The Queen's principal secretary, Lord Burghley (father of Cecil and once guardian of Essex), strongly opposed this strategy, preferring peace and a steady hand in Ireland. In April 1598 he confronted Essex in the Council chamber for the last time. According to the chronicler William Camden, Essex denounced peace as dishonourable, but Burghley interrupted, saying, ""he breathed forth nothing but war, slaughter and blood"", and pointed to the text of his prayerbook: ""Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days.""