respect that no man that had his wits could have omitted; but nevertheless I had a further reach in it, for I judged that day's work would be a full period of any bitterness or harshness between the Queen and my Lord, and therefore, if I declared myself fully according to her mind at that time, which could not do my Lord any manner of prejudice, I should keep my credit with her ever after, whereby to do my Lord service.

"Hereupon the next news that I heard was that we were all sent for again, and that her Majesty's pleasure was, we all should have parts in the business; and the Lords falling into distribution of our parts, it was allotted to me, that I should set forth some undutiful carriage of my Lord, in giving occasion and countenance to a seditious pamphlet, as it was termed, which was dedicated to him, which was the book before mentioned of King Henry the Fourth.

"Whereupon I replied to that allotment and said to their Lordships that it was an old matter and had no manner of coherence with the rest of the charge, being matters of Ireland, and therefore that I having been wronged by bruits before, this would expose me to them more; and it would be said I gave in evidence mine own tales. It was answered again with good shew that, because it was considered how I stood tied to my Lord of Essex, therefore that part was thought fitter for me which did him least hurt; for that whereas all the rest was matter of charge and accusation, this only was but matter of caveat and admonition.

"Wherewith though I was in mine own mind little satisfied, because I knew well a man were better to be charged with some faults than admonished of some others, yet the conclusion binding upon the Queen's pleasure directly volens nolens, I could not avoid that part which was laid upon me; which part, if in the delivery I did handle not tenderly (though no man before me did in so clear terms free my Lord from all disloyalty as I did), that, your Lordship knoweth, must be ascribed to the superior duty I did owe to the Queen's fame and honour in a public proceeding, and partly to the intention I had to uphold myself in credit and strength with the Queen, the better to be able to do my Lord good offices afterwards." 1

To some it may appear that Bacon, by writing those "two or three lines of compliment" to the Queen, virtually sought the task which he affected to decline: others may be disposed to think that the circumstances did not justify his accepting, much less courting, the task of prosecuting his former benefactor. But setting these views aside, we must point out that in two or three important respects the Apology appears to be inaccurate. Bacon says he freed the Earl of disloyalty in specially clear terms: on the contrary, he rather implied that the Earl might have been accused of disloyalty if the Queen had thought fit to have 1 Apology, p. 13.

proceeded against him in a regular way: "for if that [disloyalty] had been the charge, this," said Bacon in his speech at York House," had not been the place."

Again he says in the Apology, "I could not avoid that part which was laid upon me." But he could have avoided mention of the unfortunate letter written by Essex to the Lord Keeper: he could have avoided recalling to the Queen's mind the expressions in which the Earl had declared that the Queen's heart was obdurate, and that there was no tempest to the passionate indignation of a prince. This was not contained in "that part which was laid upon" him. Even if we excuse all else, this part of Bacon's attack on Essex seems utterly inexcusable. The motive for travelling outside his part to rake up these indiscreet utterances may well have been "the intention I had to uphold myself in credit and strength with the Queen," but hardly the second purpose asserted by Bacon-"the better to be able to do my Lord good offices afterwards."

It may well be supposed that the Earl's friends keenly resented the unfriendly part played on this occasion by Francis Bacon. Fear would no doubt compel them to express their feelings to none but their most intimate friends, and the letters containing such expressions would for the most part be burned lest they should prejudice the receivers. But what Sir Gilly Meyrick thought of Bacon's conduct we know from the following letter:

"TO THE EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON.

"RIGHT HONOURABLE AND MY SINGULAR GOOD LORD,

"I cannot set down directly the particulars of the proceedings against my Lord. There was present Sir Charles Danvers, who, I doubt not, hath particularly advertised your Lordship; but, as near as I can, I will acquaint your Lordship with what I have heard from those [who] were present. My Lord was charged by the Sergeant, Attorney, the Solicitor, and Mr. Bacon —who was very idle and, I hope, will have the reward of that sooner [? honour] in the end.

"They did insist to prove my Lord's contempt in five points. The first was the making of your Lordship General of the Horse, being clouded with her Majesty's displeasure. It was bitterly urged by the Attorney, and very worthily answered by my Lord. The next was the making of knights. His lordship did answer that very nobly. The next was the Munster journey, some inventions urged by the Attorney with letters

shewed from Ormond, Bowker, and Warham and Leger. satisfying of that, answered, 'God knew the truth of [ rewarded one of them for their perfidiousness.'

My Lord, in the

],1 and hath

"Then his Lordship was interrupted and wished to continue as he had begun, which was to submit to her Majesty's gracious favour. In the end, the Lords did deliver their opinions, and, in that course, did sentence that my Lord should forbear the execution of his Councillor's place, and the (?) Marshal's place, the Master of the Ordnance' place, until it were her Majesty's further pleasure to restore him.

“There were other three points his Lordship was charged with, which was, the making of knights, the speaking with Tyrone,2 and his coming home without leave. To all my Lord spake with answer to his ends.

"The Lords and the rest freed his Lordship from any disloyalty. All delivered their opinions touching the sequestration of the offices, saving my Lord of Worcester. My Lord of Cumberland dealt very nobly. The rest all held the course which was fitting to clear the Queen's honour: which, God be thanked, I hear she is well satisfied. And yet a part is to-morrow to be handled in the Star Chamber and [ ] liberty [? then will use all] thank God [

"11 June, 1600."

1 Blank in MSS.

].

"GILLY MEYRICK.2

2 Objection appears to have been taken more than once to the want of dignity and ceremony with which the parley was conducted between Essex and Tyrone. In the Sydney Papers (June 11), though no mention is made of Tyrone's Propositions, it is said that the Earl was blamed "that he did parle very basely with Tyrone."

3 Hatfield MSS. 80] 20. I am indebted to Professor Brewer for the transcript of this letter. Mr. Spedding defends Bacon as "the subject was not of his own choosing;" and he infers that Bacon's treatment of the subject was not unfriendly, partly because Essex subsequently accepted Bacon's services in the attempt to reconcile him to the Queen, and partly because “I do not find that any fault was found with him at this time by the Earl's partisans.” The italics are mine.

CHAPTER XIV.

ESSEX SOLICITING THE QUEEN.

ON the 5th of July Essex was released from his keeper, though still confined to his house; and on the 26th of August he was released from all restraint and free to go where he wished. Now, therefore, it was open to him to carry out those resolutions which had often at different times passed through his mind, of forswearing the Court and retiring to a life of study and contemplation. Why did he not do this? The answer is that he was overwhelmed with debt, and that his only chance of extricating himself lay in the continuance of his offices to him, and more especially in the continuance of the sweet-wine monopoly, which formed the principal part of his revenue. This expired in September, and if the Queen refused to renew it, he knew, and all the world knew, that he was a ruined man.

Many of these debts had been incurred in the service of his country. It was almost impossible, in those days, to assume any high military command without involving oneself in debt. Of this, instances have been given in the Introductory Chapter;1 and Essex was no exception to the rule. No doubt his liberality to his friends plunged him still deeper in debt than he would otherwise have been. When he promises Sir Francis Allen that, as long as he has two houses, Frank shall have one of them, and when he gives Francis Bacon a piece of ground worth £7,000 or £8,000 of our money at a gift, we cannot find it difficult to understand that Essex should be in debt: but it seems clear that much of his debt was incurred in the service of the State, and particularly in military service.

2

1 Writing to Mr. Windebank in January, 1598, Cecil says, "The Lord Admiral hath spent £20,000 in four journeys." 2 See p. 28 above.

The correspondence of Anthony Bacon contains abundant evidence that the Earl was in the habit of spending large sums of money for the purpose of obtaining early and accurate news from the Continent. In May, 1596, he writes to Anthony just before the Cadiz expedition, "I have racked my wits to get this commission and my means to carry that which should do the feat, as they say: "1 and in November of the same year he writes to Sir Robert Sydney, "Until I can pay mine own debts and take up all my unthrifty humours, I will not think owing of money any sin in you." In his Apology he speaks of his sea-journeys these two last summers, wherein both myself and my friends ventured deeply for our private means," and he describes the adventure to Portugal as "a mere adventure of private men in which I engaged my means, kinsfolk, friends, and followers."

In October, 1596, Francis Bacon thinks it necessary to warn him of the "inequality between his estate of means and greatness of respects."2 The same letter, indicates one reason why Essex did not amass wealth so rapidly as others; he reaped a large revenue, it is true, from the sweet-wine monopoly, but he was not disposed to accumulate such monopolies nor to make money out of his influence. At least Bacon implies as much, by advising him to go on in his honourable commonwealth courses as he does, and not to try to "cure" the dangerous impression of popularity "by dealing in monopolies and other oppressions." In July, 1597, his friends "laid before him the difficulty of his estate, his being in debt, his speedy time of payment appointed, and the near time of the expiration of the lease of sweet-wines." Cecil, when obtaining from the Queen the renewal of the lease, makes the significant entry that he "shewed the Earl's debts" to her Majesty.

Shortly before he set out on his Irish expedition in 1599, it had been generally expected that he would obtain the lucrative Mastership of the Wards; but he had failed, and it had been bestowed upon Cecil. Chamberlain speaks of an intention on the part of the Queen at that time to contribute £20,000 toward extricating him from his debts: but according to Moryson, the

1 Add MSS.

3 8th December, 1598.

2 II. 44.

N