ESSEX LOUD LIEUTENANT. xlvii 



expressly and in a set manner to desire mine opinion and 

 counsel.&quot; (a) 



Thus consulted, Bacon, with prophetic wisdom, warned Dissuades 

 him of the ruin that would inevitably result from his ac 

 ceptance of an appointment, attended not only with peculiar 

 difficulties, which from habit and temper he was unfit to 

 encounter, but also with the certain loss of the Queen s 

 favour, from his absence, and the constant plotting of his 

 enemies. Essex heard this advice, urged as it was, with 

 an anxiety almost parental, as advice is generally heard 

 when opposed to strong passion. It was totally disregarded. 

 It is but ustice to Bacon to hear his own words. He says : 

 &quot; I did not only dissuade, but protest against his going, 

 telling him with as much vehemency and asseveration as I 

 could, that absence in that kind wou)d exulcerate the 

 Queen s mind, whereby it would not be possible for him 

 to carry himself so as to give her sufficient contentment ; 

 nor for her to carry herself so as to give him sufficient 

 countenance, which would be ill for her, ill for him, and ill 

 for the state. And because I would omit no argument, I 



O 



remember I stood also upon the difficulty of the action: 

 many other reasons I used, so as I am sure I never in any 

 thing in my lifetime dealt with him in like earnestness by 

 speech, by writing, and by all the means I could devise. 

 For I did as plainly see his overthrow chained, as it were 

 by destiny to that journey, as it is possible for a man to 

 ground a judgment upon future contingents. But my lord, 

 howsoever his ear was open, yet his heart and resolution 

 was shut against that advice, whereby his ruin might have 

 been prevented. &quot;(a) 



It did not require Bacon s sagacity to foresee these sad 

 consequences. Elizabeth had given an unwilling assent 



(a) Bacon s Apology, see vol. vi. p. 245. 



