Bacon, vol.
iv.p.

534 Sir Walter Raleigh, who came to the Tower on purpose, and who beheld Essex's execution from a window, increased much by this action the general hatred under which he already labored: it was thought, that his sole intention was to feast his eyes with the death of an enemy; and no apology which he could make for so ungenerous a conduct could be accepted by the public.

The cruelty and animosity with which he urged on Essex's fate, even when Cecil relented,[*] were still regarded as the principles of this unmanly behavior.
* Murdin, p.

811.
The earl of Essex was but thirty-four years of age, when his rashness, imprudence, and violence brought him to this untimely end.

We must here, as in many other instances, lament the inconstancy of human nature, that a person endowed with so many noble virtues--generosity, sincerity, friendship, valor, eloquence, and industry--should, in the latter period of his life, have given reins to his ungovernable passions, and involved, not only himself, but many of his friends, in utter ruin.