An impulse was also given to the approaching Reformation in the reign of Henry VII. by the revival of learning and by the printing of books, which tended to increase the knowledge of the people. The works of Martin Luther, who in this period wrote and preached against the abuses and errors of the Church of Rome, tended greatly to enlighten the public mind, not only in Germany, the scene of his labours, but over all the Continent and in England. The principles of Luther resembled in some points those of Wickliffe, and they were eagerly adopted by the people. Henry VIII. at first opposed his authority to the new tenets, but soon after changed his mind. It was his ambition to make himself supreme head of the church; and when this power was conferred upon him by Parlia