When Robert Devereaux, Earl of Essex, the far-famed favourite of Queen Elizabeth, was in the hey-day of his power and her majesty’s regard, the queen presented him with a diamond ring, which she ordered him to keep with the strictest care, so that should he at any time want to beg a boon, or be so unfortunate as to fall under her majesty’s displeasure, and thus incur imminent danger from the malevolence of his enemies, he might return it to her as a talisman, when she pledged her word to accede to his request, or forgive him, and grant him her protection.[[76]] It is unnecessary to enter into the various circumstances which led to the downfall of this accomplished young nobleman; suffice it to say, that, led astray by self-interested flatterers, and his own headstrong passions, which scorned reproof, the Earl of Essex engaged in a conspiracy against her majesty, and which being detected, he was tried by his compeers, and condemned to pay forfeit of his crimes, by suffering decollation. Queen Elizabeth, although deeply grieved at this defalcation of her kinsman from his loyalty, as well as from his gratitude towards her, still remembered with pity the unfortunate earl, then in the full bloom of manhood, and celebrated for every grace which can adorn a nobleman, and anxiously looked for the appearance of the ring she had given to him, in order that some excuse might be afforded her for granting him a pardon. Days, however, rolled by, and Essex made no appeal to her majesty’s clemency; until, at length, deeming him too haughty to return the talismanic jewel which might have saved his life, Elizabeth became incensed against him—the high blood of her father, “bluff old Hal,” rose in her veins, and, signing his death-warrant, he was beheaded on Tower Hill, 25th Feb. 1601. About two years after this tragic event, Catharine, the first Duchess of Nottingham, (daughter of Henry Lord Hunsdon, and a relative of the unfortunate earl,) was seized with a mortal illness, and finding her life drawing to a close, she despatched a messenger to the queen, beseeching her majesty to visit her immediately, as she had tidings to communicate to her, which, without doing, she could not die in peace. Elizabeth, anxious to soothe her last moments, complied with her request, and, little deeming what those tidings were, presented herself at the bed-side of the dying countess, who, summoning up all her failing energies, related, in the hollow tones of death, the following circumstances:—
That during the period the Earl of Essex was confined in the Tower, under sentence of death, he was desirous of obtaining a faithful messenger who would convey to her majesty a ring, which he had, at a happier hour, received from her hand, on the sight of which he hoped the queen’s mercy would be extended to him. Distrusting, however, those placed about him, he waited in vain for an opportunity; until, one morning, as he was gazing from his prison window, he perceived a boy, with whose open countenance he became so impressed, that he determined to trust him with his secret, and, making signals to him, (which were observed and answered by the lad,) the earl “engaged him by money and promises,” to convey the ring, which he took from his finger, to Lady Scroop,[[77]] (a friend of his lordship’s,) and beg her to present it to her majesty. The youth readily undertook the commission; but, from some mistake, instead of conveying it to Lady Scroop, he carried it to her sister, the Countess of Nottingham. This lady shewed it to her husband, the admiral, the implacable foe to Essex, who commanded her, under pain of his heaviest displeasure, to conceal the jewel, and not to breathe a word of the event to mortal ears. The countess complying with her lord’s command, the queen was kept in ignorance, and the Earl of Essex fell a victim to his supposed stubbornness, for, according to Camden, the chief reason that prevented Queen Elizabeth from granting him a pardon was his obstinacy in not supplicating for mercy.
As soon as the countess had concluded her relation, she earnestly begged her majesty’s forgiveness; but the queen, losing all command of herself at this harrowing statement, violently shook the dying woman, and exclaiming, “God may have mercy upon you, but I never can!” left the apartment in an agony of grief. As soon as she gained her dressing-closet, she threw herself upon the floor, tearing her grey hair, and calling upon the name of Essex. She refused to sleep upon a bed, and, according to some authors, would never after receive any sustenance. This, however, must be a mistake, for the Countess of Nottingham died on the 25th February, 1603, and her majesty did not depart this life until the 24th of March following—a period of about twenty-seven days.
After the demise of Queen Elizabeth, this ring passed, with the other jewels to her successor, James I., from whom it was handed down to his unfortunate son, Charles I., and who, at the instigation of his queen, Henrietta Maria, presented it to Sir Thomas Warner. From Sir Thomas Warner, it passed (in a direct line) to his great grandson. Col. Edward Warner, who bequeathed it by will (dated 27th Dec, 1732, proved in the P. C. of Canterbury, 21st Feb. following) to his brother, Ashton Warner, as “a diamond ring, in shape of a heart, given by Queen Elizabeth to the Earl of Essex.”
From the Hon. Ashton Warner it descended, as an heirloom, to his son, Joseph Warner, and it is now in possession of Charles Warner, Esq., solicitor-general of Trinidad.
[[74]] This marriage accounts for the Savannah and Folly estates, having passed into another family.
[[75]] For further information of this gentleman, the reader is referred to [Appendix No. 19].
[[76]] The queen’s attachment to Essex might perhaps, in great measure, arise from the fact of his being her relative—as shewn in the following table, viz.,
Anne Boleyne, united to Henry VIII., king of England, had issue a daughter,