Vagabonds. 573 that time looked upon as a great disaster, lessening as it did the yeoman class, in which the strength of England was supposed to reside. The Legislature, as usual, interfered. Acts were passed against the formation of large farms. No cottage was Attempts to allowed to be built without a plot of four acres attached, check them. while wages, which had begun to be treated as a matter to be settled by the law of supply and demand, were yearly regulated, to suit the varying value of the precious metals. This delicate operation was left in the hands of the county magistrates. Like all other such efforts, these attempts to check the natural growth of society were fruitless. The frequent expeditions threw upon the world a number of disbanded soldiers and sailors, and these, with the day-labourers who could find no work, gave rise to an ever-increasing and dangerous class of vagabonds. It was to meet this growing difficulty that the Parliament of 1597 devoted most of its attention. In the preceding reigns attempts had been made to alleviate the growing poverty by weekly collections in the churches. Authority was given, by a Statute in 1562, to the Bishop to compel the payment of this collection, and to determine the sum paid. This was the first beginning of a compulsory assessment for the relief of the poor. In 1572 a new law was passed, by which vagabonds and rogues were still to be punished with the stocks and otherwise, but at the same time the really indigent were registered, and convenient places established for their habitation, and overseers appointed to find work for those who were not absolutely incapacitated. Two years later, houses The Poor Law. of correction, in which this work was exacted, were built. But in 1597, what may be regarded as the first general Poor Law was passed, which was completed in 1601, and continued in force till the new Poor Law (1832). By these laws, which were in spirit the same as the preceding ones, vagabond and sturdy beggars were still whipped and passed from parish to parish; but the assessment for the building of workhouses and the relief of the really destitute, which had hitherto been in the hands of the justices, was now intrusted to parochial officers, the overseers. Growth of Another sign of this transition period was the introduction of greater luxury. Freedom from civil war had rendered the old fortress or castellated mansion useless, and the luxury. land was now covered with noble but defenceless mansions, in that style of architecture which is still known as Elizabethan. As usual, after a period of intense mental and political excitement, Literature. the literary power of the nation awoke. All the new ideas called into existence by the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the discovery of the New World, which had hitherto been held in abeyance by the disturbed condition of the country, assumed a form, and found expression in writing. In every sphere of thought the same vitality made itself evident. Four preeminent names in different lines of literary activity mark the time -Shakspere, Spenser, Bacon, and Hooker. In all these four writers we have, in different ways, distinctly marked the influences of the time. The drama, one of the earliest forms in which the literary spirit of the people showed itself, had long Shakspere. existed in England. But, like other literature, it had fallen much into the hands of the Church. Miracles and moralities, in which either sacred histories were exhibited, or moral lessons inculcated by allegorical personages, had been the chief forms which it had assumed. The essential characteristic of the Renaissance was the return of men's minds from what was spiritual and ideal to what was real. Admiration for the beauties of external form took the place in Art of a love of beauty of sentiment. Raphael and Michael Angelo superseded Fra Angelico, with his stiff and conventional drawings, and beautiful, delicate, sentimental countenances. In the same way, upon the stage, men began to long for vigorous exhibitions of external action and of natural passions, where good and bad played their respective parts. Histories and rough comedies and farces began to take the place of the mystery plays. Unformed at first, these by degrees took shape. Already, at the beginning of the reign, Sackville, Lord Buckhurst, who forms a sort of intermediate link between the time of Henry VIII. and Queen Elizabeth, had written a regular tragedy called "Ferrex and Porrex." Other authors had continued his work, which found its completion however only in Shakspere, in whose writings all forms of life are shown with marvellous power, and all forms of the drama find their representatives. Deep metaphysical tragedy, regular well-ordered comedy, together with outbursts of the rough fun of the farce, are all to be found in his plays, while his knowledge of the springs of human action, his sympathy with all forms of human feeling, the comparative sobriety with which he clothes even his most passionate characters, satisfied the cravings of an age when, in the midst of strong excitement, Art was beginning to resume its sway. The allegory of Spenser had also been foreshadowed by Lord Buckhurst. In his "Induction to the Mirror of Magistrates" are specimens of Spenser. -1620] LITERATURE 575 powerful imaginative allegory unequalled even by Spenser. But as Shakspere brought drama to its perfection, so did Spenser allegory. The sensuous sweetness of his verse, the high tone in which his sentiment is pitched, the air of heroic knightly adventure which breathes through his works, are an exact expression of that side of English life which was called into existence by the daring adventures of our seamen, by the quaint and somewhat unreal chivalry of the Court, and by the religious element which was mingled in every question of the time. But if these two great poets represent the return to nature and the rebirth of modern knighthood which had been awakened by the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the dangerous position of a Queen, exciting at once loyalty and chivalry, both the philosophic and political character of the time is fairly represented by the prose writers-Hooker and Bacon. The one undertook the defence of the Church, not upon religious but upon political grounds, and in so doing touched the real spring of modern sovereignty. For this he rests as much as Locke subsequently did upon the ultimate will of the people, and an implied contract between King and people. In Bacon, on the other hand, we meet a system fated under one form or another to subvert for ever the philosophy of the Schoolmen. Bacon's system rests upon fact, upon experience, upon inquiry; the system of the older metaphysicians upon authority. And in this difference, in fact, is summed up the whole claim of the Reformers, whether religious or political. Henceforward reasonable and intellectual grounds are in all matters to take the place of mere assertion, however venerable or well supported. This Hooker. Bacon, Importance of the year 1598. The year 1598 was a very important one both for England and Europe. Abroad it was marked by the death of Philip II. and the change of policy of Henry IV. king, finding it impossible to establish his position in opposition to the Catholics, having changed his religion, determined to attempt the difficult part of King of both parties. For this purpose he had first of all secured toleration to his former Abroad. associates by issuing the Edict of Nantes. He had then to play a somewhat double part, which he performed successfully, but which a good deal shook the confidence that England had hitherto placed in him. For England the year was rendered important by the death of Burghley, whose sagacity had so triumphantly carried his mistress through her perilous Death of reign. The habit of intrigue which had long been secretly In England. Burghley. Rivalry of Essex and Cecil: their characters. existing in England, now found room to exhibit itself in public. The points at issue were partly ambitious and personal, but partly involved principles. There was a contest for the vacant power, the rival aspirants to which were Burghley's son Robert and the Earl of Essex. No two men could have exhibited a sharper contrast. The one, educated by his father for the express purpose of succeeding him, was like his father in miniature, crafty, observant, cautious, but without his father's breadth of view. He was a type of the statesman class. Essex was a young soldier, impatient of delay, and full of eager action, but hot-tempered and overbearing, a type of that courtier class which had formed an inner circle round the Queen, and had attained their influence, such as it was, by the Queen's partiality rather than by their own wisdom. The Queen was passionately fond of him, and treated him like a spoilt child. Like a spoilt child he acted. When displeased, he rudely turned his back on her, she boxed his ears, and he went home sulkily and took to his bed. The trick of feigned indisposition nearly always brought his fond old mistress round again. He had managed to make enemies on all sides, and had quarrelled with Raleigh and the Howards by attributing lukewarmness to them at the siege of Cadiz in 1596. He thus stood almost alone in the Council. But besides this personal rivalry there was involved the question of the succession, on which it was not safe to speak to the Queen. There were four possible claimants,1 all of whom had something to be said for them. There was James of Scotland, the representative of the elder sister of Henry VIII. and the legitimate heir. Secondly, there was Lord Beauchamp, son of Catherine Grey and the Earl of Hertford, the representative of Henry VIII.'s second sister Mary, and heir in accordance with that monarch's will. Thirdly, the supporters of hereditary descent, who at the same time disliked the idea of an alien and a Scotchman, favoured the pretensions of Arabella Stuart, the daughter of the younger brother of Darnley, and like James a direct descendant from Henry's eldest sister, but through her second marriage with Lord Angus. Lastly, the Jesuits and vehement Catholics, with reminiscences of the last reign, desiring connection with Philip II. as head of their religion, were ready to uphold the claims of Isabella the Infanta, a direct descendant of John of Gaunt, who had married Constance, the daughter of Pedro the Cruel. Practically, before the close of the reign, all question as to the succession disappeared, and except the extreme Catholics, who hoped that it might be possible to make good the 1 See page 355. Possible successors. 1598] ESSEX IN IRELAND to James. 577 claims of the Infanta by force of arms, all England was ready to accept James. With him both Cecil and Essex were in Advice of Cecil correspondence. Their advice was characteristic. Essex and Essex urged the assembly of an army on the Borders and a demand of instant recognition as heir. Cecil, who saw how things were tending, recommended silence and delay, assuring James that all parties were gradually inclining in his favour. Irish affairs. But though at one in their views of the succession, Essex and Cecil were bitter enemies; and an event soon happened which gave the crafty statesman an opportunity of allowing his rival to destroy himself. Affairs in Ireland demanded active interference; throughout the reign there had been much trouble there, and the Queen had somewhat neglected it in her constant attention to English and Continental politics. After the suppression of the revolt of Desmond, O'Neil, who had hitherto been faithful and rewarded with the title of Earl of Tyrone, rose in insurrection. Various governors, left without much assistance from England, had attempted in vain to suppress him, and lately Bagnal had suffered a complete defeat at Blackwater. There were rumours also that Tyrone was expecting assistance from Spain, and it became necessary to act with energy. When the subject was discussed in the Council, Essex found objections to every name mentioned as Deputy, and it was evident to his enemies that he was himself desirous of the place. Conscious of the dangers which attended the position, especially to so aspiring and hot-tempered a man as Essex, his enemies were only too glad to let him go, especially as he was thus removed from the Council. Nor was the Queen, in spite of her fondness for him, blind to his faults. She was therefore glad to get rid of him without inflicting disgrace. Armed with fuller powers than had ever before been intrusted to a viceroy, the right of pardoning even treason, and of making either peace or war, and attended by a powerful army, Essex set out for his new destination. His reception by the to Ireland. Irish was enthusiastic, and seems to have overturned his not too well-balanced character. Instead of at once marching in strength to the North, where O'Neil's power was, he wasted his time in an idle parade through Limerick and Kilkenny, and finally, when he found his army dwind- Essex in ling from him, he held a meeting with Tyrone upon the river Brenny, and admitted him to peace on terms that could hardly fail to be distasteful to the English Government. There were indeed some points in them which lead to the belief that he aimed at estab Essex goes Triumph of Conduct of Ireland. |