attempted a rebellion, and the spoilt darling of fortune paid the penalty with his life. [Illustration: Lord Mountjoy] [Sidenote: Lord Mountjoy] The next viceroy, Sir Charles Blount, afterwards Lord Mountjoy, was a typical product of the Elizabethan court. He had been Essex's friend and afterwards his enemy, and when the earl retired prematurely from Ireland, Elizabeth sent Mountjoy to reopen the war against O'Neill and to crush him, irrespective of the treaty of security and peace signed by Essex in Elizabeth's name. He carried out his duties faithfully, and succeeded in driving the Tyrones out of their territory. On the final defeat of O'Neill, that chieftain made submission, and Mountjoy was graciously pleased to forgive the rebel and restore his title and {79} estates to him. While in Ireland Mountjoy received a letter from Essex, then a prisoner on parole at York House, asking him to bring his army from Ireland, join a promised army of the King of Scotland, and drive Elizabeth's advisers from power. Mountjoy at once declined to hazard his own neck, and he left Essex to his fate. The hope that the earl placed on the viceroy was inspired by the latter's affection for Penelope, sister of Lord Essex. This lady was so notorious that even Queen Elizabeth had to refuse to receive her, but her faults were the faults of the age she lived in. At a very early age, and without having her wishes consulted at all, Penelope was married to an old roue named Lord Rich, a man of filthy habits and loathsome ways. Penelope bore him seven children, but the gross brutalities of her husband drove her into the arms of Sidney, and when she became Mountjoy's mistress, she had five children by him. The viceroy, however, was a faithful lover, and when Lord Rich divorced her after Mountjoy's resignation of his post, the viceroyalty, he married her, inducing his private chaplain, Laud, to perform the ceremony. The act of Laud's very nearly ruined his career, and, at any rate, it stood in the way of his promotion for several years. It is said that Mountjoy did intend to come to the rescue of his mistress's brother, and certainly Elizabeth, who wanted Mountjoy's services, suppressed a confession by a prisoner which, had it become public, must have cost Lord Mountjoy his head. As it was, he held the viceroyalty until 1603, and could have {80} remained longer, for King James confirmed his appointment. Mountjoy, however, wanted his Penelope, and he left Ireland for her sake. James rewarded him with the Earldom of Devonshire, but as all his children were illegitimate, the titles died with him. [Sidenote: The Order of the Baronetage]