SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 
143 
was made Governor of Jersey. Meanwhile Essex had been ex- 
amined before the council as to his conduct in Ireland, put in 
confinement, and deprived of his farm of sweet wines. This 
treatment made him furious, and in his own house in the Strand 
he proceeded to mature a plan he had formed in Ireland for 
removing by force the faction at Court which was hostile to 
him. Owing to his extreme popularity with the clergy and the 
people, this plot of his threatened to be very formidable. His 
treason was of the blackest possible dye. He proposed in the first 
place to murder Ealeigh, Cobham, Cecil, and other prominent men, 
under the pretence that he was in danger of assassination at their 
hands, a lie which took in no one. This done, he proposed further 
to seize the person of the Queen, and, if necessary, to murder her 
also. The government soon became apprised of the scheme ; and 
Ealeigh did all he could to save Essex, and induce him to desist 
from his mad project. The plot failed, and Essex was arrested. 
Soon after Essex's arrest Ealeigh wrote to Cecil, advising him to be 
firm with the Queen, and give her no excuse for overlooking the 
treason. This letter has been variously interpreted, some thinking 
that he meant to urge the Earl's death, and others that he only 
intended to oppose his restoration to favour. Ealeigh was never 
bloodthirsty, except against his natural enemies the Spaniards ; 
and we may be well assured that if he did desire Essex's death, 
he did so only in self-defence. On the 22nd of February Essex 
was beheaded, and Ealeigh, as Captain of the Guard, had to be 
present; but just before the fatal moment he retired into the 
armoury, which he afterwards regretted, as Essex on the scaffold 
expressed a wish to be reconciled to him. The message was not 
delivered in time ; Essex was dead before Ealeigh knew of his 
wish to die in peace with him. 
About this time Cecil, who, as Kingsley observes, was "as 
accomplished a villain as one reads of in history,' ' ingratiated 
himself with Essex's partizans, and began a treasonable correspond- 
ence with James, which narrowly escaped detection by Elizabeth. 
Ealeigh, by no means so wise in his generation, was content to let 
the future take care of itself ; and consequently, on the accession 
of James in 1603, Ealeigh found Cecil first favourite at Court, 
and himself nowhere. In case any obnoxious person should gain 
the ear of the new King of England, Cecil took the precaution to 
provide himself with a number of blank warrants, prohibiting any 
