ere
held in such esteem by Bacon, that he eagerly engaged his pen in the
task of translating into Latin some of the most important of his own
philosophical works. Such were the "wits, besides his own," of which the
munificent patronage of Essex had given him "the command!"

A few miscellaneous occurrences of the years 1595 and 1596 remain to be
noticed.

The size of London, notwithstanding many proclamations and acts of
parliament prohibiting the erection of any new buildings except on the
site of old ones, had greatly increased during the reign of Elizabeth;
and one of the first effects of its rapid growth was to render its
streets less orderly and peaceful. The small houses newly erected in the
suburbs being crowded with poor, assembled from all quarters, thefts
became frequent; and a bad harvest having plunged the lower classes into
deeper distress, tumults and outrages ensued. In June 1595 great
disorders were committed on Tower-hill; and the multitude having
insulted the lord mayor who went out to quell them, Elizabeth took the
violent and arbitrary step of causing martial law to be proclaimed in
her capital. Sir Thomas Wilford, appointed provost-marshal for the
occasion, paraded the streets daily with a body of armed men ready to
hang all rioters in the most summary manner; and five of these offenders
suffered for high treason on Tower-hill, without resistance on the part
of the people, or remonstrance on that of the parliament, against so
flagrant a violation of the dearest rights of Englishmen.

Lord Hunsdon, the nearest kinsman of the queen, whose character has been
already touched upon, died in 1596. It is related that Elizabeth, on
hearing of his illness, finally resolved to confer upon him the title of
earl of Wiltshire, to which he had some claim as nephew and heir male to
sir Thomas Boleyn, her majesty's grandfather, who had borne that
dignity. She accordingly made him a gracious visit, and caused the
patent and the robes of an earl to be brought and laid upon his bed; but
the old man, preserving to the last the blunt honesty of his character,
declared, that if her majesty had accounted him unworthy of that honor
while living, he accounted himself unworthy of it now that he was dying;
and with this refusal be expired. Lord Willoughby succeeded him in the
office of governor of Berwick, and lord Cobham, a wealthy but
insignificant person of the party opposed to Essex, in that of lord
chamberlain.

Henry