Both these pieces were justifications of himself from the aspersions of his enemies. A very good judge' commends both pieces much, and says of the latter particularly, "that the earl resolved to deliver his own arguments with all the advantages that his own pathetic eloquence could give them, and which still remains a memorial of his great virtues and admirable abilities." "Advice to the Earl of Rutland in his Travels2;" published at London in 1633, 8vo. in a book intituled, "Profitable Instructions; describing what speciall Observations are to be taken by Travellers in all Nations, States, and Countries 3." "Verses in his Trouble4;" • Biograph. Brit. pages 1665, 1669. [Dated from Greenwich, Jan. 4, 1596, and signed, "Your lordship's affectionate cousen, E." The advice contained in this book, says Mr. Seward, is admirable; and the excellent observations which it contains, may be still perused with advantage and instruction. Anecd. vol. i. p. 183. In consequence of this high opinion of their merit, the compiler reprinted these directions in his Biographiana, vol. ii.] 3 Bacon Papers, vol. ii. p. 487. [These have been printed in the second and third editions of Specimens of the early English Poets. Lord Orford had intended to print "The Bee," a poem written by the earl of Essex, 1598, if his Miscellaneous Antiquities had been encou likewise "Meditations :" both preserved in the king's library. "A Letter of great energy, with a Sonnet to the Queen 5." "Another Sonnet," sung before the queen by one Hales, " in whose voice she took some pleasure." It was occasioned by a discovery that sir Fulke Greville, his seeming friend, had projected to plant the lord Southampton in the queen's favour in Essex's room, during one of his eclipses. "This sonnet, methinks," says sir Harry Wotton", "had as much of the hermit as of the poet." It concludes thus: And if thou should'st by her be now forsaken, The same author mentions another of the earl's compositions, but unfortunately does not give any account what it was; he calls it?— "His darling Piece of Love and Self-love." "A precious and most divine Letter, from raged. See Walpoliana, vol. i. p. 66. Qu. whether the same poem which is now appended to the present article?] 5 Printed in the Biographia, p. 1670. 6 P. 165. Biographia, p. 1674. that famous and ever to be renowned Earl of Essex (Father to the now Lord General his Excellence) to the Earl of Southampton, in the latter End of Queen Elizabeth's Reign." Printed in 1643. Reprinted in Cogan's Col· lection of Tracts from Lord Somers's library, vol. iv. p. 132. "A Letter to the Lord Chamberlain 8. Some of his letters in beautiful Latin to the celebrated Antonio Perez, are published among the Bacon Papers 9. But of all his compositions, the most excellent, and in many respects equal to the performances of the greatest geniuses, is a long letter to the queen from Ireland', stating the situation of that country in a most masterly manner both as a general and statesman; and concluding with strains of the • Vide Howard's Collection, p. 232. 9 Pages 296, 367, 399. • It should be mentioned here, that formerly his dispatches were attributed to Bacon; of late, to his secretary Cuffe. The latter might have some hand in collecting the materials relative to business, but there runs through all the earl's letters a peculiarity of style, so adapted to his situation and feelings, as could not have been felt for him, or dictated by any body else. See the letter mentioned in the text, in the Bacon Papers, vol. ii. p. 415. [Whoever, says Dr. Lort, has dipt into Cuffe's book " Of the Differences of Man's Life," will acquit him of having had much hand in lord Essex's dispatches, more than writing them. MS. note.] tenderest eloquence, on finding himself so unhappily exposed to the artifices of his enemies during his absence. It cannot fail to excite admiration, that a man ravished from all improvement and reflection at the age of seventeen, to be nursed, perverted, fondled, dazzled in a court, should notwithstanding have snatched such opportunities of cultivating his mind and understanding! In another letter from Ireland, he says movingly, "I provided for this service at breast-plate, but not a cuirass; that is, I am armed on the breast, but not on the back3." Dr. Birch has a volume of manuscript letters, containing some from the earl, and others addressed to him. Besides these, we have great variety in the Cabala, and among Bacon's Papers, of the earl's occasional letters 4, written in a style as nervous as the best compositions of that age, and as easy and flowing as those of the present. The vehement friend, the bold injured enemy, the statesman, and the fine gentleman, Bacon Papers, vol. ii. p. 420. 4 Two little notes of his are in the introduction to the Sidney Papers, vol. i. p. 115. [The earl of Essex has a letter to queen Elizabeth on his departure to Ireland, 1599, partly in verse, printed from the Harl. MSS. in the Progresses of Queen Elizabeth, vol. ii.] are conspicuous in them.-He ceased to be all these by the age of thirty-four". [As lord Orford has allotted a more than ordinary division of his book to illustrate the political character of this distinguished nobleman; it only remains to add a specimen or two of his literary accomplishments, The "Verses written in his Trouble" have been printed by Mr. Ellis, from a MS. in the royal library. Some plaintive and solemn meditations occur in the same manuscript 7, written probably at a period of warfare with the world, and issuing "from " I shall not dwell now on the almost authenticated story of lady Nottingham, though that too long passed for part of the romantic history of this lord. I mention it but to observe that the earl had given provocation to her husband-though no provocation is an excuse for murder. How much to be lamented, that so black an act was committed by one of our greatest heroes, to whom Britain has signal obligations! This was Charles earl of Nottingham, the lord high admiral, and destroyer of the Spanish armado. It seems, Essex had highly resented its being expressed in the earl of Nottingham's patent, that the latter had equal share with himself in the taking of Cadiz. He was so unreasonable as to propose to have the patent cancelled, or offered to fight Nottingham or any of his sons. Bacon Papers, p. 365. Alas! that revenge, interest, and ingratitude, should have stained such services and abilities as those of Nottingham, Raleigh, and Bacon! 6 Specimens of the early English Poets, vol. ii. p. 361. 7 Reg. MS. 17 B. L. |