e result was, that by the time the invincible armada had made its way
through the Channel, and had passed the Straits of Dover, it was so
dispersed, and shattered, and broken, that its commanders, far from
feeling any disposition to sail up the Thames, were only anxious to make
good their escape from their indefatigable and tormenting foes. They did
not dare, in attempting to make this escape, to return through the
Channel, so they pushed northward into the German Ocean. Their only
course for getting back to Spain again was to pass round the northern
side of England, among the cold and stormy seas that are rolling in
continually among the ragged rocks and gloomy islands which darken the
ocean there. At last a miserable remnant of the fleet--less than
half--made their way back to Spain again.

CHAPTER XI.

THE EARL OF ESSEX.

1588-1600

Character of Essex.--Death of Leicester.--Essex becomes the queen's
favorite.--Cecil and Essex.--Elizabeth's regard for Essex.--His
impulsive bravery.--Essex's ardor for battle.--His duel.--Elizabeth's
remark upon the duel.--She gives Essex a ring.--The quarrel.--The
box on the ear.--Mortification of Essex.--He and Elizabeth
reconciled.--Essex sent to Ireland.--Curious negotiations.--The
queen's displeasure.--Essex's sudden return.--Essex is
arrested.--Resentment and love.--Essex's anger and chagrin.--He is
taken sick.--Nature of Essex's sickness.--The queen's anxiety.--The
queen's kindness to Essex.--They are reconciled again.--Essex's
promises.--The queen's ungenerous conduct.--Essex's monopoly of
wines.--The queen refuses to renew it.--Essex made desperate.--His
treasonable schemes.--Ramifications of the plot.--It is
discovered.--Anxious deliberations.--The rising determined upon.--The
hostages.--Essex enters the city.--The proclamation.--Essex
unsuccessful.--Essex's hopeless condition.--He escapes to his
palace.--Essex made prisoner, tried, and condemned.--His
remorse.--Elizabeth's distress.--The ring not sent.--The warrant
signed.--The platform.--Essex's last words.--The closing scene.--The
courtier.--His fiendish pleasure.

The lady whom the Earl of Leicester married was, a short time before he
married her, the wife of the Earl of Essex, and she had one son, who, on
the death of his father, became the Earl of Essex in his turn. He came
to court, and continued in Leicester's family after his mother's second
marriage. He was an accomplished and elegant young man, and wa