XC1V LIFE OF BACON. 



them both, both my lord had been fortunate, and so had 

 myself in his fortune.&quot; 



Happier would it have been for the Queen, and her ill- 

 fated favorite, had they listened to his warning voice. 

 Essex paid the forfeiture of his unrestrained passions by 

 the stroke of the axe, but Elizabeth suffered the lingering 

 torture of a broken heart ; the offended majesty of England 

 triumphed, she &quot; Queened it nobly,&quot; but the envenomed 

 asp was in her bosom ; she sunk under the consciousness 

 of abused confidence, of ill-bestowed favors, of unrequited 

 affection : the very springs of kindness were poisoned : 

 suspicious of all around her, and openly deserted by those 

 who hastened to pay court to her successor, her health 

 visibly declined, and the last blow was given to her by 

 some disclosure made on the deathbed of the Countess 

 of Nottingham. Various rumours have arisen regarding 

 this interview, and the cause of the Queen s grief; but the 

 fatal result has never been doubted. From that day, 

 refusing the aid of medicine, or food, or rest, she sat upon 

 the floor of her darkened chamber, and gave herself up to 

 the most unrestrained sorrow. The spirit that had kept a 

 world in awe was utterly prostrate ; and, after a splendid 

 and prosperous reign of forty-five years, desolate, afflicted, 

 March 24, and weary of existence, she lingered till the 24th of March, 

 1603. on w hi cn day s he died, (g) 



Bacon s respect for the Queen was more manifested after 

 her death, and even after his own death, than during her 

 life, (a) 



In one of his wills (b) he desires, that, whatever part of 

 his manuscripts may be destroyed, his eulogy &quot; In felicem 

 memoriam Elizabethse&quot; may be preserved and published : 



(g) See note 4 G at the end. (a) See note 4 II at the end. 



&) Baconiana. 



