with honour. But a 'malignant influence counteracts every
disposition to relent.' No doubt, a man's own folly, passion, and
insolence has generally a very malignant influence on his fortunes;
and he may consider himself a very happy man if all that befalls to
him thereby is what befell Essex, namely, deprivation of his offices
and imprisonment in his own house. He is forgiven after all; but the
spoilt child refuses his bread and butter without sugar. What is the
pardon to him without a renewal of his licence of sweet wines?
Because he is not to have that, the Queen's 'conditions are as
crooked as her carcase.' Flesh and blood can stand no more, and
ought to stand no more. After all that Elizabeth has been to him,
that speech is the speech of a brutal and ungrateful nature. And
such he shows himself to be in the hour of trial. What if the patent
for sweet wines is refused him? Such gifts were meant as the reward
of merit; and what merit has he to show? He never thinks of that.
Blind with fury, he begins to intrigue with James, and slanders to
him, under colour of helping his succession, all whom he fancies
opposed to him. What is worse, he intrigues with Tyrone about
bringing over an army of Irish Papists to help him against the Queen,
and this at the very time that his sole claim to popularity rests on
his being the leader of the Puritans. A man must have been very far
gone, either in baseness or in hatred, who represents Raleigh to
James as dangerous to the commonweal on account of his great power in
the west of England and Jersey, 'places fit for the Spaniard to land
in.' Cobham, as Warden of the Cinque Ports, is included in his
slander; and both he and Raleigh will hear of it again.

Some make much of a letter, supposed to be written about this time by
Raleigh to Cecil, bidding Cecil keep down Essex, even crush him, now
that he is once down. I do not happen to think the letter to be