Tyrone and the
rebels; there is little heed to be had to show of affection in state
business; I find this by those I discourse with daily, and those too of
the wiser sort. If my lord treasurer had lived longer, matters would go
on surer. He was our great pilot, on whom all cast their eyes, and
sought their safety. The queen's highness doth often speak of him in
tears, and turn aside when he is discoursed of; nay, even forbiddeth any
mention to be made of his name in the council. This I learn by some
friends who are in good liking with my lord Buckhurst[131].

[Note 131: Lord Buckhurst had succeeded to the office of lord
treasurer on the death of Burleigh.]

"My sister beareth this to you, but doth not know what it containeth,
nor would I disclose my dealings to any woman in this sort; for danger
goeth abroad, and silence is the safest armour." &c.[132]

[Note 132: Nugae Antiquae.]

* * * * *

Such were the bodings of distant evil with which the more discerning
contemplated the new and arduous enterprise in which the ambition of
Essex had engaged him! In the meantime, all things conspired to delude
him into a false security and to augment that presumption which formed
the most dangerous defect of his character. All the obstacles which had
delayed his appointment were gradually smoothed away; the queen
consented to invest him with powers far more ample than had ever been
conferred on a lord deputy before; all his requisitions of men and other
supplies were complied with; and an army of 20,000 foot and 1,300 horse,
afterwards increased to 2,000,--a far larger force than Ireland had yet
beheld,--was placed at his disposal.

At parting, the tenderness of the queen revived in full force; and she
dismissed him with expressions of regret and affection which, as he
afterwards professed to her, had "pierced his very soul." The people
followed him with acclamations and blessings; and the flower of the
nobility now, as in the Cadiz expedition, attended him with alacrity as
volunteers.

It was in the end of March 1599 that he embarked; and landing after a
dangerous passage at Dublin, his first act was the appointment of his
dear friend the earl of Southampton to the office of general of the
horse;--a step which he afterwards found abundant cause to repent.

An error of which the consequences were much more pernicious to himself,
and fatal to the success of his undertaking, was his abandoning h