e Spaniards, who had taken Calais from the
French by a sudden attack, offered the Queen the restoration of this
old English possession in exchange for the strong places in the
Netherlands, entrusted to her in pledge.[283] For the Netherlands no
other provision would have been thus made than was proposed in 1587:
but England would have again won as strong a position on the Continent
as it had before, and would have established its rule over the
neighbouring seas: an open commerce would have been re-established,
and Ireland freed from the hostile influence of the Spaniards: the
Queen would have enjoyed peace in her advancing years. Burleigh saw as
it were the conclusion of his life in this: he said that, if God
granted him a good agreement with Spain, his soul would depart with
joy.

But for this policy he could not possibly get the approval of the
young, whose ambitious hopes were connected with the continuance of
the war. They measured the power of the country by their own thirst
for action. If the Queen, so they said, would only not do everything
by halves and not follow her secretaries so much, she could,
especially now she had the Dutch as allies, tear the Spanish monarchy
in pieces. How could they fail, with some effort, in occupying the
Isthmus of Panama? And then they would at one blow deprive the
monarchy of all its resources. And above all, the man who then played
the most brilliant part at court, Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, was
of this opinion. He was Leicester's stepson, introduced by him at
court, and after his death his successor as it were in the Queen's
favour. An attractive manly appearance, blooming youth, chivalrous
manners, won him all hearts from the very first. With the Queen he
entered into that rare relation, in which favour on the one side and
homage on the other took the hues of mutual inclination, and even
passion.

What Essex's idea of it was he once revealed at a dramatic festivity
which he arranged for the Queen in honour of her accession. There he
made a hermit, an officer of state, and a soldier come forward and
address their exhortations to an esquire who was intended to represent
himself. By the first the knight was desired to give up all feelings
of love, by the second to devote his powers to State affairs, by the
third to apply himself to war. The answer is: the knight cannot give
up his passion for his lady, since she animates all his thoughts with
divine fire, teaches him true p