Book II.] THE EARL OF ESSEX. 91 



him general in command of the horse, for the defence of the 

 kingdom against the Spanish invasion. When the Armada 

 was dispersed, and the camp at Tilbury broken up, the Earl 

 of Essex was created K.G., and was henceforth considered the 

 queen's favourite. He subsequently filled many important 

 positions, including that of Earl Marshal of England, Lord 

 Deputy of Ireland, and Chancellor of the University of Cam- 

 bridge. His ultimate fate is so notorious an event in history 

 that it is unnecessary to dwell at any length upon it here. 

 By his marriage with Frances, the widow of his friend Sir 

 Philip Sidney, he first excited the jealousy and resentment 

 of Queen Elizabeth, against whom he subsequently conspired 

 and made a fruitless effort at insurrection, was taken prisoner, 

 committed to the Tower, and thence, after having been con- 

 victed by his peers of high treason, was, under romantic cir- 

 cumstances, beheaded on the 25th of February, 1600. The 

 legend of the ring, in connection with the execution of the 

 Earl of Essex, which recent investigation has confirmed, was 

 to the following purport : — Elizabeth, in the height of her 

 passion for the Earl of Essex, gave him a ring, which he was 

 enjoined to cherish ; and that whatever offence he should 

 commit, she would pardon him when he should return that 

 pledge. When he was condemned, she expected to receive 

 from him the ring, and would have granted him his pardon 

 according to her promise. The earl, finding himself in the 

 last extremity, applied to Admiral Howard's lady, who was 

 his relation, and desired her, by a person she could trust, to 

 deliver the ring into the queen's own hands. But her husband, 

 who was one of the earl's greatest enemies, and to whom she 

 told this imprudently, would not suffer her to acquit herself 

 of the commission ; so that the queen consented to the earl's 

 death, being full of indignation against so proud and haughty 

 a spirit, who chose rather to die than to implore her mercy. 

 She, however, ordered a magnificent scaffold to be erected 

 for the execution ; the cost and particulars of which are still 

 extant.* Some time after the admiral's lady fell ill, and 



* L.T.R. Works and Buildings, M.S., P.R.O. 



