661 
ENGLAND, 
'as fhe believed) fet at nought, gave her fufficient refo- 
lution to order the execution of the haplefs Elfex. He 
fell with dignity ; pious, but not dejedled ; he defined to 
be beheaded privately within the Tower, left the fig'llt of 
the people, who he knew w'ould lament his fate, might 
turn his thoughts from Heaven. The unfortunate earl 
had run a long career of glory and favour in a few years : 
he died at only thirty-four. Several of his afiociates were 
alfo tried and executed. Cuffe, whofe counfels had pre¬ 
cipitated him ; Davers, Blount, and Meyric. South¬ 
ampton (for whom Elfex had felt much more than for 
himfelf) was fpared, but remained a prifoner in the Tower 
while the queen lived. In fpite of malice, and of his 
own egregious faults, fcarcely does any character intereft 
the reader of Englifh hiftory fo much as that of Robert 
Devereux earl of Elfex. His exterior was noble and 
beautiful, and his fpirit gallant and enterprifing ; at eigh¬ 
teen, he diftinguifhed himfelf near Zutphen, where fir 
Philip Sidney fell, whofe widow he married ; at twenty- 
two he joined as a volunteer in the enterprize to place 
Don Antonio on the throne of Portugal, and challenged 
the governor of Corunna to fingle combat. At the fiege 
of Rouen, in France, he defied Villars, the commandant, 
to fight him on foot or on horfeback ; “ I will make you 
•(faid he) own that I am better than you, and that my 
miftrefs is fairer than yours.” From the moment of the 
fatal execution of this accomplifhed nobleman, a me¬ 
lancholy of the mod black and immoveable kind over¬ 
powered the faculties of Elizabeth, and rendered her in- 
fenlible to every comfort, and indifferent to all the affairs 
■of the ftate. Some have imputed this afflidtion of mind 
to the anxious jealoufy which fhe felt at that attention 
•which her penetrating eye had difcerned among her cour¬ 
tiers towards James of Scotland. There is, however, a 
much more probable caufe to be alleged: the tale till 
lately has been thought a fidtion ; but authentic papers, 
which have been within a few years part laid before the 
public, give ftrong authority to believe it true. 
When the earl of Effex was in the higheft favour with 
his royal miftrefs, he ventured to tell her of the perpetual 
anxiety which befet him when duty demanded his ab- 
fence, left his rivals, who he knew furrounded her, fhould 
deprive him of her good opinion ; and he fhould be con¬ 
demned, unheard, to lofe her fmiles, which he valued 
more than his life. The queen, moved with this earned: 
and ingenuous difclofure of his fears and affedtions, gave 
him from her finger a ring, as a pledge of her efteem ; 
promifing at the fame time that, let his fituation be ever 
fo defperate, at the fight of that token fhe would give 
him audience, and reftore him to her friendfhip. Effex 
preferved this precious gift through all his perils, until 
after he was fentenced to death, and then he thought the 
time was come to prove its value. Unhappily it was the 
countefs of Nottingham to whom he entrufted this invalu¬ 
able jewel; a more unfit meffenger he could not have found; 
fince, befides the animofity borne to him by the lord-admi¬ 
ral, her hufband, the lady herfelf is believed to have loved 
Effex, and to have bitterly felt the pangs of difappoint- 
ment when he married another woman. In fhort, fhe 
carried not the ring; and Elizabeth, after contriving 
many delays, difgufted at the obftinacy of her favourite, 
(who, fhe believed, defpifed her mercy,) in a fit of dis¬ 
appointed rage, figned the warrant for his execution. 
The countefs of Nottingham, in 1603, drawing near her 
end, fent a prefting meffage to the queen to entreat a fight 
of her majefty before her death. Elizabeth, who had 
dearly loved her, fpeedily obeyed the fummons; but, 
when (lie heard the foul-harrowing confeffion, (he caught 
faft hold of the expiring criminal, lhook her, and almoft 
tore her from her bed : “ God (faid (lie) may forgive 
you, but I never can.” From that moment fhe rejected 
all confolation, and not only refufed medicines, but even 
food. Ten days and nights (lie lay on a carpet, leaning 
her head on a cufhion, and not permitting herfelf to be 
Vol. VI. No. 381. 
put into bed. Nature now appeared almoft exhaufted ; 
and her great officers of ftate, defpairing of her life, ven¬ 
tured to afk, whom (lie would have for her fucceffor ? 
To this fhe faintly anfwered, that her throne was a 
throne of kings; and, by figns, agreed to the appoint¬ 
ment of James, the fon of Mary. She expired on the 
24th of March, 1603, aged fixty-nine years, fix months, 
and feven days, after having reigned forty-five years. 
The perfon of Elizabeth was flout, tall, and majeftic, 
her complexion fair, and her hair yellow. Her rnafeu- 
line turn of mind, her firmnefs, her penetration, and her 
judgment, qualified her for the government of a great 
empire. Learned, intelligent, and enlightened ; adtive, 
vigilant, and circumfpedfc ; ftudious of the honour of her 
country, and of the general welfare of her fubjedts ; fhe 
acquired a reputation and a popularity which greatly 
contributed to the fuccefs of her enterprifes, and the 
profperity of her fway. Though menaced with ruin by 
the catholic powers of the continent, (he baffled all their 
fchemes by her confummate prudence and diftinguifhed 
addrefs; (lie defpifed alike the thunders of the Vatican, 
and the more formidable artillery of Philip ; and, by the 
efforts of a brave people, who cheerfully rifqued their 
lives in the fervice of their princefs, fhe was enabled to 
triumph over the perfevering malignity and the tremen¬ 
dous preparations of her foreign enemies. Her domeftic 
foes fire fometimes overawed by feverity, and fometimes 
conciliated by lenity ; but her difpofition feemed more to 
incline her to the former conduct. She was of an impe¬ 
rious fpirit, and impatient of the lead oppofition to her 
will ; and the ftorms of paflion into w'hich fhe was betray¬ 
ed were frequent and violent. Her frugality was carried 
to fuch an extremity as fometimes to obftrudt the com¬ 
plete fuccefs of her fchemes; and her defire of treafure 
impelled her into extortion and rapacity. Her courage 
and fortitude were great and exemplary; but (till, in 
fome inftances of her conduct, we.difcover ftrong marks 
of a refemblance to the arbitrary, unrelenting, and cruel, 
difpofitions of her father and her fitter. The whole 
courfe of her behaviour to the lovely and unfortunate 
queen of Scotland, is marked by female jealoufy, diffimu- 
lation, perfidy, and the moft unfeminine feverity. What¬ 
ever might have been the errors of Mary’s government, 
and of her private and perfonal conduct, they were not 
fubjedl to the jurifdidtion of her rival. Elizabeth, in 
depriving the queen of Scots of her life, adted in as open a 
violation of the law of nations, as of every principle of 
juftice, and every fuggeftion of humanity. 
The Englilh people, however, were certainly happier 
during her reign, than they had ever been before ; and 
to this day they retain a grateful regard for her memory. 
Yet fhe was no friend to liberty, but watchfully checked 
thofe faint dawnings of its fplendour, which now and 
then pervaded the gloom of defpotifm ; nor was the ud- 
miniftration of juftice in her time well calculated to 
fecure either life or property. Had fhe lived in a private 
ftation, Elizabeth would, perhaps, have been hated and 
ridiculed ; on a throne, (lie was enabled to hide her lefs 
commendable qualities under the blaze of a vaft and mag¬ 
nanimous heroifm. The fagacity of her minifters, and 
the bravery of her commanders by fea and land, were 
ftrong proofs of the ftrength of her difeernment, which 
could diftinguifh and employ fuch talents in their pro. 
perly adapted fervices. In fliort, when the weak and 
fpiritlefs ftate of England, at the crifis of the deceafe of 
Mary, is confidered ; and when we find the condition of 
the realm fo altered in the fpace of a few years by the 
fuperiority of Elizabeth’s abilities, which enabled her to 
hold the balance of Europe ; when we find the proteftant 
religion firft firmly fettled in England, the commerce of 
the ifland increafed, her fleets triumphant, and her friend- 
fhip fought for by all nations of Europe; we cannot, 
without injuftice, withhold the tribute of praife from 
this glorious, though not faultlefs, fovereign. In her 
2 F terminated 
