'you are yourself to blame, you have trusted your sheep, not to the shepherd, but to the wolves.'

999

When Elizabeth, duly sensible of these errors and mistakes, treated the powerful Earl of Tyrone with lenity, and did him honour on many occasions, the old and new English settlers were angry, because the prospect of large confiscations of property were dispelled; they calumniated him in every way, laid snares for him, and endeavoured to drive him to insurrection. So long as Parrot was at the head of Irish affairs their plan failed, for that governor acted on the just and humane plan of treating Ireland and England in the same manner. But he was removed by the intrigues of the English, (52) and retired with the universal love of the Irish; a proof that they were not so intractable and difficult to govern, as they were said to be.

The directly opposite course adopted by Fitzwilliam, the governor who succeeded him, produced new insurrections. In fact, the whole dispute was between the old and the new possessors; the latter, who had the ear of the government appealing to the letter of the last arbitrary ordinances, by which they could easily make the others appear to be rebels, whereas the Irish affirmed that, according to more just principles, the right was on their side and not on that of their adversaries. The Queen was rather the victim of these intricate plans than the promoter of them, and often thought that she

was supporting religion, justice, and civilisation, when they suffered essential injury. The reins of government were sometimes held too lax, sometimes too tight, and the mercenaries who lived at the expense of the inhabitants, appeared but too often to disturb order and tranquillity instead of maintaining it. Thus there was a constant vacillation between two extremes, and under the pretext of law the most arbitrary oppression was exercised, as, on the other hand, extreme barbarism, under the name of liberty.

In addition to this, the Pope and Philip II. supported the Irish in their political and religious plans, so that even prudent Englishmen feared, rather than promoted, the prosperity of that kingdom; and even Walsingham declared that he did not consider it as high treason, to wish that Ireland were swallowed up by the sea.

In this state of things, the permission given to the inhabitants of Ulster to arm themselves in order to repel the incursions of the Scotch, was attended with very serious consequences. Hugh O'Neale, Earl of Tyrone, a man of great talent and energetic character, but harsh and despotic, united many Irish chiefs under his direction, and began an insurrection, which, from the causes above mentioned, soon spread in such a manner that Elizabeth was forced to think of serious measures to crush it. The Earl of Essex ardently wished to have the

command of the English army, and several of his adversaries encouraged this wish, in order to remove him from Court, and to place him in a situation of danger. Francis Bacon thought it very unadvisable to abandon the field to them, and to force himself into an office where so much was at stake, and so little real advantage to be obtained. Elizabeth long doubted whether the ardent, bold, and self-willed Earl was qualified for this difficult task; she, however, at last put him at the head of twenty thousand foot and two thousand horse, who repaired to Ireland in the spring of 1599. The more numerous the army, and the more unlimited the powers granted to the Earl, the higher was the expectation of great and speedy success; and Essex himself probably increased, rather than restricted this hope, by his own confidence. But delays, false measures, the skill of the enemy, desertion, sickness, &c., soon reduced the army in such a degree, that he complained bitterly, and endeavoured to represent his enemies, Cobham, Raleigh, and Cecil, as the indirect causes of the failure. Elizabeth, on the contrary, laid the chief blame upon him, and ordered him to follow the former plans which had been abandoned, and on no account to come to England without her express permission. Instead of this, Essex concluded a treaty with Tyrone, by which all the rebels were promised pardon, the restoration of the estates possessed by

the English, and the free exercise of the Romish religion, and then hastened to England to justify himself and to overthrow his accusers. In the first moment of surprise, Elizabeth received the Earl very graciously, but after she had collected herself, considering his disobedience and the failure of the enterprise, when many officers, following his example, left the army, already much reduced in numbers, and came to London; and when she was asked to confirm a compact with the rebels, which appeared to her quite disgraceful, (53) her indignation was roused, and she caused the Earl of Essex to be arrested. But as Cecil writes, this was done merely for form sake, and he would soon have been restored to favour, had not the rapid progress of Lord Mountjoy in Ireland, which led in the sequel to the submission of Tyrone, placed his conduct in an unfavorable light, while the body of the people loudly complained of the injustice which had been done the noble Earl. (54)

In order to prove how unfounded these complaints were, Elizabeth caused a strict investigation to be set on foot, and the persons to whom this commission was given, were of opinion that the Earl's injudicious measures, his arbitrary appointment of commanders, and his return to England, did not indeed constitute treason, but that he ought to lose all his offices, and remain in arrest during Elizabeth's pleasure. Contrary to his natural dis

position, Essex now wrote in very humble terms to the Queen, said that he would eat grass like Nebuchadnezzar till it should please her to restore him to favour. His Countess united her entreaties with his, so that Elizabeth gave him permission, in August, to reside in the country. "God grant," she wrote to him, "that your actions may agree with your words. You have long tried my patience, I must now try your humility; but your own prudence shall be your guardian." But, when his entire pardon did not follow so soon as Essex expected, and the Queen refused him the continuance of the oppressive monopoly of sweet wines, his patent for which was nearly expired, he seemed quite bereft of prudence. He took the liberty of making contemptuous remarks on her decrepit body and mind, and suffered himself to be misled, both by his own violent temper and by his intriguing secretary Cuffe, to plans which were as absurd as criminal. (55) He entered into a correspondence with King James respecting the declaration of his right of succession, flattered both the Puritans and the Catholics, received all dis contented persons, entertained the design to drive from Court all his supposed enemies, to get every thing arranged by a Parliament, and to compel the Queen to govern according to his will.

On the 7th of February, 1601, Elizabeth, who was informed of all these circumstances, had him

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