d elapsed since Spenser had
last visited London. During that period certain
memorable works had been produced; the intellectual
power of that day had expressed itself in no mean
manner. When he arrived in London towards the close of
the year 1595, he would find Shakspere splendidly
fulfilling the promise of his earlier days; he would
find Ben Jonson just becoming known to fame; he would
find Bacon already drawing to him the eyes of his time.
Spenser probably spent the whole of the year 1596, and
part of 1597, in England. In 1597 appeared, as has
already been said, the first part of Hooker's
_Ecclesiastical Polity_, and Bacon's _Essays_, and also
Jonson's _Every Man in His Own Humour_.

The reigning favourite at this time was the Earl
of Essex. In 1596 his successful descent upon Cadiz
raised him to the zenith of his fame. With this
nobleman Spenser was on terms of intimacy. At his
London house in the Strand--a house which had
previously been inhabited by Spenser's earlier patron,
the Earl of Leicester--it stood where Essex Street now
is, and is still represented by the two pillars which
stand at the bottom of that street--Spenser no doubt
renewed his friendship with Shakspere. This intimacy
with Essex, with whatever intellectual advantages it
may have been attended, with whatever bright spirits it
may have brought Spenser acquainted, probably impeded
his prospects of preferment. There can be no doubt
that one of the motives that brought him to England was
a desire to advance his fortunes. Camden describes him
as always poor. His distaste for his residence in
Ireland could not but have been aggravated by his
recent legal defeat. But he looked in vain for further
preferment. He had fame, and to spare, and this was to
suffice. It was during this sojourn in England that he
spoke of himself, as we have seen, as one

Whom sullein care
Through discontent of my long fruitlesse stay
In Princes court and expectation vayne
Of idle hopes which still doe fly away
Like empty shaddows, did afflict my brayne.

The publication of the second three books of the
_Faerie Queene_, with a re-impression of the first
three books, placed him on the highest pinnacle of
fame. Its plentiful references to passing events--its
adumbrations of the history of the time--however it
might damage the permanent value of the work from an
artistic point of view, increased its i