"I know already, by your forwardness, that you have deserved rewards and crowns; and we do assure you, on the word of a prince, they shall be duly paid you. "In the mean time, my lieutenant-general shall be in my stead; than whom never prince commanded a more noble and worthy subject; not doubting, by your obedience to my general, by your concord in the camp, and your valour in the field, we shall shortly have a famous victory over those enemies of my God, of my kingdom, and of my people." The armada was some time prevented from sailing, by the death of the Marquis of Santa Cruz. The Duke of Medina Sidonia, a nobleman of great family, but wholly unacquainted with maritime affairs, was appointed admiral in his room. This interval was employed by Elizabeth in making new preparations for rendering the design abortive. At length the invincible fleet sailed from Lisbon on the 29th of May; but being overtaken with a dreadful tempest, it was obliged to put into the Groyne, having received considerable damage. After a delay of two months, the armada sailed once more to prosecute the intended enterprise. The fleet consisted of 130 ships, of which near 100 were galleons, and of a greater burden than had ever before appeared on the coast of England. The armada advanced towards Plymouth. It was disposed in the form of a half-moon, and stretched to the distance of seven leagues from the extremity of one division to the other. But this appearance dismayed not the English; they knew their huge vessels were so ill-constructed, and so difficult to be managed, that they would not be able to support themselves against the repeated attacks of ships at a distance. Two of the largest ships in the Spanish fleet were soon after taken by Sir Francis Drake; and, while the enemy advanced slowly up the channel, the English followed their rear, and harrassed them with perpetual skirmishes. The Spaniards now began to abate in their confidence of success; the design of attacking the English navy in Plymouth was laid aside, and they directed their course towards Calais, The armada, after many losses, came to an anchor before Calais, in the expectation of being joined by the Prince of Parma; but before that general could embark his troops, all hope of success vanished, by a stratagem of the English admiral. He filled eight of his smaller ships with combustible materials, and, setting them on fire, sent them, one after another, into the midst of the enemy's fleet. Terrified at this appearance, the Spaniards cut their cables, and betook themselves to flight, in a very precipitous and disorderly manner. In the midst of this confusion, the English fell upon them with such fury, that twelve of their largest ships were taken, and several others were thoroughly damaged. The ambitious Spaniards were now convinced that their scheme was entirely frustrated, and would willingly have abandoned the enterprise, and returned immediately to their ports, could they have done it with safety; but this was impossible; the wind was contrary, and the only chance of escaping was that of making a tour of the whole island, and reaching at last the Spanish harbours by the ocean ; but a violent storm soon overtook them, and completed the destruction of the Invincible Armada; not half the vessels returned to the ports of Spain. Of the armada there were taken and destroyed in the Channel 15 ships, and 4,791 men; and on the coast of Ireland 17 ships, and 5,394 men in all 32 ships, and 10,185 men. 175-THE FALL OF ESSEX. C. KNIGHT, "SHAKSPERE BIOGRAPHY." The spring of 1599 saw Shakspere's friends and patrons, Essex and Southampton, in honour and triumph. "The 29th March, 1599, about two o'clock in the afternoon, Robert Earl of Essex, Vicegerent of Ireland, &c., took horse in Seeding Lane, and from thence, being accompanied with divers noblemen and many others, himself very plainly attired, rode through Grace Street, Cornhill, Cheapside, and other high streets, in all which places, and in the fields, the people pressed exceedingly to behold him, especially in the highways, for more than four miles space, crying, and saying, God bless your lordship, God preserve your honour, &c.; and some followed him until the evening, only to behold him. When he and his company came forth of London, the sky was very calm and clear, but before he could get past Iseldon, [Islington] there arose a great black cloud in the north-east, and suddenly came lightning and thunder, with a great shower of hail and rain, the which some held as an ominous prodigy."* It was, perhaps, with some reference to such forebodings, that in the chorus to the fifth act of " Henry V.",-which of course must have been performed between the departure of Essex in March, and his return in September-Shakspere thus anticipates the triumph of Essex : "But now behold, In the quick forge and working-house of thought, How London doth pour out her citizens! The mayor and all his brethren, in best sort,— Like to the senators of the antique Rome, With the plebeians swarming at their heels, Go forth, and feteh their conquering Cæsar in : As, by a lower but by loving likelihood, Were now the general of our gracious empress To welcome him!" But the "ominous prodigy was sadly realized. About the close of the year 1599, the Blackfriars Theatre was remarkable for the constant presence of two men of high rank, who were there seeking amusement and instruction as some solace for the bitter mortifications of disappointed ambition. "My Lord Southampton and Lord Rutland came not to the court; the one doth but very seldom; they pass away the time in London merely in going to plays every day."+ Essex had arrived from Ireland on the 28th of September, 1599-not "Bringing rebellion broached on his sword," not surrounded with swarms of citizens who "Go forth and fetch their conquering Cæsar in,❞— but a fugitive from his army; one who in his desire for peace had treated with rebels, and had brought down upon him the censures of the court; one who knew that his sovereign was surrounded with his personal enemies, and who in his reckless anger once thought to turn his army homeward to compel justice at their hands; one who at last rushed alone into the queen's presence, "full of dirt and mire," and found that he was in the toils of his foes. From that Michaelmas till Stow's "Annals." Letter of Rowland Whyte to Sir Robert Sydney, in the Sydney Papers. the 26th of August, 1600, Essex was in the custody of the lord keeper; in free custody as it was termed, but to all intents a prisoner. It was at this period that Southampton and Rutland passed "away the time in London merely in going to plays every day," Southampton in 1598 had married Elizabeth Vernon, a cousin of Lord Essex. The marriage was without the consent of the queen; and therefore Southampton was under the ban of the court, having been peremptorily dismissed by Elizabeth from the office to which Essex had appointed him in the expedition to Ireland. Rutland was also connected with Essex by family ties, having married the daughter of Lady Essex, by her first husband, the accomplished Sir Philip Sydney. The season when these noblemen sought recreation at the theatre was one therefore of calamity to themselves, and to the friend who was at the head of their party in the state. We cannot with extreme precision fix the date of any novelty from the pen of Shakspere when Southampton and Rutland were amongst his daily auditors; but there is every reason to believe that "As You Like It" belongs as nearly as possible to this exact period. It is pleasant to speculate on the tranquillizing effect that might have been produced upon the minds of the banished courtiers, by the exquisite philosophy of this most delicious play. It is pleasant to imagine Southampton visiting Essex in the splendid prison of the lord keeper's house, and there repeating to him from time to time those lessons of wisdom that were to be found in the woods of Arden. The two noblemen who had once revelled in all the powers and privileges of court favouritism had now felt by how precarious a tenure is the happiness held of "That poor man that hangs on princes' favours." The great dramatic poet of their time had raised up scenes of surpassing loveliness, where happiness might be sought for even amidst the severest penalties of fortune : "Now, my co mates, and brothers in exile, Hath not old custom made this life more sweet Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods It was for them to feel how deep a truth was there in this lesson : "Sweet are the uses of adversity." Happy are those that can feel such a truth "That can translate the stubbornness of fortune Into so quiet and so sweet a style." And yet the same poet had created a character that could interpret the feelings of those who had suffered undeserved indignities, and had learnt that the greatest crime in the world's eye was to be unfortunate. There was one in that play who could moralize the spectacle of "A poor sequester'd stag, That from the hunter's aim had ta'en a burt," and who thus pierced through the hollowness of "this our life "Poor deer,' quoth he, thou mak'st a testament As worldlings do, giving thy sum of more To that which had too much.' Then being there alone, 'Tis right,' quoth he, 'thus misery doth part The flux of company.' Anon, a careless herd, Full of the pasture, jumps along by him. And never stays to greet him; 'Ay,' quoth Jaques, We could almost slide into the belief that "As You Like It" had an especial reference to the circumstances in which Essex and Southampton were placed in che spring of 1600. There is nothing desponding in its tone, nothing essentially misanthropical in its philosophy. Jaques stands alone in his railing against mankind. The healing influences of nature fall sweetly and fruitfully upor the exiled duke and his co-mates. But, nevertheless, the ingratitude of the world is emphatically dwelt upon, even amidst the most soothing aspects of a pure and simple life "under the greenwood tree." The song of Amiens has perhaps a deeper meaning even than the railing of Jacques : "Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky, That dost not bite so nigh As benefits forgot: Though thou the waters warp, As friend remember'd not." There was one who had in him much of the poetical temperament a gorgeous imagination for the externals of poetry-upon whose ear, if he ever sought common amusement in the days of his rising power, these words must have fallen like the warning voice that cried "woe." There was one who, when Essex in the days of his greatness had asked a high place for him and had been refused, received from the favourite a large private gift thus bestowed :-"I know that you are the least part of your own matter, but you fare ill because you have chosen me for your mean and dependence. You have spent your time and thoughts in my matters. I die, if I do not somewhat toward your fortune. You shall not deny to accept a piece of land, which I will bestow upon you." The answer of him who accepted a park from the hands of the generous man who had failed to procure him a place, was prophetic. The Duke of Guise, he said, was the greatest usurer in France, "because he had turned all his estates into obligations, having left himself nothing. * * * * I would not have you imitate this course, for you will find many bad debtors." It was this man who, in the darkest hour of Essex, when he was hunted to the death, said to the Lord Steward, "My lord, I have never yet seen in any case such favour shown to any prisoner." "Blow, blow, thou winter wind; Thou art not so unkind As man's ingratitude." Who can doubt that the ingratitude had begun long before the fatal catastrophe of the intrigues of Cecil and Raleigh? Francis Bacon, the ingrate, justifies himself by the "rules of duty" which opposed him to his benefactor at the bar, in his "public service." The same rules of duty were powerful enough to lead him to blacken his friend's character after his death, by garbling with his own hand the depositions against the victim of his faction, and publishing them as authentic records of the trial. Essex, before the last struggles, had acquired experience of "bad debtors." The poet of "As You Like It" might have done something in teaching him to bear this and other afflictions bravely :— * See Jardine's "Criminal Trials," vol. i. p. 387. "Thou seest, we are not all alone unhappy: This wide and universal theatre Presents more woeful pageants than the scene Wherein we play in.” Essex was released from custody in the August of 1600; but an illegal sentence had been passed upon him by commissioners, that he should not execute the affairs of a privy counsellor, or of Earl Marshal, or of Master of the Ordnance. The queen signified to him that he was not to come to court without leave. He was a marked and a degraded man. The wily Cecil, who at this very period was carrying on a correspondence with James of Scotland, that might have cost him his head, was laying every snare for the ruin of Essex. He desired to do what he ultimately effected, to goad his fiery spirit into madness. Essex was surrounded with warm but imprudent friends. They relied upon his unbounded popularity, not only as a shield against arbitrary power, but as a weapon to beat down the strong arm of authority. During the six months which elapsed between the release of Essex and the fatal outbreak of 1601, Essex House saw many changing scenes, which marked the fitful temper and the wavering counsels of its unhappy owner. Within a month after he had been discharged from custody, the queen refused to renew a valuable patent to Essex, saying that "to manage an ungovernable beast, he must be stinted in his provender." On the other hand, rash words that had been held to fall from the lips of Essex were reported to the queen. "She was now grown an old woman, and was as crooked within as without." The door of reconciliation was almost closed for ever. Essex House had been strictly private during its master's detention at the Lord Keeper's. Its gates were now opened, not only to his numerous friends and adherents, but to men of all persuasions, who had injuries to redress or complaints to prefer. Essex had always professed a noble spirit of toleration, far in advance of his age; and he now received with a willing ear the complaints of all those who were persecuted by the government for religious opinions, whether Roman Catholics or Puritans. He was in communication with James of Scotland, urging him to some open assertion of his presumptive title to the crown of England. It was altogether a season of restless intrigue, of bitter mortifications, and rash hopes. Between the closing of the Globe Theatre and the opening of the Blackfriars, Shakspere was in all likelihood tranquil amidst his family at Stratford. The winter comes, and then even the players are mixed up with the dangerous events of the time. Sir Gilly Merrick, one of the adherents of Essex, was accused, amongst other acts of treason, with "having procured the out-dated tragedy of the 'Deposition of Richard II.' to be publicly acted at his own charge, for the entertainment of the conspirators." In the "Declaration of the Treasons of the late Earl of Essex and his Complices," which Bacon acknowledges to have been written by him at the queen's command, there is the following statement:"The afternoon before the rebellion, Merrick, with a great company of others, that afterwards were all in the action, had procured to be played before them the play of deposing King Richard the Second;' when it was told him by one of the players, that the play was old, and that they should have loss in playing it, because few would come to it, there was forty shillings extraordinary given to play, and so thereupon played it was." In the "State Trials" this matter is somewhat differently mentioned: "The story of 'Henry IV.' being set forth in a play, and in that play there being set forth the killing of the king upon a stage; the Friday before, Sir Gilly Merrick and some others of the earl's train having an humour to see a play, they must needs have the play of 'Henry IV. The players told them that was stale; they could get nothing by playing that; but no play else would serve and Sir Gilly Merick gives forty shillings to Philips the player to play this, besides |