Alexander Dyce, A General Glossary to Shakespeare's Works

general “of our gracious empress, etc.—Were now the,” HENRY V., v. Prologue, 30. “The allusion is to the Earl of Essex, who in April, 1599, went to Ireland, as Governour, to quell the rebellion of Tyrone. On his departure a throng of all ranks and conditions pressed round him, cheering and blessing him. His return, in September of the same year, far from being what the poet here reasonably predicted, was secret and solitary, for it had been preceded by disaster” (GRANT WHITE) .